Component A: The instrument is mounted on a three-legged iron stand 18 cm tall. The instrument consists of a central cylinder in which several prisms would have been housed. Two 26 cm tubular arms with optical components radiate from the central cylinder horizontally. Another shorter optical component, 7 cm long, is also attached to the cylinder. A large cylindrical weight on a steel rod extends from the base of the central cylinder.
Component B: A small box containing three broken prisms from the spectroscope.
Accession Number: 2012.psy.104.a-b
Alternative Name:
Primary Materials: Iron, brass, glass
The lid is engraved “Franz Schmidt & Haensch, Berlin, Germany.”
Dimensions (cm): Height = 33, Width = 30, Length = 59
Used to measure the properties of light over a specific portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, typically used in spectroscopic analysis to identify materials
Good. Slight amounts of corrosion. Tape gum on one leg. Masking tape attached to lid.
2012.psy.104.b – Prisms, broken; 2012.psy.86, another spectroscope
Franz Schmidt & Haensch, Berlin, Germany
Date of Manufacture:
Dept. of Psychology, University of Toronto
Additional Information and References:
1) University of Toronto Department of Psychology. Spectroscope. Available from <a href=”http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.psych.utoronto.ca%2Fmuseum%2Fspectroscope.htm&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGTohuKcaerGZr6JNRy26z5Bqh8UA” target=”_blank”>http://www.psych.utoronto.ca/<wbr>museum/spectroscope.htm</a>. (Accessed Apr 4, 2012)
2) Baird, J. W., and R. J. Richardson (1900). A case of abnormal colour sense, with special reference to the space threshold of colours, University of Toronto Studies, Psychological Series, A. Kirschmann (Ed.), Vol. 1. Toronto: Librarian of the University of Toronto.
3) Boring, E. G. (1942). Sensation and Perception in the History of Experimental Psychology. New York: Appleton -Century. p. 155.
4) Titchener, (1915) Experimental Psychology, a Manual of Laboratory Practice: Volume II. Quantitative Experiments, Part II. Instructor’s Manual. New York: MacMillan. p. 39.
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