Abstract
AMONG the manifold functions which the elementary substance carbon performs in organic nature, not the least important is that by which it becomes the great source of artificial illumination, whether derived from oils, coal gas, or from coke rendered incandescent by the action of powerful electric currents. Since the time when Davy first produced the voltaic arc, between two points of wood charcoal, through which was transmitted the current from the great battery of 2,000 plates belonging to the Royal Institution, many experiments have been made to determine the best kinds of carbon for developing the electric light. The carbon which, until recently, was most commonly employed for this purpose, is obtained from the sides of gas retorts, where it accumulates in the form of coke during the destructive distillation of coal. The shells of coke from the retort are sawn up into pencils from one quarter to half an inch square, and from six to nine inches in length. Although very good results are obtained from carbon of this kind, it is a difficult material to work on account of its hardness, and it sometimes contains impurities which interfere with its conductivity. It is also liable to fracture when suddenly heated by the transmission of powerful electric currents. These defects have led to the introduction in electric lighting of artificial carbon, composed of powdered coke and lampblack, formed into a paste with molasses and gum. This material is pressed into cylindrical forms, and subjected for a given time to a high temperature in a special furnace. The manufacture of these carbon pencils has attained great perfection in the hands of Carré, of Paris, and they can be made into perfectly straight and cylindrical forms of from two to sixteen millimetres in diameter, and half a metre in length.
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On Some Improved Methods of Producing and Regulating the Electric Light 1 . Nature 19, 78–79 (1878). https://doi.org/10.1038/019078a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/019078a0