Museo Galileo
italiano
previous
Virtual Museum
Hair hygrometer
    • Setting:
      Room XIV
    • Maker:
      unknown
    • Place:
      Italian?
    • Date:
      late 19th cent.
    • Materials:
      iron, brass
    • Dimensions:
      height 415 mm, width 89 mm
    • Inventory:
      3708
    • Hair hygrometer (Inv. 3708)

This instrument is similar to the hygrometer described by Horace-Bénédict de Saussure c. 1780. It consists of a brass frame set on an iron base. The hygroscopic substance is a single hair. Its length varies slightly with the change in air humidity, actuating a pointer. There is also a mercury thermometer with a centigrade scale. Resembles item inv. 2033.