Long before this, however, the inflammable nature of the vapour which streamed from burning coal had been observed by scientific men, and it was thought by many people that some method might be invented for making this gas useful for the purpose of lighting streets or houses. It had also been observed that the air suddenly escaping from the shafts of coal mines was often highly inflammable, and some experiments were made in the distillation of coal as early as 1726. In 1765 Lord Lonsdale proposed to the magistrates of Whitehaven to convey the gas from the neighbouring mines through pipes for lighting the town. A number of eminent men afterwards made experiments with gas, but no decided practical result followed until a Mr. Murdock, of Cornwall, began to manufacture gas for lighting his house and offices at Redruth. In 1798 the same gentleman used gas for lighting the Soho Foundry, where four years afterwards a public exhibition of the new invention was made by means of an illumination to celebrate the proclamation of peace. In 1803 a gentleman named Winsor first publicly showed at the Lyceum Theatre, in London, a system of illumination by gas, which was the commencement of our present method of lighting our streets and houses; and after great difficulties and various experiments, a company was formed for the purpose of carrying out the undertaking of superseding the old oil lamps and making use of the new invention. The premises of the company and their factory were situated in Pall Mall, where the Carlton Club now stands, and the lights first appeared from the corner of St. James’s Street to the Haymarket, while several jets were placed in front of Carlton House, the residence of the Prince Regent, afterwards George the Fourth. By slow degrees, and by the assistance of Mr. Clegg, an eminent engineer, the manufacture of gas improved, and in 1814, when the allied sovereigns visited this country, and a general illumination was ordered, a magnificent pagoda in St. James’s Park was erected for the exhibition of the new light. The following year Guildhall was fitted with gas burners; and, although it had been predicted that the new invention would _ruin the navy_ by superseding the use of the oil brought by the whalers, and though some people declared that it was only a scheme for blowing up London, the success of these experiments led to its rapid adoption in most of the large towns of Europe. It will now be necessary to say something of coal, of which more than 400,000 tons are used every year for the manufacture of gas in London alone.