Artificial Light: Its Influence upon Civilization Part 4

The epochal feature of the development of gas-lighting is that here was a possibility for the first time of providing lighting as a public utility. In the early years of the nineteenth century the foundation was laid for the great public-utility organizations of the present time.

Furthermore, gas-lighting was an improvement over candles and oil-lamps from the standpoints of convenience, safety, and cost. The latter points are emphasized by Murdock in his paper presented before the Royal Society in 1808, in which he describes the first industrial installation of gas-lighting. He used two types of burners, the Argand and the c.o.c.kspur. The former resembled the Argand lamp in some respects and the latter was a three-flame burner suggesting a fleur-de-lis. In this installation there were 271 Argand burners and 636 c.o.c.kspurs. Each of the former "gave a light equal to that of four candles; and each of the latter, a light equal to two and a quarter of the same candles; making therefore the total of the gas light a little more than 2500 candles."

The candle to which he refers was a mold candle "of six in the pound"

and its light was considered a standard of luminous intensity when it was consuming tallow at the rate of 0.4 oz. (175 grains) per hour. Thus the candle became very early a standard light-source and has persisted as such (with certain variations in the specifications) until the present time. However, during recent years other standard light-sources have been devised.

According to Murdock, the yearly cost of gas-lighting in this initial case was 600 pounds sterling after allowing generously for interest on capital invested and depreciation of the apparatus. The cost of furnis.h.i.+ng the same amount of light by means of candles he computed to be 2000 pounds sterling. This comparison was on the basis of an average of two hours of artificial lighting per day. On the basis of three hours of artificial lighting per day, the relative cost of gas-and candle-lighting was about one to five. Murdock was characteristically modest in discussing his achievements and his following statement should be read with the conditions of the year 1808 in mind:

The peculiar softness and clearness of this light with its almost unvarying intensity, have brought it into great favour with the work people. And its being free from the inconvenience and danger, resulting from sparks and frequent snuffing of candles, is a circ.u.mstance of material importance, as tending to diminish the hazard of fire, to which cotton mills are known to be exposed.

Although this installation in the mill of Phillips and Lee is the first one described by Murdock, in reality it is not the first industrial gas-lighting installation. During the development of gas apparatus at the Soho works and after his luminous display in 1802, he gradually extended gas-lighting to all the princ.i.p.al shops. However, this in a sense was experimental work. Others were applying their knowledge and ingenuity to the problem of making gas-lighting practicable, but Murdock has been aptly termed "the father of gas-lighting." Among the pioneers was Le Bon in France, Becher in Munich, and Winzler or Winsor, a German who was attracted to the possibilities of gas-lighting by an exhibition which Le Bon gave in Paris in 1802. Winsor learned that Le Bon had been granted a patent in Paris in 1799 for making an illuminating gas from wood and tried to obtain the rights for Germany. Being unsuccessful in this, he set about to learn the secrets of Le Bon's process, which he did, perhaps largely owing to an acc.u.mulation of information directly from the inventor during the negotiations. Winsor then turned to England as a fertile field for the exploitation of gas-lighting and after conducting experiments in London for some time he made plans to organize the National Heat and Light Co.

Winsor was primarily a promoter, with little or no technical knowledge; for in his claims and advertis.e.m.e.nts he disregarded facts with a facility possessed only by the ignorant. He boasted of his inventions and discoveries in the most hyperbolical language, which was bound to provoke a controversy. Nevertheless, he was clever and in 1803 he publicly exhibited his plan of lighting by means of coal-gas at the Lyceum Theatre in London. He gave lectures accompanied by interesting and instructive experiments and in this manner attracted the public to his exhibition. All this time he was promoting his company, but his promoting instinct caused his representations to be extravagant and deceptive, which exposed him to the ridicule and suspicion of learned men. His attempt to obtain certain exclusive rights by Act of Parliament failed because of opposition of scientific men toward his claims and of the stand which Murdock justly made in self-protection. These years of controversy yield entertaining literature for those who choose to read it, but unfortunately s.p.a.ce does not permit dwelling upon it. The investigations by committees of Parliament also afford amusing side-lights. Throughout all this Murdock appeared modest and conservative and had the support of reputable scientific men, but Winsor maintained extravagant claims.

