Nautical Compass
name: label: maker
content: Ritchie, Edward S.
notes: label: Description
content: Liquid nautical compass with a brass bowl gimbal mounted in a wooden box. The graduated ring is curved. The needle float is in the form of crossed cylinders, as described in the patent (#38,125) granted to Edward S. Ritchie on April 7, 1863.
label: Description
content: The gimbal ring, which seems to be of a somewhat later date than the compass, identifies several Ritchie patents in addition to that of 1863. The patent of May 12, 1868 (#77,763) describes a paint that would not deteriorate in the liquid in the compass. The patent of July 19, 1870 (#105,492) describes a way to hold the glass in place with a water-tight joint. The patent of November 14, 1876 (#184,300) describes a "fascicular magnet" composed of a series of separate drawn wires of steel laid parallel to one another.
label: Description
content: The Ritchie ledgers, now held by Ritchie Navigation, indicate that this compass was produced on March 2, 1880, and sold to S. Thaxter & Son in Boston. Smithsonian records indicate that Thaxter gave it to the Smithsonian, perhaps for use in the International Fishery Exhibition which opened in Berlin on April 20, 1880. The compass was clearly shown in the similar exhibition held in London in 1883.
label: Description
content: Ref. D. J. Warner, "Compasses and Coils. The Instrument Business of Edward S. Ritchie," <i>Rittenhouse</i> 9 (1994): 1-24.
label: Description
content: G. Brown Goode, et. al., <i>Descriptive Catalogues of the Collections Sent from the United States to the International Fisheries Exhibition, London, 1883</i> (Washington, D.C., 1884), vol. 2, p. 728.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Boston
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
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content: Navigation
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content: Measuring & Mapping
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: S. Thaxter & Sons
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.039385
label: catalog number
content: 039385
label: accession number
content: 8745
objectType: label: Object Name
content: nautical compass (liquid)
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: compass: 8 1/2 in; 21.59 cm
label: Measurements
content: box: 11 in x 11 in; 27.94 cm x 27.94 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 5 3/4 in x 11 in x 11 in; 14.605 cm x 27.94 cm x 27.94 cm