4 
time for the development of many practical details necessary to 
its ultimate success. Already nine companies are at work supply- 
ing from central stations, the electric light to the greater 
portion of the western and north western districts of the Metro- 
polis, and there are twenty-seven lighting stations now at work in 
various towns in England, besides many others which are in course 
of being established, and it is to be hoped our own town will not 
be long without so desirable an improvement. Our American 
cousins are, however, far in advance of us in this respect, for 
whereas in America there are two hundred and thirty five thousand 
arc lamps, and three million glow lamps in use, we have in 
England but one hundredth the number of the former, and one 
tenth the number of the latter. So practical indeed are the in- 
habitants of the new world, that we learn (not without a romantic 
feeling of regret) that Siemens’ dream of utilising the force of the 
vast cataract of Niagara, is now on the eve of realisation. We, 
however, hold the foremost rank in the efficient application of the 
electric light for our passenger ships and our Navy, and, indeed, for 
all purposes of coast defence. It has also been adopted for signal- 
ling from captive balloons, as a lighthouse illuminant, and for the 
lighting of the main roads in coal mines, and indeed in no place more 
than the latter, is the electric light likely to be of practical service, 
in averting those terrible calamities which so often arise from even 
the most guarded use of lamps in coal or other explosive mines, 
The electric railway which was opened in London last November, 
and which is the first of its kind in England, seems likely to be 
most successful. The motive power being electricity, there is an 
entire absence of the sulphurous atmosphere which prevails in 
other underground railways from the fumes of coal or coke fires, 
and the use of separate subways for the up and down trains tends 
still farther to ensure the purity of the air. The entire lineis 
over three miles in length, and the run is performed in fifteen 
minutes ; the trains consist of three carriages, capable of carrying 
a hundred passengers, and a locomotive containing two dynamo 
motors, the permanent generating station being at Stockwell. The 
current is supplied to theline at anelectromotive force of one hundred 
and fifty volts, and is taken from the line by brushes which feed 
the dynamos as the locomotive travels on. It is said to be an easy 
and agreeable method of travelling, the motion being absolutely 
free from vibration. The carriages and stations are all provided 
with incandescent lamps, and the passenger stations are accessible 
from the line by hydraulic lifts. The engineers to the line are 
Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker, the famous engineers 
of the Forth Bridge. 
Electricity has now for some years been frequently adopted ag 
