The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1911-03-24
MYSTERY OF LIGHT
Some Luminosity So Intense the
Eyes Cannot See It.
THE RIDDLE OF THE FREELY.
So Far II Has Ratified Science, but
When 1t Is Solved, as 1t Eventually
Will Be, We Shall Have Light With.
LnaA -.l ktn po.r~nA

Wnen " Is solved, as IL eventually
Will Be, We Shall Have Light With.
out Heat and the Perfect Lamp
The scientist set down a small black
box and impatiently pushed aside the
powerful microscope and the delicate
bolOmeter. 1T is most discouraging,"
he muttered, ito have such treasure
before ones eyes and still be unable
to grasp it."
| looked Ia the little box, surprised
TO find nothing but few brilliant fire.
flies. The scientist began to explain.
in that box is the most efficient H.
luminant known to man. The radiant
output from one of those insects cor
responds TO nearly fifty watts can
die, while our very best artificial illu-
minant, the flaming are lamp, gives
only two or three watts to the candle.
The light from those insects. as re-
corded by the bolometer, radiates little
IL any heat. while the very best mean
descent lamps waste more than 90 per
cent of the electrical energy In useless
heat. II l could read this secret of
the insect world and make lamp aft
er its pattern | could produce 1884 can
die power from the same current that
gives sixteen candle power today. Some
day the secret viii be read"
The source of all light Except the
light from 6re6ies and their kim Is
substance raised to temperature suf-
ficient to set up waves In the sur
rounding ether, which, when falling
upon the eye, produce the sensation
we know as light. Light waves vary
In length between one thirty-three-
thousand four-hundredth and one six
ty-fve-thousan6th of an inch, the first
being extreme red and the second ex-
treme violet. Rays of white light
have length of one forty-flve-thou.
sandth OF an inch. Tho sun Is a great
mass of white hot matter. 1t Is the at
mosphere that enables us TO see light,
and outside of our atmosphere 1t is alb.
solute darkness, as dark as the interior
of Mammoth cave. In an arc lamp 1t
is the white hot particles of carbon
floating between the two electrodes
that produce light. In the incandes-
cent lamp II is the hairpin hlament In
side the glass globe that, when heated
by electricity, gives of light waves.
In gas and oil lamps light Is produced
by the heated particles of carbon in the
flames above the wick or mantle.
The eye can stand without firing a
brilliance of about Eve candle power
to the square inch of surface. The Or
binary candle fame gives only two or
three candle power to the square inch,
while the sun at zenith gives 100000.
The are light ranks next TO sunlight,
with 10000 candle power an inch, and
the best tungsten fllament incandes-
cents give 1000 candle power. This
means that lf the sun could be chang
ed into ball of tungsten 1t would
throw Off only 1000 candle power of
light from every square inch of its
surface. when the world would be
| practically dark and we should freeze
| to death in week.
| 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 close second and the meta
filament incandescents taking thirt
place. Sky light, such as comes from
the north on clear day, is blush
white. Gas nantes give greenisf
light, open flame yellow light and lsero
seDe orange light.
By the laws of evolution the human
eye has become accustomed TO sun
light, or sky light, coming obllqueiy
| from above, and our eyes resent light
coming from any other source. Snow
blindness. distress from white sand or
water, is the result of violating this
rule. The upper eyelid Is adapted to
shade the eye from strong light
from above. The lower lid cannot per-
form this office, so when strong light
Is reflected up into the eyes 1t blinds
us.
The X rny has proved beyond doubt
that there are light rays which move
too fast for human eyes to register.
This light penetrates books, wood, pa
per and even human flesh. With the
Horoscope to assist our eyes we can
see the bones In our arm without both
ering to remove coat or shirt. But a
man with X ray eyes would be sadly
handicapped In this world, for he
could see nothing but solids, such as
eartbs and metals, and would be I'M
able to see board fence at all. Be
yond doubt there Is light so bright
that the eyes cannot see 1t, and to us
all is darkness beyond what our eyes
will register
Light rays themselves are invisible.
When they move through the ether
alone our eyes cannot see them, conse-
quently all is total darkness. But
when they meet with the resistance of
our atmosphere, producing heat, they
register ON the retina and-behold, we
| can sect As the atmosphere thins
| rapidly as we go upward, so In pro-
portion the air resistance dIminishes.
| and consequently the heat of the sun
seems to grow less This explains
why the tops of high mountains are
always covered with snow.
| Many wonderful discoveries have
been recorded In the illuminating field
of late. and it is safe to say that this
branch of science affords one OF the
greatest fields for research and inven-
ton. Each year our artificial illumi-
nants are improved. but they are far
from being perfect. Not until the Sc
cret of the freely Is read and light is
produced without heat will our even
ing lamps be perfect Chicago Record
Herald