SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 ** EVERY MAN 1S A VALUABLE MEMBER OF SOCIETY WHO, BY HIS OBSERVATIONS, RESEARCHES, AND EXPERIMENTS, PROCURES KNOWLEDGE FOR MEN’’ SMITHSON (PUBLICATION 2822) CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 1925 4 i , Te Lord Gaftimore Press BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. ae ADVERTISEMENT The present series, entitled “ Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collec- tions,” is intended to embrace all the octavo publications of the Institution, except the Annual Report. Its scope is not limited, and the volumes thus far issued relate to nearly every branch of science. Among these various subjects zoology, bibliography, geology, mineralogy, anthropology, and astrophysics have predominated. The Institution also publishes a quarto series entitled ‘“ Smith- sonian Contributions to Knowledge.” It consists of memoirs based on extended original investigations, which have resulted in important additions to knowledge. CHARLES DY WALCOTT, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. iii) = LO: itt Wp ae CONTENTS . Mirman, Cart W. Some practical aspects of fuel economy. June 2; 1923. 19 pp. (Publ. 2715.) . SCHROEDER, HEeNrRy. History of electric light. August 15, 1923. - 95 pp., 96 illus. (Publ. 2717.) . SPRINGER, Franx. On the fossil crinoid family Catillocrinidae. August 3, 1923. 41 pp., 5 pls. (Publ. 2718.) . REPORT ON COOPERATIVE EDUCATIONAL AND RESEARCH WorK CARRIED ON BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AND ITS BRANCHES. July 28, 1923. 30 pp. (Publ. 2719.) . Miter, Gerrit S., Jr. The telescoping of the Cetacean skull. August 31, 1923. 70 pp., 8 pls. (Publ. 2720.) . OBERHOLSER, Harry C. Descriptions of new East Indian birds of the families Turdidae, Sylviidae, Pycnonotidae, and Musci- capidae. July 16, 1923. 9 pp. (Publ. 2721.) . Kettoce, Remrncton. Description of an apparently new toothed cetacean from South Carolina. July 25, 1923. 7 pp., 2 pls. (Publ. 2723.) . Fewxes, J. Watter. Additional designs on prehistoric Mimbres pottery. January 22, 1924. 46 pp., 1o1 figs. (Publ. 2748.) . FisHer, Wittarp J. The brightness of lunar eclipses 1860- 1922. February 18, 1924. 61 pp. (Publ. 2751.) EXPLORATIONS AND FrELD-WoRK OF THE SMITHSONIAN INsTI- TUTION IN 1923. March 31, 1924. 128 pp., 123 figs. (Publ. 2752.) PALMER, Howarp. The Freshfield Glacier, Canadian Rockies. August 2, 1924. 16 pp., 9 pls. (Publ. 2757.) Snyper, Tuomas E. “ Adaptations ” to social life: the termites (Isoptera). September 2, 1924. 14 pp., 3 pls. (Publ. 2786.) FewkeEs, J. Water. Preliminary archeological explorations at Weeden Island, Florida. October 14, 1924. 26 pp., 21 pls. (Publ. 2787.) (v) SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOLUME 76, NUMBER 1 SOME PRACTICAL ASPECTS OF FUEL ECONOMY BY CARL W. MITMAN Divisions of Mineral and Mechanical Technology, United States National Museum (PUBLICATION 2715) CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION JUNE 2; 1923 The Lord Baltimore Press BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. SOME PRACTICAL ASPECTS. OF FUEL “ECONOMY By CARL W. MITMAN DIVISIONS OF MINERAL AND MECHANICAL TECH NOLOGY UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM Some ten years ago a large manufacturer in New England was approached with a proposal for materially bettering his fuel practice. The proposal was rejected on the grounds that coal represented less than 10 per cent of the cost of production, that a 10 per cent saving on this meant a saving of less than I per cent on the whole operation, and that economies of far greater consequence had prior claims to attention—in short, that the power plant was the least source of worry. Since then, however, this particular plant, in search of relief from its coal troubles, installed an oil burning equipment only to get caught in the rise of fuel oil prices and revert to coal, and on at least one occasion has been entirely shut down for lack of fuel. The case is fairly typical and serves to bring out two points of fundamental importance: (1) That the fuel question has grown to be of major significance and (2) that its growth has been so rapid— largely within the last decade—that there scarcely has been time to work out the answer in standard form available to the average user. ‘Thus, while consumers in general have come to appreciate these changing conditions to a greater or less degree, they have not been uniformly in a position to cope with them. Power plant operations large enough to have the benefit of their own expert advice are able to work out the answer to their particular problems and are reasonably up to date in the way of equipment and operation. The average consumer, however, having no expert advice to bring to bear upon his problem, is dependent upon established practice, and in the absence of standards is still operating in the dark. The object of this writing is to bring out to what extent the average consumer may reasonably expect to profit from available data. THE FURNACE A CHEMICAL PLANT Combustion is a chemical reaction and a furnace is in reality a chemical plant manufacturing heat units. As such, the furnace opera- tion falls into the same category with any other chemical process SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, VOL. 76, No. 1 2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 which, to be effectively operated, is at all times concerned with three important factors: (1) The use of proper ingredients, (2) Inthe proper proportions, (3) Under the proper conditions. By this is meant using the right coal under adequate furnace con- trol and with the proper design of furnace installation. More specifically, the three issues involve: (1) The quality of coal, (2) furnace control, and (3) furnace installation, and will be taken up for discussion under these three general headings, but in reverse order. FURNACE INSTALLATION The manufacture of furnaces and boilers is a major industry in itself, composed of large organizations engaged in active competi- tion and each having its own corps of highly trained experts. Exhaustive studies of combustion and heat absorption have been made not only under research conditions but under operating condi- tions as well. Asa result, furnace and boiler designs have been devel- oped which may be taken as embodying the best principles and suited to all ordinary requirements. This being the case, in the matter of furnace installation the consumer need scarcely concern himself beyond determining whether it is of standard design, reasonably up to date, and reasonably in keeping with the requirement. FURNACE CONTROL To appreciate the need for furnace control it is necessary to under- stand something of what takes place within the furnace. Reference has already been made to the combustion of coal as being a chemical reaction. Precisely speaking, it includes a number of reactions, in- volving the several ingredients composing coal, but inasmuch as carbon is the major ingredient, in the interest of simplicity, attention will be confined to its activity within the furnace. When carbon burns it unites with the oxygen of the air in two ways. Expressed chemically, these are c + OF = GO: and 2C+0,=2CO which means, taking into account the relative weights of the ingre- dients involved, that in the first reaction, NO. I FUEL ECONOMY—MITMAN 3 (1) 12 parts carbon+32 parts oxygen=44 parts carbon dioxide gas (a ratio of 1 carbon to 2.7 oxygen), and in the second, (2) 12 parts carbon+16 parts oxygen=28 parts carbon monoxide gas (a ratio of I carbon to 1.3 oxygen). Chemical science has established the fact that the relationships ex- pressed in reactions (1) and (2) are invariably fixed; for instance, that 12 parts of carbon requires exactly 32 parts of oxygen, forming exactly 44 parts carbon dioxide gas. Furthermore, the heat evolved in these combinations is a constant quantity. The heat evolved in reaction (1) is, however, over three times ‘greater in amount that that evolved in reaction (2) for the reason that the former is the result of complete combustion. As a matter of fact, the carbon monoxide gas formed in reaction (2) can be ignited in the presence of air, and in the process of its combustion is converted to carbon dioxide. The heat released by this reaction added to that of reaction (2) will be equal to that released by the complete burning of carbon to carbon dioxide, as shown in reaction (1). Unburned and allowed to escape up the chimney, it means just so much coal (about two- thirds) wasted, or a 450 B. t.'u. extraction from a 1350 B. t. u. coal. Yet it is not at all uncommon for a consumer to haggle over a variation of 50 heat units in the coal furnished him without giving the least heed to what is going up the stack. Let us consider the matter of fixed relationships of ingredients a little further. If instead of supplying the exact amount of oxygen as called for in reaction (1), more is supplied, then, on the basis of chemical law, (3) 12 parts carbon+50 parts oxygen=44 parts carbon dioxide gas+18 parts uncombined oxygen (a ratio of 1 carbon to 4.2 oxygen), while if less oxygen is supplied than theoretically required, the reac- tion would be (4) 12 parts carbon+20 parts oxygen=8 parts carbon dioxide gas+24 parts carbon monoxide gas (a ratio of I carbon to 1.8 oxygen). Comparing reaction (3) with reaction (1) it will be noted that while the carbon consumed, and hence the heat generated, remains the same, the resultant gases have been materially increased in volume. When we consider further that the addition of 18 parts of oxygen, 4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 since it is introduced in the form of air, carries with it another 72 parts of nitrogen, the increase in volume is seen to be decidedly significant. One result is to lower the working temperature within the furnace precisely as the introduction of cool air into a room lowers the room temperature. Another ill effect is that since the flue gases carry off heat, any material increase in the volume of flue gases gives a correspondingly significant increase in the heat thus escaping. Analyzing the results in reaction (4), it develops that only one-fourth of the carbon has been fully burned, the other three- fourths being two-thirds wasted ; in other words, there has been only a 50 per cent extraction of heat units. In short, adequacy of results is to be attained only as the require- ments of exact chemical laws are met with exactitude. Deviations resulting in as much as 50 per cent loss in efficiency may easily go unnoticed in the absence of any definite check in the way of chemical control. As a matter of fact, it is not too much to say that modern industry is built around chemical control, and it is a striking fact that the one chemical process involving, in the aggregate, the largest capital outlay remains to-day largely subject to rule of thumb methods. Domestic APPLICATION The principles underlying effective combustion apply to the house- hold furnace and to the power house installation alike. There is this difference however: In the former the furnace receives only casual attention and that of a perfunctory, inexpert nature, while the latter is being constantly ministered to by specially trained attendants. Accordingly, the smaller installations are subject to a handicap which prevents any rigorous application of chemical con- trol, but this does not mean that an intelligent application of the general principles may not be made productive of significant results, especially in view of the present high fuel costs. It is not at all uncommon to encounter one consumer burning twelve or fourteen tons of coal while another operating under essentially similar conditions gets by with six or eight tons. Discrepancies such as these indicate conclu- sively the extent to which irregularities in practice may lead to readily preventable losses. The general principles of effective combustion in substance boil down to having the furnace in good working order ; exercising effec- tive draft control; and using the coal best suited to the requirement. The defect most commonly encountered in the upkeep of the furnace itself is that of dirty flues. A one-eighth inch coating of soot pro- NO. I FUEL ECONOMY—MITMAN 5 vides an insulation which will cut the absorptive power over 25 per cent. The flues should be cleaned in the case of anthracite at least every few weeks and in the case of bituminous coal practically every day. Other defective developments commonly met with are in the form of leaky settings, cracks, warped castings, and the like. These, however, communicate their ill effects chiefly in the matter of draft control and may therefore be considered under that head. In this latter connection, two general deductions are to be derived from what has been said in the preceding pages. First, that air enter- ing the furnace above the fuel bed is objectionable in that it serves to lower the temperature within precisely as the influx of cold air lowers a room temperature. Second, an undue amount of air beyond that required for combustion, even when fed through the fuel bed, is open to the same objection. Accordingly, the common practice of opening the coaling door or even the slide in the door to check the fire is, in general, bad and should be resorted to only when absolutely necessary; similarly, holes or cracks admitting air above the fuel bed should be sealed as soon as they develop. As too much air passing through the fuel bed has the same general effect as air fed over the bed, it follows that the further practice commonly met with of opening the ash pit door to obtain full draft is scarcely less objectionable than opening the coaling door, and leaky settings, cracks, etc., leading into the ash pit, in their general effect, are not unlike similar defects in the combustion chamber. So far as possible, the control over the furnace should be accomplished with the check damper, supplemented by the opening of the ash pit damper only to a sufficient degree and for a sufficient time to stimulate combustion. In this way excess air with its consequent cooling effect is cut to a minimum and the course of the gases is retarded, giving the maximum opportunity for the heat to be absorbed. One of the commonest practices met with combines about everything that has been pointed out as objectionable. This is the practice of banking the furnace at night leaving the coaling door open, to be followed in the early morning by opening up everything down below. This means the complete loss of the heat generated by combustion during the night followed by the cooling effect oe excess draft throughout at least the early part of the day. The value of having a coal uniformly suited to the requirement will be discussed in some detail later. It may be well here, however, to touch briefly on the important bearing that the size of coal exerts. The case comes to mind of a householder accustomed to using nut 6 SMITIISONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 coal but forced under the stress of shortage to burn egg. His coal requirement became so excessive as to prompt investigation. This revealed that to start with, he used the same draft in the case of egg as with nut, but, failing to obtain the requisite heat, he opened the draft still further. This failed to help matters so he ended by keep- ing all drafts wide open and reconciled himself to the thought that the coal was deficient in heating value. It need scarcely be pointed out that the trouble lay in the fact that the larger size of coal gave free passage to the cold air which kept down the temperature in the combustion chamber and caused the hot gaseous products of combus- tion to pass directly into the chimney. What has been said in the foregoing paragraphs relative to the domestic furnace operation applies directly to the use of anthracite coal and along with it the use of coke, its artificial equivalent, which has already made a considerable place for itself and is due for further extension. In using bituminous coal the slide in the coaling door should be left open to provide air for burning the volatile matter and closed immediately thereafter. A further difference of treatment desirable in the case of bituminous is that of firing on one-half of the fuel bed at a time, so as to always maintain a live combustion sur- face necessary to ignite the volatile matter. Adherence to this special procedure may be made to yield results for low volatile bituminous coals comparable to the use of anthracite, in the matter of smoke. INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION As coal consumption reaches the stage of tons per day, the attention paid to the furnace becomes practically continuous so that any apparatus which can indicate or guide the operator in the control of the process of combustion can be effectively utilized. In this connec- tion, a report of the United States Fuel Administration, covering the period from September 1, 1917, to March 1, 1919, contains the follow- ing passage: The average steam user in the whole United States knows but very little in detail about the operations of his steam plant or its economic possibilities. This has been largely due to the fact that coal has been cheap and in great quantity, and usually this department has been a small one compared to others. They are beginning to see, however, that a dollar saved in this department is worth as much as a dollar saved in any other, and we believe that in the near future the power department of the average manufacturing establishment will be given the same attention as any other department. The questionnaires returned to this office show that ninety-five per cent of the steam users have but the faintest idea of their actual steam costs, and these plants, as a general thing, NO FUEL ECONOMY—MITMAN (Ei ffective Heat) Temperature and Analysis GT al ap + KO Re SY SS 7 # Zi He die 3 Intl TIKWNV HE A as —s Water /ntare== | Coa/ Feed N Fic. 1—Working Principles of the Ordinary Industrial Furnace. 8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 are still run under the realm of guess-work. Even some of the larger plants that are well equipped with various instruments to determine the efficiency of their plants and their unit cost of steam are operated with such an inferior class of help and with no intelligent supervision that these advantages are entirely lost. Page 7 gives a graphic representation of the combustion reactions applied to industrial furnace practice. The coal fired on the grate plus. air in the form of draft yields carbon dioxide in the form of waste gas plus or minus free air or free carbon monoxide gas, depend- ing upon how the ideal reaction (1) has been approached. It will be noticed that the hot gases from combustion are forced to take a round- about course on their way to the stack by the introduction of a series of baffles. This is to give the maximum opportunity for the boiler tubes to absorb the heat. In spite of this, the gases are still hot as they enter the chimney which means that they carry away a very appreciable amount of heat. Too much air fed in as draft results in an unnecessary volume of gases and a correspondingly preventable loss of heat. Insufficient air affords insufficient oxygen, resulting in incomplete combustion forming carbon monoxide instead of dioxide and the carrying off of two-thirds of the heat units as lost potentiality. Two general lines of procedure suggest themselves for subjecting the industrial furnace to chemical control, namely, measuring the raw materials, coal and air, and measuring the results. The first named is impractical, if for no other reason than that of the ever varying composition of the coal, as will be discussed more in detail later. The second line of procedure, that of measuring the results, may seem, offhand, open to the objection of locking the door, as it were, after the horse is stolen. Given an indication of satisfactory versus unsatisfactory results, however, we are in a position to gage our procedure accordingly. This brings to mind the relationship already brought out, to the effect that the best results are, in general, attendant on the highest percentage of carbon dioxide in the flue gases, and points at once to the importance of flue gas analysis as a medium of control. Along with this, the importance of steam flow measurement is self-evident inasmuch as steam is what is most desired. These two together afford a check against one another in the determination of results and the fixing upon the procedure best calculated to bring them about. All that now remains is to interpret these results in terms of the conditions existing in the furnace and provide a means for maintaining those conditions uniformly. Thus with the co-ordination of three sets of records we are in a position to NO. I FUEL ECONOMY—MITMAN 9 subject the whole operation to definite chemical control. These three will now be taken up in turn for discussion. STEAM FLow MEASUREMENT Experience reveals the surprising fact that the average operator, more particularly the smaller operator, has not the remotest con- ception as to how much steam he is securing, in other words, whether he is operating on an efficient basis of seven or eight pounds of steam per pound of coal or whether he is getting only four or five pounds. Accordingly, taken by itself a steam flow indicator is a first requisite to enable the operator to be cognizant of conditions and the possible room for improvement. Its further function as an adjunct to the fitting control of furnace practice has already been brought out. The steam flow meter is applied to the steam outlet of the boiler and in its simpler form will indicate on its dial the momentary output of steam. There are several types of flow meters made, all of which, however, are designed fundamentally on the Pitot tube or the Venturi tube principle. Whatever the type, the meter is installed in the steam line and the steam in passing through the mechanism produces a differential pressure which is proportional to the square of its velocity or rate of flow. Any change in pressure actuates the indicating hand on the meter dial, the readings on which may be in pounds per hour or in horsepower. FLuE Gas ANALYSIS Thanks to the efforts of scientists, the chemistry of gases, and particularly their analysis, has been resolved into quite a simple pro- cedure. There are several ways in which gases may be analyzed, depending upon one or another of the properties of the individual compounds composing them as, for instance, the differences in refrac- tive power of the constituents, and again, the power of certain chemical reagents to select and absorb one of the several compounds. A familiar application of this latter principle is the gas mask used during the war, in which a certain reagent is used to absorb the poisonous constituent of the war gas before the air containing it is breathed into the lungs. It is this same principle that is most gen- erally used in the analysis of flue gases, and while the several types of apparatus used to make analyses by this method may vary as to detail, they are simply modifications of the apparatus devised about 50 years ago by the French scientist, Orsat. We have seen earlier that the significant gases which may pass up the stack of a furnace are carbon dioxide, oxygen, and carbon mon- 16) SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 oxide. To analyze such a gaseous mixture by the Orsat method means simply to bring about the absorption of each one of the con- stituents and determine by the resultant changes in volume the per- centage composition. A solution of caustic potash will absorb carbon dioxide but neither oxygen nor carbon monoxide; further, a solution of pyrogallic acid and caustic potash will absorb oxygen ; and lastly, an ammoniacal solution of cuprous chloride will absorb carbon monoxide. These are the reagents used. Figure 2 shows a simple form of Orsat apparatus. The graduated bulb on the right measures a unit quantity of the flue gas to be analyzed; the three bulbs to the left contain the several absorption reagents; that one immediately adjoining the graduated bulb absorbs carbon dioxide ; the next to the left absorbs oxygen; and the last absorbs carbon monoxide. In operation a measured quantity of flue gas is admitted into the gradu- ated bulb, and by means of simple valves and the leveling bottle shown, the gas is forced into the carbon dioxide absorption bulb ; here it is allowed to remain for a time, during which the carbon dioxide is absorbed by the caustic potash, after which the gas is drawn back to the graduated bulb and the difference in volume result- ing represents the percentage of carbon dioxide originally present. In a similar way the percentage of oxygen is determined after the carbon dioxide has been removed from the gas, by absorption in the second bulb. Finally, after the removal of both the carbon dioxide and the oxygen, the percentage of carbon monoxide is determined by absorption of the remaining gas in the third bulb. With a hand analyzer such as shown, the percentage of carbon dioxide may be determined in the short space of a minute, but to determine oxygen and carbon monoxide in addition to carbon dioxide, will require about 15 minutes. We have seen earlier, however, that a knowledge of the percentage of carbon dioxide alone is extremely helpful in bringing about a good furnace practice and only in the exceptional case is it necessary to determine oxygen and carbon monoxide with each analysis made. Referring back to the furnace reactions on page 3, it will be noted that the best practice is that which gives the lowest percentage of oxygen and free carbon monoxide gas or, in other words, that which gives the highest percentage of carbon dioxide gas. The reaction (1), resulting in complete combustion, theoretically yields about 20 per cent carbon dioxide, but in furnace practice the reaction is never a complete one and as a result a certain percentage of free oxygen or free carbon monoxide may be present. This means that II FUEL: ECONOMY—MITMAN NO. ea 1x0; 2 ss Ss PISS ASS AOS AAS AAAS AAAAAAMAS AAAS ASS SSSA SASS SSS AUAAAAAARARERRRRRESS & PN $ Q Nw & S v >» & N * Vovremmesracn? (tae Simple Form of Orsat Gas Analyzer. 2. Fic. I2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 carbon dioxide never reaches 20 per cent in practice, the best average being around 15 per cent. Leaky furnace settings and other condi- tions may very materially affect the best practical figure for carbon dioxide, and accordingly that which proves to be the best for one furnace may not be the best for another. Each furnace operation, therefore, becomes to a more or less degree a case unto itself. A number of tests of furnaces in operation have shown an average yield of between 5 and 7 per cent carbon dioxide, which means that as nearly as generalities may be drawn, there is an undue volume of flue gas and a corresponding loss of heat. Satisfactory results, how- ever, are measured in terms of steam produced per pound of fuel burned, so that for a given case the best practice is to secure that percentage of carbon dioxide which will produce the maximum of steam. Right here is to be seen the need of co-ordinating between a carbon dioxide indicator and a steam flow gage. AIR CONTROL We have observed how the analysis of flue gases is an index of the extent to which proper combustion is effected, but it must be apparent also that these analyses do not give any indication as to the conditions which produced them. For example, a furnace may be operating with a good carbon dioxide yield and steam output when suddenly the flue gas analyzer indicates a falling off of the former and the steam output drops. It is decided that too much air is entering the furnace and the damper is adjusted to cut down the draft, but the steam output continues to fall. Again the damper is adjusted, this time to increase the draft, but still no improvement is observed. The facts in the matter are that one or more of a number of things may have occurred such as the formation of clinkers, holes burned in the baffles, holes in the fuel bed, or an opening in the setting, any one of which may have caused the trouble but which damper manipula- tions alone could not correct and which are not indicated by the gas analyzer. There is need, therefore, for an indicator of furnace conditions which is furnished by the draft gage. Its method of operation and the interpretation of its readings, however, require a little explanation. We are all familiar, in a general way, with chimney drafts. The pull of this draft creates a partial vacuum within the furnace so that a pressure exists there which is less than that outside. To equalize this pressure difference, air enters the furnace and is sucked up through the fuel bed, passes through the combustion chamber and NOISE FUEL ECONOMY—MITMAN TS around the boiler heating surfaces and so on out of the stack, but the resistances met with in its flow prevent complete equalization, so that a difference in pressure, or differential pressure, as it is called, always exists and in amounts proportional to the resistances. Any untoward condition, however, taking place within the furnace, such as a hole in the fuel bed, alters the resistance to the flow of air which, in turn, causes the differential pressure to change. In other words, the pressure differential affords a measure of the air feed and an indication of furnace conditions as well. Such is the draft gage, for it is a pressure recording instrument made especially to indicate the pressure difference between the outside and inside of a furnace. When furnace conditions are right and the percentage of carbon dioxide is such as to give the maximum steam output, a certain amount of resistance exists in the furnace, represented by a certain pressure difference indicated on the draft gage. As long as this con- dition exists, there is an assurance of the existence of a uniform pressure, but if some change takes place within the furnace which alters the resistances, permitting an increase or decrease in air supply, it is immediately indicated by a change in pressure. In many instances the condition can be corrected in time to prevent any appreciable change in steam output and before its effect is indicated in the quality of the flue gases. In other words, the draft gage intelligently used is the mainstay of an established furnace practice. FLue Gas TEMPERATURE Experience in chemical control has demonstrated that success is attained in the degree to which each and every operation involved is under observation. Thus, in the case in hand, the objective is the most economic production of heat for the steam output required, and while there is a surety that with the proper co-ordination of flue gas analyses and steam output maintained by a draft gage the objec- tive is being attained, still a further check such as the temperature of the gases as they leave the boiler heating surfaces, will, in a measure, constitute more or less proof, inasmuch as the generally accepted permissible temperature of the gases as they go up the stack is around 500 degrees Fahrenheit. Obviously, therefore, the use of a thermometer or some other temperature recording device will be beneficial. It is conceivable, too, that even though proper combustion is taking place and sufficient heat is produced, a condition may arise whereby the heat so produced is not being absorbed by the boiler heating surfaces or that the latter are deprived of sufficient oppor- 14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS .COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 tunity to absorb the heat, so that excess heat would pass up the stack. Thus, a temperature recording device may be an indicator both of the heat producing and heat absorbing functions of the furnace. LIMITATIONS Recording devices whatever their nature do not in themselves provide the requisite control of furnace operations but simply sub- stitute exact data for guess-work to guide the operator. Accord- ingly, the installation of any system of control will be effective only in proportion as the data are intelligently interpreted and applied. The case comes to mind of a large central heating plant with a wide-awake chief engineer, cognizant of fuel wastes and means for their elimination, who equipped each one of his mechanically stokered boilers with draft gages, a permanently installed flue gas analyzer and a recording thermometer, and with this apparatus established his standards. His firemen were apparently brought to the point of seeing the advantages to themselves of making use of the equipment and were fully instructed as to the meaning of it all. In spite of this, on several occasions the engineer has come upon a fireman closing a hole in the fuel bed by firing coal through the two-foot cleaning door on the side of the setting, thus allowing volumes more of air to enter the furnace than could possibly enter even through the hole in the fuel bed,-and in spite of the warnings, the engineer to-day is not sure but that, when the occasion arises, the firemen will repeat the same operation. In short, the human factor must be considered. There are two general types of control apparatus, namely, indicat- ing and recording. The former type is of value only as providing a guide to the fireman and is no safeguard against his failings. The recording type, however, in furnishing an uninterrupted register, serves not only as a guide to the fireman but also as a record of efficiencies for the operator. Costs The simple form of Orsat gas analyzer, designed along the lines of the sketch shown on page II, may be purchased for around 40 dollars. It is a portable outfit and properly used, can make a carbon dioxide analysis in about a minute’s time. There is also the fixed installation equipped with gas collector ready at any time to make analyses. Another device is in the form of a continuous indi- cator with or without the further refinement of a permanent record. NO. 1 FUEL ECONOMY——MITMAN I qn A. steam flow meter in its simplest form represents an outlay of approximately 175 dollars and a draft gage by itself around 15 dollars. A compound recording device, registering on the same chart and at corresponding moments both flue gas and draft conditions, is to be had as standard equipment. A still more comprehensive equipment indi- cates the fire-box draft and the steam flow, and registers and records the steam flow, air flow and flue gas temperature all on one chart. This latter order of equipment represents an outlay of approximately 700 dollars. The very nature of control equipment presupposes some intelligent attention to maintain it for continuous operation. Fresh reagents must periodically replace those being used in an analyzer and again a supply of charts for the recording types of instruments must be had. It is conservatively estimated, however, that a direct recording flue gas analyzer, for example, can be kept in continuous operation at a cost of about 30 dollars annually. ADVANTAGES Fuel economy is dependent upon two factors, adequacy of instal- lation and boiler room efficiency. Both are variable factors and, as a natural consequence, the data assembled as to furnace practices show an extraordinary range of efficiencies. One operation is getting a yield of from seven to eight pounds of steam for each pound of coal burned, while near by another of exactly the same order is getting but three or four pounds. In the face of these varying efficiencies, no exact statement generally applicable can be made as to the pos- sibility of savings through subjecting an operation to chemical control. Instances are on record of cutting fuel costs as much as 50 per cent, which probably represent the upper limit of advantage to be gained. On the other