In 1776, Alessandro Volta collected the gas rising in small bubbles from the muddy waters of Lake Maggiore. He named this substance "inflammable native swamp gas." Volta had discovered methane. After demonstrating experimentally that methane and hydrogen ignite in contact with an electric spark, he sought to build a gas lamp. But fueling the lamp at ambient air pressure required storing large amounts of gas. Volta therefore abandoned this idea, turning instead to the construction of an ingenious hydrogen-powered electric lamp-lighter.

The device is composed of two superposed glass reservoirs. The upper one contains water, the lower one inflammable gas. A tube system enables the water to flow into the lower vessel. This expels the hydrogen, which is ignited on a nozzle by the spark produced by an electrophorus or a small Leyden jar. The gas introduced into the lamplighter reservoir was generated in a separate device.

After the late 1770s, Volta's idea was taken up by several instrument-makers who perfected the apparatus. At first, the electrophorus was inserted in the device and connected to the turn-cock so as to make its operation automatic. Later, with a few simple alterations, the instrument was able to generate the necessary hydrogen automatically.

The more sophisticated version of the instrument is composed of two glass reservoirs mounted on a wooden box whose base houses the electrophorus. When the turn-cock is opened, the sulfuric acid diluted in water flows into the lower reservoir, in which a piece of zinc is suspended. The acid moves the gas already contained in the reservoir toward the nozzle. When it makes contact with the metal, the acid generates new gas. At the same time, the opening of the turn-cock moves a string that raises the electrophorus plate. The plate touches the electrode of a discharger that produces a spark. This ignites the gas, whose flame lights a candle. After a few seconds, the gas turn-cock is closed. As the electrophorus stores its charge up to several months, the device can be used hundreds of times. In some models, the electrophorus is replaced by a small cylinder or plate electrostatic machine.

This apparatus proved extremely useful in an age when producing a flame was neither easy nor quick. Built in many different versions, it became, especially in Germany, a very popular decorative object that became fairly common in bourgeois homes. Toward the mid-nineteenth century, Volta's device was doomed to obsolescence by the invention of simpler lighters that did not require an electric spark, and by the introduction of matches.