If you have a bit of an odd, but charming garden-obsessed friend who is hard to buy a gift for, I can recommend an Admiral Fitzroy Storm Glass!
Come Christmas; I’m the one my family hope they don’t pick in the Kringle.
I adore weird, quirky things.
Specifically, the kind of things I call curios but my Husband calls crap.
Like my prized vintage collection of framed butterflies. Or my tongue-in-cheek collection of coprolite (literally, fossilised dinosaur crap) shells, fossils, crystals, meteorites, and geodes.
I love collecting anything that you might find in the Museum of Natural History in New York. (Incidentally, if someone out there has managed to bottle the smell of that museum, please get in contact! I need it.)
A few months ago, when it was my birthday, I was so annoyingly vague about what I wanted, my sister ended up giving me some cash.
It wasn’t long in my purse before I discovered the perfect gift for me.
As I wandered around yet another garden centre, I found something unusual that appealed to all my geeky, gadgety, historical, weathery obsessions.
An Admiral Fitzroy Storm Glass.
I had never seen or heard of one before but was immediately intrigued. A quick wiki-check filled me in.
Admiral Robert Fitzroy was Captain of the HMS Beagle, yes, the very same ship that ferried Charles Darwin around the Galapagos in the 1830s.
While Darwin contemplated the Origin of the Species, Admiral Fitzroy was testing a hypothesis of his own. (You know how much I love an innovative mindset! Admiral Fitzroy was a complex person who met with an ultimately tragic end.)
He was road (sea?) testing a new weather predicting instrument.
A Weather Experiment
In a sealed glass, he mixed potassium nitrate, ammonium chloride, ethanol, camphor and water.
Admiral Fitzroy observed his new-fangled, technologically advanced device and recorded his examinations thus,
- If the liquid in the glass is clear, the weather will be bright and clear.
- Cloudy liquid means cloudy weather, perhaps with precipitation.
- Small dots in the liquid indicate humid or foggy weather is expected.
- A cloudy glass with small stars indicates thunderstorms.
- When the liquid contains small stars on sunny winter days, snow is coming.
- Large flakes floating through the liquid, suggest it will be overcast in temperate seasons or snowy in the winter.
- Crystals at the bottom indicate frost.
- Threads near the top? It will be windy.
Fresh from its box, the glass was completely clouded with fine crystals (predicting snow?) and the instructions precisely detailed how to set it up in its new home.
Calibrating 19th Century “Technology.”
To calibrate my storm glass, I had to dissolve the existing crystals back into the solution until the fluid was clear. This was miraculously achieved by agitating the storm glass while simultaneously heating with my hairdryer.
One wonders how Admiral Fitzroy accomplished the same feat (probably close to an open fire, risking a scorched eyebrow or two) but given my general clumsiness; I was rather chuffed that my combined shake-and-heat performance didn’t result in a broken storm glass and tears of remorse.
Once every crystal was dissolved, I placed it proudly atop my seed bank drawers, away from curious little grabby hands.
For accuracy’s sake, it cannot be moved or disturbed.
I have since wondered how Admiral Fitzroy kept his storm glass perfectly still as he sloshed about the high seas?
Thanks to our weather, it seems for at least six months of the year, I will be admiring a glass tube of clear water.
After waiting and watching for a few weeks, nothing happened. Disappointed, I forgot about it for a while. Then I checked back while dusting and discovered crystals had formed at the bottom of the tube.
Today it looks like this…
Frankly, when it rained last week, it looked like that.
When it was frosty this morning, it looked like that.
During our recent, unseasonably sunny weather, it looked like that.
When gale-force winds swept our neighbour’s trampoline onto our roof, it looked like that.
Hmmmnnn…
It appears my doubt regarding the storm glass’s accuracy was shared by others inclined to do the appropriate scientific tests.
Those results concluded that Admiral Fitzroy’s Storm Glass could predict the weather half of the time.
Yes, half the time it is completely wrong.
Flipping a coin will produce the same weather-predicting result.
