Figure g. — Demonstration of the new 

 electric liglit during a visit of Queen 

 Victoria and Prince Albert to 

 Dublin, Ireland. From Illustrated 

 London News, August ii, 1849, vol. 

 15' P- 96- 



invention after the death of his partner but without 

 any signs of permanent success. '^ 



Then, in 1857, Victor Serrin invented a regulator 

 based on some of the best features of that of Duboscq, 

 and it dominated the field for two decades in France 

 and elsewhere (fig. 16).^'' Further refinements made 

 in 1859 produced le modele Suisse (fig. 17) that proved 

 its superiority over all others." The heart of its 

 reliability rested in the tjse of two driving systems 

 balanced against one another through a linkage in the 



13 British patent 2456 (October 20, 1856); Edmond Becquerel, 

 "Rapport sur un regulateur electrique et sur une lampe 

 photo-electrique presentes par MM. Lacassagne et Thiers de 

 Lyons," Bulletin de la Societe d' Encouragement pour Vlnduslrie 

 Mationale,iS56, ser. 2, vol. 3, p. 672, and 1857, ser. 2, vol. 4, 

 pp. 524-547; Du Moncel, op. cit. (footnote 5), vol. 3, pp. 

 234-239; vol. 4, pp. 504-506; Cosmos, 1856, vol. 9, pp. 365- 

 368; 1857, vol. 10, pp. 342-343, 538-539; 1859, vol. 15, pp. 

 200-202; 1861, vol. 19, p. 113; L Illustration, 1856, vol. 28, p. 

 299; Mechanics Magazine, 1857, vol. 66, pp. 529-530; L'Annee 

 scientifique, 1858, vol. 2, p. 488; Les Mondes, 1863, vol. 1, pp. 

 311-312. 



" Les Mondes, 1867, vol. 14, pp. 543-555; Du Moncel, op. 

 cit. (footnote 5), vol. 4, pp. 492-500. 



15 French patent 38506 (October 23, 1858; addition, October 

 22, 1859); British patent 653 (March 15, 1859); Victor L. M. 

 Serrin, "Regulateur automatique de lumiere electrique,'' 

 Comptes rendus, 1860, vol. 50, pp. 903-905; Cosmos, I860, vol. 

 16, pp. 514-517; F. P. Le Rou.x, "Rapport sur ... un 

 regulateur automatique de lumiere electrique presente par 

 M. Serrin," Bulletin de la Societe d' Encouragement pour Vlndustrie 

 Nationale, 1861, ser. 2, vol. 8, pp. 647-654 (see also 1860, ser. 

 2, vol. 7, p. 317, and 1866, ser. 2, vol. 13); Les Mondes, 1866, 

 vol. 11, pp. 666-668, 



fonn of a parallelogram with one of the vertical sides 

 fixed (fig. 18). As the upper carbon was consumed 

 and lost weight a detent was released, permitting a 

 clockwork to raise the mobile vertical side of the 

 parallelogram and, in turn, to raise the other carbon. 

 The shortened arc allowed a greater current to flow 

 through a solenoid that tended to pull down the mobile 

 side of the parallelogram by means of an armature 

 attached to the linkage. In this manner, a new 

 balance was constantly found as the carbons gradually 

 disappeared. As we shall see below, Serrin's final 

 regulator (fig. 19) was the one used in the inost 

 successful demonstrations of the electric light until the 

 end of the 1870's. A regulator somewhat similar to 

 that of Serrin was produced by Siemens, and it came 

 into wide use in Germany and England. 



Complaints often were made that the arc light was 

 too glaring, although it was pointed out to such 

 critics that so, also, was the sun. Nevertheless, the 

 intensity of the arc light proved to be a stumbling 

 block to the use of electricity for public lighting. 

 Various efforts were made to reduce the brightness. 

 The intensity of the arc light was reduced by placing 

 it on very high supports, and various kinds of diflFusers, 

 such as frosted glass, were tried. .Another possibility 

 considered was that perhaps the electric light could 

 be subdivided by placing several arc lights in the 

 same circuit. If this could be achieved, the glow 

 could be spread over a number of sources. Both 

 Quirini and Deleuil asserted that they had placed 



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