AN IMPROVED MEANS OF GENERATING GALVANIC ELEC- TRICITY, OF DECOMPOSING WATER OR VARIOUS ELECTROLYTES, OP COLLECTING HYDRO- GEN, OF BURNING IT OR ATMOSPHERIC AIR SEPARATELY OR IN COMBINATION
Year: 1851

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
W. ADAMS, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, of
the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS Queen Victoria, by Her Letters Patent under the Great Seal
of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-ninth day of
May, A.D. 1851, did give and grant unto me, my exors, admors, and assigns,
Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said
Henry W. Adams, my exors, adiňors, and assigns, and such as I or they
should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all
times thereafter during the term of years therein mentioned, should and law-
fully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within that part of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland termed England, Wales, the Town of
Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and
Man, and in all the Colonies and Plantations abroad belonging to the said
Kingdom, my Invention of "AN IMPROVED MEANS OF GENERATING GALVANIC ELEC-
TRICITY, OF DECOMPOSING WATER OR VARIOUS ELECTROLYTES, OP COLLECTING HYDRO-
GEN, OF BURNING IT OR ATMOSPHERIC AIR SEPARATELY OR IN COMBINATION;" in
which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the said Henry
W. Adams, shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in the High Court of
Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as, reference being thereunto bad, will
more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Henry W. Adams, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following Specification and accom-
panying Drawings, letters, figures, and references thereof.
Of the said Drawings, Figure 1 denotes a vertical and central section of my
apparatus; Figure 2 is a top view of the battery as detached; Figure 3 is a
vertical and central section of it; Figure 3¹ is a horizontal section of the
battery.
The principal part of my Invention consists in constructing a battery so as
to generate as nearly as possible from a given weight of metal the greatest
possible quantity of electricity, and give to it the greatest degree of intensity.
To obtain the greatest possible quantity of electricity the battery should be so
constructed that any given weight of electro-negative metal proposed to be
used in a single cell shall present the greatest possible amount of magnetic
surface or surfaces within the smallest amount of space opposite to the
electro-positive metal. To obtain the greatest degree of intensity the battery
should be so constructed that the surface or combined aggregate of surfaces of
the electro-negative metal shall be presented opposite to the electro-positive
metal in an insulated coil or coils of the smallest diameter, which will conduct
the quantity of the electric current proposed to be generated without melting
the coils. The usual mode of constructing my battery is to take from thirty
to fifty fine copper wires, or other electro-negative metal, about one sixtieth
part of an inch in diameter, and about two hundred and twenty-five feet long,
and lay them lengthwise side by side, and insulate them in one package or
bundle, making an electro-negative surface of from nearly thirty to fifty square
feet. I then take a cylinder A (see Figures 1, 2, 3, 3¹) of zinc, about eight
inches long and four and a half inches in diameter from outside to outside,
and three and a half inches in diameter from inside to inside, making a
surface of about one and one third square feet. I then wind the electro-
negative metal both within and around the zinc cylinder in double coils b, c,
and attach one end of the coil metalically to the zinc. I wind these coils so
as to have a space d of about one quarter of an inch between the coils and the
zinc a, such space to be occupied by the water to be decomposed. The said
electro-positive metal may be either a hollow or solid cylinder or a prism or tube
of zinc, either pure or amalgamated or any other oxydisable or thermo-
electric metal, and said electro-positive metal may be a wire or wires, as afore-
said, or a thin metallic sheet, or a leaf rolled in the form of a wire, or any
other form of metal by which the greatest amount of surface can be gained.

