Name/Title
Electric MachineEntry/Object ID
2013.3.26Description
A common part of generator of static electricity. This particular machine was bought over a century ago at a cost of $195.00. It has unusually large hollow brass prime conductors. The extremities of these conductors end in two bows which, in turn, have sharp points to facilitate the passage of electricity from the large glass plate, but all other parts are rounded in cylindrical or spherical form, without edges or points, in order that the electricity produced by the machine will not be dissipated. This machine has a purple glass thirty-three inches in diameter.
Most nineteenth century texts on natural philosophy and many catalogues of the same period have figures on machines of this type. A good general discussion of important persons in the development of electricity is given by Bern Dibner (Early Electrical Machines (1600-1800), 1957). He includes in his remarks descriptions of early experiments and apparatus. On page 42 of his account is a good photograph which resembles very closely this machine in our collection. Dibner says that his was the type of machine used by Nicholas T. de Saussure, professor of Geology and Mineralogy at the University of Geneva. The machine was built by Dumotiers [z] Frères, Paris.Collection
Moosnick Museum - Scientific Apparatus
