A NEW OR IMPROVED ASTRO- NOMICAL APPARATUS FOR ASSISTING THE NAVIGATION OR DIRECTION OF ROUTE OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS, ALSO APPLICABLE AS A SCHOOL APPARATUS
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Griffith Brewer, of Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "A NEW OR IMPROVED ASTRO-
NOMICAL APPARATUS FOR ASSISTING THE NAVIGATION OR DIRECTION OF ROUTE
OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS, ALSO APPLICABLE AS A SCHOOL APPARATUS."
A communication from abroad by Frederic Williams Eichens, of Paris, France.
aled the 8th August 1879, and dated the 10th February 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Griffith Brewer
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 10th February 1879.
EDWARD GRIFFITH BREWER, of Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex.
"A NEW OR IMPROVED ASTRONOMICAL APPARATUS FOR ASSISTING THE NAVIGATION
OR DIRECTION OF ROUTE OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS, ALSO APPLICABLE AS A
SCHOOL APPARATUS." (A communication from abroad by Frederic Williams
Eichens, of Paris, France.)
Apparatus constructed according to this Invention is intended to solve all the
problems of astronomic navigation, that is, all such as present themselves at sea for
directing the route of a vessel by means of the stars. The apparatus consists
mainly of a globe, of a number of hoops, or circles, or part circles in metal, and of a
foot or stand for the support of the globe.
The globe is absolutely free so as to turn in any direction. On this globe are
marked the equator, the poles, the stars of first and of second magnitude, with limits
and inscriptions of the constellations to which they belong; the Greek letters placed
by the side of each of these stars serve to recognize them, and are those by
which the stars are designated, and other ephemerides of the same kind.
On the equator is marked the vernal point y, and starting from this point the
hours from 0 to 24; between the hours there are divisions, say every four minutes.
The ground of the globe is white, and all the above named parts are indicated
in black in order to be distinctly visible by lamp light.
The hoops, or circles, or part circles are as follows:-
Firstly, there is a hoop or circle of a diameter a very little larger than that of
the globe, so that it can be just passed over it; the upper part of this circle is
intended to represent the true horizon of the place; on the half of its outer surface
it is divided in degrees, either twice from 0° to 90° or from 0° to 180°; there are

page_text: ciphers indicating the strokes or marks corresponding to tens; in its not graduated
part this circle is provided with a spring with a set screw so arranged that when
the hoop is placed round the globe the spring may by turning the screw be pressed
against the globe, and thus fixed one against the other. Secondly, there is a
half circular hoop of the same diameter as the just named hoop; it is intended
to represent the half meridian.
These two parts are joined at right angles in such a position that one of the
sides of the half hoop corresponds exactly with 0° or with 00..and 180° of the
divisions on the first named hoop; this side is chamfered off and graduated twice
from 0° to 90°; the 0° common to both graduations is. at the centre of the half-
_hoop; there are ciphers-indicating tens; when the system is applied to the globe
in the position where the top of circle coincides with the equator, the half circle
is applied to the globe and the common zero coincides with the pole.
-
Thirdly, at the zero of-the-half-circle-there is a pivot round which turns a quarter
circle or hoop of the same radius as the two first named hoops; this quarter circle
represents the vertical of any star; on one side it is chamfered off and graduated
from 0° to 90° and has ciphers indicating tens; the 90° should be on the axis of
the pivot, and the zero corresponds to the surface representing the horizon; the
lower extremity of this quarter circle is made to slide against the graduated part of
.the entire circle hoop against which it can be fixed by means of a set screw.
The foot or stand, which may be of wood or metal, has at its upper part a circular
portion of about half the diameter of the globe, which can freely turn in. all
directions therein; at the top of the stand there is pivoted a curved arm which can
move with slight friction; the upper part of this arm carries a small cap fitting the
outside of the globe, and in one position can touch the top of the globe so as to
retain it in position against the influence of violent movements of the vessel. The
stand can be fixed on any table or other piece of furniture.
The problems which can be solved by means of this instrument are the following,
vizt. Any given moment it can be ascertained which stars are above the horizon;
also their azimuth can be determined as well as their elevation to 15' or 30',
depending upon the size of the globe and the approximation of the supposed point.
Secondly, when a star is known as well as its time of rising on the compass, the
corresponding hour being marked, the azimuth is then determined and in con-
. sequence the variation of the compass. Thirdly, having observed the elevation of
a star, its rising is noted, the hour on the chronometer corresponding and the name
of the star observed can then be found: These several problems only require that'
the angles should be determined to more than 30', hence the instrument for solving
them ordinarily only needs graduated arcs without graduated slides (verniers) and
magnifying glass.
