240 ANNUAL OF SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



with short wires or pins, which dip into the cells of the honeycomb. 

 From the positive pole of the helices a second wire passes to a com- 

 mon glass tumbler partially filled with water. From this tumbler 

 passes another wire (having no connection with that from the helices 

 excepting through the water) also into the bell-glass, and so to the 

 electrodes. The water having been decomposed and the gas formed, 

 it rises to the top of the bell-glass, where it enters a tube, which con- 

 veys it to the bottom of a glass jar partially filled with spirits of tur- 

 pentine. This latter jar also is covered by a cap, connected with 

 which is another tube which conveys the gas to the burner where it is 

 lighted. The reason given by Mr. Paine for interrupting the wire 

 from the positive pole by the water in the small glass is, that unless 

 this is done both hydrogen and oxygen are generated in the bell- 

 glass. 



This is all the apparatus. When it is set in operation, the gas is 

 generated, but there seems to be much difference of opinion as to the 

 rapidity of its production. A letter to the Editors from a gentleman 

 who has examined the matter says, that, from observations made on the 

 spot and subsequent experiments, he is satisfied that the machine ex- 

 amined only produced sufficient gas to supply a single burner with an 

 aperture of about one thirty-third of an inch, which would discharge 

 one and three quarters cubic feet of gas per hour, and this, too, at 

 a time when Mr. Paine assured him that the machine was doing all 

 that it was capable of doing. Mr. P., however, claims that at that 

 time it was producing sufficient gas to supply 100 burners, equal to 

 about 350 cubic feet per hour. It will thus be seen, that upon this 

 vital point there is much difference of opinion. By burning the gas 

 before it reached the turpentine, it appeared to be simple hydrogen 

 gas, though Mr. Paine says it differs somewhat from that ; but when 

 lighted after passing through the turpentine, it produced a dense white 

 flame, perfectly defined in its form, as seen in a room brightly lighted 

 by the sun. The whole apparatus was carefully examined, and all 

 the writers agree in saying that it is impossible that there could have 

 been any deception, and that the light produced must have been from 

 the consumption of the gas generated by the revolution of the helices. 



It is evident that the question, whether the turpentine is consumed 

 by the passage of the gas through it is a very important one ; in fact, 

 one upon which the value of the discovery, in an economical point of 

 view, must depend. Upon this point there is a want of information, 

 all the descriptions having come from persons who have examined the 

 matter only for a short time. Mr. Paine maintains that the turpen- 

 tine undergoes no consumption, but that the gas in its passage through 

 it is catalized, or changed from simple hydrogen to a more illuminating 

 gas by contact or presence, without detracting from the turpentine any 

 of its original properties, an effect by no means without a parallel in 

 chemistry. The other view is, that the gas is carburetted, in which 

 case the turpentine must be so rapidly consumed, that, as a generator 

 of light, it would be comparatively useless. This latter view is 

 strongly supported by the fact that, after the gas has been passed 

 through the turpentine, it is observed to have acquired a strong odor of 



