Mr. Faraday on the Liquefaction of Gases. 239 



was made by the workmen in the usual way, it penetrated directly 

 downwards into the rock; a quantity of strong muriatic acid, 

 equal to perhaps a pint and a half, was then poured in, and imme- 

 diately a conical wooden plug, that had previously been soaked in 

 tallow, was driven hard into f he mouth of the hole. The persons 

 about then retired to a distance to watch the result, but nothing 

 apparent happened,, and, after waiting some time, they left the 

 place. The plug was not loosened at the time, nor was any 

 further examination of the state of things made : but it is very pro- 

 bable that if the rock were sufficiently compact in that part, the 

 plug tight, and the muriatic acid in sufficient quantity, that a part 

 of the carbonic acid had condensed into a liquid, and thus, 

 though it permitted the decomposition, prevented that develop- 

 ment of power which Mr. Babbage expected would have torn die 

 rock asunder. 



Oil Gas Vapour. — An attempt has been made by Mr. Gordon, 

 within the last few years, and is still continued, to introduce con- 

 densed gas into use in the construction of portable, elegant, and 

 economical gas lamps. Oil gas has been made use of, and, I be- 

 lieve, as many as thirty atmospheres have been thrown into vessels, 

 which, furnished with a stop cock and jet, have afterwards allowed 

 of its gradual expansion and combustion. During the conden- 

 sation of the gas in this manner, a liquid has been observed to 

 deposit from it. It is not, however, a result of the liquefaction of 

 the gas, but the deposition of a vapour (using the terms gas and 

 vapour in their common acceptation) from it, and when taken out 

 of the vessel it remains a liquid at common temperatures and 

 pressures; may be purified by distillation, in the ordinary way, 

 and will even bear a temperature of 170° F. before it boils, at or- 

 dinary pressure. It is the substance referred to by Dr. Henry, in 

 the Philosophical Transactions, 1821. p. 159. 



There is no reason for believing that oil gas, or defiant gas, 

 has, as yet, been condensed into a liquid, or that it will take that 

 form at common temperatures under a pressure of five, or ten, or 

 even twenty atmospheres. If it were possible, a small, safe, and 

 portable gas lamp would immediately offer itself to us, which might 