page_text: in the smallest space opposite to the electro-positive metal. The said metals
thus arranged constitute a single cell, with a great increase of surface or
aggregate of surfaces of the electro-negative metal over the electro-positive
metal, instead of the metals being arranged in plates, bars, or cylinders, as in
batteries heretofore constructed with the metal in single cells or partitions
against each other, with equal or nearly equal surfaces of each metal in
each cell.
The principle or difference between my construction of battery and that
heretofore employed may be thus described:-In any of the old forms of
battery it has been a general law to expose in any one cell of the same,
and facing to one another, the same or very nearly the same amount of
exciting surface respectively of the two metals used; that is to say, if one
square foot or any other quantity of surface of the positive metal was exposed
in such cell to the action of the liquid therein, the same or very nearly the same
amount of surface of the negative metal was employed therein, and to operate
in connection with such positive surface. My discovery or Invention rests on
a new law or rule, which is, that while I employ in what may practically be
termed any one cell any given amount of surface of the positive metal, I
also employ in the same cell, not the same or about the same amount of
surface of negative metal, but a much greater amount of it, which, in order
to operate to the best advantage, should be distributed in sections or parts
(connected together), equal or about equal in dimensions to those of the
positive surface. I insulate in any proper manner the pack of electro-negative
surfaces, wire or wires, or other forms of metal, as above named, in order to
protect their surfaces from contact with the liquid of the cell, or from any
metallic deposit which might coat them and interfere with their action; and
when wires are used, I wind the pack in coils thus insulated, in order to
compel the electric current generated and conducted by the electro-negative
metal to flow in said coils, by which the electrical power of the battery is
greatly increased, and the electricity generated by the battery is concentrated
in a circuit of coils, instead of being diffused over the whole surface of the
electro-negative metal, as in batteries heretofore constructed; and each of
these coils is rendered magnetic in consequence of the lateral effect of the
electrical current, one side of each coil being rendered by the current positive,
the other side negative, and capable of exerting the magnetic energy thus
created through the insulation; or I will use said coils uninsulated, and I will
also use the electro-positive metal in a battery in insulated or uninsulated coils
instead of the form of a cylinder as before named.
In using the battery for manufacturing hydrogen gas from water, or in

page_text: decomposing any other liquid or electrolyte, I place the battery in the water
or electrolyte, as represented in Figure 1. The water or electrolyte thus
forms a thin sheet or layer between the coils and zinc in the small space d
left between them in constructing the battery as aforesaid, and in the small
spaces between the coils, so that the electricity is not obstructed in its course
by a large body of water, but its whole energy is exerted on a thin sheet of
the liquid; or the battery may be used out of the liquid or electrolyte, and the
electrical current be conveyed by metallic conductors to the electrodes, as in
other batteries. In decomposing water or other electrolyte, the water or
electrolyte may be either pure or mixed with other liquids or substances, or
be cold or hot, but heat increases the rapidity of decomposition. In manu-
facturing hydrogen gas from water, the electrical current generated by the
battery influences the chemical affinity of the oxygen in the water for the zinc
or other oxydisable metal in the battery; the oxygen in the water being
electro-negative tends to combine with the zinc which is electro-positive, and
by charging the zinc or its equivalent metal with an electro-positive current,
the force of both powers is exerted simultaneously, causing the oxygen to
combine with the zinc, thereby liberating the hydrogen and forming the oxide
of zinc, which should be held in solution by having the water slightly acidu-
lated, say one part of sulphuric acid to twenty of water. The hydrogen thus
liberated rises to the surface, and may be collected in a gasometer inverted in
the usual mode over the water, and from thence be conveyed by proper
pressure in a tube to burners to be ignited, or for other uses. If the water
becomes too much saturated with the oxide held in solution, it should be
drawn off, and a fresh supply added as often as may be necessary.
A more perfect arrangement for collecting the gas and affording a constant
supply of fresh acidulated water or other liquid, also for removing and pre-
serving for future use the solution with which the water in the battery has
become saturated, is as follows:-
In Figure 1 the battery A is placed upon a stand B erected upon the
bottom of a cistern C, which cistern is to be filled or nearly filled with acidu-
lated water, and is made to contain an inverted vessel D, which surrounds and
encloses the battery A. The pipe E passes up into the vessel C, and
terminates at the height at which it may be desirable for the liquid to stand
therein. The said pipe has a funnel F upon its upper end, and receives a
supply of acidulated water from a supply cistern or reservoir G. There is
another reservoir H placed by the side of the tank or reservoir C; the upper
edge of this reservoir H being placed at or about at the level of the upper
surface of the liquid in the generating cistern C; a pipe J is carried out of the

