Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-12-11
THE LAMP.
Origin and Changes of the Popular House
: fI% 'ts Pr hold Ornament. #}

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Origin and Changes Of the Popular House
+ hold Ornament.
Lamps, derived from the Latin lam.
.pus,. has been defined until within 3
few years, as a receptacle for oil with
b wick OF illumination; but the inven-
I tions Of the past generation have made
it imposs BILE to- distinguish between
! the lamp proper aud other artificial
means OF givon light. As used by the
Egyptians, Greeks, and Hebrews,
Jumps were simply HAT vessels, round
or ob'ong in shape, at one end which
was 4 small handle, at the other
!, nozzle, and with = large opening insthe
center. into which the oil was poured.
TIE oil commonly used WAS vegetable,
but, according to Pliny, somet Ines 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 a handle
at one end and 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
their lamps burning all night. and
this custom is still in vogue in4Aleppo
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 vessel A complete revolution in
artificial light was caused by the in.
vention by M. Ami Argand. in 1884, of
burner with q 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-calIed astral lamps were provided
with these rcular Wicks, the reser
voir of the oil beng arranged in the
form OF q hollow ring, enyeloping the
central stand that supported the
burner. In consequence of the pecul-
lar shape given to the ring the lamp
cast no shadow at little distance Oft.
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 afterward
slightly improved by others, was in
many respects the most perfect of
these contrivances. but its great cost
prevented its general adoption. II 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 Carel lamp,
known as the D;acon, was long popu-
lar in this country.
In 1897 Petcr Keir made the great
inventloD-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 i'll 1904, was very ingenious. The
lamp was suspended on an axis, coun-
terbalanced by a 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 1929 Samuel Parker. Jr., made
an important improvement; the fixing
of French chimneys upon burners by
means Of metal supports.
Tho difficulty OF dist nguishlng be-
tween tire countless inventions relative
to lamps and those referring to genor-
al illumination does not appear great
prior to 1865, when the productiota of
petroleum greatly simulated 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 in
nearly hundred forms. 1t is adapted
to any kind of inflammable fluid, and
while burning may be rolled on the
ground, upset, OK reversed for any
time without danger. 1t is interest.
ing to note that tic most important
recent inventions in lamps are chiefly
American. A full desert ption OF them
all would occupy volumes, but it is
safe to say that no other household ar
ticIe has undergone 80 many and such
marked changes in the past century as
the lamp Boston GLob. go