IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR IGNITING GAS
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Lloyd Wise, of Chandos Chambers,
Adelphi, in the City of Westminster, Patent Agent, for the Inven-
tion of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR IGNITING
GAS."-A communication from abroad by Wilhelm Klinkerfues,
Professor and Director of the Royal Observatory at Göttingen,
Hanover:
Scaled the 4th April 1871, and dated the 8th December 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Lloyd Wise at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 8th December 1870.
I, WILLIAM LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the City
5 of Westminster, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR IGNITING
GAS," (a communication to me from abroad by Wilhelm Klinkerfues,
Professor and Director of the Royal Observatory at Gottengen, Hanover,)
to be as follows:-
It has frequently been proposed to use the catalytic effects of platinum
in its spongy, pulverous, or other loose states for the purpose of igniting

page_text: illuminating gas, but if the short lived success of Doebereiner's apparatus
be excepted, no practical results have followed. Those peculiar forms of
platinum are too liable to change to admit of the long and frequent use
required by the exigencies of domestic applications, at least in any of
the methods hitherto proposed. Nor, it may be remarked, does even 5
recently prepared spongy platinum ignite our common illuminating gas.
These considerations lead pretty naturally to the idea of employing more
durable forms of platinum, such as wire or plate, and producing the
same catalytic power by means that will not be subject to new objections.
Still these do not seem so far to have been any proposals or experiments 1
brought forward in this direction. Experiments made by my foreign
correspondent for the purpose of ascertaining the temperature at which
compact platinum brought into the shape of wire or plate acquires
sufficient catalytic power to ignite illuminating gas have shown that less
than a red heat is required. A platinum wire inserted between the poles 1
of a very small galvanic pair of zinc and graphite, without shewing the
slightest emission of light in the dark, ignited a jet of gas almost"
instantaneously. It is evident in this case the red heat of the wire being
only an effect of catalytic action that the galvanic circle is acting in a
very different manner from those former methods in which ignition has 2
been effected by the direct action of the electric spark. This circum-¯
stance and the hydraulic closing of the galvanic circle are principal
characteristics of the proposed new contrivances whose practical value,
has been tested by numerous experiments; for if a stronger action of
the galvanic current were required the power of the battery would be 2
exhausted in a far shorter time, and indeed it would be impossible to
employ an apparatus of small interior resistance (such as zinc and-
graphite with a solution of bichromate of potassa and sulphuric acid or
chloride of silver and zinc with a solution of salt) for months without
renewing the filling. At the same time the hydraulic method of com- 3
pleting and breaking the galvanic circle affords the easiest and simplest
means of instantly producing the desired catalytic action and afterwards
stopping it again at will for the sake of economizing the materials.
I now proceed to describe several kinds of gas lighting contrivances
insinlenf impaction antaletio nomen to platinum 2

page_text: •
One arrangement of apparatus (represented by Figure I. of the
accompanying sketches) consists of a thin hollow glass cylinder several
inches high, closed at the bottom and covered by a plate carrying
beneath it the galvanic pair of zinc and graphite plates (each having
only about a square inch of surfaco), and above it the electrodes with
the connecting pieco of platinum wire. The liquid filling consists of the
well-known mixture of bichromate of potassa with dilute sulphuric acid,
which will last for a long time. In order to light gas for domestic
purposes with this simple apparatus it is only necessary to incline it
sufficiently and at the same time hold the platinum wire in contact with
the jet of gas issuing from the burner. But when the apparatus is
placed in an upright position the plates do not touch the liquid, con-
sequently no galvanic action takes place, and no material is consumed.
When the mixture is comparatively fresh the platinum wire becomes so
far red hot as to ignite a paper match impregnated at one end with
chloride of potassa.
Another application of the same principle, indicated by Figure II., is
intended to supply a kindling apparatus for rooms not furnished with
gas. An apparatus constructed on Doebereiner's principle for the
evolution of hydrogen gas is worked by the pressing down of a lever,
which at the same time causes a small galvanic pair of zinc and graphite
to be immersed in a mixture of bichromate of potassa and sulphuric acid,
and thus excites catalytic power in a platinum wire exposed to the
hydrogen gas jet. The working of this apparatus is very reliable, which
renders it far preferable to Docbereiner's machine with platinum in the
spongy form.
'
Another of the proposed contrivances is intended to be applied to
street gas lamps for the purpose of either simultaneously lighting or
extinguishing a number of lamps from a single station with the smallest
possible loss of gas or other material. I will premise my description
of this apparatus by remarking that important considerations render it
essential that the gas supply should be shut off at points in close
proximity to the mouths of the burners, thus making it necessary to
deviso some means of opening and shutting off the supply from a
distance. At first sight the simplest way of effecting this would seem to
bo by stop-cooks connected with electro-magnets to be worked by
galvanic action from a common station. But in the first place it would
hardly be possible to guard against loss of gas and the entrance a
4
A 2

