IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GALVANIC BATTERIES, IN THE FORMATION OF MAGNETS, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM FOR THE PURPOSE OF LIGHTING AND SIGNALIZING, AS ALSO A MODE OR MODES OF EMPLOYING THE SAID GALVANIC BATTERIES, OR SOME OF THEM, FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING CHEMICAL PRODUCTS
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARDS STAITE, of Lombard Street, in the City of London, Gentleman,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty. Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twelfth day of July,
One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, in the twelfth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Edwards Staite, my exors, admňors, and assigns, Her especial licence,
full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Edwards
Staite, my exors, adñññors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Edwards Staite, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all IIer
said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF GALVANIC BATTERIES, IN THE FORMATION OF
MAGNETS, AND IN THE APPLICATION OF ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM FOR THE
PURPOSE OF LIGHTING AND SIGNALIZING, AS ALSO A MODE OR MODES OF EMPLOYING
THE SAID GALVANIC BATTERIES, OR SOME OF THEM, FOR THE PURPOSE OF OBTAINING
CHEMICAL PRODUCTS," parts of which improvements have been communicated to
me by a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained

page_text: a proviso that I, the said William Edwards Staite, shall cause a particular
description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Edwards Staite, hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, are fully ascertained and
described in and by the present Specification thereof, reference being bad to
the Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say:-
Firstly, my improvements in the construction of galvanic batteries consist
in making them on what I call the "perfluent" system of supply and
discharge, to contradistinguish it from the "percolating" system which has
recently come into extensive use. According to the percolating system, the
liquid employed (usually sulphuric acid) is supplied to and discharged from
each of the cells of the battery in separate and distinct streams or series of
drops, the liquid, as it becomes exhausted, though not entirely so, dropping
out through an orifice in the bottom of the cell, and being then allowed to
run to waste, and the place of the discharged liquid being supplied by fresh.
drops descending from above into each cell. But according to the new
system, to which I have given the name of "perfluent," the liquid is supplied
in one stream only, which passes continuously through the entire series of
cells, entering by the first cell of the series, and passing off through the last.
The great loss attending the imperfect exhaustion of the portions of liquid
discharged from each cell is thus avoided; for the liquid, flowing in one stream
through the whole of the cells one after the other, becomes completely
exhausted, or as nearly so as may be, before its final discharge from the last
of the cells. In ordinary, galvanic batteries, when a perforation is made in
the partition between any two of the cells so that they may communicate
transversely with one another, a considerable diminution of electric intensity is
known to be the result, that no such diminution is observed to take place in
the perfluent battery from bringing the cells into communication with one
another, owing to the circuitous course it is made to take between cell and cell.
In proportion, of course, as the duration of the transit through each cell is
shortened, the chance must be proportionally lessened of each portion of the
Jiquid coming into contact with the acting metal or element in that cell, yet,
as no drop of the fresh liquid supplied to the battery can make its way to the

page_text: final discharge outlet without going through the whole of the cells, what it
misses in the first cell it is sure to encounter in one or other of the remaining
cells. The cells last in order of a perfluent battery necessarily act less power-
fully than the earlier cells of the series, as, for example, the last six cells
of a series, as compared with the first six. The diminution of power, that is
to say,
the quantity of electricity which the cells are capable of circulating,
does not appear, however, to follow exactly in the ratio of the strength of the
exciting liquids, for the difference in power between the middle and initial
cells of a series is proportionally not so great as the difference between the
middle and the terminal cells. When it is desirable to obtain intensity in the
electric current rather than great quantity, the terminal cells should be made
about equal to the quantitative power of the others by uniting the similar
conducting wires of several cells together, and using them as if proceeding
from one cell. Thus, as it would be technically expressed, the last three, cells
in a fifteen-cell battery (say the 15th, 14th, and 18th) might be connected
for quantity, and the two next preceding pairs (say the 12th and 11th and
10th and 9th) be connected also for quantity), and the first eight cells might be
worked singly, in the usual manner of a series. But however great may be
the differences in power between the initial, middle, and terminal cells of a
series, I find that in each cell, regarded by itself apart from the others, the
degree of exhaustion, and consequently of electric action, is always very nearly
uniform throughout every part of the cell. In consequence, moreover, of the
liquid being in a state of continuous flow, and never acting on any one part
of the cells more than another, the zinc or other metal employed wears much
more evenly than in the percolating battery, or any other with which I am
acquainted.
The details of a battery constructed on this perfluent principle are repre-
sented in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Drawings annexed.
Figure 1 is a view of the battery, as seen from above; Figure 2 is
a vertical longitudinal section; Figure 3 is a view of the trough from
beneath; and Figure 4 is a vertical cross section. A is a wooden trough,
the parts of which are firmly bolted together. a, a, are slate partitions, the
edges of which fit closely into the sides and bottom of the trough, and are
about two and a half inches apart; b, b, are thicker partitions of wood, which
are inserted at short intervals, say every six cells, and made fast to the sides
by screws and nuts; c, c', are two parallel rows of holes made in the bottoms
of the cells, two in each; d, d', are two corresponding rows of wooden covers,
which are made fast by marine glue and screws to the bottom of the trough
(see Figure 3), one underneath each adjoining pair of holes, as c, c, or c', c',

page_text: with the exeeption of the two end ones, which cover one cell only; c is a
groove cut out in the upper surface of each cover, and made just of width
enough to embrace two of the cell holes, as c, c, or c', c¹, and so establish a
channel of communication between them; f is an aperture made in the
bottom of the end cover of the series of holes d, and f¹ a similar aperture in
the bottom of the opposite end of the same series of holes, into each of which
apertures there is inserted a piece of copper tubing, to which there is attached
one end of a flexible hose g or g¹ (made of vulcanized caoutchouc, gutta
percha, or any other suitable substance or combination of substances), which
terminates at the other end in a funnel h or h'; and i, ', are eye-bolts affixed
to the ends of the trough on the outside, which respectively sustain in an
upright position the funnels h and h¹, there being a slit or opening in the eye
of such bolt to admit the neck of the funnel. The whole of the inside of the
trough is well coated with marine glue. The mode of operation with this
apparatus is as follows:-The liquid is poured in at the funnel h, and passes
into the first cell through the hole c' of that cell. From the first cell it goes
out through the hole c into the first of the grooved covers of the series d',
whence it flows into the second cell through the hole c of that cell. From the
second cell it next passes through the hole c of that cell into the second of the
grooved covers of the series d, and so on to the end of the series (as indicated
by the arrows in Figure 1) when it discharges itself through the flexible hose
g¹ and funnel h¹ into a receiving vessel K. The arrangement just described
is, however, chiefly suitable for such forms of battery that use but one sort of
exciting liquid, but in batteries where two fluids are used, as those of Daniel,
Groves, and Callan, it may be expedient to adopt the modification of the
perfluent system represented in Figures 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. The internal
cells in this case are supposed to be made of earthenware, or some other
porous material.
Figure 5 is a side view of one of these cells, and Figure 6 a vertical
section across the middle. A hole is made in the bottom of this cell Q.
and into this hole a varnished copper tube r, with a collar and washer of
vulcanized caoutchouc at top, is dropped. The tube is pulled tightly down
upon the washer, in order to prevent any of the liquid escaping between the
washer and the bottom of the cell. Or, instead of this arrangement, one of
the description represented in Figures 7 and 8 may be substituted. S is
a cradle, which is cemented on to the
glue, and encloses it completely.
under end of the cell by marine
The tube R is screwed on to the
bottom of the cradle, and through it up to the hole in the cell. In
both cases the tube has an oval aperture w cut transversely through it,

