892 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. III. No. 77. 



Edison for his investigations in electric 

 lighting.' 



" The Committee reached the conclusion 

 expressed by these votes after long deliber- 

 ation and after careful sifting of all the evi- 

 dence which was at their disposal in regard 

 to Mr. Edison's claim for priority in the 

 construction of the incandescent lamp, the 

 conception of the central lighting station, 

 together with the multitude of devices, such 

 as the three-wire circuit, the disposition of 

 the electric current feeders, and the neces- 

 sary methods for maintaining the electric 

 potential constant. 



"The Committee felt that they could not 

 decide upon Mr. Edison's claims for priority 

 in any particular invention in this new in- 

 dustrJ^ Indeed, courts of law after pro- 

 longed litigation have found it difficult to 

 decide how far Mr. Edison was in advance 

 of contemporary workers. The task given 

 to the Rumford Committee to decide who is 

 the most worthy of the Euraford medal, 

 especially in the field of the application of 

 electricity for the production of light and 

 heat, is not an easy one. The number of 

 investigators is now so large that it is no 

 longer possible in general for one man to 

 claim to be the first to apply electricity to 

 a new field. The successful application is 

 the result of many minds working on the 

 same problem. Although the Committee 

 did not feel justified in expressing the 

 opinion that Mr. Edison invented the in- 

 candescent carbon filament lamp, or that 

 he was the first to arrange such lamp in 

 multiple on the circuit, thus producing 

 what is popularly termed a subdivision of 

 the electric light, or that the Edison 

 dynamo had greater merits than the ma- 

 chine of Gramme and Siemens and others ; 

 still they are convinced that Mr. Edison 

 gave a great imj^ulse to the new industry 

 and that he was the first to successfully in- 

 stall a central electric lighting plant with the 

 multitude of pi-actical devices which are 



necessary. They believe that this impulse 

 was due to his indefatigable application, to 

 his remarkable instinct in whatever relates 

 to the practical application of electric cir- 

 cuits, and to his inventive genius. They, 

 therefore, have unanimously recommended 

 to the Academy to bestow the Eumford 

 medals upon him, feeling that the work of 

 Mr. Edison would especially appeal to the 

 great founder of the medals. Count Eum- 

 ford, if he were living." 



The Academy has accepted the report of 

 the Eumford Committee and has voted to 

 confer the gold and the silver medal upon 

 Mr. Edison. The recipient finds it impos- 

 sible to be present at this meeting of the 

 Academj'' and has requested Prof. Trow- 

 bridge to act as his j^roxy and to receive 

 the medals for him. 



In the name of the Academy I beg you, 

 Prof. Trowbridge, to accept the charge of 

 conveying these medals to Mr. Edison's 

 hands. It would be most ungracious for 

 us who are assembled in this room, which 

 is flooded by this steady and brilliant elec- 

 tric light, to withold our personal thanks 

 for what Mr. Edison's investigations and 

 practical activities have done for us all. 

 And, hence, I may venture to say that our 

 thanks and all good wishes are to be con- 

 vej'ed with the Eumford medals. 



Prof. Trowbridge replied as follows : 



Mr. President and Gentlemen of the Acad- 

 emy : I accept the medals for Mr. Edison, 

 and at his request I wish to expi-ess his 

 deep sense of the great honor the Academy 

 has conferred upon him. His work in the 

 field of electric lighting has been the sub- 

 ject of prolonged litigation and at times he 

 has had doubts in reading the opinions of 

 learned experts whether this work has been 

 original or whether he had really contri- 

 buted anj^thing to the world's progress. 

 The recognition of his labors by the Ameri- 

 can Academy of Arts and Sciences, regarded 

 by Count Eumford in his gifts as the 



