i86 Transmission of Power by Electricity. [February, 
cable that the practical limits might soon be reached. The 
amount of power required to be conveyed in any one direc- 
tion would of course be dependent upon the uses that could 
be found for it, and it is hardly conceivable that any one 
locality could advantageously use the enormous supposed 
power we have referred to. 
Stripped of its theoretical considerations, the important 
faCt still remains that with a cable of very limited size an 
enormous quantity of power may be transferred to consider- 
able distances. The burning of coal in the mines, and the 
conveyance of the power generated by the flow of rivers, 
may therefore be regarded as practicable, always, however, 
remembering that a loss of about 50 per cent will be almost 
unavoidable. 
It may be mentioned that Dr. C. W. Siemens and Sir 
William Thomson have recently made statements that are 
in general accordance with the views here expressed. 
