350 On the Comhustion of Hydrogtn in tVater. 



Next I took another small tin cup filled with water, and 

 with my blowpipe applied its flame to its external and ver- 

 tical surface, at an inch or two below the level of the surface 

 of the water it contained ; when in a short time, the metal 

 became heated to redness, next to whiteness, and very soon 

 afterwards a perforation appeared, through which the water 

 escaped and the flame entered. Very soon after the ap- 

 plication of the flame, the water boiled violently in the imme- 

 diate vicinity of ihe heated metallic surface; itbecame beauti- 

 fully luminous, and strange as it may seem, the redness and 

 whiteness of the heated metal as mentioned above, was ex- 

 hibited, not on the exterior surface of the cup only, but also 

 on ihe very surface to which the ivater was contiguous. The 

 experiment was oftiii repeated, and with great gratification 

 to the beholders. How great then must be the energy of 

 the hydro-oxygen flame, compared with that of a smith's 

 forge ! 



This flame also burns beneath the surface of alcohol — 

 but this inflammable fluid has not only the inconvenience of 

 burning on its surface, but in consequence, probably, of this 

 inflammability, is more liable than water is, to recession. 



I have thus far detailed the little experiments which have 

 lately amused me and my friends. I am not much disposed 

 to indulge in speculation on the applications, which, in the 

 course of the progress of science, may be made of these 

 facts ; yet I cannot refrain from observing, that the 

 possibility of effecting the combustion of most substan- 

 ces, with an agent so energetic as the heat evolved by the 

 gases in question, seems to point distinctly among other 

 things, to their e'mployment as a suh-m.arine instrument of 

 naval warfare. From the experiments I have made, {and 

 these too . with means having no reference whatever, to the 

 accomplishment of such a purpose,) I am fully satisfied that 

 success may be commanded, and that, in this respect, it 

 will depend on, and be obtained by, the existence of these 

 three circumstances, to wit : — 



1st, On causing the mixed gases to issue from fine capil- 

 lary tubes, of one or two inches long so as to prevent reces- 

 sion. 



2d, On expelling them with such velocity as to cause 

 them to effect a considerable displacement of the water, and 



