trical forces in nature and which seemed at first unrealizable by any human agencies; but by gradual and continuous improvements of a generator of electrical oscillations, which I 105have described in my Patents Nos. 645,576 and 649,621, I finally succeeded in reaching electrical movements or rates of delivery of electrical energy not only approximating, but, as shown in many comparative tests and 110measurements, actually surpassing those of lightning discharges, and by means of this apparatus I have found it possible to reproduce whenever desired phenomena in the earth the same as or similar to those due to such 115discharges. With the knowledge of the phenomena discovered by me and the means at command for accomplishing these results I am enabled not only to carry out many operations by the use of known instruments, but 120also to offer a solution for many important problems involving the operation or control of remote devices which for want of this knowledge and the absence of these means have heretofore been entirely impossible. For 125example, by the use of such a generator of stationary waves and receiving apparatus properly placed and adjusted in any other locality, however remote, it is practicable to transmit intelligible signals or to control or 130actuate at will any one or all of such apparatus for many other important and valuable purposes, as for indicating wherever desired the correct time of an observatory or for ascertaining the relative position of a body or 135distance of the same with reference to a given point or for determining the course of a moving object, such as a vessel at sea, the distance traversed by the same or its speed, or for producing many other useful effects at a distance 140dependent on the intensity, wave length, direction or velocity of movement, or other feature or property of disturbances of this character.
I shall typically illustrate the manner of 145applying my discovery by describing one of the specific uses of the sam—namely, the transmission of intelligible signals or messages between distant points—and with this object reference is now made to the accompanying 150drawings, in which—
Figure 1 represents diagrammatically the generator which produces stationary waves in the earth, and Fig. 2 an apparatus situated in a remove locality for recording the effects of 155these waves.
In Fig. 1, A designates a primary coil forming part of a transformer and consisting generally of a few turns of a stout cable of inappreciable resistance, the ends of which are 160connected to the terminals of a source of powerful electrical oscillations, diagrammatically represented by B. This source is usually a condenser charged to a high potential and discharged in rapid succession through the 165primary, as in a type of transformer invented by me and not well known; but when it is desired to produce stationary waves of great lengths an alternating dynamo of suitable construction may be used to energize the primary A. C is a spirally-wound secondary coil 170within the primary having the end nearer to the latter connected to the ground E′ and the other end to an elevated terminal E. The physical constants of coil C, determining its period of vibration, are so chosen and adjusted that the175 secondary system E′ C E is in the closest possible resonance with the oscillations impressed upon it by the primary A. It is, moreover, of the greatest importance in order to still further enhance the rise of pressure and to180 increase the electrical movement in the secondary system that its resistance be as small as practicable and its self-induction as large as possible under the conditions imposed. The ground should be made with great care,185 with the object of reducing its resistance. Instead of being directly grounded, as indicated, the coil C may be joined in series or otherwise to the primary A, in which case the latter will be connected to the plate E′; but190 be it that none or a part or all of the primary or exciting turns are included in the coil C the total length of the conductor from the ground-plate E′ to the elevated terminal E should be equal to one-quarter of the wave195 length of the electrical disturbance in the system E′ C E or else equal to that length multiplied by an odd number. This relation being observed, the terminal E will be made to coincide with the points of maximum 200pressure in the secondary or excited circuit, and the greatest flow of electricity will take place in the same. In order to magnify the electrical movement in the secondary as much as possible, it is essential that its inductive 205connection with the primary A should not be very intimate, as in ordinary transformers, but loose, so as to permit free oscillation—that is to say, their mutual induction should be small. The spiral form of coil C secures this210 advantage, while the turns near the primary A are subjected to a strong inductive action and develop a high initial electromotive force. These adjustments and relations being carefully completed and other constructive 215features indicated rigorously observed, the electrical movement produced in the secondary system by the inductive action of the primary A will be enormously magnified, and the increase being directly proportionate to the inductance220 and frequency and inversely to the resistance of the secondary system. I have found it practicable to produce in this manner an electrical movement thousands of times greater than the initial—that is, the one impressed225 upon the secondary by the primary A—and I have thus reached activities or rates of flow of electrical energy in the system E′ C E measured by many tens of thousands of horsepower. Such immense movements of 230elec-
