; for, as he stated, "the spirit
continued to rise for several hours, and filled the bladders almost as
fast as a man could have blown them with his mouth; and yet the quantity
of coals distilled was inconsiderable."

Although this account appeared in the Transactions of the Royal Society
in 1739, there is strong evidence that Dr. Clayton had written it many
years before, at least prior to 1691.

But before entering further into the early history of gas-lighting, it
is interesting to inquire into the knowledge possessed in the
seventeenth century pertaining to natural and artificial gas. Doubtless
there are isolated instances throughout history of encounters with
natural gas. Surely observant persons of bygone ages have noted a small
flame emanating from the end of a stick whose other end was burning in a
bonfire or in the fireplace. This is a gas-plant on a small scale; for
the gas is formed at the burning end of the wooden stick and is
conducted through its hollow center to the cold end, where it will burn
if lighted. If a piece of paper be rolled into the form of a tube and
inclined somewhat from a horizontal position, inflammable gas will
emanate from the upper end if the lower end is burning. By applying a
match near the upper end, we can ignite this jet of gas. However, it is
certain that little was known of gas for illuminating purposes before
the eighteenth century.

The literature of an ancient nation is often referred to as revealing
the civilization of the period. Surely the scientific literature which
deals with concrete facts is an exact indicator of the technical
knowledge of a period! That little was known of natural gas and
doubtless of artificial gas in the seventeenth century is shown by a
brief report entitled "A Well and Earth in Lancashire taking Fire at a
Candle," by Tho. Shirley in the Transactions of the Royal Society in
1667. Much of the quaint charm of the original is lost by inability to
present the text in its original form, but it is reproduced as closely
as practicable. The report was as follows:

About the latter End of _Feb._ 1659, returning from a Journey
to my House in Wigan, I was entertained with the Relation of an
odd Spring situated in one Mr. _Hawkley's_ Ground (if I mistake
not) about a Mile from the Town, in that Road which leads to
_Warrington_ and _Chester_: The People of this Town did
confidently affirm, That the Water of this Spring did burn