Hydrometer
notes: label: Description
content: William Nicholson (1753-1815) was a science enthusiast in London who, in 1790, mentioned his attempt “to adapt the hydrometer to the general purpose of finding the specific gravity, both of solids and of fluids,” and published a picture of this instrument. In 1797, in the second issue of the first volume of the <i>Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and the Arts</i>—a publication that Nicholson established and edited—there was an article by the French chemist, Guyton de Morveau, describing a hydrometer that Nicholson had designed several years earlier. In time, Nicholson’s instrument would be termed a gravimeter, a portable balance, or a hydrostatic balance. The U.S. Military Academy acquired this example ca. 1835-1844. The maker is unknown.
label: Description
content: Ref: William Nicholson, <i>An Introduction to Natural Philosophy</i> (London, 1790), vol. 2, pp. 13-16, and fig. 123.
label: Description
content: Citizen Guyton, “Description of a Gravimeter, or Instrument for measuring the Specific Gravity of Solids and Fluids,” <i>Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and the Arts</i> 1 (June 1797): 110-119, and plate 6.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.315751
label: catalog number
content: 315751
label: accession number
content: 217544
objectType: label: Object Name
content: hydrometer
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: hydrometer: 9 in x 2 3/4 in; 22.86 cm x 6.985 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3 1/2 in x 3 3/4 in x 9 3/4 in; 8.89 cm x 9.525 cm x 24.765 cm
label: Measurements
content: overall in box: 3 5/8 in x 9 7/8 in x 3 13/16 in; 9.2075 cm x 25.0825 cm x 9.68375 cm