One hundred years ago
The Liverpool Daily Post gives an ac- count of a new gas, patented by a Mr J. Dixon, which will, it believes, supersede coal gas. The gas, which is called `metallic gas,' is produced from metals or their constituents under intense heat; burns with six times the illuminating power of coal gas, as used in Liverpool; and can be sold through existing com- panies at 'one-tenth' of the cost, or at all events, far below the cheapest gas now used. The light destroys nothing, has no smell, and is of a clear, brilliant white. If this account is correct, the news will be pleasant, both to the gas companies, which are thus armed with a new weapon against the electric light, and to the public, which wants for its streets a much cheaper and much brighter light. Candles give no light, and lamps are troublesome and dirty, besides involving the danger of explosion.
Spectator, 23 September 1882
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