Galvanoscope

NOT YET LOCATED.

The term “galvanometer” is in current use, naming an instrument which indicates the strength of an electric current. The Galvanoscope is an earlier instrument, which shows the presence of the current but gives only a rough indication of its magnitude The basic galvanoscope has a single turn of wire through which current passes and creates a magnetic field which turns a magnetic needle. It can be made more sensitive by increasing the number of turns of wire in the loop surrounding the needle. The galvanoscope at Washington and Lee was made by Benjamin Pike, Jr. of New York, and is listed at $3.50 in the 1856 second volume of Pike's catalogue.