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Yes, they’re medieval; no, they’re not instruments of torture (or dentistry). The… things at left are from Epact, “an electronic catalogue of medieval and renaissance scientific instruments from four European museums: the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford, the Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza, Florence, the British Museum, London, and the Museum Boerhaave, Leiden.” Since I don’t often get to Leiden, it’s nice to know I can look at all the gadgets and gizmos aplenty from the comfort of my desk chair. The tools pictured here are measuring rods, and it appears that not much is known about them, but you can make your own guesses:
“The square rod carries gunner’s gauge scales and was therefore intended to measure shot, but the purpose of the pointed rods and knife is not entirely clear.
The objects are neither signed nor dated, but the style of the decoration and the language used suggest that they are German and were made in the late 16th century.”
The rest of the exhibit is super-cool, too, if you have a few hours to while away.
Comments (2)
Comment
In the Royal Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh, I just saw a huge iron sarcophagus made to cover normal caskets and keep out the graverobbers. There is also a Kingskettle collar that would be slipped around the neck of the dearly departed and bolted to the casket floor to keep the bodysnatchers at bay. Chilling. So of course I had to see the graveyard where the graves are enclosed in iron bars, and the rooming house where 17 people were murdered to sell their bodies for dissection. It was all so creepy and compelling I was forced to post an article, “One Wee Dram of Anatomy”, on my blog. Amazing what a little trip to a museum can lead to.
posted by Dr. Nostrum on 11-30-2006 at 6:59 pm
As a firearms nerd: the knife was likely used to break up powder for the 16th century powder charged. Early black powder, under certain conditions, clumps. Also in Germany and France at this time there was some experimentation with charges wrapped in paper (primarily for naval use) a hole had to be punched in the paper coated charge for ignition.
Just a guess.
posted by Lee on 12-1-2006 at 11:45 am