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 PREFACE. 
 
 IH the composition of this volume my purpose has been 
 to render intelligible to all who can read, irrespective of any 
 previous scientific acquirements, the various forms of tele- 
 graph in actual operation in different parts of the world, 
 and the manner in which their marvellous effects are 
 produced. Since the instrument in one form or another 
 involves all the great laws governing electrical and magnet- 
 ical phenomena, the discovery of which will render for ever 
 memorable the researches of the eminent scientific men of 
 the last half century, it was necessary to include in the 
 exposition of each piece of apparatus such an account of the 
 physical principle upon which its use depends, as should 
 render its application and effects understood. Descriptions 
 of such apparatus, however clearly expressed, would have 
 been obscure without graphic illustrations to correspond 
 with them. These have accordingly been supplied, as wiJl 
 be seen, with no sparing hand. 
 
 No two countries agree in adopting the same form ot 
 telegraphic instrument, and even in the same country different 
 forms of telegraph are used by different companies and for
 
 PBEPACR. 
 
 different purposes. Since these various instruments are 
 always different in tlie details of their construction and often 
 totally distinct in their principle and mode of operation, it 
 was necessary to explain each in succession, and to do so 
 correctly it was necessary to seek and obtain authentic 
 documents, descriptions, and drawings from those who were 
 placed in the direction and superintendence of the telegraphs 
 in various parts of the continent of Europe and in the 
 United States. 
 
 The reader of this little volume will find in its pages 
 abundant evidence that no pains or cost have been spared 
 in these researches. 
 
 The history of the invention of the Electric Telegraph is 
 a subject upon which I have not judged it expedient to 
 enter. The details of such a narrative, necessarily numerous 
 and complicated, involving several questions of disputed 
 priority and contested claims, besides filling a much larger 
 volume than the present, would present few attractions for 
 the large masses to whom our work is addressed. 
 
 The Electric Telegraph is not the invention of an 
 individual. As it now exists, it is the joint production of 
 many eminent scientific men and distinguished artists of 
 various countries, whose labours and experimental researches 
 on the subject have been spread over the last twenty years. 
 Not being prepared to engage in a complete account of 
 the progressive results of these labours, I have in the 
 following work generally abstained from the mention of
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 inventors, from a desire to avoid the risk of appearing to 
 put forward some in undue preference to others who might 
 be supposed to have better claims to notice. There can, 
 however, be no risk of committing an injustice by stating 
 that in England Professor Wheatstone, in the United 
 States Professor Morse, in Bavaria M. Steinheil, in Prussia 
 Dr. Siemens, and in Prance MM. Breguet and Proment, 
 have severally stood in the leading ranks of invention. 
 Besides these eminent persons may be mentioned, Mr. 
 Bain, the inventor of the electro-chemical telegraph ; Mr. 
 Henley and the Messrs. Bright, who have improved the 
 magnetic telegraph ; Messrs. Brett, to whose genius and 
 enterprise the world is indebted for submarine telegraphs ; 
 Messrs. Newall and Co., who have been signalised by the 
 construction of submarine cables; Mr. Walker of the 
 South Eastern Telegraph Company ; and Mr. House of 
 the United States, the inventor of a printing telegraph in 
 extensive operation.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 As (Ms Book it not payed, the figures in the Table of Contentt and 
 Index refer to Paragraphs, and not to Pages. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 1. SUBJUGATION of the powers of 
 nature to human uses. 2. Loco- 
 motion twenty years since. 3. 
 Circulation of intelligence then. 
 4. Supposed prediction of succeed- 
 ing improvements Railway loco- 
 motion. 5. Electric telegraphy. 
 6. Fabrication of diamonds 
 sun-pictures gas-lighting elec- 
 tro-metallurgy. 7. Such predic- 
 tions would have been deemed 
 incredible. 8. Electro-telegraphy 
 the most incredible of all. 9. 
 Remarkable experiment by Messrs. 
 Leverrier and Lardner. 10. Velo- 
 city of electric current. 11. No 
 limit to the celerity of telegraphy. 
 12. Physical character of elec- 
 tricity. 13. Not essential to the 
 explanation of electro-telegraphy. 
 14. Electricity a subtle fluid. 
 15. Properties available for tele- 
 graphy. 16. Voltaic battery. 
 1 7. It is to the electric telegraph 
 what the boiler is to the steam- 
 engine. 18. Means of transmit- 
 ting the fluid in required direc- 
 tions. 19. Conductors and in- 
 sulators. 20. Conducting wires. 
 21. Voltaic battery. 22. Trans- 
 mission and suspension of the cur- 
 rent. 23. Current established by 
 earth contact. 24. Theories of 
 
 earth contact. 25. The return of 
 the current through the earth. 
 26. Various bodies evolve electri- 
 city. 27. Common plate battery 
 of zinc and copper. 28. Why 
 zinc and copper are preferred. 
 29. Charcoal substituted for cop- 
 per. 30. Elements not essential. 
 31. Various chemical solutions 
 used. 32. Daniel's constant bat- 
 tery. 33. Same modified by 
 Pouillet. 34. Grove's and Bun- 
 sen's batteries. 35. Necessary to 
 combine many elements. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 36. COMMON plate battery. 87. 
 Combination of currents. 38. 
 Loss of intensity by imperfect 
 conduction. 39. Cylindrical bat- 
 teries. 40. Pairs, elements, and 
 poles defined. 41. Origin of term 
 voltaic pile. 42. Use of sand in 
 charging batteries. 43. To vary 
 intensity of current. 44. Batte- 
 ries used for English telegraphs. 
 45. Amalgamating the zinc 
 plates. 46. The line wires, mate- 
 rial and thickness. 47. Objection 
 to iron wires. 48. Manner of 
 carrying wires on posts. 49. Good 
 insulation. 50. Expedients for
 
 CONTEXTS. 
 
 obtaining it. 51. Forms of insu- 
 lating supports. 52. Dimensions 
 and preparations of the posts. 
 53. Forms of support used in 
 England. 54. Winding posts. 
 55. Supports iu France. 56. In 
 America. 57. In Germany. 58. 
 Wire insulated by superficial oxy- 
 dation. 59. Leakage of the elec- 
 tric fluid by the conduction of the 
 atmosphere. GO. Effects of at- 
 mospheric electricity on the wires. 
 61. Lightning conductors. 62. 
 Those of Messrs. Walker and Bre- 
 guet. 63. Conducting current 
 into stations. 64. Underground 
 wires. 65. Methods of insulating 
 them. 66. Testing posts. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 67. WIRES of Magneto-electric Tele- 
 graph Company. 68. Mr. Bright's 
 method of detecting faulty points. 
 69. Such failure of insulation 
 rare. 70. Underground method 
 recently abandoned in Prussia. 
 71. Underground wires of the 
 European and Submarine Com- 
 pany. 72. Imperfect insulation 
 in tunnels. 73. Mr. Walker's 
 method of remedying this. 74. 
 Overground system adopted 
 through the streets of cities in 
 Franco, and in the United States. 
 75. Telegraphic lines need not 
 follow railways. 76. Do not in 
 America, nor in certain parts of 
 Europe. 77. Submarine cables. 
 78. Cable connecting Dover and 
 Calais. 79. Failure of first at- 
 tempt Improved structure. 80. 
 Table of submarine cables ami 
 their dimensions. 81. Dimen- 
 sions and structure of the Dover 
 and Calais cable. 82. Holy- 
 head and Howth cable. 83. First 
 attempt to lay cable between Port- 
 patrick and Donaghadee its fail- 
 ure. 84. Dover and Ostend. 
 85. Portpatrick and Donaghadee. 
 86. Orfordness and the Hague. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 87. CABLE between Spezzia and 
 Corsica. 88. Other cables, Euro- 
 pean and American. 89. Objec- 
 tions brought by scientific autho- 
 rities to the submarine cables 
 Answers to these by practical men. 
 90. Example of a cable unin- 
 jured by the action of the sea. 
 91. Precautions necessary in laying 
 the cable. 92. Accident in laying 
 the Calais cable. 93. Imperfection 
 attributed to the Belgian cable. 
 94. Transatlantic Ocean Telegraph. 
 95. Underground wires between 
 the Strand and Lothbury. 96. 
 Effect of the inductive action of 
 underground or submarine wires. 
 97. Possible influence of this on 
 telegraphic operations. 98. Ex- 
 amples of overground wires ex- 
 tended to great distances without 
 intermediate support between 
 Turin and Genoa. 99. Telegra- 
 phic lines in India. 100. Diffi- 
 culties arising from atmospheric 
 electricity height and distance of 
 posts mode of laying underground 
 wires extent of line erected to 
 April 1854. 101. Intensity of 
 current decreases as the length of 
 wire increases. 102. Also in- 
 creases with the thickness of the 
 wire. 103. And with the number 
 of elements in the battery. 104. 
 Result of Pouillet's experiments 
 on the intensity of current. 105. 
 Intensity produced by increasing 
 the power of the battery. 106. 
 How the current produces telegra- 
 phic signals. 107. Velocity of the 
 current. 108. Transmission of 
 signals instantaneous. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 109. CURRENT controlled by making 
 and breaking the contact of con- 
 ductors. 110. Instruments for 
 controlling the current Commu- 
 tators. 111. General principle
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 of the commutators.. 112. Its 
 application to telegraphic oper- 
 ations. 113. To transmit a cur- 
 rent on the up-line only. 114. 
 On the down-line only. 115. On 
 both lines. 116. To reverse the 
 current. 117. To suspend and 
 transmit it alternately. 118. 
 How to manage a current which 
 arrives at a station. 119. To 
 make it ring the alarum. 120. 
 Station with two alarums. 121. 
 Notice of the station transmit- 
 ting and receiving signals. 122. 
 When signals not addressed to the 
 station the current is passed on. 
 123. How to receive a despatch 
 at the station, and stop its farther 
 progress. 124. How several des- 
 patches may be at the same time 
 sent between various stations on 
 the same line. 125. Secondary 
 lines of wire then used. 126. 
 Recapitulation. 127. Signals by 
 combinations of unequal intervals 
 of transmission and suspension. 
 128. Key commutator. 129. 
 Horological commutator for a 
 current having equal and regular 
 pulsations. 130. Case in which 
 the pulsations are not continuous 
 or regular. 131. No limit to the 
 celerity of the pulsations. 132. 
 Application of a toothed wheel 
 to produce the pulsations. 133. 
 By a sinuous wheel. 134. Method 
 of diverting the current by a short 
 circuit, its application to the alarum. 
 1 35. Effects of the current which 
 have been used for signals. 136. 
 Deflection of magnetic needle. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 137. RELATION of the deflection to 
 the direction of the current. 138. 
 Galvanometer or multiplier. 139. 
 Method of covering the wire. 
 140. Method of mounting the nee- 
 dle. 141. Method of transmitting 
 signals by the galvanometer. 
 142. How the current may pro- 
 
 duce a temporary rnaguet. 143. 
 Electro-magnet constructed by 
 Pouillet. 1 44. Electro-magnets 
 formed by two straight bars. 
 145. They acquire and lose their 
 magnetism instantaneously. 146. 
 Magnetic pulsations as rapid as 
 those of the current. 147. How 
 they are rendered visible and 
 counted. 148. Extraordinary ce- 
 lerity or the oscillations thus pro- 
 duced. 149. They produce musi- 
 cal sounds by which the rate of 
 vibration may be estimated. 150. 
 How the vibrations may impart 
 motion to clock- work. 151. Their 
 action on an escapement. 152. 
 How the movement of one clock 
 may be transmitted by the current 
 to another. 153. How an electro- 
 magnet may produce written 
 characters on paper at a distant 
 station. 154. How the motion of 
 the hand upon a dial at one sta- 
 tion can produce a like motion of 
 a hand upon a dial at a distant 
 station. 155. How an agent at 
 one station can ring an alarum at 
 another station. 156. Or may 
 discharge a gun or cannon there. 
 157. Power of the bell or other 
 signal not dependent on the force 
 of the current. 158. Mechanism 
 of telegraphic alarum. 159. 
 Various alarums in telegraphic 
 offices. 160. Magneto -electricity. 
 161. Method of producing a 
 momentary magneto-electric cur- 
 rent. 162. Application of an 
 electro-magnet to produce it. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 163. MOMENTARY currents alter- 
 nately in contrary directions. 
 164. Method of producing momen- 
 tary currents all in the same di- 
 rection. 165. Magneto-electrio 
 machine. 166. Its effects in pro- 
 ducing shocks and currents. 167. 
 Method of applying it to tele- 
 graphs. 168. Chemical property
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 of the current. 169. Decompo- 
 sition of water. 170. Application 
 of this property to produce written 
 characters at a distance. 171. 
 Methods of moving the paper under 
 the style. 172. Telegraphic cha- 
 racters marked upon it. 173. 
 Use of relay magnets in cases of 
 feeble currents. 174. Form and 
 application of them. 175. Tele- 
 graphic lines constructed by com- 
 panies in England and America, 
 and chiefly by the state on the con- 
 tinent. 176. Various forms of in- 
 struments used. 177. Influence 
 of national feeling. 178. Meri- 
 torious inventions sometimes neg- 
 lected. 179. Needle instruments 
 generally used in England. 180. 
 Single needle instrument. 181. 
 Double needle instrument. 182. 
 Old aerial telegraph. 183. French 
 state telegraph. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 184. FORM of commutator of French 
 state telegraph. 185. Its opera- 
 tion. 186. Method of sending 
 and receiving a dispatch. 187. 
 Batteries. 188. French railway 
 telegraph. 189. French railway 
 portable telegraph. 190. German 
 railway telegraph. 191. Siemen's 
 instrument. 192. Its mode of 
 operation. 193. How errors are 
 corrected. 194. Explanation of 
 the mechanism. 195. Compari- 
 son with the French telegraph. 
 
 196. Indicating mechanism. 
 
 197. Simplicity greater than the 
 French instrument. 198. Re- 
 quires greater intensity of current. 
 199. Belgian railway telegraph. 
 200. Defects imputed to the 
 French and German instrument. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 201. DEFECTS of the French and 
 German instrument removed by 
 
 Lippens' instrument. 202. De- 
 scription of it. 203. Its wheel 
 commutator. 204. Transmission 
 of despatches by it. 205. Fro- 
 ment's alphabetic telegraph. 
 206. Morse's telegraph. 207. 
 Froment's writing telegraph. 
 
 208. Bain's chemical telegraph. 
 
 209. Method of writing. 210. 
 Electro-chemical pen. 211. Me- 
 tallic desk. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 212. OPERATION of Bain's telegraph. 
 213. Its commutator. 214. It? 
 extraordinary speed of transmis- 
 sion. 215. Obstructions to its 
 practical application. 216. Its 
 prospects. 217. Autograph tele- 
 graph. 218. House's printing 
 telegraph. 219. Its operation. 
 220. Henley's magnetic telegraph. 
 221. Brett's printing telegraj >\i. 
 222. Celerity of telegraphic 
 communication. 223. Circum- 
 stances which affect it. 224. 
 Comparative ability of telegra- 
 phiste. 225. Each telegraphist 
 known by his manner of transmit- 
 ting. 226. Easier to transmit 
 than to receive. 227. Pauses in 
 transmission. 228. Rate of trans- 
 mission with double needle instru- 
 ments worked by voltaic current. 
 229. Rate with magneto-electric 
 current. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 30. ILLUSTRATION of the efficiency, 
 of the needle instruments. 231. 
 Rate of transmission with the 
 French state telegraphs. 232. 
 With the French railway tele- 
 graphs. 233. With the Morse 
 telegraph. 234. Discrepancy of 
 reports. 235. Causes of its cele- 
 rity. 236. Rate with Bain's tele- 
 graph. 237. Transmission of
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 music. 238. Rate of transmission 
 with House's telegraph. 239. 
 Distance sometimes affects celerity. 
 240. Examples of distant trans- 
 missions in U. S. 241. Advan- 
 tages of uniform organisation. 
 242. Uses of the electric telegraph. 
 243. Subject of despatches. 
 244. Effect of the tariff. 245. 
 Uses of the telegraph in railway 
 business. 246. Portable railway 
 telegraph. 247. Practical uses on 
 railways. 248. Its economical 
 advantages. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 249. PREVENTION of accidents. 250. 
 Its uses in the detection of crime. 
 251. Personal and domestic mes- 
 sages. 252. Electric news-rooms. 
 253. Telegraph extensively used 
 in the United States. 254. Much 
 used for commerce. 255. Sums 
 paid for telegraphic despatches by 
 mercantile firms. 256. Exten- 
 sively used by American "news- 
 -papers. 257. Illustration of the 
 utility for political purposes. 
 258. Illustrations of its domestic 
 and general use. 259. Secrecy of 
 dispatches not generally sought 
 for. 260. Verbal ciphers of mer- 
 cantile firms. 261. Ciphers for 
 newspaper reports. 2'o r 2. Asso- 
 ciation of New York journals. 
 263. Spirited enterprise of New 
 York " Herald." 264. Use of 
 electric telegraph in determining 
 longitudes. 265. In producing 
 horological uniformity. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 266. SIGNAL time balls 267. Elec- 
 tric connection of observatories of 
 Greenwich, Brussels, and Paris. 
 268. Uses of electric telegraph in 
 astronomical observations. 269. I 
 In regulating the observatory j 
 
 clocks. 270. In fixing with pre- 
 cision the time of an astronomical 
 phenomenon. 271 . Telegraphic 
 lines of the United Kingdom. 
 272. Their extent in 1854. 273. 
 Electric Telegraph Company. 
 274. Table of its lines, stations, 
 &c. 275. Present Tariff (1854). 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ELECTRIC Telegraph Company's pre- 
 sent tariff (continued). 276. 
 Magnetic Telegraph Company. 
 277. Chartered Submarine Com- 
 pany. 278. The Submarine Tele- 
 graph Company between France 
 and England. 279. European and 
 American Telegraph Company. 
 280. Origin of the submarine com- 
 panies' enterprises. 281. Won- 
 derful celerity of international 
 correspondence. 282. Organisa- 
 tion of electric communications 
 with the continent. 283. Medi- 
 terranean Electric Telegraph Com- 
 pany. 284. General table show- 
 ing the places on the continent of 
 Europe, which are in electric son- 
 nection with each other, and with 
 England, and the cost of des- 
 patches sent between them seve- 
 rally and London. 285. Tele- 
 graphic lines in the United States. 
 286. Vast projects in progress 
 or contemplation. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 287. TELEGRAPHIC lines in British 
 America. 288. Belgian lines. 
 289. Their extent and cost. 290. 
 Correspondence transmitted on 
 them. 291. Large proportion of 
 foreign despatches. 292. Classifi- 
 cation and proportion of des- 
 patches. 293. Tariff. 204. Paris 
 telegraphic congress and conven- 
 tion. 295. Telegraphic instru- 
 ments used in Belgium. 296.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Language of despatches. 297. 
 French telegraphic lines. 298. 
 Instruments used on them. 299. 
 Their connection with those of 
 other states. 300. Repetition ne- 
 cessary at intermediate stations. 
 301. Case of despatches between 
 France and England. 302. Ad- 
 vanta^os of increased number of 
 
 wires. 303. Of instruments re- 
 quiring only one wire. 304. Or- 
 ganisation of the French telegraphic 
 administration. 305. Austro- 
 Germanic Union. 306*. Stations 
 and tariff. 307. Netherlands 
 telegraphic lines. 308. Swiss 
 telegraphic lines. 309. Italian 
 telegraphic lines.
 
 INTERIOR OF A ROOM IX THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH OFFICE, LOTHBURY. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 1. Subjugation of the powers of nature to human uses. 2. Locomotion 
 twenty years since. 3. Circulation of intelligence then. 4. Supposed 
 prediction of succeeding improvements Railway locomotion. 5. 
 Electric telegraphy. 6. Fabrication of diamonds sun pictures gas- 
 lighting electro-metallurgy. 7. Such predictions would have been 
 deemed incredible. 8. Electro-telegraphy the most incredible of all. 
 9. Remarkable experiment by Messrs. Leverrier and Lardner. 
 10. Velocity of electric current. 11. No limit to the celerity of 
 telegraphy. 12. Physical character of electricity. 13. Not essential 
 to the explanation of electro -telegraphy. 14. Electricity a subtle 
 fluid. 15. Properties available for telegraphy. 16. Voltaic battery. 
 17 It is to the electric telegraph what the boiler is to the steam- 
 engine. 18. Means of transmitting the fluid in required directions. 
 19. Conductors and insulators. 20. Conducting wires. 21. Voltaic 
 battery. 22. Transmission and suspension of the current. 23. Current 
 established by earth contact. 24. Theories of earth contact 25. 
 The return of the current through the earth. 26. Various bodies 
 LARDSER'S MUSEUM or SCIENCE. * 113 
 
 No. 31.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 evolve electricity. 27. Common plate battery of zinc and copper. 
 28. Why zinc and copper are preferred. 29. Charcoal substituted 
 for copper. 30. Elements not essential. 31. Various chemical 
 solutions used. 32. Daniel's constant battery. 33. Same modified by 
 Pouillet. 34. Grove's and Bunsen's batteries. 35. Necessary to 
 combine many elements. 
 
 1. EACH succeeding age and generation leaves behind it a peculiar 
 character, which stands out in relief upon its annals, and is 
 associated with it for ever in the memory of posterity. One is 
 signalised for the invention of gunpowder, another for that of 
 printing ; one is rendered memorable by the revival of letters, 
 another by the reformation of religion ; one is marked in history 
 by the conquests of Napoleon, another is rendered illustrious by 
 the discoveries of Newton. 
 
 If we are asked by what characteristic the present age will be 
 marked in future records, we answer, by the miracles which 
 have been wrought in the subjugation of the powers of the material 
 world to the uses of the human race. In this respect no former 
 epoch can approach to competition with it. 
 
 The author of some of the most popular fictions of the day 
 has affirmed, that in adapting to his purpose the results of his 
 personal observation on men and manners, he has not unfre- 
 quently found himself compelled to mitigate the real in order to 
 bring it within the limits of the probable. No observer of the 
 progress of the arts of life, at the present time, can fail to be struck 
 with the prevalence of the same character in their results as that 
 which compelled this writer to suppress the most wonderful of 
 what had fallen under his eye, in order to bring his descriptions 
 within the bounds of credibility. 
 
 2. Many are old enough to remember the time when persons, 
 correspondence, and merchandise were transported from place to 
 place in this country by stage-coaches, vans, and waggons. In 
 those days the fast-coach, with its team of spanking blood-horses, 
 and its bluff driver, with broad-brimmed hat and drab box-coat, 
 from which a dozen capes were pendant, who " handled the rib- 
 bons" with such consummate art, could pick a fly from the ear of 
 the off-leader, and turn into the gateway at Charing Cross with the. 
 precision of a geometrician, were the topics of the unbounded ' 
 admiration of the traveller. Certain coaches obtained a special 
 celebrity and favour with the public. "We cannot forget how the 
 eye of the traveller glistened when he mentioned the Brighton 
 "Age," the Glasgow " Mail," the Shrewsbury " Wonder," or the 
 Exeter "Defiance," the "Age," which made its trip in five 
 hours, and the " Defiance," which acquired its fame by completing 
 the journey between London and Exeter in less than thirty hours.
 
 WONDERS OF SCIENCE. 
 
 3. The rapid circulation of intelligence was also the boast of 
 those times. How foreigners stared when told that the news of 
 each afternoon formed a topic of conversation at tea-tables the 
 same evening, twenty miles from London, and that the morning 
 journals, still damp from the press, were served at breakfast 
 within a radius of thirty miles, as early as the frequenters of the 
 London clubs received them. 
 
 Now let us imagine that some profound thinker, deeply versed 
 in the resources of Science at that epoch, were to have gravely 
 predicted that the generation existing then and there would live 
 to see all these admirable performances become obsolete, and 
 consigned to the history of the past ; that they would live to regard 
 such vehicles as the " Age " and " Defiance " as clumsy expedients, 
 and their celerity such as to satisfy those alone who were in a 
 backward state of civilisation ! 
 
 4. Let us imagine that such a person were to affirm that his 
 contemporaries would live to see a coach like the "Defiance," 
 making its trip between London and Exeter, not in thirty, but in 
 five hoiu-s, and drawn, not by 200 blood-horses, but by a moderate 
 sized stove and four bushels of coals ! 
 
 5. Let us further imagine the same sagacious individual to 
 predict that his contemporaries would live to see a building 
 erected in the centre of London, in the cellars of which machinery 
 would be provided for the fabrication of artificial lightning, which 
 should be supplied to order, at a fixed price, in any quantity 
 required, and of any prescribed force ; that conductors would be 
 carried from this building to all parts of the country, along which 
 such lightning should be sent at will ; that in the attics of this 
 same building would be provided certain small instruments like 
 barrel-organs or pianofortes ; that by means of these instruments, 
 the aforesaid lightning should, at the will and pleasure of those 
 in charge of them, deliver messages at any part of Europe, from 
 St. Petersburgh to Naples ; and, in fine, that answers to such mes- 
 sages should be received instantaneously, and by like means: 
 that in this same building offices should be provided, where any 
 lady or gentleman might enter, at any hour, and for a few 
 shillings send a message by lightning to Paris or Vienna, and by 
 waiting for a few moments, receive an answer ! 
 
 Might he not exclaim after the inspired author of the book of 
 Job: 
 
 " Canst thou send lightnings, that they may go, and say unto 
 thee, Here we are" ! ! xxxviii., 35. 
 
 But, suppose that his foresight should further enable him to 
 pronounce that means would be invented by which any individual 
 in any one town or city of Europe should be enabled to take in 
 1 2 115
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 his hand a pencil or pen, the point of which should bo in any 
 other town or city, no matter how distant, and should, with such 
 pen or pencil, write or delineate in such distant place, such 
 characters or designs as might please him, with as much prompti- 
 tude and precision as if the paper to which these characters or 
 designs were committed lay upon the table before him ; or that 
 an individual pulling a string at London should ring a bell at 
 Vienna, or holding a match at St. Petersburgh should discharge a 
 cannon at Naples ! 
 
 6. Suppose he should affirm that means would be discovered for 
 converting charcoal into diamonds ; that the light of the sun 
 would be compelled, without the intervention of the human hand, 
 to make a portrait or a picture, with a fidelity, truth and precision, 
 with which the productions of the most exalted artistic skill 
 would not bear comparison ; and that this picture should be pro- 
 duced and completed in its most minute details in a few seconds 
 nay, even in the fraction of a second ; that candles and lamps would 
 be superseded by flame manufactured on a large scale in the suburbs 
 of cities, and distributed for use in pipes, carried under the streets, 
 and into the houses and other buildings to be illuminated ; and 
 that the precious and other metals being dissolved in liquids, 
 would form themselves into the articles of ornament and use by 
 a spontaneous process, and without the intervention of human 
 labour!! 
 
 No authority however exalted, no attainments however pro- 
 found, no reputation however respected, could have saved the 
 individual rash enough to have given utterance to such predictions 
 some forty years ago, from being regarded as labouring under 
 intellectual derangement. Yet all these things have not only 
 come to pass, but the contemplation of many of them has become 
 so interwoven with our habits, that familiarity has blunted the 
 edge of wonder. 
 
 7. Compared with all such realities, the illusions of oriental 
 romance grow pale ; faet stands higher than fiction in the scale of 
 the marvellous ; the feats of Aladdin are tame and dull ; and the 
 slaves of the lamp yield precedence to the spirits which preside 
 over the battery and the boiler. 
 
 8. Of all the physical agents discovered by modern scientific 
 research, the most fertile in its subserviency to the arts of life is 
 incontestably electricity, and of all the applications of this subtle 
 agent, that which is transcendently the most admirable in its 
 effects, the most astonishing in its results, and the most important 
 in its influence upon the social relations of mankind, and upon the 
 spread of civilisation and the diffusion of knowledge, is the 
 Electric Telegraph. No force of habit, however long continued, 
 
 116
 
 REMARKABLE TELEGRAPHIC EXPERIMENT. 
 
 no degree of familiarity can efface the sense of wonder which the 
 effects of this most marvellous application of science excites. 
 
 9. Being at Paris some years ago, I was engaged to share with 
 M. Leverrier, the celebrated astronomer, and some other men of 
 science, in the superintendence of a series of experiments to he 
 made before committees of the Legislative Assembly and of the 
 Institute, with the view of testing the efficiency of certain tele- 
 graphic apparatus. On that occasion operating in a room at 
 the Ministry of the Interior appropriated to the telegraphs, into 
 which wires proceeding from various parts of France were brought, 
 we dictated a message, consisting of about forty words, addressed 
 to one of the clerks at the railway station at Valenciennes, a 
 distance of 168 miles from Paris. This message was transmitted in 
 two minutes and a half. An interval of about five minutes 
 elapsed, during which, as it afterwards appeared, the clerk to 
 whom the message was addressed was sent for. At the expiration 
 of this interval the telegraph began to express the answer, which, 
 consisting of about thirty-five words, was delivered and written 
 out by the agent at the desk, in our presence, in two minutes. 
 Thus, forty words were sent 168 miles and thirty-five words 
 returned from the same distance, in the short space of four 
 minutes and thirty seconds. 
 
 But surprising as this was, we soon afterwards witnessed, in 
 the same room, a still more marvellous performance. 
 
 The following experiment was prepared and performed at the 
 suggestion and under the direction of M. Leverrier and 
 myself : 
 
 Two wires, extending from the room in which we operated to 
 Lille, were united at the latter place, so as to form one continuous 
 wire, extending to Lille and back, making a total distance of 
 336 miles. This, however, not being deemed sufficient for 
 the purpose, several coils of wire wrapped with silk were 
 obtained, measuring in their total length 746 miles, and were 
 joined to the extremity of the wire returning from Lille, thus 
 making one continuous wire measuring 1082 miles. A message 
 consisting of 282 words was then transmitted from one end of the 
 wire. A pen attached to the other end immediately began to 
 write the message on a sheet of paper moved under it by a simple 
 mechanism, and the entire message was written in full in the 
 presence of the Committee, each word being spelled completely 
 and without abridgment, in fifty-two seconds, being at the average 
 rate of Jive words and four-tenths per second ! 
 
 By this instrument, therefore, it is practicable to transmit 
 intelligence to a distance of upwards of 1000 miles, at the rate of 
 19500 words per hour ! 
 
 117
 
 THE ELECTKIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 The instrument would, therefore, transmit to a distance of 1000 
 miles, in the space of an hour, the contents of about forty pages of 
 the book now in the hands of the reader ! 
 
 But it must not be imagined, because we have here produced an 
 example of the transmission of a despatch to a distance of 1000 
 miles, that any augmentation of that distance could cause any 
 delay of practical importance. 
 
 10. Although the velocity of the electric current has not been 
 very exactly measured, it has been established beyond all doubt 
 that it is so great that to pass from any one point on the surface 
 of the earth to any other, it would take no more than an inappre- 
 ciable fraction of a second. 
 
 11. If, therefore, the despatch had been sent to a distance of 
 twenty thousand miles instead of one thousand, its transmission 
 would still have been instantaneous. 
 
 Such a despatch would fly many times round the earth between 
 the two beats of a common clock, and would be written in full at 
 the place of its destination more rapidly than it could be repeated 
 by word of mouth. "When such statements are made, do we not 
 feel disposed to exclaim 
 
 "Are such things here as we do speak about? 
 Or have we eaten of the insane root, 
 That makes the reason prisoner ?" 
 
 In its wildest flights the most exalted imagination would not have 
 dared, even in fiction, to give utterance to these stubborn 
 realities. Shakspeare only ventured to make his fairy 
 
 " Put a girdle round the earth 
 In forty minutes." 
 
 To have encircled it several times in a second, would have seemed 
 too monstrous, even for Robin Goodfellow. 
 
 The curious and intelligent reader of these pages will scarcely 
 be content, after the statement of facts so extraordinary, to 
 remain lost in vacant astonishment at the power of science, with- 
 out seeking to be informed of the manner in which the phenomena 
 of nature have been thus wonderfully subdued to the uses of man 
 A very brief exposition will be enough to render intelligible the 
 manner in which these miracles of science are wrought. 
 
 12. The World of Science is not agreed as to the physical 
 character of Electricity. According to the opinion of some it is a 
 fluid infinitely lighter and more subtle than the most attenuated 
 and impalpable gas, capable of moving through space with a 
 velocity commensurate with its subtleness and levity. Some 
 regard this fluid as simple. Others contend that it is compound, 
 
 118
 
 ELECTRIC FLUID. 
 
 consisting of two simple fluids having 'antagonistic properties 
 which when in combination neutralise each other, but which 
 recover their activity by decomposition. Others again regard it 
 not as a specific fluid which moves through space, but as a 
 phenomenon analogous to sound, and think that it is only a series 
 of undulations or vibrations that are propagated through a highly 
 elastic medium which produce the various electrical effects just 
 as the pulsations of the atmosphere produce all the effects of 
 sound. 
 
 13. Happily these difficult discussions are not necessary to the 
 clear comprehension of the laws which govern the phenomena, 
 upon which electric telegraphy depends. It will nevertheless for 
 the purposes of explanation be convenient to use a system of 
 language, which implies the existence of a certain fluid which we 
 shall call the electric fluid, capable of moving over certain bodies, 
 and being obstructed or altogether stopped by others, and which 
 by its presence or proximity produces certain definite effects, 
 mechanical and chemical. 
 
 14. "Whether the electric agency be or be not a material fluid 
 for our present purpose is unimportant. It is enough that it 
 comports itself as such, and that the properties or effects which we 
 shall impute to it are such only as it is ascertained by observation 
 and experiment to possess or produce. 
 
 15. However various the forms may be which invention has 
 conferred upon electric telegraphs, their efficiency in all cases 
 depends on our power to produce at will the following effects : 
 
 1st. To produce or develop the electric fluid in any desired 
 quantity, and of the necessary quality. 
 
 2nd. To transmit it with celerity to any required distance, 
 without injuriously dissipating it. 
 
 3rd. To cause it upon its arrival at any assigned point to 
 produce some sensible effects, which may serve the purpose of 
 written or printed characters. 
 
 16. The electric fluid is deposited in a latent state in unlimited 
 quantity in the earth, the waters, the atmosphere, and in all 
 bodies upon the earth, whether solid, liquid, or gaseous. It is 
 disengaged and rendered active by various causes, natural and 
 artificial. The mutual friction of bodies, contact and pressure, 
 the contiguity or contact of bodies having different temperatures, 
 the chemical action of bodies one upon another, the action of 
 magnetic bodies on each other, and on bodies susceptible of mag- 
 netism, are severally causes of the development of the electric 
 fluid in greater or less quantity. 
 
 Founded upon these phenomena, various apparatus have been 
 contrived, by means of which the electric fluid may be evolved 
 
 119
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 and collected in any desired quantity, and with any required 
 intensity. Among these, that which has proved to be the 
 most efficient for telegraphic purposes is the GALVANIC or VOLTAIC 
 
 I5ATTERY. 
 
 17. This apparatus is to the electric telegraph what the boiler 
 is to the steam-engine. It is the generator of the fluid by which 
 the action of the telegraphic machine is produced and maintained. 
 It supplies the fluid in any required quantity and of any desired 
 intensity. As the boiler is supplied with expedients by which 
 within practical limits the quantity and pressure of the steam 
 may be varied, according to the exigences of the work to which 
 the engine is applied, so the voltaic battery is provided with 
 expedients by which the quantity and intensity of the electric 
 fluid it evolves can be varied according to the distance to which 
 the intelligence is to be transmitted ; and the form, whether 
 visible, oral, written, or printed, in which it is required to be 
 delivered at the place of its destination. 
 
 18. The electric fluid being thus produced in sufficient quantity, 
 it is necessary to provide adequate means of transmitting it to a 
 distance without exposing it to any cause of injurious dissipation 
 or waste. 
 
 If tubes or pipes could be constructed with sufficient facility 
 and cheapness, through which the subtle fluid could flow, and 
 which would be capable of confining it during its transit, this 
 object would be attained. As the galvanic battery is analogous 
 to the boiler, such tubes would be analogous in their form and 
 functions to the steam-pipe of a steam-engine. 
 
 19. The construction of such means of transmission has been 
 accomplished by means of the well-known property of the 
 electric fluid, in virtue of which it is capable of passing freely 
 over a certain class of bodies called CONDUCTORS, while its move- 
 ment is arrested by another class of bodies called NON-CONDUCTORS 
 
 or INSULATORS. 
 
 The most conspicuous examples of the former class are the 
 metals ; the most remarkable of the latter being resins, wax, 
 glass, porcelain, silk, cotton, dry air, &c. 
 
 20. Now if a rod or wire of metal be coated with wax, or 
 wrapped with silk, the electric fluid will pass freely along the 
 metal, in virtue of its character of a conductor ; and its escape 
 from the metal laterally will be prevented by the coating, in 
 virtue of its character of an insulator. 
 
 The insulator in such cases is, so far as relates to the electricity, 
 
 a real tube, inasmuch as the electric fluid passes through the 
 
 metal included by the coating, in exactly the same manner as 
 
 water or gas passes through the pipes which conduct it j with this 
 
 120
 
 VOLTAIC CURRENT. 
 
 difference, however, that the electric fluid moves along the wire 
 more freely, in an almost infinite proportion, than does either 
 water or gas in the tubes which conduct them. 
 
 If, then, a wire, coated with a non-conducting substance, 
 capable of resisting the vicissitudes of weather, were extended 
 between any two distant points, one end of it being attached 
 to one of the extremities of a galvanic battery, a stream of 
 electricity would pass along the wire provided the other end of 
 tJie icire were connected by a conductor tvith the other extremity 
 of the battery. 
 
 21. How the fluid transmitted to a distant station is made to 
 produce the effects by which messages are expressed will be 
 explained hereafter, meanwhile it will be necessary first to explain 
 the form and principle of the voltaic batteries used for tele- 
 graphic operations, and secondly the expedients by which the 
 current is transmitted and suspended, and turned in one or 
 another direction at the will of the operator at the station from 
 which despatches are transmitted. 
 
 To comprehend the principle of the voltaic battery, let us 
 suppose that two strips cut, one z z from a sheet of zinc, and the 
 other cc (fig. 1) from a sheet of cop- 
 per, are immersed without touching 
 each other in a vessel containing 
 water slightly acidulated. To the 
 upper edges p and N of the strips let 
 two pieces of wire P p and N n, be 
 soldered. In this state of the appa- 
 ratus no development of the electric 
 fluid will be manifested ; but if the 
 ends p and of the wires be 
 brought into contact, an electric 
 current will set in, running on the 
 wires from P, the point where the 
 wire is soldered to the copper c c, 
 to N, the point where the other wire 
 is soldered to the zinc z z. This 
 current will continue to flow so long 
 as the ends p and n of the wires are 
 kept in mutual contact, and no longer, 
 and n are separated, the current ceases. 
 
 22. The commencement of the current upon the contact of the 
 wires, and its cessation upon their separation, are absolutely 
 instantaneous ; so much so, that if the ends j9 and n were brought 
 into contact and separated a hundred times in a second, the flow 
 and suspension of the current being simultaneous with the 
 
 121 
 
 The moment the ends p
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Contacts and separations, would also take place a hundred times 
 in a second. 
 
 The existence of the current established in this case is inde- 
 pendent of the length of the wires p p and if n. "Whether their 
 length be 10 feet, 10 miles, or 100 miles, the current will still 
 flow upon them when their extremities p and n are brought into 
 contact. The only difference will be, that the intensity of the 
 current will be less in the same proportion as the length of the 
 wires is augmented. 
 
 23. There is another condition of great importance, whether 
 regarded theoretically or practically, on which the current will be 
 established and maintained. 
 
 Instead of bringing the wires P p and N n into contact, let 
 them be continued downwards, as represented in fig. 2, and con- 
 nected with two plates of metal p' and ', buried in the earth, or 
 
 with masses of metal or other good conducting body of any form 
 whatever thus buried. In that case the current will be esta- 
 blished as before, flowing along the wire soldered to the copper 
 from P to p 1 and along that soldered to the zinc from n' to ST. 
 
 Thus, in both cases the current starts from the copper, and, 
 following the course of the wires, returns to the zinc. In the 
 former case, however, it is continuous ; but in the latter it is 
 apparently broken, terminating at p', and recommencing at '. 
 122
 
 EARTH CONTACT. 
 
 24. In the electric theories it is assumed that the course of the 
 current, when it exists at all, must in all cases be continuous and 
 unbroken from p to K, as it is in fact under the conditions repre- 
 sented in fig. 1, when the ends p and n are in contact. It is 
 therefore assumed that in the case represented in fig. 2, the 
 stratum of the earth which is interposed between^' and n' plays 
 the part of a metallic wire joining these points, and that the current 
 which arrives by the wire P pp' at p' flows through the earth, as 
 indicated by the arrow, to n', from whence it flows along the wire 
 n' n N to N. 
 
 It is found also in this case that the existence of the current is 
 independent of the lengths of the wires, which do not affect it 
 otherwise than by diminishing its intensity. Whether the wires 
 are 10 feet, 10 miles, or 100 miles in length, the current still flows 
 from P to p' and returns from n' to N. 
 
 25. Thus, admitting the generally acknowledged principle that 
 the stratum of the earth intervening between^' and ' plays the part 
 of a conducting wire, uniting- the ends p' and n' of the wires 
 buried, it will follow that the current at p', though separated, as it 
 may be, by a distance of several hundred miles from the point n 
 of its return to N, finds its way nevertheless through the earth 
 unerringly and instantaneously to that point. 
 
 Of all the miracles of science, surely this is the most marvel- 
 lous. A stream of electric fluid has its source in the cellars of 
 the Central Electric Telegraphic Office, Lothbury, London. It 
 flows under the streets of the great metropolis, and, passing on 
 wires suspended over a zigzag series of railways, reaches Edin- 
 burgh, where it dips into the earth, and diffuses itself upon the 
 "buried plate. From that it takes flight through the crust of the 
 -earth, and finds its own way back to the cellars at Lothbury ! ! ! 
 
 Instead of burying plates of metal, it would be sufficient to 
 connect the wires at each end with the gas or water pipes, which, 
 being conductors, would equally convey the fluid to the earth ; 
 and in this case, every telegraphic despatch which flies to Edin- 
 burgh along the wires which border the railways, would fly back, 
 rushing to the gas-pipes which illuminate Edinburgh, from them 
 through the crust of the earth to the gas-pipes which illuminate 
 London, and from them home to the batteries in the cellars at 
 Lothbury ! 
 
 26. To derive all the necessary instruction from what has been 
 explained above, it will be necessary to distinguish what is 
 essential from what is merely optional, and which admits of 
 modification or change without affecting the result. 
 
 27. It will be seen that the electric fluid is evolved by the 
 combination of three bodies, the zinc, the copper, and the acidu- 
 
 123
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 lated solution in which they are immersed. The production of 
 the current depends on the chemical action of the solution on the 
 zinc. That metal being very susceptible of oxydation, decom- 
 poses the water which is in contact with it. One constituent of 
 the water combining with the zinc, produces a compound called 
 the oxyde of zinc, and this oxyde entering again into combination 
 with the acid which the water holds in solution, forms a soluble 
 salt. If the acid, for example, be sulphuric acid, this salt will be 
 the sulphate of the oxyde of zinc, and as fast as it is produced it will 
 be dissolved in the water in which the slips of metal are immersed. 
 
 Meanwhile, the copper not being as susceptible of chemical 
 action as the zinc, remains comparatively unaffected by the solu- 
 tion ; but the hydrogen evolved in the decomposition of the water 
 collects upon its surface, after which it rises and escapes in 
 bubbles at the surface of the solution. 
 
 It is to this chemical action upon the zinc that the production 
 of the electric current is due. If a like action had taken place in 
 the same degree on the copper, a similar and equally intense 
 electric current would be produced in the opposite direction ; and 
 in that case the two currents would neutralise each other, and no 
 electric effect would ensue. 
 
 From this it will be seen that the efficacy of the combination 
 must be ascribed to the fact, that one of the two metals immersed 
 in the solution is more oxydable than the other, and that the 
 energy of the effect and the intensity of the current will be so 
 much the greater as the susceptibility of oxydation of the one 
 metal exceeds that of the other. 
 
 28. It appears, therefore, that the principle may be generalised, 
 and that electricity will be developed, and a current produced by 
 any two metals similarly placed, which are oxydable in different 
 degrees. 
 
 Zinc being one of the most oxydable metals, and being also 
 sufficiently cheap and abundant, is generally used by preference 
 for voltaic combinations. Silver, gold, and platinum are severally 
 less susceptible of oxydation, and of chemical action generally, 
 than copper, and would therefore answer voltaic purposes better, 
 but are excluded by their greater cost, and by the fact that copper 
 is found sufficient for all practical purposes. 
 
 29. It is not, however, absolutely necessary that the inoxydable 
 element c c of the combination should be a metal at all. It is 
 only necessary that it be a good conductor of electricity. In 
 certain voltaic combinations, charcoal properly solidified has 
 therefore been substituted for copper, the solution being such as 
 would produce a strong chemical action on copper. 
 
 30. In the above illustration, we have supposed that the 
 124
 
 VOLTAIC COMBINATIONS. 
 
 metallic elements of the combination are thin rectangular slips 
 cut from sheet metal. The form, however, is in no manner 
 essential to the production of the electric current. So long as 
 the magnitude of the surfaces exposed to contact with the solution 
 is the same, the current will have the same force. The pieces of 
 metal may therefore have the form here supposed of thin rec- 
 tangular plates, or they may he formed, as is often found con- 
 venient, into hollow cylinders, that of the copper being so much 
 less in diameter than that of the zinc, that it is capable of being 
 placed within it without mutual contact. 
 
 The simple arrangement first adopted by Volta consisted of 
 two equal discs of metal, one of zinc, and the other of copper or 
 silver, with a disc of cloth or bibulous card, soaked in an acid or 
 saline solution, between them. These were usually laid, with 
 their surfaces horizontal, one upon the other. 
 
 The late Dr. Wollaston proposed an arrangement, in which the 
 copper plate was bent into two parallel plates, a space between 
 them being left for the insertion of the zinc plate, the contact of 
 the plates being prevented by the interposition of bits of cork or 
 other non-conductor. The system thus combined was immersed 
 in dilute acid, contained in a porcelain vessel. 
 
 Dr. Hare of Philadelphia contrived a voltaic arrangement, con- 
 sisting of two metallic plates, one of zinc and the other of copper, 
 of equal length, rolled together in the form of a spiral, a space of 
 a quarter of an inch being left between them. They are main- 
 tained parallel without touching, by means of a wooden cross at 
 top and bottom, in which notches are provided at proper distances, 
 into which the plates are inserted, the two crosses having a 
 common axis. This combination is let into a glass or porcelain 
 cylindrical vessel of corresponding magnitude, containing the 
 exciting liquid. 
 
 This arrangement has the great advantage of providing a very 
 considerable electro-motive surface with a very small volume. 
 
 The exciting liquid recommended for these batteries when great 
 power is desired, is a solution in water of 2| per cent, of sulphuric, 
 o.nd 2 per cent, of nitric acid. A less intense but more durable 
 action may be obtained by a solution of common salt, or of 3 to 5 
 per cent, of sulphuric acid only. 
 
 31. It is not essential that the water in which the metals are 
 immersed be acidulated, as we have supposed, by sulphuric acid. 
 Any acid which will promote the oxydation of the zinc without 
 affecting the copper will answer. Nor is it indeed necessary that 
 any acid whatever be used. A saline solution is often found more 
 convenient. Thus common salt dissolved in the water will 
 produce the desired effect. 
 
 125
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Fig. S. 
 
 Of the variov s voltaic combinations "which have been applied in, 
 scientific researches, four only have been found available to any 
 considerable extent in the working of electric telegraphs, the zinc 
 and copper plate combination described above, Daniel's constant 
 battery, Grove's battery, Bunsen's modification of it, and the- 
 magneto-electric apparatus. 
 
 32. Daniel's combination, which is extensively used in 
 working the telegraphs on the continent, consists of a 
 copper cylindrical vessel c c, fig. 3, widening near the top 
 a d. In this is placed a cylindrical vessel of unglazed 
 
 porcelain p. In this latter is placed the- 
 hollow cylinder of zinc z, already described. 
 The space between the copper and porcelain 
 vessels is filled with a saturated solution of 
 the sulphate of copper, which is maintained 
 in a state of saturation by crystals of the 
 salt placed in the wide cup abed, in the 
 bottom of which is a grating composed of 
 wire carried in a zigzag direction between 
 two concentric rings, as represented in plan 
 at G. The vessel p, containing the zinc, is filled with a solution 
 of sulphuric acid, containing from 10 to 25 per cent, of acid when 
 greater electro-motive power is required, and from 1 to 4 per cent, 
 when more moderate action is sufficient. 
 
 33. The following modification of Daniel's system was adopted 
 by M. Pouillet in his experimental researches, and is the form 
 and arrangement used in France for the telegraphs. A hollow 
 cylinder a, fig. 4, of thin copper, is ballasted with sand 6, having 
 
 a flat bottom c, and a conical top d. 
 ; 7 1 Above this cone the sides of the copper 
 , cylinders are continued, and terminate 
 in a flange e. Between this flange and 
 the base of the cone, and near the base, 
 is a ring of holes. This copper vessel 
 is placed in a bladder which fits it 
 loosely like a glove, and is tied round 
 the neck under the flange e. The satu-' . 
 rated solution of the sulphate of copper 
 is poured into the cup above the cone, 
 and, flowing through the ring of holes, 
 fills the space between the bladder and 
 the copper vessel. It is maintained in 
 its state of saturation by crystals of the 
 salt deposited in the cup. 
 This copper vessel is then immersed in a vessel of glazed
 
 VOLTAIC COMBINATIONS. 
 
 porcelain *, containing a solution of the sulphate of zinc or the 
 chloride of sodium (common salt). A hollow cylinder of zinc A, 
 split down the side so as to he capahle of being enlarged, or con- 
 tracted at pleasure, is immersed in this solution surrounding the 
 bladder. The poles are indicated by the conductors p and n, the 
 positive proceeding from the copper, and the negative from 
 the zinc. 
 
 M. Pouillet states that the action of this apparatus is sustained 
 without sensible variation for entire days, provided the cup above 
 the cone d is kept supplied with the salt, so as to maintain the 
 solution in the saturated state. 
 
 In the batteries used for the telegraphs on the French railways, 
 the liquid in which the zinc cylinder is immersed is pure water, 
 and this is found to answer in a very satisfactory manner. 
 
 The current flows from the copper cylinder and returns as usual 
 to the zinc. 
 
 34. Grove's battery consists of two liquids, sulphuric and nitric 
 acids, and two metals, zinc and platinum, arranged in the following 
 manner : 
 
 A hollow cylinder of zinc z z, fig. 5, open at both ends as already 
 described, is placed in a vessel of glazed porcelain v v. Within 
 this is placed a cylindrical vessel v v, of unglazed 
 porcelain, a little less in diameter than the zinc 
 z z, so that a space of about a quarter of an inch 
 may separate their surfaces. 
 In this vessel v v, is inserted a 
 cylinder c c of platinum, open 
 at the ends, and a little less 
 than v v, so that their surfaces 
 may be about a quarter of an 
 inch asunder. Dilute sulphuric 
 acid is then poured into the 
 vessel v v, and concentrated 
 nitric acid into v v ; P proceed- 
 ing from the platinum will then 
 be the positive, and N proceeding from the zinc the negative pole. 
 
 Bunsen contrived a battery which has taken his name, and 
 which, while it retains all the efficiency of Grove's, can be con- 
 structed at much less expense, the platinum element being replaced 
 by the cheaper material of charcoal. 
 
 In the vessel v v is inserted, instead of a hollow cylinder of 
 platinum, a solid cylindrical rod of charcoal, made from the 
 residuum taken from the retorts of gas-works. A strong porous 
 mass is produced by repeatedly baking the pulverised coke, to 
 which the required form is easily imparted. Dilute sulphuric acid 
 
 127
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Is then poured into the vessel v v, and concentrated nitric acid 
 into v v. The electric fluid issues from a wire connected with the 
 charcoal, and returns by one connected with the zinc. 
 
 Messrs. Deleuil and Son, of Paris, have fabricated batteries on 
 this principle with great success. I have one at present in use 
 consisting of fifty pairs of zinc and carbon cylinders, the zinc being 
 2| inches diameter, and 8 inches high, which performs very 
 satisfactorily. 
 
 The chief advantage of Daniel's system is that from which it 
 takes its name, its constancy. Its power, however, in its most 
 efficient state, is greatly inferior to that of the carbon or platinum 
 systems of Bunsen and Grove. A serious practical inconvenience, 
 however, attends all batteries in which concentrated nitric acid is 
 used, owing to the diffusion of nitrous vapour, and the injury to 
 which the parties working them are exposed by respiring it. In 
 my own experiments with Bunsen's batteries the assistants have 
 been often severely affected. 
 
 In the use of the platinum battery of Grove, the nuisance pro- 
 duced by the evolution of nitrous vapour is sometimes mitigated 
 by enclosing the cells in a box, from the lid of which a tubo 
 proceeds which conducts these vapours out of the room. 
 
 In combinations of this kind, Dr. O'Shaugnessy substituted 
 gold for platinum, and a mixture of two parts by weight of 
 sulphuric acid to one of saltpetre for nitric acid. 
 
 The method of producing the electric fluid by the mutual action 
 of magnets and bodies susceptible of magnetism will be described 
 hereafter. 
 
 35. Although each of the simple combinations described above 
 would produce an electric current, which, being transmitted upon a 
 conducting wire, would be attended with effects sufficiently distinct 
 to manifest its presence, such a current would be too feeble in its 
 intensity to serve the purposes of a telegraphic line ; and as no 
 other simple voltaic combination yet discovered would give to a 
 current the necessary intensity, the object has been attained by 
 placing in connection a series of such combinations, in such a 
 manner that the currents produced by each of them being trans- 
 mitted in the same direction, on the same conducting wire, a, 
 current having an intensity due to such combination may be ' 
 obtained. 
 
 Such a series of simple voltaic combinations, so united, is called 
 
 a VOLTAIC BATTEEr. 
 
 123
 
 CABLE IX THE HOLD OF THK VKSSEI,. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 36. Common plate battery. 37. Combination of currents. 38. Loss of 
 intensity by imperfect conduction. 39. Cylindrical batteries. 40. 
 Pairs, elements, and poles denned. 41. Origin of term voltaic pile. 
 42. Use of sand in charging batteries. i3. To vary intensity of current. 
 44. Batteries used for English telegraphs. 45. Amalgamating the 
 ainc plates. 46. The line-wires, material and thickness. 47. Objection 
 to iron wires. 48. Manner of carrying wires on posts. 49. Good 
 insulation. 50. Expedients for obtaining it 51. Forms of insulating 
 gupports. 52. Dimensions and preparations of the posts. 53. Forms 
 of support used in England. 54. Winding posts. 55. Supports in 
 -France. 56. In America. 57. In Germany. 58. Wire insulated 
 by superficial oxydation. 59. Leakage of the electric fluid by the con- 
 duction of the atmosphere. 60. Effects of atmospheric electricity 
 
 on the wires. 61. Lightning conductors 62. Those of Messrs. 
 
 Walker and Breguet. 63. Conducting current into stations. 64. 
 Underground wires. 65. Methods of insulating them. 66. Testing 
 posts. 
 
 LAKDNER'S MUSEUM o SCIKHOB. JL 129 
 
 No. 33.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 86. ONE of the most simple forms of voltaic battery is that 
 represented in fig. 6, which consists of a glazed earthen- 
 _ ware trough, divided by 
 
 partitions into a series of 
 parallel cells, and a series of 
 zinc and copper plates, A' B', 
 of shape and magnitude cor- 
 responding with the cells, 
 attached to a wooden rod, 
 
 each c PP er P late bein 
 connected at the top, under 
 
 the wood, by a band of 
 
 metal, with the zinc plate 
 
 which immediately succeeds 
 
 it in the series. For brevity, let us designate the first copper plate, 
 Cj, the second C 2 , the third, C 3 , and so on, proceeding from A' 
 towards B', and let the first zinc plate, which is connected with c l 
 by a metal baud, be called z 2 , the next, which is similarly connected 
 with C 2 , be called z 3 , and so on from A' towards B'. Now, the 
 intervals between the plates being so arranged as to correspond 
 with the width of the cells, the scries of plates may be let down 
 into the cells so that a partition shall separate every pair of plates 
 which are connected by a metal band. Thus, the first partition 
 will pass between c^ and Z 2 , the second between C 2 and z 3 , the third 
 between C 3 and Z 4 , and so on. It appears, therefore, that the first 
 cell proceeding from A towards B will contain only the copper plate 
 C lt the second will contain c z and Z 2 , the third, C 3 and z 3 , and so 
 on, the last cell at the extremity B of the series containing only 
 the last zinc plate, which we shall call z n . 
 
 Now, it is evident that as the arrangement thus stands, the first 
 and last cells of the series would differ from the intermediate ones, 
 inasmuch as, while each of the latter contains a pair of plates, 
 each of the former contains only a single plate, the first copper 
 c t and the last zinc z n . To complete the arrangement, therefore, 
 it will be necessary to place a zinc plate, which we shall call z,, in 
 the first cell to the left of c v and so as not to be in contact with it, 
 and in like manner a copper plate, which we shall call c n , in the 
 last cell B to the right of Z D , and so as not to be in contact with it.' . 
 Let wii es be soldered to the upper edges of these terminal plates 
 7^ and c n , and let them be carried to any desired distances, but 
 finally connected with plates, or any other masses of metal, buried 
 in the ground at ' and p', fig. 7. 
 
 These dispositions being made, let us suppose the cells to be 
 filled \\ith a weak acid solution, such as has been already described, 
 but so that the liquid in one cell may not overflow into the next. 
 120
 
 VOLTAIC BATTERIES. 
 
 A current of electricity will now be established along the wire 
 passing as indicated by the arrows, from the last copper plate rip, 
 
 to the earth at p', and returning by n' to the first zinc plate z u 
 atK. 
 
 This current is produced by the combined voltaic action of all 
 the pairs of plates contained in the cells of the trough. 
 
 37. The current produced by the combination z l c u in the first 
 cell, will flow from the plate c x by the band of metal to the plate 
 Z 2 , in the second cell. It will follow this course because of the 
 conducting power of the metals, and the insulating power of the 
 wood and earthenware, which prevents its escape. From the plate 
 Z 2 it will pass through the acidulated water to the plate C 2 , for 
 although this water has not a conducting power equal to that of 
 metal, it has nevertheless sufiicient to continue the current to C 2 . 
 From C 2 it will pass by the band of metal to Z 3 , and from that 
 through the liquid in the third cell to C 3 , and from that by the 
 metal to z 3 , and so on until it arrives at the last plate C B of the 
 series, from which it will pass, by the conducting wire, from p top'. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that the current produced by the voltaic 
 combination in the first cell must pass successively through the 
 plates and liquid in all the cells before it can arrive at P. 
 
 In the same manner it may be shown that the current produced 
 in the second cell containing Z 2 and C 2 must pass through all the 
 succeeding cells before it can reach p, and so of all the others. 
 
 38. Now, if the metals and liquid were perfect conductors, each 
 of these currents would arrive at p with undiminished force, and 
 then the current upon the wire P p' would be as many times more 
 intense than a current produced by a single voltaic combination as 
 there are cells. But this is not so. The metals copper and zinc, 
 though good conductors, are not perfect ones, and the acidulated 
 water is a very imperfect one. The consequence is, that the 
 currents severally produced in each of the cells, suffer a consider- 
 able loss of force before they arrive at the conducting wire ~sp'\ and 
 mathematical formula), based on theoretical principles and practical 
 data, have been contrived to express in each case the effects of this 
 
 K 2 131
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 diminution of force due to the imperfect conducting power, or the 
 resistance, as it has been called, of the elements of the batten'. 
 
 "Without going into the reasoning upon which these investiga- 
 tions are founded, it will be sufficient for our present object to 
 state, that in all cases, a current of greater or less force is trans- 
 mitted to the terminal plate of the series from each of the cells, no 
 matter how numerous they may be, and in some cases batteries 
 have been constructed and brought into operation, in scientitic 
 researches, which consisted of as many as two thousand pairs of 
 plates. 
 
 39. To simplify the explanation, as well as because the form 
 described is very generally used for telegraphic purposes, we have 
 here selected the plate battery to illustrate the general principle 
 upon which all voltaic combinations are founded. In fig. 8 is 
 
 represented the dispo- 
 sition of the cylinders 
 in a battery formed on 
 the principles of- Daniel 
 or Grove, where the 
 metallic connection of 
 each copper or charcoal 
 element of one pair, 
 with the zinc element 
 
 of the succeeding pair, is represented by a rectangular metallic bar 
 
 or wire. 
 
 40. Each combination of two metals, or of one metal and char- 
 coal, which enters into the composition of a battery, is usually 
 called a PAIR, and sometimes an ELEMENT. Thus, a battery is 
 said to consist of so many PAIRS, or so many ELEMENTS. 
 
 The end of the battery from which the current issues is called 
 its POSITIVE POLE, and that to which it returns is called its 
 NEGATIVE POLE. Tlius, in the batteries explained above, r is the 
 positive, and N the negative pole. 
 
 Since in the most usual elements, zinc and copper, the current 
 issues from the last copper plate, and returns to the first zinc 
 plate, the positive pole is sometimes called the COPPER POLE, and 
 the negative the ZINC POLE. 
 
 41. The voltaic battery is sometimes called the VOLTAIC PI LI-;. 
 This term had its origin from the forms given to the first voltaic 
 combination by its illustrious inventor. 
 
 The first pile constructed by Volta was formed as follows : A disc 
 of zinc was laid upon a plate of glass. Upon it was laid an equal 
 disc of cloth or pasteboard, soaked in acidulated water. Upon this 
 was laid an equal disc of copper. Upon the copper were laid, in 
 the same order, three discs of zinc, wet cloth, and copper, and the 
 132
 
 VOLTAIC PILE. 
 
 same superposition of the same combinations of zinc, cloth, and 
 copper, -was continued until the pile was completed. The highest 
 disc (of copper) was then the positive, and the lowest disc (of zinc) 
 the negative pole, according to the principles already explained. 
 
 It was usual to keep the discs in their places by confining them 
 between rods of glass. 
 
 Such a pile, Avith conducting wires connected 
 with its poles, is represented in fig. 9. 
 
 42. As the batteries used on telegraphic 
 lines are liable to frequent removal from place 
 to place while charged with the acidulated 
 water, or other exciting liquid, it has been 
 found desirable to contrive means to prevent 
 such liquid from being spilled, or thrown from 
 cell to cell. This has been perfectly accom- 
 plished by the simple expedient of filling the 
 cells with silicious sand, which is kept satu- 
 rated with the exciting liquid so long as the 
 battery is in operation. 
 
 43. It is often necessary, in telegraphic 
 operations, to vary the intensity of the current. 
 This is accomplished, within certain limits, 
 without changing the battery, in the following 
 manner : 
 
 If it be desired to give the full force of 
 the battery to the current, the wires are 
 attached to the terminal plates, so that the 
 entire battery is between them. But if any 
 less intensity is desired, the wires, or one of 
 them, is attached to intermediate plates, so 
 that they shall include between them a part 
 only of the battery. The part included between them is alone 
 active in producing the current, all the elements which are outside 
 the wires being passive. The battery, in effect, is converted into 
 one of fewer elements. 
 
 Provisions are made, which will be explained hereafter, by 
 which the operator can, by a touch of the hand, thus vary the 
 force of the battery. 
 
 44. The batteries generally used for the English telegraphs 
 are those described in (36). They are usually charged with 
 sand, wetted with water mixed with sulphuric acid, in the pro- 
 portion of about one part of strong acid to fifteen of water. A 
 more intense current could be produced by using a stronger 
 solution, but it is found preferable to augment its intensity by 
 increasing the number of plates in the battery. The dimensions 
 
 133
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 of the plates are generally four to five inches wide, and three to 
 four inches deep. The thickness of the zinc plates is something 
 less than a quarter of an inch. The cells are filled with sand to 
 within an inch of the top, and the parts of the plates above the 
 sand are varnished as a protection against corrosion, and to keep 
 them clean. In general, the troughs are made either of glazed 
 gutta percha or some compact wood, such as oak, or teak, made 
 water-tight by cement or marine glue. "When the trough is wood 
 the partitions of the cells are slate, the width of each cell being 
 one inch and a quarter to one inch and a half. The troughs 
 contain, some twenty-four, and some twelve cells. 
 
 Batteries of this sort, consisting of twenty-four cells, give a 
 current of sufficient force for a line of wire of 15 miles. For 
 50 miles, 48 cells, and for 75 miles, three troughs of 24 cells are 
 required. Mr. "Walker considers that these batteries give super- 
 fluous force, but that it is necessary to provide against the 
 contingency of leakage by accidental defects of insulation. 
 
 45. The durability of these batteries is increased by amalga- 
 mating the zinc plates. This is effected by first washing them in 
 acidulated water, and then immersing them in a bath of mercury 
 for one or two minutes. The mercury will combine with the zinc 
 and form a superficial coating of the amalgam of zinc. "When they 
 are worn by use, they may be restored, by scouring them, and 
 submitting them to the same process, and this may be continued 
 until the zinc become too thin to hold together. 
 
 Mr. "Walker states that new batteries, when carefully pat 
 together, will, with care, do duty for six or eight months, when 
 the work is not very heavy ; and by washing the sand out with a 
 How of water, and refilling them, they have frequently remained 
 on duty ten or twelve months, or even more, without having been 
 sent in for re-amalgamation.* 
 
 46. Having explained, generally, the manner in which the 
 electric current is produced and maintained, I shall now proceed to 
 explain the various expedients by which it is conducted from station 
 to station, along the telegraphic line, and by which injurious 
 waste by leakage or drainage is prevented or diminished. 
 
 The conducting wires used for telegraphic lines arc of iron, 
 usually the sixth of an inch in diameter. On all European lines" 
 they are submitted to a process called galvanisation, being passed 
 through a bath of liquid zinc, by which they become coated with 
 that metal. This zinc surface being easily oxydable, is soon, by 
 the action, of air and moisture, converted into the oxyde of zinc, 
 which, being insoluble by water, remains upon the wire, and 
 protects the iron from all corrosion. 
 
 * EL Tel. Manip., p. 8. 
 131
 
 LINE WIRES. 
 
 When a great length of wire is to be stretched between two 
 distant points without intermediate support, steel wire is often 
 preferred to iron, in consequence of its greater strength and 
 tenacity. 
 
 Copper being a better conductor of electricity than iron, as wel 1 
 as being less susceptible of oxydation, would on these accounts be 
 more eligible for telegraphic purposes. Its higher price, and the 
 possibility of compensation for the inferior conducting power of 
 iron, by using greater battery power, has rendered it preferable 
 to use that metal. 
 
 47. Mr. Highton, the inventor of some important improvements 
 in telegraphic apparatus, affirms that, when galvanised iron wires 
 pass through large towns where great quantities of coal are 
 burnt, the sulphureous acid gas resulting from such combustion 
 acting upon the oxyde of zinc which coats the conducting wire, 
 converts it into a sulphate of zinc, which being soluble in water, 
 is immediately dissolved by rain, leaving the iron unprotected. 
 The wire consequently soon rusts, and is corroded. Mr. Hightoa 
 says, that in some cases he has found his telegraph wires reduced 
 by this cause to the thinness of a common sewing needle in less 
 than two years. 
 
 The wires used on the American lines are of iron, similar to the 
 European, but are not galvanised. They soon become coated with 
 their own oxyde. A pair of galvanised wires have been placed 
 between New York and Boston, and I have been informed by Mr. 
 Shaffner, the secretary of the American Telegraph Confederation, that 
 at certain times during the winter, it has been found that they were 
 unable to work the telegraph with these wires, while its operation 
 with the wires not galvanised, was uninterrupted. Mr. Shaffner 
 also states that several anomalous circumstances have been mani- 
 fested upon some extensive lines of wire erected on the vast 
 prairies of Missouri. Thus, in the months of July and August, it 
 is found that the telegraph cannot be worked from two to six in the 
 afternoon, being the hottest hours of the day. These circumstances 
 are ascribed to some unexplained atmospheric effects. 
 
 48. The manner in which the conducting wires are carried from 
 station to station is well known. Every railway traveller is familiar 
 with the lines of wire extended along the side of the railways, 
 which, when numerous, have been not unaptly compared to the 
 series of lines on which the notes of music are written, and which 
 are the metallic wires on which invisible messages are flying con- 
 tinually with a speed that surpasses imagination. These are sus- 
 pended on posts, erected at intervals of about sixty yards, being 
 at the rate of thirty to a mile. They therefore supply incidentally 
 a convenient means by which a passenger can ascertain the speed 
 
 135
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGKAP1I. 
 
 of the train in which he travels. If he count the number of 
 telegraph posts which pass his eye in two minutes, that number 
 will express in miles per hour the speed of the train. 
 
 49. Since the current of electricity which flows along the wire 
 has always a tendency to pass by the shortest route possible to the 
 ground, it is evident that the supports of the wires upon these 
 posts ought to possess, in the highest attainable degree, the pro- 
 perty of insulation ; for even though the entire stream of electrical 
 fluid might not make its escape at any one support, yet if a little 
 escaped at one and a little at another, the current would, in a 
 long line, be soon so drained that what would remain would be 
 insufficient to produce those effects on which the efficiency of the 
 telegraph depends. Great precautions have therefore been taken, 
 and much scientific ingenuity has been expended in contriving 
 supports which shall possess, in the highest attainable degree, the 
 property of insulation. 
 
 50. To each of these posts or poles are attached as many tubes or 
 rollers, or other forms of support, in porcelain or glass, as there are 
 wires to be supported. Each wire passes through a tube, or is 
 supported on a roller ; and the material of the tubes or rollers being 
 among the most perfect of the class of non-conducting substances, 
 the escape of the electricity at the points of contact is impeded. 
 
 Notwithstanding various precautions of this kind, a considerable 
 escape of electricity still takes place in wet weather. The coat of 
 moisture which collects on the wire, its support, and the post, 
 being a conductor, carries away more or less of the fluid. Conse- 
 quently, more powerful batteries are necessary to give effect to the 
 telegraph in wet than in dry weather. 
 
 In England, and on the Continent, the material hitherto used 
 for the supports of the wires is principally a sort of earthen or 
 stone ware. In the United States it is generally glass. 
 
 51. The forms of these insulating supports are various. Tubes, 
 rings, collars, and double cones, are severally used. The material 
 used most commonly in England, a sort of brown stoneware, has 
 the advantage, besides being a good insulator, of throwing off wet, 
 as water falls from a duck's wing, leaving the surface dry. A pitcher 
 of this ware, plunged in water, scarcely retains any moisture upon it. 
 
 52. The posts vary generally from 15 to 30 feet in height, the 
 lowest wire being about ten feet above the ground, except in 
 cases where greater height is required to allow vehicles to pass 
 under it, as when the wires cross a common road, or pass from 
 one side of the railway to the other. The poles are about 6 
 inches square at the top, and increase to 8 inches at the bottom. 
 In some cases they are impregnated with certain chemical solutions, 
 to preserve them from rotting, and are generally painted, the parts 
 
 136
 
 POST FOR WIRES. 
 
 Fig. 10. 
 
 which are in the ground being charred and tarred. The manner 
 of treatment, however, varies in different countries. 
 
 53. In figs. 10 and 11 are 
 represented different forms of 
 supports used in England. 
 To cross-pieces of wood, A A', 
 bolted upon the post (fig. 10), 
 are attached balls, b, of stone- 
 ware, as described above, in 
 which grooves or slits are 
 formed to receive and support 
 the wires. These supports 
 are protected from rain and 
 from the deposition of dew by 
 hoods of zinc-coated iron 
 placed over them. Glass being 
 so much better an insulator, 
 balls of that material are re- 
 cently being substituted for 
 the stoneware. 
 
 Another form of support, 
 shelteredby asortof sloping roof, is represented in fig. II. On the front 
 of the post is a wooden arm to which a series of stone-ware rings are 
 
 attached, through which the wires pass. These rings have the form 
 
 of two truncated cones placed with their larger bases in contact. 
 
 It is usual, where the wires are numerous, as on some of the 
 
 lines near London, to attach these supports both to the front and 
 
 187
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 back of the post. So many as thirteen of these supports may be 
 seen upon some of the posts of the North-Western line near 
 London. The wires supported on some of these are continued to 
 Liverpool and Manchester, and some even to Glasgow. 
 
 54. If the same wire were carried over a succession of supports 
 for a certain distance, they would after a certain time become 
 slack and hang in curves between post and post. This would be 
 attended with great inconvenience and confusion, inasmuch as 
 one wire especially when agitated by wind would come in con- 
 tact with another, so that the currents running along them would 
 pass from one to another, and the proper signals conveyed by 
 such currents would no longer reach their destination. 
 
 To prevent this, apparatus for tightening the wire are on all 
 such lines provided at convenient distances, such as half-a-mile, 
 upon posts which are thence called winding posts. These posts 
 are of larger dimensions than the ordinary posts. A grooved 
 drum, on which the wire is wound, is attached to them by a bolt, 
 which passes through the post, but clear of the wood. Upon this 
 bolt is fixed a ratchet wheel by which the drum may be turned 
 in one direction, so as to coil the wire upon it, with a catch which 
 prevents its recoil in the other direction, and therefore maintains 
 the tension of the wire. The bolt is kept from contact with the 
 post by passing through a stoneware collar. 
 
 The current passes through the winder and the bolt, these 
 being metallic, but in case of any interruption arising from the 
 r Fig. 12. 
 
 oxydation of their surfaces a supplemental piece of conducting 
 wire is provided, which connects the main wires at points taken 
 above and below the winding post, as represented in fig. 12. 
 138
 
 INSULATING SUPPORTS. 
 
 55. In France the posts are from twenty to thirty feet high, 
 placed at distances varying from sixty to seventy yards asunder, 
 and sunk to a depth of from three to seven feet in the ground. 
 They are impregnated with sulphate of copper to preserve them 
 from rotting by damp. 
 
 The conducting wire rests in an iron hook, which is fastened 
 by sulphur into the highest part of the cavity of an inverted 
 bell, formed of porcelain, from which two ears project, which are 
 screwed to the post. 
 
 A section of this apparatus is given in fig. 13, and a side view 
 in fig. 14, the figures being one-fifth of the actual magnitude. 
 
 The winding posts are placed at distances of a kilometre (six- 
 tenths of a mile). The apparatus used for tightening the wire 
 consists of two drums or rollers, 
 each carrying on its axis a ratchet Flgs- 13j 14> 
 
 wheel with a catch. These drums 
 are mounted on iron forks formed 
 at the ends of an iron bar, which 
 is passed through an opening 
 in a porcelain support, and se- 
 cured in its position by pins, the 
 porcelain support being attached 
 to the post by screws passing through ears projecting from it, 
 
 A front view of this winding apparatus is given fig. 15 ; 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
 Fig. 16. 
 
 side view of the porcelain support showing the opening through 
 which the iron bar is passed, and the screws by which it in 
 attached to the post, is given in fig. 16. 
 These figures are one-fifth of the real 
 magnitude of the apparatus. 
 
 The conducting wires used in France 
 are similar to those used on the English 
 lines. 
 