These instruments may be made to any suitable dimensions, and when graduated
slides and magnifying glass are applied to read off minutes of degrees, one can
simply determine the proximate point, and then all the problems of navigation can
be solved as the method of proximate point contains them all.
The instruments may be made of any suitable materials, and so as to give two
minutes of the degrees instead of the degrees only.
These new instruments thus afford a means of finding the position of a vessel at:
sea in a few minutes and without calculation.
The system may also be applied to celestial globes for school instruction, as, these
instruments enable one to render complete account of the movement of the stars
above the horizon from any point, which is impossible with ordinary. celestial
globes.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Edward Griffith Brewer in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th
August 1879.
EDWARD GRIFFITH BREWER, of Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex.
"A NEW OR IMPROVED ASTRONOMICAL APPARATUS FOR ASSISTING THE NAVIGATION
OR DIRECTION OF ROUTE OF SHIPS AND OTHER VESSELS, ALSO APPLICABLE AS A
SCHOOL APPARATUS." A communication from abroad by Frederic Williams
Eichens, of Paris, France.
Apparatus constructed according to this Invention is intended to solve all the
problems of astronomic navigation, that is, all such as present themselves at sea for
directing the route of a vessel by means of the stars. The apparatus consists mainly
of a globe, of a number of hoops, or circles, or part circles in metal, and of a foot or
stand for the support of the globe.
The globe is absolutely free so as to turn in any direction. On this globe are
marked the equator, the poles, the stars of first and of second magnitude, with
limits and inscriptions of the constellations to which they belong; the Greek letters
placed by the side of each of these stars serve to recognize them, and are those by
which the stars are designated, and other ephemerides of the same kind. On the
equator is marked the vernal point y, and starting from this point the hours from
0 to 24; between the hours there are divisions, say every four minutes. The ground
of the globe is white, and all the above named parts are indicated in black in order
to be distinctly visible by lamp light.
The hoops, or circles, or part circles are as follows:-Firstly, there is a hoop or
circle of a diameter a very little larger than that of the globe, so that it can be just
passed over it; the upper part of this circle is intended to represent the true
horizon of the place; on the half of its outer surface it is divided in degrees, either
twice from 0° to 90° or from 0° to 180°; there are ciphers indicating the strokes or
marks corresponding to tens; in its not graduated part this circle is provided with
a spring with a set screw, so arranged that when the hoop is placed round the
globe, the spring may by turning the screw be pressed against the globe, and thus
fix one against the other. Secondly, there is a half circular hoop of the same
diameter as the just named hoop; it is intended to represent the half meridian.
These two parts are joined at right angles in such a position that one of the
sides of the half hoop corresponds exactly with 0° or with 0° and 180° of the
divisions on the first named hoop; this side is chamfered off and graduated twice
from 0° to 90°; the 0° cominon to both graduations is at the centre of the half hoop;
there are ciphers indicating tens, when the system is applied to the globe in the
position where the top of circle coincides with the equator, the half circle is
applied to the globe, and the common zero coincides with the pole.
Thirdly, at the zero of the half circle there is a pivot round which turns a quarter
circle or hoop of the same radius as the two first named hoops; this quarter circle
represents the vertical of any star; on one side it is chamfered off and graduated
from 0° to 90°, and has ciphers indicating tens; the 90° should be on the axis of
the pivot, and the zero corresponds to the surface representing the horizon; the
lower extremity of this quarter circle is made to slide against the graduated part of
the entire circle hoop, against which it can be fixed by means of a set screw.
And in order that this Invention may be more fully understood, I will now
describe the same with reference to the accompanying Drawing.
The foot or stand 3, see Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, which may be of wood or metal,
has at its upper part a circular portion 4 of about half the diameter of the globe 1,
which can freely turn therein in all directions; at the top of the stand there is
pivoted a curved arm 5 which can move with slight friction; the upper part of this
arm carries a small cap 6 fitting the outside of the globe, and in one position can

page_text: touch the top of the globe 1, so as to retain it in position against the influence of
violent movements of the vessel. The stand can be fixed on any table or other
piece of furniture.
The problems which can be solved by means of this instrument are the following,
viz: Any given moment it can be ascertained which stars are above the horizon,
also their azimuth_can be determined as well as their elevation: to 15' or 30';
depending upon the size of the globe and the approximation of the supposed point.