During one of these investigations Sir Humphrey Davy was examined by a committee from the House of Commons in 1809. He refuted Winsor's claims for a superior c.o.ke as a by-product and stated that the production of gas by the distillation of coal had been well known for thirty or forty years and the production of tar as long. He stated that it was the opinion of the Council of the Royal Society that Murdock was the first person to apply coal-gas to lighting in actual practice. As secretary of the Society, Sir Humphrey Davy stated that at the last session it had bestowed the Count Rumford medal upon Murdock for "his economical application of the gas light."

Winsor proceeded to float his company without awaiting the Act of Parliament and in 1807 lighted a street in Pall Mall. Through the opposition which he aroused, and owing to the just claims of priority on the part of Murdock, the bill to incorporate the National Heat and Light Co. with a capital of 200,000 pounds sterling was thrown out. However, he succeeded in 1812 in receiving a charter very much modified in form, for the Chartered Gas Light and c.o.ke Co. which was the forerunner of the present London Gas Light and c.o.ke Co.

The conditions imposed upon this company as presented in an early treatise on gas-lighting (by Acc.u.m in 1818) were as follows:

The power and authorities granted to this corporate body are very restricted and moderate. The individuals composing it have no exclusive privilege; their charter does not prevent other persons from entering into compet.i.tion with them. Their operations are confined to the metropolis, where they are bound to furnish not only a stronger and better light to such streets and parishes as chuse to be lighted with gas, but also at a cheaper price than shall be paid for lighting the said streets with oil in the usual manner. The corporation is not permitted to traffic in machinery for manufacturing or conveying the gas into private houses, their capital or joint stock is limited to 200,000, and his Majesty has the power of declaring the gas-light charter void if the company fail to fulfil the terms of it.

The progress of this early company was slow at first, but with the appointment of Samuel Clegg as engineer in 1813 an era of technical developments began. New stations were built and many improvements were introduced. By improving the methods of purifying the gas a great advance was made. The utility of gas-lighting grew apace as the prejudices disappeared, but for a long time the stock of the company sold at a price far below par. About this time the first gas explosion took place and the members of the Royal Society set a precedent which has lived and thrived: they appointed a committee to make an inquiry.

But apparently the inquiry was of some value, for it led "to some useful alterations and new modifications in its apparatus and machinery."

Many improvements were being introduced during these years and one of them in 1816 increased the gaseous product from coal by distilling the tar which was obtained during the first distillation. In 1816 Clegg obtained a patent for a horizontal rotating retort; for an apparatus for purifying coal-gas with "cream of lime"; and for a rotative gas-meter.

Before progressing too far, we must mention the early work of William Henry. In 1804 he described publicly a method of producing coal-gas.

Besides making experiments on production and utilization of coal-gas for lighting, he devoted his knowledge of chemistry to the a.n.a.lysis of the gas. He also made a.n.a.lytical studies of the relative value of wood, peat, oil, wax, and different kinds of coal for the distillation of gas.

His chemical a.n.a.lyses showed to a considerable extent the properties of carbureted hydrogen upon which illuminating value depended. The results of his work were published in various English journals between 1805 and 1825 and they contributed much to the advancement of gas-lighting.

Although Clegg's original gas-meter was complicated and c.u.mbersome, it proved to be a useful device. In fact, it appears to have been the most original and beneficial invention occasioned by early gas-lighting.

Later Samuel Crosley greatly improved it, with the result that it was introduced to a considerable extent; but by no means was it universally adopted. Another improvement made by Clegg at this time was a device which maintained the pressure of gas approximately constant regardless of the pressure in the gasometer or tank. Clegg retired from the service of the gas company in 1817 after a record of accomplishments which glorifies his name in the annals of gas-lighting. Murdock is undoubtedly ent.i.tled to the distinction of having been the first person who applied gas-lighting to large private establishments, but Clegg overcame many difficulties and was the first to illuminate a whole town by this means.

