AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



189 



which it imqiiestionably achieves. It is no more complicated 

 than an ordinary cooking stove, and requires no more sldll or 

 capacity to manage it. It is not liable to derangement, as a kitchen 

 range or a furnace, and does not require as much mechanical skill 

 to put it in order, should it by any accident become deranged. 

 In safety, there is no conceivable risk from the working of the 

 machine, or in the use of the gas. In economy, the light pro- 

 duced from this gas costs less than that from oil or candles. One- 

 half a cent, per burner, for an hour's consumption, is a large esti- 

 mate for this gas, while in illuminating qualities it is not surpassed 

 by the coal gas of any city in the Union. It is in all respects 

 exactly what those require, whose taste, profession or occupation 

 calls them to the country to reside, and that is, a safe, good and 

 economical light. The cut represents a machine of the size 

 mostly used in private dwellings, and consists of an oil can 

 or reservoir for the raw material, a stove, in which is set the retort 

 or generating apparatus, a siphon or condensing box, the water 

 tank or gasometer. 



The reservoir is a simple cylindrical vessel, containing the oil 

 from which the gas is generated. The retort is an iron hollow 

 cylinder, with a spheroidal bottom and flat cover, bolted and 

 screwed to a projecting rim. The stove containing the retort is 

 of sheet or cast iron, arranged npon the most approved plans to 

 economize the heat. The siphon box, or condenser, is a cast-iron 

 vessel, with a moveable lid bolted and screwed upon it. This is 

 divided into compartments, and half filled with water, with a 

 siphon attached, so as to keep the w^ater at all times to its proper 

 level. The water tank, in which the gasometer floats, is made of 

 W'ood or brick, and sunk to the level of the ground. 



The working of the machine and management of it, require no 

 more than ordinary skill, and may be safely entrusted to a 

 domestic. A fire is made in the stove as in an ordinary furnace, 

 and the retort is heated to a bright cherry-red heat. The cock 

 is then opened to allow the oil to pass in through the pipe from 

 the reservoir, upon the heated sides and bottom of the retort, 

 where it is instantaneously converted into gas. 



Ascending from this decomposing chamber, the gas is forced 

 through a substratum of chemical substances, suspended upon an 



