An Arc lamp with two clockwork mechanisms for the automatic advancement of the electrodes, which can be powered both by direct current (60 V - 5 A) and alternating current (50 V - 6 A) and is equipped with an 18-ohm load resistor for connection at 150 volts.
As a source of high-intensity white light, it was used both in teaching and research. By introducing a metal paste in an axial hole in one of the electrodes (the positive one if used with direct current) it could be used in spectroscopy to study the spectrum of that metal; following the same procedure it could be used as a source of monochromatic light by isolating, with the aid of a monochromator, one line of the spectrum.
Since the lamp was attached to a jointed, nickel-plated staff six centimetres long sliding within a pipe set on a rectangular, cast iron base, it could be set at different angles and heights; at its lowest point its height is 34 cm. ...continues