IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MAPS AND GLOBES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING THE SAME
Year: 1851

page_text: ADORNO'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JUAN
NEPOMUCENO ADORNO,- of Golden Square, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Thirty-first day of January, in the fourteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Juan Nepomuceno Adorno, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said Juan Nepomuceno Adorno, my exors, adññiors, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said Juan Nepomuceno Adorno, my exors,
admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to
time and at all times during the term of years therein mentioned, should
and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales,
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and
Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark,
and Man, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF MAPS AND
GLOBES, AND IN APPARATUS FOR MOUNTING THE SAME;" in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso, obliging me, the said Juan Nepomuceno
Adorno, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to
describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and imme-
diately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Juan Nepomuceno Adorno, do hereby declare that the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is parti-
cularly described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof,
reference being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention may be considered as comprehended under five-heads.
Firstly, dividing the terrestial and celestial globes into regular bodies, which
I call harmospherions. By these divisions I produce on the celestial sphere
a new system of constellations, and by adapting the new divisions to the
terrestial sphere attain greater facilities for the calculation of areas and
distances and localities than can be obtained by the ordinary spherical surfaces.
Secondly, the super-imposition of the celestial upon the terrestrial maps in
order to produce a more intelligible catalogue of the stars than is obtained by
the old system of constellations, by giving to the stars the names of the places
on the earth which they cover, when the celestial map is placed over the
terrestrial. In this manner the two spheres being one fixed and the
moveable; that is, when the celestial sphere is considered as moveable the ter-
restrial one will be considered as fixed, and vice versa. This method will render
the nautical, astronomical, and geographical calculations easy and expeditious.
Thirdly, to construct maps on regular planes, which I call harmo-surfaces,
and which when bent into their proper figures have the properties of repre-
senting the convex surfaces of the harmospherions. These maps have the
advantage of representing the forms of terrestial maps and celestial constella-
tions more accurately than the common maps of the world, or any other
maps of particular countries, in which the use of meridians and parallels of
longitude are required. The other advantage of the harmo-surfaces is the
opportunity of having them folded so as to occupy little space, and when
opened and bent together to the proper figure, producing solids with plane
faces corresponding to the faces of the terrestrial and celestial spheres.
Fourthly, to construct frames of metal, wood, or other material of the
required form, for mounting my globes with the object of uniting those frames
to support the sections of the spheres, which however may be separated in
pieces when required. By means of this part of my improvements these
frames and globes present the advantage of being easily transported, whatever
their dimensions may be.
Fifthly, to construct the globes mounted on frames, having the zodiac in its
proper inclination attached to it by means of mechanism or set screws, with
travelling spheres of the earth, moon, sun, and planets, affording the advantage

page_text: of an easy demonstration of terrestrial and planetary movements, and thereby
facilitating astronomical and geographical education.
Having briefly explained the object of my several improvements, I will now
proceed to enter more into detail:-
One part of my Invention consists in dividing the celestial and terrestrial
globes into sections, which may be separated one from the other so as to admit
of the globes being cut into pieces, which may be reunited at will. In like
manner the frames or stands for the globes are constructed in pieces, which
may be joined when required. By these means I am enabled to pack the
globes and frames into a proportionably small box.
To effect the subdivisions of the globes equally and geometrically, I adopt
two modes of drawing lines upon the surface of the sphere. The first is. by
drawing nine great circles at equal distances apart on the spherical surface of
the globe, thereby producing by their intersection forty-eight equal right-angled
triangles; and the second is by the delineation and intersection of fifteen
great circles, producing one hundred and twenty-eight equal right-angled
triangles.
To produce on the sphere the first division, it is necessary that a great circle
be traced, dividing the sphere into hemispheres, which circle is represented in
the diagrams by the line H, C, K, Fig. 1; through the points I, J, are to be
produced four great circles, and then by tracing four more great circles at
equal distances, which intersect the former this harmonic sphere is constructed,
which has the rudiments of the tetrahedron, with four faces formed by four
equilateral triangles, as A, B, D, Fig. 2, or the cube by six squares, as A, B,
D, E, Fig. 1, or the octohedron by eight equilateral triangles, as E, F, G,
Fig. 2, or by twelve rhombii, as A, B, E, D, Fig. 3, or lastly, by forty-eight
right-angled triangles, as A, E, C, in this last Figure.
To produce the second regular division on the sphere, it is necessary to trace
on it five great circles, intersecting the two opposite poles, forming ten gores
on the sphere; one of those ten gores is to be divided by the compass, so as to
produce three equal lines. The first from one of the poles over the same
meridian, the second from one meridian to the other, and the third from the
last point to the opposite pole, as A, B, C (Fig. 4). If those two points B, C,
are crossed by another great circle, as D, E, it will intersect the first set of
circles in two points more, and those provide for the new intersections in a
manner so harmonic that when completed, ten circles from intersection to
intersection, with the first five circles, the figure is entirely produced, having
one hundred and twenty equal right-angled triangles by the intersection of the
fifteen circles described. Those one hundred and twenty equal right-angled

