the REAL Mystery....

rb608 wrote:
BJ Conner wrote:
It could used for a lot of things.


...My rudimentary French suggests to me its function is some sort of
inclinometer (meters of length per 25 m/ht?). Beyond that, I'm
stumped.

Joe F.

7 1/2 inches long and built with a grip that suggests it wasn't
designed as a sighting instrument. The hole in the grip would allow it
to hang more or less plumb but I can't think of any purpose that would
serve. The numbered and skewed crosshatching, front and back, are
pretty obviously calculators meant to convert the reading from the
needle into some useful value. Looks to me like the needle moving in
response to a push on the rod suggests strongly that something is being
measured right at the front end of the instrument. What and
why?.......dunno.

Wolfgang

"Wolfgang" wrote in message
7 1/2 inches long and built with a grip that suggests it wasn't
designed as a sighting instrument. The hole in the grip would allow it
to hang more or less plumb but I can't think of any purpose that would
serve.

I thought about that, but the numbers would be upside down, and from
appearances, the needle fulcrum doesn't seem to lead toward the hole in the
handle. Still, I wouldn't discount the hole as utilitarian.

Joe F.

Wolfgang wrote:
rb608 wrote:
BJ Conner wrote:
It could used for a lot of things.


...My rudimentary French suggests to me its function is some sort of
inclinometer (meters of length per 25 m/ht?). Beyond that, I'm
stumped.

Joe F.

7 1/2 inches long and built with a grip that suggests it wasn't
designed as a sighting instrument. The hole in the grip would allow it
to hang more or less plumb but I can't think of any purpose that would
serve. The numbered and skewed crosshatching, front and back, are
pretty obviously calculators meant to convert the reading from the
needle into some useful value. Looks to me like the needle moving in
response to a push on the rod suggests strongly that something is being
measured right at the front end of the instrument. What and
why?.......dunno.

It looks to me that there is a clear correlation between the position
of the pointer, the position of the rod, and the scale on the graph.

I was thinking that there might have been some sort of slider that was
connected to the bar. When you adjusted the slider (possibly by moving
the pointer manually), the rod would move the slider and put a hairline
on the appropriate position on the graph.

--riverman