 56. The insulating supports of the 
 wires used on the American lines axe 
 very various in form, 
 
 The supports upon the principal 
 Morse lines consist of a glass knob,
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 fig. 17, upon which two projecting rings are raised in the 
 groove between which the wire is wrapped. This glass knob 
 
 Fig. IS. 
 
 is attached to an iron shank 
 as represented in fig. 18, which 
 is driven into the post. 
 
 Another form of support 
 used on these lines is repre- 
 sented in fig. 19, which consists 
 of two rectangular blocks of 
 glass, in each of which is a semi- 
 cylindrical groove corresponding with the thickness of the con- 
 ducting wire, so that the wire being laid in the groove of one 
 ef them, and the other being laid upon it, will be completely 
 enclosed within the block of glass produced by 
 their union. These blocks of glass are surrounded 
 and protected by a larger block of wood, as repre- 
 sented in the figure, where the white part represents 
 the glass, and the shaded part the wood. 
 
 The supports are sometimes attached to the sides 
 of the posts, and sometimes placed upon an hori- 
 zontal cross bar, as represented in fig. 20. 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 The supports used in House's lines consist of a glass cap about 
 five inches in length and four inches in diameter, having a 
 coarse screw-like surface cut inside and out. This glass cap 
 (2) fig. 21 is screwed and cemented into a bell - shaped iror 
 cap (1) from three to four pounds, in weight, projecting ar 
 inch below the lower edge of the glass, protecting it from 
 being broken; this is fitted with much care to the top of 
 140
 
 INSULATING SUPPORTS. 
 
 Fig. 21. 
 
 the polo (3), and is covered with paint or varnish. The con- 
 ducting wire is fastened to the top of the cap by projecting 
 iron points, and the whole of the iron cap is thus in the circuit, aa 
 the wire is of iron and not insulated. To 
 prevent the deposit of moisture, the glass is 
 covered by a varnish of gum-lac dissolved 
 in alcohol, and the ring-like form of the 
 glass is to cause any moisture to be 
 carried to the edge and there drop off.* 
 
 The wires on the American lines are 
 not usually galvanised. 
 
 57. One of the forms of insulating sup- 
 port used on the German lines is repre- 
 sented in fig. 22, and consists of an. 
 insulating cap placed on the tapering end 
 of a post T. The post terminates in a 
 point c, an inch and a half in length 
 and about six lines in diameter ; this 
 pole is covered with a porcelain cap d d, 
 
 a sort of reversed cup ; on its summit e, there is a hole inlaid 
 with lead, in which the conducting wire 
 b b enters ; this insulator is then covered 
 with a roof. 
 
 58. It may be asked what prevents 
 the escape of the electric fluid from 
 the surface of the wire between post 
 and post ? In general when wires are 
 used on a smaller scale for the trans- 
 mission of electric currents, the escape 
 of the fluid is prevented by wrapping 
 them with silk or cotton thread, which 
 thus forms a non-conducting cover 
 upon them, but on the scale on which 
 they are used on telegraphic lines 
 the expense of this, independently 
 
 of the difficulty of protecting such covering from destruction by 
 weather, would render it inadmissible. 
 
 59. The atmosphere, when dry, is a good non-conductor ; but 
 this quality is impaired when it is moist. In ordinary weather, 
 however, the air being a sufficiently good non-conductor, a 
 metallic wire will, without any other insulating envelope except 
 the air itself, conduct the stream of electricity to the necessary 
 distances. It is true that a coated wire, such as we hava 
 
 * Turnbull on the Electric Telegraph, p. 176. Philadelphia, 1853. 
 
 141
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 described, would bo subject to less waste of the electric fluid en 
 route ; but it is more economical to provide batteries sufficiently 
 powerful to bear this waste, than to cover such extensive lengths 
 of wire with any envelope. 
 
 60. Atmospheric electricity having been found to be occasion- 
 ally attracted to the wires, and to pass along them, so as to 
 disturb the indications of the telegraphic instruments, and 
 sometimes even to be attended with no inconsiderable danger 
 to those employed in working the apparatus ; various expedients 
 have been contrived for removing the inconvenience and averting 
 the danger. The current produced by this atmospheric electricity 
 is often so intense as to render some of the finer wires used in 
 certain parts of the apparatus at the stations, red hot, and 
 sometimes even to fuse them. It also produces very injurious 
 effects by demagnetising the needles, or imparting permanent 
 magnetism to certain bars of iron included in the apparatus, 
 which thus become unfit for use. 
 
 61. One of the expedients used for the prevention of these 
 inconvenient and injurious effects is to place common lightning 
 conductors on the posts. The points of these are shown upon the 
 posts in figs. 10, 11, and 12. 
 
 62. Mr. Walker of the South Eastern Company and M. Bre- 
 guet of Paris, have each invented an instrument for the better 
 protection of telegraphic stations from atmospheric electric dis- 
 charges. Both these contrivances have been found in practice to 
 be efficacious, and though differing altogether in form they are 
 similar in principle. In both, a much finer wire than any which 
 lies in the regular route of the current is interposed between the 
 line wire and the station, so that an intense and dangerous 
 atmospheric current must first pass this fine wire before reaching 
 the station. Now it is the property of such a current to raise the 
 temperature of the conductor over which it passes to a higher 
 and higher point in proportion to the resistance which such con- 
 ductor offers to its passage. But the resistance offered by the 
 wire is greater in the same proportion as its section is smaller. 
 The safety wire interposed in these contrivances is, therefore, of 
 such thinness that it must be fused by a current of dangerous 
 intensity. The wire being thus destroyed all electric communi- 
 cation with the station is cut off, and the extent of the incon- 
 venience is the temporary suspension of the business of the line 
 until the breach has been repaired. 
 
 Expedients are used on the American lines to divert the 
 
 atmospheric electricity from the wires, consisting merely of a 
 
 number of fine points projecting from a piece of metal connected 
 
 with the earth by a rod of metal. These points are presented to 
 
 142
 
 UNDERGROUND WIRES. 
 
 a metal plate, or other surface, attached to the line wire at the 
 place whert, it enters the station. It is found that these points 
 attract the atmospheric electricity, which passes to the ground by 
 the conductor connected with them, but do not attract the 
 electricity of the battery current. 
 
 63. The wires extended from post to post are continued in pass- 
 ing the successive stations of the line. The expedients by which 
 the current is turned aside from the main wire, and made to pass 
 through the telegraphic office of the station, differ more or less 
 in their details on different lines and in different countries, but 
 are founded on the same general principles. It will therefore 
 be sufficient here to describe one of those commonly used on the 
 British lines. 
 
 The conducting wire of the main line in passing the station is 
 cut and the ends jointed by a shackle, as represented in fig. 12, 
 in the case of a winding post. This shackle breaking the 
 metallic continuity would stop the course of the current. A wire 
 is attached to the line wire below the shackle so as to receive the 
 current which the latter would stop, and is carried on insulating 
 supports into the telegraphic office and put in connection with the 
 telegraphic instrument. Another wire connected with the other 
 side of the instrument receives the current on leaving it, and 
 being carried back on insulating supports to the line wire, is 
 attached to the latter above the shackle, and so brings back the 
 current which continues its progress along the line wire. 
 
 64. Although the mode of carrying the conducting wires at a 
 certain elevation on supports above the ground has been the most 
 general mode of construction adopted on telegraphic lines, it has 
 been found in certain localities subject to difficulties and incon- 
 venience, and some projectors have considered that in all cases 
 it would be more advisable to carry the conducting wires under- 
 ground. 
 
 This underground system has been adopted in the streets of 
 London, and of some other large towns. The British and Irish 
 Magnetic Telegraph Company have laid a considerable length 
 of their lines on this principle, including the wires between 
 London and Dover, which connect the submarine cables to Bou- 
 logne, Calais, and Ostend, with the metropolis. 
 
 65. The underground wires are of copper, and are insulated by 
 several coatings of gutta-percha, which has been found to bo one 
 of the most perfect non-conducting substances. 
 
 It has also been discovered that tar acts as a great preservative 
 of the gutta-percha envelope ; and in the more recent lines of this 
 description the gutta-percha covered wires have been placed in 
 an outer tube of gutta-percha and saturated with tar until tbe 
 
 143
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 instcrstices between the wires are filled. The outer tube is 
 then covered with two servings of tarred yaru, and the whole 
 coated over with marine glue or asphalte, and deposited in woodeu 
 or iron troughs under the foot pavements. 
 
 Since the paragraph (54) was put in type, we learn that the 
 companies have abandoned the winding posts, and that the 
 wire.s are tightened on every common post by means of a line 
 wire or strong tarred yarn, so that the expansion and consequent 
 slackening of the conducting wire can only take place between 
 post and post. 
 
 66. Provisions, called testing posts, are made at intervals of a 
 quarter of a mile along the streets, by which any failure or 
 accidental irregularity in the buried wires can be ascertained, 
 and the place of such defect always known within a quarter of 
 a mile.
 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 67. Wires of Magneto-electric Telegraph Company. 68. Mr. Bright' s 
 method of detecting faulty points. 69. Such failure of insulation, 
 rare. 70. Underground method recently abandoned in Prussia. 
 71. Underground wires of the European and Submarine Company. 
 72. Imperfect insulation in tunnels. 73. Mr. Walker's method of 
 remedying this. 74. Overground system adopted through the streets 
 of cities in France, and in the United States. 75. Telegraphic lines 
 need not follow railways. 76. Do not in America nor in certain 
 parts of Europe. 77. Submarine cables. 78. Cable connecting Dover 
 and Calais. 79. Failure of first attempt Improved structure. 
 80. Table of submarine cables and their dimensions. 81. Dimensions 
 and structure of the Dover and Calais cable. 82. Holyhead and 
 Howth cable. 83. First attempt to lay cable between Portpatrick 
 and Donaghadee its failure. 84. Dover and Ostend. 85. Port- 
 patrick and Donaghadee. 86. Orfordness and the Hague. 
 
 67. Some of the wires of the British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph 
 Company are laid and protected in the following manner. 
 LARDNER'S MUSEUM or SCIEHCE. L 145 
 
 No. 35.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Ten conducting wires are enveloped in a covering of gutta- 
 percha, so as to be completely separated one from another. Thus 
 prepared they are deposited in a square creosoted wooden trough 
 measuring three inches in the side, so that nearly a square inch 
 of its cross section is allowed for each of the wires. This trough 
 is deposited on the bottom of a trench cut two feet deep along the 
 side of the common coach road. A galvanised iron lid, of about 
 an eighth of an inch thick, is then fastened on by clamps or small 
 tenter hooks, and the tronch filled in. 
 
 A section of the trough in its actual size is given in fig. 23. 
 
 Fig. 23. Galvanised Iron Lid, No. 14, Birmingham Wire Gauge. 
 
 Creosoted Deal Troughing. 
 
 The method of laying the wires in the streets adopted by this 
 company is a little different. In this case iron pipes are laid, but 
 they are split longitudinally. The under halves are laid down 
 in the trench, and the gutta-percha covered wires being deposited, 
 the upper halves of the pipes are lavl on and secured in their places, 
 by means of screws through flanges left outside for the purpose. 
 
 To deposit the rope of gutta-percha-covered wires in the 
 trough it is first coiled upon a large drum, which being rolled 
 along slowly and uniformly over the trench, the rope of wires is 
 payed off easily and evenly into its bed. 
 
 So well has this method of laying the wires succeeded that in 
 Liverpool the entire distance along the streets from Tithe Barn 
 146
 
 UNDERGROUND WIRES. 
 
 Railway station to the Telegraph Company's offices in Exchange 
 Street, East, was laid in eleven hours ; and in Manchester the 
 line of streets from the Salford Railway station to Ducie Street, 
 Exchange, was laid in twenty-two hours. This was the entire 
 time occupied in opening the trenches, laying down the telegraph 
 wires, refilling the trenches and relaying the pavement. 
 
 68. One of the objections against the underground system of 
 conducting wires, was, that while they offered no certain guarantee 
 against the accidental occurrence of faulty points where their 
 insulation might be rendered imperfect, and where, therefore, the 
 current would escape to the earth, they rendered the detection of 
 such faulty points extremely difficult. To ascertain their position 
 required a tedious process of trial to be made from one testing 
 post to another, over an indefinite extent of the line. 
 
 A remedy for this serious inconvenience, and a ready and 
 certain method of ascertaining the exact place of such points of 
 fault without leaving the chief, or other station at which the 
 agent may happen to be, has been invented and patented by the 
 Messrs. Bright of the Magnetic Telegraph Company. 
 
 Instruments called Galvanometers, which will be more fully 
 described hereafter, are constructed, by which the relative intensity 
 of electric currents is measured by their effect in deflecting a 
 magnetic needle from its position of rest. The currents which 
 most deflect the needle have the greatest intensity, and currents 
 which equally deflect it have equal intensities. 
 
 The intensity of a current diminishes as the length of the con- 
 ducting wire measured from the pole of the battery to the point 
 where it enters the earth is augmented. Thus, if this length be 
 increased from twenty miles to forty miles, the intensity of the 
 current will be decreased one half. 
 
 The intensity of the current is also decreased by decreasing the 
 thickness of the conducting wire. Thus the intensity, when 
 transmitted on a very thin wire, will be much less than when 
 transmitted on a thick wire of equal length ; but the thick wire 
 may be so much longer than the thin that its length will com- 
 pensate for its thickness, and the intensity of the current trans- 
 mitted upon it may be equal to that transmitted on the shorter 
 and thinner wire. 
 
 The method of Messrs. Bright is founded upon this property 
 of currents. A fine wire wrapped with silk or cotton so as to 
 insulate it and prevent the lateral escape of the current, is rolled 
 upon a bobbin like a spool of cotton used for needle-work. A con- 
 siderable length of fine wire is thus comprised in a very small bulk. 
 
 The wire on such a bobbin being connected by one end with the 
 wire conducting a current, and by the other end with the earth, 
 L2 147
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 will transmit the current with a certain intensity depending on 
 its length, its thickness, and, in fine, on the conducting power of 
 the metal of which it is made. 
 
 Now let us suppose that a certain length of the wire of the 
 telegraphic line be taken, which will transmit a current of the 
 same intensity. A galvanometer placed in each current will 
 then be equally deflected. But if the length of the line wire be 
 less or greater than the exact equivalent length, the galvanometer 
 will be more or less deflected by it than it is by the bobbin wire, 
 according as its length is less or greater. 
 
 It is, therefore, always possible by trial to ascertain the length 
 of line wire, which will give the current the same intensity as 
 that which it has upon any proposed bobbin wire. 
 
 Bobbins may therefore be evidently made carrying greater 
 or less lengths of wire, upon which the current will have the 
 same intensity as it has upon various lengths of line wire. 
 
 Suppose then a series of bobbins provided, which in this sense 
 represent various lengths of line wire from 100 feet to 300 miles, 
 and let means be provided of placing them in metallic connection 
 in convenient cases. 
 
 Such an apparatus is the Messrs. Bright's method of detecting 
 the points of fault, patented by them in 1852. 
 
 Let B be the station battery, G a galvanometer upon the line 
 wire, F the point of fault at which the current escapes to the 
 
 Fig. 24. p 
 
 earth, in consequence of an accidental defect of 
 the insulation. Let a wire be attached to the line 
 wire of the station, at o, and let it be connected 
 Avith the first of a series of bobbins such as arc 
 described above ; let a galvanometer, similar to G, 
 be placed upon it at G'. Let a metallic arm A c, 
 turning on the point A, be so placed that its ex- 
 tremity c shall move over the series of bobbins, 
 and that by moving it upon the centre A, the end 
 c may be placed in connection with the wire of 
 any bobbin of the series. Let A be connected by 
 a conducting wire with the earth at E', the nega- 
 tive pole of the battery B being connected with the earth at E. 
 
 The apparatus being thus arranged, let us suppose that tho 
 
 wire A c is placed in connection with the first bobbin, representing 
 
 10 miles of the line wire, and that the distance G F of the point of 
 
 fault is 145 miles. In that case the battery current will bo 
 
 148
 
 DETECTOR OF FAULTS. 
 
 divided at o, between the two wires o G and o G', but the chief 
 part will now by the shortest and easiest route, and the galvano- 
 meter G will be very much, and G very little, deflected. This will 
 show that F must be very much more than 10 miles from the 
 station. The arm A c will then be turned successively from bobbin 
 to bobbin. When directed to the second bobbin, the current on 
 o G' will have the same intensity as if it flowed on 20 miles of 
 line wire, when turned to the third the same as if it flowed on 30 
 miles of line wire, and so on. The needle of G' will, therefore, 
 continue to be more deflected than that of G, although the dif- 
 ference will be less and less, as the number of bobbins brought 
 into the circuit is increased. When the bobbins included 
 represent 140 miles, G' will be a little more, and when they 
 represent 150 miles it will be a little less deflected than G, from 
 which it will be inferred that the point of fault lies between the 
 J40th and the 150th mile from the station. A closer approxima- 
 tion may then be made by the introduction of shorter bobbins, 
 and this process may be continued until the place of the fault 
 has been discovered with all the accuracy necessary for practical 
 purposes. 
 
 69. It appears nevertheless, that in the pratical working of the 
 land lines the application of these expedients is not so frequent, 
 but this method has been of the greatest practical use in ascer- 
 taining the position of faults in the cables to Holland and else- 
 where ; and in September, 1858, after the Atlantic cable, between 
 Ireland and Newfoundland, so successfully laid in the previous 
 month, began to give signs of impaired insulation, this system 
 was adopted to discover the distance of the fault. 
 
 70. The Prussian underground lines of wire have been attended, 
 however, with occasional failures, which have produced some 
 public inconvenience. This circumstance has been ascribed to the 
 faulty method of laying the wires. The gutta-percha enveloping 
 them was mixed with sulphur, a process called Vulcanisation. 
 Upon being deposited in the ground the sulphur was soon 
 abstracted, leaving the gutta-percha brittle and porous. 
 
 71. The underground line of the European and Submarine 
 Company, from London to Dover, is laid down in nearly the 
 same manner as that of the Magnetic Company, to which these 
 wires have now been transferred. To detect the more easily 
 the place of any accidental breach of continuity, a box is placed 
 at the end of each mile, in which a few yards of the conti- 
 nuous line of wire are coiled, so that in case of any accidental 
 interruption occurring to the flow of the current, the particular 
 mile in which that interruption exists can always be ascertained 
 by putting the coils at the end of each successive mile in. 
 
 149
 
 THE ELECTKIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 connection with a portable battery. The current will fail at the 
 particular mile within which the fault has taken place. 
 
 72. In passing through tunnels the overground wires have 
 been subject to great inconvenience, owing to the quantity of 
 water percolating through the roof, constantly falling on the wires 
 and their supports, and thus injuring their insulation. It has 
 been found that from this cause the current transmitted along one 
 wire has been subject to leakages, a part of it passing by the 
 moisture which surrounds the supports to an adjacent wire, so 
 that being thus divided, part either returns to the station from 
 which it has been transmitted, or goes on to a station for which 
 it is not intended. 
 
 73. This inconvenience would be removed by adopting for 
 tunnels the under-ground system. Mr. Walker, to whom great 
 experience in the practical business of electric telegraphy, and 
 considerable scientific knowledge must give much authority on 
 such a subject, has adopted apparently with very favourable 
 results a method of covering the wires, which pass through 
 tunnels, with a coating of gutta-percha. The conducting wire 
 thus treated is copper wire No. 16. The gum being well cleaned 
 and macerated by steam, is put upon the wire by means of 
 grooved rollers. The diameter of the covered wire is a quarter of 
 an inch. Mr. Walker states that in all the wet tunnels under his 
 superintendence he has substituted this gutta-percha-covered wire 
 for the common line wire, and has thus " accomplished telegraphic 
 feats which could not have been attempted on the old plan." 
 
 74. In France and in the United States the wires, even in the 
 cities and towns, are conducted on rollers at an elevation, as on 
 other parts of the lines. In Paris, for example, the telegraphic 
 wires proceeding from the several railway stations are carried 
 round the external boulevards and along the quays, the rollers 
 being attached either to posts of to the walls of houses or 
 buildings, and are thus carried to the central station at the 
 Ministry of the Interior. 
 
 75. In Europe, the telegraphic wires have until very lately 
 invariably followed the course of railways ; and this circumstance 
 has led some to conclude that, but for the railways, the electric 
 telegraph would be an unprofitable ^project. 
 
 76. This is however a mistake. Independently of the case of the 
 Magnetic Telegraph Company already mentioned, the wires in the 
 United States, where a much greater extent of electric telegraph 
 has been erected and brought into operation than in Europe, do not 
 follow the course of the railways. They are conducted, generally, 
 along the sides of the common coach-roads, and sometimes even 
 through tracts of country where no roads have been made. 
 
 150
 
 POSTS AND WIRES ON COMMON ROADS. 
 
 It has been contended in Europe that the wires would not be safe 
 unless placed within the railway fences. The reply to this is, 
 that they are found to be safe in the United States, where there is 
 a much less efficient police, even in the neighbourhood of towns, 
 and in most places no police at all. It may be observed, that the 
 same apprehensions of the destructive propensities of the people 
 have been advanced upon first proposing most of the great im- 
 provements which have signalised the present age. Thus, when 
 railways were projected, it was objected that mischievous indi- 
 viduals would be continually tearing up the rails, and throwing 
 obstructions on the road, which would render travelling so dan- 
 gerous that the system would become impracticable. 
 
 When gas-lighting was proposed, it was objected that evil- 
 disposed persons would be constantly cutting or breaking the 
 pipes, and thus throwing whole towns into darkness. 
 
 Experience, nevertheless, has proved these apprehensions ground- 
 less ; and certainly the result of the operations on the electric 
 telegraph in the United States goes to establish the total inutility 
 of confining the course of the wires to railways. Those who have 
 been practically conversant with the system both in Europe and 
 in America, go further, and even maintain that the telegraph is 
 subject to less inconvenience, that accidental defects are more 
 easily made good, and that an efficient superintendence is more 
 easily insured on common roads, according to the American 
 system, than on railways. 
 
 These reasons, combined with the urgent necessity of extending 
 the Electric Telegraph to places where railways have neither been 
 constructed nor contemplated, have led to the general departure 
 of the telegraphic wires from the lines of railway in various parts 
 of the continent. In France, particularly, almost all the recently- 
 constructed telegraphic network is spread over districts not inter- 
 sected by railways, and even where railways prevail, the wires are 
 often, by preference, carried along the common road. 
 
 77. When channels, straits, arms of the sea, or rivers of great 
 width intervene between the successive points of a telegraphic 
 line, the conducting wires are deposited upon the bottom of the 
 water, protected from the effects of mechanical and chemical 
 action by various ingenious expedients. A considerable number 
 of such subaqueous conductors have been fabricated for telegraphic 
 lines in various countries, and others are in progress or contem- 
 plated. Before June 1854, wire ropes had been made for the 
 lines between Dover and Calais, Dover and Ostend, Dublin and 
 Holyhead, Donaghadee and Portpatrick, England and Holland, the 
 Zuyder Zee, the Great Belt (Denmark), the Mississippi, New 
 Brunswick and Prince Edward's Island, and Piedmont and Corsica, 
 
 151
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 78. The earliest attempt to transmit a voltaic current under 
 water for telegraphic purposes, is attributed to Dr. O'Shaughnessy, 
 who is so well known for his successful exertions to establish 
 the electric telegraph in India. He succeeded in 1839 in de- 
 positing an insulated conducting wire, attached to a chain cable, 
 in the river Hoogly, by which the electric current was transmitted 
 from one bank of that river to the other. 
 
 The first important project of this kind which was executed in 
 Europe, was the connection of the coasts of England and France 
 by the submarine cable, deposited in the bed of the channel 
 between Dover and Calais. A concession being obtained from the 
 French government on certain conditions, a single conducting 
 wire, invested with a thick coating of gutta-percha, was sunk by 
 means of leaden weights across the channel, and the extremities 
 being put into connection with telegraphic instruments, messages 
 were transmitted from coast to coast. One of the conditions of the 
 French concession being that this should be effected before 
 September, 1850, this object was attained, but nothing more ; for 
 the action of the waves near the shore constantly rubbing the 
 rope against the rocky bottom, soon wore off the insulating 
 envelope and rendered the cable useless. 
 
 79. The experiment so satisfactorily resolved the doubts which 
 had been entertained as to the possibility of sufficiently insu- 
 lating a wire for any considerable length under water, that it 
 was immediately determined to resort to means for the effectual 
 protection of the conducting wires from the effects of all the 
 vicissitudes to which they would be exposed. The construction 
 of the present Dover and Calais cable was accordingly com- 
 menced at Millwall shortly after the failure of the experimental 
 line. The cable was coiled on board H. M. S. "Blazer" in 
 September, 1851, and successfully laid under the direction of 
 Messrs. Crampton and Wollaston, the engineers of the Submarine 
 Telegraph Company, an association formed under the auspices of 
 Mr. J. W. Brett, to carry into effect this enterprise, perhaps the 
 most important inauguration of a new servant of mankind which 
 the world has seen during the present century. 
 
 Notwithstanding the enormous traffic up and down Channel, 
 this cable has been injured only twice during upwards of eight 
 years' service, and has been easily repaired on each occasion. It 
 is now (January, 1 860) in a perfect state of insulation as regards 
 the whole of its four conducting wires. 
 
 80. The success attending the Dover and Calais cable led to 
 the execution of further works of the kind, in which the cables 
 were principally manufactured, as regards the outer covering, 
 by Messrs. Glass, Elliot, and Co., of Greenwich, and Messrs. It. 
 
 152
 
 SUBMARINE CABLES. 
 
 S. Newall and Co., of Gateshead ; the inner wires being made at 
 the Gutta Percha Company's Works ia the City Road, under the 
 direction of Mr. Statham. 
 
 The following table shows at a glance the progress which has 
 been made to the present date, January, 1860. 
 
 SUBMARINE CABLES. 
 
 Iff 
 
 118 
 
 -5-5? 
 8 
 
 No. of iron 
 wires of 
 outer casing. 
 
 II 
 
 I 
 
 P 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 tons. cwt. 
 
 
 Dover and Calais 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 25 
 
 7 
 
 
 1 Dover and Ostend 
 
 G 
 
 12 
 
 70 
 
 7 
 
 
 Portpatrick and Donaghadee 
 Orfordness and the Hague . . 
 
 6 
 1 
 
 12 
 10 
 
 u 
 
 119 
 
 7 
 2 0{ 
 
 3 cables laid simi- 
 lar to this. 
 
 Portpatrick and Whitehead 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 26 
 
 7 
 
 
 Across the Great Belt 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 16 
 
 5 
 
 
 Holyhead and Howth 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 61 
 
 2 0{ 
 
 2 cables laid simi 
 lar to this. 
 
 Spezzia and Corsica 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 110 
 
 8 
 
 
 Corsica and Sardinia 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 13 
 
 8 
 
 
 Newfoundland and Cape ^ 
 Breton Island J 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 74 
 
 3 
 
 
 Varna to Balaclava . . 
 
 1 
 
 none 
 
 340 
 
 1J\ 
 
 G utta-percha wire 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 without any iron 
 
 Varna to Constantinople 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 175 
 
 Ijl 
 
 covering ; failec 
 after working 
 
 Eupatoria to Balaclava 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 o 14) 
 
 some time. 
 
 Sardinia to Algeria 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 147 
 
 
 
 
 Cagliari to Malta 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 ;ir>5 
 
 J 
 
 
 Malta to Corfu 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 390 
 
 1 
 
 
 Ireland to Newfoundland . . 
 
 a 
 
 18 strands 
 
 2(iOO 
 
 
 
 
 Channel Islands 
 
 i 
 
 10 
 
 110 
 
 15 
 
 
 Weybourne to Emden 
 
 2 
 
 12 
 
 L'SO 
 
 
 
 
 Weybourue to Heligoland . . 
 
 3 
 
 12 
 
 330 
 
 10 
 
 
 Heligoland to Tonning 
 
 8 
 
 12 
 
 30 
 
 10 
 
 
 Suez to Cosseir 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 300 
 
 1 
 
 
 Cosseir to Suakin 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 540 
 
 1 
 
 
 Suakin to Aden 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 710 
 
 1 
 
 
 Dunwich to Zandvoort 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 
 Folkestone and Boulogne . . 
 
 6 
 
 12 
 
 IB 
 
 10 
 
 
 Australia .-'nd Van Die ) 
 men's Land J 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 'J40 
 
 2 
 
 
 Sweden to Gothland 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 M 
 
 2 
 
 
 153
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 Fig. 26. Dover and Calais. 
 
 81. In the Dover and Calais cable, 
 which was the first fabricated and 
 laid, each of the four copper wires 
 are surrounded by gutta-percha, 
 which in fig. 26 is indicated by the 
 light shading round the black central 
 spot, representing the section of the 
 copper wire. The four wires thus 
 prepared were then enveloped in the 
 general mass of prepared spun yarn, 
 represented by the darker shading. 
 The ten galvanised iron wires were 
 then twisted around the whole, so as 
 to form a complete and close armour. 
 The external form and appearance of 
 this heliacal coating is represented in 
 fig. 25. 
 
 This cable which was completed by 
 Messrs. Newall and Co., in three 
 weeks, measured originally 24 miles 
 in length. Owing to the manner in 
 which it was laid down this was 
 found insufficient to extend from 
 coast to coast, although the direct 
 distance is only 21 miles. It was 
 therefore found necessary to manu- 
 facture an additional mile of cable, 
 which being spliced on to the part 
 laid, the whole was completed, and 
 the electric communication between 
 Dover and Calais definitively estab- 
 lished on the 17th October, 1851. 
 
 The cost of the cable itself was 
 9000/., being at the rate of 3601. per 
 mile. The total cost for cable and 
 stations at Dover and Calais was 
 15,OOOZ. 
 
 82. The next submarine cable laid 
 down was that which connected 
 Holyhead on the Welsh with Howth 
 on the Irish coast. While several 
 companies which had been formed 
 for the purpose, were occupied in 
 raising the capital necessary for this 
 project, they were surprised by the 
 
 154
 
 SUBMARINE CABLES. 
 
 Fig. 29. 
 
 announcement that the project was already on the point of being 
 realised by Messrs. Newall and Co., on their own account. 
 
 The distance between, the points to be connected being 60 miles, 
 the cable was made with a length of 10 addition miles, to meet 
 
 contingencies. In this cable, which 
 Fig. 27. enclosed only one conducting wire, 
 
 the external wires enclosing the in- 
 
 sulating rope were made thicker at 
 
 the parts near the shores than for 
 
 that which lies in deep water, the 
 
 former being subject to much greater 
 
 disturbing forces. A side view of 
 
 the part immersed in deep water is 
 
 given in fig. 27, and a cross-section 
 
 in fig. 28. A side view of the shore 
 
 ends is given in fig. 29, and a cross- 
 
 section in fig. 30, all being in their 
 
 full size. 
 
 The gutta-percha rope was fabri- 
 
 cated by the Gutta Percha Company 
 
 in the City-road, London, from 
 
 whence it was sent to Gateshead, 
 
 where it received the iron wire 
 
 envelope at the works of Messrs. 
 
 Newall and Co., in the short space 
 
 of four weeks. Loaded on twenty 
 
 waggons, it was next sent by rail- 
 
 way across England to Maryport, 
 
 where it was embarked on board the 
 
 " Britannia," and transported to 
 
 Holyhead. On the morning of the 
 
 1st June, 1852, one of its extre- 
 
 mities being established at Holyhead, 
 
 it was laid in the bed of the channel. 
 
 This was done as follows : The cable 
 
 was very carefully coiled in the hold 
 
 of the steamer ; one end was then 
 
 passed several times round a brake- 
 
 wheel, and was conveyed on shore, 
 
 when it was attached to a telegraph 
 
 instrument. The other or lower end of 
 
 Fig. 23. 
 
 Fig. 30. 
 Holyhead and 
 
 ow 
 
 UcepTca part, strument in the cabin of the steamer, ShwTends. 
 
 so that ary message passing from 
 
 instrument to instrument, was conveyed through the entire 
 
 155
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 cable in the hold, and round the brake- wheel as the cable passed 
 off in the process of submersion. The shore end having been 
 made fast securely, the steamer was put in motion, and a certain 
 strain was put on the cable by means of the brake-wheel, so that 
 it was laid straight on the ground, or bottom of the sea. 
 
 The cable is seen as it rises from the hold in the foreground, 
 (fig. 34, p. 145,) guided between rollers to the drum, and it again 
 .appears in the back ground, as it passes over the stern. A counter 
 .and indicator was applied to the shaft of the drum by which the 
 length of cable which at any moment had been delivered off into 
 the sea was shown. 
 
 The wind and tides have the effect of drawing the vessel out 
 of her course, so that the quantity of cable expended must always 
 :be greater than the distance between the two points in a straight 
 line. In the case of the Holyhead and Howth cable, the quantity 
 expended was 64 miles. The depth of water is 70 fathoms, being 
 .more than twice that of Dover. 
 
 The entire process of laying it down was completed in 18 hours. 
 In another hour the cable was brought ashore, and put in connec- 
 tion with the telegraphic wires between Howth and Dublin, and 
 immediately afterwards London and Dublin were connected by 
 means of instantaneous communication. 
 
 This cable was lighter considerably than that between Dover and 
 Calais, its weight being a little less than one ton per mile, and 
 consequently its total weight did not exceed 80 tons, while the 
 Dover and Calais cable weighing 7 tons per mile, its total weight 
 was 180 tons. 
 
 From some cause, which could not be ascertained, this cable, 
 after being worked for three days, became imperfect. It was sup- 
 posed to have been caught by the anchor of some vessel, for on being 
 taken up lately, it was found broken near Howth, and the gutta- 
 percha and copper wire stretched in an extraordinary manner. 
 
 83. On the 9th October, 1851, Messrs. Newall and Co. attempted 
 to lay a cable across the narrowest part of the Irish channel, 
 between Port Patrick and Donaghadee. This cable contained six 
 conducting wires, similar to fig. 43. The distance across is the 
 same as between Dover and Calais, viz., 21 miles, and 25 miles of 
 cable were placed on board the " Britannia " steamer. The pro- 
 cess of submersion was carried on until 16 miles had been 
 successfully laid down, when a sudden gale came on, which 
 rendered it impossible to steer the vessel in the proper course, and 
 Mr. Newall was reluctantly compelled to cut the cable, when 
 within 7 miles of the Irish coast, and having 9 miles of cable 
 .remaining on board. 
 
 The whole of this 16 miles of cable has been recovered in 
 156
 
 SUBMARINE CABLES. 
 
 June, 1854, after being nearly two years submerged. This proved 
 a most arduous undertaking. The depth of the water in this part 
 of the Irish channel is 150 fathoms, or 900 feet, and from this 
 depth the cable was dragged by means of a powerful apparatus 
 worked by a steam engine placed on the deck of a steamer. The 
 operation occupied four days, for from the great force of the tide, 
 which runs at the rate of 6 miles an hour, it was found impossible 
 to work except at the times of high and low water. The cable- 
 was also imbedded in sand, so that the strain required to drag it 
 up was occasionally very great. 
 
 The recovery of this cable has so far solved the question of the 
 durability of submarine telegraphs. It was found nearly as sound 
 as when laid down. There was a slight corrosion in certain parts 
 which appeared to have been imbedded in decaying sea weed the 
 parts imbedded in sand were quite sound, and on other parts, 
 which appeared to have rested on a hard bottom, there were a few 
 zoophytes. The cable on being tested was found as perfect in 
 insulation as when laid down. 
 
 84. The next great enterprise of this kind was the deposition, 
 by the Submarine Telegraph Company, in the bed of the Channel, 
 of a like cable connecting the coasts of England and Belgium, 
 measuring seventy miles. This colossal rope of metal and gutta- 
 percha was also constructed at the works of Messrs. Newall 
 and Co. 
 
 The probable extension of these extraordinary media of social, 
 commercial, and political communication between countries 
 separated by arms of the sea, may be conceived, when it is 
 stated that during the past nine years no less than 7051 miles, 
 of submarine cable have been made and laid beneath the sea. 
 
 The cable laid between Dover and Calais includes, as already 
 stated, four conducting wires. That between Dover and Ostend 
 contains six wires insulated by the double covering of gutta- 
 percha, manufactured, under Mr. S. Statham's directions, by the 
 tiutta Percha Company. The gutta-percha laid into a rope is 
 served with prepared spun-yarn, and covered with twelve thick 
 iron wires, of a united strength equal to a strain of 40 to 50 tons 
 more than the proof strain of the chain cable of a first rate 
 man-of-war. 
 
 A side view and section of this cable in its natural size are 
 given in figs. 31 and 32 (page 158). 
 
 The Belgian cable weighed 7 tons per mile, so that its total 
 weight was about 500 tons. Its cost was 33,000/. It took 100 
 days to make it, and 70 hours to coil it into the vessel from which 
 it was let down into the sea, and 18 hours to submerge it. 
 
 157
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Fig. 31. 
 
 . 32. Dover and Ostend. 
 
 The form in which it was coiled in 
 the hold of the vessel is represented 
 in fig. 33 (p. 129).* 
 
 On the morning of the Wednesday, 
 the 4th May 1853, the vessel called 
 the "William Hurt," Capt. Palmer, 
 freighted with the cable, being an- 
 chored off Dover, near St. Margaret's, 
 South Foreland, the process of laying 
 the cable was commenced. This vessel 
 was attended and aided by H.M.S. 
 " Lizard," Capt. Rickets, R.N., and 
 H.M.S. "Vivid," Capt. Smithett. 
 Capt. Washington, R.N., was ap- 
 pointed, on the part of the Admiralty, 
 to mark out the line and direct the 
 expedition. 
 
 At dawn of day about 200 yards 
 of the cable were given out from the 
 " Hutt," and were extended by small 
 boats to the shore, where the extre- 
 mity was deposited in a cave at the 
 foot of the cliff. There telegraphic 
 instruments were provided by means 
 of which, through the cable itself, a 
 constant communication with the 
 vessel was maintained during the 
 arduous process, corresponding tele- 
 graphic instruments being placed on 
 board the "Hutt." 
 
 At 6 o'clock, the process of laying 
 commenced, the " Hutt " being 
 taken in tow by the steam tug 
 "Lord Warden." 
 
 The manner in which the cable was 
 " payed out," as the vessel pro- 
 ceeded in its course, is represented 
 in fig. 34 (p. 145), the cable as 
 it came up from the hold, being 
 
 * This illustration, as well as that o! 
 the deposition of the cable, have been 
 taken from the Illmlrated London News 
 of the 14th of May, 1853, by the consent 
 of the publishers of that journal.
 
 SUBMARINE CABLES. 
 
 passed several times round a large 
 brake-wheel, by means of which the 
 cable was kept from going out too 
 i'ast, and its motion maintained so as 
 to be equal to the progress of the 
 vessel. Men are represented in the 
 Jigure applying the brake to the 
 wheel. 
 
 On arriving off Middlekerke, on 
 the Belgian coast, a boat sent from 
 shore took from 500 to 700 yards of 
 the cable on board, for the purpose of 
 landing it. The boats of the British 
 vessels taking her in tow, the end of 
 the cable was safely landed, and 
 deposited in a guard-house of the 
 Custom House, where the telegraphic 
 instruments brought in the " Hutt " 
 being erected, and the communica- 
 tions made, the following despatch 
 was transmitted direct to London : 
 
 Union of Belgium and England, 
 twenty minutes before one, p.m. 6th 
 May 1853. 
 
 85. The next submarine cable laid, 
 was that of the Magnetic Telegraph 
 Company, connecting Donaghadee 
 with Port Patrick, also manufactured 
 by Messrs. Newall and Co. 
 
 This cable, which contains six con- 
 ducting wires, is represented in its 
 proper size in figs. 35, 36, and corres- 
 ponds in weight and form to the 
 Belgian cable. But in the details of 
 its construction and composition, some 
 improvements were introduced. This 
 rope was manufactured in 24 days, 
 and cost about 13,0001. 
 
 The cable laid down by the British 
 Telegraph Company between the same 
 points, is precisely similar to this. 
 
 86. It is proposed to connect Or- 
 fordness, on the Suffolk coast, with 
 the Hague, by seven separate sub- 
 marine cables, each containing a 
 
 159 
 
 Fig. 35. 
 
 Fig. 36. Donaghadee and Tortpatrick 
 (Magnetic Telegraph Company.)
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Fig. 37. 
 
 ICO 
 
 Fig. 3S. Orfordncss and the Hague. 
 
 single wire. Near 
 the shore on each 
 side these will be 
 brought together 
 and twisted into 
 a single great 
 cable, as repre- 
 sented in figs. 37, 
 38. 
 
 Of these, only 
 three have been 
 laid down. The 
 distance from Or- 
 fordncss to the 
 Hague being 1 20 
 miles, the cables 
 were made 135 
 miles in length. 
 They were laid 
 down separately 
 at a little dis- 
 tance one from 
 another. At H 
 miles from the 
 shore they were 
 brought together. 
 It has been 
 found, however, 
 that these sepa- 
 rate light cables 
 are subject to 
 frequent inj ury 
 from anchorage, 
 and the Electric 
 Company to 
 which they be- 
 long replaced 
 them in August, 
 1858, by a much 
 stronger com- 
 pound cable, 
 made and laid for 
 them by Messrs. 
 Glass, Elliot, and 
 Co., weight, 9 
 tons per mile.
 
 i- A 6 C 
 DBF 
 
 N P 
 fc S*T 
 
 U345C 7 8 9 
 
 Fig. 60. THE SINGLE NEEDLE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTEE iv. 
 
 *. Cable between Spezzia and Corsica. 88. Other cables, European and 
 American. 89. Objections brought by scientific authorities to the 
 submarine cables Answers to these by practical men. 90. Example 
 of a cable uninjured by the action of the sea. 91. Precautions 
 necessary in laying the cable. 92. Accident in laying the Calais 
 cable. 93. Imperfection attributed to the Belgian cable. 94. 
 Transatlantic Ocean Telegraph. 95. Underground wires between the 
 Strand and Lothbury. 96. Effect of the inductive action of under- 
 ground or submarine wires. 97. Possible influence of this on tele- 
 graphic operations. 98. Examples of overground wires extended to 
 great distances without intermediate support between Turin and 
 Genoa. 99. Telegraphic lines in India. 100. Difficulties arising 
 from atmospheric electricity height and distance of posts mode of 
 laying underground wires extent of line erected to April 1854. 
 101. Intensity of current decreases as the length of wire increases. 
 102. Also increases with the thickness of the wire. 103. And 
 with the number of elements in the battery. 104. Result of Pouillet's 
 experiments on the intensity of current. 105. Intensity produced by 
 LARDXER'S MUSEUM op SCIENCE. M 161 
 
 No. 37.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 increasing the power of the battery. 106. How the current produces 
 telegraphic signals. 107. Velocity of the current. 108. Transmission 
 of signals instantaneous. 
 
 87. Following the submersion of the submarine lines enumerated 
 in the preceding chapter, a heavy cable containing six wires was 
 successfully laid in the Mediterranean in June, 1854, by Mr. Brett, 
 from Spezzia, in Piedmont, to the northern coast of the Island of 
 Corsica, a distance of 100 miles. The cable was one similar to 
 that represented in figs. 35 36. 
 
 In this expedition far greater depths of water had to be passed 
 oyer than had previously been attempted with submarine cables, 
 the soundings at some points indicating 450 fathoms, or upwards 
 of half a statute mile between the surface of the water and the 
 bottom. 
 
 During the process of submersion, and after it was believed 
 that the deepest soundings had been safely surmounted, the cable 
 slipped upon the surface of the break-drum used to check it, and 
 flew out from the vessel with great velocity, cutting the bul- 
 Avarks in its passage. As soon as the career of the cable 
 had been stopped it was found that a portion of the length 
 which had surged over the drum was so squeezed and flat- 
 tened, that its electrical condition was defective. "With some 
 difficulty the injured part was drawn back into the vessel and 
 repaired, after which the remainder was safely laid. A short 
 piece of cable was extended at the same time between Corsica and 
 Sardinia. 
 
 This line has continued in successful operation ever since its 
 completion, thus forming a section of the telegraphic communi- 
 cation established between France and her possessions in Algeria, 
 and between this country and Malta and Corfu. 
 
 Two attempts were made by Mr. Brett in the two following 
 years to connect Cagliari on the south coast of Sardinia with Cape 
 Bona in Algeria, but failed from the length of cable on board 
 falling short in each case. Soundings of nearly two miles depth 
 had to be passed over, owing to which it appears that one, if not 
 both, of these cables paid out occasionally too quickly. In the 
 latter attempt the cable was safely submerged to within a dozen 
 miles of the African coast, a distance of 135 miles, when it fell 
 short. A message was sent through? the cable to Greenwich for 
 an additional length, and the vessel held on by the cable for five 
 days, until it parted at last in 500 fathoms, owing to friction on 
 the bottom. This cable weighed four tons per mile, and shortly 
 after starting with it, a slip took place on the paying-out drum, 
 and the cable broke, but the end was recovered again after under- 
 running it for eighteen miles. 
 162
 
 SUBMARINE CABLES. 
 
 88. The short sub- F *- 
 
 marine cable laid down 
 between Prince Ed- 
 ward's Island, and the 
 coast of Nova Scotia(figs. 
 39, 40), is part of a more 
 extended submarine 
 line connecting New- 
 foundland with Canada. 
 1 . The other sections make 
 up a total length of 
 140 miles. The Legis- 
 lative bodies of New- 
 soundland, Nova Scotia, 
 and Maine, have grant- 
 ed exclusive privileges 
 to the company that 
 carries out these exten- 
 tions, including a con- 
 siderable grant of land. 
 
 The Danish subma- 
 rine cable (figs. 41, 42), 
 is carried across the 
 Great Belt from Nyborg 
 to Korsoe the nearest 
 point of the opposite 
 coast of Zealand. 
 
 The cable laid across 
 theZuyderZee is shown 
 in its proper size in figs. 
 43, 44 (p. 164). 
 
 Subaqueous cables 
 have been laid across 
 several of the American 
 rivers. The difficulties 
 supposed to attend the 
 deposition and preser- 
 vation of these con- 
 ductors appeared to 
 telegraphic engineers 
 and projectors so for- 
 midable, that the wires 
 were at first carried 
 across the rivers bc- 
 j's island twccn the summits of 
 
 -md X. Brunswick. II 2 F) - . Ci
 
 THE ELECTUIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Fig. 43. 
 
 lofty masts erected on their banks. 
 This method, however, was found to 
 be attended with such effects as to* 
 render the maintenance of the wire- 
 impracticable. The masts were blown 
 down by the violent storms and 
 tornadoes incidental to the climate, 
 and were not unfrequently destroyed 
 by lightning. 
 
 The project of depositing the con- 
 ducting wires in the bottom of the 
 river was then resorted to, and has 
 been carried into effect in several 
 cases. The Ohio is crossed at 
 Paducah by a cable containing one 
 conducting wire, of which the fol- 
 lowing description is given in the 
 American journals. 
 
 "It is composed of a large iron 
 wire, covered with three coatings of 
 ijntta jtcrcha, making a cord of 
 about five-eighths of an inch in 
 diameter. 
 
 " To protect this from wear, and 
 for security of insulation, there are 
 three coverings of strong Osnabury, 
 saturated with an elastic composition 
 of non-electrics ; and around this are 
 eighteen large iron wires, drawn as 
 tight as the wire will bear, and the 
 whole is then spirally lashed together 
 with .another large wire, passing 
 around at every f of an inch. The 
 whole forms a cable of near two 
 inches in diameter." 
 
 This cable is 4200 feet in length, 
 being the longest yet laid down 
 in the United States. It was con- 
 structed by Messrs. Shaffher and 
 Sleeth. 
 
 Mr. Shaffner has also constructed 
 and deposited subaqueous cables in 
 the following places : 
 
 Across the Tennessee river, four 
 miles above Paducah, near its 
 164
 
 SUBMARINE CABLES. 
 
 junction with the Ohio. Length, 2200 feet ; same J2" J 1 '" 
 construction; deposited in 1851. 
 
 Across the Mississippi, at Cape Girondeau, in 
 the State of Missouri. Length 3700 feet; depo- 
 sited in 1853. 
 
 Across the Merimmac river, where it falls into 
 the Mississippi, twenty miles below St. Louis. 
 Length, 1600 feet; deposited in 1853. 
 
 All these are similar to the Paducah cable. 
 
 Across the Mississippi at St. Louis, three cables 
 for different linos, each enclosed by 14 lateral 
 external wires. Length, 3500 feet. Deposited in 
 1852-3. 
 
 Across the Ohio at Maysville, Kentucky, a cable 
 containing two conducting wires, enclosed by 28 
 lateral external wires, constructed like the former. 
 Length, 2700 feet. Deposited in 1853. 
 
 Across the Ohio at Henderson, Kentucky. 
 Length, 3200 feet. Deposited in 1854. 
 
 Cables constructed by Messrs. Newall and Co. 
 have also been deposited in the following places : 
 
 Across the Mississippi at New Orleans, contain- 
 ing one conducting wire. Length, 3000 feet. 
 Deposited in 1853. Shown in figs. 45, 46. 
 
 The cable between Cape Breton and Newfound- 
 land, a distance of 74 miles, was manufactured 
 and laid by Messrs. Glass, Elliot & Co., during 
 the summer of 1856. An improvement was intro- 
 duced in the conductor of this cable, which con- 
 sists of seven small copper wires twisted together 
 into a strand, with the view to prevent any flaw 
 in a copper uire at any point stopping the con- 
 ductivity of the rest. This cable formed part of 
 the line of communication between England and 
 the United States, during the temporary working 
 of the Atlantic Cable in August and September, 
 1858. 
 
 At the nd of 1857 light single wire cables, 
 protected by an external casing of small iron 
 wires, were laid by Messrs. Ivewall for the Medi- 
 terranean Extension Telegraph Company, between 
 Sardinia, Malta, and Corfu, and were followed 
 by a line to the Channel Islands from Weymouth. 
 
 Cables to Emden, in Hanover (280 miles), and to 
 Heligoland, and thence to Tonning, in Denmark, 
 
 165 Fig JO.-Mississipp'.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 (360 miles), were successfully submerged in October, 1858, and 
 July, 1859, respectively, for the Submarine Telegraph Company, 
 by Messrs. Glass, Elliot & Co., from Weybourne, in Norfolk, 
 where the wires are connected to the land lines of the Magnetie 
 Company. The Hanoverian contains two conducting wires, and 
 weighs three tons per mile ; the Danish three wires, and weighs 
 three and a-half tons per mile. 
 
 Extensions in the Red Sea between Suez and Aden, by Messrs. 
 Newall, and the Boulogne and Folkestone cable, by Messrs. Glass 
 & Co., have also been laid in 1859. The latter cable weighs 
 no less than ten tons per mile. This spring (March, 1860) has 
 seen the completion of the submarine line from Kurrachee in Hin- 
 dostan to Aden. 
 
 89. Some eminent scientific authorities express doubts as to the 
 durability of the submarine cables. In the case of the Dover and 
 Calais cable it has been observed that the bottom of the channel at 
 that part of the strait is proved by the soundings to be subject to 
 undulations, so considerable that the summits of some of its elevated 
 points rise to such a height that the water which covers them is 
 not deep enough to secure them from the effects of the tumultuous 
 agitation of the surface in violent storms. It is here well to remind 
 the reader that the agitation of the ocean, which seems so awful in 
 great tempests, lias been found to extend to a very limited depth, 
 below which the waters are in a state of the most profound repose. 
 The objection we now advert to is, therefore, founded upon the 
 apposition that the crests of some of the elevations upon which 
 the submarine cable rests are so elevated as to be within that limit 
 of depth, and it is feared that such being the case, the violence of 
 the water in great tempests may so move the cable against the 
 ground on which it is deposited with a motion to and fro, as to 
 wear away by frequent friction its metallic armour, and thus, 
 expose the conducting wires within it to the contact of the water, 
 and destroy their insulation. 
 
 But it has been most satisfactorily proved by a part of the- 
 experimental wire which was laid clown between Dover and Calais, 
 in 1850, and which was picked up two years afterwards in as 
 perfect a state as when laid down, that the action of the waves 
 does not affect the bottom of the Channel there. The greatest 
 depth is 30 fathoms, and the bottom shelves regularly from Dover 
 to near Cape Grinez, where there is a ledge of rocks rising 
 suddenly from the bottom. 
 
 It has been also feared that, notwithstanding the effect of the 
 
 galvanisation of the surface of the surrounding wires, the corrosive 
 
 action of the sea water may in time destroy them ; and it has been 
 
 suggested that some better expedient for protection against this 
 
 166
 
 SUBMARINE CABLES. 
 
 effect might be contrived upon the principle suggested by Davy, 
 for the preservation of the copper sheathing of ships, by investing 
 the cable at certain intervals with a thick coating or glove of zinc, 
 which would increase the efficiency of the thinner coating of that 
 metal given to it in the process of galvanisation.* 
 
 To this practical men who have had as much experience as is 
 compatible with the recent date of these novel and extraordinary 
 enterprises, reply that the results of their observations give no 
 ground for apprehension of any injurious effects from tidal or 
 tempestuous action, and that the fine iron used in the wire 
 is not affected by sea water, as larger masses of coarser iron, 
 such as anchors, are. They cite as proof of this, the slightly 
 decayed state in which nails and small fire-arms have been 
 found when recovered from vessels long sunk. They further 
 state that the tar contained in the layer of hemp within the 
 protecting wires acts as a preservative, whether the wires be 
 galvanised or not. It has been found for example that, in the 
 case of the submarine conductor between Donaghadee and Port- 
 patrick, a perfect concrete of tar and sand has been already 
 formed, upon which masses of shell-fish attach themselves at 
 all parts that are not buried in sand, and it is apparent that 
 in a few years a calcareous deposit will be formed around it, 
 which will cement it to the bottom, and altogether intercept the 
 action of the sea water. 
 
 90. In the deposition of submarine cables great care should be 
 taken to select suitable points on the shore for beaching them. 
 Sandy places are always to be sought. If this precaution be taken, 
 it is affirmed that they are not subject to tidal action. A cable 
 was partly laid by the Magnetic Telegraph Company in 1852 
 near Portpatrick (83), but abandoned in consequence of the vessel 
 employed to deposit it being exposed in the process to a violent 
 storm. The wire was left exposed upon the beach down to and 
 beyond low water mark, and was in June, 1854, still in a perfect 
 state, the galvanised iron wires, even to their zinc coating, being 
 absolutely in the same state as when they were deposited. 
 
 91. It is contended by practical men that the great and only 
 risk of failure in the submarine cables is from defects produced in 
 the process of their deposition, or from original faults in the prin- 
 ciple of their construction. 
 
 The greatest care is necessary in conducting the process of 
 delivering out the cable into the sea, or "paying it out," as it is 
 technically called. All sudden bending 01 the cable is to be 
 especially avoided. " Kinks" or "hitches" are apt to occur in 
 
 * Pouillet, "Traitc de Physique," TO!, i. p. 799. Ed. 1853. 
 
 167
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 the process, by which the gutta percha covered wires within the 
 cable are strained. 
 
 92. In laying the Calais cable it was found too short to extend 
 to the opposite coast, and it became necessary to splice a supple- 
 mentary piece to it. The joint thus formed afterwards failed, and 
 it was found necessary to splice it anew, and to insert a fresh 
 piece. Since this was done the cable appears to have continued in . 
 excellent order. 
 
 93. It is said that the Belgian cable has been subject to some im- 
 perfection arising from the position of the wires within the case. 
 The sixth wire being in the axis of the cable, surrounded by 
 the other five (see fig. 32), it was found that when the outer casing 
 of the protecting wires was laid around it, the pressure on the 
 centre wire rendered it imperfect, while the five surrounding it 
 suffered to some extent. 
 
 Similar defects are said to exist in other cables constructed upon 
 the same principle. 
 
 A hempen case well tarred in the centre is considered to form 
 the best safeguard for the gutta percha covered wires in the process 
 of making the cable, since it will yield to any compression itself 
 without affecting injuriously the wire. 
 
 94. By far the most extraordinary step in submarine lines is the 
 Atlantic Telegraph, which may be justly regarded as the most 
 wonderful enterprise of the present century ; and which, although 
 preceding in date the Hanoverian, Danish, Malta, Corfu, and Red 
 Sea cables, will form a fitting climax to this notice of such under- 
 takings. 
 
 The nearest points between the British Islands and America 
 are nearly two thousand miles apart, and the greatest length of 
 submarine cable laid prior to 1856 would form but a fraction of 
 such an enormous distance. In the course of that year telegra- 
 phic science had, however, progressed to such a point as to render 
 the project of a cable across the broad Atlantic feasible. Sir C. 
 Bright, the engineer of the Magnetic company had, in conjunction 
 with Mr. Whitehouse, made a series of experiments, in the course 
 of which signals were rapidly passed through 2000 miles of the 
 underground gutta-percha-covered wire belonging to that Com- 
 pany. By this the practicability of passing electricity between 
 places so far apart as Ireland and Newfoundland was demonstrated. 
 
 Several series of soundings were taken by Lieuts. Maury and 
 Berryman, of U. S. Navy, and by Commander Dayman, R.N., 
 between the coasts of British America and Ireland, at the instance 
 of the British and American governments, and the results 
 showed that a plateau of small shell sand extended between 
 the two shores at a depth varying from 1500 to 2000 fathoms. 
 163
 
 ATLANTIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 The enormous depths in which the Atlantic line had to be laid 
 rendered it necessary to provide a cable that should be capable 
 of sustaining five or six miles of its own weight in the water 
 when suspended vertically, to allow of laying-to, if necessary, 
 during the submersion of the cable. At the same time the cable 
 had to be heavy enough to sink readily, so as to avoid the lashing 
 of the waves in rough weather and pass without much inter- 
 ference through the currents of the Gulf Stream. After experi- 
 ments on upwards of sixty kinds of cables made by Messrs. Glass 
 & Co., one was chosen with a central conducting strand, composed 
 of seven copper wires, No. 22 gauge, and coated with three 
 distinct layers of gutta percha. This core was then surrounded 
 with tarred yarn, and covered over with eighteen strands of iron 
 wire as an outer protection. 
 
 Lengths of about ten miles were made for the shore ends, 
 exceedingly massive, and surrounded by wires of great thickness. 
 
 Various privileges having been obtained by the exertions of 
 Mr. Cyrus Field, of New York, and his friends in England, from 
 both governments, a Company was promptly formed in this 
 country to carry out the undertaking, and the manufacture of the 
 cable was proceeded with by the two well-known contractors, 
 Messrs. Glass, Elliot, & Co., of Greenwich, and Messrs. Newall, 
 of Birkenhead. 
 
 The first attempt was made in August, 1857, 2500 miles of 
 cable being coiled away on board H.M.S. Agamemnon, and U.S. 
 frigate Niagara. After laying the cable successfully from the 
 Niagara for three days, during which 380 miles had been paved 
 out, it parted at night during a strong breeze. 
 
 In June, 1858, after encountering a heavy gale in proceeding 
 to the rendezvous in mid-ocean, another attempt was made, but 
 after laying a small length the cable parted, and the ships 
 returned to Queenstown. After re-coaling they started for 
 another, and, this time, successful effort ; the achievement of 
 laying the cable between the two continents being completed on 
 the 5th August, 1858, by Sir Charles Bright and the engineers 
 forming his staff (Messrs. Canning, "VVoodhouse, Clifford, and 
 Everett), after an uninterrupted and most arduous task of eight 
 days. The electrical arrangements during the laying of the 
 cable were under the charge of Professor Thomson. 
 
 On the ends of the cable being landed at Valentia, Ireland, and 
 Trinity Bay, Newfoundland, and handed over to the Company's 
 electrician, he found that signals passed from shore to shore with 
 as great speed and strength as those transmitted through the 
 folds of the cable before the expedition left England. After 
 transmitting messages for nearly a month, some defect in, the 
 
 168
 
 THE ELECTKIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 insulation of the conducting wire was found to interfere with 
 the further working. 
 
 During the period that the Atlantic cable was in good order 
 366 messages, consisting of 3942 words, were transmitted 
 through it between this country and America ; 97 messages, of 
 1102 words, being forwarded from Valeiitia to Newfoundland ; 
 and 269 messages, of 2840 words, from Newfoundland to Valentia. 
 
 Among these may be instanced messages from Her Majesty to 
 the President of the United States, and his reply; messages 
 stopping the departure from Canada of two regiments for this 
 country, thus saving at least 50,000 unnecessary expense to our 
 Government ; and messages announcing the safe arrival of the 
 steamer Europa, with mails and passengers uninjured, after her 
 collision with the Arabia. 
 
 The Atlantic Company are now (January, 1860) making further 
 efforts to raise capital to set right the defect in their cable, and 
 also to lay a new one. 
 
 The attention of Government has been earnestly directed of late 
 to the importance of establishing other direct lines of telegraph 
 between Great Britain and her dependencies, and have recently 
 decided upon laying one, 1100 miles long, between the south- 
 west of England and Gibraltar. In the House of Commons, 
 Sir W. Gallwey asked the Secretary of the Admiralty, on 28th 
 July, 1859, what experiments were being made before risking 
 the sum voted for the Gibraltar cable: Lord Clarence Paget 
 replied that "experiments were in progress under the superin- 
 tendence of the Board of Trade, and under the control of those 
 eminent engineers, Mr. Stephenson and Sir C. Bright, with the 
 view of testing the composition of the outer coverings of tele- 
 graphic cables." * 
 
 The cable for this line has already been ordered by Government; 
 the gutta-percha-covered conductor being manufactured by the 
 Gutta Percha Company, and the outer casing by Messrs. Glass, 
 Elliot, & Co. The cable is constructed in accordance with the 
 plan recommended by Sir Charles Bright in his report to the 
 Treasury. The conductor consists of a seven wire strand contain- 
 ing about 34 cwt. of copper to the mile, covered with three coatings 
 of gutta percha of the same weight. The outer covering is to be 
 composed of iron wires, covered separately with yarn, where the 
 depth of water does not exceed 500 fathoms ; but in the Bay of 
 Biscay, where the depth increases considerably, it is proposed to 
 make use of steel wires instead of iron. 
 
 It is expected that this line will be completed in 1860. 
 
 It is probable that as soon as this line has been laid, a further 
 
 * "Times'' July 29, 1859. 
 170
 
 liiCOIL CURRENTS. 
 
 extension will be carried out by Government, from Gibraltar to 
 Malta, so as to bring that important naval rendezvous into direct 
 communication with this country, and thus avoid the present 
 transmission of messages for the Mediterranean stations via the 
 wires belonging to continental governments. 
 
 95. Iii 1852, the conducting wires which connect the Branch 
 Telegraph Office, established in the Strand, opposite Hungerford 
 Market, with the General Post-office, were laid down. In this 
 case the conducting wires are galvanised brass instead of copper- 
 They are as usual laid in iron tubes, and are carried along the 
 kerb stones of the foot pavement of the Strand, Fleet-street,. 
 Ludgate-hill, and St. Paul's Church-yard to Cheapside, where 
 they cross over to Foster-lane, and passing through the branch 
 office in the hall of the General Post-office, are carried thence 
 to the central telegraph station in Lothbury, at the rear of the 
 Bank of England. 
 
 From this central office, at all hours by day and by night r 
 despatches are transmitted to and received from every seaport and 
 every considerable town in England, Scotland, and Wales ; by the 
 submarine wires, by Holyhead and Portpatrick, from all parts 
 of Ireland, and by Dover, from all parts of the Continent of 
 Europe where electric telegraphs have been constructed. 
 
 96. After the underground and siibmarine wires had been con - 
 structed and laid upon a considerable scale, the attention of Dr. 
 Faraday was called by some of the parties engaged in their 
 management to peculiar phenomena which had been manifested 
 in the telegraphic operations made upon the lines thxis laid. After 
 experiments had been made upon a large scale with lines of sub- 
 aqueous and subterranean wires, extending to distances varying 
 from 100 to 1500 miles, it was found that the electricity supplied 
 by the voltaic battery to the covered wire was in great quantity 
 arrested there, by the attraction of electricity of an opposite kind 
 evolved from the water or earth in which the wire is sunk ; the 
 attraction acting through the gutta percha covering exactly in the 
 same manner as that in which the electricity developed by a 
 common electric machine, and deposited on the inside metallic 
 coating of an electric jar, acts through the glass upon the natural 
 electricity of the external coating, or of the earth in connection 
 with it. The two opposite electricities on the inside and outside 
 of the coating of the wire by their mutual action neutralise each 
 other, and under certain circumstances a person placing his hands 
 in metallic connection with both sides of such coating, may ascertain 
 the presence of a large charge of such neutralised fluid, by receiving 
 the shock which it will give like that of a charged Leyden jar. 
 
 97. It is apprehended that this unforeseen phenomenon may 
 
 171
 
 r* THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 interfere more or less with the practical working of all telegraphs 
 having underground conducting wires ; and 1 have been informed 
 by the agents engaged in bureaux of the Paris telegraph, that 
 they are sensible of its effects in all direct communications between 
 that capital and London. 
 
 On the other hand the Magneto-Electric Telegraph Company, who 
 at the present time (May, 1854), have nearly 900 miles of under- 
 ground wire in operation, report that they sometimes pass their 
 signals without any difficulty through 500 miles of underground 
 wire without any break or delay in the circuit, and that they have 
 in constant operation continuous underground lines connecting 
 towns above 300 miles apart. 
 
 The only defect complained of in the underground wires is that 
 which proceeds from accidental failures of complete insulation, 
 produced by defects in the gutta pereha or other coating which 
 allow moisture to penetrate in wet weather and to reacli the con- 
 ducting wire, or it may arise from accidental fracture of the wire. 
 In any such cases the flow of the current to its destination is 
 interrupted, and the telegraph conveys no signal. 
 
 The use of underground wires, and the discovery of the 
 phenomenon of inductive action above described, arc too recent to 
 justify any certain inference as to their effects on telegraphic 
 operations. Time and enlarged experience alone can settle the 
 questions which have boon thus raised. 
 
 98. Although as a general rule the overground lines of 
 telegraphic wire are sustained by supports at intervals of about 
 sixty yards, many exceptional cases are presented in which they 
 .are extended between supports at much greater distances asunder. 
 Every recent visitor to Paris may have observed the long lines of 
 wire which are in several cases extended along the boulevards 
 and across the river. 
 
 But the most surprising examples of long lines of wires 
 without intermediate support, arc presented on the telegraphic 
 line passing north and south through Piedmont between Turin and 
 Genoa. There, according to a report published in the "Pied- 
 montese Gazette," in the course of the line passing through the 
 district intersected by the chain of the Boehetta, the engineer, 
 M. Bonelli, had the boldness to carry tie wires from summit to 
 summit across extensive valleys and ravines at immense heights 
 above the level of the ground. In many cases the distance 
 between these summits amounted to more than half a mile, and 
 in some to nearly three-quarters of a mile. In passing through 
 towns, this line is carried underground, emerging from which 
 it is again stretched through the air from crest to crest of the 
 Maritime Apennines, after which it finally sinks into the earth, 
 172
 
 INDIAN TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 passing through Genoa under the streets and terminating in the 
 Ducal palace. 
 
 It is stated that the insulation of the \vires on this picturesque 
 line has been so perfect, notwithstanding the adverse circumstances 
 of its locality, that although it was constantly at work day and 
 night during the first winter, no failure of transmission or extra- 
 ordinary delay ever occurred. 
 
 99. Efforts have recently been made to extend the system of 
 telegraphic intercommunication to India. Dr. O'Shaughnessy of 
 the East India Company's medical department, in constructing an 
 experimental line through a distance of 80 miles from Calcutta, 
 used, instead of wires, iron rods, being the only obtainable- 
 materials. These were fastened together and supported on 
 bamboos. 
 
 By experiments thus made, he found that the wires employed 
 in Europe would be quite inadequate to the Indian telegraph. In 
 England, where the lines are carried along railways, and where 
 there are no living obstacles to contend with, the thin, iron wire, 
 called Xo. 8 gauge, answers its purpose well ; but no sooner were 
 the rods mounted on their bamboo supports in India than flocks of 
 that largest of all birds, the adjutant, found the rods convenient 
 perches, and groups of monkeys congregated upon them ; showing 
 clearly enough that the ordinary wire would be insufficient to bear 
 the strains to which these telegraphic lines would be subjected. 
 It was found also that not only must the wire be stronger, but 
 that it must be more elevated, to allow loaded elephants, which 
 march about regardless of roads or telegraphic lines, to pas& 
 underneath. 
 
 100. The telegraphic communication thus practically effected, is. 
 subjected to attacks to which the telegraphs in this country are 
 but little exposed. Storms of lightning destroyed the galva- 
 nometer coils, and hurricanes laid prostrate the posts. Undaunted 
 by the opposition of the elements, Dr. O'Shaughnessy contrived a 
 lightning conductor for the instruments, and strengthened the 
 supporting props. 
 
 Dr. O'Shaughnessy returned to England, and at "VVarley, near 
 Brentwood, made arrangements for producing 3000 miles of thick 
 galvanised wire, to be shipped for India ; one of the earliest 
 lines undertaken, to be from Calcutta to Bombay. One of the 
 peculiar characteristics of the railway lines intended for India, as 
 contrasted with the English lines, is the greater distance between 
 the posts, which arc higher and stronger than those generally 
 used. The thick wire is raised to a height of fourteen feet, on, 
 posts nearly the eighth part of a mile apart. To obtain the neces- 
 sary strength to bear the strain, the posts are fixed with screw 
 
 173
 
 THE ELECT1UC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 piles. To show the strength of the wires thus extended, a rope 
 was, for experiment, hnng to the centre of the wire of largest 
 span, and a soldier climbed up it, the weight of his body pro- 
 ducing but a slight curvature. The common deflection arising 
 from the weight of a wire of a furlong span does not exceed 
 eighteen inches. 
 
 Dr, O'Shaughnessy's plan of underground communication, 
 when such a mode of laying down the wires is desirable, is very 
 economical. The copper wires coated with gutta percha, instead 
 of being inserted in iron tubes, are inlaid in wooden sleepers, well 
 saturated with arsenic, to protect them from the white ants, and 
 they are then laid in a trench about two feet deep. An imder- 
 ground system of two wires may thus be laid down for :35/. the mile. 
 
 The plan adopted for joining the lengths of the thick galvanised 
 wire is to have the two ends turned, so as to link into one another, 
 which are then introduced into a mould, like a bullet-mould, and 
 an ingot of zinc being cast over them, they form a most substantial 
 joint, and perfect metallic connection.* 
 
 It appears from reports received in May, 1854, that at that 
 date a telegraphic line was in full operation from Calcutta to 
 Agra, a distance of 800 miles, and it was then expected that the 
 entire line to Bombay, a distance of 1500 miles, would soon be 
 completed and put in operation. 
 
 This line is reported to have been completed and brought into 
 operation since the preceding paragraphs were in type. 
 
 101. To produce the effects, whatever these may be, by which 
 the telegraphic messages are expressed, it is necessary that the 
 electric current shall have a certain intensity. Now, the intensity 
 of the ciirrent transmitted by a given voltaic battery along a 
 given line of wire will decrease, other things being the same, in 
 the same proportion as the length of the wire increases. Thus, if 
 the wire be continued for ten miles, the current will have twice 
 the intensity which it would have if the wire had been extended 
 to a distance of twenty miles. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that the wire Jajay be continued to such 
 a length that the current will no longer have sufficient intensity 
 to produce at the station to which the despatch is transmitted 
 those effects by which the language of the despatch is signified. 
 
 120. The intensity of the current transmitted by a given 
 
 * Year-Book of Facts, 1853, p. 150. 
 174
 
 INTENSITY OF CURRENTS. 
 
 Toltaic battery upon a wire of given length, will be increased in 
 the same proportion as the area of the section of the wire is 
 augmented. Thus if the diameter of the wire be doubled, the 
 area of its section being increased in a fourfold proportion, the 
 intensity of the current transmitted along the wire will be in- 
 creased in the same ratio. 
 
 103. Inline, the intensity of the current may also be augmented 
 by increasing the number of pairs of generating plates or 
 cylinders composing the galvanic battery. 
 
 Since it has been found most convenient generally to use iron as 
 the material for the conducting wires, it is of no practical import- 
 ance to take into account the influence which the quality of the 
 metal may produce upon the intensity of the current. It may be 
 useful nevertheless to state that, other things being the same, 
 the intensity of the current will be in the proportion of the eon- 
 ducting power of the metal of which the wire is formed, and that 
 copper is the best conductor of the metals. 
 
 104. M. Pouillet found by well-conducted experiments, that 
 the current supplied by a voltaic battery of ten pairs of plates, 
 transmitted upon a copper wire, having a diameter of four- 
 thousandths of an inch, and a length of six-tenths of a mile, was 
 sufficiently intense for all the common telegraphic purposes. Now 
 if we suppose that the wire instead of being four-thousandths of 
 an inch in diameter, has a diameter of a quarter of an inch, its 
 diameter being greater in the ratio of 62 to 1, its section will be 
 greater in the ratio of nearly 4000 to 1 , and it will consequently 
 carry a current of equal intensity over a length of wire 4000 
 times greater, that is, over 2400 miles of wire. 
 
 105. But in practice it is needless to push the powers of trans- 
 mission to any such extreme limits. To reinforce and maintain 
 the intensity of the current, it is only necessary to establish at 
 convenient intervals along the line of wires intermediate batteries, 
 by wliich fresh supplies of the electric fluid shall be produced, 
 and this may in all cases be easily accomplished, the intermediate 
 telegraphic stations being at distances, one from another, much 
 less than the limit wliich would injuriously impair the intensity ' 
 of the current. 
 
 106. Having thus explained the means by which an electric 
 current can be conducted from any one place upon the earth's 
 surface to any other, no matter what be the distance between 
 them, and how all the necessary or desired intensity may be 
 imparted to it, we shall now proceed to explain the expedients by 
 which such a current may enable a person at one place to convey 
 instantaneously to another place, no matter how distant, signs 
 serving the purpose of written language. 
 
 175
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 If may bo shortly stated that the production of such signs 
 depends on the power of the agent transmitting the current to 
 transmit, suspend, intermit, divert and reverse it at pleasure. 
 These changes in the state of the current take place for all 
 practical purposes simultaneously upon all parts of the conducting 
 wire to whatever distance that wire may extend, for although 
 strictly speaking there is an interval, depending on the time which 
 the current takes to pass from one point to another, that interval 
 cannot in any case exceed a small fraction of a second. 
 
 107. Although there is some discordance in the results of 
 experiments made to determine the velocity of the current, they 
 all agree in proving it to be prodigious. It varies according to 
 the conducting power of the metal of which the wire is composed, 
 but is not dependent on the thickness of the wire. On copper 
 wire, its velocity, according to Professor "Wheatstone's experiments, 
 is 288000 miles ; and according to those of MM. Fizeau and 
 Gonelle, 112680 miles per second. On the iron wire used for 
 telegraphic purposes, its velocity is 62000 miles per second, 
 according to Fizeau and Gonelle ; 28500 according to Professor 
 Mitchell, of Cincinnati ; and about 16000 according to Professor 
 Walker of the United States. 
 
