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Class X.—Civil Engineering, Architectural, and Building Contrivances. Bower, George, St. Neots, Huntingdonshire.—Patented vertical gas apparatus and combined purifier, for private use, and for exportation. GAS APPARATUS AT BLENHEIM. Of the numerous inventions which have so pre- I eminently distinguished the present age, none has con- j tributed in a greater degree to the comforts of civilised j life than that of illumination by gas. In these days of its almost universal adoption in our cities and towns, it is quite superfluous to dilate on its numerous advantages, which must be manifest to all',- though their full force can perhaps be appreciated only by those who can remember the sombre appearance formerly presented by the streets of our large towns at night, as contrasted with their present brilliant aspect. There is, however, a still more extended field for the operations of gas lighting, and much yet remains to be done in our villages, and in the mansions and private residences of the nobility and gentry. It is believed that thi3 is due to certain misapprehensions and not unnatural prejudices which have hitherto existed on the subject, and that when these can be effectually removed, gas lighting will no longer be, in a great mea sure, confined to cities and towns, but its advantages will be as widely appreciated and embraced as they undoubtedly deserve to be. Its non-introduction into many of our villages has been mainly owing to the belief that it would prove a commercial failure, whereas it j has been most conclusively shown by experience, that any compact village of a thousand inhabitants may be j lighted with gas, so as to pay a good per-centage on the j original capital embarked. It is only within a comparatively recent period that I the prejudices of private gentlemen, as to the advisability ' or practicability of introducing gas into their dwellings, | have been partially removed. By some, danger was contemplated; by others, it was regarded as a nuisance, or as too complex in its management and manufacture; others, again, shrank from it on the score of economy, as involving fearful outlay in plant, and large cost of maintenance; while the possessor of the ornamental domain imagined in such plant an unsightly structure, emitting dense smoke and noxious vapour, giving to the mansion the appearance of a manufactory, and alto gether inconsistent with that pioturesqueness and quiet which are so generally and justly appreciated in country life. These suppositions are, however, an entire fallacy, for it may be confidently stated, that science has com pletely removed all ordinary chance of danger, or possi bility of nuisance; that on the score of economy, in regard to the cost of apparatus, and the method and expense of making the gas, much has been done to reduce and overcome objections; whilst, by judicious arrangements, and the use of a portable apparatus (such as the one exhibited, which, from its compactness, can | be placed in any out-building), nothing calculated to offend the eye, or the most fastidious taste, can be objected to. Tor works of greater magnitude, a low and secluded position (hidden it. may be by trees and shrubbery), is usually chosen; and the requisite buildings may be so designed as to combine the ornamental with the useful. The above engraving represents the patented appa ratus as erected and fixed by the exhibitor for the palace of his Grace the Duke of Marlborough, at Blen heim. Mr. Bower’s inventions, designed for the purpose of removing the objections here alluded to, have been ex tensively adopted in various parts of Great Britain and the Continent, the following being a list of 100 gas works selected out of a great number of cities, towns, villages, factories, public buildings, and private establish ments which have been lighted by him during the past few years. It may be mentioned as a proof of their general applicability, that the necessary apparatus for lighting the railway tunnel now in course of construction under Mont Cenis, has recently been supplied by him for the Italian Government.