Set 377

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2173. Approximately 4-1/2" long:

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2174. 12" long:

2175. The next four items were all used for the same purpose.

2175a. The plates are around 3" square and can be moved farther apart:

2175b. About 5-1/2" long, the upper part on the left can slide along the cylinder:

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2175c. 6" tall:

2175d. Aproximately 3" wide, take a look at Neatorama for more guesses on this device and a chance to win a T-shirt:

2176. Around 14" long:

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2177. 11" tall:

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2178. Sent in by a visitor who is looking to find the purpose of this item:

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Answers:


2173. These are stripper clips for an M1903 Springfield bolt action rifle, they held five bullets and allowed a soldier to fill the magazine of his rifle quickly:

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This video has a different clip but shows the general idea of how it's used:


























2174. A nutcracker:
























2175. These are all apothecary powder paper folders for use by a chemist back when they sold medicine in powder form, the powder was placed on a small sheet of glassine paper that was then folded a few times (all parallel folds so it formed a long rectangular shape), they would then fold the ends by placing the paper on one of these folders and using it as a guide.

Prior to the invention of tablets, many medicines were supplied in the form of powders. The adjustable folders were used to ensure that all the separately wrapped powders were folded to the same length to make a professional appearance, the doses were then placed into a box and given to patients.



2175a.




2175b.

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2175c. More photos of this one can be seen here




2175d. This folder sold for around $100 on ebay:

























2176. A dehorner for use on young cattle, before their horns were very long, patent number 601,996:

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2177. This was part of the same museum display as the black powder paper folder seen above, it's a leech jar for use by a physician:

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2178. Best guess so far on this one is that it's some type of finial:

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Last week's set is seen below, click here to view the entire post.

More discussion and comments on these photos can be found at the newsgroup rec.puzzles.