I was looking at some old patents and came across this that I thought was interesting. An 1893 platinum mantle. https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=GB&NR=189322396A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=3&date=18931223&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP# "I use for the manufacture of the incandescent body instead of a cotton fabric, a tissue or plaiting of very fine platinum wires which are covered or coated by electrolysis with the oxid-hydrates, carbonates, tartrates, or oxalates, and other almost insoluble compounds of the ordinary metals" See also, https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=CH&NR=9140A&KC=A&FT=D&ND=3&date=18950331&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP#
So far as I can tell, this refers to the use of fine platinum wire in order to render gas mantles more durable and less easily broken, I suspect that the high price of platinum rendered the process uneconomic. There was however another use of platinum in gas mantles. Impregnating a part of the mantle with very finely divided platinum rendered the mantle self igniting. No match or taper or continually burning pilot light being required, simply turn the gas on low and wait a bit and it ignited on its own. This worked only with coal gas, not with petrol vapour or natural gas for example. Coal gas contained a large proportion of hydrogen, and this when passed over platinum would react at room temperature with oxygen from the air. The reaction raised the temperature of the platinum, and the higher temperature speeded up the reaction until the gas/air mixture ignited. The self igniting feature was less reliable than was claimed by the promoters and a number of accidents occurred when the gas did not ignite but escaped until an explosion occurred.
Broadgage, your reply got me looking into it a bit further. Came across this 1900 paper. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1629766?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Great read if you are interested in the development of the incandescent mantle.