In London in 1817 over 300,000 cubic feet of coal-gas was being manufactured daily, an amount sufficient to operate 76,500 Argand burners yielding 6 candle-power each. Gas-lighting was now exciting great interest and was firmly established. Westminster Bridge was lighted by gas in 1813, and the streets of Westminster during the following year. Gas-lighting became popular in London by 1816 and in the course of the next few years it was adopted by the chief cities and towns in the United Kingdom and on the Continent. It found its way into the houses rather slowly at first, owing to apprehension of the attendant dangers, to the lack of purification of the gas, and to the indifferent service. It was not until the latter half of the nineteenth century that it was generally used in residences.

The gas-burner first employed by Murdock received the name "c.o.c.kspur"

from the shape of the flame. This had an illuminating value equivalent to about one candle for each cubic foot of gas burned per hour. The next step was to flatten the welded end of the gas-pipe and to bore a series of holes in a line. From the shape of the flames this form of burner received the name "c.o.c.ks...o...b.." It was somewhat more efficient than the c.o.c.kspur burner. The next obvious step was to slit the end of the pipe by means of a fine saw. From this slit the gas was burned as a sheet of flame called the "bats-wing." In 1820 Nielson made a burner which allowed two small jets to collide and thus form a flat flame. The efficiency of this "fish-tail" burner was somewhat higher than that of the earlier ones. Its flame was steadier because it was less influenced by drafts of air. In 1853 Frankland showed an Argand burner consisting of a metal ring containing a series of holes from which jets of gas issued. The gla.s.s chimney surrounded these, another chimney, extending somewhat lower, surrounded the whole, and a gla.s.s plate closed the bottom. The air to be fed to the gas-jets came downward between the two chimneys and was heated before it reached the burner. This increased the efficiency by reducing the amount of cooling at the burner by the air required for combustion. This improvement was in reality the forerunner of the regenerative lamps which were developed later.

In 1854 Bowditch brought out a regenerative lamp and, owing to the excessive publicity which this lamp obtained, he is generally credited with the inception of the regenerative burner. This principle was adopted in several lamps which came into use later. They were all based upon the principle of heating both the gas and the air required for combustion prior to their reaching the burner. The burner is something like an inverted Argand arranged to produce a circular flame projecting downward with a central cusp. The air- and gas-pa.s.sages are directly above the flame and are heated by it. In 1879 Friedrich Siemens brought out a lamp of this type which was adapted from a device originally designed for heating purposes, owing to the superior light which was produced. This was the best gas-lamp up to that time. Later, Wenham, Cromartie, and others patented lamps operating on this same principle.

Murdock early modified the Argand burner to meet the requirements of burning gas and by using the chimney obtained better combustion and a steadier flame than from the open burners. He and others recognized that the temperature of the flame had a considerable effect upon the amount of light emitted and non-conducting material such as steat.i.te was subst.i.tuted for the metal, which cooled the flame by conducting heat from it. These were the early steps which led finally to the regenerative burner.

The increasing efficiency of the various gas-burners is indicated by the following, which are approximately the candle-power based upon equal rates of consumption, namely, one cubic foot of gas per hour:

Candle-power per cubic foot of gas per hour

Fish-tail flames, depending upon size 0.6 to 2.5 Argand, depending upon improvements 2.9 to 3.5 Regenerative 7 to 10

It is seen that the possibilities of gas lighting were recognized in several countries, all of which contributed to its development. Some of the earlier accounts have been drawn chiefly from England, but these are intended merely to serve as examples of the difficulties encountered.

Doubtless, similar controversies arose in other countries in which pioneers were also nursing gas-lighting to maturity. However, it is certain that much of the early progress of lighting of this character was fathered in England. Gas-lighting was destined to become a thriving industry, and is of such importance in lighting that another chapter is given its modern developments.

VII

THE SCIENCE OF LIGHT-PRODUCTION

In previous chapters much of the historical development of artificial lighting has been presented and several subjects have been traced to the modern period which marks the beginning of an intensive attack by scientists upon the problems pertaining to the production of efficient and adequate light-sources. Many historical events remain to be touched upon in later chapters, but it is necessary at this point for the reader to become acquainted with certain general physical principles in order that he may read with greater interest some of the chapters which follow. It is seen that from a standpoint of artificial lighting, the "dark age" extended well into the nineteenth century. Oil-lamps and gas-lighting began to be seriously developed at the beginning of the last century, but the pioneers gave attention chiefly to mechanical details and somewhat to the chemistry of the fuels. It was not until the science of physics was applied to light-sources that rapid progress was made.

