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...to glow. The French astronomer Jean Picard observed (1675) a faint glow in a mercury-barometer tube when it was agitated, but the cause of the glow (static electricity) was not then understood. The Geissler tube of 1855, in which gas at low pressure glowed when subjected to an electrical voltage, demonstrated the principle of the electric discharge lamp. After practical generators were devised...
...some other form of electrical discharge in a sealed tube of gas in which the pressure is kept low enough so that a significant portion of the radiation is emitted in the form of discrete lines. The Geissler discharge tube, such as the neon lamp commonly used in advertising signs, is an example of such a source. Other examples are hollow cathode lamps and electrodeless lamps driven by microwave...
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