IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING AND HEATING
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Dickson Archibald, of Rusland Hall,
Miluthorpe, in the County of Westmoreland, Esquire, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING AND HEATING."-A com-
munication.
Sealed the 16th March 1859, and dated the 2nd November 1852:
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Dickson
Archibald at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 2nd November 1852.
I, CHARLES DICKSON ARCHIBALD, of Rusland Hall, Milnthorpe, in
the County of Westmoreland, Esquire, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING AND HEATING"
to be as follows:-
The Invention consists of certain means of rendering atmospheric air
luminiferous by passing it through a hydrated mixture of hydro-carbons.
Previous attempts that had been made to render atmospheric air
luminiferous by passing it through benzole or its vapour, or through
other hydro-carbons, were rendered practically futile by reason of the
cooling down of the fluids in consequence of evaporation. To a certain
extent this was obviated by the employment of artificial heat to keep
up the temperature, but the results have not been of any practical

page_text: utility. The Inventor of the present improvements has discovered
that air rendered humid or moist by passing it through water or aqueous
vapour, when passed through benzole or a mixture of benzole and alcohol
or their equivalents, burns with a brilliant flame, and that too without
materially reducing the temperature of the mixturo. After a series of
experiments ho ascertained that a mixture of benzole, alcohol, and water,
in certain proportions, was the most favorablo node of hydrating the
air, and rendering it luminiferous at the same time. He therefore
claims a Patent for this combination, which allows of the burning of
atmospheric air at common temperatures, and even at very low tempera-
He also claims by the improvements and means ho employs to
have produced a useful economical light, which may be employed to the
lighting (and also to the heating) of cities, squares, streets, factories, and
dwellings.
tures.
The 'Inventor does not confine himself to the use of benzole, alcohol,
and water, but claims to use all kinds of hydro-carbons or their
equivalents; but it is an essential point of the process that the mixture
of hydro-carbons be hydrated by the addition of water, or that the
atmospheric air be rendered moist before passing through it.
Tho most favorable means for hydrating the mixture is to use
a vessel filled with sponges or other substances capable of capillary
attraction, and to pass the air through them after their being saturated
with the mixture. It may then be conducted to the burners, and used
like ordinary gas. The apparatus employed will be more fully described
in the Specification.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Dickson Archibald in the Great Seal
Patent Office on the 30th April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
CHARLES DICKSON ARCHIBALD, of Rusland Hall, in the County Palatine 3
of Lancaster, Esquire, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of November, in the

page_text: year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Charles Dickson Archibald,
Her special licence that I, the said Charles Dickson Archibald, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Charles Dickson Archibald, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at
all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man,
an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN LIGHTING AND HEATING," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Dickson Archibald,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the
same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Dickson Archibald, do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:
The Invention consists in certain means of rendering atmospheric air
luminiferous and capable of combustion by passing it through hydrated
mixtures of hydro-carbons, or by passing it through hydro-carbons, after
being first thoroughly saturated with aqueous vapour.
Previous attempts to render atmospheric air luminiferous have
proceeded upon the assumption that it should be dry or warm, but I have
discovered that to attain the best results as regards light and heat the
complete hydration of the air is an essential condition. Where atmo-
spheric air in its normal state is passed through volatile hydro-carbons
the process of vaporisation that takes place reduces the temperature to
such a degree as to render necessary the application of extraneous heat
to the reservoir of the hydro-carbons, or to the current of air itself.
The consoquence is, a constant change of temperature and a correspond-

page_text: ing vacillation in the combustion of the air; and for all economical
purposes the modes hitherto employed have proved of little or no
value.
For the purpose of rendering atmospheric air suitable for illuminating
purposes I find it necessary to saturate it with aqueous vapour, which
may be done by causing it to pass through vessels filled with water, but
practically I find that the same results may be attained by adding
water in considerable quantity to the mixture of hydro-carbons. The
hydro-carbons which I prefer to employ are naptha, benzoll, or other
volatile fluid, hydro-carbons, and various compounds, or mixtures of
these with alcohol, aldehyde, and wood spirit, or their equivalents, and
to such mixture I add a certain quantity of water, as after mentioned.
This mixture I introduce into a close vessel provided with the needful
pipes and stop cocks, and I find it convenient to stuff the vessel with
sponges, cotton waste, or other substances capable of exerting capillary
attraction. The air in passing through this vessel first takes up a
quantity of aqueous vapour, and thus seems to become capable of
dissolving the benzoll or other hydro-carbon, or of transferring and
carrying it forward to the burner. Whether or not it is due to the
quantity of latent heat which the water contains, the process goes on
without any injurious diminution of temperature.
For the purpose of obtaining light I prefer a solution of benzoll in
common alcohol in the proportion of one of benzoll and two of alcohol.
In passing atmospheric air through such a mixture the effect would be
that the alcohol would extract the small quantity of moisture which the
air contained, and yield up the combined vapours of the mixture, so as
to cause rapid evaporation and consequent diminution of temperature.
To avoid this I at once saturate the mixture with water, and in practice
I add one and a half measure of water, or until the mixture of benzole
and alcohol becomes milky, thus:
Benzole 1-Alcohol 2-Water 14.
I find that this combination or solution of hydro-carbon, spirit, and
water has the property of rendering the atmospheric air passed through
it highly luminiferous, and that the process may be continued without
interruption so long as any benzole remains in the vessel. I find in

page_text: practice that the water and alcohol or other spirit are not consumed, or
rather that the consumption of these elements goes on very slowly, and
that it is only necessary from time to time to renew the benzole or
other hydro-carbon; after a considerable tinie, however, small additions
of water and spirit improve the mixture. The employment of water
in the manner I have specified not only overcomes the practical diffi-
culties which have hitherto prevented the use of atmospheric air as a
source of light, but it also adds greatly to the brilliancy and beauty of
the flame; the gas thus produced is permanent in its character, may be
collected over water, and retained in reservoirs without deterioration.
It may be used like common coal gas for the illumination of dwell-
ings, factories, streets, squares, and cities, for lighthouses, signals, and
indeed, for every purpose for which artificial light can be required,
and it has the great recommendation of being entirely free from danger
of explosion. The gas may either be burned in its nascent state, or at
any time after production, with perfect safety, and may be conducted in
pipes to any distance; even at very low temperature there is no sensible
lepreciation of the brilliancy of the light, and no depreciation in the
pipes or tubes. In point of economy it will compare favourably with
any gas or other source of light and heat in use. It may be adapted
to ordinary gas fixtures, and is so manageable that I do not consider it
necessary to specify any particular forms of apparatus for generating,
holding, or conducting the gas; the burners that I most approve are of
the argand fashion, and so constructed as to allow the escaping gas an
abundant supply of air. The atmospheric air may be supplied and
caused to pass through the vessel containing the mixture by various
well known mechanical means and contrivances.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim,―
First, the mixing of water or aqueous fluids with pure hydro-carbons,
which are either volatile in themselves, or rendered volatile by solution
in aldehyde, wood spirit, ethers, or alcohols, or their equivalents, so as
to form mixtures capable of hydrating atmospheric air passed through
them, and rendering it suitable for producing light and heat, as herein-
before described.

page_text: Second, the production, by the means herein-before described, of a
permanent gas, capable of being collected and retained in reservoirs,
and of being conducted in pipes and tubes, and burned at ordinary or
even at low temperatures without the application of artificial heat or any
other means to sustain the temperature.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Dickson Archibald, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
C. D. ARCHIBALD. (L.S.)