Nikola Tesla - Free-Energy Devices

HIGH FREQUENCY AND HIGH POTENTIAL CURRENTS. 129away or dissipated in the streamers, and the difference of potentialbetween the terminal and the hand is diminished.It is found in such experiments that the frequency of thevibration and the quickness of succession of the sparks betweenthe knobs affect to a marked degree the appearanceof thestreams. When the frequency is very low, the air gives way inmore or less the same manner as by a steady difference of potential,and the streams consist of distinct threads, generally mingledwith thin sparks, which probably correspond to the successivedischarges occurring between the knobs. But when the frequencyis very high, and the arc of the discharge produces asound which is loud and smooth (which indicates both that oscillationtakes place and that the sparks succeed each other withgreat rapidity), then the luminous streams formed are perfectlyuniform. They are generally of a purplish hue, but when themolecular vibration is increased by raising the potential, they assumea white color.The luminous intensity of the streams increases rapidly whenthe potential is increased; and with frequencies of only a fewhundred thousand, could the coil be made to withstand a sufficientlyhigh potential difference,there is no doubt that thespace around a wire could be made to emit a strong light,merely by the agitation of the molecules of the air at ordinarypressure.Such discharges of very high frequency which render luminousthe air at ordinary pressure we have very likely occasion towitness in the aurora borealis. From many of these experimentsit seems reasonable to infer that sudden cosmic disturbances,such as eruptions on the sun, set the electrostatic chargeof the earth in an extremely rapid vibration, and produce theglow by the violent agitation of the air in the upper and even inthe lower strata. It isthought that if the frequency were low?or even more so if the charge were not at allvibrating, thelower dense strata would break down as in a lightning discharge.Indications of such breaking down have been repeatedly observed,but they can be attributed to the fundamental disturbances,which are few in number, for the superimposed vibrationwould be so rapid as not to allow a disruptive break.The study of these discharge phenomena has led Mr. Tesla tothe recognition of some important facts. It was found, as alreadystated, that uascous matter must be most carefully excluded from