Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1882-05-31
Why and How tho Electric Light
Burns,

ward from tbs bottom Of the lamp, lhe
other hanging downward, The rods
seem 10 touch, and the brilliant fame
Is exactly where they seem to meet
Ones u day man comes round WIN q
bag Of the rods, lie takes out tho
old rods that were burned the night
before, and places u new sel ~ each
lamp, After he has gone about, rs u
he we're putting new wiek' Into the
lamps, and each Is ready for iIs nights
work, all tho lamps are lighted IN
broad day, to see that every one Is IN
proper trim, They are allowed 10
burn until the men have walked about
IN the streets and examined each lamp
II all are burning we'll, they are put
out I'LL II begins to grow dark u one
fails to burn properly, u man goes to
that lamp to see what Is the 'h'''er'-
The rods ARE made Of curious black
substance, like charcoal, that Is called
carbon, When the lamp Ii out the
two rods touch zach ether In order
to light tho lamp they are pulled apart
aud Il you look 1T tho aame through u
smoked glass you will See that the rods
do not quite touch. There Is small
space between their points, and 'l'i'
space Il filled with fire, Look at tho
other parts Of the rods, or the copper
wires that extend along the SIreels'-
They have no light, no heat, no sound
The wires IRE cold, dark and Silent.
II We were to push the two rods In the
lamp close together, the light aud heat
would disappear aud the curious hiss
inc sound would cease. Why IL thisf
Lot US 90 10 the woods near some
brook, aud Il may be that we can I'M
stand the matter.
Here Is sthe brook, flowing quietly
along, smooth, deep, and without u
ripple. We walk beside the stream
aud come to II place where are high
rocks aud steep, stony banks Here
the channel is very narrow, and the
water Is no longer smooth and SILENT
II boils and foams between the rocks.
There arc cddics and whirlpools, aud
at last we come to the narrowest part
of all. Here the once dark and silent
waters roar aud foam in white,
stormy rapids. There are sounds and
furious lcaping aud rushing water, and
clouds of spray. Why is the smooth
dark water so white with rage, 50 inn
petuous, so full Of sounds and turmoil!
The rocks are the cause. The way is
narrow and steep. The waters are
hemmcd in, and there is grand dis
play of flushing white foam and roaring
water falls, as the waters struggle to-
gether to get past the narrow place.
II is the same with the electricity
flowing through the large copper wires
1t passes down one wire into the ether
through the lamp, in silence and dark
ness, so long as the rods touch and the
path is clear. When the rods in the
lamp are pulled apart, there is a space
TO be got over, an obstruction, like the
rocks In the bed of the brook. The
electricity. like the water, struggles to
get over the hindrauce in its path, and
grows white-hot with anger, and flames
and Kisses as it leaps across the mar
row space between the rods.
There is another kind of electric
lamp, used in houses; it has II smaller
and softer light, steady, white, and
very beautiful.
In these lamps, also, we have some
thing like the narrow place in the
brook. They are made with slender
loops of carbon, enclosed in glass
globes. The electricity, flowing silent
ly through dark wire, enters the
lamp, and finds only narrow thread
on which it can travel to reach the
home-going wire, and in its struggle to
get past, it. heats the tiny thread of
carbon to whiteness. Like live coal,
this slender thread gives us a mild,
soft light as long rs the current flows.
It seems calm and still, but is enduring
the same fury of the electricity that is
shown in the larger lamps.
This is the main idea on which there
lamps are made A stream of electricity
is set flowing from a dynamo-electric
machine through wire until it meets
narrow place or a break in the wire.
Then it seeks to get past the obstruc-
ton, and there is grand putting forth
of energy, and in this way the electric
force, though itself invisible, is made
known to our eyes by beautiful light.
Ar