Litrameter
Robert Hare was a lecturer in chemistry at Pennsylvania University. His litrameter was represented in science periodicals of both the old and new world. By his own account he used standard barometric tubes and a rubber ball or a syringe to produce an underpressure.
The litrameter ist a device to determine the mass density of liquids by means of hydrostatics.
The measurement is based on the comparison of the capillary elevation of two liquids caused by the same pressure. The elevation is inversely proportional to the mass density and proportional to the pressure. Comparing the elevation level of an unknown liquid was usually made by comparing it to the one of destilled water and hence determine the density of the unknown liquid.
The reconstructions of the litrameter is part of the research for his dissertation by Timo Engels.
Literature
Engels, Timo (2012): Kurze Geschichte der Dichtemessung von Flüssigkeiten, in: Heering, Peter; Markert, Michael & Weber, Heiko: Experimentelle Wissenschaftsgeschichte didaktisch nutzbar machen. Ideen, Überlegungen und Fallstudien., Flensburg, Flensburg University Press. 133-152.
Hare, Robert: Beschreibung des Litrameters, eines Instrumentes zur Bestimmung der specifischen Schwere. In: Polytechnisches Journal Bd. 22, Nr. 5. Digitalisierung: Humboldt-Universität Berlin und SLUB Dresden (Volltext)