54 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XIII. No. 312 



ing a battery free from its defects, and, after a period of six years 

 of continuous experimenting, he produced the Julien battery in its 

 present form (represented in the accompanying cut), founded upon 

 the principle of an inoxidizable support plate, which is materially 

 opposed to that employed by his predecessors. All support plates 

 made before Mr. Julien's discovery were founded on the principle 

 of the oxidization of the positive plates or their conversion into 

 peroxide, so that they soon fell to pieces. 



The difference between a lead plate and one composed of this 

 inoxidizable alloy — lead, antimony, and mercury — is perfectly 

 evident : one is practically useless, while the other can be success- 

 fully used for years. The importance of this point is made plain 

 by a recent decision of the commissioner of patents. 



The following is an extract from the report of Benton J. Hall, 

 commissioner, Dec. 8, 1888, in the case of an interference between 

 John S. Sellon, assignor to the Electrical Accumulator Company, 

 and Edmond Julien : — 



" The addition of mercury as a battery constituent is of great 

 value in the formation of support plates of secondary batteries, on 

 account of its tendency to unite with the other metal or metals of 

 the plate, forming a more active union or contact between the 

 plate which contains an admixture of mercury, and thus diminish- 

 ing the resistance of the electrode, and therefore the resistance of 

 the whole battery, thereby increasing the current, which is a result 

 of the greatest importance in the use and application of secondary 

 batteries. 



"This property (that of diminishing the resistance of the electrodes) 

 is so valuable, that, in the manufacture of plates for contact bat- 

 teries, the addition of mercury to alloys of lead and antimony gives 

 marked advantages over batteries formed of lead and antimony 

 alone, and renders them preferred for secondary-battery purposes. 

 This is the characteristic value of the Julien battery, or the triple 

 alloy battery of Julien, which is so much preferred in modern use 

 on account of its durability and efficiency. 



" The action of mercury in the three- element battery — that of 

 Julien — should at once remove it from comparison with two-metal 

 batteries of any kind as yet known, and which appears to be due to 

 the admixture of mercury in the alloy, which renders it unlike the 

 other batteries with which it is classified wrongly in this interfer- 

 ence, and with which it should not have been placed in interference ; 

 for the presence of mercury in the plate gives it a distinct and sep- 

 arate place, and forms a different alloy." 



These plates, in addition to being inoxidizable, and thus having 

 practically an unlimited life, are of great rigidity and mechanical 

 durability, which enables them to be made very much lighter, and 

 also prevents any tendency of bending, or, as it is called, " buc- 

 kling," under the severe strain of heavy rates of charge and dis- 

 charge. 



To illustrate the difference in weight between a battery whose 

 plates are made of pure lead and of Mr. Julien's compound, I quote 

 from pamphlets issued by companies engaged in the manufacture 

 of these batteries : — 



Gibson (lead). 

 Faure (lead) 

 Julien (alloy) 



Weight of 

 Cell in Pounds. 



Capacity i 

 Ampere Ho 



Capacity 

 per Pound. 



The value of Mr. Julien's inventions was immediately recognized 

 by capitalists in America, which resulted in the organization of the 

 Julien Electric Company, to exploit his systems of traction and 

 lighting by means of these batteries. To that company is due the 

 great progress which has been made within the last two years in 

 the storage-battery industry. American ingenuity and proclivity 

 for labor-saving machinery has grappled with and overcome almost 

 all the difficulties in the manufacture of these batteries, which, up 

 to a short time ago, had been considered insurmountable. 



The plates were at first cast, pasted, and pressed entirely by 

 hand, and, in fact, these crude methods are still in use in Europe 



and by all other makers in this country ; but the Julien Company 

 have a machine capable of producing in one day one thousand com- 

 pletely finished plates. It is almost automatic in its action, and 

 requires but one attendant. All the plates are uniform, and the 

 action of the battery is therefore free from the irregularities insepa- 

 rable from hand-made batteries. 



A word as to the application of storage-batteries. They have 

 been extensively and successfully used for the following purposes : 

 electric lighting of buildings of every description ; lighting of rail- 

 way-trains, street-cars, and omnibuses; the traction of all vehicles, 

 more especially street-cars ; the propulsion of yachts, launches, and 

 pleasure-boats ; the lighting of steam-vessels, etc. ; running motors 

 of all kinds ; telegraphy, signalling, etc. ; medical uses ; electro- 

 plating ; general laboratory-work, etc. 



Electric lighting, however, is one of its most interesting and use- 

 ful applications. It is here that its functions as a reservoir of 

 energy become utilized to the greatest advantage. 



Where lights are supplied direct from a dynamo, the machinery 

 must have a power-capacity equal to the maximum number of 

 lamps in a given installation ; and, since the lights are usually only 

 needed a few hours out of each twenty-four, the plant will re- 

 main idle the rest of the time. Moreover, to secure first-class re- 

 sults, the engine and dynamo must be of the best construction and 

 design, steady and quick regulating, to prevent flickering. But 

 with storage-batteries the generator is not limited as to the time or 

 manner of working, but can prepare its supply slowly, ahead of 

 time, during the day, in the many hours at its disposal ; and, in 

 addition to its requiring a dynamo of very much smaller size, the 

 machinery may be of much simpler and cheaper construction, as 

 with the battery irregularities in movement can exist without in any 

 way affecting the quality of the light, since the current given off 

 from the accumulators is always uniform and regular, even while 

 the charging current is subject to marked fluctuations. The stor- 

 age-battery is, in fact, an equalizer and regulator to the dynamo, 

 besides acting as a reservoir in case of accident, which is liable to 

 happen with the best machinery. 



In all cases a direct lighting-plant can be made complete and 

 perfectly reliable by the addition of storage-batteries, as the surplus 

 energy, which can be stored while the dynamo is running under 

 light load, can be utilized during the remaining hours of the day or 

 night. 



With water we cannot expect a reliable supply without providing 

 suitable facilities for accumulating and storing certain quantities of 

 it ; and in every case we have such means of storage, whether it be 

 a reservoir, tank, cistern, or well. With gas the supply must be yet 

 more uncertain and unreliable without the gasometer, in which the 

 product of the retorts can be stored ahead of the time of consump- 

 tion. In the profitable and practical application of electricity we 

 must also have a means of storing to insure an absolutely steady 

 and uniform current, so necessary with incandescent lighting, and 

 also to provide against any possibility of the extinguishing of the 

 lights by failure of the generating-plant. 



Another great advantage to be obtained from the use of storage- 

 batteries is the great increase in the life of the lamps, due to the 

 fact that the current flows with absolute steadiness at all times, thus 

 adding from twenty-five to fifty per cent to their life, and effecting 

 a great saving, for the renewal of lamps is one of the chief items of 

 expense in the maintenance of an installation. 



They can, for example, be charged without trouble and danger 

 from an arc as well as incandescent circuit. Thus the electric light 

 may be introduced in many places where a special generating-plant 

 for charging batteries could not be employed, or where its expense 

 would be objectionable. This permits of the introduction of incan- 

 descent lighting without too great initial cost of installation, or in 

 the subsequent running expense. 



In places where an arc circuit is already installed, the introduc- 

 tion of the incandescent light becomes a comparatively simple and 

 inexpensive matter. The arc dynamo can be used in the day-time 

 to charge the batteries, and at "night to supply the arc lamps, while 

 the stored electrical energy is used to supply incandescent lamps. 



What one generation looks upon as a luxury the next regards as 

 a necessity. Of the numerous applications of the inventions util- 

 ized during the present century for the promotion and extension of 



