The atmosphere in the drawing room was a pungent mix of tallow smoke and the stench of chemicals. It was strong enough to set the eyes of the gathering watering. The scent of tallow came from the candles that had been placed around the room; enough to cast a flickering yellow light everywhere. The chemical miasma came from a collection of glass containers and copper wires that had been set on a stained, wooden table. These were decidedly out of place for this fashionable part of London.

"Is this what you have asked us here to witness?" the chairman asked his host, the scientist. "It is an impressive collection of glassware, but I fail to see its purpose."

"All will become clear in a minute," the scientist replied, and laughed. "Allow me to explain." He clapped his hands to attract the attention of his audience, then waited until all their eyes were on him. "Gentlemen of the society, thank you for attending. Tonight I will be pleased to demonstrate my new discovery."

With this, the scientist pulled a black cloth from a hitherto hidden apparatus. It had been constructed from two retort stands, each with a screw mechanism in place of the usual clamps. A pair of black rods - each no thicker than a pencil - had been placed in these mechanisms so that their tips were touching. Copper wires led back from these to the nest of apparatus on the table.

"I say, what is it?" a writer called out.

The scientist smiled. "It is a device for illuminating the darkness."

"But we have candles and lamps for that," the writer replied. "And they are much less cumbersome or," he waved a lace handkerchief in front of his nose in the manner of a swell, "offensive."

"But they are not as effective!"

"I see no light, sir! Not yet."

"No. Not yet. But if I may demonstrate ... ?"

The scientist motioned to his apprentice, who put on a pair of spectacles whose lenses had been replaced by disks of opaque glass. "As we practiced," the scientist whispered to the lad, before turning back to the gathering. "As the Bible says: fiat lux!"

Behind him, the apprentice adjusted one of the rods so it began to draw away from its twin. As it did so, there was a crackling and a yellow spark appeared, setting the rods' tips aglow. The light from them shifted from red, to white, then to a fearful incandescent blue-white; filling the drawing room with a hissing roar and banishing the darkness to the furthest corners.