hand, it is safe to say that no rule of thumb procedure can approximate the exactitude of chemical law within Io per cent ; in other words, a saving of 10 per cent in fuel costs may be counted upon with assurance. The direct saving in dollars and cents on the fuel bill is not the only line of advantage to be gathered. The furnace room is the energizing force back of the plant operation, whatever its nature, and depend- ability for meeting the requirements as they arise is the prime requisite. A sudden demand for steam met by opening up a draft so wide as to feed excess air which results in cooling the boiler tubes and actually lowering the steam flow, does more than waste fuel because it impairs efficiencies throughout the plant. Thus, losses 16 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 perhaps many times over that in fuel may be entailed, all of which would be prevented or even anticipated by furnace control. Still another aspect of the situation merits consideration among the advantages to be gained. Cost accounting has come to be regarded as a necessary adjunct to effective administration. It has an importance beyond that of any direct cutting of costs in that it affords protection against any unjustifiable developments which might otherwise go unnoticed. Furnace control data, more particularly those afforded by the recording type of instrument, furnish what amounts to a system of cost accounting and have precisely the same advantage as a measure of protection that the more orthodox form offers. QUALITY OF COAL There are two general classes of coal used, anthracite and bitu- minous. Adding the adjectives good and poor, for the majority of users both large and small, this just about sums up the actual dis- criminatory knowledge of the subject. The administrative head of a nationally known organization, experi- encing difficulty in obtaining anthracite, raised the question of shifting over to bituminous coal, but was met with the reply that the power requirements were of an order that could be met satisfactorily only by anthracite. As the difficulty in securing anthracite increased, he became more persistently inquisitive until, at length, word was passed to him from a subordinate in the power house that the engineer in charge was an “anthracite engineer,’ and that bituminous coal of proper specification might be made to serve the purpose as well, if not better. The change was finally ordered and has been in effect ever since, with the result that bituminous coal has shown itself preferable in every respect. The responsible head of a locally prominent plant, approached on the question of fuel economy, professed to regard it as something to which he had given careful consideration in the running of his plant, and stated that all his coal was purchased on a heat unit basis. Questioned further, he disclaimed any particular interest in any of the other characteristics of coal for the reason that heat units were what he wanted and, accordingly, heat units were what he was interested in buying. Examination of his furnace operation revealed around 40 per cent of preventable losses. Still another executive of an industrial operation, after raising the question as to the relative merits of New River coal versus that bear- ing a well-known trade name, himself proceeded to answer the ques- INO FUEL ECONOMY—MITMAN 17 tion with the statement that in his experience the trade name coal was vastly superior to New River. It happens that the trade name, while originally employed to designate a coal of a certain mine, is no longer applied to the product even from a fixed district and, as a matter of fact, the coal of this name has been coming for the past few years from the New River District. Instances of this order can be added to more or less indefinitely and serve to show the degree to which what passes for knowledge is actually built up of notion. In times past coal has been so cheap and available that there has been little occasion to give it any particular consideration, which doubtless explains to a considerable degree the lack of genuine discriminatory knowledge of the subject. The system of marketing coal, however, has contributed largely, perhaps even to being the factor generally responsible. The mining and marketing, more particularly the retail marketing of coal, are two totally distinct industries. The mine operator is utterly out of touch with retail yard operations and vice versa. More- over there is no immediate connection, the two being separated by an intervening middle interest. The reason for the middle or so-called jobbing interest is to be found, largely at least, in the ever fluctuating price of coal at the mines, and the reason for this, in turn, lies in the vast extent of the bituminous coal lands coupled with the wide varia- tion in producing costs. Given under production, the mine price of coal takes an upward turn and as it mounts, mines hitherto shut down owing to prohibitive mining costs, are able to open up. This pro- cess of increasing price and increasing production continues until over production is reached, when a decline in price sets in which forces the little, high cost operators to shut down. This continues in its turn until under production is reached, starting the cycle over again. In the face of this condition at the source, any fixed contract price, whatever the figure, is bound as time passes to reflect to the disadvantage of one party or the other, and each is pretty apt to find the means for avoiding the contract. The coal retailer generally buys through several jobbers, each of whom handles the product from several mine operations and, as a consequence, the retail yard commonly receives coal, even of a given type, from a number of mines. At best, there is a considerable range that requires separation when we consider the radically distinct types of coal and the various sizes, and when we add the varying products from a number of mines, the range precludes the possibility of having a complete separation even in the best equipped yard. 18 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 Disregarding this unreasonable multiplicity of qualities, grades and sizes, the average retail yard is, to say the least, poorly equipped to maintain uniformity in the quality of the coal it distributes. It is hardly more than a railway trestle dump and is commonly located toward the heart of the city where the growth of municipal fixtures has prevented expansion. The general result is a series of trestle dumps, too few to admit of adequate grading of coal and too low to the ground to admit pocket storage and loading, with the net consequence that the coal of a given type, even though coming from various mines, is dumped together on the ground. Samples of bituminous coal gathered from the yards in almost any city will show an ash content ranging from 2 to 20 per cent; sulphur from less than one-half of 1 per cent to upward of 4 per cent; from high fusible ash to low fusible ash; from 15 per cent volatile matter to 40 per cent; and from almost wholly slack to 70 per cent lump. The group characteristics, volatile matter, ash, sulphur, etc., run more or less uniform for a given mine but vary for different mines even in a given district. Accordingly, the yard procedure just outlined results in the inability to maintain anything like uniform standards of quality. Furthermore the average consumer, in not being educated as to fixed standards, quite naturally lacks adequate discriminatory knowledge of the subject, which, however, has an important bearing on fuel economy. | Thus has come about a vicious circle in which the consuming interests, not having been educated up to require uniform standards, do not demand them, and the marketing interests, having no call for uniform standards, have taken no pains to supply them. This is an unfortunate situation for, as will readily be seen, it stands in the way of subjecting furnace practice to chemical control. One coal requires a thicker fuel bed, another a thinner bed; one requires a larger, and another a smaller combustion space ; one requires a weaker and another a stronger draft, and so on. Fortunately there are evidences which point to the dawning of a new era in which standards of service will be developed in keeping with recognized standards of requirement. This will be speeded up or retarded just in proportion as the consumer learns the value of uniform standards. The principles underlying combustion and the consequent ad- vantages to be gained by chemical control are applicable all the way from the small household furnace to the largest of power instal- lations. There is this general difference, however, that the latter is under continual observation, whereas the former receives but casual NO. I FUEL ECONOMY—MITMAN 19 attention at intervals during the day and then, at best, of a perfunctory nature. Accordingly, the use of control instruments of the order mentioned for household furnace operations is of no advantage since these instruments are only indicators of conditions and guides to efficient combustion. Instruments as a guide to chemical control become applicable as attention to furnace operations becomes more or less constant; in other words, as the consumption of coal reaches the stage of tons per day. One plant may feel justified in supplying draft gages only, while another may be able to provide a gas analyzer in addition, but just in proportion as a complete system of control is instituted there is the consequent assurance of securing definite economies. Irrespective of the actual savings to be effected, the application of chemical control by all consuming interests must bring about that dis- criminatory knowledge of the general subject which is now largely lacking. Once this is attained and standard practices are established, the consumer will be in a position to demand and receive uniformity and service of the marketing interests. SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOLUME 76, NUMBER 2 MlotORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT BY HENRY SGHROEDER Harrison, New Jersey Pec0c00e® (PUBLICATION 2717) GITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AUGUST 15, 1923 — TBe Bord Gattimore (Press BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. CONTENTS PAGE LL TISU (Oviedo ta (6) nS ee ee rer a caso ee ae AUR Vv VET AAG UEC mea chee ote Ree CE RRC CiRCA RR ik Ra ix ironclooymotmilecteic: Lap lnterertites aa tiec icin FA ae chee 3a oi eascacke meee xi marivekecords of Electricity and Magnetism. .....< ct icccc. ns 00-0000 dees I Machines. Generating Electricity: by Priction.c6. 0% 6. 06. wales c wae ereternere 2 iim Mey. Gem a euler sete ate fork, SEN Ho 6 oh Aiese oe te Be apse Sa Navaho el Shem bes oeER TS 3 mlectnicity Generated by Chemical Means’ ....2. ..ocscsuu occ einsie oie acieles 3 FMPLOWMeMeTte Ors NOlta si Dattetay cpr co oct stous seid antine atelafa y whee emer 5 Lee Sm ISCOVEGLESIE Stes 5 chgretepnce ayes Sehntacedn ae sie elias Grom cac assim eme ent ameter 5 Researches of Oersted, Ampere, Schweigger and Sturgeon............... 6 OQuanin's: ILE 5's Boeieh mG GRRE Sb cores te COOGEE ne nec eae ee Bee es 7 ia VSRGOM Chk Koes Dianehoegedy pean spk tere Meee tere eam ene aren Mien teers 7 ID amntielllhsy. TBR UREA iin the hei once kOe iG Bea eer ret eae See ene Te AONE oO Ear 10 (Ginaye's- IBEKATET Ria irs tine ecieedey oc. chked Ses oo ROR Rn cen eee Ee en a II Grove’s Demonstration of Incandescent Lighting....................+00- 12 Grenier atte nyarcr tere tors «. roc Rere IG Sete acti hans eke nS aioe did Cea ee oe 13 WemvViglevtis. incatidescent Wamp. sc is.c0. os vn saise sees Sawn aoe oem eee 13 BanlyeDevelopments onthe Aneulbam pts ac asic asc cee cs eve cs eedeeenee eee 14 JOE'S: ILE co Sarg Rae rin Co OS ELE CT NE oR Cat eine Serene eh a eS 16 Stason catid escent: wlvatn peters aetecicis sia: ule a tesotevaniaie a raseriei we Sloe oe es 17 Wihicweeatiy lican descent Manip. a cgace ae.c..cn sole on lok cio ee 89 GasuEilled iting sten lc ampyio23 serine ene iia eeiee enn go Standardmhungstenm lamps lO 2Se eee ee ete eee eee eee 92 ‘OWBUAP PUB FYSIT 911}99]9 9Y} JO JusUIdoJaaap JedI10}STY ay} 0} pa}oAap uOTIaS "WO ASN TIVNOILVN') SALVLIS GaLIN() AHL NI LIGIHXy TVOINLOATH AHL AO NOILYOd ran KAN Za ie ea FOREWORD In the year 1884 a Section of Transportation was organized in the United States National Museum for the purpose of preparing and assembling educational exhibits of a few objects of railroad machinery which had been obtained both from the Centennial Exhi- bition held in Philadelphia in 1876 and still earlier as incidentals to ethnological collections, and to secure other collections relating to the railway industry. From this beginning the section was expanded to include the whole field of engineering and is designated at present as the Divisions of Mineral and Mechanical Technology. The growth and enlarge- ment of the collections has been particularly marked in the fields of mining and mineral industries; mechanical engineering, especially pertaining to the steam engine, internal combustion engine and loco- motive ; naval architecture, and electrical engineering, particularly the development of the telegraph, telephone and the electric light. In the acquisition of objects visualizing the history of electric light the Museum has been rather fortunate, particularly as regards the developments in the United States. Thus mention may be made of the original Patent Office models of the more important dynamos, arc lights and incandescent lights, together with original commercial apparatus after these models; a unit of the equipment used in the first commercially successful installation on land of an incandescent lighting system, presented by Joseph E. Hinds in whose engraving establish- ment in New York City the installation was made in 1881 ; and a large series of incandescent lights, mainly originals, visualizing chrono- logically the developments of the Edison light from its inception, pre- sented at intervals since the year 1898 by the General Electric Company. The object of all collections in the Divisions is to visualize broadly the steps by which advances have been made in each field of engineer- ing ; to show the layman the fundamental and general principles which are the basis for the developments; and to familiarize the engineer with branches of engineering other than his own. Normally when a subject 1s completely covered by a collection of objects, a paper is pre- pared and published describing the collection and the story it portrays. In the present instance, however, on account of the uncertainty of ix x FOREWORD the time of completing the collection, if it is possible ever to bring this about, it was thought advisable to publish Mr. Schroeder’s paper which draws upon the Museum collection as completely as possible. Cart W. MitTMan, Curator, Divisions of Mineral and Mechanical Technology, U.S. National Museum. CHRONOLOGY OF PEECIRIC LIGHS 1800—Allesandro Volta demonstrated his discovery that electricity can be generated by chemical means. The Vott, the unit of electric pressure, is named in his honor for this discovery of the electric battery. 1802—Sir Humphry Davy demonstrated that electric current can heat carbon and strips of metal to incandescence and give light. 180g9—Sir Humphry Davy demonstrated that current will give a bril- liant flame between the ends of two carbon pencils which are first allowed to touch each other and then pulled apart. This light he called the ‘‘ arc’ on account of its arch shape. 1820—André Marie Ampére discovered that current flowing through a coiled wire gives it the properties of a magnet. The Am- PERE, the unit of flow of electric current, is named in his honor for this discovery. 1825—Georg Simon Ohm discovered the relation between the voltage, ampereage and resistance in an electric circuit, which is called Ohm’s Law. The Oum, the unit of electric resis- tance, is named in his honor for this discovery. 1831—Michael Faraday discovered that electricity can be generated by moving a wire in the neighborhood of a magnet, the principle of the dynamo. 1840—Sir William Robert Grove demonstrated his experimental incandescent lamp in which platinum is made incandescent by current flowing through it. Frederick De Moleyns obtained the first patent on an incan- descent lamp. The burner was powdered charcoal operating in an exhausted glass globe. 1845—Thomas Wright obtained the first patent on an arc light. 1845—]. W. Starr invented an incandescent lamp consisting of a carbon pencil operating in the vacuum above a column of mercury. 1856—Joseph Lacassagne and Henry Thiers invented the “ differen- tial”? method of control of the arc which was universally used twenty years later when the arc lamp was commercially established. 1862—The first commercial installation of an electric light. An arc light was put in a lighthouse in England. 1841 xi XII CHRONOLOGY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT 1866—Sir Charles Wheatstone invented the “ self-excited ’’ dynamo, now universally used. 1872—Lodyguine invented an incandescent lamp having a graphite burner operating in nitrogen gas. 1876—Paul Jablochkoff invented the “electric candle,” an are light commercially used for lighting the boulevards in Paris. 1877-8—Are light systems commercially established in the United States by William Wallace and Prof. Moses Farmer, Edward Weston, Charles F. Brush and Prof. Elihu Thomson and Edwin J. Houston. 1879—Thomas Alva Edison invented an incandescent lamp consisting oe ’ of a high resistance carbon filament operating in a high vacuum maintained by an all glass globe. These principles are used in all incandescent lamps made to-day. He also invented a completely new system of distributing electricity at constant pressure, now universally used. 1882—Lucien Goulard and John D. Gibbs invented a series alternat- ing current system of distributing electric current. This has not been commercially used. 1886—William Stanley invented a constant pressure alternating cur- rent system of distribution. This is universally used where current is to be distributed long distances. 1893—Louis B. Marks invented the enclosed carbon are lamp. 1898—Bremer’s invention of the flame arc lamp, having carbons 1m- pregnated with various salts, commercially established. 1g00—Dr. Walther Nernst’s invention of the Nernst lamp commer- cially established. The burner consisted of various oxides, such as zirconia, which operated in the open air. 1g01—Dr. Peter Cooper Hewitt’s invention of the mercury are light commercially established. 1902—The magnetite arc lamp was developed by C. A. B. Halvorson, Jr. This has a new method of control of the arc. The negative electrode consists of a mixture of magnetite and other substances packed in an iron tube. 1904—D. McFarlan Moore’s invention of the Moore vacuum tube light commercially established. This consisted of a long tube, made in lengths up to 200 feet, from which the air had been exhausted to about a thousandth of an atmosphere, High voltage current passing through this rarefied atmos- phere caused it to glow. Rarefied carbon dioxide gas was later used. CHRONOLOGY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT XIII 1g905—Dr. Auer von Welsbach’s invention of the osmium incandes- cent lamp commercially established, but only on a small scale in Europe. The metal osmium, used for the filament which operated in vacuum, is rarer and more expensive than plati- num. 1g05—Dr. Willis R. Whitney’s invention of the Gem incandescent lamp commercially established. The carbon filament had been heated to a very high temperature in an electric resis- tance furnace invented by him. The lamp was 25 per cent more efficient than the regular carbon lamp. 1906—Dr. Werner von Bolton’s invention of the tantalum incandes- cent lamp commercially established. Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman’s invention of the tungs- ten filament incandescent lamp commercially established. 1911—Dr. William D. Coolidge’s invention of drawn tungsten wire commercially established. 1913—Dr. Irving Langmuir’s invention of the gas-filled tungsten filament incandescent lamp commercially established. 1907 EVSTORYJOE ELECIRIC LIGHT By HENRY SCHROEDER, HARRISON, NEW JERSEY. EARLY RECORDS OF ELECTRICITY AND MAGNETISM About twenty-five centuries ago, Thales, a Greek philosopher, recorded the fact that if amber is rubbed it will attract light objects. The Greeks called amber “elektron,’ from which we get the word “electricity.” About two hundred and fifty years later, Aristotle, another Greek philosopher, mentioned that the lodestone would attract iron. Lodestone is an iron ore (Fe;O,), having magnetic qualities and is now called magnetite. The word “ magnet ’’ comes from the fact that the best specimens of lodestones came from Magnesia, a city in Asia Minor. Plutarch, a Greek biographer, wrote about too A. D., that iron is sometimes attracted and at other times repelled by a lodestone. This indicates that the piece of iron was magnetised by the lodestone. In 1180, Alexander Neckham, an English Monk, described the compass, which probably had been invented by sailors of the northern countries of Europe, although its invention has been credited to the Chinese. Early compasses probably consisted of an iron needle, magnetised by a lodestone, mounted on a piece of wood floating in water. The word lodestone or “ leading stone”? comes from the fact that it would point towards the north if suspended like a compass. William Gilbert, physician to Queen Elizabeth of England, wrote a book about the year 1600 giving all the information then known on the subject. He also described his experiments, showing, among other things, the existence of magnetic lines of force and of north and south poles ina magnet. Robert Norman had discovered a few years previously that a compass needle mounted on a horizontal axis would dip downward. Gilbert cut a large lodestone into a sphere, and observed that the needle did not dip at the equator of this sphere, the dip increasing to 90 degrees as the poles were approached. From this he deduced that the earth was a magnet with the magnetic north pole at the geographic north pole. It has since been determined that these two poles do not coincide. Gilbert suggested the use of the dipping needle to determine latitude. He also discovered that other substances, beside amber, would attract light objects if rubbed. SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, VOL. 76, No. 2 ho SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 MACHINES GENERATING ELECTRICITY BY FRICTION Otto Von Guericke was mayor of the city of Magdeburg as well as a philosopher. About 1650 he made a machine consisting of a ball of sulphur mounted on a shaft which could be rotated. Electricity was generated when the hand was pressed against the globe as it rotated. He also discovered that electricity could be conducted away from the globe by a chain and would appear at the other end of the chain. Von Guericke also invented the vacuum air pump. In 17009, Francis Hawksbee, an Englishman, made a similar machine, using a Otto Von GUERICKE’S ELECTRIC MACHINE, 1650. A ball of sulphur was rotated, electricity being generated when it rubbed against the hand. hollow glass globe which could be exhausted. The exhausted globe when rotated at high speed and rubbed by hand would produce a glow- ing light. This “ electric light ” as it was called, created great excite- ment when it was shown before the Royal Society, a gathering of scientists, in London. Stephen Gray, twenty years later, showed the Royal Society that electricity could be conducted about a thousand feet by a hemp thread, supported by silk threads. If metal supports were used, this could not be done. Charles du Fay, a Frenchman, repeated Gray’s experiments, and showed in 1733 that the substances which were insulators, and NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 33 which Gilbert had discovered, would become electrified if rubbed. Those substances which Gilbert could not electrify were conductors of electricity. THE LEYDEN JAR The thought came to Von Kleist, Bishop of Pomerania, Germany, about 1745, that electricity could be stored. The frictional machines generated so small an amount of electricity (though, as is now known, at a very high pressure—several thousand volts) that he thought he could increase the quantity by storing it. Knowing that glass was an insulator and water a conductor, he filled a glass bottle partly full of water with a nail in the cork to connect the machine with the water. Holding the bottle in one hand and turning the machine with the other for a few minutes, he then disconnected the bottle from the machine. When he touched the nail with his other hand he received a shock which nearly stunned him. This was called the Leyden jar, the forerunner of the present condenser. It received its name from the fact that its discovery was also made a short time after by experi- menters in the University of Leyden. Further experiments showed that the hand holding the bottle was as essential as the water inside, so these were substituted by tin foil coatings inside and outside the bottle. Benjamin Franklin, American statesman, scientist and printer, made numerous experiments with the Leyden jar. He connected several jars in parallel, as he called it, which gave a discharge strong enough to killa turkey. He also connected the jars in series, or “ in cascade ” as he called it, thus establishing the principle of parallel and series connections. Noticing the similarity between the electric spark and lightning, Franklin in 1752, performed his famous kite experiment. Flying a kite in a thunderstorm, he drew electricity from the clouds to charge Leyden jars, which were later discharged, proving that lightning and electricity were the same. This led him to invent the lightning rod. ELECTRICITY GENERATED BY CHEMICAL MEANS Luigi Galvani was an Italian scientist. About 1785, so the story goes, his wife was in delicate health, and some frog legs were being skinned to make her a nourishing soup. An assistant holding the legs with a metal clamp and cutting the skin with a scalpel, happened to let the clamp and scalpel touch each other. To his amazement the frog legs twitched. Galvani repeated the experiment many times 2 4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 by touching the nerve with a metal rod and the muscle with a different metal rod and allowing the rods to touch, and propounded the theory of animal electricity in a paper he published in 1791. Allesandro Volta, a professor of physics in the University of Pavia, Italy, read about Galvani’s work and repeated his experiments. He found that the extent of the movement of the frog legs depended on the metals used for the rods, and thus believed that the electric charge was produced by the contact of dissimilar metals with the moisture in the muscles. To prove his point he made a pile of silver VoLTAIC PILE, 1790. Volta discovered that electricity could be generated by chemical means and made a pile of silver and zinc discs with cloths, wet with salt water, between them. This was the forerunner of the present- day dry battery. Photograph courtesy Prof. Chas. F. Chandler Museum, Columbia University, New York. and zinc discs with cloths, wet with salt water, between them. This was in 1799, and he described his pile in March, 1800, in a letter to the Royal Society in London. This was an epoch-making discovery as it was the forerunner of the present-day primary battery. Volta soon found that the generation of electricity became weaker as the cloths became dry, so to overcome this he made his “crown of cups.” This consisted of a series of cups containing salt water in which strips of silver and zinc were dipped. Each strip of silver in one cup was connected to the zinc strip in the next cup, the end strips of silver and zinc being terminals of the battery. This was the first time that a continuous supply of NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER 5 electricity in reasonable quantities was made available, so the Vout, the unit of electrical pressure was named in his honor. It was later shown that the chemical affinity of one of the metals in the liquid was converted into electric energy. The chemical action of Volta’s battery is that the salt water attacks the zinc when the circuit is closed forming zinc chloride, caustic soda and hydrogen gas. The chemical equation is: Zn+ 2NaCl+2H,O=ZnCl,+2NaOH+ H. IMPROVEMENT OF VOLTA’S BATTERY It was early suggested that sheets of silver and zinc be soldered together back to back and that a trough be divided into cells by these bimetal sheets being put into grooves cut in the sides and bottom of the trough. This is the reason why one unit of a battery is called a “ cell.” It was soon found that a more powerful cell could be made if copper, zine and dilute sulphuric acid were used. The zinc is dissolved by the acid forming zinc sulphate and hydrogen gas, thus: Zn+ H.SO,=ZnSO,+ Hz The hydrogen gas appears as bubbles on the copper and reduces the open circuit voltage (about 0.8 volt per cell) as current is taken from the battery. This is called “polarization.” Owing to minute im- purities in the zinc, it is attacked by the acid even when no current is taken from the battery, the impurities forming with the zinc a short circuited local cell. This is called “local action,” and this difficulty was at first overcome by removing the zinc from the acid when the battery was not in use. DAVY’S DISCOVERIES Sir Humphry Davy was a well-known English chemist, and with the aid of powerful batteries constructed for the Royal Institution in London, he made numerous experiments on the chemical effects of electricity. He decomposed a number of substances and discovered the elements boron, potassium and sodium. He heated strips of various metals to incandescence by passing current through them, and showed that platinum would stay incandescent for some time without oxidizing. This was about 1802. In the early frictional machines, the presence of electricity was shown by the fact that sparks could be obtained. Similarly the break- ing of the circuit of a battery would give a spark. Davy, about 1809, demonstrated that this spark could be maintained for a long time with 6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 the large battery of 2000 cells he had had constructed. Using two sticks of charcoal connected by wires to the terminals of this very powerful battery, he demonstrated before the Royal Society the light produced by touching the sticks together and then holding them apart horizontally about three inches. The brilliant flame obtained he called an “arc ” because of its arch shape, the heated gases, rising, assuming this form. Davy was given the degree of LL.D. for his dis- tinguished research work, and was knighted on the eve of his mar- riage, April 11, 1812. RESEARCHES OF OERSTED, AMPERE, SCH'WEIGGER AND STURGEON Hans Christian Oersted was a professor of physics at the Uni- versity of Copenhagen in Denmark. One day in 1819, while ad- dressing his students, he happened to hold a wire, through which current was flowing, over a large compass. To his surprise he saw the compass was deflected from its true position. He promptly made a number of experiments and discovered that by reversing the current the compass was deflected in the opposite direction. Ocersted an- nounced his discovery in 1820. André Marie Ampére was a professor of mathematics in the Ecole Polytechnic in Paris. Hearing of Oersted’s discovery, he immedi- ately made some experiments and made the further discovery in 1820 that if the wire is coiled and current passed through it, the coil had all the properties of a magnet. These two discoveries led to the invention of Schweigger in 1820, of the galvanometer (or “ multiplier” as it was then called), a very sensitive instrument for measuring electric currents. It consisted of a delicate compass needle suspended in a coil of many turns of wire. Current in the coil deflected the needle, the direction and amount of deflection indicating the direction and strength of the current. Ampére further made the discovery that currents in opposite direc- tions repel and in the same directions attract each other. He also gave a rule for determining the direction of the current by the deflection of the compass needle. He developed the theory that magnetism is caused by electricity flowing around the circumference of the body magnetised. The AMPERE, the unit of flow of electric current, was named in honor of his discoveries. In 1825 it was shown by Sturgeon that if a bar of iron were placed in the coil, its magnetic strength would be very greatly increased, which he called an electro-magnet. