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occurring in an instant, or without any perceptible duration of time; as, the passage of electricity appears to be instantaneous. His reason saw With instantaneous view, the truth of things. Thomson.

sfer o Insulating stool (Elec.), a stool with legs of glass or some other nonconductor of electricity, used for insulating a person or any object placed upon it.

Separated from other bodies by means of nonconductors of heat or electricity.

e act of separating a body from others by nonconductors, so as to prevent the transfer of electricity or of heat; also, the state of a body so separated.

gas (flame ignition -- now little used), by a hot tube (tube ignition) or the like, by an electric spark (electric ignition, the usual method is gasoline engines, or by the heat of compression, as in the Diesel engine. Gas and oil engines are chiefly of the stationary type. Gasoline engines are largely used for automob…

A device for opening and closing an electrical circuit; a vibrating spring or tuning fork, arranged to make and break a circuit at rapidly recurring intervals, by the action of the current itself.

Going between, or connecting, cities or towns; as, interurban electric railways.

Any agent by which irritation is produced; as, a chemical irritant; a mechanical or electrical irritant.

fibers to contraction, by artificial stimulation; as, the irritation of a motor nerve by electricity; also, the condition of a muscle and nerve, under such stimulation.

of units (ergs), and is practically equivalent to the energy expended in one second by an electric current of one ampere in a resistance of one ohm. One joule is approximately equal to 0.738 foot pounds. Joule's equivalent. See under Equivalent, n.

The law that the rate at which heat is produced in any part of an electric circuit is measured by the product of the square of the current into the resistance of that part of the circuit. If the current

An integrating wattmeter for measuring the energy in joules expended in an electric circuit or developed by a machine.

A spark produced by the jumping of electricity across a permanent gap.

A box through which the main conductors of a system of electric distribution pass, and where connection is made with branch circuits.

A device or mechanism for producing light by electricity. See Incandescent lamp, under Incandescent. Æolipile lamp, a hollow ball of copper containing alcohol which is converted into vapor by a lamp beneath, so as to make a powerful blowpipe flame when the vapor is ignited. Weale. -- Arc lamp (Elec.), a form of lamp i…

size belonging to a ship of war; also, an open boat of any size driven by steam, naphtha, electricity, or the like. Launching ways. (Naut.) See Way, n. (Naut.).

A glass jar or bottle used to accumulate electricity. It is coated with tin foil, within and without, nearly to its top, and is surmounted by a brass knob which communicates with the inner coating, for the purpose of charging it with electricity. It is so named from having been invented in Leyden, Holland.…

A discharge of atmospheric electricity, accompanied by a vivid flash of light, commonly from one cloud to another, sometimes from a cloud to the earth. The sound produced by the electricity in passing rapidly through the atmosphere constitutes thunder.

ion of some desired mechanical effect or work, as weaving by a loom, or the excitation of electricity by an electrical machine.

A voltaic series of two or more large plates, producing a great quantity of electricity of low tension, and hence adapted to the exhibition of electro-magnetic phenomena. [R.]