Transcriber’s Note: Italics are enclosed in _underscores_. Additional notes will be found near the end of this ebook. [Illustration: (cover)] “ROMANCE OF REALITY” SERIES Edited by ELLISON HAWKS ELECTRICITY _VOLUMES ALREADY ISSUED_ 1. THE AEROPLANE. By GRAHAME WHITE and HARRY HARPER. 2. THE MAN-OF-WAR. By Commander E. H. CURREY, R.N. 3. MODERN INVENTIONS. By V. E. JOHNSON, M.A. 4. ELECTRICITY. By W. H. MCCORMICK. 5. ENGINEERING. By GORDON D. KNOX. [Illustration: THE MARCONI TRANSATLANTIC WIRELESS STATION AT GLACE BAY, NOVA SCOTIA Drawing by Irene Sutcliffe] _“ROMANCE OF REALITY” SERIES_ ELECTRICITY BY W. H. McCORMICK [Illustration] NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS _Printed in Great Britain_ PREFACE I gladly take this opportunity of acknowledging the generous assistance I have received in the preparation of this book. I am indebted to the following firms for much useful information regarding their various specialities:-- Chloride Electrical Storage Co. Ltd.; General Electric Co. Ltd.; Union Electric Co. Ltd.; Automatic Electric Co., Chicago; Westinghouse Cooper-Hewitt Co. Ltd.; Creed, Bille & Co. Ltd.; India Rubber, Gutta Percha, and Telegraph Works Co. Ltd.; W. Canning & Co.; C. H. F. Muller; Ozonair Ltd.; Universal Electric Supply Co., Manchester; and the Agricultural Electric Discharge Co. Ltd. For illustrations my thanks are due to:-- Marconi’s Wireless Telegraph Co. Ltd.; Chloride Electrical Storage Co. Ltd.; Harry W. Cox & Co. Ltd.; C. H. F. Muller; W. Canning & Co.; Union Electric Co. Ltd.; Creed, Bille & Co. Ltd.; Ozonair Ltd.; Kodak Ltd.; C. A. Parsons & Co.; Lancashire Dynamo and Motor Co. Ltd.; Dick, Kerr & Co. Ltd.; Siemens Brothers Dynamo Works Ltd.; Vickers Ltd.; and Craven Brothers Ltd. Mr. Edward Maude and Mr. J. A. Robson have most kindly prepared for me a number of the diagrams, and I am indebted to Dr. Myer Coplans for particulars and a diagram of the heat-compensated salinometer. I acknowledge also many important suggestions from Miss E. C. Dudgeon on Electro-Culture, and from Mr. R. Baxter and Mr. G. Clark on Telegraphy and Telephony. Amongst the many books I have consulted I am indebted specially to _Electricity in Modern Medicine_, by Alfred C. Norman, M.D.; _Growing Crops and Plants by Electricity_, by Miss E. C. Dudgeon; and _Wireless Telegraphy_ (Cambridge Manuals), by Prof. C. L. Fortescue. I have derived great assistance also from the _Wireless World_. Finally, I have to thank Mr. Albert Innes, A.I.E.E., of Leeds, for a number of most valuable suggestions, and for his kindness in reading through the proofs. W. H. McC. LEEDS, 1915 CONTENTS