Argand lamp

“ No man having both brains and eyes will use it. A mild, or what artists term a cool light, with its consequent warm shadows, will do wonders for even an ill-furnished apartment. Never was a more lovely thought than that of the astral lamp. I mean, of course, the astral lamp proper, and do not wish to be misunderstood—the lamp of Argand with its original plain ground-glass shade, and its tempered and uniform moonlight rays. The cut-glass shade is a weak invention of the enemy. ”

“ The flame of a gas-light compared in point of brilliancy to that of a candle, is as the flame of a common oil lamp, compared to the flame of a lamp of Argand. The difference between a street, on the night of a general illumination, and any other night when the street is under the dull glimmering light of the ordinary oil lamps, is scarcely more remarkable, than the difference between a street lighted by gas, and one lighted by oil. ”

“ From an artistic point of view, one of the worst methods of lighting a room is by pendant lamps, collected in single centres in large numbers. The lights ought to be distributed in different portions of the room, and so shaded that the light is received only by reflection from surrounding objects. Ornamental effects are frequently produced by means of candle lamps in which a small incandescent lamp, imitating the flame of a candle, is placed upon a white porcelain tube as a holder, and these small units are distributed and arranged in electroliers and brackets. ”

“ The lamps themselves are attached to some variety of ornamental fitting, or in many cases suspended by a simple pendant, consisting of an insulated double flexible wire attached at its upper end to a ceiling rose, and carrying at the lower end a shade and socket in which the lamp is placed. Lamps thus hung head downwards are disadvantageously used because their end-on candle-power is not generally more than 60% of their maximum candle-power. In interior lighting one of the great objects to be attained is uniformity of illumination with avoidance of harsh shadows. ”

“ In 1776, the lamps, which before amounted to 2000, were increased to 3000, and a contract was entered into for lighting them at the rate of 30,000 florins. These lamps were invented by counsellor Sonnenfels, and amounted in 1779 to 3445. They are made of white glass, in a globular form, and have a covering of tin-plate, painted red on the outside and polished within. They are supported by lamp-irons, fixed in the houses at the height of fifteen feet from the earth. Each lantern is only sixteen paces distant from the other, so that the streets are completely illuminated. ”

“ It is securely fastened to the table, which in its turn is fastened to the floor, and the light is supplied by a small incandescent lamp within the chimney, but concealed by the shade. The visitor never imagines that it is an electric lamp, and naturally thinks that it would be impossible for a kerosene lamp to be inverted without disaster, so that this adds to the deception materially. ”

“ An ingenious device has lately been added to the system for facilitating the lighting of the lamp. At the base of the lamp-post a small hermetically-closed can containing petroleum ether is placed, and connected by very fine copper-tubing with a burner under the vaporising tube. When the lamp is to be lit a small rubber bulb is squeezed, forcing a quantity of the ether vapour into the burner, where it is ignited by a platinum wire rendered incandescent by a current passing from a small accumulator also placed in the lamp-post. ”

“ I have seen a grey blue sky at the earliest moment when street lamps were alight at all, and radiant against the light grey of its invisible and equal clouds an electric lamp has been reared: an electric lamp of cold white light, pure and keen, and armed with intense and splendid arrows that would pierce day itself. Light grey sky and thrilling lamp together make—or so it seems to me—one of the most beautiful sights that eyes can see—the most refined, most severe, and most exquisite. ”

“ The electric light in the form of the well-known powerful and dazzling arc-light is the favourite illuminant for lighting harbours, railway stations, docks, public works, and other large spaces. But it is to the incandescent lamp that one must look par excellence for the ‘light of the future.’ It has been satisfactorily established that lighting by incandescence is as cheap as lighting by gas, provided that it be carried out on an extensive scale. ”

“ When incandescent lamps are used for optical purposes it is necessary to compress the filament into a small space, so as to bring it into the focus of a lens or mirror. The filament is then coiled or crumpled up into a spiral or zigzag form. Such lamps are called focus lamps.
Incandescent lamps are technically divided into high and low voltage lamps, high and low efficiency lamps, standard and fancy lamps. The difference between high and low efficiency lamps is based upon the relation of the Classification of lamps. power absorbed by the lamp to the candle-power emitted. ”

“ We are standing today on the threshold of an entirely new era in lighting. New illuminants are being developed and new methods are being devised for applying light to meet the needs of modern living. Only a little over a third of a century has passed since the first incandescent lamp was invented by Thomas A. Edison, and the electrical industry has since made tremendous progress. ”

“ The incandescence lamp can also burn under water, and owing to its pretty shape, its pure light, its cleanliness, and independence of everything except wires to bring the current to it, is highly suitable for decorative purposes. It particularly lends itself to ornamental devices of a floral order; and a great variety of chandeliers and brackets have now been designed representing various plants with leaves of brass or filagree, and flowers composed of tinted crystal cups containing the lamps. Fruit is also simulated by lamps of coloured glass. ”

“ For indoor, public room or factory lighting, inverted arc lamps are sometimes employed. In this case the positive carbon is the lower one, and the lamp is carried in an inverted metallic reflector shield, so that the light is chiefly thrown up on the ceiling, whence it is diffused all round. The alternating-current arc is not only less efficient in mean spherical candle-power per watt of electric power absorbed, but its distribution of light is disadvantageous for street purposes. ”