page_text: atmospheric air into the pipes. Another consideration presents itself in
the fact that galvanic batteries intended for the production of caloric
must be of weak resistance, and are therefore incompatable with great
lengths of conducting wires as well as long duration of galvanic action if
a frequent renovation of the filling is to be avoided. It is therefore
proposed to furnish each lamp post with its own galvanic apparatus, and
to make the galvanic pair touch the liquid only during the short
time necessary for lighting up. For these purposes according to this
Invention a hermetically closed vessel A. (Fig. 3) is provided with a
compartment or bell B, open at the bottom, so as to communicate with :
the main vessel, and having a galvanic pair of zinc and graphite fixed to
'the cover in such a manner that the solution of bichromate of potassa
with sulphuric acid contained in the lower part of the vessel is not
reached by them when the apparatus is in its usual inactive state. The
pipe c leading to the gas burner passes air-tight through the cover of the :
vessel A, and being somewhat wider at the lower end is immersed under
the surface of the liquid, thus shutting off the outer air from communi-
cation with the upper part of A. The latter is filled with illuminating
gas supplied from the gasworks by the pipe a, and as the pipe c is of
sufficient length to hold the hydrostatic column raised by the small and
nearly constant pressure usual in gas pipes, it takes the place of the
last stop-cock in the supply pipe. By another pipe leading to the
compartment B from a station at any required distance the air in the
upper part of B can be rarefied and the liquid in B thus sucked up,
lowering the surface in A, so that the escape of the gas through c is first
opened and then on continued suction the zinc and graphite plates in B
are reached by the liquid. At this point the galvanic circle is closed,
and the platinum wire over the mouth of c being inserted between the
conducting wires becomes heated and acquires sufficient catalytic power
to kindle to a flame the hydrogen contained in the gas jet; after this is
effected a slight remission of the sucking power in the pipe b is made to
sink the level in B below the galvanic plates in order to avoid
unnecessary exposure, but without shutting off the escape of the gas
through c. In order to make sure of this effect on all the lamps a model
apparatus must be placed at the station corresponding in all respects to
those of the lamps. The extinction of the lights is effected by opening
the suction pipe to the access of atmospheric air, thus restoring the
previous state of equilibrium, and at the same time preventing
differences of temperature in different parts of the suction pipes, and

