More Miracles Ahead 267 



will tend to make civilization move southward. Areas rich 

 in raw materials, which have been held back by unfavorable 

 climate, will be developed rapidly when air conditioning 

 takes a hand. 



The other prediction concerns lighting. Today fluorescent 

 lighting, which gives us more light with less heat and lower 

 electricity bills, is a long step ahead of incandescent light. 

 But Raymond F. Yates reported in 2,100 Needed Inventions 

 on another efficient source of illumination, which has not yet 

 been made commercially available. This light, he explained, 

 is formed by placing two electrodes in an electrolyte of alu- 

 minum citrate. The one electrode is of either carbon or lead, 

 while the other is of aluminum. 



"If the aluminum electrode is connected to the positive ter- 

 minal of a variable direct current supply, a bright glow and 

 finally a brilliant series of sparkling spots will be developed 

 on the surface of the electrode as the voltage is raised by 

 means of a potentiometer," he added. 



Agricultural Yields Tripled 



There will be a lot of changes made on the farm of the 

 more distant future. Cheap electricity will mean that plowing 

 and reaping will be carried on by electric power rather than 

 by gasoline, and the growing of crops could be speeded up 

 tremendously by heating the soil. The bombardment of seeds 

 with X rays will juggle their chromosomes around and pro- 

 duce many new plants. General Electric scientists already 

 have obtained improved flower specimens by bombarding 

 seeds and seedlings with million-volt X rays. 



In its Chemical Industry Survey the investment firm of 

 Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Beane announced: 



"The farms of the future may be large green houses with 

 roofs of plastics or new types of glass through which the 



