﻿Chemistry 
  and 
  Physics. 
  245 
  

  

  SCIENTIFIC 
  INTELLIGENCE. 
  

  

  I. 
  Chemistry 
  and 
  Physics. 
  

  

  1. 
  Reminiscences. 
  — 
  A 
  privately 
  printed 
  pamphlet 
  of 
  21 
  pages 
  

   has 
  recently 
  appeared, 
  giving 
  a 
  memorandum 
  of 
  the 
  remarks 
  of 
  

   Dr. 
  C. 
  F. 
  Chandler 
  made 
  at 
  a 
  dinner 
  of 
  the 
  " 
  Society 
  of 
  Gas 
  

   Lighting" 
  in 
  New 
  York 
  City. 
  As 
  these 
  reminiscences 
  deal 
  to 
  a 
  

   large 
  extent 
  with 
  experiences 
  and 
  history 
  concerning 
  household 
  

   illumination, 
  beginning 
  at 
  a 
  period 
  when 
  the 
  candle 
  was 
  the 
  prin- 
  

   cipal 
  source 
  of 
  artificial 
  light, 
  an 
  abstract 
  of 
  this 
  particularly 
  

   interesting 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  address 
  is 
  given 
  here. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Chandler 
  spent 
  his 
  boyhood 
  in 
  New 
  Bedford, 
  where 
  he 
  

   became 
  familiar 
  with 
  the 
  whale-oil 
  industry. 
  At 
  that 
  time 
  three 
  

   or 
  four 
  hundred 
  whale-ships 
  were 
  sent 
  out 
  from 
  that 
  place 
  on 
  

   voyages 
  of 
  from 
  2-j- 
  to 
  3^ 
  years 
  to 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  world. 
  The 
  

   oil 
  of 
  the 
  sperm 
  whale 
  was 
  used 
  extensively 
  for 
  illumination 
  at 
  

   that 
  time 
  and 
  sold 
  as 
  high 
  as 
  $1.75 
  per 
  gallon. 
  The 
  oil 
  from 
  the 
  

   " 
  right 
  " 
  whale, 
  the 
  one 
  yielding 
  " 
  whalebone," 
  was 
  much 
  cheaper, 
  

   but 
  it 
  had 
  a 
  property 
  of 
  gumming 
  up 
  the 
  lamps. 
  Therefore, 
  

   " 
  Camphene," 
  which 
  was 
  rectified 
  spirits 
  of 
  turpentine, 
  was 
  intro- 
  

   duced 
  as 
  a 
  comparatively 
  cheap 
  substitute. 
  This 
  gave 
  such 
  a 
  

   naturally 
  smoky 
  flame 
  that 
  it 
  could 
  be 
  used 
  only 
  in 
  lamps 
  pro- 
  

   vided 
  with 
  chimneys. 
  In 
  order 
  to 
  modify 
  this 
  product 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  

   could 
  be 
  used 
  in 
  open 
  wick 
  lamps, 
  it 
  was 
  mixed 
  with 
  a 
  suitable 
  

   proportion 
  of 
  alcohol 
  to 
  make 
  " 
  Burning 
  Fluid." 
  Both 
  the 
  cam- 
  

   phene 
  and 
  the 
  burning 
  fluid 
  were 
  so 
  volatile 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  danger- 
  

   ously 
  inflammable, 
  and 
  they 
  were 
  the 
  cause 
  of 
  many 
  accidents, 
  

   but 
  there 
  was 
  no 
  way 
  to 
  make 
  these 
  materials 
  safe. 
  

  

  This 
  was 
  the 
  condition 
  of 
  artificial 
  illumination 
  when 
  Professor 
  

   Chandler 
  went 
  to 
  Germany 
  to 
  study 
  in 
  1854. 
  The 
  next 
  year 
  in 
  

   Berlin 
  he 
  saw 
  " 
  Coal-oil 
  " 
  used 
  in 
  lamps 
  with 
  chimneys. 
  This 
  

   product 
  was 
  manufactured 
  from 
  Boghead 
  coal 
  from 
  Scotland 
  by 
  

   distillation. 
  Two 
  or 
  three 
  years 
  later 
  coal-oil 
  factories 
  were 
  

   established 
  in 
  America, 
  from 
  Portland, 
  Maine, 
  to 
  Wilmington, 
  

   Delaware, 
  in 
  which 
  imported 
  Boghead 
  mineral 
  was 
  used. 
  Other 
  

   materials 
  were 
  soon 
  found 
  also, 
  such 
  as 
  Breckenride 
  coal, 
  Nova 
  

   Scotia 
  Albertite 
  and 
  West 
  Virginia 
  Grahamite, 
  for 
  which 
  factories 
  

   were 
  started 
  at 
  or 
  near 
  the 
  localities 
  where 
  they 
  occurred. 
  One 
  

   of 
  these 
  factories 
  named 
  its 
  product 
  "Kerosene," 
  and 
  this 
  name 
  

   was 
  afterwards 
  given 
  a 
  much 
  wider 
  application. 
  The 
  demand 
  

   for 
  coal 
  oil 
  increased 
  with 
  great 
  rapidity. 
  It 
  was 
  furnished 
  for 
  

   about 
  50 
  cents 
  a 
  gallon 
  and 
  gave 
  a 
  beautiful 
  light. 
  

  

  The 
  coal-oil 
  industry 
  had 
  hardly 
  been 
  established 
  fully 
  when 
  

   attention 
  was 
  directed 
  to 
  " 
  Petroleum 
  " 
  or 
  " 
  Rock 
  Oil 
  " 
  which 
  

   was 
  found 
  floating 
  on 
  pools 
  of 
  water 
  in 
  Western 
  Pennsylvania 
  

   and 
  Virginia, 
  and 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  used 
  for 
  some 
  time 
  for 
  external 
  

   application 
  in 
  the 
  treatment 
  of 
  rheumatism. 
  Some 
  one 
  in 
  New 
  

   Haven 
  had 
  seen 
  a 
  small 
  specimen 
  of 
  this 
  oil 
  in 
  the 
  mineral 
  collec- 
  

  

  