THE UNIVERSITY 
 
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Ew ^avUament— Session 1846. 
 
 THE 
 
 PETITION OF ALEXANDER BAIN 
 
 AGAINST, AND THE 
 
 EVIDENCE BEFORE THE COMMITTEE 
 
 ON, THE 
 
 ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY BILL. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 CHAPMAN AND HALL, 186, STRAND. 
 1846. 
 
WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRAND, 
 
C?0 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 The Petition op Mr. Alexander Bain (In Preface). 
 
 Speech op Mr. M. D. Hill as Counsel for the Promoters 1 
 
 Speech of Mr. Birkbeck Counsel for Mr. Bain 9 
 
 Evidence of Mr. Edward Cowper for the Promoters 16 
 
 of Major'General Pasley, ditto 17 
 
 of Mr. W. H. Hatcher, ditto 35 
 
 Speech of Mr. Webster as Counsel for Mr. Bain 42 
 
 Evidence of Mr. John Thomas Cooper 66 
 
 of Mr. Bain 72 
 
 — of Mr. Andrew Van Sandau 106 
 
 of Mr. Alfred Deacon 108 
 
 z; of Mr. John Finlaison 110 
 
 r ; Notes explanatory of some Parts of the Evidence 117 
 
 i» 
 
 SL 
 T 
 
 /n 
 
 256999 
 
TO THE 
 
 HONOURABLE THE COMMONS OF GREAT 
 BRITAIN AND IRELAND, 
 
 IN PARLIAMENT ASSEMBLED. 
 
 The Humble Petition of Alexander Bain, of Edinburgh, 
 Electrical Engineer, and Electric Clock and Electric 
 Telegraph Manufacturer. 
 
 Sheweth, — 
 
 THAT in the year 1838 your petitioner invented an 
 Electrical Clock of such construction as to shew the hour 
 indicated by an ordinary clock placed at a distance from it, 
 and connected with it by a voltaic circuit merely. 
 
 That previously to the month of June, 1840, your pe- 
 titioner also invented an Electrical Telegraph, capable of 
 printing messages at distant places, by means of a voltaic 
 circuit, which your petitioner insists was the first invention, 
 whereby that important object could be effected. 
 
 That on the 1st day of August, 1840, your petitioner 
 being then a poor man, and in want of the means of turn- 
 ing his said invention to profit, called upon Charles Wheat- 
 stone, Esq., professor of experimental philosophy at Kings 
 College, London, and explained to him your petitioner's 
 invention of an Electric Clock, and his invention for 
 printing a message transmitted by an Electric Telegraph, 
 and sought his the said Charles Wheatstone's assistance for 
 
vi 
 
 the furtherance of the said inventions ; but the said 
 Charles Wheatstone, instead of affording your petitioner 
 such assistance, shortly afterwards endeavoured to deprive 
 him of the merit and benefits of his aforesaid discoveries, 
 and opposed his application for a patent for his invention 
 of a printing telegraph as hereinafter mentioned. 
 
 That on the 8th day of January, 1841, your petitioner 
 obtained a patent for an Electrical Clock, and in the sub- 
 sequent month of September he, in conjunction with Lieu- 
 tenant Wright, K.N., applied for letters patent for an 
 Electrical Printing Telegraph, and other things. 
 
 That the said Charles Wheatstone opposed the grant of 
 the said last-mentioned letters patent to your petitioner, 
 and stated to the then attorney-general, Sir Frederick Pol- 
 lock, that one objection contemplated by a patent of him, 
 the said Charles Wheatstone, then in progress (being the 
 letters patent granted to the said Charles Wheatstone, of 
 which the specification was afterwards enrolled on the 7 th 
 day of January, 1842), was a plan to enable a man in 
 London to print a letter in Edinburgh, and thereupon the 
 said Sir Frederick Pollock refused to permit the patent of 
 your petitioner to pass ; but the said Sir Frederick Pollock 
 having subsequently discovered that the said Charles 
 Wheatstone had deposited with Sir John Campbell, the 
 predecessor of him, the said Sir Frederick Pollock, a ge- 
 neral statement of the nature of the inventions comprised 
 in the said last-mentioned letters patent of the said Charles 
 Wheatstone (of the fact of which deposit having been 
 made, the said Charles Wheatstone had not informed the 
 said Sir Frederick Pollock), and the said general state- 
 ment having been examined, and found to be wholly silent 
 on the subject of a Printing Telegraph, the said Sir Fre- 
 derick Pollock then permitted your petitioner's last-men- 
 tioned letters patent to pass, and the Great Seal was affixed 
 thereto accordingly, and your petitioner insists that the in- 
 ventions comprised in the said last -mentioned letters pa- 
 tent, as well as the said letters patent for an Electrical 
 Clock, were wholly original, and in no respect infringe- 
 ments or an infringement on any previous invention. 
 % That about the same time your petitioner, by his own 
 
vii 
 
 experiments, discovered the, till then, unknown property 
 of water or moist earth, to convey a voltaic current when 
 the connecting insulated wire only ran one-half of the cir- 
 cuit, and that he sought to secure such his invention by his 
 said letters patent of the 7 th day of December, 1841, and 
 the same was included in and claimed by him by his afore- 
 said specification of the inventions comprised in such 
 letters patent, enrolled on the 7th day of June, 1842. 
 
 That about the same time your petitioner publicly ex- 
 hibited his said invention, and the same was noticed by 
 and described in several publications of the day. 
 
 That afterwards, on the 8th day of September, 1842, 
 William Fothergill Cooke, of Blackheath, in the county of 
 Kent, Esquire (and who was then a partner of the said 
 Charles Wheatstone, under certain letters patent relating 
 to Electric Telegraphs, but of which your petitioner in- 
 sists his aforesaid inventions were in no respect infringe- 
 ments), obtained another patent in the specification, where- 
 of he claimed the use of the property of the earth or 
 water to complete the voltaic current which had been dis- 
 covered by your petitioner as aforesaid, and which was 
 specified by him in the preceding month of June as afore- 
 said. 
 
 That afterwards, on the 10th day of October, 1842, your 
 petitioner, by his own experiments, made the further and 
 most important discovery that the earth itself, or the 
 moisture thereof, possessed the property of generating Elec- 
 tric Currents of very considerable force, by means of two 
 plates of different metals (as for example, zinc and copper), 
 without the assistance of any galvanic battery whatsoever, 
 which discovery, and the application thereof to various 
 useful purposes, including the improvement of Electric 
 Telegraphs and Electric Clocks, your petitioner then 
 sought to secure to himself by letters patent, which he 
 then sued out for that purpose, dated the 27th day of 
 May, 1843. 
 
 That shortly before your petitioner made his last- 
 mentioned discovery, he also discovered that a derivative 
 voltaic current might be obtained from a voltaic current 
 passing through a wire without making any interruption 
 
Vlll 
 
 in such wire, by merely fixing the ends of two smaller 
 wires, at some distance from each other, to the main wire, 
 and bringing the other ends of such small wires into 
 contact, and your petitioner, in his specification of the 
 inventions comprised in his said last-mentioned patent, 
 described the application of his said last-mentioned dis- 
 covery to the working of Electrical Clocks, at different 
 intermediate points along a main wire conveying an elec- 
 tric current. 
 
 That your petitioner, previously to the date of the said 
 last-mentioned letters patent, also invented an Electrical 
 Telegraph capable of producing a sufficient number of 
 signals by means of a single voltaic circuit, acting on a 
 vibrating magnetic pointer; whereas the said Charles 
 Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke had in all their 
 previous inventions for Telegraphs by means of vibrating 
 magnetic pointers, employed several voltaic circuits. 
 
 That the said last-mentioned invention of your petitioner 
 combined with his said invention for transmitting a voltaic 
 current through a single conducting wire, and his said in- 
 vention for producing a voltaic current, by the action of 
 the earth, was included in the said letters patent, dated 
 the 27th day of May, 1843, and (as described in the speci- 
 fication of the inventions comprised in the same letters 
 patent) constitutes the cheapest as well as the most simple 
 and convenient Electrical Telegraph which has yet been 
 discovered. 
 
 That owing to the influence of the said Charles "Wheat- 
 stone and William Fothergill Cooke, your petitioner has 
 not yet had an opportunity of permanently setting up and 
 working any Electric Telegraph in England, but your pe- 
 titioner has set up and has now constructed, on the prin- 
 ciple of his last-mentioned invention, an Electric Telegraph 
 in operation between Edinburgh and Glasgow, a distance 
 of 46 miles, which Telegraph is now working to the entire 
 satisfaction of all concerned, and to the great advantage of 
 the community. 
 
 That your petitioner exhibited a Telegraph constructed 
 according to his last-mentioned invention, worked as well 
 by a voltaic battery as by a voltaic current produced as 
 
IX 
 
 aforesaid from the earth, and also his Printing Telegraph, 
 on the South- Western Railway, between Nine Elms and 
 Wimbledon, in the county of Surrey, in or about the month 
 of May, 1844, in the presence of some of the Lords and 
 Secretary of the Admiralty, and of several Members of 
 your Honourable House, and his said inventions thereby, 
 or by means of the specifications under your petitioner's 
 said several patents, became known to the said Charles 
 Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke, who have since 
 sought to appropriate to themselves the merits and bene- 
 fits of several of the last-mentioned inventions. 
 
 That subsequently, and in the summer of the year 1844, 
 your petitioner conceived the notion of conveying signals 
 by means of symbolic sounds produced by a voltaic cur- 
 rent, in addition to visible symbols, and, for the purpose of 
 carrying such idea into effect, your petitioner employed a 
 mechanic to manufacture certain bells capable of producing 
 different and easily distinguishable tones, and your peti- 
 tioner was otherwise engaged in the year 1844 in perfect- 
 ing such his invention, with the view to the using of it as 
 an improvement of his last aforesaid invention for Electric 
 Telegraphs, and your petitioner in the same year made 
 such his invention of telegraphic communication by means 
 of symbolic sounds known to several of his friends ; but in 
 the spring of 1845, and before your petitioner had pro- 
 ceeded to secure such his invention by means of letters 
 patent, your petitioner discovered that the said Charles 
 Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke were applying 
 for letters patent " for certain improvements in Electric 
 Telegraphs, and in Apparatus relating thereto and that 
 their petition for such letters patent had been referred to 
 her Majesty's then Attorney-General, Sir William Webb 
 Follett, now deceased. 
 
 That your petitioner conceiving that such letters patent 
 might relate to some invention having reference to sym- 
 bolic sounds, and might tend to prejudice your petitioner 
 in the use of his last-mentioned invention for the employ- 
 ment of symbolic sounds in Electric Telegraphs, entered a 
 caveat against such patent, and accordingly your petitioner 
 and the said William Fothergill Cooke were separately 
 
X 
 
 heard upon your petitioner's opposition to such patent, be- 
 fore the late Sir William W. Follett, in the month of April 
 last, when, owing to the absence of any claim or any intelli- 
 gible claim of an invention for telegraphing, by means of 
 symbolic sounds, in the deposit or general statement of the 
 nature of the invention for which the said Charles Wheat- 
 stone and William Fothergill Cooke sought the said letters 
 patent, the Attorney-General disallowed the opposition of 
 your petitioner, your petitioner's then opposition being con- 
 fined, owing to his unavoidable ignorance of the objects for 
 which that patent was sought, to his invention of the use 
 of symbolic sounds, and, accordingly, the said Charles 
 Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke afterwards ob- 
 tained letters patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain 
 and Ireland, bearing date on or about the 6th day of May 
 last, for improvements in Electric Telegraphs and in appa- 
 ratus connected therewith, under and in pursuance of which 
 they subsequently, on the 6th day of November last, enrolled 
 a specification, thereby claiming, among other unimportant 
 alleged inventions, not only the use of symbolic sounds, 
 but likewise the use of your petitioner's aforesaid invention 
 of an Electric Telegraph in which a single voltaic current 
 only is employed, combined with his invention for com- 
 pleting a voltaic current by means of a single wire only, 
 and also his invention of forming derivative currents with- 
 out interrupting the main wire, applied to Electric Tele- 
 graphs, such last-mentioned claims being, as your petitioner 
 insists, an obvious piracy of your petitioner s said inven- 
 tions protected by his said letters patent of the 7th day of 
 December, 1841, and the 27th day of May, 1843. 
 
