Add to albumThis water level (pictured here with its fitted case) was made in 1774, probably by Louis-Pierre-Florimond Lennel, a scientific instrument maker based in Paris.
The instrument has two vertical glass tubes at either end of a brass tube. A horizontal level is obtained when two connected columns of a liquid, in this case water, find the same level.
The water level may well have been used in the French National Survey, as its leather case carries the official fleur-de-lys stamp.
Record details
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- Online ID: 000-100-104-248-C
- Image Rights Holder: National Museums Scotland
- Project:
National Museums Scotland
Project description View all records in project
- Ref: National Museums Scotland T.1973.72
- Date: 1774
- Material: Leather case
Water level / case
- Dimensions:
- What: Water level / case
- Subject: 5. CARTOGRAPHY, Surveying (Departmental Classification)
- Who: E. Lennel, Paris (Maker)
- Where: France, Paris
- Event:
- Description: Water level, in a leather case, signed by E. Lennel of Paris, 1774
- References:
- Bennett, J.A. The Divided Circle: A history of instruments for astronomy, navigation and surveying. Oxford: 1987, p 87
- For Lennel, see Daumas, M. Scientific Instruments of the 17th and 18th Centuries and their Makers. London: 1972, pp 262 & 332, and Augarde, Jean-Dominique, 'La fabrication des instruments scientifiques du XVIIIe siecle et la corporation des fondeurs' in B
- Wynter, H. & Turner, Anthony, Scientific Instruments. London: 1973, p 158
- Translations:
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