24 
and the plan which he (Mr. Ward) had hit upon was to 
drive small wires into a tube so as to make the apertures so 
small that gas at the ordinary pressure would not pass 
through. But though he did not think it would be of much 
utility to coal miners, he thought it might be used with the 
diving bell. The greatest desideratum in the diving bell was 
some light that would enable the divers to work in muddy 
water without regard to the tide. He believed that this 
gas (a mixture of oxygen and coal gas) would burn at any 
depth to which the divers could descend, and from the 
construction of the apparatus before them it would be seen 
that it would not consume the atmospheric air that was so 
necessary for the existence of the diver. He should be 
very happy if even in that respect it should be found of any 
utility. 
Mr. Bull suggested that probably the explosion of the 
external gases might be prevented by applications similar 
to those used in the stuffing boxes of steam engines. 
Mr. Hartop said he remembered that some twelve months 
ago Mr. Morton had called attention to that defect of the 
Davy lamp which he had to-day pointed out, that of firing 
the vapour on passing quickly through a current. He (Mr. 
Hartop) then suggested an alteration that he thought hkely 
to effect the desired improvement, but Mr. Morton said it 
had been tried and failed. But one of the lamps on the 
table, he observed, was made something after the manner of 
the alteration he had suggested, and it appeared to obviate, 
to a considerable extent, the difficulty which his suggestion 
was intended to remove ; it also gave a greater light to the 
workmen employed. But he did not rely much upon any 
improvement of the safety lamp, for after the interesting 
discussion that they had some time ago with Mr. Fletcher, 
respecting his lamp, he had a piece of information from 
him which he had not forgotten, and probably never should, 
namely, that since the invention of the Davy Lamp a greater 
loss of life had occurred than was ever known before in 
mines. He would not yield to any man in anxiety to see 
the safety lamp improved, but he feared that any further 
improvement would require a degree of simplicity in con- 
struction which had not yet been arrived at. Seeing, there- 
fore, that there was not much hope of improvement in the 
safety lamp, he would hope that coal-owners would give 
their best attention to the ventilation of their mines. He 
hoped that they would not sleep at their posts until an 
improvement of the safety-lamp was eflFected. 
