In view of the prime importance of electricity to a modern
psychological laboratory, a rather elaborate system of wiring has
been designed and built in. The unit of this system is a small
delivery-board six inches wide by eight inches high, which carries
the following five circuits: _a_, a time-circuit for running magnetic
signals; _bb_, two low-tension circuits for chronoscope, bells,
signals, etc.; _c_, a high-tension alternating current (110 v. and 60
phases) for alt. current motors, to be used where great constancy of
speed is desired; _d_, a high-tension direct current (110 v.) for dir.
current motors, where it is desired to vary the speed continuously (by
the introduction of resistance). Two such delivery-boards have been
set on opposite walls of all except the smallest rooms, which have
but one board. Circuits _a_ and _b_ are represented on the board by
binding-posts, while the high-tension currents, _c_ and _d_, appear as
flush, protected sockets that take a double-pole plug.
Circuit _a_ is a single circuit led from a time-pendulum permanently
set in the battery-room, and carried once around the laboratory. It is
connected with the _a_ binding-posts of the individual delivery-boards
in parallel. It follows that the time-circuit is alike for all the
rooms at any one time; but in different hours the pendulum can be
adjusted to give various impulse-rates. If an investigation requires
some special rate of impulse, the special time-apparatus is set up in
the investigator's room and current for it taken from one of the _b_
pairs of posts.
Each _b_ pair goes directly from the delivery-board to the battery-room
and ends at a double-pole (telephone type) socket on a large
switch-board. Thus every room has two or four direct and independent
connections with the battery-room.
The _c_ and _d_ circuits do not come from the battery-room, but from
their respective generators that are stationed outside of the building.
They are of course connected at the delivery-boards in parallel.
The large switch-board in the battery-room consists of an upper and a
lower part. The upper part bears the double-pole sockets from the _b_
posts in all the rooms; the lower part carries some fifty pairs of
single-pole sockets that are connected with the batteries stationed
near by. These pairs are labelled, and some give a current from cells
of the Leclanché type, others of a gravity type. The student has merely
to choose the kind and number of cells that he needs, from the lower
part, and connect them with one of the double-pole sockets of the
upper part which runs to a _b_ pair in his own room. By connecting
two double-pole sockets with each other, the student can establish a
circuit between any two rooms of the laboratory,--this for purposes of
telephonic or other communication. Since every room has two, and most
of the rooms have four of the _b_ circuits, the greatest variety and
elasticity of service is attained.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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