“ Tin tubes are placed in the top of the lamp and the wicks run up through the tubes. The lamp then being filled with oil, capillary attraction will bring the oil up to the top of the wick. The lamp when lighted will burn until the supply of oil is exhausted.
The invention of this modern lamp, though very simple, has been of great value. At first it was made of metal—lead, block tin, Britannia, brass—and finally of glass. Lamps of various patterns and different sizes became common. For a long while very little change was made in this new mode of obtaining light. ”

“ Invention has been fertile in devising etched, coloured, opalescent, frosted and ornamental shades for decorative purposes, and in constructing special forms for use in situations, such as mines and factories for explosives, where the globe containing the lamp must be air-tight. High candle-power lamps, 500, 1000 and upwards, are made by placing in one large glass bulb a number of carbon filaments arranged in parallel between two rings, which are connected with the main leading-in wires. ”

“ It must be remembered that electric lighting is comparatively a new science, and not yet fully understood. There is very little doubt that, by practice, it will before long approach more nearly to perfection, and sooner or later entirely supersede gas, the arc form of lamp being employed for the illumination of streets and large areas, while the incandescent pattern meets domestic requirements.—Good Words. ”

“ The incandescent lamp, or electric lighting by incandescence, underwent a somewhat longer evolution at the hands of inventors than the arc lamp, owing to the difficulty of finding a substance suitable for the production of the necessary glow. The discovery of such substance may be accredited to Edison more fully than to any other. The incandescent or glow lamp is a glass bulb from which the air is exhausted. ”

“ I am sure it will afford you satisfaction to learn that the lamps still continue to give the most gratifying proofs of the advantages resulting from their invention, and that not a single inch of human skin has been lost by fire, wherever they have been used.
Sir Humphry has just made another important improvement in the lamp, by constructing the cylinder of twisted wire-gauze. Lamps thus constructed, possess the singular property of not becoming red-hot, under any circumstances of exposure to explosive mixtures, whether urged by a blast, or in a state of rest. ”

“ While the copper and platinum wires readily conduct the current, the carbon filament offers a great deal of resistance to its passage, and for this reason becomes very hot, in fact is raised to white heat or incandescence, which gives its name to the lamp. ”

“ Fanciful shapes are equally common in bronze. The standard form of handle consists of a ring for the forefinger and above it a kind of palmette for the thumb. Instead of the palmette is sometimes a crescent, no doubt in allusion to the moon. It would only be with bronze lamps that the cover protecting the flame from the wind could be used, as was the case out of doors in Athens. Such a lamp was in fact a lantern. Apparently it was to the lantern that the Greek word lampas, a torch, was first transferred, probably from a custom of having guards to protect the torches also. ”

“ One, two, three, four and six glower lamps were made, consuming 88, 196, 274, 392 and 528 watts respectively. As most of the light is thrown downward, their light output was generally given in mean lower hemispherical candlepower. The multiple glower lamps were more efficient than the single glower, owing to the heat radiated from one glower to another. Their efficiencies, depending on the size, were from about 31⁄2 to 5 lumens per watt, and their average candlepower throughout life was about 80 per cent of initial. The lamp disappeared from the market about 1912. ”

“ PRIMITIVE TORCH AND OPEN LAMP
To moderns, in an age when even the time-honored gas jets and kerosene lamps are regarded as obsolescent, that ancient form of illuminant, the candle, seems about the most primitive form of light-producing apparatus. In point of fact, however, the candle holds no such place in the chronological order of lighting-device discovery, being a relatively late innovation. Indeed, lamps of various kinds, even those burning petroleum, were used thousands of years before the relatively clean and effective candle was invented. ”

“ None, it is stated, have broken, even when forced much beyond the incandescence they are intended to bear, and, owing to the compensating action of the gasoline, it is anticipated that the lamps will be permanent. The platinum wires supporting the carbon strip are not fused into the glass of the bulb, as has been the case in previous incandescent lamps, but are surrounded by a slightly elastic cement, which it is averred preserves a good joint. The light given by the lamp is but slightly yellow, is quite pleasing to the eye, and is fairly steady. ”

“ It has been found by experience that the ordinary type of open arc lamp with vertical carbons included in an opalescent globe cannot compete in point of cost with modern improvements in gas lighting as a means of street illumination. The violet colour of the light and the sharp shadows, and particularly the non-illuminated area just beneath the lamp, are grave disadvantages. ”

“ The introduction of enclosed arc lamps was a great improvement, in consequence of the economy effected in the consumption of carbon and in the cost of labour for trimming. A well-known and widely used form of enclosed arc lamp is the Jandus lamp, which in large current form can be made to burn for two hundred hours without recarboning, and in small or midget form to burn for forty hours, taking a current of two amperes at 100 volts. Such lamps in many cases conveniently replace large sizes of incandescent lamps, especially for shop lighting, as they give a whiter light. ”

“ On no account, however, should an arc light be used, as besides being too dazzling, it is much too uncertain; in fact many other reasons could be given for rejecting it. It is even a question whether it is an advantage to have incandescent lamps for a mast-head light. There is certainly the great advantage of not having to pull the lamp up and down to trim it, a rather risky performance in heavy weather, and also of the light not being affected by any wind that may get into the lamp ”

“ Decorative lamps use a variety of materials for bases such as china, glass, metal, pottery, terra cotta, wood, porcelain, and marble and employ ornate shades which in many instances greatly reduce the illuminating ability of the lamp. Several years ago, before the principles of lighting were given the consideration they are receiving today, lamps which were purely decorative were in much greater demand than they are at present. Today's decorating principles demand that lamps should be useful as well as decorative, and most lamps on the market conform to good standards of lighting. ”