It
exists, and is merely gathered, in a measure and to a certain extent
confined and controlled, and sent out as a _concentrated form of
energy_ on its various errands. Should a means for the concentration
of this universally diffused energy be found whereby it could be made to
gather, by the new arrangement of some natural law such as places it in
enormous quantities in the thundercloud, a revolution that would
permeate and visibly change all the affairs of men would take place,
since the industrial world is not a thing apart, but affects all men,
and all institutions, and all thought.
The other desideratum, more reasonable apparently, yet far from present
accomplishment, is a means of storing and carrying a supply of
electricity when it has been gathered by the means now used, or by any
means.
THE STORAGE BATTERY is an attempt in this last direction. The name is
misleading, since even in this attempt electricity is in no sense
"stored," but a chemical action producing a current takes place in the
machine. The arrangement is in its infancy.
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