﻿98 Canadian Record of Science. 



lished on this sul)ject with reference to oil and gas light, 

 and it may be added that tlie results are not yet con- 

 cordant. 



Acetylene can not well be burnt in an Argand burner 

 nor witli the devices that succeed with petroleum lamps. 

 A fislitail Hame with a good exposure to the air must be 

 used, and the Ijest form of burner is that which throws 

 the swiftest stream of acetylene into the air in tlie form 

 of a ^■ery thin sheet. 



A lava-tip burner has long l)een used for gas in which 

 the opening is not a slit, ])ut two small holes. The con- 

 :struction of these burners can be well shown by passing 

 •gas through two l)lowpipe jets, and when the two long 

 jets of llame are made to imj^inge on each other at nearly 

 a right angle they spread out into a fishtail form. Acety- 

 lene can be burnt in very small lava tip jets of this class, 

 iind gives about 30-candle power, but the light can not be 

 turned low without losing its efificiency and smoking. 



An experiment can easily be made which shows how 

 large a quantity of air is required to render acetylene 

 .Hames smokeless. Mix acetylene gas with measured 

 quantities of air up to IJ volumes of air and burn the 

 mixtures in a slit fishtail burner. It will be found that 

 the acetylene does not diminish notably in illuminating 

 power. Larger proportions of air begin to destroy the 

 brilliancy of the flame. The same trials with common 

 gas show that a very small proportion of air renders the 

 Hame less luminous. Suitable burners must be chosen in 

 each case. 



Acetylene can even be burnt mixed w^th one-third its 

 volume of oxygen, giving a very brilliant flame. These 

 ■experiments are only of practical value in indicating the 

 kind of burner which should be chosen for acetylene. 

 Another quality of the flame is very instructive from the 

 .same point of view. The acetylene flame clings to tlie 

 .burner in an extraordinary way, so that it is difficult to 



