538 
THE NEW LIGHT. 
and the light, and at a considerable distance from it, and yet have been read 
with great facility ; in fact, by modifying and improving the process (which 
time will probably show to be quite practicable), there is no valid reason why 
we should not make this light subservient to ordinary use, and, whilst retaining 
its remarkable qualities, render it unobjectionable in all other respects. At 
present, it must be said, that the question of cost is a formidable obstacle in the 
way. It is well known that magnesium is extracted from its various sources 
with great difficulty ; but, like other metals of the same class, it will, no doubt, 
be more abundantly obtained as time progresses. With such men as Mr. 
Sonstadt pursuing the investigation con amove , we feel almost assured of a 
satisfactory result.* But not alone upon a liberal production of the metal does 
the cost depend. Mr. Alonzo Grant, who has been zealously engaged on the 
subject, and writes a letter to the ‘ Standard,’ December 1st, 1864, states that by 
burning a strip of zinc in conjunction with two strips of magnesium, the cost of 
the light may be reduced by two-thirds ; and further ventures to predict that 
“ magnesium will become as cheap as zinc, and that in course of time it will be 
possible to illuminate a street a mile long at the rate of a halfpenny per hour.” 
A gentleman with whom I am personally acquainted, and who has instituted 
some very able experiments, and been in communication with both Mr. Sonstadt 
and Mr. Grant, informs me that these discoverers—for such, indeed, they are, 
with the distinctive deference due to each—are still'labouring assiduously to 
bring this light to something like practical perfection; and, until the result of 
their labours shall be made known, it would scarcely be wise to pronounce an 
opinion to the effect that signalling and photography will alone be benefited by 
it. W e are quite prepared to hear of a newly-discovered amalgam that shall be 
found to burn brightly and economically, or of a lamp so constructed as to 
answer the same end. With regard to the dark shadows, if they “ come like 
shadows,” so they must “ depart.” The question of cost once settled, and the 
rest will scarcely fail to follow in due course. 
The history of artificial illumination acquires a peculiar interest at the present 
time, from the fact that we are by no means satisfied with Avhat we have 
already achieved, but are branching out in all directions in search of some new 
discovery which shall be found to obviate the inconvenience attending the 
method at present adopted. u More light, we want more light!” is the cry of 
the age, and it may be taken in its double sense with a great amount of truth. 
The papers teem with complaints of the indifferent quality and high price of the 
gas supplied by the various gas companies, and no one, of course, will consent 
to go back to the age of “ dips’’ and u short sixteens.” Just now we are looking 
very wistfully at petroleum. The oil wells of Yenango county, Western Penn¬ 
sylvania, are apparently inexhaustible, and the demand is correspondingly great. 
Petroleum, it is said, has extinguished every light in America but that obtained 
from coal gas, and with this it is entering fiercely into competition. The ex¬ 
ports to this country are immensely on the increase, and there can be no doubt 
that in petroleum we shall possess a very valuable illuminating agent. But 
petroleum has nothing in common with magnesium, and it is to this latter body 
that we are looking to change the entire character of our artificial light. Mag¬ 
nesium belongs to a group of metals which have their source in the alkaline 
earths. It is extremely oxidizable, and when exposed to the atmosphere it soon 
becomes coated with magnesia, its only oxide. It is seldom to be met with 
quite pure, owing to the presence of a small quantity of nitrogen, which darkens 
* Magnesium is now being manufactured upon a commercial scale, by an undertaking 
called the Magnesium Metal Company, and Messrs. Johnson, Mat they and Co., the metal¬ 
lurgists of Hatton Garden, have, as sole agents, undertaken its introduction. (‘ Times,’ 
Monday, February 20th, 1865.) 
