Cheyenne transporter. [volume] (Darlington, Indian Terr.) 1879-1886, 1885-12-21
THE LAMP.
Origin and Changes of the Popular House.
hold Ornament.

few years, as II receptacle for oil with
IL wick of illumination; but the inven-
tions OF the past generation have'made
it impossible to distinguish between
the lamp proper and other artificial
means of given light. AS used by the
Egyptians, Greeks, and Hebrews,
lamps were simply flat vessels, round
or oblong in shape, at one end which
was q small handle, at the other a
nozzle, and with large opening in the
center, into which the oil was poured.
The oil commonly used was vegetable,
but, according to Plny, sometimes of
liquid bitumen. These lamps, many
of very elegant form and ornamented
with fanciful designs, were hung by
chains to bronze candelabra. Taren-
tum and Egina were especially famed
for making them of great elegance.
Among these Canadian French the
same low, oval metallic vessels, fur
nished as III early days with handle
at one end and n nozzle at the other,
may still be seen. Some are made to
be carried in the hand, while others
are suspended by chains in the mid
die of the room. The Hebrews kept
thcir lamps burning all night, and
this custom is still in vogue in Aleppo
and Egypt. From the earliest times
until within about century the lamp
remained much the same. consisting
! simply of oil and wick in some kind
of Il vessel A complete revolution in
artificial light was caused by the in
venton by Nj. Ami Argand, in 1884 of
a burner with a circular wick. The
flame was thus supplied with an outer
and inner current of air. Argand was
also the inventor of the glass chimney
as applied to his and other lamps. The
so-called astral lamps were provided
with these rcular wicks, the reser-
voir of the oil beng arranged in the
form OF n hollow ring, enveloping the
central stand that supported tho
burner. In consequence of the pecnl-
lar shape given to the ring the lamp
cast no shadow at little distance of.
An ingenious piece Of clockwork ma
chinery was devised by Carcel, in 1900,
for pumping the oil from the reservoir
at the foot Of the lamp up to the burn
er, and thus supplying it always from
the same point. This lamp aftcrward
slightly improved by others, was in
many respects the most perfect of
these contrivances. but its great cost
prevented its general adoption. 1t was,
furthermore, SO large and heavy that
it could be moved only with difficult
ty, and the very complicated nature of
its mechanism required access to
skilled wOrkmen to keep it in repair.
A modification of the Carcl lamp,
known as the DiacOn, was long popu-
lar in this country,
In 1887 Peter Ker made the great
inventIon-since fully developed by
AronsOn-of raising the supply of oil
by means OF another fluid with specific
gravity greater than oil. This fluid
was generally a mixture of salt and
water.
The "automaton," invented by Por-
ter in 1904, was very ingenious. The
lamp was suspended on an axis, coun-
terbalanced by weight, so that it
hung level when full but at an angle
of 45 degrees when empty, thus being
fed evenly by the gradual ascent of
the burners.
In 1922 Samuel Parker, Jr., made
an important Improvement; the fixing
of French chimneys upon burners by
means of metal supports.
The difficulty of distinguishing be-
tween the countless inventions relative
to lamps and those referring to gener-
al illumination does not appear great
prior to 1865, when the production of
petroleum greatly stimulated the study
of practical methods of generating
light.
1t is remarkable that the invention
of Hero of Alexandria, in which the
oil was raised by water, involves the
pressure principle. since developed III
nearly hundred forms. It's adapted
TO any kind of intlammable fluid, and