And if this is
done, as it always should be whenever the acetylene is required for
domestic lighting, the vitiation of the air of a room due to the
"impurities" in the gas will become much less in the case of acetylene
than in that of even well-purified coal-gas; taking equal illuminating
effect as the basis for comparison.
Acetylene is similarly superior, speaking generally, to petroleum in
respect of impurities, though the sulphur present in petroleum oils, such
as are sold in this country for household use, though very variable, is
often quite small in amount, and seldom is responsible for serious
vitiation of the atmosphere.
Regarding somewhat more closely the relative convenience and safety of
acetylene and paraffin for the illumination of country residences, it may
be remarked that an extraordinarily great amount of care must he bestowed
upon each separate lamp if the whole house is to be kept free from an
odour which is very offensive to the nostrils; and the time occupied in
this process, which of itself is a disagreeable one, reaches several
hours every day. Habit has taught the country dweller to accept as
inevitable this waste of time, and largely to ignore the odour of
petroleum in his abode; but the use of acetylene entirely does away with
the daily cleaning of lamps, and, if the pipe-fitting work has been done
properly, yields light absolutely unaccompanied by smell.
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