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A
PRACTICAL TREATISE
ON
GAS-LIGHT;
EXHIBITING
A SUMMARY DESCRIPTION
OF THE
APPARATUS AND MACHINERY
BEST CALCULATED FOR
ILLUMINATING
STREETS, HOUSES, AND MANUFACTORIES,
WITH
CARBURETTED HYDROGEN, OR COAL-GAS,
WITH REMARKS
ON THE
UTILITY, SAFETY, AND GENERAL NATURE OF THIS NEW BRANCH
OF CIVIL ECONOMY.

By FREDRICK ACCUM,
OPERATIVE CHEMIST,
LECTURER ON PRACTICAL CHEMISTRY, ON MINERALOGY, AND ON CHEMISTRY
APPLIED TO THE ARTS AND MANUFACTURES; MEMBER OF THE ROYAL
IRISH ACADEMY, FELLOW OF THE LINNÆN SOCIETY, MEMBER
OF THE ROYAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF BERLIN, &c. &c.

WITH SEVEN COLOURED PLATES.

London:
PRINTED BY G. HAYDEN, BRYDGES-STREET, COVENT GARDEN;
FOR R. ACKERMANN, 101, STRAND;
LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, AND BROWN; AND SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND
JONES, PATERNOSTER ROW; AND J. HATCHARD, PICCADILLY.

Price—Twelve Shillings in Boards.

1815.

EX FUMO DARE LUCEM.

Hor.

PREFACE.

11, Compton Street Soho.

The following pages are intended to exhibit a summary view of the new art of procuring light, by means of carburetted hydrogen gas obtained from pit-coal, and which of late has been employed with unparalelled success, as a substitute for candles and lamps, and is known by the name of Gas-Light.

To accomplish this object, I have given, in the first part of this Essay, a concise and popular view of the chemical theory and production of artificial light—I have explained the action of candles and lamps—I have shown the methods of measuring the comparative illuminating power of artificial light of different kinds, so as to appreciate their economical value—I have stated the proportions of combustible materials requisite for producing a light of a certain strength; with such other preliminary facts and observations as were deemed necessary to enable the reader to understand fully the nature of the new art of illumination, which it is the object of this Essay to describe.

These positions are followed by a chemical view of the general nature and composition of coal—the chemical changes which this substance suffers, when employed in the production of gas-light—the different products it furnishes—the modes of obtaining them—their properties and applications in the various arts of life.

I have given a description of the apparatus and machinery by means of which the coal-gas is prepared, and the methods employed for distributing and applying it as a substitute for candles and lamps to illuminate houses, streets and manufactories;—I have furnished the data for calculating the expense that must attend the application of this species of light under different circumstances, so as to determine the relative cost or value of gas-lights, when compared with the lights now in use—together with such other practical directions and facts as will enable the reader to form a proper estimate of the gas-light illumination, and to put this art into practice.

I have stated the leading objects of public and private utility to which the new system of lighting may be successfully applied, candidly pointing out those in which it cannot be made use of to advantage.

I have detailed the most obvious effects which the discovery of lighting with coal-gas must inevitably produce upon the arts and upon domestic economy; its primary advantages—its views—its limits, and the resources it presents to industry and public economy. I have endeavoured to show how far its application is safe, and in what respect it is entitled to public approbation and national encouragement.

It may not be improper, before concluding, to inform the reader, that my qualifications for the task I have undertaken are founded upon many years experience, during which time, I possessed peculiar opportunities to witness and verify the most extended series of operations that ever have been made for the purpose of ascertaining the practicability, safety, and general nature of the art of applying coal-gas as a substitute for tallow and oil; and which have, as it were, fixed the fate of this art. The numerous experiments I instituted, upon a large scale, by desire of the Gas-Light Company, for the purpose of adducing them in my evidence before the House of Commons, and House of Lords, on a former occasion, have enabled me to collect such information as could not have been obtained by other means. The substance of these results (which are printed by order of Government,) are incorporated in this Treatise, together with such other facts and observations as have presented themselves in the routine of my profession elsewhere.

To generalize the results of my observations, and to make them practically useful to the public, is the aim of the present publication, and I need scarcely add, that their suffrages to the zeal and industry, at least, with which I have endeavoured to attain my object, will be a source of infinite satisfaction.

FREDRICK ACCUM

Contents.

ERRATA.

DIRECTIONS TO THE BINDER:

[Plate I.] facing the title; [plate II.] facing page 79; [plate III.] facing page 115; [plate IV.] facing page 119; [plate V.] facing page 120; and [plates VI.] and [VII.] at the end of the book.

A
PRACTICAL TREATISE
ON
GAS-LIGHT.

INTRODUCTORY OBSERVATION.

INFLUENCE
OF
THE PROGRESS OF THE ARTS
UPON THE
MORALS AND CONDITION OF MAN.

It is an undoubted truth, that the successive improvements in the condition of man, from a state of ignorance and barbarism, to that of the highest cultivation and refinement, are usually effected by the aid of machinery and expedients, calculated to procure the necessaries, the comforts, and the elegancies of life; and that the pre-eminence of any people in civilization is, and ought ever to be, estimated by the proportional state of industry, and useful labour existing among them.

In proof of this great and striking truth, no other argument requires to be offered, than an immediate reference to the experience of all ages and places: the various nations of the earth, the provinces of each nation, the towns, and even the villages of the same province, differ from each other in their accommodations; and are in every respect more flourishing, the greater their activity in establishing new channels of useful employ, calculated to procure the necessaries and comforts of life. Hence the nations which have shewn the most ingenuity in this way, are not only the richest, but also the most populous and the best defended: the provinces of those nations, are seen to flourish likewise in proportion to their respective degrees of activity in this respect, And from these exertions it is, as Smith[1] emphatically remarks, that “the accommodation of an European prince does not always so much exceed that of an industrious and frugal peasant, as the accommodation of the latter exceeds that of many an African king, the absolute master of the lives and liberties of ten thousand naked savages.”

[1] Wealth of Nations, chap. 1.

It was a strange notion of Rousseau to maintain that mankind were happier when they resembled wild beasts, than with all the expanded knowledge of civilized life; and that the cultivation of their understanding had tended to degenerate their virtues. There can be no virtue but what is founded on a comprehensive estimate of the effects of human actions, and an animal under the guidance of instinct can form no such estimate.

The variety of production, of wants, and fabrication of a civilized society, has given rise to barter or exchange; mutual supply has increased the sub-division of labour, and improved the means of conveyance. Streams, roads, ships, and carriages have extended their beneficial intercourse; confidence between man and man has advanced the moral principles of society, and afforded a progression, of which the past gradation may indeed be traced, but to the future part of which the imagination can scarcely form a probable outline. And as the moral and physical powers of man expand, new resources and new agencies are made subservient to our commands, which, in an earlier state of society, would have appeared altogether visionary.

Who among the ancients would have listened to the extraordinary scheme of writing books with such rapidity, that one man, by this new art, should perform the work of twenty thousand amanuenses? What philosopher would have given credit to the daring project of navigating the widest ocean?—or imagined the astonishing effect of gun-powder—or the extended application of the steam engine? What mortal would have dared to dive to the bottom of the sea—or to soar aloft into the air—or bid defiance to the thunder of the clouds? Discoveries which have changed, as it were, the course of human affairs, and the effects of which have already carried the intellectual operations of the human mind, to a height they could by no other means have attained. The men of those early ages, in the confidence of their own wisdom, might have derided these discoveries as impossible, or rejected them as visionary; but to those, who enjoy the full effects of such, and numerous other successful inventions, it becomes a duty to reason upon different principles, and to exert all means in their power to give effect to the progress of useful knowledge.

The artificial production and supply of light during the absence of the sun, unquestionably holds a distinguished rank among the most important arts of civilized life.

If we could for a moment suppose the privation of artificial light, it would follow as an immediate consequence that the greatest part of the globe on which we dwell, would cease to be the habitation of man. Whether he could ensnare or overtake those animals upon whose unprepared remains he would then be compelled to feed—whether he might store the fruits of the earth for his winter supply—what might be the physical and moral consequences of a state of such desolation, may perhaps be conjectured; but no estimate can show its dreadful magnitude. How much do our comforts, and how greatly does the extent of our powers, in the common affairs of life, depend upon the production and supply of artificial light. The flame of a single candle animates a family, every one follows his occupation, and no dread is felt of the darkness of night. It might be a curious speculation to enquire how far, and in what respects, the morals of men would become degraded by the want of this contrivance. But it is sufficient on the present occasion, that, previous to entering upon a dissertation respecting a new art of illumination, a train of ideas has slightly been hinted at, which cannot fail to show its magnitude and importance. The methods of procuring and distributing light, during the absence of the sun, have not hitherto attained the extent of their possible perfection: there is yet a wide field for improvement in the construction of the instruments of illumination, and the subject is highly deserving the attention of every individual.

The scheme of lighting houses, streets, and manufactories, by means of the inflammable gas, obtainable by distillation from common pit-coal, professes to increase the wealth of the nation, by adding to the number of its internal resources, and on this ground it is entitled, at least, to a candid examination.

The apparent slight that has been thrown upon this new breach of civil economy by some individuals, who appear to be incapable of judging of its nature, has contributed to deter sensible and well disposed persons from wishing it success. It is the more necessary to state this fact, because, when a mistaken notion once becomes diffused, concerning the nature of a new project, persons of the best intention are liable to become affected with wrong impressions on their mind. I am neither a share holder, nor a governor, nor am I directly or indirectly concerned in any gas-light association.

The object of the succeeding pages, simply is to rescue the art of illumination with coal-gas from misconception and misrepresentation, and by a fair, and not overcharged statement of its merits and its disadvantages, to appeal from prejudice and ignorance, to the good sense of the community.

PART I.

PRODUCTION
OF
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT;
AND
THEORY
OF THE
ACTION OF CANDLES AND LAMPS.

The flame of burning bodies consists of such inflammable matter in the act of combustion as is capable of existing in a gazeous state. When all circumstances are favorable to the complete combustion of the products, the flame is perfect; if this is not the case, part of the combustible body, capable of being converted into the gazeous state, passes through the luminous flame unburnt, and exhibits the appearance of smoke. Soot therefore always indicates an imperfect combustion. Hence flame is produced from those inflammable substances only, which are either totally volatile when heat is applied to them, so as not to alter their chemical habitudes—or which contain a quantity of combustible matter that is readily volatilized into vapour by heat, or the elements necessary for producing such vapour or gazeous products, when the chemical constitution of the body is altered by an increase of temperature. And hence the flame of bodies is nothing else than the inflammable product, either in a vaporous or in a permanently elastic gazeous state. Thus originates the flame of wood and coal, when they are burned in their crude state. They contain the elements of a quantity of inflammable matter, which is capable of assuming the gazeous state by the application of heat, and subsequent new chemical arrangements of their constituent parts.

As the artificial light of lamps and candles is afforded by the flame they exhibit, it seems a matter of considerable importance to society, to ascertain how the most luminous flame may be produced with the least consumption of combustible matter. There does not appear to be any danger of error in concluding, that the light emitted will be greatest when the matter is completely consumed in the shortest time. It is therefore necessary, that the stream of volatilized combustible gazeous matter should pass into the atmosphere with a certain determinate velocity. If the quantity of this stream should not be duly proportioned; that is to say, if it be too large, its internal parts will not be completely burned for want of contact with the air. If its temperature be below that of ignition, it will not, in many cases, burn when it comes into the open air. And there is a certain velocity at which the quantity of atmospherical air which comes in contact with the vapour will be neither too great nor too small; for too much air will diminish the temperature of the stream of combustible matter so much as very considerably to impede the desired effect, and too little will render the combustion languid.

