FARMERS' REGISTER. 



535 



nir. This he accomplislied by means of an air- 

 tight lamp with a glass front, the flame of which 

 was supported by blowing air from a pnir of small 

 bellows through a stratum of water in ihe bottom 

 of the lamp, while the heated air passed through 

 water by a recurved tube at top. By tiiis process, 

 the air wiihin the lamp was compleiely ini=u!ated 

 from Ihe external air; and it. appears that this was 

 the first lamp that ever was taken into a body of 

 inflammable air in a coal mine at the exploding 

 point, without producing an explosion of thesur- 

 roundmg gas. Dr. Clanny mflde another lamp 

 upon an improved plan, by introducing into it the 

 steam of water produced from a small vessel at 

 the lop of ihe lamp, heated by the flame. For 

 these inventions, ihe doctor twice received the 

 thanks of "The society for preventing the acci- 

 dents in coal-mines ;" and he also received the 

 silver, and alterwards the gold medal from the So- 

 ciety of Arts, in Jjondon. Although these lamps, 

 invented by Dr. Clanny, were upon philosophical 

 principles, displayed much ingenuity, and were 

 absolutely salety-lamps lor mines, yet their con- 

 struction prevented them from being generally 

 used. Neverthless, Dr. Clanny deserves every 

 praise for his labors and very zealous exertions in 

 the cause of humanity, [i appears that nothing 

 farther was attempted in this important matter, 

 until the accident at Felling colliery, as befiire no- 

 ticed, when Sir Humphrey Davy, Mr. James 

 Stevenson, engineer, Killingworth colliery, New- 

 castle, and Dr. John Murray of Edinburgh, hroutrht 

 (brward salety-lamps, in the year 1816, each con- 

 structed upon diflerent principles. Sir Humphrey 

 Davy's lamp was made of fine iron wire-gauze, 

 without any glass; that of Mr. Stevenson's was 

 made of a strong glass cylinder, having a metal 

 plate at top, and another at bottom, perfoiaied 

 with very small holes, to permit the air to pass to 

 and from the lamp ; and that of Dr. Murray was 

 a glass lamp, or rather lanthern, to which good 

 atmospheric air was brought by means of a long 

 leather pipe liom the air-course. Of these, Dr. 

 Murray's lamp was not applicable but in a very 

 few cases ; the lamps of Sir Humphrey Davy and 

 Mr. Stevenson were both complete satety-lamps 

 in their principle, and are applied in practice ; but 

 that of Sir Humphrey Davy is decidedly the best, 

 and is generally used in Great Britain. Having 

 no glass, it is not easily injured, and sufficient 

 light for the miner passes througli the wire gauze. 

 To each of the gentlemen, the world is highly in- 

 debted, and in particular, the mining interest of 

 Great Britain, for their individual exertions. 



The safety-lamp of Sir Humphrey Davy was 

 instantly tried, and approved of by jSlr. Buddie, 

 and the principal mining engineers at Newcastle. 

 No one was more zealous to prove its safely, and 

 introduce it into the mines, than the Rev. John 

 Hodgson, of Heworih, belbre mentioned. He 

 descended the mines, entered amonirst the inflam- 

 mable air, and fully satisfied himself of its abso- 

 lute safety, in order that he might induce the 

 miners of his parish to use if, half of whom he 

 had seen so lately swept away by the dreadfiil ex- 

 plosion before narrated. 



The invention of this lamp has produced a new 

 era in the coal-mining of Great Britain. The 

 steel mills were very expensive, and in certain 

 cases produced explosions, whereas the salety- 

 lamp can be carried without danger amongst in 



flammable gas ready to explode ; and, although 

 the wire becomes red-hot, an explosion of (he "aa 

 will take place inside of the lamp, without com- 

 municating inflammation to the external gas. 

 While we very nmch admire the great ingenuity 

 of the highly celebrated inventor, we are not less 

 astonished at the uncommon simplicity ol" the 

 construction. 



RAT-CATCHERS AND RAT CATCHING. 



From the. Penny Magazine. 



Part of what the American ranger said of the 

 hear (Washington Irving's 'Tour on the Prai- 

 ries') may be applied in our island to the rat— it 

 is the " knowingcst verminl" of any creature we 

 have. Its sagacity and cunning are really extra- 

 ordinary, and its dating courage remarkable for 

 an animal of its size. Yet though almost every 

 person can produce a budget of stories about the 

 catching and killing of rats, how few are there 

 who have accurately observed their habits ! We 

 may often see people carefully baiting traps in a 

 place where rats are swarming, and marvellincr 

 I hat none can be tempted to enter, when the sim^ 

 pie reason is, that from want of a little considera- 

 tion the sagacious instinct of the beast is a malch 

 for the avvkwards attempts made to capture it. 

 The truth is, we too cordially detest the rai to 

 spend much time in watching its habits. It is, to 

 the greater number of us, in every sense of the 

 word, an " unclean" creature ; and the prevailing 

 thought is, not what are its habits, for some of" 

 these we know too well by the destruction it 

 causes, but how soon wc may get it exterminated 

 or chased from our premises. 



The rat belongs to the order rodentia of Cuvier, 

 the glires of Linna>us. This order is character- 

 ised by two large incisors in each jaw, separated 

 from the grinders by a vacant space, and destitute 

 of canine teeth. Some of the genera have the 

 grinders with flat or ridged crowns, others with 

 blunt tubercles. They feed generally on vegeta- 

 bles, but the species with tuberculaled grinders 

 are nearly omnivorous. 'J'he number of genera 

 in this order is considerable. We have, in Bri- 

 tain, the common mouse, the field mouse, the har- 

 vest inouse, the black rat, the brown rat, the wa- 

 ter and field lemming, &c. 3/us raiius, the black 

 rat, is characterised by ihe body being black 

 above; while miis dccumanus, the brown or Nor- 

 way rat, has the upper part of the body covered 

 with lighl-brown hair, and whitish underneath. 

 But localities, food, and age cause considerable 

 varieties in the external appearance of our rats. 



The brown rat, now the common rat of our 

 island, is a comparatively recent importation into 

 ihis country. But the time and manner of its im- 

 portation cannot be ascertained. Its original coun- 

 try is said to be Persia, though now it is spreacj 

 ovenhe world. Stories have indeed been gravely 

 told about an original pair or pairs having beea 

 brought over in some vessel from Norway (hence 

 the name of Norway tat,) from whence the stock 

 proceeded that now swarm in Britain. It is pos- 

 sible that such may have been the mode of their 

 introduction, but that is all we can say about it. 

 It appears to have attracted attention about the 

 middle of last century, as multiplying exceedingt'y 



