The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1896-02-08
ACETYLENE GAS.
DR.. w. I'll. Birchmore Corrects Some
False Impressions.

False Impressions.
Brighter and Dark Darlzer-Useless for
Enriching Ordinary Water Gas.
|. So many inaccurate statements have
lately been made about acetylone gas
many of them purposely so-that re-
porter for The New York Times was sent
to DR.. W. II. Birehmore, a recognized
authority on the subject, to ask him for
plain unvarnished statement OF the
merits and defects of this new illumi-
nant.
DR.. Birchmore has been engaged for
the last six months in making an ex-
haustive study of carbide of calcium and
its derivative, acetylene gas. He is an
expert chemist, and his services were en-
gagged by some capitalists to investigate
the commercial practioability OF aoety-
lene gas. His conclusions as summed
up by him to the reporter embrace the
five following points
/. Acetylene gas is useless for the pur-
pose of reinforcing or snriching ordinary
water gas.
2. Aoetylene gas is at least equal, and
probably superior, to sunlight for pur-
poses of photography
3. No burner now made will consume
acetlyene gas economically, irrespective
of cost, and the invention of burner
with small enough aperatures is the first
serious obstacle to be overcome before the
gas can be tested in comparison with or
binary Illuminating gas.
4. Pure acetylene gas, when burned as
an illuminant, makes bright colors
brighter and dark colors darker; it might
be used i'll ballroom, never in lii ra y
or ordinary sitting room. 1t has o flame
which is essentially, though not appar
emily. lavender in color, and thus dis
FORTS daylight shades.
5. II carbide of calcium, from which
acetylene is now obtained, can he pro-
duoed at s45 ton, or less, acetylene gas
can be used commercially in limited
field.
Elaborating these five propositions,
DR.. Birchmore said to the reporter:
"When Illuminating gas was common
ly made from camel and other bitumi-
nous forms of GOAL, many years ago, o
theoretical opinion was advanced that its
Illuminating power worl Id be improved
by the addition of aceylenet gas or ethine
as it was called in laboratory phrase.
'The gas used almost universally to-
day is not coal Illuminating gas, but
water gas enriched with various kinds of
mineral oil. This gas is already strong
enough in violet rays, SO that to add
acetylene gas to it is to strengthen it
where strength is not needed. In fact,
the chief part of the illuminating gas
which we use in our houses today is COM
posed of pseudo-acetylenes, known chemi-
cally as C6H6, or six atoms of carbon
combined with six atoms of hydrogen,
while pure acetlyene is chemically known
rs C2H2, or two atoms of carbon COM
bined with two atoms of hydrogen.
"It is nonsense to talk of enriohing
cheap pseudo acetlyenes with expensive
pure aoetlyene, but this view of the
matter never seems to strike a promoter
who has something to sell. 1t is true
that very small additions of acetylene gas
to ordinary Eliminating gas-say two
parts in a thousand-may improve the
illuminant to some eyes, but it will
equally fdisimprove" it to other eyes
equally we'll trained. AS result of my
own experiments. am prepared to state
positively that any attempt to add to
the lighting fvalue of any hydro-carbon
light by adding cetlyene to it will be a
failure.
Dealing with it's value for Photographic
purposes, DR.. Birchmore said:
"The richness of the rays of acetylene
in the violet end or the spectrum makes it
chemically very active and therefore USE
full for photography. In this respect it
exceeds the ordinary arc electric light
from carbon points aud has even more
violet light than the arc light from alu-
minum points, which is the most ex-
IRENE violet light with which we now are
acquainted.
AS the quantity OF acetlyene needed
for Photographic purposes would be COM
paratively small as contrasted with its
use as general illuminant. think it
likely enough that tho gas may be
brought into use for this purpose indie
pendent of it's COST
OF 1.-THE unsuitability of ordinary gas
burners to consume acetlyene gas econ
omically, DR.. Birchmore said:
~ found in my experiments that ace
tylsne gas gave the best results when
burned under p1 essure of two inches at
the jet, AS acetyiene is the lightest OF
the hydro carbons, except one, it escapes
very freely, and is therefore hard to man.
age, especially under such a comparative
ly high nrnSsure