Japanese Scale Rule with Caliper
date: label: date made
content: before 1876
notes: label: Description
content: An iron caliper with only one bar is nailed to one end of this bamboo rule. The caliper extends back about 3". The ruler is divided into 17 units of 1-3/16" (3 cm), and the units are subdivided into tenths. Each unit is roughly equivalent to one <i>sun</i>, a traditional Japanese unit of length that is 1/10 of a <i>shaku</i>, a "foot" measure. Bulls-eyes mark every five units. A red and white sticker on the caliper is marked: 10th (/) No 222.
label: Description
content: The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed this rule at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. It then was held by the Museum of the U.S. Bureau of Education until it was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1910. For more information, see MA.261298 and MA.261313.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Japan
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Rule, Measuring
label: Subject
content: Expositions and Fairs
label: Subject
content: Carpentry
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Science & Mathematics
label: See more items in
content: Scale Rules
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Transfer from Bureau of Education, Department of the Interior
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.261299
label: catalog number
content: 261299
label: accession number
content: 51116
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scale rule and caliper
label: Object Name
content: rule
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: bamboo (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1.8 cm x 61 cm x 7.5 cm; 23/32 in x 24 1/32 in x 2 15/16 in