New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-14
: NEW FORM OF ENERGY.
.vr ELECTRICAL DISCOVERIES OF MAR
CONF IN LONDON.
s,rr1rs OF WAVES THAT CAN BE USED TO SEND
MESSAGES THROUGH THICK wALLs-coN-
LECTURES ABOUT BRAIN WAVES

vrssAGEs THROUGH THICK wALLs-CoN-
LECTURES ABOUT BRAIN WAVES.
within the last few months the scientihc world
has been gradually waking up to the immense
Liabilities Of q recent discovery by young
,,apan named Marconi. who lives in London This
discovery promises not only to develop practicai
,ssfulness equal or superior to that OF Rontgens.
..,ch IL resembles in some respects, but also u
,va fresh stimulus to a variety or fascinating
"a fruitful researches in other directions. the
-.disnce which the Bavarian professor found. 1t
IN be remembered. is invisible, and will pene-
.-.se many Opaque substances and yet possesses
q, the properties of ordinary light. That Is
:. cav. II produces photographs. and II VIII De-
- luminous when IT falls on a certain class OF
.,bstance called "fuorescent What Maroon
"a. discovered is form Of energy which must
-. called electric waves" at present. ana which
--.s at first COMPOUNDED with the so-called
~uortzian" waves but now proves to be quite
different
,s long ago as last autumn Mr. Preece. chief
.,.o,r,cian OF the British postal service made
-, ,uhlic announcement of Marconis expert
vents in telegraLhy without wires by an entireiy
,sw system; and The Tribune referred to the
srh,ect at the time. In the current number OF
a,,cClure's Magazine" however, further details
ava supplied; and while both the scientific ana
ron-scientific reader left In tantalizing sus-
r4nss in regard to the mechanism employed ana
.ore Of the processes involved, additionai nehl
"a thrown on a subject which is destined III 'iie
near future 10 command the rapt attention Oh HI
uho are interested in the mysterious phehoi''eh~
=, s,hsr waves. The effect of this young Italians
researches is sure to be far reaching
OUTSIDE A CONDUCTOR.
vhsn electricity passes along a copper wire
without INTERRUPTION ii pervades the whole OF
,ha conductor from surface 70 centre. But wnen
~. any means the current is made TO alternate 10
a,a FRO with great frequency IL confines itsel 10
IN. surface Something more happens. too. 1t
4. now believed that each time that an electric
current begins TO flow in a material conduc'oF'
u5a, is called an electro magnetic nelo Is cFe-
o.aa around II: that is 10 say. sort or strain Is
40, nm IN ether Immediately surrounding IT, AS
soo "a the current ceases, this strain is relaxed
a,a The "held" ceases TO exist. II may De mag
i,ad that. in one case. infinite series or Tiny
-,,es If force are made 10 encircle the wire at q
slioh- distance from the surface: IN the otner
casa that these rings shrink down simultane-
o,,slv into nothingness. But II the alternatlohs
NJ current In the wire be very rapid '-Voc"'
100 600 or 900 600 10 the second. then the io'
nation of these rings of force occurs with equa'
frequency and greater abruptness mus waves
are excited which proceed outwardly from the
CONDUCTOR equally in all directions, like the rip
,las on water when a stone is dropped IN. some
g the energy flung off sideways from the con-
ductor never returns. This electromagnetic
radiance which is an entirely distinct thing from
uba. goes on in the wire itself or at It's ends was
-oasa the subject Of investigation by the lale
Heinrich Hertz. Of Bonn. The oriihaht resui''
- b,s work provoked unbounded delight among
phvsicists. and lent peculiar bitterness 10 INC
grief 10 which his early death gave rise.
There is a curious discrepancy in the accounts
OF Hertz's work In some places ne ID repre-
scented as experimenting with currents having
lOOOOOOOJ alterations per second "h'ie e'ae
where he is said to have devised apparatus WIN"
gave him 500. 900 100000 waves second i"e
nrrbar however. is immaterial for present pur-
poses The great discovery which ne h'"u0 ""'
thai he could retract these waves by peculiar
rr,sro could reflect them and make them exhibit
what are called the interference" and "poiar'-
..+ion" nhanomera Of light He also discovered
o. these waves or rays travelled with the Ve-
,oc,+v Of light. His conclusions have been gen.
.-onr received by the leading scientific autnori-
ties Of the day.
HERTZ'S EXPERIMENTS.
Now. Hertz would set up exceedingly rap'u
.r-y,nes Of current in one metallic conductor
and then place second conductor a' u'S
from +, in what was found to be an advan-
tageous position. The magnetic waves thrown
of laterallv from the primary conductor through
snace would be caught by the secondary, anu
could be made TO manifest themselves In various
WQS
ever. when the secondary was tuned so as 70
respond: that is TO say. 1t was especlails ue
sig, ed 70 vtbrate more naturally at the same
rate as the radiance from the primary WIZ ''''''
at any other frequency
When Marconi's experiments were nrst re-
ported II was said that his waves were the
same as those with which the name OF the
great Bonn investigator is so closely associated.
He may have believed 1t himself at nrst. Anu
Il was supposed. therefore. that his receiver
Was tuoed "resonator' of the Hertz pattern.
But the interesting interview which "McCiures
Magazine" now prints indicates that oii-
terert kind Of radiance is involved For IN
stance, he says that in future he Will aoahooi'
the use Of the parabolic mirror hitherto en-
ployed 10 focus the rays as searchight does
He is now satisfied that it would be of no value
Nor q, n-esent does he know Of any kind or
,a,s that would perform the Office Of concen-
,rs+ion He evinces hope that invention may
VET find a way 10 stop progress in all Other
directions and compel the waves all TO go In
onea highly desirable contamination in prac-
,,c., ,olagranhv But thus far, his rays do not
eaor, % n. susceptible Of reflection or refrac-
,ion IKE light and the Hertzian waves. More
over Nfarconi saws that the radiance which ne
euploys has a higher penetrative power than
that Of Hertz. He believes that IT will go
through ANYTHING and everything. The rate or
alienation he used was 2J0,000,0O0 per second.
but he experimented with waves OF different
lengths. from thirty metres Cor 100 feeD down to
ten inches.
WHAT MARCoNI HAS DONE.