Other research has determined that it is ambient temperature, (perhaps not quantum tunnelling) responsible for the beautiful crystals forming. It seems no one knows for sure.
Conclusion? I have a pretty, but otherwise useless crystal making tube. I’ll keep my eye on it and hope it’s debated quantum mechanics kick in and it starts to work reliably in this actual universe.
In the meantime, when I want to know if it is going to rain, I’ll check out my much-beloved weather app on my phone.
What would Admiral Fitzroy have made of an iPhone?
I would love to hear from you, especially if you have discovered your sure-fire way of predicting the weather! Please leave a comment below…
* You can read more about Admiral Fitzroy’s Storm Glass experiments here.
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Oh, that seemed like such a great idea at the start of your post! At least it has a really interesting story attached to it, even if somewhat lacking in accuracy… I wonder if it would react differently if it was kept outside?
Oh lord, the thought of calibrating it again to move it outside is enough incentive to keep it where it is! Haha! I am fond of it, in it’s time it was a cutting-edge scientific device, the best they had….. so a good reminder of how far we have come…
I try to have, buy, rent or… at least one weather instrument of all kinds that somewhere in history people used them to predict the weather.
We still have thousands killed each year from weather. Weather we see coming days ahead.
I love all these type weather instruments. They fascinate me. Work or don’t work. Who cares. People died believing in these instruments.
Just like today…some things do not change, but we argue that they do change, knowing better.
Melissa, you go girl.
TC
these are amazing aren’t they? You can buy them in a shop in Melbourne along with lots of other fancy things
http://www.dancingthroughsunday.typepad.com
x
I received one of these as a Christmas gift. I likewise placed it in an area where it would not be disturbed after first dissolving the crystals. My glass quickly took on the same appearance as described above and stayed that way. Repeated recalibrations always gave the same result. I’m waiting for warmer spring weather when the house temperature varies less and slower crystal growth can start. Perhaps I’ll then start to see different crystal patterns develop. It may not predict the weather (at least mine doesn’t) but it is an interesting conversation piece.
I bought a second hand storm glass today. Could you give me instructions on how to calibrate it? I dont want to break it! Thank in advance x
Hi Abi,
I followed the instructions that came with my storm glass, dissolving the crystals using a bit of heat and agitation to calibrate it back to “base”. I did it using a hairdryer, it took forever and I almost dropped it a few times.
BUT, since writing this, a few people have mentioned that all you really need do is set it down the place you intend to keep it and don’t disturb it. It should react to your weather conditions straight away.
Frankly, I’m not going to calibrate mine again if I move it.
Hope this helps!
I got one for myself awhile back. It works the exact same as yours. Once in awhile I find a crystal floating on the top, but that is about it. It is cold, rainy and overcast today but it looks the same as a few days ago when the sun was out bright and everyone was running around in short sleeves.
I just checked mine. Its forecasting thunderstorms. Weatherman says “Clear sunny day, 27C” But thunderstorms Saturday…
A curious relic at best I think!
You have to keep it away from any central heating .. Preferably outside .. It works off temperature apparently …
I’d like to buy one of these, but I will, at some point, have my lounge redecorated and get some new furniture. What will happen if I take it somewhere else while this is being done? And do you lift it up when you are dusting, or just dust around it?
Whew. As it happens, I crazily ordered 3 of these storm glasses, one for myself and the other 2 for Christmas gifts. When I opened mine, it was mostly filled with the flakes. For 2 straight days now, I’ve been trying to calibrate the darn thing. First I tried the hair dryer with no luck at all and I did that for 45 minutes. With dead arms, I gave up for the night and started again today. Same thing. Then I looked up more ways to do this and saw where a number of people used hot water, others did the vigorous shaking AND the hot water and so now I’ve tried that, too. Ha. It’s 12 hours later now and mine is now sitting by itself in a container of hot water in the bathroom….waiting, waiting………waiting. The undissolved flakes are laughing. Nothing. I have the feeling it will be the same tomorrow. I still have about 2 inches of flakes in the bottom that refuse to dissolve. I have to admit, I am so disappointed but worse, now I have to figure out what to do with the other two I bought. You can bet I won’t be gifting them. Melissa, I wish you were here to give it a go and see if you have better luck with it, although, even though your camphor dissolved, you still aren’t having luck. I’ve heard that it must sit undisturbed for weeks before it begins to work and that it’s supposed to predict up to 2 days in advance. I can’t decide whether to laugh, cry, or shrug. Wait, I can’t laugh because the flakes are doing that.