page_text: and terminates at its under end in a sold screw point. The trough for
the reception of porous cells of this description is made in the manner
represented at Figures 9 and 10, the former being a transverse vertical section
of the trough through the centre of one of the cells, and the latter a longitu-
dinal vertical section. In these Figures the cradle on the plan, Figures 7
and 8, is supposed to be adopted. Q is the internal porous cell, and Y, the
zinc plate suspended therein. X, X, are the plates of negative surface (say
copper) placed outside of the porous cell. Z, Z, Z, are the sides and bottom
of the trough, the spaces (m, m) between which and the porous cell form the
external cell which contains the second fluid (say, sulphate of copper). A is
an open channel for the discharge of the second fluid which runs along the
outside of one wall of the trough near to the top, and communicates by lateral
apertures (p, p,) in the wall with the spaces inside m, m, appropriated to that
fluid. V is a grooved or channelled under-cover, similar to those employed in
the apparatus first before described, which extends along the bottom of the
trough from end to end, and comes immediately under the line of holes in
the porous cells (Q). The lower end of the tube r, which is attached as
aforesaid to the bottom of each porous cell, and enclosed by the cradle, is
passed downwards through an orifice in the bottom of the trough, and also
through another orifice in the bottom of the under-cover V, till the oval aper-
ture w in the tube coincides with the groove t in the bottom of V, so that
when the whole of the cells are fixed in their places the channel t forms,
through the medium of the apertures w, w, a common channel of communi-
cation between all the cells. U is a nut which takes on to the end of the
solid screw point of the tube r, and by turning which the parts S, r, V, and Z,
are all screwed tightly together. For the sake of greater security against
leakage, and against the intermixture of one of the fluids with the other,
washers of vulcanized caoutchouc are inserted between the cradle S and the
bottom of the trough, and between the bottom of the grooved channel V and
the shoulder of the nut U. E is a second under-cover which runs parallel to
V (on one or either side of it), the groove e in which second cover communi-
cates by a series of holes n, n, with the external cells above, containing the
second fluid, and thus serves as a common channel through which these cells
may be supplied from a flexible hose similar to that before described. The
second fluid is, after passing through the external cells, discharged from the
end of the channel A. The perfluent system may be also carried into effect
by employing syphons instead of the grooved under-covers (d, d', V, and E)
before described to transmit the liquid from cell to cell successively, as shewn
in Figure 11, which represents two adjacent cells of a battery. The long end

page_text: A of the syphon descends to near the bottom of one cell, in order that it may
carry over the densest portion of the liquid therein, and deliver it through the
short end B into the next cell; or if the liquid employed is of such a nature
that it becomes lighter as it becomes exhausted (sulphate of copper, for
instance), then the legs of the syphon are reversed, the liquid entering it by
the short end, and being carried over by the long end. By adopting this
syphon plan the breakage or upsetting of one cell of a series will not cause
any loss of liquid from the rest, although the liquid will continue at the same
time perfluent, nor will the syphons empty themselves until the last portion of
liquid is removed from the cells, which need not be done during the time of
replenishing or changing the liquids.
The syphon plan just described may be applied with special advantage to a
form of battery which has been for some time in use, and is represented in
Figures 12, 13, 14, and 15, with some appendages, however, marked f, g, h,
and i, which do not belong to this apparatus as originally constructed and
hitherto known, inasmuch as that application would convert it at once into a
perfluent battery nearly equal to that first herein-before described.
Figure 12 is a top plan of this battery; Figure 13 a longitudinal vertical
section; Figure 14 an under view of the trough; and Figure 15 a vertical
cross section. In its general construction this battery resembles that first
herein-before described, with the exception that, though all the cells communi-
cate at bottom with one common discharge channel, the liquid does not flow
continuously from one cell to another though the whole series; but supposing
all the holes in the bottoms of the cells were stopped up, and syphous applied
to each pair of cells, as has been just described, then there would be a con-
tinuous flow of the liquid throughout the entire series, from the last of which
it might be discharged in an exhausted state by a flexible hose similar to that
represented in Figure 2.
Secondly, my Invention consists of certain improved modes of regulating
the supply and discharge of the liquids employed in galvanic batteries.
The first mode which I shall describe will be found particularly applicable
to a battery such as that referred to at the close of preceding head of this
Specification, and consists in using it with the new appendages to it, f, g, h,
and i before mentioned, and in manner following:-In that battery, as hitherto
constructed, the discharge has been effected by the means represented in
Figures 16 and 17. Into the wooden partition, at one end of the trough, is
imbedded a syphon k, l, one leg of which k opens into the channel e, and the
other leg passes through the bottom of the trough. The short end of the
เ
syphon is made to be on a level with the intended height of the liquid. in

