ction
of great works of literature, if visually presented to the child must
necessarily impress his mind with greater force than if shown by mere
words. We predict that the time is not far distant when, in many of
our public schools, two or three hours a week will be devoted to this
rational and effective form of education.

By applying microphotography to motion pictures an additional field
is opened up, one phase of which may be the study of germ life and
bacteria, so that our future medical students may become as familiar
with the habits and customs of the Anthrax bacillus, for example, as of
the domestic cat.

From whatever point of view the subject is approached, the fact remains
that in the motion picture, perhaps more than with any other invention,
Edison has created an art that must always make a special appeal to the
mind and emotions of men, and although so far it has not advanced much
beyond the field of amusement, it contains enormous possibilities for
serious development in the future. Let us not think too lightly of the
humble five-cent theatre with its gaping crowd following with breathless
interest the vicissitudes of the beautiful heroine. Before us lies an
undeveloped land of opportunity which is destined to play an important
part in the growth and welfare of the human race.

CHAPTER XXII

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE EDISON STORAGE BATTERY

IT is more than a hundred years since the elementary principle of the
storage battery or "accumulator" was detected by a Frenchman named
Gautherot; it is just fifty years since another Frenchman, named Plante,
discovered that on taking two thin plates of sheet lead, immersing them
in dilute sulphuric acid, and passing an electric current through the
cell, the combination exhibited the ability to give back part of the
original charging current, owing to the chemical changes and reactions
set up. Plante coiled up his sheets into a very handy cell like a little
roll of carpet or pastry; but the trouble was that the battery took a
long time to "form." One sheet becoming coated with lead peroxide
and the other with finely divided or spongy metallic lead, they would
receive current, and then, even after a long period of inaction, furnish
or return an electromotive force of from 1.85 to 2.2 volts. This ability
to store up electrical energy produced by dynamos in hours otherwise
idle, whether driven by steam, wind, or water, was a distinct advance
in the art; but the s