[emeritus]

I have a facsimile edition of a volume of "The Model Engineer" from 1904 that I bought cheaply from Proops. Articles on DIY X-ray machine construction, several on Wimshurst machines (empty beer bottles filled with lead shot and with foil wrapped around the outside was used by an Australian contributor). How to make cheap batteries using a tin can, vinegar, and a lump of coke. There is a review of a book "Radium and other radioactive elements" written by an 18-year-old schoolboy H Levy, who had done various experiments in his house in South London, such as producing mutations in tadpoles. Google found me a PDF available for free download from the University of California web site at the time. Google no longer finds it, but if you visit their web site, it is still there.

There are a couple of items on the use of wireless for short range communication, and towards the end, announcements from the Postmaster General of the imminent introduction of a licencing scheme for wireless telegraphy apparatus. An experimental wireless telegraphy apparatus by Basset-Lowke , better known for the manufacture of model trains and ships, was favourably reviewed. I guess the need for a licence may have killed it stone dead, as there is no mention of it in a book on the history of that company.