Summary
Bath thermometer, circa 1920. It was used to monitor the temperature of patient's bath water at a mental health hospital in Victoria, Australia. Bath temperature had to be between 85 and 88 degrees Fahrenheit. This thermometer is an example of equipment used for bathing in psychiatric hospitals in Victoria, Australia.
Physical Description
Bath thermometer in wooden float. Thermometer and cardboard gauge are inside a glass tube which is set inside a small float, shaped like a one-handled flat-sided hollow rolling pin. Handle end has a nail-hole for hanging the thermometer. In the centre is a round-ended oblong hole, through which to view the thermometer. At the bottom is a smaller round hole, exposing the end of the thermometer.
More Information
-
Collection Names
-
Collecting Areas
-
Acquisition Information
Donation from Office of Psychiatric Services, May 1985
-
Place & Date Used
-
Inscriptions
Indicator chart is printed on cardboard gauge beside thermometer (partly obscured by slipping sideways inside tube).
-
Classification
Medicine & health, Mental health - institutional life, Ablutions
-
Category
-
Discipline
-
Type of item
-
overall dimensions
3 cm (Length), 3 cm (Width), 25.5 cm (Height)
-
Exhibition Collection Management
26 mm (Length), 26 mm (Width), 254 mm (Height)
-
Dimensions
2.5 cm (Length), 2.5 cm (Width), 25.5 cm (Height)
Measurement From Conservation.
-
References
Pearce, Evelyn "Instruments, Appliances and Theatre Technique", Faber and Faber Ltd. 1950.
-
Keywords
Hospitals, Psychiatric Services, Psychiatric Hospitals, Bathing, Hygienic Products, Making History - Psych Services
