In 1856 he invented the Siemens' magneto-electric dial instrument
giving alternate currents. From this apparatus originated the well-known
Siemens' armature, and from the receiver was developed the Siemens'
polarised relay, with which the working of submarine and other lines
could be effected with alternate currents; and in the same year, during
the laying of the Cagliari to Bona cable, he constructed and first
applied the dynamometer, which has become of such importance in the
operations of cable laying.
In 1857, he investigated the electro-static induction and retardation of
currents in insulated wires, a phenomenon which he had observed in 1850,
and communicated an account of it to the French Academy of Sciences.
'In these researches he developed mathematically Faraday's theory of
molecular induction, and thereby paved the way in great measure for
its general acceptance.' His ozone apparatus, his telegraph instrument
working with alternate currents, and his instrument for translating on
and automatically discharging submarine cables also belong to the year
1857. The latter instruments were applied to the Sardinia, Malta, and
Corfu cable.
In 1859, he constructed an electric log; he discovered that a dielectric
is heated by induction; he introduced the well known Siemens' mercury
unit, and many improvements in the manufacture of resistance coils. He
also investigated the law of change of resistance in wires by heating;
and published several formulae and methods for testing resistances
and determining 'faults' by measuring resistances. These methods were
adopted by the electricians of the Government service in Prussia, and by
Messrs. Siemens Brothers in London, during the manufacture of the
Malta to Alexandria cable, which, was, we believe, the first long cable
subjected to a system of continuous tests.
'In 1861, he showed that the electrical resistance of molten alloys is
equal to the sum of the resistances of the separate metals, and that
latent heat increases the specific resistance of metals in a greater
degree than free heat.' In 1864 he made researches on the heating of the
sides of a Leyden jar by the electrical discharge. In 1866 he published
the general theory of dynamo-electric machines, and the principle of
accumulating the magnetic effect, a principle which, however, had been
contemporaneously discovered by Mr. S. A. Varley, and described in
a patent some years before by Mr. Soren Hjorth, a Danish inventor.
Hjorth's patent is to be found in the British Patent Office Library, and
until lately it was thought that he was the first and true inventor of
the 'dynamo' proper, but we understand there is a prior inventor still,
though we have not seen the evidence in support of the statement.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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