SJK WILLIAM SIEMENS, F.R.S. 285 



arc illustrated in a very remarkable manner at the Paris Exhibi- 

 tion. 



There, in a certain room, you may listen of an evening one 

 minute to the performance going on at the Great Opera House, 

 the next minute to an air sung at the Opera Comiquc, and again 

 the next minute to the well-known voices of the principal actors 

 of the Th&ttre Franfais. The novelty of this particular arrange- 

 ment consists in having each receiving telephone connected sepa- 

 rately to a transmitting telephone, fixed in front of the footlights 

 towards the two sides of the stage, whereby an acoustic effect is 

 produced that may almost be called stereoscopic ; you actually 

 hear when the actor turns his or her head from one side to the 

 other, and are able to separate most distinctly the several voices, 

 as well as the orchestral instruments when concerted music is 

 being produced. Nor are the sounds in any way distorted or dis- 

 agreeable, or too low to be enjoyable, but loud and full, producing 

 an agreeable impression even on the musical ear. The person 

 with his ears to the two receiving telephones imagines himself in 

 a mysterious dreamland of sound, but remove the instruments 

 only half an inch from the ear, and all has departed, no sweet 

 sounds of music are heard, but in their stead the speaking voice 

 of the person anxious to take your place at the auditory. I leave 

 it to your imagination to picture the innumerable applications 

 which this new power of man in directing the forces of nature 

 may ultimately lead to. 



The most striking feature upon entering the Paris Exhibition 

 in the evening is the blaze of electric light that makes the interior 

 of that large building even brighter than by daylight ; nor is the 

 effect of this illumination marred by the flickering, fizzing, and 

 colour changing of the earlier attempts in this direction. The 

 character of the lights comprises a range from the central arc of 

 10,000 candle power, to the incandescent lamp of only 15 candles, 

 equalling the light only of an ordinary gas burner, and the group- 

 ing and shading of some of these lights are such as to produce 

 effects extremely agreeable to the eye. "Who would venture to say, 

 after this display, and after the practical applications that have 

 been made of the electric light in the City of London, at several 

 of our docks and harbours, at works, halls, and theatres, that it is 

 not a practical illuminant destined to work as great a change as 



