Excerpt from Coal and Coke The preparation of this book was undertaken in part because of the requests for information made to the author by numerous friends engaged in the manufacture of coal gas, and in part with the desire of placing before the American student of coal gas production, data in a concise form covering the various systems of coal carbonization. Baltimore was the first city in America to undertake to supply illuminating gas as a commercial commodity. The residents of this city were invited in 1816 to visit Peale's Museum to see the new burning air, the name given to coal gas by the advertising agent of the museum. This exhibition took place just six months after the daily papers had announced that Covent Garden Thea tre in London, as well as several streets in the English capitol, were illuminated by the burning of coal gas. Unfortunately, coal gas manufacture received a serious set back through the advent of carburetted water-gas, and this con dition has continued, until now approximately 75 per cent. Of the gas manufactured is produced in the water-gas generator. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.