page_text: consequent partial suckings which would stop the correspondenco in
the working of the apparatus on the different lamps. This apparatus
may be readily attached to any ordinary gas pipe, and as easily removed
when required. Lamps that are not intended to be lighted regularly
may be furnished with a greater quantity of liquid in A and B, so as to
be lighted up with the others but extinguished again immediately after,
while the other lamps continue to burn. To guard against interruptions
in the hydraulic connection of the galvanic circle by the effect of low
winter temperatures in either freezing the water of the filling or causing
the bichromate of potassa to be crystallized from the solution it is
necessary to employ during the winter months a solution containing a
greater quantity of sulphuric acid and less of the chromate, a mixture
that is practically best prepared on cold winter days. In places having
separate gas mains for the street lamps, such as exist already in some
cities, the suction pipe of the apparatus may be left out entirely by
subjecting the gas to three different degrees of pressure, the lowest of
these pressures to effect the hydraulic closing of the escape pipe, the
second to let the gas open its way to the burner, and the strongest
pressure to force the liquid in B so far up as to cause the galvanic circle
to be closed and effect the ignition. But inasmuch as the two lower
pressures may be made to differ very little, and as the strongest pressure
is employed only during a few seconds, the same simplified method may
be employed even where the conducting pipes are not separated, in
which case the lighting of the street lamps will for a few moments affect
the private gas lights, the sole effect of this being a momentary increase
of the flame, which may be entirely averted by the application of a
regulator. For the last-mentioned apparatus with the hydraulic closing
of the supply various domestic applications may also be found, such, for
instance, as the lighting up of one or more gas lamps or whole chandeliers
at once by the mere pressure on a knob in the wainscot. The special
arrangement will naturally vary according to the requirements of each
particular case.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Lloyd Wise in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 8th June 1871.
1. TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
LLOYD WISE, of Chandos Chambers, Adelphi, in the City of Westminster,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
"
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her.heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Lloyd Wise, Her special licence that I,
the said William Lloyd Wise, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said William Lloyd Wise, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR IGNITING GAS," (a communication to me from
abroad by Wilhelm Klinkerfues, Professor and Director of the Royal
Observatory at Göttingen, Hanover,) upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Lloyd Wise, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 William Lloyd Wise, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheets of Drawings, in which the same letters, of reference are
used to denote equivalent parts in all the views :-
It has frequently been proposed to use the catalytic effects of platinum
in its spongy, pulverous, or other loose states, for the purpose of igniting

page_text: illuminating gas, but if the short lived success of Doebereiner's apparatus
be excepted no practical results have followed. Those peculiar forms of
platinum are too liable to change to admit of the long and frequent use
required by the exigencies of domestic applications, at least, in any of
the methods hitherto proposed. Nor, it may be remarked, does even
recently prepared spongy plantinum ignite our common illuminating
gas. Hence my foreign correspondent was led to consider the prac-
ticability of employing more durable forms of platinum, such as wire
or plate, and producing the same catalytic power by means that will not
be subject to new objections, and experiments made by him for the
purpose of ascertaining the temperature at which compact platinum in
the shape of wire or plate acquires sufficient catalytic power to ignite
illuminating gas have shewn that less than a red heat is required. A
platinum wire inserted between the poles of a very small galvanic pair
of zinc and graphite without shewing the slightest emission of light in
the dark ignited a jet of gas almost instantaneously. It is evident in this.
case the red heat of the wire being only an effect of catalytic action,
that the galvanic circle is acting in a very different manner from those
former methods in which ignition has been effected by the direct action
of the electric spark. This peculiarity and the hydraulic closing of the
galvanic circle are principal characteristics of the proposed new con-
trivances whose practical value has been tested by numerous experiments.
For if a stronger action of the galvanic current were required the power
of the battery would be exhausted in a far shorter time, and indeed
it would be impossible to employ an apparatus of small interior resistance
(such as zinc and graphite with a solution of bichromate of potassa
and sulphuric acid or chloride of silver and zinc. with a solution of
salt) for months without renewing the filling. At the same time the
hydraulic method of completing and breaking the galvanic circle affords
the easiest and simplest means of instantly producing the desired
catalytic action and afterwards stopping it again at will for the sake of
economizing the materials.
.
I now proceed to describe several kinds of gas lighting contrivances

