384 Tkouton — The Results of an Electrical Experiment, ^c. 



From this point of view, instead of a translatoiy impulse as suggested by 

 Fitz Gerald, it is a purely turning effect wliich should be looked for, and the 

 author proposes to test the matter by suspending a light condenser of very 

 high insulation, with its plates standing vertically. As tlie effect increases with 

 the square of the voltage, it is advantageous to have this quantity as large as 

 possible. This may be the more readily done in the present case, as the same 

 complications do not present themselves from sparking, etc., as arose where inter- 

 mittent charging was necessary in the experiments described in the body of this 

 paper. By having the suspended apparatus light, the moment of torsion of the 

 wire may be greatly reduced, which is of the highest importance. 



Should this turning moment Ije proved to operate, instead of being masked by 

 some compensating effect, it would open up a road leading to illimitable possibi- 

 lities, for it would at once remove from the category of utter hopelessness the 

 idea of mankind ever being able to utilize the vast store of energy in the 

 Earth's motion through space. 



It is not difficult in theory to conceive a machine for doing this, in fact for 

 harnessing the solar system, so to speak. For instance, a number of air con- 

 densers could be arranged round a cylinder so as to be capable of rotating as a 

 whole about its axis, and spaced with their plates tangentially to their circular 

 motion, the axis of rotation being always kept at right angles to the motion 

 through the ether. Now, suppose one of these condensers to be charged with 

 electricity, as it moves up from the "edgewise" position to the "flatwise" 

 position, there is a couple exerted, turning the whole apparatus round the common 

 axis. On reaching the latter position, the charges on the plates of the condenser 

 are to be conveyed to another of the condensers, which, in the course of its jDassage 

 round, has just reached the " edgewise " position vacated by the first one in ques- 

 tion. This must be effected without sparking, or there would be an undue loss of 

 energy. This might be done by a method very similar to Maxwell's well-known 

 " regenerator" arrangement. As each condenser comes to the " flatwise" position, 

 it enters an inductor arrangement, one for eacli plate of the condenser, and when 

 fully inside each plate touches a contact spring. Simultaneously a pair of con- 

 denser plates at the "edgewise" position is emerging from a pair of inductors, 

 one for each plate, but still kept in metallic contact with the inductors by springs. 

 The inductors in each position are in metallic connexion with the corresponding 

 inductors at right angles. In this way the charge is removed from one set of 

 plates and given to the other. The same could be also used in duplicate on the 

 diametrically opposite position, thus giving double the turning force. 



I take this opportunity of thanking Professor J. Larmor, Sec. R.S., for his 

 advice and helpful discussions of the subject-matter of this paper. 



