212 Transactions of the American Institute. 



I have here the best gas burner which has yet been invented. It 

 is an Argand burner. In the first place, it is not constructed of 

 iron. An iron gas burner soon becomes rusty, and it should never be 

 used. A brass burner is better ; but still better burners are made of 

 what is called lava, really soapstone. 



Sagg's patent London burner, which I have here, produces sixteen 

 per cent more light than any other burner in use. 



There are two kinds of ordinary burners in use — the fish-tail and 

 the bat-wing. The fish-tail burner is provided with two little round 

 holes, so situated that the two jets of gas impinge against each other 

 and spread out into a flat flame. The bat-wing burner delivers the 

 gas through a slit. A fish-tail burner, as a general thing, is much 

 less eifective than the bat- wing. It was found in the examination in 

 London that the light of the fish-tail burner varied from one-half to 

 three-fourths, while the bat- wing burner in some cases very nearly 

 equalled the best Argand burner. 



The Argand burner consists of a ring of holes, and has a glass 

 chimney in order to produce a draft. When properly constructed, it 

 produces a greater amount of light from the same amount of gas than 

 any other burner. There is a general idea that the Argand burner 

 consumes more gas than the fish-tail and bat-wing burners. This is 

 not necessarily the case. A five foot Argand consumes no more gas 

 than a five foot fish-tail, but it gives much more light. 



Before we complain too much of the gas companies, we should pro- 

 vide ourselves with good burners. Then if the light is not satisfac- 

 tory, we should look at the distribution, and we will often find this 

 defective, particularly in the up-town districts of the city ; for when 

 the mains were put in, most of the streets were not built up, and it 

 was not thought necessary to put in large mains. The difficulty in 

 distribution is one that must gradually be overcome by taking up the 

 three-inch mains and putting in six-inch mains in their place. 



I have referred to the illuminating power of flame as due to the 

 presence of solid particles ; but Dr. Frankland has recently shown 

 that it is not entirely due to the solid particles, but somewhat to the 

 density of the gases evolved. He found that if the products of com- 

 bustion are heavy, the amount of light produced is greater. He 

 found, too, that pressure modifies the illuminating power. A candle 

 burned on the top of Mt. Blanc did not produce as much light as 

 when burned in a valley. 



