15 APRIL 1922, Page 3

An article in the Electrical Review of March 24th. describes

the alleged invention of a foolproof indestructible electric battery which does not deteriorate ! This battery, we are told, is the invention of an Englishman, and its makers are Messrs. Siebe Gorman and Co., Ltd. The inventor makes the following extraordinary claim for the new battery:— " It has 300 to 800 per cent. greater capacity than any other battery has hitherto attained. It is indestructible. as a, battery. It is rechargeable in 15 minutes. It cannot sulphate. It 'possesses such chemical purity that no ` local action' takes place, consequently it may be' left for a period of years; in any state of charge or discharge without the slightest change or deterioration."

We know nothing about the invention and have no opinion; as to whether it is practical or a, dream. If, however, it should prove to be practical there can be no doubt that the world will) have been endowed with something that may make up for

the whole economic waste of the War. Wind and water, with such a battery, would soon give us• a motive.. power far cheaper, far more easily applicable, and so far more useful than petroleum. 'It would be better to have such• a battery than to have a well

spouting oil in every county' in Britain. Let us- hope it will materialize and not prove a tantalizing delusion like so many of its predecessors ! In any ease, the • new. •lead battery is now being tested at the National Physical Laboratory.