 That in the summer of 1845, the said Charles Wheat- 
 stone and William Fothergill Cooke likewise petitioned for 
 letters patent for Scotland, " for certain improvements in 
 Electric Telegraphs and in apparatus relating thereto," 
 being the same inventions for which they had sought and 
 obtained as aforesaid an English patent, which last-men- 
 tioned petition being referred to the Lord Advocate for 
 Scotland, your petitioner entered a caveat against such 
 their application, and subsequently the Lord Advocate 
 having heard your petitioner and likewise the said Charles 
 
xi 
 
 Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke, on your peti- 
 tioner's opposition (which was the same as that urged 
 before the late Sir William Webb Follett, and for the like 
 reasons confined to the invention of symbolic sounds), 
 was then pleased to allow your petitioner's opposition so 
 far as the said Charles Wheatstone and William F. Cooke 
 had sought to patent the use of symbolic sounds, but 
 allowed their petition as to the other alleged inventions, 
 to which your petitioner's opposition did not extend, and 
 thereupon the said Charles Wheatstone and William Fother- 
 gill Cooke obtained letters patent for Scotland for their 
 said last-mentioned inventions, bearing date the 3rd day 
 of July last, under which they have since, in the month of 
 J anuary last, enrolled a specification in Scotland, and such 
 specification being in all respects similar to their said 
 specification, enrolled in England on the 6th day of Novem- 
 ber last, the said Charles Wheatstone and William Fother- 
 gill Cooke, have thereby not only in fraud of your 'peti- 
 tioner^ but in disregard of the Lord Advocate's express 
 disallowance thereof unduly claimed the exclusive use of 
 their said alleged invention of symbolic sounds, and have 
 also thereby laid claim to your petitioner's said several 
 other inventions. 
 
 That subsequently, in the month of October last, the said 
 Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke obtained 
 other letters patent for Ireland, bearing date the 22nd day 
 of October last, for the like invention, but on your peti- 
 tioner's opposition in Ireland against such patent, a compro- 
 mise or arrangement was come to between him and the said 
 Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke, whereby 
 the right of making use of symbolic sounds on Electric 
 Telegraphs in Ireland was expressly reserved to your 
 petitioner, but your petitioner still remains in entire igno- 
 rance of the nature and contents of the specification which 
 the said Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke 
 have enrolled in Ireland under their last-mentioned patent. 
 
 That your petitioner not having been in England 
 between the months of October and January last, remained 
 in entire ignorance of the nature and extent of the speci- 
 fications and claims of the said Charles Wheatstone and 
 
xii 
 
 William Fothergill Cooke, under their aforesaid patents for 
 England and Scotland respectively, until after they had 
 enrolled their aforesaid specification in Scotland, and until 
 the 19th day of January last, when your petitioner visited 
 London for about forty-eight hours, and inspected their 
 specification enrolled in England, and when your petitioner 
 immediately instructed his solicitor to institute proceedings 
 to invalidate the aforesaid English patent of the said Charles 
 Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke for the causes 
 aforesaid, and accordingly so soon as your petitioner's 
 solicitor could procure a copy of their last-mentioned spe- 
 cification, and prepare the requisite instructions for counsel, 
 such instructions were laid before counsel for his considera- 
 tion and advice, and to prepare the necessary or proper 
 process for disputing the validity of the aforesaid patents 
 of the said Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill 
 Cooke. 
 
 That after so instructing counsel, your petitioner from 
 the newspaper reports of the proceedings in parliament, 
 for the first time discovered that a company had been or 
 was about to be formed to be called " The Electric Tele- 
 graph Company," but excepting from the Bill which has 
 since been brought into your Honourable House, in which 
 the name of the said William Fothergill Cooke and also 
 of John Lewis Bieardo, Esquire, a Member of your 
 Honourable House, occur as hereinafter, is more particu- 
 larly mentioned, your petitioner still remains in entire 
 ignorance if any such Company has been actually formed, 
 and of whom such Company consists, or who are the pro- 
 moters thereof, the project for the formation of such Com- 
 pany having been provisionally registered according to the 
 Act for that purpose, in the names of the said William 
 Fothergill Cooke and Robert Wilson, his solicitor, only as 
 the promoters thereof, but the provisions of that Act have 
 not otherwise than by registering advertisements been in 
 other respects duly complied with. 
 
 That a Bill has been recently brought into your Ho- 
 nourable House, entituled " A Bill for Forming and Regu- 
 lating the Electric Telegraph Company, and to enable the 
 said Company to work ' certain letters patent,' " whereby, 
 
xiii 
 
 after reciting several letters patent, and among others the 
 aforesaid several letters patent sued out by the said Charles 
 Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke for England, 
 Scotland, and Ireland, for certain improvements in Electric 
 Telegraphs and in apparatus relating thereto, and that in 
 each of the said letters patent is contained a condition or 
 proviso against the said letters patent respectively, or the 
 privileges, benefits, and advantages thereby respectively 
 granted becoming vested in, or in trust, for more than 
 twelve persons, or their representatives, at any one time 
 as partners, dividing or entitled to divide the benefits or 
 profits obtained by reason of the same letters patent 
 respectively, and furthermore that the said several inventions 
 have been found to be of great public benefit and utility, 
 and that it is desirable that the same should be brought 
 into more extensive use, and that that object would be 
 greatly promoted if the said patent privileges were per- 
 mitted to be vested in a company consisting of more than 
 twelve persons, with the powers and other provisions 
 thereinafter contained, but that the same cannot be effected 
 without the aid and authority of Parliament ; it is by the 
 same Bill proposed to be enacted, that the said William 
 Fothergill Cooke, John Lewis Ricardo, Esquire, M.P., and 
 all persons and corporations who have already subscribed 
 or shall thereafter subscribe to the undertaking therein 
 mentioned or referred to, their executors, administrators, 
 successors, and assigns respectively, shall be united into a 
 company for the purposes therein, and in the Land 
 Clauses' Consolidation Act, 1845, and the Companies 
 Clauses' Consolidation (Scotland) Act, 1845, mentioned, 
 by the name of " The Electric Telegraph Company" and 
 by that name shall be a body corporate with perpetual 
 succession, and shall have power to purchase and hold 
 lands for the purposes of the undertaking, with the re- 
 strictions therein and in the said Acts mentioned and 
 contained, and with such other enanctments, and subject 
 to the provisoes which are in the said Bill mentioned, and 
 which, on reference thereto, will more fully appear. 
 
 That your petitioner humbly insists, and submits to your 
 Honourable House, that the recitals in the said Bill, 
 
xiv 
 
 whereby it is alleged that it is desirable that the said 
 several patents, in the said Bill mentioned, should be 
 brought into more extensive use, are untrue, for that the 
 same, with the" exception of the said several patents 
 hereinbefore particularly mentioned, being those for cer- 
 tain improvements in Electric Telegraphs and in Apparatus 
 relating thereto, so far as they are in piratical violation of 
 your petitioner's patented rights as hereinbefore men- 
 tioned, have become valueless, or of but small value, by 
 reason of the more useful inventions of your petitioner, 
 and are consequently not deserving of Parliamentary en- 
 couragement, and for the reason aforesaid, and inasmuch 
 as the said several patents for improvements in Electric 
 Telegraphs and in Apparatus relating thereto are as afore- 
 said piratical, and are now about to be the subjects of 
 judicial discussion : your petitioner humbly insists and 
 submits to your Honourable House, that the said Bill 
 ought not, pending such litigation, to pass, and that 
 nothing should be enacted with reference to the matters 
 aforesaid, which shall or may in anywise tend to the pre- 
 judice of your petitioner, or his rights as such inventor 
 and patentee as aforesaid. 
 
 Your petitioner submits to your Honourable House, 
 that the means of Electric Telegraphic communication are 
 so important, that it is, doubtless, the wish of the legis- 
 lature to encourage all attempts to carry this most useful 
 art to perfection, of which, however, it is at present very 
 far short, if considered as a vehicle of social corres- 
 pondence. 
 
 That notwithstanding the manifold piracies of the said 
 Charles Wheatstone and William Fothergill Cooke com- 
 mitted on your petitioner's invention, as hereinbefore 
 detailed, the state of the art in the hands of those persons 
 is still in a very low condition, and, out of all comparison, 
 behind certain new improvements in Electric Telegraphs, 
 for which your petitioner has obtained other letters 
 patent, dated on the 25th of September last, and the speci- 
 fications of which must be enrolled on the 25th day of 
 this March instant. 
 
 And whereas the said Charles Wheat stone and William 
 
XV 
 
 Fothergill Cooke have only as yet advanced so far as to 
 make a limited number of signals in a very unskilful and 
 unscientific manner, your petitioner is prepared to prove 
 before any Committee of your Honourable House, that a 
 single portion of his new inventions is capable, by the 
 most rapid motions, of indicating with precision, and with- 
 out doubt, any one word that may be required out of 
 thirty-five thousand words at pleasure ; such is the power 
 of this part of his said new invention, but which is com- 
 bined with many other improvements of the utmost value : 
 and your petitioner, therefore, humbly trusts that your 
 Honourable House will deem it to be an injury to the 
 community at large to pass an Act which will virtually 
 exclude your petitioner from fair and honest competition 
 in the art of constructing Electric Telegraphs, by con- 
 ferring the great powers requested on a company who 
 cannot, without the most flagrant piracy of such your 
 petitioner's invention, come in any way near to the ad- 
 vanced state to which your petitioner has already carried 
 that most useful art. 
 
 Your petitioner, therefore, humbly prays, that 
 the aforesaid Bill may not pass your Honour- 
 able House, and that your petitioner may be 
 heard by his counsel, agent, and witnesses, 
 before the Committee to which such Bill may 
 be referred, in opposition to the preamble, and 
 such clauses thereof as affect the interest of 
 your petitioner. 
 
 And your petitioner will ever pray, &c. 
 
 (Signed) ALEXANDER BAIN. 
 
EVIDENCE BEFORE THE COMMITTEE 
 
 ON THE 1 
 
 ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH COMPANY BILL. 
 
 HOUSE OF COMMONS, 
 
 J O V I S 19t DIE MARTII, 1846. 
 
 (CAPTAIN BOLDERO IN THE CHAIR.) 
 
 Mr. M. D. Hill and Mr. Hindmarsh appeared as Counsel in sup- 
 port of the Bill. 
 
 Messrs. Dyson and Hall, Agents. 
 
 The Petition of Mr. Alexander Bain against the Bill was read. 
 Mr. Birkbeck and Mr. Webster appeared as Counsel Jot the 
 Petitioner. 
 
 Mr. M'Dougalland Co., Agents. 
 
 Mr. Hill opened the Case on behalf of the Promoters of the 
 Bill : — Sir, I have the honour to appear before this committee 
 on behalf of the promoters of a Bill, the short title of which is 
 to be, " The Electric Telegraph Company's Act." I shall detain 
 the committee as briefly as I can, knowing the great mass of busi- 
 ness which presses on the attention of all members of parliament; 
 but it will be necessary for the understanding of the case that I 
 should for a few moments call your attention to the nature of the 
 invention which it is the object of this Bill to give facilities for 
 spreading throughout the country. Probably honourable members 
 are aware that as early as the year 1837, by the talents of two gen- 
 tlemen now well known in the world, Mr. Cooke and Professor 
 Wheatstone, all difficulties had been overcome, and a working 
 electric telegraph had been constructed. The telegraph has pro- 
 bably been seen in operation by all the members of the committee. 
 It would occupy too much of your time if I were to go into 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 mucli detail as to its construction. It may suffice to toucli on its 
 principle. Gentlemen are perfectly aware that magnetism, elec- 
 tricity, and galvanism are found by philosophers to be one and 
 the same principle, modified in action, brought into action by 
 different means, but, in truth, the same principle. The movements 
 of the telegraph may either have their origin in a galvanic bat- 
 tery, or in a great magnet, but the battery or magnet which- 
 ever is used is so placed that a wire, or series of wires, are sub- 
 mitted to galvanic or magnetic action, and by ingenious con- 
 trivances, through which the galvanic or magnetic current is stopped 
 or deflected, it is made to subserve different purposes. Needles are 
 set in motion upon their centres through the wires, as a medium of 
 communication at any distance from the operator, and the electric 
 or galvanic motion is so rapid that I believe it outstrips the rapidity 
 of light, which we are told by scientific men travels from the sun to 
 the earth in a space of time somewhat short of eight minutes, if I 
 have not forgotten my schoolboy learning. Now this is rapid 
 enough for all practical purposes, and therefore whatever other de- 
 fects may be discovered, the want of rapidity, I am sure, will not be 
 one of them, Indeed this was exemplified in a very curious manner 
 by an experiment, that members may or may not have heard of, per- 
 formed on the telegraph of the Great Western Railway, where this 
 telegraph has been laid down for a long time so far as from the 
 station at Paddington to Slough. A message was despatched from 
 Paddington on the 1st of January, and Slough being directly to the 
 westward, was received there on the 31st of the preceding Decem- 
 ber, which is easily understood when it is recollected that the motion 
 of galvanism is far more rapid than the diurnal motion of the earth. 
 Sir, this is to use the telegraph as a toy. I need not however say 
 that the powers of the machine are competent to effect objects of the 
 highest social and commercial importance. 
 
