S TO ROUGH WAYS MADE SMOOTH. 



work, to greet the reporter, and in reply to a request i 

 view the invention, waved his hand towards the light, with 

 the exclamation, " There she is ! " The illumination was 

 such as would come from a brilliant gas jet surrounded with 

 ground glass, only that the light was clearer and more 

 brilliant. " Now I extinguish it and light the gas, and you 

 can see the difference," said Mr, Edison, and he touched 

 the spring. Instantly all was darkness. Then he turned 

 on the gas. The difference was quite perceptible. The 

 light from the gas appeared in comparison tinted with 

 yellow. In a moment, however, the eye had become 

 accustomed to it, and the yellowish tint disappeared. Then 

 the Professor turned on the electric light, giving the writer 

 the opportunity of seeing both, side by side. The electric 

 light seemed much softer ; a continuous view of it for three 

 minutes did not pain the eye ; whereas looking at the gas 

 for the same length of time caused some little pain and 

 confusion of sight. One of the noticeable features of the 

 light, when fully turned on, was that all the colours could be 

 distinguished as readily as by sunlight. " When do you 

 expect to have the invention completed, Mr. Edison ? " asked 

 the reporter. " The substance of it is all right now," he 

 answered, putting the apparatus away and turning on the 

 gas. " But there are the usual little details that must be 

 attended to before it goes to the people. For instance, we 

 have got to devise some arrangement for registering a sort 

 of meter, and again, there are several different forms that 

 we are experimenting on now, in order to select the best." 

 " Are the lights to be all of the same degree of brilliancy ? " 

 asked the reporter. " All the same ! " " Have you come 

 across any serious difficulties in it as yet ? " " Well, no," 

 replied the inventor, " and that's what worries me, for in 

 the telephone I found about a thousand ; } and so in the 



1 The comments made by one of Mr. Edison's assistants on this 

 point are interesting and instructive. * Mr. Batchelor, the Professor's 

 assistant, who here joined in the conversation,' proceeds the report of 

 the Herald, 'said, "Many a time Mr. Edison sat down almost on the 



