doubt, that the savings in this case follow nearly the same proportion as in the former. If the apparatus be erected on a still smaller scale, "the saving," Mr. Cook assures us, "will be equally great: for the poor man who lights only six candles, or uses one lamp, if the apparatus is put up in the cheapest way, will find it only cost him 10. or 124. which he will nearly, if not quite, save the first year."

The last trial of gas lights we shall mention, though not the most satisfactory, has made the greatest noise in the world, and was, indeed, what first led us to think upon the subject. During one of those excursions to the metropolis, with which we occasionally treat ourselves, after a long period of northern rustication, our attention, at such a time alive to every thing, was arrested by a new and singular spectacle. The whole range of Pall Mall, from St. James's to Cockspur street, was lighted up by means of lamps, fed with gas instead of cotton and oil, and certainly in a style of much superiour brilliancy. We found, upon inquiry, that the conductor of this remarkable illumination was a Mr. Winsor, acting under the auspices of a committee of subscribers; and that it was executed by them as a grand experiment to convince parliament and the publick of the national importance of their intended Light and Heat Company. Subscriptions had been collected, to a very large amount, to carry into effect Winsor's discovery; and 20,000. vested in a committee, to assist him in his experiments, and make application to parliament for a charter of incorporation. In prosecution of these objects, we afterwards learned, that a correspondence was opened with the chancellor of the exchequer in the month of March last; but he, alleging partly the advanced state of the session, which did not allow a private bill to be presented, and partly his own doubts as to the utility of its object, declined promise

ing his support to the measure. Since that time, a general meeting, it seems, has resolved not to regard the answer of Mr. Perceval as a final rejection, but to come forward with their claims for a charter, during the present session. On what grounds these claims are founded, it is not very easy to discover. It is possible that govern ment, foreseeing that the new mode of lighting would render less produc tive the taxes raised on the common materials, might think it wise to sanc tion some publick establishment, by way of securing to itself a share in the profits. But it is the title of Mr. Winsor and his friends to an exclu sive privilege, that puzzles us. We attempted to look for it in his pam phlets; but encountered, at every step, such ignorance, quackery, extravagance, and false calculation, that we had scarcely patience to wade through them. As, however, we are in search of facts, we shall, in mer cy to a foreigner and an enthusiast, who talks about his new light with all the ferver of a fanatick, pass over his wild reasonings in bad English and state briefly whatever there is of value in his plans and processes.

We must premise, however, that we cannot allow him the credit of being a great discoverer-a name which he is suspiciously fond of arrogating to himself. That coal yields an inflammable gas has been long known; and its nature is parti cularly described by Dr. Clayton in the Philosophical Transactions for 1735. With regard to the useful application of it, Mr. Murdoch was undoubtedly the first who conceived the idea of conveying it through tubes, and employing it for artificial light; and we embrace, with plea sure, this opportunity of doing jus tice to the modest fame of our countryman. This was as early as the year 1792, long prior to the perio from which Winsor himself date his discovery. We fear, therefore that the bugbear of his patent right which he holds out in terrorem, wi

avail him little, and that it is impossible to give him or his friends the monopoly of a practice, which is already adopted by several persons who pretend to no secret or mystery in the art. We cannot discover that there is any decided superiority in Mr. Winsor's gas lights over those of Mr. Murdoch. It is asserted, indeed, in "Considerations," &c. that it is necessary to take to pieces, now and then, the tubes in Mr. Lee's manufactory, to clear them from impurities; while those of Mr. Winsor contract no soil by any length of use. But Mr. Murdoch expressly assures us, in his paper, that all inconveniences of this kind are now entirely done away. Winsor's Analysis of New Castle Coal is certainly very complete. The gas flames he exhibits in the different apartments of his house are extremely brilliant; and the variety and neatness of their application worthy of praise.

