would ever think of an installation made upon any other plan.
Thus Mr. Edison's early conceptions of the necessities of a complete
system, one of them made even in advance of practice, have stood firm,
unimproved, and unchanged during the past twenty-eight years, a period
of time which has witnessed more wonderful and rapid progress in
electrical science and art than has been known during any similar art or
period of time since the world began.

It must be remembered that the complete system in all its parts is not
comprised in the few of Mr. Edison's patents, of which specific mention
is here made. In order to comprehend the magnitude and extent of his
work and the quality of his genius, it is necessary to examine minutely
the list of patents issued for the various elements which go to make up
such a system. To attempt any relation in detail of the conception and
working-out of each part or element; to enter into any description of
the almost innumerable experiments and investigations that were
made would entail the writing of several volumes, for Mr. Edison's
close-written note-books covering these subjects number nearly two
hundred.

It is believed that enough evidence has been given in this chapter
to lead to an appreciation of the assiduous work and practical skill
involved in "inventing a system" of lighting that would surpass, and to
a great extent, in one single quarter of a century, supersede all the
other methods of illumination developed during long centuries. But it
will be appropriate before passing on to note that on January 17, 1908,
while this biography was being written, Mr. Edison became the fourth
recipient of the John Fritz gold medal for achievement in industrial
progress. This medal was founded in 1902 by the professional friends
and associates of the veteran American ironmaster and metallurgical
inventor, in honor of his eightieth birthday. Awards are made by a board
of sixteen engineers appointed in equal numbers from the four great
national engineering societies--the American Society of Civil
Engineers, the American Institute of Mining Engineers, the American
Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Institute of
Electrical Engineers, whose membership embraces the very pick and flower
of professional engineering talent in America. Up to the time of the
Edison award, three others had been made. The first was to Lord Kelvin,
the Nestor of physics in Europe, for his work in submarine-cabl