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IX.9 Thermometer phials
Inventor:Ferdinand II de' Medici [attr.]
Maker: unknown
Place:Florence
Date:mid-17th cent.
Materials:glass
Dimensions:length 140 mm
Current inventory:73, 74, 75, 76, 77
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Set of five phials, probably part of the same thermometer. The phials contain acquarzente, in which small glass spheres of different density are immersed. The rise in temperature causes an increase in the volume of the acquarzente, reflected in the movement of the small spheres (first the less dense, then the more dense). Because of the spheres' sluggish motion, this thermometer was also called infingardo [slothful, slow]. The invention of this model is attributed to Grand Duke Ferdinand II de' Medici.

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