An incandescent gas mantle, gas mantle, or Welsbach mantle is a device for generating bright white light when heated by a flame. The name refers to its original heat source in gas lights which filled the streets of Europe and North America in the late 19th century, mantle referring to the way it is hung above the flame. Today it is still used in portable camping lanterns, pressure lanterns and some oil lamps.
Gas mantles are usually sold as fabric items which, because of impregnation with metal nitrates, form a rigid but fragile mesh of metal oxides when heated during initial use; these metal oxides produce light from the heat of the flame whenever used. Thorium dioxide is commonly a major component; being radioactive it has led to concerns about the safety of those involved in manufacturing mantles. Normal use, however, poses little health risk.
Read more about Gas Mantle: Mechanism, History, Production
Famous quotes containing the words gas and/or mantle:
“A new father quickly learns that his child invariably comes to the bathroom at precisely the times when he’s in there, as if he needed company. The only way for this father to be certain of bathroom privacy is to shave at the gas station.”
—Bill Cosby (20th century)
“At last he rose, and twitch’d his mantle blue,
Tomorrow to fresh woods and pastures new.”
—John Milton (1608–1674)