I have now trespassed long enough upon your patience, but I must just allude to what may very likely be the next striking popular discovery; and that is the transmission of light by electricity; I mean the transmission of such things as views and pictures by means of the electric wire. It has not yet been done, but it seems already theoretically possible, and it may very soon be practically accomplished. * * * * * INTERESTING ELECTRICAL RESEARCHES. During the last six years Dr. Warren de la Rue has been investigating, in conjunction with Dr. Hugo Muller, the various and highly interesting phenomena which accompany the electric discharge. From time to time the results of their researches were communicated to the Royal Society, and appeared in its Proceedings. Early last year Dr. De la Rue being requested to bring the subject before the members of the Royal Institution, acceded to the pressing invitation of his colleagues and scientific friends. The discourse, which was necessarily long postponed on account of the preparations that had to be made, was finally given on Friday, the 21st of January, and was one of the most remarkable, from the elaborate nature of the experiments, ever delivered in the theater of that deservedly famous institution. Owing to the great inconvenience of removing the battery from his laboratory, Dr. de la Rue, despite the great expenditure, directed Mr. S. Tisley to prepare, expressly for the lecture, a second series of 14,400 cells, and fit it up in the basement of the Royal Institution. The construction of this new battery occupied Mr. Tisley a whole year, while the charging of it extended over a fortnight. The "de la Rue cell," if we may so call one of these elements, consists of a zinc rod, the lower portion of which is embedded in a solid electrolyte, viz., chloride of silver, with which are connected two flattened silver wires to serve as electrodes. When these are united and the silver chloride moistened, chemical action begins, and a weak but constant current is generated. The electromotive force of such a cell is 1.03 volts, and a current equivalent to one volt passing through a resistance of one ohm was found to decompose 0.00146 grain of water in one second. The battery is divided into "cabinets," which hold from 1,200 to 2,160 small elements each. This facilitates removal, and also the detection of any fault that may occur.