Georgiana had worked out from the chemical equation that the Leblanc process produced carbon monoxide. That equation was probably taught in middle school at Muggle schools, though perhaps not at the beginning of the nineteenth century. It had not been invented by anyone; rather, generations of alchemists had compiled, categorized, and summarized it from countless experiments.
Lavoisier had proved the existence of oxygen through respiration experiments, but carbon monoxide could not be proven the same way—unless someone had grown tired of living.
Georgiana was not particularly knowledgeable about this either. Perhaps Severus knew more; he had attended a Muggle school.
At present, the theory of phlogiston still governed the understanding of combustion. Collecting a byproduct like carbon monoxide could not only generate profit, but also reduce safety accidents. Every year, many people died of carbon monoxide poisoning after sealing their doors and windows while heating themselves by a fire. If the workshop's doors and windows were all shut tight for secrecy, the same problem could arise. But how was she supposed to prove it?
The meeting lasted until around noon. When it was time for lunch, he and Edgeworth left. She intended to find Fargeon at City Hall. On the way, she and Edgeworth discussed phlogiston, but then they ran into Bowens, who was walking with Périer, the young banker Fargeon had introduced to her. The moment Bowens spotted Georgiana, he greeted her from afar.
Napoleon did not permit domestic bankers to invest abroad, but Bowens intended to build factories in France as well as Belgium. Portugal had obtained machinery from Britain's textile industry and recruited many British technicians, granting them privileges, yet not a single textile mill had a steam engine.
Without steam engines, even with British equipment, productivity could not keep up and there would be many restrictions.