I calibrated mine by running it under hot water for a few minutes (set up right under the kitchen faucet), then shake…. repeat as needed. It took me about 12 minutes to do it. Water is clear as can be. I live in the snow country of NY so we should see some action this winter.
I have a storm glass if you keep it out side it will really work well mine does
what is your temperature range outside?
Apparently you will not get accurate results if the glass is kept in a centrally heated house. they should be placed outside, there you should start getting results that are more accurate.
As soon as I’ve calibrated mine with nice clear solution then crystals form the full length of the tube, this seems to form as the tube cools down to room temperature. If left for a period of time the solution slowly clears again from the bottom but always leaves approximately 1 inch of crystals at the top of the solution, not sure if mine is faulty or I’m just not calibrating properly.
I have had mine since 2012, mine is a glass dome on wood base 6 inches high ,all I have ever done to it was to take out of box , shake crystals ,I put on a shelf in family room near a window out of direct light has worked wonderfully for 5 years I dust it every 2 weeks, love how the crystals change and grow I look at it every morning , it took about 2days for crystal to really start forming I have never used heat , just a gentle shake , let settle, crysrals will form
Dear Chris Ekers,
Which one did you buy and where? 🙂
And Dear Melissa, thank-you for the interesting history and exact explanations of the crystals- that’s hard to find!
-Kat 🙂
I put mine in direct sunlight for about 4 hours to see if it would help it do something. I got it for my birthday (2/4), and it has never done anything. The crystals kind of clumped up, so I shoot it to break them apart. Now all of the crystals are floating at the top. Did I ruin my storm glass or will it go back to normal in a few days to a week?
Just bought mine here in Canada 2018 same things happening over here but it’s so beautiful don’t really care about the accuracy of the things sometimes works out better that way lol 🙂
when you recieve your storm glass recalibrate it with a hair dryer on a low setting, it’s important to keep the hair dryer moving back and fourth don’t let the glass of the storm glass get too hot or it will crach and not work. when you have recalibrated your storm glass put it on a north facing window sill. then allow 5 to 7 days to acustom to your envoirment.when you have put your storm glass on a north facing window sill it’s important you do not disturb it otherwise you will have to let it settle again.
I received my glass about a year ago. I believe all i have done was shake it the one time, and leave on a shelf. It is indoors, and a soft light from a North facing bedroom. It seems to be working well.
I found your page when observing the same long, feathery, crystal strands you have pictured. Past few weeks here in our wintery Michigan, (2019) we have had winds gusting up to 40mph. I’d say my glass is working great. (I always assumed barametric pressure had more affect on the glass than tempreture)
I think you’re right about the air pressure Will! Wow, gets really chilly in your part of the world, doesn’t it? I think if I lived in a more varied climate, my storm glass would be more interesting, but since there is little variation here, the glass isn’t as entertaining as a result!
Cheers
Melissa
Mine works perfectly, i didn’t know about calibrating as i bought it from a charity shop. i put it on my window ledge and it seemed to have a different crystal design each day including a completely clear vessel, i have an old clock face Barometer at the side of it and compare and write down the reading that matches a different Crystal pattern each day. i feel i have a very pretty and enjoyable weather forecasting tool that i enjoy checking daily before my outdoor adventures, PS my window is south facing and gets the sunlight, i don,t think that should make any difference but maybe worth a try, hope it works for you, good luck, yours Clive.
I love that you enjoy it Clive! Maybe I should move mine about to another vantage!