86 
House & Garden 
An outdoor ther¬ 
mometer visible from 
within, held away 
from the walls 
by tiny brackets 
THERMO METERS YOU 
, ‘ ) 
SHOULD KNOW 
The Jf ide Range Of L ses To Which These Instruments 
May Be Put flakes Them Invaluable In Many Ways 
ETHEL R. PEYSER 
■ 
C; 
/ 
AN YOU tell whether 
your oven, your baby, 
your bath, or your in¬ 
cubator is at the right tem¬ 
perature; whether a storm is 
coming, a shower imminent, 
or the boiling candy at the 
right consistency? In other 
words, do you know all about 
the instruments that settle ac¬ 
curately these absorbing prob- 
I lems ? 
We think the marble top 
of a table is colder than the 
I mat on it. It isn't at all; the 
marble simply is a better heat 
conductor than the mat and 
takes the heat from your 
hand more rapidly. There 
is the same apparent differ¬ 
ence between the carpeted 
floor and the bare one. 
To take the guess work 
out of temperature-telling the 
thermometer is used. A ther¬ 
mometer is usually a glass 
tube onto the end of which 
a glass bulb has been sealed 
or blown. Usually it is filled with mer¬ 
cury, sometimes alcohol. After it has been 
tested a scale is made on it which measured 
the height in degrees to which the mercury 
rises. 
The kinds most in use in the household 
are room thermometers, outdoor thermome¬ 
ters, bath thermometers, milk thermometers, 
candy and jelly making thermometers, oven 
and refrigerator thermometers. 
In determining the temperature of a room 
remember that, because heat rises, the floor 
temperature is cooler than that at the ceil¬ 
ing. If you want a real record, place the 
thermometer 4' above the floor, away from 
Suspended in 
mid-air for 
accuracy and 
readable from 
any direction 
hot stoves and cold walls. The best ther¬ 
mometers, moved from one room to another, 
take 15 to 20 minutes to adjust themselves 
to the different environment. Mounted on 
heavy furniture, too, the} - will register slow¬ 
ly during a change in temperature. 
made glass. Some float and others do not. 
The bulges on the sides of a floating ther¬ 
mometer give it the necessary buoyancy. 
Oven thermometers are blessings, but they 
can be damaged easily by the banging of an 
oven door. Many a good and bad stove has 
sold itself by having any kind of an oven 
thermometer. The dial type is used, as well 
as the inset column, on the outside of the 
oven door. Thev register to within 10° to 
20° of the oven heat. The ideal oven ther¬ 
mometer is the one that is placed inside. It 
must be made of fine strong glass. These 
thermometers should read up to about 550' 
Fahrenheit. Some can be encased in metal 
and hung inside the oven, if there is a glass 
panel through which it can be read with¬ 
out opening the door. Others stand up in 
the oven and register accurately. 
In the refrigerator regular thermometers 
can be used. Of course the temperature on 
the shelves will vary at different heights. 
Remember that ice must melt to cool your 
refrigerator. If you wrap ice you will save 
ice at the expense of your food. The lowest 
shelves should be coolest, as cold descends 
and heat rises—it is this interchange of 
place that keeps the air in current action 
in your refrigerator. 
Thermometers for candy making, syrup 
making, jelly making, etc., are usually glass 
tubes set in metal, and 
must be accurate. The best 
results are obtained, of 
course, only when ther¬ 
mometers are used care¬ 
fully. Place them always 
where the boiling is most 
violent and not too near 
An hydrometer to test 
the consistency of liquids 
A thermometer to determine the 
temperature of the fireless cooker. 
This and the other instruments 
shown are from Taylor Instr. Co. 
The bath thermometer is set in wood, has 
a handle, and should be read under the 
water. Milk thermometers for use in pas¬ 
teurizing milk, whipping cream, etc., must 
be very accurate. They are all of carefully 
