ELECTRIC LIGHTING. 81 



ried along great lengths of wire, and the carbons interposed 

 wherever required, and that the same electricity would flow 

 on and do the duty of illumination over and over again as 

 a river may fall over a succession of weirs and turn water- 

 wheels at each. Mr. Starr knew better ; his scepticism 

 was misinterpreted ; he was taunted with failure and non- 

 fulfilment of the anticipations he had raised, and with the 

 fruitless expenditure of large sums of other people's money. 

 He was a high-minded, honorable, and very sensitive mail, 

 suffering already from overworked brain before he went to 

 Birmingham. There he worked again still harder, with 

 further vexation and disappointment, until one morning 

 he was found dead in his bed. Having, during my short 

 acquaintance with him, enjoyed his full confidence in ref- 

 erence to all his investigations, I have no hesitation in 

 affirming that his early death cut short the career of one 

 who otherwise would have largely contributed to the pro- 

 gress of experimental science, and have done honor to his 

 country. 



His martyrdom, for such it was, taught me a useful les- 

 son I then much needed, viz., to abstain from entering 

 upon a costly series of physical investigations without being 

 well assured of the means of completing them, and, above 

 all, of being able to afford to fail. 



There are many others who sorely need to be impressed 

 with the same lesson, especially at this moment and in con- 

 nection with this subject. 



The warning is the most applicable to those who are now 

 misled by a plausible but false analogy. They look at the 

 progress made in other things, the mighty achievements of 

 modern Science, and therefore infer that the electric light 

 even though unsuccessful hitherto may be improved up 

 to practical success, as other things have been. A great 

 fallacy is hidden here. As a matter of fact the progress 

 made in electric lighting since Mr. Starr's death, in 1846, 

 has been very small indeed. As regards the lamp itself no 

 progress whatever has been made. I am satisfied that 

 Starr's continuous carbon stick, properly manoged in a true 

 vacuum, or an atmosphere free from oxygen, carbonic 

 oxide, carbonic acid, or other oxygen compound, is the best 



