The Wilmingtonian. (Wilmington, Del.) 1882-188?, 1884-09-06
The Future of Electricity.

The details of the International Exhibition
Of electrical appliances, now open in Phila-
delphia belong properly to the pages of a
scientific journal, and we do not propose to
devote a lengthy notice to them, but it will
be extremely interesting to sketch briefly
the history of the electric current and show
what wondrous resources ii offers for dcvel-
opment.
From the day that Ga!vani found that
contact of two dissimilar metals in u saline
| solution conyused the muscles OF frog, the
germs of discovery which casts all others
into absolute insgnsficance may be said to
have been planted in the mind Of man, to
develop one day into u power which arms
the feeblest invalid with thepowers of giant.
1t is difficult to name any branch Of the Arts
and Manufactures in which electricity may
not be impressed, and be made to perform
| effective service. In medicine it has been
employed to resuscitatc persons poisoned by
| opium, by noxious fumes, by alcohol, 1t
restores life and motion to the paralyzed
limb. 1t searches out and baushes the
pains of sciatica, neuralgia and rlie :matsm.
II furnishes rapid and almost painless
means of cauterizing diseased surfaces, or
laying open iistuous tracts.
In chemistry it furnished Davy with the
means of discovering the metals of the aka
lies potassium and Sodium) and has of late
been prodtably employed in making aniline
dyes, replacing the numerous and tedious
processes hitherto in vague by a simple OPP
plies the photographer with substitute for
sunlight, and bathcs our streets in the ellul-
gence of day.
The electric current may be made to
drive plough at the distance of mile
from any source of motion. 1t has almost
abolished the possibility of railroad COLI
sions, and enables train dispatchers at any
moment to put their finger on the precise
spot where an express train, covering hun
I dreds of miles, at a speed of mile minute,
is then located. 1t will walt mems
c thoughts and actions from continent to cOnti-
nent, from pole to pole. 1t assures the ar
rest of criminals fastening to put the seas
between them and the country whose laws
=, they have violated. 1t abolshos geography
and the narrow excllsiycness Of nations, by
Transforming the civilized world into on,
" country.
II ,lclics time, and marks the instant of
" transit or an eclipse at any point on tn
re earths surface to which,wires can be carried
y 1t has revolutionizcd the whole art of War
50 that battles are now fought by strategist
leagues away from the sceno of action
o. whls soldiers and captains arc merely play
IT ing the part of the pieces on chess boart
in 1t makes War less cruel by so increasing til
Nv agencies for destruction as to render nation
is cautious Of undertaking risks fraught wit
NJ such tremendous penalties in the event
ar failure. Campaigns now last weeks whel
he they formerly consumed years, and instea
elf of whole countries being laid waste by IL
as- ceaseless marches and conflicts of armi
vie a sharp, stern decisive struggle in one
Ills two localities imposes On the loser the nec'
Ills sty of submission. A thirty years war
M an impossibility in an age of electricit
the Austria was crushed IN the oauoWa ca
paign of 1866 in seven weeks; France in is
bcr in six months. and both powers recover
of from the shock thin year. In war, the
lia, 70 @, electricity is a blessing in disguise.