Arc lamp Arc lamp An arc lamp or arc light is a lamp that produces light by an electric arc (also called a voltaic arc). The carbon arc light, which consists of an arc between carbon electrodes in air, invented by Humphry Davy in the first decade of the 1800s, was the first practical electric light. It was widely used starting in the 1870s for street and large building lighting until it was superseded by the incandescent light in the early 20th century. It continued in use in more specialized applications where a high intensity point light source was needed, such as
Safety lamp of air. The Marsaut was one of the first lamps to be fitted with a shield, in the illustration (right) the bonnet can be seen surrounding the gauzes. A shielded Marsaut lamp can resist a current of 30 feet per second. The Bainbridge is a development of the Stephenson. A tapered glass cylinder surrounds the flame, and above that the body is a brass tube. The top of the tube is closed by a horizontal gauze attached to the body of the lamp by small bars to conduct heat away. Air enters through a series of small holes drilled in