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER 7 OHM’sS LAW Georg Simon Ohm was born in Bavaria, the oldest son of a poor blacksmith. With the aid of friends he went to college and became a teacher. It had been shown that the rate of transfer of heat from one end to the other of a metal bar is proportional to the difference of temperature between the ends. About 1825, Ohm, by analogy and experiment, found that the current in a conductor is proportional to the difference of electric pressure (voltage) between its ends. He further showed that with a given difference of voltage, the current in different conductors is inversely proportional to the resistance of the conductor. Ohm therefore propounded tne law that the current flowing in a circuit is equal to the voltage on that circuit divided by the resistance of the circuit. In honor of this discovery, the unit of electrical resistance is called the OHM. This law is usually ex- pressed as: E C= ae “C” meaning current (in amperes), “E” meaning electromotive force or voltage (in volts) and “R” meaning resistance (in ohms). This is one of the fundamental laws of electricity and if thoroughly understood, will solve many electrical problems. Thus, if any two of the above units are known, the third can be determined. Examples: An incandescent lamp on a 120-volt circuit consumes 0.4 ampere, hence its resistance under such conditions is 300 ohms. Several trolley cars at the end of a line take 100 amperes to run them and the resistance of the overhead wire from the power house to the trolley cars is half an ohm; the drop in voltage on the line between the power house and trolley cars is therefore 50 volts, so that if the voltage at the power house were 600, it would be 550 volts at the end of the line. Critics derided Ohm’s law so that he was forced out of his position as teacher in the High School in Cologne. Finally after ten years Ohm began to find supporters and in 1841 his law was _ publicly recognized by the Royal Society of London which presented him with the Copley medal. INVENTION OF THE DYNAMO Michael Faraday was an English scientist. Born of parents in poor circumstances, he became a bookbinder and studied books on electricity and chemistry. He finally obtained a position as laboratory assistant to Sir Humphry Davy helping him with his lectures and 8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 experiments. He also made a number of experiments himself and suc- ceeded in liquifying chlorine gas for which he was elected to a Fel- lowship in the Royal Institution in 1824. Following up Oersted’s and Ampere’s work, he endeavored to find the relation between electricity and magnetism. Finally on Oct. 17, 1831, he made the experiment of moving a permanent bar magnet in and out of a coil of wire connected to a galvanometer. This generated electricity in the coil which deflected the galvanometer needle. A few days after, Oct. 28, 1831, he mounted a copper disk on a shaft so that the disk could be rotated between the poles of a permanent horseshoe magnet. mk Ls ha ———— Pr ce OND FARADAY’S DYNAMO, 1831. Faraday discovered that electricity could be generated by means of a permanent magnet. This principle is used in all dynamos. The shaft and edge of the disk were connected by brushes and wires to a galvanometer, the needle of which was deflected as the disk was rotated. A paper on his invention was read before the Royal Society on November 24, 1831, which appeared in printed form in January, 1832. Faraday did not develop his invention any further, being satisfied, as in all his work, in pure research. His was a notable invention but it remained for others to make it practicable. Hippolyte Pixti, a Frenchman, made a dynamo in 1832 consisting of a permanent horse- shoe magnet which could be rotated between two wire bobbins mounted on a soft iron core. The wires from the bobbins were con- NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 9 nected to a pair of brushes touching a commutator mounted on the shaft holding the magnet, and other brushes carried the current from the commutator so that the alternating current generated was rectified into direct current. E. M. Clarke, an Englishman made, in 1834, another dynamo in which the bobbins rotated alongside of the poles of a permanent Prixir’s DyNAMO, 1832. Pixii made an improvement by rotating a permanent magnet in the neighborhood of coils of wire mounted on a soft iron core. A com- mutator rectified the alternating current generated into direct cur- rent. This dynamo is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. horseshoe magnet. He also made a commutator so that the machine produced direct current. None of these machines gave more than feeble current at low pressure. The large primary batteries that had been made were much more powerful, although expensive to operate. It has been estimated that the cost of current from the 2000-cell battery to operate the demonstration of the arc light by Davy, was six dollars a minute. At present retail rates for electricity sold by ie) SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 lighting companies, six dollars would operate Davy’s arc light about 500 hours or 30,000 times as long. DANIELL’S BATTERY It was soon discovered that if the zinc electrode were rubbed with mercury (amalgamated), the local action would practically cease, and if the hydrogen bubbles were removed, the operating voltage of the cell would be increased. John Frederic Daniell, an English chemist, invented a cell in 1836 to overcome these difficulties. His TTT Tre Lhd ddddbddddddbbddddddddddddddddddedddhddddedbdddddedate) N SSS LL hhh dh TITTLE TL DANIELL’s CELL, 1836. Daniell invented a battery consisting of zinc, copper and copper sul- phate. Later the porous cup was dispensed with, which was used to keep the sulphuric acid formed separate from the solution of copper sulphate, the two liquids then being kept apart by their difference in specific gravity. It was then called the Gravity Battery and for years was used in telegraphy. cell consisted of a glass jar containing a saturated solution of copper sulphate (CuSO,). A copper cylinder, open at both ends and per- forated with holes, was put into this solution. On the outside of the copper cylinder there was a copper ring, located below the surface of the solution, acting as a shelf to support crystals of copper sulphate. Inside the cylinder there was a porous earthenware jar containing dilute sulphuric acid and an amalgamated zinc rod. The two liquids were therefore kept apart but in contact with each other through the pores of the jar. The hydrogen gas given off by the action of the NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER II sulphuric acid on the zinc, combined with the dissolved copper sul- phate, formed sulphuric acid and metallic copper. The latter was deposited on the copper cylinder which acted as the other electrode. Thus the copper sulphate acted as a depolarizer. The chemical reactions in this cell are, In inner porous jar: Zn+H,SO.=ZnSO,+ He In outer glass jar: H,+CuSO,=H2SO,+ Cu This cell had an open circuit voltage of a little over one volt. Later the porous cup was dispensed with, the two liquids being kept apart NNAAANAAAAARARNARAARARARAA ANA N Nc MNT. aaa AANA ARNT X SS GrROVE’S CELL, 1838. This consisted of zinc, sulphuric acid, nitric acid and platinum. It made a very powerful battery. The nitric acid is called the depolar- izer as it absorbs the hydrogen gas formed, thus improving the oper- ating voltage. by the difference of their specific gravities. This was known as the Gravity cell, and for years was used in telegraphy. GROVE’S BATTERY Sir William Robert Grove, an English Judge and scientist, invented a cell in 1838 consisting of a platinum electrode in strong nitric acid in a porous earthenware jar. This jar was put in dilute sulphuric acid in a glass jar in which there was an amalgated zinc plate for the other electrode. This had an open circuit voltage of about 1.9 volts. The porous jar was used to prevent the nitric acid from attacking the zinc. The nitric acid was used for the purpose of combining with the 12 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 hydrogen gas set free by the action of the sulphuric acid on the zinc, and hence was the depolarizing agent. Hydrogen combining with nitric acid forms nitrous peroxide and water. Part of the nitrous peroxide is dissolved in the water, and the rest escapes as fumes which, however, are very suffocating. The chemical equations of this cell are as follows: In outer glass jar:. Zn4+H.,SO,=ZnSO,+ He In inner porous jar: H,+2HNO,=N.20,+2H20 An interesting thing about Grove’s cell is that it was planned in accordance with a theory. Grove knew that the electrical energy of the zinc-sulphuric acid cell came from the chemical affinity of the two reagents, and if the hydrogen gas set free could be combined with oxygen (to form water—H,O), such chemical affinity should increase the strength of the cell. As the hydrogen gas appears at the other electrode, the oxidizing agent should surround that electrode. Nitric acid was known at that time as one of the most powerful oxidizing liquids, but as it attacks copper, he used platinum for the other elec- trode. Thus he not only overcame the difficulty of polarization by the hydrogen gas, but also increased the voltage of the cell by the added chemical action of the combination of hydrogen and oxygen. GROVE’S DEMONSTRATION OF INCANDESCENT LIGHTING In 1840 Grove made an experimental lamp by attaching the ends of a coil of platinum wire to copper wires, the lower parts of which were well varnished for insulation. The platinum wire was covered by a glass tumbler, the open end set in a glass dish partly filled with water. This prevented draughts of air from cooling the incandescent platinum, and the small amount of oxygen of the air in the tumbler reduced the amount of oxidization of the platinum that would other- wise occur. With current supplied by a large number of cells of his battery, he lighted the auditorium of the Royal Institution with these lamps during one of the lectures he gave. This lamp gave only a feeble light as there was danger of melting the platinum and platinum gives but little light unless operated close to its melting temperature. It also required a lot of current to operate it as the air tended to cool the incandescent platinum. The demonstration was only of scientific interest, the cost of current being much too great (estimated at several hundred dollars a kilowatt hour) to make it commercial. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER I WwW GRENET BATTERY It was discovered that chromic anhydride gives up oxygen easier than nitric acid and consequently if used would give a higher voltage than Grove’s nitric acid battery. It also has the advantage of a lesser tendency to attack zinc directly 1f it happens to come in contact with it. Grenet developed a cell having a liquid consisting of a mixture of potassium bichromate (K,Cr.,O;) and sulphuric acid. A porous cell was therefore not used to keep the two liquids apart.. This had the Grove’s INCANDESCENT LAmp, 1840. Grove made an experimental lamp, using platinum for the burner which was protected from draughts of air by a glass tumbler. advantage of reducing the internal resistance. The chemical reaction was: K,Cr.O, (potassium bichromate) +7H.SO, (sulphuric acid) + 3Zn (zinc) =3ZnSO, (zine sulphate) + K.SO, (potassium sulphate) +Crz (SO,)3 (chromium sulphate) +7H.O (water). In order to prevent the useless consumption of zinc on open circuit, the zinc was attached to a sliding rod and could be drawn up into the neck of the bottle-shaped jar containing the liquid. DE MOLEYNS’ INCANDESCENT LAMP Frederick De Moleyns, an Englishman, has the honor of having obtained the first patent on an incandescent lamp. This was in 1841 and his lamp was quite novel. It consisted of a spherical glass globe, in the upper part of which was a tube containing powdered charcoal. This tube was open at the bottom inside the globe and through it ran a 14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 platinum wire, the end below the tube being coiled. Another platinum wire coiled at its upper end came up through the lower part of the globe but did not quite touch the other platinum coil. The pow- dered charcoal filled the two coils of platinum wire and bridged the gap between? Current passing through this charcoal bridge heated it to incandescence. The air in the globe having been removed as far as was possible with the hand air pumps then available, the charcoal did not immediately burn up, the small amount consumed being re- placed by the supply in the tube. The idea was ingenious but the De MoLeyns’ INCANDESCENT LAmp, 1841. This consisted of two coils of platinum wire containing powdered charcoal operating in a vacuum. It is only of interest as the first incandescent lamp on which a patent (British) was granted. lamp was impractical as the globe rapidly blackened from the evapo- ration of the incandescent charcoal. EARLY DEVELOPMENTS OF THE ARC LAMP It had been found that most of the light of the arc came from the tip of the positive electrode, and that the charcoal electrodes were rapidly consumed, the positive electrode about twice as fast as the negative. Mechanisms were designed to take care of this, together with devices to start the arc by allowing the electrodes to touch each other and then pulling them apart the proper distance. This distance varied from one-eighth to three-quarters of an inch. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—-SCHROEDER 15 In 1840 Bunsen, the German chemist who invented the bunsen burner, devised a process for making hard dense carbon pencils which lasted much longer than the charcoal previously used. The dense carbon from the inside of the retorts of gas making plants was ground up and mixed with molasses, moulded into shape and baked at a high temperature. Bunsen also, in 1843, cheapened Grove’s battery by substituting a hard carbon plate in place of the platinum electrode. Thomas Wright, an Englishman, was the first to patent an arc lamp. This was in 1845, and the lamp was a hand regulated device consisting Wricut’s Arc LAmp, 1845. This lamp is also only of interest as the first arc lamp on which a patent (British) was granted. Four arcs played between the five car- bon discs. of five carbon disks normally touching each other and rotated by clock- work. Two of the disks could be drawn outward by thumb screws, which was to be done after the current was turned on thus establishing four arcs, one between each pair of disks. The next year, 1846, W. E. Staite, another Englishman, made an arc lamp having two vertical carbon pencils. The upper was stationary. The lower was movable and actuated by clockwork directed by ratchets which in turn were regulated by an electro-magnet controlled by the current flowing through the arc. Thus the lower carbon would be moved up or down as required. Archereau, a Frenchman, made a very simple arc lamp in 1848. The upper carbon was fixed and the lower one was mounted on a 10 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 piece of iron which could be drawn down into a coil of wire. The weight of the lower electrode was overbalanced by a counterweight, so that when no current was flowing the two carbons would touch. When current was turned on, it flowed through the two carbons and through the coil of wire (solenoid) which then became energized and pulled the lower carbon down, thus striking the arc. Two of these arc lamps were installed in Paris and caused considerable excitement. After a few weeks of unreliable operation, it was found that the cost of current from the batteries was much too great to continue their ARCHEREAU’S Arc LAmp, 1848. This simple arc was controlled by an electro-magnet, and two lamps were installed for street lighting in Paris, current being obtained from batteries, use commercially. The dynamo had not progressed far enough to permit its use. JOULE’S LAW Joule was an Englishman, and in 1842 began investigating the relation between mechanical energy and heat. He first showed that, by allowing a weight to drop from a considerable height and turn a paddle wheel in water, the temperature of the water would increase in relation to the work done in turning the wheel. It is now known that 778 foot-pounds (1 lb. falling 778 feet, 10 lbs. falling 77.8 feet or 778 lbs. falling one foot, etc.) is the mechanical equivalent of energy equal to raising one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 7, The rate of energy (power) is the energy divided by a unit of time; thus one horsepower is 33,000 foot-pounds per minute. Joule next investigated the relation between heat and electric current. He made a device consisting of a vessel of water in which there were a ther- mometer and an insulated coil of wire having a considerable resistance. He found that an electric current heated the water, and making many combinations of the amount and length of time of current flowing and of the resistance of the wire, he deduced the law that the energy in an electric circuit is proportional to the square of the amount of current flowing multiplied by the length of time and multiplied by the resistance of the wire. The rate of electrical energy (electric power) is therefore propor- tional to the square of current multiplied by the resistance. The electrical unit of power is now called the Warr, named in honor of James Watt, the Englishman, who made great improvements to the steam engine about a century ago. Thus, watts=C’R and substituting the value of R from Ohm’s law, C=—, we get R? Watts = Volts x Amperes The watt is a small unit of electric power, as can be seen from the fact that 746 watts are equal to one horsepower. The kilowatt, kilo being the Greek word for thousand, is 1000 watts. This term is an important one in the electrical industry. For example, dynamos are rated in kilowatts, expressed as KW ; the largest one made so far 1s 50,000 KW which 1s 66,666 horsepower. Edison’s first commercial dynamo had a capacity of 6 KW although the terms watts and kilowatts were not in use at that time. The ordinary sizes of incandescent lamps now used in the home are 25, 40 and 50 watts. STARR’S INCANDESCENT LAMP J. W. Starr, an American, of Cincinnati, Ohio, assisted financially by Peabody, the philanthropist, went to England where he obtained a patent in 1845 on the lamps he had invented, although the patent was taken out under the name of King, his attorney. One is of passing interest only. It consisted of a strip of platinum, the active length of which could be adjusted to fit the battery strength used, and was covered by a glass globe to protect it from draughts of air. The other, a carbon lamp, was the first real contribution to the art. It consisted of a rod of carbon operating in the vacuum above a column of mercury (Torrecellium vacuum) as in a barometer. A heavy platinum wire 18 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 was sealed in the upper closed end of a large glass tube, and connected to the carbon rod by an iron clamp. The lower end of the carbon rod was fastened to another iron clamp, the two clamps being held in place and insulated from each other by a porcelain rod. Attached to the lower clamp was a long copper wire. Just below the lower clamp, StTarr’s INCANDESCENT LAMP, 1845. This consisted of a short carbon pencil operating in the vacuum above a column of mercury. the glass tube was narrowed down and had a length of more than 30 inches. The tube was then filled with mercury, the bottom of the tube being put into a vessel partly full of mercury. The mercury ran out of the enlarged upper part of the tube, coming to rest in the narrow part of the tube as in a barometer, so that the carbon rod was then in a vacuum. One lamp terminal was the platinum wire extending through the top of the tube, and the other was the mercury. Several NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—-SCHROEDER 19 of these lamps were put on exhibition in London, but were not a com- mercial success as they blackened very rapidly. Starr started his return trip to the United States the next year, but died on board the ship when he was but 25 years old. OTHER EARLY INCANDESCENT LAMPS In 1848 W. E. Staite, who two years previously had made an arc lamp, invented an incandescent lamp. This consisted of a platinum- iridium burner in the shape of an inverted U, covered by a glass globe. STAITE’S INCANDESCENT RosBerts’ INCANDESCENT Lamp, 1848. LAmp, 1852. The burner was of platinum It had a graphite burner oper- and iridium. ating in vacuum. It had a thumb screw for a switch, the whole device being mounted on a bracket which was used for the return wire. E. C. Shepard, another Englishman, obtained a patent two years later on an incan- descent lamp consisting of a weighted hollow charcoal cylinder the end of which pressed against a charcoal cone. Current passing through this high resistance contact, heated the charcoal to incandes- cence. It operated in a glass globe from which the air could be ex- hausted. M. J. Roberts obtained an English patent in 1852 on an incandescent lamp. This had a graphite rod for a burner, which could be renewed, mounted in a glass globe. The globe was cemented to a metallic cap fastened to a piece of pipe through which the air 3 20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 could be exhausted. After being exhausted, the pipe, having a stop cock, could be screwed on a stand to support the lamp. Moses G. Farmer, a professor at the Naval Training Station at Newport, Rhode Island, lighted the parlor of his home at 11 Pearl Street, Salem, Mass., during July, 1859, with several incandescent lamps having a strip of platinum for the burner. The novel feature of this lamp was that the platinum strip was narrower at the termi- nals than in the center. Heat is conducted away from the terminals and by making the burner thin at these points, the greater resistance | a i ull 8: ; Kommune rr FARMER’S INCANDESCENT LAmp, 1859. This experimental platinum lamp was made by Professor Farmer and several of them lighted the parlor of his home in Salem, Mass. of the ends of the burner absorbed more electrical energy thus off- setting the heat being conducted away. This made a more uniform degree of incandescence throughout the length of the burner, and Prof. Farmer obtained a patent on this principle many years later (1882). FURTHER ARC LAMP DEVELOPMENTS During the ten years, 1850 to 1860, several inventors developed arc lamp mechanisms. Among them was M. J. Roberts, who had invented the graphite incandescent lamp. In Roberts’ arc lamp, which he patented in 1852, the lower carbon was stationary. The upper carbon fitted snugly into an iron tube. In the tube was a brass covered iron rod, which by its weight could push the upper carbon NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 21 down the tube so the two carbons normally were in contact. An electro-magnet in series with the arc was so located that, when ener- gized, it pulled up the iron tube. This magnet also held the brass covered iron rod from pushing the upper carbon down the tube so that the two carbons were pulled apart, striking the arc. When the arc went out, the iron tube dropped back into its original position, the brass covered iron rod was released, pushing the upper carbon down the tube until the two carbons again touched. This closed the circuit again, striking the arc as before. ] we SLATER AND Warson’s Arc Roserts’ Arc LAmp, 1852. The are was controlled by an electro-magnet which held an LAmp, 1852. Clutches were used for the first time in this arc lamp to iron tube to which the upper feed the carbons. carbon was fastened. In the same year (1852) Slater and Watson obtained an English patent on an arc lamp in which the upper carbon was movable and held in place by two clutches actuated by electro-magnets. The lower carbon was fixed, and normally the two carbons touched each other. When current was turned on, the electro-magnet lifted the clutches which gripped the upper carbon, pulling it up and striking the arc. This was the first time that a clutch was used to allow the carbon to feed as it became consumed. Henry Chapman, in 1855, made an arc in which the upper carbon was allowed to feed by gravity, but held in place by a chain wound 22 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 around a wheel. On this wheel was a brake actuated by an electro- magnet. The lower carbon was pulled down by an electro-magnet working against a spring. When no current was flowing or when the arc went out, the two carbons touched. With current on, one electro- magnet set the brake and held the upper carbon stationary. The other electro-magnet pulled the lower carbon down, thus striking the arc. None of these mechanisms regulated the length of the arc. It was not until 1856 that Joseph Lacassagne and Henry Thiers, Frenchmen, invented the so-called “ differential” method of control, which made the carbons feed when the arc voltage, and hence length, became too great. This principle was used in commercial arc lamps several years afterward when they were operated on series circuits, as it had the added advantage of preventing the feeding of one arc lamp affect- DIAGRAM OF “ DIFFERENTIAL”? METHOD OF CONTROL OF AN Arc LAMP. This principle, invented by Lacassagne and Thiers, was used in all arc lamps when they were commercially introduced on a large scale more than twenty years later. ing another on the same circuit. This differential control consists in principle of two electro-magnets, one in series with, and opposing the pull of the other which is in shunt with the arc. The series magnet pulls the carbons apart and strikes the arc. As the arc increases in length, its voltage rises, thereby increasing the current flowing through the shunt magnet. This increases the strength of the shunt magnet and, when the arc becomes too long, the strength of the shunt be- comes greater than that of the series magnet, thus making the carbons feed. The actual method adopted by Lacassagne and Thiers was different from this, but it had this principle. They used a column of mercury on which the lower carbon floated. The upper carbon was stationary. The height of the mercury column was regulated by a valve con- NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—-SCH ROEDER 23 nected with a reservoir of mercury. The pull of the series magnet closed the valve fixing the height of the column. The pull of the shunt magnet tended to open the valve, and when it overcame the pull of the series magnet it allowed mercury to flow from the reser- voir, raising the height of the column bringing the carbons nearer together. This reduced the arc voltage and shunt magnet strength until the valve closed again. Thus the carbons were always kept the proper distance apart. In first starting the arc, or if the arc should LACASSAGNE AND THIERS’ DIFFERENTIALLY CONTROLLED Arc Lamp, 1856. The lower carbon floated on a column of mercury whose height was “differentially ” controlled by series and shunt magnets. go out, current would only flow through the shunt magnet, bringing the two carbons together until they touched. Current would then flow through the contact of the two carbons and through the series magnet, shutting the valve. There were no means of pulling the carbons apart to strike the arc. Current flowing through the high resistance of the poor contact of the two carbons, heated their tips to incandescence. The incandescent tips would begin to burn away, thus after a time starting an arc. The arc, however, once started was maintained the proper length. 24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 In 1857, Serrin took out his first patent on an arc lamp, the general principles of which were the same as in others he made. The mechan- ism consisted of two drums, one double the diameter of the other. Both carbons were movable, the upper one feeding down, and the lower one feeding up, being connected with chains wound around the drums. The difference in consumption of the two carbons was therefore compensated for by the difference in size of the drums, thus maintaining the location of the arc in a fixed position. A train H | * +s i | y 4 MM ; fl rH 4 L SERRIN’S Arc Lamp, 1857. This type of arc was not differentially controlled but was the first commercial lamp later used. Both carbons were movable, held by chains wound around drums which were controlled by ratchets actu- ated by an electro-magnet. of wheels controlled by a pawl and regulated by an electro-magnet, controlled the movement of the carbons. The weight of the upper carbon and its holder actuates the train of wheels. DEVELOPMENT OF THE DYNAMO, 1840-1860 During the first few years after 1840 the dynamo was only a labora- tory experiment. Woolrich devised a machine which had several pairs of magnets and double the number of coils in order to make the current obtained less pulsating. Wheatstone in 1845 patented the use of electro-magnets in place of permanent magnets. Brett in 1848 suggested that the current, generated in the coils, be allowed to NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 25 flow through a coil surrounding each permanent magnet to further strengthen the magnets. Pulvermacher in 1849 proposed the use of thin plates of iron for the bobbins, to reduce the eddy currents gen- erated in the iron. Sinsteden in 1851 suggested that the current from a permanent magnet machine be used to excite the field coils of an electro-magnet machine. In 1855 Soren Hjorth, of Copenhagen, Denmark, patented a dynamo having both permanent and electro-magnets, the latter being SIEMENS’ Dynamo, 1856. This dynamo was an improvement over others on account of the construction of its “ shuttle”’ armature. excited by currents first induced in the bobbins by the permanent magnets. In 1856 Dr. Werner Siemens invented the shuttle wound armature. This consisted of a single coil of wire wound lengthwise and counter sunk in a long cylindrical piece of iron. This revolved between the magnet poles which were shaped to fit the cylindrical armature. THE FIRST COMMERCIAL INSTALLATION OF AN ELECTRIC LIGHT In 1862 a Serrin type of arc lamp was installed in the Dungeness lighthouse in England. Current was supplied by a dynamo made by 26 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 the Alliance Company, which had been originally designed in 1850 by Nollet, a professor of Physics in the Military School in Brussels. Nollet’s original design was of a dynamo having several rows of per- manent magnets mounted radially on a stationary frame, with an equal number of bobbins mounted on a shaft which rotated and had a commutator so direct current could be obtained. A company was formed to sell hydrogen gas for illuminating purposes, the gas to be made by the decomposition of water with current from this machine. ALLIANCE DyNAmo, 1862. This was the dynamo used in the first commercial installation of an are light in the Dungeness Lighthouse, England, 1862. Nollet died and the company failed, but it was reorganized as the Alliance Company a few years later to exploit the arc lamp. About the only change made in the dynamo was to substitute col- lector rings for the commutator to overcome the difficulties of commu- tation. Alternating current was therefore generated in this first commercial machine. It had a capacity for but one arc light, which probably consumed less than ten amperes at about 45 volts, hence delivered in the present terminology not over 450 watts or about two-thirds of a horsepower. As the bobbins of the armature un- doubtedly had a considerable resistance, the machine had an efficiency of not over 50 per cent and therefore required at least one and a quarter horsepower to drive it. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—-SCHROEDER 27 FURTHER DYNAMO DEVELOPMENTS In the summer of 1886 Sir Charles Wheatstone constructed a self- excited machine on the principle of using the residual magnetism in the field poles to set up a feeble current in the armature which, passing through the field coils, gradually strengthened the fields until they built up to normal strength. It was later found that this idea had been thought of by an unknown man, being disclosed by a clause in a provisional 1858 English patent taken out by his agent. Wheat- stone’s machine was shown to the Royal Society in London and a a WHEATSTONE’S SELF-ExciTED DyNaAmo, 1866. This machine was the first self-excited dynamo by use of the residual magnetism in the field poles. paper on it read before the Society on February 14, 1867. The field coils were shunt wound. Dr. Werner Siemens also made a self-excited machine, having series fields, a paper on which was read before the Academy of Sciences in Berlin on January 17, 1867. This paper was forwarded to the Royal Society in London and presented at the same meeting at which Wheatstone’s dynamo was described. Wheatstone probably preceded Siemens in this re-discovery of the principle of self-excita- tion, but both are given the merit of it. However, S. A. Varley on December 24, 1866, obtained a provisional English patent on this, which was not published until July, 1867. In 1870 Gramime, a Frenchman, patented his well-known ring armature. The idea had been previously thought of by Elias, a bo (0,2) SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 Jit LANTOULUALESTHN ANT nnn GRAMME’s DyNAmo, 1871. c pines These were commercially used, their main feature being the wound armature. See a te SAN SS Sao? 7 GrRAMME’S “ RING”? ARMATURE. Wire coils, surrounding an iron wire core, were all connected together in an endless ring, each coil being tapped with a wire con- nected to a commutator bar. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 29 Hollander, in 1842, and by Pacinnotti, an Italian, as shown by the crude motors (not dynamos) they had made. Gramme’s armature consisted of an iron wire core coated with a bituminous compound in order to reduce the eddy currents. This core was wound with insulated wire coils, all connected together in series as one single endless coil. Each coil was tapped with a wire connected to a commu- tator bar. His first machine, having permanent magnets for fields, was submitted to the French Academy of Sciences in 1871. Later ALTENECK’s DyNAMO WITH “ DruM” WouNp ARMATURE, 1872. The armature winding was entirely on the surface of the armature core, a principle now used in all dynamos. machines were made with self-excited field coils, which were used in commercial service. They had, however a high resistance armature, so that their efficiency did not exceed 50 per cent. Von Hefner Alteneck, an engineer with Siemens, invented the drum wound armature in 1872. The wires of the armature were all on the surface of the armature core, the wires being tapped at frequent points for connection with the commutator bars. Thus in the early seventies, commercial dynamos were available for use in arc lighting, and a few installations were made in Europe. 36 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VoL. 76 RUSSIAN INCANDESCENT LAMP INVENTORS In 1872 Lodyguine, a Russian scientist, made an incandescent lamp consisting of a “ V” shaped piece of graphite for a burner, which operated in nitrogen gas. He lighted the Admiralty Dockyard at St. Petersburg with about two hundred of these lamps. In 1872 the Russian Academy of Sciences awarded him a prize of 50,000 rubles (a lot of real money at that time) for his invention. A com- pany with a capital of 200,000 rubles (then equal to about $100,000) SSS ooo sy SNANAAAANS Z A LopYGUINE’S INCANDESCENT Konn’s INCANDESCENT LAmpP, Lamp, 1872. 