 The Electric Telegraph — the first patent for which was taken out 
 in the year 1837 — was laid down for experiment first I think on the 
 Great Western Railway, where I myself had the pleasure of seeing 
 and hearing a very clear and intelligent description of it given by 
 Mr. Cooke, in October, 1839, and I can myself testify that it was 
 then working with a marvellous degree of celerity and certainty. 
 In the year 1840 it was made an essential incident to the working 
 of the Blackwall Railway. The Blackwall Railway, as honourable 
 members may know, is worked in a peculiar manner; not by loco- 
 motive engines, but by what is called a tail-rope, or a rope passing 
 over a cylinder or drum at the one end of the railway, and at the 
 other another cylinder or drum, which drums are set in motion by 
 steam-engines. 
 
 Now, sir, the arrangements of the Blackwall Railway are such 
 that if this telegraph were out of order the railway itself would be 
 out of order — if you cannot work the telegraph you cannot work 
 the railway. This results from the circumstance of there being inter- 
 
3 
 
 mediate stations which are to be accommodated necessarily by the same 
 rope, and therefore unless the carriages arc all attached to the rope at 
 the same time — I don't mean at the same instant — but unless when a 
 signal is given it is found that all the carriages are attached or de- 
 tached, as the case may "require, confusion and accident, and the 
 stoppage of the railway may be the result. These stations are 
 spread up and down the line, it is therefore necessary you should 
 have a communication at one mile, two miles, or three miles, and 
 that that should be under the control of a person sitting in a room, 
 at the one or other end of the railway, or at the intermediate sta- 
 tions. It is, I think, abundant proof of itself, if nothing else had 
 existed, of the perfection to which the Electrical Telegraph was 
 quickly brought, that from the year 1840, in which the telegraph 
 was made, as I say, a component part of the Blackwall Railway to 
 the present time the railway has been worked with unerring exac- 
 titude. 
 
 This period of time is surely of sufficient length to test not merely 
 the scientific accuracy but the practical utility of this invention, for 
 honourable members well know that many feats of science can be 
 performed which are very wonderful and very beautiful, yet when 
 they are to be applied to the rough- working daily use of com- 
 merce, they utterly fail and become absolutely nugatory. That is 
 not so with the Railway Telegraph. 
 
 Sir, it has been applied in another way, in which I hope and 
 trust it will be rapidly extended. Railways are constructed at 
 enormous cost. Where the traffic is not sufficient they have 
 been of late constructed with a single line of rails, but it is very 
 obvious that unless those single lines be very carefully worked, there 
 is great danger of stoppage, if not of collision, from the trains 
 meeting in an opposite direction. It is quite clear therefore for the 
 management of such railways some set of signals which should 
 enable you to know what is going on at every part of the line while 
 standing at one end of it, is very important. There is a railway 
 established from Norwich to Yarmouth, a single line, .which is 
 worked by means of the telegraph, and worked w T ith very great 
 facility. 
 
 The patents for this invention and its improvements belong to 
 Mr. Cooke, with one or two other persons. Mr. Wheatstone, a 
 gentleman whose mind is absorbed in science, having been, to use a 
 common expression, bought out, Mr. Cooke, and those who act 
 with him, are now engaged in laying down Electrical Telegraphs 
 upon some eight or ten railways at this present time. I have a list 
 before me. They have laid down, as members are probably aware, 
 an Electric Telegraph on the South- Western Railway from the Nine 
 Elms to Gosport or Portsmouth. This was done at the wish of 
 government, and mainly for the purposes of government, and it is, 
 or will, when it is completed in the manner I shall point out, and 
 wdiich will suggest one of the reasons why we come for this Bill, be 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 of immense service to the government, and utterly supersede the use 
 of the Semaphore. At present it only comes towards London as 
 far as Nine Elms, and there is the vacant space between Nine Elms 
 and the Admiralty, which I need not say is productive of very con- 
 siderable delay and inconvenience ; but the power of the telegraph , 
 its command of language, of combinations which may be used 
 alphabetically, or according to the code of signals which has been so 
 long established at the Admiralty, is unlimited. The Queen's speech, 
 at the opening of the present session, was telegraphed in extenso from 
 Nine Elms to Portsmouth in an incredibly short space of time. 
 
 But, sir, I am now coming to the difficulties under which this 
 invention at present labours. I have mentioned that the railway- 
 communication on the South-Western Railway stops at Nine Elms. 
 To continue it into town, there is required a similar power to that 
 possessed by every Gas Company, and every Water Company, of 
 opening the streets, for the purpose of introducing the tubes con- 
 taining the wires of communication ; and when that is done, a small 
 room in the Admiralty will be the eye and the ear which may 
 receive instant information of every proceeding in Portsmouth 
 harbour. The South-Eastern Railway Company have now put 
 down a telegraph to Dover, which may be connected with the 
 Admiralty in the same way, and then the eye and the ear, in this 
 little room, will see, in addition, what is going forwards at Dover, 
 or in the Straits, or on the coast of France. And so, by multiply- 
 ing these connections of wires, bringing them all to a central office, 
 it is quite evident that the whole of the vast area of this island may 
 be, for purposes of intelligence, compressed into one chamber. 
 
 Sir, the convenience, nay, even the necessity, for purposes of 
 government, for purposes of commerce, for purposes of general 
 intelligence, of completing the grand effects of this discovery by 
 means, such as I have, in part, pointed out, and, as I shall point 
 out, are so obvious, that the parties, when they had completed their 
 plan, were determined to come to Parliament. 
 
 Sir, that plan is as follows : — They propose to lay down lines of 
 wires for the purposes of railways. That is, railway purposes are 
 one object ; those railway purposes to be accomplished by wires, 
 I have partly adverted to; but upon all Hues, Members will see they 
 are exceedingly important. Many collisions, producing fatal acci- 
 dents, may have been prevented, if the Electrical Telegraph system 
 had been complete upon the railways where they happened, because 
 a collision very frequently, nay, generally, happens thus : the 
 engine drawing the train fails for some reason ; the train stops, or it 
 goes on more slowly than is expected. One would suppose that it 
 was not very easy to " run into a train," as it is called, with another 
 train, but I suppose there must be some difficulty in estimating the 
 distance, because we find that even in the open day, and at night 
 when there are lamps, it is a misfortune that frequently occurs, not 
 to one train or to two, but to many. 
 
5 
 
 Now, sir, if there were means of carrying information at every 
 station, that the speed was slackened, or altogether stopped, much 
 valuable life might have been saved, many very tremendous acci- 
 dents might have been spared. The invention is now, by slow 
 degrees, brought to that perfection that an apparatus may be given 
 to every guard upon a railway-train, which will enable him to get 
 down, and, touching with his instrument the portion of the wires 
 where the train happens to be, thus communicate intelligence of a 
 stoppage to and fro, up and down the line in a second of time, 
 informing every part of the railway what has taken place. 
 
 Now, sir, as to the plan for carrying these great objects into 
 effect. It is proposed by the gentlemen, whom I have the honour 
 to represent, that there should be a great central office in London, 
 of the nature of a post-office, except that the intelligence would be 
 by words — they are the flying words, the epea pteroenta ; they are 
 not written down — it is the same as if a code of signals were used ; 
 they are not letters, and the intelligence, therefore, travels more swiftly. 
 
 But it is hoped, in the course of time, to make the establishment 
 as diffusive and as extensive as the system of the post-office itself. 
 To effect that object, the analogy holds good, as there is a great 
 central post-office in London, so are there branch offices in every 
 town in the island, and there must be telegraphic-offices of the 
 same kind in the various towns. It is proposed, as part of the 
 present plan, to erect something like a thousand, I think, at least a 
 very large number, I may have exaggerated the number they hope 
 to be able to found, but it is very considerable. 
 
 Sir, by this time, I think, the Committee will be aware there is 
 one agent which we shall be obliged to bring into operation, and 
 which no discovery has yet superseded. We have superseded horses 
 by steam, and we have superseded the Semaphore by electricity; 
 but there is one agent which seems to increase in importance the 
 further we proceed in our course of discovery, and that is — money. 
 Money is the agent we must employ for the foundation of the great 
 scheme I am laying before you. It is estimated that a capital of 
 600,000/. will be required, with, I think, even the power to borrow 
 to some further extent. In order to raise a capital like this, it is 
 quite necessary men should combine — no one man, no two men, no 
 three men, can be expected to embark such a capital as that in any 
 undertaking. One necessity, therefore, for a Company, arises from 
 the great capital that will be required. Another necessity arises 
 from the powers with which it will be essential to arm the Com- 
 pany, for the purpose of enabling them to carry into effect their 
 objects. They must have power under proper superintendance, 
 and under all those guards and restrictions which are placed upon 
 Gas Companies and Water Companies, of opening the streets, and 
 they must have certain other powers mentioned in the various 
 clauses of the Bill, and with which I will not detain the Committee, 
 for the purpose of effecting their intentions. These powers it is not 
 
6 
 
 usual, and, indeed, it would not be right, to intrust to a private 
 individual. They are vested, by the common course of legislation, 
 in Companies. 
 
 But, sir, there is another reason why we should have an Act. 
 It is known by Members to have been a very ancient practice, up 
 to within a very few years, that inventors taking out patents 
 were prohibited by the patent itself from assigning their patent to 
 more than five persons ; so that no more than five persons could be 
 owners of a patent. What was the origin of this restriction I do 
 not know, but it remained up to the time of the attorney-general- 
 ship of Sir John Campbell. Sir J ohn Campbell, however, advised 
 the Crown not to throw aside the restrictions altogether, for reasons 
 which, I dare say, were very excellent, though I know not what 
 they were, but to increase the limit from five to twelve. At pre- 
 sent, therefore, twelve persons may be interested in a patent, but 
 not more than twelve. It is quite clear, that in order to work this 
 great plan, more than twelve persons must combine ; and, therefore, 
 we must ask, as has been done before, for the powers of an Act of 
 Parliament. Indeed, it is now almost a matter of course to grant 
 Bills such as the present. 
 
 Sir, this being so, the Bill was prepared, and probably the Com- 
 mittee is aware that such Bills are now submitted, in due course, 
 to the Board of Trade, in order that that Board may see whether 
 they ought to pass or not ; that has been done in the present 
 instance, and the Board of Trade see no objection to our Bill 
 passing. I think I may state, that this is by no means an unpre- 
 cedented proceeding. Within the last twenty years there have 
 been many such Bills, and it has been felt by Parliament, that 
 whenever an invention is very important, it ought to be worked by 
 a Company, private individuals not having the means, even where 
 they do not require extraordinary powers. In our case, the power 
 of breaking up the pavement is required, and unless we have that 
 power, the plan cannot be carried into operation. Hitherto it has 
 been thought right to grant Acts of Parliament of this kind. 
 
 Then, sir, we ask to have the means for the purposes of the go- 
 vernment, for the purposes of the public, of effecting what we have 
 been aiming to do, and what we have in so great a measure accom- 
 plished, even by our own unaided exertions. I will say the Bill con- 
 tains every necessary provision for providing against privileges con- 
 fided to private individuals being used contrary to the advantage of 
 the public. The Company where it is incorporated and formed by 
 this Bill, will not have the usual benefit of an incorporated body, 
 of being free in their private capacity from the responsibility of the 
 debts of the concern, but every shareholder will remain to the whole 
 extent of his property, liable to every creditor of the concern. This 
 is especially provided for. Then again, inasmuch as we ask for 
 powers, we are prepared, and clauses are drawn for the purpose, to 
 make it imperative upon the Company to grant to any parties re-* 
 
7 
 
 quiring it, their aid, in establishing a telegraph. The govern- 
 ment may require them to lay down a telegraph, railway companies 
 may require them to lay down a telegraph; the government is 
 placed in this matter on exactly the same footing as it is with re- 
 gard to the Post Office. For honourable members recollect that 
 railway companies are bound to carry the mails for the Post Office, 
 and if they cannot agree with the Post Office functionaries upon 
 the remuneration, arbitrators are called in to determine it. That 
 clause has been copied into the present Bill, mutatis mutandis, as ap- 
 plied to the Electric Telegraph. 
 
