# Gasogene

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Device for producing carbonated water

This article is about the device for producing carbonated water. For other uses, see [Gasogene (disambiguation)](/source/Gasogene_(disambiguation)).

Late Victorian seltzogene made by British Syphon

The **gasogene** (or **gazogene** or **seltzogene**) is a late [Victorian](/source/Victorian_era) device for producing [carbonated water](/source/Carbonated_water). It consists of two linked glass globes: the lower contained water or other drink to be made sparkling, the upper a mixture of [tartaric acid](/source/Tartaric_acid) and [sodium bicarbonate](/source/Sodium_bicarbonate) that reacts to produce [carbon dioxide](/source/Carbon_dioxide). The produced gas pushes the liquid in the lower container up a tube and out of the device. The globes are surrounded by a [wicker](/source/Wicker) or wire protective mesh, as they have a tendency to explode.[1]

The earliest occurrence of the word noted in the *[Oxford English Dictionary](/source/Oxford_English_Dictionary)* dates from 1853, quoting a reference in *Practical Mechanic's Journal* on "Gaillard and Dubois' 'Gazogene' or Aerated Water apparatus".[2]

## In popular culture

A gasogene is mentioned as a residential fixture at [221B Baker Street](/source/221B_Baker_Street) in [Arthur Conan Doyle](/source/Arthur_Conan_Doyle)'s [Sherlock Holmes](/source/Sherlock_Holmes) story "[A Scandal in Bohemia](/source/A_Scandal_in_Bohemia)": "With hardly a word spoken, but with a kindly eye, he waved me to an armchair, threw across his case of cigars, and indicated a spirit case and a gasogene in the corner."[3] One is also mentioned in "The Adventure of the Mazarin Stone". The device plays a key role in [Bernard Shaw](/source/George_Bernard_Shaw)'s 1905 comic play *[Passion, Poison, and Petrifaction, Or The Fatal Gazogene](/source/Passion%2C_Poison%2C_and_Petrifaction)*.[4]

The word is also used in [Douglas Preston](/source/Douglas_Preston) and [Lincoln Child](/source/Lincoln_Child)'s novel *[Brimstone](/source/Brimstone_(Preston_and_Child_novel))*, published in 2005, on page 106,[5] and in their 2010 novel *[Fever Dream](/source/Fever_Dream_(Preston_and_Child_novel))* on page 362,[6] and in their 2013 novel "White Fire."

A gasogene is mentioned, on page 13, as being in the forensic laboratory of Dr. Kingsley, consultant forensic examiner of Scotland Yard in [Alex Grecian](/source/Alex_Grecian)'s 2012 novel *The Yard*.[7]

A gasogene is mentioned and its use described in [Sherry Thomas](/source/Sherry_Thomas)'s novel *[A Study in Scarlet Women](/source/A_Study_in_Scarlet_Women)* (Book 1 of the Lady Sherlock series) on pages 244 to 246. (Ebook [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780698196353](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780698196353))

[Amelia Peabody](/source/Amelia_Peabody) pulls a bottle of whiskey, a gasogene, and glasses from a hamper in order to make herself a whiskey and soda after getting her family on a train to Luxor in the novel *[The Golden One](/source/The_Golden_One_(novel))* by Elizabeth Peters, a pen name of [Barbara Mertz](/source/Barbara_Mertz).

## See also

- [Soda syphon](/source/Soda_syphon)

- [SodaStream](/source/SodaStream)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Mixing it up: A Look at the Evolution of the Siphon-Bottle"](https://web.archive.org/web/20180822114507/http://www.bottlebooks.com/Siphons/mixing_it_up.htm). Archived from [the original](http://www.bottlebooks.com/Siphons/mixing_it_up.htm) on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2006-01-06.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["gazogene"](http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/77244), *Oxford English Dictionary* (subscription required).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Doyle, Arthur Conan, ["A Scandal in Bohemia"](https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Strand_Magazine/Volume_2/A_Scandal_in_Bohemia), *Sherlock Holmes*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Shaw, pp. 1113–19

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Preston, Douglas; Child, Lincoln (2005). [*Brimstone*](https://books.google.com/books?id=RWZBIlQII3kC&pg=PA106). New York: Warner Vision Books. p. 106. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780446612753](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780446612753).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Preston, Douglas; Child, Lincoln (2010). *Fever Dream* (1st ed.). New York: Grand Central Pub. p. 362. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-446-55496-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-446-55496-1). [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [455421005](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/455421005).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Grecian, Alex (2012). [*The Yard*](https://books.google.com/books?id=tzLNtwAACAAJ). St. Ives, UK: Penguin Books. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780241958919](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780241958919).

## References

- Shaw, Bernard (1934). *The Complete Plays of Bernard Shaw*. London: Odhams. [OCLC](/source/OCLC_(identifier)) [2606804](https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/2606804).

## External links

- [picture and description](http://221bbakerstreetla.com/bs_gasogene.asp) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20040619215345/http://221bbakerstreetla.com/bs_gasogene.asp) 2004-06-19 at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) at [221b BAKER STREET/LA](http://221bbakerstreetla.com/)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gasogene](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasogene) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gasogene?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.