All the light-sources used throughout the ages, and nearly all modern ones, radiate light by virtue of the incandescence of solids or of solid particles and it is an interesting fact that carbon is generally the solid which emits light. This is due to various physical characteristics of carbon, the chief one being its extremely high melting-point.

However, most practicable light-sources of the past and present may be divided into two general cla.s.ses: (1) Those in which solids or solid particles are heated by their own combustion, and (2) those in which the solids are heated by some other means. Some light-sources include both principles and some perhaps cannot be included under either principle without qualification. The luminous flames of burning material such as those of wood-splinters, candles, oil-lamps, and gas-jets, and the glowing embers of burning material appear in the first cla.s.s; and incandescent gas-mantles, electric filaments, and arc-lamps to some extent are representative of the second cla.s.s. Certain "flaming" arcs involve both principles, but the light of the firefly, phosph.o.r.escence, and incandescent gas in "vacuum" tubes cannot be included in this simplified cla.s.sification. The status of these will become clear later.

It has been seen that flames have been prominent sources of artificial light; and although of low luminous efficiency, they still have much to commend them from the standpoints of portability, convenience, and subdivision. The materials which have been burned for light, whether solid or liquid, are rich in carbon, and the solid particles of carbon by virtue of their incandescence are responsible for the brightness of a flame. A jet of pure hydrogen gas will burn very hot but with so low a brightness as to be barely visible. If solid particles are injected into the flame, much more light usually will be emitted. A gas-burner of the Bunsen type, in which complete combustion is obtained by mixing air in proper proportions with the gas, gives a hot flame which is of a pale blue color. Upon the closing of the orifice through which air is admitted, the flame becomes bright and smoky. The flame is now less hot, as indicated by the presence of smoke or carbon particles, and combustion is not complete. However, it is brighter because the solid particles of carbon in pa.s.sing upward through the flame become heated to temperatures at which they glow and each becomes a miniature source of light.

A close observer will notice that the flame from a match, a candle, or a gas-jet, is not uniformly bright. The reader may verify this by lighting a match and observing the flame. There is always a bluish or darker portion near the bottom. In this less luminous part the air is combining with the hydrogen of the hydrocarbon which is being vaporized and disintegrated. Even the flame of a candle or of a burning splinter is a miniature gas-plant, for the solid or liquid hydrocarbons are vaporized before being burned. Owing to the incoming colder air at this point, the flame is not hot enough for complete combustion. The unburned carbon particles rise in its draft and become heated to incandescence, thus accounting for the brighter portion. In cases of complete combustion they are eventually oxidized into carbon dioxide before they are able to escape. If a piece of metal be held in the flame, it immediately becomes covered with soot or carbon, because it has reduced the temperature below the point at which the chemical reaction--the uniting of carbon with oxygen--will continue. An ordinary flat gas-flame of the "bats-wing" type may vary in temperature in its central portion from 300F. at the bottom to about 3000F. at the top. The central portion lies between two hotter layers in which the vertical variation is not so great. The brightness of the upper portion is due to incandescent carbon formed in the lower part.

When scientists learned by exploring flames that brightness was due to the radiation of light by incandescent solid matter, the way was open for many experiments. In the early days of gas-lighting investigations were made to determine the relation of illuminating value to the chemical const.i.tution of the gas. The results combined with a knowledge of the necessity for solid carbon in the flame led to improvements in the gas for lighting purposes. Gas rich in hydrocarbons which in turn are rich in carbon is high in illuminating value. Heating-effect depends upon heat-units, so the rating of gas in calories or other heat-units per cubic foot is wholly satisfactory only for gas used for heating. The chemical const.i.tution is a better indicator of illuminating value.

