General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

wood casing/ glass barometer and thermometer tubes/ ivory barometer scale/non-ferrous metal (possibly brass)barometer scale casing, thermometer casing, parts/ beveled glass windows on barometer scale casing and thermometer casing/ mercury in barometer and thermometer tubes

Dimensions

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

Length

8.2 cm

Width

6.3 cm

Height

95.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Meteorology

Category

Atmospheric pressure measurement

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Andrews

Country

United States of America

State/Province

New York

City

Albany

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

last half of the nineteenth century

Canada

According to the Academy of Medicine - History of Medicine Museum worksheets which came with this barometer, it belonged to Dr. Joseph Workman (1804-1894) and was received in January 1933 (Ref. 1). According to his 2000 biographer (Ref. 4), Irish born Dr. Joseph Workman is known as "the Father of Canadian Psychiatry". He immigrated to Montreal in 1829 and received his MD from McGill University in 1835. For ten years he was a hardware merchant in Toronto, then opened a medical practice and taught at a medical school there. From 1853-1875 Dr. Workman was Superintendent of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum and became an important expert on the subject of mental illness, advocating better conditions and treatment for the inmates, and later did extensive forensic work. He was also a social reformer advocating assistance for the poor, extension of the franchise and women's rights (Refs. 3 and 6). Dr. Workman was also an amateur meteorologist who studied daily weather by measuring barometric pressure and temperature at his Toronto home. His readings, along with his general weather observations, were recorded in journals spanning 1860 to 1894. From his observations Dr. Workman developed valid theories about weather, for instance about the varying currents of the upper atmosphere from which he correctly theorized concerning weather conditions in adjacent regions (Refs. 4-5). Presumably, this barometer was used sometime between 1860 and 1894 to make Dr. Workman's atmospheric pressure observations. His four journals of observations were donated to the MSC in 1922 by a family member (Ref. 4)

Function

An instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure by means of its effect on a column of mercury in a glass tube.

Technical

An example of a mid to late19th century mercury barometer used by an amateur meteorologist. It has an ivory scale and vernier and what appears to be a fixed cylindrical cistern of unknown construction. The movable ivory vernier is operated by a screw in the top of the casing. One of the scales is graduated for feet above seal level, the other for inches of mercury. The UHN data sheet gives a date of 1885 for this barometer; the CCI examination sheet has 1855 (Refs. 1-2).

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

black lettering on dexter side of barometer scale reads 'TEMPERATURE/ 31 [degrees] LEVEL OF THE/ SEA/ 438/ 882/ 1356/ 1797/ 2266/ 2745/ FEET/ ABOVE THE/ LEVEL OF THE/ SEA'; black lettering on sinister side of scale 'JOEL W./ ANDREWS/ 31/ 30/ 29/ 28/ 27/ NO. 42/ HIGH STREET/ ALBANY N.Y.'/ lettering on thermometer scale reads '98 BLOOD/ HEAT/ 76 SUM'R/ TEMP/ 55 TEMP/ RATE/ 32 FREEZ/ ING/ 0 zero' with scale markings and numbers for -30 to 150 [degrees]

Missing

barometer appears complete/ originally came with walnut wood case which was not received by the museum/ UHN worksheet refers to ivory plate with inscription which was not found

Finish

dark stained and coated wood casing/ gold painted metal/ colourless, transparent glass tubes, barometer scale casing and thermometer casing windows/ white barometer scale and vernier/ metallic thermometer scale

Decoration

beveled glass windows/ turned cylindrical portion of casing