[ Craig Smith wrote in 000927 MMD about the Water Organ at Moldova
 [ National Museum:

> I have a friend who once lived in India.  They used 'natural gas' for
> cooking and perhaps for lighting.  They had a large pit in the ground
> into which they placed (read: 'shoveled') elephant dung and other,
> similar, compost-able material which I will refrain from describing.
>
> In a short time, this pit was producing sizable quantities of 'natural
> gas'.  To trap the gas, they placed a large, barrel-shaped drum in the
> pit, open side down.

This methane generator was, I believe, developed by American aid
workers in the 1950's.  Previous to this, animal dung was burned
directly as fuel.  The "spent" dung can be removed from the generator
pit and used as fertilizer in the fields to increase crop yields.
The dung was typically obtained from farm animals.

Mark Kinsler
Lancaster, Ohio USA
http://www.frognet.net/~kinsler