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Stick barometer signed Scalvino Milano from the first half of the 19th century

$3,441.52
£2,569.64
€2,900
CA$4,835.26
A$5,290.43
CHF 2,729.84
MX$63,352.28
NOK 34,656.67
SEK 32,469.96
DKK 22,090.13

About the Item

Batten barometer signed Scalvino Milano from the first half of the 19th century, made of ebonized wood. Complete with reading nonius for atmospheric pressure change and mercury thermometer. Good condition woodworm marks in the wooden board and crack at the end of the barometric tube. Measurements 8.3x4.5x99 cm - inches 3.3x1.8x39 To be sure, the barometer was emptied of mercury Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647), mathematician and physicist, a disciple of Galileo, was the first in 1643 to build a measuring instrument capable of detecting changes in pressure Mercury was already known in antiquity to the Chinese and Hindus; it was found in Egyptian tombs dated around 1500 BC. By 500 B.C. its use as an amalgamant for other metals began. The ancient Greeks used it as a pigment for paintings, and the Romans employed it in cosmetics. According to medieval alchemists it was the matter from which everything else was formed, and they thought that once hardened it would turn into gold. In the 18th and 19th centuries, mercury nitrate was used to remove hair from hides used to make hats: this caused many cases of brain damage among those who made these headdresses, even leading to the coining of the saying "mad as a hatter." Since ancient times man, as a farmer and navigator, has observed and attempted to predict weather patterns. The scientific study of the changes occurring in the atmosphere began in the mid-17th century in connection with experiments tending to prove the existence of a vacuum, which ancient philosophers denied since "nature abhors a vacuum!" If you fill a long tube with water and place it upside down in a bucket with water, the column of liquid will descend until its weight is counterbalanced by air pressure on the surface of the water in the bucket: at some point in the upper, closed end of the tube there will be a vacuum.
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 39 in (99.06 cm)Width: 3.3 in (8.39 cm)Depth: 1.8 in (4.58 cm)
  • Materials and Techniques:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1830
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use.
  • Seller Location:
    Milan, IT
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU1020246923722

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