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
Safety lamp ensure that the wick was lowered and the lamp extinguished by any attempt to open it. The lamp was "much more expensive than the forms of lamp now in general use, but Mr, Yates states that the saving of oil effected by its use will in one year pay the additional cost". The Evan–Thomas lamp is similar to a shielded Clanny, but there is a brass cylinder outside the gauze above the glass. It resists draughts well but the flame is dull. The Morgan is a cross between the Mueseler and the Marsaut. It is a shielded lamp with a