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24
DR. LETHEBY'S REPORT.
METROPOLIS GAS ACT, 1860.
To the Right Honorable Sir George Grey, Bart., Her Majesty's Principal
Secretary of State for the Home Department.
Sir,
In pursuance of your warrant of the 16th inst., authorizing and
directing me to enquire into and concerning the grounds of a complaint
made to you on the 3rd day of January, 1865, by Memorial in writing
from the Vestry of the Parish of Saint Leonard, Shoreditch, in the
County of Middlesex, signed by their Clerk, respecting the quality of
the gas supplied to the Parish by the Independent Gas Light and Coke
Company, I have the honor to report to you that on the 19th inst.,
after having given due notice to the Company in accordance with the
provisions of the " 8th section of the Metropolis Gas Act, 1860," I
visited the Gas Works of the Company and made careful inquiries into
and concerning the grounds of the said complaint.
I was accompanied during my inspection of the works by the
Engineer of the Works who afforded me every facility for such inspection,
and I was also accompanied by the Gas Examiner for the Parish, who
informed me that on the 27th, 28th and 29th days of December, 1864,
he found that when the gas was tested in accordance with the instructions
of the 25th section of the before-mentioned Act of Parliament, it
was largely contaminated with Ammonia and Sulphuretted Hydrogen.
Accordingly at the time of my inspection and enquiries at the
works, I examined the gas for these impurities by exposing Turmeric
paper, and paper imbued with acetate of lead, to a current of the gas
issuing for one minute under a pressure of 5 tenths of an inch of water;
and I ascertained that the gas contained a minute trace of Sulphuretted
Hydrogen, and was highly charged with Ammonia.
These experiments were repeated with the same results at the
place provided by the Company, in accordance with the directions of the
27th section of the before-mentioned Act of Parliament.