520 



ILLUMINATION. 



The candidates nominated by the Democratic 

 Convention were for congressman at large, 

 James B. Allen ; for superintendent of public 

 instruction, John P. Brooks; for treasurer, 

 Alexander Starne. 



As it is important only to show the chief 

 points of national interest upon which the two 

 parties were divided at this election, reference 

 is here made to the resolutions adopted by the 

 Democratic Convention in Indiana, on page 527", 

 as illustrative of this difference of views with 

 sufficient clearness. Both conventions were 

 members of one and the same great party. 



The votes of the citizens at the elections were 

 given as follows : 



The Republican vote for Congressman at large was. .119,764 

 The Democratic vote for Congressman at large was.. 136,060 



Democratic majority 16,299 



The Republican vote for Treasurer was 120,116 



The Democratic vote for Treasurer was 136,662 



Democratic majority 16,546 



The votes for members of Congress were 

 given as follows : 



Republican. Democratic. 



Istdistrict 9,966 8,206 



2d " 12,612 4,785 



8d " 10,496 6,TS5 



4th " 8,T11 11,626 



5th* " 11,633 11,020 



6th " 10,604 8,419 



7th " 10,004 11,371 



8th " 11,448 12,808 



9th " ... No candidate 13,391 



10th " 7,712 14,209 



llth " 5,523 13,644 



12th " 6,854 10,990 



18th " 4.290 9,497 



The Republicans elected three, and the Demo- 

 crats eleven, members of Congress. The Le- 

 gislature was elected as follows : 



Senate. 



Democrats 13 



Republicans 12 



At the election -in Chicago, the largest city 

 of the State, for mayor, in April, 1862, the 

 votes were cast as follows : 



1862. 1861. 



Democrat 7,509 6,601 



Republican 6,186 8,274 



The governor of the State is Richard Yates, 

 whose term of office expires Jan. 1, 1865; the 

 Secretary of State is Ozias M. Hatch, whose 

 term expires at the same time. The debt of 

 the State is $12,337,381. The number of 

 banks in the State at the close of the year was 

 18. Their circulation was fully secured. 



The number of regiments sent by the State 

 into the service of the United States, to the 

 close of 1862, was 130 of infantry, 16 of cav- 

 alry, and 2 regiments and 7 batteries of artil- 

 lery. The State has promptly furnished the 

 troops called for by the Federal Government, 

 without any drafting. 



ILLUMINATION, GAS and OILS. Under 

 this head will be presented certain important 

 and recent additions to our knowledge respect- 

 ing the materials employed for purposes of 

 illumination, and also some of the latest pro- 

 cesses in connection with the preparation of 

 burning oils and of illuminating gases. 



613 Independent. 



House. 

 .. 56 



Igniting Point of Coal Gas. Dr. E. Frank- 

 land has, in the " Journal of Gas-Lighting," &c., 

 No. 250, a paper detailing very fully the ex- 

 periments and observations of different author- 

 ities on the subject named; the following 

 being the conclusions to which he is led: 



1. Coal gas cannot, even under the most 

 favorable circumstances, be inflamed at a tem- 

 perature below that necessary to render iron 

 very perceptibly red hot by daylight in a well- 

 lighted room. But this temperature is consider- 

 bly below a red heat visible in the open air on 

 a dull day. 



2. This high igniting power of coal gas under 

 all circumstances, is due in a great measure to 

 the presence of olefiant gas and lumiuiferous 

 hydrocarbons. 



3. The igniting point of explosive mixtures 

 of the gas of coal mines is far higher than that 

 of similar mixtures of coal gas ; consequently, 

 degrees of heat which are perfectly safe in coal 

 mines, may ignite coal gas ; and the safety-lamp 

 is hence much less safe in coal gas than in fire- 

 damp. 



4. Explosive mixtures of coal gas and air 

 may be inflamed by sparks struck from metal 

 or stone. Thus, an explosion may arise from 

 the blow of the tool of a workman against iron 

 or stone, the tramp of a horse on pavement, 

 &c. 



5. Explosive mixtures of coal gas may also 

 be ignited by a body of a comparatively low 

 temperature, through the medium of a second 

 body, whose igniting point is lower than that 

 of coal gas. Thus, sulphur, or substances con- 

 taining sulphur, may be inflamed far below 

 visible redness ; and the contact of iron below 

 a red heat with very inflammable substances, 

 such as cotton waste, may give rise to flame, 

 which will then, of course, ignite the gaseous 

 mixture. The full paper appears in the "Jour, 

 of the Franklin Inst,," Aug. 1862. 



Origin and Treatment of Petroleum: Uses 

 of its Products. The following instructive 

 summary relative to the points indicated, is 

 from a communication to the " Scientific Am- 

 erican," by a member of the Chemical Society 

 of Schenectady, N. Y. : 



In regard to the origin of petroleum (rock 

 oil), scientific authorities differ ; but the theory 

 most generally favored is, that it is the product 

 of the slow distillation, at low temperatures, 

 of organic matter in the interior of the earth ; 

 the vapors being condensed in certain fissures 

 and the surrounding soil. The lake of Trini- 

 dad and the bituminous matter of the Dead 

 Sea may also be referred to a similar source. 

 But for how many centuries must this opera- 

 tion have been going on, to have effected such 

 enormous results ! 



Of the many uses to which petroleum and its 

 derivatives are applied, that of illumination is 

 the most important ; and the process of refin- 

 ing is exceedingly simple. The crude material 

 is put into a large iron retort, connected with 

 a coil of iron pipes surrounded by cold water, 



