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Barometer (detail), made by James Crichton

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in Glasgow

Postcard of Barometer (detail), made by James Crichton.
000-180-000-971-C
© National Museums Scotland

Barometer (detail), made by James Crichton

This photograph shows a detail of the signature on a domestic mahogany stick barometer made by James Crichton in Glasgow around 1820. The signature 'CRICHTON / GLASGOW' has been stamped into the top of the ivory register plates.

This stick barometer was made by one of the more important instrument makers in Glasgow at the start of the 19th century. James Crichton (fl. 1785-1835) made apparatus for John Anderson (1726-96), the professor of natural philosophy (physics) at Glasgow University. Anderson bequeathed all his property, including his lecturing equipment, towards the establishment of a new foundation, the Andersonnian Institution, which late became the University of Strathclyde.

Crichton was well-known for his thermometers, four of which were owned by the Parisian chemist Lavoisier; another is in the collection of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland. Crichton also made a balance for James Watt, and was involved in the making of Imperial standards to test the local weights and measures in Glasgow and the County of Lanarkshire in 1826.


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Online ID: 000-180-000-971-C
Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
Project: 0504: National Museums Scotland Part 2
Project description | View all records in project
Ref: National Museums Scotland  
Date: Around 1820
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References:
  • For domestic barometers, see Goodison, N. English barometers 1680-1860. Woodbridge, Suffolk, 1977. 
  • [Campbell, A.] Catalogue of the Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments in the University of Strathclyde. Glasgow, 1980. 
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