A Hicks pattern Campbell–Stokes sunshine recorder, retailed by Lennie's of Edinburgh, circa 1900.

Mounted on a slate base with bronze plaque: LENNIES 46 PRINCES STREET EDINBURGH

Marked with design registration number: Rd. 366565 

Hicks pattern Improved Campbell–Stokes sunshine recorder with adjustable bowl and lens, designed for Hicks by R. H. Curtis Esq F.R. Met. Soc. circa 1898.

 

Height: 18 cm.

Width:  23 cm.

Depth:  23 cm.

 

For a similar Campbell-Stokes sunshine recorder see the collection of the Science Museum, London, object number: 1926-949.

 

The Campbell–Stokes sphere is used to record sunshine. It was invented by John Francis Campbell in 1853 and modified in 1879 by Sir George Gabriel Stokes.

The original design by Campbell consisted of a glass sphere set into a wooden bowl with the sun burning a trace on the bowl.

Stokes’s refinement was to make the housing out of metal and to have a card holder set behind the sphere.