Christian Becker Torsion Balance Apothecary Scale, a French Pocket Compass, and a Magnifier.

Scale size: 4 1/2 X 3 X 1 1/4 in.

#5418 .

Compass/Magnifier size (together): 1 1/2 X 1 1/2 X 1 1/2 in.

#5402 .

The apothecaries’ system, or apothecaries’ weights and measures, is a historical system of mass and volume units that were used for medical prescriptions and also sometimes by scientists. The English version of the system is closely related to the troy system of weights, the pound and grain being exactly the same in both, and was used in the United Kingdom and in some of their colonies up into the 20th Century. The Torsion Balance Company, originally known as the Springer Torsion Balance Company, was incorporated on September 7th, 1897 in the state of New York. On February 8th, 1915, they bought the Christian Becker Company, which allowed them to sell their products to laboratories. Additional markets included the dairy and textile industry. The Corporation had offices on Reade Street in New York City and a plant in Jersey City, New Jersey until 1949 when both the offices and plant were combined at a new factory in Clifton, New Jersey. The pocket compass and magnifier were tools made for seafarers to use on the go, rather than relying on larger, more cumbersome versions which sometimes had to be attached to the vessel. These two indispensable exploratory tools have been around in some shape or form for thousands of years, with the earliest known magnetic compass appearing in China during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and the magnifying glass found in the Archaic Greek Period (800 - 480 BC).

Location O5