There are three classes of people interested in Electric Lighting: the engineers and scientists, whose duty it is to invent, improve, and erect the necessary' machinery and apparatus; the employers, who use the light; and the general scientific public, who take an interest in all new discoveries and inventions. The aim of the Author has been to write a book to meet the wants of the two latter classes - a book which should be on the one hand sufficiently simple and devoid of-technicalities to be easily understood by unscientific readers, and on the other sufficiently comprehensive and up to date to give reliable information on all the principal appliances and systems.<br><br>In works of this kind it has hitherto been customary to give detailed and tedious descriptions of obsolete machines of no practical value whatever, which tire the reader and render necessary the omission or curtailment of the accounts of more modern and more important inventions. The Author has tried as far as possible to avoid this error, and with one or two necessary exceptions everything treated is of modern interest.<br><br>It is hoped that some portions of the book will be of use to those who propose adopting the electric light, in giving them some insight into the theory and practice of the subject, and in helping them to decide which of the different systems is most likely to suit their requirements.