438 FARMERS' REGISTER— WATER PRODUCTIVE OF HEAT AND LIGHT. 



profession, and now if Ihey had the information to 

 direct their energies ariglit, they would have witli- 

 in themselves an irresistible influence over the 

 destinies of others. Farmers, &c. do not hold 

 that rank in society, they might hold if they please, 

 which they are entitled to hold by the good they 

 do to mankind. But make every man feel the 

 deep necessity of cultivating his mind, and draw- 

 ing out his hidden treasures ; make him feel that 

 his mental powers over society, as in fact it does, 

 depends upon the quantity of information he ac- 

 quires; let him believe that tact and skill, and a 

 knowledge of the human character, are as neces- 

 sary to him as a knowledge of his tools, and you 

 give that man his due proportion of influence with 

 the world. 



But we are stopped at once and told by him, that 

 he has no leisure to cultivate his intellect ; his 

 every day vocations demand all his attention and 

 time. Every man, even the busiest, the most in- 

 dustrious, has leisure enough, if he is disposed to 

 spend that leisure as he ought, instead of whiling 

 it away in trifling and idleness. Put these ques- 

 tions to yourselves, and see if you have no leisure. 

 How many evenings do you spend in idleness, in 

 laughing, in useless talk, in beating the streets.' 

 How many more hours are devoted to sleep than 

 is necessary for your health.' It is a fanciful idea 

 that people have, when they say that education 

 cannot be obtained without money and teachers. 



The idea about the want of time is a mere i)lian- 

 tom. Franklin found time in the midst of all his 

 labors to dive into the hidden recesses of philoso- 

 phy, and to explore an untrodden path of science. 

 The great Frederick with an empire at his direc- 

 tion, in the midst of war, and on the eve of battles 

 which were to decide the fate of his kingdom, 

 found time to revel in all the charms of philoso- 

 phy, and of intellectual pleasures, — Bonaparte, 

 with all Europe at his disposal, with kings in his 

 anti-chamber, begging for vacant thrones, with 

 thousands of men whose destinies were suspended 

 on the brittle thread of his arbitrary pleasure, had 

 time to converse with books. Let laboring men 

 then make use of the hours at their disposal. They 

 are the life blood of the community ; they can, if 

 they please, hold in their hands the destinies of our 

 republic; they are numerous, and respectable, and 

 powerful ; they have only to be educated half as 

 well as other professions, to form laws for the na- 

 tion. 



WATER USED TO PRODUCE HEAT AND 

 LIGHT. 



[Annunciations of the curious and perhaps impor- 

 tant discovery in the arts ■which will be stated below, 

 have been made in both England and America so nearly 

 at one time, as to leave in doubt who lias the best 

 claim to the priority of invention. Without exj^ress- 

 ing any opinion on this head, (for whicli it will be early 

 enough when the value of the discovery is fully estab- 

 lished by experience), we present the first notices that 

 have reached us from both sides.] 



Correspondence of the Journal of Commerce. 



London, jiug. \Ath, 1833. 

 I cannot refrain from here calling your attention 

 to a most important discovery, one which, if it re- 

 alizes the anticipations of the inventor, must re- 



move the only obstacle to the triumph of steam 

 navigation. This is a new mode of producing 

 heat, by which both wood and coal are to be su- 

 perseded. I find the account in a Salisbury pa- 

 per, and if it had not such an appearance of ho- 

 nesty, I should doubt its reality. It is as fol- 

 lows : — " The principal ingredient is water. The 

 only material required besides, is something in 

 a liquid form, which contains a large quantity of 

 carbon : whale oil, tar, or almost any thing of a 

 similar kind will answer the purpose. As these 

 materials are put into the furnace simultaneously, 

 and in combinaiion with each other, the one yields 

 its carbon, while the other gives out its hydrogen, 

 and a small portion of atmospheric air is the only 

 thing then required to keep them in a state 

 of perfect combustion. The whiteness and in- 

 tensity of the flame can hardly be imagined by any 

 one who has not seen it, and yet it is so completely 

 under management, that in one second it can be 

 reduced or augmented as occasion may require." 

 The account then states that from the absence of 

 all smoke, chimnies can be got rid of, and that a 

 vessel may ivithout inconvenience carry enough 

 fuel to enable her to circumnavigate the globe. 

 The statement is in such a creditable shape, and 

 put forth upon the faith of the editor as a leader, 

 that it is imjX)ssible not to rely upon its correct- 

 ness. The editor also states, that at the Gas 

 Works at Lymington it has been in successful 

 operation during the last three months. 



From Sil'.iman's Journal of Science and Arts. 

 TO PROFESSOR SILLIMAN. 



Dear Sir, — It is now more than twenty years 

 since I have been in the constant, I may say daily 

 practice of making experiments on the decompo- 

 sition of water, by mi.xing Avith its vapor that of 

 spirits of turpentine, and a great proportion of at- 

 mospheric air. In its decomposition by explosion, 

 the object was to obtain, for mechanical purposes, 

 a new and hrst moving power that should be per- 

 fectly safe, and altogether lighter and cheaper than 

 that from steam. With a much less proportion of 

 air, the object was to furnish a steady and pleasant 

 flame like that from oil or gas ; in both of which 

 objects I have succeeded. 



The evidence I often observed in the effect of 

 water in combustion, made it very certain in my 

 mind that it woidd be of immense benefit to the 

 community if it could be effected in a way that 

 would be regular, simple, and free from difficul- 

 ties. It was this, together with an unconquerable 

 inclination and determination to follow it through 

 life, if I did not succeed short of it, which made 

 me persevere fur so great a length of time. This 

 resolution was perhaps, imprudent; it certainly 

 would have been so had I not supposed I had the 

 means within my own reach. I have no doubt 

 that I have tried lamps, stoves, and machines in 

 more than four thousand different forms, for effect- 

 ing these purposes, and yet not many months have 

 elapsed since I have felt entirely satisfied. 



The experiments which I have made, have 

 proved practically, that an engine with a power 

 equal to driving a boat four jniles per hour, and a 

 rail road car twice that distance in the same time, 

 with ten or twelve passengers, may be made for 

 one hundred dollars ; and that the engine, with its 

 preparing vessel, (a substitute for the boiler in the 



