All About Inventions and Discoveries
The Romance of modern scientific and mechanical Achievements

220 All About Inventions imagined, a current surpassing in power anything pre- viously attempted was obtained. Now that a means of generating the electricity upon a sufficiently large scale, and a reliable arc lamp, had been brought to success, commercial application of the idea was inevitable. But the field in which it was exploited differed very materially from what one might have expected. It was not taken in hand for the lighting of streets, houses, factories, or general buildings ; it was used for lighting the highways of the sea for the guidance of mariners. At the time, Professor Faraday—who first gave the principles underlying the dynamo to the world—was scientific adviser to the Trinity House Brethren, the authority responsible for the lighthouse protection of the coasts of England. He saw the electro-magnetic machine devised by Professor Holmes, and he was so impressed therewith that he strongly urged the lighthouse authorities to test the new illumination, to ascertain in a practical manner its suitability for this field of duty. His suggestion was accepted, and forthwith a complete installation was mounted in the South Foreland lighthouse, which thus ranks as the first lighthouse in the world in which electric lighting was adopted. It was a supreme test; and to ensure that the new idea should receive as fair a chance as was possi- ble, the installation was built with every care, because the responsibility of the light at this corner of the coast was fully appreciated. The lamp devised by Duboscq was first installed ; but in 1862 a lamp invented by Professor Holmes was set in position. With this installation many interesting investigations