probably made in Edinburgh

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
Material:	Wooden case. Inscription: PATENT / Adie & Son / EDINBURGH / No 3262; ADIE / STRAND / LONDON
Dimensions:	45 mm x 20 mm x 330 mm
What:	Barometer / case
Subject:	10. METEOROLOGY (Departmental Classification)
Who:	Adie and Son (Inscribed on the barometer) Alexander Adie and Son, Edinburgh (Maker) Patrick Adie, Strand, London (Retailer)
Where:	England, London England, London (Strand) Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh Scotland, Midlothian, Edinburgh
Event:
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
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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