62 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



A lightning conductor or long vertical rod of the same height as the 

 transmitting aerial is set up at the receiving station, and at a point six 

 or nine feet from the ground a circuit is taken off, consisting of a wire 

 loosely coiled in a spiral, the length of which is nearly equal to, al- 

 though a little shorter than, the height of the vertical wire above the 

 point of connection. The outer end of this loose spiral is connected to 

 one terminal of the coherer tube, and the other terminal of the coherer 

 is connected to the earth through a condenser of rather large capacity. 

 The terminals of this last condenser are short-circuited by a relay and 

 a single cell. When the adjustments are properly made, it is claimed 

 that the receiver responds only to waves coming from its own syntonized 

 or tuned transmitter. In this case, the length of the receiving aerial 

 above the point of junction with the coherer circuit is one quarter the 

 length of the wave. A variation of the above arrangements consists 

 in making this lateral circuit equal in length to one half of a wave, and 

 connecting the coherer to its center through a condenser to the earth. 

 The outer end of this lateral circuit is also connected to the earth (see 

 Fig. 24).* 



Dr. Slaby claims that this arrangement is not affected by atmos- 

 pheric electricity, and that the complete and direct earthing of the 

 aerial and also in the second arrangement, of the receiver of the outer 

 end of the lateral conductor, conduces to preserve the receiver immune 

 from any electrical disturbances except those having a period to which 

 it is tuned. 



A method has also been arranged by him for receiving on the same 

 aerial two messages from different transmitting stations, simultane- 

 ously. In this case, two lateral wires of different lengths are connected 

 to the receiving aerial, and to the outer end of each of these is con- 

 nected a coherer tube, the other end of which is earthed through a 

 condenser. One of these lateral wires is made equal or nearly equal in 

 length to the aerial and the other is made longer to fulfil the following 

 condition.! If we call H the height of the receiving aerial above point 

 of junction of the lateral wires, then the length of one lateral 

 wire is made equal to H, and the height of the aerial is adjusted 

 to be equal to one quarter of the wave-length of one incident wave. The 

 other lateral wire may then be made of a length equal to one third of 

 H and it will then respond to the first odd harmonic of that wave, of 

 which the fundamental is in syntony with the vertical wire. By suit- 

 ably choosing the relation between the wave lengths of the two trans- 

 mitting stations, it is possible to receive in this manner two different 



* See German Patent Specifications, Class 21a, No. 7,452 of 1900 and also 

 No. 8,087 of 1901. 



t See German Patent Specification, Class 21a, No. 7,498 of 1900, applied 

 for November 9, 1900. The above-mentioned patent is subsequent in date to 

 Mr. Marconi's experiments on the same subject. 



