18 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



The progress made during the past two years in the form and character o 

 lamps, whether arc or glow, has not been very marked. In arc lamps the ten- 

 dency has been to simplify the working parts, and to increase their steadiness of 

 action. The Crompton, Pilsen, and Fyfe-Main lamps leave little to be desired 

 in this respect. At the Vienna Exhibition there was a remarkably steady lamp 

 in the French Section, the Abdank lamp, but it has not been seen in England 

 yet. The arc lamp has many serious defects, which circumscribe its value very 

 considerably, but it is eminently adapted for workshops, railway goods yards, 

 and for large spaces where high masts can be fixed. 



For general domestic illumination the glow lamp, as made by Swan and Edi- 

 son, is, in my opinion, the only proper one. At the Munich and Vienna Exhi- 

 bitions, a remarkable lamp by Cruto, of Turin, was shown. It gave very good 

 results, and absorbed a very small current, but it is not in the market yet. At 

 Vienna the Bernstein lamp attracted much attention. It was a thin carbon tube 

 made by carbonizing a hollow silk ribbon, but it had low resistance, and required 

 much current. It gave a considerably higher candle-power than we are accus- 

 tomed to. For instance, one lamp requiring 5 amperes and 30 volts, gave 60 

 candles; and another, with 8-5 amperes and 35 volts, gave 100 candles. Its 

 normal efficiency of 2*5 watts per candle was very low, the efficiency of the Swan 

 lamp being 3-5 watts per candle, and that of the Edison 4 watts per candle. Its 

 duration is said to be very great. All glow lamps can be made to give economi- 

 cal results when we use large currents, but, unfortunately, their life is much cur- 

 tailed by doing so. -The filament is disintegrated, and the inside of the glass is, 

 in consequence, covered with a dark deposit. Hence we are obliged to be satis- 

 fied with low efficiency to obtain reasonable durability. 



The Bernstein lamp is, however, of an inconvenient power, and while it 

 may do for street lighting, and for large spaces, it is not adapted, in its present 

 form, for our rooms and offices. It is, therefore, a lamp that is more likely to 

 replace arc lamps than the present glow lamps, as made by Edison and Swan. 

 It has, however, shown us a direction in which economy can be effected, and 

 we may reasonably hope that the workers in this field will soon find a means to 

 improve the present efficiency of the small glow lamps, and thus reduce the cost 

 of working them. 



A good many private houses, as well as public establishments, have been 

 recently fitted up, and their experience has developed many difficulties and dan- 

 gers which have only to be found out to enable them to be overcome. There is 

 no use ignoring the fact that the admission of electric currents into our homes 

 means the admission of a new danger — a danger that is only to be surmounted by 

 the dictates of experience. Careful rules and regulations have been drawn up 

 for the guidance of those who are executing installation, but the true remedy is 

 to employ none but skillful and experienced contractors, and to have premises 

 properly inspected by recognized professional men. Under such guidance elec- 

 tric light leads can be made absolutely harmless and devoid of all danger. The 

 same cannot he said of gas, oil, or candle, for they involve the use of matches. 



