A thistle tube is a piece of

laboratory glassware Laboratory glassware is a variety of equipment used in science, scientific work, traditionally made of glass. Glass may be blown, bent, cut, molded, or formed into many sizes and shapes. It is commonly used in chemistry, biology, and analytical ...

consisting of a shaft of tube, with a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

and

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

-like section at the top. Thistle tubes are typically used by

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

s to add liquid to an existing system or apparatus. Thistle funnels are used to add small volumes of liquids to an exact position. Thistle funnels are found with or without taps. The thistle tube shaft is designed to allow insertion through a small hole present in some stoppers, permitting the tube to be inserted into a container such as an

Erlenmeyer flask An Erlenmeyer flask, also known as a conical flask (British English) or a titration flask, is a type of laboratory flask with a flat bottom, a conical body, and a cylindrical neck. It is named after the German chemist Emil Erlenmeyer (1825–190 ...

References

Laboratory glassware {{Chem-stub