SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1057 



rent used for nickel-, silver- and gold- 

 plating, as well as for electro-typing, was 

 obtained from chemical batteries. "Weston 

 says that it was almost a hopeless task to 

 wean electroplaters from these cells to 

 which they had become tied by long experi- 

 ence and on the more or less skillful use of 

 which they based many of the secrets of 

 their trade. 



If the dynamo as a cheap and reliable 

 source of electric current was advantage- 

 ous for nickel-plating, it became an abso- 

 lutely indispensable factor for electrolytic 

 copper refining. At that time, the dynamo 

 was still at its very beginning — some sort 

 of an electrical curiosity. It had been in- 

 vented many years before by a Norwegian, 

 Soren Hyjorth, who filed his first British 

 patent as far back as 1855. Similar ma- 

 chines had been built both in Europe and 

 America, but little or no improvement was 

 made until "Weston, in his own thorough 

 way, undertook the careful study of the 

 various factors relating to dynamo effi- 

 ciency. 



In 1876, "Weston filed his first United 

 States patent on rational dynamo construc- 

 tion, which was soon followed by many 

 others, and before long he had inaugu- 

 rated such profound ameliorations in the 

 design of djmamos that he increased their 

 efficiency in the most astonishing manner. 

 Heretofore, the dynamos which had been 

 constructed showed an efficiency not reach- 

 ing over fifteen to forty per cent., gross 

 electrical efficiency, but the new dynamos 

 constructed after "Weston's principles in- 

 creased this to the unexpected efficiency of 

 ninety-five per cent., and a commercial effi- 

 ciency of eighty-five to ninety per cent. 

 He thus marked an epoch in physical sci- 

 ence by constructing the first industrial 

 machine which was able to change one form 

 of energy, motion, into another, electricity, 

 with a hitherto unparalleled small loss. As 



the improvements in dynamos depend al- 

 most exclusively on physical considerations, 

 and have little relation with the field of 

 chemistry, I shall dispense with going 

 further into this matter. But I should be 

 permitted to point out that the first prac- 

 tical application of electrical power trans- 

 mission for factory purposes in this coun- 

 try, was first utilized in Weston's factory; 

 the success of this installation induced the 

 Clark Thread Works, also located in New- 

 ark, to adopt this method of power trans- 

 mission for some special work; a method 

 which now has become so universal. For 

 this purpose, Weston had to invent new 

 devices for starting, and for controlling, as 

 well as for preventing injuries to motors by 

 overload. 



In Weston's factory also the electric arc 

 was used for the first time in the "United 

 States for general illumination. 



In fact, from 1875 to 1886, Weston was 

 very energetically engaged with the devel- 

 opment of both systems of are- and incan- 

 descent-illumination by electricity. We 

 see him start the manufacture of are-light- 

 carbons according to methods invented by 

 him, and thus he became the founder of 

 another new industry in America. He con- 

 tinued this branch of manufacture until 

 1884, at which epoch this part of the busi- 

 ness was transferred to another company, 

 which has made a specialty of this class of 

 products, and has developed it into a very 

 important industry. Here again, Weston 

 introduced chemical methods and chemical 

 points of view. Amongst the many objec- 

 tions which the public had against the elec- 

 trical arc was the bluish color of its light. 

 Women especially complained that the blue- 

 violet light did not bring out their com- 

 plexion to the best advantage. Weston 

 first tried to use shorter arcs which gave a 

 whiter light, but this was only a partial 

 remedy. He soon found a more radical 



