Nekoglyph
Tempest Prognosticator
The appropriately named George Merryweather invented the "Atmospheric Electromagnetic Telegraph conducted by Animal Instinct or Tempest Prognosticator" in 1850. He was a Whitby doctor who observed that medicinal leeches are sensitive to atmospheric conditions generated before an electrical storm.
The machine had 12 pint glass bottles under a bell surrounded by 12 hammers. Each hammer was attached by wire to a piece of whalebone set loosely in the neck of a bottle. Each bottle had water in the bottom and a leech. The leeches would respond to the atmospheric conditions and move up their bottles to displace the whalebones and ring the bell. When several leeches did this, there was a storm a-brewin'!
The design is based on the form of an Indian temple in honour of the origin of the Crystal Palace design, since the machine was to be exhibited there at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Merryweather tested the machine for more than a year, thought it would be widely used on ships, and designed a range for different budgets, but it never caught on.
The original made for the Great Exhibition was lost. This one is a replica made for the Festival Of Britain in 1951 and donated to Whitby Museum. It's not a working model because the bell is made of cardboard.
In the small case on the left side of the photo you can just see The Hand Of Glory.
Tempest Prognosticator
The appropriately named George Merryweather invented the "Atmospheric Electromagnetic Telegraph conducted by Animal Instinct or Tempest Prognosticator" in 1850. He was a Whitby doctor who observed that medicinal leeches are sensitive to atmospheric conditions generated before an electrical storm.
The machine had 12 pint glass bottles under a bell surrounded by 12 hammers. Each hammer was attached by wire to a piece of whalebone set loosely in the neck of a bottle. Each bottle had water in the bottom and a leech. The leeches would respond to the atmospheric conditions and move up their bottles to displace the whalebones and ring the bell. When several leeches did this, there was a storm a-brewin'!
The design is based on the form of an Indian temple in honour of the origin of the Crystal Palace design, since the machine was to be exhibited there at the Great Exhibition of 1851. Merryweather tested the machine for more than a year, thought it would be widely used on ships, and designed a range for different budgets, but it never caught on.
The original made for the Great Exhibition was lost. This one is a replica made for the Festival Of Britain in 1951 and donated to Whitby Museum. It's not a working model because the bell is made of cardboard.
In the small case on the left side of the photo you can just see The Hand Of Glory.