 108. It is evident therefore that the interval which must 
 elapse between the production of any change in the state of the 
 current at one telegraphic station, and the production of the same 
 change at any other however distant, cannot exceed a very 
 minute portion of a second, and since the transmission of signals 
 depends exclusively on the production of such changes, it follows 
 that such transmission must be practically instantaneous. 
 
 In the transmission of signals through the 2500 miles of gutta- 
 percha-covered wire, forming the conductor of the Atlantic cable, 
 intervals varying from 2| to 4 seconds were actually observed to 
 elapse between the communication of the electric spark at the one 
 end of the cable and its appearance at the other end. It was also, 
 however, found that several currents of different kinds might be 
 made to traverse the Atlantic wire in the same direction without in- 
 terfering with the action of each other on arriving at the further end.
 
 Fig. CS. THE DOUBLE NEEDLE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTER V., 
 
 09. Current controlled by making and breaking the contact of con- 
 ductors. 110. Instruments for controlling the current commutators. 
 111. General principle of the commutator. 112. Its application 
 to telegraphic operations. 113. To transmit a current on the up line 
 only. 114. On the down line only. 115. On both lines. 116. To 
 reverse the current. 117. To suspend and transmit it alternately. 
 118. How to manage a current which arrives at a station. 119. To 
 make it ring the alarum. 120. Station with two alarums. 121. 
 Notice of the station transmitting and receiving signals. 122. When 
 signals not addressed to the station the current is passed on. 123.. 
 
 LARDNEU'S MUSEUM OF SCIENCE. K 177 
 
 No. 38.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 How to receive a dispatch at tlie station, and stop its farther progress. 
 124. How several dispatches may be at the same time sent between 
 various stations on the same line. 125". Secondary lines of wire then 
 used. 126. Recapitulation. 127. Signals by combinations of unequal 
 intervals of transmission and suspension. 128. Key commutator. 
 129. Horological commutator for a current having equal and regular 
 pulsations. 130. Case in which the pulsations are not continuous or 
 regular. 131. No limit to the celerity of the pulsations. 132. 
 Application of a toothed wheel to produce the pulsations. 133. By 
 a sinuous wheel. 134. Method of diverting the current by a short 
 circuit, its application to the alarum. 135. Effects of the current 
 which have been used for signals. 136. Deflection of magnetic needle. 
 
 109. SIXCE all telegraphic signals depend on the power of the agent 
 who makes them, to transmit, control, and modify the current at 
 will, it must be apparent how important it is for those who desire 
 to understand this interesting subiect, to comprehend in the first 
 instance the means by which this power is obtained and exercised. 
 
 It is necessary to remember that the current will flow along a 
 line of conducting wire so long as, and no longer than, a voltaic 
 battery is interposed at some point on the line, the wire being 
 attached to its poles, and the remote ends of the wire connected 
 with the earth, as explained in (23) and (36), and in that case the 
 current will flow along the wire from earth to earth in such a 
 direction as to enter the battery at the negative, and to leave it at 
 the positive pole, and that provided the battery have adequate 
 force, it does not matter how distant from its poles the points may 
 be at which the wires are connected with the earth. 
 
 If at any point of the line the wire is broken, the current 
 instantly ceases along the entire line. If it be reunited the 
 current is instantly re-established. If the connection of the 
 wire with the poles of the battery be reversed, so that the end 
 which was connected with the positive is transferred to the 
 negative pole, and vice versa, the direction of the current along 
 the entire line is reversed since it must always flow from the 
 positive and to the negative pole. If at any point the wire, being 
 broken, be connected with another wire proceeding to the earth in 
 any other direction, the current will be diverted to the latter wire, 
 deserting its former course. If the wire conducting the current 
 be connected at the same point with two wires both connected with 
 the earth, it will be distributed between the two, the greater part, 
 however, following that wire which offers the easier road to the earth. 
 
 These few principles, which are clear and simple, supply an easy 
 key to the whole art of electro-telegraphy. 
 
 110. The class of mechanical expedients by which the agent 
 who desires to transmit signals is enabled to control and modify 
 the current in the manner here described, are called by the general 
 178
 
 COMMUTATORS. 
 
 name of " COMMUTATORS," and arc very various in form and 
 arrangement according to the purposes to which, and the condi- 
 tions imder which they arc applied. Not only do apparatus of 
 Ihic; class differ in different countries where telegraphs have been 
 established, but they vary upon different lines, and even on 
 different part; of the same line. "Without attempting to folloAV 
 these endless variations, many of which arc quite unimportant, 
 and all of which are mere varieties in the application of the 
 general principles explained above, we shall here confine ourselves 
 to such an illustration of them as will at the same time render 
 intelligible their structure and operation, and convey a general 
 notion of the manner of transmitting and receiving signals. 
 
 111. Let us suppose that around the edge of a disc of ivory, 
 wood, or any other insulating material, are inserted at convenient 
 intervals pieces of metal, B, TT, T, D, &c., fig. 47, which we shal. 
 call contact ^n'eces, their purpose being to make and break the 
 metallic contact which controls the current. At the back of the 
 disc near these contact pieces are clamps or tightening! screws by 
 which conducting wires can be attached to them. 
 
 To an axis in the centre of the disc let two metallic hands, A A' 
 be attached, so that they can be turned round the disc like the 
 hands of a clock, but having motions independent of each other. 
 These hands may be supposed to be formed of elastic strips of 
 metal bent at the ends towards the surface of the disc, so as to 
 press upon it with some force : and let one of them move over the 
 other without disturbing it, as the minute hand of a watch moves 
 over the hour hand. Let A" be another similar hand, turning on 
 a centre fixed upon the contact piece E, so that it can be turned at 
 pleasure upon one or other of the contact pieces r or if. 
 
 Now it is evident that by turning the hands A and A' upon any 
 two of the contact pieces, they will be put in metallic connection, 
 so that a current flowing from either of them will pass by the 
 hands to the other, and in like manner by means of the hand A", 
 either of the contact pieces r or N can be put in metallic con- 
 nection with E. 
 
 112. To convey a general notion of the application of such an 
 apparatus to telegraphic purposes, wo shall for example suppose 
 conducting wires connecting the several contact pieces in the- 
 following manner : 
 
 1. P, with the positive polo of the br.ttciy. 
 
 2. N, with its negative pole. 
 
 3. E, with the earth. 
 
 4. TT, with the up-line wire. 
 
 5. r>, with the doicn-line wire. 
 
 6. B, with a bell or alarum. 
 
 * 2 179
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 It may be necessary to state here that it is customary to call 
 the wire which proceeds to the chief terminal station of a line the 
 up tcire, and that which proceeds to the secondary terminal station 
 the doicn icirc. Thus, if a line of telegraph be extended between 
 
 Fig. 47. 
 Up. Line 
 
 London and Dover, the wire which would connect London with any 
 intermediate station would at that station be the up wire, and 
 180
 
 TRANSMISSION OF SIGNALS. 
 
 the wire which would connect it with Dover would be the down, 
 wire. 
 
 The manner in which the current arriving at any station is made 
 to ring a hell or alarum at that station, will bo explained hereafter. 
 
 In explaining the manner in which tho agent at a station is 
 enabled to control a current by means of tho commutator, two 
 cases are to be considered first, when ho desires to transmit 
 signals ; and, secondly, when he expects to receive them. 
 
 In the former case, he takes the current from his own battery ; in 
 the latter, he receives it on its arrival by the up or down line wire. 
 
 We shall first consider the case in which he desires to transmit 
 signals. 
 
 113. To transmit a current on the up line only. Let the hand 
 A" be placed on N, A on p, and A ? on TJ. The negative pole N of 
 the battery being then in connection with the earth E by the hand 
 A", and the positive pole p in connection with the up wire TJ by 
 the hands A and A', while the up wire itself at the station at 
 which it arrives is in connection with the earth, the current will 
 flow from P by A and A' along the up wire to the station at which 
 the wire goes to the earth. 
 
 114. To transmit a current on the down line only. Let A." and A 
 be placed as before, and let V be moved to D. The current will then 
 flow on the down line, as may be explained in the same manner. 
 
 115. To transmit a current along the entire line from terminus 
 to terminus. Let A' be turned upon TT, and A upon N, and let two 
 similar hands at the back of the disc be at the same time turned 
 upon P and D, the hand A" being removed from both N and p. 
 In that case, the current will flow from the positive pole P along 
 the hands at the back of the disc to D, and thence on the down 
 wire to the terminal station, where it will take the earth, by 
 which it will pass to the earth plate at the up terminal station, 
 and from thence by the up wire to TJ, and from TJ by the hands A' 
 and A to the negative pole N. 
 
 Thus it appears that it will pass along the entire line from 
 terminus to terminus, flowing from the up station downwards. 
 
 116. To reverse the direction of the current. To accomplish 
 this, it is obviously sufficient to reverse the connections with the 
 poles of the battery. Thus, if the current be transmitted on the 
 up line only, the hand A' will be upon u, A on p, and A* on N, 
 when, as already explained (113), the current will flow from TJ 
 towards the up station. If A" be removed to p, and A to IT, the 
 direction will be reversed, the course of the current then being as 
 follows : From the positive pole P to E by the hand A"; from the 
 earth E to the earth plate at the upper station ; from that to 
 the up wire : from thence to TJ, and from TJ by A' and A to N. 
 
 181
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Thus, by alternately moving the hands A" and A between the 
 contact pieces p and N, the current may be changed from one 
 direction to the other on the up wire as often and as rapidly as 
 may be desired. 
 
 The same reversion may be made in exactly the same rnannei 
 on the down wire, if the hand A' bo turned upon D. 
 
 The reversion may be made with equal facility and rapidity if 
 the current be established along the entire line by merely inter- 
 changing the position of the hands directed upon p and x, as 
 described in 115. 
 
 117. To suspend and transmit alternately the current during 
 any required intervals. "Whether the current be established on. 
 the up line or on the down line, or on both, this is easily accom- 
 plished by removing any one of the hands from the contact piece 
 on which it rests, and restoring it to its place after the required 
 intervals. When it is withdrawn, the current is suspended ; 
 when restored, the current is re-established. The intervals of 
 such suspension and transmission may be as long or as short as 
 may be desired. They may be equal or unequal. The}- may 
 succeed each other with any degree of rapidity whatever. Thus 
 there may be ten thousand intervals of suspension and ten 
 thousand of transmission in a minute. The instantaneous cha- 
 racter of the propagation of the electric fluid already noticed will 
 sufficiently explain this. 
 
 118. Having thus explained how the agent controls the current 
 in transmitting signals to a distant station, we shall now show 
 how he treats the current which arrives from a distant station, so 
 as to allow it to produce before him the intended signals. 
 
 The current must arrive either by the up wire or by the down, 
 wire, and therefore at either of the contact pieces, u or D. 
 
 119. To make the arriving current give the alarm. "When the 
 agent at a station is not engaged in transmitting signals, he must 
 always be prepared to receive them. A contrivance called an 
 alarum is provided, to give him notice when signals are about to 
 be transmitted. The alarum, which will be fully explained here- 
 after, is an apparatus so constructed, that whenever the current 
 passes through it, a bell is rung, by which the attention of the 
 agent is called. 
 
 The contact piece B is here supposed to be connected with a 
 wire leading to such an apparatus. 
 
 When not engaged in transmitting signals, the agent connects 
 both the up and down wires with his alarum. To accomplish, 
 this, ho turns A' upon T7, and A upon B. The contact piece B 
 being supposed to be connected with the wire which enters the 
 alarum, the wire which issues from it is connected with B'. Two 
 132
 
 KINGING THE ALAEUM. 
 
 hands, which are behind the disc, are placed one on B' and the 
 other on D. In this case, if a current comes down the line to u, 
 it will pass by the hands A and A' to B, and thence through the 
 alarum wire to B', whence it passes by the hands at the back of 
 the disc to D, and thence along the down wire. 
 
 If, on the other hand, the current arrive by D, it passes in the 
 same manner through the alarum to TJ, and so along the up wire. 
 
 From whatever part of the line the current may be transmitted, 
 whether on the up or the down line, it must therefore pass through 
 the alarum, and give notice. 
 
 120. In some cases a station is provided with two distinct 
 alarums, one for the down and the other for the up line, having 
 different tones, so that the agent, on hearing them, knows from 
 which direction the signals are about to come. 
 
 In that case the wire of the iip line alarum is attached to B, and 
 that of the down line to B', the wires which issue from the two 
 alarums being always in such case connected with the earth. 
 
 When the agent is not engaged in transmitting, he places the 
 hands A' and A on TJ and B, and the hands behind the disc -on D 
 and B'. If a current arrive by u, it passes by B through the alarum 
 to the earth, and gives notice. If it arrive by D, it passes in like 
 manner through the alarum B' to the earth, and gives notice. 
 
 It is, however, more usual to have a single alarum at each 
 station, acting as above described. 
 
 The connections being so arranged that the current shall pass 
 along the entire line from terminus to terminus, all the alarums 
 at all the stations will be rung the moment the current is trans- 
 mitted. General notice is therefore given that a dispatch is about 
 to be sent from some one station along the line to some other. 
 
 121. It is necessary, however, to inform the agents at each 
 station of the place from whence the dispatch is about to be sent, 
 and the place to which it is to be addressed. To learn this, the 
 agent transfers the connections from the alarum to his telegraphic 
 instrument. This is accomplished by removing the hand A from 
 B to T, and connecting the wire coming from, the telegraphic 
 instrument by the hands at the back of the disc with D. By this 
 change the current passes from if to T, from T through the 
 telegraphic instrument to B, and from thence down the line. 
 The signals transmitted appear upon the telegraphic instrument, 
 informing the agent whence the dispatch will come, and where it 
 is desired to transmit it. 
 
 122. If he find that it is not to be addressed to himself, his 
 arrangements will depend on the position which his own station 
 holds in relation to the two stations between Avhich the dispatch 
 is about to be transmitted. If his station lie between them, he 
 
 183
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 turns the hands A and A' upon the contact pieces u and D, so as to 
 allow the current to pass between the up wire and the down wire, 
 along the hands without interruption, and also without spending any 
 part of its force in needlessly working his telegraphic instrument. 
 
 123. If he find that the dispatch is intended for himself, and 
 that it proceeds from a station on the up line, for example, he 
 places the hand A' upon rr, A upon T, and by the two hands behind 
 the disc he connects the wire issuing from the instrument with E. 
 By this arrangement, the current arriving at u passes by the 
 hands A' and A to T, thence through the telegraphic instrument to 
 E by the hands behind the disc and to the earth. 
 
 In this case the course of the current is limited to the part of 
 the line wire which is included between the station from wliich it 
 is transmitted and that to which it is addressed. By connecting 
 the telegraphic instrument with the earth by E, the down 
 line wire is free ; so that while the up line wire is employed in 
 conveying the dispatch in question, other dispatches may be 
 transmitted between any stations on the down line. 
 
 124. If we express for example the chief terminal station by s, 
 and the series of stations upon the line proceeding from it down- 
 wards by 8 lt S 2 , S 3 , S 4 , &c., we can conceive various dispatches to 
 "be at the same time transmitted between them by the arrange- 
 ment here explained, being made at each station which receives a 
 dispatch. Thus, if s sends a dispatch to 8 1 , and s x cuts off its 
 communication with the down wire by putting its telegraphic 
 instrument in connection with the earth, the current transmitted 
 from s stops at s^ A dispatch may therefore be at the same 
 time sent between s 2 and S 3 , another between s t and S 5 , and so on. 
 
 Thus, the same line of conducting ware may be at the same 
 time engaged in the conveyance of several dispatches, the only 
 limitation being that when a dispatch is being transmitted 
 between two stations, no other dispatch can at the same time be 
 transmitted between any of the intermediate stations. 
 
 It follows from this as a necessary consequence that if, as generally 
 happens in thickly peopled tracts of country, the terminal and 
 one or two of the most populous of the intermediate stations keep 
 the telegraph in constant work, separate and independent wires, 
 and instruments must be provided to "serve the secondary inter- 
 mediate stations, just as upon railways, second and third-class 
 trains are provided to serve those lesser stations on the line, which 
 are passed by the first-class trains without stopping. 
 
 Every great telegraphic line presents an example of this. Thus 
 
 upon the Dover line separate wires and instruments are appropriated 
 
 to the transmission of dispatches between the terminal stations, 
 
 London and Dover, and the intermediate stations, Tonbridge, 
 
 184
 
 TELEGRAPHIC STATIONS. 
 
 Ashford, and Folkestone. The conducting wire passes through 
 the telegraph offices at these three intermediate stations, hut does 
 not enter any of those of inferior importance, such as Godstone, 
 Penshurst, Harden, Staplehurst, &c., to the service of which other 
 conducting wires aud instruments are appropriated. 
 
 125. Since, however, telegraphic communication must be pro- 
 vided hetween all the intermediate stations, and since the chief 
 wires passing the chief intermediate stations do not enter the 
 secondary ones, it follows that the wires of the secondary stations 
 must be carried not only to the terminal stations, but also through 
 all the chief secondary stations. Thus the wires, which pass through 
 the stations of Godstone and Penshurst, must also pass through 
 those of Tonbridge, Ashford, and Folkestone, since otherwise there 
 could be no communication between the latter and the former. 
 
 From what has been already explained, it will be understood 
 that every two secondary stations along the line can communicate 
 at the same time with each other, no stations being compulsorily 
 silent, except such as may lie between two communicating ones. 
 To illustrate this, let us suppose the secondary stations from ter- 
 minus to terminus of the line to be expressed by the small letters, 
 and the chief stations, terminal and intermediate, by the capitals, 
 in the following order : 
 
 A, b, c, d, e, F, g, h, i, K, I, m, n, o. 
 
 Now, by the secondary wires A and b, b and c, c and d, and so on, 
 may at the same moment hold communication. But if A and d 
 communicate, b and c can communicate neither with each other, 
 nor with any other station. They are compulsorily silent. In like 
 manner, if A and m communicate, b, c, d, e, </, h, i and I are all 
 compulsorily silent. 
 
 Hence it will be apparent how necessary it is to put chief inter- 
 mediate stations like F and K on the primary wires, since if they 
 could communicate with A and o only by the secondary wires, 
 frequent interruptions to the communications of all the secondary 
 stations with each other would take place. 
 
 It will be also apparent that on lines of great intermediate 
 business, a third or even fourth system of wires would be necessary. 
 
 This will render it easily understood why such a multiplicity of 
 wires are seen stretching along the parts of the lines near London. 
 
 Lines of telegraph, like lines of railway, often have branches 
 which are connected either with the primary or secondary wires of 
 the main line, or with both, according to their importance. For 
 example, on the main line between London and Dover, there are 
 branches which go to Maidstone on the one side, and to Tonbridge 
 "Wells on the other. Sometimes these branch wires are provided 
 with means of connection with the main line wires, so that the 
 
 185
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 stations on the main line can communicate directly with those on 
 the branch line. Sometimes no such connection is provided, and 
 a dispatch from the main line must be repeated at the branch 
 station. This is a defect which ought never to be allowed to remain, 
 inasmuch as simple and efficient commutators may always be 
 provided for connecting the branch and main lines, which in the 
 telegraph play a part similar to the switches by which trains are 
 turned from the main to the branch line, or vice versa. 
 
 It will be evident from what has been said that a dispatch 
 transmitted upon the secondary line of wires may be delivered at 
 the same time at all the stations from terminus to terminus along 
 the line, or it may be allowed to pass any one or more stations 
 without entering them, by the mere management of the commu- 
 tators provided at the stations severally. 
 
 126. In what has been said, we have adverted to signals pro- 
 duced by the current, witnout explaining the nature of those 
 signals, or the particular means by which they are produced, 
 because all the circumstances attending their transmission from 
 station to station, which have been explained, are quite indepen- 
 dent of the particular character of the signals, and the way of 
 producing them. "We shall hereafter explain the character of the 
 signals which are used, and the instruments by which they are 
 produced. 
 
 From all that has been stated meanwhile, it may be inferred 
 generally that by the commutating apparatus which has been 
 described above, or by any of the endless variety of equivalent 
 contrivances which telegraphic inventors have proposed, any of the 
 following effects may be produced by an agent at any station, at 
 which a current arrives: 1. Such a current may be made to pass 
 through the alarum, and give notice to the agent of its arrival. 
 
 2. It may be made to pass through the instrument and give signals. 
 
 3. It may be made to pass the station and continue its course 
 along the line without affecting any part of the telegraphic appa- 
 ratus at the station. 4. If it pass through the alarum, or through 
 the instrument, it may be turned into the earth, and so be prevented 
 from going further along the line. 5. If it pass through the 
 alarum or through the instrument, it may after leaving them be 
 directed along the line, so as to continue its course to the other 
 stations below or above that at which k is supposed to arrive. 
 
 127. In some forms of telegraph, the system of signs transmitted 
 to a distant station depends entirely upon the current being alter- 
 nately suspended and transmitted for longer and shorter intervals, 
 and this succession of long and short intervals, variously combined 
 like the notes in music, is converted into a sort of telegraphic 
 language, which by practice is expressed and understood by the 
 
 186
 
 KEY COMMUTATOR. 
 
 agent with as much facility and promptitude as ordinary written 
 or spoken language. 
 
 128. In such forms of telegraph, the alternate suspension and 
 transmission of the current is produced by a commutator, which 
 has the form of the key of a pianoforte and is played upon in a" 
 very similar manner by the agent who transmits the dispatch. 
 
 One of the forms of these keys and the mechanism connected 
 with it, is represented in fig. 48. It is fixed upon a wooden block 
 
 Fig. 48 
 
 is is. The key plays xipon a centre E. To the lower side of the- 
 longer arm (>: D) is attached a projecting piece of metal r, called 
 the HAMMER, under which is a fixed piece of metal of correspond- 
 ing form and magnitude called the ANVIL. 
 
 The action of the key upon the current is the same precisely aa 
 that already described (117) which is produced by the alternately 
 removing and restoring the hand to the contact piece in fig. 47. 
 The hammer in the present case represents the hand, and the anvil 
 the contact piece. One of the line-wires m, is attached to the 
 anvil, and the other to the metallic support E of the hammer 
 and key. When the hammer is in contact with the anvil, the 
 current passes, and when it is raised from that contact, the current 
 is suspended. 
 
 The button D is faced with ivory to be pressed down by the 
 finger, and the screw d passing through the short arm of the key 
 is pressed upon the block x by the reaction of the spring r, when 
 the key is not pressed down by the finger on D. The hammer r, 
 and anvil q are both faced with platinum to prevent oxydation,. 
 which would obstruct that complete metallic contact which is 
 necessary to ensure the transmission of the current. 
 
 An expert manipidator can work the key D with as much 
 celerity and correctness as can a performer on the pianoforte and 
 can express in that way in telegraphic language any dispatch 
 which is placed in manuscript before him, so as to transmit it to any 
 distant station. This will be explained more fully hereafter. 
 "When no dispatch is being transmitted from the station at which, 
 
 187
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 the key is placed, it is necessary to leave a free passage for the 
 current along the line-wires in n. To effect this, the screw d, 
 which passes through the short arm of the key, is turned so as to 
 raise the short arm, and consequently lower the arm E D until the 
 hammer v is brought into permanent contact with the anvil q. 
 When that takes place, the metallic continuity between m and it- 
 will be established, and the current will flow without interruption 
 on the line-wire. "Whenever it is desired to transmit a dispatch, 
 the screw d is turned so as to lower the arm d, and to raise K j>, 
 and thus to raise the hammer from its contact with the anvil. 
 The key is then ready for the transmission of the dispatch in the 
 manner already described. 
 
 129. In some telegraphic apparatus it is necessary to make the 
 intervals of transmission and suspension of the current absolutely 
 equal in duration, and to succeed each other with chronometnc 
 regularity. There are many expedients by which this can be 
 accomplished, of which the following is an example. 
 
 A metallic wheel put in connection with clock-work, so as to 
 
 Fig. 49. 
 
 receive a regular motion of rotation, has its edge divided into 
 equal parts by pieces of ivory, or some other non-conductor inlaid 
 upon it, as represented in fig. 49, where m represents the metal, 
 and i the ivory. A metallic spring r 1 connected with one end of the 
 conducting wire w', presses constantly upon its edge ; and another 
 r connected with the other end of the wire w, presses constantly 
 on the metallic axle of the wheel which is otherwise insulated. 
 
 Now, if the wheel be supposed to have an uniform motion of 
 revolution, the alternate divisions of ivory and metal on its edge 
 will pass in succession under the spring r', while the spring r will 
 be in constant metallic contact with the axis. If a current flows on 
 the wire w, it will be transmitted by the spring r to the axle, and 
 188
 
 WHEEL COMMUTATORS. 
 
 thence by the metal of the wheel to r', when r 1 is in contact with 
 any of the metallic parts m of the edge of the wheel, but will be 
 suspended while it is in contact with the ivory parts i of the edge. 
 If the wheel, being impelled by clock-work, be moved at such 
 a rate that each of the divisions marked m and i shall move under 
 the spring in one second, the current will be transmitted and sus- 
 pended also during intervals of one second. It will in fact be sub- 
 ject to a regulated pulsation, the rate of which will be controlled and 
 determined by the horological mechanism which impels the wheel. 
 
 130. In some cases, the motion to be imparted to the wheel is 
 not either regular or continuous. In such cases, it may be moved 
 either directly by hand, or by a strap, or even by clock-work, 
 which is subject to a check which will suspend it at certain 
 positions of the wheel. In all these cases the pulsations of the 
 current in number, length, and continuance, are governed by 
 the motion imparted to the wheel. 
 
 131. As the suspension and transmission of the current are- 
 instantaneous upon the breach and re-establishment of the metallic* 
 contact of the spring r' and the wheel, there is no practical limit to 
 the rapidity which can be given to its pulsations. The wheel may be- 
 turned, for example, so that 500 divisions of its edge may pass under 
 the spring r' in a second, in which case there would be 250 intervals 
 of transmission, and 250 intervals of suspension in a second. 
 
 It might perhaps be imagined that in so short an interval of 
 time the current could not be stopped or established along the 
 entire length of the conducting wire. It has however been shown 
 that even with the longest continuous wires, practically used in 
 telegraphs, the ten-thousandth part of a second is more than 
 enough either to establish or stop the current. 
 
 132. The intervals of the suspension of the current may be 
 produced by a common toothed-wheel, 
 
 as represented in fig. 50, without ivory 
 or other inlaid non-conducting matter. 
 In this case, a piece of wedge-shaped 
 metal connected with the up line wire 
 is attached to the under side of a 
 wooden lever, while the axle of the 
 wheel is kept in constant metallic con- 
 nection with the down wire. "When 
 a tooth of the wheel comes against the 
 metal attached to the lever, metallic 
 contact is established, but when the 
 metal falls between the teeth, and the c ( 
 surface of the wooden lever rests on one of them, and the metallic 
 contact being broken, the current is suspended. 
 
 189
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 It is evident that during each revolution of the wheel there will 
 be as many pulsations of the current as there arc teeth, and since 
 the rotation of the wheel may be as rapid as may be desired, and 
 the teeth as numerous, there is no practical limit to the possible 
 rapidity of these pulsations. 
 
 133. Another contrivance, by which pulsations arc imparted to 
 the current, consists of a metallic wheel around the face of which 
 a sinuous groove is cut, in which a pin, projecting from the arm 
 of a metallic lever is inserted, so that when the wheel is turned 
 upon its axis, the pin attached to the lever receives from the 
 sinuosities of the groove a motion alternately right and left, which 
 is imparted to the other arm of the lever. This latter arm plays 
 between two metallic stops, one of which is connected with the wire 
 w, along which the current flows. When the arm of the lever 
 comes in contact with it, the current is transmitted on the lever 
 to the sinuous groove of the wheel, and from thence to the line- 
 wire iv . When the lever oscillates to the other side, the contact 
 with the wire w is broken, and the current is interrupted. 
 
 This will be more clearly understood by reference to the fig. 51, 
 where A B is the wheel, c c c the sinuous groove, G o H the lever 
 playing on the axis o. From 
 F 'g- 51 - G, a short projecting piece, 
 
 G G', passes in front of the 
 wheel across the groove, and 
 from this piece a pin projects, 
 which enters the groove. The 
 arm n plays between two 
 stops, r and r', provided with 
 springs to ensure the contact 
 with the lever. The stop r 
 is connected with the con- 
 ducting wire w, and the groove 
 c is connected with the wire 
 w'. When the wheel is turned, 
 the pin at G' is driven by the 
 sinuosities of the groove alter - 
 % nately right and left, by which 
 a corresponding motion is imparted "to the arm n of the lever, so 
 that its end is driven alternately against the stops r and r'. 
 When it is thrown against r it is in metallic connection with the 
 wire w. When it is thrown against r' that connection is broken. 
 Now, if a current flow along r, it will pass to the lever when n 
 falls against P, and will pass by the lever and the groove c c to the 
 wire w'. When the arm n is thrown against r', the contact with 
 t being broken, the current is suspended. Thus, as the lever is 
 190
 
 ALARUM BY SHORT CIRCUIT. 
 
 made to oscillate between r and r', by the motion of the wheel and 
 the action of the sinuous groove, the current will be alternately 
 transmitted and suspended, and will, in fine, receive a succession 
 of pulsations corresponding exactly with the sinuosities of the 
 groove. Thus, if there be sixty undulations of the groove in the 
 circumference of the wheel, the current will receive sixty pulsa- 
 tions in one revolution of the wheel, and if the wheel revolve at 
 the rate of sixty revolutions per minute, the current will have 3600 
 pulsations per minute. 
 
 134. An expedient has been sometimes adopted in telegraphic 
 apparatus for diverting the electric current from its direction, 
 which differs in principle from the commutator, and which 
 depends on the tendency of the current to follow the shortest and 
 widest route open to it between one point and another. 
 
 Let AV, fig. 52, be the line-wire, B the bell-apparatus, and T 
 the telegraphic instrument. The line-wire is bent upwards in 
 the direction m to the 
 bell B, and then down- 
 wards, and by >' and 
 W to the telegraph T. 
 The current would, ac- 
 cording to this arrange- 
 ment, first pass by the 
 wire m to the bell B, 
 which it would ring, 
 and then by the wire 
 m' W to the telegraph T. 
 If the dispatch were 
 then transmitted, the 
 current constantly pass- ^^ 
 
 ing through B during its ~jy 
 
 transmission, the bell 
 would be constantly 
 ringing, which would be inconvenient as well as unnecessary. 
 
 This is prevented, and the current transmitted directly to T, 
 withoiit passing through B, by the following very simple expedient. 
 
 A thick piece of metal, a b, turns on an axis c, so that when it 
 is placed in the horizontal position, the ends a and b are brought 
 into close contact with the conducting wire at e and /. The 
 current, on arriving at e divides itself into two parts, one going 
 by a b tof, and thence to T, and the other as before, by m, through 
 the bell. But as a b is much shorter and thicker than the wire 
 m m', the greater part of the current will go by a b, and the part 
 which passes along m m' will be too inconsiderable to exercise the 
 force necessary to ring the bell. 
 
 191
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 The agent, therefore, at the station, receiving the dispatch, 
 1 eing warned by the bell that the agent at the station s is going 
 ' o send a dispatch, turns the piece a b into the horizontal position, 
 and the bell ceases to ring, the telegraph T receiving the dispatch. 
 
 135. The manner in which the pulsations of the current arc 
 produced, controlled, and regulated, by the operator at the station 
 s* being understood by these examples and illustrations, it will 
 next be necessary to show how they are made to produce signals 
 at the station to which the dispatch is transmitted, by which the 
 operator or observer there can be enabled to understand and 
 interpret the communication. 
 
 The effects of the current which have been found most conve- 
 nient for this purpose are 
 
 1 st. Its power t'o deflect a magnetic needle from its position of 
 rest, and to throw it into another direction. 
 
 2nd. Its power to impart temporary magnetism to soft iron, 
 this magnetism siiddenly deserting the iron when the current is 
 suspended. 
 
 3rd. Its power to produce the chemical decomposition of certain 
 substances. 
 
 136. All forms of electric telegraph depending on one or other 
 of these properties of the current, it is indispensably necessary to 
 understand them before the reader can hope to comprehend the 
 mode of operation of these wonderful instruments. 
 
 If a wire be extended over and under a compass-needle which 
 directs itself to the magnetic north and south, parallel to the 
 needle, and as close to it as it can be placed without actually 
 touching it, as represented in fig. 53, the needle will remain 
 undisturbed in its position. Let the ends p and of the wire be 
 T,g. 53. then attached to the poles of a vol- 
 
 taic battery, so that a current of a 
 certain intensity shall be transmitted 
 upon it. The moment the current is 
 established upon the wire, the mag- 
 netic needle a b will be thrown out 
 of its usual direction, and instead of 
 pointing north and south, it will 
 point east and west. 
 If the direction of the current upTr>n the wire be reversed, the 
 direction of the deflexion of the needle will be reversed. 
 
 132
 
 Fig. 72. FRENCH STATE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTEE VI. 
 
 137. Relation of the deflection to the direction of the current. 138. 
 Galvanometer or multiplier. 139. Method of covering the wire. 
 140. Method of mounting the needle. 141. Method of transmitting 
 signals by the galvanometer. 142. How the current may produce 
 a temporary magnet. 143. Electro-magnet constructed by Pouillet. 
 144. Electro-magnets formed by two straight bars. 145. They 
 acquire and lose their magnetism instantaneously. 146. Magnetic 
 pulsations as rapid as those of the current. 147. How they are 
 rendered visible and counted. 148. Extraordinary celerity of the 
 oscillations thus produced. 149. They produce musical sounds by 
 which the rate of vibration may be estimated. 150. How the vibra- 
 tions may impart motion to clock-work. 151. Their action on an 
 escapement. 152. How the movement of one clock may be trans- 
 mitted by the current to another. 153. How an electro-magnet may 
 produce written characters on paper at a distant station. 154. How 
 the m.otion of the hand upon a dial at one station can produce a like 
 motion of a handupon a dial at a distant station. 155, How an 
 agent at one station can ring an alarum at another station. 156. Or 
 may discharge a gun or cannon there. 157. Power of the bell or other 
 signal not dependent on the force of the current 158. Mechanism of 
 telegraphic alarum. 159. Various alarums in telegraphic offices. 
 160. Magneto-electricity. 161. Method of producing a momentary 
 magneto-electric current. 162. Application of an electro-magnet to 
 produce it. 
 
 LAKDNER'S MCSETJU OF SCIENCE. o 193 
 
 No. 39.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 137. To explain the manner in which the deflection of the 
 needle depends on the direction of the ciirrent, let us suppose 
 tlio needle to be placed on an horizontal axis o, fig. 54, so as to 
 Fig. 54. play i n a vertical plane, and to be 
 
 maintained in the vertical direction 
 when not affected by the current, by 
 giving a slight preponderance to the 
 arm on which the south pole of the 
 needle is placed. By this arrangement 
 the needle, when undisturbed, will rest 
 in the vertical position, the north pole 
 N being directed upwards, and the 
 south pole s being directed downwards. 
 Now if the current which is before 
 the needle be directed downwards and 
 that which is behind it upwards, the 
 north pole N will be deflected to the 
 right, and consequently the south pole s to the left, as represented 
 in the figure. But if the direction of the current be reversed so 
 that before the needle, it shall be directed upwards and behind 
 it downwards, the north pole N will be deflected to the left and 
 the south pole s to the right. 
 
 If the intensity of the current be great, and the preponderance 
 given to the lower arm of the needle small, the deflective force of 
 the current will be sufficient to throw the needle completely at 
 right angles to its position of rest, that is, to give it the horizontal 
 direction ; but it is important to observe, that no greater intensity 
 of the current can affect it further. The north pole, for example, 
 cannot be deflected downwards, or the south pole upwards. In 
 fine, the needle cannot be more affected by any increase of force 
 of the current after it has once been thrown into the horizontal 
 direction. 
 
 If the intensity of the current be insufficient to throw the needle 
 into the horizontal direction, it will nevertheless take a position 
 intermediate between that and the vertical direction at which it 
 will rest. Its deflection from the vertical will be more and more 
 considerable as the current is more ^ intense, and certain mathe- 
 matical conditions have been discovered by which the relative 
 intensity of the current may be determined by the amount of 
 the deflection of the needle which it produces. 
 
 138. It is evident that the sensibility of the needle will be so 
 much the greater as the preponderance of the arm s is diminished 
 and the intensity of the current increased. An expedient has, 
 however, been ingeniously contrived, by which the most feeble 
 current can be made to affect the needle. This is accomplished by 
 194
 
 GALVANOMETER. 
 
 winding the wire which carries the current several times round 
 the needle, each coil being still parallel to the needle. By this 
 contrivance, each successive coil of the wire produces a separate 
 effect upon the needle, and if there he fifty such coils passing suc- 
 cessively before and behind the needle, each portion of the wire 
 thus carrying the current producing an independent deflecting 
 force, there will be a total deflecting force an hundred times greater 
 than that which a single portion of the wire, passing once over or 
 under the needle would produce. 
 
 In this manner the deflecting power of the most feeble current 
 may be so multiplied as to produce upon the needle as powerful an 
 effect as would be produced by a current of great intensity. 
 
 An apparatus consisting of wire thus coiled round a magnetic 
 needle is called a MULTIPLIER, inasmuch as it multiplies the 
 deflecting power of the needle. It is also called a REOSCOPE, or 
 REOMETER,* and sometimes a GALVANOSCOPE, or GALVANOMETER, 
 inasmuch as it indicates the presence, and by certain arrange- 
 ments, measures the intensity of a galvanic or voltaic current. 
 
 139. When the conducting wire is thus coiled round a needle, 
 it is necessary that it should be covered or coated by some substance 
 which is a non-conductor of electricity, since otherwise the coils 
 being necessarily in contact one with another, the current, instead 
 of following the continuous thread of wire, would pass from coil to 
 coil. In such cases, therefore, the wire is wrapped with silk or 
 cotton, which being a non-conductor, confines the current within 
 it just as water would be included in a pipe. 
 
 140. As the wire coiled in the manner above-described, and the 
 frame which carries it, would prevent the play of the needle from 
 being easily and conveniently observed, the needle included within 
 the frame is fixed upon the axis which supports it, so that the 
 axis turns with it. This axis passes through the side of the frame, 
 on which the wire is coiled, and upon the end of it which projects 
 beyond the frame a hand is fixed, so as to be parallel to the needle, 
 the play of which will necessarily correspond with that of the 
 needle. This hand plays upon a sort of dial, by which its devia- 
 tions to the right or to the left, from its position of rest are 
 indicated. 
 
 This will be more clearly understood by reference to fig. 55 
 (p. 196), which represents a section of the mounting of the needle, 
 the coil of wire and their appendages, made by a vertical plane 
 through the axis of the needle. The needle within the coil is 
 represented at a b, in its position of rest. The axis of the needle 
 
 * From two Greek words, peos (reos) a current, and nfrpov (rnetron) a 
 measure. 
 
 o 2 195
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Fig. 55. 
 
 passing through the frame supporting the coil, and through the 
 dial plate, supports in front of the dial the hand a' &', which is 
 fixed upon the axis in a position parallel to 
 the needle a 6, so that it must play before the 
 dial in a manner corresponding exactly with 
 the play of the needle a b within the coil. 
 
 141. In order to govern the play of the 
 needle, it is necessary that the agent at the 
 station from which the signal is transmitted 
 should have the power, 1st. To suspend and 
 transmit the current at the receiving station ; 
 and 2nd. To change its direction upon the 
 conducting wire. The former is necessary, to 
 enable him to bring at all times the needle to 
 its position of rest ; and the latter, to deflect 
 it to the right or to the left, according to the 
 exigencies of the telegraphic communications. 
 
 The general principle on which these changes 
 in the flow and direction of the current are 
 effected, has been already explained (111). It is easy to imagine, 
 that by very simple mechanism the movement of a lever or arm 
 may make or break the contact of the conducting wires, so as to 
 transmit or suspend the current at pleasure. Also by a simple 
 motion of such an arm the hands, A and A", fig. 48, or any equivalent 
 pieces, may be moved from P to N and from N to p, so as to reverse 
 the current upon the wire to which the arm A' is directed. 
 
 If then an agent at the station, s", for example, be provided with 
 any means of suspending or reversing the current which passes 
 along the wire, between s and s", he can at will bring a magnetic 
 needle, mounted at s, to its position of rest, that is, to the vertical 
 position, by suspending the current or deflect it to the right, by 
 causing the current to flow in one direction on the conducting 
 wire, or to the left, by reversing the direction of the current. 
 The particular manner in which these several operations sub- 
 serve to telegraphic purposes will be pre- 
 sently explained. 
 
 142. To explain the manner in which the 
 electric current can impart temporary mag- 
 netism to soft iron, let us suppose a copper 
 wire wrapped with silk, to prevent the me- 
 tallic contact of contiguous convolutions, to 
 be coiled round a rod of soft iron, bent into 
 the form of a horse-shoe, as represented in 
 fig. 56, care being taken, that in carrying 
 the wire from one arm to the other, the 
 190
 
 ELECTRO-MAGNETS. 
 
 Fig. 57. 
 
 direction of the convolutions shall be the same as if the coils had 
 been continued round the bend. 
 
 So long as no electric current passes along the convolutions of 
 the wire the horse-shoe will be free from magnetism. But if the 
 ends of the wire, marked + and , be put in connection with the 
 poles of a voltaic battery, so that a current flow round its convo- 
 lutions, the horse-shoe will instantly become a magnet, and will 
 be so much the more powerful as the current is more intense, and 
 the coils more multiplied. 
 
 If an armature loaded with a weight be presented to the ends 
 of the horse-shoe while the current passes on the wire, it will 
 adhere to them, and the weight, if not too great, will be sup- 
 ported. 
 
 143. In 1830 an electro-magnet of extraordinary power was 
 constructed under the superintendence of M. Pouillet, at Paris. 
 This apparatus, represented in fig. 57, consists of two horse-shoes, 
 the legs of which are presented to 
 
 each other, the bends being turned 
 in contrary directions. The superior 
 horse-shoe is fixed in the frame of the 
 apparatus, the inferior being attached 
 to a cross-piece which slides in ver- 
 tical grooves formed in the sides of 
 the frame. To this cross-piece a dish 
 or plateau is suspended in which 
 weights are placed, by the effect of 
 which the attraction which unites the 
 two horse-shoes is at length overcome. 
 Each of the horse-shoes is wrapped 
 with 10,000 feet of covered wire, and 
 they are so arranged that the poles 
 of contrary names shall be in contact. "With a current of 
 moderate intensity the apparatus is capable of supporting a weight 
 of several tons. 
 
 144. It is found more convenient generally to construct 
 electro-magnets of two straight bars of soft iron, united at one 
 end by a straight bar transverse to them, and attached to them 
 by screws, so that the form of the magnet ceases to be that of 
 a horse-shoe, the end at which the legs are united being not 
 curved but square. The conductor of the heliacal current is 
 usually a copper wire of extreme tenuity. 
 
 145. In whatever form these magnets are constructed, the 
 circumstance which in their telegraphic use is of most importance 
 to notice, is that if proper conditions be observed in their pre- 
 paration, their acquisition of the magnetic virtue upon the 
 
 197
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 establishment of the current, and their loss of it upon the suspen- 
 sion of the current, are, for all practical purposes, instantaneous. 
 The moment the extremities of the wire coiled round the horse- 
 shoe are put into connection with the poles of the battery the 
 horse-shoe becomes a magnet, and the moment the connection with 
 the battery is broken it loses the magnetic virtue. 
 
 146. It has been already shown, that by means of very simple 
 expedients, the current may be interrupted hundreds or even. 
 thousands of times in a second, being fully re-established in the 
 intervals. The acquisition and loss of magnetism by the horse- 
 shoe accompany these pulsations with the most perfect and 
 absolute simultaneity. If the pulsations of the current be pro- 
 duced, at the rate of a thousand per second, the alternate presence 
 and absence of the magnetic virtue in the horse-shoe will equally 
 be produced at the rate of a thousand per second. Nor are these 
 effects in any way modified by the distance of the place of inter- 
 ruption of the current from the magnet. Thus, pulsations of the 
 current may be produced by an operator in London, and the 
 simultaneous pulsations of the magnetism may take place at 
 Vienna, provided only that the two places are connected by a con- 
 tinuous series of conducting wires. 
 
 147. It remains to show how these rapid pulsations of the mag- 
 netism of the bar can be rendered sensible, and how they may 
 even be estimated and counted. 
 
 Let two straight rods of soft iron be surrounded by a succession 
 of convolutions of covered wire, such as has been already de- 
 scribed, and let the ends, , m', fig. 58, of these rods be connected 
 
 Fi 
 
 by a straight bar of soft iron, attached 
 to them by screws and nuts. Let the 
 wire, a b, proceeding from a distant 
 station, s, be put in metallic connection 
 with the extremity of the wire coiled 
 upon the rod, m, and let the wire, a' b', 
 connected with the extremity of the 
 last convolution of the wire on the rod, 
 /, be put in metallic connection with 
 the earth. If a current flow along a b, 
 it will therefore circulate round the rods, 
 m and m', and will pass to the earth by 
 the wire, a' b'. So lc ng as this current 
 flows, the rods will be magnetic, and 
 they will lose their magnetism in the 
 intervals of its suspension. 
 Let g h be a light iron bar, supported on a pivot, at 0, on which 
 it is capable of playing, so that its arm, o g t may move freely to 
 198 
 
 "
 
 ELECTRO-MAGNETIC PULSATIONS. 
 
 the right or left. Let t if be two stops, placed a small distance to 
 the right and left of its extremity, g, so as to limit the range of 
 its play. Let s be a spring attached to the extremity, h, by 
 which that extremity will be constantly drawn to the left, and 
 therefore the opposite extremity, g, thrown to the right against 
 the stop, t. When the current is suspended, and the rods, m m', 
 divested of magnetism, the lever yielding to the action of the 
 spring, s, the end, g, will rest against the stop, t. But when the 
 current passes on the wire, the rods, m m', becoming magnetic, 
 will attract the arm, o g, of the lever, and this attraction 
 exceeding the force of the spring, the arm, og, will be drawn 
 towards the electro-magnet, until it encounters the stop, t', against 
 which it will rest so long as the current continues to flow. But 
 the moment the current is suspended, the bars, m m', suddenly 
 losing their magnetism, the lever, o g, is abandoned to the action 
 of the spring, and it is again thrown back upon the stop, t, where 
 it rests until the current is re-established. 
 
 Let us suppose that an agent at the station, s, to which the 
 wire, a b, extends, and which may be at any distance, 500 miles 
 for example, from s", is supplied with any of the means which 
 have been explained, by which he can at will control the pulsa- 
 tions of the current. When he causes the current to flow, he 
 imparts magnetism to the bars, m m', and throws the lever, o ff, 
 against the stop, if. When he suspends the current he deprives 
 the bars, m m', of their magnetism, and leaves the lever, o ff, to 
 the action of the spring, s, by which it is thrown against the 
 stop, t. 
 
 It appears, therefore, that with each pulsation which the current 
 receives from the agent at s, the lever, o g, at s", 500 miles distant 
 from him, will perform a vibration between the stops, t and t? , 
 As the transmission and suspension of the current, and also the 
 acquisition and loss of the magnetic power, by the rods, m m', are 
 both instantaneous, there is no practical limit to the velocity of 
 the pulsations of the current and those of the magnetism alternately 
 acquired and lost by the rods, m m'. The oscillations of the lever, 
 o ff, produced by these pulsations are limited, however, by the 
 weight of the lever, the force of the spring, and the distance 
 between the stops, t and t'. The greater the weight of the lever, 
 the force of the spring, and the distance between the stops, the 
 slower will be the motion of the lever from t to f, produced by a 
 current of given intensity. The greater the weight of the lever, 
 and the distance between the stops, and the less the force of the 
 spring, the slower will be the motion from t' to t. 
 
 The stop, f , is so placed as to prevent the absolute contact of 
 the arm of the lever with the electro-magnet, but to allow it to 
 
 199
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 approach the latter very closely. Absolute contact is to be 
 avoided, because it is found that in that case the arm adheres to 
 the magnet with a certain force after the current ceases to flow, 
 but so long as absolute contact is prevented, it is immediately 
 brought back by the spring, s, when the current is suspended. 
 
 148. It is evident, therefore, that the limit of the possible 
 celerity of vibration to be imparted to the lever, o g, by the pulsa- 
 tions of the current will depend on the nice adjustment of tho 
 weight and play of the lever, and the force of the spring, s. 
 
 The velocity of oscillation, however, which can in this way be 
 imparted to the lever, is such as can scarcely be credited with- 
 out actually witnessing its effects. When that velocity does not 
 exceed a certain limit the oscillations may be registered and 
 counted, by causing the lever to give motion to the anchor of an 
 escapement, connected with a train of wheel- work, by which a 
 hand or index, moving on a graduated dial, is governed. But 
 these oscillations are susceptible of velocities so great that it 
 would be difficult to apply this expedient for counting them. M. 
 Gustave Froment, of Paris, suggested and applied to this purpose 
 with complete success, a method of ascertaining the velocity 
 depending on the laws which govern the vibrations of musical 
 strings. 
 
 149. It is well known that the pitch of any musical note is the 
 consequence of the rate of vibration of the string by which it is 
 produced, and that the more rapid the vibration the higher the 
 note will be in the musical scale, and the slower the vibration the 
 lower it will be. Thus the string of a pianoforte which produces 
 
 vibrates 132 times in a second, that 
 
 which produces the note ^ vibrates 66 times in a second, 
 ^ 
 
 and that which produces the note (n j ; vibrates 264 
 
 times per second. 
 
 On a seven octave pianoforte the highest note in the treble is 
 
 three octaves above A n , and the lowest note in the bass is 
 
 four octaves below it. The number of complete vibrations corre- 
 sponding to the former must be 3520 ; and the number of vibra- 
 tions per second corresponding to the latter is 27|. 
 
 If, therefore, the lever, o g, have any rate of vibration more 
 rapid than 27| vibrations per second, and less rapid than 3620 per 
 200
 
 PULSATIONS MEASUEED BY MUSICAL SOUNDS. 
 
 second, it will produce by its motion some definite musical sound, 
 and if the note formed upon a pianoforte, which is in unison with 
 it, be found, the rate of vibration of the string producing that note, 
 will be the same as that of the lever. 
 
 When it is stated that the vibrations imparted by the pulsations 
 of the current to levers, mounted in the manner here described, have 
 produced musical notes nearly two octaves higher than the highest 
 note on a seven octave piano, tuned to concert pitch, it may be 
 conceived in how rapid a manner the transmission and suspension 
 of the electric current, the acquisition and loss of magnetism in 
 the soft iron rods, and the consequent oscillation of the lever, upon 
 which these rods act, take place. The string which produces the 
 highest note, on such a piano, vibrates 3520 times per second. A 
 string which would produce a note an octave higher would vibrate 
 7040 times per second, and one which would produce a note tw? 
 octaves higher would vibrate 14080 times per second. 
 
 It may, therefore, be stated, that by the marvellously subtle 
 action of the electric current, the motion of a pendulum is produced, 
 by which a single second of time is divided into from twelve to 
 fourteen thousand equal parts ! 
 
 150. It has been already shown how the motion of clock- 
 work may be applied to control and regulate the pulsations of the 
 electric current. "We shall now show how, on the other hand, the 
 pulsations of the current may be made to govern the motion of 
 wheel-work. This expedient must be regarded with the more 
 interest, inasmuch as it has been applied with the greatest effect 
 in several of the varieties of electric telegraph, which have been 
 proposed or brought into operation. 
 
 151. If we suppose the lever g h, fig. 58, to be put into connection 
 with the anchor of the- escapement wheel of a system of clock-work, 
 it will be easy to see b.6w that clock-work can be regulated by the 
 pulsations of the electric current. 
 
 In fig. 59 (p. 202), w w' is the escapement wheel which is con- 
 stantly impelled by the force of a descending weight or mainspring 
 in the direction of the arrows. The anchor A B c, of the escapement, 
 is connected with an axis D, by the straight rod B D. This rod B D 
 may be either the vibrating arm of a lever, such as g h, fig. 58, 
 kept in oscillation by the current acting on an electro-magnet, or 
 it may be connected with such a lever in any convenient manner, 
 so as to oscillate simultaneously with it, and to have the extent of 
 play necessary for the action of the pallets A and c cf the anchor 
 on the teeth of the escapement wheel. 
 
 When the anchor is not in a state of oscillation, a tooth of the 
 wheel will rest upon one of its pallets, and the wheel and clock- 
 work connected with it will be stopped. When the anchor moves 
 
 201
 
 THE ELECTKIC TELEGBAPH. 
 
 Fig. 50. 
 
 from left to rig-lit, the tooth, of tho wheel, which was previously 
 stopped by the upper surface n of the pallet c, is allowed to escape, 
 
 and in obedience to the 
 power of the spring or 
 weight, which moves 
 the clock-work, it ad- 
 vances towards TO'. 
 Meanwhile the pallet A 
 enters the space be- 
 tween two teeth of the 
 wheel, one of which 
 coming against its lower 
 surface, it stops its 
 motion. When the an- 
 chor moves back from 
 right to left, the pallet 
 c comes under the next 
 tooth of the wheel. In 
 this manner every move- 
 ment of the anchor to 
 c the right lets a tooth, 
 which was stopped by 
 the pallet c, advance, 
 and afterwards the pal- 
 let A. stops the advance 
 of another tooth, while 
 every movement to the 
 left lets the tooth 
 stopped by A advance, 
 and afterwards the 
 pallet c stops the next tooth which advances on that side. 
 
 Thus each complete oscillation of the anchor, consisting of a 
 motion to the right and a motion to the left, lets one tooth of the 
 escapement wheel, and no more, pass. 
 
 2sow if we suppose the pulsations of the current to impart to 
 the anchor by the intervention of the electro-magnet and its 
 appendages a motion of vibration, a tooth of the escapement 
 wheel, and no more than one tooth, vill pass the anchor for each 
 pulsation of the current. If the current be suspended the move- 
 ment of the escapement wheel and the clock-work connected with 
 it will be also suspended, and when the pulsation of the current 
 recommences, the oscillations of the anchor, and consequently the 
 motion of the escapement wheel, and the clock-work connected 
 with it, will also recommence. 
 
 152. If the pulsations of the current be regulated (as they may 
 202
 
 PULSATIONS PRODUCE WRITTEN CHARACTERS. 
 
 be according to what has been already explained (129), by the 
 pendulum of a clock at any station, the motion of the anchor of the 
 escapement established at any other station to which the current is 
 transmitted, will be synchronous with that of the pendulum of the 
 clock which governs the pulsations of the current, and thus a 
 regular motion may be imparted by one clock to another, provided 
 that between them there be established a conductor, and the pen- 
 dulum of the one clock regulates the pulsations of the current, 
 which govern the movement of the anchor of the escapement of 
 the other. 
 
 153. If the extremity of the lever s off, fig. 58, carry a pencil, 
 which presses upon paper, when the lever is drawn towards the 
 electro-magnet, and if at the same time the paper is moved under 
 the pencil with an uniform motion, a line will be traced upon the 
 paper by the pencil, the length of which will be proportionate to 
 that of the interval during which the lever o g is held in contact 
 with the stop t'. Now as the agent at s can regulate this interval 
 at will, by controlling the flow of the electric current, making 
 that current act for a short interval if he desire to make a short 
 line upon the paper, for a long interval if he desire to make a 
 long line, and for an instant if he desire to make merely a dot, it 
 will be understood how he can at will mark a sheet of paper at s", 
 500 miles distant, with any desired succession of lines of various 
 lengths or of dots, and how he may combine these in any way he 
 may find suitable to his purpose. 
 
 ~\Ve have here supposed the pencil attached to the end of the lever 
 to be alternately pressed against the paper, and withdrawn from it 
 by the motion of the lever. If, however, the paper be so placed 
 that the lever shall oscillate parallel to it, the pencil presented 
 to the paper will remain permanently in contact with it, and will 
 trace upon the paper a line alternately right and left, whose 
 length will be equal to the play of the end g of the lever, to which 
 the pencil is attached. If while this takes place the paper be 
 moved under the pencil in a direction at right angles to the line 
 of its play, the pencil will trace upon the paper a zigzag line, the 
 form of which will depend on the relation between the motion of 
 the paper and that of the pencil. "When the current is in this 
 case suspended, the paper being moved under the pencil at rest, 
 a straight line will be traced upon it. 
 
 Thus the paper will be marked either with a zigzag line, 
 or a straight line according as the current is transmitted or 
 suspended. 
 
 If the current be alternately transmitted and suspended during 
 intervals of unequal length, at the will of the agent, at s, the 
 paper at s" will be marked by a line alternately zigzag and 
 
 203
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 straight, the length of the zigzag and straight parts being varied 
 at the will of the operator at s. 
 
 How these subserve to telegraphic purposes will he presently 
 more fully explained. 
 
 154. In. the same manner, if a toothed wheel, moved by the 
 agent at s, produce a pulsation of the current by the passage of 
 each successive tooth, these pulsations will produce simultaneous 
 oscillations of the lever og, at the station s", and if these oscilla- 
 tions act upon the anchor of an escapement wheel attached to 
 clock-work at s", that wheel will be advanced in its revolution, 
 tooth for tooth, with the wheel at s, and if each of these wheels 
 govern the motions of hands upon dial plates, like the hands of a 
 clock, the hand of the dial at s" will have the same motion exactly 
 as the hand on the dial at s, so that if at the commencement of 
 the motion both hands point to the same figure or letter of the 
 dial, they will continue, moving together, to point always to the 
 same figures or letters. 
 
 Thus if the operator at s desire to direct the hand on the dial at 
 s", to the hour of 3 or 5, he will only have to turn the hand upon 
 the dial, at his own station, to the one or the other of these hours. 
 
 Tt will presently also be apparent how important this is in the 
 art of electro-telegraphy. 
 
 155. If the lever off, fig. 58, be connected with the tongue of 
 an alarum- bell, so that when og is put into vibration the bell will 
 ring, and will continue to ring so long as the vibration is con- 
 tinued, it is evident that the operator at s can, at will, ring a bell 
 at s", by producing pulsations of the current in any of the waya 
 already described. 
 
 An operator at s" may in like manner ring a bell at s. 
 
 By this mutual power of ringing bells, each operator can call 
 the attention of the other, when he is about to transmit a dis- 
 patch, and the other by ringing in answer can signify that he is 
 prepared to receive the dispatch, as already stated. 
 
 156. If the lever og were in connection with the lock or other 
 mechanism, by which the powder charging a cannon is fired, the 
 operator at T could at will discharge a cannon at E, no matter 
 what may be the distance of E from T. 
 
 157. It will be observed that when a, bell is rung, or any similar 
 signal produced at the station s", by means of an electric current 
 transmitted from a distant station, s, it is not directly the force of 
 the current which acts upon the object by which the signal is 
 made. The current is only indirectly engaged, producing the 
 result by liberating the mechanism which makes the signal and 
 leaving the force which moves it free to act. Thus in the most 
 usual case of a bell, it is acted upon while it rings, not by the 
 
 204
 
 ELECTRO-MAGNETIC ALARUM. 
 
 current, but by the force of a mainspring or descending weight, 
 transmitted to the hammer or tongue in the same manner exactly 
 as that in which the force of a mainspring or weight of a clock is 
 transmitted to the striking apparatus. The current does nothing 
 more than disengage a catch by which the motion of the wheel- 
 work acted on by the mainspring or weight, is arrested. The 
 catch once disengaged, the action of the current on the bell ceases, 
 and the ringing is continued by the action of the mainspring or 
 weight, and it may in like manner be stopped by the current 
 again throwing the catch between the teeth of one of the wheels. 
 
 It will, therefore, be apparent that since the force which 
 impels the bell is independent of the current, a bell of any desired 
 magnitude may be acted upon by a hammer of any desired weight, 
 without requiring any more force from the current than that 
 which is sufficient to enable the electro-magnet to disengage the 
 catch by which the mechanism of the bell is arrested. 
 
 158. Although the bell mechanism used for telegraphs differs in 
 nothing which is essential from that of a common alarum clock, it 
 may not be without interest to show one of the varieties of 
 mechanism in practical use. 
 
 In fig. 60 is given a view of 
 the bell mechanism, as used on 
 the telegraphic line of the South- 
 Eastern Railway Company.* 
 
 A is the electro-magnet. 
 
 B its armature. 
 
 B e a lever attached at the 
 upper end to the armature, and 
 having at the lower end a catch, 
 e, which when the armature is not 
 attracted towards the magnet is 
 pressed by a spring, /. 
 
 d a wheel having a tooth in 
 which the catch e is engaged by 
 the pressure of the spring/, when 
 the armature B is not attracted 
 towards the magnet, but which is 
 liberated from the catch e, when 
 the armature B is drawn towards 
 the magnet. 
 
 a a cylindrical box containing a strong mainspring, by which 
 tho train of wheelwork is kept in motion so long as the catch e is 
 not engaged in the tooth of the wheel d. 
 
 EKct. Tel. Manip., p. 23. 
 
 205
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 The actual contact of the armature B with the poles of the 
 electro-magnet is prevented by two small ivory knobs screwed into 
 the surface which is presented to the magnet. The play of the 
 armature B is so limited that the catch e shall be just disengaged 
 from the tooth of the wheel d, when the ivory knobs come into 
 contact with the poles of the magnet. 
 
 "When the wheel- work is liberated by the magnet withdrawing 
 the catch e from the wheel d, the mainspring in the cylindrical 
 box a causes the toothed wheel attached to the box to revolve. 
 This wheel drives a pinion on the axle of the wheel b ; the wheel 
 6 drives a pinion on the axle of the wheel c ; the teeth of the 
 wheel c are engaged with those of a pinion on the wheel d. 
 The movement of the train is stopped, when the catch e falls 
 under the tooth of the wheel d. The wheel i, which is engaged 
 in the anchor of the escapement g, is fixed upon the axle of 
 the wheel c, turns with the latter, and thus gives an oscil- 
 lating motion to the anchor, which is imparted to the hammer h 
 ot the bell D. The bell is therefore acted upon by the hammer so 
 long as the magnet A keeps the catch e from falling under the tooth 
 of the wheel d. 
 
 159. Since the magnitude, loudness or pitch of the bell is 
 independent of the force of the current, the telegraphic offices are 
 provided with various bells for special purposes. 
 
 Sometimes a special wire is appropriated to the bell which is 
 acted upon by a special current. 
 
 In other cases the regular current intended to work the tele- 
 graph is diverted to the bell apparatus by the commutator. In 
 other cases again, the object is accomplished by the expedient 
 explained in (134), which is known as the short circuit. 
 
 160. Having explained the form and construction of electro- 
 magnets, we are prepared to show the manner in which an electric 
 current may be produced by the mere action of magnets without 
 any intervention of a voltaic battery. 
 
 The electricity thus produced has been called MAGXETO- 
 
 ELECTBICITT. 
 
 161. Let a silk or cotton covered wh$ be coiled heliacally on a 
 roller or bobbin having a hollow core of sufficient magnitude to 
 allow a cylindrical bar to be passed into it. Let the covered wire 
 be coiled constantly in the same direction, beginning from A B, 
 (tig. 61), and terminating ate D. Let the extremities m n of this 
 wire be joined to those of a wire m o n of any required length, 
 stretched to any required distance. Now let the north pole 
 N of a magnet s N be suddenly passed into the core of the 
 
 206
 
 MAGNETO-ELECTRIC CURRENTS. 
 
 bobbin. An electric current will then be transmitted on the wire 
 m o n, the presence of which may be rendered manifest by a 
 galvanometer. This current, however, will be only momentary, 
 being manifested only at the moment the pole of the magnet 
 
 Fig. 61. 
 
 enters the core of 
 the bobbin. It 
 ceases immedi- 
 ately after that 
 entrance. 
 
 Now if the 
 magnetic bar 
 after entering be 
 as suddenly 
 
 withdrawn, another current will be 
 produced upon the wire mow, which 
 will also be only momentary, but its 
 direction on the wire will be con- 
 trary to that produced by the en- 
 trance of the magnetic pole. 
 
 Thus if upon the entrance of the 
 pole N a current is produced, running 
 in the direction m o n, the with- 
 drawal of the pole N will produce a 
 current running from n o m. 
 
 If the south pole s be passed into 
 the core and withdrawn, momentary 
 currents will in like manner be pro- 
 duced, but they will have contrary 
 directions. 
 
 If the wire m o terminated at o, 
 no matter what may be the distance 
 of o from , were put at o in me- 
 tallic communication with the earth, 
 or with a plate or other mass of 
 metal buried in the earth, and if the 
 extremity n of the wire of the coil 
 were put in metallic connection with 
 the earth in the same manner at n, 
 the transmission of the instantaneous 
 currents would take place exactly in 
 the same manner as above described, 
 because in that case the earth would 
 play the part of a conductor between the end of the wire m o at o, 
 and the end of the coil wire n. 
 
 But if the metallic continuity either of the wire m o n, in case it 
 
 207
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 extended from ro to n, or of mo if it were as described above in 
 connection with, the earth at o, -were anywhere broken, no current 
 would bo produced by the entrance or withdrawal of the magnet. 
 It is therefore essential to the production of these phenomena that 
 the extremities m and n of the coil wire shall be in electric com- 
 munication with each other, by being united either with a 
 continuous metallic connection, or by means of the earth in the 
 manner already described. 
 
 The property in virtue of which soft iron acquires magnetic 
 properties, when the poles of a permanent magnet are brought 
 into proximity with it, supplies a very convenient method of 
 exhibiting the play of the phenomena of momentary currents above 
 described. 
 
 162. Let SDK (fig. 62), be a powerful permanent horse-shoe 
 magnet, having its poles s, N, presented to and in close proximity 
 with a similar horse-shoe a b of soft iron, 
 wrapped with convolutions of covered wire 
 in the manner already described. Let the 
 extremities m and n of the coil be sup- 
 posed to be placed in connection with two 
 wires, which may be extended to any dis- 
 tances, and whose extremities are in me- 
 tallic communication with the earth in the 
 manner already explained. 
 
 When the poles s and IT are brought into 
 proximity with the ends a and b of the 
 horse-shoe a b, the latter will, by the 
 o inductive action of the magnet SON, ac- 
 
 quire magnetic polarity, the end a, near the south pole s, having 
 northern, and the end b, near the north pole N, having southern 
 polarity. This magnetic polarity, however, of a b will only con- 
 tinue so long as the poles s and N of the permanent magnet are 
 kept near to a and 6. If they be removed, that instant the 
 polarity of a & will cease. If the poles be reversed, N "being pre- 
 sented to a, and s to 6, then a will acquire south, and b north 
 polarity. 
 
 It appears, therefore, that by presenting the poles of the magnet 
 N o s to the horse-shoe the same effec*t,is produced as if the poles 
 of a magnet were suddenly passed into the axis of the coil, and by 
 withdrawing the poles K and s from a and 6, the same effect is 
 produced on the coil as if the poles of the magnet which had been 
 passed along the axis were suddenly withdrawn. 
 
 203
 
 Fig. 64. MAGNETO-ELECTRIC MACHINE. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTEE VII. 
 
 163. Momentary currents alternately in contrary directions. 164. Method 
 of producing momentary currents all in the same direction. 
 165. Magneto-electric machine. 166. Its effects in producing shocks 
 and currents. 167. Method of applying it to telegraphs. 168. 
 Chemical property of the current. 169. Decomposition of water. 
 170. Application of this property to produce written characters at 
 a distance. 171. Methods of moving the paper under the style. 
 172. Telegraphic characters marked upon it. 173. Use of relay 
 magnets in cases of feeble currents. 174. Form and application of 
 them. 175. Telegraphic lines constructed by companies in England 
 and America, and chiefly by the state on the continent. 176. Various 
 forms of instruments used. 177. Influence of national feeling. 178. 
 LARDNER'S MUSEUM OF SCIENCE. u 1 
 
 No. 41.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Meritorious inventions sometimes neglected. 179. Needle instruments 
 generally used in England. 180. Single needle instrument. 181. 
 Double needle instrument. 182. Old aerial telegraph. 183. French 
 State telegraph. 
 
 163. THE momentary currents in the one direction or in the 
 other mil, therefore, be produced upon the wire connected with 
 the extremities of the coil, such as have already been described, 
 each time the poles, N and s, are presented to and withdrawn 
 from the ends, a and b, of the horse-shoe of soft iron. If the 
 magnet, N o s, were mounted so as to revolve upon an axis passing 
 through the centre of its bend, and therefore midway between its 
 legs, its poles might be made to pass the ends of the horse -shoe, 
 the latter being stationary. During each revolution of the 
 magnet, N o s, the polarity imparted to the horse -shoe would be 
 reversed. 
 
 "When the pole x approaches b, and consequently s approaches a, 
 south polarity will be imparted to- 6, and north polarity to a ; 
 and when if passes a, and consequently s passes b, south polarity 
 will be imparted to a, and north polarity to b. 
 
 The momentary currents produced by these changes of mag- 
 netism in a and b will be easily understood by what has been 
 explained. When K approaches 6, and s approaches a, the com- 
 mencement of south polarity in 6, and north polarity in a, will 
 both impart to the wire a current in the same direction, because 
 the coils of the spiral as presented to s will be the reverse of 
 those presented to N. When K departs from b, and s from a, the 
 cessation of south polarity in 6, and of north polarity in a, will 
 impart currents in the game direction to the wire, but this 
 direction will be opposite to that of the former currents. 
 
 When N approaches a, and consequently s approaches b, cur- 
 rents will be imparted to the wire whose direction will be the 
 same as that of those produced by the departure of N from b, and 
 of s from a. When x departs from a, and s from b, currents will 
 be produced in the same direction as when n approaches b and s 
 approaches a. 
 
 If the direction of the currents produced when N approaches 
 i, and s approaches a, be indicated by an arrow directed to the 
 right, and that of those produced when N departs from 5, and G 
 from a, by an arrow directed to the left, the changes of direc- 
 tion which take place in each revolution of the magnet N o c, 
 will be snch as are indicated in fig. 63, where 6 and a 
 represent the ends of the horse-shoe, b a; y the position of the 
 pole in approaching, and N' in departing from b, and N" its 
 position in approaching, and N'" in departing from a. The 
 arrows directed to the right express the direction of the two 
 2
 
 MAGNETO-ELECTRIC INSTRUMENT. 
 
 currents which are produced upon the conducting wire, while N 
 makes the half revolution N'" M' N ; and the arrows directed to 
 
 Vr 
 
 
 left express the direction of the two currents produced, while K 
 makes the half revolution N' M N". 
 
 Thus it appears that in each revolution of the magnet, N o's, 
 four momentary currents are produced in the wire, two in one 
 direction during one semi-revolution, and two in the contrary 
 direction during the other semi-revolution. In the intervals 
 between these momentary currents there is a suspension of voltaic 
 action. 
 
 164. It has been already shown how electric currents may be 
 instantaneously suspended, re-established, and reversed in their 
 direction by means of commutators (111). By such an expedient 
 properly adapted, it is easy to understand that by suspending the 
 currents in one of the two contrary directions, while the other is 
 allowed to pass, an intermitting current always running in the 
 same direction may be obtained. Or if the commutator be so 
 adapted that while the momentary currents in one direction are 
 allowed to run without interruption, those in the other direction 
 shall be reversed, we shall then have in each revolution four 
 momentary currents flowing in a common direction. The current 
 thus produced will be intermitting, that is, it will pass upon the 
 wire by a succession of pulsations or intervals of transmission and 
 suspension, but since in each revolution of the magnet there are 
 two pulsations, that is, two intervals of transmission and two of 
 B 2 3
 
 THE ELECTEIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 suspension, and since the rotation of the magnet may be mad 
 with any desired rapidity, it follows that the pulsations wi 
 succeed each other with such celerity, and the intervals < 
 suspension will be so brief that for all practical purposes tli 
 current will be continuous. 
 
 165. Such are the principles on which is founded the constructio 
 of magneto-electric machines, one form of which is represented i 
 fig. 64 (page 1). The purpose of this apparatus is to produce b 
 magnetic induction an intermitting current constantly in the san 
 direction, and to contrive means by which the intervals of intei 
 mission shall succeed each other so rapidly that the current sha 
 have practically all the effects of a current absolutely continuous, 
 
 A powerful compound horse-shoe magnet, A, is firmly attache 
 by bolts and screws upon a horizontal bed, beyond the edge i 
 which its poles a and b extend. Under these is fixed an elects 
 magnet x Y, with its legs vertical, and mounted so as to revoh 
 upon a vertical axis. The covered wire is coiled in gre; 
 quantity on the legs XY, the direction of the coils being reverse 
 in. passing from one leg to the other. 
 
 The two extremities of the wire proceeding from the legs x an 
 r are pressed by springs against the surfaces of two rollers, c an 
 d, fixed upon the axis of the electro-magnet. These rollers their 
 selves are in metallic connection with a pair of handles P and i 
 to which the current evolved in the wire of the electro-magm 
 x Y will thus be conducted. 
 
 If the electro -magnet x Y be now put in rotation by the hand! 
 m, the handles P and N being connected by any continuous cor 
 ductor, a system of intermitting and alternately contrary curren 
 will be produced in the wire and in the conductor by which tl 
 handles P and K are connected. But if the rollers c and d ai 
 so contrived that the contact of the ends of the wire with the: 
 shall be only maintained during a semi-revolution in which tl 
 intermitting currents have a common direction, or so that tl 
 direction during the other semi-revolution shall be reversed, the 
 the current transmitted through the conductor connecting tl 
 handles P and >* will be intermitting, but not contrary ; and I 
 increasing the velocity of rotation of the electro-magnet x Y, tl 
 intervals of intermission may be made to succeed each other wit 
 indefinite celerity, and the current will thus acquire all tl 
 character of a continuous current. 
 
 The forms of commutators by which the rollers c and d ai 
 made to break the contact, and re-establish it with the necessai 
 regularity and certainty, or to reverse it during the alterna 
 semi-revolutions are various. 
 
 166. All the usual effects of voltaic currents may be produce
 
 ELECTRO-CHEMICAL EFFECTS. 
 
 with this apparatus. If the handles p and x be held in the 
 hands, the arms and body become the conductor through which 
 the current passes from p to 21. If XT be made to revolve, shocks 
 are felt, which become insupportable when the current has a 
 certain intensity. 
 
 If it be desired to give local shocks to certain parts of the 
 body, the hands of the operator, protected by non-conducting 
 gloves, direct the knobs at the ends of the handles to the parts 
 of the body between which it is desired to produce the voltaic 
 shock. 
 
 167. For telegraphic purposes it will be sufficient to place the 
 line wire in connection with one of the handles F or y, while the 
 other handle is in connection with the earth. A current will then 
 be transmitted on the line wire which will be intermitting, but 
 which may be rendered continuous by a combination of magneto- 
 electric machines. 
 
 168. It remains, in fine, to show how the chemical properties 
 of the electric current can be made to supply the means of trans- 
 mitting signals between two distant stations. 
 
 "When a current of adequate intensity is made to pass through 
 certain chemical compounds it is found that these are decomposed, 
 one of their constituents being carried away in the direction of 
 the current, and the other in the contrary direction. 
 
 169. One of the most striking examples of the application of 
 this principle is presented in the case of water, which, as is 
 well known, is a compound of the gases called oxygen and 
 hydrogen. 
 