 Sir, these are the grounds on which I humbly beg you to pass 
 this Bill. This Bill, however, is opposed; it is opposed by one 
 gentleman, and, I believe, by no more. That gentleman is a person 
 of the name of Bain, and he asks permission to show you that this 
 Bill ought not to pass. Now Mr. Bain has put a petition on the 
 table, which, if the facts of it are true, would be highly discredit- 
 able to the gentlemen whom I have the honour of representing, 
 and they therefore feel a very natural wish to meet Mr. Bain, to 
 give him an opportunity of proving any charge which he has made, 
 in the full confidence of being able to rebut it. But, sir, I have 
 felt that I owe some duty to the committee, as well as to my clients, 
 and therefore I am bound to state that it does not appear to me 
 that Mr. Bain has made any allegation in his petition, which you 
 are the tribunal to try. If, however, you should be of a different 
 opinion, we shall have the honour of attending you a considerable 
 time, an honour I shall esteem very highly ; and I dare say the mat- 
 ters that will be examined into will be highly interesting, and more 
 so than they usually are, because they relate to matters of science, 
 and to matters of very great curiosity ; but I do not know that that 
 interest and that curiosity will quite repay honourable members for 
 sitting here for the next fortnight or the next month. They will 
 have to determine whether he shall be heard when they shall be in 
 possession of what has been said by my friend, who appears for 
 Mr. Bain, in support of his right to be heard at all. 
 
 It seems to me that Mr. Bain has fallen into a not unnatural mis- 
 take for a gentleman not conversant with law to make. Pie sup- 
 poses that his legal position w r ould be changed by this Bill ; now this 
 bill will place certain patents, which are now in the hands of 
 private individuals, in the hands of a company, but the Bill will 
 not operate to make the patents good if they are bad. The Bill 
 will leave the patents just as open to inquiry in courts of law or 
 equity as they are now; and if Mr. Bain is correct in saying that he 
 is the true discoverer, that Messrs. Wheatstone and Cooke are clever 
 persons, not for inventing matters, but for taking hold of the in- 
 vention of others — if he is right in those allegations w T hy the law is 
 quite strong enough to protect him. He may bring his action 
 against them for piracy ; he may bring his actions against any per- 
 son to whom they assign their patent, they may assign their patent 
 
8 
 
 now to me without the aid of a Bill. If I use the patent so assigned 
 to me, I am just as much open to Mr. Bain's attack as Messrs. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone. Again when the Bill enables Messrs. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone to assign their patents to a company, that 
 company will be just as much open to attack as the original in- 
 ventor. Why, therefore, you should be troubled with the matter, I 
 know not; I should be very glad, I say, to examine it before you, 
 because these gentlemen feel that it is not at all pleasant when at- 
 tacked, to shrink and say this is not a proper tribunal; they feel 
 desirous of creating a tribunal the moment the charge is made to 
 inquire into it. 
 
 Then you, the Committee, will consider what would be the con- 
 sequence of this inquiry. What would become of it if it were 
 entered into ? Your determination would bind neither party. Sup- 
 pose you were to say by your decision, Mr. Bain's allegations are 
 good, these are piracies of Mr. Bain's patent : well, the promoters, 
 the owners are not bound by that. If the jury and judge should 
 come to a different conclusion, if a Court of Equity should come to 
 a different conclusion, wherever this question was tried, whether in 
 law or in equity, what this committee might have said on the subject 
 of the validity or invalidity of the patents, I am bound to say with 
 all respect, would stand for nothing at all. If you were to decide in 
 favour of the Company, Mr. Bain, on the other hand, would not be 
 at all bound or damnified. He could still bring his action, or re- 
 peal the patent by scire facias, if so advised. He could bring his 
 action for piracy, or go into Chancery, and move for an injunction. 
 All those remedies would be open to him after investigation, as 
 they are now. 
 
 Sir, I will not, till I hear from my learned friends the grounds on 
 which they claim to be heard before you upon this matter, enter 
 further into the question. You see I have cautiously abstained from 
 saying whether Mr. Bain is right or whether Mr. Bain is wrong. 
 As I do not choose at this moment to admit this is a matter to in- 
 quire into here, I think it would be wrong for me to pronounce any 
 opinion upon it; but it will remain for my learned friends to show 
 on what ground it is they say Mr. Bain has a right to proceed in 
 his opposition to this Bill when his legal position is not at all 
 changed. Why do you permit a landlord to come and oppose a 
 railway bill ? Because a railway bill seeks to change his legal po- 
 sition. He has a right to his land against all the world. When the 
 railway bill becomes a law, the company have a right to call on him 
 compulsorily to give up that land, he receiving a remuneration. 
 Well, then he has a right to be heard. We do not seek to interfere 
 with Mr. Bain at all. 
 
 With these observations I shall sit down, and shall proceed in the 
 first instance to prove the mere formal parts of the case. If my 
 friends attempt to take any part in it, then I shall raise the question 
 as to their right to be heard. 
 
9 
 
 Mr. Birkbeck — As I shall certainly feel it my duty to put 
 some questions to the witnesses called by my learned friend to estab- 
 lish his case, with your permission, sir, I would at present proceed 
 to state the reasons why it appears to me my client has a locus standi 
 in the Committee. 
 
 Mr. B. Hawes — Would it not be more formal to call a witness 
 and to put some question to him that involves another, because 
 then it would appear on our minutes regularly that you objected, 
 otherwise we shall have nothing on our minutes. 
 
 Mr. Edward Cowper was then called and examined by Mr. Hind- 
 marsh; and upon Mr. Birkbeck putting a question to the wit- 
 ness, 
 
 Mr. Hill said, Now I object to my friend asking the witness a 
 single question. He has no locus standi here, and he will have the 
 goodness to show the Committee the right which he has to ap- 
 pear. 
 
 Mr. Birkbeck — Sir, I have the honour to appear for Mr. Bain, 
 and I regret that he does not appear by a counsel more acquainted 
 with Parliamentary proceedings than I am. He possesses no capital 
 or connexions, except what have been created by his own great 
 talents and inventive genius. So circumstanced as he is, I am sure 
 that you will feci inclined, certainly not to lean against him, but 
 rather to lean in his favour. 
 
 Sir, my learned friend has stated very eloquently the great ad- 
 vantages of the Electric Telegraph. I am not here to dispute them. 
 I believe that he has not in the slightest degree exaggerated their 
 importance, but it appears to me he has failed in proving the neces- 
 sity or the utility of forming such a company as this Bill endeavours 
 to form. It appears to me more than doubtful, if you will examine 
 the clauses which this Bill contains, whether, instead of its being of 
 advantage to the public, that such a company should be formed — 
 
 Mr. Hill — My learned friend will forgive me for interrupting 
 him ; he is entering into the merits of the Bill ; at present he is a 
 little irregular, if he will allow me to say so. The question before 
 the Committee is as to Mr. Bain's right to discuss those merits. 
 Let me admit, for the sake of argument, there are no merits, the 
 question is, has Mr. Bain a right to appear and discuss that before 
 you. 
 
 Mr. Birkbeck — Sir, I carry the argument a little further than 
 my friend. Suppose I say this Bill is positively detrimental — 
 positively injurious — to the public, and Mr. Bain, humble indivi- 
 dual as he may be, is one of the public, and as one of the public 
 alone, supposing he had no other interest in the case, I submit he 
 has a right to be heard here. 
 
 My learned friend has referred to the case of railway bills, in 
 which landowners alone are permitted to oppose; but why is that 
 rule adopted ? Because it is supposed that there arc not a suffi- 
 cient number of landowners on a line through which a railway 
 
10 
 
 is permitted to pass? There are a sufficient number of them 
 whose property is physically affected by the railway in order to 
 render them the representatives of the interests of the public. But 
 if my client is not permitted to oppose this Bill, then no one can 
 be permitted to oppose it. Will it be argued that this is a Bill 
 which is to pass without any one being permitted to offer opposition 
 to it ? My friend has stated that the whole is to be compressed 
 into a central room. All the intelligence received at the out-ports 
 is to be known at the same instant ; it is communicated in the room 
 which is to be the central office of the Company. Is not this a most 
 important fact ? Does it not give to the directors of this Company 
 unheard of powers ? I believe the most despotic minister that ever 
 existed in any country never possessed such power as will be con- 
 ferred upon the directors of the Electric Telegraph Company by 
 this Bill, if permitted to pass. If the Committee is willing to hear 
 the evidence which I am prepared to give, I shall be able to show 
 that Mr. Bain has a still greater interest in opposing the bill than 
 being merely a member of the public. It has been said by my 
 learned friend, that as far as his legal position is concerned, it will 
 not be at all affected by the passing of the Bill, and that he will 
 have the same remedies at law then as he has now. Perhaps, tech- 
 nically., he will have the same remedies, but, I ask, is there no dif- 
 ference between a company possessing a capital of 600,000/., with 
 power to borrow what my friend calls the trifling sum of 200,000/. 
 more ; — is there no difference between opposing such a company 
 and opposing the patentees, Messrs. Cooke and Y/lieatstone ? Prac- 
 tically I do submit there is, and I am sure you will see that prac- 
 tically there is the greatest possible difference between them. Now, 
 sir, it is the intention of my client, and he has already taken steps 
 for that purpose, to litigate the validity of the most important of 
 these patents. Those proceedings have been commenced — they 
 have been commenced at the earliest possible period. They were 
 commenced before it was known that this Bill was before Parliament. 
 I ask you if you are not prepared to enter into that discussion 
 which my friend professes to be so ready to meet, but which he 
 throws every obstacle in the way of proceeding with — if you 
 are not prepared to enter into that question; then, in the name 
 of justice, I do ask that you will be pleased to adjourn the con- 
 sideration of this Bill until after the proper tribunal shall 
 have decided between my client and Messrs. Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone. I have no other observation to add. I leave the case with 
 the greatest confidence in the hands of the Committee. 
 
 Mr. Hill — Sir; it appears to me the last observation of my 
 learned friend, in effect, gives up his right to oppose altogether. 
 He asks you to postpone the consideration of this Bill till some pro- 
 ceedings shall have terminated, the nature of which he has not 
 specified — or in what court (if it is a proceeding at law) it is to come 
 on. If it is a proceeding in equity, we are just as much in the 
 
11 
 
 dark. Whether he means legal proceedings at all, or some other 
 kind of proceeding we do not know. All I can say is, we have 
 never been served, on the part of this gentleman, with any writ — I 
 with any subpoena to a bill in Chancery, or any one of those pro- 
 cesses which are the commencement of actions or suits in equity ; nor 
 in his petition does he state anything of the kind. He says in the 
 petition that some proceedings are about to be taken, but there he 
 stops. What they are we don't know. 
 
 But supposing at this moment he had brought an action for 
 piracy, I will say in the Court of Common Pleas, that in the 
 Queen's Bench he was trying a scire facias to repeal these twelve 
 patents, or that in the Court of Equity he was at the present mo- 
 ment proceeding for an injunction. Would this have any effect to 
 stop these proceedings? No. Why not? Because that would 
 have no effect on these proceedings at all. Those proceedings would 
 go on, and the only effect would be this, that if he should turn out 
 upon inquiry to have any good title, why, then, notwithstanding 
 we have this Bill, we could not infringe upon his title. That is the 
 only consequence, sir : it does not differ from this — the illustration I 
 ventured to urge before you a quarter of an hour ago — suppose 
 Mr. Cooke and Mr. Wheatstone were now to assign their patent to 
 me at this moment in this room, have they not a right to do so ? 
 Certainly. How is Mr. Bain's position altered by their taking such 
 a course ? Not at all. "Whatever they had a right to do I should 
 have a right to do. Whatever they had no right to do I should 
 have no right to do. They have no right to take Mr. Bain's pa- 
 tents and his inventions — I should have no right to do so. The 
 law would be just as open before the assignment as afterwards. As 
 far as Mr. Bain is concerned, what is this Act of Parliament? It 
 is a Parliamentary assignment, doing nothing more than a private 
 individual could do, except that it gets rid of the difficulty, that 
 Mr. Cooke and Mr. Wheatstone, without the authority of Parlia- 
 ment, could only assign to twelve persons whereas they will now 
 assign to the Company incorporated by Act of Parliament. 
 
 But, sir, my learned friend has taken a very original view of the 
 case, supported by great talent, but quite original, and it is this. 
 He says you permit landowners to oppose a railway bill, not because 
 you are going to take away their land from them, but because there 
 are a sufficient number of such persons to make an opposition, and 
 if there were not, then you would look for opponents. Indeed ! Is 
 that so? Certainly not. The principle of admitting any opponent 
 to be heard is, that you do not deal with him as one of the public, 
 but you deal with him as having a peculiar interest; and I will 
 illustrate that in a moment. Why, as to a class of the most im- 
 portant bills on which you are engaged you hear no opponents at 
 all — a bill to create a capital felony? That affects us all in one 
 sense. We may all get under the peril of the law, but you do not 
 permit any one person to come before you and say, I will make a 
 
12 
 
 speech and call evidence. I think it is a bill contrary to all policy 
 of law and humanity; it will confer this power on that body, or 
 that power on the other, and I think it unconstitutional. No ; you, 
 the representatives of the people, are intrusted with public interests; 
 you are the counsel for the public; you have the same guardian- 
 ship of all those interests which one man has as [a member of the 
 public only; and, therefore, it is that unless any person can show 
 a private and peculiar interest which is about to be affected by this 
 Bill, about to be cut down by this Bill, or about to be destroyed by 
 this Bill, you say, " You must trust to us to guard the public." 
 