page_text: bottom of the generating cistern C, and upwards and over into the reservoir
H, such reservoir H being for the purpose of receiving the deposits of the
sulphate of the oxide of zinc. The oxydised water settles into the bottom of
the generator C, and a drop of fresh acidulated water dropped into the funnel
F will deliver a drop of the oxydised water from the pipe J into the reservoir
H. Thus the action of the battery remains constant, and the oxide is
removed from its sphere as fast as it is fully formed. K is the gasometer
placed in a water cistern or tank M, and connected with the generator or
inverted vessel D by a pipe L; it also has a gas pipe a³ for conducting the
gas from it.
I, therefore, claim as of my Invention the arrangements of the parts of the
apparatus substantially as represented in Figure 1.
What I claim as the first part of my Invention, and desire to secure by
Letters Patent, is severally set forth as follows:-
I do not claim as my Invention the construction of a battery of several
concentric cylinders, nor to make it, as heretofore made, "to consist of one
surface of the electro-negative metal arranged opposite to an equal or nearly
equal surface of the electro-positive metal;" but what I consider as my
improvement, and the change made by me, and which is productive of very
great consequences when quantity of electricity is considered, consists in con-
structing the battery with, in any one cell thereof, the electro-negative metal
arranged in a bundle of double or more thicknesses, folds, threads, or filaments,
presenting a considerable or great increase of surface or aggregate of surfaces
opposite the electro-positive metal, instead of nearly equal surfaces of one
metal against the other, as batteries have heretofore been constructed, the
greatest capacity of the battery for generating electricity being attained when
any given weight of the electro-negative metal proposed to be used presents
the greatest surface or aggregate of surfaces within the smallest space opposite
the electro-positive metal.
I also claim as my Invention the insulation of either of the metals used in
a battery for the purpose essentially as specified.
I also claim as my Invention the mode of constructing a galvanic battery
so as to give to the quantity of electricity generated in a single cell an
increased degree of intensity by presenting the surface or aggregate surfaces
of the electro-negative metal opposite the electro-positive in an insulated coil
or coils, which coils, in order to give the greatest degree of intensity, should be
of the smallest diameter which will conduct the quantity of the electric current
proposed to be generated without melting the coils.
I also claim as my Invention the right of arranging and using in a galvanic

page_text: battery the electro-negative metal in the shape of a wire or a bundle of wires,
or a thin sheet or leaf of metal rolled up as a wire, or thin sheets or plates of
metal, in single or double or more coils or packages, within or around or both
within and around the electro-positive metal, or in any other equivalent
position, so as to present opposite to the electro-positive metal in the smallest
amount of space the greatest possible amount of surface or aggregate of
surfaces for conducting electricity, thereby generating the greatest quantity of
electricity that can be obtained by any given weight of electro-negative metal
in a battery.
I also claim as my Invention the insulation of said wire or bundle of wires
or thin metallic sheets, filaments, or packages of metals in a battery when
wound in a coil or coils, or disposed in any other equivalent manner, in order
to generate and conduct the electrical current in a circuit of coils or other
equivalent manner, so as to give to the quantity of galvanic electricity gene-
rated in a single or separate cell the greatest degree of intensity, and also to
give a magnetic power to the coils by virtue of the lateral force of the galvanic
current flowing on an insulated surface.
I also claim as my Invention or improvement the making the electro-
negative metal of a galvanic battery in the form of a coil while the electro-
positive metal is in that or any other proper form; and I further claim as my
Invention or improvement the making the electro-positive metal of a galvanic
battery in the form of a coil while the electro-negative metal is put in that or
any other proper form.
I do not claim as my Invention or improvement to decompose water by
means of a galvanic battery and conducting wires leading from its opposite
poles, in the manner heretofore practised; but what I do claim as my improve-
ment is the direct immersion of the battery in the water to be decomposed,
and dispensing with the said conductors as specified, said liquid being either
hot or cold, thus completing the circuit, and increasing its effect on the liquid
or electrolyte by immediate contact with it.
I also claim the winding the coils or making such other equivalent dispo-
sition of the metals as to so leave a thin sheet of water merely between the
zinc or other oxydisable or thermo-electric metal and the electro-negative
metal, that the electrical current may exert on the thin sheet of water its
whole energy in decomposing it without being obstructed by too great a body
of water.
I also claim as my Invention the improvement of employing the electrical
current generated by the galvanic battery to influence the chemical affinity of
the oxygen in the water for the zine or other oxydisable metal, causing the

