3?2 



lamp in eoaj wiiiips greatly infested "witli 

 fire-damp, *re now universally acknow- 

 ledged. 



It was for a jnodljication of this original 

 safety lamp that the Society of Arts, 

 with their usual niunitieeiicc, Yolcd to 

 rnc a medal in May last, which was the 

 more gratifying, as in 1813 the original 

 !ainp had heen presented by mo to tli« 

 Royal Soeiety. 



The Steam Safclif Lamp. 

 Several persons concerned in coal 

 mines, for whose opinioits I entertain 

 much respect, expressed a desire that a 

 nfety lamp might be constructed, which 

 4ould feed itself witli atmospheric air for 

 combustion without the aid of bellows ; 

 «iHd in order that such a desideratinn 

 might be supplied, 1 had the pleasure in 

 Xovember last (1«15). to discover, when 

 experimenting with the original safety 

 lamp, in an atmosphert! of tire-damp at 

 the lierrington Mill Pit, that, when I ac- 

 «ideutally usetl hot water, the lire-damp 

 burned silently at the wick of the oil 



Dr. Clanny^s Steam Safely Lamp, Not. 1, 



The steam safety lamps require no 

 trouble or particular attention from tlu^ 

 miner when ho is using them, and are by 

 no means expensive, and exceedingly 

 durable; and I will venture to assert, 

 that with tlu'se lanii)s no accident what- 

 ever can arise in any placo, or under any 

 ciruumstauce, let the state of the miu« 

 be ever so deplorable from fire damp. 



In the steam safety lamp, the atmos- 

 pheric air of the coal mine passes in i\ 

 current through a tul>e, and is mixed 

 with steam bci'orc it can possibly arrive 

 at the light : by this means the iirc-danip 

 bums silently and steadily at tlic wick 

 of the lamp alone, for any length of time. 

 Should it exceed tlie due projiortion of 

 atmospheric air for supporting combus- 

 tion, the light of course goes out ; but iu 

 this lamp such an event will seldom hap- 

 pen. It has also the valuable quality of 

 keeping cool tliroiighont every part, and 

 under all circumstances, by reasou of 

 the steam, whicii is constantly extricated 

 and kept in motion within the lamp, 

 lamp, and did not expUKlc within the And, a* steam is merely v^ater 1800 times 



•riginal safety lamp as formerly, vvhidi 

 T'as the principle of its safely. I ac- 

 eordingly instituted a scries of experi- 

 ments, and invariably found, that by tiic 

 intervention of steam the tire-damp might 

 Lc burnt, vvithont explosion, to any ex- 

 tent, at the wick. This extraordinary 

 and unexpected discovery induced me to 

 tinii <iver tlic leaves of tlie seventh edi- 

 tion of Dr. Henry's Elements of Ex- 

 perimental Chemistry, in which I ob- 

 served a reference to some experiments 

 by Von GrotUuis upou hydrogen pas, 

 tlic original of which are therein stated to 

 be inserted in the 82d vol of the Annales 

 tie Chimie; .iiid by the kindness of a dis- 

 tant friend I was aftei wards enabled to 

 peruse that volume, in which I I'otmd a 

 complete corroboration of mv experi- 

 ments upon steam and hydrogc". 



In the uronth of December of the 

 Same year, after many tedio^is experi- 

 ments, I constrncted my steam safety 

 lamp, which I tiien shewed to the Society 

 for preventing Accidents in Coal Mims, 

 for which 1 iiad also the honour to re- 

 ceive their unanimous tliauks. I iuli- 

 mated to the society at tlr; siime time, 

 that in this lamp "tlie lignt was given 

 partly fron\ oil, and i)artly from the firo 

 djjmp when used in the mines. 



The steam lamps are constrncted of 

 the strongest tinned iron, witli Oint glass 

 in front, 3-8 of an inch in thickness; from 

 which it will readily be understood, that 

 tko^« lamps will bear any soil of usa;^e. 



expanded, there is no cause to dread thtt 

 want of a suflicicnt supply of tliis useful 

 agent- 

 No ctrrrcnt of air containing fire- 

 damp, and suspending coal dust, gun- 

 powder, or pyrites in powder, can do 

 any mischief, which may at once be un- 

 derstood by a slight examination of tha 

 steam safely lamp, whilst the light is al- 

 ways uniform, steady, and bright. It is 

 now well kuuwu, tliat this lamp burns 

 most brilliantly in an atmosphere of fire- 

 damp, after Iho wire-gauze lamps go 

 out, and even after the original safety 

 lamp has had the fire-dan»p exploded 

 within it, as acknowledged by Messrs, 

 Watkin and Wood, viewers, and Mr. 

 Patterson, to have, occurred not lof(g 

 wncc at the Engine Pit in this county. 

 Tor without my safety lamps, the work- 

 men must have l>ccn left iii darkness ra 

 that veil kiuiwn pit. 



No lamp supplying itself with air can 

 be considered as perfectly secure with- 

 out steam; and it i^a curious circum- 

 stance, tliat as water was the meditun of 

 s-afety in the oiiginal lamp, so v^ater iii 

 tlic form of steam has since become 

 most usclui for our present purpose, ia 

 afl'iirding a permanent light, wherever 

 tliere is a suflicient quantity of oxygen to 

 support combustion. 



My steam .safety lamps have been 

 much used in the lierrington Mill J'it, 

 tlie AMiitp-ficld pit, and the Engine pit_, 

 . whej'u their value is duly ag^reciated. 



2. Ibe^ 



