The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 40
Storage of Electric Force
Storage of Electric Force.
A Correspondent writing to the Times, records the accomplishment of the following fact, which, as he remarks is unparalleled in the annals of modern science :—
"A short time ago your able Paris correspondent announced the discovery by M. Camille Faure of the practical means of storing electric energy and rendering it portable, so as to be applied to many purposes hitherto considered, if not impossible, extremely difficult. The public sëance at the Sociètè d' Encouragement pour l'Industrie, which was presided over by the doyen of the French Academy of Science, M. J. B. Dumas, and at which were present some of our eminent English scientists, proved that M. Faure's discovery was no mere labatory experiment, but substantially one of great practical utility. I was myself one of the many sceptics, and would not on mere hearsay believe such statements as were being published in the Paris Press. But conviction came by personal verification, and the crowning point of all has just been attained. It is this I wish to record. On Monday last, in Paris, a Faure battery, or pile secondaire, was charged with the electric fluid direct from the ordinary Grove battery and in my presence. It may be more economically done from a Gramme or Siemens machine. The receptacle consisted of four Faure batteries, each about 5in. diameter, and 10in. high, forming a cylindrical leaden vessel, and containing alternate sheets of metallic lead and minium wrapped in felt and rolled into a spiral wetted with acidulated water, and the whole placed in a square wooden box, measuring about 1 cubic foot, and weighing some 75lbs. This was protected by a loose wooden cover, through which the electrodes (in lead) protruded, and were flattened down for convenience of transport. This box of "electric energy" was handed to me by M. Faure, at my request, with the object of submitting it for examination and measurement to our eminent electrician Sir William Thomson, F.R.S. at the University of Glasgow. I had the box by me all through the journey from Paris on Tuesday night, including a five hours' delay at Calais. I arrived at Charing Cross at 11 a.m, on Wednesday, after running the gauntlet of customs and police authorities, who suspiciously looked askance, and seemed to doubt my statement that my box only held "condensed lightning," and contained no infernal machine or new explosive destined to illustrate some diabolical Socialistic tragedy. From time to time on the journey, I tested the force of the discharge, and found it to have well maintained its energy. From London to Glasgow required only another 10 hours, and Anally, in about 72 hours from the time of charging in Paris, I had the satisfaction of presenting to Sir William Thomson M. Faure's rare offering of a "box of electricity," intact and potent, holding by measurement within that small space of one cubie foot a power equivalent to nearly one million of foot pounds! This wonderful box is now deposited in the laboratory of the Glasgow University, under the vigilant eye of its director, and being submitted to a series of tests and measurements, the results of some of which made Sir William exclaim ' Why, it's a little witch.' I must not, however, trespass on Sir William's ground as to the scientific results, which doubtless he himself will give to the public through the proper channels. But I must generally say that the advantages to science and humanity at large which this discovery (or rather perfection of Mr. G. Plante's discovery) is destined to afford are of such transcendent importance that we cannot for the present form any correct estimate of their magnitude. In short, I have only to add that its future seems as certain as its stored force is potential and as brilliant as its own bright light. But, whatever may be the practical results obtained, I have the satisfaction of recording that for the first time to my knowledge in the history of the universe has a box of electric energy nearly equivalent to a million of foot pounds contained within less than a cubic foot of space, intact and potential, been transported from France or elsewhere to Great Britain,"
" Endymion."—Mr. Edmund Yates is responsible for the following paragraph, which appeared in the first number of the Cuckoo: "Although Lord Beaconsfield has often proved himself a most implacable political opponent, in private life, at least, he is one of the most considerate of men. The other day he sent Lord Rowton as his emissary to Messrs. Longman to say that he much regretted to hear that they were out of pocket by his last novel, and proposing, if such was the case, to abrogate the contract, and place "Endymion" on the same footing as "Lothair," which was published on the half-profit system. In reality this amounted to making Messrs. Longman a present of something like £3,000. However, that eminent firm replied that although it was true that they had not so far been recouped the price they had given, they felt no reason to doubt that they would be in course of time, but