Gasogene

For the automotive device, see Wood gas generator.

Late Victorian seltzogene made by British Syphon

The gasogene (or seltzogene) was a late Victorian device for producing carbonated water.

It consisted of two linked glass globes surrounded by a wicker 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 acid and sodium bicarbonate that reacted to produce carbon dioxide. The produced gas pushes the liquid in the lower container up a tube and out of the device.

The gasogene features as a cryptic residential fixture at 221B Baker Street in Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories.

See also

• Soda syphon

References

• Mixing it up: A Look at the Evolution of the Siphon-Bottle

External links

• picture and description at 221b BAKER STREET/LA