II. An account of an invention for giving light in explosive mixtures of fire-damp in coal mines, by consuming the fire-damp

Abstract

I have already had the honor of communicating to the Royal Society an account of a safe light, which becomes extinguished when introduced into very explosive mixtures of fire-damp; in this communication I shall describe a light which will burn in any explosive mixture of fire-damp, and the light of which arises from the combustion of the fire-damp itself. The invention consists in covering or surrounding the flame of a lamp or candle by a wire sieve; the coarsest that I have tried with perfect safety contained 625 apertures in a square inch, and the wire was 1/70 of an inch thickness, the finest 6400 apertures in a square inch, and the wire was 1/250 of an inch in diameter.