 They say here is a sort of despotism; a sort of ear of Dionysius 
 about to be established; you will take care not to do any thing so 
 wrong. That is for you to consider. If you think that great 
 mischief will arise to the public, why then, of course, you will take 
 care that it is not done; if, on the contrary, you are not afraid of 
 any such matter, then, I think, you will find when you come to 
 look at the Bill, care has been taken that this shall not be a private 
 monopoly, but that the government shall have this power of ob- 
 taining intelligence from all parts of the country. This has nothing 
 at all in common with my friend's fears, which proceed from his 
 own vigorous imagination ; you will find it is not only a most useful, 
 but a magnificently useful plan. 
 
 Then my friend says, Oh ! but if we have no public ground, we 
 have a private and peculiar ground. Why, what is it? He says 
 this Bill will put us into contention if we have to contend not with 
 Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone, but with a Company. Why ! is it 
 to be permitted that a gentleman shall come before the Legislature 
 of this country and say the law is unequal, that the law is not the 
 same for one man as for another, or the same for one man as for a 
 plurality of men ? Surely not. That gives him no ground at all. 
 Why, I might object to any company being established on the same 
 ground. I might object to a joint-stock bank being established on 
 the same ground. I may have some dispute with them, and find 
 them more difficult to deal with than a private individual. This 
 goes to the root of companies being established at all, and there- 
 fore cannot be heard in any particular case. 
 
 Sir, I beg pardon for taking up time. When my friend said he 
 had no ground at present, and that he hoped you would postpone 
 the Bill till he had the ground, he did what I think is tantamount 
 to giving up the case. 
 
 The Chairman — The gentlemen for whom you appear laid down 
 the Telegraph from Slough to London? 
 Mr. Hill — Yes, sir. 
 
 The Chairman — What year was that in? 
 Mr. Hill— 1839. 
 
 The Chairman — Have you ever had a notice of an action-at- 
 law or any proceedings in equity? 
 Mr, Hill — None, sir. 
 
13 
 
 Mr. BlRKBECK — Great alterations have been made in this Elec- 
 trical Telegraph since it was laid down — great improvements. We 
 are willing they should work the telegraph of 1837, but the tele- 
 graph which comes into conflict with us — the specification of this 
 telegraph was not enrolled till last November. We did not know 
 that they wanted to use such telegraph, I believe, till the month of 
 January, so that no time has been lost. I am quite prepared to 
 show that no time has been lost in litigating the question, and that 
 every measure has been taken with the greatest diligence in order 
 to bring it, if possible, before the Court of Chancery previously to 
 the meeting of this Committee. 
 
 The Chairman — The question you submit to us is this. You 
 ask us to postpone the Bill till the proceedings already commenced 
 are settled. 
 
 Mr. Birkbeck — We are quite willing to proceed before the 
 Committee to show that the patents which you are asked to give 
 permission to assign to a company are invalid ; but if you do not feel 
 disposed to enter into that investigation, then we ask you to post- 
 pone it for a short period, till we can have the matter decided by 
 another tribunal. 
 
 Mr. Hill — The question before the Committee is, shall my friend 
 be heard or not? not whether you shall dispose of the Bill. The 
 question is, shall my friend be heard? Now when he says this, " I 
 want to be heard to show we are about to institute proceedings," 
 the nature of which he has not explained to us, " and you are to 
 postpone this Bill until those proceedings are disposed of 5 ' — why, 
 the motion to read the Bill this time six months is nothing to that ; 
 it is a motion to read the Bill this time ten years. 
 
 Mr. Birkbeck — The summary proceeding is an application to 
 the Court of Chancery for a special injunction. 
 
 Mr. Hill — My friend says a summary proceeding — that is a 
 summary proceeding which you may have on any day which the 
 Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor arc so" open to hear that they 
 will hear an application of that sort at an inn on the road-side when 
 they are upon a journey. We are now in March, and they have 
 not ventured to make such an application. 
 
 Mr. Birkbeck — My friend knows, that before the Lord Chan- 
 cellor will hear such an application, he requires that several affidavits 
 should be brought before him, and those affidavits are not to be 
 prepared in a day. 
 
 (Strangers were ordered to withdraw. The Committee deliberated, 
 and strangers were again admitted.) 
 
 Mr. Ha wes — What is the date of Mr. Bain's patent? 
 
 Mr. Webster — He has several. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — Can you tell me the several dates? Give me the 
 furthest case back, because that would include all others. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh— The first is on the 8th of January 1841, but 
 that relates to electric clocks only. 
 
14 
 
 Chairman — That would not apply. 
 
 Mr. Webster — That will be found to apply; a clock is a signal. 
 One person calls it one thing, another another, but they are the same 
 things substantially. The fourth allegation is, " That on the 8th of 
 January, 1841, your petitioner obtained a patent for an electrical 
 clock, and the subsequent month he, in conjunction with Lieutenant 
 Wright, R.N., applied for letters patent for an Electrical Printing 
 Telegraph and other things. 
 
 Chairman — What is the length of your patent, that of 1841 ? 
 
 Mr. Webster — Fourteen years. 
 
 Mr. Hill — That is the length of all patents; the first is always for 
 fourteen years, neither more nor less. 
 
 Chairman — The Committee have taken your claim into con- 
 sideration, Mr. Birkbeck, and the Committee are not willing to ex- 
 clude you from being heard or taking any part, but they must con- 
 fine you to this paragraph of the petition which I will now read : 
 " That it will be an injury to the community at large to pass an Act 
 which shall virtually exclude your petitioner from fair and honest 
 competition in the art of constructing Electric Telegraphs." 
 
 Mr. Hill — Then we had better proceed with the proofs in the 
 usual way, and when it comes to my friend's turn he will take such 
 course to prove his case as occurs to him. 
 
 Mr. Ha wes — The words in the petition, which give Mr. Birk- 
 beck, as the Committee have determined, a locus standi here, and 
 within which words he will have to confine his questions are, that 
 Mr. Bain deems it to bean injury to the community at large to pass 
 an Act which will virtually exclude your petitioner from fair and 
 honest competition in the art of constructing Electric Telegraphs. 
 
 Mr. Hill — I am much obliged to the Committee for telling us 
 what we have to proceed with. 
 
 Mr. Edward Cowper called ; examined by Mr. Hindmarsh. 
 
 I believe you are a Lecturer on the Arts and Machinery at King's 
 College? I am. 
 
 How long have you been there? Five or six years. 
 
 I believe you have been in the habit of lecturing both at King's 
 College and also at the Royal Society for many years? Yes; all the 
 institutions in London. 
 
 Have you inspected the inventions of Messrs. Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone with respect to the Electral Telegraph ? Yes, I have. 
 
 Are you well acquainted with those inventions? Very well. 
 
 Will you have the goodness to describe to the Committee the mode 
 in which the inventions operate for the purpose of communicating 
 intelligence? I shall be able to give a general idea of the thing, 
 and a very general idea, by calling your attention to the circum- 
 stance, that if an electric current is passed through a coil of wire, 
 that coil of wire being surrounded by a piece of soft iron, that soft 
 iron immediately becomes a magnet ; and therefore, if we were to 
 
15 
 
 take a piece of iron of the form of a horse-shoe, and take a coil of 
 wire all round it, the instant communication is made with the bat- 
 tery the horse-shoe becomes a magnet, and the instant the commu- 
 nication is broken the magnet is unmade; and a piece of iron 
 would be attracted and dropped by such a magnet. Then you see 
 we have motion. By this being alternately raised and depressed it 
 is quite capable of giving motion to a wheel, just the same as an 
 escape-wheel to a watch; that is one form of motion. Another form 
 is to take a magnet and merely pass a number of coils of wire like a 
 large loop around it in this way, and on passing the electric current 
 through that looped wire surrounding the needle, the moment the 
 communication is made these needles are deflected. If you alter the 
 current the other way, it is deflected the other way. So that the 
 whole system of magnetic communication may be brought to this, 
 making or unmaking a magnet, or deflecting a magnet. Both of 
 those plans have been patented by Messrs. Cooke & Wheatstone, as 
 I have been familiar with them for years past. 
 
 By Mr. Birkbeek. 
 Can you state which was the first invention of Messrs. Cooke and 
 Wheatstone ? 
 
 Mr. Hill objected to Counsel on behalf of Mr. Bain, the Peti- 
 tioner, taking any part in the proceedings before the Committee, the 
 petitioner having no locus standi. 
 
 Mr. Birkbeek was heard against the objection. 
 
 Mr. Hill was heard in reply. 
 
 Strangers ivere ordered to withdraw, and the Committee deliberated. 
 
 Strangers having been again admitted, the Chairman announced 
 that the Committee had come to the determination not to exclude 
 the Petitioner from being heard, but they should confine him to 
 that paragraph in his Petition which stated that it would be an 
 injury to the community at large to pass an Act which would 
 virtually exclude the Petitioner from fair and honest competition in 
 the art of constructing Electric Telegraphs. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh stated, that the first document he should put 
 in evidence was the first Patent mentioned in the Bill of the 12th 
 June, 7th William 4th. It had the usual clause, being a proviso 
 against the assignment of the Patent to more than twelve persons. 
 
 Patents for England, of the following dates, were also put in : — 
 18th April, 1838 ; 21st January, 3rd Victoria ; 7th July, 5th 
 Victoria; 8th September, 6th Victoria; 6th May, 8th Victoria. 
 
 Three Patents for Scotland, of the following dates, were then 
 put in : — 12th December, 1837 ; 21st August, 1840 ; 3rd July, 
 1845. 
 
 Three Patents for Ireland, of the following dates, were then put 
 in:— 23rd April, 1st Victoria; 27th October, 4th Victoria ; 22nd 
 October, 9th Victoria. 
 
 The specifications of the above Patents were also put in. 
 
16 
 
 Mr. Cowper re-called; examination by Mr. Hindmarsk resumed. 
 
 (Tlic shorthand- writer read the last answer given by the witness.) 
 
 That is the principle on which the Patent Invention had been 
 brought forward ; that applies chiefly, I believe, to the earlier 
 Patents ? To the earlier Patents. 
 
 Now, there was a somewhat different principle evolved in the 
 subsequent inventions ? A different principle evolved in the 
 later inventions, inasmuch as the electricity is obtained from a 
 magnet instead of from a battery ; we agree as to electricity. In 
 the first instance a battery is used and electricity produced from 
 that battery is passed through a coil of wire round a piece of soft 
 iron, which makes that into a magnet. The later invention differs 
 from the first, not in the mode of giving the signals, because that 
 you may deflect on the latter ones, or you may make it attract a 
 piece of iron ; but it is rather in the mode of producing electricity. 
 In this latter plan, a large magnet is used by a coil of wire round a 
 piece of soft iron, and being made to rotate, then this electricity is 
 produced. Those pieces of wire carried away from that communi- 
 cating the electricity so produced, may be employed in the manner 
 that the electricity is which is produced from the battery. So that 
 the electricity which is thus produced, may be used for deflecting 
 a magnet at the end, or the termini, or for making as for unmaking 
 a magnet, in the same way as the other. 
 
 In the later inventions, is there not also something different with 
 respect to the mode of giving the signals instead of deflecting 
 needles ; is there not some other mode of giving the signals ? 
 The mode of giving the signals in the first instance was rather 
 complicated. There was a series of five needles. Suppose five 
 needles put into a sort of lozenge kind of form, and there are mag- 
 nets to indicate letters. The first apparatus that I am acquainted 
 with was a system of five deflecting magnets, or deflecting needles, 
 as they are called ; two of them pointing to a letter, which they 
 intersected. So that, if we had this one (the witness illustrated his 
 observations by showing the motion of the needles, &c, with two 
 pens) standing so, this would be A, or if pointing here, it would 
 be B, and so on with every other letter. There is a recent mode 
 of indicating, by having merely two needles, that, is one of those 
 in use at the Great Western Railway ; and those, instead of point- 
 ing by their interception, which limits their application, are made 
 to indicate the letter by the number of blows given. If I might 
 give a familiar sound, that (knocking the table once) would repre- 
 sent A ; that (knocking twice) would represent B ; that (knocking 
 three times) would represent C : one, two, and three. So it is, that 
 these needles pass on to the right in this manner: — one, A ; one, 
 two, B ; one, two, three, C ; and so on. And again, going off to 
 the left in the same sort of way ; and, in fact, the combinations of 
 the needles are almost endless, and all telegraph systems may be 
 considered as endless. 
 
17 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 Are you not liable to error in counting the number of blows 
 from the rapidity with which they are given ? I should have ex- 
 pected it, but the practice proves the contrary. The telegraphist is 
 very adroit indeed. 
 
