426 FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE. 



finally able to yield a magneto-electric light comparable 

 to that of the voltaic battery. Judged by later know- 

 ledge, this first machine would be considered cumbrous 

 and defective in the extreme ; but judged by the light 

 of antecedent events, it marked a great step forward. 



Faraday was profoundly interested in the growth of 

 his own discovery. The Elder Brethren of the Trinity 

 House had had the wisdom to make him their ' Scientific 

 Adviser;' and it is interesting to notice in his reports 

 regarding the light, the mixture of enthusiasm and 

 caution which characterised him. Enthusiasm was 

 with him a motive power, guided and controlled by a 

 disciplined judgment. He rode it as a charger, holding 

 it in by a strong rein. While dealing with Holmes, he 

 states the case of the light pro and con. He checks 

 the ardour of the inventor, and, as regards cost, rejecting 

 sanguine estimates, he insists over and over again on 

 the necessity of continued experiment for the solution 

 of this important question. His matured opinion was, 

 however, strongly in favour of the light. With reference 

 to an experiment made at the South Foreland on the 

 20th of April, 1859, he thus expresses himself: 'The 

 beauty of the light was wonderful. At a mile off, the 

 apparent streams of light issuing from the lantern were 

 twice as long as those from the lower lighthouse, and 

 apparently three or four times as bright. The hori- 

 zontal plane in which they chiefly took their way made 

 all above or below it black. The tops of the hills, the 

 churches, and the houses illuminated by it were striking 

 in their effect upon the eye.' Further on in his report 

 he expresses himself thus : * In fulfilment of this part 

 of my duty, I beg to state that, in my opinion, Professor 

 Holmes has practically established the fitness and 

 sufficiency of the magneto-electric light for lighthouse 

 purposes, so far as its nature and management are con- 