As scientific knowledge increased, efforts were made to get solid matter into the flames of light-sources. Instead of confining efforts to the carbon content of the gas, solid materials were actually placed in the flame, and in this manner various incandescent burners were developed. A piece of lime placed in a hydrogen flame or that of a Bunsen burner is seen to become hot and to glow brilliantly. By producing a hotter flame by means of the blowpipe, in which hydrogen and oxygen are consumed, the piece of lime was raised to a higher temperature and a more intense light was obtained. In Paris there was a serious attempt at street-lighting by the use of b.u.t.tons of zirconia heated in an oxygen-coal-gas flame, but it proved unsuccessful owing to the rapid deterioration of the b.u.t.tons. This was the line of experimentation which led to the development of the lime-light. The incandescent burner was widely employed, and until the use of electricity became common the lime-light was the mainstay for the stage and for the projection of lantern slides. It is in use even to-day for some purposes. The origin of the phrase "in the lime-light" is obvious. The luminous intensity of the oxyhydrogen lime-light as used in practice was generally from 200 to 400 candle-power. The light decreases rapidly as the burner is used, if a new surface of lime is not presented to the flame from time to time.

At the high temperatures the lime is somewhat volatile and the surface seems to change in radiating power. Zirconium oxide has been found to serve better than lime.

Improvements were made in gas-burners in order to obtain hotter flames into which solid matter could be introduced to obtain bright light. Many materials were used, but obviously they were limited to those of a fairly high melting-point. Lime, magnesia, zirconia, and similar oxides were used successfully. If the reader would care to try an experiment in verification of this simple principle, let him take a piece of magnesium ribbon such as is used in lighting for photography and ignite it in a Bunsen flame. If it is held carefully while burning, a ribbon of ash (magnesia) will be obtained intact. Placing this in the faintly luminous flame, he will be surprised at the brilliance of its incandescence when it has become heated. The simple experiment indicates the possibilities of light-production in this direction. Naturally, metals of high melting-point such as platinum were tried and a network of platinum wire, in reality a platinum mantle, came into practical use in about 1880. The town of Nantes was lighted by gas-burners using these platinum-gauze mantles, but the mantles were unsuccessful owing to their rapid deterioration. This line of experimentation finally bore fruit of immense value for from it the gas-mantle evolved.

A group of so-called "rare-earths," among which are zirconia, thoria, ceria, erbia, and yttria (these are oxides of zirconium, etc.) possess a number of interesting chemical properties some of which have been utilized to advantage in the development of modern artificial light.

They are white or yellowish-white oxides of a highly refractory character found in certain rare minerals. Most of them are very brilliant when heated to a high temperature. This latter feature is easily explained if the nature of light and the radiating properties of substances are considered. Suppose pieces of different substances, for example, gla.s.s and lime, are heated in a Bunsen flame to the same temperature which is sufficiently great to cause both of them to glow.

Notwithstanding the identical conditions of heating, the gla.s.s will be only faintly luminous, while the piece of lime will glow brilliantly.

The former is a poor radiator; furthermore, the lime radiates a relatively greater percentage of its total energy in the form of luminous energy.

The latter point will become clearer if the reader will refresh his memory regarding the nature of light. Any luminous source such as the sun, a candle flame, or an incandescent lamp is sending forth electromagnetic waves not unlike those used in wireless telegraphy excepting that they are of much shorter wave-length. The eye is capable of recording some of these waves as light just as a receiving station is tuned to record a range of wave-lengths of electromagnetic energy. The electromagnetic waves sent forth by a light-source like the sun are not all visible, that is, all of them do not arouse a sensation of light.

Those that do comprise the visible spectrum and the different wave-lengths of visible radiant energy manifest themselves by arousing the sensations of the various spectral colors. The radiant energy of shortest wave-length perceptible by the visual apparatus excites the sensation of violet and the longest ones the sensation of deep red.

Between these two extremes of the visible spectrum, the chief spectral colors are blue, green, yellow, orange, and red in the order of increasing wave-lengths. Electromagnetic energy radiated by a light-source in waves of too great wave-length to be perceived by the eye as light is termed as a cla.s.s "infra-red radiant energy." Those too short to be perceived as light are termed as a cla.s.s "ultraviolet radiant energy." A solid body at a high temperature emits electro-magnetic energy of all wave-lengths, from the shortest ultra-violet to the longest infra-red.

