HISTORY. The existence of inflammable gases issuing from the earth has been known from very early times. In 1659 Thomas Shirley communi cated to the Royal Society a paper describing experiments on a gas issuing from a well near Wigan in Lancashire, and resulting in his opinion from the decomposition of coal. Dr. John Clay ton, in a paper presented to the same society, in 1739, described the production of a similar gas from coal heated in a closed vessel. It was not, however, until 1792 that the practical value of coal-gas as an illuminant was demon strated by William Murdoch, a Scotchman, who constructed apparatus by which he lighted his home and office in Redruth, Cornwall. In 1798 he moved to Soho, and introduced the illuminant in the Soho foundry. The experiment proved highly "successful, and the plant was soon en larged so as to give light to the principal shops in the vicinity. In 1805 Murdoch introduced gas in the cotton-mills in Manchester. Mean while, Lebon had used coal-gas in his home in Paris in 1799, and his experiments attracted the attention of Winsor, the 'father of modern gas lighting,' who, on his return to England soon after, urged the use of coal-gas for general illumination. In consequence of his agitation,
various buildings in London were lighted by this means, but it was not until 1810 that he secured the incorporation of the Gas Light and Coke Company, and even then the Royal charter was not granted until 1812. Westminster Bridge in London was first lighted by gas in 1813, and in 1815 Guildhall was similarly illuminated. As a street illuminant, gas was first introduced in Saint Margaret's parish in London. Paris was lighted in 1820, and thereafter the use of gas for street illumination was gradually extended throughout the Continent. In the United States the use of illuminating gas was agitated as early as 1812; it was successfully introduced in Baltimore in 1821, in Boston in 1822, in New York gradually between 1823 and 1827.