to become one of the scientists of his age.
Murdoch's successful utilization of gas caused no small sensation, and inspired both hopes and fears. When in the first or second year of the new century an exhibition was given of gas lighting, in Soho, one who was present declared the illumination to be of "the most extraordinary splendour," and no doubt, to eyes accustomed to the feeble oil lamp, it was so. At the same time many people saw in it all kinds of danger, among others, the probable loss of our naval supremacy. It was said that whale fishing would become extinct as an industry if oil were no longer burnt, and that as whale fishing was England's naval nursery, Britannia would soon find it impossible to rule the waves, owing to the want of training on the part of her sons. The story of the progress of gas lighting is long and interesting, but it must suffice here to mention that a corporation, the present Gas Light and Coke Company, was formed in 1810, that Westminster Bridge was first lighted with gas in 1813, Westminster itself in 1814, and the greater part of London in 1816.
In its early days gas afforded the caricaturist many opportunities for most amusing sallies, of which the description to-day of an inflated speech as "gas" is no doubt a survival. George Cruikshank turned the discovery to excellent account, as may be seen in two reproductions which we are enabled to make from his pen. "The Good Effects of Carbonic" Gas appeared in 1813, and "The Introduction of Gas, or Throwing a New Light on the Subject," in 1815. These were, however, not the first shafts launched at it, for in 1809 Rowlandson permitted his friends a very entertaining "Peep at the Gas Lights in Pall Mall," where, on the site of the Carlton Club, Winsor, the founder of the Gas Light and Coke Company, had premises. In 1807 he gave exhibitions of the new light, and in 1809 and 1810 the efforts to obtain a charter were assisted by keeping the light burning during the Parliamentary Session.
Strenuously opposed as gas lighting was at first, its advantages were too palpable to be withstood for long. Of the many companies in London alone to-day, the first started has attained such dimensions that its directors and officers are called on to deal with administrative matters equal to those
