What is "saccharometer"

Saccharimeter \Sac`cha*rim"e*ter\, n. [L. saccharon sugar + -meter: cf. F. saccharim[`e]tre.] An instrument for ascertaining the quantity of saccharine matter in any solution, as the juice of a plant, or brewers' and distillers' worts. [Written also saccharometer.]

Note: The common saccharimeter of the brewer is an hydrometer adapted by its scale to point out the proportion of saccharine matter in a solution of any specific gravity. The polarizing saccharimeter of the chemist is a complex optical apparatus, in which polarized light is transmitted through the saccharine solution, and the proportion of sugar indicated by the relative deviation of the plane of polarization.

n. A hydrometer used to measure the sugar content of a liquid.