Images(6)

saccharimeter

Date1870-1900

Inventory NumberDW0817

ClassificationPolarimeter

Subject

Maker French

Cultural Region

Dimensions47.5 x 53 x 19.5 cm (18 11/16 x 20 7/8 x 7 11/16 in.)

Material

DescriptionThis saccharimeter (also known in French as polarimètre à pénombre) consists of Nicol prisms that work as polarizer and analyzer, a trough where the sugar solution contained in a glass tube would be put, an eyepiece, a graduated circle to measure the angle of polarization and a small lens to magnify the graduated scale. The instrument can be vertically inclined and is supported by a tripod stand.

The instrument is very corroded at present. The sample tube is missing. It seems to work with the Duboscq saccharimeter tubes in collection (1997-1-2029).

Signedunsigned

Inscribedstamped on polarimeter scale below eyepiece: POLARIMETRE LAURENT

FunctionA saccharimeter is a polarimeter adapted for use with light source (sun or artificial, monochromatic or not), and it measures the optical activity of sugar solutions. The analyzer and polarizer (which are usually prisms) would be aligned such that no light passed through. Then the liquid substance was placed in between them, in a glass vial, and then put within the long tube seen on the picture. Light passing through the liquid creates fringes. The analyzer, close to the eyepiece, would be rotated until the fringes disappeared, and that angle would characterize the optical activity of the substance.

A similar saccharimeter made by Duboscq can be seen on the following website.

A good description of this polarimeter (named after its inventor Leon Laurent, a French optician) is found at the following website.

ProvenanceDavid Wheatland purchased from Alain Brieux, Paris, February 19, 1964 (lot 14/22).