1899.] SELLERS — TRANSMISSION OF ENERGY BY ELECTRICITY. 49 



CHAIRMAN'S ANNUAL DISCOURSE FOR 1899, ON THE 

 TRANSMISSION OF ENERGY BY ELECTRICITY. 



BY COLEMAN SELLERS, E.D., VICE-PRESIDENT. 

 {Read February 3, 1S99.) 



Gen^/emen : — According to the old Rules of Administration and 

 Order of the American Philosophical Society held in Philadelphia 

 for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge, it was specified that some 

 time during each year the President of the Society was expected to 

 ^'deliver a discourse on some literary or scientific subject, accom- 

 panied by such suggestions with regard to the affairs of the Society 

 as he shall judge proper." By the new rules, recently adopted, a 

 date has been fixed for this discourse, with the further proviso that 

 the President be authorized at his option to appoint one of the 

 Vice-Presidents to take his place in carrying out the purpose of 

 the rule. On January 14 of this year I received notice from our 

 respected President that he had appointed me to this duty. I 

 have selected as the subject of my discourse " Electricity as Ap- 

 plied to the Transmission oi Energy,'' for a reason to be presently 

 explained. 



When the late Dr. William Pepper was elected a Vice-President 

 he made much personal effort to excite an interest among the resi- 

 dent members in a scheme of quarterly meetings to be devoted to 

 subjects of acknowledged importance, at which meetings a paper or 

 papers on a subject selected for discussion should be presented, and 

 a further effort made to insure the presence of, or correspondence 

 from, all members who had given thought to the subject selected. 

 He called on me soon after his election to induce me to prepare a 

 paper on the transmission of power by electricity, or if I preferred 

 not to do so, to have me suggest some one capable of carrying out 

 the idea. At that time, about two years ago, he expressed some 

 surprise that I should consider the subject-matter not yet far enough 

 advanced practically for intelligent presentation or discussion. I 

 promised, however, to correspond with my personal friends inter- 

 ested in electrical work to secure, if possible, contributions of im- 

 portance that would be acceptable under the traditional requisites 

 of matter fitted for our Proceedings or our Tra?isactio?is. What has 

 been or will be accomplished in this direction remains yet to be 

 seen. Since that time the Society has seen fit to honor with mem- 



PROC. AMER. PHILOS. SOC. XXXVIII. 159. D. PRI^-TED JULY 10, 1899. 



