Eugène Jacot des Combes

The patent drawing of the first Jacot des Combes' adding machine
The patent drawing of the first Jacot des Combes’ adding machine

Yet another Parisian (living on rue du Petit-Carreau 23) watchmaker (after Ernest-Narcisse Lobbé in 1855) invented an early keyboard adder in the 1850s—Eugène Jacot des Combes (1825-1875) was a holder of two French patents for adding machines (machine à additionner) (Brevet №43781 from 1 February 1860, and Brevet №68027 from 11 July 1865). Jacot des Combes has also another patent from 1871 for apparatus for electrification of the air and ozone production.

The adding machine of Eugène Jacot des Combes is a column keyboard adder (while column adders can have two or more result digits, you can only add into the rightmost digit, and then generally only with the integers one through nine) with nine keys and a 3-positional result mechanism. It was one of the early keyboard adders, after the machines of White, Torchi, Schwilgué, Parmelee, the abovementioned Lobbé, Castle, Hill, and Nutz.

The construction of the device (see the nearby patent drawing) seems to be simple and reliable, but nothing survived to our time about Eugène Jacot des Combes and his machines.