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

Coming of Electric Lighting 229 own country was once again illustrated very con- vincingly. But the interests which, had supported Mr. Swan were not disposed to tolerate the American march of triumph. The Edison interests received a severe shaking-up, when at the heyday of their sensational advance, by the intervention of litigation. If Swan could not receive the public recognition he deserved spontaneously, then the law must decide to whom the honour is due. The fight over the claim for the invention of the incandescent electric light was fought stubbornly and bitterly. Thousands of pounds were sunk in trying to prove this and rebutting that. It was not until counsel dived into argument that Britain lealised what one of her own sons had contributed to the progress and amenities of the world. The upshot of this spirited bout in the Law Courts was somewhat unexpected, although perfectly logical under the unusual circumstances which pre- vailed at the time. Terms were arranged between the two antagonists, who decided to combine forces and thus be in a position to wage war against other claimants. In this manner was born, in 1883, the Edison and Swan United Electric Light Company, and the lamp placed upon the market was and is still known far and wide as the “ Ediswan,” a generic title formed by compounding the names of the British and American inventors. But although Swan failed to receive an unassailable distinction in the courts, he obtained it from the foremost scientific body in the world—the Royal Society of Great Britain—by the bestowal of one of its highest honours, the Hughes Medal, which