 How are the needles made to give the blows ? They do not 
 give blows, they merely deflect. There is no sound. I merely 
 used the word " blows" to explain it better. A question was asked 
 me as to the speed with which this is done, and I would just beg to 
 mention a circumstance which I was witness to. I happened to be at 
 Paddington on one of the great Derby days : at Slough somebody 
 inquired the name of the winning horse. Somebody who had gone 
 in and paid the shilling. The way the answer was given was this 
 (explaining with his hand) R — u — n — n — i — n — g, then a cross 
 (X), meaning the end of the word, then R — e — i — n, and then 
 another cross. 
 
 (Adjourned till to-morrow, at One o' Clock.) 
 
 VENERIS, 20t DIE M A R T 1 1, 1846. 
 (CAPTAIN BOLDERO IN THE CHAIR.) 
 
 Major- General Charles William Pasley called ; examined by 
 Mr. Hindmarsh, 
 
 I believe you are the Government Inspector of Railways ? I am. 
 
 Have you given attention to the subject of Electric Tele- 
 graph ? I have. 
 
 And other telegraphs ? Generally I paid very great attention to 
 telegraphs, and to the Electric Telegraph lately. 
 
 Are you acquainted with the telegraphs which have been invented 
 by Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone ? I am. 
 
 These telegraphs I understand are now in use upon several rail- 
 ways throughout the country ? They are very extensively in use, 
 and in my railway tours I find the number increasing. They are 
 being extended almost every day. 
 
 As the Inspector of Railways, of course you have the means of 
 ascertaining what is going on in that way in the erection of tele- 
 graphs. Now, in your opinion, what is the relative value of the 
 old telegraph system of communication, and the Electric Telegraph 
 system ? You mean the system of vision ? Yes. 
 
 The former system is very often liable to be interrupted by 
 weather and the night. Telegraphs have been proposed, of which 
 I believe one proposed by myself was the most efficient. These are 
 also liable to be interrupted by weather and by fogs, and so on. The 
 Electric Telegraph of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone can meet with 
 no interruptions, and they are equally efficient by night and by 
 day, and at all times of weather. 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 The old Semaphore that was in practice could not be used during 
 the night at all? No, it could not. I proposed a night-telegraph 
 which might have answered the same purpose. 
 
 That was never put in operation ? It has been tried frequently, 
 and approved especially by his late Majesty King William the 
 Fourth, but they did not think it worth while to establish them ; 
 it was not deemed worth while to establish them. 
 
 And except during daylight, and then not when the weather is 
 at all cloudy, the Semaphore could only, in fact, be used about a 
 quarter of the twenty-four hours. Is not that so upon the 
 average? I don't recollect the average. I have seen it stated in 
 a paper in the supplement to the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," on 
 telegraphs, which I believe was written by Sir John Barrow, and 
 I believe that interruptions were frequent, but the exact proportion 
 I do not remember. 
 
 Now, have you seen Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's telegraphs 
 in operation ? I have, repeatedly. 
 
 And what is your opinion of that telegraph as an invention with 
 respect to public utility ? I am of opinion that it is of the greatest 
 possible utility both for government purposes and to the railway 
 system, as it may prevent accidents that otherwise might prove fatal. 
 
 You are of opinion that the means of communicating intelli- 
 gence all along the line of a railway, would be of the greatest 
 use for the purpose of preventing accidents ? I am. 
 
 Then do you believe that whenever telegraphs shall have been 
 erected along the lines of railways, it will be one means of insuring 
 the safety of human life ? Certainly. I don't say that it would 
 prevent accidents, but it will prevent many. 
 
 Now, in addition to the telegraphs upon distinct lines of railway, 
 do you conceive it would be of public utility to have all the rail- 
 ways connected together, or rather all the telegraphs upon railways 
 connected together, so as to have a universal telegraph, as it were? 
 I should think that in communicating from London to Aberdeen 
 or Inverness, where, probably, there will be railways in operation, 
 it would be important that the telegraphs on all these railways 
 should communicate together, that they might be made from London 
 to Aberdeen, or to Inverness, but I do not know whether it is 
 necessary to make communication between the terminal stations of 
 all the railways in the metropolis. 
 
 No; but for instance, to join the telegraph on the London and 
 Birmingham, and that on the Grand Junction,- to communicate 
 with each other, to be one continuous telegraph, in fact? Un- 
 doubtedly that is what I meant, and also between the London and 
 Birmingham, and the Midland Counties Railways, the Newcastle 
 and Darlington. 
 
 And so on to the Edinburgh? Yes. 
 
 And would it not be much better that the communication should 
 be made direct between London and Edinburgh, instead of going 
 by successive steps from one place to another? I need hardly ask 
 
19 
 
 you whether that would not be a very much superior mode of com- 
 munication ? It would be superior, but I don't know whether it 
 has been carried into effect yet, if practicable, I should think it 
 would be superior, but there is no difficulty in communicating by 
 intervals, and there would be no loss of time, I should think. 
 
 There would be some loss of time, yet not much you think? 
 Very little. 
 
 That would depend on whether the intermediate stations were 
 near to each other or not, for instance, the station for Manchester 
 might be at opposite ends of the town ; that would cause a very 
 considerable interruption, would it not? If the line of railway is 
 laid from one point to another, however distant, I should think the 
 electric telegraph might communicate from one extreme end to the 
 other, from the most southerly part of the kingdom to the other 
 with very little difficulty and very little loss of time, but with re- 
 spect to stoppages in such a place as Manchester, those, of course, 
 would be avoided. 
 
 And has any other Electric Telegraph, except Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone's, been established in England, to your knowledge? Not 
 that I am aware of. 
 
 I believe you are intimately acquainted with all the railways in 
 the kingdom? I am. 
 
 Then I suppose it is hardly likely that a telegraph could be 
 erected without your knowing it? A telegraph might be erected 
 on a distant railway without my knowing it, because the railway 
 companies do not make reports to the Board of Trade when they 
 adopt the Electric Telegraph — they do not make official reports to 
 the Board of Trade when they adopt the Electric Telegraph, and it 
 is possible that some other telegraph than Messrs. Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone's may have been adopted in some part of the kingdom without 
 my knowing it. 
 
 But you do not know of any? I have not seen any of a different 
 form. 
 
 Do you remember seeing a trial of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's 
 telegraph on the South Western Railway some time in 1844? I 
 saw Messrs. Bain and Wright's telegraph tried in the year 1844, 
 and after that, Messrs. Bain and Lieutenant Wright, of the navy, 
 proposed a telegraph to the Admiralty, which was tried on the 
 South- Western Railway in 1844. The Admiralty requested me to 
 compare it with Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's, and to report upon 
 it, and I reported that Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's was much su- 
 perior to the other — superior to Messrs. Bain and Wright's, or 
 we may call it Mr. Bain's, for he was the inventor; and in con- 
 sequence of my report, I ought to have said also in consequence 
 of the opinion of Mr. Farraday, in favour of Messrs. Cooke and 
 Wheatstone's, and also of Captain Brandeth, the engineer of the 
 Admiralty, who was also required to make a report upon it, Messrs. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's telegraph — 
 C 2 
 
20 
 
 Mr. Webster. 
 
 Were these opinions furnished to you by those gentlemen, or 
 were they merely matters that passed between you? I conversed 
 with those gentlemen on the subject, and I formed my own opinion 
 from my own personal observation. 
 
 I shall be very glad to have your opinion. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh. 
 Had you the means of knowing whether they concurred with 
 your own opinion? They did, I found afterwards. They con- 
 curred with me. We did not make a joint report signed by three, 
 each made our several reports. 
 
 Committee. 
 
 But Mr. Farraday did make a report? I believe so. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh. 
 
 What was done after that report? What was the consequence of 
 the report? In consequence of the opinion of Mr. Farraday, 
 Captain Brandeth and myself seeing the great superiority of Messrs. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's telegraph for business, the Admiralty 
 adopted Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's telegraph, which has been 
 since acting on their line between London and Gosport. 
 
 That was erected, I believe, by the direction of the Lords of the 
 Admiralty? I believe so. 
 
 For their use, and they are using it up to the present time, are 
 they not? They are. 
 
 Sow you stated the report you made to the Admiralty, do you 
 still retain the same opinion with respect to those two separate tele- 
 graphs, Bain's and Cooke's? I do. 
 
 That the one is very far superior to the other ? The telegraph es- 
 tablished by Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstonelong before my examina- 
 tion and comparison, was infinitely superior to what Mr. Bain's was 
 then. It is very possible he may have improved it since. 
 
 But what that is you have no means of knowing ? I don't think 
 he could have improved it without borrowing some of the arrange- 
 ments of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone. 
 
 What system of telegraphic communication did you see. Was 
 it by deflecting needles? Do you mean Mr. Bain's? 
 
 Mr. Cooke and Wheatstone's. I saw two systems, one was by de- 
 flecting needles and the other was by electro-magnetism — a dial 
 plate. 
 
 The two instruments next the table are deflecting aparatus? Yes, 
 and the other a rotating instrument. 
 
 That is the dial-plate? Yes, by electro-magnetism. 
 
 And I believe the currents of electricity for the purpose of pro- 
 ducing the action of needles on dials were conveyed along the wires 
 suspended in the air? Yes, they were. 
 
21 
 
 I believe the parts are so contrived that the wires are perfectly in- 
 sulated from the earth? Yes. 
 
 Did you observe any difference between the rapidity with which 
 signals were given by the one telegraph and the other ? I did. 
 
 Which of them conveyed the signals with more rapidity? Messrs. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's conveyed the signals with much more ra- 
 pidity, in the proportion of twenty to one. 
 
 Did you observe any failure in the communication? Did you 
 observe that either of them failed to communicate signals correctly 
 or properly? Yes, Mr. Bain's failed between the Nine Elms sta- 
 tion of the South- Western Railway and Wimbledon, a distance of 
 only six miles. 
 
 Were there many of these failures? When I saw Mr. Bain's 
 first, he tried it in a room at a very short distance, and then it 
 worked accurately enough. I saw it first at his house, and after- 
 wards at the South- Western Railway terminus at Nine Elms; the 
 distance being very short there, it worked very accurately, though 
 slowly, as I observed, very slowly, with a degree of slowness that I 
 should conceive inefficient for the purpose of telegraphic communi- 
 cation. Then he proposed to set up this telegraph between the 
 station at Nine Elms and Wimbledon. We stated that unless he 
 communicated between parts of some distance, that it was impossible 
 to form an opinion. Well, he attempted to communicate between 
 Nine Elms and Wimbledon. I went to inspect that on the 2nd of 
 March, 1844. I found that his communication failed, inasmuch as 
 he was obliged to use a very powerful voltaic battery, and without 
 which it would not work, and his was a printing telegraph; the 
 communication was so imperfect, that it printed one thing at Nine 
 Elms and another at Wimbledon. Mr. Wheatstone also had pre- 
 pared a printing telegraph, which I have seen working at short 
 distances, which I consider much superior to Mr. Bain's, and it was 
 capable of communicating intelligence three times as quick as Mr. 
 Bain's. 
 
 Do you know the means of insulating adopted by Mr. Bain, by 
 placing his wires in asphalt? Mr. Bain proposed at that time 
 placing his wires in asphalt, but as that would involve a considerable 
 expense, he adopted the system of placing them upon poles between 
 Nine Elms and Wimbledon, the same system as had been adopted 
 by Cooke and Wheatstone. 
 
 I dont know that I need do more than ask . you to state in your 
 judgment can there be any question with respect to the relative ad- 
 vantages to the public of the one invention and the other? Messrs. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's had been, for years before I saw them, in aper- 
 fectly efficient state, fit for every purpose of telegraphic communica- 
 tion; Mr. Bain's, when I saw it, was in an experimental state, and 
 the first trial of it of six miles, between Nine Elms and Wimbledon, 
 on a greater scale, failed entirely; it was in an entirely experimental 
 state when I saw it first. 
 
22 
 
 So far as you can speak of the two telegraphs, is there any com- 
 parison with respect to the public utility between the two ? When 
 I first saw Mr. Bain's, (I do not know what he may have done since,) 
 but when I first saw Mr. Bain's, it was not in an efficient state at all; 
 it was not fit for telegraphic communication. 
 
 And Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's was, you say, in a perfect and 
 efficient state? Yes. I had at first, before I examined Mr. Bain's, 
 had a very favourable opinion of it ; there was a pamphlet published 
 by Mr. Finlaison, which was put into my hands, in which Mr. 
 Bain was described as having made important discoveries, which 
 he charged Messrs.' Cooke and Wheatstone with having appropriated 
 to themselves. I also learnt, in conversations which i had had before, 
 that Mr. Finlaison asserted that Mr. Bain was the inventor of cer- 
 tain discoveries, which afterwards, on perusing scientific works upon 
 the subject, I found had been discovered long before he ever tried 
 them in Hyde Park. 
 
