Fig. 29.
It was, therefore, in the year 1885 that the problem of current distribution by means of transformers was solved in a truly practical manner. The ideas which led the inventors to this thoroughly successful solution were then so unknown to practical and theoretical electricians, that it was long ere they were understood and appreciated. Even in February, 1886, such an electrician as Prof. Forbes maintained in his Cantor Lectures that the parallel connection of transformers was quite impracticable. He believed, namely, that a connection such as shown in Fig. 29 was useless, because the difference of potential at the generator diminished from the machine outwards, but that a connection such as shown in Fig. 30 must be used. According to him, in a direct system of distribution each lamp should have a separate lead, and having regard to the great number of leads which would thus be necessary, he concluded that the series method of connection was the right one. One would suppose that Prof. Forbes was not aware of the weighty disadvantages of this method. However, that was not the case. He proposed, that with series connection the strength of current should be kept constant, and that each transformer should have an especial regulating apparatus—the raising or lowering of the core; which, by the way, is an arrangement impracticable in a well designed transformer. Such a regulating apparatus has lately been made automatic.
Fig. 30.