page_text: b
One arrangement of apparatus (represented in vertical section at
Figure I. on Sheet 1 of the accompanying Drawings) consists of a thin
hollow glass vessel a, several inches high, closed at the bottom and
covered by a plate or cover b, which screws on to a screwed ring or
mounting a¹ attached to the upper part or neck of the vessel a, so as
to hermetically close the same, the cover 6 being lined with vulcanized
india-rubber 6¹ in order to make a good joint. The cover 6 has fixed to
it and carries beneath it the galvanic pair of zinc and graphite (or gas
coal) c, d. These may be made in the form of flat plates, but I have found
it more convenient to employ a perforated tubular piece of zinc c and
a cylindrical piece of graphite d, as shewn in the Drawing. The cover b
carries above it the electrodes e with the connecting piece of platinum
wire f. The electrodes consist of two brass wires the one screwed as
shewn direct into the metal cover 6 and the other into the piece of
vulcanite 6* which passes through the cover and insulates it from the
electrode. The connecting piece of platinum wire f is held in position.
by a couple of pincers or holders 9, each consisting of a small tube
rather larger in internal diameter than the external diameter of the
electrode and containing a spiral spring in the annular space between
the tube and the electrode, which spring bears at its lower end against 2
a small collar or projection formed upon or attached to the electrode.
and at its upper end against the interior of the upper end of the tube
so as to pinch and hold the platinum wire between the tube and the
knob or projection at the upper end of the electrode. The platinum
wire
the
may be readily released by simply moving the tube down against 2
pressure of the spring by means of the fingers, and the tube will
on being released immediately resume its position against the under
side of the knob or projection. This simple arrangement of holder is.
by preference employed for holding the platinum wire in the several
modifications of apparatus based on this Invention and herein-after 3
described.
"}
The liquid filling (h) consists of the well-known mixture of bichromate
of potassa with dilute sulphuric acid which will last for a long time.
The following proportions have been found to give satisfactory results
in mixing the liquid, viz., 18 parts by weight of distilled water, 4 parts 3
of sulphuric acid, and 3 parts of bichromate of potassa.
-In order to light gas for domestic purposes with this simple apparatus
it is only necessary to incline it sufficiently to bring the liquid into.

page_text: :
contact with the zinc and graphite (or gas coal) pair and at the same
time to hold the platinum wire in contact with the jet of gas issuing from
the burner; but when the apparatus is placed in an upright position
the zinc and graphite (or gas coal). plates or pair do not touch the liquid,
consequently no galvanic action takes place, and no material is con-
sumed. When the mixture is comparatively fresh the platinum wire
becomes so far red hot as to ignite a paper match impregnated at one
end with chlorate of potassa. In arranging this portable apparatus for
igniting gas jets in elevated situations I prefer to make it as shewn in
Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6, so that the use of ladders, steps, or other articles
usually employed for enabling the gas jets to be reached may be dis-
pensed with. In this case the vessel a is composed at its upper part
of rigid material,. preferring glass, and below this of elastic material,
such as vulcanized india-rubber, surrounded by an outer casing a' of
rigid material, preferring to use brass tube. The elastic portion of
the vessel a at its upper part overlaps the tube a³, and is surrounded
and held in position by a short length of tubing a³, which being firmly
attached to the lower end of the upper or glass portion of the vessel a
connects the same securely to the tube a², being screwed at its lower
end on to a screwed portion or collar a formed with or attached to
the tube or case a² as shewn.. The cover b, screws on to the screwed
mounting a', as in Fig. 1, but in the present instance the tubular piece of
zinc c is made with a flange which fits within the under side of the cover,
and the under side of the flange rests upon a vulcanized india-rubber
washer b³ interposed between it and the upper edge of the vessel a. To
facilitate getting at the burner to ignite the gas jets the electrodes e
are made to work upon a common hinge pin e', but so nevertheless
that they are insulated from each other by vulcanite or other suitable
insulating material b, the one electrode communicating with the zinc c
through the brass pipe or tube e³ and cover, and the other with tho
graphite or gas coal d through the rod or wire e³, suitably insulated from
the pipe or tube e³ by a vulcanized india-rubber or other insulating
tube 6³ interposed between the rod or wire and the pipe, as shewn in
Fig. 2. The electrodes e, e, are made to steady each other by being
tied together near their upper ends by a cross piece of vulcanite or other
insulating material 6; as shewn. The tube or casing a³ is fitted with
a small thumbscrew provided with a plate, which by turning the
thumbscrew is caused to contract the elastic part of the vessel a, as
shewn in Fig. 2, thereby reducing its cubical capacity more or less, in

