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THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



dead which occupied its interior. There was only 

 one small window through which the light entered, 

 but it did not fall upon the objects that were to be 

 examined. Upon stretching a muslin handkerchief 

 from its four corners, it threw such a quantity of 

 light into the crypt as to display fully its contents. 



But while our process of illuminating dark 

 apartments is a great utihtarian agent, it is also an 

 eesthetical power of some value, enabling the archi- 

 tect to give the full eflect of his design to the ex- 

 ternal facade of his building, without exhibiting to 

 the public eye any of the vulgar arrangements 

 which are required in its interior. The National 

 Picture Gallery of Edinburgh, erected on the 

 Mound, from the beautiful designs of the late W. 

 H. Playfair, is lighted from above; but there are 

 certain small apartments on the west side of the 

 building which cannot be thus lighted, and these 

 being very useful, the architect was obliged to 

 light them by little windows in the western facade. 

 These windows are dark gashes in the wall, about 

 two feet high and one foot broad, and being unfor- 

 tunately placed near the Ionic portico, the principal 

 feature of the building, they entirely destroy the 

 symmetry and beauty of its western fagade. Had 

 there been no science in Edinburgh to give coun- 

 sel on this occasion, the architect should have left 

 his little apartments to the tender mercies of gas 

 or oil; but science had a complete remedy for the 

 evil, and in the hope that the two distinguished 

 individuals who have the charge of the Gallery, Sir 

 John Watson Gordon and Mr. D. O. Hill, will 

 immediately apply it, we now offer to them the 

 process without a fee. 



Send a piece of the freestone to the Messrs. 

 Chances, of the Smethwick Glass Works, near 

 Birm.ingham, and order sheets of thick plate-glass 

 the exact size of the present openings, and of such 

 a colour, that when one side of the glass is ground 

 tbe ground side will have precisely the same colour 

 as the freestone. When the openings are filled 

 with these plates, having the ground side outwards, 

 the black gashes will disappear, the aj)artments 

 will be better lighted than before, and the building 

 will assume its true architectural character. The 

 plates of glass thus inserted among the stones, 

 may, when viewed at a short distance, show their 

 true outline; but this could not have happened if, 

 during the building of the wall, one, two, or three 

 of the stones had been left out, and replaced by 

 plates of glass of exactly the same size as the 

 stones. This method of illumination will enable 

 future architects to illuminate the interior of their 

 buildings by invisible windovs, and thus give to 

 the exterior fafade the full aeslhetical effect of their 

 design.* 



* When ground glass is used for illuminating 

 apartments, the ground side must always be out- 

 side; but when it is employed, as it often is, to 

 prevent the persons in a street, or in one room, 

 from looking into another room, the ground side 

 must be placed inside of the privileged room. If 

 it were outside, the passenger in the street, or the 

 occupant of the one room, could easily look into 

 the privileged room by rendering the ground glass 

 transparent — by sticking a piece of glass upon it 

 with a little Canada balsam or oil. 



If it is important to obtain a proper illumination 

 of our apartments when the sun is above the hori- 

 zon, it is doubly important when he has left us 

 altogether to a short-lived twilight, or consigned 

 us to the tender mercies of the moon. In tbe one 

 case, it is chiefly in ill-constructed dwelling-houses, 

 and large towns and cities, where a dense popula- 

 tion, crowded into a limited area, occupy streets 

 and lanes in almost absolute darkness, that science 

 is called upon for her aid ; but in the other, we 

 demand from her the best system of artificial illu- 

 mination, under which we must spend nearly one- 

 third of our //i-es, whether they are passed in the 

 cottage or in the palace, in the open village or in 

 the crowded city. 



When we pass from the flickering flame of a 

 wood fire to rods of pine-root charged with turpen- 

 tine — from the cylinder of tallow to the vase filled 

 with oil— from the wax lights to the flame of gas, 

 and from the latter to the electric light — we see the 

 rapid stride which art and science have taken in 

 the niumination of our houses and streets. We 

 have obtained a sufficient source of light : we re- 

 quire only to use it safely, economically, and salu- 

 briously. The method which we mean not only to 

 recommend, but to press upon the public attention, 

 unites the three qualities which are essential in 

 house illumination ; but till our legislators, and 

 architects, and the leaders of public opinion shall 

 be more alive to the importance of scientific truths 

 in their practical phase, we have no hope of being 

 honoured with their support. True knowledge, 

 however, advances with time. Vulgar prejudices 

 are gradually worn down ; and in less than a cen- 

 turj', whether we have the electric light or not, we 

 shall have our artificial suns shedding their bene- 

 ficent rays under the guidance of science. 



The present method of lighting our houses, by 

 burning the lights within its apartments, is attended 

 with many evils. The intolerable increase of tem- 

 perature in well-lighted rooms, whether they are 

 occupied by small or large parties — the rapid con- 

 sumption of the oxygen, which our respiratory 

 system requires to be undiminished — the offensive 

 smell of the unconsumed gas — the stench of the 

 oleaginous products of combustion — the damage 

 done to gilded furniture and picture frames— the 

 positive injury inflicted on the eyes, by the action 

 of a number of scattered lights upon the retina — 

 and the risks of fire and explosion, are strong 

 objections to the system of internal illumination. 

 About half a century ago, the writer of this article 

 proposed to illuminate our houses by burning the 

 gas externally, or placing it within the walls of the 

 house, or in any other way by which the products 

 of combustion should not vitiate the air of the 

 apartment. The plan was received with a smile. 

 It had not even the honour of being ridiculed. It 

 was too Quixotic to endanger existing interests, or 

 trench upon vested rights. Owing to the extended 

 use of gas, however, its evils became more generally 

 felt; but no attempt was made to alter the existing 

 system till 1S39, when a Committee of the House 

 of Commons was appointed to inquire into the best 

 method of lighting the House. Many eminent 

 individuals were examined ; and in consequence of 

 the Report of the Committee, the new system was 