 Let us suppose that a series of cups, oA, fig. 65, containing water are 
 placed so that an electric current shall pass successively through 
 them, commencing at the wire P and passing at o into the first 
 
 Fig. 65. 
 
 cup ; thence through the water to h, and from h along the wire r 
 to o in the second cup ; thence in like manner through the water 
 to h, and then along the wire I , and so on to N, the wire P being 
 supposed to be connected with the positive pole of a battery, and 
 the wire N with its negative pole. The current will therefore 
 flow from p to N passing through the water in each of the cups. 
 Under such circumstances the water will be gradually decomposed 
 in each of the cups the particles of oxygen moving against the 
 
 5
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 course of the current, and those of hydrogen moving with it, the 
 former are evolved at the points o, and the latter at the points h. 
 
 170. To show how this property of the current may be made to 
 produce visible marks or signs, let us suppose a sheet of paper 
 wetted with an acidulated solution, of ferro-prussiate of potash 
 to be laid upon a plate of metal, and let the point of a metallic 
 style be applied to it so as to press it gently against the metallic 
 plate without piercing it. Let the style be now put in metallic 
 connection with the wire which leads to the positive pole of a 
 voltaic battery, and let the metallic plate upon which the paper is 
 laid be put in connection with the wire which leads to the 
 negative pole. The current will, therefore, flow from the style 
 through the moistened paper to the metallic plate, and it will 
 decompose the prussiate, one of the constituents of which deposited 
 on the paper will mark it with a bluish spot. 
 
 If the paper be moved under the style while the current flows, 
 this decomposition being continued under the point of the style a 
 bluish line will be traced upon the paper. 
 
 If while the paper is thus moved uniformly under the style, 
 the current is permitted to flow only during intervals long 
 or short, the paper will be marked by lines long or short, 
 according to the intervals during which the current flows ; and, 
 since no decomposition takes place during the suspension of the 
 current, the paper then passes under the style without receiving 
 any mark. If the current be permitted to flow only for an 
 instant, the paper will be marked by a dot. The long or short 
 lines and dots, thus traced upon the paper, will be separated one 
 from another by spaces more or less wide according to the lengths 
 of the intervals of suspension of the current. 
 
 It is evident that the same effects will be produced, whether 
 the style be at rest and the paper moved under it as is here sup- 
 posed, or the paper be at rest and the style moved over it. 
 
 171. The paper may be moved under the style by various and 
 obvious mechanical expedients. Thus it may be coiled upon a 
 cylinder or roller, which being kept in constant and uniform 
 revolution by clock-work or other means, the paper would be 
 carried continually under the style, and unrolled from the cylinder 
 after receiving the marks. Or the 'cylinder covered with paper 
 might, while it revolves, receive a slow motion in the direc- 
 tion of its axis, so that the course of the style upon it would 
 be that of the thread of a screw or helix. The paper might be 
 cut into the form of a large circular disc, and laid upon a metallic 
 disc of equal magnitude, to which a motion of revolution round 
 its centre in its own plane might be imparted by clock-work ; 
 while the style might receive a slow motion directed from tho 
 6
 
 KELAT MAGNETS. 
 
 centre of the disc towards its edge. In this case the style -would 
 trace a spiral curve upon the paper, winding round it continually, 
 and at the same time retiring constantly but slowly from ita 
 centre towards its edge. 
 
 172. "Whichever method might be adopted, the paper would be 
 marked with a continuous succession of combinations of lines of 
 varying lengths and dots, separated by spaces more or less wide. 
 These marks depending altogether on the succession of intervals 
 of suspension and transmission of the current, which intervals can 
 be varied and combined at will by an operator supplied with the 
 means of controlling the current which have been already ex- 
 plained, it will be easily conceived that an agent at s can trace 
 upon paper placed at s" in the manner here described such a 
 succession of characters composed of lines and dots as he may 
 desire ; and that an operator at s", being supplied with a key, 
 may interpret these characters, and thus translate the communi- 
 cation into ordinary language. 
 
 It is also easy to conceive that the agent at s can stop the clock- 
 work which moves the paper at s" or set it going at will, in the 
 same manner as he can ring a bell or discharge a cannon. 
 
 173. It has been already explained that the intensity of the 
 current transmitted by a given voltaic battery along a wire of 
 given thickness must decrease in the same proportion as the 
 wire increases in length. This loss of intensity due to the 
 length of the wire is increased in the practical operation of the 
 telegraphs by the loss of electricity arising from imperfect insu- 
 lation and other inevitable causes. It has therefore become a 
 matter of great practical importance to discover expedients by 
 which the intensity of the current may be re-established, or by 
 which the apparatus may be worked by a very feeble current. 
 
 It was obvious that the intensity might be maintained at the 
 necessary degree of force by providing, as already stated, relay 
 batteries at intermediate stations sufficiently near each other to 
 prevent the current from being unduly enfeebled. But the main- 
 tenance of such numerous batteries in cases where great distances 
 must be traversed is expensive, and it was desirable to discover 
 some more economical expedient. 
 
 174. The properties of the electro-magnet have supplied the 
 means of accomplishing this. 
 
 The lever g h (fig. 58) may be constructed so light and so free, 
 that it will be capable of being moved by a current of extremely 
 feeble intensity. But if this lever were charged with any of the 
 functions by which it would become an instrument for giving 
 signals, such as the ringing of a bell or the motion of a style or 
 pencil, it would be necessary to impart to the electro-magnet and 
 
 7
 
 THE ELECTEIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 its other appendages much greater power. So long, however, as 
 no more is required than to make it oscillate between the stops 
 t and f f it may be constructed and mounted so as to be moved by 
 the most feeble degree of magnetism imparted to m m' by a 
 current of extremely low intensity. 
 
 Now let us suppose the axis o of the lever g h to be in me- 
 tallic connection with a voltaic battery placed near to it at the 
 station s', and let the stop t' be in connection with the conducting 
 wire which extends to another more distant station s". AVhen 
 the end g of the lever is brought into contact with the stop if, the 
 current produced by the battery at s' will flow along the con- 
 ducting wire to s" ; and when the lever deserts the stop t', and 
 is thrown upon t, the contact being broken, the current is 
 suspended. 
 
 Now it is evident that by this means the original current 
 flowing from the battery at the station s to the station s' is the 
 means of calling into action another current, which flows from the 
 relay battery at the station s' along the conducting wire to the 
 station s", and that the intensity of this current will not be affected 
 in any way by that of the original current from s to s', but will 
 depend solely on the power of the relay battery at s', and the 
 length of the conducting wire from s' to s". 
 
 In the same manner another relay battery may be provided at 
 s", and so on. 
 
 In this succession of independent currents, those only which 
 have signals to work need to have a greater intensity than that 
 which is sufficient to give motion to a light lever, such as we 
 have described above. 
 
 It will be evident also by what has been stated that the pulsa- 
 tions given to the original current at s, and the succession of 
 intervals of transmission and suspension will be reproduced with 
 the most absolute precision in all the succeeding currents, so that 
 all signals which depend on these intervals of transmission and 
 suspension will be made at the final station as promptly and 
 exactly as if the original current from s to s' had been continued 
 throughout the entire line of communication with all the neces- 
 sary intensity. 
 
 175. The lines of electric telegraph which have been constructed 
 and brought into operation in different parts of the world, like 
 the lines of railway, have been established in some by private 
 companies, and in others by the state. In the United Kingdom 
 and its dependencies and in the United States they have been in 
 all cases established by the enterprise and capital of joint-stock
 
 NATIONAL TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 companies chartered or incorporated by the legislature, suhject to 
 certain conditions. On the continent of Europe generally they 
 have been constructed and are exclusively worked by the state, 
 but are placed under specified conditions and subject to regulated 
 tariffs at the service of the public. 
 
 176 The forms of telegraphic instruments to which a preference 
 has been given, in different countries are very various. In the 
 United Kingdom and the United States, the several joint-stock 
 companies by whom telegraphic lines have been constructed, have 
 been generally formed by the friends and partisans of the inventors 
 of particular telegraphic instruments, of which the companies 
 have become severally the patentees. To these instruments they 
 naturally have given a preference, in some cases irrespective of 
 their merits and as a necessary consequence every such company 
 is more or less opposed, as well by interest as by prejudice, 
 to other inventions and improvements. It has been a matter 
 of complaint that such companies have sometimes become the 
 purchasers of patented inventions for no other purpose than that of 
 their suppression; and it is easily conceivable that a company 
 having an extensive establishment in profitable operation may 
 find it more advantageous to maintain their existing apparatus 
 than to put them aside for others even of very superior efficiency. 
 This is, after all, no more than what has occurred in the progress 
 of all great inventions and improvements. 
 
 177. National feeling has, however, also had a considerable 
 influence on the selection of the forms of telegraph adopted in 
 different countries. Thus we find the telegraphs adopted in 
 England exclusively English inventions ; those generally adopted 
 in France, French inventions ; and those adopted in the United 
 States, generally American inventions. 
 
 178. Amidst those conflicting motives directing the choice of 
 companies and of governments, several inventions of great merit 
 have necessarily been either wholly neglected, or bought up and 
 wilfully suppressed, or in fine, brought into operation on a very 
 limited scale. 
 
 The vast resources supplied by the discoveries by which physical 
 science has been enriched since the beginning of the present 
 century, and the fertility of genius directed to the application of 
 these resources in all countries, has produced a swarm of inven- 
 tions, even the least efficient of which possess great merits on the 
 score of ingenuity and address in the application of physical 
 principles. Our limits, the purposes to which this series is 
 directed, and the large and various classes to which it is 
 addressed, compel us to pass without notice many forms of 
 telegraph which have been contrived and constructed. "We shall 
 
 9
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 therefore confine our observations to those apparatus which have 
 been actually employed on the telegraphic lines established in 
 different countries, and a very few others which appear to claim 
 more especial attention. 
 
 On the claims of various projectors on the score of original 
 invention, we must generally decline to enter. To discuss such 
 questions so fully as to render justice to the claimants would 
 require much more space than we can devote to the subject ; and 
 however interesting such a discussion might be to the inventors 
 themselves and their partisans, it would offer but few attractions 
 to the masses to whom our " Museum" is addressed. 
 
 We shall therefore first explain briefly the forms of telegraph 
 generally applied in this country, and next those which are in 
 operation elsewhere. 
 
 179. The telegraphic instruments used almost exclusively in 
 this country are galvanometers (138), which make their signals 
 by means of the deflections of magnetic needles, produced by the 
 electric current. 
 
 These instruments are of two forms, the first, and most simple, 
 consisting of one needle with its appendages and accessories, and 
 the other of two independent needles, each accompanied by its 
 own appendages. 
 
 THE SINGLE NEEDLE INSTRUMENT. 
 
 180. This instrument consists of a galvanometer and a commu- 
 tator, mounted in a case resembling in form and size that of an 
 ordinary table time-piece. 
 
 A front view of it is given in fig. 66 (vol. iii. p. 161). On the 
 upper part is a dial, in the centre of which the indicating needle 
 appears, like the hand of a clock, fixed upon an axis. Its play 
 to the right and left is limited by two ivory studs inserted in the 
 face of the dial, a short distance on each side of its upper arm. 
 
 The handle which works the commutator, also fixed upon an 
 axis, is presented at the lower part of the case, under the dial. 
 
 Upon the dial are engraved the letters of the alphabet, the ten 
 numerals, and one or two arbitrary symbols, under each of which 
 is engraved a mark, indicating the motions of the needle, by 
 which the letter or figure is expressed. 
 
 The galvanometer, constructed as already explained (140), is 
 attached to the back of the dial, the axis of its magnetic needle 
 passing through the dial and carrying the indicating needle in 
 front. 
 
 The latter is also usually magnetic, its poles being reversed in. 
 their direction with relation to those of the interior needle, the 
 10
 
 SINGLE NEEDLE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 effect of which is, that the current transmitted through the gal- 
 vanometer has a tendency to deflect both needles in the same 
 direction. The indicating needle, however, need not be magnetic. 
 If it be sufficiently light, being free from magnetism, it will bt. 
 carried by the axis to the right or left against the studs, 
 by the deflections of the galvanometric needle which plays 
 within the coils of the galvanometer, to which, it is always 
 parallel. 
 
 In connection with the instrument there are, as usual, an alarum 
 and a galvanic battery. 
 
 By the commutator, the current produced by the battery ma} 
 be transmitted upon the line-wire, or suspended or reversed in its 
 direction, according to the position given to the handle. If the 
 handle be vertical, as represented in the figure, the current is sus- 
 pended, the arrangement of the commutator being then such as to 
 cut off all communication between the battery and the line-wire. 
 If the upper arm of the handle be turned to the right, the battery 
 will be connected with the line-wire, on which accordingly the 
 current will be transmitted. If the upper arm be turned to the 
 left, the battery will still be connected with the line-wire, but 
 with its poles reversed, so that the direction of the current on the 
 line-wire will be reversed. 
 
 The mechanical form of the commutator, by which these changes 
 of connection are made is different from that explained in (111), 
 but the principle is the same, and the variation of the details are 
 unimportant. 
 
 To comprehend the practical operation of the instrument, we 
 are to consider that similar instruments, with similar accessories, 
 are placed at each of the stations, between which dispatches are 
 to be transmitted. To render the explanation more clear, let S 
 and s', fig. 67, be the two stations, o and o' the dials, c and c' 
 
 Fig. 67. 
 
 o- 
 
 0- 
 
 the handles of the commutators, and B and B' the galvanic 
 batteries. If it be intended to send a dispatch from s' to s, the 
 arm of the commutator, c, is left in its vertical position, so that 
 no current can pass from the battery, B, to the line-wire, L.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 When the arm of c' is vertical, no current can pass from B' to L, 
 and consequently the needle of o will remain in the vertical 
 direction, without deflection. If the upper arm of c' be turned to 
 the right, r, the current from B', passing along L, will flow through 
 the coil of the galvanometer at s, and will deflect the indicating 
 needle to the right, so that it will lean upon the right hand stud, B. 
 If c' be then turned back to the vertical direction, the current 
 will be suspended, and the needle at s will return to the point o. 
 If the upper arm of c' be then turned to the left, I, the current 
 will be again transmitted upon the line-wire, L, but in a direction 
 contrary to its former course, and thus passing through the gal- 
 vanometer at s, in a contrary direction, the needle, which was 
 before deflected to the right hand stud, K, will now be deflected to 
 the left hand stud, L. 
 
 Thus, it appears, that according as the upper arm of c' is turned 
 to the right or left, or placed in the vertical position, the needle 
 on the dial at s, is also turned to the right or left, or placed in 
 the vertical position. 
 
 In a word, whatever position is given to the handle of the com- 
 mutator at s', a corresponding position is assumed by the indicat- 
 ing needle at s, and these changes of position of the indicating 
 needle at s, are absolutely simultaneous with the changes of 
 position of the handle of the commutator at s'. 
 
 The manner of expressing the letters and figures, is by making 
 repeated deflections of the needle right and left, making a short 
 pause at the end of each letter signal. Thus two deflections to 
 the left express A ; three, B ; four, c ; while one expresses the 
 completion of a word. One to the right expresses M ; two, sr ; 
 three, o ; and four, p. In the same manner, L is expressed by 
 four deflections, which are, successively, right, left, right, and left. 
 
 As these signs are purely arbitrary, and may be changed in 
 every independent telegraph, it is not necessary here to notice 
 them further. 
 
 Besides the signals which express letters and. figures, it is usual 
 to adopt others to express words or phrases of very frequent 
 occurrence, such as, / don't understand, I understand, wait, go 
 on, repeat, &c. 
 
 It is usual, though not necessary, for the agent who sends a 
 dispatch, to pass the current through his own instrument, so that 
 his indicating needle shows exactly the same deflections as the 
 indicating needle of the station he addresses. Thus, when s' 
 addresses s, his own indicating needle, o', speaks as well as the 
 indicator, o, of the station, s. 
 
 All that has been stated in (111) et seq. of the transmission of 
 the same despatch through a series of stations, of cutting off" the 
 12
 
 DOUBLE NEEDLE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 transmission from all stations except that to which, it is exclusively 
 addressed, of the use of the alarum, &c., is applicable, without any 
 important modification to this form of telegraphic instrument. 
 
 THE DOUBLE NEEDLE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 181. This is nothing more than two single needle telegraphs, 
 such as has been just explained, mounted in the same case, their 
 indicating needles playing side by side upon the same dial, and 
 the handles of their commutators placed so that they can be con- 
 veniently worked at the same time, by the right and left hand of 
 the telegraphic agent. Each instrument is altogether inde- 
 pendent of the other, having separate accessories, and transmit- 
 ting its current upon a separate line-wire. 
 
 The purpose of this form of instrument is merely to accelerate 
 the transmission of dispatches, by enabling the agent to produce 
 the signals expressing letters and figures in more rapid succes- 
 sion. In the single instrument there are only two signs made by 
 one deflection of the needles, viz., a deflection to the right and one 
 to the left. In the double instrument there are eight such signs, 
 viz., two with each needle, as in the single instrument, and four 
 obtained by combining the deflections of the two needles. Thus, 
 if o express the position of the needle without deflection, r, a 
 right hand, and / a left hand deflection, and E the right hand, 
 and L the left hand needle, the following eight signals may be 
 made in the time of a single motion of either needle. 
 
 With a single needle two deflections can only make four signals, 
 riz., rr, II, rl, lr. But with two needles, these being combined 
 
 13
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 with, single deflections and with each other, a greater number of 
 different signals can be obtained than are sufficient to express the 
 letters and numerals, each being made in the time necessary for 
 two deflections of a single needle. 
 
 A front view of a double needle telegraph is given in fig. 68 
 (vol. iii. p. 177). 
 
 The small ease at the top contains the alarum, and the small 
 handle at the side of the large case is the commutator by which the 
 current is turned on and off the alarum. The two large handles 
 which appear in front are those of the commutators, which produce 
 the changes of direction of the current, and when inclined to the 
 right or left the needles acted on by the current assume a like 
 position. 
 
 FRENCH STATE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 182. "When 'the establishment of lines of electric telegraphs 
 was proposed in France, the old aerial telegraph was, and had been 
 for more than half a century, in operation, and formed a depart- 
 ment in the public administration of considerable importance, 
 employing an extensive body of agents, dispersed throughout the 
 country, most of whom were specially instructed and qualified for 
 the business. 
 
 The commission appointed by the government required that the 
 electro-telegraphic instruments should exhibit the same signals as 
 had been already used in the case of the former telegraph. 
 
 The old telegraph consisted of a long straight bar, K E', fig. 69, 
 called a regulator, to the extremities of which two shorter bars, 
 r r', called indicators, were attached by pins or pivots, so that 
 each indicator was capable of turning on its pivot, so as to make 
 any desired angle with the regulator. 
 
 Fig. 69. 
 
 If we suppose the circle described by each indicator to be divided 
 into eight equal arcs of 45, and that any convenient mechanism 
 is provided, by which the agent who conveys the signals can at 
 will give to each indicator any of these eight positions, each indi- 
 cator would be capable of making eight signals, and by combining 
 these in pairs, the two indicators worked together would be 
 capable of giving sixty- four signals. 
 
 It is evident that even this large number of signals might be 
 14
 
 FKENCH STATE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 farther multiplied, by giving to the regulator itself a motion 
 round its centre, so that it might at will assume the horizontal or 
 vertical position, or might take an intermediate direction. 
 
 In transferring this system of signals to the electric telegraph, 
 the regulator is supposed to be placed permanently horizontal, 
 and the two indicators to be capable of receiving any of the eight 
 positions here explained. 
 
 183. The telegraph contrived by M. Breguet, to exhibit such a 
 system of signals, consists, like the double needle telegraph, of 
 two distinct and perfectly similar instruments, one for each of the 
 indicators. They are mounted side by side with their accessories 
 in the same case, at a distance apart sufficient to allow the indi- 
 cators to revolve without mutual obstruction, and sufficiently near 
 each other to allow the same person to work both at the same 
 time with his right and left hand. 
 
 Each instrument consists of an indicating apparatus and a com- 
 mutator. 
 
 If s and s' be two stations, between which dispatches are trans- 
 mitted, the commutator at s moves the indicator at s', and the 
 commutator at s' moves the indicator at s. 
 
 A view of the indicating apparatus is given in fig. 70. The 
 two indicators are fixed upon axes placed in the same horizontal 
 
 Fig. 70. 
 
 line upon the dial. These axes, passing through the dial, carry 
 behind it two escapement wheels, which are controlled by two 
 anchors, as described in 151. These anchors are moved by the 
 armatures of two electro-magnets, from which they receive vibra- 
 tions, like those of a pendulum. The escapement wheels are 
 impelled by the force of two main-springs, transmitted to them by 
 two similar trains of clock-work. 
 
 15
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Thus, for each, swing of the anchor, the indicator makes one 
 motion forward, and as the escapement wheels have each only 
 four teeth at equal distances, one complete revolution of these 
 wheels must cause the indicators to make a complete revolution by 
 eight distinct motions, produced by the four swings of the anchor 
 to the right, and the four swings to the left. 
 
 During a revolution of each of the escapement wheels, therefore, 
 each of the indicators takes successively the eight positions 
 required in the proposed system of signals, and since the motions 
 of the indicators are governed by the anchors, those of the 
 anchors by the armatures of the electro-magnets (154), and those 
 of the electro-magnets by the successive pulsations of the electric 
 current, it follows that if it can be contrived that commutators at 
 one of the stations shall govern the pulsations of the current at 
 the other, they will necessarily govern the motion of the indicators 
 at that other station. 
 
 At the upper corners, right and left of the front of the case, are 
 two dials, in the centre of which are axes, which act, when turned, 
 upon the springs which draw back the armatures of the two 
 electro-magnets, and near them keys for their adjustment are sus- 
 pended by chains. The springs are raised or relaxed, according 
 as the keys are turned in the one direction or the other. 
 
 Under the indicating arms are two axes with square ends, by 
 which the two systems of clock-work can be wound up, which is 
 done by the same keys.
 
 4. rncxcn RAILWAY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CnAPTEE Yin. 
 
 1S4. Form of commutator of French state telegraph. 185. Its operation. 
 186. Method of sending and receiving a despatch. 187. Batteries. 
 188. French railway telegraph. 189. French railway portable tele- 
 graph. 190. German railway telegraph. 191. Siemens' instrument. 
 
 LAIIDXEK'S MUSEUM OF SCIENCE. o 17 
 
 No. 42.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Fig. 71. 
 
 192. Its mode of operation. 193. How errors are corrected. 194. 
 Explanation of the mechanism. 195. Comparison with the French 
 telegraph. 196. Indicating mechanism. 197. Simplicity greater than 
 the French instrument. 198. Requires greater intensity of current. 
 199. Belgian railway telegraph. 200. Defects imputed to the French 
 and German instrument. 
 
 184. IT remains, therefore, to show the manner in which the 
 pulsations of the current are governed hy the commutator. 
 One of the commutators is represented in fig. 71. 
 The handle M is fixed upon an axis which turns in the centre of 
 a fixed disc D, the edge of which is divided into eight equal parts 
 by small notches. A short pin 
 projects from the handle which 
 falls successively into these 
 notches, but which can be with- 
 drawn from them when it is re- 
 quired to turn it. On the remote 
 end of this axis a disc is fixed, 
 which turns with it, in the face of 
 which a square groove is cut, 
 rounded at the corners, in which 
 a pin projecting from a short 
 lever / is moved. This lever / is 
 fixed on the axis c c, upon the 
 other end of which is fixed the 
 lever L, the lower end of which 
 carries a small piece of metal r, 
 which, when the lever vibrates 
 right and left, is thrown alter- 
 nately against the contact-pieces 
 K and K'. 
 
 Supposing that the commutator 
 is placed at the station s, the 
 line-wire which comes from the 
 station s' enters the foot, and is 
 
 held there "by a tightening screw A. This wire is in metallic con- 
 nection, through the pillar, with the lever L, and consequently 
 with the piece of metal at its lower end, which oscillates between 
 the contact-pieces K and K'. This piece of metal, , may therefore 
 be considered as virtually the extremity of the conducting wire 
 between the stations s and s'. 
 
 Attached in like manner, by tightening-screws, to the two 
 
 contact-pieces K and K' are two wires, one of which is connected 
 
 with the battery, and the other with one end of the coil-wire of 
 
 the electro -magnet, in the indicating instrument of the station s. 
 
 18
 
 FREXCII STATE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 The other end of this coil-wire is either connected with the line- 
 wire which proceeds to the succeeding station, or with the earth, 
 at the option of the agent, a commutator being provided by which 
 this change of direction may be made. 
 
 185. Let us see, then, in what manner the agent at s, provided 
 with such a commutator, can govern the motion of an indicator at s'. 
 
 The arrangement of the apparatus is such, that when the handle 
 M of the commutator is presented vertically upwards, as represente'l 
 in the figure, the pin being in the highest notch, the lever L 
 presses against the contact-piece K. 
 
 Let the highest notch be supposed to be numbered 1, and the 
 others proceeding round the disc, in the direction of the motion of 
 the hand of a clock, be numbered successively 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8. 
 
 It must be remembered, that at the other station, s', there is 
 another commutator precisely 'similar, the corresponding points of 
 which we shall express by the letters 3i', D', K', &c. 
 
 Let us see, then, how the agent at s, by moving round the 
 handle M from notch to notch, can govern the motion of the indi- 
 cator at s'. 
 
 The commutator and indicator at the station s', when not 
 employed in the transmission of a despatch, are placed respectively 
 with the arm M', having its pin in the notch 1', and the hand of 
 the indicator directed vertically upwards. 
 
 186. The arm M being, as represented in the figure, in the 
 notch 1, let it be moved to the notch 2. The lever L being moved 
 to the right, the piece r will be thrown upon K'. Being then in 
 connection with the battery-wire, the current will pass by r and 
 L to A, and thence by the line-wire to the corresponding point A' 
 of the commutator at the station s', and thence through the pillar 
 to the lever I/ and the piece r 1 . But since, as has been just 
 explained, M' is in the notch 1 ', the piece r' must rest against K. 
 The current, therefore, arriving at this point, will pass from K by 
 the wire to the coil of the electro-magnet at s', to which it will 
 impart magnetism, so that it will attract the armature, and move 
 the anchor of the escapement, so as to make the indicator move 
 from the vertical position 45 in the direction of the hand of a 
 clock. 
 
 If the handle M be now moved from notch 2 to notch 3, the lever 
 L will be thrown back to K, and the contact with K' being broken, 
 the current will be suspended, and the electro-magnet at s' losing 
 its power, the armature will recoil from it by the action of the 
 spring (147) and the anchor of the escapement being again 
 moved, the indicator will be advanced through another angle of 
 45, and will be then in the horizontal position pointing to the 
 right.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 In. like manner, it may be shewn that when the arm M is moved 
 from the notch 3 to the notch 4, the indicator at s' will be moved 
 from the horizontal position to one which will make an angle of 
 135, with its original direction, or what is the same, 45, with the 
 position in which it would point directly downwards. 
 
 Without pursuing this explanation further, it will be easy to 
 see that the successive positions assumed by the hand of the 
 indicator at s' correspond with those given to the arm si of the 
 commutator at s. 
 
 "We have here explained the action of one commutator at s upon 
 one indicator at s'. The action of the other commutator at s upon 
 the other indicator at s' is precisely the same. It must be under- 
 stood, that the two commutators at s are connected with separate 
 and independent line-wires, are supplied with separate and inde- 
 pendent batteries, and act upon separate and independent indicators 
 at s'. The right-hand commutator at s is connected with the 
 right-hand indicator at s', and the left-hand commutator with the 
 left-hand indicator. 
 
 From what has been explained, the process necessary, as well 
 for receiving as for transmitting a despatch will be understood. 
 In the reception of a despatch, the agent has only to place the 
 handle of his commutator in notch 1, and to see that his indicator 
 is vertical. After that he has only to observe the successive 
 attitudes assumed by the two indicators upon the dial before him, 
 and to write down the letters they successively express. 
 
 Since this form of telegraph gives 64 signs, while 26 are suffi- 
 cient for the alphabet, and 10 for the numerals, there are 24 signs 
 disposable for abridgements, such as syllables, words, and phrases 
 of most frequent occurrence. 
 
 187. The battery employed in working these telegraphs is at 
 present invariably that of Daniel (32). Formerly Bunsen's battery 
 (34) was used at chief stations, where great power is often required, 
 but this has now been discontinued. 
 
 Between the point K' and the battery a commutator is placed, by 
 means of which the agent can bring into action a greater or less 
 number of the pairs composing the battery, so as to proportion the 
 power to the distance to which the current is to be transmitted, or 
 to the resistance it may have to overcome. 
 
 A perspective view of the telegraphic instrument, showing the 
 two indicators and two commutators, in their respective positions, 
 is given in fig. 72 (vol. iii. p. 193). 
 
 FRENCH RAILWAY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 188. The telegraphs which convey letters or words by conven- 
 tional signals, like those described above, require a staft' of agents 
 
 20
 
 FRENCH RAILWAY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 engaged in their management, who have been specially instructed 
 and practised, as well in working the instruments as in interpreting 
 their signs. That this is deemed a matter of great practical 
 importance in telegraphic economy is manifested by the fact 
 already mentioned, that the French government, before it resolved 
 to establish the electric telegraph, caused instruments, on the new 
 principle, to be constructed, by which the same system of symbols 
 could be used as that which had been previously adopted in the 
 semaphore. 
 
 Nevertheless, in cases like that of a system of telegraphs in 
 which not only the business of the state, but that of the public, is 
 to be transacted, and where, therefore, a permanent staff is 
 employed exclusively in the management of the apparatus, no 
 very serious difficulty can be encountered, even if the necessity of 
 having a new telegraphic vocabulary is imposed upon these agents. 
 
 For a short time the service will be slow, and less satisfactory, 
 but the inconvenience is temporary, and constant practice in the 
 manipulation of the apparatus, and in the interpretation of the 
 signs, whatever they may be, renders the agents sufficiently 
 expert. 
 
 The case is different with telegraphs used, not for state or com- 
 mercial purposes, but exclusively for railway business. The 
 telegraphs even of principal railway stations, and still less those 
 of secondary stations, are not in that constant requisition, and 
 consequently do not occupy a permanent and exclusive class of 
 agents. They are managed by any persons who happen to be 
 employed in the respective offices : by the station-masters, clerks, 
 railway police, guards, or, in short, by any railway agent who 
 may happen to be at hand. Now it is evident that telegraphic 
 instruments, the use of which would require special instructions, 
 and much previous practice, would not answer such a purpose. 
 
 These considerations have prevailed, with the administrations 
 of the lines of railway in all parts of the continent, and have led 
 them to adopt telegraphic instruments which satisfy the conditions 
 explained above, more completely than do the apparatus which 
 have been adopted for state and public communications. 
 
 In general the railway telegraphs are of the class called " letter 
 or alphabetic telegraphs." The agent who transmits a message is 
 supplied with a hand which moves upon a dial, round which the 
 letters of the alphabet are engraved, as are the hours round the 
 dial of a clock. At the station to which the message is sent, there 
 is a similar dial, having upon it a similar hand, and the mechanism 
 is so contrived that, when properly adjusted, the two hands must 
 always point to the same letter. Thus, if the agent sending the 
 message turns the hand to the letter M upon the dial before him, 
 
 21
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 the hand upon the dial at the station to which the message is sent 
 will also turn to the letter M, and in this way, by merely directing 
 the hand successively to the letters of a word, pausing a little 
 while at each letter the word will be spelled to the agent at the 
 distant station. 
 
 All alphabetic telegraphs, whatever be their form or construc- 
 tion, convey the communications in this manner. 
 ; The French railway telegraph is in its principle identical with 
 the state telegraph. The indicator in the latter makes a complete 
 revolution by eight successive steps, moving in each step through 
 an angle of 45. If the alphabet consisted of only eight letters, 
 this would at once become an alphabetic telegraph by fixing the 
 indicator in the centre of a dial upon which, at equal distances 
 asunder, the eight letters are engraved. But since the French 
 alphabet consists of 25 letters, and since an additional sign is found 
 convenient, the dial is divided into 26 equal arcs instead of eight, 
 and the indicator makes a complete revolution by 26 equal motions, 
 at the termination of these motions respectively pointing to the 
 letters engraved upon the dial. 
 
 To accomplish this, the escapement wheel is constructed with 
 13 teeth instead of 4, the groove upon the moveable disc of the 
 commutator has 13 sinuous undulations instead of 4 sides with 
 rounded corners, and the fixed disc upon which the handle of the 
 commutator moves, has 26 notches instead of 8. 
 
 The grooved disc, by the motion of which the oscillations right 
 and left are imparted to the lever which makes and breaks the 
 connection with the battery, is fixed immediately behind the 
 notched disc, and the sinuous groove has the form represented in 
 fig. 51, and acts upon the lever in the manner described in 133. 
 
 The commutator, with its appendages, is represented in fig. 73. 
 The fixed disc has at its edge 26 notches, into which the pin 
 projecting from the handle falls, as in the state telegraph. 
 Engraved upon the face of the disc are, on the outside, the numbers 
 from to 25, and on the inside the 25 letters (W being omitted, 
 not being generally used in the French language), the 26th place 
 having the mark + . 
 
 A part of the dial is broken away, to disclose the face of the 
 moveable disc, with the sinuous groove behind the fixed disc. 
 The lever G is visible, with its pin in the groove, and the oscilla- 
 tion of the end of the lower arm n between the contact-pieces, 
 p and P', is exactly the same as that described in 133 and 
 in 184. 
 
 The handle of the commutator is keyed upon an axis which, 
 passing through the centre of the fixed dial, is itself keyed into 
 the centre of the moveable grooved dial behind it, so that when 
 22
 
 FRENCH RAILWAY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 the handle is carried round the fixed dial, the moveable dial behind 
 is carried round with it. 
 
 Upon the upper part of the board carrying the dial are placed 
 two supplementary commutators, I. and i/, the hands of which 
 play upon the contact-pieces, s, s, E, and s', s', E', as well as upon 
 an oblong plate of metal, upon which the words " COMMUNICATION 
 DIRECTE " are engraved. 
 
 The terminals c and z communicate with the copper and zinc 
 ends of the battery, or what is the same, with its positive and 
 
 Fig. 73. 
 
 negative poles ; T communicates with the earth. The contact 
 pieces s s' are connected with alarums, E K with the indicators, 
 and the axes of the arms L L' with the line-wires. The dotted 
 lines indicate the positions of slips of metal inlaid in the back of 
 the frame, by which the several pieces are put in metallic 
 connection one with another. 
 
 After the general explanation of the manner in which the course 
 of the current is in all cases governed, it will not be necessary 
 here to explain the application of these commutating apparatus, 
 which are nothing more than particular applications of the general 
 principle so fully developed in 111. 
 
 A perspective view of the commutator and indicating apparatus 
 mounted in the same case, is given in fig. 74 (p. 17). The com- 
 mutator is fixed upon a horizontal desk, that being the most 
 convenient position for its easy and rapid manipulation. The
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 indicator, which corresponds with it in form, is placed like the 
 dial of a clock in front of a vertical case. 
 
 If we suppose the commutator (fig. 73) at the station s, and the 
 indicator at s', the arm of the commutator and that of the indi- 
 cator being upon the mark + > & n y motion of the former made in 
 the direction of the hand of a clock, will produce a corresponding 
 motion of the hand of the latter, so that whatever letter or 
 number the one points to, the other will at the same time 
 point to. 
 
 By this means the agent at s may spell word after word to the 
 agent at s'. 
 
 There are various conventional signs, made by two or more 
 complete turns of the handle of the commutator, which, being 
 altogether arbitrary, and matters of local convenience, need not be 
 noticed here. 
 
 It is found that moderately well-practised hands can transmit 
 with this instrument forty letters per minute, while the most 
 expert can send as many as sixty. 
 
 A side view of the wheel-work and electro-magnet, E, of the 
 indicating apparatus is given in fig. 75. 
 
 The armature, r, is alternately attracted and dismissed by tne 
 
 Fig. 75. 
 
 magnet, acted on by the pulsations of the current, and imparts 
 this motion to the escapement at F, by which the hand A of the 
 indicator is advanced from letter to letter upon the dial, so that 
 the motion of the hand A at the station s' shall correspond exactly 
 with that of the hand of the commutator at the station s. 
 24
 
 FKENCH RAILWAY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 189. The telegraph which is represented in fig. 74 is a portable 
 telegraph constructed for the French railways by H. Breguet. 
 This instrument, in size and arrangement, is adapted to be carried 
 in the guard's van upon the train, so that, in case of accident, it 
 may be immediately put in connection with the line-wires, and 
 notice of the circumstance may be instantly transmitted to the two 
 stations between which the accident has taken place. 
 
 Portable instruments for a like purpose have been constructed 
 in England and elsewhere. 
 
 The apparatus consists of a stout oaken case, containing in the 
 lower part, B B, a Daniel's battery of 18 pairs, a commutator, M, 
 and an indicating apparatus, R. A small galvanometer is placed 
 at G, to show the existence and force of the current, and a small 
 electro-magnet, LT. 
 
 The dimensions of the instrument are indicated on the figure. 
 "When not in use the top, c c, attached by hinges to the case, can 
 be turned down over the commutator and indicator, so as to close 
 the entire apparatus. 
 
 A long rod of metal terminated in a copper hook, is provided, 
 by which the end of the coil L can be put in connection with the 
 line -wire ; the end of the coil T being put in connection with the 
 earth by means of a wire terminating in a small iron wedge, 
 which is driven with a hammer into the joint between two of the 
 rails. 
 
 To explain the manner of applying this apparatus, let us 
 suppose an accident to happen between the stations s and s', and 
 consequently the train to be stopped. The guard takes out the 
 portable telegraph, and raising its cover c c, he puts the wire of 
 L in connection with the line-wire, and that of T within a joint of 
 the rails, in the manner described above. He then makes one or 
 two complete turns of the handle M of his commutator, observing 
 whether the galvanometric needle G is deflected. If it is, he 
 knows that he has transmitted a current to the line wires. This 
 current divides itself at the hook, and a part goes to each of the 
 stations s and s', at each of which it rings the alarum. After a 
 short interval a current is transmitted back from one or other of 
 the stations, the arrival of which is indicated by the deflection of 
 the galvanometric needle, G. The guard then informs the stations, 
 one or both, of the accident, its place, the nature of the aid he 
 requires, &c. 
 
 In comparing this with the state telegraph, it must not be 
 forgotten that while this requires only one conducting wire, the 
 state telegraph requires two. In fact, the French state telegraph, 
 like the English double-needle telegraph, is in reality two inde- 
 pendent telegraphs, whose signals are combined for the purpose of 
 
 25
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 obtaining greater celerity of communication by means of a greater 
 variety of signals. 
 
 GERMAN RAILWAY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 190. The telegraphic apparatus used for the sen-ice of the 
 Prussian railways, and for most of those of the German states, is 
 one for which a patent was obtained by M. Siemens, of Berlin. 
 
 191. This apparatus consists of an indicating dial surrounded 
 by the alphabet, upon which a hand moves, similar in form and 
 external appearance to the indicating dial of the French railway 
 telegraph already described (188), but placed upon a horizontal 
 table instead of being vertical, as in the French telegraph. This 
 dial is surrounded by a circular key-board, as shown in fig. 76, 
 having as many keys like those of a piano-forte as there are 
 characters upon the dial, the letter engraved upon each key being 
 identical with that with which it corresponds in position upon the 
 dial. 
 
 192. A lever, a I, is placed upon the table, turning upon the 
 centre b, and limited in its play by two stops, T and R. When it 
 is turned against T, the line-wire is put in connection with the 
 indicating apparatus, and when it is turned against R, that wire 
 is put in connection with an alarum. A current, therefore, which 
 is transmitted along the line -wire can be made to pass through the 
 indicating apparatus or through the alarum at will, by giving to 
 the lever a b the one position or the other. 
 
 The usual means are also provided by which the current may be 
 allowed to pass the station without going through either the 
 alarum or the indicating apparatus, or by which it may be stopped 
 at the station and turned into the earth. In fine, all the pro- 
 visions common to telegraphs in general, which have been 
 explained in 112, et seq., are provided. 
 
 When no current passes upon the line-wire, and the instruments 
 are not in operation, the lever a b at each station along the line is 
 placed against R, so that the line-wire is everywhere in connection 
 with the alarum. 
 
 If it be desired to transmit a despatch from any station, s, the 
 agent at that station puts the line-wire in connection with the 
 poles of his battery, so that a current may be transmitted to all 
 the stations upon the line. This current rings all the alarums, 
 inasmuch as the arms a b are placed against R at all the stations. 
 The agents at the stations being thus called, remove the arms, a b, 
 of their several instruments, and place them against the stops, T, 
 the agent at the station s doing the same. 
 
 Previously to this, when the instruments were in repose the
 
 Cd Pel 
 
 27
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 indicating hands, n, in all of them were placed upon the division 
 of the dial marked + . The moment the arms, a b, or any of 
 them, are placed against the stops T, the current transmitted upon 
 the line-wire passing through the several indicating instruments, 
 the indicating hands in all the instruments will commence simul- 
 taneously to move round the several dials. They will move from letter 
 to letter with a starting and interrupted, but regular motion, like 
 that of the seconds hands of a clock, hut much more rapidly. The 
 rate at which they are moved will depend on the force of the 
 current, hut, whatever he the rate, it will he common to all, all 
 making successive revolutions of the dial precisely in the same 
 time, and moving together from letter to letter with the most 
 absolute simultaneity, and since they all started from the same 
 point +, and move together from letter to letter, it follows that, 
 whether their motion be quick or slow, they will all at each 
 moment point to the same letter. 
 
 Now, it is important here to observe, that this common rotation 
 of all the hands upon all the dials is produced and maintained by 
 the current alone, without any manipulation whatever on the part 
 of any agent at any station, and it would continue to be main- 
 tained indefinitely, provided that the battery were kept in action. 
 
 We have supposed the battery at the station s, from which the 
 despatch is about to be transmitted, to be alone put into connection 
 with the line-wire. But, in order to strengthen the current, each 
 agent on the line, when he receives the signal, also puts his 
 battery in like connection with the line-wire, so that the current 
 acquires all the intensity which the combined action of all the 
 batteries on the line is capable of producing. 
 
 The apparatus is so arranged that, in all cases, the galvano- 
 meter, d, is in connection with the line-wire, so as to indicate at 
 all times at each station the state of the current. 
 
 It now remains to show how a despatch can be transmitted from 
 any one station to all or any of the other stations on the line. 
 
 The apparatus is so constructed, that if the agent at any 
 station presses down any one of the keys surrounding the dial, 
 the indicating needle, upon arriving at that key, will be stopped ; 
 and at the same moment the current upon the line-wire will 
 be suspended. This suspension of thb. current will also, at the 
 same moment, stop the motion of all the indicating hands upon all 
 the dials on the line. The agents at all the stations will therefore 
 see and note the letter on which the transmitting agent has put 
 his finger. The transmitting agent, after a sufficient pause, 
 transfers his finger to the key of the next letter he desires to 
 transmit. The moment he raises his finger from the first key the 
 current is re-established on the line-wire, and all the indicating 
 28
 
 GERMAN RAILWAY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 hands rotate as before, passing again simultaneously from letter 
 to letter until they arrive at the second letter upon -which the 
 transmitting agent has put his finger, when they again stop, and 
 so on. 
 
 In this manner an agent at any station can stop the indicating 
 needles at any or all the other stations successively, on their 
 arrival at the letters of the words he desires to communicate. 
 
 193. If by reason of inattention or otherwise any letter or letters 
 transmitted escape the attention of the agent at any of the stations 
 to which the despatch is addressed, such agent immediately signifies 
 the fact by putting his finger on one of the keys of his own instru- 
 ment, by which he stops the hand upon the dial of the transmitting 
 agent at a letter, which tells him to repeat the last letter or word 
 as the case may be. This signal is understood at all the other 
 stations, so that no confusion ensues. 
 
 194. Having thus shown how a despatch is transmitted and 
 understood by those to whom it is addressed, I shall now explain, 
 the mechanism by which these effects are produced. 
 
 Beneath the dial of each instrument an electro-magnet, such as 
 m m' (fig. 77) is placed, upon the coil of which the current trans- 
 mitted from the batteries passes. This magnet, then, as usual, 
 attracts its armature g o, which comes against the stop f , Now 
 the apparatus is so arranged, that when 
 g strikes V, the circuit of the current is 
 broken, and consequently the current is 
 stopped. This deprives the electro- 
 magnet m m' of its magnetism ; and g 
 being no longer attracted, it is drawn 
 back from the stop t? by the spring s, 
 and it recoils upon the stop t. Here the 
 connection with the line-wire is repro- 
 duced, and the current is re -established. 
 The electro-magnet having thus reco- 
 vered its magnetism, g is again attracted 
 by it, and drawn into contact with t', 
 where the connexion is again broken, 
 and g is drawn back to V by the spring 
 s, and so on. 
 
 Since the intervals of transmission and suspension of the current 
 are the same throughout the entire line, and since the intervals of 
 transmission are those in which the armature moves towards the 
 electro-magnet, and the intervals of suspension those in which it 
 recoils from the magnet, it follows that the oscillations of the 
 armature of all the electro-magnets at all the stations are absolutely 
 alike and simultaneous. 
 
 29 
 
 Fig. T.
 
 THE ELECTfilC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 In each instrument the armature is in connection with a toothed 
 wheel, upon the axis of which the hand m n (fig. 76) is keyed, so 
 that each vibration of the armature puts forward one tooth of the 
 wheel, and advances the hand n from one letter to another. 
 
 1 95. Upon comparing this arrangement with that of the French 
 telegraph, it will he perceived that here the mainspring and wheel- 
 work which moves the indicator are altogether omitted, and the 
 armature of the electro-magnet, which in the French instrument 
 only regulates the motion of the indicator, here hoth moves and 
 regulates it. In fine, the armature here discharges at once the 
 functions of the mainspring, and of the pendulum of a clock. 
 
 It will also be observed that the manipulation of the transmitting 
 agent, by which he moves the indicators on the dials of the distant 
 stations, is dispensed with, the current itself, through the inter- 
 vention of the armature of the electro-magnet, imparting to the 
 indicator a constant motion of rotation without any manipulation 
 whatever. 
 
 That part only of the manipulation by which tho indicator is 
 stopped for a moment successively at the letters of the word intended 
 to be transmitted, is retained, and that is effected by the action of 
 the keys surrounding the dial. 
 
 196. Under the dial, a radius or arm is keyed upon the axis on 
 which the indicating hand is fixed, so as to be always immediately 
 under that hand and parallel to it, revolving simultaneously with it. 
 This radius is a little longer than the indicating hand, and extends 
 under the keys surrounding the dial. From the under-surface of 
 each key a pin projects, the length of which is such that when the 
 key is not pressed down, the radius passes freely Tinder it ; but 
 when the key is pressed down, the pin comes in the way of the 
 radius, and stops it when the indicating hand n arrives at the 
 letter engraved on the key. By the , action of the same pin the 
 armature o g (fig. 77) of the electro-magnet is arrested in its return 
 from V to t, so as to be prevented from arriving at t. The current, 
 therefore, is prevented from being re-established on the line-wire, 
 as it would be if g o were permitted to come into contact with t. 
 
 Thus it will be understood how by putting down a key the two 
 desired effects are produced. 1st, the stoppage of the indicating 
 needles at the letter engraved on the key of the indicator on which 
 such key is put down ; and 2nd, the simultaneous suspension of 
 the current along the entire telegraphic line, by which the indi- 
 cating needles of all other instruments are stopped at the same 
 letter. 
 
 197. This apparatus, compared with the French telegraph, to 
 which it has an obvious analogy, has the advantage of greater 
 simplicity. By dispensing with the mainspring and its necessary 
 
 30
 
 BELGIAN RAILWAY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 train of wheel-work, and with the rather complicated commutator 
 worked by the hand of the transmitting agent, many moving parts 
 are rejected, and there are proportionately less chances of derange- 
 ment and less causes of wear or fracture. But on the other hand 
 the moving power which impels the indicator, being transferred 
 from the mainspring to the current, a proportionately greater force 
 of current is necessary. This force is, however, obtained without 
 augmenting the magnitude of the batteries at any one station by 
 the expedient of bringing the piles of both the terminal stations, 
 and, if necessary, of any or all the intermediate stations, into the 
 circuit. 
 
 198. In the batteries used with the French railway telegraph, 
 the use of acid, as has been stated, is found altogether unneces-. 
 sary. In the German telegraph, however, pure water does not give 
 a sufficiently strong current, and it is acidulated with about one and 
 a half per cent, of sulphuric acid. The battery at each station consists 
 usually of from 15 to 20 pairs. The usual speed imparted to the 
 indicator by the current is about 30 revolutions per minute. 
 
 M. Siemens invented mechanism by which the indicating 
 apparatus was connected with one by which the letters of the 
 despatch as they arrived were printed by ordinary type upon a 
 band of paper. Since, however, this has not been brought into 
 practical use, it will not be necessary to explain it. 
 
 When the electric telegraph was first opened to the general 
 service of the public in Prussia, this apparatus of Siemens was 
 generally used, but it has since been superseded by that of Morse, 
 its speed of transmission being found insufficient for the public 
 
 BELGIAN RAILWAY TELEGEAPH. 
 
 199. "When the electric telegraph was first brought into use on 
 the Belgian railways, the French and German apparatus described 
 above were tried in succession. In 1851 they were, however, 
 both superseded by a form of telegraph invented and constructed 
 by M. Lippens, mathematical instrument maker of Brussels. 
 
 200. M. Lippens attributes to the French and German railway 
 telegraphs certain defects, which he claims to have removed. For 
 the efficient performance of those telegraphs, it is evident that a 
 certain relation must always be maintained between the force of 
 the spring s (fig. 77), which produces the recoil of the armature g o, 
 and the attractive force of the magnet, or what is the same, between 
 the spring and the intensity of the current, with which the attrac- 
 tion of the magnet must vary. Now the intensity of the current 
 is subject to variation, depending on the state of the battery, the 
 number of pairs which are brought into operation, the length of 
 
 31
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 the line-wire upon which it is transmitted, the more or less perfect 
 state of the insulators, and in fine on the weather. 
 
 If the current become so feeble that the attraction of tho 
 magnet is less than the force of the spring s, the armature g o will 
 remain upon the stop t, from which the magnet is too feeble to 
 remove it. If, on the other hand, the spring have not sufficient 
 force to overcome the friction and inertia of the armature g o, and 
 the small portion of magnetism which may be retained by the 
 electro-magnet after the current has been suspended, the armature 
 will remain upon the stop t', the spring being unable to produce 
 its recoil. 
 
 Since therefore the forces against which the spring s acts, and 
 which it ought to exceed, and those which act against it and 
 which ought to exceed it, are variable, it is clear that the mainte- 
 nance of the efficiency of the apparatus requires that the spring s 
 shall from time to time be adjusted, so as to be kept in that 
 relation to its antagonistic forces, which are necessary for the due 
 performance of the telegraph. 
 
 It has been already shown that very sufficient and very simple 
 means of adjustment for this purpose have been supplied in 
 the French telegraphs. The hands which appear in the upper 
 corners of the instrument (fig. 70) are intended for this purpose, 
 and being turned by the key, the springs connected with them are 
 increased or diminished in their force, according as the key applied 
 to them is turned the one way or the other. Similar adjustments 
 are provided in the German instruments.
 
 Fig. 81. 
 
 F-ROMENT'S ALPHABETICAL TELEGRAPH. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 201. Defects of the French and German instrument removed by Lippens' 
 instrument. 202. Description of it. 203. Its wheel commutator. 
 204. Transmission of despatches by it. 205. Froment's alphabetic 
 telegraph. 206. Morse's telegraph. 207. Froment's writing tele- 
 graph. 208. Bain's chemical telegraph. 209. Method of writing. 
 210. Electro-chemical pen. 211. Metallic desk. 
 
 201. M. Lippens and the Belgian railway and telegraph authori- 
 ties by whom he has been supported, however contend, that 
 although the permanent staff of the state and public telegraphs 
 constantly occupied and practised in the manipulation of such 
 apparatus may be relied upon for the due management of such 
 adjustments, the agents of various grades employed on the rail- 
 ways, whose duties do not permanently connect them with the 
 telegraph, and who are only called to it from time to time, cannot 
 be depended on to perform adjustments requiring not only con- 
 stant practice, but some address and some special knowledge of 
 the principle and mechanism of the apparatus. 
 
 LARDXER'S MUSEUM OP SCIENCE. i> 33 
 
 Ko. 43.
 
 THE ELECTBIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 The apparatus of M. Lippcns, which is now used for the service 
 of the Belgian railways, is exempt from these defects. 
 
 Like M. Siemens, M. Lippens rejects the mainspring and its 
 appendages adopted in the French telegraphs, and charges the 
 current itself with their functions. He retains, however, the 
 commutator, and imparts the pulsations to the current by the 
 hand of the agent applied to a lever or winch, which is moved 
 exactly like the arm of the commutator of the French 
 instruments. 
 
 He rejects the spring s (fig. 77), which produces the recoil of 
 the armature, and substitutes for it a second magnet placed on 
 the other side of the armature, substituting at the same time a 
 permanently magnetic bar of steel for the armature of soft iron 
 used in the other instruments. 
 
 202. To explain the principle of Lippens' apparatus, let a b and 
 a' b' (fig. 78) bu two electro-magnets made precisely alike, the 
 Pig. 78. coil of covered wire 
 
 y upon them being one 
 
 continuous wire carried 
 from one to the other, 
 and rolled in such a 
 manner that their po- 
 larity shall always have 
 contrary positions in 
 whichever direction the 
 current may be trans- 
 mitted on the wire. 
 V Thus, if a be a north 
 
 pole, b' opposed to it will be a south pole, and in that ease 
 ' will be a north and b a south pole. - .If the current upon the 
 coil be reversed, all these four poles will at once change their 
 names a becoming a south and b' a north pole, and a' a south 
 and b a north pole. 
 
 Let ff f/' be a steel bar which is permanently magnetised, g 
 being its north and tf its south pole, and let it be supported 
 midway between the electro-magnets, having free play towards 
 the one or the other until it encounters the stops 1 1 or f t' by 
 which it is arrested. 
 
 Now let a current be transmitted upon the wire, by which a 
 will become a north pole, and consequently b and b' will be south 
 poles, and a' a north pole. Since ff is a north and cf a south pole, 
 they will be attracted by b' and a', and repelled by a and b, and 
 consequently the armature g ff will be moved towards b' a' until 
 it is stopped by t' f. If the current be then reversed, a and a' 
 will become south, and b and V north poles ; and the armature 
 34
 
 BELGIAN RAILWAY TELEGRAPH. 
 
 vill be attracted by a and b, and repelled by Is and a', and will 
 accordingly move towards the latter until it is stopped by 1 1. 
 
 If the direction of the current be reversed rapidly, suppose, for 
 example, ten times per second, the armature g <j' will be made to 
 oscillate ten times per second between the stops t t and V V. 
 
 It is evident that the expedient adopted by Siemens, by which 
 the transmission of the current is arrested by the contact of the 
 armature with one stop and re-established by its contact with the 
 other, might be easily modified so as to reverse the direction of 
 the current by each contact with 1 1 and f t' ; and in that case 
 the telegraph of Siemens would without other change be ren- 
 dered exempt from the defects imputed to it, as veil as the French 
 instruments, by Lippens. But M. Lippens, cither prevented from 
 adopting this obvious expedient by tho patent of Siemens, or 
 giving a preference to tho hand commutator for other reasons, 
 has contrived an ingenious commutator worked by hand, by which 
 he reverses the current with the greatest facility, rapidity, and 
 precision. 
 
 203. This is a wheel commutator formed on the principle ex- 
 plained in 129, but there are two wheels such as are there described 
 placed one upon the other upon a common axle, with a disc of 
 gutta percha between them, so that one is insulated from the 
 
 Fig. 70. 
 
 other. The edges of both arc divided into a series of conducting 
 and non-conducting arcs, but the position of these relatively to 
 each other is alternate, the conducting arcs of each disc corre- 
 sponding in position with the non-conducting arcs of the other. 
 
 We may imagine the shaded arcs of iig. 79 to represent tho 
 conducting arcs of the upper, and the white arcs tho conducting 
 arcs of the lower disc, the one, however being separated from all 
 contact with the other by the interposed disc of utta percha. 
 D 2 5
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 When the wheel is made to revolve, the spring r' comes alter- 
 nately into contact with the conducting arcs of the one and of the 
 other disc. Another similar spring is applied to another part of 
 the edge of the wheel, so as to be in contact with the conducting 
 arcs of the upper disc, while the spring i* is in contact with those 
 of the lower, and vice versa. 
 
 One of the two discs is in connection with the copper, and the 
 other with the zinc end of the battery, so that one may be con- 
 sidered as its positive and the other as its negative pole. One of 
 the springs is in connection with one end, and the other with the 
 other end of the conducting wire, which forms the coils, and 
 which passes along the telegraphic line. By causing the wheel 
 to revolve, therefore, the conducting wire will be alternately 
 connected with contrary poles of the battery, and the current 
 upon it will be reversed. 
 
 If the edge of the wheel be divided into ten equal parts by the 
 conducting arcs, this reversion will take place ten times in each 
 revolution, and if a revolution be imparted to the wheel in each 
 second, the current will be reversed ten times per second. 
 
 In the apparatus of Lippens the oscillations thus imparted to 
 the armature, g g', fig. 78, are made to act by the intervention of 
 toothed wheels upon the indicating hand which moves upon the 
 dial around which the letters are engraved, as in the French tele- 
 graph, and this hand is moved from letter to letter in the same 
 manner as in the French railway telegraph and that of Siemens. 
 
 Upon the axle of the commutating wheel above described a 
 winch is fixed by which the agent who transmits the despatch 
 turns it. 
 
 A plan of this instrument is drawn in fig. 80. The handle of 
 the commutator B B' is keyed upon the axis of the wheel already 
 described, which is under the table of the instrument. This 
 wheel, and the springs which press upon it, are indicated in 
 the figure. The handles Q a are those by which the current is 
 conducted from the up or down line through the indicating 
 apparatus, or through the alarum, as already explained in the 
 case of the German telegraph. Several other batteries are provided 
 for establishing connections with ihp, line wires, the battery poles, 
 the alarums, and the earth, and differ in nothing essential from 
 similar adjustments in other telegraphic instruments. 
 
 204. "When the agent at any station, s, desires to transmit a 
 despatch to any other station or stations, s', he first, as in other 
 telegraphs, calls the attention of the agents at s' by means of 
 the alarum. The current being then directed through the instru- 
 ments severally by means of the adjustments provided for that 
 purpose, the transmitting agent at s turns the handle B B' of his 
 36
 
 BELGIAN BAIL-WAY TELEGHAl'il. 
 
 comr-iutator, by which he produces the pulsations of the current, 
 and puts the indicating hands upon the dials at sf, as well as 
 upon his own in motion. These hands as usual, when properly 
 
 Fig 80. 
 
 adjusted always point to the same letters. The transmitting 
 agent stops the handle B B' when he sees the hand F upon hia 
 dial point successively to the letters which spell the word he 
 
 3?
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 desires to transmit, and by continuing to operate thus, lie transmits 
 the entire despatch. 
 
 Such is the Belgian railway telegraph, and although it must !>< 
 admitted that it supplies a certain improvement on the French 
 telegraph, it ought also to be stated that the difiiculty and incon- 
 venience which M. Lippens claims to have removed, has not been 
 found to offer any practical obstruction to the satisfactory per- 
 formance of the French instruments. 
 
 It appears that M. Lippens has lately made considerable im- 
 provements in the practical details of his telegraph, by which its 
 operation is rendered much more convenient. He has also sub- 
 stituted the magneto-electric for the voltaic current, and thus 
 dispensed with the voltaic battery. This last improvement has 
 not yet (July, 1854) been applied on the telegraphic lines, but 
 will be in operation, probably, before these pages come into the 
 hands of the reader. 
 
 FEOMEXT'S ALPHABET TELEGRAPH. 
 
 205. The external appearance of this instrument, represented 
 in fig. 81 (p. 33), is that of a small piano-forte, having, however, 
 no black keys. On each of the keys a letter of the alphabet is 
 engraved, the first key being marked with a cross, and the last 
 with an arrow. On the first ten keys are also engraved the 
 numerals. This part of the apparatus is the commutator, by 
 which the agent at the station where it is placed, is enabled to 
 transmit signals to any distant station. 
 
 Upon it is placed the indicating apparatus, which is acted upon 
 by the commutator of the apparatus at a distant station, and by 
 which a despatch is received. This indicator is similar in form 
 and in the manner of giving its signals to that of the French 
 railway telegraph already described. The dial of the indicator is 
 marked with the letters of the alphabet, and the cross and arrow 
 corresponding with the characters engraved upon the keys of the 
 commutators. 
 
 At the back of the case containing the indicating apparatus 
 the alarum is attached, and commutators are placed upon the 
 case by which this alarum can be put in connection at pleasure 
 with the line-wire. As usual it is always kept in connection with 
 it when the instrument is not in use, so* that notice may be given 
 of the approaching arrival of a despatch. On the ringing of the 
 1 alarum the agent at the station turns off the commutator from 
 the alarum and throws it into connection with the indicating 
 apparatus. 
 
 To explain the tranmission of a despatch, let us suppose an 
 apparatus, such as that represented in the figure, to be erected
 
 FROMENT'S ALPHABETIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 .at two stations, 8 and s', connected as iisual by a conducting 
 wire ; the instrument, being unemployed, the line-wire at both is 
 iu connection with the alarum. Now let us suppose that s desires 
 to transmit a despatch to s'. In that case s having first turned 
 on the current, puts down any key whatever of his commutator, 
 the effect of which is that a current is transmitted upon the 
 line wire to s', which rings the alarum; then s' replies by 
 transmitting a return current in the same way to s, by which 
 s's alarum is rung. All being then prepared for the trans- 
 mission of the despatch, s puts down with his fingers succes- 
 sively the keys of his commutator upon which the successive 
 letters spelling the w r ords of the despatch are engraved, and 
 simultaneously with this the indicator upon the dial of s' points 
 to the same letters, which arc taken down by s'. At the end of 
 each word, s puts down the key marked with the cross. 
 
 When it is intended to transmit numerals, s puts down the 
 arrow just before he begins them, and the cross when he ends them. 
 Thus if it be desired to transmit the number 1854, s first puts 
 down the arrow, and then the keys marked A, n, E, and D succes- 
 sively, after which he again puts down the cross to indicate that 
 the number is finished. It remains now to explain how these 
 effects are produced. 
 
 Within the case, and at some distance below the key-board, a 
 steel rod is extended, parallel to the line* of keys, the length of 
 which corresponds with that of the row of keys. From this rod, 
 and at right angles to it, proceeds a scries of short steel arms, one 
 under each key. In the bottom of each key, and at right angles 
 to it, is inserted a short projecting pin, which corresponds pre- 
 cisely in position with the short steel arm just mentioned. The 
 length of the arm, and that of the pin, taken- together, is a little 
 less than the distance between the bottom of the key and the 
 steel rod when the key is not put down by the finger, the neces- 
 sary consequence of which is that in that position of the key the 
 Tod may revolve, carrying the arm round with it unobstructed. 
 But when the key is put down by the finger, the bottom of it is 
 "brought to a distance from the rod which is less than the sum o 
 the lengths of the projecting arm and the pin, and consequently 
 if the rod revolves, carrying with it the projecting arm while the 
 key is thus held down, the pin coming in the way of the arm 
 arrests it, and stops the further revolution of the steel rod. 
 
 It is evident that if the projecting arms were all inserted in tho 
 steel rod at tho same side, or to speak with still more precision, if 
 their points of insertion lay in a line along the side of the rod 
 parallel to its axis, the pins of all the keys would arrest the 
 revolution of the rod in exactly the same position, and, as it 
 
 39
 
 THE ELECTING TELEGRAPH. 
 
 will presently appear, that the position in which the rod is stopped 
 determines the signal transmitted, it would follow as a couseqiience 
 that in such case all the keys would transmit the same signal, 
 and the indicate;- at the station to which the dispatch is to be 
 transmitted would always return to the same letter upon the dial. 
 
 To prevent this, and to vary the signal in the necessary manner, 
 the projecting arms are inserted in the steel rod according to a 
 spiral or heliacal line, surrounding it like the thread of a screw, 
 so that if, for example, the rod be placed so that the first projecting 
 arm corresponding to the key marked with the cross, points directly 
 upwards, the fourteenth which corresponds to the key M, will 
 point directly downwards, and the intermediate arms will point at 
 angles more and more inclined from the upward direction, each 
 being deflected from the upward direction more than the preceding- 
 one by the fourteenth part of the half circumference. 
 
 In like manner, in proceeding from the arm corresponding with 
 the key M, which points downwards, each successive arm will be 
 more and more deflected from the downward direction, each being 
 more deflected from it than the preceding one by the fourteenth 
 part of half the circumference. 
 
 Thus the twenty-eight projecting arms divide the circumference 
 of the rod into twenty-eight equal parts, and consequently in a 
 revolution of the rod, the arms come successively to the position 
 in which they point upwards and in which they would encounter 
 the pin projecting from the bottom of the key if that pin were 
 thrown in their way by the key being pressed down by the finger. 
 
 It will be evident, therefore, that if from any cause the steel 
 rod be made to revolve, its motion may be stopped at twenty-eight 
 different points of its complete revolution by means of the depres- 
 sion of the twenty-eight keys. We shall now show how a motion 
 of revolution is imparted to this rod. 
 
 To its right-hand extremity is fixed a ratchet-wheel, which 
 is in connection with a train of clockwork, moved in the usual 
 manner by a mainspring. This clockwork is contained within 
 the case of the apparatus. If it be wound up, and if nothing 
 obstructs its action, a motion of continuous rotation will be im- 
 parted to the ratchet-wheel, and by jit to the steel rod, and this 
 motion will be more or less rapid according to the force of the 
 mainspring, and the adjustment of a fly which is connected with 
 it. They are so adjusted as to cause the rod to revolve two or 
 three times in a second. But in the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, a 
 catch is inserted, which counteracts the mainspring and prevents 
 the motion, which can only take place when this catch is with- 
 drawn. A bar is suspended parallel to the keys, and under them, 
 by a contrivance called in mechanics a parallel motion, by means 
 40
 
 MORSE'S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 of which any of the keys when pressed by the finger will lower it. 
 This bar rests upon the arm of the catch engaged in the teeth 
 of the ratchet-wheel, so that whenever any key is put down by 
 the finger, the bar is depressed, the catch disengaged, the wheel 
 liberated, and a motion of revolution imparted. 
 
 On the left hand extremity of the steel rod is fixed a commu- 
 tating wheel, similar in principle to that already described in the 
 railway telegraph. This wheel, being fixed upon the rod, turns with 
 it, moving when it moves, and stopping when it stops. Since the 
 position in which the rod stops is determined by the key put down, 
 the position in which the wheel thus fixed on the rod stops, is 
 similarly determined. This wheel determines the pulsation of the 
 current, and these pulsations determine the position of the 
 indicator at the station to which the despatch is transmitted, in a 
 manner which is substantially the same as that already described 
 in the case of the railway telegraph. 
 
 MOBSE S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 206. This apparatus, which is applied on an extensive scale in 
 America, and with some slight modifications in the Germanic States, 
 is constructed upon the principle already explained in 153. 
 
 Fig. 82. 
 
 A general view of the instrument in its most usual form is 
 given in fig. 82. 
 
 M is the electro-magnet ; n is an armature working on the centre 
 c ; i an adjusting screw to limit the play of the armature, and 
 prevent its contact with the electro-magnet at p ; d another 
 adjusting screw to limit its play in the other direction ; t a metallic 
 
 41
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 style which marks by pressure a band or ribbon of paper drawn 
 from the roll R, and carried between the rollers o and o' ; r tho 
 ribbon of paper discharged from the rollers o o', after being 
 impressed by t with the telegraphic characters; r, b, &c., clock- 
 work from which the rollers o o' receive their motion, by which 
 motion the ribbon of paper is drawn from the roller 11 ; f the 
 spring which draws the arm n of the electro-magnet from the 
 armature; s s the upright pieces supporting the clockwork; BB 
 the base supporting the instrument ; D, the key commutator, by 
 which the current transmitted along the line-wire is alternately 
 transmitted and suspended; m, n, m', ', wires by which the coil 
 of the electro-magnet and the poles of the station battery are put 
 in connection with the line-wires. 
 
 The general principle of this and all similar apparatus has 
 been already so fully expained in 153, ct scq., that little more 
 need be said here to render it intelligible. If it be desired to 
 transmit a despatch to a distant station, the battery at the trans- 
 mitting station is put in communication with the line-wire, and 
 by the action of the key D the current is alternately transmitted 
 and suspended during longer and shorter intervals, which are 
 determined by ,the conventional telegraphic letters. The action 
 of the style t ag'ainst the ribbon of paper which passes over it at 
 the station receiving the despatch, corresponds exactly with the 
 action of the key D at the station from which the despatch is 
 transmitted ; and combinations of longer and shorter marks or lines 
 and dots are produced upon the ribbon of paper by its pressure, as 
 is shown in the figure. 
 
 The particular combinations of lines and dots used to express 
 the letters are obviously arbitrary. As a matter of convenience 
 and means of expedition, the letters of most frequent occurrence 
 are expressed by the most simple signs, and consequently the 
 selection of signfc for the different letters will vary with the language 
 in which the dispatch is expressed. 
 
 The following are the telegraphic characters adopted by Mr. 
 Horse for the English language : 
 
 A 
 
 J _ m 
 
 S --- \ 
 
 Numerals. 
 
 B 
 
 K 
 
 T 
 
 1 9 
 
 C -- - 
 
 L 
 
 U 
 
 2 
 
 D 
 
 ]yt 
 
 V 
 
 3 
 
 E - 
 
 N - 
 
 w 
 
 4 
 
 F 
 
 - - 
 
 X 
 
 5 
 
 G 
 
 ..... 
 
 Y 
 
 6 
 
 H 
 
 fe 
 
 Z --- - 
 
 7 
 
 I -- 
 
 t - - 
 
 & . --. 
 
 8 
 
 42
 
 MOUSE'S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 This telegraphic apparatus being that which has been by far 
 the most extensively brought into use, being not only adopted 
 almost exclusively in the United States and contiguous countries, 
 but also in all the German States, it may be useful here to present 
 the instrument and its appendages in the form in which it has been 
 most recently constructed in the United States, and which has 
 been recommended by the American telegraphic confederation, as 
 being that which it would be most advantageous to adopt gene- 
 rally, so that all the parts being manufactured of the same pattern 
 and size no difficulty would be found in replacing any of them in 
 case of fracture. 
 
 A perspective view of the instrument, omitting the paper roller 
 and ribbon, is given in fig. 83 (p. 44). 
 
 z. The wooden base upon which the instrument is screwed. 
 
 B. The brass base plate attached to the wooden base z. 
 
 A. The side frames supporting the mechanism. 
 
 h, h. Screws which secure the transverse bars connecting the 
 side frames. 
 
 G. The key for winding up the drum containing the main- 
 spring, or supporting the weight, according as the mechanism 
 is impelled by one or the other power. 
 
 3, 4. Clock-work. 
 
 u, A lock or gauge to regulate the pressure of the rollers on the 
 paper. 
 
 c. The pillar supporting the electro-magnet. 
 
 p. The adjusting screw passing into the pillar, c, projecting 
 through the armature, to enable the telegraphist to adjust the 
 sound of the back stroke of the armature at pleasure. 
 
 0. The spring bar, and 
 
 (I, the screw to adjust the action of the pen lever. 
 D. The apparatus for adjusting the paper rollers. 
 /. The adjusting screw of the pen lever. 
 
 The form of the relay magnet recommended, is given in fig. 
 81 (p. 45), in its proper size. 
 A B, are the helices or coils. 
 
 c. The supporter of the magnet lightly screwed to 
 w, the connecting bar of the magnets. 
 T. Rosewood or ivory ends of magnets. 
 
 D, Armature screwed to 
 
 E, an upright lever ; 
 
 F, its axis, surrounded by a spiral spring, to perfect the con- 
 nection in case of a fault at the ends of the axle. 
 
 M. The spring to produce the recoil of D and E. 
 
 1. Its adjusting screw. 
 
 n. An adjusting screw to limit the play of E towards the magnet; 
 
 43
 
 HORSE'S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Fig. SI. 
 
 B, its point of platinum. 
 
 s. Au adjusting screw to limit the play of E from tbo 
 magnet. 
 
 T. Its insulating point, in ivory. 
 
 o N. Screws to 
 connect with the 
 wires of the station 
 battery. 
 
 P Q. Screws to 
 connect with the line 
 wires. 
 
 x. The point where 
 the coil wire passes 
 through 
 
 M, the base of tho 
 magnet. 
 
 The form recom- 
 mended for the key 
 commutator is re- 
 presented in its 
 proper magnitude in 
 fig. 85 (p. 46). When 
 the key is held down 
 the circuit is per- 
 fect. It is not liable 
 to wear and to pro- 
 duce a doubtful 
 connection. The 
 whole arrangement 
 is designed to avoid 
 the evils heretofore 
 existing, and perfect 
 every questionable 
 part. The anvil of 
 tho key is well 
 made, firm, and 
 capable of hard 
 wear, regardless of 
 tho adjustment of 
 the key lever. The 
 hammer of the key lever is also firm, and made of good platina 
 wire, and securely made fast in the key lever. The adjusting screws 
 of the axle are arranged according to the best mode, to secure the 
 most perfect action. The elevation of the key lever can be adjusted 
 to suit the operator, by elevating the key frame, or otherwise. 
 
 45
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGIJAPII. 
 Fig. 85. 
 
 FROMENT'S WRITING TELEGRAPH. 
 
 207. This apparatus is represented in fig. 86 (p. 49), and the 
 principle on which it acts has been fully explained in (Iu3). 
 
 The paper upon which t*he telegraphic characters are written is 
 rolled upon the surface of a drum c. The pencil b is pressed by a 
 spring upon the paper. The drum is made to revolve by clock- 
 work in the usual manner contained in the case h. If the paper 
 be moved without movisg the pencil, the latter will trace a 
 straight line ; but if the plnci! be moved to and fro by the action 
 of the electro-magnet ami recoil spring, a zigzag line will be 
 formed by the vibrations imparted to the pencil by the magnet, 
 or what is the same, by th pulsations of the current. 
 
 To equalise the wear of the pencil, a slow motion of rotation is 
 imparted to it by wheels adapted for that purpose. 
 
 The commutator by which the pulsations which determine the 
 signals are produced, is a "wheel, at the circumference of which 
 are five metallic divisions ^with intermediate spaces vacant, sc- 
 thut in each revolution the Current is transmitted five times, and 
 suspended five times. If 'fit be desired to produce a single pulsa- 
 tion, the wheel is moved through the fifth part of a revolution ; 
 it it be desired to produce three pulsations it is moved through 
 three-fifths of a revolution, and BO on. For each pulsation, one 
 zigzag is made by the pencil at the station to which the despatch 
 is transmitted. 
 
 The signs adopted in this telegraph to express the letters, are 
 various numbers and combinations of zigzag forms. 
 
 BAIN'S ELECTRO-CHEMICAL TELEGRAPH. 
 
 208. The manner in which the decomposing power of the 
 current is capable of producing written characters at a distance 
 from the hand of the writer has been already explained- (170). 
 
