ABSTRACT
The inflammability of the gas coupled with its extraordinary lightness led the discoverer and others to suppose that it was actually “phlogiston” itself, the then assumed hypothetical principle of combustibility. The name hydrogen which means water producer was given to the gas by Lavoisier, in accordance with the system of nomenclature contrived by him. The development of the balloon into the airship is one and perhaps the chief reason for enquiry into the methods by which hydrogen may be manufactured in quantity. Formerly aeronauts were content with charging their balloons with an impure kind of methane, obtained by distilling coal at a relatively high temperature, and collecting the last portions of the gas escaping from the retort. Hydrogen is required on a scale never contemplated until quite times. The first patents relating to the hydrogenation of oils date only from 1903, and it was not till later that the high standard of purity required for this purpose was recognised.
