Figure 68. — Patent Office model of Page's 

 reciprocating motor. {USNM z^sGys; Smith- 

 sonian photo sgSyy.) 



compete with steam until some cheaper means of 

 producing electrical current could be found. 



Another very important deterrent to the use of 

 electrical power was the problem of distributing 

 electrical current. Although by midcentury one 

 could signal over long distances, power could be 

 transmitted efficiently only within an area the size 

 of a large room. Until some better means of dis- 

 tributing electricity was found, inventors had to use 

 very bulky containers full of corrosive liquids directly 

 at the place where the power was consumed. 



The problems of the production and distribution 

 of power were not solved until after the invention 

 of the dynamo and the transformer. Moreover, on 

 the eve of the last two decades of the 19th century — 



Figure 69. — One of Froment's motors. From 

 T. du Moncel, Electricity as a Motive Power, 

 London, 1883, fig. 35. 



decades that were to see the explosive development 

 of electrical technology — Theodose du Moncel was 

 expressing the opinion of most scientists and engineers 

 when he warned against the "pompous announce- 

 ments of certain constructors and certain journals" 



Figure 70. — Reproduction model of Farmer's electric train. The locomotive is 

 about 4 feet in length. (USNM 181 248; Smithsonian photo 14388.) 



270 



BULLETIN 228: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY AND TECHNOLOGY 



