General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

12

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

GLASS BUBBLE; MAHOGANY WOOD CASE HAS SILK LINING & PAPER LABEL

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

7.8 cm

Width

7.8 cm

Height

3.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Metrology

Category

Specific gravity/density

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Corte

Country

Scotland

State/Province

Unknown

City

Glasgow

Context

Country

Worldwide

State/Province

Unknown

Period

THIS TYPE OF SET TYPICALLY USED IN LATE 18TH-EARLY 19TH CENTURIES

Canada

HYDROSTATIC BUBBLES WOULD HAVE BEEN USED BY BRITISH CUSTOMS AGENTS WORKING IN CANADA IN THE LATE 18TH-EARLY 19TH CENTURIES. THEY WOULDHAVE BEEN USED IN ORDER TO CALCULATE LEVY ON SPIRITS, WHICH WAS BASED ON ALCOHOL CONTENT.

Function

TO TEST SPECIFIC GRAVITY OF FLUIDS, INCLUDING SPIRITS

Technical

ALSO CALLED 'SPIRIT BEADS'. INVENTED IN 1757 BY ALEXANDER WILSON. IMPROVED METHOD OF CALIBRATING DISCOVERED IN 1805 BY ISABELL LOVI (BRITISH PATENT 2826-IN 1805). SIKES HYDROMETER INTRODUCED IN 1817 RAPIDLY REPLACED BUBBLE SETS (REF.1)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

ALL BULBS BEAR NUMBER ETCHED IN GLASS:.1-.11 MARKED '22' TO '32'/ BOX PT: PAPER LABEL INSIDE LID READS: 'Hydrostatical/ Glafs/ BUBBLES/ To prive spirits/ by/ JAS CORTE GLASGOW'. LABEL ALSO BEARS CALIBRATION SCALE: 'Alcohol 14/ Spirit of Wine 15 16 17/ 18/ High Wines 19/ 20/ 21/ D. Whisky 22/ 23/ 24/ Doub Rum 25 26 27/ Proof 28/ 29/ 30/ British Spirits 32 34 37/ Very Weak 40/ 43/ 50/ Grogg 56' [NB FORMATTING ALTERED FOR CLARITY]

Missing

NONE From CA of 12/10/2001 by David Daley: No - Complete

Finish

CLEAR GLASS BUBBLE/ TURNED & POLISHED MAHOGANY CASE; BLACK SILK LINING IN BASE.

Decoration

N/A