Diagram of a bellow-operated blowpipe, circa 1827, from A Practical Treatise on the Use of the Blowpipe

The Blowpipe is a narrow tube by means of which a stream or jet of air or a specific gas or gas mix can be directed onto a flame to concentrate or increase heat. Jewelers and glassmakers have used the blowpipe since ancient times, with the blast being powered by the user's lungs. From the 1800s onwards, blowpipes, gas blowpipes - the distinction being the use of oxygen or hydrogen or mixtures thereof - have been powered by bladders and bellows, and later by gas cylinders and mechanical blowers. Contemporary oxy-fuel welding and cutting is a modern development from the blowpipe. Jewellery (Jewelry in American spelling) comprises ornamental objects worn by persons, typically made with gems and precious metals. ... The materials definition of a glass is a uniform amorphous solid material, usually produced when a suitably viscous molten material cools very rapidly, thereby not giving enough time for a regular crystal lattice to form. ... The lungs flank the heart and great vessels in the chest cavity. ... Industrial compressed gas cylinders used for oxy-fuel welding and cutting of steel. ... Oxy-fuel welding of metal is commonly called oxyacetylene welding since acetylene is the predominant choice for a fuel, or often simply gas welding. ...

In chemistry it has been used as scientific instrument for the analysis of small samples since about 1738, according to the accounts of Torbern Bergman. One Andreas Swab, a Swedish mettalurgist and Counsellor of the College of mines is credited with the first use of the blowpipe for 'pyrognostic operations', of which no record remains. According to Griffin (1827), the next person of eminence who used the blowpipe was Axel Fredrik Cronstedt, who put it to the purpose of the discrimination of minerals by means of fusible reagents. In 1770 an English translation of Cronstedt's work was made by Von Engestrom, annexed to which was a treatise on the blowpipe. Despite this opening, assay by blowpipe was for the time an occupation undertaken for the most part in Sweden. Bergman's use of the blowpipe outstripped all of his predecessors, and he widened its application from mineralogy to inorganic chemistry, giving rise to what may be regarded as a masterpiece of philisophical investigation, De Tubo Ferruminatorio, published in Vienna in 1779 (and translated into English in 1788). Bergman's assistant, Assessor Gahn, is next credited with moving the design and application of the blowpipe on. Gahn travelled with a portable blowpipe, applying it to every kind of chemical and mineralogical enquiry, such as proving the presence of copper in the ashes of vegetables. Gahn published a Treatise on the Blowpipe, which was reprinted a number of times in contemporary chemistry textbooks. Jöns Jakob Berzelius worked with Gahn to ascertain in a systemaic manner the of phenomena presented by different minerals when acted on by the blowpipe. He established, according to Griffin, the notion that the blowpipe was an instrument of indispensable utility, and his published work, later translated into English, was regarded as one of the most useful books on practical chemistry extant. Chemistry (from Persian language کیمیا Kimia and Greek χημεία khemeia[1] meaning alchemy) is the science of matter at the atomic to molecular scale, dealing primarily with collections of atoms, such as gases, molecules, crystals, and metals. ... Torbern Olof Bergman (March 20, 1735 Katrineberg, Sweden, – July 8, 1784 Medevi, Sweden) was a Swedish chemist. ... Baron Axel Fredrik Cronstedt (1722 – 1765) was a Swedish chemist who discovered nickel in 1751. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Jöns Jakob Berzelius Statue of Berzelius in the centre of Berzelii Park, Stockholm Jöns Jakob Berzelius (August 20, 1779 - August 7, 1848) was a Swedish chemist. ...

The blowpipes of all of the foregoing blasted air into a flame. Antoine Lavoisier is credited as the first to blow oxygen - of which he was co-discoverer - through a blowpipe to support the combustion of charcoal, in 1782. Others, such as Edward Daniel Clarke, employed hydrogen, and later mixed hydrogen and oxygen in the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe. The vastly increased temperatures, and the volatility of hydrogen-oxygen mixes drove on the development of the so-called gas blowpipe as a tool, and at the same time brought many new materials into reach of the blowpipe as a tool for assay. Robert Hare was a noted exponent of the improved tool. Goldsworthy Gurney, whilst at the Surrey Institute, published in 1823 an account of a new blowpipe so constructed as to enable the operator to produce a flame of great size, power and brilliancy by burning large quantities of the mixed gases with the utmost safety. Gurney went on to employ the principles in his Bude light. Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (August 26, 1743 – May 8, 1794) the father of modern chemistry, was a French nobleman prominent in the histories of chemistry, finance, biology, and economics. ... General Name, Symbol, Number oxygen, O, 8 Chemical series Nonmetals, chalcogens Group, Period, Block 16, 2, p Appearance colorless (gas) very pale blue (liquid) Atomic mass 15. ... Edward Daniel Clarke (June 5, 1769 - March 9, 1822), English mineralogist and traveller, was born at Willingdon, Sussex, and educated first at Tonbridge. ... This article is about the chemistry of hydrogen. ... An assay is a procedure where the concentration of a component part of a mixture is determined. ... Goldsworthy Gurney in earlier life Sir Goldsworthy Gurney (1793-1875) was a surgeon, chemist, lecturer, consultant, architect, builder and prototypical British inventor of the Victorian period. ... Bude-Light is a very bright oil lamp that works by introducing oxygen into the centre of an Argand burner. ...

References

• A Practical Treatise on the Use of the Blowpipe by John Griffin, 1827, from Google Book Search