page_text: oxygen to combine more rapidly with the zinc or its equivalent aforesaid by the
simultaneous exercise of both these powers, and thereby liberating the
hydrogen with greater rapidity.
I also claim my battery for the production of motive power.
I am aware that modes have been devised to remove the oxide from batteries
which are designed to generate electricity to be conducted by means of wires
to the electrodes, and whose object is to preserve rather than waste the
oxydisable metal in the battery. I do not, therefore, claim any arrangement
of machinery by which to remove the products of such batteries; but what I
claim is the machinery, as substantially set forth, to remove from the sphere
of my battery, in which the zinc is unamalgamated and designed to waste, and
in which the whole office of the electricity generated by it is to increase the
consumption of the zinc, and thereby promote a rapid decomposition of water,
and not to be conducted by wires to electrodes, as in other batteries, the
oxydised water to be converted into products of commercial value by any of
the known chemical processes.
In addition to the foregoing described mode of decomposing water and
obtaining free hydrogen and the oxyde of zinc, I have discovered that I can
accomplish the same result by substituting heat for the acid, and retorts for
the electro-negative metal in the battery. In decomposing water by this
method I use retorts of any known materials and construction which I deem
proper to adopt. I charge these retorts with zinc, or any of the ores of zinc,
instead of iron. These retorts I heat, and pass through them water or steam.
I sometimes use two or more retorts, and charge the first with charcoal or
coke, or some analogous or carbonaceous matter, and pass water or steam
over the heated carbon in the retort. The water or steam is converted into
free hydrogen, carbonic oxyde, and carbonic acid, with some aqueous vapor.
By passing those mixed gasses through a retort charged with zinc or its ores
the aqueous vapor is decomposed, and also the carbonic acid, one equivalent
of the oxygen of the acid combining with the zinc or its ores, and forming
oxyde of zinc, and the other portion of the acid forming carbonic oxyde. I
then carbonize the gas by passing it through my benzolising vessel, and charge
it with the vapor of some volatile hydro-carbon, or else, which may be in
some cases desirable, I pass the gas into another retort, where I combine it
with decomposed oil, rosin, tar, melted pitch, or some analogous carbonaceous
matter, and thus form a permanent gas.
What I claim as my Invention in this mode of decomposing water and
manufacturing the oxyde of zinc for commercial use is the right to charge
retorts of any known construction or materials, either entirely or in combination,

page_text: with charcoal or coke, or any analogous carbonaceous materials, with zinc or
any of the ores of zinc, instead of iron or coal, as heretofore used in manufac-
turing gas. The particular benefit resulting from this Invention consists in
the fact that while I more perfectly decompose the water, and with a less
degree of heat, the oxyde of zinc becomes a valuable product. I am aware
that zine is oxydised by heating it in furnaces; but in that case the oxygen
is derived from the air, while in the mode above set forth it is heated in an
air-tight retort, and the oxygen is derived from the water. Thus I can
generate any quantities of gas by means of zinc or its ores, and at a nominal
expense, while nearly the whole residuum is converted into the oxyde of zinc,
which is valuable as a commercial product; also, by using retorts of clay or
plumbago mixed with fire clay instead of iron, they will last much longer,
inasmuch as the oxygen of the water all combines with the zinc or its ores,
and the retorts are not oxydised and destroyed as rapidly as they would be
were they made of iron, and charged with iron scraps or filings. This part of
my Invention is limited, however, to the right of charging any retorts with
zinc or its ores, either alone or mixed, or combined in any manner with char-
coal, coke, or any analogous carbonaceous materials, for the double purpose
of decomposing water for light and heat, and for manufacturing the oxyde
of zinc.
My next improvement consists in a new and useful mode of increasing
the heating power of hydrogen or other gas. The nature of my said improve-
ment consists in passing the gas, previous to its combustion, through or in
contact with charcoal or charred matter; and for the purpose of better accom-
plishing the intended effect the charcoal or charred matter may be in a pul-
verized or powdered state. The gas abstracts from it a property by which,
when it is inflamed, its heating properties are greatly increased. I increase
the heating powers of hydrogen or other gas and atmospheric air, either sepe-
rated or combined, by passing them or either of them in a pipe or pipes, under
pressure, into a vessel containing charcoal or its equivalent in a pulverised
state or otherwise, and conveying the gas or gases from thence in a pipe, to
be burned at a jet, thereby adding greatly to the heating properties of hydrogen
or other gas or air, or both combined, for any purpose to which heat is applied.
What I claim as my improvement or discovery is the employment of char-
coal or an analogous carbonaceous matter to improve the heating properties of
hydrogen or other gas, or combination of gases, substantially in the manner as
herein-before specified.
Another part of my Invention consists in the mechanical construction and
arrangement of a vessel, in which I can impregnate or imbue atmospheric air

