The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1903-06-25
PETER HEWITT'S LAMP
Inventor Describes the Uses of
His Electric Light.
POSSIBILITIES OF THE DEVICE.

fetal Propagation of Plant Life,
the Treatment and Cure of skim
Diseases and Will Be of Great AS
sistance In wireless Te1egraphy.
Peter Cooper Hewitt of New York
city, who was interviewed by report
er of the New York American on his
inventions and his latest device in coD.
nection with wireless telegraphy saidg
My first important invention was the
mercury vapor electric light. That Is
comparatively familiar to the public.
as it has been described several times,
can only say, in addition to what has
already been printed about it, that con-
tnued experiments have shown that 1t
is wonderfully cheap.
The efficiency of my lamp is much
greater than that of the ordinary In
candescent light. Commercially speak
| ing, In small units one obtains one cam
die power of incandescent light for ev.
cry 3.5 watts of electrical energy con-
sumed.
"My light practically in small units,
| allowing for all waste, gives one cam
die power for every half watt Of ener-
gy. That makes it cost, with equal
cost for electrical energy, only one
seventh Of the cost Of incandescent
lighting.
Many persons had made efforts to
produce light by the incandescence of
vapors in partly exhausted tubes before
I attempted it. The chief difference
between my lamp and others is that 1
succeeded In getting the major portion
Of the electrical resistance in the va
por column-the true light giving me-
dium-and / was the first to perfect a
lamp that would run commercially on
any commercial electric circuit.
Because of the presence Of mercury
In my lamp it became necessary to
keep the tube at definite temperatures,
because any variation in temperature
causes variation in the density Of the
mercurial vapor which in turn causes
variation in the conductivity of the
vapor. Adapting the phenomena o.
negative electrical resistance, which I
first developed In the lamp, to other
arts besides illumination, 1 produced
the static converter, for rectifying al
ternating currents, and the interrupter,
which has just been produced as val
liable adjunct to wireless telegraphy.
The interrupter in wireless teleg
raphy will take the place Of the spark
gap, which has always been the source
of greatest difficulty. In order to have
perfectly tuned harmony between two
wireless telegraph stations it is neces-
sary that the waves produced by the
electrical discharge should always be
Identical, which means that the dis
charge must be made under identical
conditions.
The ordinary method of d1scharging
comfortable noise and fash, requires
constant attention to the condition of
the discharging surfaces and the main
tenance Of an equal temperature at all
times. With a perfect spark gap much
ter results can be produced. Wher-
er spark gap has beep used In any
industry this deyice will result in a
simplificstion and savings, as the loss
Of current by it's use is phenomena ny
small and it's abruptness and speed arc
marvellous. 1t is evident that, having
isolated the phenomena which assem-
BILE themselves in the vapor column
and at each electrode, there will be fur
Their developments in same line. 1 do
not care at present to do more than
hint at these possibilities, as / prefer
to talk after results have been accom-
plished rather than to predict.
Some experiments have been made in
the stimulation of plant growth by
means Of my light. Plants that were
started under exactly similar condi
tons grew much more rapidly under
the influence of the light than those
which were grown in simple daylight.
These experiments were conducted in
our laboratory and were subject, Of
course, to errors, but the difference
was so marked that it was fair to con-
clude that the light will be serviceable
in forcing the growth of plants.
In the matter of the application Ct
my light to the curing of disease, can
only say now that every vapor, when
traversed by the electric current, has
the property of radiating wave lengths
peculiar to itself. Among these wave
lengths are some which are recognized
by the eye as light Of particular colors
With these are associated those Of
both greater and less length, and re-
Gently certain of the shorter waves
have been proved beneficial in curing
skin diseases and in certain cases Of
blood poisoning,
There is no doubt that these waves
can be produced in large quantities |
from some particular vapor contained
in lamp and made use Of for such
purpose. It is not generally recognized
that glass is opaque to many of the
shorter wave lengths, and it is prob
able that the lamp will therefore have
to be constructed Of some other ma
terial, such as quartz, which will allow
these waves to pass through the walls
Of the lamp.
These are among the possibilities or
the future. At present there is more |
interest in the interrupter, which |
EhOlIld no NJ oroaf acSicfapoc RI Mr. |