The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-08-24
SOME NEW HOOKS.


ly welcomed than clear. exhaustive. ana au-
thoritative account Of tho application ~ cleo
tricity to tho production Of light. We are In
dsbted to tho Messrs. Appleton for issuing. in
q large volume VI 400 pages illustrated with
several hundred woodcuts. nn English transla-
ton o! tho vol. known treatise by MN. Al
GLAyE and BouLARD This exposition Is both
accurate and popular. mt once Offering the pro-
fesscd student OF tho subject convenient
summary Of all the facts and enabling
the general reader to understand the o.
sontial features Of electric lighting apparatus.
and appreciate tho problems whose solution
was involved In tho Introduction Of this method
OF illumination. Now that this book Is ac-
cossihle. no educated person will fail to ac-
quaint himself with the interesting history OF
ono Of the most remarkable advancus made by
practical science in our day. Ten years ago 1t
was supposed that the industrial role Of cleo
tricity was confined to telegraphy and electro
plating and that outside Of these two uses 1t
was only available In cases wher. considsra-
tions OF expense might DO overlooked How
completely this assumption has been over
thrown by the discoveries and inventions OF a
single decade /, fully and engagngly recount
oil In the work before us.
The several stages through which the devel-
opmont OF the electric light passed before tho
time was ripe for the existing Industrial APP
plcutIOuh uTc Outllubu III hh ohTlS cuhploI ol
this volume. Tho authors begin their nara
tive with the invention VI tho first electric ma
chine in tho latter half OF the seventeenth CEN
fury. We know that the Eurgomaster Of
BIagdeburg Otto Won Guericke, produced cleo
tricity BY rubbing u globe OF sulphur with the
hand. IIe was the first to evoke light from this
agent. but tho luminosity seems to have been
merely n faint glow. like that of phosphorus In
the air. for he compares 1t to the light pro-
duced by rubbing pieces OF sugar together In
tho dark. The electric goam seen BY Otto
Won Guericke was observed soon after
moro distinctly by DR. Wall. He obtained
electricity by rubbing stick of amber with
. linen cloth. Upon squeezing the amber
tightly while rubbing IL. he heard rrodigious
number Of craeklings. accompanied by flashes
of light aud lie remarked that II the finger
was brought close to the piece Of amber a loud
noise. accompanied by q great flash of light.
was produced. This. OF course. was the eloc-
trio spark perfectly defined. though. naturally.
under tho circumstances. feeble. 1t ~ further
noteworthy that DR.. Wall should have COM
pared the light and noise thus generated with
thunder and lightning. Thus We 500 that the
analogy between lightning and electricity was
discerned at the beginning OF electrical
studies. nearly century before Franklin
thought himself vonturesome In atllrmingit.
~ WAS hoI louS oitct wan oApoiiLlchto tHob
IN Englishman named Francis llawkosby. in
vostiaating static electricity. succeeded In
producing the electric light in much greater
quantity. and by different means For eNaln-
PIE. he obtained 1t by shaking mercury in u
vessel OF glass which he had previously ex-
haustsd Of air. But the most striking effect
gained by Hawkesby was by enclosing a cylin-
der exhausted OF air in a second cylinder
and moving both cylinders at the same
time while he rubbed tho outer one. He
noticed that when tho outer cylinder
alone moved tho light became quito strong.
and extended itself over the surface OF
the inner vessel. Another English physicist.
Grey. abandoned the chance observations to
which iuquirers had hitherto confined them
selves. and addressed himself to ~ deliberate
experimental study OF electrical phenomena.
The now method soon boro fruit. In 1927. by u
series OF experiments made in conjunction with
Checler. Gray proved that certain substances
conducted the r|pcric rniue. as 1t was then
called. 30 that tho attractive properties Of
bodies electrified by friction could be trans
mitted to great distances. The principle OF
electric coniuctlvity aud the essentially mo-
bile nature Of electricity were established BY
these experiments. and several other discov-
cries only deilnitoly reached at u later period
such Us electrization by induction were fore
SHNuOWou ny tTey. mus. AlttT having proved
metallic conductvty. he observed the escape
OF electricity from pojes. u manifestation
which Gonstitutos the Electric taper. About
the Same time Du Fay. u member Of the Paris
Academy OF Sciences repeated aray's expert
ments and made now onss 1t was ls who
first produced u spark from u living body.
This phenomenon. with which every one is
now familiar. produced at the time an
traordnnry sensation. nnd attracted great at
tention to tho new science.
Tho second quarter OF the eighteenth cen
tury witnessed a pronounced advance in the
knowledge OF electricity. A l.sipsic professor
greatly augmented tho force Of electric ma
chimes by increasing tho rapdity of rotation
OF the globes or cylinders composing them.
Ao reached. for instance. AZ many as POS
turns u minute. and obtained sparks which
burned tho skin like u caustic. and made
the blood In tho veins gush out. A second
German savant ignited ether with tho spark.
and little later another scientist performed
the most paradoxical Of all experiments by
igniting alcohol with a jet OF water. which
served rs conductor for the electricity. In
TAG DR.. Watson demonstrated In Lon
don that tho electric sparks appeared
OF different colors according to the
nature OF tho substances from which
thoy smanatsi. Watson approached very close.
ly the true explanation OF the nature OF the
electric spark 1t Is. in fact. indebted for its
hrilliancy and specific tint to the PARTICLES de-
tachad from the more or less volHtii2od con-
ductors. 1t was tho same English savant who
hrst produced real electric light. by uniting
In action four OF the globes which furnished
him by their rotation with electricity. he pro-
duced genuine jets OF lame, which. owing to
their size and rapid succession, gave an almost
continuous illumination. During the same
year u746l two Dutch chemists discovered the
principle OF electrical condensation. They ac-
eumulated. in the famous Leyden Jars. uuanti-
ties OF electricity that were enormous for tho
epoch. and that enabled them to produce electric
phenomena of an altogether new intonsIty-tor
example. to pass an electric discharge through
the bodies Of all the soldiers of n reg ment.
After this period came long and marked
lull in tho movement toward electric iilumina-
ton. During tho second half Of the eigh-
ant ru lnlA q N~ll.t .,I,Il..