Japanese Demonstration Rule with Vernier
date: label: date made
content: before 1876
notes: label: Description
content: The Japanese Empire Department of Education displayed this oversized wooden ruler at the 1876 World's Fair, the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. The left and right sides are evenly divided into nine units of 2-7/16" or 6.2 cm. These units are subdivided into tenths and numbered on the right by tens from 0 to 90. A sliding piece, or vernier, in the center of the rule has nine units of 0.55 cm on the left side and nine units of 0.65 cm on the right. The vernier is numbered in ascending order on the left and in descending order on the right. An eyehook is attached to the top of the instrument for hanging in a classroom.
label: Description
content: A red and white label on the bottom front is marked: No. 46 (/) M. The object arrived with another label marked: Dai NihonTeikoku Monbusho (Japanese Empire Department of Education). Since the intervals on the rule are evenly divided rather than logarithmic, it seems likely that this rule was used for measuring and not for calculating.
label: Description
content: After the exhibition, John Eaton, the U.S. Commissioner of Education, arranged for the transfer of Japan's entire exhibit to the Bureau of Education (then part of the Department of the Interior) for a planned museum. The museum closed in 1906 due to high maintenance costs, and much of the collection was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1910.
label: Description
content: Other educational mathematical objects exhibited by Japan in 1876 include MA.261301, MA.261302, MA.261305, MA.261306, and MA.261313.
label: Description
content: References: Japan. Department of Education, <i>An Outline History of Japanese Education: Prepared for the Philadelphia International Exhibition, 1876</i> (New York: D. Appleton, 1876), 121–122, 191–202; U.S. Centennial Commission, <i>International Exhibition, 1876. Reports and Awards</i>, ed. Francis A. Walker (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1880), viii:143, 335; U.S. Bureau of Education, <i>Annual Report of the Commissioner</i> (1876), ccxi–ccxii.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: Japan
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
label: Subject
content: Expositions and Fairs
label: Subject
content: Education
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Science & Mathematics
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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.261298
label: catalog number
content: 261298
label: accession number
content: 51116
objectType: label: Object Name
content: scale rule with slide
label: Object Name
content: rule, sliding
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2 cm x 60.7 cm x 9.3 cm; 25/32 in x 23 29/32 in x 3 21/32 in