Glass measuring cylinder, England, 1777
The inscription on the funnel mouth of this measuring cylinder reads “No.10 for Dr. Haygarth Chester w Fecit 1777”. Fecit means “made”. This type of in-scription on laboratory glassware is rare. The cylinder has a scale etched and painted on the side and is marked with Roman numerals. This may have been used to measure liquids. “Dr Haygarth” may be John Haygarth (1740-1827), a physician based in Chester, north-west England. Haygarth researched the spread of smallpox and was partly responsible for the founding of the Small-pox Society in Chester in 1778.
Object number:
A650386
Related Themes and Topics
Glossary:
Glossary: measuring cylinder
piece of laboratory glassware used to accurately measure out volumes of chemicals for use in reactions. They are generally more accurate and precise for this purpose than flasks.
Glossary: smallpox
Smallpox is an infectious virus unique to humans. It results in a characteristic skin rash and fluid-filled blisters. After successful vaccination campaigns throughout the 1800s and 1900s, the World Health Organisation certified the eradication of smallpox in 1979. Smallpox is the only human infectious disease to have been completely wiped out.