page_text: or gas of any kind with the vapor of any volatile hydro-carbon, as alliole,
benzole, pyroxylic spirit, acetone, or other analagous burning fluids, which are
so volatile, either alone or mixed together, or with water or alcohol, as to car-
bonise common air or gas at the common temperature, and at a distance from
the vessel or reservoir aforesaid. I am aware that both air and gas have been
passed through and over these fluids and burned, I therefore do not claim the
principle as new with me. I am also aware that the reservoirs containing
these volatile hydro-carbons have been so constructed as to have only one com-
partment where the vapor is generated, and the air or gas is mixed. The
consequence of this is, that the process of evaporation very soon abstracts so
much caloric from the fluid that the temperature falls, and the vapor ceases to
rise in sufficient quantities to carbonise the air or gas, and the light conse-
quently decreases very much in brilliancy. The chief remedy in such cases is
to heat the reservoir, and thus raise the temperature of the fluid and keep up
the evaporation, but this is attended with care and trouble. The peculiarity
of my Invention is in the construction of a vessel or reservoir of such a cha-
racter that the air or gas is brought into contact with such extended surfaces
of the fluid or fluids aforesaid as to be perfectly carbonised, without the
application of heat or other artificial contrivances.
The following is a more particular description of this benzolising vessel,
which is shown in Figure 4:-I construct a perfectly tight tin box A, or a box
of some other suitable material, say two feet long, more or less, one foot and a
half in height, more or less, and one foot wide, more or less. Within this box
there are four chambers or compartments B, C, D, E, more or less, arranged
in the following manner:-One inch and a half above the bottom of the box
there is inserted a false bottom i, soldered tight to the sides of the box and
perforated with holes, say one fourth of an inch in diameter, and not far apart,
so that the fluid can readily flow through this false bottom and the vapor as
readily ascend. Upon this perforated bottom or shelf I arrange a layer G of
sponges or cotton wicking, or some other analagous porous substance, three
inches in depth. Over this layer of sponge, or its equivalent, I insert another
tin or analagous shef b, soldering it tight to the sides of the box, except one
end, which is turned up, say three inches, as seen at f, forming a pan three
inches deep, more or less, and leaving a space of about one inch between the
end of the box and the end of this pan, for the air or gas to ascend from
the chamber below, and also for the fluid supplied from above to flow into the
compartment below. Into this pan or basin is inserted a perforated tin or
other shelf h, and made tight to the sides of the same, one inch and a half
from its bottom. Upon this shelf is arranged another layer F of sponges or

page_text: cotton, or other analagous matter, as in the division below, filling a space
of some three inches. Over this layer of porous materials another pan or
basin E is set in, and soldered tight to sides of the box, except that the alter-
nate end of this basin is turned up three inches, more or less, as seen at e, and
one inch from the end of the box. Into this pan is inserted a shelf g, as in the
basin below, perforated with holes, and set one inch and a half, more or less,
from its bottom. This shelf is covered with a similar layer of sponges or
cotton, or some equivalent material. Over this layer is set another basin E³,
similar to those below, except that the opening at the end of this basin is at
the other end of the box from that which is next beneath it. Into this basin
or pan is fixed another shelf g', perforated as the others, and similarly arranged
and covered with the same porous materials. In this manner four chambers
or compartments are arranged within the box. These chambers may be multi-
plied in number to any extent, in proportion to the amount of air or gas
required to be benzolised. On the top of this box, and at one end, I insert
a pipe k, extending down into the first chamber to within a quarter of an inch
of its bottom. This pipe reaches some four inches above the top of the box,
and is terminated with a funnel. Through this pipe and between the funnel
and the top of the box is fixed a stopcock M. The fluid is poured into this
funnel and runs down into the first or upper basin, and fills it, saturating the
sponges resting on the shelf within it; then it flows over the end of the basin
and descends into the second or next below, filling that as the first, and then
flowing over and descending into the third or that next below, and fourth or
last, filling each to the height of three inches, more or less; but as the fluid
cannot flow out of the bottom pan into another reservoir below, I insert into
the box a draw-off cock L, three inches, more or less, from its bottom; by
opening this cock, and pouring the fluid into the funnel above, when the basins are
all filled and the bottom compartment is also filled to the same depth, the fluid
will run out of the draw-off cock. This cock is then shut, and also the one M
below the funnel. An opening into a pipe I is made through the top of the
box, and in or near that end of it in which the first basin below is soldered
tight to the box; this opening is for the escape of the benzolised air or gas.
Another inlet opening out of a pipe H is made in the end of the box, near the
top of the lower chamber. Through this last pipe and opening the air or gas
enters, passing over, around, and through the saturated spunges, cotton, or
other equivalent material, until it traverses to the other end of the same, where
it rises into the second compartment, and traverses back in the same way, over,
around, and through the moistened porous material, to the other end of that
chamber, where it ascends into the third division, and continues in like manner