He deserves credit too, we think, for calling the publick attention, more than had been done before, to the peculiar advantage of coke as a cheap and agreeable fuel. This substance is the residuum that is found after all the evaporable matter has been expelled from the coal by heat. It comes out from the distilling process in large, spongy masses, greatly diminished in weight, but increased in bulk nearly one third. Though some what more difficult of ignition than coal, it burns longer, and gives out a steadier and more intense heat. That it should do so, will not appear strange to our chymical readers (and who is there now that does not know something of chymistry?) when it is considered that the quantity of matter, which, in the combustion of coal, is changed from a solid to a state of elastick fluidity, must necessarily carry off much calorick in a latent state; while the glow of the coke radiates with an intensity unimpaired by any demand of this kind. The same respectable chymist we formerly mentioned, bears testimony to the supe

riority of coke. "I have learned," says Mr. Accum,* "that the heat produced by coke, when compared with that which can be obtained from coal, is at least as 3 to 2." Thus he found, that it required three bushels of coal to distil a given quantity of water, and only two of coke. He tried the two substances also by combustion, with a certain measure of oxygen gas, by the fusion and the reduction of metals, &c. and the same result was obtained; a result certainly not unimportant; since it proves that, by being forced to yield the material of a beautiful light, coal is actually improved very considerably in its power of giving heat. We have not the least doubt that this coke, as Winsor produces it, and as we have seen it used in his house, might be introduced to form, if not the whole, at least four fifths of our common fires, with a very great addition of comfort, cleanliness and economy. Let it be observed, however, that we possess no facts that warrant us in pushing this conclusion any further than regards the coke of Newcastle coal. Mr. Murdoch, though he makes proper allowance for the coke produced in his process, does not enlarge at all on its qualities; and it is probable, that some species of coal generate coke too dull and difficult of ignition for consumption in our grates, and only fit to be used in stoves and furnaces where there is a strong draught. But we are persuaded, that the greater proportion of the other varieties in the island will be found, on trial, to yield the same sort of coke as Winsor's, and that it can never be produced in such quantity, by the extended use of the gas lights hereafter, that the demand will not fully and rapidly absorb it. Its merits have long been acknowledged in many processes of art; and it is prepared from coal with the loss of all the volatile ingredients in the great manufacturing districts; and if the

* Appendix to Report of the Committee.

room.

When we said that the facts of Mr. Winsor and his friends are less satisfactory than the others we recorded, we alluded to the circumstance, that, while he makes us stare at the unparalleled extravagance of his tables, where he gravely strikes a balance of annual profit to the nation at large, of one hundred and fifteen millions, and while, by a singular effort of moderation, he reduces the gains of his subscribers to the "absolute certainty" of only "600. a year for every 5. adventure," he cautiously avoids detailing minutely the expense of the apparatus, or taking, as an item on the debtor side, the interest of capital sunk, which, in Murdoch's statement, exceeds the annual expense, in the ratio of 11 to 1. We need not add, how much this must falsify all his conclusions, even if he had not disproved them himself by a deductio ad absurdum. The committee, composed, as their report shows, of sensible, but not scientifick men, do away half the value of their experiments, when, in a memorial addressed to the king, they candidly subjoin to their account of them "Their present experience does not enable your majesty's memorialists

to calculate the expenses of the pro cess, of management, of tubes, and pipes, &c. with any tolerable degree of precision." p. 19. The experi ment in Pall Mall, therefore, proves, as yet, nothing more than the possi bility of lighting up a street with gas; a curious fact, without doubt; but we cannot call it a very important one, till we be enabled to add, that this can be done at a cheaper rate than with oil. It is not unlikely that it may; and we strenuously advise the committee, while they have the command of money, instead of bask ing in the sunshine of delusive hopes, to institute another trial, in which all these expenses shall be rigidly noted, and faithfully carried to ac count. It is a point which it is de sirable to ascertain, though we by no means agree in the common opinion, that on its decision depends the ques tion of the economical advantages of the gas lights. The committee were unfortunate in choosing this for their experimentum crucis. The lights required in streets are at considerable intervals, and, consequently, the range of tubes is extensive and costly; and, going to a great distance from the centre of supply, must be subject to accident and derangement. In lighting the streets, too, the gas must beat out of the market the coarsest and cheapest of all materials; so that we can imagine a failure, in this instance, not inconsistent with its producing great national and individual benefit.

