Natural Philosophy Collection

Box of Heart shaped Metals

An appropriate exhibit for St Valentine’s Day comes from the era when it was considered quite natural to mix serious philosophical demonstrations with parlour amusements. This particular entertainment was invented and made by George Adams, Jnr, instrument-maker to His Majesty George III in the last quarter of the 18^th century. Our version appears in the inventory of equipment owned by Professor Copland. It is unsigned but is very similar to the specimen in the George III collection and is presumed either to have been made by Adams or to have been executed by Copland himself to Adams’ design. Each heart is made from a different metal (our gold one is missing, as is usual). The ‘student’, or player, shuffles the hearts among the spaces and closes the lid. The operator takes a small ‘perspective’ (in fact an ivory-sided compass with transparent base) and moves it over the lid, announcing from the reading on the ‘perspective’ where each metal is. The trick worked because the metal hearts were all made with an embedded compass needle, each in a different orientation.

John S. Reid