Waywiser
date: label: date made
content: Eighteenth Century
name: label: maker
content: Sisson, Jonathan
notes: label: Description
content: This waywiser has a wooden frame, and a dial of silvered brass with the usual scales, one for poles and furlongs and the other for miles. The "J. Sisson LONDON" signature refers to Jonathan Sisson (c. 1690–1749) or his son, Jeremiah Sisson (1720–1783).
label: Description
content: A waywiser consists of a large wheel that can roll along a level surface, and a dial that registers the distance traveled. The wheel usually measures 8.25 feet in circumference, such that 2 revolutions are equal to 1 pole. The larger hand on the dial makes one sweep per mile (320 poles or 8 furlongs). The shorter hand indicates the number of miles traveled. Waywisers became popular in England in the 18th century, and were still in use in the United States in the late 19th century. They were was also known as perambulators.
label: Description
content: Ref: Jane Insley, "Odometer," in Robert Bud and Deborah Warner, eds., Instruments of Science (New York and London, 1998), pp.423–424.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
label: See more items in
content: Surveying and Geodesy
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content: Measuring & Mapping
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: PH.336995
label: catalog number
content: 336995
label: accession number
content: 1979.0217
label: catalog number
content: 1979.0217.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: waywiser
label: Object Name
content: odometer