We have an example of a flame too large in the mouths of the chimneys of furnaces, where the luminous part is merely superficial, or of the thickness of about an inch or two, according to circumstances, and the internal part, though hot, will not set fire to paper passed into it through an iron tube; the same defect of air preventing the combustion of the paper, as prevented the interior fluid itself from burning. And in the lamp of Argand we see the advantage of an internal current of air, which renders the combustion perfect by the application of air on both sides of a thin flame. So likewise a small flame is always whiter and more luminous than a larger; and a short snuff of a candle giving out less combustible matter in proportion to the circumambient air; the quantity of light becomes increased to eight or ten times what a long snuff would have afforded.

The light of bodies burning with flame, exists previously either combined with the combustible body, or with the substance which supports the combustion. We know that light exists in some bodies as a constituent part, since it is disengaged from them when they enter into new combinations, but we are unable to obtain in a separate state the basis with which it was combined.

That in many cases the light evolved by artificial means is derived from the combustible body, is obvious, if we recollect that the colour of the light emitted during the process of combustion varies, and that this variation usually depends not upon the medium which supports the process of combustion, but upon the combustible body itself. Hence the colour of the flame of certain combustibles, even of the purest kind may be tinged by the admixture of various substances.

The flame of a common candle is far from being of an uniform colour. The lowest part is always blue; and when the flame is sufficiently elongated, so as to be just ready to smoke, the tip is red or brown.

As for the colours of flames that arise from coals, wood, and other usual combustibles, their variety, which hardly amounts to a few shades of red or purple, intermixed with the bright yellow light, seems principally to arise from the greater or less admixture of aqueous vapour, dense smoke, or, in short, of other incombustible products which pass through the luminous flame unburnt.

Spirit of wine burns with a blueish flame. The flame of sulphur has nearly the same tinge. The flame of zinc is of a bright greenish white. The flame of most of the preparations of copper, or of the substances with which they are mixed, is vivid green. Spirit of wine, mixed with common salt, when set on fire, burns with a very unpleasant effect, as may be experienced by looking at the spectators who are illuminated by such light. If a spoonful of spirit of wine and a little boracic acid, or nitrate of copper be stirred together in a cup, and then be set on fire, the flame will be beautifully green. If spirit of wine be mixed with nitrate of strontia, it will, afterwards, on being inflamed, burn with a carmine red colour. Muriate of lime tinges the flame of burning spirit of wine of an orange colour.[2]

[2] See Chemical Amusement, comprising minute instructions for performing a series of striking and interesting chemical experiments, p. 8, &c.

Before we consider the general nature of Gas-Light, it will be necessary to give a short sketch of the theory and action of the instruments of illumination employed for supplying light, together with some other facts connected with the artificial production and distribution of light; such a proceeding will enable us to understand the general nature of the new system of illumination which it is the object of this Essay to explain.

To procure light for the ordinary purposes of life, we are acquainted with no other ready means than the process of combustion.

The rude method of illumination consists, as is sufficiently known, in successively burning certain masses of fuel in the solid state: common fires answer this purpose in the apartments of houses, and in some light-houses. Small fires of resinous wood, and the bituminous fossil, called canel-coal, are in some countries applied to the same end, but the most general and useful contrivance is that in which fat, or oil, of an animal or vegetable kind is burned by means of a wick, and these contrivances comprehend candles and lamps.

In the lamp the combustible substance must be one of those which retain their fluidity at the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere. The candle is formed of a material which is not fusible but at a temperature considerably elevated.

All these substances must be rendered volatile before they can produce a flame, but for this purpose it is sufficient to volatilize a small quantity of any of them, successively; for this small quantity will suffice to give a useful light, and hence we must admire the simple, yet wonderful contrivance of a common candle or lamp. These bodies contain a considerable quantity of the combustible substance, sufficient to last several hours; they have likewise, in a particular place, a slender piece of spongy vegetable substance, called the wick, which in fact is the fire-place, or laboratory where the whole operation is conducted.

There are three articles which demand our attention in the lamp—the oil, the wick, and the supply of air. It is required that the oil should be readily inflammable; the office of the wick appears to be chiefly, if not solely, to convey the oil by capillary attraction to the place of combustion; as the oil is decomposed into carburetted hydrogen gas and other products, other oil succeeds, and in this way a continual current and maintenance of flame is effected.

When a candle is for the first time lighted, a degree of heat is given to the wick, sufficient first to melt, and next to decompose the tallow surrounding its lower surface; and just in this part the newly generated gas and vapour is, by admixture with the air, converted into a blue flame; which, almost instantaneously encompassing the whole body of the vapour, communicates so much heat to it, as to make it emit a yellowish white light. The tallow now liquefied, as fast as it boils away at the top of the wick, is, by the capillary attraction of the same wick, drawn up to supply the place of what is consumed by the cotton. The congeries of capillary tubes, which form the wick, is black, because it is converted into coal; a circumstance common to it with all other vegetable and animal substances, when part of the carbon and hydrogen which enter into their composition having been acted on by combustion, the remainder and other fixed parts are by any means whatever covered and defended from the action of the air. In this case, the burning substance owes its protection to the surrounding flame. For when the wick, by the continual wasting of the tallow, becomes too long to support itself in a perpendicular situation, the top of it projects out of the cone formed by the flame, and thus being exposed to the action of the air, is ignited, loses its blackness, and is converted into ashes; but that part of the combustible which is successively rendered volatile by the heat of the flame is not all burnt, but part of it escapes in the form of smoke through the middle of the flame, because that part cannot come in contact with the oxygen of the surrounding atmosphere; hence it follows, that with a large wick and a large flame, this waste of combustible matter is proportionately much greater than with a small wick and a small flame. In fact, when the wick is not greater than a single thread of cotton, the flame, though very small, is, however, peculiarly bright, and free from smoke; whereas in lamps, with very large wicks, such as are often suspended before butchers’ shops, or with those of the lamp-lighters, the smoke is very offensive, and in great measure eclipses the light of the flame.

A candle differs from a lamp in one very essential circumstance; viz. that the oil or tallow is liquefied, only as it comes into the vicinity of the combustion; and this fluid is retained in the hollow of the part, which is still concrete, and forms a kind of cup. The wick, therefore, should not, on this account, be too thin, because if this were the case, it would not carry off the material as fast as it becomes fused; and the consequence would be, that it would gutter or run down the sides of the candle: and as this inconvenience arises from the fusibility of the tallow it is plain that a more fusible candle will require a larger wick; or that the wick of a wax candle may be made thinner than that of one of tallow. The flame of a tallow candle will of course be yellow, smoky, and obscure, except for a short time after snuffing. When a candle with a thick wick is first lighted, and the wick snuffed short, the flame is perfect and luminous, unless its diameter be very great; in which last case, there is an opake part in the middle, where the combustion is impeded for want of air. As the wick becomes longer, the interval between its upper extremity and the apex of the flame is diminished; and consequently the tallow which issues from that extremity, having a less space of ignition to pass through, is less completely burned, and passes off partly in smoke. This evil increases, until at length the upper extremity of the wick projects beyond the flame and forms a support for an accumulation of soot which is afforded by the imperfect combustion, and which retains its figure, until, by the descent of the flame, the external air can have access to the upper extremity; but in this case, the requisite combustion which might snuff it, is not effected; for the portion of tallow emitted by the long wick is not only too large to be perfectly burned, but also carries off much of the heat of the flame, while it assumes the elastic state. By this diminished combustion, and increased afflux of half decomposed oil, a portion of coal or soot is deposited on the upper part of the wick, which gradually accumulates, and at length assumes the appearance of a fungus. The candle then does not give more than one-tenth of the light which the due combustion of its materials would produce; and, on this account, tallow candles require continual snuffing. But if we direct our attention to a wax candle, we find that as its wick lengthens, the light indeed becomes less. The wick, however, being thin and flexible, does not long occupy its place in the centre of the flame; neither does it, even in that situation, enlarge the diameter of the flame, so as to prevent the access of air to its internal part. When its length is too great for the vertical position, it bends on one side; and its extremity, coming in contact with air, is burned to ashes; excepting such a portion as is defended by the continual afflux of melted wax, which is volatilized, and completely burned, by the surrounding flame. Hence it appears, that the difficult fusibility of wax renders it practicable to burn a large quantity of fluid by means of a small wick, and that this small wick, by turning on one side in consequence of its flexibility, performs the operation of snuffing itself, in a much more accurate manner than can ever be performed mechanically. From the above statement it appears, that the important object to society of rendering tallow candles equal to those of wax, does not at all depend on the combustibility of the respective materials, but upon a mechanical advantage in the cup, which is afforded by the inferior degree of fusibility in the wax: and that, in order to obtain this valuable object, one of the following effects must be produced: either the tallow must be burned in a lamp, to avoid the gradual progression of the flame along the wick; or some means must be devised to enable the candle to snuff itself, as the wax-candle does; or the tallow itself must be rendered less fusible by some chemical process. The object is, in a commercial point of view, entitled to assiduous and extensive investigation. Chemists in general suppose the hardness or less fusibility of wax to arise from oxygen. Mr. Nicholson[3] is led by various considerations to imagine, that the spontaneous snuffing of candles made of tallow or other fusible materials, will scarcely be effected but by the discovery of some material for the wick, which shall be voluminous enough to absorb the tallow, and at the same time sufficiently flexible to bend on one side.

[3] Philosophical Journal, 4to Series, Vol. I. p. 70.

METHOD
OF
ASCERTAINING THE ILLUMINATING POWER
OF
CANDLES, LAMPS, GAS-LIGHTS,
AND
OTHER LUMINOUS BODIES.

Though the eye is not fitted to judge of the proportional force of different lights, it can distinguish, in many cases with great precision, when two similar surfaces, presented together, are equally illuminated. But as the lucid particles are darted in right lines, they must spread uniformly, and hence their density will diminish in the duplicate ratio of their distance. From the respective situations, therefore, of the centres of divergency, when the contrasted surfaces become equally bright, we may easily compute their relative degrees of intensity.

For this purpose it is assumed as a principle, that the same quantity of light, diverging in all directions from a luminous body, remains undiminished in all distances from the centre of divergency. Thus we must suppose, that the quantity of light falling on every body, is the same as would have fallen on the places occupied by the shadow; and if there were any doubt of the truth of the supposition, it might be confirmed by some simple experiment. Therefore, it follows, that, since the shadow of a square inch of any surface occupies at twice the distance of the surface from the luminous point the space of four square inches, the intensity of the light diminishes as the square of the distance increases. If, consequently, we remove two sources of light to such distances from an object that they may illuminate it in equal degrees, we may conclude that their original intensities are inversely as the squares of the distances.

