"So stood matters with Mr. Keely until a few years ago, when, fortunately for his hopes of success, a new conception came to him by accident, as he asserts; one of those happy accidents, it would appear, which only men of the unusual capacity called genius are ready to take advantage of. Just what this conception was, Mr. Keely, with business-like caution, keeps to himself. The public, for the present at least, must be content with its visible results; but these are sufficiently noteworthy to amply repay consideration. They indicate two things: First, that Mr. Keely is no longer dealing with a power arising from gaseous pressure; and, second, that he has made this power capable of producing rotation, levitation, and other effects of mechanical energy. What he claims, in regard to the source of his new system of power, is that he is able to draw vibratory energy directly from space by the aid of special resonating expedients, and that this energy can be made to yield powerful attractive and repulsive force and be converted into vigorous rotary motion through the use of certain apparatus. The power obtained, he asserts, is duplex, or has two opposed conditions, like the positive and negative states of electricity. Mr. Keely denominates these conditions positive and negative, though with the reservation that these terms do not imply excess and deficiency, but simply opposite conditions of energy. He is able, he declares, to disturb the equilibrium of these opposed states of vibratory activity as they exist in the elements of nature, to draw them separately into his apparatus, and to produce mechanical motion as a result of the effort of nature to restore the disturbed equilibrium. [See Figure 13.14 - Equilibrium as Reciprocal Forces, Rhythmic Balanced Interchange]
This sounds like the language employed in electrical theory; and, indeed, aside from the fact that no evident source of electricity is present, there are close analogies between the action of electromagnetism and that of the energy active in the Keely apparatus. Yet there is a complete absence of the usual mechanical or chemical agencies for the evolution of electrical energy. The only operative appliances to be seen are certain resonating arrangements, and the mystery remains deep how these can yield force. These consist of an arrangement of slender rods or tongues of metal, which successively decrease in length, and which evidently are set to sound different notes of the scale, and of a spirally-curved bugle-shaped appliance. In addition to these a tuning fork is employed by Mr. Keely when ready to set his machinery in motion. Thus, so far as is visible, the inventor's apparatus are in accordance with his theory of utilizing the vibratory energies of nature. [See Attenuator]
The question next in order is, what has Mr. Keely to show in support of his claim that he is able to control a supply of costless energy and employ it in the movement of machinery? The proofs of this which were shown to me are two in number; others were described, but I can only speak personally of what I saw. The first of these indicates but a minute employment of force, yet it is significant of strange influences. It consists in the motion of a magnetic needle, pivoted in a small paper bow, and placed on a cylindrical stand which was filled with small tubes. At a distance stood a globular apparatus hereafter to be described, and the globe and the upright stand were connected by a length of slender platinum wire. Mr. Keely stood beside the globe, striking his tuning fork and applying it to the tongues of metal surrounding the base of the globe. After a few minutes the magnetic needle suddenly quivered, moved backward and forward as if in response to the notes employed, and in the end began to rotate. This movement continued for a considerable time, the needle spinning rapidly around on its center, and only ceasing when Mr. Keely removed the box from the stand." [Apergy - Power Without Cost]
See Also
List of Synonyms for Scalar
Scalar
Transforming Scalar to Kinetic
Zero Point