page_text: triangles have the rudiment of the icosohedron composed of twenty equilateral
triangles, each equal to A, B, D, (Fig. 5.) In the same manner as the
rudiments of the dodecahedron of plato having twelve pentagons, each equal to
the central pentagon B (Fig. 4); and, lastly, as the rudiments of the tetraconta:
hedron, composed of thirty rhombii, cach rhombus equal to A, B, (Fig. 6.)
Figures 7, 8, and 9 are polyhedrons, which are derived from the first regular
body described, and Figures 10, 11, and 12 are polyhedrons derived from the
second body described, which polyhedrons may be constructed with cardboard,
paper, or other material to form terrestrial or celestial plane convex or concave
maps.
The second part of my Invention consists in forming maps drawn on the
pentagon, a fac-simile being Fig. 13, which map when cut in the broad lines
and properly folded, produces a solid, representing the dodecahedron penta-
gonal, with which, with the due dimensions, geometrically representing, the
surface of the sphere, and so the form of the different parts of the earth; or
the celestial sphere are shewn more accurately than with the common
maps. Figure 14 represents the antecedent plane to be folded when cut in
the broad lines, producing the said dodecahedron. Figure 15 is constructed
for maps to be drawn on it, and when folded represents the dodecahedron
pentagonal, compensating the second body produced on the sphere by the
intersection of fifteen circles.
Figure 16, when cut in the broad lines and superposing the rhombii A, B, C, D,.
on the rhombii E, B, C, F, and then folding into twenty-equal equilateral
triangles produces the icosahedron, and consequently with flat maps may be
represented the spherical body, lately described. Fig. 17 is another plane,
which may be converted into a solid, by cutting it in the broad lines and
folding it properly. To facilitate the understanding of the further part of the
Specification, I must notice I have called the two round bodies or regular
divisions on the sphere described, harmospherions, and that of forty-eight equal
right-angled triangles barmispherion quadrangular, as its chief feature is
constituted by the squares of the cube; and that of the hundred and twenty
equal right-angled triangles the harmospherion pentagonal, as its principal
feature is shewn by the pentagons. Fig. 14 I call homo-surface quadrangular
for representing the first harmospherion. Fig. 15 I call harmo-surface pen-
tagonal, as fitted to represent the second harmospherion, and Fig. 16 harmo-
surface triangular, as adequated to produce the icosahedron, which is composed
of equilateral triangular surfaces.
In this manner the different parts of the harmospherions may be con-
structed of metal, gutta percha, papier maché or any other material on

page_text: which may be drawn or mounted (on the convex or concave surfaces) maps of
the earth or the heavens, with the opportunity of uniting those parts by means
of screws, hinges, locks, or any other contrivance, so as to produce the
spherical form, representing the terrestrial or celestial maps, and thus large
globes may be constructed, which will admit of being taken to pieces and
packed in a small compass.
:
My Invention consists also in superposing the celestial maps on the
terrestrial maps, that is, by including them in a single engraving, or by using
two engravings, the upper one being transparent to permit of the under one
being seen through it. My object in this invention is to provide for a new set
of celestial constellations by which the heavens will be geometrically divided
by the triangles of the two harmospherions; the terrestrial maps being also
divided in like manner, for a more easy manner of solving the problems
wanted in astronomy, geography, and navigation.
. Lastly, I superpose one map on the other, to provide on the globes them-
selves for an easier system of cataloguing the stars in which the stars will
assume the name of the parts of the earth which they cover on the convex
maps, it being so arranged, that the vernal equinox shall coincide with the
meridian of Greenwich.
The last part of my Invention consists in mounting those globes on frames
capable of being separated into pieces suitable for being packed in a small
compass so as to be easily transported. The globe A (Fig. 18) is mounted
by the two poles B, C, in a graduated ring D, E, as the horizon. The other
ring F, G, is the zodiacal belt set at the due inclination, and to that ring the
spheres I representing the earth, J, the moon, and S, the sun, are attached.
These spheres may be moved by mechanism or adjusted by set screws, and
travelling round the zodiac they will assume the relative positions due to the
natural bodies which they severally represent. This manner of solving prac-
tically the astronomical problems will be found useful in teaching astronomy
and geography. To that manner. of adjusting upon the zodiac of the globe,
the spheres representing the sun, moon, and earth, may be extended those of
the planets, but those sets of adjacent spheres will be used when the globe A
is a celestial globe or my double globe; but when the globe A is a terrestrial
one, the only adjacent spheres necessary for the explanations in S or the
representation of the sun, and also another small sphere representing the
Now, I claim as my Invention,
moon.
First, to divide the terrestrial and celestial spheres by any number of
triangles of the two harmospherions, constructing them of metal, papier maché,
gutta percha, or any other material, with the screws or any other means of

page_text: junction, to be joined as globes, or separated in pieces at will, to be kept or
transported or mounted, as shewn, or upon brackets to ornament rooms, or
suspended by chains or otherwise in cabins on shipboard.
Secondly, I claim the construction of maps representing with flat surfaces
those triangles of the harmospherions or any of their parts, with geometrical
shapes suitable to be folded, and when opened and joined together to produce
with those maps solid polyhedrons with plane maps.
Third, I claim the double maps superimposed, the terrestrial on the celestial,
ör vice versâ, with any kind of engraving, painting, or relief on the convex
or in the concave part of the said triangles and their geometrical combinations.
Fourth, I claim the construction of frames of wood, metal, or any other
material as described, such frames being capable of separation into pieces for
the sake of portability.
Fifth, I claim the construction of frames for the globes with the zodiac in-
clined as on the Diagram Fig. 18, to be adopted for the easier solution of
the astronomical and geometrical problems of the globe, and with the travelling
spheres of the earth, moon, sun, and planets, or any of them separately.
In witness whereof, I, the said Juan Nepomuceno Adorno, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirty-first day of July, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.
(L.S.)
UAN N. ADURNO.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Thirty-first day of July, in
in the year of our Lord 1851, the aforesaid Juan Nepomuceno Adorno came
before our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the
Specification aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified,
in form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.