Hence, if two lights of unequal illuminating powers shine upon the same surface at equal obliquities, and an opake body be interposed between them and the illuminated surface, the two shadows produced, must differ in blackness or intensity in the same degree. For the shadow formed by intercepting the greater light, will be illuminated by the smaller light only, and reversely the other shadow will be illuminated by the greater light: that is to say, the stronger light will be attended with the deeper shadow. Now it is easy, by removing the stronger light to a greater distance, to render the shadow which it produces at the common surface equal to that afforded by the less. Experiments of this kind may be conveniently made by fastening a sheet of white paper against the wall of a room; the two lights, of whatever nature they are, intended to be compared, must then be placed so that the ray of light from each shall fall with nearly the same angle of incidence upon the middle of the paper. In this situation, if a book or other object be held to intercept part of the light which would have fallen on the paper, the two shadows may be made to appear as in this figure;

where A represents the surface illuminated by one of the lights only; B, the surface illuminated by the other light; C, the perfect shadow from which both lights are excluded. It will easily be understood that the lights about D and E, near the angle F, will fall with equal incidences when the double shadow is made to occupy the middle of the paper; and consequently, if one or both of the lights be removed directly towards or from the paper, as the appearances may require, until the two shadows at E and D have the same intensity, the quantities of light emitted by each will be as the squares of the distances from the paper. By some experiments made in this way, the degree of illumination of different lights may readily be ascertained to the tenth part of the whole. And, by experiments of this kind, many useful particulars may be shewn. For, since the cost and duration of candles, and the consumption of oil in lamps, are easily ascertainable, it may be shewn whether more or less light is obtained at the same expence during a given time, by burning a number of small candles instead of one or more of greater thickness. It will therefore be easy to compare the power of different kinds of lamps or candles, or gas lights, so as to determine the relative cost of each particular kind of the combustible substance employed for furnishing light:—for example, if a candle and a gas-burner supplying coal-gas, adjusted by a stop-cock, produce the same darkness of shadow, at the same distance from the wall, the strength or intensity of light is the same. An uniform degree of intensity of the gas-light may readily be produced, by opening or shutting the stop-cock, if more or less be required, and the candle is carefully snuffed to produce the most regular and greatest quantity of light. The size of the flame in experiments of this kind of course becomes unnecessary, and will vary very much with the quality of the coal gas. The bulk of the gas consumed, and the quantity of tallow used, by weighing the candle before and after the experiment, furnish the data for ascertaining the relative costs of tallow and gas-light, when compared with each other.

From experiments made by Count Rumford, concerning the quantity of materials requisite for producing a light of a certain intensity for a given time: it was found that we must burn of wax 100, of tallow 101, of oil, in an Argand’s lamp, 129, of an ill-snuffed tallow candle 229 parts, by weight. And with regard to the quantity of carburetted hydrogen, or coal-gas, I have found that from 18 to 20 cubic feet (according to the purity of the gas) are required to give a light equal in duration and in illuminating powers to 1lb. of tallow candles, six to the pound, provided they were set up and burnt out one after another.[4]

[4] 112lbs. of Newcastle coal, called Tanfield Moor, produce, upon an average, from 250 to 300 cubic feet of gas, fit for illumination.

FURTHER ILLUSTRATIONS
OF THE
MODE OF COMPUTING THE RELATIVE COST OR VALUE
OF
LIGHT,
EMITTED BY MEANS OF
CANDLES, LAMPS, & OTHER BODIES.

It is sufficiently known that the light of a candle, which is so exceedingly brilliant when first snuffed, is very speedily diminished to one-half and is usually not more than one-fifth or one-sixth before the uneasiness of the eye induces us to snuff it.[5] Whence it follows, that if candles could be made so as not to require snuffing, the average quantity of light afforded by the same quantity of combustible matter would be more than doubled.

[5] Ezekiel Walker.—Nicholson’s Journal, Vol. IV. 8vo. Series.

When a lighted candle is so placed as neither to require snuffing or produce smoke, it is reasonable to conclude that the whole of the combustible matter which is consumed is converted to the purpose of generating light; and that the intensities of light afforded in a given time, by candles of different dimensions, are in proportion to the quantity of matter consumed. That is to say; when candles are made of the same materials, if one candle produce twice as much light as another, the former will in the same time lose twice as much weight as the latter.

To prove the truth of this position, Mr. Walker made the experiments contained in the following

TABLE.

These experiments, Mr. Walker informs us, were made in the following manner:—

Three candles, the dimensions of which are given in the table, against 1, 3, and mould. These were first weighed, and then lighted at the same instant. At the end of the time inserted in the third column of the above table, they were extinguished and weighed again, and the loss of weight of each candle is contained in the fourth column.

The three first experiments were made under such favourable circumstance, that there was little doubt of their results being more accurate than what practical utility requires, but the fourth experiment cannot be depended on so much, in consequence of the variable light of No. 5. This candle was moved so often to keep the two shadows equal, that it was found necessary to set down its mean distance from the wall by estimation; but as this was done before the candles were weighed, the experimenter’s mind could not be under the influence of partiality for a system.

The method which Mr. Walker employed in comparing one light with another in each experiment, was that which has been described [page 24].

1. The experiments were made at different times, and the light of the mould candle was made the standard, with which the lights of the others were compared; but it must not be understood, that this candle gave the same strength of light in every experiment.

2. The sign + in the 5th column, signifies that the candle against which it is placed, gave a stronger light than the others.

From the experiments contained in the table, it appears to be an established law, where combustion is complete, that the quantities of light produced by tallow candles, are in the complicate ratio of their times of burning and weights of matter consumed.

For if their quantities of matter be equal, and times of burning the same, they will give equal quantities of light, by the experiments.

And if the times of burning be equal, the quantities of light will be directly as their weights of matter expended.

Therefore the light is universally in the compound ratio of the time of burning and weight of matter consumed.

If the law which Mr. Walker has endeavoured to prove, both by reason and experiment, be admitted, we have a standard with which we may compare the strength of any other light.

Let a small mould candle, when lighted, be so placed as neither to produce smoke nor require snuffing, and it will lose an ounce of its weight in three hours. Let this quantity of light produced under these circumstances, be represented by 1.00.

Then should this candle at any other time, lose more or less of its weight in three hours than an ounce, the quantity of light will be still known, because the quantity of light in a given time is directly as the weight of the candle consumed.[6]

[6] To investigate rules for this purpose, 1. Let M represent the mould candle, a its distance from the wall, on which the shadows were compared, x its quantity of matter consumed in a given time, (t) and Q the quantity of light emitted by M in the same time: 2. Let m represent any other candle, b its distance from the same wall, and y its quantity of matter consumed, in the time t.

Then as the intensities of light are directly as the squares of the distances of the two candles from the wall, we have as a² : Q ∷:: b² : b² + Qa² = the quantity of light, emitted by m in the time.

Then let us suppose that the quantities of light are directly as the quantities of matter consumed in the time t, and we have, As x : Q ∷:: y : y + Qx = the quantity of light emitted by m in that time, by hypothesis.

Now, when b² + Qa² (Theo. 1.) is = Y + QX (Theo. 2.) the quantities of light of M and m are directly as their quantities of matter consumed in any given time.

METHOD
OF INCREASING
THE LIGHT OF TALLOW CANDLES,
AND TO OBVIATE THE
NECESSITY OF SNUFFING THEM.

Mr. Ezekiel Walker has shewn that, if a trifling alteration be made in the method of using common tallow candles, they will become excellent substitutes for those of wax.

A common candle, weighing one-tenth of a pound, containing fourteen single threads of fine cotton, placed so as to form an angle of 30 degrees[7] with the perpendicular, and lighted, requires no snuffing; and what is much more valuable for some purposes, it gives a light that is nearly uniform in strength without the least smoke. These effects are thus produced:

[7] Candlesticks may be made to hold the candle at this angle, or they may be so contrived as to hold the candle at any angle at pleasure.

When a candle burns in an inclined position, most part of the flame rises perpendicularly from the upper side of the wick, and when viewed in a certain direction, it appears in the form of an obtuse angled triangle. And as the end of the wick projects beyond the flame at the obtuse angle, it meets with the air, and is completely burnt to ashes: hence it is rendered incapable of acting as a conductor to carry off part of the combustible matter in the form of smoke. By this spontaneous mode of snuffing, that part of the wick which is acted upon by the flame continues of the same length, and the flame itself very nearly of the same strength and magnitude[8].

[8] The wick’s not being uniformly twisted throughout, may occasion a little variation in the dimensions of the flame.

The advantages which may be derived from candles that require no snuffing and afford no smoke, may be readily understood; but these candles have another property which ought not to be passed over in silence. A candle snuffed by an instrument gives a very fluctuating light, which, in viewing near objects is highly injurious to the eye; and this is an inconvenience which no shade can remove. But when a candle is snuffed spontaneously, it gives a light so perfectly steady and so uniformly bright, that the adjustments of the eye remain at rest, and distinct vision is performed without pain, and without uneasiness.

Candles, on which Mr. Walker has made experiments, are described in the following

TABLE.

Number 1, 2, and 3. These candles, when lighted and placed to form an angle of 30° with the perpendicular, require no snuffing: they give lights which are nearly equal, and combustion proceeds so regularly, that no part of the melted tallow escapes unconsumed, except from accidental causes.

No. 4, placed at the angle mentioned above, and lighted, requires no snuffing: it gives a light very little stronger than No. 1, but its colour is not quite so white, nor its flame so steady.

No. 5. This candle, placed at an angle of 30°, and lighted, requires no snuffing; its flame is rather fluctuating, and not so white as No. 4, nor is its strength of light much greater than No. 1. The melted tallow sometimes overflows when the air in the room is put in motion; yet the light of this candle is much improved by being placed in an inclined position.

The mould candle, treated in the same manner, affords a very pure steady flame, without smoke and without snuffing, and its strength of light is about equal to that of No. 1.

The experiments have not been sufficiently numerous to determine with precision which of these candles affords the most light at a given expence, but the few experiments which have been made seem to indicate, that the quantity of light is nearly as the quantity of combustible matter consumed, and thus a candle which is used in the manner pointed out gives more light than a candle of the same dimension set perpendicularly and snuffed, because one part of a candle that is snuffed, is thrown away, and another part flies off in the form of smoke. And this is not the only inconvenience that attends the using candles in this manner, and which the other method is free from, for the light which it gives is of a bad quality, on account of its being variable and undulating.

From the time that a candle is snuffed till it wants snuffing again, its strength of light scarcely continues the same for a single minute. And that variation which frequently takes place in the height of the flame, is a matter of still more serious consequence.

The flame of a long candle placed vertically when it is snuffed burns steadily, is about two inches high, but it very frequently rises to the height of four inches or upwards; drops down again in a moment, till it is less than three inches, and then rises again. In this manner the flame continues in motion for some time before it returns to its original dimensions. But it does not continue long in a quiescent state before it begins a new series of undulations. In this manner the candle burns till the top of the wick is seen near the apex of the flame, carrying off clouds of smoke. In this state of things the eye becomes uneasy for want of light, and the snuffers are applied to remove the inconvenience.

Mr. Walker further observes, that it is these sudden changes, and not the nature of candle-light itself, that do so much injury to the eye of the student and artist; and that that injury may be easily prevented, by laying aside the snuffers, and in the place of one large candle, let two small ones be used in the manner stated.

The following observations on this subject are copied from the Monthly Magazine, 1805, p. 206.

“It is scarcely necessary to observe, that the combustion of candles proceeds the quicker in proportion as the inclination is greater. From the experiments which I have made, I should consider an angle of forty degrees with the perpendicular as the maximum of inclination, beyond which several considerable inconveniencies would occur; and I should take 25 degrees as the minimum of inclination, less than which does not sufficiently expose the point of the wick to the action of the air.

“By those who are much in the habit of reading or writing by candle-light, it will also be esteemed no inconsiderable addition to the advantages already mentioned, that the trouble of seeking and applying the snuffers is superseded. A candle of common size in a vertical position, requires the application of the snuffers forty-five times during its complete consumption.

“But I found an obstacle to the adoption of Mr. Walker’s plan, which, from the inclined position of the candle, it did not immediately occur to me by what means to counteract. Any agitation of the air of the room, occasioned either by the opening or shutting of a door, or by the quick passage of a person near the candle, caused the melted tallow to run over, or, in more familiar language, caused the candle to gutter; which, with the candle in this position, became an insuperable bar to the use of it.

