l interest, that we shall be unable to
enter more than superficially into any one part of the whole, but shall
strive to give a clear and comprehensive view, which shall satisfy the
inquirer who is not a specialist.

The credit of the first attempt at utilising the gaseous product of coal
for illumination appears to be due to Murdock, an engineer at Redruth,
who, in 1792, introduced it into his house and offices, and who, ten
years afterwards, as the result of numerous experiments which he made
with a view to its utilisation, made a public display at Birmingham on
the occasion of the Peace of Amiens, in 1802.

More than a century before, however, the gas obtained from coal had been
experimented upon by a Dr Clayton, who, about 1690, conceived the idea of
heating coal until its gaseous constituents were forced out of it. He
described how he obtained steam first of all, then a black oil, and
finally a "spirit," as our ancestors were wont to term the gas. This, to
his surprise, ignited on a light being applied to it, and he considerably
amused his friends with the wonders of this inflammatory spirit. For a
century afterwards it remained in its early condition, a chemical wonder,
a thing to be amused with; but it required the true genius and energy of
Murdock to show the great things of which it was capable.

London received its first instalment of gas in 1807, and during the next
few years its use became more and more extended, houses and streets
rapidly receiving supplies in quick succession. It was not, however, till
about the year 1820 that its use throughout the country became at all
general, St James' Park being gas-lit in the succeeding year. This is not
yet eighty years ago, and amongst the many wonderful things which have
sprung up during the present century, perhaps we may place in the
foremost rank for actual utility, the gas extracted from coal, conveyed
as it is through miles upon miles of underground pipes into the very
homes of the people, and constituting now almost as much a necessity of a
comfortable existence as water itself.

The use of gas thus rapidly extended for illuminating purposes, and to a
very great extent superseded the old-fashioned means of illumination.

[Illustration: FIG. 34.--Inside a Gas-Holder.]

The gas companies which sprang up were not slow to notice that, seeing
the gas was supplied by meter, it was to their pecuniary advantage "to
give merely the prescribed illuminating power,