62 
gas collected from coal, or other mate- 
rials, of which we have heard so niuch of ° 
Tate years. The gas-light apparatus con- 
gists of two principal parts; the one serves 
to carbonize coals, and extract the smoke 
‘by heat, and the other to ccol, decom- 
pose, and refine, smoke, Both vessels 
youst be made air-tight, to obtain a per- 
fect analysis of coal, or other fuel and 
combustibles, In comparing his own ine 
vention with other apparatus now in use, 
Mr. Windsor. says, his is entirely 
new in its consttuction and application, 
for it operates diametrically contrary. to 
all known chemical apparatus hitherto in 
use. Speaking of these, he observes, that 
they are on a principle of an enlarged 
charcoal furnace, connected with gasome- 
ters; the ovens contain iron retorts, full 
of wood or coal in the centre. A fire of 
“taw coal is made to play around them, 
by which contrivance half the heat is 
necessarily lost. in the 'brick-work, from 
the natural expansion and rarefaction of 
caloric always. flying from the centre ; 
whereas his own fires and flues are al- 
Ways contrived in the midst of the raw fuel 
tobecarbonized. Their gasometers con- 
tain large reservoirs, where the gas is suf- 
fered to accumulate to one thousand feet 
in bulk, which, besides the danger aris- 
ing from the accumulation, prevents it 
from being thoroughly decomposed and 
refined in such masses, whereas, in Mr, 
Windsor’s, coudensors, the gas is infi- 
_ nitely subdivided into small particles, 
that all its tar, oil, bitumen, and ammo- 
miacal liquor, must» be extracted and 
precipitated, before the gas.is used in 
combustion. ; 
According to Mr. Windsom’s plan, 
house or chamber-stoves may be con- 
structed of iron or. other metal, of 
earthen or stone-ware, made fire~proof, 
of pipe-clay, or any other fire-proof com- 
position. Their form in general, is that 
of German. draft-stoves, though they may. 
be made of any other shape: and the 
cylinder, which separates the fire from 
the coal inside, may be likewise made of 
any shape, provided its bulk does not 
occupy more than from one-third to a 
half of the area within the stove, so that 
the heat may be more equally distributed 
among the surrounding coal or fuel. He 
places his fires in the centre of the ves- 
sels charged with raw fuel, and employs 
Patents lately Envolled. 
the refuse cokeand coal, to burn in those 
cylinders, surrounded by~the raw fuel ; 
hence the fire and heat generated in the 
centre, expand in all. directions, but 
chiefly. side-ways and upwards, and a 
much greater quantity of caloric is thus 
generated by means of a good draft, and 
1s so distributed as to cause a speedier 
and more perfect carbonization. By this 
mode, the. fires never come in contact 
with the fuel to be cooked and deeompo- 
sed, and one-third of a bushel of refase 
coke may generate sufficient caloric to 
carbonize a whole bushel of coal; so-as 
to produce a bushel and half ofgood coke 
again from five to six pounds of oil-tar ; 
from seven to eight pounds of strong’ 
ammoniacal liquor; and from two bundred - 
and twenty to two*hundred and fifty 
cubic feet of pure gas. The cylin- 
ders or cones, containing the fires, may 
be so constructed as to give a horizontal, 
perpendicular, oblique, or reverberating 
direction to the fire, in its passage through 
the raw fuel or other combustibles, to 
be analysed: the heat or flame may be 
led upwards or downwards, and in all 
possible directions, through the fuel, for 
the longer the fire-draft is detained in its 
passage, and. the greater the circuit it 
makes through the fuel, the sooner and 
the better will be the process of carbo- 
nization, as well as the quality of pro. 
ducts. precipitated in the condensors, 
The gas collected is made to pass through 
lime-water, or cream of lime, and whick 
attracts the offensive particles from it, 
and renders it pure, and fit for use, 
Such is a rough outline of Mr. Windsor’s 
new method; and he observes, that the 
principle of placing a fire in the centre, 
may be applied to heat, or boil, distil, or © 
evaporate water or other fluids, in wooden 
casks, much sooner than can be done in 
the common mode of applying the heat 
under and around kettles, coppers, pots, 
&e,. And it may he used in airing, drying, 
baking, stewing, &c. Also in warming 
rooms and houses, by conducting a fire- 
proof tube through the middle of the fire, 
which tube iste be supplied with fresh 
air from the outside through a wall or 
otherwise. By this means a great quan- 
tity of fresh air may-be speedily rarefied 
and heated, and .be conducted by other 
tubes to any part where it is required. 
~ REVIEW 
[ebay 
F 4 
