Page:Collected Physical Papers.djvu/99

Rh rushes of electricity; positive electricity flowing now in one direction, and immediately afterwards in an opposite direction.

For the production of oscillatory discharge, Hertz used plates or rods with sparking balls at the ends. He found that the sparks ceased to be oscillatory as soon as the surface of the sparking balls became roughened; there was then a leak of electricity, and no sudden discharge. The balls had to be taken out every now and then for repolishing, and the process was tedious in the extreme. Prof. Lodge made the important discovery that if two side balls were made to spark into an interposed third ball, the oscillatory nature of the discharge was not affected to so great an extent by a change in the nature of the surface. But even here the disintegration of the sparking surface produced by a torrent of sparks soon puts an end to oscillation. I found this difficulty removed by making the balls of platinum, which resists the disintegrating action. I also found that it was not at all necessary to have a series of useless sparks, which ultimately spoils the efficiency of the radiator and makes its action uncertain. A flash of radiation for an experiment is obtained from a single spark, and for a series of experiments one does not require more than fifty or a hundred sparks, which do not in any way affect the radiator. As an electric generator I use a small and modified form of Ruhmkorff's coil, actuated by a single storage cell. A spark is produced by a short contact and subsequent break of a tapping key. With these modifications one of the most troublesome sources of uncertainty is removed. The coil and the cell are enclosed in a small double-walled metallic box, with a tube for the passage of the electric beam. The magnetic