Tas only ray of light which brightens the gloomy columns of the Home papers proceeds from the electric discovery of Mr. Edison. We ran our eye down the closely printed pages, and read of nothing but commercial disasters, rumours of threatening war, and signs of impending troubles, heavier than those under which half the world seems to be bowed down. Meanwhile, scientific toil has been going steadily on, and there is, we are told, a chance of the introduction of a new luminary which will revolutionize the world of light and supersede gas. We have every confidence in the almost magical power of electricity, but before we abandon an old and usefal servant, it may be well to take the opinions of experienced men; and to see what persons, entitled to speak with authority, have said and written on the subject. A few months ago "the intelligence flashed through the Atlantic cable" to the effect that Mr. Edison bad succeeded in dividing electric currents, indefinitely, for the distribution of light and power. The fame of the inventor of the Phonograph is 60 great, and the importance of the fact he announced is so obvious, that thejtelegramexcited interest, and, almost immediately, gas shares went down. We must notice, however, one or two Points in connection with the Edison discovery. In the first place, it was known nearly a year ago that the light produced by electricity was divisible, as is proved by a paper supplied by Jablochkoff to the Academy of Science and to the French Physical Society, and notably by the display of light at the Paris Exhibition. And forther, the primary question on all occasions of this kind is the question of cost. If Mr. Jablochkoff has made certain discoveries, and if Mr. Edison has improved on them, the battle is not yet wou. The subject has to be viewed in various aspects, and to be considered from an economic point of view. Can the new laminary be produced as cheaply as gas? On this point, as may be expected, there is at present very considerable difference of opinion. The opponents of the invention say it will cost a very large sum, and that unless the light can be produced at a much smaller cost than seems at present probable, some years will elapse before gas will be superseded. On the contrary, the pertizans of the new light bring marvellous figures to support their discovery. M. Jablochkoff, however, is opposed to exaggerations and theory erical figures, and confines himself to saying that wherever it has been em. ployed there has been a notable econ-amy. In the Louvre, for example, where this light has been in use for a year, the proprietors of the magasins have proved a saving of $0 per cent., and with more light than with gas. However, we must take these statements even with certain limitations, and allow something for the bias of an inventor in favour of " the heir of his invention."
A letter by Dr. Siemens, contributed tothe Times, is perhaps the most valuable and well-considered communication which has yet been brought before the public on the subject. That laborious and "thorough" man of science deprecates the sensational method in which Mr. Edison has brought his invention before the notice of the British nation, and lays stress upon the real difficulties of electric lighting on a large scale, "Tt would seem," ho says, " that nothing could be more easy than to divide powerfal electric current among a8 many branches of varying relative importance as might be desired; but in the case of electric lighting a difficulty arises, in consequence of the varying resistance of each electric light orcandle, due tothe necessarily somewhat varying distance of the carbon points from each other, upon which the length of the luminous are depends."
'The substance of Dr. Siemens' letter, then, is to the effect that the victory of the electric light has to be achieved, Something has been done, but not everything. The future cannot be predicted yet with distinctness, but it seems probable that in time electricity may replace
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.