Geordie lamp the base so that it gave more light and tried new versions on 4 and 30 November. This was presented to the Literary and Philosophical Society (Lit & Phil) of Newcastle upon Tyne on 5 December 1815. Although controversy arose between Stephenson's design and the Davy lamp (invented by Humphry Davy in the same year), Stephenson's original design worked on significantly different principles from Davy's final design. If the lamp were sealed except for a restricted air ingress (and a suitably sized chimney) then the presence of dangerous amounts of firedamp in the incoming air would (by its combustion) reduce
Safety lamp weak light though it was intrinsically safe provided it was kept upright. It was heavy and ungainly and required a man to pump it continuously. It was not a practical success and Clanny subsequently changed the basis of operation of later lamps in the light of the Davy and Stephenson lamps. Safety lamps have to address the following issues: Fire requires three elements to burn: fuel, oxidant and heat; the triangle of fire. Remove one element of this triangle and the burning will stop. A safety lamp has to ensure that the triangle of fire is maintained inside the lamp,