 When was it that he made the trial in Hyde Park? I should 
 think it must have been about the year 1842. 
 
 And you say it was known long before that? The principal dis- 
 covery that he claims was made by Dr. Watson in 1748, as applied 
 to common electricity, and it was afterwards applied to voltaic 
 electricity repeatedly by others. 
 
 Long before 1842? Long before 1842. 
 
 Tell the Committee what that was ? The principle was, that an 
 electrical circle may be made by water, or by the earth, using only 
 one single wire ; that water or the earth were electrical conductors, 
 and that one wire with one plate of zinc at the extremity of one wire 
 buried in the ground, or immersed in water, and with another plate 
 of copper placed in the ground or water at the other end of the wire, 
 near the electrical machine and voltaic battery, will make a perfect 
 circuit instead of using two wires, which had been considered neces- 
 sary before. 
 
 Then the water, or the moist earth in that way operated in that 
 case in the same way that another wire would ? But not so efficiently. 
 I have tried it. 
 
 It is not so rapid in its communication? In firing gunpowder at 
 Spithead by the voltaic battery, I tried the water, in consequence, in 
 fact, of having read Mr. Bain's experiments, for at that time I had 
 not studied the history of electro-magnetism — so much so that after- 
 wards I found that by one wire we could fire a charge at the bottom 
 of Spithead, having a copper plate at one end near the charge and 
 a zinc plate attached near the battery, but I afterwards gave that up 
 entirely, the power was so much weaker where the two wires were 
 used. 
 
 What would be the difference in point of time? The voltaic bat- 
 tery, in order to fire gunpowder, requires to have a certain power; 
 if the power is deficient, instead of being instantaneous, which it 
 ought to be, one is obliged to rub the wires, and sometimes rubbing 
 
23 
 
 them for half a minute or so, an explosion may take place, I found 
 that voltaic batteries of double the strength were required to fire gun- 
 powder where only one wire was used, according to Mr. Bain's sys- 
 tem, and therefore I gave it up. 
 
 Did it work with as much certainty if there was only one wire? 
 I don't think it is so certain. 
 
 Nor so rapid? It would sometimes fail altogether; voltaic electri- 
 city ought to be instantaneous, but it would fail altogether with the 
 same battery where the two wires were sure to succeed ; and in earth 
 I tried it by firing gunpowder in earth by two wires, and substitut- 
 ing the earth in the place of the second wire, and I found the effect 
 of firing gunpowder in earth was very inferior, it required a battery 
 of foilr-times the strength. 
 
 That being the sort of thing claimed by Mr. Bain, I think you 
 say you found the principle of that was discovered one hundred 
 years ago? Yes; and in the Transactions of the Scientific Institution 
 of Bavaria the same principle claimed by Mr. Bain had been tried 
 by a Professor Steinheil. It was published in German, in the Trans- 
 actions of that city in the next year, 1839, in a paper which I have 
 read, and a Mr. Sturgeon, who at that time edited an electrical 
 magazine, told me he had translated the paper of Professor Steinheil, 
 the moment it appeared, into English. 
 
 In his own publication? In his own publication. I have a copy 
 of my report to the Admiralty, made on the 10th of May, 1844. 
 
 Is that a copy of the report you made ? It is. 
 
 Committee. 
 
 Perhaps you would like the permission of the Admiralty to hand 
 that in? It explains my sentiments better than I can do now. I 
 ought to have explained that on comparing the printing telegraphs of 
 Mr. Wheatstone and of Mr. Bain, that Mr. Wheatstone's printing 
 telegraph worked three times as quick as Mr. Bain's, and there was 
 an assertion made by Mr. Finlaison and Mr. Bain that Mr. Wheat- 
 stone had appropriated his printing telegraph ; that he had taken the 
 idea from him, and Mr. Wheatstone's appeared to me so much supe- 
 rior, that I thought, if there was any copying in the case that Mr. 
 Bain had copied from Mr. Wheatstone and not Mr. Wheatstone 
 from Mr. Bain. 
 
 Cross-examined by Mr. Webster. 
 You have spoken of the impression on your mind ; can you just 
 give me the date of the particular circumstances that took place 
 which led to this impression ? On the 19th of February, 1844, 
 I first saw, to the best of my recollection, Mr. Bain's telegraph at 
 his own house. 
 
 You then first saw Mr. Bain's telegraph, and that was, as I 
 understand you, a printing telegraph ? It was ; I saw it afterwards 
 at the South- Western terminus, 
 
24 
 
 That was a printing telegraph : in what way were the signals 
 printed ? They were printed on a paper-cylinder that went 
 round. 
 
 And that was on the 19th of February, 1844, and the first time 
 you saw it ? Yes. 
 
 And that was at Mr. Bain's house ? Yes ; I afterwards saw it 
 on the South- Western Railway. 
 
 What was the number of wires employed in the printing tele- 
 graph at Mr. Bain's house ? The communication at Mr. Bain's 
 house was made by a water-pipe at one end, and a piece of coke 
 buried at the other ; the piece of coke and the water-pipe com- 
 pleted the circuit. 
 
 If I understand, you mean that the piece of coke and the water- 
 pipe produced the current ? Yes; they completed the circuit. 
 
 Was it a complete metallic circuit then ? No. 
 
 You quite understand, that in these different sorts of inventions, 
 in one case the metallic circuit was complete, and in the other there 
 was no metallic circuit : Mr. Bain's was no metallic circuit ? 
 No. 
 
 Was there a voltaic battery employed ? I don't recollect whether 
 there was a voltaic battery employed ; there was an electro-magnetic 
 apparatus. 
 
 As that is a term that has been used before, and defined by 
 Mr. Cowper yesterday, mention what we are to understand by an 
 electro-magnetic apparatus as contra-distinguished from a voltaic 
 battery ? It is an apparatus that magnetises iron, by means of the 
 voltaic battery. 
 
 Then there was a voltaic battery, and by that means the electro- 
 magnetism was produced ? Yes. 
 
 Now, I believe there is some little mistake, probably in terms, 
 about that ; that is your impression at the present moment, but I 
 should be glad if you would consider how, in that case, the 
 electricity was produced, or whether you merely recollect it was a 
 printing telegraph ? The circuit was produced through the earth 
 by the water-pipes and the pieces of coke. 
 
 My question was, whether there was a voltaic battery or not, 
 probably you do not remember ? I do not recollect the details of it. 
 
 Do you remember whether the circuit consisted of more than one 
 wire ? It certainly did not consist of more than one wire. 
 
 It was a printing telegraph with one wire, and not a metallic 
 circuit ? Yes. 
 
 Now with respect to the South- Western Railway, would that be 
 described in the same terms; was that a printing telegraph? It was. 
 With one wire ? Yes. 
 
 And not a metallic circuit ? And not a metallic circuit. 
 And the wire was suspended in the air on posts ? Yes. 
 What was the kind of insulation adopted by Mr. Bain in that 
 case ? It was by passing over wood and metal alternately. 
 
25 
 
 Wood and metal pegs ? I don't recollect whether they were 
 wood and metal pegs, it was a common process. 
 There was one wire ? Yes. 
 
 Did you give the date of this, with respect to the South- Western? 
 The 2nd of March, 1844, was when I saw it, when it failed. 
 
 You do not remember any thing about the insulation on that 
 occasion ? By passing over wood and metal alternately ; when it 
 touched the metal the electro-magnetism was in action, and when it 
 touched the wood it ceased. 
 
 Have you such a distinct recollection of it as to be able to say 
 whether the insulation was complete, or anything like complete on 
 that occasion, whether there was anything like insulation on the 
 South- Western ? I do not know exactly what you mean by 
 insulation. 
 
 Whether such provision was made with respect to the pegs on 
 which the wire was suspended on that occasion that insulation was 
 obtained ? I believe that there was, but I cannot say certainly, 
 because I did not look into the details of it ; and, in fact, I have 
 not paid much attention to the machinery and detail of electro- 
 magnetism. I know the general action of it, but I do not attempt 
 to describe the electro-magnetic process. 
 
 You will excuse me for being particular, because you have 
 spoken to facts that may be material ? My belief is that it was 
 insulated, but I cannot say, unless I had walked along the whole 
 line. 
 
 Now, that also was a printing telegraph, and on the enlarged 
 principle of what you had seen at Mr. Bain's house ? Yes. 
 And one wire ? And one wire. 
 
 Now, with respect to the telegraph of Messrs. Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone's, how many wires had that ? The needle telegraph was 
 worked by two wires, that is peculiarly Mr. Cooke's ; the electro- 
 magnetic telegraph of Mr. Wheatstone's was, I understood, worked 
 by one wire only. 
 
 You understood the electro-magnetic telegraph of Mr. Wheat- 
 stone was worked by one wire only ? Yes ; that was what I 
 understood. 
 
 I am speaking of the experiment on the South- Western Railway, 
 were there two telegraphs ? No ; there were two telegraphs that 
 had been tried before at the Paddington terminus of the Great 
 Western Railway. 
 
 I understood you to have spoken before the Committee as to the 
 comparison of experiments between the two telegraphs on the 2nd 
 of March? On the 2nd of March there was no telegraph on the 
 South- Western Railway at all, except Mr. Bain's experimental 
 one ; I was obliged to go to the Paddington terminus of the Great 
 Western Railway, and I made the comparison there. 
 
 Now it was a telegraph on the Great Western Railway, and what 
 was the date of that? I saw that at the same time, in the month of 
 May, or previously to the month of May, 1844. 
 
26 
 
 The experiment on the South- Western, of Mr. Bain's, was in 
 March, you will remember. Yes. 
 
 Did you allow April to go over, or was it during April that you 
 saw these experiments on the Great Western Railway? When I 
 was requested by the Admiralty to give an opinion, I went imme- 
 diately to compare both ; I went to the Great Western, but I have 
 no memorandum of the date. 
 
 You say it was before May ? It might be before I saw Mr. 
 Bain's experiment at Nine Elms, on the 2nd of March : it might 
 be before it, or after it ; it was about the same time ; and I saw what 
 had been established for years at the Great Western. 
 
 When you saw it, it was before May, at all events — that you are 
 certain about ? Yes. 
 
 Describe what was the sort of telegraph then in use at the Great 
 Western. The needle telegraph was then in use, and it has been 
 used generally ever since. The other telegrapli was used occasion- 
 ally, — the other telegraph was Mr. Wheatstone's electro-magnetic 
 telegraph that was used occasionally. 
 
 But were these used at that time ? Yes. 
 
 The one was the needle telegraph, which you say is the common 
 one of Cooke and Wheatstone, and the other you call Wheatstone's 
 electro-magnetio telegraph. Those are the proper terms to use, 
 are they ? I believe so. 
 
 What is the peculiar feature of the needle telegraph, as contra- 
 distinguished from the electro-magnetic telegraph? The needle 
 telegraph is acted on entirely by the voltaic battery, for which a 
 very weak battery suffices. 
 
 But it was a metallic circuit ? It was. 
 
 How many wires ? There are a number of wires. The number 
 of wires which act between the terminus of any railway and the far 
 terminus may be two ; but it is necessary to put intermediate wires 
 in order to communicate with intermediate stations. Two wires are 
 sufficient for the purpose of communication, except where there are 
 more stations than one. 
 
 Between what stations did you communicate your experiments 
 on that occasion ? Between London and Slough. And then there 
 were two wires ? 
 
 There were more than two. There were several wires and 
 several needles, I presume for the different stations ; but the wires 
 you experimented on were between London and Slough? Yes. 
 
 Have you a sufficient recollection to say whether there were but 
 two wires and two needles then ? There were only two wires in the 
 dial-plate that I saw, — I saw them worked with only two. 
 
 Now you have described what you call the needle telegraph, will 
 you just describe the peculiarity of the electro-magnetic telegraph 
 of Mr. Wheatstone? In the electro-magnetic telegraph one letter 
 or one sign of any sort, such as a number, is brought up to the 
 top of a vertical dial-plate, which dial-plate communicates with a 
 horizontal one, at which the operator sits, and turns round. Various 
 
27 
 
 letters are marked on the horizontal dial-plate. The operator turns 
 it round until he brings it to a point. 
 
 Opposite to a point which he wishes ? Yes. 
 
 I do not wish to go into those particulars; all I wish to ask is, — 
 how the electricity in that case is produced, and how many wires 
 there were ? I was told there was one wire. 
 
 You understood that ? Yes ; I understood there was one wire. 
 
 And that it was the metallic circuit ? Not the metallic circuit all 
 round ; the earth operated partly. 
 
