30
Wireless Telegraphy
connections are very similar, although the principle is quite different from that of the microphone. In the electrolytic detector, a film of gas forms between the end of the platinum wire and the acid, which acid is a conductor of electricity. This film of gas insulates the plati-
Fig. 15.—Magnetic Detector.
num wire from the acid. Hence there will be practically no current flowing through the telephone receiver. In the presence of the high-frequency oscillations, however, the resistance of the gas film is reduced, which allows an increased battery current to flow through the telephone receiver. The sudden rush of the battery current through
