any instrument for measuring time, as dials, clocks, &c. The term, however, is commonly applied in a restricted sense to a kind of clock so contrived as to measure a small portion of time with great exactness. See CLOCK and WATCH-WORK.

CHRONOMETER is also the name of an instrument invented by Loulie, a French musician, for the purpose of measuring musical time by means of a pendulum. The form of the instrument is described in Malcolm's Treatise of Music, p. 407.

The Metronome, an instrument of the same kind, was introduced in Austria about the year 1814. It consists of a box containing a pendulum, which has its point of suspension between the extremities of the rod; and attached to the rod there is a sliding weight, by means of which the vibrations may be regulated to any number of beats in a fixed time. The pendulum is set in motion by a simple piece of mechanism, which is wound up like a clock.