The
gasogene (or
seltzogene) was a late
VictorianThe Victorian era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements...
device for producing
carbonated waterCarbonated water, also known as sparkling water, fizzy water, seltzer, and water with gas, , is plain water into which carbon dioxide gas has been dissolved, and is the major and defining component of most soft drinks. The process of dissolving carbon dioxide gas is called carbonation...
.
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The
gasogene (or
seltzogene) was a late
VictorianThe Victorian era of the United Kingdom was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from June 1837 until her death on the 22nd of January 1901. The reign was a long period of prosperity for the British people, as profits gained from the overseas British Empire, as well as from industrial improvements...
device for producing
carbonated waterCarbonated water, also known as sparkling water, fizzy water, seltzer, and water with gas, , is plain water into which carbon dioxide gas has been dissolved, and is the major and defining component of most soft drinks. The process of dissolving carbon dioxide gas is called carbonation...
.
It consisted of two linked glass globes surrounded by a
wickerWicker is hard woven fiber formed into a rigid material, usually used for baskets or furniture. Wicker is often made of material of plant origin, but plastic fibers are also used....
or wire protective mesh because they tended to explode. The lower contained water or other drink to be made sparkling, the upper a mixture of
tartaric acidTartaric acid is a white crystalline diprotic organic acid. It occurs naturally in many plants, particularly grapes, bananas, and tamarinds, and is one of the main acids found in wine. It is added to other foods to give a sour taste, and is used as an antioxidant. Salts of tartaric acid are known...
and
sodium bicarbonateSodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is crystalline but often appears as a fine powder. It has a slight alkaline taste resembling that of washing soda . It is a component of the...
that reacted to produce
carbon dioxideCarbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state...
. It is a
siphonA siphon is a continuous tube that allows liquid to drain from a reservoir through an intermediate point that is higher, or lower, than the reservoir, the flow being driven only by the difference in hydrostatic pressure without any need for pumping...
in that the produced gas pushes the liquid out of the device.
The gasogene features as a cryptic residential fixture at
221B Baker Street221B Baker Street was the London residence of the famous literary detective Sherlock Holmes, created by author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The number followed by a letter is a separate number in law and indicated an apartment on the 1st floor of a residential lodging house that was likely to have...
in
Arthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle,
DL was a British physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, which are generally considered a major innovation in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
's
Sherlock HolmesSherlock Holmes is a fictional character of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries who first appeared in publication in 1887. He is the creation of British author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle...
stories.
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