Miscellany.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume V, Issue 431, 7 September 1880, Page 3

Miscellany.

THE DIAPHOTE.

(Observer.)

In these clays it seems almost impossible to invent anything, for as soon as a novelty appears some half-dozen antiquarians or men of science immediately rush into print to prove that the so-called novelty is but the revival, or at best the adaptation, of an old idea. Such is the fate, of the Diaphote, an ingenious instrument invented by Dr H. Jechs, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The 1 Diaphote, if it succeeds, is indeed the greatest marvel of the age, That, by means of electricity, we should- be able, to transmit messages and infinite and articulate sounds to considerable distances is wonderful enough,ibut that by the same agency, we should be able to show a person an object 1,000 miles distant,'strains the faith of non-scientific people to the utmost. Yet we are assured that tho powers of the Diaphote were successfully tested very recently before a large audience at Reading, in the United States. At the one end of the wire was placed a mirror composed of seleniunl and iodide of silver, and at the other end a second mirror composed of selenium and chromium. Each mirror is built up of little plates, and the corresponding couples are connected by separate wires. At the trial at Reading the receiving mirror was taken down to a room below the lecture hall, and yaioiis objects, such as a watch, the part of a printed handbill, and the head of. a live kitten were shown by telegraph to the audience. It is stated that this is no new invention, and that similar experiments to those which took pi ace, at "Reading were, made last year at in the South of France. Be that as it may. Dr Jechs deserves great credit for either working but ami perfecting tho idea, or for having simultaneously with oth< r men of science hit upon the same d : sco\ery. The question is, will tho Diuphote be of any practical use, provo t;i bo more than n scientific toy? it t-uiia -1c -.vires were laid on all 'in s we cm imagine that tbo Diaplioto mi-lit 1.-c us.(l to adv.* nfAgo by the police when its men w slu'd promptly to identify a witness, or suspected criminal. As a private luxury, ton, it would be \ery uilunhlc. A husband or lover could gratify bin.self, though thousand? of miles off. with frequent sights of his beloved's face. A fond father, toiling in India, could keep himself acquainted with tho features and appearance of his children in England. In many ways, indeed, would the Diaphote be a private luxury, but there is the question of expense, and the cost of special wires will, we fancy, prevent the general introduction of this ingenious apparatus.