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.