Technical instrument - United Kingdom - circa 1900 - Antique cathetometer.

Antique cathetometer, an instrument used for the precise measurement of horizontal or vertical distances.

The device, produced by The Precision Tool & Instrument Co. Ltd. from England, features an eyepiece mounted on a vertical scale and can also be used horizontally.

Such instruments were formerly used in physics laboratories for measurements on glass tubes or other vertical objects. This item comes from a dismantled Huygens laboratory.