page_text: through that, and then rises into the fourth, and passes through that to the
exit pipe, through which it passes into a gas or air holder, or to the burners to
be ignited. This is a very important mechanical arrangement; the benefits
of it are chiefly these, without which it is almost totally impracticable to
attempt to use this light
:-
First, this contrivance exposes the air or gas to such a continuous surface of
the benzolising fluid or vapor as to imbue the air or gas perfectly with the
vapor, without resorting to any other artificial contrivance to keep up the
temperature, and throw off vapor when the fluid becomes cool by evaporation.
Secondly, this arrangement prevents the jumping of the lights which always
results from unequal and unsteady pressure. If the air or gas is made to
bubble through the fluid it passes through in pulsations, and being delivered
in unequal quantities, the lights tremble and jump unless burning under very
great pressure; but in this arrangement the air or gas passes through cham-
bers of vapor, which do not obstruct the free passage of the same to the
burners.
Thirdly, by this mechanical contrivance I avoid the necessity of the immense
pressure necessary to drive large currents of air or gas through any of the
volatile hydro-carbons, giving it a sufficient dip to imbue it with moisture in
sufficient quantities to enable it to burn with a clear white light, no extra
pressure being necessary to pass the air or gas through these chambers or
vapor.
What I claim as my Invention is the mechanical arrangement of a series of
chambers and basins and perforated shelves, with the funnel and draw-off
cock, in combination with the sponges or cotton, or other analagous porous or
absorbent material, as substantially set forth, for the purpose of benzolising
common air and other non-luminous gases with any of those hydro-carbons
which are sufficiently volatile to enable atmospheric air, or any of the non-
luminous gases, to burn with a clear white light when passed through these
chambers filled with their vapors at the common temperature and at a distance
from the reservoir aforesaid. I do not claim this arrangement for the purpose
of napthalising gases, and improving their luminous character by means of
those hydro-carbons which are not sufficiently volatile to enable the non-
luminous gases to burn with a clear white light at the common temperature and
at a distance from the napthalising vessel. I do not intend to confine myself
to the exact construction of this vessel as above described, but, while I shall
adhere to it substantially, I also claim the right to vary it in all those points
which experience may suggest, provided that I will not change the general
character and design of the same.

page_text: Another particular in the series of my Inventions for the production of
artificial light by means of impregnating common air with the vapor of the
volatile hydro-carbons, as above set forth, consists in the construction of burners
suitable for the combustion of the benzolised air. There is no gas burner
designed for the consumption of coal gas which can burn benzolised air with-
out some alterations. This is owing to the density of the air, and also to the
fact that the air, being constituted of twenty-one parts of oxygen and seventy-
nine parts of nitrogen, the nitrogen while it escapes through the burners con-
tributes nothing to the light, except that it becomes the beast of burden to
carry up the hydro-carbonaceous vapors to the burners, where they are ignited
and supported in their combustion by the twenty-one parts of oxygen contained
in the one hundred parts of the air current. What is necessary in the con-
struction of these burners is the enlargement of the slaughts or orifices of the
burners, and such an enlargement of the chambers of said burners as shall,
without extraordinary pressure, deliver sufficient benzolised air to produce a
good flame.
I do not claim the construction of a burner, one part of which is moveable,
so that the orifices can be adjusted in size so as to produce a light, as a part of
my Invention.
But what I claim is the construction of Argand, fish-tail, bats-
wing, union, jet, and other gas burners, where all the parts are immoveable,
into air burners. I do this, for example, with Argand burners, by taking out the
iron perforated ring which is set in between the two cylinders at the top, and
leaving open the whole cylindrical space between the two cylinders, or by retain-
ing said ring and perforating it with fewer and larger holes, the holes being so
few and so large as to cause the jets of flame to unite and form one solid
body. If the burner be of any other construction, all that is necessary is to
make the orifices, if round, one eighth of an inch in diameter more or less.
In this way fish-tail or analogous burners may be constructed, or simple caps
perforated with such holes on the sides or across the top, or in any other
equivalent manner. If the burners are constructed with slaughts, their width
must be much larger than those of gas burners; and also the chambers or
reservoirs of benzolised air just below the slaughts must be of such size as
to deliver the air sufficiently fast without much pressure to fill the slaughts
and support a good light. If this be not attended to and the pressure be
slightly increased to force more air through, the light will at once go out.
The burner, however, which I prefer is the Argand (see Figures 4 & 5, the
latter being a section of it), prepared by leaving the space open between the
two cylinders a, b, for one eighth of an inch wide, more or less, from which
space the benzolised air issues in a circle, and when ignited forms a solid

