probably made in Edinburgh
![Postcard of Barometer.](/database/media.php?file=postcard/image/0098/00987237.jpg&PHPSESSID=6ppn2ndaj6oji8fhrqceek4dj5) 000-100-102-816-C © National Museums Scotland |
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Barometer
This pocket-sized special barometer without mercury, also known as a sympiesometer, was made around 1850, probably by Alexander Adie & Son of Edinburgh. It was retailed in London by Adie's youngest son Patrick (1821-86).
Adie's sympiesometer is a glass tube filled with coloured almond oil with a gas bulb filled with hydrogen at the top. A thermometer registers the temperature and the sliding brass scale of pressures slides against a fixed scale of temperatures.
Alexander Adie patented his design of a special barometer in 1818. It was more portable than a mercury barometer and could be used at sea or for measuring the height of mountains: air pressure decreases by height at a known constant.
Record details
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Online ID: |
000-100-102-816-C |
Image Rights Holder: |
National Museums Scotland |
Project: |
0098: National Museums Scotland
Project description | View all records in project |
Ref: |
National Museums Scotland T.1984.38 |
Date: |
Around 1850 c. 1850
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Material: |
Wooden case. Inscription: PATENT / Adie & Son / EDINBURGH / No 3262; ADIE / STRAND / LONDON
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Dimensions: |
45 mm x 20 mm x 330 mm
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What: |
Barometer / case
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Subject: |
10. METEOROLOGY (Departmental Classification)
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Who: |
Adie and Son (Inscribed on the barometer) Alexander Adie and Son, Edinburgh (Maker) Patrick Adie, Strand, London (Retailer)
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Where: |
England, London England, London (Strand) Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh
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Event: |
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Description: |
Barometer consisting of a pocket sized sympiesometer with a mercury thermometer, contained in a wooden carrying case, probably by Alexander Adie and Son, Edinburgh, c. 1850
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References: |
- Clarke, T.N., Morrison-Low, A.D. & Simpson, A.D.C. Brass & glass scientific instrument making workshops in Scotland as illustrated by instruments from the Arthur Frank Collection at the Royal Museum of Scotland. Edinburgh: NMS, 1989. p 37, 58
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