110 REPORT — 1844. , 



more particularly when the heat vitrifies the earthy particles of the coal, and 

 forms clinkers on the top of the grate-bars. In the use of this description 

 of fuel the permanent apertures are of great value. 



IV. The (Economy of Fuel, Concentration of Heat, and Prevention of Smoke. 



Irrespective of the intensity of heat, form of boilers, and quality of fuel, 

 there are other conditions connected with the phaenomena of combustion 

 which require attentive consideration before that process can be called per- 

 fect, or before ceconomy or the prevention of smoke can be attained. It is 

 perfectly clear, that although we may possess abundance of excellent fuel, 

 and a perfect knowledge of all the elements necessary for its combustion, 

 yet we are still far short of attaining our object, unless a regard to ceconomy 

 is strictly kept in view. A manufacturer may have well-proportioned boilers, 

 excellent furnaces, and good fuel ; but with all these advantages he will not 

 succeed, unless the whole of the elements at his command are properly and 

 oeconomically combined, and that upon fixed laws already determined for his 

 guidance. Count Rumford, in his admirable Essays on the CEconomy of Heat, 

 truly observes, that " no subject of philosophical inquiry within the limits of 

 human investigation is more calculated to excite admiration and to awaken 

 curiosity than fire, and there is certainly none more extensively useful to man- 

 kind. It is owing, no doubt, to our being acquainted with it from our in- 

 fancy that we are not more struck with its appearance, and more sensible of 

 the benefits we derive from it. Almost every comfort and convenience which 

 man by his ingenuity procures for himself is obtained by its assistance, and 

 he is not more distinguished from the brute creation by the use of speech, 

 than by his power over that wonderful agent." 



Such was the opinion of one of the most eminent philosophers of his time, 

 and such were the pertinency of his remarks and the depth of his researches, 

 that had he lived in the present instead of the close of the last century, he 

 would not only have extended and enlarged our views on the management 

 and ceconomy of heat, but he would have expressed astonishment at the in- 

 crease, the immense extent of expenditure, and the lavish and culpable waste 

 of fuel by which we are surrounded on every side. It is true we have some 

 exceptions, such as those in Cornwall and some parts of the continent, where 

 fuel is expensive; but taking the aggregate, it might be said, without fear of 

 contradiction, that if one-half of the fuel now used were properly applied, it 

 would perform the same service, and afford the same comforts as we now 

 derive from the whole of our mineral products. This is a great reflection 

 upon the philosophy as well as the ceconomy of the age, and I think it can 

 be shown that one-half the fuel now wasted might be saved with great ad- 

 vantage to individuals, and with increased benefit as well as comfort to the 

 public. The wasteful expenditure which exists does not arise so much from 

 ignorance as from prejudice and a close adherence to old and imperfect 

 customs. We all, more or less, venerate the works of antiquity, but unfor- 

 tunately we forget to draw the distinction between what is really ancient and 

 sound in principle and what is imperfect in practice. Hence follows a blind 

 adherence to established usage, and the consequent propagation of all the 

 defects as well as the perfections of the system. Now this state of things 

 should not exist, as we have the experiments of Watt, Rumford, Davy, 

 Parkes, and many others before us, and adding to these the excellent treatise 

 of iMr. C. W. Williams on the combustion of coal and prevention of smoke, 

 we are enabled by these means to establish a sound and much more perfect 

 as well as oeconomical system of combustion. Keeping these objects in view, 

 we shall endeavour to determine some fixed principle on which may be 

 founded the prevention of smoke, concentration of heat, and (gconomy of fuel. 



