Safety lamp, Eloin, maker: Thornton and Sons, Birmingham, marking: makers name, 1853 ( glass missing)

Safety devices were increasingly employed to prevent accidents arising from careless or improper use of safety lamps in mines, one of the most frequent temptations being for the miner to relight his own lamp in the working place. This lamp is fitted with a vertical screw situated inside one of the rods in front of the glass. The screw passes right through the cage and engages in a hole on the top of the oil -cup. A mark on the oil -cup enables the screw and hole to be brought into alignment previous to locking.