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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
116
Mention
of
the
electric
light
brings
us
to
an
important
act
of
the
inventor,
which,
though
done
on
behalf
of
his
brother
Werner,
was
pregnant
with
great
consequences.
This
was
his
announcement
before
a
meeting
of
the
Royal
Society,
held
on
February
14,
1867,
of
the
discovery
of
the
principle
of
reinforcing
the
field
magnetism
of
magneto-electric
generators
by
part
or
the
whole
of
the
current
generated
in
the
revolving
armature--a
principle
which
has
been
applied
in
the
dynamo-electric
machines,
now
so
much
used
for
producing
electric
light
and
effecting
the
transmission
of
power
to
a
distance
by
means
of
the
electric
current.
By
a
curious
coincidence
the
same
principle
was
enunciated
by
Sir
Charles
Wheatstone
at
the
very
same
meeting;
while
a
few
months
previously
Mr.
S.
A.
Varley
had
lodged
an
application
for
a
British
patent,
in
which
the
same
idea
was
set
forth.
The
claims
of
these
three
inventors
to
priority
in
the
discovery
were,
however,
anticipated
by
at
least
one
other
investigator,
Herr
Soren
Hjorth,
believed
to
be
a
Dane
by
birth,
and
still
remembered
by
a
few
living
electricians,
though
forgotten
by
the
scientific
world
at
large,
until
his
neglected
specification
was
unexpectedly
dug
out
of
the
musty
archives
of
the
British
Patent
Office
and
brought
into
the
light.
The
announcement
of
Siemens
and
Wheatstone
came
at
an
apter
time
than
Hjorth's,
and
was
more
conspicuously
made.
Above
all,
in
the
affluent
and
enterprising
hands
of
the
brothers
Siemens,
it
was
not
suffered
to
lie
sterile,
and
the
Siemens
dynamo-electric
machine
was
its
offspring.
This
dynamo,
as
is
well
known,
differs
from
those
of
Gramme
and
Paccinotti
chiefly
in
the
longitudinal
winding
of
the
armature,
and
it
is
unnecessary
to
describe
it
here.
It
has
been
adapted
by
its
inventors
to
all
kinds
of
electrical
work,
electrotyping,
telegraphy,
electric
lighting,
and
the
propulsion
of
vehicles.
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