page_text: the trough; and there is a small aperture m in the highest part of the bend
which communicates with a hole n cut in the wood, which has a seat around
it, half way up on which lies a washer of vulcanized caoutchouc o. The broad
end of a screw p screws down on to this seat, presses on the washer, and
closes the hole air-tight. When the cells are filled up the syphon discharges
all the liquid from the channel of every cell in, the trough, and when the
screw p is turned loose, the bent tube k, l, no longer acts as a syphon, but
simply discharges liquid, as its level may rise beyond the level of the bend.
The fresh liquid is introduced in any convenient manner at the top of each
of the cells. When it is desired merely to replenish the exhausted liquid, or
when it is required to fill up all the cells with fresh liquid after they have
been partially emptied, the whole quantity of liquid necessary is poured into.
one of the cells, and spreads in equal quantities to every cell. My improve-
ment in this arrangement consists in substituting the flexible hose g and
funnel h, and their respective appendages, for the discharge syphon repre-
sented in Figures 16 and 17; and in working these in the manner to be next
described; the flexible hose g is lowered, as shewn in Figure 13 at regular
intervals of, say 15, 20, or 30 minutes (according to the quantity of liquid
contained in the cells, and the rate of action of the electricity, and the degree
of steadiness required in the current), and at each time a portion of the
partially used liquid is allowed to run out. After which the hose is raised
again, and the funnel h replaced in its original vertical position, when a quan-
tity of fresh liquid equal to that which has been just discharged is poured
into the funnel, and is conveyed thence into the cells through the common.
channel e. When this battery is so worked the liquid will be always kept
about three fourths exhausted, or nearly so, in which condition the battery
may in some cases be worked up to about two thirds of its power. There
will always, however, be a slight waste, as the liquid must of necessity be
always discharged with about one fourth of its power unused.
A second mode of supplying the cells has relation to the case in which the
liquids become specifically heavier by working the battery (as, for example
dilute sulphuric acid). I cause a constant influx into each cell by means of
a pipe or trough extending along the top of the battery, having a small
orifice over each cell, so that the liquid with which the pipe is charged shall
drop gradually into each cell c, and the liquid is drawn off from all the cells
simultaneously by means of a common under channel e. The funnel or other
vessel of supply is fixed in an upright bearing just about the level at which.
it is intended to keep the liquid inside the cells. By this arrangement all.

page_text: the cells are kept practically at the same level, and no attention to each cell
separately is requisite.
A third mode of carrying this branch of my Invention into effect has rela-
tion to liquids which become specifically lighter by the working of the battery
(as, for instance, sulphate of copper). The cells are replenished by continual
outflow from a supply vessel fixed at a higher level than the liquid in the
cells (similar to A in Figure 9), through holes or spouts placed at the required
level in the side of each cell. This, in practice, ensures an equal feed for
every cell while the battery is working; because, if any cell were worse
supplied than the rest with fresh liquid from the bottom, it would in a short
time become more exhausted than the rest, and consequently specifically
lighter, which would make it attain a higher hydrostatic level, and overflow
more abundantly than the others.
A fourth mode has reference to porous cell batteries, and is based on the
supposition that the batteries are regularly supplied with liquid. The object
in this case is so to proportion the supply to the amount of current produced,
so that any given portion of the liquid (say, sulphate of copper solution)
supplied to the lower part of one division of each cell shall become exhausted
by the time it has worked its way to the surface, when (supposing the solution
to have been sulphate of copper, it will have become transformed into a clear
solution of dilute sulphuric acid,) I allow the exhausted solution to flow over the
upper edge of the porous cell into the zinc compartment (instead of drawing it
away, and supplying the acid to the zine from another cistern) when this solution
becomes gradually charged with zinc, and is finally drawn off exhausted a second
time from the bottom of the zinc cells by the means pointed out in Figure 15, or
by any other suitable arrangement.
Thirdly, my Invention consists in attaching to all galvanic batteries in which
a gradual change of liquid is required an equilibrited hydraulic cistern and
graduated meter, such as represented in Figures 18 and 19. A is a cask
closed at top, so as to prevent the free action of the atmospheric pressure on
the surface of the liquid contained in it; and b is an orifice, near to the bottom,
which opens into a small outer cistern c. This arrangement ensures that the
liquid flowing through any channel from the little cistern c will always flow a
the same rate, whether the cistern be full or nearly empty. From this little
cistern a loose piece of vulcanized caoutchouc tubing d proceeds, and is con
nected with the glass tube e, from which is suspended the meter f, having a
small hole at the bottom, so that the rate of flow out of this hole is indicated
by the height at which the surface of the liquid stands. The meter is gradu

page_text: ted to units, which shew the amount of flow requisite to supply the chemical
ction which is going on in the battery when the electric current is circulating
t a rate indicated by corresponding units on the galvanometer herein-after
described (Figure 20, which is included in the circuit. The meter, with its
tube d, is suspended, so as to enable the rate of flow to be adjusted by hanging
it on an altered level (in relation to the cistern), according as the galvano-
meter may indicate to be necessary. The parts d, c, form in fact a syphon,
which only requires to be filled with liquid when the apparatus is first set in
action after the cistern is charged. The liquid issuing from the meter is
received by a funnel h, or otherwise led to the battery.
Fourthly, my Invention consists in the employment, in galvanic batteries
having copper or mercury for the negative element, of a liquid amalgam of zinc
and mercury, enclosed in a bag or case of lawn or horse-hair cloth, or any
other finely reticulated fabric, but not made of metal, which allows of the acid
passing freely through its meshes to act on the bottom and sides of the zinc
I am aware that
amalgam, while the bag or case retains the amalgam itself.
a liquid amalgam of zinc and mercury has been before used in place of an
amalgamated surface of solid zinc, but, to the best of my knowledge, never in
the way here proposed.
Fifthly, my Invention consists in the substitution in galvanic batteries of
solid plates made of an amalgam of zinc and mercury, in the proportion of five
parts of the former to one part of the latter, for the zinc plates ordinarily
employed.
Sixthly, my Invention consists in the employment of lead as the positive
element in galvanic batteries (instead of the zinc which is now commonly used),
combined with a solution of nitric acid or of acetic acid, in some one or other of
the forms best calculated to act on the lead. The best negative element in this
case would be a surface of platinum, but most of the other negative elements,
which have been hitherto used, may be also employed with the lead.
Seventhly, my Invention consists of an improved galvanometer, represented
in section, Figure 20, which is to be attached to the battery in order to indicate
to the eye the exact amount of galvanic electricity which is being circulated at
any particular moment. The galvanometers usually employed for measuring
the quantity of an electric current are incapable of being used while the
5 battery is applied to perform its work, nor can they indicate the amount of
action or electricity circulating while such work is being performed, and these,
with several other defects, such as their indications or degrees, varying in a
different ratio to that of the quantity of electricity passing, cause such galvano
meters to be useless for most practical purposes.