in any case, as men of business, they could not think of availing themselves of Lord Beaconsfield's liberal and considerate offer. It is but right that an incident reflecting such credit to both author and publisher should be duly chronicled—albeit, a cheap edition of "Endymion" is to appeal forthwith." The Academy says that whatever may have been the case in this country, ten thousand copies of "Endymion" have been sold in Canada, being the largest sale which any book has yet reached in the Dominion. Mr. Jennings, formerly of the London Press, furnishes to the New York World the following key to the characters : " Endymion Ferrars, the noble author; Mera Ferras' his sister, Eugenie, ex-Empress of the French; Prince Florestan, Louis Napoleon, with some traits of Alfonso of Spain; Agrippina, Queen Hortense, mother of Napoleon III; Zenobia, Lady Jersey and Lady Holland; Baron Sergius, Baron Brunnow, who effected the famous Quadruple Alliance of 1840; Nigel Penruddock, Cardinal Manning, with traits of Cardinal Wiseman; Job Thornberry, Richard Cobden; Sidney Wilton, Sydney Herbert, afterwards Lord Herbert of Lea; Lord Rockhampton, Lord Palmerston; Lord Montfort, the Earl of Dudley, with allusions to Lord Eglington and Lord Melbourne; Mr. Neuchatel, Baron Lionel Rothschild ; Adriana, Lady Rosebery, with suggestions of Lady Burdett-Coutts; Berengaria (Lady Montfort), the late Hon. Mrs. Norton; Lord Rawchester, Earl Granville; Earl of Beaumaris, the late Earl of Derby; Mr. Ferrars the grandfather), Right Hon. George Rose, confidant of Pitt; George Waldershare, George Smythe; Mr. Jorrocks, Mr. Milner Gibson; Hortensius, Sir William Vernon Harcourt; Mr. Bertie Tremaine, Mr. Monckton Millies, Lord Houghton; Mr. St. Barbe, W. M. Thackeray; Mr. Gushy, Charles Dickens; Vigo (the tailor), Poole, the tailor, with suggestions of Hudson, the railway king; Count Ferrol, Prince Bismarck; Dr. Comely, Bishop Wilberforce ('Soapy Sam'); Topsy Turvy, 'Vanity Fair;' Scaramouch. 'Punch.'" A similar key is furnished in "Notes and Queries."
The Canadian Minister of Agriculture has addressed, through the Governor-General, a memorandum to the British government, proposing an extensive organization of Irish emigration to Manitoba and North-west Canada.
The Publisher's Circular understands that the Rev. W. B. Crickmer, of Beverley, is engaged on "The Greek Testament Englished;" a translation in which he proposes to give the absolute value and force of each Greek word in the corresponding English equivalent, irrespective of its grammatical order. The work will be published at an early date by Mr. Elliott Stock.
Shorthand Writing Extraordinary.—At a recent exhibition in Germany there was a post-card containing 33,000 words in shorthand. In emulation of this feat Mr. Hurst, of Sheffield, the publisher of the Phonograph, a shorthand magazine, offered prizes for miniature shorthand. The System was to be Pitman's, the writing to be legible to the naked eye, and to be on one side of an English post-card, which is considerably smaller than a German card, 25,000 words on the former being reckoned equivalent to 83,000 on the latter. The first prize in this competition was awarded to G. H. Davidson, chief shorthand and correspondence clerk to Messrs. Peek, Frean, and Co., whose post-card (a photograph of which we have received) contained 32,363 words, including the whole of Goldsmith's "She Stoops to Conquer," an essay on John Morley, and half of Holcroft's "Road to Ruin."
Liberty of the Press in Russia.—How would you like to live in a city into which it is prohibited to introduce two of the most important of the daily newspapers published in London, and where your Punch, your Illustrated London News, and your Graphic, when you are permitted to receive those journals, are found to have passed through the official censor's dirty paws, and to have been mutilated and defaced by him—now by the entire excision of a portrait or a cartoon, now by the blocking or stamping out, with some filthy black compound, of some article or paragraph which has been found obnoxious in the eyes of censorious and inquisitorial authority? Yes, St. Petersburg is His Imperial Majesty's Gaol, with a vengeance.— G. A. Sala, in the Daily Telegraph.
The average newspaper reporter is never abashed, and is equal to almost every emergency. One of the class was (says a New York paper) interviewing Mdle. Bernhardt the other day, when she grew enthusiastic over America, and expressed the wish that the nation had but one mouth, that she might kiss it. The reporter instantly suggested that he represented the nation to a certain extent, and he had "but one mouth!"
Alexander Rodanow, alias Nathan Ganz, editor of the Nihilist magazine, the Anarchist, of Boston, Mass., was arraigned in that city on March 28, for using the mail for fraudulent purposes. He had advertised extensively an imaginary watch manufacturing company, having head-quarters in Paris and Switzerland. He was acquitted through defective evidence. It is not likely he will publish his magazine any longer. Several of the British colonial newspapers were swindled by him.