“For the prevention of this inconvenience, I have had a wire skeleton-shade adapted to a rod bearing the same inclination as the candle, and which at bottom joins the candlestick in an horizontal line of about two inches, terminating in a nozzle fitting that of the candlestick.—The distance of this rod from the candlestick, or, which is the same thing, the length of the foot or horizontal line, is of course to be determined by the distance between the two circles which form the upper and lower apertures of the shade.—It may serve, perhaps, more familiarly to describe this part of the apparatus, to state, that it bears a perfect resemblance to the two first strokes of the written figure 4; and the third stroke, if carried up as high as the first, and made sloping instead of upright, will very well represent the situation of the candle.

“When a strong light, for the purposes of reading or writing, be required, a white silk or paper may be used, as is common, over the skeleton; but when it be required that the light should be dispersed over the room, a glass of a similar shape may be adopted, for the purpose of preventing the flame from being influenced by any agitation of the air of the room. If the upper circle of the shade be four inches in diameter, the apex of the flame will be within it during more than half the time of the complete consumption of the candle; the shade will not, therefore, require adjusting for the purpose of preventing injury to the silk, or whatever else may be used over the skeleton, more than once during that time.

“Being myself much averse to the interruptions which a candle used in a vertical position occasions, and which, though short, may, under some circumstances, be highly vexatious, I wish to extend to others a benefit which I prize rather highly.”

Lord Stanhope[9] has published a simple method of manufacturing candles, which, according to his Lordship’s statement, is superior to the method usually employed. The principles upon which the process depends are the following:—First, the wick of the candle is to have only three-fourths of the usual number of cotton threads, if the candle be of wax or spermaceti; and only two-thirds of the usual number, if the candle be of tallow. Secondly, it is required that the wick in all cases be perfectly free from moisture, a circumstance seldom attended to in the manufacturing of candles; and thirdly, to deprive the wick of wax candles, of all the air which is entangled in its fibres, and this may conveniently be done, by boiling it in melted wax, till no more air bubbles, or froth appear on the surface of the fluid.

[9] Repository of Arts, Vol. I, p. 86.

If these circumstances be attended to, three candles of any size thus prepared, last as long as four of the same size manufactured in the common way. The light which they afford is superior and more steady than the light of common candles; and lastly, candles made in this manner, whether of wax, spermaceti, or tallow, do not require to be snuffed as often. Besides all this, they flame much less, and are consequently better for writing, reading, working and drawing, than candles made by the common method.

The following observations will enable any person who is willing to try the candles manufactured according to Lord Stanhope’s plan, to ascertain the real value of the improvements suggested by his Lordship. It shews also the result of some experiments, made to ascertain the expence of burning oil in lamps with wicks of various sizes.

A taper lamp, with eight threads of cotton, will consume in one hour ²²⁵⁄₁₀₀₀ oz. of spermaceti oil: at six shillings per gallon, the expence of burning twelve hours is 13.71 farthings.

At seven shillings, it is 15.995 farthings.

At eight shillings, it is 18.280 farthings.

N. B. This gives as good a light as tallow candles of eight and ten in the pound. This lamp seldom wants snuffing, and casts a steady and strong light.

A taper, chamber, or watch lamp, with four ordinary threads of cotton in the wick, consumes 1.664 oz. of spermaceti oil in one hour: the oil at seven shillings per gallon, the expence of burning twelve hours, 7.02 farthings.

At eight shillings, it is 8.022 farthings.

At nine shillings, it is 9.024 farthings.

TABLE,

Exhibiting a series of experiments, made with a view to determine the real and comparative expence of burning candles of different sorts and sizes.

The time each candle lasted, was taken from an average of several trials on each size.

It has been suggested by Dr. Franklin, that the flame of two candles joined, gives a much stronger light than both of them separately. The same, has been observed by Mr. Warren, to be the case with flames of gas-lights, which, when combined, give a much stronger light than they would afford, when in a separate state.

Indeed, in all cases, where flames for producing light are placed near to each other, it is always beneficial to preserve the heat of the flame as much as possible. One of the most simple methods of doing this, is no doubt, the placing of the several flames together, and as near as possible to each other without touching, in order that they may mutually cover and defend each other against the powerful cooling influence of the surrounding cold bodies. This principle is now employed in the Liverpool lamp, which acts by several flat or ribband wicks placed in the form of a cylinder. The power of illumination of this lamp is superior in effect and more economical than any other lamp in use—and as flame is perfectly transparent to the light of another flame which passes through it, there is no danger of loss of light on account of the flames covering each other.

PART II.

GAS-LIGHT.

PRELIMINARY OBSERVATION.

A new art of procuring artificial light, which consists in burning the gazeous fluid obtained by distillation from common pit-coal, has of late engaged the attention of the public, under the name of gas-light.

The encouragement that has been given for some years past by the legislature to this system of lighting, has induced certain individuals to apply the coal-gas light for the illumination of streets, houses, roads, and public edifices. And it is sufficiently known that a company has been incorporated by charter under the name of the “Gas Light and Coke Company,” to apply this new art of procuring light, by way of experiment, on a large scale, in lighting the streets of the metropolis.[10]

[10] An Act for granting certain powers and authorities to a company to be incorporated by charter, called the “Gas Light and Coke Company,” for making inflammable air for the lighting of the streets of the metropolis, &c.—Session 1810, 50th Geo. III.

The power and authorities granted to this corporate body are very restricted and moderate. The individuals composing it have no exclusive privilege; their charter does not prevent other persons from entering into competition with them. Their operations are confined to the metropolis where they are bound to furnish not only a stronger and better light to such streets and parishes as chuse to be lighted with gas, but also at a cheaper price than shall be paid for lighting the said streets with oil in the usual manner. The corporation is not permitted to traffic in machinery for manufacturing or conveying the gas into private houses, their capital or joint stock is limited to 200,000l. and His Majesty has the power of declaring the gas-light charter void, if the company fail to fulfil the terms of it.

THEORY
OF
THE COMBUSTION OF COAL
IN
ELUCIDATION OF THE NATURE AND PRODUCTION
OF
GAS LIGHT.

Pit-coal exists in this island in strata, which, as far as concerns many hundred generations after us, may be pronounced inexhaustible; and is so admirably adapted, both for domestic purposes and the uses of the arts, that it is justly regarded as a most essential constituent of our national wealth. Like all other bituminous substances, it is composed of a fixed carbonaceous base or bitumen, united to more or less earthy and saline matter constituting the ashes left behind when this substance is burnt. The proportions of these parts differ considerably, in different kinds of coal; and according to the prevalency of one or other of them, so the coal is more or less combustible, and possesses the characters of perfect pit-coal; and by various shades, passes from the most inflammable canel-coal, into blind, Kilkenny, or stone-coal; and, lastly, into a variety of earthy or stony substances; which, although they are inflammable, do not merit the appellation of coal.

Every body knows that when pit-coals are burning in our grates, a flame more or less luminous issues from them, and that they frequently emit beautiful streams of flame remarkably bright. But besides the flame, which is a peculiar gas in the state of combustion, heat expels from coal an aqueous vapour, loaded with several kinds of ammoniacal salts, a thick viscid fluid resembling tar, and some gases that are not of a combustible nature. The consequence of which is, that the flame of a coal-fire is continually wavering and changing, both in shape, as well as brilliance and in colour, so that what one moment gave a beautiful bright light, in the next, perhaps, is obscured by a stream of thick smoke.

But if coals, instead of being suffered to burn in this way, are submitted to distillation in close vessels, all its immediate constituent parts may be collected. The bituminous part is melted out in the form of tar. There is disengaged at the same time, a large quantity of an aqueous fluid, contaminated with a portion of oil, and various ammoniacal salts. A large quantity of carburetted hidrogen, and other uninflammable gases, make their appearance, and the fixed base of the coal remains behind in the distillatory apparatus in the form of a carbonaceous substance, called coke.

All these products may be separately collected in different vessels. The carburetted hidrogen, or coal-gas, may be freed from the non-inflammable gases, and afterwards forced in streams out of small appertures, which, when lighted, may serve as the flame of a candle to illuminate a room or any other place. It is thus, that from pit-coal a native production of this country, we may procure a pure, lasting, and copious light; which, in other cases, must be derived from expensive materials, in part imported from abroad.

It is chiefly upon the power of collecting the products afforded by coal, with convenience and cheapness, that the promoters of the gas-light illumination found their claims to public encouragement. They conceive that the flame which pit-coal yields, as it is now consumed, is turned to very little advantage: it is not only confined to one place, where a red heat is more wanted than a brilliant flame, but it is obscured, and sometimes entirely smothered, by the quantity of incombustible materials that ascend along with it and pollute the atmosphere.

That much inflammable matter is thus lost, is evident from facts that come under our daily observation. We often see a flame suddenly burst from the densest smoke, and as suddenly disappear; and if a light be applied to the little jets that issue from the bituminous parts of the coal, they will catch fire, and burn with a bright flame. A considerable quantity of a gazeous fluid, capable of affording light and heat continually escapes up the chimney, whilst another part is occasionally ignited, and exhibits the phenomena of the flame and light of the fire.

The theory of the production of gas-light is therefore analogous to the action of a lamp or candle. The wick of a candle being surrounded by the flame, is in the same situation of the pit-coal exposed to distillation. The office of the wick is chiefly to convey tallow, by capillary attraction, to the place of combustion. As it is decomposed into carburetted hidrogen gas it is consumed and flies off, another portion succeeds; and in this way a continued current of tallow and maintenance of flame are effected. See [page 15].

The combustion of oil by means of a lamp depends on similar circumstances. The tubes formed by the wick serve the same office as a retort placed in a heated furnace through which the inflammable liquid is transmitted. The oil is drawn up into these ignited tubes, and is decomposed into carburetted hidrogen gas, and from the combustion of this gas the illumination proceeds. See [p. 15]. What then does the gas-light system attempt? Nothing more than to generate, by means of sufficient furnaces and a reservoir of sufficient capacity, desired quantities of the gas, which is the same material of the flame of candles or lamps; and then by passing it through pipes to any desired distance, to exhibit it there at the mouths of the conducting tubes, so that it may be ignited for any desired purpose. The only difference between this process and that of an ordinary candle or lamp, consists in having the furnace at the manufactory, instead of its being in the wick of the candle or lamp—in having the inflammable material distilled at the station, instead of its present exhibitions in oil, wax, or tallow, and then in transmitting the gas to any required distance, and igniting it at the orifice of the conducting pipe instead of igniting it at the apex of the wick. The principle is rational, and justified by the universal mode in which all light is produced. Indeed, this discovery ranks among the numerous recent applications of chemical science to the purposes of life, which promise to be of the most general utility.

It is evident from the outline here given of the production and application of coal-gas, that all the uses of pit-coal are not exhausted; it will be sufficient to observe, that the complete analysis of coal, which has been hitherto confined to the laboratory of the chemist, requiring skill and nicety in the operator, and attended with great trouble and expence, is now so far simplified, that many chaldrons of coals may be decomposed by one gas-light apparatus in the space of six hours, and all the component parts produced in their most useful shape, at an expence out of all proportion below the value of the products.

SKETCH
OF
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
OF THE
DISCOVERY AND APPLICATION
OF
COAL-GAS,
AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROCURING
ARTIFICIAL LIGHT.

To assist the reader in comprehending the nature and object of substituting coal-gas for tallow or oil, for the purpose of obtaining light, it may be proper to touch slightly upon the successive discoveries that have been made as to the decomposition of coal, and the application of its different ingredients. Such a sketch will add to the many examples that occur in the history of science and art, showing the slow progress of mankind in following up known principles, or extracting from acknowledged facts every possible advantage.

