Maximum Thermometer

Object Details

L. P. Casella

Description

Mercury-in-glass Phillips-type maximum thermometer with a spherical bulb. The tube has a white enamel back; the scale on the front extends from zero to +125 degrees (presumably Fahrenheit) graduated every degree, and is marked "9714." The supporting white porcelain plate is marked "MAXIMUM" and "L. CASELLA. MAKER TO THE ADMIRALTY, London" and "No. 9714." The plate, in turn, is mounted on a wood back.

In this design, an air bubble separates a small bit of mercury from the main part of the column. When the temperature falls, the detached mercury remains in place indicating the maximum temperature attained until reset by the observer. John Phillips, an English geologist, introduced the form at the 1832 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. In 1856 he showed an improved form made by Louis P. Casella of London. Casella would later boast that, next to Phillips, he deserved "the exclusive merit of the introduction and arrangement of these most perfect maximum thermometers" that had been widely adopted in Britain, on the Continent, and in the United States.

Ref: L. P. Casella, Illustrated and Descriptive Catalogue of Philosophical, Meteorological, Mathematical, Surveying, Optical and Photographic Instruments (London, 1860), p. 17.

Jack Morrell, John Phillips and the Business of Victorian Science (Aldershot, 2005).

Location

Currently not on view

1865-1880

ID Number

PH.326555

catalog number

326555

accession number

260956

Object Name

maximum thermometer

thermometer

Measurements

overall: 12 in; 30.48 cm

overall: 2 1/4 in x 14 1/16 in x 1 9/16 in; 5.715 cm x 35.71875 cm x 3.96875 cm

place made

United Kingdom: England, London

See more items in

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Military

Thermometers and Hygrometers

Measuring & Mapping

National Museum of American History

Subject

Smithsonian Institution

Record ID

nmah_742295

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-8dc4-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa