Accession No
6652
Brief Description
mercury thermometer (Fahrenheit and Reaumur), by George Adams, English, c. 1800
Origin
England; London; Fleet Street
Maker
Adams, George
Class
thermometry
Earliest Date
1800
Latest Date
1800
Inscription Date
Material
wood (mahogany?); metal (brass, silvered brass, mercury); glass
Dimensions
310mm (length) x 64mm (width) x 30mm (height)
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Charles Miller Ltd. Suite 6, 3/11 Imperial Road, London, SW6 2AG. Lot no. 249, Maritime and Scientific Models, Instruments & Art, 07/11/2017.
Inscription
G. Adams
Fleet Street, London
Description Notes
Mercury thermometer, by George Adams, English, c. 1800
Mercury thermometer in wooden and glass case, by George Adams. Mahogany box with glass front panel. Glass panel does not completely cover the thermometer to allow for air flow. The thermometer is mounted within a metal plate which has Fahrenheit and Reaumur scales are engraved on the left and right. Both scales are labelled numerically but also with indications of the different temperatures at different points: Freezing, temperate, sum heat, blood heat, fever heat, spirits boil and water boils.
Complete.
References
Events
Description
This c. 1800 mercury thermometer, made by George Adams, would have been a useful tool for converting and comparing the Fahrenheit and Reaumur temperature scales. The Reaumur scale was commonly used in the 1700s, when many thermometers used alcohol to demonstrate temperature variation. The scale was largely abandoned by the 1800s as thermometers were increasingly made using mercury.
21/03/2018
Created by: Rosanna Evans on 21/03/2018
FM:47269
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