This section is from the book "The Engineer's And Mechanic's Encyclopaedia", by Luke Hebert. Also available from Amazon: Engineer's And Mechanic's Encyclopaedia.
An apparatus for firing a mixture of gases by means of the electric spark. It consists of a thick glass tube, open at bottom, but hermetically sealed at top, and having towards the upper part two small wires cemented into it, which approach each other within the jar near enough to communicate the electric spark from an adjoining machine, by which the gases are fired.
 
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