Paris and Strassburg Railroad.

Selwyn experimented with creosote in a small steam yacht, and under the
boilers of steamship Oberlin.

Holland experimented with water-gas in the furnace of a locomotive
running on the Long Island Railroad.

Isherwood experimented with petroleum under the boilers of United States
steamers.

Three railroads in Russia are using naphtha in their locomotives, and
steamers on the Volga are using the same fuel.

Wurtz experimented with crude petroleum in a reheating furnace at Jersey
City.

Dowson, Strong, Lowe, and others have devised systems for the production
of water gas.

These experiments, in general, have produced excellent results when
considered merely in the light of heat production, but, in advocating
their systems, the inventors seem to have overlooked the all-important
item of cost.

It is the object of this paper to show the impracticability of such
systems when considered from a commercial standpoint, so long as the
supply of coal lasts, and prices keep within reasonable limits.

In many cases, authors on the subject have given purely theoretical