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cylinder Cylinder electrical machine made by E. Palmer, London, after 1838
National Museum of American History,
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.
Image courtesy National Museum of American History


The object in the portrait of David Wiley is a cylinder electrical machine, a form that originated in the 1740s and remained popular through the first half of the nineteenth century. When the glass cylinder is rotated and rubbed against a cushion of leather, an electrical charge is generated.


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Title image: Gregorian reflecting telescope made in London by James Short for John Winthrop/Courtesy Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments, Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts

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David Wiley
John Vinall
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David Wiley
John Vinall
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