Omnimeter

Object Details

Elliott Brothers

Description

Charles A. C. Eckhold, a German engineer living in Alexandria, Egypt, obtained a British patent for the omnimeter in 1868. Contemporary accounts term it an "important surveying instrument," noting that it "measures distances and altitudes with an extraordinary degree of accuracy and great economy of time and labor; it accomplishes, without being moved, the work of Theodolite, Level, and Chain, and may be used as an ordinary Theodolite."

The key feature of the Omnimeter is a tangential scale located across the horizontal circle that is read by a telescope mounted perpendicularly to the main telescope. This example is marked "Eckhold's Patent Omnimeter, No 26" and "Elliott Bros LONDON." It belonged to George Shattuck Morison (1842-1903), a prominent American engineer and bridge builder. The horizontal circle is silvered, beveled, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers to single minutes. The vertical circle is silvered`, graduated to 30 minutes, and read by opposite verniers and magnifiers to single minutes.

Ref: "Distances" in [Edward Spon], Spons' Dictionary of Engineering, Civil, Mechanical, Military, and Naval (London, 1872), pp. 1210-1214.

Eckhold's Patent Omnimeter, Manufactured by Elliott Brothers (London, n.d.)

"George Shattuck Morison," Civil Engineering 8 (1938): 288-289.

Location

Currently not on view

ID Number

1993.0112.01

accession number

1993.0112

catalog number

1993.0112.01

Object Name

theodolite

Measurements

overall: 15 1/4 in; 38.735 cm

horizontal circle: 5 3/8 in; 13.6525 cm

needle: 4 1/2 in; 11.43 cm

vertical circle: 5 3/8 in; 13.6525 cm

telescope: 13 in; 33.02 cm

overall in case: 8 1/8 in x 23 1/8 in x 10 1/4 in; 20.6375 cm x 58.7375 cm x 26.035 cm

place made

United Kingdom: England, London

Related Publication

Spons' Dictionary of Engineering, Civil, Mechanical, Military, and Naval

American Society of Civil Engineers. Civil Engineering

See more items in

Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences

Surveying and Geodesy

Measuring & Mapping

National Museum of American History

Record ID

nmah_747573

Metadata Usage (text)

CC0

GUID (Link to Original Record)

https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a5-70ff-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa