Museo Galileo
italiano
Virtual Museum
Catgut-rope hygrometer
    • Setting:
      Room XVIII
    • Maker:
      unknown
    • Place:
      French
    • Date:
      18th cent.
    • Materials:
      brass
    • Dimensions:
      diameter 127 mm
    • Inventory:
      2441
    • Catgut-rope hygrometer (Inv. 2441)

Hygrometer consisting of a round brass box whose top carries a dial with a circular scale and several inscriptions, protected by a glass disk. At the center of the disk is a pointer fixed to the hygroscopic substance—a catgut rope—whose end is inserted into a cork. The changes in atmospheric humidity act on the catgut rope, which, in turn, moves the pointer.