New Wonders in Electric Lighting

By means of currents alternating with very high frequency, Prof. Nikola Tesla has succeeded in passing by induction through glass of a lamp energy sufficient to keep a filament in a state of incandescence without the use of connecting wires. He has even lighted a room by producing in it such a condition that an illuminating appliance may be placed anywhere and lighted without being electrically connected with anything.

He has produced the required condition by creating in the room a powerful electrostatic field alternating very rapidly. He suspends two sheets of metal, each connected with one of the terminals of the coil. In an exhausted tube is carried anywhere, it remains always luminous.

The extent to which this method of illumination may be practically available experiments alone can decide. In any case, our insight into the possibilities of static electricity has been extended and the ordinary electric machine will cease to be regarded as a mere toy. — From "Electricity in Relation to Science," by Prof. William Crookes in Popular Science Monthly.