324 
OBITUARY. 
would not be under 80° F. It is needless to say that the emission of vapour at this tem¬ 
perature (21° F. above that mentioned in our experiment) would be greatly increased; 
and experiment has fully confirmed this view of the case. In my opinion, after the oil 
had flowed over the floor (itself, no doubt, highly heated next to the fireplace) vapour 
would be given off so rapidly as to inflame before the liquid oil had reached the fire. 
In a second the increase of temperature by the now burning oil would increase the evo¬ 
lution of vapour, and speedily filled the entire chamber with flame. 
Mr. Haile said the house he represented sent out 2500 gallons of oil per week. 
Alderman Bell.—I would not like to have the responsibility of sending out 2500 
gallons per week. 
’ John M'Laren Fleming, the representative of Messrs. Binning and Son, the patentees 
of the diamond lamp and manufacturers of diamond oil.—The oil he sent was the lighter 
or most volatile portions of petroleum and paraffin oils together. Diamond oil had 
been extensively in use during the past four months in Great Britain and in some parts 
of the Continent. He did not consider the oil explosive, but it needed to be used with 
care.' 
The coroner, in summing up the evidence, drew attention to a handbill issued by 
Messrs. Binning, stating the qualities of the lamp, and “ perfect safety guaranteed.” 
The jury returned the following verdict:—“We are of opinion that Mary and John 
Stokoe, and two others, came by their deaths by the upsetting and breaking of a bottle 
containing two gallons of diamond oil, the same igniting at the fire. Also, that the 
patentees, Messrs. R. Binning and Son, and their agent, Mr. Logan, have been highly 
negligent in not giving proper precautions to purchasers of the dangerous nature of the 
oil; and we consider the handbill published by the manufacturers calculated to mislead 
the public. We consider the oil, from its highly inflammable character, to be unfit for 
domestic use. We beg to call the attention of the police and the county magistrates 
to the illegality of moving such dangerous compounds. We beg to thank Mr. Bell for 
the information he has kindly given on the subject.” 
Ari intimation was given that the handbill referred to would be withdrawn, and that 
Messrs. Binning would, in future, notify to all persons the nature of the oil. 
©iutuavjj. 
DB. W. B. HEBAPATH. 
The death is recorded of Dr. William Bird Herapath, of Bristol ; he died at his 
residence, Old Market Street, Bristol. Dr. Herapath was the son of the late Mr. 
William Herapath, so eminent as an analytical chemist, and, like his father, had 
attained to a high degree of knowlege and skill in the same science. Dr. Herapath’s 
name has also been associated with some useful discoveries in the microscope. Deceased, 
the cause of whose death was jaundice, leaves a widow and six children. On passing 
his M.B. examination, in 1844, at the London University he took honours in no fewer 
than six branches of medical knowledge. He subsequently became an M.D. of the same 
university, and his rapid and brilliant succession of chemical and toxicological discoveries 
was rewarded by the Fellowships of the Royal Societies of Edinburgh and London, and 
corresponding membership of most of our learned bodies. Among a mass of scientific 
communications to various periodicals, we may mention his papers on the “ Optical and 
Chemical Characters,” “ Sulphate of Soda Quinine,” on the “ Iodo-Sulphate of the Cin¬ 
chona Alkaloids,” “ Discovery and Manufacture of Artificial Tourmalines,” ‘‘Address on 
Chemistry in its Relation to Medicine and the Collateral Sciences,” “On a New Method 
of Detecting the Hydrogen, Arsenic, and Phosphorus when in company as Mixed Gases,” 
etc. Although suffering from an exhausting and painful disease, his zeal for science re¬ 
mained until the last, and, within a few days of his decease, he was engaged in laborious 
researches with spectrum analyses, more especially as to bloodstains and the chlorophyll 
of plants. His early death, at forty-eight years of age, will be deeply regretted by a 
large circle of professional and other friends. 
