"A Lippmann electrometer is a device for detecting small rushes of electric current and was invented by Gabriel Lippmann in 1873.The device consists of a tube which is thick on one end and very thin on the other. The thin end is designed to act as a capillary tube. The tube is half-filled with mercury with a small amount of dilute sulfuric acid above the mercury in the capillary tube."@en . . .