AN IMPROVEMENT APPLICABLE TO QUADRANTS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS, FOR TAKING THE ALTITUDE OF THE SUN OR OTHER OBJECTS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the
Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT APPLICABLE TO QUADRANTS AND OTHER
INSTRUMENTS, FOR TAKING THE ALTITUDE OF THE SUN OR OTHER OBJECTS."-
A communication.
Sealed the 24th October 1856, and dated the 26th May 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th May 1856.
:
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT APPLICABLE TO QUADRANTS AND OTHER
INSTRUMENTS FOR TAKING. THE ALTITUDE OF THE SUN, OR OTHER OBJECTS," to be as
follows:
This Invention of "An Improvement applicable to Quadrants. and, other
Instruments for Taking the Altitude of the Sun or other Objects," is to enable
an observer to take the altitude of the sun or any other object without the
necessity of observing the horizon, or when the horizon is obscured by fog or
otherwise.
The Invention consists in the attachment to quadrants, sextants, or octants
of a level that is made adjustable in such a manner that it may be set true
while the instrument, is held in a position for taking an altitude when the

page_text: horizon is visible, after which it serves as a guide to enable the instrument to
be held in the same position when no horizon is visible, and being held in
that position the instrument will of course give the same altitude of an object
at the same dip of the horizon as if the observation were taken by the visible
horizon.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 26th November 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edward Newton, Her special license that I, the said William Edward
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and. no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "AN IMPROVE-
MENT APPLICABLE TO QUADRANTS AND OTHER INSTRUMENTS FOR TAKING THE ALTITUDE
OF THE SUN OR OTHER OBJECTS," being a communication from abroad, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Edward Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent
Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the
said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):

page_text: The object of this Invention of "An Improvement applicable to Quadrants
and other Instruments for Taking the 'Altitude of the Sun or other Objects,"
is to enable an observer to take the altitude of the' sun or any other object
'without the necessity of observing the horizon, or when the horizon is obscured
by fog or otherwise. The Invention consists in the attacliment to quadrants,
sextants, or octants of a level that is made adjustable in such a' manner that it
may be set true while the instrument is held in a position for taking an altitude
when the horizon is visible, after which it serves as a guide to enable the
instrument to be held in the same position when no horizon is visible, and
being held in that position, the instrument will of course give the same altitudé
of an object at the same dip of the horizon as if the observation were taken by
the visible horizon.
The application of the adjustable level to an instrument requires no change
whatever in its construction, and it may be applied to an instrument already
finished just as well as to an instrument made with a view to its appli-
cation. The manner of attaching it will be substantially the same to all
instruments; it will, therefore, be sufficient to illustrate the Invention by
explaining its attachment to a quadrant, as represented in the accompanying
Drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a face view of a quadrant with the adjustable
level attached thereto; Fig. 2 is a front side view; and Fig. 3 is a view of one
of the plates by which the level is attached to the quadrant. Similar letters
of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
A, A', are two plates of metal attached by screws to the sides B, B, of the
frame of the quadrant, and standing out in an upright position some distance
beyond the face of the frame. The front plate A is provided with a vertical
slot b, as shown in Fig. 2, and the back plate A¹ with a horizontal slot b', as
shewn in Fig. 3; C is a metal box of cylindrical form, containing a spirit tube
and constituting what is generally known as a spirit level. This box is of a
length to fit snugly between the plates A, A¹, and is secured between them by
means of two screws a, a³, one of which passes through the slot of each plate
A and A¹ and screws into the end of the box. The slots admit of one end of
the level being moved vertically and the other
end being moved horizontally
while it is held between the plates A, A', by the screws a, a¹.
Before adjusting the level, the instrument is first adjusted in the usual
manner, and the level is then adjusted parallel to the plane of the instrument
by loosening the screw a' which passes through the horizontally slotted plate A',
and moving the end of the level which contains the said screw to or from the
frame; when the level is thus adjusted, the screw a¹ is tightened. The screw a
passing through the vertically slotted plate A is then loosened, and the instru-

page_text: ment is held in the vertical position shown in Figures 1 and 2, so that by
looking through the sight vane D, the horizon may be seen in the centre of
the horizon glass E, and while the instrument is in this position the end of
the level which receives the screw a¹ is raised or lowered to bring the bubble
into the centre of the lovel. The screw a¹ is, then tightened, and the level,
thus adjusted, will when the horizon is obscured, serve to enable the instru
ment to be held in a position to give the same altitude of an object at the
same dip of the horizon, as though the horizon were visible in the horizon
glass; the adjustment of the level allows it to be set to suit any dip of the
horizon; without such adjustment the level is comparatively valueless. In
order to obtain great accuracy of adjustment, it is desirable that the centre of
the horizon glass should be indicated by a line e, Fig. 2, engraved or other-
wise marked across its face at right angles to the line c formed by the edge of
the silvered portion of the glass. This enables the horizon to be brought to
the centre of the glass without difficulty.
Having thus described the nature and particulars of the said Invention of
"An Improvement applicable to Quadrants and other Instruments for Taking
the Altitude of the Sun or other Objects," I desire it to be distinctly under-
stood that I do not confine myself to the precise method herein described of
providing for and effecting the adjustment of the level, as such may be varied
or modified without departing from the principle and object of the said
Invention.
.)
But I claim as new, the attachment: to a quadrant, or other instrument to
be employed for taking altitudes, of a level that is adjustable substantially as
described, so that the altitude of the sun or any other object can be ascertained
when the natural horizon cannot be seen.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-fifth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON: (L.S.)