Storm Predictor
The storm predictor ( English Tempest prognosticator ) was, according to which a beginning of the 1850s developed apparatus which was based on observations flukes , and in particular medicinal leech in vessels behaved depending on weather conditions peculiar.
This simply as "Egelbarometer" ( English Leech Barometer ) called this device should otherwise the weatherman reputed behavior for prediction of storms use and similar atmospheric turbulence. Despite its exhibition in London's Crystal Palace in 1851, it could not prevent the storm glass that conquered the market a few years later.
Apparatus and functionality
The inventor of the storm predictor, George Merryweather, took his inspiration from Edward Jenner's natural poem Signs of Rain and from the verses “ The leech disturbed is newly risen; Quite to the summit of his prison. ”(German:“ In an uproar, the leech rises again; in its prison all the way up. ”) Merryweather attributed this behavior as a reaction to electromagnetic changes in the atmosphere, such as those caused by thunderstorms . The apparatus, which he first called “ Atmospheric Electromagnetic Telegraph, conducted by Animal Instinct ” (German: “Atmospheric-electromagnetic telegraph, guided by animal instinct”), he designed in 1850 and also carried out tests, the results of which he recorded in a preserved notebook. He had the apparatus built in different versions, from the inexpensive to the magnificent, which was reminiscent of Indian temples and was on view in the Crystal Palace during the World Exhibition of 1851 . He presented this luxury version and his research on February 27, 1851 to the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society (in whose museum he was honorary curator) in a three-hour lecture entitled Essay explanatory of the Tempest Prognosticator in the building of the Great Exhibition for the Works of Industry of All Nations .
The storm predictor consisted of twelve glass containers arranged in a circle around a signal bell. At the top of each jar there was a snap mechanism similar to a mousetrap , consisting of a small metal tube, a wire connected to the bell's hammer, and a piece of whale bone that held the wire in place. As an approaching storm was announced, Merryweather explained as follows:
“After having arranged this mouse trap contrivance, into each bottle was poured rain water, to the height of an inch and a half; and a leech placed in every bottle, which was to be its future residence; and when influenced by the electromagnetic state of the atmosphere a number of leeches ascended into the tubes; in doing which they dislodged the whalebone and caused the bell to ring. "
“After this mousetrap was set up, rainwater was poured into each bottle an inch and a half high; then a leech came into each bottle as its future home. Under the influence of the electromagnetic charge in the atmosphere, some of the leeches crawled up into the tubes and loosened the whale bones, which made the bell ring. "
The tubes should be narrow enough that a leech would not normally crawl into them; only an approaching storm would make him do it. Every single ring indicated that a leech was expecting a storm; the more often the bell rang, the more likely it would be. Merryweather saw his leeches as a “ jury of philosophical councilors ” (German: “Jury philosophischer Ratgeber”). The circular arrangement of the glass containers resembled the panoptic prisons that were emerging at the time . Merryweather indicated that mutual visual contact would save the leeches from suffering from separate confinement.
Market success and replicas
Merryweather tried to get the British government to purchase his barometer to use for storm warning along the coast of England, but to no avail. Robert FitzRoy's storm glass later prevailed in place of the storm predictor . But the method was not completely forgotten. In the self-help catalog Enquire within from 1884, a leech barometer for self-construction is described:
“Leech Barometer: Take an eight-ounce phial, and put in it three gills of water, and place in it a healthy leech, changing the water in summer once a week, and in winter once a fortnight, and it will most accurately prognosticate the weather. If the weather is to be fine, the leech lies motionless at the bottom of the glass, and coiled together in a spiral form; if rain may be expected, it will creep up to the top of its lodgings, and remain there till the weather is settled; if we are to have wind, it will move through its habitation with amazing swiftness, and seldom goes to rest till it begins to blow hard; if a remarkable storm of thunder and rain is to succeed, it will lodge for some days before almost continually out of the water, and discover great uneasiness in violent throes and convulsive-like motions; in frost as in clear summer-like weather it lies constantly at the bottom; and in snow as in rainy weather it pitches its dwelling in the very mouth of the phial. The top should be covered over with a piece of muslin. "
"Leech barometer: You take an eight-ounce vial, add three quarter pints of water, and then put a healthy leech in it, changing the water once a week in summer and every fortnight in winter, and the weather becomes extremely accurate predicted. In good weather, the leech will lie motionless and curled up in a spiral at the bottom of the glass; when it rains it will crawl up and stay up until the weather is good again; when the wind comes up he will move through his dwelling at great speed and will almost never come to rest before violent gusts of wind begin; if a real thunderstorm should come with rain, then it will be outside the water days beforehand and show great restlessness with violent cramps and downright convulsions; in frost and clear weather, such as in summer, he is constantly on the ground; and in both snowfall and rain he puts his bed in the neck of the bottle. The top of the vial should be covered with a piece of muslin. "
No original Tempest prognosticator has survived, and it is not known whether Merryweathers devices ever came onto the market; however, a hundred years after the World Exhibition of 1851 on the occasion of the Festival of Britain in 1951, a model of the device was created in the Crystal Palace, which was exhibited in the Dome of Discovery in London, after the descriptions Merryweather and an engraving . After the exhibition it was given as a gift to the Whitby Museum , where it was included in the object exhibition. Another replica can be found in the Barometer World in Okehampton .
See also
Web links
- Whitby Museum (location of the first replica)
Individual evidence
- ^ English quotation from Notes and Queries , November 4, 1865, p. 379 , accessed June 7, 2007.
- ↑ a b c English quote from Victorian Web ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 7, 2007.
- ↑ English quote from Inquire Within , edition 1884, N ° 968 , accessed on 7 June of 2007.
