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History

The Storm Glass

The storm glass, sometimes referred to as a camphor glass, is a most unusual and interesting instrument for indicating changes in the weather. Its exact origin is unknown, but it was probably invented by alchemists in England in the early part of the eighteenth century. Whether it was deliberately intended for weather forecasting or if this was an accidental outcome is open to speculation.

Rear Admiral Robert Fitz Roy was born at Ampton Hall, Euston, Suffolk on the 5th July 1805. In his wonderfully descriptive book simply entitled "The Weather Book" published in London in 1863 he devotes several pages to a description of the storm glass and how to interpret the changes that are observed. This appears to be the first published scientific study of the instrument. See a reproduction of a section of the book below.

In his account the Rear Admiral notes that storm glasses were made in England and offered for sale on old London Bridge at the sign of the "Looking Glass" considerably more than a century before his time of writing, that is some time before 1763.

Fitz Roy was Captain of the Beagle, the ship that in 1831 carried Charles Darwin on his famous voyage of discovery. The Beagle was equipped with a great many instruments for the voyage including chronometers, barometers and almost certainly storm glasses given Fitz Roy's interest in them. Fitz Roy was later to become head of the British Meteorological Office and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Having often noticed peculiar effects on certain instruments, used as weather glasses, that did not seem to be caused by pressure, or solely by temperature, by dryness, or by moisture--- having found that these alterations happened with electric changes in the atmosphere that were not always preceded or accompanied by movement of mercury in a barometer, and that, among other peculiarities, increase or diminution of winds, in the very "heart" of the trades, caused effects on them, while the mercurial column remained unaltered, or showed only the slight inter-tropical diurnal change (as regular as a clock*), we have long felt sure that another agent might be traced. Considerably more than a century ago what were called "storm glasses" were made in this country. Who was the in- ventor, is now very uncertain; but they were sold on old London Bridge, at the sign of the "Looking Glass." Since 1825 we have generally had some of these Vials, as curiosities rather than otherwise, for nothing certain could be made of their variations until lately, when it was fairly demon strated that if fixed, undisturbed, in free air, not exposed to radiation, fire, or sun, but in the ordinary light of a well-ventilated room, or, preferably, in the outer air, the chemical mixture in a so-called storm glass varies in character with the direction of the wind -- not its force, specially, though it may so vary (in appearance only) from another cause, electrical tension. ¹

In Jules Verne's classic novel "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea" published in 1869 there is mention of a storm glass, when Captain Nemo is showing Professor Aronnax around the Nautilus.

"Sir" said Captain Nemo, showing me the instruments hung on the walls of the room. here are the instruments necessary for the navigation of the Nautilus. Here as in the saloon, I have them always before me, and they indicate my position and exact direction in the midst of the ocean. You are acquainted with some of them; the thermometer, for instance, which gives the internal temperature of the vessel; the barometer, foretelling changes in the weather; the hygrometer, for indicating dryness in the atmosphere; the storm glass, the contents of which decompose at the approach of tempests; the compass, for guiding our course; the sextant, for taking latitude; chronometers, for calculating longitude; and, lastly, the glasses for day and night, which I use to examine the horizon when the Nautilus rises to the surface."

¹ Reproduced from "The Weather Book" Second Edition published by Rear Admiral Robert Fitz Roy FRS in London 1863