page_text: My new galvanometer is such that it can be made a permanent adjunct to
or part of the battery, so as to be always indicating what amount of electricity
is circulating when any sort of duty is being performed by it, and the weights
of materials combining or used per minute at any particular time. The
importance of these improvements may be measured by this consideration, that
the cost of working a battery depends but little on the size of its elements, and
varies precisely according to the rate at which its electricity is used by any
particular work which it is set to perform. This improved galvanoincter consists
of a thick piece of insulated copper wire A, wound round a wooden or brass
cylindrical centre, fitted with ends C, C. One end of this coil is in metallic
connection with the positive or negative pole of the battery, and the other
extremity is placed in connection with the part of the lamp (or other piece of
mechanism for actuating which the battery is used) which would receive the
conductor from the said pole of the battery. In fact, this galvanometer forms
part of one of the conductors of the battery, which conveys its electricity to
perform its assigned work. In the hollow cylindrical centre of the coil there
is placed a rod of soft iron d, as shewn in the Drawing, which moves loosely up
and down in it, and is prolonged by a short brass stem or index e.
A gradu-
ated scale f is fixed to and rises from the upper end c of the coil, so as to shew
the height at which the electric influence causes the index to stand. The
graduations are represented in the Drawing as marked on a glass tube, within
which the index and rod d slide. These graduations are so made as to indi-
cate the number of grains of pure zinc consumed per minute in each cell of the
galvanic series, the current produced by which causes the index to stand at
each such division of the scale. Any galvanometer of this kind can be gradu-
ated from a standard one, by connecting both in the same circuit, and by
working a Wheatstone's rheostat, also included in the circuit, until the standard
galvanometer indicates the particular units or degrees, when a similar mark
should be made at the point to which the index is directed on the scale of the
other galvanometer. The standard can be graduated by ascertaining experi-
mentally the weight of zinc consumed per minute; but a less tedious process is
to graduate it from a Petric's galvanometer, which indicates all the required units
of clectricity, and their fractions, by means of weights, the accuracy of that
instrument being first tested by one such direct experiment on the zinc
consumed.
"
My improved galvanometer may be made of a shorter and. thicker, wire,
making fewer coils, if the iron rod is partially counterpoised by a spring or
weights, or bydrostatically with mercury.
Eighthly, my Invention consists in the formatio, of magnets in manner

page_text: following: -The best Swedish charcoal iron is to be "converted," not in the
ordinary manner, but only a slight carbonization, or what is technically termed,
carbonizing it "just steel through." The blistered product is then melted and
cast, and the ingot resulting from the process is rolled out into thick sheet
metal.
Ninthly, my Invention consists in the following improved mode of hardening
magnets previous to magnetizing them :-Instead of heating them, as usual, in
an ordinary furnace or sand bath, I heat them in a bath of melted metal raised
to a red heat (using, by preference, lead); first polishing the magnets in order
to prevent the lead or its oxide from adhering to their surfaces; the heat of
the lead being only just sufficient to harden the magnets on taking them out
of the bath. I afterwards plunge them into water.
Tenthly, my Invention has relation to the mode of obtaining light by elec-
tricity, for which I obtained former Letters Patent, for England and the
Colonies, on the Third day of July, One thousand eight hundred and forty-
seven, and consists, first of all, in an improved mode of giving motion
to the lower electrode. Figures 21 and 22 are representations of a lamp
embodying this improvement. The skeleton of this lamp is similar in
all respects to that of the lamp represented in the Specification of my
last Patent; (that is to say,)-there is, as before, a foundation plate of
wood A, a sole plate B of brass firmly connected by pillars C, and a three-
legged stand K, rising virtically from the sole plate B, the feet of which
are fastened to B by nuts beneath, but insulated from it by circular
A hole
washers of dry bard wood (of the form shown in section i, j).
is bored vertically down through the centre of the top of the stand K, into
which hole the upper electrode N is fixed by three metal wedges, jambed into
key ways or channels sloping upwards and outwards, so as to keep the inner
faces of the wedges parallel to the central axis, and a glass shade is fixed to the
sole plate B, so as to cover K. The new parts are as follows:-H, G, is a
shaft, which slides vertically in the central axis of the lamp through holes in
A and B, and has a socket at top, which carries the lower electrode M. The
lower part G is cut with teeth, which work into a pinion F, which turns on a
spindle in fixed supports. A barrel F is attached to the pinion F; and
a weight W is suspended by a string which passes round F¹ and is. fixed to it,
so as to counterpoise the weight of H, G. On the spindle of the pinion F is
fixed a wheel E, having square teeth. A lever T turns loose on the same
spindle as a fulcrum, and carries a double paul U, V, which turns on a pin
which projects from the side of T, so that this paul U, V, can lock into the
teeth of the wheel E in either direction. A long horizontal lever passes

page_text: over this paul from a joint or fulcrum a, and this lover carries a light spring or
tongue 6 close beneath it, the end of which is kept from springing away from
the lever by resting in a step in a little stirrup or fork d, which is attached to
the lever Q, and embraces the wheel E and the end V of the paul. The paul
and its lever T are kept in a state of slow vibration from side to side
by means of a crank S, which works in a fork at the end of T, the
crank S being made to revolve by an ordinary train of wheelwork enclosed
in the case A2, furnished with an escapement or fly-wheel, and driven
by spring power or weight. When the lever Q is turned a little downwards
its tongue 6 presses V into the teeth of the wheel E, and the vibratory motion
of T causes V to drive the wheel round notch by notch. The wheel does not
follow the paul in its back motion at every stroke, for this is better ensured by
having a spring n (Fig. 22) fixed to A, and pressing against the side of G.
This motion of the wheel causes the pinion to elevate the rack G slowly, so as
to raise its electrode M towards N; but when the lever Q is raised or turned
upwards the notch in the stirrup lifts the tongue 6 off V, and allows U, the
heaviest end of the paul, to drop into the teeth of the wheel E. This drives
it round in a contrary direction, so as to lower the rack F, and draws its
electrode M further from N. Whenever the lever Q is raised the lower step
in the stirrup d catches the sides of V, and draws it (V) up out of the teeth
of the wheel in case V should have become jambed or hitched in the teeth,
so that the counter weight of U might be unable to release it. The means of
which the end of the lever Q is raised or lowered are these:-R is a regulator
coil, such as is described in the Specification of my last Patent; one end of
its wire is connected with the binding screw e, and the other end L is brought
up and fixed in contact with K. An iron rod O moves freely up and down in
the central hole of the coil, and is prolonged upwards by a stem of wood p,
by which it hangs to the end of the lever Q in the manner shown in the
Drawings (Figures 21 and 22). The rod O passes through a hole in the
centre of a cup y, which screws into the bottom of the coil case. Around O
there is a circular weight X, called an equilibrium weight, which rests on a
small step in O when O is raised, and when O sinks below its medium position
is left behind resting on the edge or rim of y. The object of this arrangement
is, that when O is actuated by a force cqual to its own weight added to half
the weight of X, then it will have a tendency to return to its medium position
with a force of half the weight of X, whether it be raised higher or sunk
lower than that position. The mode of action is as follows:-The end of the
negative wire from the battery is set in the binding screw f, and is conducted
thence by a metal connection to the supports of the spindle of the pinion and

page_text: to the spring n.
The current passes through these into the rack, thence to
the lower electrode M, from which. it' passes to the upper one N, producing
the light between them. From N it proceeds through the stud K to the
wire L of the regulator; thence to the clamp c, which is in connection with the
other end of the regulator wire, and into which the positive wire from the
battery is clamped to complete the electric circuit. The current in passing
through the regulator tends to raise the iron centre 0, which, being connected
to the lever Q, is counterpoised by the weight W, which screws along an
extension of the lever beyond the fulcrum a. To put the lamp into adjust-
ment, the driving 'gear being wound up, and the battery being in a state of
activity fit for the permanent action intended to produce the light, and its
wires connected with e'and f, as described; the lever Q is raised by hand until
the electrodes have separated to the greatest extent compatible with obtaining
a permanent light from them. The screwed weight W₁ is turned backwards or
forwards until it keeps O balanced, just' so as not to sink below its medium
position when the electrodes are separated as aforesaid. When in this
position the shoulder of 'O touclies' the weight X, which is resting on the rim
of y. The lever Q'carries a little projecting piece or catch g, which meets the
bent arms attached to the crank spindle S, and thus arrests the motion of the
crank when the lever lies so 'that O is in its medium position; but whenever
it rises above or sinks below that point the catch g'allows h, h, to pass beneath
or over it accordingly, so that the crank can revolve freely, and work the
ratchet U, V.
Another improvement in the lamp consists in substituting for the upper
electrode previously employed a disc or circular electrode fixed on an axis,
which disc has a slow motion. imparted to it in any given direction by the
moving power employed in the lamp. Impinging on the periphery of this
dise there is a metal scraper which keeps the edge of the disc clean and free
from the particles of carbon which are projected upon it by the other elec-
trode, and which ordinarily collects in the shape of a button on the point of
the electrode. A front view of a lamp on this plan is given in Figure 23, and
a side or edge view in Figure 24. A' is the disc, which is shown in section
in Figure 24; it resembles in its-form two cones' placed base to base, so that
there is always one sharp or feather edge in sight (so to speak) of the negative
electrode, which is of the ordinary single-cone form. B is the scraper; B
is a frame which carries the "shaft C, to which the disc electrodo A is
attached; D and E are a bevilled wheel and pinion, which gear into one
another, the latter being fixed to the shaft G. At the bottom of this shaft
there is another wheel H, to which the clockwork or other apparatus for

page_text: giving motion is attached. The shaft G₁ may be insulated in various ways,
either by the interposition of plates of ivory or wood (J; K) screwed together,
or by gutta percha or india rubber rings. Instead of the shaft G, and the
wheel and pinion D and E, a metallic chain may be used working over a
pulley or pullies, the object being to give a very slow motion only (say one
revolution an hour) to the circular disc of carbon, and for the purpose solely
of keeping the edge of the disc sharp and free from the projected particles, as
described.
Another improvement consists in the employment of iridium as an electrodo
which is suitable for smaller lights. Iridium, being of all known metals the
hardest and most intractable, will bear an excessive degree of heat without
fusing. To adapt it for electrodes I prepare it as follows:-I fuse oxide of
the metal in a cupel of bone-ash under the voltaic arc, by which means it is
brought under the action of the most intense heat with which we are
acquainted. Having obtained an ingot of the metal, I submit the same to
the constant action of heat for the purpose of annealing it, and for this purpose
I use one or more large jets from an oxyhydrogen blowpipe. When the ingot
is at a white heat I pass it between rollers or hammer it, repeating the process
again and again until the metal is sufficiently annealed to be worked up into
the required shape. Sometimes I mix platinum with the iridium, and some-
times copper, in small quantities, which facilitates the annealing. Sometimes
also I cut it into thin strips from the ingot, in the same way as precious
stones are cut by the lapidary. For lighting purposes I use either a thin
strip of the iridium so prepared and cut off, or a combination of iridium with
platinum, or of iridium with copper, or a spiral coil of the iridium as a solid
electrode. Platinum strips and platinum wire have been used before, and
are well known; but iridium so prepared has never, to the best of my know-
ledge, been before used for the purposes of lighting. To increase the tempe-
rature of the metallic electrode A', I sometimes pass the metallic holders
B, B, through a block of glass D, D, D, or some other similar bad conductor
of heat (as represented in Figure 25), so that the heat and radiant light may
be developed with as little loss of the former as possible by radiation.
An elevation of a small iridium bracket lamp is given in Figure 25° & 25b.
A is the electrode of iridium, which is fused on or otherwise fixed to two
pieces of platinum B, B, which are fixed into two copper or other metallic
holders C, C. These holes are insulated by means of ivory, wood, or vulcanized
india rubber washers D, D, or some other suitable non-conducting-substances,
so as to prevent contact with the bottom metal plate of the lamp E: To one
of the metallic holders a copper wire (a'), passing through the hollow tube

page_text: B', is connected with one pole of the battery; and the electric circuit is com-
pleted, and the current made to pass through the brasswork of the lamp to
the electrode by turning the ivory knob X, which is attached to a screw shank
Z, making a metallic communication with the other holder. The second wire
from the battery may be attached to any part of the lamp or socket, as, for
instance, by the binding screw W, Y is a ring of brass which is screwed
into the bottom of the lamp. A glass shade of any shape or form may be
placed on the plate E. •
Figure 26 represents a triple electrode suspending lamp. Each electrode
is independent of the others, and insulated as before. A battery for working
this lamp is divided into three parts, one for each electrode. One wire for the
return current (which may be fixed to the lamp or any part of the metallic
tube by which it is suspended) is sufficient for all three electrodes, but each
electrode is rendered luminous by completing the circuit of that particular
electrode, as before described. A, A, A (Figure 26), are three-way knobs
with metallic shanks for making the necessary communication, as before
described.
Eleventhly, my Invention consists of certain arrangements for producing a
regularly intermittent light from electricity, which are especially suitable for
lighthouses, and may also be applied to other purposes.
An apparatus
embodying the chief of these arrangements is represented in Figure 27.
The parts in this apparatus which are similar to those in the permanent light
apparatus, Figures 21 and 22, before described, are indicated by similar
letters. A helix coil of insulated copper wire A is employed for the
purpose of producing the prime moving force which actuates the sliding
shaft which holds the electrode. This helix is fixed to the bottom of
the framework C, C³, C". It is nearly of the same construction as the
regulator coil before described, only it is a little longer, and, instead of
being used to regulate the occasions and degree of action of some other
moving force, it produces the moving force itself, and the number of
concentric coils of wire varies at different parts of its length. A cylinder of
soft iron B moves freely up and down in it. To the top of B is fixed the
rack E, which slides through the hole at C", and carries the electrode M
fixed in a socket, so that this shaft can move the electrode M to or from
the lower end of the electrode N, which is fixed in the top of the tripod K by
wedges or screws. K is fixed and furnished in the same manner as that
shewn in Figure 21, and before described. The weight of the shaft B, E, is
rather overbalanced by the weight Q, which is attached by a string passing
over a pulley R to B. A pinion works into the rack E, and fits it loosely

page_text: with a "back lash," of about a tenth of an inch; or, instead of this pinion
may fit loose around its spindle, which may have a key or feather fixed on the
spindle, working loosely (to the extent of an are inch at the circumference)
in a "key way," in the pinion. The pinion F is connected with an ordinary
train of multiplying wheelwork (concealed behind the brass plate C), and
terminating by any well-known sort of fly or escapement motion, of such kind
that F will be prevented from revolving quickly, but will at the same time
yield with a slow motion to any slight force from the rack E, so as to prevent
the rack E from moving up or down too quickly. The negative wire a from
the galvanic battery is connected with one end of the helix coil A, and the
other end of it is soldered to the brass case, so that the current passes through
the helix wire to its case, and thence by means of the springs D, D, which are
fixed to the case, and are in contact with the iron cylinder B, up the shaft
D, E, to the electrode M, whence it flows through N, down K, and returns
to the positive pole of the battery by means of the wire y. But when the
current thus passes, the helix A causes the shaft B to be drawn downwards,
which motion separates the two electrodes M, N, and light is evolved until
the electrodes become too far separated, when the current suddenly ceases, the
light becomes extinguished, and the helix ceases to draw B downwards, when
the weight begins to draw it upwards again, until the electrodes touch one
another, whereby the electric current is re-established, and the light is repeated,
as before. The slow gear and pinion motion used in the above apparatus
may be dispensed with, and then it will produce a series of flashes of light at
shorter intervals. Or, instead of the pinion F fitting the rack with a "back
lash," or being loosely keyed on the spindle, it may be placed on its spindle, so
as to revolve free upon it, and the addition of a circular rack on the side, or in
the central hole of the pinion, with a spring ratchet fixed to the spindle in
such position as to work into the said circular rack. An opposite arrange-
ment of the rack and spring ratchet will cause the pinion to move quickly in
one direction (for the electrode shaft E to move downwards) without the
spindle turning with it, and the ratchet will prevent the reverse motion from
being made quicker than the slow motion gear will admit of. This will cause
a brief flash of light, with intervals of darkness of any desired duration. Or,
thirdly, the electrode shaft may work two pinions, each working in a separate
rack on opposite sides of the shaft, or both on the same rack, each of them
turning freely on their spindles in one direction; and the direction being
different with each, each two being caught and made to turn its spindle with it
when turned in its opposite direction. These pinions are each connected with a
separate (or partially separate) slow-motion gearing, as before described. This

page_text: will make both the flashes and the intervals of darkness to be of any desired
duration. These intermittent lights are convenient applications of the electric
light when it is desired to have an apparatus requiring little expense and
attention, partly because by this arrangement an electrode of moderate length
may be made to last a long time. An especial advantage is this, when the
light is fixed on a stand, upon a rock, for instance, at some distance from any
spot on which a lighthouse of the ordinary description could be built, and,
where, consequently, the battery is on shore or at a considerable distance, and
communicates with the lamp by means of wires insulated after the manner of
submarine telegraph wires, and buried in the sand, or cemented between the
rocks, and where with this arrangement the lamp itself may be difficult of
access in stormy weather, and require to remain in a good working state
without new electrodes for some days together.
The apparatuses which have been described, Figure 27, may be modified in
manner following, as to produce also a good permanent light. The helix A is
made sufficiently powerful (more so than is necessary for the intermittent
Light), and the weight is so adjusted that it shall be balanced by the force of
the helix acting on B just when the electrodes are not so far apart as to
endanger the continuity of the light, nor closer together than about one
quarter of the diameter of the lower electrode M. A chain is hung from the
weight Q, with its end resting loosely on the stand C, and this chain is equal
in weight to a similar length of the electrode M, so that as the electrode wears
away the diminution of weight is just compensated, and the weight of the
shaft remains properly balanced. In this modification of the apparatus the
rack and its slow-motion pinion are made to work smoothly together without
any back lash or looseness of pinion on its spindle.
Another means of modifying the said apparatus, Figure 27, to produce a
permanent light, is to fix a regulating coil with a properly weighted iron.
centre, &c., just like that described in Figure 21 (at R, o, p, x, y). This
coil is fixed to C, Figure 27, and its wire is permanently included in the
electric circuit, and instead of P moving a ratchet V, V, when it drops, it
presses a a spring or lever in connection with the negative wire from the battery
into contact with the shaft B, so that most of the electric current passes from
the negative wire through the lever, to B direct, and B is no longer drawn
down by the action of A, but begins to rise by the force of the weight Q, which
in this modification of the apparatus is made to overbalance the shaft as it does
in Figure 27. Hence this arrangement will preserve the electrodes from
approaching too near or receding too far while the electric current is continued
in action. The apparatus employed, Figure 27, in any of the preceding
:

page_text: modifications may be made to act by substituting the arrangement shown in
Figure 28 for the parts A and B, which gives a greater moving power, and
allows the electrode shaft to move through a long space not limited by the
length of the coil A.
A', Figure 28, is a helix coil, similar in construction to A, but differing
in form, as is indicated in the sectional view, Figure 28. A short hollow
cylinder B is substituted for B; a brass rod B" (or a bar "feather-edged,"
for the sake of lightness) passes freely through B', and ratchet teeth are
cut in it, as shown, by which a spring ratchet 9 suspends B in the position
shown in the Drawing. An end I, which screws on to the top of the central
tube of the coil A, carries the conducting springs D, D, and guides the shaft
B. When the shaft B rises (carrying B' with it), it brings the projecting
end of the ratchet g against the slanting side of II, the pressure of which pushes
the ratchet out of the teeth, and lets B' descend for the space of one notch
or tooth, so that B' is always ready when the current in A' acts to draw the
shaft B a fraction of an inch lower, and yet does not prevent the shaft from
gradually moving upwards to any extent to supply the waste of the electrode,
while B' never follows the shaft higher than H. The helix coil last described
(Figure 28) may have its action on B¹ augmented by making certain parts of
the case in which the coil is wound to be of soft iron in place of brass, as
shown by the section of the case in Figure 29, the parts marked a being iron,
and those brass. The exterior circumference of the case is also cooped
round with bits of irou, fitting around the case like the staves of a cask, bands
of vulcanized caoutchouc being placed around them to keep them together.
Or a cylinder of iron may be slipped over the end of the coil, and envelope it.
These pieces of iron augment the magnetic power of the other parts in several
ways, and the main result is magnetic attraction between the lower end of B' and
the ends of iron which project upwards from the lower end of the central hole
in the helix case. An electro-magnet may be used in place of the said helix
coil surrounding the moving piece of iron B', the poles of the electro-magnet
being presented obliquely or directly beneath B', and the form of B¹ being
altered so as to be the better suited to be attracted by both poles of the electro-
magnet. Reflectors may be adapted to electric lighthouse lamps, as well as to
electric lamps of all sorts. I prefer the arrangement for this purpose shown in
section by dotted lines in Figure 27. Portions of the reflectors are placed
inside the glass bell or shade, and supported by projections from the tripod
and their continuation is effected by a separate piece properly placed around
the shade, or they may be supported by wires branching from a ring which fits
around the base of the glass shade. The form of these reflectors is described

page_text: by the revolution of a hyperbola about its focal ordinate, which is coincident
with the axis of the electrodes, the asymptotal plane of the hyperboloidal
surfaces being at such an angle as will give a convenient amount of dispersion
vertically to the horizontal sheet of light which they will produce, so that a
slight variation in the height of the luminous focus will be of little moment by
reason of the extent of the vertical dispersion.
Twelfthly, my Invention consists in improving, by the means following, the
intensity of the electric current (whatever may be the nature of the lamp or
apparatus used for producing the light). I effect this by including in the
electric circuit a long coil of insulated copper ribbon wound in an iron case
(such as shewn in section Figure 30), and part side view with the cover
removed in Figure 31, whereby I am enabled at the same time to reduce the
number of cells employed. The coil may be made in pieces separately wound
on, and their ends joined in succession, the two extreme ends A, e, of the first
and last coils being made to pass through the holes p, q, in the case. A
hollow cylinder of iron, or a number of bits of flat iron bar I, h, are placed
around the coil like the staves of a cask, and are held together by clastic
bands of vulcanized caoutchouc. A good proportion for the substance of the
coil is T of a square inch of copper in section to every forty yards of length.
The ends of each coil are held from slipping back or unwinding while tho
next coil is being wound, by being bent round and backwards over a pin
K, K', screwed into the side of the iron case. The numbers annexed to the
arrows indicate the succession of the different portions of the coil on which
they are placed, The letters A, B, C, D, E, indicate the commencement of
each of the coils, and a, b, c, d, e, their several terminations.
Thirteenthly, my Invention consists in enclosing the solid electrodes
employed in electric lamps in supporting tubes, as represented in Figures
32, 33, and 34. When the electrodes are required to last for a long time, they
have to be longer than is convenient for their strength or for the proper con-
duction of the electric current; I therefore use a tube e, which serves to guard
the electrodes to hold them steady, and to conduct the electricity freely up to
the top part of the electrode, the current being passed into the tube through
the sole plate c", which is put in metallic connection with the negative wire.
D", D", Figures 32, 33, and 34 are spring conductors (they may be of iron)
fixed on the tube c, the tips of which embrace the electrode near the point
where the light is developed. The electricity has by this means a free passage
from the tube into the electrode. The tube may be fixed mechanically to the
framework c', c", and yet insulated electrically from it, as is shewn in Figure
0

page_text: 33, by means of collars of dry hard wood 2,, on the same principle as the
legs of the upper electrode stand K are insulated from the sole plate c".
The electrode may be composed of many pieces slightly joined together end.
to end, and placed in a tube, Figure 34, of any required length. To obviate the
necessity of joining the parts firmly, the following arrangement, .Figure 34, is
contrived, wherein the electrodes need never be drawn backwards, in the tube..
c", Figure 34, is a piece of the supporting framework of the lamp, made for
the puspose of holding the tube steady. The tube has a free sliding motion
for a short space, that is, upwards until the nut touches the under side of
and downwards until the collar f.touches the upper side of (or rather
until it touches the part 9 which rests on The weight of the tube is
nearly counterpoised by the elasticity of the spring 9', which is attached to an
arm projecting from the tube, as shewn, and has an .arm q fixed to its other.
end, the further end 7 being forked so as to embrace the tube, and to rest the
pressure of the spring upon the top of 23. The weight of the tube. being thus
supported, it rises with the electrode when it is pushed upwards by E', until f
touches, and after that the electrode rises by passing through the tube.
The parts of the fixed supports c, c", through which the tube passes, may be
insulated from the rest of the framework by collars. of wood, as represented by,
2² and **.
).
Fourteenthly, my Invention consists in the following improved modes of
preparing the materials for electrodes.-I take the powder of various car-
bonaceous matters, which make electrodes of different qualities as to
illuminating power and resistance to abrasion by the electric current.. The
materials preferred are, first, plumbago powder, having its iron, &c. extracted
by washing and warming in acids; second, lamp-black; third, charcoal powder
of sundry kinds of wood; fourth, the powder of the carbonaceous.concrete
which becomes deposited in gas retorts, or, fifth, grains of this latter substance
sifted so as to obtain a somewhat uniform size of grain. Any one of these
materials I mix with a quantity of brown sugar, in such proportions as are
requisite to form a free pasto with the powder when the mixture is melted by
heat, a much larger proportion being sometimes employed for making the
product cohere better. This mixture is melted and boiled (without water)
until it becomes stiff; it is then pressed (while hot) into iron moulds of
suitable shapes, the inside being lined with paper or chalk or plaster of Paris
to prevent the mixture from adhering to the mould, and to form a porous
envelope through which the gases, &c. can slowly escape. The moulds have
numerous small crevices or holes for the purpose of letting the gases and