Secondly, when-a-star-is-known-as-well-as its time of rising on the compass, the.
corresponding-hour-being-marked, the azimuth..is then determined, and in conse-
quence the variation of the compass. Thirdly, having observed the elevation of a
star, its rising is noted, the-hour-on-the-chronometer-corresponding, and the name
of the star observed can then be found. These several problems only require that
the angles should be determined to more than 30', hence the instrument for solving.
them ordinarily only needs graduated arcs without graduated slides (verniers)-and-
magnifying glass. .
With slight modifications, such as shewn in Figures 6 and 7; an account may be
given of all the circumstances attending the movement of the stars' above the
horizon from any place.
In the instruments actually intended to represent the heavens and to give an
idea of the daily movement of the stars, the celestial globe is fixed to a circle of a
diameter little larger than the globe, by two rods passing by the poles, and which
permit the globe to take a rotary movement round an axis coinciding with that of
the earth. The circle in question rests on a support, and is kept in a vertical plan
by a horizontal circle to which it is jointed so as to turn. in the vertical plan. The
horizontal plan of the said circle passes by the centre of the globe, and represents
also the plan of the horizon of the place.
An apparatus of this kind admits of seeing which stars are above the horizon in
a given moment, but it does not admit of following the movements in height and in
azimuth, which the stars can make according to their declinations and the latitude*
of the place. The globes mounted as at present can only give, an incomplete idea
of the movements of the stars above the horizon; the inventor has therefore sought
after the principle of the instrument here described and added to the existing
system of astronomical globes three metallic parts. By means of these additions a
modified navisphere are ascertained, the horizon of the place, the half meridian*
situated below the horizon and the vertical of the star.
A half circle little larger than the one carrying the globe is by screws fixed, to
the horizontal circle; this latter is concentric with the circle in question; in the
midst of this half circle there is a pivot, the axis of which coincides with the
vertical of the place; round this part two quadrants turn which go to the horizontal
circle, the internal diameter of which differs very little from that of the globe.
These two quadrants are divided from 0° to 86°, starting from the horizontal
circle.
With such apparatus it is very easy to follow the movements of stars above the
-horizon-For-this-purpose, the globe_is_placed in such manner that the pole is
above the circle which represents the horizon with a number of degrees equal to the
complement of latitude; this done, the star which is desired to be examined is
brought in the plan of the horizon towards the east, then the quadrant representing
the vertical is placed on the star; by turning the globe from east to west, and
maintaining the quadrant over the star, it is easy to ascertain the variations of the
height and azimuth caused by the movements of the star from its rising or its
passage to the lower meridian, until its passage to the upper meridian; from this
position of the star, the quadrant which is in the west part of the meridian is
caused to pass by the star and watched in its descent.
By this mode of proceedings, it is very easy to ascertain all the movements of a
star placed over the horizon in consequence of the diurnal rotation of the earth.
This apparatus may also be arranged in order to give angles and arcs to nearly 2°;
in this case they are arranged as shewn in Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11. This apparatus

page_text: must be composed like the one giving the degree, viz., of a globe, a metro globe,
(apparatus which is composed of a horizontal circle, of a half meridian, and of the
vertical, and of a support; but to this first apparatus must be added, Firstly, pieces
to assure the exact passage of the meridianal line through the pole; Secondly,
resting points allowing slow movements to be given to the metro globe by means
of screws.
The globe S, Figures 8, 9, 10, and 11, must be of a diameter large enough, say for
example eighteen inches, made of metal and perfectly spherical. The equator, elliptic,
and points representing the stars must be marked with the greatest exactitude.
This globe is made hollow and traversed by a cylindrical shaft of metal A (see
Figure 8 representing a section through the centre of the globe and the axis of the
shaft). This shaft is maintained by brackets R, R, and its ends C are of a spherical
shape of the desired thickness; the external surfaces of these spherical shaped ends
form the continuation of the globe surface, and the internal surfaces rest on seats in
which they rotate easily. The stars which by their celestial position will be in
rapport with those surfaces are omitted.
: One end of the shaft terminates with a screw screwing into one of the spherical
shaped ends.
This arrangement is adopted in order to facilitate the placing of the shaft. The
diameter d of the external circle of spherical ends, Figure 8, will correspond with
the diameter of the globe in the proportion shewn in the Drawing. The projecting
pieces of the shaft form stopping pieces B, B, against the face of one of which the
meridian circle will stop. These stopping pieces are made with a circular part (see
Figure, 9, which represents a spherical end on the plan of its greatest circle) and two
plane surfaces. These faces do not contain the pole of the globe, the plane of one
only passes through the pole p. Opposite this last named face, and parallel to it,
there is a metallic arc a raised about one eighth of an inch, to which a spring is fixed.
