"Bottled Sunlight"

The ever green credulity of the investing public is one of the most astonishing features of American business. Recently, New York State applied for an injunction against the Tomadelli Electronic Light Corporation, to restrain it from selling any more of its stock to the public. The company was formed to promote an alleged invention known as "Bottled Sunlight" (TIME, March 10, SCIENCE). Concretely, this was claimed to consist of a new sort of incandescent bulb which apparently did not need electric current to make it shine. When produced in court, however, sample bulbs had no sparkle in them whatsoever, and the only brilliant feature of the company seemed to be the manner in which it sold stock of doubtful value to the public.

This, according to counsel for the defendants, meant little or nothing. "Mr. Tomadelli never claimed that he had perfected the lamp," he stated. "He had not. He was an inventor working on an invention. The public bought the stock in the hope that the invention would be made commercially success-ful."

Until activities were interrupted by Deputy Attorney General W. W. Chambers, 14,000 shares of stock had been sold to the hopeful public for over $136,000. Yet the company's bank balance, it was revealed, now amounts to between $30 and $40.