A NEW ELECTRIC LIGHT AND HEAT
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis Puls, of Soho Square, in. the County of
Middlesex, Chemist, for the Invention of "A NEW ELECTRIC LIGHT AND
HEAT."
Sealed the 16th May 1856, and dated the 20th November 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Franeis Puls at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 20th
November 1855.
I, FRANCIS PULS, of Soho Square, in the County of Middlesex, Chemist, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "A NEW ELECTRIC LIGHT
AND HEAT" to be as follows (that is to say)::-
My Invention consists in collecting and employing the hydrogen and oxygen
gas or gases, separately or combined, generated from the decomposition of the
water or exciting fluid or fluids in galvanic batteries or piles, so as to obtain
an amount of light and heat therefrom sufficiently great to be rendered
available for illuminating and supplying heat for domestic and general purposes.
To effect this object I cause the case or trough in which the batteries or piles
are immersed to be hermetically closed, for the purpose of collecting the said
gases, and causing them to pass to the burner. The poles of the said batteries
are to be connected through the medium of a platinium, or palladium, or other
suitable wire, of any convenient shape, form, or size, in consequence of which
connection the said wire becomes heated from the electric current passing
through it; the gas from the said batteries is then directed against the heated
wire, so as to surround it and become directly ignited, and assume a bright
and luminous glow of sufficient intensity for artificial lighting and heating, as
above mentioned.

page_text: In place of the rigid connection (by means of wires, as above described) of
the poles of the said batteries or piles, the same effects may be produced by
connecting the end poles of the batteries or piles through the medium of the
exciting fluids, such as salts & acids, which are usually employed.
I claim the collecting and employing of the gas or gases generated from the
same galvanic batteries or piles from which the electric current is conveyed to
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis Puls in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th May 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
PULS, of Soho Square, in the County of Middlesex, Chemist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Francis Puls, Her special licence that I, the said Francis Puls,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Francis Puls, 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 "A NEW ELECTRIC
AND HEAT," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Francis
Puls, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my,
or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Francis Puls, do hereby declare. the
nature of my said Invention, and in what, manner the same is to be performed,
to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
My Invention consists in collecting and employing the hydrogen and oxygen
gas or gases, separately or combined, generated from the decomposition of the
water or exciting fluid or fluids in galvanic batteries or piles, so as to obtain an

page_text: '
amount of light and heat therefrom sufficiently great to be rendered available
for illuminating and supplying heat for domestic and general purposes. To
effect this object I cause the vessel or trough in which the batteries or piles
are immersed to be pneumatically or hermetically closed, for the purpose of col-
lecting the said gas or gases and causing them to pass to the burner, the poles
of the said batteries or piles being connected by suitable wires of any conve
nient shape, form, or size, for the employment of the electric current either for
generating gas or gases to be mixed with the gas emanating from the battery,
or for any other purposes where electricity is or may be employed; the gas of
the said battery, when ignited, may then be directed against a wire consisting
of any suitable material, such as platinum, palladium, iridium, or otherwise,
the said wire is thus heated to a white heat, and may also be connected with
the battery or pile, in order to cause the current to pass through it, and give it
additional heat when the said electric current is not to be otherwise employed.
In place of the above-mentioned connecting wires the gas or gases may be
caused to pass through one of the fluids well known for. carbonizing them, such
as naptha, benzol, camphine, or otherwise, or a mixture of them, for the purpose
of producing direct a bright and luminous flame, in which case also the gas or
gases from the battery only may be used, and the electric current employed
for the purposes above mentioned. Instead of a battery, use may be made of
a series of plates, cylinders, or bars, of such substances as come within the
electro-chemical scale, so arranged as to form a closed current or currents
between themselves.
But in order that this my said Invention may be more fully understood and
readily carried into effect, I now proceed to describe it by the aid of the
accompanying Drawings, reference being had to the letters and figures thereon
marked (that is to say):-
Fig. 1 represents an external side elevation of a. lamp or apparatus for
generating and burning the said gas or gases by causing them to pass through
the chemical preparation for carbonising as above mentioned; Fig. 2, a
sectional side elevation of the same; Fig. 3, a corresponding view, showing a
modification of the apparatus, in which the chamber containing the chemical
preparations is removed, and the gas consumed by being brought into contact
with the wire of platina, heated from the battery; and Fig. 4. a. side view of
a burner, showing an arrangement by which the wire is heated by the flame
of the gas only, the said wire not being in connection with the battery. In
each Figure the same letters of reference denote similar corresponding parts.
a, a, vessel or body of the lamp containing the exciting fluid, such as diluted
acids, salt solutions, or a mixture of either; b, b, chamber forming the lower

page_text: portion of the stem of the lamp or burner, made of a substance not liable to be
injuriously acted upon by the exciting fluid; c, c, the battery or pile, the plates,
.cylinders, or bars of which are caused to rest upon projecting brackets d, d,
secured to the sides of the chamber, and can be made of any pair of suitable
metals within the electro-chemical scale; e, e, opening or passage for the gas
to pass to the burner; f.f, vessel or chamber containing any of the well-known
preparations for carbonizing the gas and rendering the flame thereof bright
and luminous; g, g, hollow stem or base of the burner, for confining and
conveying the gas to the carbonizing chamber in the direction of the arrows;
h, tap for regulating the supply of gas; i, ordinary gas burner; j, j, wires
connecting the poles of the battery or pile with the platina coil or wire k;
l, loop fastening for attaching the platina coil or wire to the burner.
For heating as well as for lighting purposes, the gas may be collected in a
gasometer or gas reservoir, and caused to be carbonized only when required
for lighting.
Having now fully described the nature of this my said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I would have it clearly under-
stood that I do not intend to confine myself to the precise details herein-
,before described, as the construction and shape of the various parts may be
varied, and the different parts of the apparatus may be separated; for instance,
one vessel of any shape or size may contain the apparatus for generating the
gas, which may be conveyed through tubes or pipes to another vessel for
holding the gas, and from which it can be conveyed through tubes or pipes to
any distance; but that which I do claim as new and of my said Invention is, the
collecting and employing the gas or gases emanating direct from galvanic bat-
teries or piles, or the like combinations, for heating and illuminating purposes,
either or without the above-described wires or carbonizing materials.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis Puls, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
F. R. DARKIN CAMPBELL,
Clerk to Messrs. Weatherdon & Co.,
77, Chancery Lane.
FRANCIS PULS. (L.B.)