HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE 



" Having seen a ditch within two miles of Wigan, in Lancashire, wherein the water 

 would seemingly burn like brandy, the flame of which was so fierce that several strangers 

 have boiled eggs over it ; the people thereabouts, indeed, affirm that about thirty years 

 ago it would have boiled a piece of beef; and that whereas much rain formerly made it 

 burn fiercer, now, after rain, it would scarcely burn at all. It was after a long-continued 

 season of rain that I came to see the place and make some experiments ; and found 

 accordingly, that a lighted paper, though it were waived all over the ditch, the water 

 would not take fire. I then hired a person to make a dam in the ditch and fling out the 

 water, in order to try whether the steam which arose out of the ditch would then take 

 fire, but found it would not. I still, however, pursued my experiment, and made him 

 dig deeper ; and when he had dug about the depth of half a yard, we found a shelly coal, 

 and the candle being then put down into the hole, the air catched fire and continued 

 burning. 



" I got some coal and distilled it in a retort in an open fire. At first there came over 

 only phlegm, afterwards a black oil, and then, likewise, a spirit arose which I could no 

 ways condense ; but it forced my lute and broke my glasses. Once, when it had forced 

 my lute, coming close thereto, in order to try to repair it, I observed that the spirit which 

 issued out, caught fire at the flame of the candle, and continued burning with violence as 

 it issued out in a stream, which I blew out and lighted again alternately several times. I 

 then had a mind to try if I could save any of this spirit, in order to which I took a tur- 

 binated receiver, and putting a candle to the pipe of the receiver, whilst the spirit arose, 

 I observed that it catched flame, and continued burning at the end of the pipes, though 

 you could not discern what fed the flame. I then blew it out and lighted it again several 

 times ; after which I fixed a bladder, squeezed and void of air, to the pipe of the receiver ; 

 the oil and phlegm descended into the receiver, but the spirit, still ascending, blew up the 

 bladder. I then filled a good many bladders therewith, and might have filled an inconceiv- 

 vable number more, for the spirit continued to rise for several hours, and filled the bladders 

 almost as fast as a man could have blown them with his mouth, and yet the quantity of 

 coals distilled was inconsiderable. I kept this spirit in the bladders a considerable time, 

 and endeavoured several ways to condense it, but in vain ; and when I had a mind to 

 divert strangers or friends, I have frequently taken one of these bladders and pricked a 

 hole therein with a pin, and, compressing gently the bladder near the flame of a candle 

 till it once took fire, it would then continue flaming till all the spirit was compressed out of 

 the bladder ; which was the more surprising, because no one could discern any difference 

 in the appearance between these bladders and those which are filled with common air." 



During the long period that elapsed between the years 1739 and 1792, 

 many experiments were made upon inflammable air, merely as a subject of 

 philosophical curiosity, without their being attended by any useful or practi- 

 cal results. 



