MYSTERY OBJECTS

[Stanley]

No China, it's 'LG' my father's initials. My mother bought it on Stockport market together with a bottle of indelible ink and a pad to go with it. What was it used for in the home?

[Wendyf]

Laundry?

[Stanley]

Well done Wendy! Exactly right. Used for marking items of clothing and handkerchiefs so they could be identified. I think she got it because my dad had to go to Copenhagen after WW2 and laundry had to be marked indelibly.
Next for shaving?

[Stanley]

All right, you win! Try this one....

[chinatyke]

Clog nails in a Rowntree's Cocoa tin.

[Stanley]

Of course it is. Next one someone?

[Stanley]

What is it?

[Tizer]

A scalpel with its blade pushed into a cork for safety.

I'll be cheeky and assume I've got that right, and add this mystery object...

[Stanley]

Dead right. An Exacto knife actually.
Looks like a nematode being attacked by the bodies defences......

[Tizer]

Nematode, yes; body's defences, no (but well done for getting the nematode right!). Can anyone add more?

[Stanley]

You've taken me to my limit! I could only guess.

[chinatyke]

slug killer?

[Tizer]

No (no slugs were harmed in making this photo).
I wonder if Sue has seen the photo? She might know the answer!

[Stanley]

The only thing that strikes me is that they appear to be in fluid. In the human gut?

[Tizer]

Not the human gut. I'd better end the suspense and tell the story of the photo. As Stanley correctly observed, the main object in the photo is a nematode. These are microscopic worms that live mostly in soil (90% are found in the top 6 inches of soil) but have been found in every environment on Earth where we have looked for them. Some are parasites, living in or on plants and animals, including humans. Most feed on bacteria in the soil but are themselves vulnerable to attack by soil fungi which use several methods of capturing them and then `sucking out the goodness'. The worm in the photo is the unfortunate victim of a fungus that creates a trap using its hyphae - the long strands of cells that form the mycelial mat like the ones you see on rotting fruit. A hyphal strand forms a loop which contracts when it senses something passing through, trapping the worm which can then be digested by enzymes released by the fungus. Other methods used by fungi are exudation of glue to grab the worm, and release of toxins to stun them.

Some of these fungi are part of the mycorrhiza, the symbiotic relationship between plant roots and fungi. So, in a forest the nutrients extracted from the nematode worm by the fungus may become food for great oak trees.

[Stanley]

Can I remember once hearing that the largest single living organism in the world is probably the parent body of a mushroom colony in a forest? Try this one..... everyone has a bowl like this but what was this originally intended to be used as?

[Tizer]

Was it part of some kind of bell pull or push?

[Stanley]

No Tiz, always a bowl but with special features and a particular use. If it's any consolation I was wrong about it for years until I stumbled on the answer by chance.

[plaques]

It looks like it should have a central pillar with additional trays. Old time fruit and nut holder. Can't say which pub it came from but that's another story.

[Stanley]

Nothing missing P. The central light coloured knob is hard rubber. You are getting very close!

[chinatyke]

It looks like a bobbin end to me.

[Stanley]

I think I have got to give it to P. I can't remember where I got it from but for many years I thought it was a large ash tray and the central rubber knob was for knocking the ash out of your pipe. Then, completely by chance, I came across a reference. It's for nuts and the central knob is for cracking them. I assume there would be a small wooden mallet with it originally.
Next one?

[Tizer]

What's going on here?

[plaques]

Looks a bit like an 'A' frame lifting crane. Either the smaller pole on the left is helping to raise the longer pole, or it is a crane in itself with the cable travelling over both poles to give a vertical lift.

[PanBiker]

It certainly looks like a gin pole type arrangement. Cant see the guy lines but its a similar method we used to use to raise a 40 or 60ft portable antenna pole. The main pole was on a hinged plate that was staked to the ground. The socket for the main pole had a thrust bearing in the bottom. There was a socket for the secondary pole which was set at right angles, vertical to the mast, the top of the gin had 3 ropes, 2 to guy the pole sideways and the other to run through a self locking block pulley that pulled the top of the gin down. The main mast was also guyed at the sides, the guys were adjusted as the mast was raised. The third guy was held at the back and pegged when the mast was vertical. The mast we used was 2 or 3 x 20ft steel scaffold poles and was guyed at 20ft and at 50ft if using all three sections. Guying rings on the mast were set on roller bearing collars clamped to the mast. The bearings at the base and guying points allowed free rotation of the mast when vertical. There was a simple screw locking mechanism on the socket in the base so that you could lock off the mast and antennas. You could raise this safely complete with antenna arrays with four individuals, one on the pulley and three on the main pole guying. Depending on the size of the antenna array set at the top we sometimes utilised a ladder to support the mast as it was raised into position. I have a photo somewhere of us deploying it for a radio contest or special event station.