 46
 
 BAIN'S ELECTRO-CHEMICAL TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Of the forms of telegraph in which this principle is brought into 
 play, the only one which has been practically applied on an 
 extensive scale is that projected by Mr. Alexander Bain. 
 
 209. To render this instrument understood, let us suppose a 
 sheet of writing paper to be wetted Avith a solution of prussiate of 
 potash, to which a little nitric and hydrochloric acid have been 
 added. Let a metallic desk be provided corresponding in magni- 
 tude with the sheet of paper, and let this desk be put in com- 
 munication with a galvanic battery so as to form its negative pole. 
 Let a piece of steel or copper wire forming a pen be put in con- 
 nection with the same battery so as to form its positive pole. Let 
 the sheet of moistened paper be now laid upon the metallic desk, 
 and let the steel or copper point which forms the positive pole of 
 the battery be brought into contact with it. The galvanic circuit 
 being thus completed, the current will be established, the solution 
 with which the paper is wetted will be decomposed at the point 
 of contact, and a blue or brown spot will appear. If the pen b& 
 now moved upon the paper, the continuous succession of spots will 
 form a blue or brown line, and the pen being moved in any 
 manner upon the paper, characters may be thus written upon it as 
 it were in blue or brown ink. 
 
 An extremely feeble current is sufficient to produce this effect ; 
 but it will be necessary, when the strength of the current is very 
 much reduced, to move the pen more slowly, so as to give the 
 time necessary for the weakened current to produce the decom- 
 position. In short, a relation exists between the greatest speed 
 of the pen which is capable of leaving a mark, and the strength 
 of the current ; the stronger the current the more rapidly may 
 the pen be moved. In this manner, any kind of writing 
 may be inscribed upon the paper, and there is no other limit to 
 the" celerity with which the characters may be written, save 
 the dexterity of the agent who moves the pen, and the sufficiency 
 of the current to produce the decomposition of the sohition in 
 the time which the pen takes to move over a given space of the 
 paper. 
 
 210. The electro-chemical pen, the prepared paper, and the 
 metallic desk being understood, we shall now proceed to explain 
 the manner in which a communication is written at the station 
 where it arrives. 
 
 211. The metallic desk is a circular disk, about twenty inches 
 in diameter. It is fixed on a central axis, with which it is 
 capable of revolving in its own plane. An uniform movement of 
 rotation is imparted to it by means of a small roller, gently 
 pressed against its under surface, and having sufficient adhesion 
 with it to cause the movement of the disk by the revolution of 
 
 47
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 the roller. This roller is itself kept in uniform revolution by 
 means of a train of wheel-work, deriving its motion either from a 
 weight or main spring, and regulated hy a governor or fly. The 
 rate at which the disk revolves may be varied at the discretion of 
 the superintendent, by shifting the position of the roller towards 
 the centre ; the nearer to the centre the roller is placed, the 
 more rapid will be the motion of rotation. The moistened paper 
 being placed on this disk, we have a circular sheet kept in uniform 
 revolution. 
 
 The electro- chemical pen, already described, is placed on this 
 paper at a certain distance from its centre. This pen is sup- 
 ported by a pen-holder, which is attached to a fine screw ex- 
 tending from the centre to the circumference of the desk in the 
 direction of one of its radii. 
 
 On this screw is fixed a small roller, which presses on the 
 surface of the desk, and has sufficient adhesion with it to receive 
 from it a motion of revolution. This roller causes the screw to 
 move with a slow motion in a direction from the centre to the 
 circumference, carrying with it the electro-chemical pen. "We 
 have thus two motions, the circular motion carrying the moistened 
 paper which passes under the pen, and the slow rectilinear motion 
 of the pen itself directed from the centre to the circumference. 
 By the combination of these two motions, it is evident that the 
 pen will trace upon the paper a spiral curve, commencing at a 
 certain distance from the centre, and gradually extending 
 towards the circumference. The intervals between the successive 
 coils of this spiral line will be determined by the relative velocities 
 of the circular desk, and of the electro-chemical pen. The relation 
 between these velocities may likewise be so regulated, that the 
 coils of the spiral may be as close together as is consistent with the 
 distinctness of the traces left upon the paper. 
 
 A view of the circular desk, the chemical pen, and the clock- 
 work is given in fig. 87 (p. 65), which will render the preceding 
 explanation more easily understood.
 
 Fig. S6. FROMENT'S WRITING TELEGRAPH. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 212. Operation of Bain's telegraph. 213. Its commutator. 214. Its 
 extraordinary speed of transmission. 215. Obstructions to its 
 practical application. 216. Its prospects. 217. Autograph telegraph. 
 218. House's printing telegraph. 219. Its operation. 220. 
 Henley's magnetic telegraph. 221. Brett's printing telegraph. 
 222. Celerity of telegraphic communication. 223. Circumstances 
 which affect it. 224. Comparative ability of telegraphists. 225 
 Each telegraphist known by his manner of transmitting. 226. Easier 
 to transmit than to receive. 227. Pauses in transmission. 228. 
 Bate of transmission with double needle instruments worked by voltaic 
 current. 229. Kate with magneto-electric current. 
 
 212. Is'ow, let us suppose that the galvanic circuit is completed 
 in the manner customary with the electric telegraph, that is to 
 say, the wire which terminates at the point of the electro-chemical 
 pen is carried from the station of arrival to the station of de- 
 parture, where it is connected with the galvanic hattery, and 
 the returning current is formed in the usual way by the earth 
 itself. When the communication between the wire and the gal- 
 vanic battery at the station of departure is established, the 
 current will pass through the wire, will be transmitted from the 
 point of the electro-chemical pen to the moistened paper, and will, 
 
 LARDNER'S MUSEUM OF SCIENCE. E 49 
 
 No. 45.
 
 ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 as already described, make a blue or brown line on this paper. 
 If the current were continuous and uninterrupted, this line would 
 be an unbroken spiral, such as has been already described ; but if 
 the current be interrupted at intervals, during each such interval 
 the pen will cease to decompose the solution, and no mark will be 
 made on the paper. If such interruption be frequent, the spiral, 
 instead of being a continuous line, will be a broken one, consisting 
 of lines interrupted by blank spaces. If the current be allowed 
 to act only for an instant of time, there will be a blue or brown 
 dot upon the paper ; but if it be allowed to continue during a 
 longer interval, there will be a line. 
 
 Now, if the intervals of the transmission and suspension of the 
 current be regulated by any agency in operation at the station 
 af departure, lines and dots corresponding precisely to these 
 intervals, will be produced by the electro-chemical pen on the 
 paper, and will be continued regularly along the spiral line 
 already described. It will be evident, without further explana- 
 tion, that characters may thus be produced on the prepared paper 
 corresponding to those of the telegraphic alphabet already de- 
 scribed in the case of Morse's telegraph, and thus the language 
 of the communication will be written iu these conventional 
 symbols. 
 
 There is no other limit to the celerity with which a message 
 may be thus written, save the sufficiency of the current to effect 
 the decomposition while the pen passes over the paper, and the 
 power of the agency used at the station of departure to produce, 
 in rapid succession, the proper intervals in the transmission and 
 suspension of the current. 
 
 The succession of intervals of transmission and suspension of 
 the current on which the production of the written characters on 
 the prepared paper depends, may obviously be produced by the 
 key commutator (128) ; and with that instrument at the station 
 from which the dispatch is transmitted, an agent can convey in 
 the same manner and with the same celerity as in the case of 
 the telegraph of Morse, or that of Froment ; and such is in fact 
 the manner in which dispatches are usually transmitted with this 
 apparatus. 
 
 213. But this form of commutator, though 'perfectly efficient 
 BO far as it goes, does not call into operation all that extra- 
 ordinary celerity which forms the prominent feature of this 
 invention, and of which a remarkable example has been 
 already mentioned in the case of the experiments performed by 
 M. Le Verrier and myself before the Committees of the Institute 
 and the Legislative Assembly at Paris, which were made with 
 these instruments, and, as we have stated, dispatches were 
 50
 
 BAIN S CHEMICAL TELEGRAPH. 
 
 sent along a thousand miles of wire, at the rate of nearly 20000 
 words an hour. 
 
 "We shall now explain the means by which this extraordinary 
 feat is accomplished. The despatch must pass through the fol- 
 lowing preparatory process : 
 
 A narrow ribbon of paper is wound on a roller, and placed on 
 an axis on which it is capable of turning so as to be regularly 
 unrolled. This ribbon of paper is passed between rollers under a 
 small punch, which striking upon it makes a small hole at its 
 centre. This punch is worked by a simple mechanism so rapidly, 
 that when it is allowed to operate without interruption on the 
 paper passing before it, the holes it produces are so close together 
 as to leave no unperforated space between them, and thus is 
 produced a continuous perforated line. Means, however, are pro- 
 vided by which the agent who superintends the process, can, by a 
 touch of the finger, suspend the action of the punch on the paper, 
 so as to allow a longer interval to elapse between its successive 
 strokes upon the paper. In this manner a succession of holes are 
 perforated in the ribbon of paper, separated by unperforated 
 spaces. The manipulator, by allowing the action of the punch to 
 continue uninterrupted for two or more successive strokes, can 
 make a linear perforation of greater or less length on the ribbon, 
 and by suspending the action of the punch these linear perforations 
 may be separated by unperforated spaces. 
 
 Thus it is evident, that being provided with a preparatory 
 apparatus of this kind, an expert agent will be able to produce on 
 the ribbon of paper as it unrolls, a series of perforated dots and 
 lines, and that these dots and lines may be made to correspond 
 with those of the telegraphic alphabet already described. 
 
 Let us imagine, then, the agent at the station of departure pre- 
 paring to despatch a message. Preparatory to doing so, it will 
 be necessary to inscribe it in the perforated telegraphic characters 
 on the ribbon of paper just described. 
 
 He places, for this purpose, before him the message in ordinary 
 writing, and he transfers it to the ribbon in perforated characters 
 by means of the punching apparatus. By practice he is enabled 
 to execute this in less time than would be requisite for an expert 
 compositor to set it up in common printing type. 
 
 The punching apparatus for inscribing in perforated characters 
 the dispatches on ribbons of paper is so arranged, that several 
 agents may simultaneously write in this manner different mes- 
 sages, so that the celerity with which the messages are inscribed 
 on the perforated paper may be rendered commensurate with 
 the rapidity of their transmission by merely multiplying the 
 inscribing agents. 
 
 K 2 51
 
 ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Let us now imagine the message thus completely inscribed on the 
 perforated ribbon of paper. This ribbon is again rolled as at 
 first upon a roller, and it is now placed on an axle attached to the 
 machinery of the telegraph. 
 
 The extremity of the perforated ribbon at which the message 
 commences is now carried over a metallic roller, which is in con- 
 nexion with the positive pole of the galvanic battery. It is 
 pressed upon this roller, as represented in fig. 88, by a small 
 
 metallic spring, terminating in points like the teeth of a comb, 
 the breadth of which is less than that of the perforations in the 
 paper. This metallic spring is connected with the conducting 
 wire which passes from the station of departure to the stations of 
 arrival. "When the metallic spring falls into the perforations of 
 the ribbon of paper as the latter passes over the roller, the 
 galvanic circuit is completed by the metallic contact of the spring 
 with the roller ; but when those parts of the ribbon which are not 
 perforated pass between the spring and the roller, the galvanic 
 circuit is broken and the current is interrupted. 
 
 A motion of rotation, the speed of which can be regulated at 
 discretion, is imparted to the metallic roller by clockwork or other 
 means, so that the ribbon of paper is made to pass rapidly between 
 it and the metallic spring, and, as it passes, this metallic spring 
 falls successively into the perforations on the paper. By this 
 means the galvanic circuit is alternately completed and broken, 
 and the current passes during intervals corresponding precisely to 
 the perforations in the paper. IQ this manner the successive 
 intervals of the transmission of the current are made to correspond 
 precisely with the perforated characters expressive of the message, 
 and the same succession of intervals of transmission and suspension 
 will affect the writing apparatus at the stations of arrival in the 
 manner already described. 
 
 214. Now there is no limit to the speed with which this process 
 can be executed, nor can there be an error, provided only that 
 52
 
 BAIN'S CHEMICAL TELEGRAPH. 
 
 the characters have been correctly marked on the perforated 
 paper ; but this correctness is secured by the ribbon of perforated 
 paper being examined after the perforation is completed and 
 deliberately compared with the written message. Absolute 
 accuracy and unlimited celerity are thus attained at the station 
 of departure. To the celerity with which the dispatch can be 
 written at the station of arrival there is no other limit than the 
 tune which is necessary for the electric current to produce the 
 decomposition of the chemical solution with which the prepared 
 paper is saturated. 
 
 215. It may be asked then why this form of telegraph, affording 
 as it does the means of obtaining a celerity of transmission so 
 far exceeding any other that has been projected, has not been 
 universally adopted ? 
 
 To this it may be answered that the celerity here described can 
 only be attained after the dispatch to be transmitted has been 
 marked in the pierced telegraphic characters on the ribbon, of 
 paper, and that the process of so marking it would not be more 
 rapid, however expert the operator might be, than that by which 
 the same operator would transmit the same dispatch directly by 
 the key commutator, either with this telegraph or those described 
 in (191, 192). If, therefore, the time necessary to commit the 
 dispatch in telegraphic characters to the perforated ribbon of 
 paper, be included in the estimate of the time of its transmission 
 from station to station , this form of telegraph is not only slower 
 and consequently less efficient than either of those described in 
 (191, 192), but it is slower than any other form of telegraph 
 whatever. 
 
 It must therefore be admitted, that, so long as the demands upon 
 the conducting wires do not exceed their powers of transmission 
 by the operation of the ordinary methods now commonly practised, 
 the contrivance of Mr. Bain can present no very strong claims for 
 preference over the other systems. But if the demands of the 
 public should be greatly multiplied, as they certainly would be 
 by lowering the tariff, then the method above described would be 
 presented under different conditions, and might become the onlv 
 expedient of all those hitherto contrived, by which such augmented 
 demands could be satisfied. 
 
 216. If for example the time should arrive when a much more 
 considerable share of the demands now satisfied by the post-office 
 should be transferred to the telegraph; if instead of short and 
 unsatisfactory dispatches conveying political and general intel- 
 ligence to the journals, fully detailed circumstantial statements 
 and reports were required ; if the same full reports of speeches 
 and debates, on occasions of great public interest, or reports of any 
 
 53
 
 ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 proceedings or events of adequate importance, taking place at a 
 distance, which are now transmitted through the post-office were 
 required to be sent hy telegraph, it is clear that the apparatus 
 now in common use, of whatever form, would be utterly inadequate 
 to the satisfaction of such demands. 
 
 But how, it will be asked, would the system of Bain be more 
 efficient? The answer is obvious. Nothing more would be 
 necessary than to engage a greater number of persons for the 
 purpose of committing the dispatches to the perforated ribbons. 
 If a great number of dispatches, short or long, be brought at once 
 into the telegraphic office for transmission, let them be imme- 
 diately distributed among a proportionate number of the persons 
 engaged in the preparation of the ribbons. A long dispatch 
 might be divided into several portions, and distributed among 
 several, just as a manuscript report intended for publication in a 
 journal is distributed among several compositors. "When the 
 despatches thus distributed should be committed to the ribbons, 
 these ribbons might be connected together so as to form longer 
 continuous ribbons, which being put into the telegraphic instru- 
 ments would be sent to their destination at the rate of 20000 
 words an hour on each wire. 
 
 A mercantile firm, or the correspondent of a journal might, if 
 they were so minded, have their own punching apparatus and their 
 own telegraphic cipher, and instead of sending to the telegraphic- 
 office a manuscript dispatch they would send a ribbon of paper 
 containing the dispatch marked upon it, which being put directly 
 into the instrument would be instantly transmitted to its destina- 
 tion. And this would be attended with the further advantage 
 that the contents of the dispatch would be concealed from the 
 agents themselves employed in its transmission. The party to 
 whom the dispatch is addressed would in this case receive the 
 sheet taken from the instrument written in the cipher of which he 
 alone would possess the key. 
 
 It often happens, especially in the business of government or that 
 of journalism, that the same dispatch is required to be transmitted 
 to many different places in different directions. By the system of 
 Bain this would be easily accomplished. The same ribbon which 
 sends the dispatch in one direction may be transferred imme- 
 diately to another instrument acting upon another line of wire, 
 or even remaining in the same instrument the transmission may 
 be repeated, changing the direction by a commutator. 
 
 If it were required no great difficulty would be presented by the 
 
 process of perforating two or more ribbons at once with the same 
 
 dispatch. The process would not be slower than that required 
 
 for a single ribbon, and in that case the several ribbons might be 
 
 54
 
 HOUSE'S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 at the same time sent to different telegraphic stations, and their 
 contents transmitted in various directions. 
 
 In this view of the question, the system of Bain is to the com- 
 mon telegraph what the steam-engine is to the horse, the power 
 to the hand-loom, the lace-frame to the cushion, the self-acting 
 mule to the distaff, or the stocking-frame to the knitting-needle. 
 
 217. A modification of the electro-chemical telegraph has been 
 contrived, by which a dispatch may be transmitted to any distant 
 station, and then delivered in the handwriting of the person who 
 transmits it. 
 
 By this method, a person at any station, as for example at 
 London, may write a communication in characters used in common 
 writing or printing on paper placed at another distant station, as 
 for example at Trieste, and this writing shall be traced on the 
 paper with as much precision as if the person writing held the pen 
 in his hand. 
 
 We may imagine that the electro-chemical pen placed on the 
 paper at Trieste is extended to London, and there held and 
 directed by the hand of the writer, for this it is which almost 
 literally takes place. The conducting wire, in connection with 
 that part of the electro-chemical pen which is held in the hand, 
 which extends from Trieste to London, may be considered as only 
 forming part of this pen, and the end of such pen at London, held 
 and directed by the hand of the writer, will communicate a motion 
 to its point at Trieste, in exact correspondence with the characters 
 formed by the hand of the writer. 
 
 Thus, if the writer at London move the extremity of the con- 
 ducting wire so as to write a phrase or his usual autograph, the 
 point at Trieste will there inscribe on the prepared paper the 
 same phrase with the same signature annexed, and the writing of 
 the phrase and the signature will be identical with that of the 
 writer. 
 
 In the same manner a profile or portrait, or any other outline 
 drawing may be produced at a distance. The methods of accom- 
 plishing this depend, like the other performances of electricity in 
 this application of it, on the alternate transmission and suspension 
 of the current, and on its decomposing power ; but as they are at 
 present more matters of curiosity than of practical utility, we 
 shall not detain the reader here with any more detailed notice 
 of them. 
 
 HOUSE'S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 218. This apparatus, which is in extensive use in the United 
 States, is an example of the class of printing telegraphs, that is,
 
 ELECTKIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 instruments which print in the ordinary letters the dispatch at 
 the station to which it is addressed, by means of a power worked 
 at the station from which it is transmitted. In a certain sense, 
 this is accomplished by the three forms of telegraph described in 
 (202, 203, and 204) ; but in these cases the dispatch is printed 
 or written in cipher, which is attended with the inconvenience of 
 being understood only by those who possess, and are sufficiently 
 familiar with the key. The process of deciphering it, and 
 writing it in common characters, occupying more or less 
 time, for some purposes, such for example as that of journalism, 
 this time must be taken into account in estimating the 
 practical celerity of communications, inasmuch as the dispatch 
 until so interpreted, is not available to the parties to whom it is 
 addressed. 
 
 A telegraph which instead of impressing on paper characters in 
 cipher, would impress the characters of common letter-press, even 
 though these should be transmitted and impressed at a slower rate 
 than that of the transmission of the characters in cipher, might 
 nevertheless be, in effect, more expeditious, more time being 
 saved by superseding the process of interpreting the cipher than 
 is lost by the relative slowness of the transmission. 
 
 It is evident that these observations, being general, are 
 applicable, not only to the instrument we are now about to des- 
 cribe, but to all others of the same class. 
 
 219. House's printing telegraph, like all other telegraphic 
 instruments, consists of two distinct parts, a commutating 
 apparatus to govern the transmission of the current, and a 
 printing apparatus upon which the current arriving from a 
 distant station operates. 
 
 The manner in which the transmission of the current is con- 
 trolled by the keys of the finger-board, is substantially the same 
 as in Froment's telegraph already described. The wheel, how- 
 ever, that produces by its revolution the pulsations of the current, 
 is moved, not as in Froment's by clock-work, but by the foot of the 
 operator, acting upon a treddle like that of a lathe which is seen 
 under the case of the commutator in the fig. 89 (p. 81). 
 
 The rotation of this wheel is arrested at the point corres- 
 ponding to any desired letter, by putting down with the finger 
 the key upon which that letter is engraved, in exactly the 
 same manner and by the same mechanical expedient as in 
 Froment's telegraph. 
 
 The keys, upon the key-board of this instrument, govern by 
 
 means of the pulsations of the current the motion and position of 
 
 a dial or wheel at a distant station, inscribed with similar 
 
 characters in the same manner as has been already explained in 
 
 6
 
 HOUSE S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 the case of the French railway telegraphs, and in that of the 
 telegraph explained in (201). 
 
 Let us then suppose that by putting down any key, that 
 inscribed with A for example at the station s, a certain dial or 
 wheel at s', having upon it letters corresponding with those of the 
 key-board at s, is so moved that the letter A is brought into a 
 certain position. The letters upon this wheel are formed in relief 
 like type, and when successively brought into the necessary 
 position by the action of the current, having previously passed in 
 contact with an inking apparatus, a band or ribbon of paper is 
 pressed against them by means provided at the station s', and the 
 impression of the letter is made upon the paper. By the next 
 action of the current, the succeeding letter transmitted is brought 
 to the same position, the ribbon of paper being meanwhile drawn 
 forward, another impression takes place, and so on. 
 
 The apparatus by which the ribbon of paper is moved, the type 
 inked, and the paper pressed against it is not worked by the 
 current. That process is effected by mechanism put in operation 
 by the agent at the station at which the dispatch is received. 
 
 In the figure, the ribbon of paper is represented at F, upon a 
 roller from which it is gradually drawn, as letter by letter the 
 words of the dispatch are impressed upon it. The black band 
 wnicL ^pears upon another roller is an endless strap by which 
 the types are inked. 
 
 \. In the mechanism as well of the transmitting as of the 
 r^eiving apparatus, there are many details showing much 
 ingenuity of contrivance, and resources of invention, which, 
 howWer, are too complicated to admit of any clear exposition 
 without numerous plans and sections, and which we must 
 ver. 
 
 The printing apparatus, at the station at which the dispatch is 
 received, is put in operation by the action upon the treddle, 
 in the same manner as in the transmitting apparatus at the other 
 
 The galvanic apparatus, which supplies the current for working 
 this apparatus, is the battery of Grove, described in (34). About 
 thirty cylindrical pairs are necessary for a distance of 100 
 miles. 
 
 The first line operating with this apparatus was established 
 between New York and Philadelphia in 1849.
 
 ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 MAGNETIC NEEDLE TELEGBAPIT. 
 
 220. The British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company, 
 retaining the needle indicators generally used in England, emplov 
 the magneto-electric in place of the voltaic current on many of 
 their lines, The instruments they have adopted are those which 
 
 Fig. 90. 
 
 were patented by Messrs. Henley and Forster, with some modifi- 
 cations. 
 
 This form of telegraph, enclosed in its case, is shown in fig. 91 
 (p. 97), and divested of its case in fig. 90. 
 
 The current is produced by electro-magets, whose poles are 
 moved in close proximity with those of strong compound per- 
 manent magnets. These latter are represented at A (fig. 90.) At 
 their poles a straight piece of soft iron is placed, by the inductive 
 influence of which the magnetism of the several bars composing 
 the compound magnet is collected and combined. The electro- 
 magnets are formed in the usual way, and are mounted on centres 
 on which they are turned by levers, which project from either 
 side of the case, so that the agent can work one with each hand. 
 
 "When these levers are pressed down, the electro-magnets are 
 reversed in the relation of their poles to those of the permanent 
 magnets, and momentary currents are transmitted on the con- 
 ducting wires, and when the levers are observed to rise to their 
 former position, momentary currents, are again transmitted, but 
 in a contrary direction. 
 
 This company have adopted an improved method of signalling 
 by sound, instead of by visual signals, introduced in 1854 by 
 Messrs. Bright. Dr. Noad, in his " Manual of Electricity," refers 
 to this improvement as follows : " Under the ordinary system of 
 telegraphing, it is necessary to employ a transcriber to write down 
 tie words as interpreted from the visual signals and dictated to 
 him by the receiving operator, whose eyes being fixed on. the 
 58
 
 BRIQHT'S AND BRETT'S TELEGRAPHS. 
 
 rapidly moving needles, could not be engaged in conjunction with 
 his hands ill writing. It was found that, owing to the frequent 
 occurrence of words of nearly similar sound, the transcriber some- 
 times unavoidably misunderstood the meaning of the receiving 
 operator, and altered the sense of the despatch by writing the 
 wrong word. Such words as two, too, to ; four, for ; hour, our ; 
 may for instance be very easily confounded." Besides the saving 
 in staff and in mistakes, any injury to the eyes of the clerks is 
 prevented, and an appeal is made to an organ far better capable 
 of endurance and accurate interpretation. 
 
 The acoustic apparatus used is very simple, consisting of a 
 hammer in connection with a lever which is acted upon by every 
 polarization of a set of electro-magnets by the local current, and 
 thereupon strikes a small bell. A pair of these bells are connected 
 to each wire ; one bell is struck upon the passage of the positive, 
 and the other of the negative current, the alphabet being readily 
 formed by the difference in their tone and the number of beats. 
 
 BRETT'S PRINTING TELEGRAPH. 
 
 221. Mr. Brett, who has obtained such well-merited celebrity 
 by his successful exertions in establishing electric communication 
 by submarine cables between the United Kingdom and the con- 
 tinents of Europe and Africa, took out, conjointly with Mr. House, 
 a patent for a printing telegraph, the original form of which is 
 represented in fig. 92 (p. 113). 
 
 The apparatus, like that of House's American telegraph, 
 already described, consists of a key-board, which is the transmit- 
 ting apparatus or commutator, and does not differ in any important 
 particular from that already described. The receiving and point- 
 ing apparatus is also very similar, and stands upon the key-board. 
 In front is an indicating dial, the hand upon which points succes- 
 sively to the letters printed upon the scroll of paper by the 
 apparatus behind the dial. The printing apparatus, with some 
 modifications, is similar to that of House. 
 
 CELERITY OP TRANSMISSION. 
 
 222. Although it be true that the signals made at any one tele- 
 graphic station are rendered instantaneously apparent at another, 
 no matter how distant, it must not therefore be inferred that the 
 transmission of messages by the telegraph is equally instan- 
 taneous. Not only is this not the case, but the celerity with 
 which messages are conveyed between station and station, so as to 
 be rendered practically available for the purposes of intercommu- 
 
 59
 
 ELECTKIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 nication, differs very much -when one form of telegraphic instru- 
 ment or one pair of operators is compared with another. 
 
 The profitable result of the operation of any telegraph is 
 evidently measured by the number of words which it is capable of 
 transmitting in such a shape as to be intelligible by the party to 
 whom the message is addressed, in a given time. This, which we 
 shall call the celerity of transmission, and which is quite distinct 
 from the velocity with which electric signals are conveyed from 
 station to station, is therefore a most important element in the 
 estimation of the value of any telegraphic apparatus. 
 
 223. This celerity of transmission depends upon a great number 
 of circumstances, several of which are independent of the tele- 
 graphic apparatus. The principal of these are : 
 
 1. The skill and agility of the transmitting agent. 
 
 2. The quickness of eye, activity and attention of the receiving 
 agent. 
 
 3. The instrument used for transmission. 
 
 4. The instrument used for reception. 
 
 5. The distance to which the dispatch is transmitted. 
 
 6. The insulation more or less perfect of the line wires. 
 
 7. The weather. 
 
 With all and each of these conditions and qualities the celerity 
 with which the dispatches are received and rendered available at 
 their place of destination, varies, and with some of them this varia- 
 tion extends to very wide limits. 
 
 224. Different telegraphists have very different powers as to 
 celerity. These powers depend on practice as well as upon 
 natural ability and aptitude, and on manual dexterity. Not only 
 is it necessary to transmit the signals in quick succession, but to 
 do so with such distinctness that they shall be readily interpreted, 
 and such correctness as to render repetitions unnecessary. In 
 this respect telegraphists having equal practice differ one from 
 another as much as do clerks, some writing rapidly and legibly, 
 some rapidly but not legibly, some legibly but not rapidly, and 
 some neither rapidly nor legibly. The relative ability of tele- 
 graphists in this respect is partly mental and partly mechanical, 
 depending as much upon quickness of intelligence, attention, and 
 observation, as upon manual dexterity and address. 
 
 The great liability to delay, arising from the failure of the 
 transmitter to render himself understood by the receiver, is ren- 
 dered manifest by the fact that in all telegraphs conventional 
 signs are established for the words, "wait," "repeat," "not 
 understood," "understood," "proceed," and the like. "When 
 the transmitter is going on faster than the receiver can take down 
 the words or understand them, then the latter remits the sign to 
 60
 
 CELERITY OF TRANSMISSION. 
 
 " wait," and if this sign is several times repeated, the necessity of 
 proceeding slower is apparent. If the receiver mistakes a sen- 
 tence, word, or letter, he remits the sign to " repeat." At the 
 end of each sentence, he remits the sign " understood," and so on. 
 Now it will be easily conceived that this necessity for frequent 
 interchange of signs between the receiver and transmitter must 
 affect, in an important degree, the celerity of transmission, and 
 that its frequency must depend, not only on the abilities of the 
 telegraphic agents, but also on the character of the signs trans- 
 mitted by the instruments, according as they are more or less 
 obvious and unequivocal. 
 
 225. It is a remarkable and very curious circumstance, that, 
 independently of the mere celerity, clearness, and correctness 
 of transmission with certain telegraphic instruments each tele- 
 graphist has a manner and character, which is so peculiar 
 to himself, that persons receiving his dispatch at a distant 
 station, recognise his personality with as much certainty and 
 facility as they would recognise the handwriting of a corre- 
 spondent, or the voice and utterance of a friend or acquaintance, 
 whom they might hear speak in an adjacent room. The agents 
 habitually engaged at each of the telegraphic stations, in this 
 way, soon become acquainted with those of all the other stations 
 on the same line, so that, at the commencement of a dispatch, 
 they immediately know who is transmitting it. 
 
 While the aptitude of the transmitter is partly manual or 
 mechanical, that of the receiver of a dispatch is not at all so. In 
 some telegraphic instruments, as we have seen, the presence of a 
 receiving agent is unnecessary, the dispatch being written or 
 printed by the apparatus itself. In all instruments, however, which 
 merely exhibit arbitrary signals, expressing letters, numbers, 
 or words, the celerity must depend on the skill, aptitude, and 
 quickness of eye of the receiver, to catch and commit to paper the 
 succession of letters or words, as fast as the signals expressing 
 them are produced before him. 
 
 226. In general, it is much more easy to transmit rapidly than 
 to receive rapidly. The transmitter knows beforehand what 
 signs he is about to produce, while each of them comes upon the 
 receiver altogether unawares, and if, in the celerity of their suc- 
 cession, one or more of them escape his eye, he is obliged either to 
 guess at the missed letter or letters, which he can sometimes do 
 with all the requisite clearness and certainty, or he must arrest 
 the transmitter, which he does by giving the sign, "repeat," 
 and so delay arises. 
 
 In telegraphs which work by a series of visible signs, whether 
 they be deflections of the needle, as in the English instruments, 
 
 61
 
 ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 attitudes of the arms, as in the French State instruments, or poin- 
 ters directed to the letters or figures on a dial, as in the railway 
 instruments, the celerity of the transmission must be determined 
 by the power of the less able of the two agents, the transmitter 
 and receiver. If the transmitter be able to send the letters more 
 rapidly than the receiver can read and take them down, he must 
 moderate his pace to the limit determined by the power of his cor- 
 respondent. If the receiver be capable of reading and taking 
 down faster than the transmitter is able to send the letters, his 
 superior force is useless. He can only write the dispatch as fast 
 as he receives it. To send dispatches with the greatest advantage 
 of celerity, the agents yoked to corresponding instruments ought 
 to be selected of as nearly equal ability as possible, since the 
 slower of a pair necessarily neutralises the superior skill of his 
 fellow, and the dispatch would proceed with equal celerity if he 
 were yoked with a less able correspondent. 
 
 As quickness of hand is essential to the transmitter, quickness- 
 of eye is necessary to the receiver. 
 
 227. In all forms of telegraph which express the letters by 
 signals, such as the needle telegraph, and the French State tele- 
 graph, a certain pause is necessary between letter and letter, to 
 prevent the signals being confounded one with another. In the 
 single needle instrument, the letters being expressed by from one 
 to four deflections of the needle, and in the double needle, from 
 one to two, the mean time of each letter is that of two and a half 
 deflections in the one, and one and a half in the other, the intervals 
 between letter and letter being the same in both. Owing to the 
 slowness of transmission of the single needle instrument, it is 
 only used between secondary stations, where there is but little 
 business. It must, however, be remembered, in comparing the 
 relative celerity of different instruments, that the double needle 
 instrument, as well as the French State telegraph, is, in fact, two 
 independent telegraphs, having not only separate and independent 
 transmitting and indicating apparatus, with their respective 
 accessories, batteries, &c., but separate and independent conduct- 
 ing wires. It is, in effect, as if two equally powerful and inde- 
 pendent steam engines were united in the same work, in order to 
 obtain double power. 
 
 228. In 1850, Mr. "Walker made some calculations, with the 
 view to determine the average celerity of transmission at that 
 time with the double needle instrument in the hands of compe- 
 tent operators, and published the results in his work on electric 
 telegraph manipulation. Eleven messages were timed, all of 
 more than the usual length, the shortest consisting of 73 and the 
 longest of 364 words. The total number of words was 2638, and, 
 
 62
 
 CELERITY OF DOUBLE-NEEDLE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 consequently, their average length was 240 words. The total time 
 of transmission was 162 minutes, and, consequently, the average 
 number of words transmitted, per minute, was 16j. The greatest 
 speed of transmission was 20J, and the least 8 j words per minute. 
 As it might be considered probable that four or five years' general 
 experience and practice might have improved the ability of the 
 operators, I applied to the secretary of the Electric Telegraph Com- 
 pany, Mr. Foudrinier, requesting him to cause a sufficient number 
 of messages, transmitted in the ordinary course of business with 
 the double needle instrument, to be timed, which he was so obliging 
 as to do, in June, 1854, and the following were the results : 
 
 11 Messages. Number of words in the addresses . . 84 
 ,, ,, ,, messages . . . 160 
 
 Total number of -words transmitted . 244 
 
 Total time of transmission 689 seconds. 
 
 Average number of words transmitted per minute . . 21 j 
 
 It appears, therefore, that the average celerity of transmission 
 with this instrument has increased in the ratio of about 16 to 21. 
 
 The greatest celerity of transmission was, in this case, 24|, and 
 the least 16| words per minute. 
 
 229. The manner in which the magnetic electric current affects 
 the needle in the arrangement adopted by the Magnetic Telegraph 
 Company, being somewhat different from that produced in the com- 
 mon needle instruments, worked by the Electric Telegraph Company, 
 although the systems of telegraphic signals are not essentially dif- 
 ferent, it appeared to me to be not impossible that the difference 
 between the instruments might more or less affect the celerity of 
 transmission. I therefore requested Mr. Bright, the Secretary of 
 the Magnetic Company, to time a series of dispatches transmitted 
 in the ordinary course of business. This was accordingly done on 
 the 28th of June, 1854, and the following were the results : 
 
 74 Messages. Total number of words . . . 2792 
 
 Time of transmission . . . 102 8' 
 
 Average number of words per minute . . . 27 J 
 
 The greatest celerity of transmission attained in this series of 
 messages was 37 words per minute. 
 
 The entire series consisted of messages transmitted from London 
 to Liverpool, on a pair of double needle instruments, at different 
 times of the day, and were carefully tabulated. In the series, several 
 messages were included, the transmission of which was excep- 
 tionally slow, owing either to the difficult nature of the communi- 
 cations, consisting of long words in private cipher, or of the names 
 
 63
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 of foreign towns, or, in fine, from the inaccuracy or slowness of the 
 transmitting clerk m London. It would seem, therefore, that this 
 series of messages includes fair conditions for an average result. 
 
 It would, therefore, appear that the needle instruments worked 
 by the magneto-electric current used by this company are, ceteris 
 paribus, susceptible of greater celerity of transmission than the 
 instruments in which the needles are affected by the common 
 voltaic current, in the ratio of about 27 to 21, or 9 to 7. 
 
 One of the causes which has been assigned to this increased 
 efficiency, is the fact that the needles of the magnetic instruments 
 have a dead beat, while those of the voltaic instruments, in strik- 
 ing the stops, have a recoil, and vibrate two or three times before 
 they come to rest. Whether this be the real cause of the differ- 
 ence, further experience must prove, but it is difficult to imagine 
 that it can be due to any cause independent of the instruments, 
 seeing the large number of messages, from which the average has 
 been computed.
 
 Fig. ST. BAIN'S ELECTRO-CHEMICAL TELEGRAPH. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 230. Illustration of the efficiency of the needle instruments. 231. Rate 
 of transmission with the French state telegraphs. 232. With the 
 French railway telegraphs. 233. With the Morse telegraph. 234. 
 Discrepancy of reports. 235. Causes of its celerity. 236. "Rate with 
 Bain's telegraph. 237. Transmission of music. 238. Rate of 
 transmission with House's telegraph. 239. Distance sometimes affects 
 celerity. 240. Examples of distant transmissions in U. S. 241. 
 Advantages of uniform organisation. 242. Uses of the electric tele- 
 graph. 243. Subject of dispatches. 244. Effect of the tariff. 
 245. Uses of the telegraph in railway business. 246. Portable 
 railway telegraph. 247. Practical uses on railways. 248. Its econo- 
 mical advantages. 
 
 230. Mr. Walker, writing in 1850, gives the following illustra- 
 tion of the efficiency which has been attained in the working of the 
 needle system, and in the management generally of the telegraphic 
 business : 
 
 ' ' The rate at which newspaper dispatches are transmitted from 
 Dover to London, is a good illustration of the perfect state to 
 which the needle telegraph has attained, and of the apt manipu- 
 lation of the officers in charge. The mail, which leaves Pari::. 
 
 LARDNER'S MUSEUM OF SCIENCE. p Co 
 
 No. 47.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 about mid-day, conveys to England dispatches containing tho 
 latest news, which are intended to appear in the whole impression 
 of the morning paper. To this end, it is intended that a copy be 
 delivered to the editor in London about three o'clock in the morn- 
 ing. The dispatches are given in charge to us at Dover soon 
 after the arrival of the boat, which of course depends on the wind 
 and the weather. The officer on duty at Dover, having first hastily 
 glanced through the manuscript to see that all is clear to him and 
 legible, calls 'London' and commences the transmission. The nature 
 of these dispatches may be daily seen by reference to ' The 
 Times.' The miscellaneous character of the intelligence therein 
 contained, and the continual fresh names of persons and places, 
 make them a fair sample for illustrating the capabilities of the 
 electric telegraph as it now is. The clerk, who is all alone, 
 placing the paper before him in a good light, and seated at the 
 instrument, delivers the dispatch, letter by letter, and word by 
 word, to his correspondent in London ; and although the eye is 
 transferred rapidly from the manuscript copy to the telegraph 
 instrument, and both hands are occupied at the latter, he very 
 rarely has cause to pause in his progress, and as rarely also does 
 he commit an error. And, on account of the extremely limited 
 time within which the whole operation must be compressed, he is 
 not able, like the printer, to correct his copy. 
 
 "At London there are two clerks on duty, one to read the sig- 
 nals as they come, and the other to write. They have previously 
 arranged their books and papers : and, as soon as the signal for 
 preparation is given, the writer sits before his manifold book, and 
 the reader gives him distinctly word for word as it arrives ; mean- 
 while, a messenger has been dispatched for a cab, which now waits 
 in readiness. "When the dispatch is completed, the clerk who has 
 received it reads through the manuscript of the other, in order to 
 see that he has not misunderstood him in any word. The hours and 
 minutes of commencing and ending are noted, and the copy being 
 signed is sent under official seal to its destination, the manifold fac- 
 simile being retained as our office copy, to authenticate verbatim 
 what we have delivered. This copy and the original meet together 
 at the chief telegraph office at Tunbsidge, early in the day, and are 
 compared. When the work is over, and the dispatches have 
 reached their destination, the clerks count over the number of 
 words and the number of minutes, and find the rate per 
 minute." 
 
 Since the above was written, the submersion of telegraph cables 
 to the Continent has proved a more direct transit of news;. 
 
 231. The signals adopted to express the letters in the French 
 State telegraph being each made by a single motion of the arms, 
 GG
 
 CELEEITY OF MORSE'S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 they necessarily are produced with greater celerity than the 
 multiplied deflexions of the needle-instruments. Like the double 
 needle-instrument, the French telegraph is composed in fact of 
 two completely independent telegraphic instruments, with two 
 independent conducting wires, and its celerity of transmission is 
 due to their combined powers. 
 
 It is stated by the directors of the administration that the 
 average transmitting powers of these telegraphs is nearly 200 
 letters or signs per minute. 
 
 232. The alphabetical telegraphs, of which the French railway 
 telegraph may be taken as an example, are much slower in their 
 rate of transmission. M. Breguet, who has constructed those 
 worked in France, and superintended and directed their operation^ 
 says, that their average rate of transmission, when fairly worked, 
 is about 40 letters per minute. 
 
 233. The writing and printing telegraphs are independent of a 
 receiving agent, the receiving apparatus in all these being auto- 
 matic. Those who print the despatch in the common letter-press 
 characters have the further advantage of being wholly independent 
 of the skill of any agent to interpret or decipher them. 
 
 The celerity of transmission attainable with the Morse telegraph, 
 which of all the forms of telegraphic apparatus hitherto invented 
 is the most extensively used, is very considerable, but varies 
 perhaps still more than the needle-instruments, with the skill of 
 the telegraphist. 
 
 In this instrument, it will be remembered that the transmitting 
 agent plays upon a key-commutator, the letters being severally 
 expressed by repeated touches of the key succeeding each other, 
 after longer or shorter intervals. At the station receiving the 
 dispatch, the armature of the electro-magnet moves simultaneously 
 with the transmitting key, and at each of its motions towards the 
 magnet, it produces a distinctly audible click. The receiving 
 agent acquires by practice such expertness and quickness of ear, 
 that by listening to this clicking he is able to interpret the 
 dispatch, and to write it down or dictate it to a clerk without 
 using the apparatus for impressing it upon the paper ribbon. 
 
 Different telegraphists acquire this power of oral interpretation 
 of the dispatches with different degrees of facility and precision ; 
 but all are more or less masters of it. So much so, that in most 
 cases on the American lines, it is by the clicking of the magnet 
 that the messages are taken down, being afterwards corrected, if 
 necessary, by comparison with the indented paper ribbon. 
 
 The telegraphist is placed at a table, upon which the instrument 
 stands, having before him the paper upon, which the message is to 
 be written, and at his left a provision of blacklead pencils ready 
 r2 67
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 cut and pointed, usually half a dozen. When the transmission 
 of the message commences, the electro-magnet dictates it to him, 
 letter by letter, at the same time indenting it iipon the paper 
 ribbon. He writes it down, and, in general, it is delivered by 
 the magnet as fast as he can write it, availing himself of all 
 such abbreviations as are intelligible to those who may have to 
 read it. As the points of the pencils are successively worn he lays 
 them on the table at his right hand. A person engaged exclu- 
 sively in that process, visits his table from time to time, repoints 
 the pencils lying on his right, and replaces them on his left. This 
 person passes round the telegraph office, from table to table, keep- 
 ing up a constant supply of properly pointed pencils at the hand 
 of each telegraphist. 
 
 The most expert telegraphists are able to take down the mes- 
 sages in this manner by ear, without any reference to the ribbon, 
 and so correctly that there is no need of subsequent verification. 
 When the message is concluded, the sheet on which it is written is 
 handed to another clerk, who is provided with a stock of envelopes, 
 in one of which he encloses it ; and, writing the address upon it, 
 delivers it to a messenger, who forwards it to the party to whom 
 it is addressed. Meanwhile the paper ribbon, on which the 
 message has been indented in the telegraph ciphers, is cut off, 
 folded up, and preserved for reference. 
 
 It is only, however, the most expert class of telegraphists that 
 can operate in this way. Others, less able, are always obliged to 
 verify and correct what they have taken down, by comparison 
 with the indented ribbon, after the message has been concluded ; 
 while others less able still, cannot trust themselves to take down 
 by ear, and sit before the ribbon as it is discharged from the roller, 
 writing out the message from it by eye. 
 
 The salaries allowed to different agents vary according to the 
 skill they attain in these operations. One who acquires the power 
 of taking down rapidly and correctly by ear will receive twice the 
 amount allowed to him who can only take down by eye, the latter 
 being always much slower than the former. 
 
 It often happens that the power of interpreting easily and 
 correctly by ear is very important, ^as in the case in which the 
 mechanism of the instrument for moving and indenting the paper 
 may have been accidentally deranged and disabled, or in which 
 the office may be deficient in its supply of paper ribbon. 
 
 By the oral method of reception the entire receiving apparatus, 
 except the electro-magnet and its armature, is dispensed with. 
 
 If a mistake is committed by the transmitting agent, in conse- 
 quence of which a word or phrase is unintelligible, the receiving 
 agent intercepts the current, and signifies that the word is to
 
 CELERITY OF MORSES TELEGRAPH. 
 
 be repeated, and at the same time tears off the erroneous part of 
 the ribbon. This, however, is a circumstance of rare occurrence. 
 
 When a very long dispatch is transmitted, and arrives with 
 greater celerity than that with which an agent can transcribe it, 
 the ribbon may be divided, and two agents put to work at once at 
 its transcription. The reports of congress and public meetings 
 transmitted to the journals, afford examples of this. 
 
 These reports may be, by one operation, transmitted to all the 
 towns upon the same telegraphic line. 
 
 In some cases long dispatches, such as those addressed to the 
 journals, are expedited by two or more instruments on different 
 wires. The dispatch is, in this case, divided into two or more 
 parts, marked 1, 2, 3, or A, B, c, &c., and these parts are simul- 
 taneously transmitted to their destination, being reunited there 
 after their arrival. This expedient, however, can only be resorted 
 to where there are two or more line wires, which is a rare case in 
 the United States. 
 
 234. If the celerity of transmission of the Morse instrument be 
 compared with that of the English and French telegraphs, it must 
 not be forgotten that the latter require two wires, while the former 
 requires but one. In the transmission and reception of a dispatch 
 both, however, employ the same number of agents. 
 
 There is great discrepancy in the reported estimates of the 
 celerity of transmission of the Morse telegraphs, owing probably 
 to the varying skill of the telegraphists on whose performance 
 such, estimates have been based. 
 
 According to Mr. Turnbull, the average celerity of transmission 
 of this telegraph is from 135 to 150 letters per minute. 
 
 In a report made by Mr. O'Reilly, the director of one of the 
 most extensive of the New York Companies, it is stated that the 
 average rate of transmission is from 20 to 23 words per minute. 
 Since it is generally estimated that the average length of tele- 
 graphic words is five letters and a half, this would amount to 110 
 to 127 letters per minute. 
 
 Mr. O'Reilly adds, however, that a " higher rate of transmission 
 could be obtained, but as nearly all operators copy from their 
 instruments, and reduce the messages to ordinary writing as they 
 arrive, the rate of 20 to 23 words is considered rapid enough, as an 
 expert operator can indent his Morse characters faster than most 
 men can write the words they express with a pen or pencil." 
 
 "We may perhaps take 150 letters as a fair estimate of the rate 
 of transmission, and it follows therefore that this telegraph is more 
 rapid than the double needle-telegraph in the ratio of about 3 
 to 2, and since the latter employs two wires with their accessories, 
 while the former employs only one, it follows that the transmitting
 
 THE ELECTBIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 power of each wire with the Morse telegraph is three times as- 
 great as with the double needle instrument. 
 
 235. The causes of this greater celerity are twofold : first, the 
 greater celerity with which the ciphers are impressed upon the 
 ribbon of paper, compared with that with which the Aisible signals 
 are exhibited and succeed each other in the English and French 
 telegraphs ; and secondly, the removal of those delays of trans- 
 mission which arise from the want of attention or quickness of eye on 
 the part of the agent receiving the dispatch, rendering it necessary 
 to repeat words which have been missed or misunderstood. 
 
 In the American offices of the Morse lines, it is stated in the 
 published reports that ' ' there are a number of attendants, each 
 one of whom has his respective department ; they are divided into 
 ' copyists, book-keepers, battery-keepers, messengers, line inspec- 
 tors, and repairers.' The usual charge of transmission is 25 cts., 
 equal to a shilling, for ten words exclusive of the address and the 
 signature sent 100 miles : the messages vary in price from 10 cts., 
 or 5d., to 100 dols., or 20. The amount of business which a 
 well-conducted office can perform, and the net proceeds arising 
 therefrom, may well excite surprise ; a single office in that country, 
 with two wires, one 500, the other 200 miles in length, after 
 spending three hours in the transmission of public news, tele- 
 graphed, in a single day, 450 private messages, averaging 25 
 words each, besides the address and signature, sixty of which 
 were eent in rotation, without a word of repetition." 
 
 236. All that has been said above relating to Morse's telegraph 
 may mutatis mutandis'be applied to other telegraphic instruments, 
 which write in cipher the dispatches by self-acting machinery,, 
 such as those described in 191, 192, and 193. 
 
 "When dispatches are transmitted by means of a key-commu- 
 tator, with Bain's telegraph, the operation being precisely similar 
 to that of Morse, the celerity of transmission by operators of equal 
 skill ought to be the same. Nevertheless, as these instruments of 
 Bain's, with some modifications, are at present used on certain 
 lines by the Electric Telegraph Company, Mr. Foudrinier has, 
 at my request, caused a series of messages to be timed, of which, 
 the following is the summary of the insults : 
 
 63 Messages. Total number of words in the addresses . 456 
 ,, ,, ,, messages . . 991 
 
 Total number of words transmitted . 1447 
 
 Total time of transmission 4454 seconds. 
 
 Average number of words transmitted per minute . .194 
 
 It appears, therefore, that as this telegraph is worked in 
 70
 
 CELERITY OF BAIN'S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 England, its rate of transmission is slower than the double needle 
 telegraph. 
 
 The advantage which attends its use is that it writes the 
 dispatch in cipher, which is preserved in the telegraphic office, so 
 that the labour of a clerk to copy the dispatch for reference is saved. 
 
 It would follow from the comparison of this result with the 
 reports of the American telegraph, that the operators with Bain's 
 system in England arc not as expert as those of Morse's in 
 America. But when the method of transmitting by a pre- 
 viously-prepared perforated ribbon, described in 194, is resorted 
 to, the apparatus is rendered absolutely automatic, no agency 
 being required either in the transmission or reception, save that 
 required for the perforation of the transmitting ribbon, and the 
 interpretation and transcription of the dispatch delivered in the 
 telegraphic cipher. 
 
 Whatever may be thought of the practical difficulties which at 
 present obstruct the application of this method of rapid telegraphic 
 transmission, we cannot help thinking that it has before it a great 
 future, and that when, like the steam-engine as improved by 
 Watt, and the power-loom, it shall have had time to attain a 
 greater degree of practical perfection, and to surmount prejudice 
 and the opposing influence of counter-interests, it may be the 
 means of transferring, to the telegraph, a large part of that 
 business now done by the post-office. 
 
 237. It is an amusing fact, that music has actually been trans- 
 mitted in this way by means of its rhythm. The following is 
 related by an eye-witness of the experiment at New York : 
 
 " We were in the Hanover Street office when there was a pause 
 in business operations. Mr. W. Porter, of the office at Boston, 
 asked what tune we would have. We replied ' Yankee Doodle,' 
 and to our surprise he immediately complied with our request. 
 The instrument commenced drumming the notes of the tune as 
 perfectly and distinctly as a skilful drummer could have made 
 them at the head of a regiment ; and many will be astonished to 
 hear that ' Yankee Doodle ' can travel by lightning. We then 
 asked for ' Hail, Columbia ! ' when the notes of that national air were 
 distinctly beat off 1 . We then asked for ' Auld lang syne,' which was 
 given, and ' Old Dan Tucker,' when Mr. Porter also sent that tune, 
 and, if possible, in a more perfect manner than the others. So 
 perfectly and distinctly were the sounds of the tunes transmitted, 
 that good instrumental performers could have had no difficulty in 
 keeping time with the instruments at this end of the wires." * 
 
 That a pianist in London should execute a fantasia at Paris, 
 
 * Chambers's Papers for the People, vol. ix. No. 71.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Brussels, Berlin, and Vienna, at the same moment and with the 
 same spirit, expression, and precision as if the instruments, at 
 these distant places, were under his fingers, is not only within 
 the limits of practicability, but really presents no other difficulty 
 than may arise from the expense of the performances. From what 
 has been just stated, it is clear that the time of music has been 
 already transmitted, and the production of the sounds does not 
 offer any more difficulty than the printing of the letters of a 
 dispatch. 
 
 238. A great celerity of transmission is claimed for the printing 
 telegraph of House, so great, that if the claim be well founded, it 
 is a matter of surprise that it has not superseded the Morse tele- 
 graph in the United States, where competition is so sharp and 
 action so free. According to Mr. Turnbull, who ought to be con- 
 sidered an impartial assessor, at least between inventors who are 
 both American, the ordinary rate of transmission of the improved 
 House instrument is from 30 to 35 words, printed in full, per 
 minute, which would be from 165 to 200 letters. He adds, that 
 business-messages are sent at the rate of 200 to 250 letters per 
 minute, and that in one case 365 letters, transmitted from 
 Xcw York, have been printed at Utica, distant 240 miles, in 
 one minute. 
 
 In a written estimate supplied by the directors of the House lines 
 to Mr. Jones,* it is also stated that, accidents apart, the average 
 number of words transmitted on a single wire per minute and 
 printed in full by the telegraph at their place of destination, is 
 from thirty to thirty-five ; but when as in newspapers abbrevia- 
 tions are allowed, the rate is fifty. It is stated for example that 
 the proceedings of the democratic state convention in the autumn of 
 1850, containing 7000 words, were transmitted from Syracuse to 
 Buffalo in two hours and ten minutes, being at the rate of 54 
 words per minute. It is evident that in this telegraph, like 
 others, much depends on the ability of the telegraphist, for it is 
 stated that one telegraphist on the line has transmitted 365 letters 
 in a minute, being at the rate of six per second. 
 
 When it is considered that this telegraph delivers its messages 
 printed in the ordinary Roman characters, while all the others 
 in practical operation deliver them either in visible signs or written 
 ciphers, which must be interpreted and taken down in ordinary 
 writing before they can serve any useful purpose, the vast 
 superiority of this system of House must be conspicuously 
 manifest, supposing of course that the reports and estimates above 
 produced are verified by the actual performance of the instrument. 
 
 * Jones. Elec. Tel., New York, 1852, p. 112. 
 72
 
 CELERITY OF HOUSE'S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 239. Although the distance to which the dispatch has to bo 
 sent cannot be said directly to affect the celerity of transmission, 
 there are circumstances nevertheless which in practice render the 
 transmission to great, slower than to lesser distances. In Europe, 
 for example, stations separated by great distances, are generally 
 in different countries, and the telegraphic line which connects 
 them often passes through several different states in which 
 different telegraphic systems are used, and where it is not practi- 
 cable to put the wires proceeding from one direction in immediate 
 connection with those which proceed in another. In such cases 
 the messages which arrive must be taken down and retransmitted 
 in the direction in which they are intended to be forwarded, and 
 on this account alone, the time of transmission is augmented, at 
 least in the ratio of the number of such repetitions which are 
 necessary. But besides this, it rarely happens that a message 
 on arriving at such intermediate station can be at once for- 
 warded. It must wait its turn unless the wires happen to be 
 unoccupied. 
 
 And even though it may be practicable to establish a direct 
 communication between two distant stations by putting the wires 
 in immediate connection, more or less delay must necessarily take 
 place. The telegraphist who transmits, must first send a message 
 along the line to all the intermediate stations to require the wires 
 to be united for direct communication. At these intermediate 
 stations, the wires may be employed, and the message must wait 
 until they are free. 
 
 Thus, although it be true that so far as the electric fluid and the 
 apparatus by which it is transmitted are concerned, they are 
 capable of sending a message from pole to pole in an inappreciable 
 interval, yet the machinery of telegraphy as practically constructed 
 presents causes of delay which prevent in many cases this vast 
 celerity from being called into action. 
 
 Until very recently, a message transmitted from Milan to Paris, 
 being necessarily sent round by Trieste, Vienna, Berlin, and Brussels, 
 was more than twenty-four hours in reaching its destination. 
 
 Besides these causes of delay, there are, however, others. It 
 has been stated that the intensity of the current is diminished, 
 ceteris paribus, as the distance is augmented. When transmission 
 therefore to great distances is required, various expedients, at 
 intermediate stations, such as relay batteries or relay magnets, or 
 both, are required, and notice must be given to apply these even 
 when they are provided. 
 
 The chances of interruption by reason 01 defective insulation or 
 accidents to the wires, arc also increased in proportion to the 
 distance. 
 
 73
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 240. As may be naturally expected, the most frequent examples 
 of direct telegraphic communication to great distances are supplied 
 by the United States. 
 
 On the lines of the O'Reilly Company of New York,* messages 
 are daily transmitted without any intermediate repetition to a 
 distance of 1100 miles, that is from New York to Louisville in. 
 Kentucky. 
 
 "To do this, it is found necessary to place two batteries in the 
 circuit at a distance of 400 miles apart, for the purpose of renewing 
 the electric current, part of which escapes from defective insula- 
 tion and atmospheric causes. There is no doubt but that, in 
 a more advanced stage of telegraphing which may be but a 
 short time hence New Orleans and New York will be placed in 
 instantaneous communication with each other. To enable this to 
 take place, requires, in the first place, a line substantially built 
 and thoroughly insulated. It may be remarked, that it is but 
 two years since, when to telegraph 300 miles on a single or 
 unbroken circuit, was considered a feat ; now, from improvements 
 made since then in telegraphs, we can send over 1100 miles 
 easier than we could 300 at that time. In our Cincinnati office, 
 two years ago, and until very lately, they used a separate battery 
 for each line. From a series of experiments made, one single 
 battery, of no greater strength than those formerly used, now 
 works eight distinct and separate lines, with no apparent diminu- 
 tion of strength, and at a great saving of expense to the 
 office." t 
 
 A report of the directors of the New York Bain lines states 
 that messages are transmitted by them, without being rewritten, 
 from New York to Buffalo, a distance of 500 miles. This is done 
 without any intermediate relay batteries or magnets. 
 
 The directors of the Morse lines at New York report that their 
 telegraph messages have in some cases been actually transmitted 
 without intermediate repetition to a distance of 1500 miles. 
 
 241. The promptitude with which dispatches are expedited, anil 
 the celerity with which they are transmitted, will be greatly 
 promoted in all cases by an uniform system and organisation 
 being established upon the lines over which they are transmitted. 
 No greater cause of delay can exist han that which arises 
 from diversity of telegraphic instruments and language. Much 
 
 * The American Telegraph Companies are subject to such constant 
 changes, that it may be necessary to state here, once for all, that the 
 names and denominations to which we refer are those which were current 
 in 1853-4, but which may be changed before these sheets come into the 
 hands of the reader. 
 
 t Report of Mr. O'Reilly. Jones's El. Tel., p. 101. 
 74
 
 CELERITY OF AMERICAN LINES. 
 
 inconvenience, expense, and delay also arise even in cases where 
 similar instruments and ciphers are used, from a want of 
 uniformity in the various parts of the apparatus, and in the 
 systems of abridgments which arc adopted in the language. 
 Whero tho instruments and the parts of apparatus have heen 
 constructed of varying patterns and sizes, they cannot be readily 
 replaced in cases of wearing out or accidental fracture. By the 
 adoption of one uniform size and pattern, depots of all the parts 
 may bo provided, from which any station which may be stopped 
 by an accident can be immediately supplied with the part or parts 
 which require to be replaced. Another advantage incidental to 
 such uniformity is greater economy in the maintenance of the 
 apparatus and lines. 
 
 Impressed with these considerations, a large majority of the 
 American telegraph companies have formed themselves into a con- 
 federation, which meets annually at Washington, and which is 
 permanently represented there by a permanent committee and. 
 secretary. 
 
 This body has published reports containing many important and 
 interesting statistical facts, and has adopted measures with a view 
 to the establishment of a central depot for the supply of all articles 
 necessary for the maintenance of the lines and stations, of good 
 quality and at fair prices. The secretary of the convention, Mr. J. 
 P. Shaffner, has commenced the publication of a monthly periodical 
 devoted to subjects directly and indirectly connected with electric 
 telegraphs ; and as not less than nine -tenths of all the American, 
 lines, as well as those of contiguous states, are worked with 
 Morse's instrument, it is proposed to reduce it as speedily as pos- 
 sible to one uniform pattern, so that its parts, as well as those of 
 the batteries, may be always ready to be supplied in cases of failure 
 or breakage, the like parts fitting indifferently all instruments and 
 all apparatus. 
 
 The batteries invariably used by the American telegraphs are 
 those of Grove, each element of which consists of a cup of unglazed 
 earthenware, placed in a glass tumbler of equal height and greater 
 diameter. A zinc cylinder is let down between the glass and the 
 earthenware cup, and a platinum cylinder is let down into the 
 earthenware cup. The space between the cups is then filled with 
 acidulated water, and the earthenware cup is filled with pure 
 nitric acid. 
 
 Such being the batteries, the articles of consumption in the 
 working of the telegraphs are enumerated as follows by the 
 secretary of the convention: Nitric and sulphuric acids, zinc, 
 quicksilver (for amalgamating the zinc, &c.), skeleton forms for 
 messages, ink, envelopes, pencils, and pens. 
 
 75
 
 ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 From statistical data collected by the secretary, it -was found 
 that in 1853 the annual consumption and cost of these materials 
 "was as follows : 
 
 . 
 
 Quantities. 
 
 Cost. 
 
 Nitric acid .... 
 
 199680 Ib. 
 
 1105 
 
 Sulphuric acid 
 
 50000 Ib. 
 
 500 
 
 Zinc cylinders 
 
 16500 Ib. 
 
 400 
 
 Mercury .... 
 
 3000 Ib. 
 
 600 
 
 Forms for messages 
 Envelopes .... 
 
 10,000000 
 6,000000 
 
 5000 
 2680 
 
 Pens 
 
 576000 
 
 720 
 
 Pencils .... 
 
 50000 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 
 These returns, including only the results of the lines worked 
 by the Morse instruments, about nine-tenths of the whole, 
 would require to be increased by a ninth to obtain the total 
 consumption. 
 
 THE TJSES OF THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 242. To form an estimate of the uses to which the electric 
 telegraph subserves, it would be necessary to obtain a report 
 of the subjects of the messages classified, with the relative 
 number of each class, which are transmitted from and received 
 by the chief telegraphic stations. Although we have not been 
 able to procure to any great extent such data, some notion may 
 be collected as to the way in which this new social, commercial, 
 and political agent is employed, from such scattered state- 
 ments and notices as we have been enabled to collect from various 
 sources. 
 
 It appears that the prevailing subjects of the dispatches 
 vary according to the station from or to which they are 
 sent. Thus, as might naturally be expected, in large com- 
 mercial marts, such as Liverpool and Glasgow, they are chiefly 
 engrossed by messages of mercantile firtns and business. Their 
 prevailing subjects also vary much with the season of the 
 year. Thus, in summer, the messages of tradesmen are greatly 
 multiplied in consequence of the number transmitted by 
 dealers in perishable articles, such as fish, fruit, &c., which 
 must be supplied in regulated quantities with the greatest 
 promptitude. 
 
 "We have obtained from the manager of the British and 
 Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company the following classification of
 
 USES OF THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 nearly 5000 dispatches which passed through the Liverpool office 
 in the early part of the 1854, 
 
 General merchants 
 
 Stock and share transactions 
 
 Ship insurers, brokers, &c. 
 
 Banking messages 
 
 Corn dealers . 
 
 Betting .... 
 
 Personal and domestic 
 
 General brokers 
 
 Tradesmen 
 
 Cotton brokers, &c. 
 
 Law .... 
 
 Political 
 
 1954 
 
 1441 
 
 339 
 
 315 
 
 272 
 
 233 
 
 201 
 
 117 
 
 50 
 
 34 
 
 31 
 
 4993 
 
 243. Mr. "Walker gives the following list of the subjects of 
 dispatches sent through the office of the Electric Telegraph 
 Company, as a specimen of the uses which the public make of this- 
 mode of communication. 
 
 Accidents 
 
 Customs 
 
 Markets 
 
 Post-horses, &c. 
 
 Announcements 
 
 Deaths 
 
 Medical aid 
 
 Reporters 
 
 Appointments 
 
 Departures 
 
 Meteorology 
 
 Remittances 
 
 Arrivals 
 
 Dispatches 
 
 Missing trains 
 
 Respite 
 
 Arrests 
 
 Elections 
 
 Murders 
 
 Robberies 
 
 Bankers 
 
 Elopements 
 
 News 
 
 Royal movements 
 
 Beds 
 
 Expresses 
 
 Nurses 
 
 Sentences 
 
 Bills 
 
 Funds and Shares 
 
 Orders 
 
 Shipping news 
 
 Births 
 
 Government 
 
 Passengers 
 
 Ship-stores 
 
 Commotions 
 
 Health 
 
 Payments 
 
 Turf 
 
 Counsel 
 
 Hotels 
 
 Police 
 
 Witnesses 
 
 Couriers 
 
 Judgments 
 
 Political 
 
 Wrecks 
 
 Corps 
 
 Lost luggage 
 
 
 
 It is obvious that the uses, whether personal or commercial, of 
 the telegraph, are restricted by the tariff, and by the necessity of 
 disclosing the contents of the dispatches to the telegraph agents. 
 In England, the latter obstacle may in some cases be surmounted 
 by the use of a cipher. The cipher must, however, always consist 
 of a transposition of the letters, since the telegraphic signs only 
 express letters, and besides this, it can never be used on sudden 
 emergencies, inasmuch as it supposes a previous concert between 
 the corresponding parties. 
 
 244. The obstacle to the extension of the uses of the telegraph, 
 created by the tariff, has been of late greatly lessened by the 
 considerable reduction of the prices of transmission, and it may be 
 hoped that ere long the companies and the public will discover 
 that the interest of the one and the convenience of the other will 
 
 77
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 be best promoted by a still further reduction of price, and a still 
 larger use of this mode of intercommunication. 
 
 It is probable and desirable that something approaching to the 
 uniform postage system may eventually be realised in the tele- 
 graph. The British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company 
 are now trying the effects of a 6d. charge for short distance 
 messages on their line between Dublin and Kingstown ; and the 
 London District Telegraph Company charge 4c?. per message 
 between the offices they have opened this year in conjunction with 
 the Magnetic Company in London and the suburbs. 
 
 245. In the management of railway business iu all countries, 
 but more especially upon our own ever crowded and over- worked 
 lines, the telegraph has become an indispensable accessory, without 
 which this mode of locomotion would be deprived not only of its 
 efficiency but its safety. Consequently the railways in most 
 countries have been provided with lines of ielegraph expressly and 
 exclusively for their own use, independently of those which are 
 appropriated to the public service ; and on the continent such 
 telegraphs are usually alphabetic, that is, such as convey their 
 messages by pointers, which are successively directed to the letters 
 of the words, so that any of the railway officials who can read, 
 may be able to interpret a message which arrives, or to transmit 
 one to a distant stafion. 
 
 To illustrate the vast utility of the telegraph to the railway, 
 Mr. Walker states that on the lines of the South Eastern Company, 
 in the space of three months, upwards of 4000 messages have been 
 occasionally transmitted, being at the average rate of nearly 50 per 
 day. He gives the following as a rough classification of their 
 subjects 
 
 Messages. 
 
 1. Concerning ordinary trains 1468 
 
 2. Special trains 429 
 
 Carriages, trucks, goods, sheets, *&c. 795 
 Company's servants .... 607 
 
 Engines 150 
 
 Miscellaneous matters . . .162 
 Messages forwarded to other stations . 499 
 
 Total', . . . '4110 
 
 246. It has been already stated that portable telegraphs arc pro- 
 vided in some parts of the continent, and in France in particular, 
 with which the conductors are provided. Such telegraphs have 
 also been contrived in this country, but we are not aware of their 
 practical adoption. By these the conductor of a train can, whenever 
 the train is stopped between stations, whether from accident or other 
 78
 
 USES OP THE TELEGRAPH TO RAILWAYS. 
 
 cause, give immediate notice to the preceding and succeeding sta- 
 tions, so as to prevent a collision by a following train overtaking 
 that which is accidentally stopped, or if necessary he can call for an 
 engine to carry on the train, or any other aid that may be required. 
 
 247. Notices of the passing, starting, and arrival of trains are 
 however transmitted from station to station, quite independent of 
 any accidents that may arise, so that all the station-masters, so 
 far as relates to the movement upon the line, are endowed with a 
 sort of omnipresence ; so conscious are they of the possession of 
 this power and its value, that their language is that of persons 
 who actually sec what is going on at vast distances from them. 
 Thus, as Mr. Walker observes, they are in the common habit of 
 saying " I just saw the train pass such or such a station," fifty 
 miles distant perhaps, when in reality all he saw was the deflec- 
 tion of the needle of their telegraph. 
 
 " If trains are late, the cause is known ; if they are in distress, 
 help is soon at hand : if they are heavy, and progress but slowly, 
 they ask and have more locomotive power either sent to them 
 or prepared against their arrival ; if thei ,> is anything unusual on 
 the line they are forewarned of it, and so forearmed ; if overdue, 
 the old plan of sending an engine to look after them has become 
 obsolete a few deflections of the needle obtain all the information 
 that is required." * 
 
 The utility of special trains is well known. News of the utmost 
 importance, or a government courier bearing dispatches of the 
 greatest urgency arrives at one of our ports and demands a train 
 instantly to convey him to London. Now in such cases it does 
 not often happen that a disposable engine is found at the station 
 where the demand is presented ; but the telegraph sends a dis- 
 patch along the line, calling one from the nearest station at 
 which one can be found, and when the engine has been 
 obtained the special cannot start with safety unless the line is 
 cleared for it. 
 
 The telegraph again interposes its aid, and sends a notice along 
 the line of the moment of starting, from which, combined with 
 the known speed of the train, the exact moment when it will pass 
 every station upon the line is known, and of course the line is 
 cleared for it, and all danger of collision removed. How frequent 
 are the occasions for appealing to the telegraph for this aid 
 without which special trains would not only be less rapid, but 
 infinitely less safe, as well for themselves as others, may be seen 
 by reference to the analysis of dispatches we have given above, 
 from which it appears that in three months, upon the South- 
 
 * Telegraph Manipulation, p. 84.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Eastern lines, there were not less than 429 messages respecting 
 special trains, that is at the rate of about five per day. 
 
 248. In the general management of the traffic upon an active 
 line of railway, an incalculable amount of capital and current 
 expenditure is saved by the telegraph. Without it rolling stock 
 would require to be provided in much greater quantity, and a far 
 greater unprofitable wear and tear by useless trips, of what in 
 railway language are called "empties," would take place. By 
 the telegraph, as we have stated, each station-master is ubiquitous 
 so far as the line is concerned. He knows where carriages, 
 waggons, trucks, sheets, and engines are to be found, and how 
 many of them, and he calls by the telegraph so many, and no 
 more than he wants, and at the time he wants them, from the 
 nearest or most convenient station where they are to be obtained. 
 
 Before the establishment of the telegraph, some of these objects 
 were imperfectly attained by means of pilot engines, that is engines 
 taking no vehicle, which habitually run along the line to carry 
 messages from station to station. As an evidence of the immense 
 saving effected by the telegraph in the practical working of rail- 
 ways, Mr. "Walker states, that the cost of maintaining and working 
 a single one of those pilot engines, (all of which have been super- 
 seded by the telegraph,) amounted to a greater sum than is now 
 required to defray the expense of the entire staff of telegraph 
 clerks, and the mechanics and labourers employed in cleaning and 
 repairing the instruments and maintaining the integrity of the 
 line wires.
 
 Fig. 89 HOUSE'S TELEGRAPH. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 249. Prevention of accidents. 250. Its uses in the detection of crime. 
 251. Personal and domestic messages. 252. Electric news-rooms. 
 253. Telegraph extensively used in the United States. 254. Much 
 used for commerce. 255. Sums paid for telegraphic despatches by 
 mercantile firms. 256. Extensively used by American newspapers. 
 257. Illustration of the utility for political purposes. 258. Illustra- 
 tions of its domestic and general use. 259. Secrecy of despatches not 
 generally sought for. 260. Verbal ciphers of mercantile firms 261. 
 Ciphers for newspaper reports. 262. Association of New York 
 journals. 263. Spirited enterprise of New York "Herald." 264. 
 Use of electric telegraph in determining longitudes. 265. In pro- 
 ducing horological uniformity. 
 
 249. AMOXG the serious railway accidents which might have 
 heen, or actually were prevented hy the telegraph, the following 
 have been mentioned : 
 
 In a storm, the wind hlew a first-class railway carriage, which 
 LARDNER'S MUSEUM OF SCIEKCE. o 81 
 
 No. 49.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 stood in an open shed at a second-class station, and putting 
 it in motion upon a very level line, sent it flying with accele- 
 rated speed to the terminal station. No telegraph at that time 
 existed to warn cither the intermediate or terminal stations of 
 the event and the approaching danger. The vehicle was 
 actually blown over twenty-one miles of railway,' but the trip 
 it thus took occurring fortunately at an hour of the night when 
 little business was going on, it came to rest without any cala- 
 mitous result. 
 
 Mr. Walker mentions the following : 
 
 " On New Year's Day, 1850, a catastrophe, which it is fearful to 
 contemplate, was averted by the aid of the telegraph. A collision 
 had occurred to an empty train at Gravesend ; and the driver 
 having leaped from his engine, the latter started alone at full speed 
 to London. Notice was immediately given by telegraph to London 
 and other stations ; and while the line was kept clear, an engine 
 and other arrangements were prepared as a buttress to receive the 
 runaway. The superintendent of the railway also started down 
 the line on an engine ; and on passing the runaway, he reversed 
 his engine and had it transferred at the next crossing to the up- 
 line, so as to be in the rear of the fugitive ; he then started in 
 chase, and on overtaking the other, he ran into it at speed, and 
 the driver of his engine took possession of the fugitive, and all 
 danger was at an end. Twelve stations were passed in safety : it 
 passed "Woolwich at fifteen miles an hour : it was within a couple 
 of miles of London before it was arrested. Had its approach been 
 unknown, the mere money value of the damage it would have 
 caused might have equalled the cost of the whole line of 
 telegraphs. They have thus paid, or in a large part paid, for 
 their erection. 
 
 " As a contrast to this, an engine, some months previously, 
 started from New Cross toward London. The Brighton Com- 
 pany have no telegraphs ; and its approach could not be 
 made known. Providentially, the arrival platform was clear; 
 it ran in, carrying the fixed buffer before it, and knocked 
 down, with frightful violence, the wall of the parcels 
 office." 
 