page_text: order to adjust the level of the exciting liquid h, as may be required.
In the position of the parts, as shewn in Fig. 2, the catalytic action is
going on, the liquid having been raised within the vessel a and brought
into contact with the galvanic pair c, d, by the pushing in of the small
knob bearing against a spring plate k¹, whereby the elastic part of
the vessel a has been contracted, as shewn at E, F, and the operator
being supposed to be holding the knob k in the position indicated with
the platinum wire in contact with the gas jet; but assuming the knob
to be released, then the clastic part of the vessel a will at this point
immediately regain its normal shape, whereupon the level of the exciting 1
liquid will fall below the galvanic pair, and the galvanic action will
cease.
-
In my Provisional Specification I described an arrangement intended
to supply a kindling apparatus for rooms not furnished with gas. It was
proposed that an apparatus constructed on Doebereiner's principle for 1
the evolution of hydrogen gas should be worked by the pressing down
of a lever, which at the same time should cause a small galvanic pair of
zinc and graphite to be immersed in a mixture of bichromate of potassa.
and sulphuric acid, and thus excite catalytic power in a platinum wire
exposed to the hydrogen gas jet. As the proposed arrangement docs
not seem to possess the amount of public utility which was at first
anticipated I now lay no claim to that part of it which relates to the
combination in one apparatus of Doebereiner's apparatus, with the
apparatus for igniting the hydrogen gas therefrom according to this
Invention. The mode of causing the galvanic pair of zinc and graphite
to be immersed by pressing them down into the mixture of bichromate
of potassa and sulphuric acid, so as to excite catalytic power in the
platinum wire exposed to hydrogen or gas jets, will however be found
very convenient in some cases, and will be readily understood from the
description thereof herein-after contained.
Another of the improved contrivances for igniting gas by the catalytic
action of the compact platinum in contact with the gas, as described, is
intended to be applied to street gas lamps for the purpose of either
simultaneously lighting or extinguishing a number of lamps from a
single station with the smallest possible loss of gas or other material.
I will premise my description of this apparatus by remarking that
important considerations render it essential that the gas supply should
⚫ be shut off at points in close proximity to the mouths of the burners,

page_text: "
thus making it necessary to devise some means of opening and shutting
off the supply from a distance. At first sight the simplest way of effecting
this would seem to be by stop-cocks connected with electro-magnets to be
worked by galvanic acțion from a common station; but in the first place.
it would hardly be possible to guard against loss of gas and the entrance>
of atmospheric air into the pipes. Another consideration presents itself:*
in the fact that galvanic batteries intended for the production of caloric
must be of weak resistance, and are therefore incompatible with great
lengths of conducting wires, as well as long duration of galvanic action
if a frequent renovation of the filling is to be avoided. It is therefore:
proposed to furnish each lamp post with its own galvanic apparatus, and.
to make the galvanic pair touch the liquid only during the short time
necessary for lighting up. For these purposes, according to this Inven-.
tion, a hormetically closed vessel is provided with a compartment or
bell, open at the bottom so as to communicate with the main vessel,
and having a galvanic pair of zinc and graphite fixed to the cover in,
such a manner that the solution of bichromate of potassa with sulphuric
acid contained in the lower part of the vessel is not reached by them
when the apparatus is in its usual inactive state. The pipe leading to
the gas burner passes air-tight through the cover of the vessel, and being
somewhat wider at the lower end is immersed under the surface of the
liquid, thus shutting off the outer air from communication with the
upper part of the vessel. Illuminating gas supplied from the gas works
enters the apparatus by a suitable pipe, and as the pipe leading to the
gas burner is of sufficient length to hold the hydrostatic column raised
by the small and nearly constant pressure usual in gas pipes it takes the.
place of the last stop-cock in the supply pipe. The gas is subjected to:
three different degrees of pressure either direct from the gas works or
by regulators, flexible tubes, or other suitable means), the lowest of
these pressures to effect the hydraulic closing of the escape pipe, the
second to let the gas open its way to the burner, and the strongest
pressure to force the liquid in. the vessel so far up as to cause the
galvanic circle to be made. At this point the platinum wire over the
months of the burner being inserted between the conducting wires: or
electrodes. becomes heated, and requires sufficient catalytic power to
kindle to a flame the bydrogen contained in the gas jet. After this is
effected a slight remission of the pressure in the pipe is made to sink
the level of the liquid below the galvanic plates in order to avoid
unnecessary exposure, but without shutting off the escape of the gas

