Here is what I found when I googled it
Patented by E.S.Ritchie, the earliest types of liquid filled compasses were filled with an alcohol and water mixture to dampen the motion of the compass card. Alcohol was used in order to keep the liquid from freezing.The hand painted dials had to be painted with a special egg based paint that was also patented by E.S.Ritchie. To compensate for expansion and contraction of the fluid due to temperature changes, he also patented an expansion chamber that is housed in the base of the compass On Wed, Nov 20, 2013 at 2:31 AM, Rich Knowles <r...@sailpower.ca> wrote: > Likely something to do with the needle. > > Rich > > > > On Nov 20, 2013, at 1:07, Jim Watts <paradigmat...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > Compasses are filled with alcohol for the same reason that people are > filled with alcohol. Whatever reason that may be. > > _______________________________________________ > This List is provided by the C&C Photo Album > http://www.cncphotoalbum.com > CnC-List@cnc-list.com > -- “Sailors, with their built in sense of order, service and discipline, should really be running the world.” - Nicholas Monsarrat
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