Safety lamp

Safety lamp, Garforth, Mueseler type (bonnetted), use: gas detecting, from the Royal Commission on Accidents in Mines 1879-86, maker: H.M. Edwards, Wakefield, marking: makers name, 1884

This is a lamp of the Mueseler type, with a means for detecting firedamp in very confined spaces, patented in 1884 by Mr. W. E. Garforth. The sample is taken by inserting in the fissure, etc., an India rubber ball when compressed, and allowing it to expand. The charge is transferred to the flame by compressing the ball after inserting the metal nozzle into a narrow pipe passing through the reservoir, and protected by a spring valve. This pipe contains several gauze diaphragms and terminates just below the wick. A screw lock is fitted.