Electric Telegraphy and Horology ... Totalisator Counter with Rotative and Alternative Motion, Patentee Taylor’s System… [c.1875 technology; trade product literature]

“The smallness of volume of these counters and their special disposition allows them to be adapted to all kinds of machines”

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C. 1875 English-language brochure or trade literature for totalisator counters manufactured by precision instrument manufacturer E. Deschiens of Paris, here promoting their counters to naval engineers. Deschiens’ devices calculated the number of rotations or alternate motions made by engines and other machines.

According to the Smithsonian: “Counting the number of revolutions of a shaft allowed steamship owners to gauge the distance between ports, helped gas companies measure the quantity of their product sold, and aided engineers seeking to determine when a steam pump would require fuel. Combined with a watch, revolution counters allowed one to measure the velocity of any number of machines. Eugène Deschiens, whose business was active in Paris from 1866 until 1894, was an eminent manufacturer of revolution counters and velocity meters (known also as tachometers). An 1884 article on tachometers reported that his instrument was “so well known we need not describe it.” His devices won prizes at national and international exhibitions. They were used on ships of both the French and the British navies, as well as by a range of other manufacturers.”¹

Five wood engraved illustrations depict various counters or “velocimeters” (tachometers) manufactured by Deschiens including an interior view of one of them. Also seen is an extract from a report made to the English Admiralty on a trial of one of Deschiens’ counters and a price list of counters including “Large Navy” models. Medals awarded to E. Deschiens at various international industrial and naval exhibitions, touted herein, suggest a date circa 1875.

Price: $75.00