Another complication arises in the variation in visibility or luminosity of energy of wave-lengths within the range of the visible spectrum.

Obviously, no amount of energy incapable of exciting the sensation of light will be visible. The energy of those wave-lengths near the ends of the visible spectrum will be inefficient in producing light. That energy which excites the sensation of yellow-green produces the greatest luminosity per unit of energy and is the most efficient light. The visibility or luminous efficiency of radiant energy may be ranged approximately in this manner according to the colors aroused: yellow-green, yellow, green, orange, blue-green, red, blue, deep red, violet.

Newton, an English scientist, first described the discovery of the visible spectrum and this is of such fundamental importance in the science of light that the first paragraph of his original paper in the "Transactions of the Royal Society of London" is quoted as follows:

In the Year 1666 (at which time I applied my self to the Grinding of Optick Gla.s.ses of other Figures than Spherical) I procured me a Triangular Gla.s.s-Prism, to try therewith the celebrated Phaenomena of Colours. And in order thereto, having darkened my Chamber, and made a small Hole in my Window-Shuts, to let in a convenient Quant.i.ty of the Sun's Light, I placed my Prism at its Entrance, that it might be thereby refracted to the opposite Wall. It was at first a very pleasing Divertis.e.m.e.nt, to view the vivid and intense Colours produced thereby; but after a while applying my self to consider them more circ.u.mspectly, I became surprised to see them in an oblong Form; which, according to the receiv'd Law of Refractions, I expected should have been circular. They were terminated at the Sides with streight Lines, but at the Ends the Decay of Light was so gradual, that it was difficult to determine justly what was the Figure, yet they seemed Semicircular.

Even Newton could not have had the faintest idea of the great developments which were to be based upon the spectrum.

Now to return to the peculiar property of rare-earth oxides--namely, their unusual brilliance when heated in a flame--it is easy to understand the reason for this. For example, when a number of substances are heated to the same temperature they may radiate the same amount of energy and still differ considerably in brightness. Many substances are "selective" in their absorbing and radiating properties. One may radiate more luminous energy and less infra-red energy, and for another the reverse may be true. The former would appear brighter than the latter.

The scientific worker in light-production has been searching for such "selective" radiators whose other properties are satisfactory. The rare-earths possess the property of selectivity and are fortunately highly refractory. Welsbach used these in his mantle, whose efficiency is due partly to this selective property. Recent work indicates that much higher efficiencies of light-production are still attainable by the principles involved in the gas-mantle.

Turning again to flames, another interesting physical phenomenon is seen on placing solutions of different chemical salts in the flame. For example, if a piece of asbestos is soaked in sodium chloride (common salt) and is placed in a Bunsen flame, the pale-blue flame suddenly becomes luminous and of a yellow color. If this is repeated with other salts, a characteristic color will be noted in each case. The yellow flame is characteristic of sodium and if it is examined by means of a spectroscope, a brilliant yellow line (in fact, a double line) will be seen. This forms the basis of spectrum a.n.a.lysis as applied in chemistry.

Every element has its characteristic spectrum consisting usually of lines, but the complexity varies with the elements. The spectra of elements also exhibit lines in the ultra-violet region which may be studied with a photographic plate, with a photo-electric cell, and by other means. Their spectral lines or bands also extend into the infra-red region and here they are studied by means of the bolometer or other apparatus for detecting radiant energy by the heat which it produces upon being absorbed. Spectrum a.n.a.lysis is far more sensitive than the finest weighing balance, for if a grain of salt be dissolved in a barrel of water and an asbestos strip be soaked in the water and held in a Bunsen flame, the yellow color characteristic of sodium will be detectable. A wonderful example of the possibilities of this method is the discovery of helium in the sun before it was found on earth! Its spectral lines were detected in the sun's spectrum and could not be accounted for by any known element. However, it should be stated that the spectrum of an element differs generally with the manner obtained.

The electric spark, the arc, the electric discharge in a vacuum tube, and the flame are the means usually employed.