 250. Among the general uses of ^the telegraph to the public, 
 many examples of the detection of crime are mentioned. It is 
 generally known that the notorious Tawell, after the commission 
 of the murder, started for London from Slough, by the Great 
 Western Railway. Notice of the crime, and a description of his 
 person, however, flew with the speed of light along the wires 
 and arrived at Paddington so much earlier than the mur- 
 derer himself, that upon his arrival he was recognised, tracked
 
 USES OF THE TELEGRAPH.. 
 
 from place to place, finally apprehended, tried, convicted, and 
 executed. 
 
 One night at ten o'clock, the chief cashier of the bank received 
 a notice from Liverpool, by electric telegraph, to stop certain 
 notes. The next morning the descriptions were placed upon a 
 card and given to the proper officer, to watch that no person 
 exchanged them for gold. Within ten minutes they were pre- 
 sented at the counter by an apparent foreigner, who pretended not 
 to speak a word of English. A clerk in the office who spoke 
 German interrogated him, when he declared that he had received 
 them on the Exchange at Antwerp six weeks before. Upon 
 reference to the books, however, it appeared that the notes had 
 only been issued from the bank about fourteen days, and therefore 
 he was at once detected as the utterer of a falsehood. The terrible 
 Forrester was sent for, who forthwith locked him up, and the 
 notes were detained. A letter was at once written to Liverpool, 
 and the real owner of the notes came up to town on Monday 
 morning. He stated that he was about to sail for America, and 
 that whilst at an hotel he had exhibited the notes. The person 
 in custody advised him to stow the valuables in his portmanteau, 
 as Liverpool was a very dangerous place for a man to walk about 
 with so much money in his pocket. The owner of the property 
 had no sooner left the house than his adviser broke open the 
 portmanteau and stole the property. The thief was taken to the 
 Mansion- House, and could not make any defence. The sessions were 
 then going on at the Old Bailey. Though no one who attends that 
 court can doubt that impartial justice and leniency are adminis- 
 tered to the prisoners, yet there is no one who does not marvel at 
 the truly railway-speed with which the trials are conducted. By 
 a little after ten the next morning such was the speed not only 
 was a true bill found, but the trial by petty-jury was concluded, 
 and the thief sentenced to expiate his offence by ten years' exile 
 from his native country. 
 
 I take the following illustration of this from a recent article on 
 the subject which appeared in the " Quarterly Review." 
 
 The following is extracted from the telegraph book preserved 
 at the Paddington station : 
 
 "Paddington, 10.20A.M. ' Mail train just started. It contains 
 three thieves, named Sparrow, Burrell, and Spurgeon, in the first 
 compartment of the fourth first-class carriage.' 
 
 "Slough, 10.48A.M. < Mail train arrived. The officers have 
 cautioned the three thieves. 1 
 
 " Paddington, 10.50 A.M. ' Special train just left. It contained 
 two thieves: one named Oliver Martin, who is dressed in black, 
 crape on his hat ; the other named Fiddler Dick, in black trousers 
 a 2 83
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 and light blouse. Both in the third compartment of the first 
 second-class carriage." 
 
 " Slough, 11.16 A.M. ' Special train arrived. Officers have 
 taken the two thieves into custody, a lady having lost her 
 bag, containing a purse with two sovereigns and some silver 
 in it; one of the sovereigns was sworn to by the lady as 
 having been her property. It was found in Fiddler Dick's 
 watch-fob.' 
 
 " It appears that, on the arrival of the train, a policeman opened 
 the door of the ' third compartment of the first second-class 
 carriage,' and asked the passengers if they had missed anything ? 
 A search in pockets and bags accordingly ensued, until one lady 
 called out that her purse was gone. ' Fiddler Dick, you are 
 wanted,' was the immediate demand of the police-officer beckoning 
 to the culprit, who came out of the carriage thunderstruck at 
 the discovery, and gave himself up, together with the booty, 
 with the air of a completely beaten man. The effect of the 
 capture so cleverly brought about is thus spoken of in the telegraph 
 book : 
 
 "Slough, 11.51 A.M. 'Several of the suspected persons who 
 came by the various down-trains are lurking about Slough, 
 uttering bitter invectives against the telegraph. Not one of those 
 cautioned has ventured to proceed to the Montem.' 
 
 " Ever after this the light-fingered gentry avoided the 
 railway and the too intelligent companion that ran beside it, 
 and betook themselves again to the road a retrograde step, 
 to which on all great public occasions they continue to 
 adhere." * 
 
 251. One of the consequences of the high price of transmission 
 is that personal and domestic messages are most generally confined 
 to cases of urgency, and often of distress, painful or ludicrous, as 
 the case may be. Persons in easy circumstances, it is true, often 
 resort to the telegraph to gratify a caprice or to obtain some 
 object of gratification for which they are impatient. The mixture 
 of subjects which the agents in rapid succession read from the 
 needles, is most curious. " We have," says Mr. "Walker, " ordered 
 a turbot, and also a coffin ; a dinner, and a physician ; a monthly 
 nurse, and a shooting-jacket ; a special engine, and a chain-cable; 
 an officer's uniform, and some Wenham-lake ice ; a clergyman, 
 and a counsellor's wig ; a royal standard, and a hamper of wine ; 
 and so on. Passing over the black leather bag which some one 
 every day appears to leave in some train, passengers have recovered 
 luggage of most miscellaneous character by means of the telegraph. 
 
 * Quarterly Review, No. CLXXXIX., p. 129. 
 Si
 
 USES OF THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 In the trains have been left a pair of spectacles, and a pig ; an 
 umbrella, and LayarcTs Nineveh; a purse, and a barrel of oysters ; 
 a great-coat, and a baby ; and boxes and trunks, et id genus 
 omne, without number." 
 
 252. Independently of the direct use made of the electric 
 telegraph by the general public, for the transmission of 
 private despatches, the several companies have established, 
 in various principal places, news rooms, where intelligence is 
 from hour to hour posted, as it arrives from all parts of the 
 world. 
 
 The Electric Telegraph Company, soon after its establishment, 
 opened subscription news rooms in the chief towns of England, 
 especially those of the northern counties, in which intelligence of 
 every description which could interest the general public was 
 posted from hour to hour during the day, immediately on its 
 transmission from London. These establishments did not, 
 however, receive the necessary public support, and with one or 
 two exceptions they have been discontinued. Both the Electric 
 and Magnetic Companies have however, besides the private 
 message department, one for general intelligence, in which news 
 is condensed and transmitted to the exchanges of Liverpool, 
 Bristol, Manchester, Glasgow, and other chief provincial centres 
 of business. 
 
 On the evenings of Fridays, the London news is collected, con- 
 densed, and transmitted to the offices of upwards of 120 provincial 
 Saturday papers, which thus receive during the night before 
 their publication the most recent intelligence of every sort 
 received by telegraph from all parts of Europe besides the current 
 news of London to the latest moment. An example of the extra- 
 ordinary efficiency of this department is given in the case of one 
 of the Glasgow Saturday journals, which often receives as much as 
 three columns of the debates, transmitted while the Houses are 
 still sitting. A sxiperintendent and four clerks are exclusively 
 engaged in the business of this department, and in the latter days 
 of the week their office presents all the appearances of the editor's 
 room of a widely circulating journal. " At seven in the morning 
 the clerks are to be seen deep in 'The Times' and other daily 
 papers, just hot from the press, making extracts and condensing 
 into short paragraphs all the most important news, which are 
 immediately transmitted to the country papers to form second 
 editions. Neither does the work cease here, for no sooner is a 
 second edition published in London than its news, if of more than 
 ordinary interest, is transmitted to the provinces." Arrived at 
 the chief places in direct communication with London ' ' swifter 
 than a rocket could fly the distance, like a rocket it bursts and is 
 
 85
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 again carried by diverging (branch) -wires into a dozen neigh- 
 bouring towns " of less magnitude and importance.* 
 
 Besides this organisation for the general transmission of des- 
 patches from one quarter of the great metropolis to another, there 
 are some curious special arrangements made for the satisfaction of 
 the wants of particular classes. Thus a wire is exclusively appro- 
 priated to communications between the Octagon Hall of the 
 Houses of Parliament and the telegraphic station in St. James- 
 street, the centre of the "West-end clubs. This particular wire 
 should be called the " ' whipper-in ' of the House, for it is nothing 
 more than a call-wire for members. The company employ 
 reporters during the sitting of Parliament to make an abstract 
 from the gallery of the business of the two Houses as it proceeds, 
 and this abstract is forwarded at very short intervals to the office 
 in St. James' s-street, where it is set up and printed, additions 
 being made to the sheet issued as the MS. comes in. This flying 
 sheet is sent half-hourly to the following clubs and establish- 
 ments : Arthur's ; Carlton ; Oxford and Cambridge ; Brookes's ; 
 Conservative ; United Service ; Athenaeum ; Reform ; Travellers' ; 
 United University ; Union ; and White's. Hourly to Boodle's 
 Club and Prince's Club; and half-hourly to the Royal Italian 
 Opera. The shortest possible abstract is of course supplied, just 
 sufficient in fact to enable the after-dinner M.P. so to economise 
 his proceedings as to be able to finish his claret and yet be in time 
 for the ministerial statement, or to count in the division. The 
 following, for instance, is a fac-simile of the printed abstract of 
 the debate on the Address to her Majesty on the declaration 
 of war : 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY. 
 (INCORPORATED 1846.) 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, FRIDAY, MARCH SlST, 1854. 
 
 TIME. 
 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 4 
 430 
 440 
 
 5 
 530 
 
 House made. * . 
 Private business and Petitions. 
 Mr. Napier brought up report of Dungar- 
 van Election Committee : Maguire duly 
 elected, and attention called to state of 
 law upon the withdrawal of Petitions. 
 Notices. 
 Lord John Russell moving reply to message 
 \ of Her Majesty. 
 
 HOUSE OP LORDS. 
 Lord Aberdeen stated, in 
 reply to Lord Roden, 
 that it was intended to 
 appoint a day for solemn 
 prayer for a blessing on 
 Her Majesty's arms by 
 sea and land. 
 Earl of Clarendon moved 
 
 Quarterly Review, No. CLXXXIX., p. 138.
 
 USES OF THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 TIME. 
 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 H. M. 
 
 6 
 
 Stating various transactions and negotia- 
 
 the address in reply to 
 
 
 tions which have taken place with 
 
 the Queen's message. 
 
 
 Russia. 
 
 Earl of Derby : observa- 
 
 630 
 
 Mr. Layard approved of the sentiments 
 
 tions. 
 
 
 expressed. 
 
 (7-30). Earl of Aberdeen 
 
 7 
 
 Still speaking. 
 
 replied to Lord Derby. 
 
 730 
 
 Compared the language and opinions of 
 
 (7 ' 45). Earl of Malmes- 
 
 
 different Members of the Cabinet, and 
 
 bury regretted the tone 
 
 
 called attention to various articles in 
 
 taken by the Prime 
 
 
 the " Times," which he maintained to 
 
 Minister. 
 
 
 be written with a full knowledge of the 
 
 (8 ' 20). Earl Granville : 
 
 
 contents of the secret and confidential 
 
 observations. 
 
 
 correspondence. 
 
 Lord Brougham ditto. 
 
 8 
 
 Mr. Bright replied to Mr. Layard, adverse 
 
 Earl Grev ditto. 
 
 
 to policy of the Government. 
 
 (8-50). "Earl of Hard- 
 
 830 
 
 Still speaking. 
 
 wicke wished for a 
 
 9 
 
 Still speaking. 
 
 larger Naval Reserve. 
 
 930 
 
 Mr. J. Ball was prepared to support the 
 war, though not agreeing in the reasons 
 
 (8-55). Marquis of Lans- 
 downe said it was neces- 
 
 
 put forward to justify it. 
 
 sary to check Russia. 
 
 10 
 
 The Marquis of Granby expressed his 
 
 (9 5). Address agreed 
 
 
 regret at the language used by certain 
 
 to, to be presented on 
 
 
 members of the Government with re- 
 
 Monday. 
 
 
 spect to the Emperor of Russia, whose 
 
 LORDS ADJOURNED, 9 ' 25. 
 
 
 conduct regarding Turkey he vindicated. 
 
 
 
 Lord Dudley Stuart. 
 
 
 1030 
 
 Still speaking. 
 
 
 11 
 
 Lord Palmerston vindicating the policy of 
 
 
 
 the Government. 
 
 
 11 30 
 
 Mr. Disraeli supported the address, but 
 
 
 
 severely criticised the conduct of differ- 
 
 
 
 ent Members of the Cabinet. 
 
 
 12 
 
 Analysing the secret and confidential cor- 
 
 
 
 respondence to show that a plan for the 
 
 
 
 partition of Turkey was assented to by 
 
 
 
 the English Government in 1844, when 
 
 
 
 the Earl of Aberdeen was Secretary for 
 
 
 
 Foreign Affairs. 
 
 
 1230 
 
 Lord John Russell replying to Mr. Layard, 
 
 
 
 and the observations of other speakers. 
 
 
 1240 
 
 Colonel Sibthorp : observations. 
 
 
 
 The Address to Her Majesty agreed to ; 
 
 
 
 and on the motion of Lord John Russell, 
 
 
 
 and seconded by Mr. Disraeli, to be 
 
 
 
 presented by the whole House. 
 
 
 1 
 
 HOUSE ADJOURNED. 
 
 
 Saint James's Street Branch Station, No. 
 opposite Saint James's Palace. 
 
 at the End of Pall Mall, 
 87
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 " The wire to the Opera is a still more curious example of the 
 social services the new power is destined to perform. An abstract 
 of the proceedings of Parliament similar to the above, but in 
 writing, is posted during the performance in the Lobby, and 
 Young England has only to lounge out between the acts to know 
 if Disraeli or Lord John Russell is up, and whether he may sit out 
 the piece, or must hasten down to Westminster. The Opera-house 
 even communicates with the Strand-office, so that messages may 
 be sent from thence to all parts of the kingdom. The government 
 wires go from Somerset-house to the Admiralty, and thence to 
 Portsmouth and Plymouth by the South-Western and Great 
 Western Railways ; and these two establishments will shortly be 
 put in communication, by means of subterranean lines, with the 
 naval establishments at Deptford, Woolwich, Chatham, Sheerness, 
 and with the Cinque Ports of Deal and Dover. They are worked 
 quite independently of the company, and the messages are sent in 
 cipher, the meaning of which is unknown even to the telegraphic 
 clerks employed in transmitting it. In addition to the wires 
 already spoken of, street branches run from Buckingham Palace 
 and Scotland Yard (the head police-office) to the station at 
 Charing-cross, and thence on to Founder's-Court ; whilst the 
 Post-office, Lloyd's, Capel-court, and the Corn Exchange com- 
 municate directly with the central office." * 
 
 The Magnetic Telegraph Company have made arrangements 
 by which the correspondents of the press are allowed to forward 
 messages upon an entirely different basis; the charge for intel- 
 ligence so transmitted, amounting to only one-tenth of the charge 
 to the public, the matter being more voluminous, and passing 
 through the wires at a time when they are not otherwise occupied. 
 
 The company also supplies the press and news-rooms in 
 various parts of the United Kingdom, and especially throughout 
 Ireland, with news by contract ; at the rate of about one half- 
 penny per line of ten words ; and are enabled to do so, by making 
 manifold copies of the information (whatever be its nature) for the 
 use of all the press, &c., in each town or district, through which 
 such news passes. 
 
 Under such arrangements, intelligence to the amount of two 
 closely printed newspaper columns, or more, daily, is transmitted 
 between all the stations, conveying information of the various 
 share, corn, cotton, coal, iron, cattle, provision, and produce 
 markets ; fairs, shipping arrivals, foreign and domestic informa- 
 tion, Gazette news, Parliamentary reports, &c., &c. Each piece of 
 news, whatever its nature, obtained in one town being conveyed 
 
 * Quarterly Review, No. CLXXXIX., pp. 139141.
 
 USES OF THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 to all the rest ; the arrival of vessels in Queenstown, the result of 
 a market in Cork, or of a cattle fair at Ballinasloe, affording 
 intelligence for the whole of the United Kingdom, and vice versa. 
 In order to carry out this system, the company employs paid 
 agents, news collectors, parliamentary reporters, &c. 
 
 253. It is a fact well known that the electric telegraph is much 
 more extensively used for all purposes, political, commercial, and 
 domestic, in the United States, than in this or any other part of 
 Europe. Before the reductions which have within the last year 
 or two taken place in the tariffs, this might fairly be explained 
 by the comparatively small cost of transmission in America. 
 But since those reductions were effected, it may be questioned 
 whether there is any difference of cost sufficiently considerable to 
 explain the vast difference in the extent to which the public, on 
 different sides of the Atlantic, avail themselves of this mode of 
 inter-communication. 
 
 We shall notice the question of the tariffs hereafter. Mean- 
 while, whatever be the cause, it is certain, that the practical use 
 of the telegraph is much more extended among our transatlantic 
 descendants. 
 
 The tariffs vary on different lines, but it has been estimated 
 that the cost of a message of 10 words, exclusive of address and 
 signature, sent 10 miles, is about 5d., and for greater distances the 
 cost may be taken at about 0-Q35d. per word per mile. 
 
 The classes of messages entitled to precedence, are government 
 messages, and messages for the furtherance of justice in detection 
 of criminals, &c. ; then death messages, which includes cases of 
 sickness when the presence of a party is sent for by the sick and 
 dying. Important press-news comes next ; if not of extraordinary 
 interest, it takes its turn with the mercantile messages. 
 
 254. Commercial houses resort largely to the telegraph. For ex- 
 ample : a person purchasing goods in New York, gives his reference 
 to the merchant such reference being perhaps 700 or 800 miles 
 away from him. By the aid of the telegraph the merchant can 
 learn the standing of his customer, even before the purchase is com- 
 pleted. There are bankers, brokers, &c., that receive and send, on 
 an average, six to ten messages per day, throughout the year. 
 
 255. The manager of House's line at New York states that some 
 commercial houses pay to the company as much as 200/. a-year, 
 and that the average annual receipts from twenty mercantile 
 houses amount to 1001. each. 
 
 The directors of Bain's New York lines report that the tele- 
 graph is used by commercial men to almost as great an extent as 
 the mail. This can be better illustrated by the number of messages 
 sent and received between cities whose commercial relations are
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 intimate, during the hours from 10 A.M. to 5 r.x. For instance : 
 there are transmitted daily, between the cities of New York and 
 Boston, between 500 and 600 messages, two-thirds if not three- 
 fourths of which are transmitted between the hours above 
 named. Some houses pay from 121. to 161. per month to the 
 telegraph. The amount paid by a commercial house is governed 
 by the excitement there is in the market of the particular article 
 they may be dealing in. If there are "ups and downs " in the 
 market, money is lavished upon the telegraph freely. 
 
 The directors of the Morse New York lines, state that the annual 
 telegraph outlay of several houses amounts to 600/. 
 
 It often happens that a party desires to "converse" with 
 another 400 or 500 miles off. An hour is appointed to meet in 
 the respective offices, and they converse through the operator. 
 Cases may be mentioned of steamboats being sold over the wires 
 the one party being in Pittsburg, the other in Cincinnati. 
 Each party wrote down what they had to say, higgled awhile, and 
 finally concluded the sale. Their correspondence was filed away, 
 like other messages, and kept for reference, if ever called in 
 question. It is often used by parties, when from home, corre- 
 sponding with their families. Sometimes it is the messenger of 
 woe ; and anon, that of pleasure. In the early part of 1852, the 
 Astor House of New York, and the Burnet House of Cincinnati, 
 had a series of telegraphic parties. An account of one of them 
 was published in the "Cincinnati Gazette," the parties con- 
 versing being about 750 miles apart. 
 
 256. The following example of the activity of journalism is given 
 by Mr. Jones, who was himself a telegraphic agent for the news- 
 papers: "Some time back the Asia arrived at Quarantine, near 
 New York, about 8 P.M., was detained an hour by the health 
 officer. The agent of the New York Associated Press and of the 
 New Orleans Merchants' Exchange, Mr. Jones, to gain but a few 
 minutes, had a boat in readiness when the Asia brought to. A 
 small bag containing the latest news was handed over the steamer's 
 side, to the small boat. By great exertions sho gained New 
 York half an hour ahead of the Asia. The bag was opened a 
 copy of her news was handed to us, .addressed to the Merchants' 
 Exchange, New Orleans, signed Jones to work we went. It was 
 being transmitted over the wires amid the thundering of the 
 Asia's cannon, as she rounded the point ; and a complete synopsis 
 of her commercial and political news was received in Louisville, 
 1100 miles in the interior, before the ship had actually reached 
 the city." 
 
 The managers of the Morse line at New York state that, 
 during the sittings of conventions, or elections, or the arrival of 
 90
 
 USES OF THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 steamers, often from 2000 to 8000 words are reported. On some 
 occasions of market excitement, the private messages are nearly 
 doubled. 
 
 Debates of Congress are received at an average of about 4500 
 words per day, and transmitted at the rate of 1600 words per hour. 
 
 On the assembly of the Legislature of the State of New York at 
 Albany, in 1847, the governor's message, consisting of 25000 
 letters, was transmitted to New York, 150 miles, and printed by 
 the telegraph itself in two hours and a half. 
 
 257. In his reports to Congress, Mr. Morse has supplied various 
 examples of the use made of the telegraph by all classes of persons. 
 During the Philadelphia riots of 1844, the mayor of that city sent 
 an express by railway, to the President of the United States at 
 "Washington. On the arrival of the train at Baltimore, the con- 
 tents of the express transpired, and the telegraph, which was then 
 just pxit in operation between Baltimore and Washington, not 
 being yet established elsewhere in the States, sent on the substance 
 of the despatch. The President held a cabinet council while the 
 despatch itself was coming, and had his answer prepared 
 and delivered to the messenger who brought the despatch at 
 the moment of his arrival, who returned with it instantly to 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 258. Nothing is more frequent in the United States than electric 
 medical consultations. A patient in or near a country village 
 desires to consult a leading medical practitioner in a chief city, 
 such as New York or Philadelphia, at four or five hundred miles 
 distant. With the aid of the local apothecary, or without it, he 
 draws up a shqrt statement of his case, sends it along the wires, 
 and in an hour or two receives the advice he seeks, and a 
 prescription. Cases are recorded in which electric marriages have 
 been contracted between parties separated one from another by 
 many degrees of latitude. A correspondent of the author of a 
 paper in Chambers' s Collection states, that in the United States, 
 "The telegraph is used by all classes, except the very poorest 
 the same as the mail. A man leaves his family for a week or a 
 month ; he telegraphs them of his health and whereabouts from 
 time to time. If returning home, on reaching Albany or 
 Philadelphia, he sends word of the hour that he will arrive. In the 
 towns about New York the most ordinary messages are sent in 
 this way : a joke, an invitation to a party, an inquiry about 
 health, &c. In our business we use it continually. The other 
 day two different men from Montreal wanted credit, and had no 
 references; we said: 'Very well; look out the goods, and we 
 will see about it.' Meanwhile we asked our friends in Montreal 
 ' Are Pump and Proser good for one hundred dollars each ? ' The 
 
 91
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 answer was immediately returned, and we acted accordingly; 
 probably much to our customers' surprise. The charge was a 
 dollar for each message, distance about 500 miles, but much 
 further by telegraph, as it has to go a round to avoid water. If 
 my brother goes to Philadelphia, he telegraphs, ' How is the 
 family ? "What is doing ? ' I answer, ' All well. Sales so 
 much,' and so on." * 
 
 It has been contended by some, with much reason, that one of 
 the most serious drawbacks to the general extension of the use of 
 the electric telegraph is the impracticability of preserving that 
 secrecy which the seal confers on written correspondence, the 
 absence of which would utterly annihilate the utility of the post- 
 office. The imperious necessity of guarding this secrecy inviolate 
 is apparent in the heavy penalties attached to the rupture of the 
 seal, which can only be effected with impunity by a special 
 authorisation of a secretary of state. To confer on the electric 
 telegraph all the public utility of which it is susceptible, means 
 must be adopted, and will, no doubt, be ultimately adopted for 
 the attainment of this object, the vital importance of which is 
 implicitly acknowledged by the heavy penalties, the smallest of 
 which is dismissal, imposed in all countries on the agents who 
 disclose the contents of private telegraphic correspondence. 
 
 Such expedients must nevertheless be ineffectual, for it would 
 contradict all the results of the common experience of life, if 
 what must inevitably be communicated to half a dozen persons at 
 least, and a copy of which is retained and filed in a public office, 
 could remain secret from any parties who might have a sufficiently 
 strong motive to come to the knowledge of it. But even though 
 the disclosure of private communications to parties not employed 
 in the telegraphic offices should be effectually prevented by the 
 present expedient of swearing the clerks to secrecy, and inflicting 
 the consequent penalties for the violation of their oath, still 
 individuals communicating in private confidence one to another, 
 wives to husbands, sisters to brothers, or children to parents, 
 have things to say which it would be utterly intolerable, as is 
 most justly observed by the reviewer already quoted even "to 
 see strangers read before their eyes. ,This is a grievous fault in 
 the telegraph, and it must sooner or later be remedied by some 
 means or other." 
 
 The object might be accomplished by the use of any species of 
 cipher, but this supposes that the parties corresponding have 
 previously prepared the cipher, and are mutually possessed of its 
 key. Such a condition could only be practically fulfilled by 
 
 * " Chambers' s Papers for the People," vol. ix. No. 71. 
 92
 
 USES OF THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 correspondents having habitual need of intercommunication, such 
 as mercantile establishments interchanging news of the markets, 
 stocks, sales, and other commercial details ; but for the occasional 
 communications of domestic life it would be quite unavailable. 
 
 It is hinted by ' the Quarterly Reviewer,' that Mr. Wheatstone 
 has invented a cipher which will be applicable to general purposes, 
 and which will attain this object, and that it will be soon placed 
 at the disposition of the public. 
 
 If the same privacy as is afforded by the post-office can be thus 
 secured to telegraphic communications, and if by the multiplication 
 of their wires, and the improved efficiency of their instruments, 
 the companies are enabled to reduce their tariff to a still lower 
 limit, and to base it on some uniform principle similar to the 
 admirable penny postage system of Mr. Rowland Hill, it is diffi- 
 cult to foresee the extent of the revolution which this noble gift of 
 science to mankind may effect. Great as the benefits have been 
 which the post-office has conferred, they will sink to nothing com- 
 pared with those of the telegraph. In estimating the importance 
 of the part reserved for this vast agent of civilisation, it must not 
 be forgotten that it is still in its early infancy, and that its most 
 wondrous powers are not yet developed by time and growth. 
 
 259. The necessity of disclosing the contents of private des- 
 patches to the telegraphists is sometimes avoided in the United 
 States by the adoption of a cipher, or by a conventional change of 
 the signification of the letters of the alphabet. In some cases, 
 with the telegraph of House, the manipulation of which is easy 
 and simple, the party plays upon the keys of the instrument 
 himself. It is, however, only in rare instances that these 
 expedients are resorted to. The public confidence has been won 
 by the general secrecy observed by the telegraphic agents, and in 
 general no apprehension of disclosure prevents persons from 
 sending the most private and confidential despatches in the usual 
 manner. One of the directors, who for four years has had the 
 superintendence of extensive lines, states, that in that interval 
 he never heard of an instance of the contents of a despatch being- 
 divulged. 
 
 Another circumstance which experience has made manifest has 
 given security to the public on this point. It appears that the 
 agents who are for many hours labouring at the machine in the 
 transmission of despatches, word by word, rarely are able to give 
 that kind of attention to the sense and purport of the whole which 
 would be necessary to the clear understanding of it. Their atten- 
 tion is engrossed exclusively in the manipulation necessary to 
 transmit letter after letter, and they have neither time nor 
 attention to spare for the subject of the whole despatch. The case 
 
 93
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 is very analogous to that of compositors in a printing-office, who, 
 as is well known, go through their work mechanically, without 
 giving the least attention to tho subject. 
 
 260. A sort of verbal ciphers, or abbreviations, are much in use, 
 however, by mercantile houses. This is practised more for the 
 sake of economy than secrecy, although the latter purpose is also 
 attained. The firm and its correspondents have a key in which 
 are tabulated a number of single words, each of which expresses a 
 phrase or sentence, such as is of frequent occurrence in such com- 
 munications. The following example of such a commercial 
 despatch is given by Mr. Jones. The despatch to be sent consisted 
 of 68 words, as follows : 
 
 "Flour Market for common and fair brands of ic ester n is lorcer, 
 with moderate demand for home trade and export. Sales, 8000 
 bbls. Genesee at 5 dols. 12. Wheat, prime in fair demand, market 
 firm, common description dull, with a downward tendency, sales, 
 4000 bushels at 1 doL 10. Corn, foreign news unsettled the market; 
 no sales of importance made. The only sale made was 2500 bushels 
 at 67 c." 
 
 This despatch, when converted into the verbal cipher, was 
 expressed in nine words, as follows : 
 
 " Bad came aft keen dark ache lain fault adapt." 
 
 261. Complicated systems of cipher were invented for the trans- 
 mission of parliamentary and law reports, and those of public 
 meetings. When the tolls, however, were reduced by competition, 
 this system was abandoned, and the reports were sent in full, 
 or with such abbreviations only as are obvious. 
 
 262. The large quantity of telegraphic news which is published 
 daily in the New York journals is explained by the fact, that seven 
 of the principal journals of that city formed an association to 
 telegraph in common, sharing the expense. Each journal was, 
 however, at liberty to order for itself any extra intelligence, 
 giving the others, or any of them, the option of sharing it. 
 
 263. Mr. Jones relates that one of the earliest telegraph feats, 
 after the extension of the telegraph lines west to Cincinnati, was 
 brought about by the agency of the ' ' New York Heral d, " and before 
 any regular association of the press was, formed in New York. 
 
 " It became known that Mr. Clay would deliver a speech in 
 Lexington (Ky.), on the Mexican war, which was then exciting 
 much public attention. Mr. Bennett, editor and proprietor of the 
 ' Herald,' desired us to have Mr. Clay's speech reported for the 
 paper. We at once proceeded," says Mr. Jones, "to make arrange- 
 ments to carry it into effect. We had a regular and efficient 
 reporter already employed in Cincinnati, a Mr. Gr. Bennett ; we 
 also had a Mr. Thompson in Philadelphia in co-operation with us 
 94
 
 USES OF THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 for some papers there, and which agreed, if the speech was first 
 received, to share the expense with the ' Herald.' The ' Tribune ' 
 in New York, and the 'North American' in Philadelphia, agreed 
 to start for a report of the speech, in opposition. From Lexington 
 to Cincinnati was eighty miles, over Avhich an express had to be 
 run. Horses were placed at every ten miles by the Cincinnati agent. 
 An expert rider was engaged, and a short-hand reporter or two 
 stationed in Lexington. When they had prepared his speech it 
 was then dark. The express-man, on receiving it, proceeded with 
 it for Cincinnati. The night was dark and rainy, yet he accom- 
 plished the trip in eight hours, over a rough, hilly, country road. 
 The whole speech was received at the 'Herald' office at an 
 early hour the next morning, although the wires were interrupted 
 for a short time in the night, near Pittsburg, in consequence of the 
 limb of a tree having fallen across them. An enterprising operator 
 in the Pittsburg office, finding communication suspended, procured 
 a horse, and rode along the line amidst the darkness and rain, 
 found the place, and the cause of the break, which he repaired ; 
 then returned to the office, and finished sending the speech." 
 
 The Philadelphia "North American," upon whom the "Tri- 
 bune" chiefly depended, failed to get its report, and the latter 
 purchased a copy from the " Herald." 
 
 The expense of securing the speech by express and telegraph, 
 amounted to about 100?. 
 
 The telegraphs have derived a very large share of their revenue 
 from the press. The whole expense, for telegraph reports of all 
 kinds, have some years cost the New York Associated Press (six 
 in number) probably about 1000J. each, or a total of 6000Z. per 
 annum. The average for the past five years probably has not been 
 less than about 5000Z. to 6000/. per annum. During long sessions 
 -of Congress it exceeded this amount. 
 
 Sometimes a single paper availed itself of the privilege of 
 ordering long and expensive reports of meetings, speeches, con- 
 ventions, fec., in which its associates participated or declined as 
 best suited their estimate of the value of the news. In case the 
 other papers refused to receive it, the whole expense was borne by 
 it. The "Herald" is the only one of its associates which publishes 
 a Sunday paper hence it takes all the telegraph news which is 
 received on Saturday afternoon and night, and pays the whole 
 expense of the tolls. * 
 
 264. The electric telegraph, an offspring of science, has rendered 
 to its parent great and important services. 
 
 From the moment that it was discovered that tho pulsations of 
 
 * Jones, p. 138. 
 
 95
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 the electric current could, by means of the conducting wires, be 
 transmitted to any distances, its use in the important problem of 
 the determination of longitudes, became conspicuously apparent. 
 By reference to our Tract on Latitudes and Longitudes, it will be 
 seen that the difference of the longitudes of two places upon the 
 earth's surface is nothing more nor less than the difference of 
 the hour of the day or night, as shown by two well-regulated 
 clocks at the two places. Thus, if while it is 3 o'clock at one 
 place, it is 4 o'clock at the other, the latter is one hour of 
 longitude east, and the former one hour west of the other ; or if 
 it be preferred to express the longitude in degrees, the one place is 
 15 east or west of the other. 
 
 Now since the machinery of the electric telegraph supplies the 
 means of making all the time-pieces of whatever kind, or where- 
 ever placed, which are brought into connection with the same 
 system of wires, move in exact accordance, it is capable of making 
 all the time-pieces in the United Kingdom move in exact accord- 
 ance with the standard chronometer of Greenwich Observatory ; 
 or, to take a still larger view of the principle, it is capable of 
 governing the movement of all the time-pieces of whatever sort, 
 and wherever situated within the range of the vast net- work of tele- 
 graphic wires, which overspreads the European continent, so as to 
 make them move in accordance with any standard time-piece, which 
 may by common consent be adopted as the common regulator. ; 
 
 Now, if such an uniformity of chronometers were established, 
 the longitudes of all places would be determined by ascertaining 
 by observations on the sun, which are always easy and susceptible 
 of great precision, the local time, that is to say the time which 
 would be shown by a well-regulated clock on the present system. 
 The difference of the two times, that shown by the common 
 standard regulator and that shown by the local clock, would be 
 the difference of longitude between the place in question and the 
 place where the standard regulator would show local time. 
 
 265. In places at great distances asunder, and in different 
 countries, such horological uniformity would, at first, for civil 
 purposes be attended with some inconvenience, since the hour of 
 noon would vary with the longitude. Thus, at a place 15 east of 
 the standard station, the hour of noon would be one o'clock, and at a 
 place 15 west it would be 11 o'clock. Such an inconvenience would, 
 however, only be felt at the moment of the change of custom. It 
 is obvious that it would be as easy and simple to mark the moment 
 at which the sun passes the meridian by 11 or 1, as by 12. 
 
 Incidentally to such an horological uniformity would arise, 
 however, the convenience that the hour of noon at all places \vould 
 express their longitude with relation to the standard station.
 
 Fig, 91. HENLEY'S MAGNETIC NEEDLE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 266. Signal time balls. 267. Electric connection of observatories of Green- 
 wich, Brussels, and Paris. 268. Uses of electric telegraph in astro- 
 nomical observations. 269. In regulating the observatory clocks. 
 270. In fixing with precision the time of an astronomical phenomenon. 
 271. Telegraphic lines of the United Kingdom. 272. Their extent 
 in 1854. 273. Electric Telegraph Company. 274. Table of its lines, 
 stations, &c. 275. Present tariff (1354). 
 
 266. Br concert between the Astronomer Royal and the several 
 Electric Telegraph Companies, the Greenwich local time is 
 announced at certain hours of the day, at conspicuous places in 
 different parts of the country, so that navigators who happen to 
 be in any of our ports, may avail themselves of these means of 
 regulating their chronometers. "We have already explained the 
 LARDNER'S MUSEUM OF SCIENCE. n 07 
 
 No. 50.
 
 THE ELECTKIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 signal given daily at one in the afternoon, by the fall of a largo 
 ball upon the dome of the Royal Observatory at Greenwich.** 
 This being generally visible from a considerable extent of tho 
 river below London-bridge, masters of vessels observing it can 
 regulate their time-pieces or note their errors. This system of 
 signals is in progress of extension. By means of a galvanic clock 
 at the Observatory, and the conducting wires which connect that 
 building with the station of the Electric Telegraph Company at 
 Lothbury, hourly signals giving accurately Greenwich time are 
 transmitted to the offices of the company at Lothbury, and in the 
 Strand opposite Hungerford-market. Similar signals are trans- 
 mitted several times a day to Tunbridge, Deal, and Dover by the 
 wires of the South-eastern Company. Signal balls are let fall 
 over the dome of the Telegraph Office in the Strand and at an 
 elevated station, Liverpool, at the same instant with the fall of 
 the ball over the Greenwich Observatory. Besides this time- 
 signals are transmitted on the wires twice a day, at 10 in the 
 forenoon, and 1 in the afternoon, directly from Greenwich to 
 various chief stations upon the system of lines of the Electric 
 Telegraph Company. 
 
 267. From the first instant of the laying of the wires con- 
 necting the Greenwich Observatory with the stations of the South- 
 eastern Railway Company and the Electric Telegraph Company, it 
 was evident that one of the earliest and most useful applications of 
 them would be the determination of the longitudes of several of 
 the principal observatories in the British Isles and on the Con- 
 tinent. During the year 1853, the earliest opportunities were 
 accordingly taken for determining the longitudes of Cambridge, 
 Edinburgh, and Brussels, which was accomplished with complete 
 success, as far as regards the galvanic communications and the 
 observations of the signals at all the observatories. 
 
 The observatories of Greenwich, Brussels, and Paris aro now 
 placed in direct electric connection by the submarine cables 
 between Dover, Calais, and Ostend, to the great advantage and 
 advancement of astronomical science. 
 
 268. In the routine of the business of an observatory, the astro- 
 nomical clock is an instrument in never ceasing use. A part of 
 almost every astronomical observation consists in noting with the 
 last degree of precision the moments of time at which certain 
 phenomena take place ; and so great is the degree of perfection to 
 which the art of observation has been carried, that well-practised 
 observers are able, by the combination of a quick and observant 
 eye and car, to bisect a second, and even to approach to a still 
 
 * See Tract on Latitudes and Longitudes. 
 98
 
 ASTRONOMICAL USES OF THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 more minute division of that small interval. In order to enable 
 the reader fully to appreciate the benefit which the telegraph 
 has rendered to astronomy, it will be necessary here briefly to 
 explain the manner in which this kind of observation has hitherto 
 been made. 
 
 To determine the moment at which the visual ray proceeding 
 from a celestial object has some definite direction, two things are 
 necessary 1st, to ascertain the direction of such a ray; and, 
 2ndly, to observe the time when it has such direction. The tele- 
 scope, with its accessories, supplies the means of accomplishing 
 the former, and the astronomical (dock the latter. 
 
 If T T', fig. 93, represent the tube of a telescope, T the extremity 
 in which the object-glass is fixed, and T 7 the end where the 
 
 Fig. 98. 
 
 images of distant objects to which the tube is directed are formed, 
 the visual direction of any object will be that of the line s' c 
 drawn from the image of such object formed in the field of view 
 of the telescope to the centre c of the object-glass, for if this line 
 be continued, it will pass through the object s. 
 
 But since the field of view of the telescope is a circular space of 
 definite extent, within which many objects in different directions 
 may at the same time be visible, some expedient is necessary by 
 which one or more fixed points in it may be permanently marked, 
 or by which the entire field may be spaced out as a map is by the 
 lines of latitude and longitude. 
 
 This is accomplished by a system of fibres or wires, so thin that 
 even when magnified they will appear like hairs. These are 
 extended in a frame fixed within the eye-piece of the telescope, so 
 that they appear when seen through the eye-glass like fine lines 
 drawn across the field of view. 
 
 The system consists commonly of five or seven equidistant 
 wires, placed vertically at equal distances, and intersected 
 at their middle points by a horizontal wire, as represented in 
 fig. 9-1. When the instrument has been adjusted, the middle 
 wire m wl will be in the plane of the meridian, and when an 
 object is seen upon it, such object will be on the celestial meri- 
 dian, and the wire itself may be regarded as a small arc of the 
 meridian rendered visible. 
 
 The eye of the observer is occupied in watching the progress 
 of the object moving over the wires in the field of view of the 
 H 2 99
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGEAPH. 
 
 telescope. His ear is occupied in noting, and his mind in 
 counting the successive beats of the pen- 
 dulum, which in all astronomical clocks is 
 so constructed as to produce a sufficiently 
 loud and distinct sound, marking the close 
 of each successive second. The practised 
 observer is enabled with considerable pre- 
 cision in this way to subdivide a second, 
 and determine the moment of the occur- 
 rence of a phenomenon within a small 
 fraction of that interval. A star, for 
 example, is seen to the left of the wire m in ' 
 
 at s, fig. 94, at one beat of the pendulum, and to the right of it at 
 s' with the next. The observer estimates with great precision 
 the proportion in which the wire divides the distance between the 
 points s and s', and can therefore determine the fraction of a 
 second after being at s, at which it was upon the wire m m'. 
 
 The fixed stars appear in the telescope, no matter how high its 
 magnifying power be, as mere lucid points, having no sensible 
 magnitude. By the diurnal motion of the firmament, the star passes 
 successively over all the wires, a short interval being interposed 
 between its passages. The observer, just before the star approaching 
 the meridian enters the field of view, notes and writes down the 
 hours and minutes indicated by the clock, and he proceeds to count 
 the seconds by his ear. He observes the instant at which the star 
 crosses each of the wires ; and taking a mean of all these times, 
 he obtains, with a great degree of precision, the instant at which 
 the star passed the middle wire, which is the time of the transit. 
 
 By this expedient the result has the advantage of as many inde- 
 pendent observations as there are parallel wires. The errors of 
 observation being distributed, are proportionately diminished. 
 
 When the sun, moon, or a planet, or, in general, any object 
 which has a sensible disk, is observed, the time of the transit is 
 the instant at which the centre of the disk is upon the middle 
 wire. This is obtained by observing the instants which the 
 western and eastern edges of the disk touch each of the wires. 
 The middle of these intervals are the moments at which the centre 
 of the disk is upon the wires respectively. Taking a mean of the 
 Bontact of the western edges, the contact of the western edge with 
 the middle wire will be obtained ; and, in like manner, a mean of 
 the contacts of the eastern edge will give the contact of that edge 
 with the middle wire, and a mean of these two will give the 
 moment of the transit of the centre of the disk, or a mean of all 
 the contacts of both edges will give the same result. 
 
 By day the wires are visible, as fine black lines intersecting and
 
 ASTRONOMICAL USES OF THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 spacing out the field of view. At night they are rendered visible 
 by a lamp, by which the field of view is faintly illuminated. 
 
 These points being well understood, no difficulty will be found 
 in understanding the manner in which the telegraph has conferred 
 vastly increased facility and precision on such observations. 
 
 269. The first service which it has rendered is that of making 
 all the clocks in the observatory absolutely synchronous. This 
 has been already accomplished with regard to the solar clocks, 
 that is, those which indicate mean or civil time. It may be, and 
 no doubt will be, also accomplished, with still greater advantage 
 to science, in the case of the astronomical clocks, that is, those 
 which mark sidereal time. The several observers, occupied usually 
 in different rooms, have each their tfwn clock. Now, however 
 perfect may have been the workmanship of these clocks, no two 
 of them can be relied upon to go absolutely together for any 
 length of time ; therefore, one of the duties of the observer, and of 
 the conditions of good observations, is to note the error of his 
 clock that is, its deviation from the standard chronometer of the 
 observatory. These errors will be effaced by the expedient of 
 putting all the clocks in the observatory in electrical connection, 
 so that the pendulum of the standard chronometer shall regulate 
 the pulsations of the current, and these pulsations again regulate 
 the motion of all the other clocks. 
 
 We believe that the Astronomer Royal once contemplated this 
 improvement, and most probably, when suitable opportunity shall 
 be presented, he will carry it into practical effect. 
 
 270. The clocks being thus reduced to absolute accordance, the 
 next service rendered by the telegraph to the astronomer consists 
 in affording the means of ascertaining the instant of time at which 
 any celestial object passes across the micrometer wires with greater 
 facility and precision than were attainable by the use of the eye 
 and ear in the method above described. 
 
 This improved method of observation, as it is now being pre- 
 pared for the Greenwich Observatory, consists in a key-com- 
 mutator placed under the hand of the observer, which governs a 
 current transmitted to an electro-magnet, connected with a 
 style placed over a cylinder coated with paper, upon which 
 it leaves a puncture when it is driven down by the pulsation 
 imparted to the current by the finger of the observer acting upon 
 the key. The paper-covered cylinder is kept in uniform revolu- 
 tion at any desired rate by clock-work, and another style impelled 
 by another current receiving its pulsations from the pendulum 
 of the chronometer, is driven upon the paper with each beat of 
 the pendulum, the interval between two successive marks made 
 by this style representing one second of time.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Now let us suppose, for example, that by the motion imparted 
 to the cylinder, an inch of the paper passes in each second under 
 the style. The style moved by the clock will therefore leave a 
 succession of marks upon the paper, at distances of an inch 
 asunder. But the particular distance of these marks is unim- 
 portant, nor is it material that the cylinder should be moved with 
 mathematical precision. If its motion for the short interval of a 
 second be practically uniform, that will suffice. 
 
 "When the object, a star for example, approaches the field of 
 view, the observer, with his eye to the telescope, holds his finger 
 over the key. He sees the star enter the field and approach the 
 first wire. The moment it crosses the wire, he presses down the 
 key, and the style gives a puncture to the paper on the cylinder. 
 In the same manner, when the star crosses the second and succeed- 
 ing wires, he again and again presses on the key, and thus leaves 
 as many distinct marks on the paper as there are wires. 
 
 After the observation thus made has been concluded, the marks 
 on the paper are examined, and their distances from the pre- 
 ceding and following marks made by the pendulum style are 
 exactly measured, from which is inferred the fractional part of a 
 second, between the moment at which the star crossed each of the 
 wires, and the last beat of the pendulum. 
 
 In this way the time of the transit is ascertained to the hun- 
 dredth part of a second. 
 
 The Astronomer Royal, noticing this method of observing in 
 an address delivered before the Royal Astronomical Society, 
 said, that " In ordinary transit observations, the observer 
 listens to the beat of a clock while he views the heavenly bodies 
 passing across the wires of the telescope ; and he combines the 
 two senses of hearing and sight (usually by noticing the place of 
 the body at each beat of the clock) in such a manner as to be 
 enabled to compute mentally the fraction of the second when the 
 object passes each wire, and he then writes down the time in an 
 observing-book. In these new methods he has no clock near him, 
 or at least none to which he listens : he observes with his eye the 
 appulse of the object to the wire, and at that instant he touches an 
 index, or key, with his finger ; and ^his touch makes, by means 
 of a galvanic current, an impression upon some recording appara- 
 tus (perhaps at a great distance), by which the fact and the time 
 of the observation are registered. He writes nothing, except 
 perhaps the name of the object observed." 
 
 He further observed that it was expected that by this method 
 
 the irregularities of observation would be greatly diminished, 
 
 whether because the sympathy between the eye and the 
 
 finger is more lively than between the eye and the ear, remains to 
 
 102
 
 ASTRONOMICAL USES OF THE TELEGRAPH. 
 
 be determined. The Astronomer Royal proposes to use the " cen~ 
 trifugal or conical-pendulum clock" as an instrument superior in 
 every way to those used in. America; and "considering the 
 problem of smooth and accurate motion as being now much nearer 
 to its solution than it had formerly been, it might be a question 
 whether, supposing a sidereal clock made on these principles to be 
 mounted at the Royal Observatory, it should be used in commu- 
 nicating motion to a solar clock." 
 
 It is worthy of remark also, that punctures can be made upon 
 the same revolving barrel by observers employed at two or more 
 instruments erected in different rooms, by means of keys or 
 commutators, which complete the circuit from the same battery 
 to the same puncturing-point. This is at present done with two 
 instruments at Greenwich. All necessity for comparing clocks is, 
 of course, avoided. 
 
 Some difficulties occurred at first in imparting to the cylinder a 
 sufficiently smooth and equable motion, the motion given by com- 
 mon clock-work being always one made by starts like that of the 
 seconds' hand of a pendulum. It was to surmount this difficulty 
 that the Astronomer Royal proposed the substitution of the centri- 
 fugal pendulum (resembling the governor of a steam engine) for 
 the ordinary oscillating pendulum. In the report of the Astro- 
 nomical Society, published in February, 1854, it was announced 
 that ' ' The various difficulties which occurred from time to time 
 in the mechanism of the barrel or smooth-motion clock, used for 
 giving motion to the cylinder on which will ultimately be 
 recorded the transits made with the transit-circle and altazimuth, 
 according to the American method of self-registration-, have been 
 overcome. It now carries the cylinders put in connection with it 
 with perfect regularity, its rate having all desirable steadiness." 
 
 TELEGRAPHIC LINES OF THE UNITED KINGDOM. 
 
 271 . The telegraphic lines established throughout these countries 
 have been constructed altogether by private companies, chartered 
 or incorporated by the legislature. The total extent of lines in 
 actual operation in the beginning of 1860 was a little more than 
 10,000 miles, upon which about 50,000 miles of conducting wire 
 were laid, which would give an average number of five conduct- 
 ing wires over the entire telegraphic net- work. 
 
 272. This vast machinery of electric communication is the 
 property of two companies the Electric and International Tele- 
 graph Company, and the British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph 
 Company ; the former possesses nearly 6300 miles of line, con- 
 
 103
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 necting 450 stations ; and the latter nearly 4000 miles of line, 
 and 360 stations. 
 
 The capital of the former is nearly 1,000,000/., and that of the 
 latter 750,000/. 
 
 It is estimated that the total amount of capital invested in the 
 telegraphic lines of the United Kingdom amounts to about two 
 millions sterling. 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH COMPAKT. 
 
 273. This company was the earliest established, and was in 
 operation for four years without any rival whatever, and for six 
 years without any real competition. During this period arrange- 
 ments were made for the erection of the telegraph on all the 
 principal railways. 
 
 The consequence of the exclusive possession of this important 
 machinery of intercommunication combined with the want of all 
 experience as to the extent to which the public in general might 
 be disposed to avail itself of the advantages offered to them, was 
 naturally and very excusably the establishment of a high tariff. 
 The use of the telegraph was regarded, so far as related to private 
 individuals, as a luxury rather than a necessary of social life, and 
 so far as related to men of business, as an expedient likely to be 
 resorted to only in cases of the most pressing urgency : conceding 
 the justice of these views, a high tariff was not only defensible, 
 but absolutely necessary to the protection of the interests of those 
 who had invested their capital in the enterprise. 
 
 Time, experience, and habit, on the one hand, rendered the 
 public familiar with the uses of the telegraph, and created a 
 greater disposition to profit by it for the ordinary purposes of life ; 
 and on the other, supplied to the Company that experience of 
 which its managers stood in need, and enabled them, without 
 imprudent risk, to develop liberal and enlightened views in 
 the commercial management of the enterprise. Gradual reduc- 
 tions were made in the tariff, which were further stimulated 
 by the establishment of competitors ; and a standard of tariff 
 has been established which, as will presently appear, can leave 
 no reasonable ground of complaint as compared with those of 
 other countries. "Whether a still further reduction and a nearer 
 approach to the principle of the uniform postage system would 
 not benefit the companies as well as the public is a question 
 that time and experience alone can solve. 
 
 274. The following table, for which we are indebted to the 
 Board of Directors of this company, shows the extent of its lines. 
 
 104
 
 NAME OF RAILWAY. 
 
 It 
 ? 
 
 i 
 & 
 
 'S 
 
 i 
 
 I No. of Double-needle 
 
 Instruments. 
 
 1 No.ofSiDKle.needle 1 
 In.truments. | 
 
 No. of Printing 1 
 Instruments. 
 
 No. of Bell.. 
 
 No of Magnet., j 
 
 BANGOR AND CAERNARVON . 
 
 z6i 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 BIRMINGHAM, SHREWSBURY, AND STOUR 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 VALLEY RAILWAYS. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Shrewsbury . . . . 
 
 1 3 84 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 Birkeuhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Junction 
 
 874 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 Birkenhead Tunnel . . . . 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Sutton Tunnel 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 CHESTER AND HOLYHEAD . . . 
 
 3 66i 
 
 4 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 
 
 EASTERN COUNTIES. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 London to Colchester 
 
 410 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 
 
 
 
 Between Braintree and Maldon . . 
 
 36 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 London to Ely . 
 
 650$ 
 
 9 
 
 36 
 
 
 
 26 
 
 Zt 
 
 Ely to Norwich 
 
 
 
 '5 
 
 4 
 
 
 9 
 
 ^ 5 
 
 4 
 
 Fakenham to Norwich 
 
 
 
 ii 
 
 6 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 Norwich to Yarmouth | 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lowestoft | 
 
 
 
 *3 
 
 23 
 
 
 T 3 
 
 
 Chesterford to Bury .... 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 Chesterford to Newmarket . . . 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ely to Peterborough .... 
 
 148? 
 
 5 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 March to Wisbeach .... 
 
 27 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Cambridge to St. Ives 
 
 44l 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 Broxbourne to Hertford 
 
 21 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Waterlane to Enfield .... 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Shoreditch to Chatham . 
 
 
 
 
 iS 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Eccles to Attleborough 
 
 3f 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Audley End to Littlebury . 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Shoreditch to Brick Lane 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Stratford to Woolwich 
 
 15 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 Stratford to Clapton . . 
 
 Of 
 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 West Junction to Stratford Bridge 
 Coal-siding to Angel Lane 
 
 *1 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 
 Forest Gate to Angel Lane 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Chobham Farm Line . . . . 
 
 i 
 
 i 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 EASTERN UNION. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Colchester to Ipswich 
 
 86J 
 
 9 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 5 
 
 Ipswich to Managers' office . . . 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 EXETER AND CREDITON 
 
 83i 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 FURNESS LINE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lindal to Dalton 
 
 2 4 
 
 2 
 
 a 
 
 
 
 
 
 Whitehaven Tunnel .... 
 
 of 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 GREAT NORTHERN. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 London to York .... 
 
 762 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 London to York via Boston . . . 
 
 421 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 Peterborough to Grimsby . 
 
 1564 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 Boston to Retford 
 
 1 02 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 105
 
 NAME OF RAILWAY. 
 
 No, of Mile* 
 of Wires. 
 
 No. of Wire*. 1 
 
 1 No. of Double-needle 1 
 Instruments. ] 
 
 No.oi Single needle] 
 Instruments. 
 
 I! 
 
 3 1 
 
 No. of Bells. 1 
 
 | 
 
 i 
 
 Lincoln to Gainsborough . 
 Grimsby to Docks . . . . 
 
 334 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Knottingley to Leeds 
 
 16 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bawtry to Rossington . ... 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 z 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 London to Bristol .... 
 
 82 7 | 
 
 7 
 
 22 
 
 
 c 
 
 
 
 London to Birmingham . . . 
 
 
 2 
 
 23 
 
 
 
 
 
 London to Maidenhead 
 
 674 
 
 3 
 
 9 
 
 9 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 Slough to Windsor . ... 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Reading to Basingstoke 
 
 31 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oxford to Banbury . . . . 
 
 2 3 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 Swindon to Gloucester via, Cirencester 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tetbury to Brimscombe 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Box to Corsham .... 
 
 34 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Bath to Bristol 
 
 23 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bristol and Exeter Railway 
 
 53 1 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Yatton to Clevedon .... 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tiverton Junction to Tiverton . 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Taunton to Yeovil . . . 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Manchester to Normanton . 
 
 3551 
 
 7 
 
 3* 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 Summit Tunnel 
 
 34 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 North Dean to Bradford 
 
 20 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Wakefield to Normanton 
 
 ID 
 
 4 
 
 Included in G.N.ft. 
 
 Waterloo to Southport 
 Castleford to Methby . 
 
 39l 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 3 1 
 Include 
 
 1 in 
 
 G'N'.K. 
 
 LANCASTER AND PRESTON, AND LANCASTER 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 AND CARLISLE RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lancaster to Preston .... 
 
 42 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Lancaster to Carlisle . . . 
 
 138 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Oxenholm to Kendal 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 LONDON, BRIGHTON, AND SOUTH COAST 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 London to Brighton . . . 
 
 202 
 
 4 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 
 
 Brighton to Newhaven 
 
 2 94 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 London to Epsom . . . . . 
 London to Croydon .... 
 
 36" 
 
 21 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Croydon to Epsom . . . . 
 
 , 74 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 Littlehampton to Ford 
 
 '34 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Bricklayers Arms to Deptford 
 Bricklayers Arms Junction to Forest Hill 
 
 54 
 5 
 
 2 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Balcombe Tunnel . . . . 
 
 of 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Clayton Tunnel .... 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Crystal Palace Extension . . . 
 
 15 
 
 10 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 LONDON AND BLACKWALL . 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 London to Colwich . . . . 
 
 IOI2 
 
 8 
 
 3 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 106
 
 NAME OP RAILWAY, 
 
 !i 
 
 p 
 
 j 
 j 
 
 & 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 ll 
 
 V 
 
 2 
 
 No. of Slnfclc-iiecdtrl 
 Initrumeuti. | 
 
 1 
 
 _,' 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 No. of Magnets, j 
 
 Macclestield to Liverpool . 
 
 392 
 
 S 
 
 7 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 London to Rugby . . . . 
 
 744l 
 
 9 
 
 15 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Bletchley to Ellsworth 
 
 6 5 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Euston to Camden . . . . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Primrose Hill Tunnel 
 
 44 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 Watford Tunnel 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Bletchley to Windsor 
 
 30 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Winslow to Banbury . . . . 
 
 474 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 \Vinslow to Oxford .... 
 
 48 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Winslow to Junction . . . 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Buckingham to Goodshed . 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 a 
 
 
 Blisworth to Peterborough . . 
 
 HI! 
 
 3 
 
 IO 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 Kilsby Tunnd 
 
 5k 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Rugby to Market Harborough . . 
 
 354 
 
 z 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rugby to Leamington 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rugby to Birmingham . . . . 
 
 208* 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rugby to Tamworth .... 
 
 1604 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tamworth to Colwich .... 
 
 68 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Birmingham to Manchester . 
 
 595 
 
 7 
 
 J 7 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 Crewe to Warrington . . . . 
 
 97 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 Warrington to New-ton Junction . 
 
 284 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Newton Junction to Liverpool . . 
 
 1624 
 
 II 
 
 6 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 Newton Junction to Preston 
 
 97 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 Newton Junction to Manchester . . 
 
 I54 
 
 9 
 
 3 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 Macclesfield to Stockport . 
 
 *94 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stockport to Manchester . . . 
 
 12 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stockport to Guidebridge . 
 
 IO 
 
 2 
 
 Included above. 
 
 Guidebridge to Eaton Lodge . 
 
 "74 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 Mirfield Junction to Leeds 
 
 40 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 Saddleworth to Morsden . . . 
 
 15 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 Huddersfield Tunnel .... 
 
 '4 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 Morley Tunnel 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Manchester to Hardwick . . . 
 
 44 
 
 6 
 
 Included above. 
 
 Warrington to Preston Brook Junction 
 
 19 
 
 4 
 
 Included above. 
 
 Edge Hill to Lime-street . 
 
 *i 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Edge Hill to Byron-street . . . 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Waterloo to Wapping 
 
 104 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 Curzon- street to Bescot . . . 
 
 *9 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTEKN RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Waterloo to Portsmouth . 
 
 378 
 
 4 
 
 12 
 
 
 
 
 
 Waterloo to Southampton . . . 
 
 7i 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 Bishopstoke to Southampton 
 
 33 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 Fareham to Gosport . . . . 
 
 J 9 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Waterloo to Nine Elms 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 Southampton to Dorchester . . . 
 
 1844 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 Poole Junction to Poole 
 
 74 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Southampton to Brockenhurst . . 
 
 304 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 107
 
 NAME OP RAILWAY. 
 
 No. of Miles 
 of Wires 
 
 No. of Wires. 
 
 j 
 
 -s 
 c.5 
 6 
 Z 
 
 No. of Single-needle 
 Ipstrumenu. 
 
 No. of Printing 
 Instruments. | 
 
 j 
 
 I 
 
 Brockenhurst to Osborne . 
 
 64 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, AND LINCOLN- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SHIRE RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Manchester to Sheffield . 
 
 I6 5 
 
 4 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 Denting to Glossop . . . . 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 Sheffield to New Holland . 
 
 1314 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 Ulceby to Great Grimsby . . . 
 
 y 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 Lincoln to Barnetby .... 
 
 59 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 Woodhead to Dunford . ... 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 MARYPORT AND CARLISLE RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Carlisle to Maryport 
 
 56 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 MIDLAND RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Derby to Rugby .... 
 
 2464 
 
 5 
 
 1C 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Derby to Peterborough . . . . 
 Peterborough to Leicester . 
 Melton Mowbray to Stamford . . 
 
 363* 
 
 I59 , 
 504 
 
 5 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 Derby to Lincoln .... 
 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 Derby to Sawley 
 
 I4 6J 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Derby to Normanton .... 
 
 442! 
 
 7 
 
 15 
 
 14 
 
 
 21 
 
 Normanton to Leeds . . . . 
 
 75i 
 
 7 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 Leeds to Bradford .... 
 
 4*4 
 
 3 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 Leeds to Skipton 
 
 7*1 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Apperley to Shipley Cabin 
 
 64 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 Skipton to Lancaster . . . 
 
 78 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 Hunslet to Hunslet Junction 
 
 04 
 
 
 
 
 
 2. 
 
 Hunslet Junction to Waterlane . . 
 
 o| 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 Sheffield to Masbro' .... 
 
 15 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Derby to Willington .... 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 Derby to Birmingham 
 
 206$ 
 
 
 IO 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 Birmingham to Gloucester 
 
 371 
 
 
 14 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 Lickey to Bromsgrove 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 Gloucester to Bristol . . . . 
 
 150 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 
 Newport to Blaina . . . 
 
 39 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 Newport to Pontypool 
 
 17 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 Risca to Nine Mile Point . . . 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 Aberbeeg to Ebbw Vale . 
 
 5J 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 NORTH LONDON RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Camden to Stepney . . . . 
 Bow to Poplar .... 
 
 '7 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Colwich to Macclesfield . . . 
 
 308 
 
 8 
 
 Included above 
 
 Colwich to Stone .... 
 
 46 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 Norton Bridge to Stone . . . 
 
 "i 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 Stone to Stoke .... 
 
 49 
 
 7 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 Stoke to Loco Works . ... 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 Stoke to Burton .... 
 
 88J 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 103
 
 NAME OF RAILWAY. 
 
 ll 
 
 toi 
 1" 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 Z 
 
 
 
 | 
 
 K 
 
 I! 
 
 i- 
 
 , 
 
 No of Priming 1 
 Instruments. 
 
 1 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 K 
 
 | 
 
 
 
 '= 
 
 *| 
 
 Stoke to Newcastle-under-Lyne . . 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Stoke to Horecastle .... 
 
 5 
 
 8 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Stoke to Horecastle Tunnel . . . 
 
 
 z 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Stoke to Crewe .... 
 
 7U 
 
 5 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 Stoke to North Rode . 
 
 27 
 
 3 
 
 Included above. 
 
 North Rode to Macclesfield 
 
 233 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 North Rode to Uttoxeter . . . 
 
 544 
 
 I 
 
 4 
 
 
 J 3 
 
 
 Rocester to Ashbourne 
 
 U 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 ! 2 
 
 
 OXFORD, WORCESTER, & WOLYERHAMPTON 
 
 "5 
 
 1 
 
 '3 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Worcester to Dudley . . . 
 
 no 
 
 4 
 
 '4 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dudley to Wolverhampton 
 
 24 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 SHREWSBURY AND BIRMINGHAM 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Shrewsbury to Wolverhampton 
 
 118 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 SHROPSHIRE UNION RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Shrewsbury to Stafford 
 
 sM 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 SHREWSBURY AND CHESTER RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Chester to Shrewsbury 
 
 169 
 
 4 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Wheatsheaf Branch .... 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 Oswestry Branch . . . . 
 
 9 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 SIIREWSBURY AND HEREFORD RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Shrewsbury to Hereford . 
 
 101 
 
 2 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 Ludlow Race-course 
 
 i 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 Ludlow Tunnel .... 
 
 i 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dinmore Tunnel . . . . 
 
 f 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 NEWPORT, ABERGAVENNY, AND HERE- 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 FORD RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hereford Junction to Hereford Station 
 
 8z 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 HEREFORD, ROSS, AND GLOUCESTER 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Grange Court to Hopebrook 
 
 IO 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 SOUTH DEVON RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Exeter to Plymouth 
 
 371 
 
 7 
 
 17 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 Newton to Totness .... 
 
 174 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 Newton to Torquay . . . . 
 
 20 
 
 4 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 Totness to Kingsbridge 
 
 9 
 
 i 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Plymouth to Kingsbridge 
 
 15 
 
 I 
 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 WEST CORNWALL RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Penzance to Truro .... 
 
 So 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 SOUTH-EASTERN RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 London to Strood . . . 
 
 124 
 
 4 
 
 26 
 
 
 23 
 
 
 London to Greenwich 
 
 7| 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 1 4 
 
 
 London to Observatory . . . 
 
 74 
 
 2 
 
 For time signals. 
 
 London to Tunbridge 
 
 j6 4 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 Tunbridge to Paddock Wood . . 
 
 *5 
 
 5 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Paddock Wood to Maidstone 
 
 30 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 Paddock Wood to Dover . . . 
 
 168 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 15 
 
 
 103
 
 NAME OF RAILWAY. 
 
 No. of Miles 
 of Wire.. 
 
 No. of Wires. 
 
 No. of Double-needle 1 
 In.truinent". 
 
 No. of Single-needle 
 
 No. of Printing 
 Instruments. 
 
 No. of Belli. 
 
 No. of Mnxnf ts. ! 
 
 Folkstone to Harbour 
 
 6 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Ashford to Margate . . . 
 
 .102 
 
 3 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 
 Minster to Deal .... 
 
 27 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Askford to Hastings . ... 
 
 54 
 
 2 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 Tunbridge to Robert's Bridge 
 
 84 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 
 Robert's Bridge to Hastings . 
 
 24 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Brighton Junction to Hastings . 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Bricklayers' Arms to Junction 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 i 
 
 
 Redhill to Shalford .... 
 
 76 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Shalford to Reading .... 
 
 54 
 
 2 
 
 7 
 
 
 
 
 
 Merstham Tunnel to Redhill 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 Redhill to Signal Pole .... 
 
 04 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Bescott to Walsall .... 
 
 74 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 Bescott to Great Bridge . . . 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Great Bridge to Dudley . 
 
 6 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 3 
 
 I 
 
 Walsall to Brownhills .... 
 
 104 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 SOUTH WALES RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Gloucester to Haverfordwest 
 
 647 
 
 4 
 
 35 
 
 
 
 
 
 Landore to Llamsamlit . . . . 
 
 7 
 
 2 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 6 
 
 
 Tunnel west of Landore 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 S.N.wirefrom S.W. to Taff Vale Railway 
 
 o| 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Loop to Swansea .... 
 
 
 S 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cardiff Docks 
 
 5 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 Gloucester to Grange Court 
 
 154 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 TAFF VALE RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cardiff Docks to Merthyr . . . 
 
 49 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Aberdare to Aberdare Junction . 
 
 144 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 VALE OF NEATH RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Neath to Merthyr .... 
 
 46 
 
 2 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 
 
 Hirwain to Aberdare Junction . 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Merthyr to end of Tunnel . . . 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 WHITEHAVEN JUNCTION. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Maryport to Whitehaven . 
 
 24 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 
 YORK, NEWCASTLE, AND BERWICK 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 York to Newcastle . . . . 
 
 8 7 24 
 
 IO 
 
 18 
 
 '3 
 
 | 
 
 '9 
 
 I 
 
 Darlington to Newcastle . 
 
 ,4*1 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 22 
 
 IO 
 
 Darlington to Station on Stockton Line 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 Dalton to Richmond . . . . 
 
 jn. 1 , 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 Dalton to Darlington 
 
 5k 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Belmont to Durham . . . . 
 
 12 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 Belmont to Fence Houses . 
 
 34 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 Brockley Whins to South Shields . . 
 
 24 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 
 Newcastle to Brockley Whins 
 Brockley Whins to Sunderland . . 
 
 474 
 
 35 
 
 5 
 7 
 
 II 
 
 3 
 
 dm 
 
 2 
 
 0,1 1 
 
 x.-k\ 
 3 
 
 
 Newcastle to Berwick 
 
 399 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 
 
 7 

 
 NAME OF KAILWAY. 
 
 h 
 
 Js9 
 
 No. of Wires. 
 
 1 No. of Double-needle 
 
 Instrument*. 
 
 1 No. of Sinnle-ueedle 
 Instruments. 
 
 No. of Printing 
 Instruments. 
 
 No. of Bells. 
 
 No. of Magnets. 1 
 
 Newcastle to Benton . . . . 
 
 4 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Newcastle to Tynemouth . 
 
 18 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 Belton to Alnwick . ... 
 
 12 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 Fatfield to Washington 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 Washington to Shields Drops . . . 
 Shields Drops to Sunderland Dock 
 Sunderland Dock to Sunderland Statn. 
 
 8 
 16 
 
 8 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 I 
 
 ^ohi 
 
 led 
 
 abov 
 
 e. 
 
 YORK AND NORTH MIDLAND RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Harrowgate to Church Fenton . 
 
 48 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Hull to Milford Junction . . . 
 
 77 
 
 S 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 Bridlington to Hull .... 
 
 30 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 Scarborough to York . . . . 
 
 42 
 
 3 
 
 S 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 Burton Salmon to Castleford 
 
 36 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Castleford to Normanton . . . 
 
 33l 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 
 Milford Juncton to Burton Salmon 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Milford Junction to York 
 
 30 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 York to Burton Salmon 
 
 
 13 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 EDINBURGH, PERTH, AND DUNDEE. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Edinburgh to Tay Port 
 
 J 59 
 
 3 
 
 II 
 
 
 
 II 
 
 
 Ladybank Junction to Perth 
 
 36 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Edinburgh to Scotland-street 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 EDINBURGH AND GLASGOW RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Edinburgh to Glasgow . . . 
 
 33*4 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 
 
 3 
 
 7 
 
 
 Edinburgh to Greenhill 
 
 60 
 
 2 
 
 i 
 
 
 
 
 
 Cowlairs to Hut Tunnel end . 
 
 2 i 
 
 - 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Haymarket to Edinburgh Tunnel end . 
 Edinburgh to Leith-street work . 
 
 3 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 4 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 
 
 DUNDEE AND ARBROATH RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dundee to Broughty . . . . 
 
 9 
 
 2 
 
 I 
 
 
 
 
 
 Tay Port Submarine cable . 
 
 4 
 
 4 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 NORTH BRITISH RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Berwick to Edinburgh . . 1 . 
 
 3464 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 Portobello to Hut .... 
 
 6 
 
 2 
 
 2 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 
 Tunnel 
 
 1 20 yds 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SCOTTISH CENTRAL RAILWAY. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Greenhill to Perth .... 
 
 180 
 
 4 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 METROPOLITAN STATIONS . . . 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 7- 
 
 
 5 
 
 
 
 275. According to the tariff, as last arranged by the Telegraph 
 Companies, all messages consisting of not more than 20 words, 
 are transmitted to distances not exceeding 50 miles for Is. 6d., to 
 distances not exceeding 100 miles for 2s., to 150 miles for 3s., 
 and to further distances in Great Britain 4s. 
 
 Ill
 
 TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 The charge for transmission is of course increased in proportion 
 to the length of the message, but the daily experience of the 
 telegraphic offices demonstrates that, with the exception of reports 
 transmitted to the newspapers, the average length of the messages 
 does not much exceed twenty words. I have obtained a return 
 of the lengths of 74 messages transmitted, without any particular 
 selection of subject, the total length of which, exclusive of the 
 address, is 1151 words. The total length of the addresses is 540 
 words. This gives for the average length of the messages 15 
 words, and of the addresses 7 words, the average length of the 
 messages, including the addresses, being therefore a little under 
 23 words. 
 
 Besides the convenience offered to the public by the transmis 
 sion of messages to the various stations throughout the country, 
 the companies have established a system of metropolitan inter- 
 communication by means of numerous branch stations in connec- 
 tion with each other. These stations are dispersed through the 
 metropolis at points which have been found to be the most active 
 centres of intercourse. They include the railway stations, the 
 London Docks, Mincing Lane, Mark Lane, General Post Office, 
 St. Dunstan's Church, West Strand, Great George Street West- 
 minster, St. James's Palace, Knightsbridge, and the Marble Arch, 
 Hyde-park, and many other stations in the suburbs. Of these 
 the stations in the West Strand and Threadneedle Street are 
 open day and night. 
 
 Messages of 10 words are transmitted between any two of these 
 metropolitan stations for 4c7. 
 
 In all cases the charge for the telegraphic message includes its 
 delivery at the place of address, provided that such place be 
 within a radius of half a mile round the station, Qd. being charged 
 for each half mile additional, and no charge is made for the 
 addresses of the sender or receiver.
 
 Fig. 9 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV. 
 
 Electric Telegraph Company's present tariff (continued). 276. Magnetic 
 Telegraph Company. 277. Chartered Submarine Company. 278. The 
 Submarine Telegraph Company, between France and England. 279. 
 European and American Telegraph Company. 280. Origin of the 
 submarine companies' enterprises. 281. Wonderful celerity of inter- 
 national correspondence. 282. Organisation of electric communications 
 with the Continent. 283. Mediterranean Electric Telegraph Company. 
 284. General table showing the places on the continent of Europe, 
 which are in electric connection with each other, and with England, and 
 the cost of despatches sent between them severally and London. 
 285. Telegraphic lines in the United States. 286. Vast projects in 
 progress or contemplation. 
 
 &ccoBDl3r& to the half-yearly balance sheet of the company it 
 appears that in the six months ending June 30th, 1859, the 
 LARMIER'S MUSEUM op SCIENCE. z 113 
 
 No. 51.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 gross revenue amounted to 98,000?., and that the dividend was 
 6 per cent, per annum on the capital. 
 
 The receipts would represent an average daily business of 
 about 11,000 shilling messages. 
 
 This company possesses the English patent of many forms of 
 telegraph, including those of Bain. It works, however, chiefly 
 with the double needle telegraph, impelled by currents from the 
 ordinary plate battery of zinc and copper, excited by acidulated 
 water. The transmission of each despatch, consequently, occupies 
 two conducting wires, and two batteries with their accessories. 
 
 On certain lines, as for example between London and Liverpool, 
 the instrument of Bain is used. This is attended, as compared 
 with the needle instrument, with two advantages ; first, that it 
 requires only one line wire ; and secondly, that it writes its own 
 despatch. With the needle instrument two copies of each despatch 
 must be made, one to be delivered as addressed, and the other to 
 be retained by the office. In using Bain's method, that which is 
 written, in telegraphic cipher by the instrument is retained by the 
 office, so that the time of one clerk is saved. 
 
