Life Movements in Plants, Volume IBose, Jagadis Chandra
Science
Life Movements in Plants, Volume I
Bose, Jagadis Chandra
Growth (Plants); Plants -- Irritability and movements
MAGNETIC AMPLIFICATION.
The magnification obtained with two levers was, as stated before,
10,000 times. It may be thought that further magnification is possible
by a compound system of three levers. There is, however, a limit to
the number of levers that may be employed with advantage, for the
slight overweight of the last lever becomes multiplied and exerts
very great tension on the plant, which interferes with the normal
rate of its growth. The friction at the bearings also becomes added up
by an increase in the number of levers, and this interferes with the
uniformity of the movement of the last recording lever. For securing
further magnification, additional material contact has, therefore, to
be abandoned. I have recently been successful in devising an ideal
method of magnification without contact. The movement of the lever of
the Crescograph upsets a very delicately balanced magnetic system.
The indicator is a reflected spot of light from a mirror carried by
the deflected magnet. Taking a single lever with the lengths of two
arms 125 mm. and 2.5 mm. respectively we obtain a magnification of 50
times. The magnetic system gives a further magnification of 20,000
the total magnification being thus a million times. This was verified
by moving by means of a micrometer screw the short arm of the lever
through 0.005 mm. The resulting deflection of the spot of light at a
distance of 4 metres was found to be 5,000 mm. or a million times the
movement of the short arm. It is not difficult to produce a further
magnification of 50 times by attaching a second lever to the first. The
total magnification would in this case be 50 million times.
A concrete idea of this will be obtained when we realise that by the
Magnetic Crescograph a magnification can be obtained which is about
50,000 times greater than that produced by the highest power of a
microscope. This order of magnification would lengthen a wave of sodium
light to about 3,000 cm. I am not aware of any existing method by which
it is possible to secure an amplification of this order of magnitude.
The application of this will undoubtedly be of great help in many
physical investigations, some of which I hope to complete in the near
future.
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