Wollaston-type reflecting goniometer
Date: circa 1815
Inventory Number: 2008
Classification: Goniometer
Subject:
Maker: Accum & Garden (fl. 1808 - 1820)
User: John White Webster (1793 - 1850)
User: Department of Geology and Geography, Harvard University (1890 - 1961)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
18 × 12.8 × 16.5 cm (7 1/16 × 5 1/16 × 6 1/2 in.)
Description:
This goniometer rests on a wood circular base. It is equipped with a 12.5cm rotating brass circle on which is attached an adjustable arm for the mineral specimen holder. The brass circle has both coarse and fine adjusting screws. A vernier determines the angle of rotation. The scale is divided in two 180-degree quadrants. This instrument has a box that was apparently misidentified.
Signedon the main circle: Accum & Garden / London
FunctionFor measuring interfacial angles of crystals to determine their type.
Historical AttributesApparently purchased in London in 1815 by or for Prof. John White Webster (see College Papers IV, 184, 188, in Harvard University Archives).
John White Webster (1793-1850), a physician and chemist in Boston, Massachusetts. Webster graduated from Harvard in 1811. After receiving his Doctor of Medicine from Harvard in 1815, Webster completed his medical studies in London. Webster pursued a medical practice in Boston until his appointment as Lecturer on Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology in 1824. He served in this position until 1826, then Adjunct Professor of Chemistry from 1826 to 1827; and Erving Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy from 1827 to 1850. Webster confined his instruction to the Harvard Medical School.
In 1849, police investigators discovered something gruesome in the tea chest in which Professor Webster stored his prized collection of minerals: the dismembered torso of George Parkman, a Boston businessman that Webster had murdered in order to avoid repaying a debt. It was the "murder of the century." Webster was found guilty and was hanged on August 30, 1850.
John White Webster (1793-1850), a physician and chemist in Boston, Massachusetts. Webster graduated from Harvard in 1811. After receiving his Doctor of Medicine from Harvard in 1815, Webster completed his medical studies in London. Webster pursued a medical practice in Boston until his appointment as Lecturer on Chemistry, Mineralogy, and Geology in 1824. He served in this position until 1826, then Adjunct Professor of Chemistry from 1826 to 1827; and Erving Professor of Chemistry and Mineralogy from 1827 to 1850. Webster confined his instruction to the Harvard Medical School.
In 1849, police investigators discovered something gruesome in the tea chest in which Professor Webster stored his prized collection of minerals: the dismembered torso of George Parkman, a Boston businessman that Webster had murdered in order to avoid repaying a debt. It was the "murder of the century." Webster was found guilty and was hanged on August 30, 1850.
Curatorial RemarksProf. Frondel gave the CHSI a box marked on the back "Wollaston goniometer, Accum and Garden, 1815" supposedly for this instrument (inventory 1997-1-1753), but it is too small for it.
ProvenanceFrom the Department of Geology and Geography, Harvard University.