The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-19 00:00:00

EXPERIMENTS WITH ELECTRIC AND OTHER

LIGHTS AT WOOLWICH.

On Monday evening last, a lengthened experiment
took place at Woolwich, on the upper part of the Com-
mon, in the presence of the select committee. The ex-
periments were with three different kinds of light, for
war and other purposes. The one, an Electric Light,
which was shown by the operator, Mr. Ingliss ; the
second, the Drummond, or Lime Light, shown and
cperatvl upon by Sergeant R. P. Jones, of the Royal
Sappers and Miners; and the third, the Bude Light, by
a Mr. Gurney, residing in the county of Cornwall, who
is the original inventor, but has entrusted it to the care
of Sergeant .Tones, who is a most intelligent and scien-
-1 tifie officer, and who is labouring hard to bring it to per-

fection.
The three lights were all in readiness on the top of
the mound, round the reservoir on the tap of the Com-
mon, at 8 o'clock, and at half-past S several members of
'the committee arrived, among whom we noticed General
W. Cater, RA., Colonel W. H. Pickering, MA.,
Colonel A. Tulloh, RA., Colonel Cole, RE, and nu-
merous other officers whom we could not recognise
through the dazzle of the lights.
The relative powers of each were minutely entered
into by the various gentlemen of the committee, and
the electric light was shown to the officers, which is
caused by a reflector being placed behind the electric
light, and with which Mr. lngliss purposes to bring ob-
jects visible at a distance of ono mile, but was not
realised on this occasion. The Drummond or Lime
Light was also shown by means of parabolic reflectors,
which caused a most excellent light at a great distance,
and made objects visible at a distance of from 500 to
600 yards ; but, on a clear night, an object can be seen
distinctly at a much greater distance. The next was the
Buds Light, which caa be carried by hand, and which
the sergeant explained to the committee, and likewise
operated upon it in their presence, so that it reflected a
light at from 300 to 400 yards, showing objects dis-
tinctly at that distance.
For the purpose of ascertaining the correct distance at
which the lights reflected, a number of the Royal Ar-
tiilery were brought OA to the Common, and drawn up
at different distances, and which were moved about ac-
cording to the wishes of the operators.
A more unfavourable night for the experiment could
scarcely have been chosen, as, during the whole time, a
dense heavy moist atmosphere prevailed, causing the re-
flectors to loose their power, more especially that of the
Drummond light, which was exposed the whole time,
while the reflector of the electric light was protected
from the weather by a sort of casing round the three
sides. The reflectors got so damp as not to have the
power of penetrating so far as they otherwise would have
done had the weather been clear and dry.
We cannot refrain from stating that the electric light
certainly has the power of penetrating further, and pro-
duces more brilliant light, but the Drummond light has
its advantages over the other in many respects, although
producing not quite so clear a light on this as on former
occasions. One great advantage is, that the Drummond
1,
light is more portable, and can e carried by two or
three men, each taking a portion of the apparatus, while
the electric light is so cumbersome as to-require a wag-
gon, drawn by two horses, to convey it from place to
place,