By
deliberate ill-treatment they might be burst, or the gas-pipe fractured
below the reducing valve, so that gas would escape under pressure for a
time; but short of this they would be as devoid of extra clangor in times
of fire as the candle or the coal-gas burner. Moreover, they would only
contaminate the air with carbon dioxide and water vapour, for the gas is
purified before compression; and modern investigations have conclusively
demonstrated that the ill effects produced in the air of an imperfectly
ventilated room by the extravagant consumption of coal-gas depend on the
accumulation of the combustion products of the sulphur in the gas rather
than upon the carbon dioxide set free.
One particular application of the portable acetylene apparatus is of
special interest. As calcium carbide evolves an inflammable gas when it
merely comes into contact with water, it becomes possible to throw into
the sea or river, by hand or by ejection from a mortar, a species of bomb
or portable generator which is capable of emitting a powerful beam of
light if only facilities are present for inflaming the acetylene
generated; and it is quite easy so to arrange the interior of such
apparatus that they can be kept ready for instant use for long periods of
time without sensible deterioration, and that they can be recharged after
employment.
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