page_text: circular flame, like the common gas flame of an Argand burner. These burners
may be so constructed purposely for this atmospheric light, or common Argand
gas burners may be taken, and the small perforated iron ring at the top
between the two cylinders may be removed, which will accomplish the same
end. Over this burner should be placed a glass chimney d³, about six inches
high, with the lower part e³, which immediately surrounds the flame, swelled
to nearly twice the diameter of the top.
A further improvement of this burner in particular, and of all constructions
of burners capable of consuming benzolised air in general, is the construction
of platinum, palladium, or other analagous metallic cones, wicks, and apparatu
to be so placed over the said burners, as that when they are ignited these
metallic cones, wicks, or apparatus may be heated white hot, and thus produce
a light suitable in cheapness and intense brilliancy for lighthouses and streets,
and other situations where a very powerful and dazzling light is necessary.
I
do not claim the principle of using these metallic arrangements for increasing
the luminousness of gas; but I confine my claim to the right to make and use
any construction of platinum, palladium, or other analagous metallic cones,
wicks, or apparatus to be placed in such contact with a flame produced by
the burning of common air imbued with the vapor of any volatile hydro-
carbon as to be heated white hot, and thereby increase the intensity and
brilliancy of the light. This light I design for lighthouses, but I will not
confine myself to its use for this purpose. The shape of these metallic con-
structions will vary with the shape of the flame desired to be produced, it
being evident that they must all have some resemblance in shape to that of
the flame in order to be so placed as to be most advantageously heated white
hot. I do not intend to confine myself to the use of these metallic arrange-
ments in connection with any construction of burner which has been or may
hereafter be used; but what I claim is the broad principle of making and
using them under any and all circumstances, limiting my claim exclusively
to my atmospheric light, substantially as above set forth, and restricting
myself only to the use of those inoxydisable metals which are capable when
white hot of glowing with luminous intensity. The extraordinary heat pro-
duced by this atmospheric light when the burners are arranged properly for
its production is remarkably well adapted to the beneficial uses of the metallic
constructions above set forth, by causing platinum and analagous metals to
glow with a white heat very readily. A very excellent arrangement for an
Argand burner, prepared as above set forth, is to construct a slender cone
(f, see Figure 5) of platinum, some two inches long, one end being about
three eighths of an inch in diameter and the other nearly or quite an inch,

page_text: the small end being screwed or set into a socket fixed in the centre of the
burner and a little below its top, so that the other end gradually increasing
in diameter may rise above the burner nearly as high as the flame is desired
to rise, so that the flame may circle round this inverted cone and easily bring
it to a white heat. Various constructions of metallic wicker-work may be
substituted for the above, just in proportion to the quantity and intensity of
light desired.
For the better understanding of this description a Drawing, Figure 5, with
figures and references, is hereunto appended, showing such a construction of
Argand burner and platinum inverted cone as are above set forth. The
peculiarity, therefore, of this part of my claim is the right to construct and
use any mechanical arrangement of platinum or palladium, or analagous
inoxydisable metals, so that such a metallic apparatus may be heated white
hot by means of a flame produced by a current of common air charged with
the vapor of any volatile hydro-carbon, as herein-before set forth, and
ignited as it issues from burners, no matter what the construction of said
burners may be.
Another part of my Invention consists of a practical air holder or air
supplier, which I construct in the two following ways. First, I make a
flexible air holder, as follows:-I construct the top g² and the bottom he (sec
Figure 4) of board or metal, and these I make round; then I take a belt 2
of canvass, or duck, or leather, or some analagous flexible substance, lined
with rubber inside and outside, or not, or otherwise, if I desire, and attach
it firmly to the top and bottom by means of straining the said belt around
the board or metal top and bottom, and then fitting on a metallic hoop over
the said belt and around the edges of the top and bottom of the said air
holder, which hoops I make fast to the top and bottom by means of screws
which pass through the hoops and the edges of the belt, and screw into the
the top and bottom, and thus make the air holder tight. The body of the air
holder is surrounded by belts or cords k, l, &c., sufficiently near together to
prevent it from bagging out irregularly when filled with air, or when being
exhausted by pressure, and also so that as it is exhausted it will pack down
regularly and snugly. The bottom of the said air holder is furnished with
four iron arms screwed upon the bottom and extending out some six inches
from the circumference of the bottom, and each terminated with rings or
holes for the reception of stanchions 1, 3, whose upper ends screw or fasten
into the perforated ends of two iron slats, which cross each other at right
angles above the top of the air holder, and project some six inches beyond
the circumference of the top, and which slats are made fast to a support

