54 TRANSACTIOKS. I0OI-2 



distance of a few hundred yards, a distance so short that no 

 vessel could get the warning- of the light in time to be saved 

 from disaster ; consequently it is doubtful if the aim of the 

 inventors of these extraordinarily powerful lights, to secure 

 greater penetration in thick weather, is attained ; on the other 

 hand, a very brilliant light in clear weather is a distinct dis- 

 advantage, blinding the sailor, and preventing him from 

 judging his distance either from the light or from neighbour- 

 ing objects. 



I believe that the immense sum-^ spent in the mainten- 

 ance of extraordinarily powerful lights would be utilized to 

 better advantage in increasing the number and power of fog 

 alarms in the same district. 



Improvements in the illumination of lighthouses have 

 been forced upon engineers by the growth in the size and 

 speed of vessels. In the days of the old sailing ships, when 

 shore lights were few and feeble, a powerful fixed light was a 

 sufficient guide. In these days of 23-knot vessels, running 

 through narrow, and often through dredged channels, when 

 every city and small town is illuminated by electric light, the 

 fixed light, that was so brilliant under old conditions, is rend- 

 ered insignificant by comparison, and it becomes necessary to 

 provide a beacon more powerful, and one that by its character 

 can be recognized as soon as seen. The head lights of elec- 

 trically lighted steamships are to-day as brilliant as many of 

 the old fixed lights ; this is another reason why it has been 

 found necessary to adopt the principle of abolishing fixed 

 lights altogether for the more important stations. 



To the improvement in lamps I have already referred ; 

 the improvement in optical apparatus has been in the direction 

 of varying the character of the light, either by occulting it, or 

 by gathering rays into condensed beams by a suitable arrange- 

 ment of lenses, thus giving a very powerful flash or groups of 

 flashes followed by an eclipse. This flashing light can be very 

 much diversified in character,but a description of the methods of 

 attaining the results would be tedious if described technically. 



