of Fish Oil. 267 



JNIr. R. Walker, a civil engineer, stated, that he had viewed 

 the premises after the fire, and gave the same account of the state 

 of the retort as Mr. Wilson had previously done. 



Mr. C, Sylvester stated, that he had directed his attention to 

 the apparatus exhibited in court, with a view to give evidence 

 that day. According to the old mode of boiling sugar much mis- 

 chief was risked. The new mode he considered to be much less 

 dangerous. The preventing the fire from coming in contact with 

 the pan must be extremely beneficial. He heard Mr. Wilson's 

 evidence, and did not differ from him in any thing. He was 

 present at certain experiments that were made on sugar and oil 

 by Mr. Cooper. The oil was procured by Mr. V/ilson. He ob- 

 served the alteration of the temperature every five minutes. The 

 temperature increased much quicker in the early part of the ope- 

 ration than towards the end. The heat was 575 or 580 degrees 

 before inflammable gas was generated. The oil that had been 

 boiled produced gas at a temperature of about 20 degrees less 

 than that which was new. He thought it would be exceedingly 

 difficult to produce such a heat by this apparatus. It would re- 

 quire two or three hours, with the utmost care, to raise the tem- 

 perature so high. If gas were formed in the retort, it would 

 ascend ; and there being several apertures, it must escape. At 

 first, it could only accumulate in very small quantities. Con- 

 structed as it was, there could be no combustion in the retort it- 

 self. Such an event could not be effected by any leaking of oil 

 into the fire. 



Mr. J. T. Cooper stated, that he was acquainted with this ma- 

 chine and work, and also with the old mode of refining sugar. 

 He conceived that the new one was much preferable. Elastic 

 gas could be produced from old oil at the temperature of 570 or 

 5S0 in small quantities. That was the lowest temperature at 

 which it could be generated : if it were wished to procure it in a 

 large quantity, the heat must be raised much higher. He had 

 never procured permanent inflammable gas under 610 degrees. 

 If gas had been formed in the retort, it would have escaped by 

 different apertures. It would ascend, and could not have accu- 

 mulated to any dangerous extent. Considering the apparatus, 

 there was no likelihood that gas would have been generated; but 

 if it had, it would have gone off by the pipe. There was a dif- 

 f( rente of betwixt 10 and 15 degrees of temperature between the 

 heat at which old and new oil would produce gas. After the heat 

 arrived at a certain temperature, it was most difficult to add to 

 it. In 40 minutes he had raised the heat of oil from 20 to 350 

 degrees, and to raise it from .'350 to 600 or 610 degrees occupi d 

 nearly two hours and a half more. In the latter minutes he could 

 hardly get it up at all. 



T 2 Cross- 



