Tempest Prognosticator

The Tempest Prognosticator, also known as the Leech Barometer, is a 19th century invention by George Merryweather in which leeches are used in a barometer. The twelve leeches are kept in small bottles inside the device; when they become agitated by an approaching storm they attempt to climb out of the bottles and trigger a small hammer which strikes a bell. The likelihood of a storm is indicated by the number of times the bell is struck.

Invention and development

Dr. Merryweather, honorary curator of the Whitby Literary and Philosophical Society's Museum, detailed the sensitivity that medicinal leeches displayed in reaction to electrical conditions in the atmosphere. He was inspired by two lines from Edward Jenner's poem "Signs of Rain": "The leech disturbed is newly risen; Quite to the summit of his prison."The Weekly Dispatch. 22 March 1851. " [http://www.magma.ca/~jdreid/leech.htm London: The Great Exhibition] ". Accessed 22 January 2007.] Merryweather spent much of 1850 developing his ideas and came up with six designs for what he originally referred to as "An Atmospheric Electromagnetic Telegraph, conducted by Animal Instinct". These ranged from a cheap version that he envisaged would be used by the government and the shipping industries to a more expensive design. The expensive design, which took inspiration from the architecture of Indian temples, was made by local craftsmen and shown in the 1851 Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace in London.Packer, Martin. The Victorian Web. " [http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/victorian/technology/packer/merryweather.html Dr. George Merryweather’s 1851 Tempest Prognosticator] ". Accessed 22 January 2007.]

On 27 February 1851 he gave a near three-hour essay to members of the Philosophical Society entitled "Essay explanatory of the Tempest Prognosticator in the building of the Great Exhibition for the Works of Industry of All Nations".

Method

The Tempest Prognosticator comprises twelve pint bottles in a circle around and beneath a large bell. Atop the glasses are small metal tubes which contain a piece of whalebone and a wire connecting them to small hammers positioned to strike the bell. In his essay Merryweather described the workings of the device:

The leech would have difficulty entering the metal tubes but would endeavour to do so if sufficiently motivated by the likelihood of bad weather. By ringing the bell it would signify that that individual leech is indicating that a storm is approaching. Merryweather referred to the leeches as his "jury of philosophical councilors" and that the more of them that rang the bell the more likely that a storm would occur.

In his essay Merryweather also noted other features of the design, including the fact that the leeches were placed in glass bottles placed in a circle to prevent them from feeling "the affliction of solitary confinement".

Accuracy and success

Merryweather spent all of 1850 testing the device, sending a letter to the president of the Philosophical Society and the Whitby Institute, Henry Belcher, to warn him of an impending storm. The results of 28 of these predictions are kept in the library of Whitby Museum.Whitby Literary & Philosophical Society. 9 July 2006. " [http://www.whitbymuseum.org.uk/d12/misc/index.htm Miscellaneous Exhibits] " at Whitby Museum. Accessed 22 January 2007.] Merryweather stated in his essay the great success that he had had with the device.

Merryweather lobbied for the government to make use of his design around the British coastline but they instead opted for Robert FitzRoy's storm glass.

Replicas

The original device has been lost, but at least two replicas have been made. The hundredth anniversary of the invention brought renewed interest as a replica was made for the 1951 Festival of Britain. This working version was made from the description in a printed copy of Merryweather's essay and a copperplate drawing of the original. The device was shown in the Dome of Discovery and given to the Whitby Philosophical Society when the festival ended. Plans and photographs of this replica were then used to create a faithful working model now found at the Barometer Museum in Okehampton, Devon.

ee also

* Miner's canary
* Project Pigeon

References