MECHANICS AND USEFUL ARTS. 87 



under the old system, was subject to great friction and constant 

 derangement, and was aliected by chtinges of weather, and the 

 former action was often so stiff and capricious that the organist 

 found his duty extremely laborious ; while the organ-buikler was 

 often called in to make expensive repairs. 



Under these circumstances a difficult problem was to be solved. 

 Any improvement on the old action must be simple in itself and 

 easily kept in order, and must of course be free from the effects 

 of friction or atmospheric changes, so as to insure a light touch on 

 the keys, and an instantaneous response from the organ-pipes at 

 any practical distance from the kej'-board. The now electric 

 organ action, it is believed, will fully comply witli all those re- 

 quirements. When actually and practically applied it is found 

 that the touch is always as light as that of the piano, and tiie 

 action is literally as quick as lightning, while anyone of ordinary 

 intelligence having charge of the building in which the organ may 

 stand can keep it in running order, so far as the battery, which is 

 the motive power, is concerned. It is based, in a word, on the 

 well-known principles of the electric telegraph, as well as the 

 electric burglar alarm, the hotel annunciators, the electric clocks 

 and police telegi'aphs ; all of which are in successful daily opera- 

 tion. The new organ, now building by Messrs. Hall, Labagh, 

 & Co., is intended to be a powerful instrument, considering its size, 

 of about 9 stops, including the pedal bass ; and, although neces- 

 sarily limited by want of space, will fairly exhibit the principles 

 involved. 



The key-board will be detached from the organ at a distance 

 of about 25 feet, though it might as well be removed to the dis- 

 tance of 25 miles, excepting for the necessity of the organist hear- 

 ing his own performance, since we know, from recent scientific 

 investigations, that the electric current will travel a mile in a 

 fraction of a second. The only connection between the key-board 

 and the body of the organ is a bundle or rope of flexible, insu- 

 lated copper wires, which may be carried in an}^ direction without 

 injury, and there is no pull or strain on these wires, as they are 

 mereh' the passive means of conducting the electric current. 



The source of the electric current is an ordinary " single fluid" 

 battery, placed in an}^ convenient position, composed of a series 

 of jars containing a mixture of sulphuric acid and water, and in 

 each jar is suspended a plate of carbon, in company with two 

 plates of zinc, connected in the usual way by copper wires. From 

 one end of this series of jars, a copper wire proceeds to the key- 

 board ; and, if we take the case of a single'key, for example, when 

 it is pressed down by the finger of the phiyer, we shall find this 

 wire so connected that it forms an unbroken circuit and proceeds 

 from the kej'-board onward to the bodj' of the organ, where it is 

 coiled around a soft piece of iron shaped like a horse-shoe, and 

 thence returns from the organ to the other end of the battery. 

 Wlien a M'ire is connected with both poles or ends of a battery 

 the current passes, and the piece of soft iron becomes a powerful 

 magnet; but the moment the current is broken, by disconnecting 

 the copper wire, there is an instant loss of power. When the key 



