AN IMPROVEMENT IN BURNING HYDROCARBONS IN LAMPS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of 8, Sussex Place,
Loughborough Road, Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Inven-
tion of "AN IMPROVEMENT IN BURNING HYDROCARBONS IN LAMPS."-A
communication.
Sealed the 10th July 1855, and dated the 14th May 1855.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th May 1855.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of 8, Sussex Place, Loughborough Road,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT IN BURNING HYDROCARBONS IN LAMPS" to bo
as follows:-
It has long been desirable to employ for illuminating purposes various
hydrocarbons, and particularly of a mixture of alcohol and camphine, or
turpentine, commonly known as spirit gas, or burning fluid. The highly
inflammable nature of these substances, and their liability to explode when
vaporized and mixed with air, render their use extremely dangerous, and are the
cause of many distressing accidents and deaths. On many accounts, however,
particularly on the score of economy, cleanliness, and the brilliancy of flame
produced, these spirituous fluids are preferable to the oils now commonly

page_text: employed, and were it not for the above-mentioned objections, they would
entirely supersede the latter for illuminating purposes in situations where gas
was not attainable. Numerous attempts have been made to remedy the
above evil, but with very limited success. Some of the means adopted have
proved successful under certain circumstances, while they have totally failed
under others, and none of them have succeeded in rendering the use of the
fluids in question safe under all the circumstances to which these lamps may
be exposed. To accomplish this desired end, and to render the use of these
inflammable burning fluids entirely free from danger, is the object of my
present Invention, which consists in filling the body or vessel of the lamp with
a material which shall be capable of absorbing the fluid within its pores, and
shall also discharge it freely as it is required to feed the flame; for which
purpose I employ granulated pumice stone.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 80th October 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE'
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of 8, Sussex Place, Loughborough Road, Brixton, in
the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 ALILOVEMENT IN BURRING HYDECCAREONS IN LAMPS," (being
a communication from abroad,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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

page_text: 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 George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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
following statement thereof, together with the Drawings hereto annexed, that
is to say:-
It has long been desirable to employ for illuminating purposes various
hydrocarbons, and particularly a mixture of alcohol and camphene, or turpen-
tine, commonly known as spirit gas, or burning fluid. The highly inflammable
nature of these substances, and their liability to explode when vaporized and
mixed with air, render their use extremely dangerous, and are the cause of
many distressing accidents and deaths. On many accounts, however, particu-
larly on the score of economy, cleanliness, and the brilliancy of the flame
produced, these spirituous fluids are preferable to the oils now commonly
employed, and were it not for the above-mentioned objections they would
entirely supercede the latter for illuminating purposes in situations where gas
was not attainable. Numerous attempts have been made to remedy the above
evils, but with very limited success. Some of the means adopted have proved
successful under certain circumstances, while they have totally failed under
others, and none of them have succeeded in rendering the use of the fluids in
question safe under all the circumstances to which the lamps may be exposed.
To accomplish this desired end, and to render the use of these inflamable
burning fluids entirely free from danger, is the object of the present Invention,
which consists in filling the body of the lamp with a material which shall
be capable of absorbing the fluid within its pores, and shall also discharge
it freely as it is required to feed the flame. For this purpose I have
tried a great variety of substances, only one of which was found to answer
the desired end. Sponge will absorb the fluid, but it will not again
discharge it as it is wanted, and it soon becomes gummed up with the
turpentine which separates and settles from the spirits, and the sponge is
rendered useless. Various granulated substances were also tried, such as
small shot, which, for various reasons that need not be here detailed, have
entirely failed to answer the purpose. The material which I employ, and which
I have found to fulfil all the requirements, is granulated pumice stone. This
substance possesses peculiarities which particularly adapt it to the purpose;
1st, it freely absorbs the fluid within its pores; 2d, it as freely yields it
up again when it is required; 3d, it will remain for any length of time
within the fluid without being "gummed up" by the turpentine, as is the case

page_text: with all other substances with which I have experimented for the purpose;
4th, the material itself is very light, the weight of the lamp not being
sensibly increased thereby; 5th, the pumice stone is not corroded or otherwise
effected by the burning fluid, whereas the wire gauze and other metallic sub-
stances employed are speedily corroded and deteriorated by the turpentine in
the fluid.
To enable others skilled in the art to understand the Invention and to
put it in practice, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have
carried it out.
In the accompanying Drawings, A is the lamp, the body being shown in
section. To the bottom of the lamp is permanently soldered the tube B, which
is perforated with holes for the admission of the fluid; into this tube is inserted
the wick, which is introduced from the top by means of a wire. Around this
tube is packed the pumice stone C, so as to fill the whole interior of the lamp,
as represented in the Drawings. The pumice stone for this purpose is pre-
pared by crushing and sifting through sieves of different fineness, so as to leave
the available portion of the size of the smallest shot; the lamp is then closed
by the perforated plate a and the screw cap D, in the top of which is the cup
or reservoir 6 to contain a small quantity of alcohol, for the purpose of
starting the lamp when it is used as a gas lamp, as will be hereafter explained.
In lieu of the above arrangement, the tube B may pass directly through the
top of the lamp, which may be closed permanently around it, the lamp being
filled through the opening f; but this forms no part of the Invention, and need
not be further described.
The wick 9 being introduced, as before stated, into the tube B by means of a
wire, becomes saturated by the liquid within the tube, the heat from the flame
warming and vaporizing the fluid, by which means the brilliancy of the light
is greatly increased. This warming of the fluid, which is so carefully to be
guarded against in all other lamps for burning explosive inflamable com-
pounds, is attended with no danger in the lamp. When the lamp is to be used
as a gas lamp, the burner h is fitted over the lamp tube B, as seen in red in
Fig. 1; a small quantity of alcohol is then burned in the reservoir b, and
sufficient heat is thus produced to generate gas within the tube B, which
ignites as it issues from the holes in the burner, and continues to burn as in
other similarly arranged lamps. A can or other vessel which may contain
the fluid may be protected from danger, should the lamp be filled while it is
burning. A portion of the spout of the feeder, as seen in section at k, Figs. 2
& 3, and also the top of the can through which the liquid is introduced, are
packed with the granulated pumice stone, which is confined in place by per-

page_text: forated disks or otherwise. The lamp may thus be filled while burning,
without the least fear of accident either from gas within the canister or from
the ignition of the fluid itself, as the flame cannot pass down through the
granulated pumice.
If an ordinary fluid lamp be filled with vaporized burning fluid mixed with
common air, and a flame be brought in contact with the mixture, an explosion
will take place. With a lamp prepared as above this can never occur, as the
flame will not descend beneath the surface of pumice stone; and should the
lamp by any means be shattered in a manner which under ordinary circum-
stances would throw the fluid over the clothes of those near and endanger
their lives, no such accident can happen, as the fluid falls with the pumice and
is not thrown upon the person, but burns harmlessly and slowly upon the
floor.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention as described to me
by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of carrying it out, I would have
it understood, that what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, the
employment of granulated pumice stone as a packing for spirit lamps and
other vessels containing any inflamable hydrocarbon, in the manner and for
the purpose substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
5
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.s.)
Witness,
W. S. HARRISON,
2, New Court, St. Swithin's Lane,
Lombard St.