page_text: above them, the air holder then rides at ease and with regularity up and
down these stanchions. In the bottom are two pipes m³, H, one for the
entrance of the air and the other for its discharge and passage on to the
burners. The entrance pipe m² is so constructed that a large double acting
blacksmith's bellows n³, fitted with a valve and a cock o², can screw into it.
The valve is designed to keep the air in while the bellows is being filled, and
the cock is designed to keep the air in also, while the bellows can be un-
screwed and removed. By this means the air holder can be readily filled
when necessary. The air holder can be exhausted by a weight placed upon
the top, or by means of pullies with falling weights attached. I do not claim
the broad principle of collecting atmospheric air in an air holder; but what I
claim is the mechanical construction of an air holder, as substantially set
forth, or in any analagous manner, with a view to the production of artificial
light by passing currents of the same into or through the vapor of hydro-
carbons sufficiently volatile to render atmospheric air luminous at common
temperatures and at a distance from the reservoir of said fluids or vapors.
The second mode in which I construct an apparatus for supplying a constant
current of air to the burners is as follows:-I take a common gas meter (a
vertical and transverse section is seen in Figure 6), open to the air, and then
fix suitable gearing wheels and cranks, with an endless chain, and cause, by
means of a falling weight Q, the several compartments of the meter to
rotate. The air is thus drawn in by suction through the open tube E, and
forced out through the exit pipe R into an air holder or directly on to the
burners. This meter may be so constructed as that the small or central ends
of the several compartments may fit air-tight into a rotating cylinder, which
may be so constructed as to receive both the air and water from the compart-
ments in their revolutions, and deliver the water into communication with
the water in the meter and the air into a separate chamber, from whence it
may pass into an air holder or directly to the burners. The benefit of such
an air supplier is that it takes up but little room, renders it unnecessary to
have large and expensive air holders, and can be easily adapted to private
dwellings without requiring the labor and trouble of pumping or blowing air
into an air holder. In connection with this machine for furnishing air for
the burners, I will also use a small air holder, if I choose, intermediate
between the air supplier and the burners, to prevent the lights from jumping
and render the pressure regular and constant.
What I claim as my Invention in reference to this machine is the
machinery for rotating the several compartments, in order to draw in and
force out the air, and also the construction of the rotating cylinder into

page_text: which the several central ends of the compartments are fitted, so as to
prevent the air from running back and escaping through the inlet tube
after having once passed through the compartments of the meter.
I also
claim the application of the principle of supplying air to burners in order
to produce artificial light by means of such or any analagous machine.
I would also state that I do not intend to confine myself strictly to the
manufacture and use of the two machines for supplying air to burners, as
above described; but what I mean to claim is the right to make and use air
suppliers, in the manner and form as set forth, or with such modifications as
time and experience may suggest, provided such modifications are in harmony
with the substantial principles of the two machines as herein-before described.
In lighting cities and towns, where it may be necessary to supply large
currents of air, and force them under pressure in pipes to distant burners, I
claim the right to fill my air holders by means of engines as well as bellows
or analagous machinery.
In the foregoing parts of my Specification, where I have described the mode
of making my improved battery, and particularly as made with its coils either
nsulated or uninsulated, in further description thereof I would take occasion
to remark that I do not insulate the wires, threads, or filaments of metal afore-
said in any case where I use this electrical instrument as a galvanic battery, so
that the accidulated water or other fluid in the battery may conduct the elec-
trical current directly across from the electro-negative metal to the electro-
positive metal opposite; but in all cases where I use this electrical instrument
as a helix for the production of motive power, I insulate the bundles or faggots
of metal aforesaid in order to compel the current with which they are or may
be charged to flow in a circuit of coils and render those coils magnetic.
I would further remark, that in the foregoing part of my Specification I
have described and claimed a mode of decomposing water and manufacturing
the oxide of zinc for commercial use, such mode embracing the use of retorts.
As a further and more perfect description of what I claim in such part of my
Invention, I would observe that what I claim therein, and desire to secure by
Letters Patent, is the exclusive right to charge retorts of any construction, or
made of any materials, either entirely with zinc or with any of the ores of zinc,
or in combination, in any manner whatsoever, with charcoal or coke, or any
analagous carbonaceous material, and when thus charged and heated suffi-
ciently to vaporise the zinc or its ores, or to decompose water, to pass water or
steam, or the gases resulting from water decomposed in contact with heated
carbon, into said retorts, or to bring water or steam, or the gases aforesaid,
into contact with the vaporised zinc, either within said retorts, or within

page_text: reservoirs communicating with said retorts, in such manner that the zinc or its
ores, when either heated or vaporised, shall deoxydise the water or steam, or
the products of water decomposed by heated carbon which may be capable
of further deoxydisation, and thus convert the zinc or any of its ores into the
oxyde of zinc for commercial uses, and liberate the hydrogen and carbonic
oxyde, if any, for the purposes of light and heat and motive power.
This method of decomposing water and manufacturing the oxyde of zinc I
claim, for the objects and purposes aforesaid, without any regard to machinery
or apparatus by which the process may be accomplished.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry W. Adams, have hereunto set
Lond
of August AD 191

page_text: Enrolled the Thirteenth day of September, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-one.