Mouth Organ
notes: label: Description
content: Charles Wheatstone (1802-1875) was born into a family of musical instrument makers and dealers, and became interested in acoustics at an early age. His 1829 British patent (#5803) for “Wind Musical Instruments” described a mouth organ with a set of free reeds. This example came to the Smithsonian from King’s College, London, where Wheatstone became Professor of Experimental Physics in 1834. The inscription reads “BY HIS MAJESTY’S LETTERS PATENT / C. WHEATSTONE / INVENTOR / 20 Conduit St. Regent St. / LONDON.”
label: Description
content: Ref: Neil Wayne, “The Wheatstone English Concertina,” <i>The Galpin Society Journal</i> 44 (1991): 117-149.
label: Description
content: Neil Wayne, “The Invention and Evolution of the Wheatstone Concertina,” <i>The Galpin Society Journal</i> 62 (2009): 235-262.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United Kingdom: England, London
topic: label: Subject
content: Science & Scientific Instruments
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: 1990.0539.47
label: catalog number
content: 1990.0539.47
label: accession number
content: 1990.0539
objectType: label: Object Name
content: symphonium
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ivory (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 1 3/8 in x 3 1/8 in x 2 7/8 in; 3.4925 cm x 7.9375 cm x 7.3025 cm