LIGHTING THE HOME 



39 



readily. The carbon monoxid is a very poisonous gas and 

 great precaution should be observed in the use of water gas, 

 to see that there are no leaks in the pipes and that the gas 

 is not escaping at an unlighted burner. 



As the gas enters the house, it first passes through a meter 

 by means of which the amount used is measured. The 

 pressure of the gas moves a disk back and forth, which is 

 connected with a mechanism that rotates hands on a dial. 

 There are several of these dials, one measuring small amounts, 

 about 5 cubic feet, another 1000 cubic feet, another 10,000, 



\Jntake I h- Pipe to Burners 

 Valve 



A/ovab/e 

 Partition 



Fixed 



Partition 



Leather 

 Sides 



Section through meter 



Dial 



FIG. 10. The gas meter. 



and another 100,000. By subtracting the reading found 

 at any previous date from the present reading, the amount 

 of gas used can be determined. 



One way of finding out whether the gas pipes leak in the 

 house is to make a careful reading of the meter at night after 

 the lights are turned out and then make another reading 

 the next day just before the gas is lighted. The difference 

 represents the amount of gas that has leaked out. Even 

 if the expense involved is slight, the leakage may be dan- 

 gerous to the health of the people living in the house. 



At first, burners were used, at which light was given off 

 directly by the burning of the gas. But a great improve- 



