Abstract
SEVERAL circulars recently received from the Bureau of Standards of the Department of Corn- merce, Washington, well illustrate the untiring in- dustry to be found in the American public offices. Circular No. 9 deals with the standardising of glass volumetric apparatus such as flasks, burettes, pipettes, pyknometers, and measuring cylinders. The bureau aims at encouraging excellence of quality in such apparatus by co-operating with the makers on one hand, and on the other with the users. To this end the circular describes specifications for the various classes of instruments, and the bureau admits for standardising that apparatus only which conforms to the specifications. It is pointed out in the circular that certain of the demands, such as those regarding the quality of the glass and the process of annealing before calibration, are largely dependent for their fulfilment on the integrity and good faith of the manufacturer. Users can therefore help to secure a high degree of excellence by support- ing conscientious makers and giving consideration in the first place to quality, and only secondly to the matter of cost. The circular supplies information on such points as the best design of apparatus, the material, the methods of marking the graduations, the units of capacity employed, and the limits of error allowable. There are also directions for the manipulation of the apparatus during testing; and for those who wish to calibrate their own burettes and pipettes a brief description of the method to be employed is given.
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Standardising Apparatus and Methods . Nature 94, 687 (1915). https://doi.org/10.1038/094687a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/094687a0