The half circle M, M, of the metro globe, Figure 11, must be placed between the
stopping piece and the spring 7, thus causing the line representing the meridian to
rest against the stopping piece B and thence to pass through the pole p of the globe,
allowing at the same time the meridianal line to move in perpendicular plane to the
equator. It is necessary to move the meridian very slowly; for that purpose a
Bscrew V2, V2, Figure 9, is connected to stopping piece by means of two filleted
spherical pieces made to rotate in a spherical space; this arrangement allows the
screw to move slightly in different ways. This is the same mode as those
employed for the screws of the sextant.
At the end of screw V2, V2, there is a strengthening piece m, at the end of which
is fastened an arm C provided with a spindle (see Figure 9, m³, t, representing a
section of shaft and spindle; this section goes through the axis of spindle and is
perpendicular to the axis of screw V2); this arm terminates with a circular plane
piece which is maintained in slight friction against the plane and of strengthening
piece m of screw V2 by means of a screw. This arrangement allows the shaft to
turn in a perpendicular plane to the axis of the screw, and thus to engage the
spindle in holes provided in semi-circle M, M, which represents the semi-
meridian. When desired to give quick motions to these semi-meridians the
spindle t is disengaged, and when brought near the position desired the spindle t
is engaged again and the screw V2, V2, may be acted on.
The metro globe is made of two principal pieces; the first one C, C, C, C, is
formed first of a semi-circular piece C, C, D, D, the internal diameter of which is
equal to that of the globe, and of a second part C, C, D, D, in prolongation of
the first, forming a half ellipsis, the half great axis E, E', of which will be sensibly
larger than the diameter D, D, a pressure screw V tightening the spring against
the globe, when the piece C, C, C, C, will be in place, and will thus be fixed to the
globe. Another screw V' is made use of for moving slightly C¹, C', M, M,
Figure 11; this second screw is fixed in the same manner as the first one V
Two cylindrical guides G', G³, are fixed to piece C, C, C, C, the purpose of which
will be described. The second piece of the metro globe will be composed of an

page_text: arc C¹, C', including little more than 180°; the top part will represent the horizon
of the place; as in the metro-globe of the first described apparatus, this arc is
sloped; as it is indicated by its section C¹, C, C¹, Figure 11, this sloped part is
destined to admit the arc C, C, of the first piece, and in such manner as to slide on it
with slight friction. Two openings o, o, o¹, o¹, are provided in the thinnest part of
piece C¹, C¹, to receive the guides G, G, which will connect arc C', C³, to arc C, C. The
openings o, o, o', o', are in height little more than the diameter of the guides, and in
length-about-b-A-piece. P forming also part of the arc C₁, C, receives the screw V¹.
It is clearly shewn that by these arrangements-the-piece C1, C', can be turned
gently on the globe-when-the first piece CC, has been fixed on it by means of
screw V. To the arc-C, C, perpendicular to the plane of horizon, is soldered a
semi-circle M, M, which-is-destined to represent the semi-meridian; a quarter of
_circle_Q, Q, is similarly fixed to this semi-meridian. These two-ares.M,M,Q, Q, are
similar to those of the first-apparatus, only that the quarter of circle carries a
-pressure screw and a screw similar to those of the alidade-of-a-sextant._The_
graduations are placed as those of the first apparatus, but instead of dividing them
only by degree to degree they are to be divided 5′ to 5'; the elliptic will be
graduated, which has not been done in the first apparatus.
The stand will be on the whole similar to that of the first apparatus.
These instruments may be made to any suitable dimensions, and when graduated
slides and magnifying glass are applied to read off minutes of degrees one can
simply determine the proximate point and then all the problems of navigation can
be solved as the method of proximate point contains them all.
The instruments may be made of any suitable materials and so as to give two
minutes of the degrees instead of the degrees only.
These new instruments thus afford a means of finding the position of a vessel at
sea in a few minutes and without calculation. The system may also be applied to
celestial globes for school instruction as these instruments enable one to render
complete account of the movement of the stars above the horizon from any point,
which is impossible with ordinary celestial globes.
And having now described and ascertained the nature of this Invention, I declare
that I claim,-
The combination of globe, hoops, and stand forming the improved astronomical
apparatus, substantially as described and shewn.
:
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Griffith Brewer, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Eighth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
Th
DDARD
E. G. BREWER.