Proceedings of the Electrical section of the Franklin Institute

76

Chemical Sectzon--Electrical Section.

[J. F. I.,

PROCEEDINGS OF

THE

CHEMICAL

SECTION

OF TH E

FRANKLIN

INSTITUTE.

[Stated meeting held Tuesday, December zS, z89:.] HALL

OF THE

FRANKLIN

INSTITUTE,

PHILADELPHIA,December 15, I89I: Dr. W. H. WAHL, President, in the chair. Present, ten members and one visitor. Dr. Jayne moved that the by-laws be suspended and the regular order of business be done away with. Carried. The resignations of Messrs. Stevens and Gudeman were accepted by the Section. A motion renewing the subscriptions to the various periodicals, and authorizing the treasurer to pay for the same, was carried. The paper of the evening was by Prof. Jos. W. Richards, on " T h e Specific Heat of Aluminum." After a t~sum; of the work already done in that direction, Prof. Richards brought forward the results recently obtained by him. The paper was referred for publication. The meeting then adjourned. Lr~E K. FRANKEL, Secretary ~ro lem.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE

ELECTRICAL SECTION OF THE

FRANKLIN

INSTITUTE.

[Staled mee/in~, held Tuesday, December I, z89z.] HALL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA,December I, 189i. Prof. EDWIN J: HOUSTON, President, in the chair. Present, thirty members and visitors. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and approved. Three nominations to membership were referred to the Committee on Admissions. The committee reported four elections since last meeting.

Jan., I89.o. ]

Electrical

Section.

77

The Secretary presented his annual report, which showed an increase in the membership from sixteen at the organization January 17, 189I, to sixtyfour at present, with an average attendance of twenty-six at the ten meetings held during the year. The Treasurer presented his annual report, and it was referred to the Committee of Auditors. The following were elected officers f o r 1892 : Preside~zt--Prof. Edwin J. Houston. -Presidents--Messrs. C, W. Pike and Carl Hering. Secretary and Treasuyer--Prof. L, F. Rondinella. CoHservalor--Dr. Wm. H. Wahl. Mr. H. W. Bartol presented a communication on the " Electric Railway of Buda-Pesth," illustrated. Referred for publication. Mr. Carl Hering .described some details of the " Lauffen-Frankfort Alternating Current Transmission," with illustrations. Mr. Win. S. Aldrich read a paper on " Electro-Magnetic Machinery," which wa profusely illustrated, and is to be continued. The T }asurer presented bills for printing, etc., which were approved and ordered patid. Adjourned. L . F . RONDIN~LLA, Secrelary.

JOVE'S AUTOGRAPH. BY W. N. JENNINGS.

[Read at lhe slated meeting held A~ventber 3, I89z.1

To w a t c h the play o f electric fire and listen to the deep echo of its voice has always b e e n to m e a m o s t f a s c i n a t i n g pastime. M a n y y e a r s ago I noted a g r e a t difference b e t w e e n the actual a p p e a r a n c e of l i g h t n i n g itself and that depicted by artists such as Dor4: in the sky, a graceful, w a v i n g ribbon of light, and on canvas, an awkward, angular, zigzag line. Thinking, perhaps, m y eye-sight was defective, it occurred to me to see if the m o d e r n e x t r e m e l y sensitive p h o t o g r a p h i c plate could catch and record the true form of an electric discharge, and t h u s definitely decide the q u e s t i o n as to the zigzag or w a v y line. T h e w o r k was commenced, b u t not until S e p t e m b e r , i882, was I e n a b l e d to induce J o v e to write his a u t o g r a p h ; a little w a v y line a b o u t a half an inch long; thus e n c o u r a g e d the task was taken up with r e n e w e d interest, w h i c h has n e v e r flagged since t h a t time, and n o w it gives me g r e a t pleasure to bri~ag before the Electrical