Davy lamp Davy lamp The Davy lamp is a safety lamp for use in flammable atmospheres, invented in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It consists of a wick lamp with the flame enclosed inside a mesh screen. It was created for use in coal mines, to reduce the danger of explosions due to the presence of methane and other flammable gases, called "firedamp" or "minedamp." Davy's invention was preceded by that of William Reid Clanny, an Irish doctor at Bishopwearmouth, who had read a paper to the Royal Society in May 1813. The more cumbersome Clanny safety lamp was successfully tested at
Moderator lamp Moderator lamp The moderator lamp is a type of 19th century oil lamp. It displaced the more complex Carcel lamp which used a clockwork pump. Its mechanism was simpler and required less maintenance or repair. The moderator lamp was invented in 1837 by Charles-Louis-Félix Franchot (1809-1881) . Like the Carcel lamp the oil reservoir was below the burner and it allowed 360 degree illumination. Earlier oil lamps such as the Argand had a reservoir above the burner which made them top heavy and obscured some of the light. The reliability of the mechanism led to them being adopted in lighthouses.