The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1911-03-20
MYSTERY or LIGHT
Some Luminosity So Intense the
Eyes Cannot See It.
THE RIDDLE OF THE FREELY.
60 Far II Has BaFled Science, bu,
When Il 10 Solved. as IL Eventually
viii Be, We Shall Have Light With
out Heat and the Perfect Lamp.

When Il 10 Solved rs II Eventually
viii Be, We Shall Have LIGHT With
out Heat and the Perfect Lamp.
The scientist act down small binrk
box and impntiently pushed aside thr
powerful micr0scope aud the delicate
bOlometer. III Is most discouraging.
he muttered. ITO Have such treasure
before ones eyes aud sin he unable
to grasp It,"
looked IN the little box, surprised
TO find nothing but u few brilliant lire
flies The scientist began to explain.
I'm that box Is the most efficient Il.
lnmlnant known to iunn. The radiant
output from one of those inserts cor
responds to nearly hfty waits Il can.
die. while our very best ARTIFICIAL Hin.
minant. tile Naming arc lamp. gives
only two or three waits to tile candle
The light from those Insects. us re-
corded by the bolomclpr radintes little
IL any heat. while the VERY best incan-
descent lamps WASTE more than 80 per
cent of the electrical energy In useless
heat. II could read this secret of
the insect world and make n lamp aft
er its pattern could produce 3Sl can
die power from the same current that
gives sixteen candle power today. Some
day the secret will be read"
The source Of all lisht Except the
light from ilrefiies ana their Kim is u
substance raised 10 Il temperature sur
licient to set up waves In the sur.
rounding ether. which. when falling
upon the eye. produce the sensation
we know as light. Iight waves vary
In length between one thirty-three-
thousand nd-fonr-hundrcdh and one six
ty-iive-thousandth OF au inch. the first
being extreme red aud the second ex
treme violet. Rays Of white light
have length of one forty.Gve-thou.
sandth of an inch. The sun Is a great
mass OF white hot matter 1t is the nt
mosphere that enablrs MS 10 see light.
and' outside of our atmosphere It IL ab-
suute darkness. MS dark as the interior
of Mammoth cave. IN an arc lamp Il
is the white hot particles of carbon
floating between the two electrodes
that produce light. ln the incandes.
cent lamp 1t Is the hairpin lilnment in.
side the glass globe that, when heated
by electricity, gives of light waves.
In gas and oil lamps light is produced
10y tile heated particles of carbon in the
nnmes above the wick or mantle
The eye can stand without firing q
blilliance of about five candle power
To the squire inch of surface. The or.
dinary cnndle flame gives only two or
three candle power 10 the square inch.
while the sun at zenith gives G0OO0O.
The arc light 'rnuks next to sunlight.
with l0,000 candle power an inch and
the best tungsten liamept inGandes-
cents give L0OOscandle power. This
mems That II the snnicould be chang.
ed into u ball OF nlugsten 1t would
throw Off only 1000 camille power OF
light from every square inch Of its
surface. wheu the world would be
practically dark and we should freeze
TO death IN n week. r
The prism shows that white light Is
composed of happy blend of all col
ors of the spectrum. The sun gives
the only pure white light. with the arc
lamps a close second aud the metal
iiament inrandrscents taking third
place. Sky light such ns comes from
the north on n clear day. is blush
white. Gas mnntlcs give greenish
light. open flame yellow light aud kero
sene orange ich