1875. The burner was made of In this lamp the graphite rods graphite and operated in nitro- operated in a vacuum. gen gas. was formed but as the lamp was so expensive to operate and had such a short life, about twelve hours, the project failed. Kosloff, another Russian, in 1875 patented a graphite in nitrogen incandescent lamp, which had several graphite rods for burners, so arranged that when one failed another was automatically connected. Konn, also a Russian, made a lamp similar to Kosloff’s except that the graphite rods operated ina vacuum. Bouliguine, another Russian, in 1876 made an incandescent lamp having a long graphite rod, only NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER 31 the upper part of which was in circuit. As this part burned out, the rod was automatically pushed up so that a fresh portion then was in circuit. It operated in a vacuum. None of these lamps was com- mercial as they blackened rapidly and were too expensive to maintain. cmacddettaciida Kea EE tlle Chota NANA AAA 7 ee NIK BouLIGUINE’S INCANDESCENT LAmp, 1876. A long graphite rod, the upper part of which only was in circuit, operated in vacuum. As this part burned out, the rod was auto- matically shoved up, a fresh portion then being in the circuit. THE JABLOCHKOFF “‘ CANDLE” Paul Jablochkoff was a Russian army officer and an engineer. In the early seventies he came to Paris and developed a novel arc light. This consisted of a pair of carbons held together side by side and insulated from each other by a mineral known as kaolin which vapo- rized as the carbons were consumed. There was no mechanism, the 32 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 arc being started by a thin piece of carbon across the tips of the car- bons. Current burned this bridge, starting the arc. The early carbons were about five inches long, and the positive carbon was twice as thick as the negative to compensate for the unequal consumption on direct current. This, however, did not work satisfactorily. Later the length of the carbons was increased, the carbon made of equal JABLOCHKOFF “ CANDLE,” 1876. This simple are consisted of a pair of carbons held together side by side and insulated from each other by kaolin. Several boulevards in Paris were lighted with these arc lights. This arc lamp is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. thickness and burned on alternating current of about eight or nine amperes at about 45 volts. He made an alternating current generator which had a stationary exterior armature with interior revolving field poles. Several “candles,” as they were called, were put in one fixture to permit all night service and an automatic device was developed, located in each fixture, so that should one “ candle” go out for any reason, another was switched into service. In 1876 many of these “candles” were installed and later several of the boulevards in Paris were lighted with them. This was the NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 33 first large installation of the arc light, and was the beginning of its commercial introduction. Henry Wilde made some improvements in the candle by eliminating the kaolin between the carbons which gave Jablochkoff’s arc its peculiar color. Wilde’s arc was started by allowing the ends of the carbons to touch each other, a magnet swing- ing them apart thus striking the arc. ie. \ oh JABLOCHKOFF’S ALTERNATING CURRENT DyNAmo, 1876. This dynamo had a stationary exterior armature and internal re- volving field poles. Alternating current was used for the Jablochkoff “candle” to overcome the difficulties of unequal consumption of the carbons on direct current. COMMERCIAL INTRODUCTION OF THE DIFFERENTIALLY CONTROLLED ARC LAMP About the same time Lontin, a Frenchman, improved Serrin’s arc lamp mechanism by the application of series and shunt magnets. This is the differential principle which was invented by Lacassagne and Thiers in 1855 but which apparently had been forgotten. Several of these lamps were commercially installed in France beginning with 187 ARC LIGHTING IN THE UNITED STATES About 1875 William Wallace of Ansonia, Connecticut, made an arc light consisting of two rectangular carbon plates mounted on a wooden frame. The arc played between the two edges of the plates, 34 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 WaALLAcE-FARMER Arc LAmp, 1875. This “ differentially controlled” arc lamp consisted of two slabs of carbon between which the arc played. In the original lamp the car- bon slabs were mounted on pieces of wood held in place by bolts, adjustment being made by hitting the upper carbon slab with a ham- mer. This lamp is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. WALLACE-FARMER DyNAmo, 1875. This was the first commercial dynamo used in the United States for arc lighting. This dynamg is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 35 which lasted much longer than rods. When the edges had burned away so that the arc then became unduly long, the carbon plates were brought closer together by hitting them with a hammer. Wallace became associated with Moses G. Farmer, and they improved this crude are by fastening the upper carbon plate to a rod which was held by a clutch controlled by a magnet. This magnet had two coils in one, the inner winding in series with the arc, and outer one in shunt and _ opposing the series winding. The arc was therefore differentially controlled. Weston’s Arc LAmp, 1876. This lamp is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. They also developed a series wound direct current dynamo. The armature consisted of a number of bobbins, all connected together in an endless ring. Each bobbin was also connected to a commutator bar. There were two sets of bobbins, commutators and field poles, the equivalent of two machines in one, which could be connected either to separate circuits, or together in series on one circuit. The Wallace-Farmer system was commercially used. The arc consumed about 20 amperes at about 35 volts, but as the carbon plates cooled the arc, the efficiency was poor. The arc flickered back and forth on the edges of the carbons casting dancing shadows. The 4 30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 carbons, while lasting about 50 hours, were not uniform in density, so the arc would flare up and cast off soot and sparks. Edward Weston of Newark, New Jersey, also developed an arc lighting system. His commercial lamp had carbon rods, one above the other, and the are was also differentially controlled. An oil dash pot BrusuH’s DyNAmo, 1877. This dynamo was used for many years for commercial arc lighting. DIAGRAM or BrusH ARMATURE. The armature was not a closed circuit. For description of its opera- WOM, WES wee prevented undue pumping of the carbons. His dynamo had a drum- wound armature, and had several horizontal field coils on each side of one pair of poles between which the armature revolved. The system was designed for about 20 amperes, each are taking about 35 volts. Charles F. Brush made a very successful are lighting system in 1878. His dynamo was unique in that the armature had eight coils, NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 37 one end of each pair of opposite coils being connected together and the other ends connected to a commutator segment. Thus the arma- ture itself was not a closed circuit. The machine had two pairs of horizontal poles between which the coils revolved. One end of the one pair of coils in the most active position was connected, by means of two of the four brushes, in series with one end of the two pairs of coils in the lesser active position. The latter two pairs of coils BrusH’s Arc Lamp, 1877. The carbons were differentially controlled. This lamp was used for many years. This lamp is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. were connected in multiple with each other by means of the brushes touching adjacent commutator segments. The outside circuit was connected to the other two brushes, one of which was connected to the other end of the most active pair of coils. The other brush was connected to the other end of the two lesser active pairs of coils. The one pair of coils in the least active position was out of circuit. The field coils were connected in series with the outside circuit. Brush’s arc lamp was also differentially controlled. It was de- signed for about Io amperes at about 45 volts. The carbons were copper plated to increase their conductivity. Two pairs of carbons were used for all-night service, each pair lasting about eight hours. 38 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 A very simple device was used to automatically switch the are from one to the other pair of carbons, when the first pair was consumed. This device consisted of a triangular-shaped piece of iron connected to the solenoid controlling the arc. There was a groove on each of the outer two corners of this triangle, one groove wider than the other. An iron washer surrounded each upper carbon. The edge of each washer rested in a groove. The washer in the narrow groove made a comparatively tight fit about its carbon. The other washer in the wider groove had a loose fit about its carbon. Pins prevented the washer from falling below given points. Both pairs of carbons TuHomson-Houston Arc DyNAmo, 1878. This dynamo was standard for many years. This machine is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. touched each other at the start. When current was turned on, the solenoid lifted the triangle, the loose-fitting washer gripped its carbon first, so that current then only passed through the other pair of carbons which were still touching each other. The further movement of the solenoid then separated these carbons, the are starting between them. When this pair of carbons became consumed, they could not feed any more so that the solenoid would then allow the other pair of carbons to touch, transferring the arc to that pair. Elihu Thomson and Edwin J. Houston in 1878 made a very success- ful and complete are light system, Their dynamo was specially NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 39 designed to fit the requirements of the series arc lamp. The Thomson- Houston machine was a bipolar, having an armature consisting of three coils, one end of each of the three coils having a common termi- nal, or “ Y” connected, as it is called. The other end of each coil was connected to a commutator segment. The machine was to a great extent self-regulating, that is the current was inherently constant with fluctuating load, as occurs when the lamps feed or when the number of lamps burning at one time should change for any reason. This regulation was accomplished by what is called “armature reaction,” which is the effect the magnetization of the armature has on the field strength. Close regulation was obtained by a separate electro-magnet, SE mall: lima Pr RG ami mini ba ii Qumn Neill \ i OS 2000003 Dracram oF T-H Arc LIGHTING SYSTEM. MAAS x = in series with the circuit, which shifted the brushes as the load changed. As there were but three commutator segments, one for each coil, excessive sparking was prevented by an air blast. The “ T-H ” (Thompson-Houston) lamp employed the shunt feed principle. The carbons were normally separated, being in most types drawn apart by a spring. A high resistance magnet, shunted around the arc, served to draw the carbons together. This occurred on starting the lamp and thereafter the voltage of the arc was held con- stant by the balance between the spring and the shunt magnet. As the carbon burned away the mechanism advanced to a point where a clutch was tripped, the carbons brought together, and the cycle re- peated. Both the T-H and Brush systems were extensively used in street lighting, for which they were the standard when the open arc was superseded by the enclosed. SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 OTHER AMERICAN ARC LIGHT SYSTEMS Beginning with about 1880, several arc light systems were developed. Among these were the Vanderpoele, Hochausen, Waterhouse, Maxim, Tuomson-Houston Arc THOMSON DOUBLE Lamp, 1878. CarsBon Arc LAMP. This later model, having two pairs of carbons, was commer- cially used for many years. This lamp is in the collection of the Smithsonian In- stitution. This is an early model with a single pair of carbons. Schuyler and Wood. The direct current carbon arc is inherently more efficient than the alternating current lamp, owing to the fact that the continuous flow of current in one direction maintains on the positive NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—-SCHROEDER AI carbon a larger crater at the vaporizing point of carbon. This source furnishes the largest proportion of light, the smaller crater in the negative carbon much less. With the alternating current arc, the large crater is formed first on the upper and then on the lower carbon. On account of the cooling between alternations, the mean temperature falls below the vaporizing point of carbon, thus accounting for the lower efficiency of the alternating current arc. For this reason all these systems used direct current and the 10 ampere ultimately displaced the 20 ampere system. The 10 ampere Maxim DyNAmo. This dynamo is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. circuit was later standardized at 9.6 amperes, 50 volts per lamp. The lamp therefore consumed 480 watts giving an efficiency of about 15 lumens per watt. This lamp gave an average of 575 candlepower (spherical) in all directions, though it was called the 2000 cp (candle- power) arc as under the best possible conditions it could give this candlepower in one direction. Later a 6.6 ampere arc was developed. This was called the “ 1200 cp” lamp and was not quite as efficient as the 9.6 ampere lamp. 42 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 ‘ * SUB-DIVIDING THE ELECTRIC LIGHT ” While the arc lamp was being commercially established, it was at once seen that it was too large a unit for household use. Many inven- tors attacked the problem of making a smaller unit, or, as it was called, ‘‘ sub-dividing the electric light.” In the United States there were four men prominent in this work: William E. Sawyer, Moses G. Farmer, Hiram S. Maxim and Thomas A. Edison. These men did not make smaller arc lamps but all attempted to make an incandescent lamp that would operate on the arc circuits. SAWYER’S INCANDESCENT FARMER'S INCANDESCENT Lamp, 1878. Lamp, 1878. This had a graphite burner The graphite burner oper- operating in nitrogen gas. ated in nitrogen gas. This lamp is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. Sawyer made several lamps in the years 1878-79 along the lines of the Russian scientists. All his lamps had a thick carbon burner operating in nitrogen gas. They had a long glass tube closed at one end and the other cemented to a brass base through which the gas was put in. Heavy fluted wires connected the burner with the base to radiate the heat, in order to keep the joint in the base cool. The burner was renewable by opening the cemented joint. Farmer’s lamp consisted of a pair of heavy copper rods mounted on a rubber cork, between which a graphite rod was mounted. This was inserted in a glass bulb and operated in nitrogen gas. Maxim made a lamp having a carbon burner operating in a rarefied hydrocarbon vapor. He also made a lamp consisting of a sheet of platinum operating in air. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—-SCHROEDER 43 EDISON’S INVENTION OF A PRACTICAL INCANDESCENT LAMP Edison began the study of the problem in the spring of 1878. He had a well-equipped laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, with several able assistants and a number of workmen, about a hundred people all told. He had made a number of well-known inventions, among which were the quadruplex telegraph whereby four messages could be sent simultaneously over one wire, the carbon telephone transmitter without which Bell’s telephone receiver would have been MG e* Maxim's INCANDESCENT Lamp, 1878. The carbon burner operated in a rarefied hydrocarbon vapor. This lamp is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution. impracticable, and the phonograph. All of these are in use today, so Edison was eminently fitted to attack the problem. Edison’s first experiments were to confirm the failures of other experimenters. Convinced of the seeming impossibility of carbon, he turned his attention to platinum as a light giving element. Realiz- ing the importance of operating platinum close to its melting tempera- ture, he designed a lamp which had a thermostatic arrangement so that the burner wouid be automatically short circuited the moment its temperature became dangerously close to melting. The burner con- sisted of a double helix of platinum wire within which was a rod. 44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 When the temperature of the platinum became too high, the rod in expanding would short circuit the platinum. The platinum cooled at once, the rod contracted opening the short circuit and allowing current to flow through the burner again. His first incandescent lamp patent covered this lamp. His next patent covered a similar lamp with an improved thermostat consisting of an expanding diaphragm. Both of these lamps were designed for use on series circuits. The only system of distributing electricity, known at that time, Epison’s First EXPERIMENTAL LAmp, 1878. The burner was a coil of platinum wire which was protected from operating at too high a temperature by a thermostat. was the series system. In this system current generated in the dynamo armature flowed through the field coils, out to one lamp after another over a wire, and then back to the dynamo. There were no means by which one lamp could be turned on and off without doing the same with all the others on the circuit. Edison realized that while this was satisfactory for street lighting where arcs were generally used, it never would be commercial for household lighting. He therefore decided that a practical incandescent electric lighting system must be patterned after gas lighting with which it would compete. He therefore made NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 45 an intensive study of gas distribution and reasoned that a constant pressure electrical system could be made similar to that of gas. The first problem was therefore to design a dynamo that would give a constant pressure instead of constant current. He therefore reasoned that the internal resistance of the armature must be very low or the voltage would fall as current was taken from the dynamo. Scientists had shown that the most economical use of electricity from DIAGRAM OF CONSTANT CURRENT SERIES SYSTEM. This, in 1878, was the only method of distributing electric current. DIAGRAM OF EpIsoN’s MULTIPLE SYSTEM, 1870. Edison invented the multiple system of distributing electric current, now universally used. a primary battery was where the external resistance of the load was the same as the internal resistance of the battery, or in other words, 50 per cent was the maximum possible efficiency. When Edison proposed a very low resistance armature so that the dynamo would have an efficiency of 90 per cent at full load, he was ridiculed. Nevertheless he went ahead and made one which attained this. The armature consisted of drum-wound insulated copper rods, the armature core having circular sheets of iron with paper between to reduce the eddy currents. There were two vertical fields above and 46 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 connected in shunt with the armature. It generated electricity at about a hundred volts constant pressure and could supply current up to about 60 amperes at this pressure. It therefore had a capacity, in the present terminology, of about 6 kilowatts (or 8 horsepower). A multiple system of distribution would make each lamp indepen- dent of every other and with a dynamo made for such a system, the next thing was to design a lamp for it. Having a pressure of about Epison DyNAmo, 1870. Edison made a dynamo that was 90 per cent efficient which scientists said was impossible. This dynamo is in the collection of the Smith- sonian Institution and was one of the machines on the steamship Columbia, the first commercial installation of the Edison lamp. a hundred volts to contend with, the lamp, in order to take a small amount of current, must, to comply with Ohm’s law, have a high resistance. He therefore wound many feet of fine platinum wire on a spool of pipe clay and made his first high resistance lamp. He used his diaphragm thermostat to protect the platinum from melting, and, as now seems obvious but was not to all so-called electricians at that time, the thermostat was arranged to open circuit instead of short circuit the burner when it became too hot. This lamp apparently solved the problem, and, in order to protect the platinum from the NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 47 oxygen of the air, he coated it with oxide of zirconium. -Unfortu- nately zirconia, while an insulator at ordinary temperatures, becomes, as is now known, a conductor of electricity when heated, so that the lamp short circuited itself when it was lighted. Zs ee — WRN C ae Epison’s HiGH RESISTANCE Eptson’s HicH RESISTANCE PLATINUM LAmp, 1879. PLATINUM IN VACUUM : , : LAmp, 1870. This lamp had a high resis- doe ie) tance burner, necessary for the This experimental lamp led multiple system. to the invention of the success- ful carbon filament lamp. During his experiments he had found that platinum became ex- ceedingly hard after it had been heated several times to incandescence by current flowing through it. This apparently raised its melting temperature so he was able to increase the operating temperature and therefore greatly increase the candlepower of his lamps after 48 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 they had been heated a few times. Examination of the platinum under a microscope showed it to be much less porous after heating, so he reasoned that gases were occluded throughout the platinum and were driven out by the heat. This led him to make a lamp with a platinum wire to operate in vacuum, as he thought that more of the occluded gases would come out under such circumstances. These lamps were expensive to make, and, knowing that he could get the requisite high resistance at much less cost from a long and Eptson’s Carbon LAMP OF OCTOBER 21, 1879. This experimental lamp, having a high resistance carbon filament operating in a high vacuum maintained by an all-glass globe, was the keystone of Edison’s successful incandescent lighting system. All incandescent lamps made today embody the basic features of this lamp. This replica is in the Smithsonian Institution exhibit of Edison lamps. The original was destroyed. slender piece of carbon, he thought he might be able to make the carbon last in the high vacuum he had been able to obtain from the newly invented Geissler and Sprengel mercury air pumps. After several trials he finally was able to carbonize a piece of ordinary sewing thread. This he mounted in a one-piece all glass globe, all joints fused by melt- ing the glass together, which he considered was essential in order to maintain the high vacuum. Platinum wires were fused in the glass to connect the carbonized thread inside the bulb with the circuit outside as platinum has the same coefficient of expansion as glass and hence maintains an airtight joint. He reasoned that there would be oc- cluded gases in the carbonized thread which would immediately burn NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER 49 up if the slightest trace of oxygen were present, so he heated the lamp while it was still on the exhaust pump after a high degree of vacuum had been obtained. This was accomplished by passing a small amount of current through the “ filament,” as he called it, gently heating it. Immediately the gases started coming out, and it took eight hours more on the pump before they stopped. The lamp was then sealed and ready for trial. On October 21, 1879, current was turned into the lamp and it lasted forty-five hours before it failed. A patent was applied for DEMONSTRATION OF EDISON’s INCANDESCENT LIGHTING SYSTEM. Showing view of Menlo Park Laboratory Buildings, 1880. on November 4th of that year and granted January 27, 1880. All incandescent lamps made today embody the basic features of this lamp. Edison immediately began a searching investigation of the best material for a filament and soon found that carbonized paper gave several hundred hours life. This made it commercially possible, so in December, 1870, it was decided that a public demonstration of his incandescent lighting system should be made. Wires were run to several houses in Menlo Park, N. J., and lamps were also mounted on poles, lighting the country roads in the neighborhood. An article appeared in the New York Herald on Sunday, December 21, 1879, describing Edison’s invention and telling of the public demonstration to be given during the Christmas holidays. This occupied the entire first page of the paper, and created such a furor that the Pennsylvania Railroad had to run special trains to Menlo Park to accommodate 50 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL, 76 the crowds. ‘The first commercially successful installation of the Edison incandescent lamps and lighting system was made on the steamship Columbia, which started May 2, 1880, on a voyage around Cape Horn to San Francisco, Calif. The carbonized paper filament of the first commercial incandescent lamp was quite fragile. Early in 1880 carbonized bamboo was found to be not only sturdy but made an even better filament than paper. The shape of the bulb was also changed from round to pear shape, DynAmMo Room, S. S. CoLuMBIA. The first commercial installation of the Edison Lamp, started May 2, 1880. One of these original dynamos is on exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution. being blown from one inch tubing. Later the bulbs were blown directly from molten glass. As it was inconvenient to connect the wires to the binding posts of a new lamp every time a burned out lamp had to be replaced, a base and socket for it were developed. The earliest form of base con- sisted simply of bending the two wires of the lamp back on the neck of the bulb and holding them in place by wrapping string around the neck. The socket consisted of two pieces of sheet copper in a hollow piece of wood. The lamp was inserted in this, the two-wire terminals of the lamp making contact with the two-sheet copper terminals of the socket, the lamp being rigidly held in the socket by NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER SI a thumb screw which forced the socket terminals tight against the neck of the bulb. This crude arrangement was changed in the latter part of 1880 to a screw shell and a ring for the base terminals, wood being used for ORIGINAL SOCKET FOR INCANDESCENT LAmps, 1880. Wire TERMINAL BASE LAmp, 1880. This crude form of lamp base fitted the original form of lamp socket pictured above. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution. insulation. The socket was correspondingly changed. This was a very bulky affair, so the base was changed to a cone-shaped ring and a screw shell for terminals. \Wood was used for insulation, which a short time after was changed to plaster of Paris as this was also used to fasten the base to the bulb. It was soon found that the tension created between the two terminals of the base when the lamp was 5 52 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 firmly screwed in the socket often caused the plaster base to pull apart, so the shape of the base was again changed early in 1881, to the form in use today. An improved method of connecting the ends of the filament to the leading-in wires was adopted early in 1881. Formerly this was accomplished by a delicate clamp having a bolt and nut. The improve- ment consisted of copper plating the filament to the leading-in wire. In the early part of the year 1881 the lamps were made “ eight to ORIGINAL ScREW BASE IMPROVED SCREW BASE Lamp, 1880. This first screw base, con- sisting of a screw shell and ring for terminals with wood for insulation, was a _ very bulky affair. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in Lamp, 1881. The terminals of this base consisted of a cone shaped ring and a screw shell. At first wood was used for insulation, later plaster of paris which was also used to fasten the base to the bulb. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian In- stitution. the Smithsonian Institution. the horsepower.” Each lamp, therefore, consumed a little less than 100 watts, and was designed to give 160 candlepower in a horizontal direction. The average candlepower (spherical) in all directions was about 77 per cent of this, hence as the modern term “ lumen” is 12257, spherical candlepower, these lamps had an initial efficiency of about 1.7 lumens per watt. The lamps blackened considerably during their life so that just before they burned out their candlepower was less than half that when new. Thus their mean efficiency throughout life was about 1.1 I-p-w (lumens per watt). These figures are interesting NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 53 in comparison with the modern 100-watt gas-filled tungsten-filament lamp which has an initial efficiency of 12.9, and a mean efficiency of 11.8, l-p-w. In other words the equivalent (wattage) size of modern lamp gives over seven times when new, and eleven times on the average, as much light for the same energy consumption as Edison’s first commercial lamp. In the latter part of 1881 the efficiency was changed to “ten lamps per horsepower,” equivalent to 24 I-p-w initially. Two sizes of lamps were made: 16 cp for use on I1o-volt FinaL Form oF Screw Base, 1881. With plaster of paris, the previous form of base was apt to pull apart when the lamp was firmly screwed into the socket. The form of the base was therefore changed to that shown, which overcame these difficulties, and which has been used ever since. The lamp shown was standard for three years and is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution. circuits and 8 cp for use either direct or 55 volts or two in series on 110-volt circuits. EDISON’S THREE-WIRE SYSTEM The distance at which current can be economically delivered at 110 volts pressure is limited, as will be seen from a study of Ohm’s law. The loss of power in the distributing wires is proportional to the square of the current flowing. If the voltage be doubled, the amount of current is halved, for a given amount of electric power delivered, so that the size of the distributing wires can then be reduced to one-quarter for a given loss in them. At that time (1881) it was 54 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 impossible to make 220-volt lamps, and though they are now available, their use is uneconomical, as their efficiency is much poorer than that of 110-volt incandescent lamps. Edison invented a distributing system that had two 110-volt circuits, with one wire called the neutral, common to both circuits so that the pressure on the two outside wires was 220 volts. The neutral wire had only to be large enough to carry the difference between the cur- rents flowing in the two circuits. As the load could be so arranged that it would be approximately equal at all times on both circuits, the neutral wire could be relatively small in size. Thus the three-wire system resulted in a saving of 60 per cent in copper over the two-wire DIAGRAM OF EDISON’S THREE-WIRE SYSTEM, 1881. This system reduced the cost of copper in the multiple distributing system 60 per cent. system or, for the same amount of copper, the distance that current could be delivered was more than doubled. DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALTERNATING CURRENT CONSTANT POTENTIAL SYSTEM The distance that current can be economically distributed, as has been shown, depends upon the voltage used. If, therefore, current could be sent out at a high voltage and the pressure brought down to that desired at the various points to which it is distributed, such dis- tribution could cover a much greater area. Lucien Gaulard was a French inventor and was backed by an Englishman named John D. Gibbs. About 1882 they patented a series alternating-current system of distribution. They had invented what is now called a transformer which consisted of two separate coils of wire mounted on an iron NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER On on core. All the primary coils were connected in series, which, when current went through them, induced a current in the secondary coils. Lamps were connected in multiple on each of the secondary coils. An American patent was applied for on the transformer, but was refused on the basis that “‘ more current cannot be.taken from it than is put in.’ While this is true if the word energy were used, the transformer can supply a greater current at a lower voltage (or vice versa) than is put in, the ratio being in proportion to the relative number of turns in the primary and secondary coils. The transformer was’ treated with ridicule and Gaulard died under distressing cir- cumstances. Ress lternating Current of Dynamo High Voltage Circuit (ics HOO ba i “=i eayit) DIAGRAM OF STANLEY’S ALTERNATING CURRENT MULTIPLE SystTEM, 1885. This system is now universally used for distributing electric current long distances. Information regarding the transformer came to the attention of William Stanley, an American, in the latter part of 1885. He made an intensive study of the scheme, and developed a transformer in which the primary coil was connected in multiple on a constant potential alternating-current high-voltage system. From the secondary coil a lower constant voltage was obtained. An experimental installation was made at Great Barrington, Mass., in the early part of 1886, the first commercial installation being made in Buffalo, New York, in the latter part of the year. This scheme enabled current to be eco- nomically distributed to much greater distances. The voltage of the high-tension circuit has been gradually increased as the art has pro- gressed from about a thousand volts to over two hundred thousand volts pressure in a recent installation in California, where electric power is transmitted over two hundred miles. 50 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 INCANDESCENT LAMP DEVELOPMENTS, 1884-1894 In 1884 the ring of plaster around the top of the base was omitted ; in 1886 an improvement was made by pasting the filament to the leading-in wires with a carbon paste instead of the electro-plating method; and in 1888 the length of the base was increased so that it had more threads. Several concerns started making incandescent lamps, the filaments being made by carbonizing various substances. ‘“ Parchmentized ” thread consisted of ordinary thread passed through sulphuric acid. “ Tamadine ” was cellulose in the sheet form, punched yt 4 STANDARD Epison Lamp, 1884. The ring of plaster around the neck of previous lamps was omitted. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution. STANDARD Epison Lamp, 1888. The length of the base was increased so it had more threads. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution. out in the shape of the filament. Squirted cellulose in the form of a thread was also used. This was made by dissolving absorbent cotton in zinc chloride, the resulting syrup being squirted through a die into alcohol which hardened the thread thus formed. This thread was washed in water, dried in the air and then cut to proper length and carbonized. The filament was improved by coating it with graphite. One method, adopted about 1888, was to dip it in a hydro-carbon liquid before carbonizing. Another, more generally adopted in 1893 was a process originally invented by Sawyer, one of the Americans who had attempted to “ sub-divide the electric light ” in 1878-79. This process NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 57 consisted of passing current through a carbonized filament in an atmosphere of hydrocarbon vapor. The hot filament decomposed the vapor, depositing graphite on the filament. The graphite coated fila- ment improved it so it could operate at 34 lumens per watt (initial effi- ciency). Lamps of 20, 24, 32 and 50 candlepower were developed for T10-volt circuits. Lamps in various sizes from 12 to 36 cp were made for use on storage batteries having various numbers of cells and giving a voltage of from 20 to 40 volts. Miniature lamps of from $ to 2 cp © a for use on dry batteries of from 2} to 54 volts, and 3 to 6 cp on STANDARD Eptson LAmp, 18094. This lamp had a “treated” cellulose filament, permitting an effi- ciency of 3% lumens per watt which has never been exceeded in a carbon lamp. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution. 54 to 12 volts, were also made. These could also be connected in series on I10 volts for festoons. Very small lamps of $ cp of 2 to 4 volts for use in dentistry and surgery were made available. These miniature lamps had no bases, wires being used to connect them to the circuit. Lamps for 220-volt circuits were developed as this voltage was desirable for power purposes, electric motors being used, and a few lamps were needed on such circuits. They are less efficient and more expensive than 110-volt lamps, their use being justified however only when it is uneconomical to have a separate 110-volt circuit for lighting. The lamps were made in sizes from 16 to 50 candlepower. 58 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS Edison. Thomson-Houston. Westinghouse. Brush-Swan. Edi-Swan Edi-Swan ‘ United States. Hawkeye. (single contact). (double contact). Mather or Perkins. Loomis. CM TTC Mt Uy} Nn | a ST TEARS indianapolis Jenny. Siemens & Halske. VarI0US STANDARD Bases IN Use, 1802. W\) Schaeffer or National. NO. HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER THOMSON-HoustToN SOCKET. WESTINGHOUSE SOCKET. 