There is one circumstance in which, as far as we can judge from our imperfect knowledge of Winsor's process, it is superiour to Murdoch's. The latter seems to follow the usual mode of distillation, by putting the vessel that contains the coal into the centre of a furnace. But Winsor puts the fire in the centre, and (leaving only space sufficient for a draught of air) surrounds it with the coal that is to be carbonized; the evident advan tage of which is this, that the least possible heat is wasted, as, in flying

off, it encounters the coal on every side. Accordingly, we find, that in Murdoch's statement, a sixth part of the annual expense goes for the purchase of common coal to distil the cannel which he employed; while Winsor's carbonizing process is performed by the refuse cinder of a former operation; and as this cinder does not appear in the estimate of coke produced, it may, in fact, he considered as costing nothing. Before taking leave of Mr. Winsor, we shall present the reader with the results of his analysis of coal, which, from the specimen he has given us, of his pow ers of exaggeration, we should have been cautious of admitting among authentick facts, had not the committee declared, that the experiments were repeated in their presence, and that they corroborated Winsor's printed statement in the most satisfactory manner. Two pecks of Newcastle coal, weighing 36 lib. produced 3 pecks of coke, weighing 24 lib. 2 oz. about 3 lib. of oily tar, and about 4 of alkaline liquor; and, as the only other product was gas, it is concluded that gas constituted the remainder of the weight, amounting nearly to four pounds.

From the foregoing facts and reasonings, we think ourselves entitled to draw the following conclusions.

I. In all manufactories, whether on a large, middling, or small scale -in all publick offices, printing houses, theatres, lighthouses, &c.-in short, wherever much light is required in a given space, the gas lights may be introduced with very great advantage. We need not remind the reader, how large a proportion of the artificial light used in this manufacturing country is comprehended in this description. It may be objected to the universality of our conclusion, that the price of coals differing very much in different places, will occa sion a variation in the expense of procuring gas. But there are two reasons why this should have less effect than at first sight might be

VOL. II.

imagined. In the first place, we find, upon examining Mr. Murdoch's statement, that of 6007. the estimated yearly expense of lighting the cotton mill, 550/. consist of interest of capital, and tear and wear of apparatus, leaving the cost of coal only 50% a sum so trifling, when we reflect, that it replaces 2000l. worth of candies, that the price of coal, even where it is highest, can but slightly effect the general profits. Secondly, the coal, by yielding the gas and other volatile products, is converted into a substance, increased in bulk, and in the power of producing heat. And as a manufactory generally requires heating as well as lighting, there will be a gain both ways. By distilling his coal, instead of burning it as it comes from the pit, the manufacturer will save his candles, and improve his fuel. One effort at the outset, in erecting a proper apparatus, will reduce his annual disbursement, for these two articles of prime necessity, much in the same manner, though in a far greater degree, as the farmer gains by building a thrashing machine, and laying aside the use of the flail.

II. When we reflect on the small number of trials that has yet been made, and the expensiveness and awkwardness of first attempts, we may reasonably expect considerable improvements as the practice becomes more general, so as to turn the scale still more decidedly in favour of the gas lights. Anxious as we are to avoid the charge of visionary speculation, we cannot help anticipating the pretty extensive introduction of them into private houses. Mr. Lee has set the example. The whole of his house at Manchester, from the kitchen to the drawing room, is lighted solely by gas. Its properties render it particularly fit for ornamental illumination. As there is nothing to spill, the flame may be directed either downwards, upwards, or horizontally. And the points from which it issues may be disposed in