Evening star., 1897-03-26
ELECTRICITY WITHOUT HEAT
The Latest Stage of the Search for This
Result.
Mr. Cases Interesting Experiments
With the Blood of am
Animal.

From Electricity.
One of the most interesting AMI entor-
tanning lectures that have ever been given
before the New York Electrical Society was
that given by Mr. Willard T.. Case on
February n, the subject "Electriclty
from Carbon Without Heat" The subject
OF the direct conversion of fuel into elec-
tricity has long been an enerossiug one
among scientists, and while II has been ac-
complish.d in multitude Of ways. and
some of them quite efficient, either the cost
of the materials. the lack of efficiency.
the great trouble involved In the proper
maintenance of the operation, all COM
bined. has left the development tar short
of the ideal. so that today the burning of
coal under a boiler, the transformation OF
the latent heat OF steam into mechanical
energy, and the latter into electrical en-
ergy by means of the dynamo. with all OF its
attendant losses. SIN remains supreme.
The primary battery. of all the proposed
methods. is by far the most efficient, reach
ing theoretically an efficiency Of some ~
per cent In some types Poggendorfs chro-
mic acid battery as against some q or per
cent as the ultimate efficiency OF conversion
by means of the boiler. engine and dynamo.
The direct conversion OF the ene-gy Of
coal into electricity by means of atmos-
pheric oxygen. instead of that of zinc by
means of chemically produced oxygen. has
therefore been considered great a desid-
eratum as to attract the attention of scieu-
tIilc men the world over.
Within the past year or two graf adj
vances have undoubtedly been made and
much has been added to our knowledge at
least of what not 10 do well a. of the
directions In which work might seem profit
able.
To the layman not less than to the sr.en-
tlst has this field been attractive AMI Mr..
cases lecture Will doubtless be copied and
read quite as widely, If not more So Than
any statements OF the case that have pre-
ceded.
Marvellous as was The discovery of R,en.
gen. II was no more than that OF Hertz
ana Lerard. but ii received a popular
recognition entirely out of proportion TO
Its real relative Importance. BY many this
lS aScribed to the peculiar WaV IN Nhirh il
was presented-its first work practically
being the disclosure of the bones Of the
living organism.
Mr. Case has chosen no less happy. and
certainly less ghasJly. method of pre-
sentlng the phenomenon of direct pro-
duction of electricity by the oxidation of
carbon by atmospheric oxygen i'm mai,ing
a b2ttery in which the eloctroposifive ela-
n ent is the hydrocarbons OF the blood
He showed that by the Introduction nf a
reducing agent the blood took on th.. color
OF velnous blood, and that by pouring this
back and forth. so as TO thoroughly aerar,z
1t. ii became oxidized a il is by the lungs
end took on the bright red color of arteriaI
blood.
He next improvlsed an electric battery
ed as the conVeyer Of oxygen to the hydro
cartons, and ny connecting this with bell
caused the latter 10 ring by means Of th..
current generated.
His argument from this was that the en-
erey OF carbon could be directly converted
INTO electrical energy by means of atmos-
phtric oxygen without the generation Of
neat, provided only that the carbon he
properly prepared beforehand and that a
suitable coENeyer OF oxygen from The al
mos here to tbs prepared fuel he provided.
His ether experiments, while not new.
We're fun OF interest
The un-r!atinGm-chrom.c chloride ba:-
terry, the subject of his first experiment
was one of the prettiest in theory we have
seen, and is doubtless capable OF further
development.
His criticism OF DIR. Jacques carbon bat
terry. viz, that il is Kew only as being less
emcient than the Bradiey-C Crocker cell
seems well-founded. and the illustration of
the great advantage of nickel over iron as
used by Jacques SHOWS how the latter ap-
parent!y failed 10 avail himself of a much
better element equally at his disposal with
iron.