Barometer (Thermometer)

Description

This barometer is commonly known as a "stick" type with a complex, molded pediment overhanging the upper wood case at the front and sides and small brackets at the junction with the long rectangular lower case that encloses the barometric glass tube, and a circular pendant as the lower case with an adjustable brass knob as a terminus. The upper case encloses the upper barometer and thermometer mounted on a silvered brass backplate. The backplate is engraved in script: "Furnished to Bedford County by / the Com\tee on Meteorology of the/ Franklin Institute of Pennsyl/ vania" and "L.C. Francis/ fecit/ Philad.\a N.o/37". The glass thermometer tube, mounted on the viewer's left, is engraved with the scale including: "Summ\r Heat", "Tempe/rate" and "Freez/ing". The top of the barometer has an adjustable sliding index between the scale of 27 and 31 inches. Bedford County is in central southern Pennsylvania. The instrument's maker, Lawrence C. Francis, worked in Philadelphia from 1839 until 1881. He was a member of the Franklin Institute where his very first barometer for this project, No.1, is still in the collection. This barometer participated in an endeavour founded by the Franklin Institute and the American Philosophical Society in 1834 as a joint committee of meteorology to collect weather data throughout different regions. One of their goals was to determine the "progression of weather patterns, primarily for the benefit of agriculture and the furtherance of scientific knowledge." Barometers, rain gauges, and other instruments were distributed and used by volunteers who submitted their records to the Franklin Institute.