In the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, V. XLI. so long ago as the year 1739, is recorded a paper, exhibiting an account of some experiments made by Dr. James Clayton, from which it appears that the inflammable nature of coal-gas was then already known. Dr. Clayton having distilled Newcastle coal, obtained, as products of the process, an aqueous fluid, a black oil, and an inflammable gas, which he caught in bladders, and by pricking these he was enabled to inflame the gas at pleasure.

It is further known, that in the beginning of the last century, Dr. Hales[11] on submitting pit-coal to a chemical examination, found, that during the ignition of this fossil in close vessels, nearly one-third of the coal became volatilized in the form of an inflammable vapour. Hence the discovery of the inflammable nature of coal-gas can no longer be claimed by any person now living.

[11] Vegetab. Statics, vol. I.

In the year 1767, the Bishop of Llandaff[12] examined the nature of the vapour and gazeous products evolved during the distillation of pit-coal. This learned philosopher noticed, that the volatile product is not only inflammable as it issues from the distillatory vessel, but that it also retained its inflammability after having been made to pass through water, and suffered to ascend through two high curved tubes. The solid matters obtained by this venerable prelate, were, an aqueous ammoniacal fluid, a tenaceous oil, resembling tar, an ammoniacal liquor, and a spongy coal, or coke.

[12] Watson’s Chemical Essays, vol. II.

The first discovery and application of the use of coal-gas for the purpose of illumination is claimed by Mr. Murdoch.

Dr. W. Henry of Manchester, has published the following account[13] of this discovery.

[13] Thompson’s System of Chemistry, vol. I. p. 52.

“In the year 1792, at which time Mr. Murdoch resided at Redruth, in Cornwall, he commenced a series of experiments upon the quantity and quality of the gases contained in different substances. In the course of these he remarked, that the gas obtained by distillation from coal, peat, wood, and other inflammable substances, burnt with great brilliancy upon being set fire to; and it occurred to him, that by confining and conducting it through tubes, it might be employed as an economical substitute for lamps and candles. The distillation was performed in iron retorts, and the gas conducted through tinned iron and copper tubes to the distance of 70 feet. At this termination, as well as at intermediate points, the gas was set fire to, as it passed through apertures of different diameters and forms, purposely varied with a view of ascertaining which would answer best. In some the gas issued through a number of small holes like the head of a watering pan; in others it was thrown out in thin long sheets; and again in others in circular ones, upon the principle of Argand’s lamp. Bags of leather and of varnished silk, bladders, and vessels of tinned iron, were filled with the gas, which was set fire to, and carried about from room to room, with a view of ascertaining how far it could be made to answer the purpose of a moveable or transferable light. Trials were likewise made of the different quantities and qualities of gas produced by coals of various descriptions, such as the Swansea, Haverfordwest, Newcastle, Shropshire, Staffordshire, and some kinds of Scotch coals.

“Mr. Murdoch’s constant occupations prevented his giving farther attention to the subject at that time; but he again availed himself of a moment of leisure to repeat his experiments upon coal and peat at Old Cumnock, in Ayrshire, in 1797; and it may be proper to notice that both these, and the former ones, were exhibited to numerous spectators, who, if necessary, can attest them. In 1798, he constructed an apparatus at Soho Foundry, which was applied during many successive nights to the lighting of the building; when the experiments upon different apertures were repeated and extended upon a large scale. Various methods were also practised of washing and purifying the air, to get rid of the smoke and smell. These experiments were continued, with occasional interruptions, until the epoch of the peace in the spring of 1802, when the illumination of the Soho manufactory afforded an opportunity of making a public display of the new lights; and they were made to constitute a principal feature in that exhibition.”

In the year 1803 and 1804, Mr. Winsor exhibited at the Lyceum in London the general nature of this new mode of illumination though the machinery for procuring, and the manner of purifying the gas, he kept a secret. He exhibited the mode of conducting the gas through the house, and a number of devices for chandeliers, lamps, and burners, by which it might be applied. Among these he proposed long flexible tubes suspended from the ceiling, or wall of the room, and at the end communicating with burners or lamps of different kinds. This gentleman showed also by experiment, that the flame of the gas-light, produced no smoke; that it was not so dangerous as the flame of candles or lamps; that it could not produce sparks; and that it was not so readily extinguished by gusts of wind or torrents of rain.

Mr. Winsor’s display of gas-lights took place more than two years before Mr. Murdoch’s priority of right was heard of.

In stating these facts I do not mean to say that Mr. Murdoch derived the hint of applying the coal-gas from the previous exhibition of Mr. Winsor, because it is quite within the bounds of probability that the ideas of Mr. Murdoch may have arisen totally independent of all acquaintance with Mr. Winsor’s.

The claims of invention, or the determination of the right of priority, concerns the public only so far as the honour and estimation of any useful discovery conferred on the inventor may induce other individuals to devote their talents to similar pursuits; by means of which, more discoveries may be made, and the subject of human invention become extended, or rendered more useful. For as the mere benefits which mankind may derive from any particular discovery, they are certainly more indebted to the person who first applied the discovery to actual practice, than to him who first made it, and merely illustrated it by barren experiments. Mr. Winsor certainly pressed on the mind of the public with unremitted perseverance and diligence the extensive application of gas-light in the year 1802, but he made no new discovery with regard to the composition of coal; he did not even invent the mode of conducting the gas through tubes; and if he has pointed out the particulars of the process, he has made a very important, though not the most brilliant improvement in this line of business. Mr. Winsor’s publications are, perhaps, but ill adapted to promote his cause; and the exaggerated calculation which the sanguine mind of a discoverer is naturally disposed to indulge in, have, to superficial observers, thrown an air of ridicule and improbability on the whole scheme of lighting with gas.

It may, however, be safely affirmed, that if the same facts had come forward, under the sanction of some great name in the chemical or philosophical world, the public incredulity would long since have been subdued; and the plan, which for many years has been struggling for existence, would have been eagerly adopted as a national object.

On the 18th of May, 1804, Mr. Frederick Albert Winsor, took out a patent for combining the saving and purifying of the inflammable gas (for producing light and heat), the ammonia, tar, and other products of pit-coal, with the manufacture of a superior kind of coke (see Repertory, 2d Series, v. 172). And, lately, the same gentleman has taken out a second patent, for further improvements in these processes.

In the year 1805, Mr. Northern, of Leeds, also directed the attention of the public to the application of coal-gas, as a substitute for tallow light, as will be seen by the following extract of the Monthly Magazine for April, 1805.

“I distilled in a retort, 50 ounces of pit-coal in a red heat, which gave 6 ounces of a liquid matter covered with oil, more or less fluid as the heat was increased or diminished. About 26 ounces of cinder remained in the retort; the rest came over in the form of air, as it was collected in the pneumatic apparatus. I mixed part of it with atmospherical air, and fired it with the electric spark with a tolerable explosion, which proves it to be hydrogene.—Whether any of the other gases were mixed with it, I did not then determine. In the receiver I found a fluid of an acid taste, with a great quantity of oil, and, at the bottom, a substance resembling tar.

“The apparatus I make use of for producing light is a refiner’s crucible, the top of which (after filling with coal) I close with a metal cover, luted with clay or other luting, so as to prevent the escape of the gas; a metal pipe is soldered into the cover, bent so as to come under the shelf in the pneumatic trough, over which I place a jar with a stop-cock and a small tube; the jar being previously filled with water, the crucible I place on the common or other fire as is most convenient; and as the heat increases in it, the gas is forced rapidly through the water into the jar, and regularly displaces it. I then open the cock and put fire to the gas, which makes its escape through the small tube, and immediately a most beautiful flame ensues, perfectly free from smoke or smell of any kind. A larger light, but not so vivid or clear, will be produced without passing the gas through water, but attended with a smoke somewhat greater than that of a lamp charged with common oil.

“I have great hopes that some active mechanic or chemist will, in the end, hit on a plan to produce light for large factories, and other purposes, at a much less expence, by the above or similar means, than is at present produced from oil.”

Soon afterwards, Mr. Samuel Clegg[14] of Manchester, Engineer, communicated an account of his method of lighting up manufactories with gas-light to the Society of Arts, for which he received the silver medal.

[14] This gentleman is at present engineer to the Gas-Light Company.

Since that time, the application of gas-light has spread rapidly, and numerous manufactories and other establishments have been lighted by coal-gas.

In France, the application of gas-lights to economical purposes, was pointed out long before it was publicly introduced into this country. M. Le Bon had a house fitted up in Paris, in the winter of 1802, so as to be entirely illuminated by gas-lights, which was seen by thousands with admiration; and had a brevet d’invention (patent) granted to him by the French government, for the art of producing light from wood, ignited in close vessels.

Many other attempts have been made to derive advantage from the different ingredients of coal; but they are too obscure to merit particular enumeration.

In the year 1808, Mr. Murdoch presented to the Royal Society his account of the application of gas-light, and was complimented with Count Romford’s medal for the same.

The following statement is taken from Mr. Murdoch’s paper.

“The whole of the rooms of the cotton mill of Mr. Lee, at Manchester, which is I believe the most extensive in the United Kingdom, as well as its counting-houses and store-rooms, and the adjacent dwelling house of Mr. Lee, are lighted with the gas from coal. The total quantity of light used during the hours of burning has been ascertained, by a comparison of shadows, (see [page 23]) to be about equal to the light which 2500 mould candles, of six to the pound, would give; each of the candles with which the comparison was made consuming at the rate of 4-10ths of an ounce (175 grains) of tallow per hour.

“The gas-burners are of two kinds: the one is upon the principle of the Argand lamp, and resembles it in appearance; the other is a small curved tube with a conical end, having three circular apertures or perforations, of about a thirtieth of an inch in diameter, one at the point of the cone, and two lateral ones, through which the gas issues, forming three divergent jets of flame, somewhat like a fleur-de-lis. The shape and general appearance of this tube has procured it, among the workmen, the name of the cockspur burner.

“The number of burners employed in all the buildings amounts to 271 Argand, and 653 cockspurs, each of the former giving a light equal to that of four candles of the description above-mentioned; and each of the latter a light equal to two and a quarter of the same candles; making therefore the total of the gas-light a little more than equal to that of 2500 candles, six to the pound. When thus regulated, the whole of the above burners require an hourly supply of 1250 cubic feet of the gas produced from cannel-coal; the superior quality and quantity of the gas produced from that material having given it a decided preference in this situation over every other coal, notwithstanding its higher price.

“The time during which the gas-light is used may, upon an average of the whole year, be stated at least at two hours per day of 24 hours. In some mills, where there is over work, it will be three hours; and in the few where night work is still continued nearly 12 hours. But taking two hours per day as the common average throughout the year, the consumption in Messrs. Philips and Lee’s mill will be 1250 × 2 = 2500 cubic feet of gas per day; to produce which 700 weight of cannel-coal is required in the retort. The price of the best Wiggan cannel-coal (the sort used) is 13¹⁄₂d. per cwt. (22s. 6d. per ton) delivered at the mill, or say about eight shillings for the seven hundred weight. Multiplying by the number of working days in the year (313,) the annual consumption of coal will be 110 tons, and its cost 125l.

“About one-third of the above quantity, or say forty tons of good common coal, value ten shillings per ton, is required for fuel to heat the retorts, the annual amount of which is 20l.

“The 110 tons of cannel-coal, when distilled, produce about 70 tons of good coke, which is sold upon the spot at 1s. 4d. per cwt. and will therefore amount annually to the sum of 93l.

“The quantity of tar produced from each ton of cannel-coal is from 11 to 12 ale gallons, making a total annual produce of about 1250 ale gallons, which not having been yet sold, it cannot yet be determined its value.

