The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-24 00:00:00

BELGIUM.

BRUSSELS, APRIL 20.—Great satisfaction has been
expressed here by the fact that the King of Hol-
land has conferred upon his Majesty the King of
Belgium the order of the Grand Cross of the
Netherlands. On the 18th, Baron Bentinck was
received by the King in an official audience, and
presented his letters plenipotentiary, and had, at the
same time, the honour of giving the King the in-
signia from the King of Holland.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL
ENGINEERS.
TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 1849.

William Cubitt, Esq., Vice-President, in the chair.
The discussion on Mr. Browne's " Account of the
Groynes at the new Harbour at Sunderland," was
continued throughout the meeting.
At the monthly ballot, the following candidates
were duly elected :—Messrs. W. B. Clegram, J.
Fenton, J. Matthew, and W. Radford, as Members ;
the Right lion. the Earl of Lovelace, W. G. Arm-
strong, J. Chubb, J. Francis, Soren lijorth, and W.
Piper, as Associvtes.
TUESDAY, APRIL 17.
Robert Stephenson, Esq., M.P., V.P., in the chair.
The paper read was " On au Application of certain
Liquid Hydrocarbons to Artificial Illumination," by
Mr. C. B. Mansfield, B.A. The paper first noticed,
that liquid hydrocarbons had been comparatively little
used for the production of artificial light ; and that,
in the instances in which they had been applied, their
liquidity, and not their evaporability, had been turned
to account.

In the use of the common volatile oils, the excess
of carbon in their composition was the great diffi-
culty; but when that was surmounted, that excess
became an actual benefit.

There were two methods of rendering this carbon
efficient as " light fuel," when advantage was taken
of the volatility of the substances; one was, to cause
vapour, as it escaped from a jet, to mix rapidly with
the air. The other, to mix the vapour, before com-

bustion, with other gaseous matters containing less
carbon. The adoption of the first of these was instanced
in Holliday's recently patented naptha lamp. The

second, consisted of the new arrangements described
in the paper.
This principle was carried into practice in two
ways. The first (which was illustrated by a lamp
that was burning on the table) was effected by mixing
the hydrocarbons with some other inflammable spirit
containing very little carbon. The mixture was
described as being made in certain definite propor-
tions, which ensured a perfectly white light, and from
which any deviation would result in a flame of
inferior quality—pale, if
.the hydrocarbon were
deficient—smoky, if the mixture were poor in
spirit. The ingredients most accessible in this country
were stated to be wood, spirit, and a volatile oil from
coal naptha, in the proportions of two-thirds of the
former to one-third of the latter. Alcohol and oil of
turpentine had been similarly used on the continent,
though the former was too dear for use in England.
The other adaptation of the same principle, and
that which it wBs the chief object of the paper to

describe, was the dilution of the hydrocarbon vapours
with permanent gases of inferior, or even of no
illuminating powers.
That application might be called the napthalization
of gas, or the gasintion of naptha, according as its
main object was to enhance the service of the gas, or
to utilize the liquid ; the latter was the object of the
new proposal doscribEd in the paper. The former
had been already accomplished by preceding in-
ventors. _ _ _ _