84 THE BOOK OF THE LANTERN. 



experience to be absolutely innocuous. Some may say, 

 " Oh, there is no real danger ; the worst that can happen 

 is one of the tubes blowing off with a bang ! " But this 

 apparently harmless "bang" may cause a panic in a 

 public hall, which may lead, possibly, to fatal results. So, 

 for the present, at any rate, I shall do without the ether 

 light, while, at the same time I shall look forward to its 

 gradual perfection with the greatest interest. It is only 

 fair to state that this light is much used in America, 

 its greatest champion being Mr. Ives, who recently con- 

 tributed a paper on the subject to the Franklin Institute. 

 Mr. Ives is such a good worker that his words carry weight 

 with them. I quote the following remarks from his 

 paper : 



" Notwithstanding the great success of this means for 

 producing the limelight, and the important advantages 

 which it offers, I have always recognised in it certain 

 minor faults, which I hoped to overcome in course of time, 

 and my object in preparing this paper has been to call 

 attention to some recent improvements I have made, which 

 I believe will greatly extend the use of the light, and 

 increase its popularity. The first improvement is in the 

 construction of the saturator, which is reduced in size, yet 

 increased in effectiveness. The second is in the use of 

 petroleum ether (rhigolene), which gives the same light as 

 sulphuric ether, but vaporises at a lower temperature, costs 

 much less, and contains neither alcohol nor water to accu- 

 mulate in the saturator. 



"My improved saturator is in the form of a single 

 metallic tube, 2 inches in diameter and 13 inches long, 



