KEW  ELECTRICAL  MACHINE. 
343 
being  vigorously  carried  forward  at  the  works  of  the  company, 
near  London,  which,  if  successful,  would  be  the  means  of  bring- 
ing the  process  into  very  general  use. — Trans.  Pharm.  Society , 
JUdin.,  in  Pharm.  Jour.,  May,  1866. 
NEW  ELECTRICAL  MACHINE. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Chemical  News. 
Sir  : — Since  my  last  communication  to  you  I  have  turned  my 
attention  from  chemical  to  electrical  science,  and  seem  to  have 
discovered  an  inexhaustible  magazine  of  electricity  in  wood ! 
Not  that  I  imagine  for  a  moment  that  I  have  made  any  "  dis- 
covery," but  rather  the  application  of  one ;  for  who  is  there 
that  does  not  know  that  dry  wood  insulates  ?  while  how  few,  if 
any,  are  aware  that  sparks  may  be  drawn  from  its  surface  equal 
in  quantity  and  intensity  to  those  from  "ebonite" — and  even 
longer  !  If  this  be  so,  it  ought  to  make  a  revolution  in  the 
price  of  electrical  machines,  for  wood  would  only  cost  a 
twentieth  the  price  of  any  other  electric. 
Besides  cheapness,  wood  presents  many  other  advantages — 
viz.,  stiffness,  lightness,  portability,  surprising  power  and  size; 
for  it  is  evident  that  if  this  material  can  be  put  together  so 
closely  as  to  form  but  one  piece,  and  as  easily  taken  asunder, 
there  can  be  no  limit — save  the  growth  of  timber — to  the  con- 
struction of  the  most  powerful  machines.  Enormous  electrical 
"jars"  also  might  readily  be  constructed  of  this  material,  if 
they  should  ever  be  required.  Bat  the  great  value  of  wood 
consists  in  its  being  rendered  capable  of  remaining  permanently 
electrical,  and,  therefore,  permanently  dry,  without  which  its 
great  power  would  count  for  next  to  nothing. 
Brown  paper,  which,  while  hot  and  dry,  exhibits  equal  powers, 
is  nothing  directly  it  is  cold  ;  while  wood,  which  appears  equally 
porous,  retains  indefinitely  its  electric  properties.  How  is  this  ? 
I  have  by  me  pieces  of  different  kinds  of  wood,  which,  to  my 
certain  knowledge  (after  baking)  have  not  been  near  any  fire  for 
two  months,  and  yet  they  exhibit  all  the  intensity  of  recent 
dessication.  This  great  power  seems  to  reside  in  the  woody 
fibre ;  for  if,  while  still  hot  from  the  oven,  we  coat  the  wood  with 
