APPLICATIONS OF THE ELECTRIC LIGHT. 263 



that in foggy weather the electric light does not carry farther 

 than that of oil lamps. 



There are no.w several electric lighthouses in France, Eng- 

 land, Russia, Austria, Sweden, and even in Egypt. Their 

 working is everywhere satisfactory. 



Application to the Lighting of Ships. One of the 

 most important applications of the electric light is for lighting 

 ships in their course so as to avoid fouling, and show the en- 

 trances to ports in the night. The earliest attempts were made 

 with the magneto-electric machines of the Alliance Company, 

 and although the results were not entirely satisfactory, they were 

 sufficiently successful to show that a solution of the problem 

 would be effected in the immediate future.* The inconve- 

 niences for which the plan was blamed may thus be summed 

 up: The electric light produces round it a whitish cloud, 

 fatiguing to the eye and injurious to observations; the fixed 

 electric light, by its great intensity, obliterates the regulation 

 green and red lights, which is a source of real danger; near 

 the shore, ships might mistake the electric lantern for a light- 

 house, and take a false course; finally, the apparatus is cum- 

 bersome, and the cost of fitting it up too great for the service 

 it renders. 



The greater part of these objections have lately been re- 

 moved, by raising the luminous lantern to a certain height, 

 by making the light intermittent, and by using the Gramme 



* The first attempts of the Alliance Company, at that time directed by 

 Berlioz, were made as early as 1855, on board the .Jerome-Napoleon, whose 

 commander, M. Georgette Dubuisson, was a strong supporter of the system. 

 They were afterwards repeated on board the Saint-Laurent, the Forfait, the 

 d ' Estrte, the Heroine, the Coligny, the France ; and it may be seen by the 

 Reports in Les Mondes, tome XVI 1 1., pp. 51, 325, 458, 593, 637; tome X VI. t 

 pp. 488, 594 / tome XIII., pp. 177, 405, 423; tome VIII., p. 592, that if the 

 naval service in general attached little importance to this application, several 

 distinguished officers fully appreciated its value. At that period, it is true, 

 the electric lighthouses that have given such good results on board the 

 Amtrique had not been fitted up on ships, but an electric light lantern, 

 very ingeniously arranged, was fixed on the mizzen-mast, and thus removed 

 one of the principal objections that had been made. 