“The interest of the capital expended in the necessary apparatus and buildings, together with what is considered as an ample allowance for wear and tear, is stated by Mr. Lee at about 550l. per annum, in which some allowance is made for this apparatus being made upon a scale adequate to the supply of a still greater quantity of light, than he has occasion to make use of.

“Mr. Lee is of opinion that the cost of attendance upon candles would be as much, if not more, than upon the gas apparatus; so that, in forming the comparison, nothing need be stated upon that score, on either side.

“The economical statement for one year, then, stands thus:

“That of candles, to give the same light, would be about 2000l. For each candle, consuming at the rate of 4-10ths of an ounce of tallow per hour, the 2500 candles burning, upon an average of the year, two hours per day, would, at one shilling per pound, the present price, amount to nearly the sum of money above-mentioned.

“If the comparison were made upon an average of three hours per day, as in most cases, would perhaps be nearer to the truth, and the tear and wear remaining nearly the same as on the former case, the whole cost would not exceed 650l. while that of the tallow would be 3000l.”

Mr. Ackerman in this metropolis, has shown that the art of gas-light illumination is not confined to great manufactories, but that its advantages are equally applicable to those on a moderate scale. The whole of Mr. Ackerman’s establishment, his public library, warehouse, printing-offices and work-shops, together with his dwelling house, from the kitchen to the drawing-room, has, for these four years past, been lighted with gas, to the total exclusion of all other lights. The result of the whole of this proceeding will be obvious from the following letter:

To Mr. ACCUM.

Sir,

“In answer to your request with regard to my gas-lights, which I now have in my house, I take this mode of informing you, that I charge two retorts with 240lbs. of coal, half cannel and half Newcastle, from which I extract 1000 cubic feet of gas. To obtain this quantity of gas, when the retorts are cold, I use from 100 to 110lb. of common coals; but when they are in a working state, that is to say, when they are once red hot, the carbonising fuel amounts to about 25lb. per retort. The bulk of gas thus obtained supplies 40 Argand’s lamps, of the large size, for four hours per night, during the long winter evenings, together with eight Argand’s lamps and about 22 single cockspur burners, for three hours per night: in addition to which my printers employ 16 cockspur burners for ten hours per day to heat their plates instead of charcoal fire. In the depth of winter we charge two retorts per day: but, upon an average, we work 365 retorts in 365 days.

Now 365 retorts containing 120lb. of coal each, make 43800lb. which is equal to ten chaldrons of Newcastle and eight tons of cannel coal.

10	chaldrons of Newcastle coals, at 65s. make			£ 32	10	0
8	tons of cannel coal,[15] (this coal is sold by weight) at 100s. per ton			40	0	0
7	chaldrons of common coals for carbonising, at 55s.			19	5	0
To wages paid the servant for attending the gas apparatus				30	0	0
Interest of money sunk				30	0	0
	The wear and tear of the gas-light apparatus I consider to be equal to the wear and tear of lamps, candlesticks, &c. employed for oil, tallow, &c.
Total expence of the gas lights				151	15	0
DEDUCT
23	chaldrons of coke, at 60s. per chaldron	69
Ammoniacal liquor		5
Tar		6
Charcoal employed by the copper-plate printers to heat their plates, which is now done with the gas-light flame, cost, annually		25
Two chaldrons of coals minus used as fuel, for warming the house, since the adoption of the gas-lights, at 65s. per chaldron		6	10
				111	10	0
Nett expences of the gas-lights				£ 40	5	0
The lights used in my Establishment, prior to the gas-lights, amounted annually to				160	0	0
My present system of lighting with gas costs, per ann.				40	5	0
Balance in favor of the gas for one year				£ 119	15	0

[15] Although cannel-coal sells at nearly double the price of Newcastle coal, I use it in preference to the latter, because it affords a larger portion of gas, and gives a much more brilliant light.

Such is the simple statement of my present system of lighting, the brilliancy of which, when contrasted with our former lights, bears the same comparison to them as a bright summer sun-shine does to a murky November day: nor are we, as formerly, almost suffocated with the effluvia of charcoal and fumes of candles and lamps. In addition to this, the damage sustained by the spilling of oil and tallow upon prints, drawings, books and paper, &c. amounted annually to upwards of 50l. All the workmen employed in my establishment consider their gas-lights as the greatest blessing; and I have only to add, that the light we now enjoy, were it to be produced by means of Argand’s lamps or candles, would cost at least 350l. per annum.

I am, with respect,
Yours,

Strand, March 13,
1815.

R. ACKERMAN.”

Another manufacturer who was one of the first that adopted the use of this method of illumination in the small way, and who gave a statement of its advantages to the public, is Mr. Cook, a manufacturer of metal toys, at Birmingham, a clear-headed, prudent man, not apt to be dazzled by a fanciful speculation, but governed in his transactions by a simple balance of profit and loss. There is a naïveté in his own account of the process which will amuse as well as instruct the reader.

“My apparatus is simply a small cast-iron pot, of about eight gallons, with a cast-iron cover, which I lute to it with sand. Into this pot I put my coal. I pass the gas through water into the gasometer or reservoir, which holds about 400 gallons; and, by means of old gun-barrels, convey it all round my shops. Now, from twenty or twenty-five pounds of coal, I make perhaps six hundred gallons[16] of gas; for, when my reservoir is full, we are forced to burn away the overplus in waste, unless we have work to use it as it is made: but, in general, we go on making and using it, so that I cannot tell to fifty or a hundred gallons;—and, in fact, a great deal depends on the coals, some coals making much more than others. These twenty-five pounds of coal put into the retort, and say twenty-five pounds more to heat the retort, which is more than it does take one time with another, but I am willing to say the utmost, are worth four-pence per day. From this four-pence we burn eighteen or twenty lights during the winter season.”

[16] A wine-gallon is equal to 231 cubic inches.

Thus are the candles which Mr. Cook used to employ, and which cost him three shillings a day, entirely superseded. But, besides his expence in candles, oil and cotton for soldering, used to cost him full 30l. a year; which is entirely saved, as he now does all his soldering by the gas flame only. For “in all trades in which the blow-pipe is used with oil and cotton, or where charcoal is employed to produce a moderate heat, the gas flame will be found much superior, both as to quickness and neatness in the work: the flame is sharper, and is constantly ready for use; while, with oil and cotton or charcoal, the workman is always obliged to wait for his lamp or coal getting up; that is, till it is sufficiently on fire to do his work. Thus, a great quantity of oil is always burned away useless; but, with the gas, the moment the stop-cock is turned, the lamp is ready, and not a moment is lost.” We must refer to Mr. Cook’s letter for the details of expence, which he gives with faithful minuteness, and always leaning to the side unfavourable to the gas. The result of the whole is, that he saves 30l. out of the 50l. which his lights formerly cost him: and, when we consider that his calculation allows the gas-lights to burn the whole year, and the candles only twenty weeks, there can be little doubt, that the savings in this case follow nearly the same proportion as in the former. If the apparatus be erected even on a smaller scale, “the saving,” Mr. Cook assures us, “will still be considerable: for the poor man, who lights only six candles, or uses one lamp, if the apparatus is put up in the cheapest way possible, will find it only cost him 10l. or 12l. which he will nearly, if not quite, save the first year.”

Mr. Ackerman having, in this town, set the example of lighting his establishment with gas, several other individuals soon followed the attempt. The following statement will show, that this species of light may be made use of with the greatest advantage, upon a still smaller scale, where no great nicety with regard to the apparatus for procuring gas is required. The following report I have received from Messrs. Lloyd, of Queen Street, Southwark, thimble manufacturers and whitesmiths, who have used the gas-light for soldering and other purposes these five years past.

“The gas-burners made use of in our manufactory produce jets of flame, which in our business, where much soldering with the blow-pipe must be done, have a decided superiority over Argand’s lamps. We are not nice concerning the quality of the gas—a great part of it is burned from the gasometer, without allowing it to purify itself in the gasometer, because our gasometer is not large enough to store up the whole quantity of gas we want for use.”

THEORY
OF
THE PRODUCTION OF GAS-LIGHT,
AND
DESCRIPTION
OF
A PORTABLE APPARATUS
FOR EXHIBITING, IN THE SMALL WAY, THE GENERAL
NATURE OF THIS SPECIES OF LIGHT.

To obtain carburetted hidrogen, or coal-gas, from common pit-coal, and to apply it for the purposes of illumination, the coal is introduced into large iron cylinders, called retorts, to the apertures of which iron pipes are adapted, terminating in a vessel, or vessels, destined to purify and collect the gas. The retorts charged with coals and made air-tight, are placed upon the fire, the action of which extricates the gazeous products from the coals, together with an aqueous ammoniacal vapour, and a tenaceous bituminous fluid, or tar, &c. The liquid substances are conveyed into proper vessels, and the gazeous products are conducted, by means of pipes, under the gasometer, where the gas is again washed, and remains ready for use. There are also other pipes leading from the gasometer, which branch out into smaller ramifications, until they terminate at the places where the lights are wanted. The extremities of the pipes have small apertures, out of which the gas issues, and the streams of gas being lighted at those apertures burn with a clear and steady flame as long as the supply of gas continues. All the pipes which come from the gasometer are furnished at their extremities with stop-cocks to regulate the admission of the gas. The burners are formed in various ways, either a tube ending with a simple orifice, at which the gas issues in a stream, and if once lighted will continue to burn with the most steady and regular light imaginable, as long as the gas is supplied; or two concentric tubes of brass, or sheet-iron, are placed at a distance of a small fraction of an inch from each other, and closed at the bottom. The gas which enters between these cylinders, when lighted, forms an Argand lamp, which is supplied by an internal and external current of air in the usual manner. Or the two concentric tubes are closed at the top with a ring having small perforations, out of which the gas alone can issue, thus forming small distinct streams of light.

[Larger image] (279 kB)

The gas-apparatus, [plate 2], will be found very convenient for exhibiting, in the small way, the general nature of this new art of illumination, whilst at the same time it may serve to ascertain, at a trifling expence, the comparative value of different kinds of coals intended to be employed for the production of this species of light, as well as other occasional purposes connected with the gas-light system of illumination.

