n. One who indicates or points out; that which points out, directs, or reports, as a grade-post on a railroad, the pointer on a steam-gage, etc.n. Specifically— A steam (cylinder) pressure-gage. It is an apparatus for recording the variations of pressure or vacuum in the cylinder of a steam-engine. The accompanying cut represents a type of the indicator. The pipe with the stop-cock is screwed to the cylinder so that when the cock is opened the pressure of the steam within may enter the cylinder above, press the piston upward against the action of a spring constructed to give a definite resistance in pounds per square inch, and cause the lever-arm to rise and mark on the hollow cylinder at the left a vertical trace, the altitude of which measures the pressure. A card or a sheet of paper may be fitted to this cylinder, and the trace be made on the paper. The hollow cylinder is free to revolve, if drawn by the loose cord hanging from it. To operate the indicator, the cord is connected with some moving part of the engine so that a single stroke of the piston causes the cylinder and the card to revolve once (the return being secured by a spring) as the pencil makes one mark. Since the pencil-mark is timed to one stroke of the engine, the resulting curved line on the card gives a graphic report of the pressure or vacuum of the steam during one complete stroke. Such graphic curves are called indicator-diagrams, the marked card being called an indicator-card. See indicator-diagram, under diagramn. The dial and pointer of a signal-telegraph used on private lines, where rapidity of delivery of the messages is not important. It consists of a dial having the letters of the alphabet printed upon it, and a pointer that traverses the circle, pausing before the letters of the word transmitted, thus spelling out the message. See telegraph.n. In a microscope, an arrangement for marking the position of a particular object in the field of view. Quekett's indicator was a steel finger connected with the eyepiece.n. In mining, an arrangement by means of which the position of the cage in the shaft is known to the man in charge of the winding-engine.n. In the theory of numbers, the exponent of that power of any number less than and prime to any modulus, which power is the least power of the same number congruous to unity.n. In anatomy, the extensor indicis, a muscle which extends the forefiuger, as in the act of pointing. It arises from the back of the ulna, and is inserted into the index-finger, which can thus be straightened independently of the other fingers.n. In ornithology: A honey-guide; a species of the genus Indicator or family Indicatoridæ.n. [capitalized] The typical and leading genus of Indicatoridæ, established by Vieillot in 1816. I. major and I. minor are examples. See Indicatoridæ.n. n. In railroad signaling, a device for informing the leverman in a signal-cabin that a train is about to start from the station and indicating which track it will take; in its broadest sense, any appliance for displaying, in the signal-cabin, the condition of a track or of all the tracks in a yard, the position of the signals, semaphores, switches, and signal-lamps, the trains at rest, or moving, or about to enter or leave any block, etc. The indicator may be a number on a drop-plate, a disk or banneret, or a miniature signal-arm, and it may give information by its appearance or disappearance or by its position. It may also give a signal by means of a bell. An indicator may be operated from a distant station or cabin by a push-button, or it may be automatic, or it may be controlled by a train through a track-circuit.n. In mining, an appearance of the surface of the ground which shows the presence of a mineral underneath.n. Naval: An apparatus used in conjunction with a transmitter, operated by mechanical or electrical means for signaling orders from a central position to the various places on a war-ship at which the orders are to be executed. The transmitter is manipulated by the operator in the central station or in the conning-tower to show any desired order, and the same order is shown on one or more indicators connected to the transmitter by wires or shafting. A range-indicator shows the range of the object at which the guns are to be fired; a battle-order indicator shows various orders such as ‘commence firing,’ ‘load with shell,’ etc. An apparatus to show at a convenient Point the position of any mechanism: as, a revolution-indicator to show the direction of revolution of the main engines; a rudder -indicator, to show the position of the helm or rudder; a turret-indicator, to show the position of the turret guns with reference to the fore-and-aft line of the ship; etc.
