Goethe Weatherglass (Barometers)

...Admiral Fitzray the mysterious legacy of a famous English meteorologist. The storm glass barometer acc. to Admiral Fitzroy is a rest of the good old time of seafaring. Who was Admiral Fitzroy? Fitzroy belonged to the famous scientists who dealt with meteorology, as Galilei, Descartes, Boyle, Torricelli, Kelvin, to name only some of them. Admiral Fitzroy (1805-1865) was ahead his time by years. He had his own ideas of the world, of life, of the atmosphere and the physical processes connected with them. Admiral Fitzroy participated as commander of H.M.S. "Beagle" in the Darwin expedition of 1834-36. He did pioneering work for the meteorology and found a number of weather sayings. The storm glass named after him was very popular in the second half of the 19th century and exists numerously still today. But, still today, this unique glass has its riddles. The riddle of the storm glass. The principle of function of the storm glass bases on the reaction of camphor in a solution of alcohol and chemicals. By the state of the crystals you can forecast the weather. Admiral Fitzroy was of the opinion that the electricity of the air and the direction of the wind influence the reaction of the crystals. The two extremes of this reaction are: Clear liquid - period of fine weather; Cloudy liquid with whirled up crystals indicates a thunderstorm, with all fine grades in between. Note: Latter experiments indicate that not only the atmospheric pressure but also the temperature changes related to the weather set the tendency of crystallization of the substances. Therefore, especially during the cold season, heated rooms may spoil the indication. The legend on the storm glass barometers defines: Clear solution - Good weather, Crystals on the bottom - Thick air, frost in winter, Cloudy solution - Rain, Cloudy solution with small stars - Thunderstorm, Big Flakes - Heavy air, cloudy sky, snow in winter, Threads in the lower region - Windy weather, Small points - Humid weather, fog, Rising flakes - Wind in the lower layers of the air, Small stars - In winter fine weather with snowfall within some days.