FIG. 48.—SEARCH LIGHT ON MOUNT LOWE, CALIFORNIA.
Brilliant as is the arc lamp, far more in evidence is the incandescent lamp. The little glass bulb with its tiny thread of light we find everywhere. Popular opinion and the decision of the courts accord this invention to Thomas A. Edison. The evolution of the incandescent lamp is, however, interesting, and may be briefly sketched as follows:
FIG. 49.—FIRST INCANDESCENT LAMP, BY PROFESSOR GROVE, 1840.
FIG. 50.—
STARR-KING LAMP.
In 1845 there appeared in the Philosophical Magazine a description of what was probably the first incandescent electric light. It was devised in 1840 by William Robert Grove, the inventor of the Grove battery, and is illustrated in [Fig. 49]. It is stated that he experimented and read by it for hours. It was described as follows: