NATURAL PHILOSOPHY. 171 



or movement of the simple voltaic current came out .16 of a second for & 

 single wire ; .21 of a, second for a double one, and .28 for a treble one. 

 With the same length, the velocity of the double induction current came out 

 for the single wire, .03 ; with the double one, .09 ; and with the treble one 

 .095 of a second. With a length of 250 miles, the velocity was for voltaic 

 electricity, .29 and .406 of a second for a single and double wire respectively, 

 and for the double induction current .145 and .185 of a second. The fact 

 thus actually is, that increasing the size of the conductor augments retardation 

 in the transmission of electricity through it. A treble-sized conductor gives 

 nearly a doubled rate of retardation. 



The general conclusion drawn from the important investigation of the as- 

 sumption that electrical currents would move in submarine circuits with ve- 

 locities that were in inverse ratio to the squares of the lengths of the circuits, 

 seems to be that Mature recognizes the existence of no such law. "The law of 

 the squares " may possibly apply to the transmission of electricity freely along 

 simple conducting wires, but it certainly does not apply to the case of its trans- 

 mission along submarine or subterranean gittta percha covered ivire, (the facility 

 of transmission being estimated by rate of speed), because in this the case is 

 not one of simple conduction, but of transmission after the wire has been 

 charged inductively to saturation as a Ley den jar. 



As the result of all the investigations the following points may be con- 

 sidered as established : 



That gutta percha covered submarine wires do not transmit as simple in- 

 sulated conductors, but that they have to be charged as Leydcn jars, before 

 they can transmit at all. 



That, consequently, such wires transmit with a velocity that is in no way 

 accordant to the movement of the electrical current in an unembarrassed 

 way along simple conductors. 



That magneto-electric currents travel more quickly along such wires than 

 simple voltaic currents. 



That magneto-electric currents travel more quickly when in high energy 

 than when in low, although voltaic currents of large intensity do not travel 

 more quickly than voltaic currents of small intensity. 



That th^ velocity of the transmission of signals along insulated submerged 

 wires can be enormously increased, from the rate indeed of one in two 

 seconds, to the rate of eight in a single. second, by making each alternate 

 signal with a current of different quality, positive following negative, ai:d 

 negative following positive. 



That the diminution of the velocity of the transmission of a magneto- 

 electric current in induction-embarrassed coated wires, is not in the inverse 

 ratio of the squares of the distance traversed, but much more nearly in the 

 ratio of simple arithmetical progression. 



The several distinct waves of electricity may be travelling along different 

 parts of a long wire simultaneously, and within certain limits, without inter- 

 ference. 



That large coated wires used beneath the water or the earth arc worse 

 conductors, so far as velocity of transmission is concerned, than small ones, 



