Antique 1894 E.H. Sargent & Co saccharimeter, made in Czechoslovakia by Josef & Jan Fric of Praha (Prague).

"A saccharimeter is an instrument for measuring the concentration of sugar solutions. This is commonly achieved using a measurement of refractive index (refractometer) or the angle of rotation of polarization of optically active sugars (polarimeter). Saccharimeters are used in food processing industries, brewing, and the distilled alcoholic drinks industry." (Source: Wikipedia)

"In 1849, Ezekiel H Sargent was partner in a drug store in Chicago selling assaying equipment to gold prospectors. In 1852, he became the sole owner and renamed the company E H Sargent & Company. He was wiped out in the 1871 Chicago fire but recovered and published his first catalog in 1875, becoming the first US mail order instrument supplier. The company was incorporated in 1889 under Illinois law. The drug store busines was sold and the New York scientific equipment company Richards & Co. Ltd. was acquired in 1904. In the years preceding WWI, Sargent established research and manufacturing facilities for precision instruments. In 1968, E. H. Sargent & Company and the Welch Scientific Company merged under the name Sargent-Welch Scientific Company. In 1989 they were purchased by VWR International and continue in business today as a supplier of science education supplies in Buffalo Grove, Illinois." (Source: Analog Weather / Radio Museum)