A steam bath is used to heat the solid of unknown specific heat by suspending it inside the inner compartment whose temperature can be measured accurately.

  The heating part is separated from the calorimeter by a sliding baffle that isolates it from heat gain from its influence.

  The calorimeter vessel is well insulated and can be slid under the heater by opening the baffle.   The heated solid can be quickly dropped into the calorimeter that is then slid back to the other end of the apparatus, the baffle lowered and the heat rise of the calorimeter noted.

  The necessary cooling corrections are made for heat loss from the calorimeter.

  The construction of the apparatus enables the transfer of the solid without significant heat loss and errors due to heat gain from external sources.