page_text: through the burner. In order to make sure of this effect on all the
lamps a model apparatus may be placed at the station corresponding in
all respects to those of the lamps. The extinction of the lights is effected
by reducing the gas pressure, thereby restoring the previous state of
equilibrium. Inasmuch as the two lower pressures may be made to differ
very little, and as the strongest pressure, which amounts in most cases:
to an addition of only about one half of an inch to the ordinary gas
pressure, is employed only during a few seconds, the foregoing simple:
method may be employed even where the conducting pipes are not:
separated, in which case the lighting of the street lamps will for a few :]
moments affect the private gas lights, the sole effect of this being a
momentary increase of the flame, which may be entirely averted by the
application of a regulator. This apparatus may be readily attached to-
any ordinary gas pipe, and as easily removed when required. Lamps.
that are not intended to be lighted regularly may be furnished with a 1
greater quantity of liquid so as to be lighted up with the others, but
extinguished again immediately after, while the other lamps continue to
burn. To guard against interruptions in the hydraulic connection of
the galvanic circle by the effect of low winter temperatures in either.
freezing the water of the filling or causing the bichromate of potassa to 2
be crystallized from the solution, it is necessary to employ during the
winter months a solution containing a greater quantity of sulphuric acid
and less of the chromate, a mixture that is practically best prepared on.
cold winter days. For this last-mentioned apparatus with the hydraulic
closing of the supply various domestic applications may also be found, 2
such, for instance, as the lighting up of one or more gas lamps or whole
gasaliers at once by the mere pressure on a knob in the wainscot. The
special arrangement will naturally vary according to the requirements of
each particular case.
The best means known to my foreign correspondent for applying the-3

page_text: gas pressure employed in each particular case, as will be well understood
by engineers.
'
In the arrangement shewn in Figs. 7, 8, and 9, on Sheet, 2 of the
accompanying Drawings, the vessel a is made by preference of glass of
the form shewn in the Drawings, and is provided with a cylindrical
compartment or bell Z, made of larger diameter at its lower part / than
at its upper part. The galvanic pair of zinc c and graphite or gas coal d
are shaped like rings, and are fixed to the cover 6 in the following
manner:- -The zinc c is attached to a couple of rods or wires e',
surrounded by india-rubber tubes . The rods or wires e' pass freely
through suitable vulcanite or other insulating, packing pieces in the
cover b, and are in metallic contact with a connecting bar e', which
carries one of the electrodes e, as shewn, and is insulated from tho
cover 6 by vulcanite or other insulators . The other electrode e is
fixed directly to the cover. The rods are screwed and fitted with
nuts e° for adjusting the height of the zinc c as required. The graphite
or gas coal d is attached to a couple of screwed rods or wires e³
surrounded by india-rubber tubes 6º, the rods or wires passing freely
through the zinc.c (from which they are insulated by their india-rubber
tubes 6º) and also through the cover 6 above which they are provided with
suitable nuts e' resting on the cover, and by turning which nuts the
graphite or gas coal may be raised or lowered as required to suit the
quantity of liquid in the main vessel a. The platinum wire f¹ is twisted
spirally, as shown in Fig. 8, and is held by holders g slightly-longer than
but of the same construction as the one represented in section in Fig. 13.
The vessel a stands on a metal base plate a³ arranged to screw on to the
pipe leading from the main supply. The pipe m leading to the gas
burner m² is secured to the cover ỗ, as shewn, and passes down within
the compartment or bell below the level h, at which the liquid stands
when the gas is at its lower pressure, an annular space being left
between the pipe m and the compartment or bell 2. This annular space
communicates by the gas pipe o with the main supply pipe on to which
tho apparatus is fixed, as already described.
1
The action of the apparatus is as follows:-When the gas is at its
lower pressure the surface of the liquid in the annular space n being at
or about the level indicated by the line hit closes the escape pipe m
leading to the burner m³.. By slightly increasing the pressure of the gas
it will force the liquid down in..the annular space », thereby raising the

