r 



*S%: 



SCIENCE 



[Entered at the Posi-Offloe of New York, N.Y., as Second-Class Matter.] 



Ninth Year. 

 Vol. XVII. No. 437. 



NEW YOKK, Juke 19, 1891. 



Single Copies, Ten Cents. 

 3.50 Per Year, in Advance. 



New Method of Protecting Property 

 from Lightning. 



The Lightning Dispeller. 



The Patent Lightning Dispeller is a conduc- 

 tor specially designed to dissipate the energy 

 of a lightning discharge, — to prevent its 

 doing harm, — placing something in its path 

 upon which its capacity for causing damage 

 may be expended. 



No recorded case of lightning stroke has 

 yet been cited against the principle of the 

 Dispeller. So far as known, the dissipation 

 of a conductor has invariably protected under 

 the conditions employed. 



The Dispeller will be sent prepaid, with 

 full directions for its application, to any 

 part of the United States on receipt of $5.00. 



Correspondence solicited. 



AGENTS WANTKD. 



N. D. C. HODGES, 



47 Lafayette Place, - - New York. 



BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY. 



There is a good chance for the right man 

 as Manager of the 



which is being formed to operate under broad 

 patents. The new method will certainly 

 revolutionize the whole system of protecting 

 property from lightning. 



Those interested should send for report of 

 the meeting of the American Institute of 

 Electrical Engineers, held April 21. 



Local companies are already forming to 

 operate under licenses from the parent com- 

 pany, and we should be glad to hear from 

 any who would care to consider entering this 

 new field. 



The English patent, which has just been 

 received, is for sale. 



Correspondence is solicited with those de 

 siring further information. 



N. D. C. HODGES, 47 Lafayette PI, N.Y. 



PROTECTION FROM LIGHTNING. 



THE NEW METHOD STANDS UNCRITICISED. 



' ' The main point which I would urge upon your consideration is that by giving the 

 electrical energy something which experience shows it will readily dissipate, that is, a 

 conductor of varying resistance and small size, we can but mitigate the effects of lightning- 

 discharges, so long as the conservation of energy holds true. I will only repeat that I 

 have so far found no case on record where the dissipation of such a conductor has failed 

 to protect the building under the conditions already explained." — From paper read be- 

 fore the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, April 31. 



A full report of the above paper and discussion will be sent to any address on application. 



The use of every means thought of to elicit criticism of the statement printed above in 

 bold-faced type has not as yet brought out the citation of a single case of lightning stroke 

 militating against its correctness. Not an exception was brought up at the meeting of the 

 Institute of Electrical Engineers, nor has the publication of the paper in the five electrical 

 weeklies of this country called forth any. It is on this basis of fact that we base our con- 

 fidence in the complete efficiency of the new method. 



As negotiations are progressing favorably with three distinct parties looking 

 to the early taking np of the balance of the stock in the parent company for 

 the handling of the patents, anyone desiring to invest should immediately 

 make application, though we cannot agree to accept such subscriptions on 

 account of the possible early closing of the list. 



PROSPECTUS. 



47 Lafayette Place, New York, March 9, 1891. 



It is proposed by the owners of letters patent dated Dec. 16, 1890, on an improved 

 method for protecting buildings from lightning, etc., to organize a company for the hand- 

 ling of said patent and all improvements; and subscriptions are requested on the following 

 tei'ms and conditions: — 



1. A company is to be organized with a capitalization of $10,000, in 1,000 shares of .$10 

 each, fully paid in at par, the company to be organized in such State as the subscribers may 

 determine by vote when all shares have been subscribed for, and with a charter to contain 

 a provision that the amount of capitalization shall never be increased. 



3. This §10,000 is to be used as working capital; and the object of the company will 

 simply be to place licenses with responsible persons, corporations, or sub-companies, al 

 such rates of royalty as may be agreed upon by a majority vote. 



3. In lieu of any stock or cash payment to the inventor for his patent, the inventor 

 will give said company the exclusive control of his said inventions in consideration of the 

 payment to him by said company of one-third of the gross royalty receipts. 



The officers of the company shall be elected by a majority vote of the stockholders 

 without reserve. No stock shall be given to anybody for services or any thing else except 

 actual cash payment at par into the treasury. 



No subscriptions will be binding until the full number of 1,000 shares has been sub- 

 scribed for. Subscriptions are solicited in amounts from five shares upwards. 



N. D. C. HODGES. 



QUERY. 



Can any reader of Science cite 

 a case of lightning stroke in 

 which the dissipation of a small 

 conductor (one-sixteenth of an 

 inch in diameter, say,) has failed 

 to protect between two horizon- 

 tal planes passing through its 

 upper and lower ends respective- 

 ly? Plenty of cases have been 

 found which show that when the 

 conductor is dissipated the build- 

 ing is not injured to the extent 

 explained (for many of these see 

 volumes of Philosophical Trans- 

 actions at the time when light- 

 ning was attracting the attention 

 of the Royal Society), but not 

 an exception is yet known, al- 

 though this query has been pub- 

 lished far and wide among elec- 

 tricians. 



N. D. C. HODGES, 



47 LAFAYETTE PLACE, 

 NE-W YORK. 



MIUrQIIQ Cabinet Specimens. Collections. 

 If 11 1* L n n LO ■ For Blowpipe Analysis. 



Largest and tinest stock in U. S. lOOpp. Illustrated 

 CataloRue. paper bound, 15c. ; cloth bound, 25c. 

 GEO. L. ENGLISH & CO, Mineralogists, 



Removed to 



733 & 735 Broadway, New York. 



Conrse of Mineralogy for Young People. 



Third Grade ready, containing directions how to 

 study minerals by means of blowpipe analysis. 



Book, Collection. Correspondence one dollar 

 postage, 25 cents. Address 



GUSTAVE GUTTENBERG, 

 Central High School, Pittsburgh, Pa 



ROSE POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE. 



Mechanical and Electrical En.cineering, Chemibtr_ 

 Drawing. Extensive Shops and Laboratories. Ex- 

 penses low. For catalogue addreee H. T. Eddy, Prca. 



DATCMTO J. B. CRALLE & CO., 

 rH I tn I Washington, D. C. 



ILLUSTRA.TED HAND-BOOK FREE upon applica- 

 tion. Mention this paper. 



