Abstract
CELLULOID has been applied to so many purposes, that one is never surprised to see one or other of its many valuable properties turned to account in some new way. A slide-rule is now made, in which the surfaces on which the divisions are engraved consist of thin sheets or veneers of dead white celluloid. The divisions are beautifully sharp and distinct. If these veneers do not come unfastened, and the rule does not lose its dead white surface with use and exposure, this new application of celluloid will be found a most valuable one. The rule examined is one almost identical in pattern with the well-known Gravet instrument, and, if one may judge by the scale, the accuracy of the divisions, and the smoothness of the motions, it is made by the same machinery. The differences are mere differences of detail. Mahogany takes the place of boxwood. The cursor runs on an improved form of slide. Chisel-edges, instead of cross-lines, on the cursor are used to transfer readings. There is only one opening at the back, so tangents cannot be read without reversing the slide. The millimetre scales at the two edges are replaced by scales of inches. It is a pity that one of the scales of millimetres has not been left. The agents are John Davis and Son, of Derby and 118 Newgate Street, and the price is rather less than that at which the ordinary Gravet can be obtained in this country.
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BOYS, C. The Celluloid Slide-Rule. Nature 39, 486 (1889). https://doi.org/10.1038/039486d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/039486d0
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