page_text: level in the main vessel a until the gas is permitted to pass by the
pipem to the burner m³, and then by a still further augmentation of the
gas pressure for a few seconds the liquid is temporarily forced up in the
vessel a into contact with the zinc c, thereby completing tho galvanic
circle and igniting the gas issuing from the burner m' by the catalytic
action arising from the contact of the gas with the platinum wire. After
this is effected a slight remission of the gas pressure causes the level of the
liquid in the vessel a to fall below the zinc c, thereby breaking the gal-
vanic circuit in order to avoid unnecessary exposure, but without shutting
off the escape of gas from the annular space n through the pipe mand the
burner m. The extinction of the light is effected by reducing the pressure
so that the level of the liquid rises up within the annular spaco n and
pipe m, thereby shutting off the communication between the burner m².
and the gas pipe o. In some cases it may be found convenient to
employ either in conjunction with the varying gas pressures or in licu
thcrcof a suitable suction pipe pleading to the vessel a above the highest
level of the liquid from a station at any required distance, so that the air
in the upper part of the vessel a can be rarefied, and the liquid thus
sucked up, lowering the surface in 7 so that the escape of the gas
through m will be first opened, and then on continued suction the zinc
plate will be reached by the liquid, thereby closing the galvanic circle
and igniting the gas as described, after which the sucking power will bo
slightly remitted so as to produce the same effect as already described
with respect to the corresponding slight remission of the gas pressure, but
I prefer to open and close the communication with the gas burner, and to
make and break the galvanic circuit by the changing of the gas pressure
as specified. To guard against any failure in the hermetical closing of
the galvanic circuit that might arise in consequence of the slow evapo-
ration of the liquid a reservoir q may be provided, which passing through
the zinc c is supported by the graphite. This reservoir is filled with
liquid of 'the same kind as the liquid h, so that if the liquid in the
vessel a sinks by evaporation below its proper level liquid from the
reservoir 9 will replace' the evaporated liquid, and so maintain the proper
level in the vessel a.
'

page_text: ment m², resembling and serving in lieu of the enlargement l' of tho
compartment or chamber Z. The graphite d rests upon the enlarge-
ment m³ of the tube m, and the zinc ring c, which is insulated by the
insulating material 6, as shewn from the pipe m, is attached to a
screwed wire or rod e', surrounded at its lower end by insulating
material 6³, and passing up through a suitable insulator in the cover ỗ:
to the connecting bar e', upon which rests the nut eo, whereby the zinc
is held and adjusted. One of the electrodes e is attached directly to the
bar e³, as shewn at Fig. 11. The other electrodo is insulated from the
bar and attached to the cover b. The upper end of the pipe o is
indented or notched (or it may be perforated), and a cap r fits casily
over it, the lower end of the cap passing down below the level h, at
which the liquid stands when the gas is at its lowest pressure. This
cap 1 may be made sufficiently heavy to prevent its being displaced by
the gas pressure, or may in some cases be secured in its position. It
will be observed that an annular space is left between the cap r and
the pipe o, and the interior of the latter communicates by the notches
or indentures at its upper end with the annular space, so that while the
gas supply is cut off from communication with the burner when the gas
is at its lower pressure, as in the arrangement of apparatus previously.
described, a slight increase of the gas pressure by moving the liquid
down below the lower end of the cap r will allow gas to pass by the
pipe m to the burner, and a still further augmentation of the gas
pressure for a few seconds will effect the ignition of the gas by tempo-
rarily making the galvanic circle. The construction of the apparatus
will be readily understood from the Drawings.
.
Fig. 14 on Sheet 3 represents an arrangement of apparatus whereby
the lighting up of one or more gas lamps, whole gasaliers, or series or
sets of gas jets may be effected simultaneously, either by mere pressure
on a knob, or by the gas pressure, or the pressure of air. Although the
apparatus is shewn as made to cause the ignition of the gas in both
these ways, it will be obvious that its construction may be simplified by
arranging it to ignite the gas only in one way, either by the pressure on a
knob or by the gas pressure. The gas or air pipe o* passes into the main
vessel a of the battery, and is enlarged at its lower lower end, as shewn.
The zinc c is carried by a tube e, formed or provided at its upper end ·
with a knob e³, supported by a spiral spring e, whose lower end rests
upon a tubular guide e fitted into the cover b, as shewn, so that by:

