An instrument for measuring the curvature of a surface. The usual instrument for this purpose consists of a tripod, the pointed legs of which rest on the spherical surface at the corners of an equilateral triangle. In the centre of this triangle is a fourth point, the height of which is adjusted by means of a micrometer screw. If the distance between each leg and the axis through the micrometer screw is l, and the height of the micrometer point above (or below) a flat surface is x, the radius (r) of the sphere is given by