54 ADVANTAGES OF GAS. 



in the wick of the candle or lamp in having the crude inflammable matter 

 decomposed, previous to the elastic fluid being wanted, and stored up for use, 

 instead of being prepared and consumed as fast as it proceeds from the de- 

 composed oil, wax, or tallow ; and lastly, in transmitting the gas to any re- 

 quired distance, and igniting it at the burner or lamp of the conducting tube, 

 instead of burning it at the apex of the wick. The principle of the gas-light 

 manufacture is therefore precisely similar to the general mode in which all 

 light is produced : it is simply conducting on a large and general scale the 

 natural operations of ignition. 



Greatly as the number of towns lighted with coal-gas have increased within 

 the last few years, when the brilliancy, oeconomy, and convenience of this mode 

 of illumination is considered, it is surprising that there remains a single town, 

 deserving the name, without its gas-works. It has been frequently proved 

 that even a private factory may be lighted ceconomically with coal-gas when 

 the cost of artificial light amounts to 40 per annum. Surely, then, a gas- 

 apparatus in the smallest town may be safely erected. The outlay in the 

 first instance, the labour required for the operation, the quantity of coals 

 and material expended, together with the returns, are now so fully un- 

 derstood, and can be calculated to such a nicety, that money sunk in the 

 erection of gas-works returns its interest with the same certainty as that de- 

 posited in the funds. It is not a speculation, but a matter of the same kind 

 as the commencement of a factory for the production of any other article of 

 commerce. 



While thus speaking of the certainty of success attending the manufacture 

 of coal-gas, it must be understood that the apparatus erected for that purpose 

 be designed and executed with skill. Individuals, from observing the excel- 

 lent returns given for the capital expended on other establishments, have been 

 induced to erect works of their own, expecting naturally an equal remune- 

 ration. From employing ignorant people, their arrangements have in many 

 cases signally failed, and I doubt not that these circumstances alone have 

 tended in a great measure to retard the general diffusion of gas illumination 

 throughout the entire kingdom. 



If the number of lamps required is known, the materials necessary for the 

 production of the gas to supply those lamps are known also. The profit and 

 loss of such establishments in actual operation may as surely be relied upon 

 as that given upon paper. 



