Part 3

Hjorth’s answer to this was a petition that the 400 rixdollars might be spent on any battery, which he might build. Hereafter the case died out. His petition was not answered until in April 1870, and the answer was a refusal.--At that time Hjorth was in delicate health, and his energy had been broken, and a few month’s afterwards he died, on the 28th of August, 1870. He was survived by his wife, who died on the 30th of September 1885.

This indefatigable worker did not succeed in seeing or reaping the harvest of his work for the utilization of electricity,--perhaps his aim had been too high. At a period when in all countries stone was added to stone in the foundation now supporting electrical engineering, we Danes have also made our contribution. Hjorth did not possess the profound knowledge nor the sharper insight necessary in order to avoid errors, but his perseverance, his industry, and his sacrifices, ought to be acknowledged, and his name ought to be venerated on account of his contributions to the development of electric machinery.

FOOTNOTE:

[9] Hjorth’s English passport, from 1855, contains this information: Height: 5 feet 7 inches, Complexion: fresh, Eyes and Hair: grey.

SOURCES.

After Hjorth’s death, few knew that he had discovered the dynamo principle. If Hjorth himself had understood the importance of this discovery, and the magnitude of the revolutions to be caused thereby, he would undoubtedly have endeavoured to propagate the knowledge thereof. It was not until 1879, when Colonel Bolton read a paper before the Society of Telegraph Engineers in London, that Hjorth’s patent No. 2198, of 1854, was again brought out of oblivion, and accompanied by these words: »This appears to involve the principle which was later on taken up by others«. Count du Moncel, who had received Hjorth’s representative in 1867, when reading these words, was reminded of the case. Thereafter he has given Hjorth a fair redress in the above-cited article in the valuable periodical »La lumière électrique«, edited by him, the heading being »The Actual Inventor of the Principle of the Dynamo-Electric Machine«.

Among the few printed sources of information concerning Søren Hjorth and his inventions, the following may also be mentioned:

_C. Nyrop_: Industriforeningen i København, 1838-1888. _Du Moncel_: L’éclairage électrique, 1884, page 102. _Electrician_, July 8th, 1882. _La lumière électrique_, 1883, VIII, page 58.

The most important source is the papers, left by Hjorth, which comprise a considerable collection of drawings, letters, and rough copies of letters written by him. These documents furnish full information, not only of Hjorth’s inventions, but also of his entire reasoning and manner of being. Probably the most interesting of all are his note-books and sketch-books, wherein he used to note down his ideas in English, and which are accompanied by neatly made, coloured sketches. These papers were not accessible to the public until the autumn of 1908, and they are now preserved in the archives and library of the Polytechnic Institute in Copenhagen.

Important contributions to Hjorth’s history have also been obtained from the State Archives, the Archives of the Society of Science, the Archives of the Polytechnic Institute and from the papers left by H. C. Ørsted.

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Transcriber’s Notes:

Footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter and relabeled consecutively through the document.

Illustrations have been moved to paragraph breaks near where they are mentioned.

Punctuation has been made consistent.

Variations in spelling and hyphenation were retained as they appear in the original publication, except that obvious typographical errors have been corrected.