The most brilliant artificial light that has ever shone on
the world,—that in the recently completed St. Catherine's Light- house, at the southernmost extremity of the Isle of Wight, which
burns with an illuminating power of over 7,000,000 candles, is described at length in Monday's Times. Previous to May 1st last, the light shown was only of 730 candles. The present light is flashed upon the sea, like some Titanic bull's-eye, for a period of five seconds at intervals of thirty seconds, and sends its rays to an enormous distance. It is curious to reflect that this mighty danger-signal is the direct and legitimate descendant of the beacon on the hill-top, and has its successive stages of development in the cradle of live coals on the watch-tower, the " tallow-candles, three to the pound," of Winstanley's Eddystone, the flat wick-lamp, and the comparatively recent products of science in the shape of concentric wick-lamps, and lenses and paraboloidal reflectors. We wonder to-day at such achievements as the new St. Catherine's light. Perhaps, however, our descendants will illuminate the more frequented sea-routes as we light our streets—great buoys, bearing powerful electric-lights upon them, might be sown broadcast round the coasts, with the electricity they need generated by the action of the tides— and will marvel that we could have been content to let the great ships blunder on to the rocks or against each other for lack of so simple a precaution.
Previous page
