Strange Buried Glass

[Matd]

Appologies if this is a bit off topic but...

Working on the outside areas of my house (yorkshire dales c1830 possibly earlier), I keep coming across strange pieces of glass tube. The longest peice that I've found was broken off at about 3 inch long and was about a quarter of an inch wide. The end narrows slightly and that got me wondering whether they were some sort of pipette. If so why are there so many scattered around the grounds ? Would they have had a use in farming ? Any ideas ?

 

[DJH]

Hmm... pipettes? surely not early artificial insemination pipettes?? :roll: Where's Penners? He won't know either...

Doug

 

[Zebra]

They're not bits of bottle are they? Small, long thin bottles?

 

[Gareth Hughes]

Barometers? they used to be in every hallway and must have been disposed of somewhere...

 

[atticman]

The usual clarion call - pictures?

 

[worms]

Intriguing! Yes, pictures please!

Any clues from known previous use of the building?

 

[plasticpigeon]

When I was a small boy, my family lived in a flat in a very grand house and I found all sorts in the garden. My prize find was a Penny from 1897. I learned all the kings and queens of England from Victoria to the Elizabeth because of the coins that I dug up, (and also because all sorts of old shillings and half shillings were used as 5 and 10p coins). I always wanted to find an Edward VIII coin but sadly never did. I also remember digging up things that looked like test tubes too. I remember the glass being very thin, thinner than I would expect a test tube to be. t I can't remember if any had ends or not but I would imagine they could have been a broken up barometer tube.

 

[MatthewC]

When I was a small boy, my family lived in a flat in a very grand house and I found all sorts in the garden. My prize find was a Penny from 1897. I learned all the kings and queens of England from Victoria to the Elizabeth because of the coins that I dug up, (and also because all sorts of old shillings and half shillings were used as 5 and 10p coins).

Half shilling? On decimalisation, a shilling became 5 pence and 2 shillings (a florin) became 10 pence. The old sixpence (worth half a shilling) had no decimal coin equivalent and was phased out a a separate coin.

Showing my age....

Matthew

 

[Onetap]

Drag vials?
Maybe a previous owner was a doctor, a diabetic or had a requirement for regular injections of something?

 

[plasticpigeon]

yes, my mistake, I was pretty young at the time (less than 10) and haven't seen those old coins (they are in a box at my mum's) for years.

 

[Penners]

I've renovated five houses, and at four of them I've comes across an old midden, or rubbish tip.

Remember that council rubbish collection is a relatively new idea. In days of yore, people just dumped their rubbish at the end of the garden (in a hole if they were conscientious!).

As to what your glass tubes are, you can speculate until the (artificially inseminated) cows come home!