General Information

Serial #

2417

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

BRASS

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

N/A

Width

N/A

Height

22.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Exploration and Survey

Category

Measurement-angles

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Cary

Country

England

State/Province

Unknown

City

London

Context

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

Period

Unknown

Canada

None known. Was purchased at auction in London, England. The name of the owner, J.W. Howard RN, is engraved on the left side of the circle.

Function

Used by ship's navigators to directly determine latitude while at sea by reference to stars, the Moon or the Sun by reference to an almanac with the positions of the objects. It could also be used to determine longitude if one had a ship's chronometer. Sextants were also used less frequently to measure latitude and longitude on land or to measure angles between reference points.

Technical

A very typical instrument of the mid-19th century. The scale is machine divided.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

OWNER'S NAME ENGRAVED ON ONE [SIDE?] 'G.W. HOWARD, R.N.'

Missing

N/A

Finish

Unknown

Decoration

N/A