An English multiple-tube barometer, signed on the register DRING & FAGE. 20 TOOLEY STREET. LONDON., c. 1810. The boxwood register plate is protected by a glazed mahogany door surmounted by brass finials. The barometric pressure can be read from the scale of the right-hand tube – upside down. The scales and weather conditions are stamped into the wood. The barometer scale is divided from 31 to 28, beginning at the bottom with ‘Very Dry’ and ending at the top with ‘Stormy’. The inches are subdivided into sixteenths. The scale is about 4¾ times larger than a scale on a normal stick barometer. On the left there is an alcohol thermometer showing the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit. • The makers, John Dring and William Fage, went into partnership in 1798. The firm, making scientific instruments, was established at premises in Tooley street and existed until 1860.
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The Horological Foundation Desk Diary Project. |