54 JOSIAS CHRISTOPHER GAMBLE 



from the chimneys, while now the emission 

 of 2]/ 2 per cent., or one-fortieth of the 

 quantity then emitted, would cause the 

 stoppage of any works by the interference of 

 the Alkali Inspector. But to make a fair 

 and just assessment of the amount of injury 

 was no easy matter, and it is to be feared 

 that frequently the manufacturers were sub- 

 jected to extravagant and exorbitant demands, 

 and that the loudest and least reasonable of 

 the claimants often obtained the lion's share 

 of the plunder. Some farmers found that 

 harassing the chemical manufacturers paid 

 them much better than farming well. Doubt- 

 less Gamble and Muspratt under-rated the 

 risks they were running, and magnified the 

 advantages of cheap fuel, ready transit, a 

 good market, and abundant supplies of water, 

 with convenient drainage. 



How to condense the noxious and destruc- 

 tive gases, and take away the terrible tax 

 which was being imposed upon them by the 

 farmers, was a question of the first importance; 

 and, in the year 1836, William Gossage con- 

 ferred an incalculable benefit on the alkali 

 trade by the invention of his condensing 

 towers. Gossage also patented one of his 

 processes for the recovery of the sulphur from 



