Another type of filament lamp was developed by Nernst in 1897. It was an ingenious application of the peculiar properties of rare-earth oxides. His first lamp consisted essentially of a slender rod of magnesia. This substance does not conduct electricity at ordinary temperatures, but when heated to incandescence it becomes conducting. Upon sufficient heating of this filament by external means while a proper voltage is impressed upon it, the electric current passes through it and thereafter this current will maintain its temperature. Thus such a filament becomes a conductor and will continue to glow brilliantly by virtue of the electrical energy which it converts into heat. Later lamps consisted of "glowers" about one inch long made from a mixture of zirconia and yttria, and finally a mixture of ceria, thoria, and zirconia was used. The glower is heated initially by a coil of platinum wire located near it but not in contact with it. Owing to the fact that this glower decreases rapidly in resistance as its temperature is increased, it is necessary to place in series with it a substance which increases in resistance with increasing current. This is called a "ballasting resistance" and is usually an iron wire in a glass bulb containing hydrogen. The heater is cut out by an electromagnet when the glower goes into operation. This lamp is a marvel of ingenuity and when at its zenith it was installed to a considerable extent. Its light is considerably whiter than that of the carbon filament lamps. However, its doom was sounded when metallic filament lamps appeared. An interesting filament was developed by Parker and Clark by using as a core a small filament of carbon. This flashed in an atmosphere containing a vapor of a compound of silicon, became coated with silicon. This filament was of high specific resistance and appeared to have promise. It has not been introduced commercially and doubtless it cannot compete with the latest tungsten lamps. Electric incandescent lamps are the present mainstay of electric illumination and, it might be stated, of progress in lighting. Wonderful achievements have been accomplished in other modes of lighting and the foregoing statement is not meant to depreciate those achievements. However, the incandescent filament lamp has many inherent advantages. The light-source is enclosed in an air-tight bulb which makes for a safe, convenient lamp. The filament is capable of subdivision, with the result that such lamps vary from the minutest spark of the smallest miniature lamp to the enormous output of the largest gas-filled tungsten lamp. The outputs of these are respectively a fraction of a lumen and twenty-five thousand lumens; that is, the luminous intensity varies from an equivalent of a small fraction of a standard candle to a single light-source emitting light equivalent to two thousand standard candles.