Dr. Thomson on Coal Gas. 163 



burning of coal to try the combustible properties of the gases 

 produced from it, as well as from peat, wood and other in- 

 flammable substances ; and being struck with the great quan- 

 tities of gas which they afforded, as well as with the brilliancy 

 of the light and the facility of its production, he instituted se- 

 veral experiments with a view of ascertaining the cost at which 

 it might be obtained, compared with that of an equal quantity 

 of light yielded by oils or tallow. 



In the year 1798 he removed from Cornwall to Boulton 

 and Watt's works at Soho, and there he constructed an appa- 

 ratus upon a larger scale, which during many successive 

 nights was applied to the lighting of iheir principal building; 

 and various new modes were tried for washing and purifying 

 the gas. These experiments were continued with some inter- 

 ruptions till the peace of 1802, when a public display of the 

 gas-light was made by him in the illumination of the manu- 

 factory at Soho on that occasion. 



Since that period, or between it and 1808, he extended the 

 apparatus at Soho, so as to give light to all the principal shops, 

 where it was in regular use to the exclusion of other arti- 

 ficial light. In 1808 he fitted up the gas apparatus in Messrs. 

 Phillips and Lee's cotton mill, since which time it has been 

 extended to all the cotton mills in the kingdom. 



I have stated these details, though but imperfectly connected 

 with the subject which I mean to discuss, because I believe 

 the history of the introduction of gas as a substitute for oil or 

 candles is not very generally known. It is commonly ascribed 

 to Mr. Windsor, who took out a patent in 1806 and who de- 

 livered lectures on the subject several years after, and who 

 endeavoured to get up a joint stock company, with what suc- 

 cess I do not know. Several attempts were made here about 

 the year 1808, and during the winter of that year the front of 

 the Tontine buildings at the Cross of Glasgow was lighted 

 with gas for several weeks. London was the first city illumi- 

 nated with gas. Philip Taylor erected the gas-works at Paris 

 soon after the peace of 1815. 



In the preceding historical sketch I have taken no notice of 

 Lord Dundonald's coal-tar works at Culross; the current of gas 

 escaping from his ovens was frequently fired ; but it does not 

 seem to have occurred to him to employ the gas thus extricated 

 for osconomical purposes. Nor have I noticed M. Lebon, 

 who is said in 1786 to have attempted, but without success, to 

 employ gas distilled from wood as a substitute for candles ; 

 these attempts led to no results and were speedily forgotten. 



There are four varieties of coal which have been tried in 

 Great Britain in the manufacture of gas, namely, caking coal^ 



M2 



