Chap. III. SMITHERY AND IRONMONGERY.

727
smaller mains and branches until each incandescent lamp is reached. It is of supreme
importance in electric lighting that the current should always be uniform at all times in
each individual part of the work, and be unaffected by changes in other parts, Ihe
compound shunt machine has been devised to effect this arrangement.
226im. A source of danger to property is in the mains and branch wires conducting the
current to the lamps; tliey must he of sufficient proportion, and of a material whose
resistance is uniform. Copper wire is used because it can be obtained in a purer state
Than any other available metal, and text to silver it is the best conductor of electricity.
Great attention is required to the connectors and joints, and the connections made with
binding screws
; besides causing resistance in the circuit, bad contact between a wire and
a terminal will produce heat. A faulty junction may also upset the calculations made
for the current to be taken by an otherwise efficient cable ; solder alone must not be relief
upon, as it may become softened by the current; it must be mechanically perfect. A
"
short circuit" is the current taking the shorter path, where, having no work to do, it
causes fire. The only preventive is a
"
cut out " or a
"
safety fuse," described as
"
a piece
of e,-isily fusible metal, which would be melted if the current attains auy undue magni-
tude, and would thus cause the circuit to be broken." From arc lights pieces of
incandescent carbon are apt to drop ; more fires have occurred from this cause than any
other. Electricity, having no smell to betray a leak, shows when it is escaping by the
diminished appearance of the lights, caused by the diversion of the system.
2264. Even if the cost of electric lighting be higher than ihat of a private gas supply,
the extra cost of it for those rooms wliure the preservation of works of art, books, and de-
corations has to be considered would be amply returned. The property of not vitiating or
heating the air will be the salient one which, when fully appreciated, must banish gas and
oil from the houses of those who consider sanitary excellence the principal feature of a
beautiful house. (K. Hedges, in Transactions of Royal Institute of British Architects,
1883-4, p. 143). The Electric Ligh'ing Act was passed August 18, 1882. The Maxim-
"Weston Electric Company (Limited) supply (Nov. 1887) the new "Watt" system
of lighting. They claim that they can now obtain six arc lamps of 150 candle-power in
place of one, as heretofore, from one electrical horse-power. The Pilsen-Joel arc lamp is
of 1,000 to 10,000 candle-power
; the incandescence or glow lumps are of 5, 10, 16, 20,
30, to 100 candle-power, for lighting rooms, &c. To popularise the electric light is the
only way to make it payit must be cheap and efficient. By cheapness is to be under-
stood, either a small first cost and a correspondingly small cost for maintenance, as in
the case of a battery placed in the house, or a moderate charge for the supply of the
current, as in the ca?e of a central distributing station. The lamps must be adaptable
to the present gas fittings, and the cost of the light must be but little, if at all, in
excess of that of the gas of the district. Though the advantages of this light are great in
R hjgienic and domestic point of view, the public would, in the main, continue to use the
present methods of illumination rather than adopt any new system which entailed extra
cost, however satisfied they might be that positive advantages were to be gained by it.
(P. F. Mersey, On Priman/ Batteries, Nov. 1887.) The Phosnix Fire Office rules for fixing,
&c., an installation are those now generally required to be carried out by the fire offices.
2264o. Although electricity has not ousted gas from the field, as it was at one time
thought it would do, it has yet made more progress than many people imagine, and i.o
architect would design a public hall without fitting it with incandescent lamps. These
do not give off as much heat as gas, nor do they contaminate the atmosphere. The
insertion of
"
!^torage batteries
"
as a sort of buffer between the machine and the lights, and
as a means of avoiding the risk of a break-down of the engine, has done much to render
electric lighting more generally available ; and considerable improvements have been made
in these
"
storage batteries" during the last fewyears. The battery of the Union Electrical
Power Light Company, of fifteen cells, will run twelve ten-candle incandescent lamps,
and occupies a few feet only. A small primary battery and lamp combined is invented, so
that an electric lamp can be placed on the table
; this can be recharged by simply pouring
into the cell containing the plates the necessary liquid. These lamps will run for about
three hourssay a dinner time.
2264^. A method of electric lighting for small areas, v. here the trouble and expense of
fixing up and working engines and dynamos constitute a serious objection, has been intro-
duced by Messrs. Woodhouse and Rawson,in which no machinery is required. The whole
apparatus is contained in a space of some 5 feet by 6 feet, by 8 feet in height, with a
perfect absence of smell, noise, or dirt. The light is generated by an
"
Upward
"
battery.
The cost for the equipment of an installation to run eleven lamps (10 candle-power each)
for two hours, or six for four hours, is 56/. ; while fifteen lights for three hours, or eight
for six hours, is 84/., and .!0 on. The House to House Electric Light Supply Co. is taking
active steps to promote this means of illumination.
22645'. There is a new electric gas lighting system, by which gas is lighted, turned on,
and extinguished at any distance by simply pressing a button, as in ordinary electric
bells; and at the same time the battery may be used for ringing electric bells.