It consists of three distinct apparatus:—namely, a portable furnace, [fig. 1, plate 2], by means of which the gas is prepared—[fig. 2], a purifyer, or condenser, which separates and purifies the products obtained from the coal, so as to render the gas fit for the purpose of illumination—[fig. 3], a gasometer, or reservoir for receiving and preserving the purified stock of gas, and from which it may be transferred and distributed as occasion may require. The following statement will explain more fully the general nature of this portable chamber apparatus:—a, represents a cast iron retort, such as is used for chemical operations in the small way. This retort rests upon a tripod of hammered iron, placed upon the bars of the grate of the chemical furnace. Into this retort the coals are put for furnishing the gas. It is provided with a solid iron stopper ground air-tight into the mouth of the retort, and the stopper is secured in its place by an iron wedge passing over it in the centre; by means of which the mouth of the retort when charged with coal is readily made air-tight, and the stopper may easily be removed by knocking out the iron wedge. b. is a metal pipe which conveys all the distillatory products from the retort into the purifier [fig. 2]. This tube is bent at right angles at the extremity where it enters the intermediate vessel [fig. 2]. The purifier [fig. 2], is divided into three compartments marked c. d. e. The first compartment is filled with water, and by means of it an air-tight communication is established with the retort which furnishes the gas. The second compartment, d, contains a solution of caustic pot-ash composed of about 2 parts of caustic pot-ash and 16 of water, or a mixture of quick-lime and water of the consistence of very thin cream. The object of this compartment is to separate the non-inflammable gases and other products evolved during the distillation of the coal, from the carburetted hidrogen or coal-gas, so as to render it fit for use. The third compartment e is left empty to receive the tar and other liquid products. Into the first compartment c, all the gazeous and liquid products are delivered, as they become evolved during the distillation, by means of the pipe b. The compartment d, of the purifier, or alcali vessel, is furnished with a wide perpendicular pipe, which serves to make an air-tight communication with the retort, by allowing the tube b, to pass readily through it. From the chamber c, the liquid and gazeous products pass to the tar-chamber, or compartment e, by means of the descending pipe f. The tar and other condensible substances are therefore deposited at e, whilst the gazeous products alone ascend from the tar-chamber e, by the pipe g, and down again the pipe h, (which is closed at the top) into the compartment d, of the vessel or purifier, [fig. 2]. The gas being thus made to pass from the compartment e, up into the pipe g, and down the pipe h, (which is closed at the top) into the purifier d, is brought into contact with the liquor in that vessel, where it is opposed to a pressure in proportion to the perpendicular height of the column of liquid which it contains. The funnel in the compartment c, is considerably higher than the purifying apparatus, it therefore allows the liquid which it contains, when pressed upon by the gas, to ascend into it, without overflowing the apparatus, and to descend again as the pressure diminishes—i is another wide-mouth funnel, by means of which the chamber d, is filled with the alcaline solution, or mixture of lime and water. The carbonic acid gas and sulphuretted hidrogen, evolved during the distillation of the coal, are thus made to combine with the alcali or lime, in the compartment d, of the purifier, forming carbonate and hidro-sulphuret of lime. The carburetted hidrogen, being left more or less pure, is conveyed through the pipe k, into the gasometer, [fig. 3]. The communication of the purifier, [fig. 2], with the gasometer, is made by means of the well-known water-valve l, placed so that the communicating tube k, may be easily removed at pleasure—m, is a cock for drawing off the tar, &c. n, a gauge-cock for ascertaining the height of the liquid in the chamber d. The gasometer, [fig. 3], the object of which is to store up the gas, consists of two principal parts—namely, a large interior vessel designed to contain the gas, and an outer cistern or vessel, of rather greater capacity, in which the former is suspended, designed to contain the water by which the gas is confined. The interior vessel which contains the gas is suspended by chains or cords hung over pullies, to which weights are attached, so as to nearly equipoise it. o is a pipe, which communicates with the water-valve l, and by means of which the gas passes from the purifier, [fig. 2], into the gasometer. The upper end of this pipe is covered, in the manner of a hood, by a cylindrical vessel p, open at bottom, but partially immersed beneath the surface of the water contained in the outer cistern of the gasometer, and perforated round near the lower edge with a number of small holes. The gas displaces the water from this receiver p, and escapes through the small holes, rising in bubbles through the water, so as to expose a large surface to its action, that it may be properly washed, &c. After rising through the water the gas enters the gasometer, which is suspended to move up and down by the chains, pullies, and balance-weights, q. From the centre of the gasometer a tube, r, descends, which includes a pipe, s, fixed perpendicular from the bottom of the cistern. The fixed pipe r, forms a guide to keep the gasometer always perpendicular. t is also an iron pipe made fast in the centre of the inner vessel, and communicates with the upright tube, s, in the outer vessel. This contrivance obliges the gas to pass into the pipe t, whilst it also serves to keep the gasometer steady when nearly out of the outer cistern.

When the operation commences, the gasometer is sunk down nearly to a level with the surface of the water in the outer cistern, and is consequently filled with water; but as the gas enters, it rises up to receive it. It is to be noted, that the balance-weights q q, should not be quite so heavy as the gasometer, in order that some pressure may be exerted, to force the gas out of the burners with a proper jet. The gas which issues from the retort enters the purifier as stated already, and ascends the pipe o, into the vessel, p, from which it displaces the water, and passes out at the small holes, as before described, rising through the water into the gasometer, and raising it up: the gas then passes away to the burners, u u. In this manner the process proceeds until the whole of the volatile products of the coal in the retort is evaporated. The use of the gasometer is, to equalize the emission of the gas which comes from the retort more quickly at some time than others. When this happens, the interior vessel rises up to receive it, and when the stream from the retort diminishes, the weight of the gasometer expels its contents. When the process is finished, the retort is suffered to cool, and its ground stopper is then removed to replenish it with coal. The residue found in the retort is coke. v v are cocks to let off any liquid that may collect in the pipe o or t; for if the smallest portion of liquid were to obstruct the free passage of the gas to the burners, the consequence would be, that the lights would not burn steadily—they would, as it is called, dance, or become extinguished. x is the main stop-cock which communicates with the burners—these, of course, may be placed as convenience may require. z z are two projecting parts in the top of the gasometer; they are intended to receive the hood p, and the upper extremity of the pipe t, so as to allow the gasometer to be wholly immersed into the cistern. The wheels or pullies of the gasometer have a groove to allow the links of the chain to pass freely.

In this apparatus there is no provision made for the unequal pressure which the gas suffers, accordingly as the gasometer is more or less immersed in water. It will be observed that, in this apparatus, the weight of the interior vessel is constantly increasing, in proportion as it fills with gas, and rises out of the water, and consequently, if a constant, uniform, counterpoising weight, equal only to that of the gasometer in the first moment of its rise, be employed, the gas becomes gradually more and more compressed by that part of the weight of the gasometer which is not counterpoised, and if its pressure or quantity be then estimated by the bulk which it occupies, without making allowance for the increasing pressure, a material error must arise, and this, in the large way, would give rise to insurmountable difficulties with regard to the regulation of the size of the flames; which could not be rendered uniform.

Suppose the cistern or exterior vessel full of water, and the gasometer partly filled with gas and partly with water, it is evident that the balance-weight may be so adjusted, as to occasion an exact equilibrium, so that the external air shall not tend to enter into the gasometer nor the gas to escape from it; and in this case the water will stand exactly at the same level both within the gasometer and within the outer cistern. On the contrary, if the balance-weights be diminished, the gasometer will then press downwards from its own gravity, and the water will stand lower in the gasometer than it does in the cistern; in this case, the included air or gas will suffer a degree of compression above that experienced by the external air, exactly proportioned to the weight of a column of water, equal to the difference of the external and internal surfaces of the water.

To compensate for this increasing weight of the gasometer, and render a scale of equal graduations accurate, some have ingeniously adopted the plan of a spiral pulley to the chain, which has the effect of gradually avoiding the evil, but the best way of accomplishing it will be stated hereafter.

With regard to the philosophy or the production of coal-gas, it proves that pit-coal contains solid hidrogen, carbon, and oxigen. When the intensity of the heat has reached a certain degree, a part of the carbon unites with part of the oxigen and produces carbonic acid, which by means of caloric is melted into the gazeous state and forms carbonic acid gas; at the same time, part of the hidrogen of the coal combines with another portion of carbon and caloric, and forms the carburetted hidrogen gas, which varies considerably in its constitution, according to the circumstances under which it is produced; a portion of olifiant gas, carbonic oxid, hidrogen, and sulphuretted hidrogen, is also produced during the process. The quantities of these products vary according to the nature of the coal employed in the process.

Pit-coal is not the only substance which affords carburetted hydrogen; this gazeous fluid may be obtained in a great variety of ways, and with very considerable differences in specific gravity and proportion of ingredients.

It is found plentifully native or ready formed on the surface of stagnant waters, marshes, wet ditches, &c. through which, if examined closely, large bubbles will be seen to rise in hot weather, and may be increased at pleasure by stirring the bottom or mud with a stick.

In close still evenings if a lighted candle is held over the surface, flashes of blue lambent flame may sometimes be perceived spreading to a considerable distance. All that is not fabulous concerning the ignis fatuus is probably derived from this source. This species of gas is termed for distinction the carburetted hydrogen of marshes. In the purest form in which it can be collected it is mixed with about 20 per cent. of azot or nitrogen.

To procure the gas for the purpose of philosophical amusement, fill a wide-mouthed bottle with the water of the ditch, and keep it inverted therein with a large funnel in its neck, then with a stick stir the mud at the bottom just under the funnel, so as to cause the bubbles of air which rise from the mud to enter into the bottle; when by thus stirring the mud in various places, the air may be catched in the bottle.

Carburetted hidrogen gas is also given out very abundantly by all kinds of vegetable matter when subjected to a scorching heat sufficient to decompose them. When heated in close vessels much more gas is obtained than when burnt in the open air. If moistened charcoal be put into an earthen retort and heat be applied till the retort becomes ignited; gas will be evolved, consisting partly of carbonic acid, and partly of carburetted hidrogen. A gas of similar properties is obtained by causing steam to pass through a tube filled with red-hot charcoal; by passing spirit of wine, or camphor, through red-hot tubes; by distilling oils, wood, bones, wax and tallow, or any animal or vegetable body whatever.

Indeed it would be endless to enumerate the various sources of this gazeous fluid. A most curious variety of carburetted hidrogen gas has been discovered by the associated Dutch chemists (Van Dieman, Troostwyck, and others) which is procured from ether or alcohol, and has the remarkable property of generating a heavy oil when in contact with chlorine gas. Hence it has been termed oily carburetted hidrogen, or olifiant gas—it consists of carburetted hydrogen, supersaturated with carbon. The oil generated is heavier than water, whitish, and semi-transparent. By keeping, it becomes yellow and limpid; its smell is highly fragrant and penetrating—its taste somewhat sweet—it is partly soluble in water, imparting to it, its peculiar smell. A portion of this gas always accompanies the common carburetted hidrogen obtained from coal, and those sorts of coal that afford the largest quantity of it are best suited for the production of gas-light.

The nature of carburetted hidrogen obtained from coal varies considerably according to the conditions under which it is obtained. The first part is always much heavier than the last, though still lighter than common air, and holds in solution a portion of oil, for on standing for some time over water it becomes lighter, and is found to require less oxygen for saturation than before. The oil which it held suspended, then becomes precipitated. The average specific gravity of the first and last gas mixed, which may be taken as an average of the whole specific gravity is to that of common air as 2 to 3—112lb. of common cannel coal produce at its minimum, from 350 to 360 cubic feet of carburetted hidrogen gas; but the same quantity of the best Newcastle coal, that is to say, such as coke, which, when laid on the fire readily undergoes a kind of semi-fusion, and sends out brilliant streams of flame, produces upon an average from 300 to 360 cubic feet of this gazeous fluid, besides a large portion of sulphuretted hidrogen, carbonic oxid and carbonic acid. Half a cubic foot of this carburetted hidrogen, fresh prepared, that is to say, holding in solution or suspension, a portion of the essential oil, which is generated during the evolution of the gas, is equal in illuminating power to from 170 to 180 grains of tallow, (being the quantity consumed by a candle six to the pound in one hour.) Now, one pound avoirdupoise is equal to 7000 grains, and consequently one pound of candles of six in the pound, burning one at a time in succession, would last (if we take 175 grains of tallow to be consumed in an hour) 7000175 = 40 hours. To produce the same light we must burn one half of a cubic foot of coal-gas per hour; therefore, one-half multiplied by forty hours is equal to twenty cubic feet of gas in 40 hours, consequently equal to one pound of candles, six to the pound, provided they were burnt one after another. One hundred and twelve pounds of cannel-coal, produce, at its minimum, three hundred and fifty cubic feet of gas; and are equal to three hundred and fifty, divided by twenty, which last is equivalent to one pound of tallow, making one hundred and twelve pounds of cannel-coal, equal to 35020 = 17¹⁄₂lbs. of tallow. Further, one hundred and twelve pounds of cannel-coal, divided by seventeen and a half of tallow make six and four-tenths of cannel-coal, equal to one pound of tallow.