page_text: pressing the knob e" the zinc c may be pushed down into contact with
the liquid, thereby closing the galvanic circle. The graphite d rests
upon the enlarged lower end of the pipe o*, which pipe is insulated by
the insulating material ¿ from the zinc c. The zinc c communicates
with the binding screw e", which is connected by a wire c" and binding
screw e" with one of the electrodes e, and the graphite d in like manner
communicates with the binding screw e" connected by a wire e³ and
binding screw e" to the other electrode e, as shewn. The pipe m leading
to the gas burner is provided with a separate vessel a* for containing the
liquid, whereby the lower end of the pipe is closed when the gas is at
its lower pressure, and for which purpose glycerine or mercury may be
used. The gas supply pipe o enters the vessel a* at its lower part, and.
terminates within the pipe m leading to the burner, as in the arrange-
ment already described with reference to Figs. 10, 11, 12, and 13. Tho
construction of the other parts will be readily understood from the
Drawings. By increasing the gas pressure so as to sufficiently lower
the level of the liquid * in the vessel a*, the communication with the
gas burner m is opened, and then the gas issuing therefrom may be:
ignited by temporarily making the galvanic circle in the vessel a of the
battery either by pressing the knob es so as to lower the zinc c into the
liquid h, or by increasing the pressure of gas or air in the pipe o❤ of.
the battery, so as to raise the liquid into contact with the zinc c.
.A
Fig. 15 represents a modification of the apparatus for effecting the
hydraulic closure of the pipe m leading to the gas burner m³, which will
be sufficiently understood from the Drawing and the description already a
given of preceding arrangements.
Fig. 16 (Sheet 2) shows a very simple arrangement for igniting the
gas issuing from the burners of an ordinary gasalier or gas pipe, each,
burner m¹ being furnished with a couple of electrodes e, one of which is
insulated from the gasalier, as shewn, and connected by a wire e¹s to the a
zinc c of a battery, which may be similar to that shewn in Fig. 14. The
other electrode is in metallic contact with the gasalier, and the latter;
may be connected to the graphite d of the battery by a wire like that.
shewn at es in Fig. 14. When the gas is turned on it may be readily
ignited by temporarily closing the galvanic circuit in the battery as 3
already described.
It will be evident that the novel mode of igniting gas by the
application of compact platinum in connection with a battery in which

page_text: the galvanic circuit is made and broken as required, according to this
Invention, is susceptible of a variety of useful applications, such for
example as the lighting of railway distance and other signals, street and
other gas lamps, the lighting of gas in large mills, workshops, ware-
houses, railway stations, hotels, theatres, and other public buildings;
the lighting of gas for illuminating public.clocks in elevated situations,
and other purposes which it would be superfluous to mention.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be or may be. performed or carried into
practical effect, I desire to state that I do not confine or limit myself to
the precise details which I have described and illustrated in the accom-
panying Drawings, as it will be evident that they may be more or less
modified without departing from the distinctive character of the said
Invention; I would also remark that I do not claim as being separately
new either the closing of the galvanic circuit in a battery' by means of
a liquid, or the changing of the pressure of gas in a gas supply pipe, or
tho individual parts composing the apparatus herein-before described,
when any of such several elements or parts are used separately or
otherwise than according to and for the purposes of the said Invention ;
but what I do claim and desire to have secured to me by the herein-
before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
Firstly. The movement of an electro-motive liquid by mechanical
means or gas pressure, by which movement the position of the said
liquid is changed relatively to the galvanic pair or plates, and whereby
the gas or hydrogen gas on touching the heated platinum wire, and
adding its catalytic effects is ignited as described.
Secondly. The mode of igniting gas by the application of compact
platinum in connection with a battery, the galvanic circuit being made
and broken as required by the changing of the relative positions of the
exciting liquid and galvanic plate or plates of the battery, as described.
Third. The use or employment of the pipe or way, whereby the gas
is conducted to the burner for ignition in conjunction with the liquid
contained in a vessel in the manner described, whereby the raising and
lowering of the level of the liquid by the changing of the gas pressure
are made to open and close the communication between the gas supply
and the burner.
Lastly. The use or employment of the compartment or bell, and the

page_text: is
the whole being arranged and operating together so as to close the pipe
or way leading to the gas burner by means of the liquid when the gas
at a low
pressure, to open the passage or way to the burner by increasing
the gas pressure, and by a still further temporary augmentation of the
gas pressure to make the galvanic circuit and ignite the gas issuing
from the burner, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Lloyd Wise, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.