This consists of a white plastic planisphere with the northern sky on one side and the southern on the other; nine clear plastic altitude-azimuth templates for use at different latitudes up to 5o north and south; a clear plastic meridian angle diagram; and a cardboard container. It is based on the Rude form, as modified in the early 1940s by Elmer Collins of the United States Hydrographic Office. It was published by the Hydrographic Office and sold for $4.00. The Hydrographic Office transferred it to the Smithsonian in 1957.
Ref: G. T. Rude, Star Finder and Identifier," U.S. patent #1,401,446
H. M. Jensen, et. al., "Navigational Instrument," U.S. patent
#1,919,222
E. B. Collins, "Star Finder," U.S. patent #2,304,797
E. B. Collins, "Star Finder," U.S. patent #2,337,545
Nathaniel Bowditch, American Practical Navigator (Washington, D.C.: United States Hydrographic Office, 1962), pp. 586-589.
"Elmer B. Collins," Washington Post (2 October 1958), p. B2.