The £12,000 received by Lord Beaconsfield for his last novel is believed to represent the largest amount given in England for any work of fiction. Scott received £8,000 for "Woodstock," and George Eliot the same amount for "MiddleMarch." Bulwer Lytton's earlier novels, even when he was the rage, did not bring him in more than from £600 to £1,000; but he subsequently received handsome amounts for the copyright of a collective edition. Lord Beaconsfield's earlier novels, notwithstanding the success of the first—"Vivian Grey"—had a very limited sale, and could be bought for next to nothing within a few months of publication. They never became in general request as components of a library, and, in England, were only read with interest by persons familiar with political and social life. "Coningsby" excited by far the most interest, and the key, which soon afterwards appeared, was eagerly scrutinised. Probably "Endymion" and "Lothair" have, together, produced more than double as much as all the previous works of the author, albeit very inferior to some of them. The "Curiosities of Literature," by the elder D' Israeli, must have produced a large sum of money; it forms part of every good collection of English books, and has passed through many editions. Dickens left £80,000, and a considerable slice of this came from books; but it was his Readings that made him affluent; and so too with Thackeray. For receipts from actual writing no one has yet approached Scott, whose income for several years ranged from £10,000 to £15,000 mainly drawn from this source. Richardson was the first Englishman who made a really good thing out of writing, and mainly because he was publisher of his own novels. In the past thirty years French novelists have received very large sums, but Balzac's rewards for his genius and tremendous toil were miserably small. Probably Miss Braddon's receipts from writing rank among the first half-dozen highest among writers of fiction; she has the advantage of a publisher for a husband (Mr. John Maxwell). Reynolds, who wrote "The Mysteries of London," and other works of a sensational type, was, from a pecuniary point of view, one of the most successful of British authors. Many of those books which pay so well are the last that would occur to persons as being lucrative; thus, "Thornton's Family Prayers" has been a little mine of money to an English family.— Philadelphia Printer's Circular.
The Marinoni Web Machines.—A French contemporary says there are 42 of these machines in England, 53 in France, 7 in Austria, 3 in Germany, 2 in America, 6 in Spain, 4 in Belgium, 4 in Italy. M. Marinoni has constructed altogether over 6,000 printing machines of one kind and another.
The Typologie Tucker, a French paper, contains a description of a new machine for writing shorthand, by means of which, it is said, 200 words a minute can be taken down. M. Michela is the inventor.
Mrs. Garfield, who speaks French and German fluently, is said to be the first President's wife able to talk with foreign diplomatists in the court languages of Europe.
The sudden introduction into the Prussian schools of a Government standard orthography, which has been, with some trifling exceptions, adopted by well-nigh all the German Governments, has done immense mischief to the German publishing trade. Large editions of books, just printed, have been made worthless by the unexpected steps of the Prussian Ministers. Nor is this all. The German publishers are in dread of another step in the march of uniformity to which the school-books are to be subjected. Instead of different books used in the different provinces of the kingdom, only those are to be allowed which have been written or compiled by order of the provincial authorities, or approved by them, and for the contents of which Government will take the responsibility. The German Booksellers' Union has petitioned the Prussian Minister, asking him to communicate to them his intention in time to prevent new ventures and considerable outlay in the school-book publishing line, which would again be put to severe loss were it once more taken unawares by a fait accompli.
The two leading magazines of the United States, Harper's and Scribner's, have immense circulations—the former being over 160,000 copies monthly, and the latter 115,000. Both now publish European editions. Scribner's has lately undergone a change in proprietorship. Charles Scribner's sons held 40 per cent, of the stock, Mr. J. Roswell Smith 30 per cent., and Dr. J. G. Holland 80 per cent. When the last-named gentleman retired, a short time ago, Mr. Smith purchased his stock, thus acquiring a controlling interest. Under the circumstances Charles Scribner's sons chose to withdraw from the enterprise, and therefore sold their stock to Mr. Smith, the price paid for their four-tenths being 250,000 dollars. The title of the magazine is to be changed at the end of the present volume. Last year Scribner's Monthly earned a net profit of 72,000 dollars.
Punctuation.—The following is given in the Printers' Miscellany, of St. John, N.B., as an exercise in punctuation. According as the points are inserted, it can be made to read either in favour or condemnation of the man described :—"He is an old and experienced man in vice and wickedness he is never found in opposing the works of iniquity he takes delight in the downfall of his neighbours he never rejoices in the prosperity of any of his fellow-creatures he is always ready to assist in sowing discord among his friends and acquaintances he takes no pride in labouring to promote the cause of right he has not been negligent in endeavouring to stigmatise all public teachers he makes no effort to subdue his evil passions he strives hard to build up Satan's kingdom he lends no aid to the support of the Gospel among the heathen he contributes largely to all that is evil he pays no attention to good advice he pays great heed." As an exercise for young people this may be offered. It is at least as good as the usual puzzles of the periodicals.