Sextant & compass

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OBJECT TYPE: N/A
DATE: 1937
ARTIFACT NUMBER: 1986.0358.001

MANUFACTURER: Boyce-Meier Equipment Co.
MODEL: Unknown
LOCATION: Bronxville, New York, United States of America

More Information

General Information

Serial #: N/A
Part Number: 1
Total Parts: 2
AKA: N/A
Patents: N/A
General Description: Wood box; felt lining/ metal sextant & compass & handle of box/ glass top of compass & mineral spirit level/ mirror/ plastic shades

Dimensions

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

Length: 25.0 cm
Width: 22.5 cm
Height: 7.8 cm
Thickness: N/A
Weight: N/A
Diameter: N/A
Volume: N/A

Lexicon

Group: Exploration and Survey
Category: Measurement-direction
Sub-Category: N/A

Manufacturer

AKA: Boyce Meier
Country: United States of America
State/Province: New York
City: Bronxville

Context

Country: Canada
State/Province: Unknown
Period: Unknown
Canada: Sextant belonged to Canadian Wilbert Simpson, who in 1893 was appointed to His Britannic Majesty's International Boundary Commissioner and Chief Astronomer Mr. W. F. King. During the course of Simpson's career, he completed three relief maps of Canada, a relief map of Banff Park, and was appointed Secretary and Accountant of the Dominion Astronomical Observatory. This sextant was used on his boat "Lapwing".
Function: Vernier sextant; surveyor's instrument used to measure an angle between two objects. A series of reflecting mirrors were used to line up a celestial body with the horizon line, and the latitude and longitude were determined. Used to find out: whether you are off course, avoid danger spots, and locate fishing grounds.
Technical: Manufactured by Boyce-Meier. It was the first low-cost, practical sextant, accurate for all small-boat work and could read to a finer division of accuracy. The arc read from 0 degrees to 120 degrees, and the vernier read to 60 units. Made of a plastic material.
Area Notes: Unknown

Details

Markings: .1: Engraving on sextant reads: 'AL SIMPSON/ 91 CAMERON AVE/ OTTAWA/ SLY LAPWING' (was probably engraved by owner)/ 'BRONXVILLE, N.Y./ BOYCE-MEIER SEXTANT' appears in raised print/ embossed graduated lines with numbers from 0 to 120/ on box plate screwed with engravingreading: 'A. SIMPSON'/.2: COMPASS: 'GERMANY' printed on dial face
Missing: From CA of 08/15/1995 by Tony Missio: Yes - Missing mirror that scope is aimed at.
Finish: Varnished wood box, with green felt lining/ black painted sextant/ brass plated compass & handle/ transparent compass & level/ brown plastic
Decoration: N/A

CITE THIS OBJECT

If you choose to share our information about this collection object, please cite:

Boyce-Meier Equipment Co., Sextant & compass, circa 1937, Artifact no. 1986.0358, Ingenium – Canada’s Museums of Science and Innovation, http://collection.ingenium.ca/en/item/1986.0358.001/

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