The New York herald., 1875-12-02
ETHERIC FORCE.
MT. EdiSOn's Discovery of a Supposed
New Natural Force.
Electricity Superseded by a More
Docile Agent.


tricans and representative OF the HERALn Mr. Edl
son Is young man. OF about the medium height with
fall oval face large head and that bcspeaks
the utmost devotion to his business. He formerly
telegraph operator in the employ Of the Western
Union Company, and, during the war, engaged In
the Associated Press operating room serving with
ceent skill and fidelity Possessed Of natural inventive
genius he began 20 turn bis attention TO the
betterment Of the telegraphic instruments then
In use and succeeded In making number or
additions and improvements with such pecuniary bene
at to himself that he enabled TO abandon the
laborious occupation OF operator and devote his
time to the study or electric science HIS most i'm
portant invention up this that of the quadru-
pex system by which four messages be transmitted
simultaneously through single wire II while
engaged in his occupation OF experimenting that he
made the discovery Of what he pleased term with
out much appropriateness ''ethcric' force.
This force principle is the direct offspring of
electricity and magnetism. The operation Of ordi-
nary tecgraphic circuit affords the simplest OF
deriving and is by this method that the present
periments being conducted When the circuit
is open or broken the electricity stored
in the magnetic coil by the operation OF q
tinuous current is withdrawn arti6cialy and it is
in this manner OF relieving the magnet that tho
invention consists Hitherto the power stored in the
magnet has been permitted dssipate itself unnotced
In the air in ignorance Of the fact that It has assumed
nature and possessed properties more valuable
than those of electricity itself Edison noticed that tho
accidental Of wire with the OF the magnet
caused the production OF peculiar bright spark when
a metallic substance applied TO it, Though this
manifestation has been frequently Observed he led
to investigate it to It's origin, and amazed to find
that the manifestation failed TO respond to the
applied to discover the presence OF electricity,
affh ind static T1a univa
moved by it, the dainty gold leaf Of the electroscope
exhibited signs OF detection; the tongue could de-
tect sensation the Leyden Jar charged with it
possessed OF property that Is contributed TO by
electric contact In word the manifestation
electric 1t the display, recognized for the first
time of principle then buried the depths OF
human ignorance.
Since the moment OF this discovery Mr. Edison has
worked night and day ascertain intimately the
of the etheric" principle, and with results
which strongly confrmatory Of his original theory
voitac battery Of several cells is applied to ord
nary telegraph The trial OF twenty eight
different metals having shown that cadmium is best
adapted for the transmission of the power bar Of
that substance anaagous IN its nature zinc) placed
TO the magnetic COIL either directly or
with insulating substance intervening, and from
this bar copper wire conducts the 'etheric force TO
any desired point Connected with the gas pipe It
charges every gas fixture in the building that the
application of metallic substance any OF them
will produce the etherc spark connection with the
street main enabled Mr.. Edison draw the sparks
from gas fixture in his residence, some distance
away. Hence 1t seems that the force
Is not affected by the contact OF the earth,
but performs It's operations independent OF
the necessity OF insulators Herein lies
its immense practical value The cumbersome appIi-
OF transmitting ordinary electricity such tee
graph poles insulating knobs cable sheathings and
may be left out OF the problem of quick and
cheap teiegraphc transmission and great saving of
time labor accomplished. Ocean cables operated
by "etheric" force need cost but fraction Of tho
present clumsy lines. Wires may be laid in the earth
or in water. The existing methods and meehansms
may be completely revolutionized The experiments
witnessed by the HERALD representative were OF an
ceedngly interesting Attaching the wire upon
which the etherc current is conducted gas fixture
in the large laboratory found that the peculiar
sparks could be obtained from every other gas fixture
In the building multaneousy by the application OF
6e knife blade other metallic substance.
fusing and inexplicable experiment follows
The current transmitted through the gas
pipes, and the experimenter proceeded to
distant burner and drew brilliant sparks
by applying his knife blade. Three feet
from this burner another burner at which second
person stationed with instructions to grasp it
firmly, which was sooner done than the sparks at
burner No / became feeble to be almost imper-
cepuble. When the grasp burner No was released
the sparks evolved from No. with renewed bril-
llancy. Water then placed upon the floor and
piece Of iron laid in the wet spot and connected with
burner No 2 by means of a copper wire thus furnish
ing ample opportunity Of escape had the been
an electric one But the brilaDcy OF the sparks No
! was found to be unaffected by this The person
who first grasped burner No. was then made TO re-
sumo his grasp, standing on the wet spot but the
former effect of diminishing the force OF the spark
No l.was now mpercoptible. Standing upon the dry
floor his grasp of burner No. fatal to the mani
fcstations No. L but when tho floor moistened
the interruptive effect ceased still another
pertinent consisted in graspng the gasppe into
which the etherc current being led, the person
grasping il being made TO hold q knife in his other
band Upon touching a hs 70 the knife blade sparks
we're freely drawn, showing that the human body is
good conductor OF the force. No peculiar
tion observed by the person through whom the
current passed. When tho writer left the laboratory
Mr. Edison had just brought the microscope to bear
upon the eheric sparks magnfying them several thou
sand areas.
has been suggested that this discovery throws new
light upon the Of the auroral phenomena Tee-
graph operators familiar with the difference be-
tween the effect OF the electricity developed by thun-
der and that which Affects the wires previous
a aurorai display. The former passes through the
wire emitting both spark and sound; It is nstanta-
noous in action, seldom travelling far the wire be.
fore dscharging Itself But the electricity produced
by the aurora passes along the wire in continuous
stream, with no sudden discharge, efecung the
same result that produced by the gavanic
battery. colored mark upon tho paper IS mado by
the positive current Of the by tho positive
pole or the battery When these effects have been OBJ
served the follows, and familiar have tho
operators become with the manifestations that they
can predict aurora display with absolute certainty
They regard the electricity which precedcs lis
appearance as a precisely the same nature as
thai OF the electro gaiyanIo battery, which
Ia distinguished by It's voluminous current
without intensity Of action differing from ordl