IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING GAS
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Stump Lewis, of Moseley Street, in the
City of Manchester, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING GAS."-A communication from abroad
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Stump Lewis at
-
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd March 1860.
I, WILLIAM STUMP LEWIS, of Moseley Street, in the City of Manchester,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING GAS," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the making of illuminating gas by passing the
vapor of water and hydrocarbons, or hydrocarbonaceous matter mixed previously
to decomposition, into and through a retort containing red hot carbon, and
keeping the retort at a high red heat, which produces the gas in question.
In carrying out the Invention, a boiler furnished with two funnels may be
used, the funnels being for the purpose of conducting the water and hydro-
carbon, or hydrocarbonaceous matter (such as coal tar, or spirits of turpentine,
ór benzole,) into the boiler. Heat being applied to this boiler, water and

page_text: hydrocarbon are driven off in vapor to a retort connected with the boiler. It
is not necessary, however, that the hydrocarbon or hydrocarbonaceous matter
should be mixed with water in the boiler, for the hydrocarbon may be
prepared in a separate vessel, and mixed with the vapor of water at any
point between the vessels which contain them and the retort, or in the retort.
The retort, which may contain any form of carbon, such as charcoal, coke,
or anthracite coal, is with its contents brought up to and kept at a high red
heat, and the mixed vapour as it passes over the incandescent mass will be
converted into a pure or nearly pure illuminating gas.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Stump Lewis in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 22nd September 1860.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
STUMP LEWIS, of Moseley Street, in the City of Manchester, Merchant, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Stump Lewis, Her special license that I, the said William
Stump Lewis, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Stump Lewis, 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 lawfully 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING GAS," being a communication
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Stump Lewis, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly 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 William Stump Lewis, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the

page_text: following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):
:-
This Invention consists in making an illuminating gas by passing the vapor
of water and a hydrocarbon, or its equivalent, through a retort containing red
hot carbon, and keeping the retort at a high red heat, whereby a stable
illuminating gas will be produced.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use the Invention, I will
proceed to describe the same with reference to the accompanying Drawing,
which is given to illustrate the process.
A is a vessel or boiler made of sheet iron, or any other suitable material. It
is furnished with two funnels D and E, through which the boiler is charged
with water and a hydrocarbon, or its equivalent. Heat is then applied to the
boiler until the water vaporizes, and the mixed vapor of the water and the
hydrocarbon, or its equivalent, are conducted off through a tube C into the
retort B. It is not necessary, however, that the hydrocarbon, or its equivalent,
should be mixed with the water in the boiler A, for it may be vaporized in a
separate vessel, and the vapors mixed with the vapor given off by the water
at any point between the vessels which contain them and the retort, or in the
retort B. This retort may contain any form of carbon, such as charcoal, coke,
or anthracite coal, and it is, together with its contents, to be brought up to
and kept at a high red heat. Any bydrocarbon, or its equivalent, will answer
for mixing with the water vapor, but it is preferred to employ those existing in
large quantity, as coal tar, in consequence of their greater cheapness, but any
other hydrocarbon or its equivalent may be used.
The passing of water vapor over red hot carbon has frequently been
proposed by chemists, whereby they have obtained hydrogen, light carburetted
hydrogen, and carbonic oxide, neither of which give any illumination. Some
authors, however, say, that they get the light carburetted hydrogen and
carbonic acid, and therefore authors disagree in their statements of the results
obtained from this process.
In the improved process it is difficult to say with absolute certainty what is
the precise action in the retort, but of the result there is no doubt, vizt., the
product of a cheap and highly illuminating gas.
Having now described the nature of the Invention of "Improvements in
the Manufacture of Illuminating Gas," as communicated to me from abroad,
and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I would have it
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim, the
production of an illuminating gas by passing the vapor of water and a hydro-
carbon, or its equivalent, mixed previously to decomposition, into a retort

page_text: containing carbon at a high red heat, substantially in the manner above
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Stump Lewis, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Twenty-first day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
W. B. HUGGINS,
of Glasgow.
W. S. LEWIS. (L.S.)