59 60 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 Electric street railway systems used a voltage in the neighborhood of 550, and lamps were designed to burn five in series on this voltage. These lamps were different from the standard 110-volt lamps although they were made for about this voltage. As they were burned in series, the lamps were selected to operate at a definite current instead of at a definite voltage, so that the lamps when burned in series would operate at the proper temperature to give proper life results. Such lamps would therefore vary considerably in individual volts, and hence would not give good service if burned on 11o-volt circuits. The candelabra screw base and socket and the miniature screw base and socket were later developed. Ornamental candelabra base lamps Thomson-Houston. Westinghouse. ADAPTERS FOR EpISON SCREW SOCKETS, 1802. Next to the Edison base, the Thomson-Houston and Westinghouse bases were the most popular. By use of these adapters, Edison base lamps could be used in T-H and Westinghouse sockets. were made for use direct on 110 volts, smaller sizes being operated in series on this voltage. The former gave about Io cp, the latter in various sizes from 4 to 8cp. The miniature screw base lamps were for low volt lighting. The various manufacturers of lamps in nearly every instance made bases that were very different from one another. No less than four- teen different standard bases and sockets came into commercial use. These were known as, Brush-Swan, Edison, Edi-Swan (double con- tact), Edi-Swan (single contact), Fort Wayne Jenny, Hawkeye, Indianapolis Jenny, Loomis, Mather or Perkins, Schaeffer or Na- tional, Siemens & Halske, Thomson-Houston, United States and Westinghouse. In addition there were later larger sized bases made NO. .2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 61 for use on series circuits. ‘These were called the Bernstein, Heisler, Large Edison, Municipal Bernstein, Municipal Edison, Thomson- Houston (alternating circuit) and Thomson-Houston (are circuit). Some of these bases disappeared from use and in 1900 the proportion in the United States was about 70 per cent Edison, 15 per cent West- Bernstein. Heisler. Thomson-Houston (alternating current). Thomson-Houston Municipal Edison. Mann Bernstein. (are circuit). Various Series BASES IN UsE, 1892. The above six bases have been superseded by the “Large Edison,” now called the Mogul Screw base. inghouse, 10 per cent Thomson-Houston and 5 per cent for all the others remaining. A campaign was started to standardize the Edison base, adapters being sold at cost for the Westinghouse and Thomson- Houston sockets so that Edison base lamps could be used. In a few years the desired results were obtained so that now there are no other sockets in the United States but the Edison screw type for standard 62 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 lighting service. This applies also to all other countries in the world except England where the bayonet form of base and socket is still popular. THE EDISON “ MUNICIPAL”? STREET LIGHTING SYSTEM The are lamp could not practically be made in a unit smaller than the so-called ‘‘ 1200 candlepower” (6.6 ampere) or “half” size, which really gave about 350 spherical candlepower. A demand there- Bs e 8 > ume wncirat hoe: es ey x, Eptson “ MuNIcIPAL” SYSTEM, 1885. High voltage direct current was generated, several circuits oper- ating in multiple, three ampere lamps burning in series on each circuit. Photograph courtesy of Association of Edison Illuminating Companies. fore arose for a small street lighting unit, and Edison designed his ‘“ Municipal” street lighting system to fill this requirement. His experience in the making of dynamos enabled him to make a direct current bipolar constant potential machine that would deliver 1000 volts which later was increased to 1200 volts. They were first made in two sizes having an output of 12 and 30 amperes respectively. Incandescent lamps were made for 3 amperes in several sizes from 16 to 50 candlepower. These lamps were burned in series on the 1200-volt direct current system. Thus the 12-ampere machine had a capacity for four series circuits, each taking 3 amperes, the series NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 63 circuits being connected in multiple across the 1200 volts. The number of lamps on each series circuit depended upon their size, as the voltage of each lamp was different for each size, being about 14 volts per cp. A popular size was the 32-candlepower unit, which therefore required about 45 volts and hence at 3 amperes consumed about 135 “watts. Allowing 5 per cent loss in the wires of each circuit, there was therefore 1140 of the 1200 volts left for the lamps. Hence about 25 32-candlepower or 50 16-candlepower lamps could be put on each series circuit. Different sizes of lamps could also be put on the Epison MunicipaL Lamp, 1885. Inside the base was an arrangement by which the lamp was auto- matically short circuited when it burned out. same circuit, the number depending upon the aggregate voltage of the lamps. A device was put in the base of each lamp to short circuit the lamp when it burned out so as to prevent all the other lamps on that circuit from going out. This device consisted of a piece of wire put inside the lamp bulb between the two ends of the filament. Connected to this wire was a very thin wire inside the base which held a piece of metal compressed against a spring. The spring was connected to one terminal of the base. Should the lamp burn out, current would jump from the filament to the wire in the bulb, and the current then flowed through the thin wire to the other terminal of the base. The thin wire was melted by the current, and the spring pushed the piece of metal up short circuiting the terminals of the base. This scheme was 64 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 later simplified by omitting the wire, spring, etc., and substituting a piece of metal which was prevented from short circuiting the termi- nals of the base by a thin piece of paper. When the lamp burned out the entire 1200 volts was impressed across this piece of paper, puncturing it and so short circuiting the base terminals. Should one or more lamps gv out on a circuit, the increase in current above the normal 3 amperes was prevented by an adjustable resistance, or an extra lot of lamps which could be turned on one at a time, connected to each circuit and located in the power station under the control of the operator. This system disappeared from use with the advent of the constant current transformer. THE SHUNT BOX SYSTEM FOR SERIES INCANDESCENT LAMPS Soon after the commercial development of the alternating current constant potential system, a scheme was developed to permit the use Reactance Coils sage y Constant Voltage Alternating Current Dynamo SHunT Box SysTEM, 1887. Lamps were burned in series on a high voltage alternating current, and when a lamp burned out ali the current then went through its “ shunt box,” a reactance coil in multiple with each lamp. of lamps in series on such circuits without the necessity for short circuiting a lamp should it burn out. A reactance, called a “ shunt box ” and consisting of a coil of wire wound on an iron core, was connected across each lamp. The shunt box consumed but little current while the lamp was burning. Should one lamp go out, the entire current would flow through its shunt box and so maintain the current approximately constant. It had the difficulty, however, that if several lamps went out, the current would be materially increased tending to burn out the remaining lamps on the circuit. This system also disappeared from use with the development of the constant current transformer. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER 65 THE ENCLOSED ARC LAMP Up to 1893 the carbons of an arc lamp operated in the open air, so that they were rapidly consumed, lasting from eight to sixteen hours depending on their length and thickness. Louis B. Marks, an American, found that by placing a tight fitting globe about the arc, the life of the carbons was increased ten to twelve times. This was due to the restricted amount of oxygen of the air in the presence of the hot carbon tips and thus retarded their consumption. The amount of light was somewhat decreased, but this was more than offset by % ¢ EncLosep Arc Lamp, 1893. Enclosing the arc lengthened the life of the carbons, thereby greatly reducing the cost of maintenance. the lesser expense of trimming which also justified the use of more expensive better quality carbons. Satisfactory operation required that the arc voltage be increased to about 8o volts. This lamp rapidly displaced the series open arc. An enclosed arc lamp for use on 110-volt constant potential circuits was also developed. A resistance was put in series with the are for use on 110-volt direct current circuits, to act as a ballast in order to prevent the are from taking too much current and also to use up the difference between the 66 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 arc voltage (80) and the line voltage (110). On alternating cur- rent, a reactance was used in place of the resistance. _ The efficiencies in lumens per watt of these arcs (with clear glass- ware), all of which have now disappeared from the market, were about as follows: 6.6 ampere 510 watt direct current (D.C.) series arc, 8} l-p-w. 5.0 ampere 550 watt direct current multiple (110-volt) arc, 44 1-p-w. 7.5 ampere 540 watt alternating current (A. C.) multiple (110-volt) arc, 44 |-p-w. OprEN FLAME ARC ENCLOSED FLAME ARC Lamp, 1808. Lamp, 1908. Certain salts impregnated in By condensing the smoke the carbons produced a_bril- from the are in a _ cooling liantly luminous flame in the chamber it was practical to en- arc stream which enormously close the flame arc, thereby increased the efficiency of the increasing the life of the lamp. carbons. The reason for the big difference in efficiency between the series and multiple direct-current arc is that in the latter a large amount of electrical energy (watts) is lost in the ballast resistance. While there is a considerable difference between the inherent efficiencies of the D.C. and A.C. ares themselves, this difference is reduced in the NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—-SCHROEDER 67 multiple D.C. and A.C. are lamps as more watts are lost in the resistance ballast of the multiple D.C. lamp than are lost in the reactance ballast of the multiple A.C. lamp. This reactance gives the A. C. lamp what is called a ‘‘ power-factor.” The product of the amperes (7.5) times the volts (110) does not give the true wattage (540) of the lamp, so that the actual volt-amperes (825) has to be multiplied by a power factor, in this case about 65 per cent, to obtain the actual power (watts) consumed. The reason is that the instantaneous varying values of the alternating current and pressure, 1f multiplied and averaged throughout the complete alter- nating cycle, do not equal the average amperes (measured by an ammeter) multiplied by the average voltage (measured by a volt- meter). That is, the maximum value of the current flowing (am- peres) does not occur at the same instant that the maximum pressure (voltage) is on the circuit. THE FLAME ARC LAMP About 1844 Bunsen investigated the effect of introducing various chemicals in the carbon arc. ‘Nothing was done, however, until Bremer, a German, experimented with various salts impregnated in the carbon electrodes. In 18098 he produced the so-called flame arc, which consisted of carbons impregnated with calcium fluoride. This gave a brilliant yellow light most of which came from the arc flame, and practically none from the carbon tips. The are operated in the open air and produced smoke which condensed into a white powder. The two carbons were inclined downward at about a 30-degree angle with each other, and were of small diameter but long, 18 to 30 inches, having a life of about 12 to 15 hours. The tips of the carbons projected through an inverted earthenware cup, called the “economizer,” the white powder condensing on this and acting not only as an excellent reflector but making a dead air space above the arc. The are was maintained at the tips of the carbons by an electro- magnet whose magnetic field “ blew ” the arc down. Two flame arc lamps were burned in series on 110-volt circuits. They consumed 550 watts each, giving an efficiency of about 35 lumens per watt on direct current. On alternating current the efficiency was about 30 l-p-w. By use of barium salts impregnated in the carbons, a white light was obtained, giving an efficiency of about 18 1-p-w on direct current and about 154 on alternating current. These figures cover lamps equipped with clear glassware. Using strontium salts in the carbons, a red light was obtained at a considerably lower effi- 6 68 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 ciency, such arcs on account of their color being used only to a limited extent for advertising purposes. These arcs were remarkably efficient but their maintenance expense was high. Later, about 1908, enclosed flame arcs with vertical carbons ~ CONSTANT CURRENT TRANSFORMER, 1900. This converted alternating current of constant voltage into constant current, for use on series circuits. were made which increased the life of the carbons, the smoke being condensed in cooling chambers. However, their maintenance expense was still high. They have now disappeared from the market, having been displaced by the very efficient gas-filled tungsten filament incan- descent lamp which appeared in 1913. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 69 THE CONSTANT CURRENT TRANSFORMER FOR SERIES CIRCUITS About 1900 the constant current transformer was developed by Elihu Thomson. This transforms current taken from a constant potential alternating current circuit into a constant alternating current for series circuits, whose voltage varies with the load on the circuit. The transformer has two separate coils; the primary being stationary and connected to the constant potential circuit and the secondary being movable and connected to the series circuit. The weight of the secondary coil is slightly underbalanced by a counter weight. Current flowing in the primary induces current in the secondary, the two coils repelling each other. The strength of the repelling force depends upon the amount of current flowing in the two coils. The core of the transformer is so designed that the central part, which the two coils svzround, is magnetically more powerful close to the primary coil than it is further away. When the two coils are close together a higher voltage is induced in the secondary than if the later were further away from the primary coil. In starting, the two coils are pulled apart by hand to prevent too large a current flowing in the series circuit. The secondary coil is allowed to gradually fall and will come to rest at a point where the voltage induced in it produces the normal current in the series circuit, the repelling force betwen the two coils holding the secondary at this point. Should the load in the series circuit change for any reason, the current in the series circuit would also change, thus changing the force repelling the two coils. The secondary would therefore move until the current in the series circuit again becomes normal. The action is therefore automatic, and the actual current in the series circuit can be adjusted within limits to the desired amount, by varying the counterweight. A dash pot is used to prevent the secondary coil from oscillating (pumping) too much. In the constant current transformer, the series circuit is insulated from the constant potential circuit. This has many advantages. A similar device, called an automatic regulating reactance was developed which is slightly less expensive, but it does not have the advantage of insulating the two circuits from each other. ENCLOSED SERIES ALTERNATING CURRENT ARC LAMPS The simplicity of the constant current transformer soon drove the constant direct-current dynamo from the market. An enclosed arc lamp was therefore developed for use on alternating constant current. 70 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 Two sizes of lamps were made; one for 6.6 amperes consuming 450 watts and having an efficiency of about 43 lumens per watt, and the other 7.5 amperes, 480 watts and 5 l-p-w (clear glassware). These lamps soon superseded the direct current series arcs. They have now been superseded by the more efficient magnetite arc and tungsten filament incandescent lamps. SERIES INCANDESCENT LAMPS ON CONSTANT CURRENT TRANSFORMERS Series incandescent lamps were made for use on constant current transformers superseding the “ Municipal” and “ Shunt Box” sys- tems. The large Edison, now called the Mogul Screw base, was adopted and the short circuiting film cut-out was removed from the base and placed between prongs attached to the socket. Holder and socket. Holder. SERIES INCANDESCENT LAMP SocKET WITH FILM CUTOUT, 1900. The “ Large Edison,” now called Mogul Screw, base was standardized and the short circuiting device put on the socket terminals. The transformers made for the two sizes of arc lamps, produced 6.6 and 7.5 amperes and incandescent lamps, in various sizes from 16 to 50 cp, were made for these currents so that the incandescent lamps could be operated on the same circuit with the arc lamps. The carbon series incandescent lamp, however, was more efficient if made for lower currents, so 34-, 4- and 54-ampere constant current trans- formers were made for incandescent lamps designed for these am- peres. Later, however, with the advent of the tungsten filament, the 6.6-ampere series tungsten lamp was made the standard, as it was slightly more efficient than the lower current lamps, and was made in sizes from 32 to 400 cp. When the more efficient gas-filled tungsten lamps were developed, the sizes were further increased ; the standard 6.6-ampere lamps now made are from 60 to 2500 cp. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER 71 THE NERNST LAMP Dr. Walther Nernst, of Germany, investigating the rare earths used in the Welsbach mantle, developed an electric lamp having a burner, or “ glower ”’ as it was called, consisting of a mixture of these oxides. NeERNST LAMP, 1900. The burners consisted mainly of zirconium oxide which had to be heated before current could go through them. The main ingredient was zirconia, and the glower operated in the open air. It is a non-conductor when cold, so had to be heated before cur- rent would flow through it. This was accomplished by an electric heating coil, made of platinum wire, located just above the glower. As the glower became heated and current flowed through it, the heater was automatically disconnected by an electro-magnet cut-out. The resistance of the glower decreases with increase in current, so a steadying resistance was put in series with it. This consisted of 72 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 an iron wire mounted in a bulb filled with hydrogen gas and was called a “ballast.” Iron has the property of increasing in resistance with increase in current flowing through it, this increase being very marked between certain temperatures at which the ballast was operated. The lamp was put on the American market in 1900 for use on 220-volt alternating current circuits. The glower consumed 0.4 ampere. One, two, three, four and six glower lamps were made, consuming 88, 196, 274, 392 and 528 watts respectively. As most of the light is thrown downward, their light output was generally given in mean lower hemispherical candlepower. The multiple glower lamps were LAMP TCAMBALS qf Arm aruRe GLowER D1acGRAmM oF NeERNstT LAmp. more efficient than the single glower, owing to the heat radiated from one glower to another. Their efficiencies, depending on the size, were from about 34 to 5 lumens per watt, and their average candlepower throughout life was about 80 per cent of initial. The lamp disap- peared from the market about 1912. THE COOPER-HEWITT LAMP In 1860 Way discovered that if an electric circuit was opened between mercury contacts a brilliant greenish colored are was pro- duced. Mercury was an expensive metal and as the carbon arc seemed to give the most desirable results, nothing further was done for many years until Dr. Peter Cooper Hewitt, an American, began experiment- NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 73 ing with it. He finally produced an arc in vacuum in a one-inch glass tube about 50 inches long for 110 volts direct current circuits, which was commercialized in 1901. The tube hangs at about 15 degrees from the horizontal. The lower end contains a small quantity of mercury. The terminals are at each end of the tube, and the arc was first started by tilting the tube by hand so that a thin stream of mercury bridged the two terminals. Current immediately vaporized the mercury, starting the arc. A resistance is put in series with the arc to maintain the current constant on direct current constant voltage circuits. Automatic starting devices were later developed, one of which con- sisted of an electro-magnet that tilted the lamp, and the other of an induction coil giving a high voltage which, in discharging, started the arc. Cooper-Hewitt Mercury VApor Arc LAMP, Igol. This gives a very efficient light, practically devoid of red but of high actinic value, so useful in photography. This lamp is particularly useful in photography on account of the high actinic value of its light. Its light is very diffused and is practi- cally devoid of red rays, so that red objects appear black in its light. The lamp consumes 34 amperes at 110 volts direct current (385 watts) having an efficiency of about 123 lumens per watt. The mercury arc is peculiar in that it acts as an electric valve tending to let current flow through it only in one direction. Thus on alternating current, the current impulses will readily go through it in one direction, but the arc will go out in the other half cycle unless means are taken to prevent this. This is accomplished by having two terminals at one end of the tube, which are connected to choke coils, which in turn are connected to a single coil (auto) transformer. The alternating current supply mains are connected to wires tapping dif- ferent parts of the coil of the auto transformer. The center of the 74 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 coil of the auto transformer is connected through an induction coil to the other end of the tube. By this means the alternating current impulses are sent through the tube in one direction, one half cycle from one of the pairs of terminals of the tube, the other half cycle from the other terminal. Thus pulsating direct current, kept constant by the induction coil, flows through the tube, the pulsations over- lapping each other by the magnetic action of the choke coils. This alternating current lamp is started by the high voltage discharge method. It has a 50-inch length of tube, consuming about 400 watts /nauclance Cols 09000 Storing Lond DIAGRAM OF Cooper-HEwitt LAMP For USE oN ALTERNATING CURRENT. The mercury arc is inherently for use on direct current, but by means of reactance coils, it can be operated on alternating current, on 110 volts. Its efficiency is a little less than that of the direct current lamp. THE LUMINOUS OR MAGNETITE ARC LAMP About 1901 Dr. Charles P. Steinmetz, Schenectady, N. Y., studied the effect of metallic salts in the arc flame. Dr. Willis R. Whitney, also of Schenectady, and director of the research laboratory of the organization of which Dr. Steinmetz is the consulting engineer, fol- lowed with some further work along this line. The results of this work were incorporated in a commercial lamp called the magnetite arc lamp, through the efforts of C. A. B. Halvorson, Jr., at Lynn, Mass. The negative electrode consists of a pulverized mixture of magnetite NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER 75 (a variety of iron ore) and other substances packed tightly in an iron tube. The positive electrode is a piece of copper sheathed in iron to prevent oxidization of the copper. The arc flame gives a brilliant white light, and, similar to the mercury arc, is inherently limited to direct current. It burns in the open air at about 75 volts. The lamp is made for 4-ampere direct current series circuits and consumes about 310 watts and has an efficiency of about 113 lumens per watt. The negative (iron tube) electrode now has a life of about 350 { LUMINOUS OR MAGNETITE Arc LAMP, 1902. This has a negative electrode containing magnetite which produces a very luminous white flame in the arc stream. hours. Later, a higher efficiency, 4-ampere electrode was made which has a shorter life but gives an efficiency of about 17 I-p-w, and a 6.6- ampere lamp was also made giving an efficiency of about 18 I-p-w using the regular electrode. This electrode in being consumed gives off fumes, so the lamp has a chimney through its body to carry them off. Some of the fumes condense, leaving a fine powder, iron oxide, in the form of rust. The consumption of the positive (copper) electrode is very slow, which is opposite to that of carbon arc lamps on direct current. The arc flame is brightest near the negative (iron tube) 70 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 electrode and decreases in brilliancy and volume as it nears the posi- tive (copper) electrode. The peculiarities of the arc are such that Halvorson invented an entirely new principle of control. The electrodes are normally apart. In starting, they are drawn together by a starting magnet with suffi- cient force to dislodge the slag which forms on the negative electrode ut il | DIAGRAM OF SERIES MAGNETITE Arc LAMP. The method of control, entirely different from that of other arc lamps, was invented by Halvorson to meet the peculiarities of this arc. and which becomes an insulator when cold. Current then flows through the electrodes and through a series magnet which pulls up a solenoid breaking the circuit through the starting magnet. This allows the lower electrode to fall a fixed distance, about seven-eighths of an inch, drawing the arc, whose voltage is then about 72 volts. As the negative electrode is consumed, the length and voltage of the arc NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER Wd increases when a magnet, in shunt with the arc, becomes sufficiently energized to close the contacts in the circuit of the starting magnet causing the electrode to pick up and start off again. MERCURY ARC RECTIFIER FOR MAGNETITE ARC LAMPS As the magnetite arc requires direct current for its operation, the obvious way to supply a direct constant current for series circuits is to rectify, by means of the mercury arc, the alternating current ob- Mercury Arc REcTIFIER TUBE FOR SERIES MAGNETITE Arc LAMPS, 1902. The mercury arc converted the alternating constant current into direct current required by the magnetite lamp. tained from a constant current transformer. The terminals of the movable secondary coil of the constant current transformer are con- nected to the two arms of the rectifier tube. One end of the series circuit is connected to the center of the secondary coil. The other end of the series circuit is connected to a reactance which in turn is connected to the pool of mercury in the bottom of the rectifier tube. One-half of the cycle of the alternating current goes from the secondary coil to one arm of the rectifier tube through the mercury vapor, the mercury arc having already been started by a separate 78 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 starting electrode. It then goes to the pool of mercury, through the reactance and through the series circuit. The other half cycle of alternating current goes to the other arm of the rectifier tube, through the mercury vapor, etc., and through the series circuit. Thus a pulsat- ing direct current flows through the series circuit, the magnetic action of the reactance coil making the pulsations of current overlap each other, which prevents the mercury arc from going out. Earty Mercury Arc RECTIFIER INSTALLATION. INCANDESCENT LAMP DEVELOPMENTS, 1894-1904 With the development of a waterproof base in 1900, by the use of a waterproof cement instead of plaster of Paris to fasten the base to the bulb, porcelain at first and later glass being used to insulate the terminals of the base from each other, lamps could be exposed to the weather and give good results. Electric sign lighting therefore re- ceived a great stimulus, and lamps as low as 2 candlepower for Ito volts were designed for this purpose. Carbon lamps with concentrated filaments were also made for stereoptican and other focussing pur- poses. These lamps were made in sizes from 20 to 100 candlepower. The arc lamp was more desirable for larger units. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER 79 The dry battery was made in small units of 2, 3 and 5 cells, so that lamps of about $ to 1 candlepower were made for 23, 33 and 64 volts, for portable flashlights. It was not however until the tungsten filament was developed in 1907 that these flashlights became as popular as they now are. For ornamental lighting, lamps were supplied in round and tubular bulbs, usually frosted to soften the light. THE Moore Tuse LIGHT, 1904. This consisted of a tube about 134 inches in diameter and having a length up to 200 feet, in which air at about one thousandth part of atmospheric pressure was made to glow by a very high voltage alter- nating current. THE MOORE TUBE LIGHT Geissler, a German, discovered sixty odd years ago, that a high voltage alternating current would cause a vacuum tube to glow. This light was similar to that obtained by Hawksbee over two hundred years ago. Geissler obtained his high voltage alternating current by a spark coil, which consisted of two coils of wire mounted on an iron core. Current from a primary battery passed through the primary 80 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 coil, and this current was rapidly interrupted by a vibrator on the principle of an electric bell. This induced an alternating current of high voltage in the secondary coil as this coil had a great many more turns than the primary coil had. Scientists found that about 70 per cent of the electrical energy put into the Geissler tube was converted into the actual energy in the light given out. In 1891 Mr. D. McFarlan Moore, an American, impressed with the fact that only one-half of one per cent of the electrical energy put into the carbon-incandescent lamp came out in the form of light, de- cided to investigate the possibilities of the vacuum tube. After several years of experiments and the making of many trial lamps, ANY FORM DESIRED TO LENGTHS OF 200 FT, DIAGRAM OF FEEDER VALVE OF Moore TUBE. As the carbon terminals inside the tube absorbed the very slight amount of gas in the tube, a feeder valve allowed gas to flow in the tube, regulating the pressure to within one ten thousandth part of an atmosphere above and below the normal extremely slight pressure required. he finally, in 1904, made a lamp that was commercially used in con- siderable numbers. The first installation of this form of lamp was in a hardware store in Newark, N. J. It consisted of a glass tube 13 inches in diameter and 180 feet long. Air, at a pressure of about one-thousand part of an atmosphere, was in the tube, from which was obtained a pale pink color. High voltage (about 16,000 volts) alternating current was supplied by a transformer to two carbon electrodes inside the ends of the tube. The air had to be maintained within one ten-thousandth part of atmospheric pressure above and below the normal of one- thousandth, and as the rarefied air in the tube combined chemically with the carbon electrodes, means had to be devised to maintain the NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER SI air in the tube at this slight pressure as well as within the narrow limits required. This was accomplished by a piece of carbon through which the air could seep, but if covered with mercury would make a tight seal. As the air pressure became low, an increased current would flow through the tube, the normal being about a tenth of an ampere. This accord- ingly increased the current flowing through the primary coil of the transformer. In series with the primary coil was an electro-magnet which lifted, as the current increased, a bundle of iron wires mounted in a glass tube which floated in mercury. The glass tube, rising, lowered the height of the mercury, uncovering a carbon rod cemented in a tube connecting the main tube with the open air. Thus air could seep through this carbon rod until the proper amount was fed into the main tube. When the current came back to normal the electro-magnet lowered the floating glass tube which raised the height of the mercury and covered the carbon rod, thus shutting off the further supply of air. As there was a constant loss of about 400 watts in the transformer, and an additional loss of about 250 watts in the two electrodes, the total consumption of the 180-foot tube was about 2250 watts. Nitro- gen gas gave a yellow light, which was more efficient and so was later used. On account of the fixed losses in the transformer and electrodes the longer tubes were more efficient, though they were made in various sizes of from 40 to 200 feet. The 200-foot tube, with nitrogen, had an efficiency of about 10 lumens per watt. Nitrogen gas was supplied the tube by removing the oxygen from the air used. This was accom- plished by passing the air over phosphorous which absorbed the oxygen. Carbon dioxide gas (COz) gave a pure white light but at about half the efficiency of nitrogen. The gas was obtained by allowing hydro- chloric acid to come in contact with lumps of marble (calcium carbo- nate) which set free carbon dioxide and water vapor. The latter was absorbed by passing the gas through lumps of calcium chloride. The carbon dioxide tube on account of its daylight color value, made an excellent light under which accurate color matching could be done. A short tube is made for this purpose and this is the only use which the Moore tube now has, owing to the more efficient and simpler tungsten filament incandescent lamp. 82 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 THE OSMIUM LAMP Dr. Auer von Welsbach, the German scientist who had produced the Welsbach gas mantle, invented an incandescent electric lamp having a filament of the metal osmium. It was commercially intro- duced in Europe in 1905 and a few were sold, but it was never marketed in this country. It was generally made for 55 volts, two lamps to burn in series on 110-volt circuits, gave about 25 candle- power and had an initial efficiency of about 53 lumens per watt. It had a very fair maintenance of candlepower during its life, having an average efficiency of about 5 l-p-w. Osmium is a very rare and Osmium LAmp, 1905. This incandescent lamp was used in Europe for a few years, but was impractical to manufacture in large quantities as osmium 1s rarer and more expensive than platinum. expensive metal, usually found associated with platinum, and is there- fore very difficult to obtain. Burnt out lamps were therefore bought back in order to obtain a supply of osmium. It is also a very brittle metal, so that the lamps were extremely fragile. THE GEM LAMP Dr. Willis R. Whitney, of Schenectady, N. Y., had invented an electrical resistance furnace. This consisted of a hollow carbon tube, packed in sand, through which a very heavy current could be passed. This heated the tube to a very high temperature, the sand preventing the tube from oxidizing, so that whatever was put inside the tube could be heated to a very high heat. Among his various NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCH ROEDER 83 experiments, he heated some carbon filaments and found that the high temperature changed their resistance “ characteristic” from negative to positive. The ordinary carbon filament has a resistance when hot that is less than when it is cold, which was reversed after heating it to the high temperature Dr. Whitney was able to obtain. These fila- ments were made into lamps for 110-volt service and it was found that they could be operated at an efficiency of 4 lumens per watt. The lamps also blackened less than the regular carbon lamp throughout their life. This lamp was put on the market in 1905 and was called the Gem or metallized carbon filament lamp as such a carbon filament had a GEM LAmp, 1905. This incandescent lamp had a graphitized carbon filament obtained by the heat of an electric furnace, so that it could be operated at 25 per cent higher efficiency than the regular carbon lamp. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution. resistance characteristic similar to metals. At first it had two single hair pin filaments in series which in 1909 were changed to a single loop filament like the carbon lamp. In 1905 the rating of incandescent lamps was changed from a candlepower to a wattage basis. The ordinary 16-candlepower carbon lamp consumed 50 watts and was so rated. The 50-watt Gem lamp gave 20 candlepower, both candlepower ratings being their mean candlepower in a horizontal direction. The Gem lamp was made for I10-volt circuits in sizes from 40 to 250 watts. The 50-watt size was the most popular, many millions of which were made before the lamp disappeared from use in 1918. The lamp was not quite as strong as the carbon lamp. Some Gem lamps for series circuits were 7 84 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 also made, but these were soon superseded by the tungsten-filament lamp which appeared in 1907. THE TANTALUM LAMP Dr. Werner von Bolton, a German physicist, made an investigation of various materials to see if any of them were more suitable than carbon for an incandescent-lamp filament. After experimenting with various metals, tantalum was tried. Tantalum had been known to science for about a hundred years. Von Bolton finally obtained some of the pure metal and found it to be ductile so that it could be drawn TANTALUM LAmp, 1900. The tantalum filament could be operated at 50 per cent greater effi- ciency than that of the regular carbon incandescent lamp. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution. out into a wire. As it had a low specific resistance, the wire filament had to be much longer and thinner than the carbon filament. A great number of experimental lamps were made so that it was not until 1906 that the lamp was put on the market in this country. It had an initial efficiency of 5 lumens per watt and a good maintenance of candle power throughout its life, having an average efficiency of about 41 l-p-w. The usual sizes of lamps were 40 and 80 watts giving about 20 and 40 candlepower respectively. It was not quite as strong as the carbon lamp, and on alternating current the wire crystal- lized more rapidly, so that it broke more easily, giving a shorter life than on direct current. It disappeared from use in 1913. NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 85 INVENTION OF THE TUNGSTEN LAMP Alexander Just and Franz Hanaman in 1902 were laboratory assis- tants to the Professor of Chemistry in the Technical High School in Vienna. Just was spending his spare time in another laboratory in Vienna, attempting to develop a boron incandescent lamp. In August of that year he engaged Hanaman to aid him in his work. They con- ceived the idea of making a lamp with a filament of tungsten and for two years worked on both lamps. The boron lamp turned out to be a failure. Their means were limited; Hanaman’s total income was $44 per month and Just’s was slightly more than this. In 1903 they took out a German patent on a tungsten filament, but the process they described was a failure because it produced a filament containing both carbon and tungsten. The carbon readily evaporated and quickly blackened the bulb when they attempted to operate the filament at an efficiency higher than that possible with the ordinary carbon filament. Finally in the latter part of the next year (1904) they were able to get rid of the carbon and produced a pure tungsten filament. Tungsten had been known to chemists for many years by its com- pounds, its oxides and its alloys with steel, but the properties of the pure metal were practically unknown. It is an extremely hard and brittle metal and it was impossible at that time to draw it into a wire. Just and Hanaman’s process of making a pure tungsten filament con- sisted of taking tungsten oxide in the form of an extremely fine powder, reducing this to pure tungsten powder by heating it while hydrogen gas passed over it. The gas combined with the oxygen of the oxide, forming water vapor which was carried off, leaving the tungsten behind. The tungsten powder was mixed with an organic binding material, and the paste was forced by very high pressure through a hole drilled in a diamond. This diamond die was necessary because tungsten, being so hard a substance, would quickly wear away any other kind of die. The thread formed was cut into proper lengths, bent the shape of a hair pin and the ends fastened to clamps. Current was passed through the hair pin in the presence of hydrogen gas and water vapor. The current heated the hair pin, carbonized the organic bind- ing material in it, the carbon then combining with the moist hydrogen gas, leaving the tungsten particles behind. These particles were sintered together by the heat, forming the tungsten filament. Patents were applied for in various countries, the one in the United States on July 6, 1905. 86 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 The two laboratory assistants in 1905 finally succeeded in getting their invention taken up by a Hungarian lamp manufacturer. By the end of the year lamps were made that were a striking success for they could be operated at an efficiency of 8 lumens per watt. They were put on the American market in 1907, the first lamp put out being the 100-watt size for 110-volt circuits. This was done by mounting several hair pin loops in series to get the requisite resistance, tungsten having a low specific resistance. The issue of the American patent TUNGSTEN LAMP, 1907. The original 100 watt tungsten lamp was nearly three times as effh- cient as the carbon lamp, but its “ pressed” filament was very fragile. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution. was delayed owing to an interference between four different parties, each claiming to be the inventor. After prolonged hearings, one application having been found to be fraudulent, the patent was finally granted to Just and Hanaman on February 27, 1912. This “ pressed ” tungsten filament was quite fragile, but on account of its relatively high efficiency compared with other incandescent lamps, it immediately became popular. Soon after its introduction it became possible to make finer filaments so that lamps for 60, 40 NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 87 and then 25 watts for 110-volt circuits were made available. Sizes up to 500 watts were also made which soon began to displace the enclosed carbon arc lamp. Lamps were also made for series circuits in sizes from 32 to 400 candlepower. These promptly displaced the carbon and Gem series lamps. The high efficiency of the tungsten filament was a great stimulus to flashlights which are now sold by the millions each year. The lighting of railroad cars, Pullmans and coaches, with tungsten lamps obtaining their current from storage batteries, soon superseded the gas light formerly used. In some cases, a dynamo, run by a belt from the car axle, kept these batteries charged. Drawn TUNGSTEN WrrE LAMP, IOII. Scientists had declared it impossible to change tungsten from a brittle to ductile metal. This, however, was accomplished by Dr. Coolidge, and drawn tungsten wire made the lamp very sturdy. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution. DRAWN TUNGSTEN WIRE After several years of patient experiment, Dr. William D. Coolidge in the research laboratory of a large electrical manufacturing com- pany at Schenectady, N. Y., invented a process for making tungsten ductile, a patent for which was obtained in December, 1913. Tungsten had heretofore been known as a very brittle metal, but by means of this process it became possible to draw it into wire. This greatly sim- plified the manufacture of lamps and enormously improved their strength. Such lamps were commercially introduced in 1911. With drawn tungsten wire it was easier to coil and therefore con- centrate the filament as required by focusing types of lamps. The 88 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 automobile headlight lamp was among the first of these, which in 1912 started the commercial use of electric light on cars in place of oil and acetylene gas. On street railway cars the use of tungsten lamps, made possible on this severe service by the greater sturdiness of the drawn wire, greatly improved their lighting. Furthermore, as the voltage on street railway systems is subject to great changes, the candlepower of the tungsten filament has the advantage of varying but about half as much as that of the carbon lamp on fluctuating voltage. Quartz Mercury VApor Lamp, I912. The mercury are if enclosed in quartz glass can be operated at much higher temperature and therefore greater efficiency. The light is still deficient in red but gives a considerable amount of ultra violet rays which kill bacteria and are very dangerous to the eye. They can, however, be absorbed by a glass globe. The lamp is not used as an illuminant in this country, but is valuable for use in the purification of water. THE QUARTZ MERCURY VAPOR ARC LAMP By putting a mercury arc in a tube made of quartz instead of glass, it can be operated at a much higher temperature and thereby obtain a greater efficiency. Such a lamp, however, is still largely deficient in red rays, and it gives out a considerable amount of ultra-violet rays. These ultra-violet rays will kill bacteria and the lamp is being used to a certain extent for such purpose as in the purification of water. These rays are very dangerous to the eyes, but they are ab- sorbed by glass, so as an illuminant, a glass globe must be used on the lamp. These lamps appeared in Europe about 1912 but were never NO. 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—-SCHROEDER 89 used to. any extent in this country as an illuminant. They have an efficiency of about 26 lumens per watt. Quartz is very difficult to work, so the cost of a quartz tube is very great. The ordinary bun- sen gas flame is used with glass, but quartz will only become soft in an oxy-hydrogen or oxy-acetylene flame. Gas FILLED TUNGSTEN LAmp, 1013. By operating a coiled filament in an inert gas, Dr. Langmuir was able to greatly increase its efficiency, the gain in light by the higher temperature permissible, more than offsetting the loss of heat by con- vection of the gas. This lamp is in the exhibit of Edison lamps in the Smithsonian Institution. THE GAS-FILLED TUNGSTEN LAMP The higher the temperature at which an incandescent lamp fila- ment can be operated, the more efficient it becomes. The limit in temperature is reached when the material begins to evaporate rapidly, which blackens the bulb. The filament becoming thinner more quickly, thus rupturing sooner, shortens the life. If, therefore, the evaporat- ing temperature can by some means be slightly raised, the efficiency will be greatly improved. This was accomplished by Dr. Irving Langmuir in the research laboratories at Schenectady, N. Y., by operating a tungsten filament in an inert gas. Nitrogen was first go SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 used. The gas circulating in the bulb has the disadvantage of conduct- ing heat away from the filament so that the filament was coiled. This presented a smaller surface to the currents of gas and thereby reduced this loss. The lamps were commercially introduced in 1913 and a patent was granted in April, 1916. An increased amount of electrical energy is required in these lamps to offset the heat being conducted away by the gas. This heat loss is minimized in a vacuum lamp, the filament tending to stay hot on the principle of the vacuum bottle. This loss in a gas filled lamp becomes relatively great in a filament of small diameter, as the surface in pro- portion to the volume of the filament increases with decreasing diam- ~ GAs FILLED TUNGSTEN LAmpP, 1923. This is the form of the lamp as at present made. For Ito-volt circuits the sizes range from 50 to 1000 watts. eters. Hence there is a point where the gain in temperature is offset by the heat loss. The first lamps made were of 750 and 1000 watts for Tro-volt circuits. Later 500- and then 400-watt lamps were made. The use of argon gas, which has a poorer heat conductivity than nitrogen, made it possible to produce smaller lamps, 50-watt gas-filled lamps for 110-volt circuits now being the smallest available. In the present state of the art, a vacuum lamp is more efficient than a gas-filled lamp having a filament smaller than one consuming about half an ampere. Thus gas-filled lamps are not now practicable much below 100 watts for 220 volts, 50 watts for 110 volts, 25 watts for 60 volts, 15 watts for 30 volts, etc. From the foregoing it will be seen that the efficiency of these lamps depends largely on the diameter of the filament. There are other NO. .2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER OI considerations, which also apply to vacuum lamps, that affect the efficiency. Some of these are: the number of anchors used, as they conduct heat away; in very low voltage lamps having short filaments the relative amount of heat conducted away by the leading-in wires becomes of increasing importance, etc. The 1o00-watt lamp for I1o- volt circuits is now made for nearly 203 lumens per watt; the 50-watt lamp a little over 10 |-p-w. The advent of the tungsten filament and especially the gas-filled lamp sounded the doom of all other electric illuminants except the magnetite and mercury arc lamps. All other incandescent lamps have now practically disappeared. The flame arc as well as the enclosed carbon arc lamp are hardly ever seen. The simplicity of the incan- descent lamp, its cleanliness, low first cost, low maintenance cost and high efficiency of the tungsten filament have been the main reasons for its popularity. TYPES AND SIZES OF TUNGSTEN LAMPS NOW MADE There are about two hundred different types and sizes of tungsten filament lamps now standard for various kinds of lighting service. For 110-volt service, lamps are made in sizes from 10 to 1000 watts. Of the smaller sizes, some are made in round and tubular-shaped bulbs for ornamental lighting. In addition there are the candelabra lamps used in ornamental fixtures. Twenty-five- to five hundred-watt lamps are made with bulbs of special blue glass to cut out the excess of red and yellow rays and thus produce a light approximating daylight. For 220-volt service lamps are made in sizes of from 25 to 1000 watts. For sign lighting service, 5-watt lamps of low voltage are made for use on a transformer located near the sign to reduce the 110 volts alternating current to that required by the lamps. Lamps are made from 5 to 100 watts for 30-volt service, such as is found in train lighting and in gas engine driven dynamo sets used in rural homes beyond the reach of central station systems. Concentrated filament lamps are made for stereopticon and motion picture projec- tion, floodlighting, etc., in sizes from 100 to 1000 watts, for street railway headlights in sizes below 100 watts and for locomotive head- lights in sizes from 100 to 250 watts. For series circuits, used in street lighting, lamps are made from 60 to 2500 candlepower. Minia- ture lamps cover those for flashlight, automobile, Christmas-tree, surgical and dental services, etc. They range, depending on the service, from 4 to 21 candlepower, and in voltage from 23 to 24. Q2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS STANDARD TUNGSTEN LAMPS, 1923. This illustrates some of the two hundred different lamps regularly made. VOL. 76 NO; 2 HISTORY OF ELECTRIC LIGHT—SCHROEDER 93 STANDARD VOLTAGES Mention has been made of I10-volt service, 220-volt service, etc. In the days of the carbon incandescent lamp it was impossible to manufacture all lamps for an exact predetermined voltage. The popular voltage was 110, so lighting companies were requested in a number of instances to adjust their service to some voltage other than 110. They were thus able to utilize the odd voltage lamps manufactured, and this produced a demand for lamps of various voltages from I00 to 130. Arc lamps had a resistance (reactance on alternating current) that was adjustable for voltages between 100 and 130. Similarly a demand was created for lamps of individual voltages of from 200 to 260. The 200- to 260-volt range has simmered down to 220, 230, 240 and 250 volts. These lamps are not as efficient as the 110-volt type and their demand is considerably less, as the 110- volt class of service for lighting is, with the exception of England, almost universal. Thus 110-volt service means 100 to 130 volts in contra-distinction to 200 to 260 volts, etc. The drawn tungsten wire filament made it possible to accurately predetermine the voltage of the lamp, so now that the carbon incandescent lamp is a thing of the past, there is no need for so many different voltages. Several years ago standard voltages of I10, 115 and 120 were recommended for adoption by all the electrical societies in the United States, and practi- cally all central stations have now changed their service to one of these voltages. COST OF INCANDESCENT ELECTRIC LIGHT In the early ’80’s current was expensive, costing a consumer on the average about twenty cents per kilowatt hour. The cost has gradually come down and the general average rate for which current is sold for lighting purposes is now about 44 cents. During the period 1880 to 1905 the average efficiency of carbon lamps throughout their life increased from about one to over 2} lumens per watt and their list price decreased from one dollar to twenty cents. The average amount of light obtained for one cent at first was about five candlepower hours and in 1904 it was increased to over thirty-six at the average rate then in effect. The next year with the more efficient Gem lamp 44 candle-hours could be had for one cent. In 1906 the amount was increased to 50 with the tantalum lamp and with the tungsten lamp in 1907, even at its high price of $1.50, the amount was further increased to 63. Since then the average cost of current has been 94 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 reduced but slightly, but the efficiency of the tungsten lamp has materially increased and its cost reduced so that it is now possible to obtain, with the ordinary 40-watt lamp 170 candle-hours for a cent. If the gas-filled tungsten lamp were used the amount of light now obtained for a cent would depend upon the size, which, for the 1000- watt lamp, would be 382 candle-hours. STATISTICS REGARDING THE PRESENT DEMAND FOR LAMPS In the United States there are about 350 million incandescent and about two hundred thousand magnetite arc lamps now (1923) in use. They are increasing about 10 per cent each year. The annual demand for incandescent lamps for renewals and new installations is over 200 millions, exclusive of miniature lamps. The use of incandescent lamps in all other countries put together is about equal that in the U. S. The average candlepower of standard lighting lamps has increased from 16, which prevailed during the period prior to 1905, to over 60. The average wattage has not varied much during the past twenty-odd years, the average lamp now consuming about 55 watts. This indi- cates that the public is utilizing the improvement in lamp efficiency by increased illumination. The present most popular lamp is the 40- watt size which represents 20 per cent of the total demand. Second in demand is the 25-watt at 18 per cent and third, the 50-watt at 15 per cent of the total in numbers. While the aggregate demand of all the gas-filled tungsten lamps is a little over 20 per cent in numbers, they represent, on account of their greater efficiency and wattage, over half the amount of total candlepower used. In the United States about 85 per cent of all lamps are for the 11o-volt range. About 5 per cent for 220 volts, 2 per cent for street series lighting, 3 per cent for street railway and 5 per cent for trainlighting and miscellaneous classes of service. SEEECI ED BIBLIOGRAPHY ALGLAVE AND Bowurarp, “The Electric Light,’ translated by T. O’Connor Sloane, edited by C. M. Lungren, D. Appleton & Co., New York, 1884. Barua, G. Basix, “ The Development of the Incandescent Electric Lamp,” Scott Greenwood & Son, London, 1912. Drepce, JAMES, “ Electric [lumination,” 2 vols., John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1882. Duran, WiLt1AM A.,, “ Electricity—Its History and Development,” A. C. McClurg & Co., Chicago, 1912. Dyer & Martin, “ Edison, His Life and Inventions,’ & Bros., New York, 1910. GUILLEMIN; AMEDEE, “ Electricity and Magnetism,” edited by Sil- vanus P. Thompson, McMillan & Co., London, 1891. Houston, Epwin J., “ Electricity One Hundred Years ago and To- day,” The W. J. Johnston Co., New York, 1894. Houston AND KENNELLY, “ Electric Arc Lighting,” McGraw Pub- lishing Co., New York, 1906. HutcHinson, Rotiin W., Jr., “ High Efficiency Electrical Hlumi- nants and Illumination,” John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1911. Maier, Juttus, “ Arc and Glow Lamps,” Whittaker & Co., London, 1886. Pore, FRANKLIN LEONARD, “ Evolution of the Electric Incandescent Lamp,” Boschen & Wefer, New York, 1894. SoLtomon, Maurice, “ Electric Lamps,” D. Van Nostrand Co., New York, 1908. b 2 vols., Harper SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOLUME 76, NUMBER 3 ei tHE FOSSIL CRINOID FAMILY CATILLOCRINIDAE (With FIVE PLATEs) BY FRANK SPRINGER Associate in Paleontology, United States National Museum ARE INCRE MORES Vs . ; oe ANo OF Oa (PUBLICATION 2718) CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AUGUST 3, 1923 é F i r] - - a y oe . 1 7 i j 4 beg ee fae ou ° oy oe) ae Bi, ti he = rh ¢ i 4 fe r \ ' . a lrg 3 f i - } =? Ww uN ous ihe it # J ° The Lord Waftimore Press BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. ON THE FOSSIL CRINOID FAMILY CATILLOCRINIDAE By FRANK SPRINGER ASSOCIATE IN PALEONTOLOGY, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM (With Five Pirates) CONTENTS PAGE Bees eatLOUUCH OI GUN uly acon ach we feo ie es 2, © nage ey ah ee 2 BR Ba SENET Sie CHSCUSSION TOES 5/905 hie ae oie ttle ca ee ee ee ek ooo SE 5 eiiaripco moat Gr COM OCKIN Srl wid pla oe ons eau hes Wttbedne cc Gaee 7 Peart AES ee CLISCUIS SIGE tO Fie Feces ws hh ok tee Oe eed sere ce ees 7 MeensieloneG hase sop im tRen es kere hy ek Beh tl oie) We, ) JA SSSUCTCIT STC ae (CATE SS as Reg 8 eevee ae ee A A 15 MiiiicatOnt it elAer sSPECIESnc <. Se, isn ee ooo ico ed baw owen 16 Pe RIGAU MItICT kaye aS e yeas in Nei ce IA NOLS te bao ink goer. 17 BrelstonsuwitmnoOtmery GEMETAN. so? kmls ce cee ocllce coe wes adie neem ee 19 TP LSES GUEST eR SRR AS ial SE SA CN SSR a a 20 PaMparctine tale Olt SPECIES) weiss ic .iiascien.e cache ode heed ee owe ee ek ek 22 arate MO BC MATACLETS 8 Se) Go ls tis Mice alsa. 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Catillocrinus turbinatus n. Sp............00ceccserseseremenns A nearly complete crown free from matrix, with 34 arms and proximal enlargement of stem; posterior view, showing anal plate, basal ring about one-fourth the height of cup, and a very distinct suture under r. post R.&X }. Left anterior view of same. 3. A dorsal cup, showing the turbinate form, as contrasted with the hemispheric contour of C. tennesseensis; left anterior view. <2: Dorsal view of same; the obtusely angular area appearing at the middle of base corresponding to the infrabasal cone in speci- mens of C. tennessecae is pushed inward to a different level, at which the lumen for the axial canal shows; no sutures can be seen in this, nor in the basal ring surrounding it. X 2. Mississippian, New Providence shale; Button Mould Knob, Kentucky. 25 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOLER 765) NOn Os eheent SPRINGER on the family CATILLOCRINIDA. 34 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 PLATE 2 Catillocrinus tennesseeae (Troost) Shumard.................... Figs.1, 2. Shumard’s type, from Button Mould Knob, Kentucky; dorsal 3, 4. NI 10. 10a. iG 13: and ventral views; fig. 2 shows the cone of three divided infra- basals at the inner floor of the cup. Similar views of a maximum specimen from same locality also used by Shumard, having 58 arm openings; the IBB cone is plainly shown at the inner floor of the cup, but its dividing sutures are not visible; the position of the interbasal sutures connecting with the fused infrabasals, as deduced from other specimens, is indicated as they appeared at various angles and by transmitted light. Troost’s type from White’s Creek Springs, Tennessee; dorsal view, showing division of basal ring into three unequal plates by sutures running from the space occupied by the infrabasals, here broken out; the position of two of the sutures is distinct, that of the third obscure, but visible in certain lights. In this specimen the surface is worn smooth by erosion. A similar, but less eroded specimen with pentagonal IBB area vacant and succeeding BB divided by three sutures. Interior view of part of fractured calyx having most of the basals broken away, leaving the infrabasal ring intact, perfectly outlined by the fracture, and plainly divided into three ‘plates. x §. | Outer (dorsal) view of same; the pustulose surface well pre- served, but indistinct in the figure. X $. Specimen with base ground and polished, showing obscure out- line of IBB, and five interbasal sutures; dorsal view. Ventral view of weathered specimen, showing the openings of dorsal canals at the arm facets, and their relation to the food grooves; also the extent, form and proportions of the raised process. Ventral view of smaller specimen with the infrabasal cone well defined. Similar view of another large specimen, showing further details; the dorsal canals are seen passing inward under the floor of the food grooves. Division of basals into more than three plates is indicated in this and figure 10, not with complete regularity, but exactlyeas the inner floor of the calyx appeared to the artist without suggestion. . Section of radial transverse to the dorsal canals, showing their entrance below the level of the food grooves. X 2. Vertical section of dorsal cup, to show the great thickening at upper margin of radials contrasted with the extreme thinness of the base. X 3. | q t q 4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76, NO. 3, PL. 2 SPRINGER on the family CATILLOCRINIDA. NO. 3 14. 15: 16. 17: 18. 19. ON THE FOSSIL CRINOID FAMILY CATILLOCRINIDAE Catillocrinus tennesseeae (Troost) Shumard—Continued Posterior view of specimen with part of stem, and anal tube (slightly displaced) having the longitudinal imprint of the slender arms; shows the raised process on r. post. R, and curved notch in first tube plate for reception of anal plate. Left posterior view of same, with remnants of arms. Posterior view of dorsal cup, with process on r. post. R, and a first tube plate in position notched for the anal plate, which is here wanting; to show the relation of these plates; strong pustulose surface shown, visible under a magnifier. Proximal face of same tube plate, showing the radiating furrows facing the food grooves on dorsal cup. A similar tube plate with the elongate anal plate attached in posi- tion interlocking with the notch. Proximal, or under, side of same plate, showing the radiating furrows corresponding to food grooves on upper face of radial. 20, 21. Proximal and distal views of a higher tube plate, showing 22. the crescentic cross section, and the large ligament fossae on both faces. Diagram of calyx plates constructed from the specimens figured. All Mississippian New Providence shale; Button Mould Knob, Kentucky, and White’s Creek, Tennessee. 35 36 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 PLATE 3 Catillocrinus wachsmuthi Meek and Worthen................... Fic. 1. A nearly complete crown, with proximal enlargement of stem; from right anterior radius; the great length of the slender arms is shown, and the anal tube is exposed near the distal end. A crown with 39 arms very perfectly preserved to nearly half their probable height, and exposing the massive tube; right posterior view, showing the elongated, pointed anal plate sur- mounting the raised process on r. post. R. X 2. 3. Cross section at fractured distal end of same specimen, showing N) the massive crescentic tube surrounded by the delicate arms. © x2) 4. A specimen in which the tube has been exposed from its origin, somewhat displaced at the base; left posterior view, showing in side view the anal plate interlocked with the lower tube plate, followed by a narrow, keel like projection. X 2. 5. Posterior view of part of same, showing relation of the narrow anal plate to adjoining structures. X 2. 6. A smaller specimen with 24 arms; posterior view showing elongate anal plate in position. X 2. 7. Basal view of same specimen, showing three well-defined interbasal sutures meeting at the axial canal. X 2. 8. Posterior view of another specimen with about 25 arms; stem omitted. X< 2: 9, 10. Left anterior and basal views of calyx of a fractured specimen in which one basal plate is detached at its bounding sutures, and the suture between the other two is distinct, showing be- yond question the division of the base in this species into three plates. X 2. 11. Diagram of calyx constructed from the foregoing specimen. All Mississippian, Upper Burlington limestone; Burlington, Iowa. Catillocrinus ‘shumardion: sp.- 2a...) > sees oe een 12. A crown with nearly complete arms, anterior view. X 2. 13. Right posterior view of another specimen; has raised process on r. post. R, and three interbasal sutures—not well shown in the MeUhes a2: Mississippian, Keokuk limestone, lower horizon; Indian Creek, Indiana. 27 a VOER 76) (NOi3) PEs 3 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS a 3 a fren) = SPRINGER on the family CATILLOCRINIDA. NO. 3 ON THE FOSSIL CRINOID FAMILY CATILLOCRINIDAE Catillocrinus bradleyi Meek and Worthen...................... 14. A specimen with anal tube almost complete, right posterior view, showing the tube rising directly from r. post. R, slightly dis- placed so that the anal plate is not shown; some of the ex- tremely delicate arms (of which there are about 40 1n all) are preserved, and the stem characters are well shown. On another specimen with calyx of the same size the complete stem is attached, about 37 cm. long, ending in a narrow point, with a few scattering cirri. 15. Left posterior view of another specimen with long tube, and short remnants of thread-like arms, the hollow side of the tube being seen; the basal ring is nearly one-third the height of the cup. 16, 17. Two calices with parts of arms and stem attached; |. ant. and post. views, showing the anal plate at same level as arms, directly following r. post. R, without any raised process. > is Mississippian, Keokuk limestone, upper horizon; Crawfords- ville, Indiana. 38 JEG, ite iS) 9; 12. W773 18. SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 PLATE 4 phea Catillocrinus \carpenter (Wachsmuth)>.-.420)oose eee eee A nearly complete crown with proximal part of stem, posterior view ; showing the great length and delicacy of arms, with tube extending to their distal ends. #. The tube in another specimen seen for almost its entire length, with remnants of arms at lower part—the calyx being lost. ?. Anterior view of a very small specimen with 13 arms, and delicate stem. Calyx was detached from matrix and arms counted. 3. Specimen with calyx plates displaced, showing small size of arms. Specimen with calyx and part of arms detached from matrix, posterior view; showing full contour of calyx, strong suture under r. post. R, and anal plate at same level as arms, with no raised process at outer margin. 3. The same in original condition, from anterior radial. X 3. The same, basal view of calyx, showing division into 3 plates. 3 Diagrammatic view of same, showing form and proportions of plates. 10, 11. Posterior, anterior and basal view of similar detached specimens in which the calyx structures are well shown. X 3. The type, from specimen in Illinois State Museum. Nos. 1 to 12 from Monroe County, Illinois. 14. Anterior and right anterior radial views of specimens show- ing details of arms. X 3. Similar specimen showing the extremely narrow left anterior Gadialaumais. . Anterior view of specimen with stem enlargement and calyx plates well shown; also the hollow side of tube. X 3. Posterior view showing the rounded side of tube; the two basal plates have been detached at their sutures, leaving one of the three remaining in place. 3. Lateral view showing tube from its origin on r. post. R. X 3. Nos. 13 to 18 from Huntsville, Alabama. Mississippian, all from lower part of Chester, Illinois and Alabama. OS ge gt Eee VOL. 76, NO. 3, PL. 4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS eres: a se ee _ tlle Ca we Se sii a ae ieee | Eng iene wage OO isting oN Seren a ae oN Si ti SG ac mes spp me i i sas $74 " * een Ra 8 : ; ? ee aspen gg ale SPRINGER on the family CATILLOCRINIDA. 4O SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 PLATE 5 Synbathocrinus wachsmuthi Meek and Worthen................ 19 Fic. 1. A specimen showing the heavy arms, with the anal tube passing up between them, distinguished by its smaller size and longer ossicles. Posterior view of specimen with arms partly removed, showing the anal plate in position. 3. 3. Lateral view of same, showing course of the tube plates following the anal; for comparison with figures 4 and 5 of plate 3; it shows also the ventral processes of the radials surmounted by the pyramid of oral plates. X 3. 4. Fragment showing grooved anterior side of anal tube plates con- trasting in size and proportions with arm plates at same level. X 3. 5. Ventral view of calyx; showing the great thickening of the radials, their large muscle fossae, the groove leading to the anal tube, and the linear openings of the dorsal canals. X 3. 6. Basal view of same, showing division of basals. $. 7. General aspect of a small specimen with complete arms. Mississippian Lower Burlington limestone; Burlington, Iowa. rs) Synbathocrinus wortheni Hall... ....4.0..0.25.-..+ 000 0c 19 8. A characteristic specimen from the Upper Burlington limestone; Burlington, lowa. Synbathocrinus dentatus Owen and Shumard....... .......... 19 9. A maximum specimen of this large species, with arms complete; the anal tube, extending to nearly the full height of the arms, is readily seen in the specimen lying close under the left pos- terior arm, but is obscured by shadow in the figure. 10. A very young specimen from the same layer, with arms con- sisting of only about to brachials. Mississippian, Upper Burlington limestone; Burlington, Iowa. Synbathocrinus) robustus) Shumard: 2.2... ccs oe eee ee 19 II. Ventral view of calyx showing thickened radials, wide arm facets, strong ventral processes, muscle fossae, groove at anal side, and linear openings of dorsal canals. 12. Basal view of another specimen. Mississippian, New Providence shale; White’s Creek, Ten- nessee. Synbathocrinus) hamiltonensis| n: sp..-....-. 20 eee 29 13. The holotype, showing radials deeply notched for the anal plate. 14. Posterior view of calyx of same, showing the anal structures in better detail. x 3. Middle Devonian, Hamilton; Bellona, New York. VOL. 76, NO. 3, PL. 5 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS “ASKS Stee eee Serer SS awn Pa os OS os com SS a + eee Om pee: AR TR eS, es PS i - 1 aga eae pe Peet ree in nt i ok = re - cos i SPRINGER on the family CATILLOCRINIDA. NOT 3 ON THE FOSSIL CRINOID FAMILY CATILLOCRINIDAE 4!I SynpAathocrinus sONONGAGA oN Spiess isc. lets sleje sia\e evsicierisinisiel es s/ere 29 15. A small specimen from the Onondaga formation at Louisville, Kentucky, being the earliest known occurrence of the genus. 16. Posterior view of calyx of another specimen, showing form and proportion of plates. #. Middle Devonian. ERIMOCIIMUS AMELICANUS| Ts, SP -tcicrstaclarcteeels ccclele = a reeks mocks veretevds 30 17. Basal view of holotype, showing division of base into five plates. xX 3. 