Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-04-30

A writer in London Building News
SAYS: Attention has been recently at
tracted to the luminous paint which was
patented in 1877 by the late Mr.. W. II
Balmain, and which has been lately en-
ployed for rendering clock dials self-lu-
minous in the darkness. The present in
vention is the outcome of the life study
of Mr.. Balmain, who, unfortunately. has
not lived TO see his discovery brought
into general use. Possessed Of ample
means, it appears that he was in no hurry
to make his process known, and a matter
of fact, after he had brought it to such
perfection rs justified him IN patenting
it, little if any effort was made to intro
duce the paint Although the invention
is patent, the actual process by which
the paint is prepared remains a secret.
though other inventors have introduced a
compound by which the clock dials are
painted, and for the license to use which
they pay royalty to the representative
of Mr. Balmain. The luminous paint is
to II certain extent based on what is known
rs Cantons phosphorus, q sulphide of
calcium, which has the property of phos-
phorescing in the dark but the modern
compound is made principally from that
cheap substance, chalk, and, if we may
Judge from the specimens We have seen,
is a long way i'll advance of any of the
phosphorescing powders known in the
laboratory of the chemist Messrs.
Ihlee & Horne, of 81 Aldermanbury, E..
c., are the agents of the late Mr.. Bal
main, and have devoted considerable
time to devising methods of practically
utilizing the paint although until syndi-
cate is formed lin consequence of the
death Of the inventory the paint will not,
We presume, be brought into the open
market That, however, will shortly be
done, and meantime the paint is being
experimental with in various ways Ii
is in use on more than one man of-war
for lighting up magazines and dark pas
sages, and one of the London dock COM
panies is about to introduce it into its
spirit and wine vaults. The compound
is made into paint by the addition of a
varnish such as copal, and is then ready
for coating the surface it Is desired to
render luminous. or the powder may be
busted upon a previously vanished sur
face The powder may be also mixed
with substances employed in forming
solid objects, such as cellulose, papiei
muche, artificial ivory and other similarly
manufactured materials, which are cnpa-
BILE Of being worked into designs suitable
for various purposes of decoration and
ornamentation and they can also be mix
ed with ether and collodion, and rolled
INTO sheets for cutting up. Mixed witt
stearine, par,iiiin, glue, or the water
glasses, the phosphorescent powders may
he used for many purposes, and can be
combined with glass itself, and worked
up into the various forms which that sub.
stance is capable of taking
Painted on cardboard about Is in. by
10 in, and framed, it forms the Aladdin's
lamp, suppIsed TO ii. NJ. $. Northamp-
ton, by Messrs. Ihlee a. Horne. PainteG
on g.ass through stencil plates, it ID used
/ for illuminated numbers to house doors
for notice of apartments TO let, and it can
of course be employed for the name plate
Of streets, for use III coal mines, and fol
warning boards III all dark passages
( where il il not desirable to introduce n
gas jet. Match boxes are eonted with it,
and their position rendered visible in the
darkest room while photographs can be
supplied with IA luminous background
For railways carriages which, having to
Z IbliSS vi tWo, hi'
sariy furnished with lamps during the
whole journey, the luminous paint will
yield all the light that is needed Exper-
imcnts are being made to ascertain the
effects produced by different grounds and
vehicles upon the powder. and these
necessarily occupy considerable time
but sufficient has already been disclosed
the fact that the luminous paint has Il
wide field of usefulness open to it.
Sheets Of cardboard placed III II window
and exposed to the daylight will absorb
sufficient to give IL pleasantly luminous eff
feet for five or six or more hours, while
half a minutes exposure to such light
as that Of burning magnesium will charge
them to saturation. When produced on
a manufacturing scale the paint will be
comparatively cheap, and will no doubt
have AN extensive sale, for, although
many uses have been already found foi
1t, they are only percentage Of the pos
sible number.