Abstract: A discharge lamp including a bulb hermetically filled with mercury and an anode and cathode facing each other within the light emitting space of the bulb. A thermal conductor plate is arranged at the end of the cathode where it contacts the electrode rod bearing the cathode. The anode is positioned above the cathode and almost all the mercury in the light emitting space of the bulb is condensed on the thermal conductor plate in the light emitting space when the discharge lamp is not lit. When the discharge lamp is lit, the heat generated at the cathode is transmitted to the thermal conductor plate through electrode rods. Simultaneously, the radiated heat is discharged from within the arc so that the mercury condensed on the thermal conductor plate is evaporated early resulting in the stabilization of the light emitting intensity of the radiated light within a short period of time.