18, 19. Posterior and ventral views of same, the latter showing the absence of the great thickening of the distal face of radials. X $- Lower Devonian, Linden formation; Benton County, Tenn. Deltachinuspaachy ius, (allies cere srs 2) ekorsets @ aiaieiewtels ave els 19 20. Posterior view of a specimen showing the beginning of the massive anal tube. Mississippian, Upper Burlington limestone; Burlington, Iowa. Deltacrinissnodosus CHalh) eons isc + as sieveyeicls aiaia seewig ores sores 19 21. Specimen with calyx partly broken away, showing the heavy anal tube extending to full length of arms. Mississippian, Keokuk limestone; Indian Creek, Indiana. Paracatillocrinus granulatus Wanner: [6.56000 <.ct00 ccc 2 cs cece 29 22. Lateral view, showing strong slant of calyx from vertical axis of stem. X 3. Paracatillocnnus, ellapticispwiatinetay..)-). --)-s-1 > ciscls cele tanec ete eee Archeological Investigations in Guatemala.................... 23 Archeological Investigations in New Mexico.................- 23 Anthropological Studies at the Panama-California Exposition.. 23 Anthropological work with the Rockefeller Foundation........ 24 Work with the Departmentiotiiustice:s sess eee eee 24 DepartmentsokeArtsmaadelind tistics mamcrresseieee etree | ae 24 BureawiofeAmerican) Hthnolosyeeaacaee een eee ieee 25 The National:Gallery of Arte ioe cx geloene ere nca'e a. ae eee a 26 INationaleZoolosicallubat kame cetera ceeieerar a3 5 eee 27 MheyAstrophysicalu@bservatony) sepa eee cis ecco 28 International Exchanges? .2)-c tems sactoaae cists ae cet ee oA Or ee eee 28 The International Catalogue of Scientific Literature.................. 29 We GomlrsiGmtrx Fone ne ool cate aaa fo eee eh ae Ree on Ce ae 30 I. HISTORICAL AND GENERAL The announced policy of the Smithsonian Institution has ever been one of cooperation. In the plan of organization as given in the first annual report (1847), “It is proposed—(1) To stimulate men of talent to make original researches, by offering suitable re- wards for memoirs containing new truths; and (2) To appropriate annually a portion of the income for particular researches, under the direction of suitable persons,” the “ suitable rewards ” to consist of money, medals, etc., offered for original memoirs on all branches of knowledge. As examples of objects for which such appropria- tions might be made, the following was given: | (1) Systems of extended meteorological observations, for solving the problem of American storms. NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION 3 (2) Explorations in descriptive natural history, and geological, magnetical, and topographical surveys, to collect materials for the formation of a Physical Atlas of the United States. (3) Solution of experimental problems, such as a new determination of the weight of the earth, of the velocity of electricity and of light; chemical analyses of soils and plants; collection and publication of articles of science, accumulated in the offices of government. (4) Institution of statistical inquiries with reference to physical, moral, and political subjects. (5) Historical researches, and accurate surveys of places celebrated in American history. (6) Ethnological researches, particularly with reference to the different races of men in North America; also, explorations and accurate surveys of the mounds and other remains of the ancient people of our country. In the report for 1854 this point is again emphasized: It is the policy of the Institution to furnish all the means in its possession to aid scientific research, and not to hoard up its treasures or confine their use to those who may be immediately connected with the establishment, or who may be supported by its funds. Cooperation and not monopoly is the motto which indicates the spirit of the Smithsonian operations. And again: With scarcely an exception, every exploring expedition of any magnitude has received more or less aid from the Smithsonian Institution. This has: consisted in the supplying of instructions for making observations and col- lections in meteorology and natural history, and of information as to particular desiderata ; in the preparation, in part, of the meteorological, magnetical, and natural history outfit, including the selection and purchase of the necessary apparatus and instruments; in the nomination and training of persons to fill important positions in the scientific corps; in the reception of the collections made, and their reference to individuals competent to report upon them; and in employing skillful and trained artists to make accurate delineations of the new or unfigured species. Much of the apparatus supplied to the different parties was invented or adapted by the Institution for this special purpose, and used for the first time, with results surpassing the most sanguine expectations. It is apparent from these and other extracts that might be made from the annual reports that cooperation on the widest scale was, from the outset, the prevailing motive of the Institution. It is pro- posed in the following pages to give the result of recent investiga- tions made with a view of ascertaining how far these early promises had been carried out. II. THE SMITHSONIAN ORGANIZATION The following named organizations are conducted under the ad- ministration of the Smithsonian Institution: The United States National Museum; the Bureau of American Ethnolegy; the Na- 4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 tional Gallery of Art, including the Freer Gallery of Art; the National Zoological Park; the Astrophysical Observatory ; the Inter- national Exchange Service; and the International Catalogue of Scientific Literature. Ill. COOPERATION: DEFINITION OF THE TERM By cooperation, as here used, is understood the act of assisting in any way the advancement of knowledge, let it be through the direct solution of a problem, or indirectly through supplying aid, funds, or material, or the giving of any form of personal services. For purposes of clear presentation the matter may be considered in the following order: : (1) By conference and advice through correspondence and other- wise. (2) By furnishing materials (a) for investigation, as gift or loan, (b) for teaching purposes. (3) By furnishing facilities. (4) By furnishing personal assistance, expert or otherwise. (5) By furnishing funds. (6) By furnishing means of publication. (1) COOPERATION THROUGH ADVICE AND CORRESPONDENCE It is a safe affirmation that scarcely a day has passed since the organization began actively to function but that letters are received from, or personal interviews held with, those who wish aid or ad- vice on matters relating to some one of the many subjects involved. The full importance of this work cannot be estimated, but as years go on it has become of ever increasing magnitude. The following taken from the ninth and tenth annual reports of the Secretary of the Institution (1854-55) show the early stand of the Institution in this line of work: Correspondence.—During the past year the Institution has received a large number of communications asking information on a variety of subjects, particularly in regard to the solution of scientific questions, the names and characters of objects of natural history, and the analysis of soils, minerals, and other materials which pertain to the industrial resources of the country. Answers have in all cases been given to these inquiries, either directly by the officers of the Institution, or by reports from the Smithsonian colaborers. Very frequently certificates are requested as to the value of certain minerals, with a view to bring them into market; but in these cases the inquirers are referred to certain reliable analytical chemists, who make a business of opera- tions of this kind. The information procured and given at the expense of the Institution is such as relates to the general diffusion of knowledge, and not NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION 5 to that which may immediately tend to advance the pecuniary interest of individuals. Requests are often also made to have experiments instituted for testing proposed applications of science to the arts; and provided these can be tried with the apparatus of the Institution and the results which may flow from them are to be given to the public without the restriction of a patent, the request is granted. And again: The correspondence during the last year has been more extended than that of any preceding period. The character of the Institution becoming more widely known, the number of applications for information relative to particular branches of knowledge has been increased. The correspondence relates to the exchanges, the collections, the publications, the communication with authors and the members of commissions to which memoirs are submitted, answers to questions on different branches of specimens of natural history, geology, etc.; also explanations of the character of the Institution, the distri- bution of its publications, its system of meteorology, etc. And yet again: As the collaborators of the Institution generally reside at a distance, the business with them is principally carried on by mail. The same is also the case in regard to all the exchanges and consequently the record of nearly all the transactions of the Institution is contained in the correspondence. Besides those relating to official business, hundreds of letters are received during the year, containing inquiries relative to the various subjects on which the writers desire information. If these cannot be immediately answered without much research, they are referred to collaborators who are experts in the various branches of knowledge, and who can readily supply information in regard to subjects within the range of their special studies. (Annual Report, 1868, p. 51.) In previous years requests have frequently been received from foreign governments, especially those of Japan and China, and of Central and South America, for the selection of persons to carry on certain operations, particu- larly those relating to engineering and mining geology, nearly every year bringing at least one call of this character. To this the year 1879 furnished no exception, the Government of Salvador, through the American minister, Mr. George Williamson, having asked to be supplied with an experienced geologist to explore the recently discovered gold fields of the state. Of course in such cases the advice of experts is always solicited, and several of these uniting on the name of Mr. Goodyear, a resident of California, and formerly connected with the geological survey of that state, he was selected for the mission in question, and has already entered upon his duties (Annual Report, 1879, p. 57.) (2) COOPERATION THROUGH FURNISHING MATERIALS This is an important and ever-increasing phase of the work of the Institution. It appears that as early as 1849 the regents made an appropriation for the purchase of a telescope for the use of the 6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 Gillis Astronomical Expedition to Chile, and in the report for 1854 the purchase is announced of four entire sets of apparatus for de- termining the direction and intensity of magnetic force which were lent to various observers, including those of the Grinnell Expedi- tions of 1850-55 and the U. S. Coast Survey. “It is the purpose to keep these instruments constantly in operation for the purpose of comparing results with other observations of a similar character.” Coopération with meteorologists the world over was one of the earliest undertakings. In the second annual report of the Institu- tion for 1848 (1849) it is stated that the sum of $1000.00 was ap- propriated for the commencement of a series of observations, particularly with reference to the phenomena of storms. It was proposed to enlist the services and cooperate with voluntary private and public individuals and institutions, including the United States Navy. With the instruments owned by private individuals, with those of the several military stations, and with the supply of the deficiency by the funds of the Smithsonian Institution, it is believed that observations can be insti- — tuted at important points over the whole United States, and that, with the observations which we can procure from Mexico and the British possessions of North America, data will be furnished for important additions to our knowledge of meteorological phenomena. As a beginning to this extended system, six sets of instruments have been forwarded to the coast of Oregon and California, for the purpose of establishing periodical observations on the western side of the Rocky Mountains. Also a set has been forwarded to Bent’s Fort, and another to Santa Fe. Circulars have been prepared and will shortly be issued for the purpose of ascertaining the number and locality of all those who, with or without instruments, are willing to join in the enter- prise. Obviously, here was laid the foundation of the United States Weather Bureau as it exists today. It is not alone through furnishing apparatus that cooperation is carried on. In the form of gifts and loans for the purpose of re- search and study, thousands of specimens are annually distributed to investigators and students the world over. “ Applications for such assistance,’ wrote Professor Baird in his report for 1854, “ are con- stantly being received, and always met with all possible promptness, so that scarcely any natural history monograph or memoir of any extent has been published in this country within a year or two which has not been indebted in this way to the Institution.” * = EEE NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION N (3) COOPERATION THROUGH FURNISHING FACILITIES “Tt is a part of the plan [7. e., of the Smithsonian Institution] to give encouragement and assistance to original investigators, and per- sons who visit Washington for the purpose of studying the collection are furnished with all the facilities which the Institution can afford.” (10th Annual Report, 1855.) These “ facilities” included not merely access to the collections, library, and laboratories, but in numerous instances the early investigators were actually given living rooms in the building. Within recent years the last-named practice has been discontinued, but the others mentioned endure. As early as 1855 the chemical laboratory of the Institution was utilized by Dr. J. L. Smith in examination of minerals, and by the Treasury Department in investigations relative to the kinds of molasses im- ported into this country. (4) CooPERATION THROUGH PERSONAL ASSISTANCE, EXPERT AND OTHERWISE Aid in the identification of material is perhaps of all forms of cooperation the most common. A large share of these requests come from individuals, and while time-consuming, leave no tangible results for permanent records. Those from museums, scientific workers, and departments of the Government require expert knowledge of a much higher standard, and often find their way into the printed reports. A very large amount of work of this nature is done in cooperation with the U. S. Geological Survey, Bureau of Fisheries, and Department of Agriculture. Decisions relative to the establish- ment of National monuments, and to materials for Government structures are often asked. As long ago as 1856, Professor Henry was appointed to cooperate with Colonel Totten, A. J. Downing, the Commissioner of Patents, Prof. A. D. Bache of the Coast Survey, and Captain Meigs, to examine and report on the marble submitted for use in the Capitol extension, and for over 20 years he cooperated with the Lighthouse Service in the investigation of fog signals and other aids to navigation. Prof. S. F. Baird, while Assistant Secretary of the Institution, in 1871, began the long series of cooperative studies on the food fisheries of the country which resulted in the establish- ment of the U. S. Fish Commission, to which he gave his services without other salary than was attached to his duties as Secretary until his death. Other instances are given in detail in another sec- tion of this report. 8 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 (5) COOPERATION BY SUPPLY OF FUNDS The income from the Smithsonian Institution endowment has never been sufficient to allow financial grants of large size. As early as 1855 it is stated: In anticipation of the great fair in Chicago of the Illinois State Agricul- tural Society, it was proposed to secure and exhibit full collections of the natural history of the State on that occasion. Accordingly, Mr. Robert Kennicott was selected by the Society to travel throughout Illinois, especially along the lines of the Illinois Central Railroad, and not only to make col- lections himself, but to instruct the employees of the railroad company and others, so as to enable them to assist in the work. Aided by a small appro- priation by the Institution, in addition to the facilities furnished by the society and the railroad company, Mr. Kennicott collected in a few months the finest cabinet of Illinois specimens ever brought together. The custom thus inaugurated has been followed out with increas- ing magnitude, involving the Philadelphia Centennial of 1876, the Chicago Exposition of 1893, and, on a smaller scale, those of Atlanta, Ga.; New Orleans, La.; Buffalo, N. Y.; Charleston, S. C.; Cincin- nati, O.; Seattle, Wash.; Omaha, Neb.; St. Louis, Mo.; Portland, Oreg.; and San Francisco, Calif. For most of these, special grants of funds were appropriated by Congress. With the endowment of the Institution through private bequests, other allotments have been possible. By grants from the Hodgkins Fund the Institution has been able to cooperate with Dr. Leonard Hill and others in investigations on the influence of the atmosphere on human health; with Wolfgang Ritter on the flight of insects; E. W. Scripture on the construction of a vowel organ; with C. G. Abbot on Arequipa pyrheliometry, the pyranometer, and solar varia- bility; with Anders Angstrém on atmospheric radiation; with E. Duclaux on atmospheric actinometry; with J. B. Cohen on the atmosphere of towns; with Carl Barus on atmospheric nucleation and ionized air ; with Lord Rayleigh and W. Ramsay in their investigations on argon; with H. de Varigny on air and life; with O. Lummer and E. Pringsheim on the ratio (4) of specific heats; with V. Schumann on the absorption and emission of air for certain light wave lengths ; with M. W. Travers and others on the attainment of low tempera- tures, etc. (6) COOPERATION ON PUBLICATIONS No insignificant proportion of the funds and energies of the Insti- tution have been devoted to the publication of works of scientific and educational value, but from the sale of which no satisfactory finan- cial return could be anticipated. This form of cooperation, inau- =? NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION 9 gurated in 1847 and bearing its first fruit in the publication of Squier and Davis’ Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (1848), has continued until the present day, and, as a result, a very considerable proportion of the papers comprised in the 35 quarto volumes of the Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, the 74 volumes of Miscellaneous Collections, the 63 volumes of Proceedings, and upward of 120 Bulletins are by writers not connected, or but in- directly connected with the Institution. ’ Weer Eernic INSTANCES (OF (COOPERATION BY ‘THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION AND ITS BRANCHES The following annotated list of some of the principal cooperative operations carried on is here given in order that their magnitude and . often involved character may be better understood. Owing to the somewhat complex nature of many of them, a strict form of classi- fication has been found impossible, though as a general rule they are arranged by departments or divisions. It may be further stated that while a very considerable proportion are wholly one-sided, the Insti- tution profiting little, if at all, thereby, there are others in which, through the enrichment of the collections, the National Museum profits largely. Tue NationaL MusEUM This branch of the Institution is naturally brought into active cooperation with practically all divisions of the National govern- ment, with those of foreign countries, with public and private museums and other educational institutions, and with individual stu- dents of the sciences. At the present moment (1923), facilities for the storage of collections, office and work rooms, are afforded to the following: The paleontologists and paleobotanists of the Geo- logical Survey occupy 13 double rooms, comprising 15,600 square feet of floor space, and utilize upward of 15,000 standard drawers ; to the Biological Survey is assigned 7,019 square feet of floor space, with facilities for storage for 126,240 specimens; and to the ento- mologists of the Department of Agriculture, 9 rooms, aggregating 5,539 square feet of floor space. With limited finances the Museum is unable to inaugurate regular lecture courses, but all governmental agencies and all scientific and educational societies have the free use of its auditorium and the adjacent rooms for congresses, lectures, etc. Space is also furnished for special exhibits of scientific or educational importance. IO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 A line of cooperation, the value of which, while great, it is im- possible to estimate, is the distribution to schools, colleges, and pri- vate workers, of specimens of all kinds to aid in their studies. The report of the Institution for 1867 states that 249,233 specimens of all kinds had been distributed up to that early date. During the 46 years from 1876 to 1922, there were distributed upward of 771,000 specimens, bringing the total number to upward of 1,000,000. Cooperation with educators and students does not end with the furnishing of materials for their natural history and other studies. The exhibition collections are all designed with the view, not merely to attract the public, but to aid the student, and members of the staff of certain departments frequently conduct classes through the halls explaining the uses of the objects exhibited. The study series are always at the service of accredited students, and the publications are supplied free of cost. Lectures are delivered before schools or other organizations, and have also been prepared for delivery throughout the country in cooperation with the Young Men’s Christian Associa- tion and like organizations. The following more detailed instances of cooperative work will show to an extent the wide range and varied nature of the projects undertaken by the Museum. DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY North Pacific Fur-Seal Investigations—The cooperation of the Museum with the various Government agencies concerned in the investigation of the North Pacific fur-seals and fur-seal industry dates back to 1882, when a project jointly undertaken by the Na- tional Museum, the U. S. Fish Commission, and the U. S. Signal Service was carried into effect by sending Dr. Leonhard Stejneger to the Commander Islands, a group of fur-seal islands belonging to Russia and situated off the coast of Kamchatka. He remained 18 months on the islands, surveying the rookeries, studying the habits of the seals, managing a third-class meteorologic station, and making large collections of the animals and plants for the Museum. In 1895 the U. S. Fish Commission, on account of the tremendous inroads on the fur-seal herds caused by pelagic sealing, desired a thorough investigation of the whole question, and for that purpose obtained the detail of Drs. F. W. True and Leonhard Stejneger, both of the National Museum, the former to visit the Pribilof Islands, the latter the Commander Islands. The whole summer was spent on the islands, and upon their return, each submitted a voluminous report, which was published. NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION liga In 1896, Messrs. F. A. Lucas and Leonhard Stejneger, both of the National Museum, were appointed members of the Fur-seal In- vestigation Commission, which, under Dr. David S. Jordan as Com- missioner in charge, was intrusted by the U. S. Treasury Department with studying and reporting upon the whole fur-seal problem with special reference to the effect of the award of the Paris Tribunal on the rehabilitation of the seal herds and the regulation of pelagic seal- ing. Mr. Lucas remained during the entire summer with the Com- mission on the Pribilof Islands, taking the census of the rookeries, studying the habits of the seals both on shore and at sea, investigat- ing the problem of the abnormal mortality of the young, etc., while Dr. Stejneger again proceeded in the Fish Commission S. S. Alba- tross to the Commander Islands where he inspected the rookeries and supplemented his observations of the previous year. From there he continued in the Albatross to the Kuril Islands of Japan, in search of seal rookeries which might possibly have escaped the destruction inflicted upon them by raiders and pelagic sealers. He then pro- ceeded to Robben Island, the Russian seal island, in the Okhotsk Sea, off the east coast of Sakhalin, which was inspected, mapped, and photographed. The Commission was continued during the season of 1897, but the investigations were conducted that year under the auspices of the Department of State, and in collaboration with a similar commission from Great Britain. Messrs. Lucas and Stejneger were again de- tailed and spent the season, the former investigating the Pribilof herd, the latter the Commander Island seal industry. The results of this cooperation was embodied in the four-volume report published in 1898-1899 by the U. S. Treasury Department under the title “ The Fur Seals and Fur-seal Islands of the North Pacific Ocean.” As the seal protection treaty of 1911 may become abrogated in 1925 if denounced 12 months before by any of the four contracting powers, the Department of Commerce desired to obtain first-hand information as to the status of the fur-seal herds of the Commander Islands and Robben Island. In the spring of 1922, the Department therefore requested the Museum to detail Dr. Stejneger for the pur- pose of inspecting the North Pacific fur-seal rookeries. He was consequently attached to the party accompanying Mr. C. H. Huston, the Assistant Secretary of Commerce, on his tour of investigating the fisheries of Alaska and far eastern Asia, which left Seattle, Washington, on June 20, 1922, in the Coast Guard cutter Mojave. During this cruise he visited the Pribilof Islands, the Commander Islands, and Robben Island, returning to Washington by way of i2 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 Japan on September 18. A preliminary account of his findings has been submitted, and the elaborate report is now in preparation. It thus appears that the Department of Biology for more than 40 years has cooperated with the various Government departments which have had the investigation of the important fur-seal problem in hand, having had members of its staff detailed for the purpose during six seasons, viz.: in 1882, 1883, 1895, 1896, 1897, 1922. Moreover, after their return, they prepared elaborate reports which are among the most valuable contributions to the literature on the subject. The numerous publications on the history of the Asiatic Seal Islands, due to the cooperation of the Museum, form practi- cally the only available information about these islands which are of so great importance both scientifically and economically. Investigations on the life history of the lobster—Under the date of May 20, 1918, the Department of Commerce requested the detail of a member of the Museum force to the Bureau of Fisheries for the purpose of investigating the life history of the spiny lobster of the Pacific Coast. In this connection it was stated that, while the spiny lobster on the west coast possessed considerable economic importance as an article of food, it had been “so steadily declining in numbers on the coast of California that the market supply was chiefly by importation from the coast of Mexico, and that an elucida- tion of the life history of the form would undoubtedly be a proper step in arriving at and termination of the measures of protection or propagation necessary to insure the conservation of the species.” This detail became effective for three months beginning August I, during which period important collections were made, and several interesting facts established. Brief preliminary reports of the work were published, but the final summary is not yet completed. The Geographic Society of Baltimore Expedition to the Baha- mas.—This expedition was conceived and conducted by Mr. George B. Shattuck, then of Johns Hopkins University, and sailed from Bal- timore on June I, 1903. Among the Government and other experts detailed for the purpose of studying the natural history, soil, sani- tation, diseases, etc., of the islands were Messrs. B. A. Bean and J. H. Riley of the National Museum. The cruise extended over a period of nearly two months, but opportunities for collecting natural history specimens at individual landings were very brief. A general report upon the expedition was published by the Society, including a list of all the birds recorded from the Bahamas, contributed by Mr. Riley. The Museum paid for the subsistence of its two repre- sentatives. NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION 13 Harriman Alaska Expedition,—By invitation of the late Edward H. Harriman, a number of naturalists joined him in an expedition to Alaska in the summer of 1899. The National Museum was represented by Dr. W. H. Dall, Mr. F. V. Coville, and Mr. R. Ridg- way, who made collections in their respective fields. From Seattle the party proceeded to various points on the coast of Alaska, mak- ing occasional trips inland, andglso touched at Hall Island, St. Law- rence Island, and St. Matthew Island in Bering Sea, stopping also at Plover Bay, Siberia. The expedition was not operated on a schedule planned for making natural history investigations, and stops at most of the points were quite brief, but Mr. Ridgway was able to secure 319 specimens of birds and a series of eggs, from various localities. No report on these has been published, but rec- ords have been incorporated in various volumes, and one new form described. Doctor Coville, assisted by other members of the expedition, made extensive collections of plants. These, supplemented by earlier col- lections in the National Herbarium, and by the results of subsequent field work by several Government departments, incidental to a study of the geography and natural resources of Alaska, have been studied critically by several botanists, and the final results brought together for publication as volumes 6 and 7 of the Harriman Alaska series, now under control of the Smithsonian Institution. The Zoological Expedition of Dr. Theodore Lyman to the Altai Mountains, Siberia and Mongolia.—During the summer of 1912, by the invitation of Dr. Theodore Lyman, of Harvard University, the National Museum was enabled to participate, in cooperation with the Museum of Comparative Zoology, in a zoological expedition to the Altai Mountains of Siberia and Mongolia. The expedition was under the personal direction of Doctor Lyman, and the National Museum was represented by Mr. N. Hollister, assistaht curator of mammals. The party left America in May and returned in Septem- ber. From the last Russian outpost near the Mongolian border, Kosh-Agatch, the frontier range to the southward was explored for a month. The collecting was done chiefly on the Siberian side of the range, but expeditions were made to the Mongolian slopes for great game, and down to the Suok Plains, in the country of the Kirghiz. On the return trip, stops were made on the Chuisaya Steppe and in the heavily forested Altais between the desert and the great Siberian plains. The collections of mammals were worked up by Mr. Hollister ; the birds were studied by Doctor Bangs at Cambridge. The specimens I4 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 were then divided between the National Museum and the Museum of Comparative Zoology. General Survey of the Mexican Flora—From 1897 to IgII, Dr. J. N. Rose, associate curator of the National Herbarium, car- ried on extensive botanical explorations in Mexico, in cooperation at different times with the New York Botanical Garden, the New York Aquarium, the U. S. Departnsent of Agriculture, the Bureau of Fisheries, and the Mexican government, with a view to making known the diverse flora of that country. During this work, many thousands of plants were collected, hundreds of which were new to science and to the collections of the National Museum and of other institutions to which they were distributed. Through the cooperation of the U. S. Department of Agriculture and the New York Botanical Garden, some of the more interesting forms were grown in greenhouses in Washington and New York. Many new species have been described, and important critical genera and groups revised by Doctor Rose, either alone or in collaboration with Dr. N. L. Britton, in various publications. Study of the Cactaceae—From 1912 up to the present time, Dr. J. N. Rose has been engaged with Dr. N. L. Britton, director- in-chief of the New York Botanical Garden, in an investigation of the Cactaceae of North and South America, a study begun several years previously, but since 1912 chiefly financed by the Carnegie In- stitution of Washington, with the cooperation of the New York Botanical Garden, the U. S. National Museum, and the U. S. De- partment of Agriculture. Besides the earlier Mexican exploration, field trips in northern, western, and eastern South America have yielded valuable material bearing on this project. The results of the investigation are being published by the Carnegie Institution of Washington in four large, profusely illustrated volumes, entitled “ The Cactaceae.”” In this study the authors have had the valued cooperation of a large number of botanists and botanical collectors throughout the western United States and all tropical America, as well as of many institutions and special students of this family in Europe. Exploration of northern South America—tIn the early part of I918, a cooperative plan of exploration in northern South America was entered into by the New York Botanical Garden, the Gray Her- barium of Harvard University, and the U. S. National Museum, for the purpose of obtaining through joint field work a better knowledge of the rich and varied flora of northern South America, and of ew NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION 15 bringing together well preserved herbarium material that would afford not only general information relating to the systematic botany of these regions, but would also provide exact basic information re- garding many plants capable of yielding commercial timbers, drugs, oils, dye-stuffs, food-material, fibers, and other economic products whose sources are in many instances obscure or unknown. The investigation was planned to cover Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, and several adjacent Caribbean islands, regions in which no coordinated botanical exploration had ever been conducted, and from which material is urgently needed in connection with similar studies of the botany of the West Indies and Central America. In pursuance of the plan, several expeditions have gone inio South America for the benefit of the three institutions mentioned. Trees and Shrubs of Mexico.