page_text: steam escape from the material when baked. The moulds, when charged and
closed tightly, are heated very gradually so as to allow sufficient time for
drying it and dispelling the gases, without their destroying the compactness of
the material. When a red heat is thus obtained, it is, after a time, allowed
to subside, when the contents of the moulds are carefully taken out and placed
upright in a crucible which is filled with sand luted down and gradually raised
to a white heat. At this high temperature they may be kept for some time,
to give them greater mechanical hardness and strength; they are then covered
up and allowed to cool gently, and, being cleaned if they retain a coating of
any other substance, they are put into close-fitting tin cases for use.
I pre-
serve these electrodes from becoming damp, or otherwise injured, by coating
them with tin foil. In some cases also I prepare electrodes for use by
wrapping them tightly in several thicknesses of metal foil, such as tin, for the
purpose of giving them greater strength and making them better conductors.
Good electrodes may sometimes be cut out of a lump of plumbags, either
natural or artificially compressed from the powder. Before using the elec-
trodes, it is sometimes beneficial to prevent the liability of their cracking when
they become suddenly heated; this is done by fixing them in the lamp ready
to light, and then passing the electricity through them without allowing the
machinery to separate their extremities; this heats them gradually, and drives
off any damp that may be in them.
Lastly, my Invention consists in the employment of galvanic batteries for
the purpose of obtaining various chemical products, and this either in conjunc-
tion with the employment of them for lighting and motive purposes, or as
substitutes for the ordinary processes of chemical manufacture. The
batteries should be of one or other of the perfluent sorts herein-before
described, on account of the facilities which they afford for drawing off the
products of the galvanic action, which products may consist either of
matters in a marketable state, or which require some additional treatment
to make them of commercial value. The elements proper to be employed
will vary in each case with the chemical product or products desired to be
obtained, or, to state the matter conversely, the perfluent products will vary
with the elements employed; for example, where zinc is used as the positive
metal with sulphuric acid, sulphate of zinc is formed; but sulphate of zinc in
large quantities would not be of great commercial value. When, therefore,
I use zinc as aforesaid, I collect the sulphate of zinc and treat it as follows:-
I add in a separate vessel to the solution of sulphate of zinc a solution of
sesquicarbonate of ammonia, which precipitates the oxide of the (metal zinc),

page_text: and releases the acid, which may be used again. This oxide of zinc is a
valuable substitute for carbonate of lead as a pigment, and may be used
extensively for painting purposes. Again, suppose any of the salts of lead
are required to be produced, such as nitrate of lead (while lead), or sulphate
of lead, or any other chemical substance, to the production of which these
salts may be auxiliary; the battery should be constructed of lead or other
metal plates platinized, and excited to action by dilute nitric acid; the acid
acting on the oxide of lead formed by the electrolytic process or decomposition
of water dissolves it, and forms with it a solution of the nitrate of lead. And
this solution is afterwards treated in a separate vessel or vessels with the
carbonate or bicarbonate of potash, when a double decomposition takes place,
and the carbonate of lead being precipitated the matter of commerce remains
in solution, and is obtained by evaporation. Supposing, further, the platinized
plates of (lead or other metal) are used with muritatic acid (dilute or not),
then the acid is decomposed, and a solution of chloride of lead is the resulting
product. If for the platinized plates we substitute iron or zinc plates, the
chloride of iron or of zinc is respectively obtained. Should a battery of copper
and of iron plates charged with a solution of sulphate of copper be employed,
the iron is oxidized; the sulphuric acid unites with the oxide by superior
affinity, and forms with it sulphate of iron (the green copperas of commerce)
which remains in solution, and may be obtained by evaporation, as before.
The hydrogen which is released goes to the other pole, that is, to the copper
plate, and meeting there the disengaged oxido of copper, reduces it to the
metallic state, and, in fact, plates the copper with it. This form of battery
is directly applicable to the production of metallic copper from the ores of the
sulphuret decomposed by water, or from the water drawn from certain copper
mines which contain sulphate of copper in solution. The sulphate of iron
obtained forms also a very fine ochrc.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention in the several
parts thereof, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that
the improvements that I claim are as follows:-
First, I claim the construction of galvanic batteries on the perfluent prin-
ciple before explained and illustrated, whether the perfluence of the liquid is
effected by means of intercommunicating channels at the bottom of the trough,
or by syphons at top, or by any other equivalent means.
Second, I claim the employment in galvanic batteries of flexible hose
with funnels attached thereto to charge and discharge the cells, as before
described.

page_text: Thirdly, I claim the construction of the double-fluid battery before described,
so as to cause the perfluence of two separate and distinct exciting liquids, as
herein-before described.
Fourthly, I claim the equilibrated hydrostatic cistern, for the purpose of
supplying galvanic batteries, as before described.
Fifthly, I claim the graduated metre, to be attached to a cistern or supply
vessel for the purpose of regulating or adjusting the quantity of exciting fluid
which may be intended to pass through the battery, as before described.
Sixthly, I claim the mode of enclosing a liquid mercurial amalgam of zinc,
in a bag of lawn or horsehair cloth, or other finely reticulated fabric, for the
purpose of being used in lieu of the amalgamated zinc plates or rods of gal-
vanic batteries, as before described.
Seventhly, I claim the amalgam of zinc and mercury in the proportions
and for the purpose herein-before described.
Eighthly, I claim the combination of lead (instead of zinc) as the positive
element, with any suitable negative element, and with nitric acid as the exciting
fluid in galvanic batteries, as herein before described.
Ninthly, I claim the improved galvanometer and graduated scale, herein-
before described.
Tenthly, I claim the several improvements in the formation of magnets,
before described.
Eleventhly, I claim the several improved modes of actuating the electrodes
in electric lamps, represented in Figures 21 and 22, and herein-before
described.
Twelfthly, I claim the improved regulator for clectric lamps (shewn in
Figures 21 and 22), and herein-before described.
Thirteenthly, I claim the revolving circular electrode, with conical edges,
in combination with an edge scraper for electric lamps, as before described.
Fourteenthly, I claim the mode of making the electrodes of electric lamps
of iridium, and alloys of iridium, in manner and for the purposes herein-before
described.
Fifteenthly, I claim the employment in electric lamps of glass, or other
similar imperfect conductor of heat, to envelope the metallic holder to which
the electrode is attached, as herein-before described.
Sixteenthly, I claim the enclosing of the electrodes of electric lamps in
supporting tubes, and the making of them in pieces, as before described.
Seventeenthly, I claim the insulation of the said electrode tubes from the
metal stand, in manner before described, so as to allow of two or more

page_text: separate lights being worked with separate currents of electricity indepen-
dently of each other, but near together, and under one glass shade.
Eighteenthly, I claim the several arrangements for producing a regularly
intermittent light from electricity, suitable for lighthouses, as before described,
and the various modifications by which the same may be adapted to the
production of a permanent light, as before described.
Nineteenthly, I claim the combination of an intensity coil, shewn in
Figures 30 and 31, with a galvanic battery, in manner and for the purposes
herein-before described.
And, lastly, I claim, in the formation of galvanic batteries for the purpose
of obtaining chemical products, the several combinations of galvanic elements
and exciting fluids, as berein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edwards Staite, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
W. E. (L.S.) STAITE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twelfth day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid William Edwards Staite came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in
form above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped
according to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twelfth day of January, in the year of our Lord Onc
thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.