Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1871-12-09
THE OXY.HYDROGENL LIGHT.
4 Successful Experiment with 70 in
the Sydenham Crystal Palace. Eng.


tLondon Correspondence Toronto Globe.l
The Crystal Palace was lighted recently with
a new light. Nothing can exceed the steafi-
ness. as well as the whiteness and luminosity OF
this light. And n was put &c as fair a test as
possibly could be, IL that can. indeed. he strictly
called fair which gave every advantage To its
adversary. The new lights were displayed side
by side with the like candeiabra and gssehers
lit with gas in the ordinary way, the advantage
20 the gas being that il was turned ON 10 the vt
most. One candelabra OF twenty oxy-hydrogen
lights was lit in the vast nave and The illumina-
ticn was perfect, bright. and clear, and ample
for the whole length In the transept two case
Tiers AZ the foet nf the orchestra were lii with
oxy-hydrogen lights. anil two with gas; on the
was likewise lit in this way, and the other with
gas The gas-hghts in both cases looked yellow
and absolutely dngv. The oSy- hydrogen lights
were soft. steady. and brilliant, ecliTsng the
gas completely. AT over hundred yarJs away
from them the address in small handwriting OF
letter could be read perfectly and distinctly,
as also could small print in books. From the
gas-lights at that distance nothing OF the sort
rould pe deciphered.
The oxygen. il il said, can be made at a com
mercial price; indeed, it actually costs in the
production no more than three shahngs Fer
l0oOcubc feet. Not that IL VIII he sold az that
Price. and, moreover, the Objectionable lime or
gircoD wick il altogether dispensed with; the
oxygen and hydrogen are burnt together a.
eases from one bGrner-itself a most Ingenious
centrivance. To France belongs the honor OF
the invention. ana TO NJ. TesSie du Motay the
merit in particular. The oxygen H. obtained
from the atmospheric boundless scource. The
common gas light takes the oxygen il needs from
the air, and the gas engineer spreads ont the
flame of the gas jet into bats wings and fish
tails" and other extended forms, To enable il 20
seize a much oxygen rs possible. The new light
consumes no more oxygen than the old light 4
simply takes its oxygen pure instead of diluted.
Ii does this much more, however. il takes il in a
wholesome manner. The Old light liberates all
the larger volumes of heated residual nitrogen
into the room or apartment in which the com
bustion goes on, Whaling and poliuting the air;
the new light has none OF the residual nitrogen,
tor that il ali thrown of into the mandatory,
and none of il is brought into the apartments OF
the hahtation. The new light. as produced for
household purposes. Is perfectly conical, like a
such that the globe in which il burns may be
han died with ease, and the hand held four inches
over the flame without Inconvenience.
The process of manufacture is az follows: A
small cylinder engine drove a set of three small
air-pumps at a rapid rate; these pumped air into
two retOrts built mp in furnace, the external
walls OF which may be roughly said TO be about
ten feet long by six feet in the section. These
retorts were charged with margarine OF soda,
mixed with some oxide Of copper. The manga
mite has an affection for oxygen and takes alarge
percentage out OF the air, leaving the ahan-
doned nitrogen TO escape by small hues or iron
pipes. The margarine thus gets saturated, as
II were, like sponge, with the oxygen, when
blast OF superheatcd steam is turned on, and
this washes out and carries off the oxygen to a
reservoir. Then the steam condenses il into
water, leaving the reservoir filled with oxygen.
BY means of the alteration afforded by the two
retorts, the process becomes continuous, and a.
fast as the Air is pumped into the oxygen it is
regularly coming Off In this way one cubic foot
OF oxygen il the product OF 20 cubic feet of air
and 10 Of steam. The burner is very ingenious
In general shape il is like a double ordinary
burner, with one top for the oxygen and another
FOR the hydrogen; both taps are turned on full
when the light is burning. the adjustment Of
the quantities of the gases to each other being
made once for all by separate regulators; the
top of the burner is dshedo out into a he mispheri
the
hole, and surrounding il some eight OF ten
smaller holes for the escape OF the hydrogen.
The combustion is thus maintained in the center
sohd cone Of light. 1t il. indeed, the richness
of the coal gas in carbon which gives to this
oNy-hy hydrogen light its exceeding hrilliancy.