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An
anemoscope is an obsolete device invented to show the direction of the
windWind is the flow of air or other gases that compose an atmosphere . On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air...
, or to foretell a change of wind direction or weather.
Hygroscopic devices, in particular those utilizing
catgutCatgut is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fiber in the walls of animal intestines. Usually sheep or goat intestines are used, but it is occasionally made from the intestines of a hog, horse, mule, pig or donkey...
, were considered as very good anemoscopes, seldom failing to foretell the shifting of the wind.
The ancient anemoscope seems, by
VitruviusMarcus Vitruvius Pollio was a Roman writer, architect and engineer , active in the 1st century BC. By his own description Vitruvius served as a Ballista , the third class of arms in the military offices...
's description of it, to have been intended rather to show which way the wind actually blew, than to foretell into which quarter it would change.
Otto von GuerickeOtto von Guericke Otto von Guericke (originally spelled Gericke, ) Otto von Guericke (originally spelled Gericke, ) (November 20, 1602 – May 11, 1686 (Julian calendar); November 30, 1602 – May 21, 1686 (Gregorian calendar) was a German scientist, inventor, and politician. His major...
also gave the title
anemoscope to a machine invented by him to foretell the change of the weather, as to fair and rain. It consisted of a little wooden man, who rose and fell in a glass tube, as the atmospheric
pressurePressure is the force per unit area applied in a direction perpendicular to the surface of an object. Gauge pressure is the pressure relative to the local atmospheric or ambient pressure.- Definition :...
increased or decreased. Accordingly, M. Comiers has shown that this was simply an application of the common
barometerA barometer is an instrument used to measure atmospheric pressure. It can measure the pressure exerted by the atmosphere by using water, air, or mercury. Pressure tendency can forecast short term changes in the weather...
. This form of the anemoscope was invented by
Leonardo Da VinciLeonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian polymath, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, painter, sculptor, architect, botanist, musician and writer....
.