Dr. W. Henry of Manchester, has published the following account[13] of this discovery.
[13] Thompson’s System of Chemistry, vol. I. p. 52.
“In the year 1792, at which time Mr. Murdoch resided at Redruth, in Cornwall, he commenced a series of experiments upon the quantity and quality of the gases contained in different substances. In the course of these he remarked, that the gas obtained by distillation from coal, peat, wood, and other inflammable substances, burnt with great brilliancy upon being set fire to; and it occurred to him, that by confining and conducting it through tubes, it might be employed as an economical substitute for lamps and candles. The distillation was performed in iron retorts, and the gas conducted through tinned iron and copper tubes to the distance of 70 feet. At this termination, as well as at intermediate points, the gas was set fire to, as it passed through apertures of different diameters and forms, purposely varied with a view of ascertaining which would answer best. In some the gas issued through a number of small holes like the head of a watering pan; in others it was thrown out in thin long sheets; and again in others in circular ones, upon the principle of Argand’s lamp. Bags of leather and of varnished silk, bladders, and vessels of tinned iron, were filled with the gas, which was set fire to, and carried about from room to room, with a view of ascertaining how far it could be made to answer the purpose of a moveable or transferable light. Trials were likewise made of the different quantities and qualities of gas produced by coals of various descriptions, such as the Swansea, Haverfordwest, Newcastle, Shropshire, Staffordshire, and some kinds of Scotch coals.
“Mr. Murdoch’s constant occupations prevented his giving farther attention to the subject at that time; but he again availed himself of a moment of leisure to repeat his experiments upon coal and peat at Old Cumnock, in Ayrshire, in 1797; and it may be proper to notice that both these, and the former ones, were exhibited to numerous spectators, who, if necessary, can attest them. In 1798, he constructed an apparatus at Soho Foundry, which was applied during many successive nights to the lighting of the building; when the experiments upon different apertures were repeated and extended upon a large scale. Various methods were also practised of washing and purifying the air, to get rid of the smoke and smell. These experiments were continued, with occasional interruptions, until the epoch of the peace in the spring of 1802, when the illumination of the Soho manufactory afforded an opportunity of making a public display of the new lights; and they were made to constitute a principal feature in that exhibition.”
In the year 1803 and 1804, Mr. Winsor exhibited at the Lyceum in London the general nature of this new mode of illumination though the machinery for procuring, and the manner of purifying the gas, he kept a secret. He exhibited the mode of conducting the gas through the house, and a number of devices for chandeliers, lamps, and burners, by which it might be applied. Among these he proposed long flexible tubes suspended from the ceiling, or wall of the room, and at the end communicating with burners or lamps of different kinds. This gentleman showed also by experiment, that the flame of the gas-light, produced no smoke; that it was not so dangerous as the flame of candles or lamps; that it could not produce sparks; and that it was not so readily extinguished by gusts of wind or torrents of rain.
Mr. Winsor’s display of gas-lights took place more than two years before Mr. Murdoch’s priority of right was heard of.
In stating these facts I do not mean to say that Mr. Murdoch derived the hint of applying the coal-gas from the previous exhibition of Mr. Winsor, because it is quite within the bounds of probability that the ideas of Mr. Murdoch may have arisen totally independent of all acquaintance with Mr. Winsor’s.
The claims of invention, or the determination of the right of priority, concerns the public only so far as the honour and estimation of any useful discovery conferred on the inventor may induce other individuals to devote their talents to similar pursuits; by means of which, more discoveries may be made, and the subject of human invention become extended, or rendered more useful. For as the mere benefits which mankind may derive from any particular discovery, they are certainly more indebted to the person who first applied the discovery to actual practice, than to him who first made it, and merely illustrated it by barren experiments. Mr. Winsor certainly pressed on the mind of the public with unremitted perseverance and diligence the extensive application of gas-light in the year 1802, but he made no new discovery with regard to the composition of coal; he did not even invent the mode of conducting the gas through tubes; and if he has pointed out the particulars of the process, he has made a very important, though not the most brilliant improvement in this line of business. Mr. Winsor’s publications are, perhaps, but ill adapted to promote his cause; and the exaggerated calculation which the sanguine mind of a discoverer is naturally disposed to indulge in, have, to superficial observers, thrown an air of ridicule and improbability on the whole scheme of lighting with gas.
It may, however, be safely affirmed, that if the same facts had come forward, under the sanction of some great name in the chemical or philosophical world, the public incredulity would long since have been subdued; and the plan, which for many years has been struggling for existence, would have been eagerly adopted as a national object.