652 



PATENTS. 



upon the paper, and the latter is lighted with a 

 match. In a few seconds the oil will ignite 

 and burn with vigor for a full hour. After it is 

 fully ignited the front draughts of the stove are 

 closed, and the fire regulated by means of the 

 damper in the smoke-pipe. If the latter is 

 closed too tightly smoke will issue through the 

 cracks of the stove and at once notify the at- 

 tendant that more draught is required. The 

 cartridge can not be recharged with oil until it 

 has cooled off, so that if a continuous fire is to 

 be maintained two or more cartridges must be 

 used, so that while one is burning the others 



C. 



may be cooling. Apparently there is no possi- 

 bility of explosion or of other danger from the 

 use of oil in this shape, unless indeed some 

 hopelessly stupid domestic should attempt to 

 refill the cartridge by pouring oil upon it while 

 it is lighted, as is her frequent custom in quick- 

 ening the kitchen-fire. It is proper to say that 

 some cartridges are in the market which are 

 filled with an absorbent of inferior grade. 

 "Where good material is used the cartridge is 

 practicably indestructible, and its usefulness 

 wherever or whenever continuous heat is not 

 required, is evident. 



Improved Gas-Burners. In these days, when 

 the introduction of electric lights threatens to 

 supersede the ordinary use of gas, improvements 

 in burners are important. The burner shown 

 in Fig. 4 is of foreign origin, the invention of 

 Dr. Auer Von Welsbach. It is an improvement 

 on the well-known Bunsen burner, consisting 

 of a mantle or case passed over the burner and 

 suspended by a wire frame shown in the illus- 

 tration. The mantle is woven upon a stocking- 

 loom and impregnated with a solution whose 

 precise constituents are kept secret but which 



contains oxides of zirconium and lanthanum. 

 The excess liquid is removed by pressure and 

 the cotton burned out, leaving a fragile incom- 

 bustible mantle of a pure white substance, 

 which becomes highly incandescent when the 

 gas is lighted, and maintains this property in- 

 definitely and without any apparent loss. Ex- 



periments show an illuminating power of 16'5 

 candles per cubic foot of gas under a pressure 

 involving an expenditure of 2'25 cubic feet of 

 gas per hour (about 0*90 of an inch), and yield- 

 ing a light equal to 7'32 candles per cubic foot 

 of gas. 



Improved Oil-Burner. In the same direction is 

 the Lucigen, successfully exhibited in the Crys- 

 tal Palace, London. The method of producing 

 this light lies in forming an intimate mixture 

 of air and minutely divided oil-particles yield- 

 ing a flame of extraordinary brightness. It re- 

 quires the aid of a simple mechanism worked 

 by a small supply of compressed air, and the 

 flame is controlled by means of a tap or faucet. 

 The light is produced by the combustion of 

 crude and waste oils, costing by measurement 

 from one tenth to one twelfth as much as gas. 

 and about one twentieth as much as electric 



