Читать книгу Description of the Process of Manufacturing Coal Gas. For the Lighting of Streets Houses, and Public Buildings онлайн

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We have now to turn our attention to another general point of view in which the introduction of lighting by gas is not less an object of interest to the public; we allude to the application of gas as a means of heating as well as lighting. Mr. Maibenssss1 was the first who directed the attention of the public to this subject; he ascertained that gas from coal gives nearly the same heat when put into combustion, which is yielded by a third part of the coal from which it is extracted. In other words, it has been found that a quantity of fuel giving a particular degree of heat, may be employed so as to produce at the same time another substance yielding nearly an equal degree of heat in a different and more manageable form; a form in which it can be preserved for any length of time, divided into any portions, distributed in any direction, consumed in an open fire-place, or in a stove concealed in any shape; a form in which the flame may issue equally well from iron or from stone-ware, be instantly lighted up and instantly extinguished, be made to burn as long or as short a time as may suit us, and in any degree of intensity between the most animating and brilliant blaze and its total extinction; be extinguished in one room, and the next moment lighted up in any other; in short such a form, that by one proper arrangement from the beginning, with the same portion of fuel, we may at any time have the command of a chearful fire, an adequate and comfortable warmth in any part of our dwelling to which we may have occasion to move, as manageable, and in this way as portable, as the taper by the touch of which it is kindled. To those who have been accustomed to see before them a solid mass of burning fuel, this gas flame may at first have the less satisfactory appearance of a fugitive blaze which we perceive nothing to support. But its uniformity and permanence will soon banish this impression, while it is attended with other advantages not inconsiderable with respect either to comfort or convenience. There are no coals to be carried in, no ashes to be carried out; there is no blowing, no sweeping of cinders, no dust, no interruption of servants; there is no excessive heat in one stage, no sudden damping at another: we have the choice of any temperature, and which we can regulate with the utmost ease. The fire itself is lively and pleasant to the eye: inclosed in transparencies it receives a degree of splendour not easily imagined. Numerous applications of gas, as a source of heat for airing rooms, and other purposes, have already been adopted. It is used in kitchens for keeping meat warm, and for boiling water; in store rooms, in picture galleries, in libraries, for maintaining them at an equal temperature. By copper-plate printers, it is used for warming their plates; and by jewellers and other artists, for soldering.