Abstract
IN addition to several errors into which Mr. Kenward, in his third article on “Lighthouse Work,” has fallen, he seems to have overlooked the experiments made by Messrs. Stevenson, in 1870, on paraffin as an illuminant for lighthouses, and which were fully detailed in the Parliamentary Paper 318, Session 1871. Experiments had been made with some degree of success with burners having one and two wicks, but all attempts to burn paraffin efficiently in the large concentric-wick burners were unsuccessful until Capt. Doty solved the problem. Unaware of what had been done in France, Messrs. Stevenson, early in 1870, had been conducting a train of experiments on paraffin, and had reached important conclusions on the subject, and good flames were got with the single and double Argand lamps, when Capt. Doty submitted his burners to them. The Doty burners were then subjected to crucial tests in Edinburgh, and also to actual trial for a month in a first-order lighthouse. The conclusions Messrs. Stevenson then arrived at and reported to the Scottish Lighthouse Board may be summarized as follows: that paraffin as now manufactured, with a high flashing-point, is safe and suitable as a lighthouse illuminant; the flames of the Doty burners are of great purity and intensity, and easily maintained at the standard height; the lamp-glasses and lamps in use for colza are equally suitable for paraffin; the varying state of the atmosphere does not affect the penetrability of the paraffin light more than the colza light; no structural alterations on the existing apparatus are necessary; the initial power of the lights will be exalted from 10 per cent, in the four-wick burner to fully 100 per cent, in the single-wick burner; and that the use in the Scottish lighthouses of the new illuminant would effect an annual saving of £3478. These conclusions, which subsequent experience has fully borne out, settled the relative merits of paraffin and colza so far as British lighthouses were concerned; and the first four-wick paraffin burner ever permanently installed in a lighthouse was at Pentland Skerries on February 15, 1871, while Argand paraffin burners were in use at Pladda in December 1870, and at the catoptric lights of Great Castle Head in December 1870, and at Flamborough Head in June 1872.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
STEVENSON, D. Lighthouse Work. Nature 36, 244 (1887). https://doi.org/10.1038/036244a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/036244a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.