Minimum Thermometer
date: label: date made
content: 1879-1885
name: label: maker
content: J. & H. J. Green
notes: label: Description
content: Alcohol-in-glass Rutherford-type thermometer. The back of the stem is milk glass. The clear front is marked "J. & H. J. Green. N.Y." and "Signal Service U.S. Army No. 14" and graduated every degree Fahrenheit from -90 to +135. It was made between 1879 and 1885 (when James Green worked in partnership with his nephew Henry).
label: Description
content: John Rutherford, a Scottish country doctor, devised this form in 1790. Green stated in 1900 that it was "the only one in general use." It has a black index inside the tube. "On a decrease of temperature the alcohol recedes, taking with it the glass index; on an increase of temperature the alcohol alone ascends the tube, leaving the end of the index farthest from the bulb indicating the minimum temperature."
label: Description
content: Ref.: Henry J. Green, <i>Meteorological and Scientific Instruments</i> (Brooklyn, 1900), p. 23.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Thermometers and Hygrometers
label: See more items in
content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: U.S. Weather Bureau
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.317467
label: accession number
content: 230396
label: catalog number
content: 317467
objectType: label: Object Name
content: thermometer
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 in; 30.48 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 12 in x 5/8 in; 30.48 cm x 1.5875 cm