probably made in London
This excise officer's folding dip stick was made in the mid 18th century, and retailed by John Gilbert of London. It is four feet long and made of wood and brass. It folds to fit into a pocket.
This face is marked for scales for 'Madiera Pipe', 'Port Pipe', 'Mountain Butt' and 'Rum Puncheon'. Other scales on the inside limbs are for 'W[ine] Hogshead', 'Lisbon Pipe' and 'Sherry Butt'.
In brewing and distilling, it was necessary for excise officers to work out the tax due from the volume of barley malted and from amounts of liquor held in casks. Calculation of the total and partial content (or ullage) of casks was aided by specially designed slide rules. Dip sticks such as this one took the diagonal depth when a cask was standing on its end or lying on its side, speeding measurement.
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