Object Details
- Henry Ware
- Description
- This model illustrates the key features of the "Mariner’s Time-Compass" for which Ralph Reeder received a patent in 1847. The inscription reads: "Ralph Reeder Patentee, Cincinnati, Ohio. HENRY WARE, MAKER, CINCINNATI, O."
- Scientific American reported that this instrument combines "three important uses." It shows "the local variation of the magnetic needle with unerring certainty," "the altitude of the sun, and thus enables the mariner readily to compute latitude." and "the true time" and thus "by the aid of the chronometer, shows the longitude." Despite journal's opinion that Reeder’s instrument "appears to be a practically useful invention," the Mariner’s Time-Compass was not a commercial success. The U.S. Patent Office transferred this model to the Smithsonian in 1926.
- Henry Ware (1810-1885) was a leading instrument maker in Cincinnati.
- Ref: Ralph Reeder, "Mariner's Time Compass," U.S. Patent #4,964 (1847).
- "Improved Nautical Instrument," Scientific American 12 (1856): 4.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- 1840s
- ID Number
- PH.309345
- catalog number
- 309345
- accession number
- 89797
- patent number
- 4,964
- Object Name
- Nautical Compass
- Object Type
- Patent Model
- Measurements
- overall: 15 in x 8 in; 38.1 cm x 20.32 cm
- overall: 16 in x 9 in; 40.64 cm x 22.86 cm
- place made
- United States: Ohio, Cincinnati
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Physical Sciences
- Navigation
- Measuring & Mapping
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_1167860
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746aa-16ec-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
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