—In partial response to the pressing demand for a synoptical treatment of the woody plants of tropical North America, Mr. Standley has utilized the unrivalled Mexican collections of Pringle, Palmer, Rose, Purpus, and others in the Na- tional Herbarium in preparing a manuscript on the “Trees and Shrubs of Mexico.”” Botanists of several institutions have assisted in this work, and much aid has been rendered also by the Mexican government, chiefly in the transmittal of botanical material obtained during the biological survey of that country now in progress, all of this being submitted to the U. S. National Museum for identification. Similar material is being received through cooperation with several able Mexican botanists, notably Dr. C. Conzatti of Oaxaca City. Flora of Central America and Panama.—Upon the practical com- pletion of his manuscript upon the trees and shrubs of Mexico, Mr. Standley took up the project of preparing a synoptical treat- ment of the phanerogamic flora of all Central America and Panama. The collections from these regions in the National Herbarium, though large, are mainly from Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama. For the purpose of obtaining material from a part of the intermediate area, Mr. Standley was detailed to field work in Salvador, in Decem- ber, 1921, and spent five months there and one month in eastern Guatemala, with funds provided by the cooperation of Prof. Oakes Ames, the New York Botanical Garden, the Gray Herbarium, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and with the hearty assistance of the Salvadorean government. An enumeration of the entire col- lection will be published jointly by Messrs. Standley and Calderon in Salvador under Government auspices. 16 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 In furtherance of this project additional field work is contem- plated in Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama, official support of the undertaking being assured in several quarters. Studies in West Indian Ferns—During several months in three years, Mr. William Maxon, associate curator of the National Her- barium, collected pteridophyta extensively in Jamaica, in 1903 in company with Prof. L. M. Underwood of the New York Botanical Garden, in 1904 for the National Herbarium alone, and in 1920 in company with Mr. E. P. Killip on behalf of the National Her- barium, the New York Botanical Garden, the Gray Herbarium, the Field Museum, and the University of Illinois. The material thus assembled affords the basis of a descriptive volume on the pterido- phyta of Jamaica, which will be published by the British Museum (Natural History) as one of the series on the Flora of Jamaica by Fawcett and Rendle. : North American Flora.—About twenty years ago the New York Botanical Garden undertook the publication of a descriptive work upon the flora of North America, intended to cover all the plants growing independently of cultivation in continental North America (including Panama), Greenland, and all but the southernmost of the West Indian islands. This work, entitled “ North American Flora,” is to be complete in 34 volumes. Botanists of many American insti- tutions, including those of the National Herbarium, are cooperating in this work. Biological Survey of the Panama Canal Zone.—Beginning in 1910, the Smithsonian Institution, with the assistance of several Govern- ment departments and outside institutions, undertook to sponsor a biological exploration of the Canal Zone and adjacent parts of Panama, the expenses of the field work being met by a special fund contributed by patrons of the Institution. For the botanical work Prof. H. Pittier and Dr. A. S. Hitchcock were detailed by the Bureau of Plant Industry, and Mr. William R. Maxon, by the National Museum. Partial results of the work have been published. Flora of the District of Columbia.—In connection with a study of the local flora for 40 years past there has grown up at the National Herbarium a collection known as the District Herbarium, to which many students of local natural history have contributed. To replace Museum Bulletin 26, known as Ward’s Flora, and long out of print, local botanists joined about ten years ago in an effort to prepare a new manual of the local flora. In all, about 25 individuals actively participated, mainly members of the staffs of the National Herbarium and the Bureau of Plant Industry. The outcome was OR gal COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION L7, the publication of the “ Flora of the District of Columbia and Vicin- ity,” under the editorship of A. S. Hitchcock and Paul C. Standley, dealing with the ferns and flowering plants of this region. Supple- mentary work, including similar treatment of the lower cryptogams, is under way. Flora of the National Parks—At the request of the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Mr. Standley was detailed in the summer of 1919 to make a botanical survey of Glacier National Park, Montana, the expenses of the work being shared between the National Museum and the Park Service. The very large number of plants and plant photographs obtained have served as the basis of two reports, one a technical paper published as Part 5 of volume 22, Contributions from the U. S. National Herbarium, the other a profusely illustrated manuscript of a non-technical nature to be published eventually by the Park Service. Flora of the Pacific Coast——An illustrated Flora of the Pacific Coast (Washington, Oregon, and California), to appear in three or four large volumes, is being prepared under the direction of Prof. LeRoy Abrams, Department of Botany, Leland Stanford University, California. Messrs. William R. Maxon and A. S. Hitchcock have collaborated in this work. Cooperation with the U. S. Department of Agriculture —The rela- tionship existing between the Department of Agriculture and the National Herbarium is naturally a very close one. Not only are thousands of specimens transferred to the National Herbarium by the Department each year, but the herbarium is used constantly by many members of the staff of the Bureau of Plant Industry and Bureau of the Biological Survey, and in many instances, extensive work of identification of material for these bureaus is performed by the staff of the National Herbarium. Until recently nearly all botani- cal material collected through the wide activities of the Bureau of Biological Survey was so determined, and at the present time all specimens collected in the national forests of New Mexico under the auspices of the Forest Service are referred here for identification. In 1912, the grass collection maintained by the Bureau of Plant In- dustry was transferred to the custody of the Smithsonian Institution, office and herbarium space being provided at the National Herbarium, of which the collections thus became an integral part. The staff, consisting of Dr. A. S. Hitchcock and Mrs. Agnes Chase with two assistants, is thus maintained by the Department of Agriculture. A large number of monographic and regional papers on grasses by Doctor Hitchcock and Mrs. Chase have been published in the Contri- 18 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 butions from the U. S. National Herbarium, and the cooperation is in other ways particularly close. This relationship is equally close in other divisions of the Depart- ment of Biology. Cooperation between the Division of Mammals and the Biological Survey began in 1889 and has continued actively in force to the present time. During this period (to December 31, 1922) the number of specimens of mammals alone brought to the Museum by the Survey has been 126,240, besides thousands of speci- mens of other classes. The mammal and bird material, by agreement made June 10, 1889, is kept separate from the Museum collection proper, and is reserved for the use of the Survey. For handling this collection the Museum has furnished services in cataloguing, clean- ing, and numbering the specimens. The Survey has taken charge of the arrangement and general management of its collections, employ- ing for this purpose a force which has averaged, during the past ten years, five persons. The work of the Division of Insects and that of the Bureau of Entomology are so closely related that it is difficult at some points to draw a line of separation. The Museum affords office space to 14 specialists of the Bureau staff, and about 12 preparators, typists, in- dexers, etc. The primary function of these specialists is to deter- mine material sent in by the field workers of the Bureau throughout the United States. This makes it necessary that they should have access to correctly named and extensive collections. Hence it has been arranged that each should have charge of the group in the Museum’s collections in which he specializes. Mississippt Pearl Fisheries—In 1907 Dr. Paul Bartsch was de- tailed to the Bureau of Fisheries to undertake an investigation of the pearl fisheries of the Mississippi. This survey resulted in the accumulation of material which threw light upon the then existing distribution of the various species of fresh water pearly mussels, their abundance, and likewise their utilization. Information was also gathered pertaining to the output of fresh water pearls and the pearl button industry. Research work on Shipworms.—lIn cooperation with the American Wood Preservers Association, Dr. Bartsch has been called upon in connection with various topics covering the shipworm, a pest which causes an annual loss of millions of dollars in American waters. He has also been called upon to identify the material taken by the New York Committee on Marine Piling Investigations of the Na- tional Research Council in their reconnaissance work. NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION IQ Experiments in heredity—Since 1912 Dr. Bartsch has been en- gaged in a series of experiments in heredity under the joint auspices of the Smithsonian and Carnegie Institutions. Mollusks were col- lected at the Bahamas, Porto Rico, and Curacao and transplanted to the Florida Keys and the Tortugas. Many points of cross breed- ing have resulted. Cooperation with the Chemical Warfare Service —Through breed- ing experiments conducted by Dr. Bartsch upon local land mollusks during the years from 1899 to 1907 was made possible the demon- stration of a method by which the garden slug could be used as a poison gas detector. Dr. Bartsch was detailed to the Chemical War- fare Service for a period of 11 days working upon this problem. Other cooperation by the Division of Mollusks—Dr. W. H. Dall reports cooperation with the Wagner Free Institute of Philadelphia in preparation of a report on the Florida Tertiary Collection; with the Bishop Museum of Honolulu on the Molluscan fauna of the Hawaiian and Palmyra Islands; with the Museum of Comparative Zoology on the Blake and Albatross dredgings and the Wild Duck collections ; with the Department of State on the Alaskan Boundary (the conclusions of, this report were exactly adopted in the subse- quent arbitration) ; with the California Academy of Sciences in a study of the landshells and fossils of the Galapagos Islands; with the Peruvian government ; the Brooklyn Institute, and the Harriman Alaska Expedition and with the U. S. Fish Commission in a study of the Molluscan fauna of Porto Rico. DEPARTMENT OF GEOLOGY Services as Expert on Structural Materials—In 1881-1882 the Head Curator of Geology was detailed for work with the Tenth Cen- sus in connection with the building stone industry. This work in- volved the identification of several thousand specimens and the compilation of the matter relating thereto as finally published in the quarto volume relating to this industry. _During the Twelfth Census he was again detailed for similar work, the results of which are to be found in the report on Mines and Quarries (1912). In 1913 he was detailed for services with the Lincoln Memorial Commission in inspection of the quarries at Yule Creek, Colorado, and of the mate- rial as delivered on the grounds in Washington. For like services he has not infrequently cooperated with the Engineer in charge of Public Buildings and Grounds; the Architect of the Capitol; and the supervising architect of the Treasury; and with associations and 20 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 committees in charge of large structures. Among these may be men- tioned the St. Albans Cathedral in Washington; the new City Hall in New York City; the New National Museum; the City Post Office, and other post office buildings ; the State Library at Hartford, Conn. ; and the columns on the east front of the Treasury building. Resurvey of the petrified forests—During the season of 1911, the Head Curator was detailed, at the request of the Commissioner of Public Lands to make a resurvey of the territory included in the Petrified Forest National Monument with a view of reducing its limits so far as practicable. The work was accomplished under the joint auspices of the Smithsonian Institution and the Land Office, as- sisted by an outfit furnished by the Santa Fe Railroad, whose prop- erty was in part involved. The resurvey resulted in a reduction of the total area of 401% square miles without, detriment, and the turning back of the remainder to the original owners. Petrographical work in Montana.—During the field seasons of 1907 and 1908, Dr. Merrill, at the request of Dr. A. C. Peale of the U. §. Geological Survey, was detailed to accompany him into the field for the purpose of identifying and otherwise studying the erup- tive rocks within the area known as the Three Forks Sheet, all ex- penses aside from salary being borne by the Survey. Studies of the so-called Meteor Crater of Arizona.—During the summer of 1907, the Head Curator was detailed in accordance with an invitation from the Standard Iron Company of Philadelphia to make studies of the remarkable crater form depression near Canyon Diablo. The expenses on the ground were paid by the Iron Com- pany, and all the necessary facilities and materials furnished. The results were published in the Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. 50, 1908. Mineralogical Services during the late War.—tn the course of ex- perimental -work being carried on by the Navy, particularly along lines involving the piezo electric properties of minerals, there early arose an emphatic demand for the mineral quartz in sizes and quali- ties not then obtainable from dealers. The collections of the de- partment of Geology were practically drained of such minerals in the furtherance of this and other experimental work, and the Head Curator was therefore detailed to secure a sufficient supply of the needed material, not only for the U. S. Government, but for Great Britain and France as well. The search was actively and success- fully carried on until the close of the war. Cambrian and Ordovician Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Vir- ginia.—The study of the great Cambro-Ordovician limestone series NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION 21 of the Appalachian Valley, long mapped as a single formation, was undertaken by Dr. R. S. Bassler in 1905 in cooperation with the Virginia Geological Survey, with the intention of discriminating the stratigraphic units thought to be present in this hitherto undivided series. After several seasons of close mapping and collecting of fos- sils, a new geologic map of Virginia west of the Blue Ridge, and a volume of 309 pages, fully illustrated, were published by the State. Cooperation with the Geological Survey of Maryland.—Coopera- tive work with this organization has been actively carried on since 1901, Dr. Bassler alone, or in collaboration with Dr. E. O. Ulrich, having prepared a number of reports on the paleontology and strati- graphy of the state. The results of their work have been published in six of the reports issued by the Survey. The expenses of the work were borne by the State, and the types of the described fossils became the property of the National Museum. Geologic studies in Central Tennessee —Cooperation with the State Survey of Tennessee has resulted in two seasons of field work on the part of Dr. R. S. Bassler in working out the stratigraphy of a critical area—the Franklin quadrangle of 250 square miles just south of Nashville. The results of this work will be published by the State Survey. Cambrian Paleontology of Wisconsin—Active work on the Cam- brian faunas of Wisconsin in cooperation with the State Geological Survey is now being carried on by Dr. C. E. Resser with the help and advice of Secretary Walcott and Dr. E. O. Ulrich, both of whom have made extensive collections in that state. The results of Dr. Res- ser’s work will be published by the State Survey, but the type speci- mens will remain in the National Museum. Permian Paleontology of the Island of Timor—lIn cooperation with the Dutch government, Dr. Bassler has undertaken the study of the fossil Bryozoa of the Island of Timor. Studies in Recent and Cenozoic Bryozoa.—By cooperation with the Bureau of Fisheries, the Carnegie Institution of Washington, and other organizations, Dr. Bassler, in collaboration with the lead- ing bryozoologist of Europe, Ferdinand Canu, has engaged in exten- sive studies on the Recent Bryozoa of the Philippine Islands; the Tertiary Bryozoa of North America; and the Cenozoic Bryozoa of the West Indies and Central America. Cooperation with the Geological Survey of Canada.—Since 1910 Secretary Walcott has been in cooperation with the Canadian Survey in the study of the pre-Devonian stratigraphy and faunas of the Rocky Mountains. 22 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 The classic Silurian area, the Island of Anticosti, was made the subject of detailed geological and paleontological surveys by the Canadian Geological Survey, in cooperation with various specialists. To Dr. R. S. Bassler was assigned the study of the large collections of Bryozoa and Ostracoda, the results to be published by the Cana- dian Government, but the type specimens to remain in the National Museum. At the request of the Canadian Survey, Mr. C. W. Gilmore was detailed for a period of two months for the purpose of studying and describing dinosaurian remains in the collections of the Survey at Ottawa. Vertebrate Studies with the National Park Service-——At the re- quest of the National Park Service, Mr. Gilmore was detailed to con- duct a paleontological survey of an area temporarily withdrawn from settlement and known as the “ Mastodon National Monument,” in north central New Mexico. As a result of this investigation and unfavorable report, the area was returned to the public domain. Studies of North Carolina Vertebrate Fossils —On the invitation of the State Geologist of North Carolina, Mr. Gilmore prepared a report on the Extinct Reptilia of the state, to be a part of a forth- coming publication on the geology and extinct life of North Carolina. Vertebrate Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada.—For two months during the year 1922, Mr. Gilmore was released from his duties at the National Museum to assist in the arrangement and installation of the fossil specimens in the museum of the University of Alberta, and to describe the dinosaurian remains. Cooperation with the U. S. Geological Survey—Cooperative work between the Department of Geology and the U. S. Geological Survey is so constant, and the relationship so close, that specific instances are difficult to enumerate. About one-half of the space allotted to the department is occupied by members of the Survey staff whose work requires access to the classified collections, utilized as office rooms and for storage of their materials, paleobotanical library, ete. Since the Survey has on its staff no research workers in vertebrate paleon- tology, all of their collections of this nature must be sent here for identification, and members of our staff have been detailed to ac- company their field parties in order to identify vertebrate remains and thus assist in the proper determination of formations. In this connection mention may be made of trips by Mr. Gilmore with Messrs. Lee and Stanton in northeastern New Mexico, in 1909; with Mr. Lloyd in the Judith Basin, Montana, in 1917; and to northeastern NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION 23 Montana in 1913 to investigate the reported occurrence of vertebrate fossils in the Two Medicine formation, which work resulted in the acquisition of a good collection and the establishment of the first vertebrate faunal list of that formation. Extensive collections made by Survey parties in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, in 1914-1915, were studied and described by Mr. Gilmore, thus establishing definite vertebrate faunas for the Ojo Alamo, Kirtland, and Fruitland for- mations. In 1921, Mr. Gidley, in cooperation with the Survey, made extensive collections in the San Pedro Valley, Arizona, thus settling certain involved questions of stratigraphy regarding the late Tertiary and early Pleistocene deposits on which the Survey had been work- ing for a number of years. In all of the studies mentioned, the prepa- ration of the material is done in the Museum laboratory. Dr. R. S. Bassler has also cooperated with the Survey in mapping quadrangles in areas where his special knowledge of the rocks has made this work advisable; the Head Curator visited Florida in 1905 to investigate economic resources for the Survey, and Messrs. Foshag and Shannon of the divisions of mineralogy and economic geology are almost constantly in cooperation with this organization in determinative and descriptive work. DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY Archeological Investigations in Guatemala.—In 1914, Mr. Neil M. Judd was asked to participate in archeological investigations at Qui- rigua, Guatemala, conducted under the direction of Dr. Edgar L. Hewett. One of the objects of the expedition was the reproduction in plaster of several of the huge stone monuments at Quirigua. This work was assigned to Mr. Judd, who, with his assistants, completed casts from six of the colossal stelae by the use of glue molds, a mate- rial never before employed for this purpose in the torrid zone. Archeological Investigations in New Mexico.—An important ex- ploration was begun by the National Geographic Society in coopera- tion with the Museum. The Society appropriates $75,000 for five years’ work in the ancient ruin of Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, under the direction of Mr. Judd, the specimens secured becoming the property of the Museum. This is the largest scheme of cooperative work ever engaged in by the Department, and is looked upon as opening up great possibilities for further exploitation by the National Geographic Society. Anthropological Studies at the Panama-California Exposition — By arrangement between the Institution and the Panama-California Exposition, Dr. Hrdlicka of the division of Physical Anthropology 24 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 was given charge of the preparation of the anthropological exhibit. This important cooperation necessitated explorations in Alaska, the United States, Peru, British Guiana, South Africa, Siberia, and other countries, for procuring physical and ethnological material, the latter being shared with the National Museum. As a feature of this coop- eration, there was prepared in Washington a collection illustrative of the science of Physical Anthropology, which is now shown in the San Diego Museum under the direction of the School of American Archeology. Anthropological work with the Rockefeller Foundation—Under the auspices of the Rockefeller Foundation and the Peking Medical College, Dr. Hrdlicka visited several countries of the Far East dur- ing 1920. During this trip he continued studies on the origin of the American aborigines, examination of the oldest skeletal and other human remains in Japan, furthered the interests of medical and physical anthropology in China, and made a visit to the rapidly dis- appearing full blooded Hawaiians. Dr. Hrdlicka assisted in the development of medico-anthropological work at the Union Medical College and the organization of the Anatomical and Anthropological Association of China. Work with the Department of Justice—In the spring of 1916, Dr. Hrdlicka cooperated with the Departments of Justice and In- terior in investigations in which the rights of Indian lands were in- volved. Some three months were consumed in the work and large areas of land restored to their original ownership. DEPARTMENT OF ARTS AND INDUSTRIES This department cooperates with other Government bureaus, with educational establishments, with publishers and authors, and with trade associations and industrial enterprises. The Divisions of Mineral and Mechanical Technology are concerned with the interpretation of the efforts of the engineering professions in applying the results of scientific research to industry. To conduct the work, the most logical means is cooperation with industrial enter- prises for the technologic aspects, and with Federal statistical bureaus for the economic aspects. Since the inception of the division, co- operation has been carried on with many firms engaged in the exploi- tation of mineral resources, as well as those engaged in more specialized industrial operations. As an example of educational work mention may be made of cooperation’ with the Pennsylvania Depart- ment of Education and Mr. Samuel S. Wyer, of Columbus, Ohio, ee NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION 25 in the preparation of a book on the natural resources of Pennsyl- vania, prepared expressly for and presented to the seventh and eighth grade geography teachers of the state. The book is an ap- plication of the Museum’s methods to a single state, and, as far as possible, the data are derived from the Museum’s exhibits. The Division of Textiles presents another phase of the important resources and industries of the United States. The collections, by their accurately recorded data, have served individual firms for set- tlement of patent litigation ; have been used to illustrate the arguments of trade associations before the Ways and Means Committee in Con- gress; and are at all times available as reference materials for the use of the Tariff Commission or others presenting technical questions to legislative bodies. The division acts in cooperation with other Government bureaus in doing for them certain propaganda work in bringing their aims before the public by means of specially prepared exhibits ; in preserving for them valuable historical materials which must be often consulted and in which the public has an interest ; and in the identification of commercial raw materials. It cooperates with trade associations, corporations, and individuals in the presentation of exhibits illustrating the industries of the United States. The Division of Medicine cooperates with all agencies by the visual presentation of the most recent advances in sanitary science and the health of man; with the National Medical Associations in the de- velopment and presentation of educational exhibits illustrating the history of medicine and pharmacy in America, and the part played therein by different schools of thought and practice; and with the War Department in the identification of narcotic drugs. The Division of Graphic Arts cooperates mostly with manufactur- ers and others to increase and perfect educational exhibits in which the technical as well as the artistic side of the various processes and trades known as the graphic arts are displayed. BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY Other branches of the Government, the U. S. Supreme Court, both branches of Congress, educational and scientific institutions, and hundreds of individuals all over the world, have called on this Bureau for ethnological information. Its library is used constantly for study and consultation by students; exhibits have been prepared for vari- ous expositions; and the following detailed list covers some of its cooperative undertakings. 26 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 National Park Service ——Excavation and repair of the prehistoric ruins on the Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado. University of Texas——Study and excavation of antiquities in diexas: Davenport Academy of Sciences—Excavating prehistoric mounds near Fairport, lowa, and making ethnological collections among the Fox Indians for that institution. American Museum of Natural History—Conducting ethnological researches among the Tlingit and Haida Indians of Alaska. Columbia University.—Collecting material from the west coast of North America, and publication of results. Museum of the American Indian (Heye Foundation) —Study of West Indian collection at that museum and field work in the Antilles. Work at Hawikuh and Nacoochee. Illinois State Historical Society—Investigating the Peoria~-Miami Indians. School of American Research, Santa Fe, N. M.—Studies in eth- nogeography, ethnozoology, and ethnobotany. Department of Justice -—Detail of a member of the staff to trans- late Spanish documents bearing on Indian land claims at the Tejon Ranch, California. Agricultural Department.—Ildentification of plants to which cer- tain Indian names are given. Board of Geographic Names.—Services of chief as a2 member of this Board in collaboration with many other departments of the Government. Studies of the Haida Indians of British Columbia and Alaska— An expedition to study the Haida Indians, financed jointly by the Jesup North Pacific Expedition and the Bureau. It is felt that the above work stimulates public interest in the various industries of the American aborigines, and by the preservation of the ruins of their former habitations, gives impetus to the move- ment called “See America First.” The Bureau is frequently called upon by business companies for translation of Indian names, and for pictures, etc., for commercial use. It also aids Camp Fire Girls, Scouts, etc. THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART The National Gallery of Art is now in the third year of its exis- tence as a separate unit of the Smithsonian Institution, and energies of the limited staff have been devoted mainly to the care, cataloguing, NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION 27 labeling, and installation of the collections. Cooperation with other galleries and other institutions interested in art has been carried out as opportunity offered: (1) By correspondence devoted to art subjects. (2) By exchange of photographs of art works. (3) By contributing matter relating to the collections for publi- cation. (4) By publication of illustrated catalogues of the collections. (5) By lectures on the collections delivered in educational cen- ters throughout the country. (6) By the temporary loan of art works for exhibition. (7) By circulating exhibits shown in art centers throughout the country. (8) By permitting the copying of art works; by permitting teach-. ers to instruct their classes in the Gallery; and by permitting portrait painters to hold their sittings in Gallery rooms. (9) By exhibiting art works belonging to artists and collectors seeking public attention, and by the care and display of collections be- longing to other galleries during periods of repair or construction of buildings. NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK The National Zoological Park is constantly cooperating with other government departments and with non-government scientific estab- lishments throughout the world. The following specific instances of such cooperation are typical of its service to other institutions : (1) Cooperates with the Biological Survey in establishing breed- ing experiments. (2) Furnishes animals to the Bureau of Animal Industry and the Public Health Service for pathological investigations. (3) Has at numerous times aided the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in obtaining portraits of animals for use on notes, bonds, etc. (4) Has furnished large quantities of fertilizer, etc., to the office of Public Buildings and Grounds. (5) Furnished needed materials for experimental work to the Bureau of Standards. (6) Furnished birds, etc., and cared for birds and reptiles be- longing to the Pan-American Union. : (7) Furnishes anatomical material to educational and scientific institutions throughout the country. (8) Through members of Congress, and otherwise, furnishes in- formation to public institutions in various parts of the United States, 28 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 76 especially plans for construction of buildings, cages, enclosures, care of wild animals, etc., and cooperates constantly with zoological socie- ties and similar public and private organizations in various activities. THE ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY The present work of the Astrophysical Observatory is of special interest to meteorologists, for since the temperature and other weather conditions of the earth depend upon the sun, the variations of the sun may probably produce predictable changes in weather conditions. For several years past, the monthly records of solar radiation have been furnished to the United States Weather Bureau for publication in its Monthly Weather Review. Since’ December, 1919, telegraphic reports of the daily observations at the Chile observing station have been sent to the Weather Service of Argentina, and have been em- ployed there for forecasting purposes. The Argentine Government, at present, publishes weekly a forecast, one week in advance, based upon the Chilean observations of the Smithsonian Institution. Frequent requests for information in regard to matters of solar radiation, physics, and astronomy are answered by the Astrophysical Observatory. (See also under Hodgkins Fund, p. 8.) INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGES Perhaps the most far-reaching of the forms of cooperation in which the Smithsonian has taken a leading part is that universally known under the title of the Smithsonian International Exchange Service. This system was established early in the history of the Institution, at first purely as a channel for the interchange of scientific publica- tions and specimens, and therefore as a direct means for “the diffu- sion of knowledge,” a means which has proved to be a great benefit to the scientific institutions of the world, and incidentally to Congress, in building up the unequaled collection of works of reference de- posited in its library. In order to convey an idea of the present magnitude and charac- ter of the exchange transactions, it may be stated that during the year 1889, 17,218 packages were mailed to correspondents in the United States, and 693 boxes, containing 58,035 packages, were shipped to agents abroad for distribution to correspondents in nearly every civilized nation of the earth. The total number of packages received was 75,966, of which 34,996, or nearly one-half, were gov- ernmental exchanges. In 1922, the number of packages handled had NO. 4 COOPERATIVE WORK OF THE INSTITUTION 29 increased to 383,157, weighing 592,600 pounds. The following table will show the consignments for foreign countries during the year 1921-22. CoNSIGNMENTS OF EXCHANGES FOR FOREIGN COUNTRIES No. of No. of Country boxes Country boxes PMSEERNEIFIE coo sive; clea sine sie leies LORS talva: tac cee choi has a tens eS 121 JAGR SORES ad Sa met AO Uiiehiakh eee an oiniancodtces orate 3 Be Satine ttc serstnes silat ne 3 ax SO apall, cores ese es Sales orsives 80 eoliviatinecrcta eter cocttnis kc seen Dea MOI AE Vlas crane fk es oie aes 12 TEAPEVZNI, | cone ey Ga ee RR ta ame AQmeeNetherlandsmn sees see PR A oe 80 Ritticln (COlobeSsso0cese oun beoc T5e New South WWales\)--).-%)-5)scce 43 Britis Gulanas- eno. c cie f acl tM News Zealand. sy ske clerics 28 ISUILGANENE, Ce Ae cere cere ars Omen Nicaragualans yee tiasramucicc cartoons 2 Camerde 2 sk Se eae ear eee SOM MNORWaNe acer econ ate mene 47 MEM ird cso oo% ees ae ee BGM Py ehaiaetiay at stale oes ee tewe to ee 4 (Gina Ne Settee ecto oO LOA EPR eriiaeeee ee ed ert ae Cee 22 OSE eee wrecker ne Tee Rolandi arc cacti ae 49 Golomiawesy