New-York tribune., 1867-03-28
publican) Scnate's propsol''y"s; ";.sd ID
ELECTRIC LIGHT.
ton.


among the centuries for those great inventions
which minister to the wants of mankind. Three
tenths of it still remains; and the leaders or
progress in science and the arts are more hu-
merous and active than ever before. 1t Is GER
tainly far from impossible that many who are
now living may witness products OF genius yet
unthought of. which, for usefulness, may DE
ranked with the Locomotive, the Telegraph, aDd
the Photograph Indeed, we are not visionary
in believing that we are already advancing INTO
the shadow of something which may be as ad-
mirable and useful any of them. Recent
advances in science seem to indicate plainly the
path which promises to lead to one OF the most
beneficent developments.
1t has been demonstrated that what we call
Light, Heat and Electricity, and supposed to
be peculiar kinds of matter, are, after all, only
forms or modes of motiOn-that the motions
which constitute their peculiarities have no
greater differences among themselves than the
motions Of our ordinary machines. 1t has
been demonstrated that they may be converted
into each other--that either of them may be
converted into ordinary mOtion-and, con-
versey, that ordinary motion may be con-
yerted into either of them. In other words,
their production and operation involve simple
questions of mechanics. The precise amount
of mechanical force required to produce heat
and electricity have been exactly and mathe-
matically determined. Thus, the force OF the
falling of weight of one pound distance OF
772 feet will produce heat just sufficient to
raise a pound of water one degree Fahrenheit.
This exact transformation of falling force into
heat may be accomplished with the greatest
ease. The converse, however, we have not yet
reached in practice. In our attempts by the
steam engine to get heat into ordinary useful
motion, we practically realize only about five
per cent OF what we strive after. 1t is possible
that. before the NineteenthiCentury closes, we
shall learn how to secure all, or nearly all, OF
that % per cent. which now escapes us. When
we have that knowledge, one pound of fuel
which we use for generating power may have
it, present value multiplied nearly twenty-fold
The iabors of scientific men, within the last
| five years, have developed methods OF trans
| forming ordinary force into electricity. When
these methods are put into the most practical
form. we shall have electricity so cheap that
its applications may be multiplied hundred
! fold.
Practical results have not been SO fully OBJ
| tained in attempts to transform mechanlcal
| force into light. But what we know is suf-
! iicent to fill Us with the most exalted eXpeeta-
! tons The possibilities are too bright even Tor
dreams. The precise amount of force required
| to produce Il given degree OF light has not
been determined, mainly for the reason that 1t
is 50 small that II eludeS our measurement. 1t
i, asserted by sayans that the strength OF
child would be sufficient to turn night into day
for the City of Ncw-York, provided that
strength were wholly converted into, and
should rcappear rs, light. May not this be ae-
complished in the Nineteenth Century,
But. concerning Electric Light, wonderful
things are already accomplished facts We
have transformed force into light through the
medium of electricity, and the process has been
a success Such light promises to come, ere
long, into general use.
Thorough experiments in France and En-
Gland, and official arrangements N for tests in the
United States, indicate the Importance attached
to electricity for Illuminating lighthouses. The
| results at Cape La Heve on the French, and at
Dungcness on the British coast, prove that, in
clear weather the electric light is visible seven
miles further (25 miles against 2O) than the best
! Light, ever before shown at those points; while
the advantages are still greater in thick
weather; "A its density, whiteness, and bril-
lancy, enable it to penetrate fogs that almost
totally obscure other lights. The successful
experiments of the French Lighthouse Board
corroboratcd by the British experiments, may
well encourage eur American Lighthouse Board
in the tests about to be instituted in this coun-
try. especially as the difficulties which cause
the British authorities to hesitate about intro
ducing the electric light generally along their
coasts ("lcst their heavy machinery might
break down., are understood to have been over
come by inventions of American genius.
1t may be added that the brlliancy of the
Electric Light will actually throw shadows from
the flames of street-amps on wall distant
about 1900 feet, and that it surpaSses sunlight
| in phOtOgaphing-effc the object in one
third of the time required by Sol himself. Some
of the British photographers now use the
Electric Light at night for much of their work.
especially for copying and enlarging pictures
profitable part of their business.
The occasional working of the Atlantic Ca
bles (both being thrown into one circuit of
nearly 5000 miles, by the infinitesimay small
battery in lady's thimble has so utterly
revolutionized the notions of electricians and
telegrapherS concerning the power required for
working that vast teegraphic circuit, that in
! telligent people are now scarcely surprised at
the latest assertions concerning the illimitabe
resources for cheaply generating Electric Light,
and the quality of that light compared with
| solar light.
The electrical display on top of the Massa-
chusetts State House one Fourth of July night,
which shed flood of light that enabled people
| to read newspapers on Boston Common, was