232 Transactions of the American Institute. 



number of holes around the top of the tube. It is necessary 

 to continue the application of heat to this tube for a few seconds 

 until the fluid is vaporized, and then it gives a pretty flame. There 

 are various modifications of this principle in the construction of lamps, 

 but the fluid used is still this dangerous naphtha. ISTone of these 

 devices are safe. 



" Vapor " and other ISTaphtha Stoves. 

 In this connection the " vapor stoves " demand some consideration. 

 These stoves are supplied with naphtha (sold under various names) 

 from a reservoir at one side, the supply being regulated by a stop- 

 cock. The naphtha flows into a tube or chamber, which is main- 

 tained at a high temperature by the combustion ; here it is vaporized 

 to escape through suitable orifices and burn. These stoves are 

 arranged for cooking, as well as for heating apartments. These con- 

 trivances are all, without exception, highly dangerous. They are 

 supplied with benzine or naphtha, which is always liable to take fire, 

 and to produce explosive vapors. Several large fires have been 

 already caused by these stoves, and when they shall have been more 

 generally adopted we may expect accidents to multiply rapidly. A 

 keg of gunpowder in a building is not as dangerous as one of these 

 stoves. 



Petroleum a Great Boon to Man. 



And yet this kerosene is one of the greatest boons of the age. 

 Certainly an illuminating material which gives, in a cheap lamp, 

 an amount of light equal to that of eight sperm candles, at a cost of 

 one-third of a cent an hour, is an inestimable boon to the world. It 

 adds several hours to the length of the day, and enables the work- 

 ing classes to devote the long evenings to the improvement of their 

 minds by reading ; or where the labors of the day must be prolonged 

 into the night, it saves the eyes from the inevitable ruin which would 

 follow the use of insufficient light. The sanitary advantages of a 

 clear, smokeless light are inestimable. Without attempting to follow 

 out all the good influences which may be attributed to the new 

 illuminating material, it is safe to say that petroleum is one of the 

 great civilizing agents of the nineteenth century. 



The cost of light obtained by kerosene is very much less than that 

 from any other material. A light equal to eight sperm candles, 

 obtained from good gas at three dollars per 1,000 feet, will cost three- 

 fourths of a cent an hour. This table shows that the average cost 

 per hour of light equal to eight sperm candles is : 



