Any easy way to ID germanium transistors?

[Joe Hart]

I have a bunch of transistors taken out of old electronics. Is there an easy way to identify whether they are Ge or Si? Of course, some have part numbers on them that I have Googled, but many have just "random" numbers that I guess are some "in-house" numbering system. Is there a packaging type that would only be Si or Ge? I have a DMM with gain testing capabilities, would seeing if my finger heat makes the gain go up be a definitive test? Thanks.
-Joe Hart

[Johan]

measure the diode voltage drop base-emitter..if ~0.25= germanium. if ~0.5 silicone.  you never see germanium's in TO-92 package ( plastic halfmoon ). you might see both kinds in TO-18 package(small round metal package, looking like a tophat). I have yet to see silicone in TO-1 (larger round metal without lip/edge)package..they might be out there, but I haven't seen them.
J

[Joe Hart]

Okay, I set my DMM for the diode setting and get a reading of 742 for a known Si transistor. Huh? That's not exactly .5, but I'm figuring that it's just off a few decimal points and it really means .742? I would also guess that .742 is kind of more or less .5-ish? And perhaps my DMM is off a bit? At any rate, another transistor that I "think" is Si measured 741. So would that be a definite Si? Thanks.
-Joe Hart

[Earthscum]

Joe, on your multimeter, it probably switches modes automatically. Somewhere on the screen should be a small "m" that shows up to say it's reading in milliVolts. Mine screwed with me a bit. The frequency setting has a small "k" and "M" that show up in a different place than the other modes.

And, I've had Si's that read from about .4V to .8V, different types and manufacturers and dates. Ge stuff I've measured sits about .17 - .25V