Meteorology: United States Department of Agriculture Weather Bureau, 1909-1910, 1920

Series “IV. Pamphlets and journals” dates from the 1850s to the 1950s, with bulk dates from the 1870s to the 1920s, and documents the professional associations and interests of the Birkinbine Engineering Company and the Birkinbine family. It is arranged alphabetically by subject, and chronologically within each subject. Subjects include: the 1876 Centennial Celebration in Philadelphia, bridges and railroads, chemistry, coal, conservation, dams, electricity, engineering, foreign publications, forestry, gas, geology, iron and steel, mechanical arts, meteorology, Mexico, military, mining, power, religion, United States government, water works, world’s fairs, and zoology.

The 1876 Centennial Exhibition subjects include catalogs from Germany and Switzerland as well as lists of objects exhibited by the Philadelphia Board of Public Works. Bridges and railroads subjects contain manuals of railroad engineers and materials from the Phoenixville Bridge Works and the Rapid Transit Railway Pueblo and the Beulah Valley. Chemistry subjects include information regarding chemical analyses and specific chemicals from the periodic table, especially metallic elements, such as Nickel and Magnesium. Coal subjects mention anthracite and bituminous coal varieties, mining waste, and problems of the coal industry, with several materials printed from Mining and Metallurgy journal. Conservation subjects address both land and water conservation. Dams subjects focus on hydraulic-filled dams, with materials from the Ambursen Hydraulic Construction Company. Electricity subjects feature a diagram of a patent for an electric separator. Engineering subjects include journals from various organizations such as The American Society of Civil Engineers and The Engineers’ Club of Philadelphia. This series contains an assortment of reports, journals, and articles regarding forestry from organizations including the Pennsylvania Chestnut Tree Blight Commission, the Pennsylvania Forestry Association, and The United States Department of Agriculture.

Gas subjects include materials from the Rands Pneumatic Gas Works, including its associated journal, Ugi Circle. Iron and Steel is another well-documented subject with materials from prominent journals such as The Iron Trade Review and Iron Works. Information about iron and steel ranges from broad to specific, with information from the state of the United States steel industry to the chemical reactions of iron smelting and historical accounts of the first iron casting in the United States. The mechanical arts contain journals from the Franklin Institute and address the technical areas of the engineering industries such as the construction and operation of machine parts. Meteorology subjects feature materials from the Maryland Weather Service and the United States Department of Agriculture, including almanacs, forecasting charts, and catalogs of meteorology instruments. Mexico subjects feature information concerning the Mexican mining and iron and steel industries, and President Porfirio Diaz.

Military subjects contain information by the Franklin Institute and Francis R. Packard regarding military engineering and hospitals. Mining is another substantive subject in this series. It features journals from the American Institute of Mining Engineers, as well as information on mine blasting from the Laflin and Rand Powder Company. Power subjects address the generation, transmission, and applications of steam power in mining activities that helped transform the industry at the turn of the 20th century. Religion subjects contain one journal, The Religious Press Journal. United States Government subjects include annual reports from the Chicago Department of Public Works, annual reports of the City Controller in Harrisburg, and hearings before the Committee of Finance of the United States Senate. Water works is another sizable subject in this series; It contains materials from the New England Water Works Association, the Gloucester City Water Supply, and the Harrisburg Water Supply. Water Works features a wide array of subjects from river pollution and diseases such as typhoid to the construction of city water works projects. Zoology subjects largely focus on diatomacae and diatoms, with materials from The Zoological Bulletin.