With regard to Newcastle coals[17], it may be stated that one chaldron of Wall’s-End coal may be made to produce in the large way upwards of 11,000 cubic feet of crude gas; which, when properly purified, diminishes to nearly 10,000 cubic feet.

[17] One chaldron of Newcastle coal weighs from 2850 to upwards of 2978lb.

The production of carburetted hydrogen, both with regard to quantity and quality from the same kind of coal depends much upon the degree of temperature employed in the distillatory process. If the tar and oil produced during the evolution of the gas in its nascent state, be made to come in contact with the sides of the red hot retorts, or if it be made to pass through an iron cylinder or other vessel heated red hot, a large portion becomes decomposed into carburetted hydrogen gas and olifiant gas, and thus a much larger quantity of gas is produced than would be obtained without such precaution from the same quantity of coal.[18]

[18] One pound of coal-tar produces 15 cubic feet of carburetted hidrogen abounding in olifiant gas.

The distillation of the coal, (if gas be the chief object) should therefore not be carried on too rapidly. Most of the retorts used in the large way, are calculated for containing about one hundred weight of coal, and in general, when previously heated, produce from two and one-half to three cubic feet of gas, in four hours for each pound of coal they contain; but when the layer of coals in them does not exceed four inches in depth, three and one-half to four feet of gas may be obtained in the same time.

The retorts best calculated for large gas-light works are seven or eight foot long (without the mouth-piece) and twelve inches in diameter, tapering down to ten inches—if they are larger the coal which they contain cannot be heated properly. The advantages that may be derived from the circumstances before stated are of greater value in the gas-light manufacture than is often imagined, and the quantity as well as the quality of the gas is very much influenced by such circumstances. If coal be distilled with a very low red heat scarcely observable by daylight, the gas produced gives a feeble light—if the temperature be increased so that the distillatory vessel is of a dull redness, the light is more brilliant and of a better colour—if a bright or cherry-red heat be employed the gas produced, burns with a brilliant white flame, and if the heat be increased so far that the retort is almost white hot, and consequently in danger of melting, the gas given out, has little illuminating power, and burns with a clear blueish flame;[19] or if the coal abounds in pyrites or sulphuret of iron, as is sometimes the case with Newcastle coal, a large quantity of sulphuretted hidrogen is likewise evolved, which although it increases the illuminating power of the coal-gas, has the capital disadvantage, of producing an intolerable suffocating odour, when the gas is burnt which is particularly perceptible in low rooms illuminated with such gas.

[19] It is chiefly a mixture of carbonic oxid, and hydrogen gas.

These observations also apply to the distillation of tar, which when distilled either in a vaporous or nascent state, during its first production from coal in the ordinary process, or if it be submitted to a second distillation, mingled with a fresh portion of pit-coal, a practice usually had recourse to when this product cannot be disposed of more advantageously. The best depth of coal in the retort for procuring excellent gas, and at the same time for yielding the greatest quantity from the same weight in the shortest possible time, is about six inches.

The brightness of the coal-gas flame is rather diminished when the gas has been long kept over water, and hence for illumination it should be used as soon as prepared, but of course properly purified.

The quantity of gas taken up by water is affected by temperature, because the temperature increases its elasticity; the quantity of gas absorbed, diminishes as the temperature increases, and increases as the temperature diminishes. ¹⁄₂₇ part of its own bulk of pure coal-gas is absorbed by the water over which it is confined in the gazometer.

The chemical constitution of this gazeous fluid is best ascertained by burning it in a vessel of oxygen gas, over lime-water in a pneumatic reservoir, by means of a bladder and bent brass pipe. Two products are then obtained, viz. water and carbonic acid. That water is produced, may be shown by burning a very small stream of the gas in a long funnel-shaped tube open at both ends. The formation of carbonic acid is evinced, by the copious precipitation of the lime-water in the foregoing experiment.

If carburetted hydrogen be mixed with a sufficient quantity of oxygen gas or common air and fired by the electric spark, or by any other method, an explosion takes place more or less violent according to the quantity of carbonaceous matter condensed in the hydrocarbonat; and the remaining gas consists of carbonic acid, together with any unconsumed gas, or excess of oxygen, whilst the water condenses in drops on the sides of the vessel. A few cubic inches of the mixed airs is as much as can be conveniently managed at a single explosion; and when any portion of olefiant gas is present, even this quantity will endanger very thick glass jars. A very vivid red flame appears at the moment of the explosion, and a great enlargement takes place in an instant, after which the bulk is suddenly reduced to much less than the original quantity. When the carbonic acid is absorbed by lime-water, if the gasses have been properly proportioned, no gazeous residue is left, except accidental impurities. Though carburetted hydrogen gas, is sometimes naturally produced in coal-mines, and occasionally mixes with common air, producing dreadful explosions, yet when coal-gas is mixed with common air, it does not explode unless the gas be to the air as 1 to 10 nearly. Such are the leading chemical habitudes of this gazeous product. The varieties of carburetted hydrogen gas all agree in being inflammable; but they possess this property in various degrees, as is evinced by the variable brightness of the flame which they yield when set on fire.

“Messrs. Sobolewsky and Horrer, of St. Petersburgh, have employed wood for the purpose of producing carburetted hydrogen gas. The pyroligneous acid obtained in this operation, when freed from the empyreumatic oil with which it is mixed, becomes acetous acid, and is applicable to all the uses of vinegar. A cubic cord of wood equal to 2.133 French metres (a metre being rather more than an English yard), yields 255 Paris pounds of charcoal, and 70 buckets of acid. The latter gives 30 pounds of tar, after the extraction of it 50 buckets of good vinegar remain. The same quantity of wood furnishes 50,000 cubic feet of gas, sufficient for the supply of 4000 lamps for five hours.”[20]

[20] See Repository of Arts, Vol. XI. No. 36, p. 341.

UTILITY
OF THE
GAS-LIGHT ILLUMINATION,
WITH REGARD TO
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE ECONOMY.

From what has been stated in the preceding pages it becomes obvious, that a substance yielding an artificial light may be obtained from common coal in immense quantities. The attempt to derive advantage from so valuable a discovery is surely no idle speculation. Let us therefore now consider to what objects of public and private utility this mode of procuring light may be applied with effect. It is obvious that coal-gas may be preserved in a reservoir for any length of time and that it may be conveyed by means of tubes to any distance flowing equably and regularly like water. Those, indeed, who have not seen the contrivance will find it difficult to imagine with what ease it is managed. The gas may be distributed through an infinity of ramifications of tubes with the utmost facility. Near the termination of each of the tubes through which it flows, it is confined by a valve or stop-cock, upon turning which, when required to be lighted, it flows out in an equable stream and ascends by its specific levity. There is nothing to indicate its presence; no noise at the opening of the stop-cock or valve—no disturbance in the transparency of the atmosphere—it instantly bursts on the approach of a lighted taper, into a brilliant, noiseless, steady and beautiful flame. Its purity is attested by its not blacking or soiling in the least degree the metallic orifice from which it issues, nor even a sheet of white paper, or polished surface brought in contact with it. There is no escape of combustible matter unconsumed, which is so great a nuisance in all our common lights. The products of the combustion are water and carbonic acid gas[21]. The accurate and elegant experiments of Dr. W. Henry have shewn in the most satisfactory manner, that considerably less carbonic acid is produced by the flame of coal-gas, than by that of oil, tallow, or wax[22], which sufficiently refutes the absurd notions that have been circulated respecting the pernicious effects of gas-lights. But if the gas from Newcastle coal is badly prepared, or not deprived of the portion of sulphuretted hydrogen, which it usually contains, it then emits fiery sparks and produces a portion of sulphureous acid by virtue of the union of the oxygen of the air with the sulphur dissolved in the gas, the consequence of which is, a suffocating odour, which is particularly observable in the higher stratum of the air of apartments in which the gas is burnt. Such gas likewise tarnishes all metallic bodies—it discolours the paintings effected with metallic oxids, and always produces a suffocating odour very noxious to health. It is freed from the sulphuretted hydrogen and may be rendered fit for illumination by passing it repeatedly through very dilute solutions of sub-acetate of lead, green sulphate of iron, quicklime and water, or hyper-oxymuriate of lime.

[21] The water (which passes off in imperceptible vapour) is generated by part of the oxygen of the air uniting with part of the hydrogen, which forms the great bulk of the coal-gas: and the carbonic acid gas is produced by the union of another portion of the oxygen uniting with the smaller portion of carbon, which is the other component part of the coal-gas.

[22] 100 Cubic inches of carburetted hydrogen from coal, require for burning 220 cubic inches of oxygen and produce 100 cubic inches of carbonic acid—100 cubic inches of the same gas obtained from wax, require for burning 280 cubic inches of oxygen and produce 137 cubic inches of carbonic acid—100 cubic inches of the same gas procured from lamp-oil, require 190 cubic inches of oxygen for burning, and produce 124 cubic inches of carbonic acid.

The following lines relating to the salubrity of the gas-light illumination are copied from Mr. Lee’s evidence in the House of Commons, when examined on that subject.

Question—“Is the health of your manufacturers at all affected by the use of gas?—Answer—Not in the least, or I would not have adopted it. I believe I explained to the Committee, that I used the gas-lights in my own house first.”

Q. “You have not seen the smallest alteration in the health of your workmen?—A. Not in the least, for had I seen it, it would have been a fatal objection to it.”

Q. “And you say the same in regard to the use of the gas-lights in your own family?—A. Certainly I do.”

As to the brilliancy of the flame, an appeal may be made to every one who has witnessed the gas-light illumination, whether it be not superior to the best wax candle-light, or the light of Argand’s lamps.

It may be described as a rich compact flame, burning with a white and agreeable light. It is also perfectly steady, when the flame is limited to a moderate size: in large masses, it is subject to that undulation which is common to it with all flames of certain dimensions, and is caused by the agitation of the surrounding atmosphere. The gas flame is entirely free from smell. The coal-gas itself certainly has a disagreeable foetid odour before it is burnt, so has the vapour of wax, oil, and tallow, as it comes from a lamp or candle newly blown out. This concession proves nothing against the flame of gas which is perfectly inodorous, a white handkerchief, passed repeatedly through it and applied to the nose, excites no odour.

Another peculiar advantage of the gas flame is, that it may be applied in any direction we please, as there is nothing to spill and the gas is propelled by a certain force which is always the same, it will burn equally well in an almost horizontal as in an upright position; and we can thus obviate two great objections to all our artificial lights, that their least luminous end is directed downwards where the light is generally most wanted, and that a shade is cast below by the stand or support of the combustible matter.

The size, shape and intensity of the gas-flame may be regulated by simply turning a stop-cock which supplies the gas to the burner. It may at command be made to burn with an intensity sufficient to illuminate every corner of a room, or so low and dim as barely to be perceived. It is unnecessary to point out how valuable such lights may be in nurseries, stables, warehouses, in the chambers of the sick, &c.

From the facility with which the gas-flame can be conveyed in any direction, from the diversified application, size and shape which the flame can be made to assume, there is no other kind of light so well calculated for being made the subject of splendid illuminations.

Where lustres are required in the middle of a room, the best mode of conducting the gas to the chandelier, is to pass the gas-pipe through the ceiling from the room above, immediately over the lustre. This can be easily done without injury to the apartment.

Where side-lights and chandeliers are required the tubes need never appear in sight, but may be concealed in the wall or floor of the house. When transparencies are wanted as decorations for halls, lobbies, &c. more than light, recesses may be filled with different coloured media, or paintings, and any intensity of light may be thrown on the object.