Inventory no. 15950 - Former Display Label
NEWMAN'S OXY-HYDROGEN BLOWPIPE
c.1820
Signed on body: "I. NEWMAN/LISLE ST/LONDON", on upper tap: I. NEWMAN", and on lower tap: "KNIGHT/FOSTER LANE".
Sheet iron with brass fittings. This type of blowpipe was first described by Newman in 1816, and the Lisle Street address dates this item as c.1820. It consists of a rectangular box with a pump (or 'syringe') attached vertically at one end. The blowpipe would be attached at the other end but is missing. The box acted as a reservoir for compressed air.
According to Edwin Daniel Clarke, an oxy-hydrogen mixture was first used in a blowpipe by Robert Hare (1871-1858) of Philadelphia. Clarke suggested that oxygen and hydrogen burnt together would provide a much hotter flame. Sir Humphry Davy's advice was sought on the opitimum size of the blowpipe's orifice, and the flame was hot enough to melt platinum.
Griffin in his 1866 trade catalogue ascribes this blowpipe pattern to Clarke. The use of interchangeable thread fittings is suggested by the different signatures on the two taps.
Two 'Clarke's blowpipes' are listed in the 1861 Daubeny catalogue.