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History of Science Museum

Computation Scale for Area Measurement, by Elliott Brothers, London, 1915

Inventory Number 14974


Item type
Object
Provenance
Purchased on 23 November 2015.
Primary inscriptions
"ELLIOTT BROS. [broad arrow] | LONDON 1915" stamped on right hand end of rule. At the left end: "ACRES | & | DECIMALS" and in the centre "SCALE OF 2500 OR 25.344 INS = 1 MILE".
Object type
Electronic instrument
Dimensions
Width: 903mm Depth: 38mm
Inventory No
14974
Accession Number
2015-9

Description

Wooden rule with central slot, metal slider and metal end stops. The metal slider has a rectangular frame with a central index wire to read off lengths when placed over a map. On the upper part of the rule the scale runs 0-10 acres and then backwards 10-20 on the lower part. Each acre unit is divided to tenths on the rule, and the scale on the slider further subdivides to tenths.

The broad arrow mark indicates government property and this instrument would presumably have been used for military surveying during the First World War.