 In the organisation of its establishment, the Electric Telegraph 
 Company have made an innovation on our national customs, which 
 cannot be regarded as otherwise than happy and judicious, by 
 rendering electro-telegraphy the means of enlarging the sphere of 
 female industry in this country. In no part of the civilised world, 
 except perhaps the United States, where our customs have been 
 retained, are females excluded from so many employments suited 
 to them, as in England. In France they are extensively employed 
 as clerks in various branches of commercial business. As money- 
 takers or ticket-sellers in railway offices, theatres, concert-rooms, 
 and in short in all public exhibitions they are engaged, to the 
 entire exclusion of the other sex. As box-keepers and box-openers 
 in all the theatres, and in numberless other occupations in which 
 no bodily labour is needed, they are preferred to men. 
 
 Now the working of telegraphic instruments, and the general 
 business of telegraphic offices is precisely the kind of occupation 
 for which they are best fitted, and we notice with great pleasure 
 the independent and enlightened step taken by {he Electric 
 Telegraph Company in their employment, which it may be 
 hoped will prove only the commencement of a general movement, 
 having a tendency to improve the condition of that portion of 
 the sex who are obliged to seek the means of living by their 
 industry. 
 
 The battery department is not one of the least interesting 
 objects presented in the Lothbury establishment. The cellars of 
 the building are appropriated to this generator of electric currents.
 
 ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY. 
 
 They consist of two long narrow vaults, in which upwards of 300 
 batteries are arranged, consisting of various numbers of pairs of 
 plates, six, twelve, and twenty-four, adapted to carry smaller and 
 greater distances. 
 
 The entire amount of voltaic power employed by this com- 
 pany throughout the country consists of 96000 cells composed 
 of 1,500000 square inches of copper, and an equal surface of zinc. 
 These are kept in action by the consumption of six tons of acid 
 annually. 
 
 In the half year ending 31st December, 1851, the paid up 
 capital of the company was augmented, and the tariif for the 
 transmission of messages was reduced in the large proportion of 
 50 per cent, upon its original rate. The extent of the line was 
 increased 8 per cent., and that of the conducting wires nearly 35 
 per cent. The average number of wires upon the lines was 
 augmented by this change from 4 to 5. The effect of this, and 
 the gradual increase from month to month in the next half year 
 was an increase of above 60 per cent, in the amount of business, 
 and nearly 13 per cent, in the receipts, the dividends having been 
 augmented from 4 to 6 per cent. 
 
 Among the more recent improvements in the transaction of 
 telegraphic business which have been made by this company, the 
 following may be mentioned. 
 
 "Franked message papers," pre-paid, are now issued, procur- 
 able at any stationer's. These, with the message filled in, can be 
 dispatched to the office when and how the sender likes ; and the 
 company intend very quickly to sell electric stamps, like Queen's 
 heads, which may be stuck on to any piece of paper, and frank its 
 contents without any further trouble. Another very important 
 arrangement for mercantile men is the sending of " remittance 
 messages," by means of which money can be paid in at the central 
 office in London, and, within a few minutes, paid out at Liverpool 
 or Manchester, or by the same means sent up to town with the 
 like dispatch from Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, 
 Leeds, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Hull, York, 
 Plymouth, and Exeter. There is a money-order office in the 
 Lothbury establishment to manage this department, which will, 
 no doubt, in all emergencies speedily supersede the government 
 money-order office which works through the slower medium of the 
 
 * Quarterly Review, No. CLXXXIX., p. 149. 
 
 I 2 115
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
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 116
 
 THE MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY. 
 
 BRITISH AND IEISH MAGNETIC TELEGBAPH COMPANY. 
 
 276. This company, into which, are merged the Magnetic, 
 British, and European and American Telegraph Companies, have 
 lines of telegraph extending throughout England, Scotland, and 
 Ireland, between 340 of the principal towns of the United King- 
 dom. The wires are partly carried along the public roads, and 
 partly along 54 railways with which the company have contracts. 
 
 The company's lines in Ireland are connected with those in 
 Great Britain by two submarine cables of great strength, each, 
 containing six conducting wires. The cables were laid in 1853 
 and 1854. 
 
 The five continental cables of the Submarine Telegraph 
 Company, comprising twenty-one wires and embracing the whole 
 coast line of France, Belgium, Hanover, and Denmark, under 
 exclusive concession from the respective governments, are solely 
 connected with the land lines of this company, which therefore 
 possess the benefit of direct communication with these countries, 
 and thence with the 3000 telegraph stations now open in Europe 
 and Africa. 
 
 The company has fourteen offices in London for the collection 
 and delivery of messages throughout the metropolis, and has 
 recently opened a new central telegraph station, built upon the 
 site of the Baltic Cofiee House and adjacent premises facing the 
 Royal Exchange. 
 
 The capital at present expended by the company is 750,000. 
 
 A new system of insulation has been invented and applied to 
 this company's wires by Sir Charles Bright, their chief engineer, 
 by means of which the company are enabled to work direct 
 between London and Dublin, a distance of 700 miles (via Stranraer 
 and Belfast), without relay, and between London and Glasgow, 
 Liverpool and Queenstown, &c. The company's wires are also 
 worked direct to Hamburgh, Paris, Berlin, &c., in connection 
 with the Submarine Company's cables. 
 
 The system of signalling by sound (sec. 220), patented by Sir 
 Charles Bright and his brother Mr. Edward Bright, the engineer 
 and secretary of the company, has been extensively introduced on 
 the most busy lines of the company, but a large proportion of the 
 wires are still worked with the forms of needle telegraph patented 
 by Messrs. Henley and Forster, and Highton. 
 
 The company's tariff for the transmission of messages in Great 
 Britain is the same as that of the Electric Telegraph Company. 
 
 117
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 The tariff for Ireland is a special one, and that for the continent 
 of Europe is on the basis of agreements with the various conti- 
 nental governments. 
 
 8TJBMAEINE COMPANIES. 
 
 277. The CHAETEEED SUBMAEINE TELEGEAPH COMPANY be- 
 tween Great Britain and the Continent has been formed with a 
 nominal share capital of 300,000, and its operations have 
 extended to the establishment of electric communication (in con- 
 junction with the " Submarine Telegraph Company,") with France, 
 Belgium, Hanover, and Denmark, by means of a series of cables 
 laid between Dover and Calais, Folkestone and Boulogne, Wey- 
 bourne and Embden, and "Weybourne and Tonning via Heligo- 
 land. The companies have also laid a cable between Jersey and 
 the coast of France. 
 
 278. The SITBMAEINE TELEGEAPH COMPANY has a share capital 
 of 100,000, and its wires are worked in conjunction with those 
 of the Chartered Submarine Telegraph Company. 
 
 The Submarine Telegraph Companies were projected in 1851, 
 and the promoters succeeded in obtaining concessions of exclusive 
 telegraphic communication with France and Belgium for the space 
 of ten years. The companies' cable to France was the first sub- 
 marine telegraph cable ever laid down, and first demonstrated the 
 practicability of establishing such a communication. The original 
 concession granted by the French government, and which would 
 have expired in 1862, has recently been extended thirty years, 
 dating from January, 1859. 
 
 Similar concessions, for twenty and twenty-five years re 
 epectively, have been granted by the governments of Hanover and 
 Denmark. The Submarine Telegraph Companies' cables ari 
 worked in connection with the land lines of the British and Irish 
 Magnetic Telegraph Company. 
 
 LONDON DISTRICT TELEGEAPH COMPANY. This company has 
 been established for the purpose of affording to the metropolis and 
 its immediate suburbs, expeditious and inexpensive telegraphic 
 communication. To effect this the City and its suburbs, within a 
 radius of twelve miles from the Royal Exchange, have been 
 divided into eleven districts, each of which will contain one chief 
 or central station, in addition to sub-district stations, of which 
 there will be about 100. The wires are erected over the houses 
 and along the main streets, the insulators patented by Sir Charles 
 JJright being employed. 
 
 The company opened a considerable number of its stations on 
 118
 
 SUBMARINE COMPANIES. 
 
 1st February, 1860, for the transmission of ten- word messages for 
 4.d. each. 
 
 Arrangements for the collection and interchange of provincial 
 traffic have been made between this and the British and Irish 
 Magnetic Telegraph Company, and the chief office of the District 
 Company is in the Central London Station, 58, Threadneedle 
 Street, belonging to the British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph 
 Company. At this station, and wherever arrangements will per- 
 mit, the company employ female staff, under the superintendence 
 of a lady long connected with the telegraph. 
 
 280. The originators of the novel and bold project of submarine 
 electric communication are stated to be the Messrs. Jacob and 
 J. "W. Brett, brothers, of Hanover-square, London. Their first 
 propositions were addressed to the English government, and were 
 directed to the deposition of a submarine cable between Holyhead 
 and Dublin, which they offered to undertake if the government 
 would make them a grant of 20000/., for which, of course, the 
 State would have for public purposes the free use of the line. 
 This offer was declined. 
 
 The next propositions, addressed to the French, and Belgian 
 governments, were attended with more success. An exclusive 
 privilege was granted by both governments, to which the English 
 government acceded for the use of such submarine conductors as 
 the parties should succeed in depositing, and in consequence of 
 this, the companies were formed, by which the project has since 
 been realised, and the cables already described between the 
 English coast near Dover and the coasts of France and Belgium, 
 near Calais and Ostend, were laid, by whiah London, Paris, and 
 Brussels have been brought into and now are in instantaneous 
 electric communication ; and through these capitals the whole 
 Continent, wherever telegraphic wires have been established, has 
 been put in connection with the United Kingdom. 
 
 281. The actual celerity with which correspondence can be 
 transmitted between London and parts of Europe more or less 
 remote, may be judged from the fact that the Queen's speech, 
 delivered at the opening of the parliamentary session of 1854, 
 was delivered verbatim and circulated in Paris and in Berlin 
 before her Majesty had left the House of Lords. 
 
 Messages have been sent from the office in Cornhill to Hamburg, 
 Vienna, and, on certain occasions, to Lemberg, in Gallicia, being 
 a distance of 1800 miles, their reception being acknowledged by 
 an instantaneous reply. 
 
 282. It is satisfactory to be able to state that measures are being 
 taken by many of the most important continental states to extend 
 the benefits of telegraphic communication by multiplying the 
 
 119
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 stations, by increasing the number of conducting wires, and by 
 lowering the tariff. 
 
 The electric communications with the continent may now bo 
 considered as secure from all chance of interruption. Accidents 
 from the dragging of anchors may occur, by which any one of 
 the submarine cables may be disabled for a time, but in that case 
 the communication with the continent will be maintained by cither 
 or both of the others, such a coincidence as the simultaneous 
 disabling of all the three not being within the bounds of moral 
 possibility. 
 
 MEDITERRANEAN ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY. 
 
 283. Another company has been formed by the spirit and 
 enterprise of the Messrs. Brett, under the auspices of the govern- 
 ments of France and Piedmont, for connecting the coasts of 
 Europe and Africa by electric wires, in the manner already 
 explained (84). This company is formed with a share capital of 
 300000Z. An exclusive privilege for fifty years has been granted 
 to it by the two governments, and a guarantee of interest of four 
 per cent, on 180000/. is given by the French, and 5 per cent. on. 
 120000J. by the Sardinian Government. 
 
 This enterprise is now (1854) in rapid progress of realisation, 
 several hundred men being occupied in constructing the lines 
 across the islands of Sardinia and Corsica. It is expected that 
 the lines to the coast of Africa will be completed and in operation 
 soon after these pages will be in the hands of our readers. 
 
 While we write these lines (June, 1854) we learn that the cable 
 has been laid between Spezzia and Corsica, and between Corsica 
 and Sardinia, and is already in successful operation. 
 
 The condition and form of the bottom between coast and coast 
 has been ascertained by soundings, and is found to present no 
 obstacles, being free from any considerable inequalities of depth. 
 The conducting wires within this cable have received a special 
 form, the advantage of which is, that in case of the cable being 
 bent by any accidental inequalities of the bottom, or accidents in 
 the process of its deposition, the wires will not be strained, but 
 will easily yield as a spiral spring wou!3 In the cables already 
 laid, it has been found that some of the wires have been more or 
 less injured from this cause, so as to render their performance 
 unsatisfactory. 
 
 The weight of this cable is at the rate of 8 tons per mile. It 
 
 contains six conducting wires, each of which is covered with a 
 
 coating of gutta percha, and the whole is surrounded with hemp, 
 
 properly tarred, so as to form a compact rope, which is finally 
 
 120
 
 SUBMARINE COMPANIES. 
 
 enclosed liko those already described in a compound heliacal 
 armour of twelve galvanised iron wires. 
 
 Until the cable and wires destined ultimately to connect 
 Alexandria with Sardinia can be completed, it is intended to 
 establish a special line of steamers between Malta and Sardinia, 
 so as to be enabled to transmit intelligence instantaneously from the 
 centre of the Mediterranean to London, Paris, and all parts of 
 Europe. Two mercantile houses, Messrs. Rubattino and Co., of 
 Genoa, and Messrs. Antonio Galea and Co., of Malta, have 
 undertaken conjointly to place two steamers to run between 
 Malta and Sardinia, to take the despatches coming from the East, 
 to be transmitted to Paris and London. 
 
 It is intended, however, meanwhile, to connect Malta by a cable 
 with the nearest point of the African coast, and by this, and an 
 underground line of wires to Bona, to establish an electric com- 
 munication with Sardinia, and thence with London. 
 
 284. In the following table, collected from the most recent 
 reports, are shown the telegraphic stations established in various 
 countries of Europe in July, 1854. Annexed to each place is the 
 charge at which a single message is transmitted between it and 
 London. Of this charge 8s. is the part applicable to the transit 
 between London and Calais or Ostend, the remainder being the 
 cost of transmission between one or other of these places, and the 
 continental station. A single message cannot exceed 20 words if 
 transmitted by Calais, or 25 words if transmitted by Ostend. 
 The charge is increased in a two-fold ratio for messages which 
 exceed this number of words, but which do not exceed 50, and 
 in a three-fold proportion for such as exceed 50, but do not 
 exceed 100. In general, messages exceeding 100 words are not 
 transmitted. 
 
 In some cases a message may be transmitted by different routes 
 at the option of the person sending it. Thus, for example, a 
 message to Vicenza may be sent vid Baden, vid Bavaria, vid 
 Switzerland, vid Sardinia, or vid Belgium. The cost of trans- 
 mission in such cases varies with the route chosen. In all such 
 cases the charge given in the Table is the lowest of those at which 
 it can be sent. 
 
 The tariff by way of the Hague is not included in this Table.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGKAPH. 
 
 FRENCH STATIONS, viz. 
 To ABBEVILLE 
 
 3. d. 
 
 10 6 
 
 FRENCH STATIONS, viz. 
 To Lorient 
 
 s. d. 
 15 o 
 
 
 
 
 16 o 
 
 ,, Amiens 
 ,, Angers 
 ,, Angouleme 
 
 II 
 
 14 o 
 
 15 ! 
 
 ,, MACON 
 ,, Mans (le) 
 ,, Marseilles 
 
 15 o 
 13 o 
 18 6 
 
 ,, Arras 
 
 10 6 
 
 ,, Melun ... 
 
 12 6 
 
 Auch 
 
 17 6 
 
 >f Metz 
 
 ii 6 
 
 ,, Auxerre 
 ,, Avignon 
 
 13 6 
 17 6 
 
 ,, Mont-de-Marsan 
 ,, Montpellier 
 
 1 j u 
 17 6 
 18 o 
 
 ,, BAR-LE-DUO 
 
 13 o 
 
 ,, Montauban 
 
 17 o 
 
 ,, Bayonne 
 
 18 o 
 
 ,, Montbrison 
 
 15 o 
 
 ,, Beauvais 
 
 ii 6 
 
 ,, Moulins 
 
 14 6 
 
 ,, Behobie 
 
 18 6 
 
 ,, Mulhouse 
 
 15 o 
 
 ,, Besan9on 
 ,, Bezieres 
 Blois 
 ,, Bordeaux 
 ,, Boulogne-sur-Mer 
 ,, Bourges 
 
 15 o 
 18 o 
 13 6 
 16 6 
 10 o 
 14 o 
 
 ,, NANTES 
 Nancy 
 ,, Narbonne 
 ,, Nevers 
 ,, Nimes ... 
 Niort 
 
 14 6 
 
 :i i 
 
 14 o 
 17 6 
 15 o 
 
 ,, Brest 
 
 15 o 
 
 
 
 
 
 ,, ORLEANS 
 
 13 o 
 
 ,, CAEN 
 
 13 o 
 
 
 
 Cahors 
 
 16 6 
 
 PARIS 
 
 12 O 
 
 ,, Calais 
 
 8 o 
 
 ,, Pau 
 
 18 o 
 
 ,, Carcassone 
 ,, Cette 
 
 18 o 
 18 o 
 
 ,, Perigueux 
 ,, Perpignan 
 
 16 o 
 18 6 
 
 ,, Chalons-sur-Marne ... 
 
 iz 6 
 
 ,, Poictiers 
 
 14 6 
 
 ,, Chalons-sur-Saone 
 
 15 o 
 
 ,, Privas 
 
 16 6 
 
 ,, Chartres (Eure et Loir) 
 
 12 6 
 
 ,, QUIMPER 
 
 1C ft 
 
 ,, Chateauroux 
 ,, Chaumont 
 ,, Cherbourg 
 ,, Clermont Ferrand 
 
 14 o 
 13 6 
 
 12 6 
 
 15 6 
 
 ,, RENNES 
 ,, Rochefort 
 ,, Roubaix 
 
 *3 w 
 
 14 o 
 15 6 
 10 6 
 
 ,, Colmar (Alsace) 
 
 14 6 
 
 ,, Rouen 
 
 ii 6 
 
 Creil 
 
 ii 6 
 
 ,, SAINT QUENTIN 
 
 ii 6 
 
 ,, DIEPPE 
 
 II 
 
 ,, St. Etienne 
 St. Lo 
 
 16 o 
 
 12 6 
 
 ,, Dijon 
 
 14 6 
 
 ,, St. Omer 
 
 IO O 
 
 ,, Douai ... 
 ,, Draguignan 
 ,, Dunkirk 
 
 II 
 
 18 6 
 10 o 
 
 ,, Strasbourg 
 ,, TARBES 
 
 14 6 
 18 o 
 
 ,, EVREUX 
 
 12 
 
 ,, Tonnerre 
 ,, Toulon 
 
 13 6 
 
 10 
 
 ,, Foix 
 
 18 6 
 
 ,, Toulouse 
 
 17 6 
 
 ,, GRENOBLE 
 
 16 6 
 
 ,, Tours ... 
 ,, Troyes 
 
 14 o 
 13 o 
 
 ,, HAVRE 
 
 12 
 
 ,, VALENCIENNES 
 
 II 
 
 ,, LAON 
 
 12 
 
 Valence 
 
 16 6 
 
 ,,LaRochelle 
 
 15 6 
 
 ,, Vannes... 
 
 14 6 
 
 Lille 
 
 10 6 
 
 Versailles 
 
 12 
 
 ,, Limoges 
 
 15 6 
 
 ,, Vesoul 
 
 14 6 
 
 
 
 
 
 122
 
 SUBMARINE AND EUROPEAN TELEGRAPHS. 
 
 TO 
 
 . d. 
 
 TO 
 
 s. d. 
 
 TO 
 
 s. d. 
 
 ARAU 
 
 20 
 
 Brunswick 
 
 20 
 
 Ghent 
 
 10 
 
 Aarbourg 
 
 2O 
 
 Brussels 
 
 12 O 
 
 Giessen 
 
 iS o 
 
 Adelsberg 
 
 22 
 
 Biihler 
 
 22 
 
 Glaris 
 
 22 O 
 
 Aeltre 
 
 10 
 
 CARLSRUHB ... 
 
 14 o 
 
 Glognitz 
 
 22 
 
 Agram... 
 
 22 
 
 Casale 
 
 24 o 
 
 Gorlitz 
 
 22 
 
 Airolo 
 
 22 
 
 Cassel 
 
 18 o 
 
 Gospicb. 
 
 22 O 
 
 Aix-la-Chapelle 
 
 16 o 
 
 Charleroi 
 
 12 
 
 Gotha 
 
 18 o 
 
 Alexandria (Sar.) 
 
 24 o 
 
 Chaux de Fonds 
 
 22 
 
 Goritz 
 
 22 
 
 Alstatten 
 
 22 O 
 
 Chemnitz 
 
 2O O 
 
 Gratz 
 
 22 O 
 
 Altenbourg ... 
 
 20 
 
 Chiasso 
 
 24 o 
 
 HAARLEM 
 
 16 o 
 
 Altona 
 
 24 6 
 
 Cilly 
 
 22 
 
 Hagenau 
 
 22 
 
 Altorf 
 
 22 
 
 Coire 
 
 22 
 
 Hague 
 
 14 o 
 
 Amsterdam ... 
 
 16 
 
 Come 
 
 18 o 
 
 Halle 
 
 20 o 
 
 Andermatt 
 
 22 
 
 Courtrai 
 
 10 
 
 Ham 
 
 18 o 
 
 Ansbach 
 
 ll 
 
 Coblentz 
 
 18 o 
 
 Hamburg 
 
 22 
 
 Antwerp 
 
 12 
 
 Cologne 
 
 16 o 
 
 Hanau 
 
 18 o 
 
 Arnheim 
 
 16 
 
 Copenhagen 
 
 24 6 
 
 Hanover 
 
 20 
 
 Appenweier ... 
 
 ll 
 
 Cracow 
 
 24 o 
 
 Harburg 
 
 22 
 
 Aschaffenburg... 
 
 16 
 
 DANTZIQ 
 
 24 o 
 
 Hasselt 
 
 12 
 
 Asti 
 
 22 
 
 Darmstadt 
 
 15 o 
 
 Hattingen 
 
 14 o 
 
 Ath 
 
 12 
 
 Delemont 
 
 20 
 
 Heidelberg 
 
 14 o 
 
 Augsburg 
 
 ll 
 
 Delft 
 
 16 o 
 
 Heilbronn 
 
 16 o 
 
 BADEN, Baden... 
 
 14 
 
 Dessau 
 
 20 o 
 
 Her isau 
 
 22 O 
 
 Baden (Swiss)... 
 
 20 
 
 Deutz 
 
 16 o 
 
 Hermanstadt ... 
 
 26 o 
 
 Bale 
 
 2O 
 
 Dirschaw 
 
 24 o 
 
 Herzogenbuchsee 
 
 20 
 
 Bamburg 
 
 18 
 
 Dordrecht 
 
 14 o 
 
 Hof 
 
 20 
 
 Bautzen 
 
 22 
 
 Dresden 
 
 20 o 
 
 Hohenschwangau 
 
 18 o 
 
 Bellinzona 
 
 22 
 
 Dinglingen 
 
 14 o 
 
 Horgen 
 
 22 
 
 Bergamo 
 
 2O 
 
 Duisbourg 
 
 18 o 
 
 INSPRUCK 
 
 18 o 
 
 Berlin 
 
 22 
 
 Dusseldorf 
 
 18 o 
 
 Ischl ... 
 
 24 o 
 
 Berne 
 
 2O 
 
 EMPOH 
 
 35 
 
 JURBISK 
 
 12 
 
 Berthoud 
 
 2O 
 
 Eisenach 
 
 18 o 
 
 KARLSTADT 
 
 22 
 
 Beyreuth 
 
 ll 
 
 Elberfeld 
 
 18 o 
 
 Kempten 
 
 18 o 
 
 Bielitz 
 
 26 
 
 Elbing 
 
 26 o 
 
 Kell 
 
 14 o 
 
 Bienne 
 
 2O 
 
 Elsineur 
 
 24 6 
 
 Kissengen 
 
 iS o 
 
 Bodenbach ... 
 
 20 
 
 Erfurt 
 
 20 o 
 
 Klagenfurt ... 
 
 22 
 
 Bologna 
 
 26 
 
 Essek 
 
 28 o 
 
 Klausenberg ... 
 
 30 o 
 
 Borgoforto 
 
 24 
 
 FKLDKIRK 
 
 18 o 
 
 Kohlfurt 
 
 24 o 
 
 Botzen (in Tyrol) 
 
 20 
 
 Flawyl 
 
 22 
 
 Konigsberg 
 
 26 o 
 
 Brain-le-Compte 
 
 12 
 
 Flensburg 
 
 24 6 
 
 Korsor 
 
 24 6 
 
 Breda 
 
 H 
 
 Fleurier 
 
 22 
 
 Kosel 
 
 24 o 
 
 Bregenz 
 
 ll 
 
 Florence 
 
 36 6 
 
 Kothen 
 
 20 
 
 Bremen 
 
 20 
 
 Fossano 
 
 22 O 
 
 Kreutz 
 
 24 o 
 
 Brescia 
 
 20 
 
 Frankfort on M. 
 
 15 6 
 
 Kufstein 
 
 20 
 
 Breslau 
 
 22 
 
 Frankfort on 0. 
 
 22 
 
 LAIBACH 
 
 22 
 
 Brigg 
 
 22 
 
 Frauenfeld 
 
 22 O 
 
 Landau 
 
 14 o 
 
 Brixen 
 
 20 
 
 Fredericia 
 
 24 6 
 
 Landen 
 
 12 
 
 Bromberg 
 
 26 
 
 Fribourg (Swiss) 
 
 22 
 
 Landshut 
 
 18 o 
 
 Bruchsal 
 
 14 o 
 
 Friburg (Baden) 
 
 14 o 
 
 Langenthal 
 
 20 
 
 Brugelette 
 
 12 
 
 Friedrichshafen 
 
 16 o 
 
 Lans-le-bourg ... 
 
 2O O 
 
 Bruges 
 
 IO O 
 
 GENEVA 
 
 22 
 
 Lausanne 
 
 22 
 
 Brugg 
 
 20 
 
 Genoa 
 
 24 o 
 
 Leghorn 
 
 34 6 
 
 Brunn 
 
 22 
 
 Germersheim ... 
 
 14 o 
 
 Leipzig 
 
 20 o 
 
 123
 
 THE ELECTKIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 TO 
 
 s. d. 
 
 TO 
 
 s. d. 
 
 TO 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Lemburg 
 
 26 o 
 
 Offenburg 
 
 14 o 
 
 Saint Imier ... 
 
 20 
 
 Lenzbourg 
 
 20 
 
 Olm utz 
 
 22 O 
 
 Saint Trond ... 
 
 12 O 
 
 Leyden 
 
 16 o 
 
 Olten 
 
 20 
 
 St. Jean de Mau- 
 
 
 Lichtensteig . . . 
 
 22 
 
 Oos 
 
 14 o 
 
 rienne 
 
 20 
 
 Liege 
 
 12 
 
 Oppeln 
 
 24 o 
 
 Salzburg 
 
 2O O 
 
 Liegnitz 
 
 22 
 
 Orsowa 
 
 26 o 
 
 Samaden 
 
 24 o 
 
 Liestall 
 
 2O O 
 
 Oschersleben . . . 
 
 20 o 
 
 Sarrebriick ... 
 
 16 o 
 
 Lindau 
 
 16 o 
 
 Ostend 
 
 8 o 
 
 Schiedam ... i 16 o 
 
 Li nz 
 
 20 
 
 PADERBORN 
 
 20 
 
 Schaffhausen ... 22 o 
 
 Locarno 
 
 22 O 
 
 Padua 
 
 2O O 
 
 Schweinfurt ... 18 o 
 
 Locle (le) 
 
 22 
 
 Parma 
 
 24 o 
 
 Schwyz 
 
 22 
 
 Louvain 
 
 12 
 
 Passau 
 
 20 
 
 Semlin ... 
 
 26 o 
 
 Lubeck 
 
 22 O 
 
 Pays Bas Frr. ... 
 
 12 
 
 Sion 
 
 22 
 
 Lucca 
 
 34 6 
 
 Pepinster 
 
 14 o 
 
 Sienna 
 
 28 6 
 
 Lucerne 
 
 22 
 
 Pescia 
 
 35 
 
 Soleure 
 
 20 
 
 Ludwigschafen 
 
 16 o 
 
 Pesth-Bude ... 
 
 24 o 
 
 Sonceboz 
 
 20 
 
 Lugano 
 
 24 o 
 
 Peterwardin . . . 
 
 24 o 
 
 Spires 
 
 16 o 
 
 MAGDEBURQ ... 
 
 20 
 
 Pietra Santa ... 
 
 32 6 
 
 Spliigen 
 
 22 
 
 Malines 
 
 12 O 
 
 Pirano 
 
 22 
 
 Stettin 
 
 22 
 
 Manage 
 
 12 O 
 
 Pisa 
 
 32 6 
 
 Stuttgard 
 
 16 o 
 
 Mannheim 
 
 14 o 
 
 Pistoja 
 
 37 
 
 Siissen... 
 
 22 
 
 Mantua 
 
 2O O 
 
 Plaisance 
 
 26 o 
 
 Swinnemunde ... 
 
 22 
 
 Marburg 
 
 18 o 
 
 Plauen 
 
 20 o 
 
 Szegedin 
 
 24 o 
 
 Massa 
 
 26 o 
 
 Poggebonsi 
 
 37 
 
 Szolnock 
 
 24 o 
 
 Mestre 
 
 20 o 
 
 Pola 
 
 22 
 
 TAMINES 
 
 12 O 
 
 Milan 
 
 20 
 
 Pontadera 
 
 33 
 
 Tarnow 
 
 24 o 
 
 Minden 
 
 20 
 
 Posen 
 
 24 o 
 
 Temeswar 
 
 26 o 
 
 Misocco 
 
 22 O 
 
 Potsdam 
 
 22 
 
 Termonde 
 
 12 O 
 
 Modena 
 
 24 o 
 
 Prague 
 
 20 
 
 Teufen 
 
 22 
 
 Mogadino 
 
 22 O 
 
 Prato 
 
 37 
 
 Thalwyl 
 
 
 Mons 
 
 12 O 
 
 Presburg 
 
 22 
 
 Thusis 
 
 22 
 
 Monza ... 
 
 20 
 
 Przmysl 
 
 26 o 
 
 Tirlemont 
 
 12 
 
 Morat 
 
 22 
 
 QUIEVRAIN 
 
 12 
 
 Tournay 
 
 IO O 
 
 Morgiers 
 
 22 
 
 RACCONIGI 
 
 22 
 
 Trento 
 
 2O O 
 
 Metiers 
 
 22 
 
 Ragaz 
 
 22 
 
 Treves 
 
 16 o 
 
 Mouscron 
 
 IO O 
 
 Rapperschwyl . . 
 
 22 
 
 Treviglio 
 
 24 o 
 
 Mulheim 
 
 14 o 
 
 Rastadt 
 
 14 o 
 
 Trevisa 
 
 20 
 
 Munich 
 
 18 o 
 
 Ratibor 
 
 24 o 
 
 Trieste 
 
 22 
 
 Munster 
 
 18 o 
 
 Ratisbon 
 
 18 o 
 
 Trogen 
 
 22 O 
 
 Murzzuschlag ... 
 Myslowitz 
 
 22 
 
 24 o 
 
 Reggio 
 Rendsburg 
 
 22 O 
 
 24 6 
 
 Troppau 
 Trubau 
 
 24 o 
 
 22 O 
 
 NAMUR 
 
 12 
 
 Rheineck 
 
 22 
 
 Turin 
 
 22 
 
 Neufchatel ... 
 
 22 O 
 
 Richterschwyl... 
 
 22 
 
 UDINK 
 
 20 
 
 Neuhausel 
 
 24 o 
 
 Riesa 
 
 ^O O 
 
 Ulm 
 
 16 o 
 
 Niederurnen ... 
 
 22 
 
 Rotterdam 
 
 14 o 
 
 Utrecht 
 
 16 o 
 
 Nieuw Diep 
 
 17 8 
 
 Rorschach 
 
 22 
 
 TJznach 
 
 22 
 
 Novare 
 
 24 o 
 
 Rosenheim 
 
 18 o 
 
 VENICE 
 
 2O O 
 
 Novi ... ... 24 o 
 
 Roveredo 
 
 20 o 
 
 Verceil 
 
 24 o 
 
 Nuremburg ... 18 o 
 
 Rovigno 
 
 32 o 
 
 Verona 
 
 24 o 
 
 Nyburg ... 24 6 
 
 Rzeszow 
 
 26 o 
 
 Verviers 
 
 14 o 
 
 Nyon 
 
 22 
 
 SAINT GALL 
 
 22 
 
 Vevey ... 
 
 22 
 
 ODERBERO 
 
 24 o 
 
 Sainte Croix ... 
 
 22 
 
 Vicenza ' ... 
 
 2O O 
 
 Offenbach 
 
 16 o 
 
 Saint Ghislain... 
 
 12 O 
 
 Vienna 
 
 22 
 
 124
 
 AMERICAN TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 TO 
 
 *. d. 
 
 TO 
 
 s. d. 
 
 TO 
 
 T~Z: 
 
 Wadenschwhl ... 
 
 22 o 
 
 Winterthur ... 
 
 22 
 
 YVERDCN 
 
 22 O 
 
 Wattwyl 
 
 22 
 
 Wittenburg ... 
 
 22 O 
 
 ZOFFINGUE 
 
 20 
 
 Weimar 
 
 20 o 
 
 Worms 
 
 16 o 
 
 Zug 
 
 22 
 
 Werdau 
 
 20 o 
 
 Wurzburg 
 
 18 o 
 
 Zurich 
 
 22 
 
 Wesel 
 
 20 
 
 Wyl 
 
 22 
 
 Zwickau 
 
 2O O 
 
 * The above rates are exclusive of the usual charge for Porterage for Delivery of the 
 Messages to any part of France. No charge to other places. N.. The 
 Minimum length of a Message via Belgium Twenty-five Words, any other 
 route Twenty Words. 
 
 The Public are informed that, in order to provide against mistakes in the trans- 
 mission of MESSAGES by the SUBMARINE and EUROPEAN TELEGRAPH 
 COMPANIES, every Message of consequence ought to be REPEATED, by being 
 sent back from the Station at which it is to be received, to the Station from which 
 it is originally sent. Double the usual price for transmission will be charged for 
 repeating the Message to or from any part of France, and Half the usual charge 
 to or from any other part of Europe. The Company will not be responsible for 
 Mistakes in the transmission of unrepeated messages, from whatever cause they 
 may arise. Nor will they be responsible for Mistakes in the transmission of a 
 repeated Message, nor for delay in the transmission or delivery, nor for non- 
 transmission or non-delivery of any Message, whether repeated or unrepeated. 
 No Message that is unintelligible can be transmitted to the Continent in conse- 
 quence of the regulations of the Foreign Governments. These Companies reserve 
 to themselves the right of refusing all those Despatches which in their opinion are 
 unintelligible. All persons sending more than one Message as a Single Despatch 
 will be held liable to pay such further sum, in addition to the amount paid on 
 transmission, as would have been charged by these Companies if each message 
 had been sent separately. 
 
 TELEGRAPHIC LINES IN THE TJNITED STATES. 
 
 285. Owing to the rapid progress and unrestricted freedom of 
 enterprise in the United States, a great number of independent 
 companies have been formed, by which the vast territory, from 
 the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi, and from the Gull' of 
 Mexico to the frontiers of Canada, is overspread with a net- 
 work of wires, upon which intelligence of every description, and 
 personal and commercial correspondence are flowing night and 
 day incessantly from year's end to year's end in a torrent of 
 which the old continents offer no similar example. It is almost 
 impossible to ascertain, even with a tolerable degree of approxi- 
 mation, the actual extent of wires which at any given time are 
 in operation. When we commence an investigation of the 
 statistics, with a view to the collection of facts necessary to 
 form the basis of a report, we are overwhelmed with statements 
 of lines commenced, lines half completed and nearly completed, 
 and many which undoubtedly must be completed before our report 
 can come under the eyes of our readers. All that can be done in 
 such a case is to give the nearest practicable estimate of the ex- 
 tent of these enterprises at a given epoch, indicating in a general 
 manner such as are in progress and likely sooner or later to be 
 completed and brought into practical operation. 
 
 125
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 The American lines are generally classified according to the 
 telegraph instruments with which they work. These are those 
 of Morse, House, and Bain, all of which transmit despatches by 
 means of a single conducting wire, and all of which write or 
 print the despatches they transmit, those of Morse and Bain, 
 in a telegraphic cipher, and that of House in the common Roman 
 capitals. 
 
 Of these three systems, that of Morse is in the most general 
 use a circumstance which is partly explained by the fact, that it 
 was the earliest adopted, and had established its ground long before 
 either of the competing systems. It must be admitted, that so far 
 as public opinion and favour can be accepted as a test of practical 
 excellence, the system of Morse has received not only a large 
 majority of the suffrages in the United States, but also in the 
 northern and eastern states of Europe. 
 
 According to a report published in 1853, the total length of 
 telegraphic wire, at the end of 1852, then in operation in the 
 United States, was 24375 miles, which was distributed between 
 the three systems of telegraphs in the following proportion : 
 
 Morse .... 
 
 House .... 2400 
 
 Bain 2012 
 
 24375 
 
 It appears by a more recent estimate, published in a report 
 presented by Mr. T. P. Shaffher to the Telegraphic Conven- 
 tion, that in March, 1854, the total extent of telegraphic wire 
 then in operation was above 40000 miles, which were thus 
 distributed : 
 
 Miles. 
 
 Morse .... 36972 
 House . ... 3850 
 Bain 570 
 
 41392 
 
 The decrease of the extent of the Bain lines was owing to the 
 coalition of some of the most extensive ot them with the Morse 
 companies. 
 
 It would thus appear that in little more than twelve months the 
 increase of telegraphic wire amounted to 17000 miles. It is pro- 
 bable, however, that the estimate which we have quoted of the 
 extent in operation at the end of 1852 may have been below the 
 actual length. 
 126
 
 AMERICAN TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 The following estimate of the capital absorbed by these enter- 
 prises is given in Mr. Shaflher's report : 
 
 House' 
 Bain . 
 
 6,671800 
 
 Being equivalent to 1, 400000 J. 
 
 Except in cases where a great commerce or intercourse prevails, 
 each company maintains only a single conducting wire between 
 station and station. As examples of the exceptions to this may 
 be mentioned, Washington and Philadelphia, connected by seven 
 Morse wires ; New York and Buffalo, and New York and Boston, 
 by three ; Cleveland and Cincinnati, and Boston and Portland, 
 by two. 
 
 In some cases, important terminal stations, such as New York 
 and Boston, are connected by the wires of several competing 
 companies, which follow, however, different routes, serving different 
 intermediate stations. 
 
 The State of Ohio, a tract of country lying between the upper 
 part of the river of that name, and the southern shore of Lake 
 Erie, the chief part of which, within the lives of the present 
 generation, was an uncultivated and uninhabited waste, is now 
 overspread with between 3000 and 4000 miles of electric telegraph. 
 
 286. Stupendous as have been the projects actually realised in 
 this application of science to the social uses of the United States, 
 they sink into comparative insignificance when others, which are 
 contemplated, and likely to be executed, are stated. Thus we 
 find a report presented to Congress, in the session of 1851, by the 
 Post-office Committee, in which a project of a line of electric 
 telegraph to California is recommended for ultimate adoption. This 
 report says that 
 
 ' ' The route selected by the committee is, according to the 
 survey of Captain "W. "W. Chapman, U.S. Army, one of the best 
 that could be adopted, possessing as it does great local advantages. 
 It will commence at the city of Natchez, in the State of Mississippi, 
 running through a well settled portion of Northern Texas, to the 
 town of El Paso, on the Rio Grande, in latitude 32; thence to 
 the junction of the Gila and Colorado rivers, crossing at the head 
 of the Gulf of California to San Diego, on the Pacific; thence 
 along the coast to Monterey and San Francisco. By this route, 
 the whole line between the Mississippi River and Pacific Ocean 
 will be south of latitude 33 ; consequently, almost entirely free 
 from the great difficulties to be encountered, owing to the snow 
 
 127
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 and ice on the northern route, by the way of the South Pass, 
 crossing the Sierra Nevada Mountains in latitude 39. The whole 
 distance from the Mississippi to San Francisco will be about 
 2400 miles. 
 
 " In a commercial point of view, the line in question assumes a 
 gigantic importance, and presents itself not only in the attitude 
 of a means of communication between the opposite extremes of a 
 single country, however great, but as a channel for imparting 
 knowledge between distant parts of the earth. With the existing 
 facilities, it requires months to convey information from the sunny 
 climes of the East to the less favoured, in point of climate, but 
 not less important regions of the West, teeming as they do with 
 the products of art and enterprise. Let this line of wires be 
 established, and the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans become as one, 
 and intelligence will be conveyed from London to India in a shorter 
 time than was required ten years since to transmit a letter from 
 New York to Liverpool. 
 
 " Nor does the importance of the undertaking claim less interest, 
 when regarded in a social point of view. California is being 
 peopled daily and hourly by our friends, our kindred, and our 
 political brethren. The little bands that a few centuries since 
 landed on the western shores of the Atlantic, have now become a 
 mighty nation. The tide of population has been rolling onward, 
 increasing as it approached the setting sun, until at length our 
 people look abroad upon the Pacific, and have their homes almost 
 within sight of the spice groves of Japan. Although separated 
 from us by thousands of miles of distance, they will be again 
 restored to us in feeling, and still present to our affections, through 
 the help of this noiseless tenant of the wilderness." 
 
 A company is stated to be organised for carrying out this vast 
 project, with a capital of 5,000000 dollars.
 
 
 SPEZZIA, 
 
 ITALIAN TERMINUS OF THE MEDITERRANEAN SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH U 
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 CHAPTEE XV. 
 
 287. Telegraphic lines in British America. 288. Belgian lines. 289. Their 
 extent and cost. 290. Correspondence transmitted on them. 291. 
 Large proportion of foreign despatches. 292. Classification and pro- 
 portion of despatches. 293. Tariff. 294. Paris telegraphic congress 
 and convention. 295. Telegraphic instruments used in Belgium. 296. 
 Language of despatches. 297. French telegraphic lines. 298. Instru- 
 ments used on them. 299. Their connection with those of other states. 
 300. Repetition necessary at intermediate stations. 301. Case of 
 despatches between France and England. 302. Advantages of increased 
 number of wires. 303. Of instruments requiring only one wire. 304. 
 Organisation of the French telegraphic administration. 305. Austro- 
 Germanic Union. 306. Stations and tariff. 307. Netherlands tele- 
 graphic lines. 308. Swiss telegraphic lines. 309. Italian telegraphic 
 lines. 
 
 TELEGEAPH LINES Itf BBITISH AMEEICA. 
 
 287. THE length of lines of electric telegraph in operation in 
 British America in 1853, was about 1000 miles. 
 
 Mr. Joseph Whitworth, as one of the British Commission sent 
 to the New York Exhibition of 1854, presented a report to 
 LAKDNER'S MUSEUM OF SCIENCE. K 129 
 
 No. 52.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Parliament, which has been published, and vrhich supplies some 
 interesting particulars. 
 
 According to Mr. "Whitworth, the most distant points connected 
 by electric telegraph in North America are Quebec and Xew 
 Orleans, which are 3000 miles apart, and the network of lines 
 extends to the west as far as Missouri, about 500 towns and 
 Tillages being provided with stations. 
 
 There are two separate lines connecting Xew York with Xew 
 Orleans, one running along the sea-board, the other by way of 
 the Mississippi, each about 2000 miles long. Messages have been 
 transmitted from Xew York to Xew Orleans, and answers 
 received, in the space of three hours, though they had neces- 
 sarily to be written several times in the course of transmission. 
 
 When the contemplated lines connecting California with the 
 Atlantic, and Xewfoundland with the main continent, are com- 
 pleted, San Francisco will be in communication with St. John's, 
 Xewfoundland, which is distant from Galway but five days' 
 passage. It is, therefore, estimated that intelligence may be con- 
 veyed from the Pacific to Europe, and rice versa, in about six days. 
 
 The cost of erecting telegraph lines varies according to loca- 
 lities, but the expenses upon the whole are estimated to 
 average about $180 (36/.) per mile throughout the States; 
 the moderate amount of this estimate is, in a great measure, 
 to be attributed to the facilities afforded by the general telegraph 
 laws for the formation of companies and the construction of lines. 
 
 The electric telegraph is used by all classes of society as an 
 ordinary method of transmitting intelligence. 
 
 Government despatches, and messages involving the life or death 
 of any persons, are entitled to precedence, next come important 
 press communications, but the Litter, if not of extraordinary inte- 
 rest, await their regular turn. 
 
 The leading newspapers of Xew York contribute jointly towards 
 the expenses of daily telegraphic communications. The annual sum 
 paid by the " Associated Press" averages $30,000 per annum. 
 
 The following is the tariff for the press despatches : 
 
 Under 200 mil*s, 3 cent per word. 
 Between 200 and 500 ,, % 2 
 500 700 3 
 700 1000 4 
 1000 1500 5 
 1500 over ,,6 
 
 Assuming three cents as the average, the total amount of matter 
 received by telegraph for the "Xew York Associated Press" 
 amounts to a million words per annn-m, or about 600 columns 
 130
 
 AMERICAN TELEGRAPHIC LIKES. 
 
 of a London newspaper of the largest size, averaging almost two 
 columns per day. 
 
 Supposing six papers to be associated together, the share of 
 each would annually amount to about $5000, or 1000/., for two 
 columns of telegraphic intelligence daily. 
 
 Commercial men use the electric telegraph in their transactions 
 to a very great extent. In 1852 there were transmitted by one 
 of the three telegraph lines that connect New York and Boston, 
 between 500 and 600 messages daily. The sums paid on this line 
 by some of the principal commercial houses who used it averaged 
 in 1852 for each from $60 (12/.) to $80 (16/.) per month. 
 
 On other lines the leading commercial houses were estimated to 
 pay from $500 to $1000 (100/. to 2001.) per annum for telegraphic 
 despatches. 
 
 Interruptions occur most frequently from the interference of 
 atmospheric electricity; in summer they are estimated to take 
 place on an average twice a week, but many contrivances have 
 been adopted for obviating this inconvenience, such as lightning 
 arresters, &c., which are generally known; the number of inter- 
 ruptions have been thereby reduced about 30 per cent. 
 
 Other accidental causes of interruption occur irregularly from the 
 falling of the poles, the breaking of the wires by falling trees, and, 
 particularly in winter, from the accumulated weight of snow or ice. 
 
 The electric current is made to act through long distances, by 
 using local and branch circuits, and relay magnets, in those systems 
 where it would be otherwise too weak to operate effectually. 
 
 In Mr. Bain's system, a weak current is found sufficient for very 
 long distances ; between New York and Boston, a distance of 270 
 miles, no branch or local circuit is required. In some cases, where 
 both Morse's and Bain's telegraphs are used by an amalgamated 
 company in the same office, it is found convenient, in certain 
 conditions of the atmosphere, to remove the wires from Morse's 
 instruments, and connect them with Bain's, on which it is 
 practicable to operate when communication by Morse's system 
 is interrupted. 
 
 It is generally believed that by laying insulated wires under- 
 ground the interruptions will be reduced so as to be altogether 
 inconsiderable. The expense of the process, however, is regarded 
 as a great impediment in the United States, where cheapness of 
 construction is an object of the highest consideration. 
 
 The application of the electric telegraph is not confined to 
 the transmission of messages from one part of the States to 
 another : in the form of a local or municipal telegraph, it is 
 employed as an important instrument of regulation and intelli- 
 gence in the internal administration of towns. 
 
 K 2 131
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 No adaptation of the system can be more interesting and useful 
 than that which is made for the purpose of conyeying signals of 
 alarm and intelligence in the case of fire. 
 
 This system has been very completely developed in Boston. 
 
 The city is divided into seven districts, each provided with a 
 powerful alarm bell. Every district contains several stations, 
 varying in number according to its size and population. There 
 are altogether in the seven districts forty-two stations. All these 
 stations are connected with a chief central office, to which intelli- 
 gence of fire is conveyed, and from which the alarm is given ; two 
 telegraph wires are employed, a return wire being used to com- 
 plete the circuit, and provide as completely as possible against 
 accidental interruption or confusion. 
 
 At each of the forty-two stations, which are placed at intervals 01 
 100 rods throughout the city, there is erected in some conspicuous 
 position a cast-iron box containing the apparatus for conveying 
 intelligence to the central office. The box is kept locked, but the 
 key is always to be found in the custody of some person in the 
 neighbourhood, whose address is painted on the box door. 
 
 On opening this door, access is gained to a handle which is 
 directed, by a notice painted above it, to be turned slowly several 
 times. The handle turns a wheel that carries a certain number ot 
 teeth, arranged in two groups, the number of teeth in one repre- 
 senting the district, in the other, the station ; those teeth act upon 
 a signal key, closing and breaking the circuit connected with the 
 central office, as many times as there are teeth in the wheel. 
 Signals are thus conveyed to the central office, and, by striking 
 the signal bell a certain number of times, the district and station 
 from which the signal is made is indicated. 
 
 An attendant is always on the watch at the central office, and 
 on his attention being called to the signals by the striking of a 
 large call bell, he immediately sets in motion his alarm apparatus, 
 and by depressing his telegraph-key, causes all the alarm bells 
 of the seven districts to toll as many times in quick succession 
 as will indicate the district where the fire has occurred, the alarm 
 being repeated at short intervals for as long a time as may be 
 necessary. 
 
 The signal-boxes erected at the stations contain, in addition to 
 the signal-handle, a small electro-magnet, an armature, and a 
 signal-key, so that full and particular communications can be 
 made between each box and the central station, the clicks of the 
 armature forming audible signals. They have also an apparatus 
 called a "Discharger of Atmospheric Electricity," for preventing 
 the occurrence of injuries during thunderstorms. 
 
 By this system certain information is given to the central office 
 132
 
 BELGIAN TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 at the earliest possible moment of the exact locality in which a 
 fire may have broken out, and the alarm is immediately spread 
 over the entire city. 
 
 Every one who is aroused by the alarm is enabled to tell at 
 once whether interest or duty calls him to the scene of action, and 
 the exact point to which assistance is summoned. Should the 
 alarm be given in the night, those whose attention is awakened 
 may ascertain from the tolling of the bell the precise quarter in 
 which danger threatens, and should they have been needlessly 
 disturbed, may rest in peace, and find in the knowledge that 
 they and theirs at least are in safety, a consolation for broken 
 slumbers. 
 
 Telegraph wires in towns are almost universally carried along 
 the tops of houses, or on poles erected in the streets, instead 
 of being conveyed in pipes underground. So little difficulty is 
 met with on the part of proprietors of houses, that telegraph lines 
 are in some cases erected by private individuals for their own 
 particular use. As an instance, may be mentioned the case of a 
 large manufacturer in New York, who has an office in one part 
 of the city, while his works lie in a contrary direction. In order 
 to keep up a direct communication between both, he has erected 
 a telegraphic wire at his own expense, and carried it over the 
 tops of the houses intervening between his office and his works, 
 having obtained without any trouble the permission of their 
 various owners. 
 
 BELGIAN TELEGRAPH LINES. 
 
 288. Although in the extent of its territory Belgium is one of 
 the least considerable of the Continental States, it derives from 
 its position in relation to this country, much importance, so far as 
 regards telegraphic communications. By the submarine cable 
 between Dover and Osteiid, or failing that, by the cable between 
 Dover and Calais, Belgium constitutes the most direct stage in 
 the telegraphic route to the Northern States. 
 
 The Belgian telegraph lines, as well as the railways, are con- 
 structed, maintained, and administered by the state. Separate 
 systems of conducting wires arc appropriated to the service of the 
 railways, which is performed exclusively with the alphabetical 
 apparatus of M. Lippens, already described (202). There arc a 
 few exceptional cases on branch lines of railway, upon which the 
 state has not yet constructed telegraphs for the public service, 
 where private despatches are sent by the railway telegraphs, but 
 generally an extensive system of independent wires, with their 
 accessories, are adapted to this purpose, for which, a lurjc corps 
 of telegraphists has been formed. 
 
 1SS
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 289. The state telegraph lines, appropriated to the public 
 service, have at present (1854) a total length of about 550 miles, 
 upon which about 16000 miles of wire have been erected. With 
 the exception of some short distances through Brussels, these 
 wires are everywhere supported on posts. 
 
 The total capital absorbed in this establishment is estimated at 
 23000/., and the gross annual receipts in 1854, were computed at 
 10000/.,* of which the net profit was 36001., being nearly 16 per 
 cent, of the capital. 
 
 Immediately on the completion of the submarine cable between 
 Dover and Ostend, an active daily intercourse between London 
 and Brussels commenced, and has since been sustained. The 
 connections were completed on the 20th June, 1853, and on the 
 27th of the same month, 111 despatches were interchanged between, 
 the two capitals. 
 
 It is proposed to construct wires and apparatus sufficient to 
 maintain the communications on this important line, so that even 
 with the greatest pressure of business, the public shall not have 
 reasonable ground of complaint on account of delay. " A 
 telegraphic line," observes the Minister of Public "Works, "should 
 not be organised with the mere powers which suffice for the 
 ordinary or average business, but should be such as to meet the 
 exigencies of occasional pressure, without subjecting the public 
 to delay, or interrupting other regular business. Besides which, 
 it ought never to be forgotten, that in telegraphic business great 
 pressure must always come at particular hours, when prompt 
 expedition is indispensable. This will be easily understood in the 
 business of the Belgian lines, which constitute the route upon 
 which the quotations of the money markets of all the great 
 centres of affairs London, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Ant- 
 werp, &c. are transmitted at certain hours." 
 
 290. The business transacted by the Belgian telegraphs con- 
 sists of three classes of despatches. 
 
 HOME DESPATCHES, being those transmitted between two Belgian 
 stations. 
 
 IXTKUXATIOXAL DESPATCHES, being those between a Belgian 
 and Foreign station. 
 
 FOREIGN DESPATCHES, being those transmitted through Belgium 
 in passing between two foreign stations. 
 
 Of these three classes of telegraphic business, the second has 
 proved to be the greatest in number, and the third the most pro- 
 ductive, as appears by the following statement of the results of 
 the year ending 31st December, 1853. 
 
 * Report of Minister of Public Works to the Chamber, Feb. 14, 1S54. 
 134
 
 BELGIAN TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 Despatches. 
 
 Number of 
 despatches. 
 
 Receipts. 
 
 Number 
 per cent. 
 of total. 
 
 Receipts 
 per cent, 
 of total. 
 
 Home . 
 International . 
 Foreign 
 
 14160 
 20664 
 17232 
 
 1813 
 3831 
 5227 
 
 27-2 
 397 
 33-1 
 
 167 
 35-2 
 48-1 
 
 Total ! 52056 
 
 10871 
 
 100-0 
 
 100-0 
 
 291. It appears from this statement that about 40 per cent, oi 
 the despatches transmitted and received in Belgium, are inter- 
 changed with foreign countries, and that one-third of all that 
 passes on Belgian wires is matter passing en route between 
 foreign places. Nearly half the gross amount received for 
 telegraphic despatches is produced by despatches transmitted 
 between foreign stations, and only passing en route through 
 Belgium. This is explained by the fact that such despatches 
 passing always from frontier to frontier, and in the majority of 
 cases from Ostend to the Prussian frontier, the entire length of 
 the kingdom, pay for the longest class of telegraphic distance. 
 This is one of the advantages which the Belgian telegraph derives 
 from the geographical position of the country. 
 
 292. To show the proportion in which the telegraphic service is 
 shared by different subjects of correspondence, we shall take the 
 classified subjects of dispatches of August, 1853, the month in 
 which the correspondence was most active. In this month there 
 were 5799 despatches transmitted on the Belgian wires, which are 
 thus classified: 
 
 
 Number. 
 
 Per cent, 
 of Total. 
 
 Commerce 
 Money market 
 Private . 
 Press .... 
 Government . . 
 
 3247 
 1566 
 754 
 116 
 116 
 
 56 
 27 
 13 
 2 
 2 
 
 Total .... 
 
 5799 
 
 100 
 
 In relation to length the proportion was as follows : 
 
 From 1 to 20 words 
 From 21 to oO words . . 
 From 51 to 100 words 
 Above 100 words . . . 
 
 Total .... 
 
 Number. 
 
 Per cent, 
 of Total. 
 
 4741 
 921 
 122 
 15 
 
 81-8 
 15-9 
 2-1 
 0-2 
 
 5799 
 
 100-0 
 
 135
 
 TELEGRAPHIC MAP. IK THE ANKEXED MAP is PRESENTED 
 A GEMEKAL VIEW OF THE TELEGRAPHIC NETWORK
 
 BY \YI1ICII EUROPE WAS OVERSPREAD AT THE CLOSE 
 OS TUK YEAR 1854.
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Thus it appears that commerce and the Stock Exchange supply 
 83 per cent, of the whole telegraphic business, 13 per cent, being 
 personal and domestic, and the press and government each employ- 
 ing the insignificant proportion of one despatch in every fifty. 
 
 It is also apparent, that a very small proportion of the despatches 
 exceed the length of 20 words, and almost none that of 50 words. 
 
 293. According to the Belgian tariff, messages not exceeding 
 20 words are charged 2s. for distances not exceeding 60 miles ; 
 4s., from 60 to 140 miles; and 6s. above 140. No distances 
 within the limits of Belgium exceed 200 miles. 
 
 For messages of 21 to 50 words the charges are doubled, and for 
 51 to 100 words are tripled. 
 
 It will be seen that these charges are more than double the cor- 
 responding charges on the English lines. 
 
 294. The large proportion of international and foreign despatches 
 transmitted upon the Belgian wires, and the necessity of pre- 
 payment for despatches, in all cases, to their ultimate destinations, 
 rendered it necessary for the Belgian administration of telegraphs 
 to make some general arrangement with the principal contiguous 
 states, for such an interchange of correspondence. A telegraphic 
 congress was accordingly convened at Paris, in September, 1853, 
 which was attended by delegates from France, Belgium, Prussia, 
 Austria, and the minor German States. A telegraphic convention 
 was concluded and signed on the 4th of October, 1852, fixing 
 definitely a general tariff for all despatches transmitted to or from 
 the several States. 
 
 According to this convention, each telegraphic region was 
 divided into a series of zones, measured from the Belgian fron- 
 tier, according to a series of direct distances (as the bird flies), 
 the charges to places in each successive zone, for single 
 despatches (1 to 20 words), being fixed at 2s,, 4s., 6s., 8s., and so 
 on, an increasement of 2s. being made for each increase of distance. 
 
 France is, by this convention, resolved into six telegraphic 
 zones, the tariff for single messages being 2s., 4s., 6s., 8s., 10s., 
 and 12s. The first zone includes the chief northern towns, 
 Arras, Douai, Lille, and Valenciennes; the second, Amiens, 
 Boulogne, Dunkerque, &c. ; the third, the chief places in the 
 nearer central parts, including Paris, Orleans, Havre, &c. ; the 
 fourth, the more distant central parts, such as Chalons, Lyons, 
 Strasbourg, &c. ; the fifth, the nearar southern parts, Avignon, 
 Grenoble, Bordeaux, &c. ; and the sixth, the most remote southern 
 parts, Marseilles, Bayonne, &c. 
 
 The German States, including Lombardy, are resolved into 
 eight zones, of which the tariff is 2s., 4s., 6s., 8s., 10s., 12s., 14s., 
 and 16s. These zones include the whole extent of Northern and 
 138
 
 FRENCH TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 Eastern Europe beyond the Rhine, as well as the north-eastern 
 part of Italy. 
 
 The tariff for single messages crossing the channel, by the Ostend 
 submarine cable, is 8s. For these charges, however, they are 
 transmitted, if required, to London. 
 
 295. At the chief stations on the Belgian lines, the double 
 needle instruments, as used in England, the French State instru- 
 ments, and the Morse telegraph, as used in the German States, 
 are provided. By the first the telegraphic correspondence with 
 England, by the second with France, and by the third with the 
 German States, is carried on. 
 
 296. It is intended generally to receive and transmit despatches 
 written at the option of the sender, either in French, German, or 
 English, at all the Belgian stations ; but for the present this is 
 only done at Brussels, Antwerp, and Ostend. 
 
 Despatches transmitted between Holland and Belgium can be 
 transmitted and received in Dutch, and all despatches between 
 Belgian stations may be sent in Flemish. At all stations despatches 
 are transmitted and received in French. 
 
 If the place to which a despatch is addressed be not a telegraphic 
 station, the despatch will be forwarded to its destination either by 
 post or by a special messenger, at the option of the sender. If 
 the former, the postage is Wd., if the place be within the State 
 where the telegraphic station at which the despatch arrives is 
 situate, and 20d., if in another State. If the latter, a charge of 
 Wd. is made for a distance of a kilometre (five furlongs), and 5d. 
 for every additional kilomdtre. 
 
 FRENCH TELEGEAPHIC LINES. 
 
 297. Although late in the adoption of this improved agency of 
 intercommunication, France, having once commenced, has prose- 
 cuted the work with great vigour, and the country is now over- 
 spread with a net-work, the extent of which, in actual operation 
 at the close of the present year, 1854, will not be less than 6000 
 miles. This system is everywhere erected upon posts chemically 
 injected to insure their durability, and there are nowhere less 
 than two conducting wires ; but a greater number between all 
 stations where an active correspondence is maintained. 
 
 298. The instruments used for the transmission of all home 
 despatches, that is, all despatches transmitted between any two 
 French stations, are the French State telegraphs, explained in 
 (183). For international dispatches, the double needle and 
 Morse's instruments are used. These instruments are provided 
 at the central station, in the Ministry of the Interior at Paris. 
 The double needle instruments are provided also at Calais, and 
 
 139
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 Morse's instruments at Strasbourg. As the system is developed 
 and extended, the double needle instruments will be provided in 
 addition to the French telegraphs, at .ill stations which may be 
 in direct communication with England, and Morse's instruments 
 at all stations which may be in direct communication with the 
 German States. 
 
 299. The French telegraphic lines communicate with those of 
 England at Calais by the submarine cable ; with those of Belgium 
 at Lille and Douai ; with those of Prussia and Northern Ger- 
 many, at Metz ; with the Rhenish States, Wirtemburg, 
 Bavaria, and Austria, at Strasbourg ; with those of Switzerland, 
 at Mulhouse and Macon, the former communicating with Bale, 
 and the latter with Geneva ; and, in line, with those of Savoy and 
 Piedmont, at Grenoble. 
 
 Other links of electric connection will speedily be formed. 
 Thus the present lines are continued to the Spanish frontier at St. 
 Sebastian, and lines of wire are now being laid between that place 
 and Madrid, so that the capital of Spain will be in electric con- 
 nection with that of France, and therefore also with London, and 
 the other capitals of Europe, most probably, before these pages are 
 in the hands of the reader. 
 
 300. In practice the transmission of despatches is not always so 
 direct or immediate as it would appear to be upon the inspection 
 of a telegraphic map. Thus, by the submarine cable between 
 Dover and Calais, Paris is in permanent direct communication 
 with London. But when it is desired to transmit a despatch 
 from Paris to any of the provincial towns of England, the despatch 
 is at present received and written down at the central station in 
 London, and then repeated and transmitted to the place of its 
 destination in the provinces. This repetition could of course be 
 avoided, by uniting, in the London station, the wire from Paris 
 with the wire leading to the provincial station to which the 
 despatch is addressed, and if the despatch were one of extraordi- 
 nary length this course would be the most expeditious ; but to 
 adopt it with the ordinary class of short messages, would involve 
 much inconvenience and more delay in general than is incurred 
 by its repetition and retransmission. - Jhus, to send each message 
 direct to its destination in the provinces, it would be necessary 
 that, previously to the transmission from Paris, notice should be 
 transmitted to London to connect the Paris wires with those 
 between London and the place of destination, and as this change 
 would have to be made separately for every provincial message, 
 and as the wires between London and the various provincial 
 stations must necessarily be occupied, more or less, at all times, in 
 the transmission of home correspondence, the business of trans- 
 
 140
 
 FRENCH TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 mission in this direct manner would not only be far more dilatory 
 than the process of repetition, but would, in fact, at busy times of 
 the day be totally impracticable. 
 
 301. What has been here stated respecting the Paris and London 
 line will be applicable, mutatis mutandis, not only to all inter- 
 national messages, but in many cases to messages transmitted 
 between home stations, which it is often more convenient and expe- 
 ditious to repeat and retransmit at certain intermediate stations 
 than to send direct by the connection of the wires at those stations. 
 
 302. It will be understood, nevertheless, that the necessity for 
 this circuitous transmission, and intermediate repetition of 
 despatches, arises in all cases from the insufficiency of the number 
 of conducting wires in relation to the quantity of correspondence 
 to be transmitted. In the transmission of each despatch by the 
 English and French instruments, two wires are employed. Now, 
 if the direct correspondence between London and Paris, during 
 the most busy hours of the day, be sufficient to employ one pair of 
 conducting wires, another pair would be necessary to communicate 
 with intermediate places, and if the correspondence with these 
 were very unequal, some engrossing a large share of it, a third 
 pair might be required, and so on. 
 
 303. It must be, therefore, very apparent that great convenience 
 would in such cases be gained by substituting, for the English and 
 French telegraph, that of Morse or Bain, or any other which 
 transmits by a single conducting wire. In that case, the four wires 
 contained in the submarine cable, between Dover and Calais, would 
 do much more than double their present duty. Instead of carrying 
 two streams of messages simultaneously, as they do at present, they 
 would carry four. If one were put in permanent connection with 
 London and Paris, the three others could be reserved, one for direct 
 connection with chief provincial towns, such as Birmingham, Man- 
 chester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Dublin, &c., and the two others for 
 messages to less important stations, subject to occasional repetition. 
 These hitter would be to the telegraphic line what the second and 
 third class trains are to the railway. It might be found even advan- 
 tageous to fix a higher price of transmission for messages thus 
 sent without intermediate repetition, just as a higher fare is paid 
 for express than for ordinary trains. 
 
 304. The French government has recently re-organised the 
 administration of the telegraphs throughout its entire territory, 
 and besides modifying and reducing the tariff, it has placed 
 the whole upon a more efficient footing. It now constitutes an 
 important department of the state, placed under the superinten- 
 dence of a director-general, four inspectors-general, twelve chief 
 directors, and an hundred inspectors. The director-general 
 
 141
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 established in Paris holds his office under the Minister of the 
 Interior, and has authority over all the inferior functionaries. The 
 four inspectors-general control and direct under him the entire 
 telegraphic service throughout the empire. These inspectors, aided 
 by scientific men nominated from time to time by the Minister, 
 form a superior council, charged to consider and decide upon all 
 improvements proposed to be made in the processes, or in the 
 telegraphic apparatus. 
 
 The telegraphic lines will be distributed into twelve distinct 
 systems or sections, over which the twelve chief directors will 
 preside, so as to inspect, direct, and by communication with the 
 inspectors-general and director-general, to centralise the service. 
 
 The hundred inspectors will each be charged with the direction. 
 of one or more stations, and will have under their authority 
 deputy station-masters, telegraphists, surveyors, artisans, and 
 labourers, charged with the maintenance of the apparatus, the 
 conducting wires, posts, and all the accessories of the line. 
 
 In all chief places, the bureaux will be open night and day. 
 The number of stations open on 1st November, 1853, was 78; in 
 June, 1854, the number was 105. At the close of 1854 all the 
 Prefectures of France will be in electric connection with the capital. 
 
 The posts, a large proportion of which had not sufficient magni- 
 tude and strength to bear the necessary number of wires, have 
 been everywhere replaced by others of suitable dimensions, and 
 the telegraphists are augmented in number, and measures taken 
 to ensure their efficiency. 
 
 It is decided also to give ample trial to the telegraphic instru- 
 ments of Morse and Bain, already adopted to a great extent in 
 Germany and in the United States ; and if the result of experience 
 on a large scale is favourable to them, they will be adopted either 
 in conjunction with the present telegraphs, or to the exclusion of 
 them according to circumstances. In all, there are manifest 
 signs of activity and of exemption from prejudice, national or per- 
 sonal, which argue favourably for the progress of this great social 
 improvement. 
 
 ATTSTRO-GERMANIC TELEGRAPHIC TNIO*. 
 
 305. The electric telegraph had not foeen long in operation in 
 the German States before it became apparent that great incon- 
 venience and much obstruction to the progress of correspondence 
 arose from different states adopting different telegraphic instru- 
 ments and signals. The difficulties arising from this cause became 
 at length so great as to demand prompt and effectual remedy. 
 A telegraphic congress was accordingly convened at Vienna in 
 October, 1851, at which deputies from all the German States 
 142
 
 THE NETHERLANDS TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 attended ; and after a full discussion of the subject, it was resolved 
 to form an Austro -Germanic Telegraphic Union. This union 
 includes all the states of Europe east of the Rhine, and also the 
 Austrian provinces in Northern Italy. It was agreed that a common 
 system of telegraphic instruments and symbols should be adopted 
 throughout all the associated states, and that for the present, 
 Morse's telegraph, with its receiving magnets, registers, and 
 uniform alphabet, should be everywhere used, so that telegraphic 
 communications may at all times be made between any two stations 
 of the Union without the delay and inconvenience of translating 
 despatches at intermediate stations from one system of telegraphic 
 symbols into another. 
 
 306. Despatches are transmitted and received at all the stations of 
 the Union, either in German or French. They are also transmitted 
 and received in English at such of the chief stations as are found 
 by experience to have frequent communication with this country. 
 
 Since the convention was concluded, the Germanic lines have 
 received considerable extensions, so that many important stations 
 have been recently established within the telegraphic connection. 
 Thus a line of telegraphic wires has been laid extending from 
 Bremen to Gluckstadt, and from Hanover to Lanenburg. Also from 
 Hamburgh through Denmark, by Rendsburg, Kiel, Schleswig, to 
 Kiel, across the Little Belt, by Odense, across the Great Belt to 
 Copenhagen and Helsingor. 
 
 Lines are also in operation from Dantzic to Konigsberg, from. 
 Troppau to Lemberg, from Vienna, by Pesth, with various branches 
 to Klausenberg, Orsova, Semlin, Peterwardin, and Eszeg. 
 
 THE NETHERLANDS TELEGRAPHIC LINES. 
 
 307. Notwithstanding the dense population and active commerce 
 of the kingdom of the Netherlands, its limited territory has ren- 
 dered a very small telegraphic net-work sufficient for its purposes. 
 Only eight of its chief towns are connected by telegraphic wires. 
 These are : 
 
 Amsterdam (c), Rotterdam (<?), the Hague (e), Utrecht, Haarlem, 
 Breda, Dordrecht (e), and Arnheim. 
 
 They are connected at the Hague by seven submarine wires 
 with the English lines, at Antwerp with those of Belgium, and at 
 Arnheim with those of the German Union. 
 
 Despatches are received in German and French at all the stations, 
 and in English at those marked (c). 
 
 THE SWISS TELEGRAPHS. 
 
 308. The natural difficulties opposed to the construction of 
 railways in Switzerland did not offer such serious impediments \- 
 
 143
 
 THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 
 
 to the construction of telegraphic lines, an extensive net- work of 
 which has been constructed and brought into operation. Thus 
 Berne is connected with the French lines by wires to Besanc.on, 
 and with the German lines at Bale. Lausanne is connected with 
 Besan9on by an independent line, and also with Berne on one side 
 and Geneva on the other. Geneva is also connected with the 
 French system at Macon, and with that of Savoy at Aix, from 
 whence a line of wires is carried across Mont Cenis to Turin. 
 
 From Lausanne the wiix-s are carried by Vevay and Sion through 
 the Valais to the foot of the St. Gothard, across which they are 
 continued by Bellinzona to Milan. 
 
 Another line passes from Bale by Lucerne, Claris, and Coire, to 
 the Spliigen, which it crosses, and is carried to meet the former line 
 at Bellinzona, and thence to Milan. 
 
 Another line from Bale passes by Zurich and St. Gal to 
 Innspruck, from whence it passes by Batzen and Trente to Verona, 
 and by Salzburg and Linz to Vienna. 
 
 Lines have, however, been since constructed, including some 
 other stations. 
 
 ITALIAN TEI/EGUAmiC LIJfES. 
 
 309. Italy is put in electric connection with the more northern 
 countries of Europe at six points, Nice, Mont Cenis, the St. 
 Gothard, the Spliigen, the Tyrolese Alps, through Tnnspruck, and 
 by Trieste. 
 
 The French lines are already extended to Nice, and a lino 
 between Nice and Turin will probably be completed before these 
 pages come into the hands of the reader. The French and Swiss 
 lines are connected with Turin by the wires over Mont Cenis already 
 mentioned; the Swiss and Rhenish lines, with Milan by the 
 wires over the St. Gothard, and the Spliigen and the Austrian and 
 Bavarian lines by the wires over the Tyrolese Alps, and those from 
 Trieste round the shores of the Gulf to Venice. 
 
 From Venice to Milan a line is carried by Verona and Brescia, 
 which is continued to Turin. From this line there are two 
 branches going southwards, one from Verona by Mantua, Parma, 
 Modena, Lucca, Leghorn, Florence, Sienna to Viterbo in the Papal 
 States. This line will speedily be continued to Home. The other 
 branch goes from Alexandria to Genoa. 
 
 Such is the extent of Italian telegraphs completed in 1854.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 As this Book is not paged, tfie figures in the Index and Table of 
 Contents refer to Paragraphs, and not to Pages. 
 
 ACCIDENTS, prevention of railway, 
 249. 
 
 Aerial telegraph, old, 182. 
 
 Alarum, telegraphic, to call the at- 
 tention of the agents, 155 ; how- 
 rung from one station to another, 
 ib. ; mechanism of telegraphic, 
 158. 
 
 Alphabetic telegraphs, 188. 
 
 America, supports of electric wires 
 in, 56 ; telegraphs used in, 206. 
 
 American inventions preferred in 
 American telegraphs, 177. 
 
 American telegraph companies, 240. 
 
 Anecdotes of the use of the telegraph, 
 250. 
 
 Astronomical observations, uses of 
 electric telegraph in, 2C8 ; ex- 
 treme accuracy of, ib. ; phenomena, 
 use of the telegraph in fixing time 
 of, 270. _ 
 
 Atmospheric effects on the tele- 
 graphic wires, 47 ; electricity, 
 effects of, on telegraphic wires, 
 60. 
 
 Anstro-Germanic telegraphic union, 
 305 ; stations of, 306. 
 
 /Autograph telegraph 217. 
 
 BAIN'S chemical telegraph, 208. 
 
 I'ain's telegraph, operation of, 212 ; 
 its commutator, 213 ; its extra- 
 ordinary speed of transmission, 
 214 ; obstructions to its practical 
 
 application, 215 ; its prospects, 
 216 ; rate with, 236. 
 Batteries used for English telegraphs, 
 
 Battery, common plate, 36. 
 
 Belgian telegraphic lines, 288 ; their 
 extent and cost, 289 ; correspon- 
 dence transmitted on the, 290 ; 
 large proportion of foreign des- 
 patches on, 291 ; classification of 
 despatches on, 292 ; tariff of, 293. 
 
 Belgian cable, imperfection attri- 
 buted to the, 93. 
 
 Belgian rail way telegraph, 199, 201. 
 
