BluesMan Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Someone gave this to me 5-10 years ago. I just put it on a bookshelf and never thought about it. While cleaning up the area the other day I started looking at it and wondering "what the heck is it?" It is made of glass and cannot be opened, nor is there anyway to add or remove the fluid in it.It is two sections; one about 3/4 inch and contains some black "rocks/charcoal” the other 10-12 inches long. It is filled with a clear fluid that is able to pass from one section to the other via the divider with holes in it. However the "charcoal" cannot go to the large section. It has not marking or graduations to be used for measurement. I assume it is fragile since it is made of glass. Any ideas? :surprise: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queso Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 very interesting.... welcome to hypography bluesman! I'm sure sombody here will have the answer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesMan Posted January 30, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 very interesting.... welcome to hypography bluesman! I'm sure sombody here will have the answer... Thank you for the kind welcome. I came here to get this question answered and now I've found myself surfing the other sections. WOW, they're great! Was this the right section, or would it be better moved to a different forum? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBigDog Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Thank you for the kind welcome. I came here to get this question answered and now I've found myself surfing the other sections. WOW, they're great! Was this the right section, or would it be better moved to a different forum?This will probalby do the trick to find an answer. I don't know what that thing is. I have seen thermometers that fit the description, but not with charcoal. Hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigD Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Is the dark are that looks a little like a rod in this picture made of something different than the glass? Is it conductive?:surprise: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesMan Posted January 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted January 31, 2006 Nope no rod just a hollow tube with fluid other than the "top" divided section with two holes that allow the fluid to enter and exit that section. Here's a picture of one end.A big one where you can see the fluid move to the large chamber thru the two holes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InfiniteNow Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 I knew a girl who kept one of those in her sock drawer, but she'd get pretty embarrassed when she caught me checking it out. :Waldo: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesMan Posted February 9, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 I knew a girl who kept one of those in her sock drawer, but she'd get pretty embarrassed when she caught me checking it out. :)Oh you just had to go there! Cracks me up :hihi: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arkain101 Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 It seems to me that it is meant to float in something. There is air in the tube so it was meant to allow it to float or maybe allow it to expand or maybe to allow it to swash. The black stuff is posistion in such a place that its movement is not included in the devices function. However if movement was important than it would only be like a switch and not a scale like function. hah, that is a confusing little thing. I would try violently shaking it and see what the fluid responds to that. Make it float in something. Maybe try warming it up slightly. maybe its art... there is a pretty cool reflection in that last picture you took though. Right where the biggest brightest part of the flash showed up is a kind of holigram or illusion of an eyeball which seems too look a bit like a womens face with white hair? I dont know mon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted February 9, 2006 Report Share Posted February 9, 2006 ___I agree with the floating idea; something like a hygrometer or such a matter? Have you tried to float it?___Maybe the black granules aren't carbon? Magnetite maybe? Try bringing a magnet near it.___Whatever it is, it's a damn nice one!:hihi: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rsade Posted February 11, 2006 Report Share Posted February 11, 2006 Maybe its a star drive from a tiny starship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CraigD Posted February 11, 2006 Report Share Posted February 11, 2006 I wonder if it is very old? Perhaps it is a failed or now defunct attempt by a pre-industrial revolution glass blower to make a thermometer, and the “rocks” once colored the fluid, but over time precipitated out of the solution and discolored. It looks as if, if heated or cooled, the fluid would rise or fall slightly in the tube, but not enough to be a very good thermometer, or warrant going to the trouble of calibrating and putting markings on it. Perhaps its maker thought it was too pretty and amusing to scrap, and kept or gave it away as a curious trinket.:hihi: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted February 11, 2006 Report Share Posted February 11, 2006 ___I agree with the floating idea; something like a hygrometer or such a matter? Have you tried to float it? ___Sorry; not "hygrometer" (used to measure atmospheric humidity), but rather it's a "hydrometer".From my dictionary: hydrometer n. An instrument used to determine specific gravity; especially, a sealed, graduated tube, weighted at one end, that sinks in a fluid to a depth used as a measure of the fluid's specific gravity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrometer ___Since the artifact isn't graduated, either the marks were removed or, the graduations on the vessel holding the fluid for testing suffice. For example, it may simply indicate go/no go; sink or float.:hihi: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesMan Posted February 11, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2006 ___Sorry; not "hygrometer" (used to measure atmospheric humidity), but rather it's a "hydrometer".From my dictionary: hydrometer n. An instrument used to determine specific gravity; especially, a sealed, graduated tube, weighted at one end, that sinks in a fluid to a depth used as a measure of the fluid's specific gravity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrometer ___Since the artifact isn't graduated, either the marks were removed or, the graduations on the vessel holding the fluid for testing suffice. For example, it may simply indicate go/no go; sink or float.:eek:If it is a hydormeter, it could have been to measure only one solution. This instrument would not need marks?I still have no idea?? :hihi: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rsade Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 maybe its a hydrometer from a tiny starship? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turtle Posted February 12, 2006 Report Share Posted February 12, 2006 If it is a hydormeter, it could have been to measure only one solution. This instrument would not need marks?I still have no idea?? :hihi: ___If the instrument were used in a graduated vessel, one could first fill the vessel to a predertermined level & then insert the hydrometer & then note the change in level on the vessel's graduations. The deeper the hydrometer sinks the higher the fluid in the vessel rises. This of course means the volume of the instrument as well as its weight is important. Moreover, since the weighted bottom is flat, noting its position in regard to the vessel's graduations is informative as well.___It also occured to me that maybe the instrument is meant to have markings, but failed to meet a production standard & so never made it to the marking stage; a reject in other words that made its way home with someone.___I must know!:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesMan Posted February 16, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2006 I had the opportunity to speak to the person who gave this to me. She told me she received it as a “gift” from someone around September 1965, all he told her was that the liquid is Gin and the black rocks are charcoal.She wrapped it up and has carried it across the country for 40 years. There is no way to open it without breaking it so I’m not sure why it would contain Gin, unless it was a promotional item of some type. This is still driving me a little crazy. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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