GASILLUMINATION, History of. The development of gas lighting can properly be placed to the credit of the 19th century. Spirit of coal, produced by the distillation of coal, was known as far back as 1739, and the attention of Robert Boyle was called to this substance by Dr. Clayton, bishop of Cork. Its properties were studied and its inflammability and many of its general characteristics were known at this time, although an inflammable gas rising from the surfaces of certain stagnant is had been noted as far back as 1659. The first prac tical application of gas for illuminating pur poses was made in 1792. William Murdock, an English engineer, produced gas by the destruc tive distillation of coal in iron retorts and con ducted it for a distance of 70 feet through iron pipes and lighted and heated his house in Red ruth, Cornwall. Lebon in 1801 illuminated his house and garden in Paris by gas produced from the destructive distillation of wood. This method of illumination proved a failure on ac count of the poor illuminating power of the gas. In 1802 Mr. Murdock installed a plant for illuminating the foundry of Boulton, Watt & Co. (Watt being the inventor of the steam engine) near Birmingham, and a similar in stallation was introduced in Manchester shortly after this time. Street lighting was introduced by F. A. Winer (afterward changed to Win sor) in 1807 in Pall Mall. Mr. Winsor pro moted a company for general gas lighting in 1809, and was granted a charter by Parliament in 1810 for the establishment of the London Gas Light and Coke Company, generally known as the chartered gas company.
In America David Melville, of Newport, R. I., was attracted by the developments made along the lines of gas lighting in England, and installed in his house, and in the streets in front of his house, the first gas lights used in the United States. This installation was made in 1806, his apparatus, with improvements, was patented in 1813 and a general installation made in several Cotton mills and lighthouses. Balti more was the first city in the United States to install gas lighting, in the year 1817, and since that time the growth of the gas lighting indus try has proceeded uninterruptedly, for its con venience and economy have been impressed upon the public.
The original promoters of gas lighting en countered many difficulties. At the time of the installation of gas pipes in the House of Par liament it was stipulated by this body that no pipes should be placed nearer than six inches to any woodwork. Numerous explosions and fatal asphyxiations caused by lack of experi ence in handling the new substance are re corded. The disagreeable •and often injurious odor of the products of combustion of the as greatly retarded its favor with the public. With the increasing experience of gas engineers, the dangers of explosions aid accidental asphyxia tions were eliminated. Considerable inventive genius was brought to bear to remove from the room the products of combustion, or to purify the gas for the removal of those constituents which gave the disagreeable products on burn ing. Several means were proposed for accom plishing these purposes. The most original im provement, and one in use at the present time, was the invention of Clegg, who introduced the use of slaked lime for removing the sulphurous constituents of the gas before it entered the holders. A later development was that of Lanning, who used ferrous oxide mixed with sawdust or wood pulp to make it porous for the absorption of the sulphur constituents. These methods are to-day in general use. Many other methods, of more or less value, have been pro posed.
The illuminating power of a flame is de rived from the heating of solid particles to incandescence, and the practice of gas illumina tion can therefore be divided into two general principles: (1) Where the solid incandescent material is supplied by the decomposition of the gas in the process of combustion; (2) where the complete combustion of the gas is pro duced by the Bunsen burner, and a permanent incandescing material is supplied as a part of the apparatus.