 Belgium, telegraphic instruments 
 used in, 293. 
 
 Bells, electric ringing of, 155; mutual 
 power of ringing, use of, ib. 
 
 Bombay, connexion of Alexandria 
 with, 37. 
 
 Boston, telegraph in cases of fire at, 
 287. 
 
 Breguet, telegraph contrived by, 183. 
 
 Brett's printing telegraph, 221 ; 
 originators of sub-marine com- 
 munication, 280. 
 
 Bright's method of detecting faulty 
 points in electric wires, 68. 
 
 British America, telegraphic lines in, 
 287. 
 
 Bunsen's battery, 34. 
 
 CABLES, submarine, 77 ; table of 
 the dimensions of, 80.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Calais cable, accident in laying the, 
 92. 
 
 California, gigantic projected tele- 
 graph to, 286. 
 
 Catastrophe averted by aid of the 
 telegraph, 249. 
 
 Celerity of telegraphic communica- 
 tion, 222 ; circumstances which 
 affect it, 223; affected by distance, 
 239. 
 
 Chapman's survey of an electric 
 route to California, 286. 
 
 Characters, telegraphic, table of, 
 206. 
 
 Charcoal substituted for copper in 
 voltaic combinations, 29. 
 
 Cipher used in telegraphic commu- 
 nications, 259. 
 
 Ciphers of mercantile firms, tele- 
 graphic, 260 ; for newspaper re- 
 ports, 261. 
 
 Coating of telegraphic wires, 65 ; of 
 submarine cables, 88. 
 
 Commerce, extensive use of the tele- 
 graph in, 254. 
 
 Commutating apparatus, enects pro- 
 ducible by, 126. 
 
 Commutator, an instrument for con- 
 trolling the electric current, 110 ; 
 general principles of the, 111 ; its 
 application, 112. 
 
 Commutator of French state tele- 
 graph, forms of, 184 ; its opera- 
 tion, 185. 
 
 Conducting wires, 20. 
 
 Conductors, 19. 
 
 Constancy, the property of Daniel's 
 battery, 34. 
 
 Continent, organisation of electric 
 communication with the, 282. 
 
 Corsica, cable between Spezzia and, 
 87. 
 
 Crecsoted deal troughing, 07. 
 
 Crime, telegraphic detection of, 250. 
 
 Current, electric, established by 
 earth contact, 23 ; return of, 
 through the earth, 25 ; modes of 
 transmitting, 113, 114, 115; to 
 reverse the, 116 ; to suspend and 
 iransinit it alternately, 117 ; to 
 make it ring the alarum, 119 ; 
 effects of, 135. 
 
 Currents, combination of, 37. 
 
 Cylindrical batteries, 39. 
 
 ! DANIEL'S constant battery, 32. 
 Dead beat of magnetic needles, 
 
 229. 
 
 Defects imputed to French and Ger- 
 man telegraphs, 200 ; in Con- 
 tinental railway telegraphs, how 
 removed, ib. 
 Desk, metallic, 211. 
 Despatch, method of sending and 
 I receiving an electric, ISO. 
 j Despatches, telegraphic, table of sub- 
 j jects of, 243. 
 
 j Dial at one station producing a like 
 I motion in a distant dial, 154. 
 ! Discrepancy of reports of telegraphic 
 
 communication, 34. 
 j Dover and Calais, cable connecting, 
 
 78 ; its dimensions, 81. 
 Dover and Ostend, telegraphic com- 
 munication between, 84. 
 
 ELECTRIC current, velocity of, 10 ; 
 agency, nature of, 14 ; fluid, trans- 
 mitted in required directions, 18 ; 
 leakage of, 59 ; current produced 
 without a voltaic battery, 160. 
 
 Electric messages, circumstances on 
 which depends the celerity of, 
 223. 
 
 Electric telegraph, on what powers 
 its efficiency depends, 15 ; inde- 
 pendent of railways, 76 ; uses of 
 the, 242. 
 
 Electric telegraph company, 273 ; 
 table of its lines, stations, &c., 
 , 274. . 
 
 Electricity, physical character of, 12' 
 a subtle fluid, 14 ; various bodies 
 evolve, 26. 
 
 Electro -chemical pen, 210. 
 
 Electro - magnet, constructed by 
 Pouillet, 143 ; how it may pro- 
 duce written characters on paper 
 \$ a distant station, 153 ; appli- 
 cation of, 162. 
 
 Electro - magnets formed by two 
 straight bars, 144 ; acquire and 
 lose their magnetism instantane- 
 ously, 145. 
 
 Electro-telegraphy, incredible nature 
 of, 8 ; independent of the physical 
 character of electricity, 13 ; prin- 
 ciples of, 109.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Elements of a battery, 40. 
 England and France, despatches 
 
 between, 301. 
 Errors, telegraphic, how corrected, 
 
 193. 
 European and submarine company, 
 
 underground wires of, 71. 
 European and American telegraph 
 
 company, 279. 
 
 FEMALE industry, sphere of, enlarged 
 by the telegraph, 275. 
 
 Fire, telegraphic communication in 
 cases of, 287- 
 
 Forwarding messages from the sta- 
 tion, charge for, 296. 
 
 France, supports of electric wires 
 in, 55. 
 
 French, inventions adopted in French 
 telegraphs, 177; railway portable 
 telegraph, 189 ; telegraph, 195 ; 
 telegraphic lines, 297 ; instru- 
 ments used on, 298 ; their con- 
 nection with those of other states, 
 299; telegraphic administration, 
 organisation of, 304. 
 
 Froment's alphabetic telegraph, 209 ; 
 writing telegraph, 207. 
 
 GALVANIC battery, 16. 
 Galvanometer, 137 ; method of 
 
 transmitting signals by the, 141. 
 German railway telegraph, 190. 
 Germany, supports of electric wires 
 
 in, 57. 
 Glasgow, Saturday journals, mode of 
 
 telegraphing intelligence to, 252. 
 Greenwich observatory, improved 
 
 method of observation at, 270. 
 Grove's battery, 34. 
 Gun, how discharged at a distant 
 
 station, 156. 
 Gutta Percha enveloping wires, 70 ; 
 
 rope, 82 
 
 HENLEY'S magnetic telegraph, 220. 
 
 Highton's improvements in telegra- 
 phic apparatus, 47. 
 
 Holyhead and Howth, cable con- 
 necting, 82. 
 
 Horological commutator, 129. 
 
 Horological uniformity produced by 
 telegraphs, 265. 
 
 Horse-shoe magnet, experiment with, 
 162,163. 
 
 House's printing telegraph, 218 : its 
 operation, 219 ; rate of transmis- 
 sion with, 238 ; rate of printing 
 by, ib. 
 
 INDIA, telegraphic communication 
 with, 99 ; telegraphic lines in, ib. 
 
 Indicating, apparatus, 183 ; mecha- 
 nism of telegraphs, 196. 
 
 Inspectors and other telegraphic 
 officers, 304. 
 
 Insulating supports, forms of, 51. 
 
 Insulation, expedients for obtaining, 
 50. 
 
 Insulators, 19. 
 
 Intelligence, circulation of, twenty 
 years since, 3. 
 
 Internal ional correspondence, wonder- 
 ful celerity of, 281. 
 
 Inventions, neglect of meritorious, 
 178. 
 
 Iron wires, objections to, 47. 
 
 Italian telegraphic lines, 309. 
 
 KEY Commutator, 128. 
 
 LANGUAGES of Belgian telegraphic 
 despatches, 296. 
 
 Larclner, Dr. , telegraphic experiment 
 made by, 9, 213. 
 
 Letters and figures, manner of ex- 
 pressing, 180 ; numbers of, trans 
 mitted per minute, 188. 
 
 Lcverrier, telegraphic experiment 
 made by, in conjunction with Dr. 
 Lardner, 9. 
 
 Lightning, artificial, 5. 
 i Lightning conductor, 61; of Messrs. 
 Walker and Breguet, 62. 
 
 Line wires, material and thickness 
 of, 46. 
 
 Lines of electric telegraph estab- 
 lished by private companies, and 
 by the state, 175. 
 
 Lines and dots, combinations of, to 
 express letters, 206. 
 
 Lippen's telegraphic instrument,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 201 ; description of, 202 ; its 
 wheel commutator, 203 ; trans- 
 mission of despatches by, 204. 
 
 Longitudes, use of electric telegraph 
 in determining, 264, 267. 
 
 Lothbury, central telegraphic station 
 in, 95. 
 
 MACHINES, magneto-electric, 165. 
 
 Magnet, how the electric current 
 may produce a temporary, 142. 
 
 Magnetic needle, deflection of, 136. 
 
 Magnetic pulsations, how rendered 
 visible and counted, 147 ; celerity 
 of the oscillations thus produced, 
 148 ; impart motion to clock-work, 
 150; action on an escapement, 
 151. 
 
 Magnetic telegraph company, 276. 
 
 Magneto-electric current, method of 
 producing a momentary, 161. 
 
 Magneto-electric machine, 165 ; its 
 effects in producing shocks and 
 currents, 166 ; method of applying 
 it to telegraphs, 167. 
 
 Magneto-electric telegraph company, 
 wires of, 67. 
 
 Magneto-electricity, 160. 
 
 Map showing telegraphic network, 
 292. 
 
 Maury, Lieut., hydrographical re- 
 searches of, 94. 
 
 Mechanism of telegraphs, explanation 
 of, 194. 
 
 Medical consultations, telegraph used 
 for, 258. 
 
 Mediterranean electric telegraph 
 company, 283. 
 
 Mercantile firms, sums paid for tele- 
 graphic despatches by, 255. 
 
 Messages, personal and domestic tele- 
 graphic, 251 ; average length of, 
 275. 
 
 Miracles of science, telegraph most 
 marvellous of, 25. 
 
 Morse's telegraph, 206 ; the most 
 extensively used, 233 ; average 
 celerity of, 234 ; greater celerity 
 of, 235 ; his reports to congress 
 respecting the telegraph, 257. 
 
 Multiplier, magnetic, 138. 
 
 Music, telegraphic transmission of, 
 237. 
 
 Musical sounds, produced by maj- 
 netic pulsations, 149. 
 
 NEEDLE, greatest sensibility of elec- 
 tric, 138 ; method of mounting the 
 electric, 140. 
 
 Needle instruments, 179 ; single 
 needle instrument, 180 ; double 
 needle instrument, 181 ; illustra- 
 tion of the efficiency of, 230. 
 
 Needles, signals made by deflections 
 of magnetic, 179. 
 
 Netherlands, telegraphic lines in, 
 307. 
 
 Net-work, telegraphic map of, 292. 
 
 New York Journals, association of, 
 262 ; Herald, spirited enterprise 
 of, 263. 
 
 Newall and Co., description of their 
 telegraphic cables, 79, 81. 
 
 Newspapers, telegraph extensively 
 used by American, 256. 
 
 Newsrooms, electric, 252. 
 
 Non-conductors, 19. 
 
 Numerals, how transmitted, 205. 
 
 OBSERVATORIES of Greenwich, Brus- 
 sels and Paris, electric connection 
 of, 267. 
 
 Observatory clocks, use of the tele- 
 graph in regulating, 269. 
 
 Officers attendant on a line of tele- 
 graph, 235. 
 
 Opera, wire from the House of 
 Commons to, 252. 
 
 Orfordness and the Hague, elec- 
 ti'ic communication between, 86. 
 
 Organisation of telegraphs, uniform, 
 recommended, 241. 
 
 O'Shaughnessy, Dr., his plan of 
 underground communication, 100. 
 
 Oxydation of metals, 23 ; wire in- 
 sulated by superficial, 58. 
 
 PAIRS, elements, and poles, defined, 
 40. 
 
 Paper, method of moving under the 
 style in the telegraph, 171 ; moved 
 by various expedients, ib. ; tele- 
 graphic characters on it, 172. 
 
 Paris, telegraphic congress, 294.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Parliament, abstracts of its proceed- 
 ings reported half-hourly for the 
 clubs, 252. 
 
 Pauses necessary between letter and 
 letter in telegraphic messages, 227. 
 
 Pen, electro-chemical, 209. 
 
 Pilot engines, 248. 
 
 Poles of a battery, 40. 
 
 Political purposes, illustration of 
 the use of the telegraph for, 257. 
 
 Portable railway telegraph, 246. 
 
 Portpatrick and Donaghadee, cable 
 connecting, 83, 85. 
 
 Pouillet's modification of Daniel's 
 system, 33 ; experiments on the 
 intensity of the electric current, 
 104. 
 
 Printing telegraph, House's, 219 ; 
 Brett's, 221. 
 
 Projects for telegraphic communi- 
 cation, 286. 
 
 Prussia, underground wires aban- 
 doned in, 70. 
 
 Prussian railways, telegraph of, 190, 
 198. 
 
 Pulsations of electric current, re- 
 gular, 129 ; irregular, 130 ; no 
 limit to the celerity of, 131 ; 
 toothed wheel to produce the, 132 ; 
 sinuous wheel to produce the, 133 ; 
 of magnetism, how rendered sen- 
 sible, 147; of the electric current, 
 how governed, 184. 
 
 QUEEN'S speech, rapid verbatim re- 
 port of, 276. 
 
 RAILWAY expenditure, incalculable, 
 saved by the electric telegraph, 
 248. 
 
 Hate of transmission with French 
 state telegraphs, 231 ; with 
 French railway telegraphs, 232 ; 
 with the Morse telegraph, 233. 
 
 Relay magnets, use of, 173 ; their 
 form and application, 174. 
 
 Reoscope, or Reometer, 138. 
 
 Repetition of despatches at inter- 
 mediate stations, 300. 
 
 Reporting, anecdote of rapid, 268. 
 
 Routes, message may be transmitted 
 to the same place by different, 284. 
 
 SAND, use of, in charging batteries, 42. 
 Secondary lines of wire, 125. 
 Secrecy of telegraphic despatches, 
 
 public confidence in the, 259. 
 Shaffner's report to the telegraphic 
 
 convention, 286. 
 Shakspeare's ' ' girdle round the earth 
 
 in forty minutes," 11. 
 Siemen's instrument, 191 ; its mode 
 
 of operation, 192. 
 Signal to rectify inattention, 193. 
 Signal time-balls, 266. 
 Signals, how the current produces 
 
 telegraphic, 106 ; transmission of, 
 
 instantaneous, 108 ; notice of the 
 
 station transmitting and receiving, 
 
 121 ; modes of regulating, between 
 
 particular stations, 122, 123, 124 ; 
 
 system of, in connexion with the 
 
 Royal Observatory, 266. 
 Soft iron, magnetism imparted to, 
 
 142. 
 
 Special trains, precautions respect- 
 ing, 247. 
 
 State telegraph, French, 182. 
 Statistics of the telegraph, difficult 
 
 investigation of, 285. 
 Strand and Lothbury, underground 
 
 wires between the, 95. 
 Submarine cables, deposition of, 84, 
 
 85. 
 Submarine companies, origin of their 
 
 enterprises, 280. 
 Submarine company chartered, 277 ; 
 
 between France and England, 278. 
 Swiss telegraphic lines, 308. 
 Synchronism of astronomical clocks, 
 
 269. 
 
 TARIFF of electric telegraph company, 
 
 275. 
 
 Telegraph, construction of old French, 
 explained, 182 ; speculations re- 
 specting the improvement of, 21(J ; 
 used for ordinary purposes of life, 
 273. 
 Telegraph in railway business, uses 
 
 of the, 245. 
 Telegraph cables, durability of, 83, 
 
 89. 
 
 i TelegrapMc lines in England and 
 I America, 175; various forms of in- 
 j struments used on, 176 ; commu-
 
 INDEX. 
 
 nication in the United States, ex- 
 amples of distant, 240 ; messages, 
 in the United States, eleven mil- 
 lions per annum, 241 ; lines of 
 the United Kingdom, 271 ; their 
 extent in 1854, 272 ; connection 
 of European states, table of, 284. 
 
 Telegraphic line, organisation of a, 
 289. 
 
 Telegraphists, comparative ability of, 
 224 ; each, known by his manner 
 of transmitting, 225 ; attention 
 absorbed by the manipulation of 
 the instrument to the exclusion of 
 the subject of the despatch, 259. 
 
 Telegraphs, railway, by whom 
 worked, 188. 
 
 Telegraphy, electric, 5 ; no limit to 
 the celerity of, 11. 
 
 Testing posts, 66. 
 
 Transatlantic ocean telegraph, 44. 
 
 Transit observations, description of, 
 270. 
 
 Transmission of telegraphic messages 
 easier than the interpretation, 
 226 ; pauses in, 227 ; rate of, 228 ; 
 average celerity of, ib. ; rate with 
 a magneto-electric current, 229 ; of 
 despatches, not always direct, 300. 
 
 Tunnels, imperfect insulation in, 72 ; 
 Walker's method of remedying, 73. 
 
 Turin and Genoa, wires between, 
 without intermediate support, 98. 
 
 UNDERGROUND wires, 64. 
 Uniformity of telegraphic charges 
 
 suggested, 244. 
 Uniformity, horological, 265. 
 United States, extensive use of the 
 
 telegraph in the, 253 ; telegraphic 
 
 Hues in the, 285. 
 
 VIBRATIOKS producing musical notes, 
 149. 
 
 Voltaic battery, 16 ; its relation to 
 the telegraph analogous to that of 
 the boiler to the steam-engine, 17, 
 21. 
 
 Voltaic pile, 41. 
 
 Vulcanisation, 70. 
 
 WALKER, MB., instrument invented 
 by, 62. 
 
 Water, decomposition of, 169. 
 
 Weight of electric cable per mile, 
 283. 
 
 Wheatstone, Professor, his experi- 
 ments, 107. 
 
 Whitworth's report to Parliament on 
 the telegraph, 287. 
 
 Winding posts, 54. 
 
 Wire, method of covering the elec- 
 tric, 139 ; telegraphic instruments 
 requiring only one, 303. 
 
 Wires, American telegraphic, not 
 usually galvanised, 56 ; overground 
 system of, in streets in France and 
 America, 74 ; across extensive 
 valleys, 98 ; up and down. 112 ; 
 multiplicity of, why necessary, 
 125 ; advantages of numerous 
 telegraphic, 302. 
 
 Wollaston, Dr., his arrangement of 
 voltaic combinations, 30. 
 
 Writing, telegraphic, at the station 
 to which a message is communi- 
 cated, 210. 
 
 Writing or printing, ordinary, at a 
 distant station, 217. 
 
 Written characters at a distance, 
 how to produce, 170. 
 
 ZIGZAG or straight line marked on 
 paper as the current is transmitted 
 or suspended, 153. 
 
 Zinc and copper, common plate bat- 
 tery of, 27 ; why preferred, 28 ; 
 pUtes, amalgamation of, 45.
 
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 LEVELLING ; showing its Application to Purposes of Railway 
 and Civil Engineering, in the Construction of Roads ; with Mr. 
 TELFORD'S Rules for the same. By FREDERICK W. SIMMS, 
 F.G.S., M. Inst. C.E. Sixth Edition, very carefully revised, with 
 the addition of Mr. LAW'S Practical Examples for Setting out 
 Railway Curves, and Mr. TRAUTWINE'S Field Practice of Laying 
 out Circular Curves. With 7 Plates and numerous Woodcuts. 8vo, 
 &r. 6d. cloth. %* TRAUTWINE on Curves, separate, 5-r. 
 
 " The text-book on levelling in most of our engineering schools and colleges." 
 Engineer. 
 
 Practical Tunnelling. 
 
 PRACTICAL TUNNELLING : Explaining in detail the Setting 
 out of the Works, Shaft-sinking and Heading-Driving, Ranging 
 the Lines and Levelling under Ground, Sub-Excavating, Timbering, 
 and the Construction of the Brickwork of Tunnels with the amount 
 of labour required for, and the Cost of, the various portions of the 
 work. By F. W. SIMMS, M. Inst. C.E. Third Edition, Revised 
 and Extended. By D. KINNEAR CLARK, M.I. C.E. Imp. 8vo, 
 with 21 Folding Plates and numerous Wood Engravings, 30^. cloth. 
 " It has been regarded from the first as a text-book of the subject. . . . Mr. Clark 
 has added immensely to the value of the book." Engineer, 
 
 Steam. 
 
 STEAM AND THE STEAM ENGINE, Stationary and Port- 
 able. Being an Extension of Sewell's Treatise on Steam. By D. 
 KINNEAR CLARK, M.I. C.E. Second Edition. i2mo, 4?. cloth. 
 
 Civil and Hydraulic Engineering. 
 
 CIVIL ENGINEERING. By HENRY LAW, M. Inst. C.E. 
 Including a Treatise on Hydraulic Engineering, by GEORGE R. 
 BURNELL, M.I. C.E. Sixth Edition, Revised, with large additions 
 on Recent Practice in Civil Engineering, by D. KINNEAR CLARK, 
 M. Inst. C.E. I2mo, ^s. 6d., cloth boards. 
 
 Gas-Lighting. 
 
 COMMON SENSE FOR GAS-USERS : a Catechism of Gas- 
 Lighting for Householders, Gasfitters, Millowners, Architects, 
 Engineers, &c. By R. WILSON, C.E. 2nd Edition. Cr. 8vo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Bridge Construction in Masonry, Timber, & Iron. 
 
 EXAMPLES OF BRIDGE AND VIADUCT CONSTRUC- 
 TION OF MASONRY, TIMBER, AND IRON ; consisting of 
 46 Plates from the Contract Drawings or Admeasurement of select 
 Works. By W. DAVIS HASKOLL, .E. Second Edition, with 
 the addition of 554 Estimates, and the Practice of Setting out Works, 
 with 6 pages of Diagrams. Imp. 4to, 2/. \2s. 6d. half- morocco. 
 "A work of the present nature by a man of Mr. Haskoll's experience, must prove 
 invaluable. The tables of estimates considerably enhance its value. " Engineering. 
 
 Earthwork. 
 
 EARTHWORK TABLES, showing the Contents in Cubic Yards 
 of Embankments, Cuttings, &c., of Heights or Depths up to an 
 average of 80 feet. By JOSEPH BROADBENT, C. E., and FRANCIS 
 CAMPIN, C.E. Cr. 8vo, oblong, $s. cloth.
 
 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO. 5 
 
 Tramways and their Working. 
 
 TRAMWAYS : their CONSTRUCTION and WORKING. 
 With Special Reference to the Tramways of the United Kingdom. 
 By D. KINNEAR CLARK, M.I.C.E. SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUME; 
 recording the Progress recently made in the Design and Construc- 
 tion of Tramways, and in the Means of Locomotion by Mechanical 
 Power. With Wood Engravings. 8vo, 12s. cloth. 
 
 Tramways and their Working. 
 
 TRAMWAYS: their CONSTRUCTION and WORKING. 
 By D. KINNEAR CLARK, M. Inst. C. E. With Wood En- 
 gravings, and thirteen folding Plates. THE COMPLETE WORK, in 
 2 vols., Large Crown 8vo, 30^. cloth. 
 
 " All interested in tramways must refer to it, as all railway engineers have turned 
 to the author's work ' Railway Machinery.'" The Engineer. 
 
 Pioneer Engineering. 
 
 PIONEER ENGINEERING. A Treatise on the Engineering 
 Operations connected with the Settlement of Waste Lands in New 
 Countries. By EDWARD DOBSON, A.I.C.E. With Plates and 
 Wood Engravings. Revised Edition. I2mo, 5-r. cloth. 
 " A workmanlike production, and one without possession of which no man should 
 start to encounter the duties of a pioneer engineer." Aikentciim. 
 
 Steam Engine. 
 
 TEXT-BOOK ON THE STEAM ENGINE. By T. M. 
 GOODEVE, M.A., Barrister-at-Law, Author of " The Principles 
 of Mechanics," "The Elements of Mechanism," &c. Fourth 
 Edition. With numerous Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 6s. cloth. 
 "Mr. Goodeve's text-book is a work of which every young engineer should pos- 
 sess himself." Mining Journal. 
 
 Steam. 
 
 THE SAFE USE OF STEAM : containing Rules for Unpro- 
 
 fessional Steam Users. By an ENGINEER. 4th Edition. Sewed, 6d. 
 
 " If steam-users would but jearn this little book by heart, boiler explosions would 
 
 become sensations by their rarity." English Mechanic. 
 
 Mechanical E 
 
 EN 
 
 ing, To 
 nical Manipulation, Manufacture of the Steam Engine, &c. By 
 
 ngneerng. 
 
 MECHANICAL ENGINEERING: Comprising Metallurgy, 
 Moulding, Casting, Forging, Tools, Workshop Machinery, Mecha- 
 
 FRANCIS CAMPIN, C.E. 12010, 3.?. cloth boards. 
 
 Works of Construction. 
 
 MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION : a Theoretical and 
 Practical Treatise on the Strains, Designing, and Erection of 
 Works of Construction. By F. CAMPIN.C.E. I2mo. 3*. 6d. cL brds. 
 
 Iron Bridges, Girders, Roofs, &c. 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE APPLICATION OF IRON 
 TO THE CONSTRUCTION OF BRIDGES, GIRDERS, 
 ROOFS, AND OTHER WORKS. By F. CAMPIN, C.E. i2mo,3J. 
 
 Boiler Construction. 
 
 THE MECHANICAL ENGINEER'S OFFICE BOOK: 
 Boiler Construction. By NELSON FOLEY, Cardiff, late Assistant 
 Manager Palmer's Engine Works, Jarrow. With 29 full-page 
 Lithographic Diagrams. Folio 2U. half-bound.
 
 6 WORKS IN ENGINEERING, SURVEYING, ETC., 
 
 Oblique Arches. 
 
 A PRACTICAL TREATISE ON THE CONSTRUCTION of 
 OBLIQUE ARCHES. By JOHN HART. srdEd. Imp. 8vo, &. cloth. 
 
 Oblique Bridges. 
 
 A PRACTICAL and THEORETICAL ESSAY on OBLIQUE 
 BRIDGES, with 13 large Plates. By the late GEO. WATSON 
 BUCK,M.I.C.E. Third Edition, revised by his Son, J. H. WATSON 
 BUCK, M.I.C.E. ; and with the addition of Description to Dia- 
 grams for Facilitating the Construction of Oblique Bridges, by 
 W. H. BARLOW, M. I. C. E. Royal 8vo, 1 2s. cloth. 
 " The standard text book for all engineers regarding skew arches. "Engineer. 
 
 Gas and Gasworks. 
 
 THE CONSTRUCTION OF GASWORKS AND THE 
 MANUFACTURE AND DISTRIBUTION OF COAL-GAS. 
 Originally written by S. HUGHES, C.E. Sixth Edition. Re-written 
 and enlarged, by W. RICHARDS, C.E. I2mo, 5*. cloth. 
 
 Waterworks for Cities and Towns. 
 
 WATERWORKS for the SUPPLY of CITIES and TOWNS, 
 with a Description of the Principal Geological Formations of Eng- 
 land as influencing Supplies of Water. By S.HUGHES. 4J.6</. cloth. 
 
 L ocomotive-Eng ine Driving. 
 
 LOCOMOTIVE-ENGINE DRIVING ; a Practical Manual for 
 Engineers in charge of Locomotive Engines. By MICHAEL 
 REYNOLDS, M.S.E., formerly Locomotive Inspector L. B. and 
 S. C. R. Fifth Edition, greatly enlarged. Comprising A 
 KEY TO THE LOCOMOTIVE ENGINE. With Illustra- 
 tions and Portrait of Author. Crown 8vo, 4-r. 6J. cloth. 
 " Mr. Reynolds has supplied a want, and has supplied it well." Engineer. 
 
 The Engineer, Fireman, and Engine-Boy. 
 
 THE MODEL LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER, FIREMAN, 
 AND ENGINE-BOY. By MICHAEL REYNOLDS. Crown 8vo, 
 4*. 6d. cloth. 
 
 Stationary Engine Driving. 
 
 STATIONARY ENGINE DRIVING. A Practical Manual for 
 Engineers in Charge of Stationary Engines. By MICHAEL REY- 
 NOLDS. With Plates and Woodcuts. Crown 8vo, qs. 6d. cloth. 
 
 Engine-Driving Life. 
 
 ENGINE-DRIVING LIFE ; or Stirring Adventures and Inci- 
 dents in the Lives of Locomotive Engine-Drivers. By MICHAEL 
 REYNOLDS. Crown 8vo, 2s. cloth. 
 
 Continuous Railway Brakes. 
 
 CONTINUOUS RAILWAY BRAKES. A Treatise on the 
 several Systems in Use in the United Kingdom ; their Construc- 
 tion and Performance. With copious Illustrations and numerous 
 Tables. By MICHAEL REYNOLDS. Crown 8vo. {Nearly Ktady. 
 
 Steam Engine. 
 
 ENGINEMAN'S COMPANION (TiiE). A practical Hand- 
 book arranged in a compact form for Ready Reference. By 
 MICHAEL REYNOLDS. Crown 8vo. [I* fa press.
 
 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO. 7 
 
 Construction of Iron Beams, Pillars, &c. 
 
 IRON AND HEAT ; exhibiting the Principles concerned in the 
 construction of Iron Beams, Pillars, and Bridge Girders, and the 
 Action of Heat in the Smelting Furnace. By J. ARMOUR, C.E. 3*. 
 
 Fire Engineering. 
 
 FIRES, FIRE-ENGINES, AND FIRE BRIGADES. With 
 a History of Fire-Engines, their Construction, Use, and Manage- 
 ment ; Remarks on Fire-Proof Buildings, and the Preservation of 
 Life from Fire ; Statistics of the Fire Appliances in English 
 Towns ; Foreign Fire Systems ; Hints on Fire Brigades, &c., &c. 
 By CHARLES F. T. YOUNG, C.E. With numerous Illustrations, 
 handsomely printed, 544 pp., demy 8vo, I/. 4*. cloth. 
 " We can most heartily commend this book." Engineering. 
 
 "Mr. Young's book on 'Fire Engines and Fire Brigades' contains a mass of 
 information, which has been collected from a variety of sources. The subject is so 
 intensely interesting and useful that it demands consideration." Building News. 
 
 Trigonometrical Surveying. 
 
 AN OUTLINE OF THE METHOD OF CONDUCTING A 
 TRIGONOMETRICAL SURVEY, for the Formation of Geo- 
 graphical and Topographical Maps and Plans, Military Recon- 
 naissance, Levelling, &c., with the most useful Problems in Geodesy 
 and Practical Astronomy. By LiEUT.-GEN. FROME, R.E., late In- 
 spector- General of Fortifications. Fourth Edition, Enlarged, and 
 partly Re-written. By CAPTAIN CHARLES WARREN, R.E. With 
 19 Plates and 115 Woodcuts, royal Svo, idr. cloth. 
 
 Tables of Curves. 
 
 TABLES OF TANGENTIAL ANGLES and MULTIPLES 
 for setting out Curves from 5 to 200 Radius. By ALEXANDER 
 BEAZELEY, M. Inst. C.E. Second Edition. Printed on 48 Cards, 
 and sold in a cloth box, waistcoat-pocket size, 3-r. 6J. 
 " Each table is printed on a small card, which, being placed on the theodolite, leaves 
 the hands free to manipulate the instrument." Engineer. 
 
 " Very handy ; a man may know that all his day's work must fall on two of these 
 cards, which he puts into his own card-case, and leaves the rest behind." 
 
 Engineering Fieldwork. 
 
 THE PRACTICE OF ENGINEERING FIELDWORK, 
 applied to Land and Hydraulic, Hydrographic, and Submarine 
 Surveying and Levelling. Second Edition, revised, with consider- 
 able additions, and a Supplement on WATERWORKS, SEWERS, 
 SEWAGE, and IRRIGATION. By W. DAVIS HASKOLL, C.E. 
 Numerous folding Plates. In I Vol., demy Svo, I/. 5.?., cl. boards. 
 
 Large Ttmnel Shafts. 
 
 THE CONSTRUCTION OF LARGE TUNNEL SHAFTS. 
 
 A Practical and Theoretical Essay. By J. H. WATSON BUCK, 
 
 M. Inst. C.E., Resident Engineer, London and North- Western 
 
 Railway. Illustrated with Folding Plates. Royal Svo, 12*. cloth. 
 
 " Many of the methods given are of extreme practical value to the mason, and the 
 
 observations on the form of arch, the rules for ordering the stone, and the construc- 
 
 tion of the templates, will be found of considerable use. We commend the book to 
 
 the engineering profession, and to all who have to build similar shafts." Building 
 
 News. 
 
 "Will be regarded by civil engineers as of the utmost value, and calculated to save 
 much time 
 
 e regarded by civil engineers as of the utmost value, 
 and obviate many mistakes, "^Colliery Guardian.
 
 8 WORKS IN ENGINEERING, SURVEYING, ETC., 
 
 Survey Practice. 
 
 AID TO SURVEY PRACTICE : for Reference in Surveying, 
 Levelling, Setting-out and in Route Surveys of Travellers by Land 
 and Sea. With Tables, Illustrations, and Records. By Lowis 
 D'A. JACKSON, A.-M.I.C.E. Author of "Hydraulic Manual and 
 Statistics," &c. Large crown 8vo, I2s. 6</., cloth. 
 
 " Mr. Jackson has produced a valuable vade-mecum for the surveyor. We can 
 recommend this book as containing an admirable supplement to the teaching of the 
 accomplished surveyor. " A Ihcittcinii. 
 
 " A general text book was wanted, and we are able to speak with confidence of 
 Mr. Jackson's treatise. . . . We cannot recommend to the student who knows 
 something of the mathematical principles of the subject a better course than to fortify 
 his practice in the field under a competent surveyor with a study of Mr. Jackson's 
 useful manual. The field records illustrate every kind of survey, and will be found 
 an essential aid to the student." Building News. 
 
 " The author brings to his work a fortunate union of theory and practical expe- 
 rience which, aided by a clear and lucid style of writing, renders the book both a very 
 useful one and very agreeable to read." Builder. 
 
 Sanitary Work. 
 
 SANITARY WORK IN THE SMALLER TOWNS AND 
 
 IN VILLAGES. Comprising : I. Some of the more Common 
 
 Forms of Nuisance and their Remedies ; 2. Drainage ; 3. Water 
 
 Supply. By CHAS. SLAGG, Assoc. Inst. C.E. Crown 8vo, 3^. cloth. 
 
 "A very useful book, and may be safely recommended. The author has had 
 
 practical experience in the works of which he treats." Builder. 
 
 Locomotives. 
 
 LOCOMOTIVE ENGINES, A Rudimentary Treatise on. Com- 
 prising an Historical Sketch and Description of the Locomotive 
 Engine. By G. D. DEMPSEY, C.E. With large additions treat- 
 ing of the MODERN LOCOMOTIVE, by D. KINNEAR CLARK, C.E., 
 M.I.C.E., Author of "Tramways, their Construction and Working," 
 &c., &c. With numerous Illustrations. I2mo. 3^. 6Z. cloth boards. 
 "The student cannot fail to profit largely by adopting this as his preliminary text- 
 book." Iron and Coal Trades Review. 
 
 " Seems a model of what an elementary technical book should be." Academy. 
 
 Fuels and their Economy. 
 
 FUEL, its Combustion and Economy ; consisting of an Abridg- 
 ment of "A Treatise on the Combustion of Coal and the Prevention 
 of Smoke." By C. W. WILLIAMS, A. I. C.E. With extensive 
 additions on Recent Practice in the Combustion and Economy of 
 Fuel Coal, Coke, Wood, Peat, Petroleum, &c. ; by D. KIN- 
 NEAR CLARK, C.E., M.I.C.E. Second Edition, revised. With 
 numerous Illustrations. I2mo. 4^. cloth boards. 
 
 " Students should buy the book and read it, as one of the most complete and satis- 
 factory treatises on the combustion and economy of fuel to be had." Engineer. 
 
 Roads and Streets. 
 
 THE CONSTRUCTION OF ROADS AND STREETS. In 
 Two Parts. I. The Art of Constructing Common Roads. By 
 HENRY LAW, C.E. Revised and Condensed. II. Recent 
 Practice in the Construction of Roads and Streets : including 
 Pavements of Stone, Wood, and Asphalte. By D. KINNEAR 
 CLARK, C.E., M.I.C.E. Second Edit., revised. i2mo, 5*. cloth. 
 
 " A book which every borough surveyor and engineer must possess, and which will 
 be of considerable service to architects, bailders, and property owners generally." 
 Building News.
 
 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO. 9 
 
 Sewing Machine (The). 
 
 SE^yING MACHINERY; being a Practical Manual of the 
 Sewing Machine, comprising its History and Details of its Con- 
 struction, with full Technical Directions for the Adjusting of Sew- 
 ing Machines. By J. W. URQUHART, Author of "Electro 
 Plating: a Practical Manual;" "Electric Light: its Production 
 and Use." With Numerous Illustrations. I2mo, 2s. (>d. cloth. 
 
 Field- Book for Engineers. 
 
 THE ENGINEER'S, MINING SURVEYOR'S, and CON- 
 TRACTOR'S FIELD-BOOK. By W. DAVIS HASKOLL, C.E. 
 Consisting of a Series of Tables, with Rules, Explanations of 
 Systems, and Use of Theodolite for Traverse Surveying and Plotting 
 the Work with minute accuracy by means of Straight Edge and Set 
 Square only; Levelling with the Theodolite, Casting out and Re- 
 ducing Levels to Datum, and Plotting Sections in the ordinary 
 manner; Setting out Curves with the Theodolite by Tangential 
 Angles and Multiples with Right and Left-hand Readings of the 
 Instrument ; Setting out Curves without Theodolite on the System 
 of Tangential Angles by Sets of Tangents and Offsets ; and Earth- 
 work Tables to 80 feet deep, calculated for every 6 inches in depth. 
 With numerous Woodcuts. 4th Edition, enlarged. Cr. 8vo. izs. cloth. 
 
 " The book is very handy, and the author might have added that the separate tables 
 of sines and tangents to every minute will make it useful for many other purposes, the 
 genuine traverse tables existing all the same." Athen&um. 
 
 " Cannot fail, from its portability and utility, to be extensively patronised by the 
 engineering profession/' Mining Journal. 
 
 Earthwork, Measurement and Calculation of. 
 
 A MANUAL on EARTHWORK. By ALEX. J. S. GRAHAM, 
 C.E., Resident Engineer, Forest of Dean Central Railway. With 
 numerous Diagrams. i8mo, 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 " As a really handy book for reference, we know of no work equal to it ; and the 
 railway engineers and others employed in the measurement and calculation of earth- 
 work will find a great amount of practical information very admirably arranged, and 
 available for general or rough estimates, as well as for the more exact calculations 
 required in the engineers' contractor's offices." Artizan. 
 
 Drawing for Engineers, &c. 
 
 THE WORKMAN'S MANUAL OF ENGINEERING 
 DRAWING. By JOHN MAXTON, Instructor in Engineering 
 Drawing, Royal Naval College, Greenwich, formerly of R. S. N. A., 
 South Kensington. Fourth Edition, carefully revised. With upwards 
 of 300 Plates and Diagrams. I2mo, cloth, strongly bound, 4J. 
 
 " A copy of it should be kept for reference in every drawing office." Engineering. 
 
 " Indispensable for teachers of engineering drawing." Mechankf Magaxint. 
 
 Weale's Dictionary of Terms. 
 
 A DICTIONARY of TERMS used in ARCHITECTURE, 
 BUILDING, ENGINEERING, MINING, METALLURGY, 
 ARCHAEOLOGY, the FINE ARTS, &c. By JOHN WEALE. 
 Fifth Edition, revised by ROBERT HUNT, F.R.S., Keeper of Mining 
 Records, Editor of " Ure's Dictionary of Arts." I2mo, 6s. cl. bds. 
 " The best small technological dictionary in the language." Architect. 
 " The absolute accuracy of a work of this character can only be judged of after 
 extensive consultation, and from our examination it appears very correct and very 
 complete." Mining journal.
 
 io WORKS IN MINING, METALLURGY, ETC., 
 
 MINING, METALLURGY, ETC. 
 Coal and Iron. 
 
 THE COAL AND IRO1S INDUSTRIES OF THE UNITED 
 KINGDOM : comprising a Description of the Coal Fields, and of 
 the Principal Seams of Coal, with returns of their Produce and its 
 Distribution, and Analyses of Special Varieties. Also, an Account 
 of the occurrence of Iron Ores in Veins or Seams ; Analyses of 
 each Variety ; and a History of the Rise and Progress of Pig Iron 
 Manufacture since the year 1740, exhibiting the economies intro- 
 duced in the Blast Furnaces for its Production and Improvement. 
 By RICHARD MEADE, Assistant Keeper of Mining Records. With 
 Maps of the Coal Fields and Ironstone Deposits of the United 
 Kingdom. 8vo., i 85. cloth. [Ju* -I publish cd. 
 
 Metalliferous Minerals and Mining. 
 
 A TREATISE ON METALLIFEROUS MINERALS AND 
 MINING. By D.C. DAVIES, F.G.S., author of "A Treatise on 
 Slate and Slate Quarrying." With numerous wood engravings. 
 Second Edition, revised. Cr. 8vo. 12s. 6d. cloth. 
 " Without question, the most exhaustive and the most practically useful work we 
 
 have seen ; the amount of information given is enormous, and it is given concisely 
 
 and intelligibly." Af t>,g- Journal. 
 
 Slate and Slate Quarrying 1 . 
 
 A TREATISE ON SLATE AND SLATE QUARRYING, 
 
 Scientific, Practical, and Commercial. By D. C. DAVIES, F.G.S., 
 
 Mining Engineer, &c. With numerous Illustrations and Folding 
 
 Plates. Second Edition, carefully revised. I2mo, 3^. 6d. cloth boards. 
 
 "Mr. Davieshas written a useful and practical hand-book on an important industry, 
 
 with all the conditions and details of which he appears familiar." Engineering. 
 
 Metallurgy of Iron. 
 
 A TREATISE ON THE METALLURGY OF IRON : con- 
 taining Outlines of the History of Iron Manufacture, Methods of 
 Assay, and Analyses of Iron Ores, Processes of Manufacture of 
 Iron and Steel, &c. By H. BAUERMAN, F.G.S. Fifth Edition, 
 revised, with considerable additions. [/ the press. 
 
 Manual of Mining Tools. 
 
 MINING TOOLS. For the use of Mine Managers, Agents, 
 Mining Students, &c. By WILLIAM MORGANS. Volume of Text. 
 I2mo, 3^. With an Atlas of Plates, containing 235 Illustrations. 
 410, 6s. Together, <)s. cloth boards. 
 
 Mining, Surveying and Valuing. 
 
 THE MINERAL SURVEYOR AND VALUER'S COM. 
 PLETE GUIDE, comprising a Treatise on Improved Mining 
 Surveying, with new Traverse Tables ; and Descriptions of Im- 
 proved Instruments ; also an Exposition of the Correct Principles 
 of Laying out and Valuing Home and Foreign Iron and Coal 
 Mineral Properties. By WILLIAM LINTERN, Mining and Civil 
 Engineer. With four Plates of Diagrams, Plans, &c., !2mo,4J. cloth. 
 %* The above, bound with THOMAN'S TABLES. (See page 20.) 
 Price 7,?. 6d. cloth.
 
 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO, n 
 
 Coal and Coal Mining. 
 
 COAL AND COAL MINING : a Rudimentary Treatise on. By 
 WARINGTON W. SMYTH, M.A., F.R.S., &c., Chief Inspector 
 of the Mines of the Crown. Fifth edition, revised and corrected. 
 I2mo, with numerous Illustrations, 4*. cloth boards. 
 " Every portion of the volume appears to have been prepared with much care, and 
 as an outline is given of every known coal-field in this and other countries, as well as 
 of the two principal methods of working, the book will doubtless interest a very 
 large number of readers." Mining Journal. 
 
 Underground Pumping Machinery. 
 
 MINE DRAINAGE ; being a Complete and Practical Treatise 
 on Direct-Acting Underground Steam Pumping Machinery, with 
 a Description of a large number of the best known Engines, their 
 General Utility and the Special Sphere of their Action, the Mode 
 of their Application, and their merits compared with other forms of 
 Pumping Machinery. By STEPHEN MICHELL, Joint- Authorof" The 
 Cornish System of Mine Drainage. " 8vo, I5.r.cloth. 
 
 NAVAL ARCHITECTURE, NAVIGATION, ETC. 
 Pocket Book for Naval A rchitects & Shipbuilders. 
 
 THE NAVAL ARCHITECT'S AND SHIPBUILDER'S 
 POCKET BOOK OF FORMULA, RULES, AND TABLES 
 AND MARINE ENGINEER'S AND SURVEYOR'S HANDY 
 BOOK OF REFERENCE. By CLEMENT MACKROW, M. Inst. 
 N. A., Naval Draughtsman. Second Edition, revised. With 
 numerous Diagrams. Fcap., \2s. 6d., strongly bound in leather. 
 " Should be used by all who are engaged in the construction or design of vessels." 
 Engineer. 
 
 " There is scarcely a subject on which a naval architect or shipbuilder can require 
 to refresh his memory which will not be found within the covers of Mr. Mackrow's 
 book." English Mechanic. 
 
 " Mr. Mackrow has compressed an extraordinary amount of information into this 
 useful volume." Athenaeum. 
 
 Granthams Iron Ship-Building. 
 
 ON IRON SHIP-BUILDING ; with Practical Examples and 
 Details. Fifth Edition. Imp. 4to, boards, enlarged from 24 to 40 
 Plates (21 quite new), including the latest Examples. Together 
 with separate Text, also considerably enlarged, I2mo, cloth limp. 
 By JOHN GRANTHAM, M. Inst. C.E., &c. 2/. 2s. complete. 
 
 " Mr. Grantham's work is of great interest. It will, we are confident, command an 
 extensive circulation among shipbuilders in general. By order of the Board of Admi- 
 ralty, the work will form the text-book on which the examination in iron ship-building 
 of candidates for promotion in the dockyards will be mainly based." Engineering. 
 
 Pocket-Book for Marine Engineers. 
 
 A POCKET-BOOK OF USEFUL TABLES AND FOR- 
 MULAE FOR MARINE ENGINEERS. By FRANK PROCTOR, 
 A.I.N.A. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. Royal 32mo, 
 leather, gilt edges, with strap, 4^. 
 
 "A most useful companion to all marine engineers." United Service Gazette. 
 
 " Scarcely anything required by a naval engineer appears to have been for- 
 gotten." Iron.
 
 12 WORKS IN NAVAL ARCHITECTURE, ETC., 
 
 Light-Houses. 
 
 EUROPEAN LIGHT-HOUSE SYSTEMS; being a Report of 
 a Tour of Inspection made in 1873. By Major GEORGE H. 
 ELLIOT, Corps of Engineers, U.S.A. Illustrated by 51 En- 
 gravings and 31 Woodcuts in the Text. 8vo, 2ls. cloth. 
 
 Surveying (Land and Marine). 
 
 LAND AND MARINE SURVEYING, In Reference to the 
 Preparation of Plans for Roads and Railways, Canals, Rivers, 
 Towns' Water Supplies, Docks and Harbours ; with Description 
 and Use of Surveying Instruments. By W. DAVIS HASKOLL, C. E. 
 With 14 folding Plates, and numerous Woodcuts. 8vo, izs. 6d. cloth. 
 
 "A most useful and well arranged book for the aid of a student." Builder. 
 
 " Of the utmost practical utility, and may be safely recommended to all students 
 who aspiie to become clean and expert surveyors." Mining Journal. 
 
 Storms. 
 
 STORMS : their Nature, Classification, and Laws, with the 
 Means of Predicting them by their Embodiments, the Clouds. 
 By WILLIAM BLASIUS. Crown 8vo, IDJ. 6d. cloth boards. 
 
 Riidimentary Navigation. 
 
 THE SAILOR'S SEA-BOOK: a Rudimentary Treatise on Navi- 
 gation. By JAMES GREENWOOD, B.A. New and enlarged edition. 
 By W. H. ROSSER. I2mo, 3^. cloth boards. 
 
 Mathematical and Nautical Tables. 
 
 MATHEMATICAL TABLES, for Trigonometrical, Astronomical, 
 and Nautical Calculations ; to which is prefixed a Treatise on 
 Logarithms. By HENRY LAW, C. E. Together with a Series of 
 Tables for Navigation and Nautical Astronomy. By J. R. 
 YOUNG, formerly Professor of Mathematics in Belfast College. 
 New Edition. I2mo, 4.?. cloth boards. 
 
 Navigation (Practical}, with Tables. 
 
 PRACTICAL NAVIGATION : consisting of t 
 
 Book, by JAMES GREENWOOD and W. H. ROSSER ; together 
 
 stng o the Sailor's Sea- 
 . H. ROSSER ; toget 
 with the requisite Mathematical and Nautical Tables for the Work- 
 
 ing of the Problems. By HENRY LAW, C.E., and Professor 
 J. R. YOUNG. Illustrated with numerous Wood Engravings and 
 Coloured Plates. I2mo, "js. strongly half bound in leather. 
 
 WEALE'S RUDIMENTARY SERIES. 
 
 The following books in Naval Architecture, etc. , are published in the 
 
 above series. 
 MASTING, MAST-MAKING, AND RIGGING OF SHIPS. By 
 
 ROBERT KIPPING, N.A. Fourteenth Edition. I2mo, 2s. 6d. cloth. 
 SAILS AND SAIL-MAKING. Eleventh Edition, enlarged. By 
 
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 NAVAL ARCHITECTURE. By JAMES PEAKE. Fourth Edition, 
 
 with Plates and Diagrams. I2mo, $s. cloth boards. 
 MARINE ENGINES, AND STEAM VESSELS. By ROBERT 
 
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 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO. 13 
 
 ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING, ETC. 
 
 Construction. 
 
 THE SCIENCE of BUILDING : An Elementary Treatise on 
 the Principles of Construction. By E. WYNDHAM TARN, M.A., 
 Architect. With 58 Wood Engravings. Second Edition, revised and 
 enlarged. Including an entirely new chapter on the Nature of 
 Lightning, and the Means of Protecting Buildings from its Violence. 
 Crown 8vo, "]s. 6J. cloth. 
 
 " A very valuable book, which we strongly recommend to all students." Builder. 
 
 " No architectural student should be without this hand-book." Architect. 
 
 Civil and Ecclesiastical Building. 
 
 A BOOK ON BUILDING, CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL 
 Including CHURCH RESTORATION. By Sir EDMUND BECKETT, 
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 Villa Architecture. 
 
 A HANDY BOOK of VILLA ARCHITECTURE ; being a 
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 Author of "The Spires and Towers of the Mediaeval Churches of Eng- 
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 ** Also an Enlarged edition of the above. 61 Plates, with Detailed 
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 Useful Text- Book for Architects. 
 
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 14 WORKS IN ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING, ETC., 
 
 Taylor and Cresy s Rome. 
 
 THE ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUITIES OF ROME. By 
 the late G. L. TAYLOR, Esq., F.S. A., and EDWARD CRESY, Esq. 
 New Edition, Edited by the Rev. ALEXANDER TAYLOR, M. A. (son 
 of the late G. L. Taylor, Esq. ) This is the only book which gives 
 on a large scale, and with the precision of architectural measure- 
 ment, the principal Monuments of Ancient Rome in plan, elevation, 
 and detail. Large folio, with 130 Plates, half-bound, 3/. $s. 
 *#* Originally published in two volumes, folio, at i8/. i8.f. 
 
 Vitruviuf Architecture. 
 
 THE ARCHITECTURE OF MARCUS VITRUVIUS 
 POLLIO. Translated by JOSEPH GWILT, F.S. A., F.R.A.S. 
 Numerous Plates. I2mo, cloth limp, 5-r. 
 
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 By the EARL of ABERDEEN ; I2mo, 6*., half-bound. 
 ** The only edition of VITRUVIUS procurable at a moderate price. 
 
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 RUDIMENTARY ARCHITECTURE (MODERN); com- 
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 tecture. By JOSEPH GWILT, F.S. A. Revised and edited by W. 
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 House Painting. 
 
 HOUSE PAINTING, GRAINING, MARBLING, AND 
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 THE JOINTS MADE AND USED BY BUILDERS in the 
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 \Justpublished.
 
 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO. 15 
 
 Handbook of Specifications. 
 
 THE HANDBOOK OF SPECIFICATIONS ; or, Practical 
 Guide to the Architect, Engineer, Surveyor, and Builder, in drawing 
 up Specifications and Contracts for Works and Constructions. 
 Illustrated by Precedents of Buildings actually executed by eminent 
 Architects and Engineers. By Professor THOMAS L. DONALD- 
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 upwards of 1000 pages of text, and 33 Plates, cloth, \l. us. 6d. 
 "In this work forty-four specifications of executed works are given. . . . Donald- 
 son's Handbook of Specifications must be bought by all architects." Builder. 
 
 Specifications for Practical Architecture. 
 
 SPECIFICATIONS FOR PRACTICAL ARCHITECTURE: 
 A Guide to the Architect, Engineer, Surveyor, and Builder ; with 
 an Essay on the Structure and Science of Modern Buildings. By 
 FREDERICK ROGERS, Architect. 8vo, i$j. cloth. ' 
 
 ** A volume of specifications of a practical character being greatly required, and the 
 old standard work of Alfred Bartholomew being out of print, the author, on the basis 
 of that work, has produced the above. Extract from Preface. 
 
 Designing, Measuring, and Valuing. 
 
 THE STUDENT'S GUIDE to the PRACTICE of MEA- 
 SU RING and VALUING ARTIFICERS' WORKS ; containing 
 Directions for taking Dimensions, Abstracting the same, and bringing 
 the Quantities into Bill, with Tables of Constants, and copious 
 Memoranda for the Valuation of Labour and Materials in the re- 
 spective Trades of Bricklayer and Slaier, Carpenter and Joiner, 
 Painter and Glazier, Paperhanger, c. With 43 Plates and Wood- 
 cuts. Originally edited by EDWARD DOBSON, Architect. New 
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 " Well fulfils the promise of its title-page. Mr. Tarn's additions and revisions have 
 much increased the usefulness of the work." Engineering. 
 
 Beaton s Pocket Estimator. 
 
 THE POCKET ESTIMATOR FOR THE BUILDING 
 TRADES, being an easy method of estimating the various parts 
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 and Joiners' work. By A. C. BEATON. Second Edition. 
 Waistcoat-pocket size. is. 6d. 
 
 BeatorisBuilders' and Surveyors Technical Guide. 
 
 THE POCKET TECHNICAL GUIDE AND MEASURER 
 FOR BUILDERS AND SURVEYORS: containing a Complete 
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 The House-Owner's Estimator. 
 
 THE HOUSE-OWNER'S ESTIMATOR ; or, What will it 
 Cost to Build, Alter, or Repair? A Price-Book adapted to the 
 Use of Unprofessional People as well as for the Architectural 
 Surveyor and Builder. By the late JAMES D. SIMON, A.R.I.B. A. 
 Edited by FRANCIS T. W. MILLER, A. R. I.E. A., Surveyor. 
 Third Edition, Revised. Crown 8vo, 3^. 6</., cloth. 
 " In two years it will repay its cost a hundred times over." Field.
 
 16 WORKS IN CARPENTRY, TIMBER, ETC., 
 
 Cement. 
 
 PORTLAND CEMENT FOR USERS. By HENRY FAIJA, 
 A.M. Inst. C.E., with Illustrations. Crown 8vo. 3^. 6</. cloth. 
 " A useful compendium of results for the builder and architect." Building News. 
 
 Builder s and Contractor s Price Book. 
 
 LOCKWOOD & CO.'S BUILDER'S AND CONTRACTOR'S 
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 CARPENTRY, TIMBER, ETC. 
 Tredgold's Carpentry, new and cheaper Edition. 
 
 THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF CARPENTRY : 
 a Treatise on the Pressure and Equilibrium of Timber Framing, the 
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 Bridges, Roofs, Uniting Iron and Stone with Timber, &c. To which 
 is added an Essay on the Nature and Properties of Timber, &c., 
 with Descriptions of the Kinds of Wood used in Building ; also 
 numerous Tables of the Scantlings of Timber for different purposes, 
 the Specific Gravities of Materials, &c. By THOMAS TREDGOLD, 
 C.E. Edited by PETER BARLOW, F.R.S. Fifth Edition, cor- 
 rected and enlarged. With 64 Plates, Portrait of the Author, and 
 Woodcuts. 410, published at 2/. 2s., reduced to I/. 5^. cloth. 
 " Ought to be in every architect's and every builder's library, and those who 
 do not already possess it ought to avail themselves of the new issue." Builder. 
 
 "A work whose monumental excellence must commend it wherever skilful car- 
 pentry is concerned. The Author's principles are rather confirmed than impaired by 
 time. The additional plates are of great intrinsic value. "^Building News. 
 
 Grandys Timber Tables. 
 
 THE TIMBER IMPORTER'S, TIMBER MERCHANT'S, 
 
 & BUILDER'S STANDARD GUIDE. By R. E. GRANDY. 
 
 2nd Edition. Carefully revised and corrected. I2mo, 3*. 6d. cloth. 
 
 " Everything it pretends to be : built up gradually, it leads one from a forest to a 
 
 treenail, and throws in, as a makeweight, a host of material concerning bricks, columns, 
 
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 Timber Freight Book. 
 
 THE TIMBER IMPORTERS' AND SHIPOWNERS' 
 FREIGHT BOOK : Being a Comprehensive Series of Tables for 
 the Use of Timber Importers, Captains of Ships, Shipbrokers, 
 Builders, and Others. By W. RICHARDSON. Crown 8vo, 6s. 
 
 Tables for Packing-Case Makers. 
 
 PACKING-CASE TABLES; showing' the number of Superficial 
 Feet in Boxes or Packing-Cases, from six inches square and 
 upwards. By W. RICHARDSON. Oblong 410, $s. f>d. cloth. 
 
 "Invaluable labour-saving tables." Ironmonger. 
 
 Carriage Building, <2fc. 
 
 COACH BUILDING: A Practical Treatise, Historical and 
 Descriptive, containing full information of the various Trades and 
 Processes involved, with Hints on the proper keeping of Carriages, 
 &c. 57 Illustrations. By JAMES W. BURGESS. I2mo, 3^. cloth.
 
 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO. 17 
 
 Horton's Measurer. 
 
 THE COMPLETE MEASURER ; setting forth the Measure- 
 ment of Boards, Glass, &c. ; Unequal-sided, Square-sided, Oc- 
 tagonal-sided, Round Timber and Stone, and Standing Timber. 
 With just allowances for the bark in the respective species of 
 trees, and proper deductions for the waste in hewing the trees, 
 &c. ; also a Table showing the solidity of hewn or eight-sided 
 timber, or of any octagonal-sided column. By RICHARD HORTON. 
 Fourth Edition, with considerable and valuable additions, I2mo, 
 strongly bound in leather, $s. 
 
 Hortori s Underwood and Woodland Tables. 
 
 TABLES FOR PLANTING AND VALUING UNDER- 
 WOOD AND WOODLAND ; also Lineal, Superficial, Cubical, 
 and Decimal Tables, &c. By R. HORTON. I2mo, 2s. leather. 
 
 Nicholsons Carpenter s Guide. 
 
 THE CARPENTER'S NEW GUIDE ; or, BOOK of LINES 
 for CARPENTERS : comprising all the Elementary Principles 
 essential for acquiring a knowledge of Carpentry. Founded on the 
 late PETER NICHOLSON'S standard work. A new Edition, revised 
 by ARTHUR ASHPITEL, F.S.A., together with Practical Rules on 
 Drawing, by GEORGE PYNE. With 74 Plates, 4t, I/, is. cloth. 
 
 Dowsing 1 s Timber Merchant's Companion. 
 
 THE TIMBER MERCHANT'S AND BUILDER'S COM- 
 PANION ; containing New and Copious Tables of the Reduced 
 Weight and Measurement of Deals and Battens, of all sizes, from 
 One to a Thousand Pieces, also the relative Price that each size 
 bears per Lineal Foot to any given Price per Petersburgh Standard 
 Hundred, &c., &c. Also a variety of other valuable information. 
 By WILLIAM DOWSING, Timber Merchant. Third Edition, Re- 
 vised. Crown 8vo, y. cloth. 
 
 "Everything is as concise and clear as it can possibly be made. There can be no 
 doubt that every timber merchant and builder ought to possess it." Hull Advertiser. 
 
 Practical Timber Merchant. 
 
 THE PRACTICAL TIMBER MERCHANT, being a Guide 
 for the use of Building Contractors, Surveyors, Builders, &c., 
 comprising useful Tables for all purposes connected with the 
 Timber Trade, Essay on the Strength of Timber, Remarks on the 
 Growth of Timber, &c. By W. RICHARDSON. Fcap. 8vo, y. 6d. cl. 
 
 Woodworking Machinery. 
 
 WOODWORKING MACHINERY; its Rise, Progress, and 
 Construction. With Hints on the Management of Saw Mills and 
 the Economical Conversion of Timber. Illustrated with Examples 
 of Recent Designs by leading English, French, and American 
 Engineers. By M. Powis BALE, M.I.M.E. Large crown 8vo, 
 12s. 6J. cloth. 
 
 " Mr. Bale is evidently an expert on the subject, and he has collected so much 
 information that his book is all-sufficient for builders and others engaged in the con- 
 version of timber. "-Architect. 
 
 " The most comprehensive compendium of wood-working machinery we have 
 seen. The author is a thorough master of his subject. "Building News. 
 
 " It should be in the office of every wood-working factory." English Mechanic.
 
 18 WORKS IN MECHANICS, ETC., 
 
 MECHANICS, ETC. 
 Turning. 
 
 LATHE- WORK : a Practical Treatise on the Tools, Appliances, 
 
 and Processes employed in the Art of Turning. By PAUL N. HAS- 
 
 LUCK. With Illustrations drawn by the Author. Crown 8vo, $s. 
 
 <f Evidently written from personal experience, and gives a large amount of just 
 
 that sort of information which beginners at the lathe require." Builder. 
 
 Mechanics Workshop Companion. 
 
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 PANION, and THE SCIENTIFIC GENTLEMAN'S PRAC- 
 TICAL ASSISTANT. By W. TEMPLETON. 1 3th Edit., with 
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 &c. ; and an Extensive Table of Powers and Roots, I2mo, 5-r. bound. 
 " Admirably adapted to the wants of a very large class. It has met with great 
 success in the engineering workshop, as we can testify ; and there are a great many 
 men who, in a great measure, owe their rise in life to this little work. " Building News. 
 
 Engineers and Machinist's Assistant. 
 
 THE ENGINEER'S, MILLWRIGHT'S, and MACHINIST'S 
 PRACTICAL ASSISTANT ; comprising a Collection of Useful 
 Tables, Rules, and Data. By WM. TEMPLETON. i8mo, 2s. 6d. 
 
 Waistcoat^Pockct Book for Mechanics, &c. 
 
 TABLES, MEMORANDA, and CALCULATED RESULTS, 
 FOR MECHANICS, ENGINEERS, ARCHITECTS, 
 BUILDERS, SURVEYORS, &c. Selected and Arranged by 
 FRANCIS SMITH. Waistcoat-pocket si/.e. [/ the press. 
 
 Boiler Making. 
 
 THE BOILER-MAKER'S READY RECKONER. With 
 Examples of Practical Geometry and Templating, for the use of 
 Platers, Smiths, and Riveters. By JOHN COURTNEY, Edited by 
 D. KINNEAR CLARK, M. Inst. C.E. I2mo, 9-r. half-bound. 
 
 Superficial Measurement. 
 
 THE TRADESMAN'S GUIDE TO SUPERFICIAL MEA- 
 SUREMENT. Tables calculated from I to 200 inches in length, 
 by i to 108 inches in breadth. By J. HAWKINGS. Fcp. y. 6d. cl. 
 
 The High-Pressure Steam Engine. 
 
 THE HIGH-PRESSURE STEAM ENGINE. By Dr. ERNST 
 ALBAN. Translated from the German, with Notes, by Dr. POLE, 
 F.R.S. Plates, 8vo, i6s. 6d. cloth. 
 
 Steam Boilers. 
 
 A TREATISE ON STEAM BOILERS : their Strength, Con- 
 struction, and Economical Working. By R. WILSON, C.E. 
 Fifth Edition. I2mo, 6s. cloth. 
 
 " The best work on boilers which has come under our notice." Engineering. 
 
 " The best treatise that has ever been published on steam boilers." Engineer. 
 
 Mechanics. 
 
 THE HANDBOOK OF MECHANICS. By DIONYSIUS 
 LARDNER, D.C.L. New Edition, Edited and considerably En- 
 larged, by BENJAMIN LOEWY, F.R.A.S., &c., post 8vo, 6s. cloth.
 
 1CV1SCU. uy X IU1. J . IX. KVUflW* \V11H1J A ULlCa. OVU, 1*. 1 
 
 Mathematics as applied to the Constructive 
 
 A TREATISE OX MATHEMATICS AS APPLI1 
 
 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO. 19 
 
 MATHEMATICS, TABLES, ETC?" 
 
 Metrical Units and Systems, &c. 
 
 MODERN METROLOGY: A Manual of the Metrical Units 
 and Systems of the present Century. With an Appendix con- 
 taining a proposed English System. By Lowis D'A. JACKSON, 
 A.-M. Inst. C.E; Author of "Aid to Survey Practice," &c. 
 Large Crown 8vo, 12s. 6ii. cloth. [Just Published. 
 
 Gregorys Practical Mathematics. 
 
 MATHEMATICS for PRACTICAL MEN ; being a Common- 
 place Book of Pure and Mixed Mathematics. Designed chiefly 
 for the Use of Civil Engineers, Architects, and Surveyors. Part I. 
 PURE MATHEMATICS comprising Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, 
 Mensuration, Trigonometry, Conic Sections, Properties of Curves. 
 Part II. MIXED MATHEMATICS comprising Mechanics in general, 
 Statics, Dynamics, Hydrostatics, Hydrodynamics, Pneumatics, 
 Mechanical Agents, Strength of Materials, &c. By OLINTHUS GRE- 
 GORY, LL.D., F.R.A.S. Enlarged by H. LAW, C.E. 4th Edition,' 
 revised by Prof. J. R. YCUNG. With 13 Plates. 8vo, I/, is. cloth. 
 
 Arts. 
 
 APPLIED TO 
 
 THE CONSTRUCTIVE ARTS. Illustrating the various pro- 
 cesses of Mathematical Investigation by means of Arithmetical and 
 simple Algebraical Equations and Practical Examples, &c. By 
 FRANCIS CAMPIN, C.E. i2mo, 31. 6d. cloth boards. 
 
 [Just published. 
 
 Geometry for the Architect, Engineer, &c. 
 
 PRACTICAL GEOMETRY, for the Architect, Engineer, and 
 Mechanic. By E. W. TARN.M.A. With Appendices on Diagrams 
 of Strains and Isometrical projection. Demy 8vo, gs. cloth. 
 
 The Metric System. 
 
 A SERIES OF METRIC TABLES, in which the British 
 Standard Measures and Weights are compared with those of the 
 Metric System at present in use on the Continent By C. H. 
 DOWLING, C.E. and Edit., revised and enlarged. 8vo, loj. 6d. cl. 
 
 fjiwood's Tables, greatly enlarged and improved. 
 
 TABLES FOR THE PURCHASING of ESTATES, Freehold, 
 Copyhold, or Leasehold : Annuities, Advowsons, &c. , and for the 
 Renewing of Leases ; also for Valuing Reversionary Estates, De- 
 ferred Annuities, &c. By WILLIAM INWOOD. 2ist edition, with 
 Tables of Logarithms for the more Difficult Computations of the 
 Interest of Money, &c. By M. F&DOR THOMAN. lamo. 8j. cloth. 
 " Those interested in the purchase and sale of estates, and in the adjustment of 
 
 compensation cases, as well as in transactions in annuities, life insurances, &c., will 
 
 find the present edition of eminent service." Engineering. 
 
 Weights, Measures, Moneys, &c. 
 
 MEASURES, WEIGHTS, and MONEYS of all NATIONS, 
 and an Analysis of the Christian, Hebrew, and Mahometan 
 Calendars. Entirely New Edition, Revised and Enlarged. By 
 W. S. B. WOOLHOUSE, F.R.A.S. I2mo, 2s. 6d. cloth boards.
 
 WORKS IN MATHEMATICS, ETC., 
 
 Compound Interest and Annuities. 
 
 THEORY of COMPOUND INTEREST and ANNUITIES ; 
 with Tables of Logarithms for the more Difficult Computations of 
 Interest, Discount, Annuities, &c., in all their Applications and 
 Uses for Mercantile and State Purposes. By FEDOR THOMAN, 
 of the Societe Credit Mobilier, Paris. 3rd Edit., I2mo, 4*. 6</. cl. 
 
 Iron and Metal Trades' Calculator. 
 
 THE IRON AND METAL TRADES' COMPANION: 
 Being a Calculator containing a Series of Tables upon a new and 
 comprehensive plan for expeditiously ascertaining the value of any 
 goods bought or sold by weight, from is. per cwt. to H2s. per 
 cwt., and from one farthing per Ib. to is. per Ib. Each Table ex- 
 tends from one Ib. to 100 tons. ByT. DOWN IE. 396 pp., 9^., leather. 
 " Will supply a want, for nothing like it before existed." Building News. 
 
 Iron and Steel. 
 
 IRON AND STEEL: a Work for the Forge, Foundry, 
 Factory, and Office. Containing Information for Ironmasters and 
 their Stocktakers ; Managers of Bar, Rail, Plate, and Sheet Rolling 
 Mills ; Iron and Metal Founders ; Iron Ship and Bridge Builders ; 
 Mechanical, Mining, and Consulting Engineers ; Architects, Builders, 
 &c. By CHARLES HOARE, Author of 'The Slide Rule,' &c. Eighth 
 Edition. Oblong 32mo, 6s., leather. 
 " For comprehensiveness the book has not its equal." Iron. 
 
 Comprehensive Weight Calculator. 
 
 THE WEIGHT CALCULATOR , being a Series of Tables 
 upon a New and Comprehensive Plan, exhibiting at one Reference 
 the exact Value of any Weight from lib. to 15 tons, at 300 Pro- 
 gressive Rates, from I Penny to 168 Shillings per cwt., and con- 
 taining 186,000 Direct Answers, which, with their Combinations, 
 consisting of a single addition (mostly to be performed at sight), 
 will afford an aggregate of 10,266,000 Answers ; the whole being 
 calculated and designed to ensure Correctness and promote 
 Despatch. By HENRY HARBEN, Accountant, Sheffield. New 
 Edition. Royal 8vo, I/. $J. , strongly half-bound. 
 
 Comprehensive Discount Guide. 
 
 THE DISCOUNT GUIDE : comprising several Series of Tables 
 for the use of Merchants, Manufacturers, Ironmongers, and others, 
 by which may be ascertained the exact profit arising from any mode 
 of using Discounts, either in the Purchase or Sale of Goods, and 
 the method of either Altering a Rate of Discount, or Advancing a 
 Price, so as to produce, by one operation, a sum that will realise 
 any required profit after allowing one or more Discounts : to which 
 are added Tables of Profit or Advance' from i| to 90 per cent., 
 Tables of Discount from I J to 98! per cent., and Tables of Commis- 
 sion, &c., from \ to 10 per cent. By HENRY HARBEN, Accountant, 
 New Edition. Demy 8vo, I/. $s., half-bound. 
 
 MatJiematical Instalments. 
 
 MATHEMATICAL INSTRUMENTS: Their Construction, 
 Adjustment, Testing, and Use ; comprising Drawing, Measuring, 
 Optical, Surveying, and Astronomical Instruments. By J, F. 
 HEATHER, M.A. Enlarged Edition. I2mo, 5^. cloth.
 
 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO. 21 
 
 SCIENCE AND ART. 
 
 Gold and Gold-Working. 
 
 THE GOLDSMITH'S HANDBOOK : containing full instruc- 
 tions for the Alloying and Working of Gold. Including the Art of 
 Alloying, Melting, Reducing, Colouring, Collecting and Refining. 
 The processes of Manipulation, Recovery of Waste, Chemical and 
 Physical Properties of Gold, with a new System of Mixing its 
 Alloys ; Solders, Enamels, and other useful Rules and Recipes, &c. 
 By GEORGE E. GEE, Goldsmith and Silversmith. Second Edition, 
 considerably enlarged. I2mo, $s. 6d. cloth boards. 
 " The best work yet printed on its subject for a reasonable price." Jeweller. 
 " Essentially a practical manual, well adapted to the wants of amateurs and 
 
 apprentices, containing trustworthy information that only a practical man can 
 
 supply." English. Mechanic. 
 
 Silver and Silver Working. 
 
 THE SILVERSMITH'S HANDBOOK, containing full In- 
 structions for the Alloying and Working of Silver. Including the 
 different Modes of Refining and Melting the Metal, its Solders, the 
 Preparation of Imitation Alloys, &c. By GEORGE E. GEE, 
 Jeweller, &c. I2mo, y. 6d. cloth boards. 
 
 " The chief merit of the work is its practical character. The workers in the trade 
 will speedily discover its merits when they sit down to study it." English Mechanic. 
 "This work forms a valuable sequel to the author's Practical Coldworker, and 
 supplies a want long felt in the silver trade." Silversmith's Trade Journal. 
 
 Hall-Marking of Jewellery. 
 
 THE HALL-MARKlNi 
 
 NG OF JEWELLERY PRACTICALLY 
 CONSIDERED, comprising an account of all the different Assay 
 Towns of the United Kingdom ; with the Stamps at present 
 employed ; also the Laws relating to the Standards and Hall- 
 Marks at the various Assay Offices ; and a variety of Useful 
 Suggestions concerning the Mixing of Standard Alloys, and other 
 matters. By GEORGE E. GEE. Crown 8vo. [Nearly ready. 
 
 Electroplating, &c. 
 
 ELECTROPLATING: A Practical Handbook. By J. W. 
 URQUHART, C.E. Crown 8vo, 5^. cloth. 
 
 " A large amount of thoroughly practical information." Telegraphic Jourtial. 
 "An excellent practical manual." Engineering. 
 
 " The information given appears to be based on direct personal knowledge. . . . 
 Its science is sound, and the style is always c\zzr."Athe>ittnm. 
 
 "Any ordinarily intelligent person may become an adept in electro-deposition 
 with a very little science indeed, and this is the book to show the way." Builder. 
 
 Electrotyping, &c. 
 
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 I2mo, "js. 6d. cloth. [Just published.
 
 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO. 
 
 The Alkali Trade Sulphuric Acid, &c. 
 
 A MANUAL OF THE ALKALI TRADE, including the 
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 SVNOI'SIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 Chap. I. Choice of Site 'and General 
 Plan of Works II. Sulphuric Acid- 
 Ill. Recovery of the Nitrogen Com- 
 pounds, and Treatment of Small Pyrites 
 IV. The Salt Cake Process- V. Legis- 
 lation upon the. Noxious Vapours Ques- 
 tion VI. The Hargreaves' and Jones' 
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 VIII. Lixiviation and Salting Down 
 
 IX. Carbonating or Finibhing X. Soda 
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 24 WORKS IN SCIENCE AND ART, ETC., 
 
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 26 WORKS IN SCIENCE AND ART, ETC., 
 
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 28 WORKS IN SCIENCE AND ART, ETC., 
 
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 PUBLISHED BY CROSBY LOCKWOOD & CO. 29 
 
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