Although, there is no doubt, they were made empirically, and in ignorance of the real effects of pressure upon the flame, the first steps towards increasing the efficiency of flat-flame burners were in the right direction of reducing the excessive pressure at which the gas was formerly allowed to burn. They consisted in the adoption of simple arrangements for obstructing the passage of the gas through the burner, and so retarding its flow. The crudeness of the means which were employed is sufficient evidence that the end aimed at was, at best, but dimly discerned. The body of the burner was stuffed with wool, or pieces of wire gauze; which impeded the progress of the gas; reduced the quantity that would otherwise have been consumed; and, consequently, diminished the velocity with which it issued from the burner. Unfortunately, owing to the imperfect methods in use at that day for condensing and purifying the gas, the burners so constructed became choked with the tarry matters held in suspension, and carried forward by the gas; and so, after a comparatively short period of service, were rendered entirely inoperative. But, altogether apart from the inconvenience and loss thus entailed (which, when improved modes of manufacture had removed the cause, ceased to be experienced), the arrangement was ill adapted for the purpose which it was designed to serve. The rough and uneven nature of the material employed to stuff the burner caused the gas to eddy and swirl as it issued into the atmosphere, and prevented it being supplied equally to all parts of the flame. The consequence was that the advantages which ought to have been derived from the diminished pressure were neutralized by the unsteady flow acquired by the stream of gas; and the illuminating power developed by the flame was little improvement upon what could previously be obtained by the manipulation of the tap controlling the supply of gas to the burner. Besides which, from its unevenness, the appearance of the flame was not so satisfactory. It was not until the principles which regulate the production of light from coal gas came to be known and observed in the construction of burners, that a modification of the old idea was arrived at, which enabled the benefits of a reduced pressure to be obtained without any of the attendant evils hitherto experienced. [Sidenote: The first real improvement of the union-jet burner.]