FROM THE ELECTRIC LAMP.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21019, 7 May 1930, Page 13

FROM THE ELECTRIC LAMP.

A “ SYNTHETIC SL;N.” ■ i ■ ' ■ ■ ■■'. Synthetic sunlight,”. by means of which 1 ' any interior, * including, dark cellars can be transformed into as healthful a place, even in winter, as a. counti'y hillside, is promised by Dr M. Luckeish, writes tile London Daily Telegraph's New York special correspondent. fact a veritable new world era, he thinks, is to grow out of a comparatively small electric light bulb now being perfected by the General Electric Company, Speaking before the American Institute of Electrical ■ Engineers, Dr Luckeish, who is a well-known director of lighting research, explained a-device of brass, glass, copper, tungsten and mercury; inches long, and identified now as the “ Sunlight Lamp,” which he declared will finally replace- incandescent lights, and possess such hygienic attributes that “colds and the more serious ailments will diminish, nervous trouble will decrease, and the life of man will be extended by many years.” Habits of play and work will be changed, he predicted, social customs will be different, and fewer clothes may be worn in order to take advantage of the health-giving rays that will surround us at work and leisure. Dr Luckeish did not tuidertakc to say when the “ Sunlight Lamp ” would be perfected. But he seemed very confident of success, and indicated to the engineers present that we are at the dawn of an era of illumination not less remarkable than the radio age now developing. Synthetic sunlight,' dependent largely upon the tungsten rind mercury elements, will be very like the genuine rays, but will possess greater health-giving properties. The engineers listened spellbound to what one speaker described as the man’s declaration, of independence from Nature. . “ From the burning of crude materials, representing the first groat new era m artificial lighting, we have propressed,” said Dr Luckeish, “to the second great era, which began with the practical production of artificial light by means of electricity—the arc and filament lamps. We now pass to the threshold of another era, which suggests a potentiality as great as the two major ones which' preceded it.” He denounced the recent craze for ultra-violet rays as a cure-all by charlatans, but admitted that sunlight does cure and prevent rickets, and he said that statistics indicated that the death rate is lower in periods of plentiful sunshine than in its absence. Furthermore, sunlight is closely related to one or two vitamins, possibly to, all. . To secure the full benefits of the new illumination, walls and ceiling must be covered with substances which conserve the ultra-violet radiation, such as translucent quartz.