glass press for polarization by strain
Date: 1825-1870
Inventory Number: 1997-1-1541
Classification: Polarization Apparatus
Subject:
Maker: Jean Baptiste François Soleil (1798 - 1878)
Maker: Henri Jean Jacques Soleil (died 1879)
User: Harvard College (founded 1636)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
13.5 × 15.6 × 2 cm (5 5/16 × 6 1/8 × 3/4 in.)
Description:
Two-armed brass frame with small fruitwood handle. The handle turns to adjust the height of a steel bar that presses upon a tube of glass [missing].
Signedstamped on frame: SOLEIL A PARIS RUE DE L'ODÉON
Inscribedin ink: 9 187
on orange paint: H
on orange paint: H
FunctionThis glass press was used to illustrate how stresses put on the glass were revealed under polarized light.
Primary SourcesPike, Benjamin. Pike's Illustrated Descriptive Catalogue, vol. 2 (New York, 1848), 200.