David-
 
Sorry about this slow response to your inquiry:
 
See pp. 196-197 in Cecil Munsey's "The Illustrated Guide to Collecting
Bottles"  (1970, Hawthorn Books, New York).  This 2-page chapter on "Fire
Grenade Bottles" states that by:
 "early in the 1870s it became popular to have round glass bottles filled
with
carbon tetrachloride stationed at critical points in homes, businesses,
trains,
and other appropriate places.  These bottles were designed to be thrown
into
fires, wherer the impact would shatter the glass, spill the carbon
tetrachloride, and extinguish the fire" (Munsey 1970:196).
 
Patents for such systems had been issued as early as 1863, and several
companies manufactured them through the rest of the 19th and early 20th
century.    The 6 examples pictured in Munsey's book are all elaborately
embossed and are of widely varying colors, shapes, and sizes.    One of the
pictured examples seems to fit the system you describe: a thin glass
bulb-shaped bottle in a wire bracket, with a wire hanger resembling a
lantern
handle.  The caption reads (in part):
 
"Heat from a fire would melt the band and release the metal arm connected
to
the spring.  The released arm would swing down and break the glass and
release
the fire-stopping fluid.  Height 5 in., c. 1900-1920" (Munsey 1970:197).
 
Hope this helps.  Munsey's book is as useful as Toulouse, and a hell of a
lot
cheaper. Bibliofind has it listed for $30-35.
 
-Jack Eastman
Missouri Dept of Transportation