506 TRANSACTIONS Or THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 



Mr. Ambrose also presented his car lamp, which was burned without an 

 inside chimney, the large globe usually used on these lamps being the only 

 one used; he said they were in use on the Second and Third avenue cars, 

 in this city, and in Brooklyn. 



The Chairman. — It is no doubt known that, in the French mechanical or 

 Carcel lamp, the oil is carried up to the wick by machinery, and this lamp 

 was very extensively' used in England, particularly^ in the houses of the 

 nobility, but one great objection to it was, that when it got out of order it 

 had to be sent to France to be repaired. 



Mr. George A. Jones exhibited his mechanical lamp; he said the principle 

 on which this lamp is made, was to reverse the usual order of things, and 

 place the chimney at the bottom instead of at the top. It is the result of 

 the ingenuity of a French gentleman, Mr. Keravenan, who was confined to 

 his room, in this city, with the gout, and having plenty of leisure, was told by 

 a friend that if he could invent a lamp that would properly burn kerosene 

 oil, his fortune would be made; so he set to work, and we have here the 

 result. He reasoned that it could be done in two ways, and one,was to 

 have an immense chimney, on the principle of those used in large factories, 

 where they have some 100 feet high, and the other was to put a blower in 

 the lamps similar to those used on steamboats and stationary engines; each 

 would answer the same purpose, so he choose the blower as being the most 

 convenient, and with the carcel lamp for a basis, he fitted a blower at the 

 bottom which was turned by machinery, and this blower supplied the oil with 

 sufficient air to burn with the brightness which is now seen, and a thorough 

 combustion of the oil efiected, neither was there any perceptible odor. 



Mr. Bull. — What kind of oil do you use in this lamp ? 



Mr. Jones. — I got it at the first grocery store I found in Amity street on 

 my way up here. I asked for kerosene. Mr. Keravenan has since gone to 

 France, and when he left, this lamp would only burn three hours; we have 

 since made improvements upon it, and it will now run for six hours, and if 

 it gets out of repair we will not have to send to France to fix it; if it is 

 desired not to burn the whole time, it can be turned down very low and 

 still burn and not give any odor. The whole of these lamps (with the 

 exception of the spring), tools and everything, are made in my shop. 

 The steel used in this spring for keeping the fuse in motion, I have to send 

 to France for. I have experimented very largely with steel for this purpose 

 and I cannot find any to possess the uniformity of the French steel spring. 

 The machinery in this lamp is the same used by Jaques, who made the 

 Carcel lamp. This lamp has an inch wick, and the flame is double that of 

 the wick; in this respect, this lamp differs from others. The ma- 

 chinery drives the blower at the rate of 2,500 revolutions a minute, which 

 we have found is sufficient to supply air for a thorough combustion of the 

 oil. The movements for this purpose and the shape of the lamp are pat- 

 ented. The cost of the lamp will be about twelve dollars. 



The Chairman. — Prof. Draper, of the New York University, who has made 

 some interesting experiments with light, says that the light produced from 

 kerosene oil is superior to all others, and he turns off the gas and uses a 

 lamp in preference to it, as it gives a better and steadier light. 



Mr. Jones. — What has bothered inventors in lamps very much is how to 



