Monday, September 12, 2011

WTF Lundi

Found this in Lavoisier's laboratory in le Musée des Arts et Métiers.
Electric ear muffs? Boob enlarger? Any ideas?

Actually, I do know what it's for but you probably wouldn't believe me if I told you.

16 comments:

Volmon said...

Jules Verne. ... Totally.

Speedway said...

I'm with Lucio on this...

Or, maybe just one of the most beautifully crafted 18th Century frosters for Margarita glasses EVER! Puts salt on the rims, too.

Genie -- Paris and Beyond said...

Whatever it is, I am guessing that the fine woodworking and domed glass is "over the top" for its actual use. Hummmm... a preliminary laser?

Boob enlarger is pretty funny...

Bises,
Genie

savannah said...

Is it some sort of lamp gone wrong? Or maybe, an attempt at an early portable light source, aka flashlight? (can you tell I haven't got a clue what it is, sugar?) xoxoxoxo

Speedway said...

Ummm...a sort of a lathe for bending light? When you turn it on, send a light beam through the glass, it might take any form you wish. Or not.

dive said...

You're right, Lucio. Yay for the real steampunk!

Speedway, I so wish it was one of those.

Genie, fine woodwork and hand-blown glass is never over the top. All machinery should be made like this.

Savannah, you're the closest so far, though no cigar I'm afraid. xoxoxoxo

A lathe for bending light sounds fun, Speedway, but it would need to be several million times more massive to manage that.
This is fun!

Speedway said...

Put right wing politician in one glass compartment, religious zealot in the other and hot air meets in the middle, producing methane, smothering all will to live.

dive said...

Now THAT's my kind of machine! Can we add some electric shocks and maybe an ape with a chainsaw into the mix?

Speedway said...

Well, after all, it is your game! But if we did electric shocks and a gorilla all we'd probably get is a juicer with fur.

dive said...

I already own a juicer with fur. I really should clean the darned thing.

Ms M said...

Reminds me of the Doomsday Machine in one of the Pink Panther movies. Or, something from Jules Verne, as Lucio mentioned. Or some kind of laser?

dive said...

Ms.M, I shall tell you: il est un appareil de La Rive pour la reproduction de l'aurore boréale.
How cool is that?
I waaaaant one!

Ms M said...

That is VERY cool! Does it work? Are there planetarium shows one can attend?

dive said...

Ms.M, it certainly doesn't work the same way the real aurora does. As far as I can make out from my Musée catalogue (all in quite technical French) it creates a plasma from passing an electric current through a gas (kind of like a fluorescent light but green and hazy).
It's almost a shame that we know so much about physics these days. I was reading Leonardo da Vinci's notebooks the other day (or at least an illustrated translation) and his ideas were startling and occasionally hilarious but based on observation and logic and hugely entertaining to the modern mind. I live in the wrong century … the Renaissance is a little early and Lavoisier a little late; I wish I'd lived during the Enlightenment.

Ms M said...

Thanks for the additional info. The Enlightenment was a fascinating time! And Leonardo was a polymath with amazing ideas. [N says he lives in the wrong century, too.]

dive said...

I think we all feel that way at some point, Ms.M.