 Just describe, if you please, what you mean by the metallic cir- 
 cuit not all round and the earth operating partly. Yes ; it is the 
 same principle that was claimed by Mr. Bain. 
 
 So that, in that respect of its being one wire, and not a metallic 
 circuit, but the earth operating partly, and its being electro- 
 magnetic as you call it, Wheatstone's telegraph, which you then saw 
 at the Great Western Railway, and Bain's that you saw at his 
 house, and which you saw afterwards at the Great Western, were 
 the same ? On the same principle. 
 
 Was that what you call a printing telegraph : — we have got that 
 the sources of the electricity were the same, but were the me- 
 chanical details, what you technically describe as a printing tele- 
 graph in Mr. Bain's the same ? I do not think that telegraph 
 printed, to the best of my recollection. 
 
 Then what would you call it ? I called it the electro-magnetic 
 telegraph. 
 
 Was it a needle ? No : — no needle. I do not profess to explain 
 the details of this machinery, but the Committee might easily see it. 
 
 You have given evidence ; and everything of course that comes 
 from you is of great importance, and it is necessary we should ascer- 
 tain the fact. Now this was not a printing telegraph ? To the best 
 of my recollection it was not. 
 
 There is no doubt about that. When did you ever see or have 
 shown you by Wheatstone a printing telegraph that you understood 
 was his ? I think I saw it at King's College, in one of the rooms 
 there: he is one of the professors. 
 
 You were shown something by Mr. Wheatstone at King's College, 
 and that was a printing telegraph ? Yes. 
 
 Was that a metallic circuit ? I do not recollect whether it was or 
 not ? 
 
 What was the date of that ? I do not remember when I saw it. 
 Whether I saw it before I instituted this inquiry, or afterward, I 
 cannot recollect. 
 
 You can say whether it was before or after May, 1844 ? I rather 
 think it must have been before. 
 
 You think it must have been before ? Yes. 
 
 Was all the apparatus confined entirely within the walls of the 
 laboratory ? How do you mean within the laboratory ? 
 
 Was it in King's College, or was it connected with any thing 
 
28 
 
 across the river ? I think what I saw was not connected with any 
 thing across the river. 
 
 You spoke of having read a pamphlet of Mr. Finlaison's ; is 
 that the pamphlet you allude to (a pamphlet was handed to the wit- 
 ness) ? I believe this to be the same — it is the same. 
 
 This is the book you said you had read ? Mr. Finlaison gave 
 me a copy of it, and he distributed them very generally. 
 
 You have given the Committee some evidence respecting what you 
 have learnt from the pamphlet ; this is the pamphlet you refer to ? 
 Yes. 
 
 You have spoken of what was referred to you by the Admiralty. 
 Was a letter of Mr. Bain's referred to you or not, do you remem- 
 ber ? I do not recollect. 
 
 Was it a joint report with Captain Brandreth ? No, I made my 
 report separately. 
 
 You have alluded to some experiments with gunpowder. I be- 
 lieve that you found the circuit not metallic was insufficient — that it 
 did not give sufficient intensity for firing gunpowder ? No. My 
 impression after trying the thing is, that if Mr. Bain's telegraph 
 in other respects was the best of the two, that it would be better to 
 work with two wires than only one. 
 
 But you instituted some comparison which was founded on your 
 experiments in firing gunpowder, which we perfectly well know, 
 and you found that the circuit not metallic did not give sufficient 
 intensity to fire gunpowder ? No, not with the same battery. It 
 required double the quantity of battery in water; and, I should 
 think, three or four times the power of battery in earth. 
 
 Did you institute any experiment that would enable you to com- 
 pare the two, as regards the quantity of surface in each case ? How 
 do you mean the quantity of surface ? 
 
 The quantity of surface that was required for the electricity in 
 each case — the surface in contact with the water. In trying my 
 experiment at Spithead we used large zinc and copper plates, and in 
 firing gunpowder we made use of the tin case in which the charge 
 was contained as one metal, and the other was zinc. It required a 
 considerable surface of both metals to convey the electricity through 
 the water. 
 
 Did you compare in those cases the surface of the plates in the 
 cells with the surface of the plates you exposed to the water. Can 
 you give the relative area of some of these surfaces ? By referring 
 to the records of these experiments, which were accurately kept, I 
 could do so, but I cannot recollect them at present. 
 
 You cannot undertake to say whether they were equal, or what 
 was the relation ? I should think the vessels containing the power 
 were quite equal to the plates of the voltaic battery, but that the zinc 
 plates laid down with the water near to the voltaic battery were 
 not quite equal to the surface. 
 
 But the plates in the water were less in point of area than the 
 
20 
 
 others ? They were both in the water. They must be both in the 
 water. 
 
 You think the plates were the smaller of the two? I should not 
 say. We sometimes tried large charges, and the iron or tin vessels 
 in which the charge was contained acted as one plate, and from the 
 wire near the voltaic battery other plates were let down into the 
 water, which might have been less than the surface of the voltaic 
 battery. 
 
 What were the number of cells which you employed ? In firing 
 gunpowder by the double metallic circuit we employed ten cells at 
 200 feet; when the water completed the circuit it reached twenty 
 cells. 
 
 The plates in water being the same in both cases ? When it is a 
 metallic circuit complete we require no plates in the water. We use 
 none. The plates in the water are necessary to answer the purposes 
 of the second metallic wire. 
 
 The Committee intimated their opinion that Mr. Webster was 
 going beyond the latitude which they stated yesterday they would 
 give him. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 You spoke of a trial in Hyde Park; that was in 1842, you said ? 
 I believe so, but I know nothing of it. I was not there. I heard 
 of it afterwards. I wish, with the permission of the Committee, to 
 make one remark, which is, that I consider the delay in Mr. Bain's 
 telegraph was occasioned in a great measure by his using the print- 
 ing apparatus. If it had been without the printing apparatus it 
 would have been more simple, and I reported to the Admiralty that 
 I deemed that part of it to be useless. I can see no advantage from 
 having a printing apparatus, but much delay caused by it. 
 
 Excepting that, I do not 'understand you to say there was any 
 difference in the rate in which the electricity was transmitted in the 
 two cases, but that it was the delay of the recording signals ? Mr. 
 Bain's apparatus was not perfect when I saw it. It was a failure, 
 as I told you, when tried between Nine Elms and Wimbledon ; he 
 may have made it more perfect since. 
 
 But it was the printing apparatus ? The printing apparatus 
 caused delay, and I see no use in attaching a printing apparatus to 
 an Electric Telegraph, none whatever. 
 
 Did you ever see it in operation without the printing apparatus? 
 I do not recollect. Certainly not at Nine Elms. 
 
 Did Mr. Bain at any time show you any other telegraph which 
 is called the I and V telegraph? I do not remember it. 
 
 Re-examined by Mr. Hindmarsh. 
 
 You say the earth was used as part of the circuit at the Great 
 Western in the same way as Mr. Bain claims ? I understood so. 
 
 And in the same manner that you have spoken of as having been 
 discovered in 1748 ? Yes, by Dr. Watson. 
 
30 
 
 Mr. Edward Cowper cross-examined by Mr. Webster. 
 
 You were asked a question by the Committee yesterday with re- 
 ference to errors in counting the number of blows 3 whether that 
 was liable to produce any error ? Yes, an honourable member asked 
 me a question, and I made, perhaps, rather an unfortunate illustra- 
 tion. I was showing how the diverging of the needle once, twice, 
 or three times might give separate signals, and showed that by 
 making sounds on the table. 
 
 Well, you have been lately at Edinburgh ? I have. 
 
 You have been at Mr. Bain's establishment ? I have. 
 
 He has a considerable establishment, has he not, for making 
 clocks ? Yes, in Hanover-street, Edinburgh. 
 
 Did you see the apparatus at that time ? I did. 
 
 What do you call that — (handing a model to the witness) — is that 
 the I and V mode of giving signals? Yes. 
 
 Does that illustrate what you spoke of yesterday about the mode 
 in which the signals were given ? Not precisely. Allow me to say 
 that this model was made in consequence of my visiting Nine Elms 
 at the invitation of Mr. Bain, and Mr. Finlaison, and Mr. Wright, 
 and they showed me every thing that was there to be seen. 
 
 I was asking you a simple fact whether you had seen an apparatus 
 like that at Edinburgh ? You asked me was this the I and V model 
 I described yesterday. It is not. 
 
 Is that a mode of giving the signals ? That is a mode of giving 
 the signals. 
 
 How are they given in that ? By the electricity passing between 
 the two cells — by a coil of wire placed at each end of a rod, the rod 
 being supported by a slight spring, and resting on two frictions 
 rollers, so that when the electricity has passed through the coil the 
 rod diverges to the right or to the left — that is, to the I or to 
 the V. 
 
 Now that differs from what you described yesterday as the needle 
 telegraph, does it not ? It differs in this respect — the needle tele- 
 graph turns upon a centre, so that if a needle were placed here — 
 (pointing out the spot) it would immediately turn. 
 
 How many wires are used in that ? — one needle, I suppose, and 
 one wire ? There is one needle here, one index, and one wire. 
 
 When did you first become acquainted with an instrument with 
 one wire only ? That I cannot say, because that I believe is the 
 system that is now used generally to make the return current through 
 the earth. 
 
 That is the system that is now used generally ? I believe so. 
 
 Did you lecture upon that some time ago ? I gave a lecture at 
 the Koyal Institution on signals and telegraphs in which it was 
 natural to mention these things. I had made a note, " Mr. Bain, 
 March 14, 1844," because he gave me every information I asked of 
 him. 
 
31 
 
 Now then, in March, 1844, yon received information from Mr. 
 Bains, and you lectured upon a telegraph of that kind ? March 
 15, 1844. 
 
 How long before that had you become acquainted with telegraphs 
 at all ? As soon as they were brought out by Messrs. Cooke and 
 Wheatstone. I had seen the telegraph at the Great Western, and 
 Mr. Finlaison, jun., residing near where I do, and coming up in 
 fact in the omnibus together, I was speaking of the telegraph. He 
 said, "Have you seen Mr. Bain's?' I said "No." "Would 
 you see it ?" " Certainly. I will give fair play to all parties," and 
 I then visited Nine Elms, where Mr. Bain's was, and he showed me 
 this I and V telegraph worked in this manner. 
 
 It had one wire ? That I cannot tell you. 
 
 However in March, 1844, an I and V telegraph was worked 
 with one wire ? It was not working, it was standing on the side, 
 and Mr. Bain showed it to me. I thought it an ingenious 
 thing. 
 
 There was only one needle ? No, there was one index, there are 
 two needles. I also saw the Printing Telegraph there at the same 
 time. 
 
 How many needles were there used in the first telegraph of 
 Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone ? Five. 
 
 And how many connecting wires ? There was a wire I think to 
 each. 
 
 Five needles and five wires ? Yes. 
 
 Would there not be six with the return wire ? There was one 
 return wire, I believe, but I do not know the construction. 
 
 It was a metallic circuit, I suppose? I understood it so. I 
 had not, at that time, heard of the return through the earth. 
 
 When did you first hear of the return through the earth applied 
 to telegraphs to give signals? That I cannot tell you. 
 
 Was it before March, 1844? I cannot say. 
 
 Do you know that from time to time between the adoption of 
 the telegraph with the five wires and five needles, and the state of 
 things in March, 1844, of there being a continual reduction of the 
 number of needles and the number of wires? Yes; because there 
 were two just as you have them in Cooke and Wheatstone's. 
 
 And had there been an alteration as regards the metallic circuit 
 being completed and not completed? My impression is, that that 
 was done at the time, but you asked me the date, and I cannot say. 
 
 Did you see Mr. Bain's telegraph working on the Glasgow and 
 Edinburgh Railway? I visited it the next day when I went down, 
 and I visited it as one of the public. 
 
 How soon was your attention called, can you remember, in 
 point of date, to the questions that arose and existed between Mr. 
 Wheatstone and Mr. Bain? It was most forcibly called to my 
 mind by a pamphlet that Mr. Finlaison presented me with. 
 
32 
 
 Do you remember the date? It must have been about that time; 
 they asked me to read it. I said, " No." He said, "Will you 
 read it if I lend it to you?" I said, " Yes." 
 You have been an inventor yourself ? Yes. 
 I think we owe the improved printing-press to you, do we not? 
 
 Had there been a prior patent for the printing-press? There 
 
 Was that in the hands of a company? It was in the hands of 
 Mr. Bensley, Mr. Richard Taylor, and Mr. Woodfall. 
 
 I believe you have had considerable experience in the difficulty 
 of introducing inventions of all kinds ? Well, I cannot plead 
 guilty to that. 
 
 You know something of the difficulties of a poor inventor ? I 
 cannot say that; my first machine paid me my expenses. 
 
 I don't think that you occupied the position then that you do 
 now? In what way? 
 
 You did not occupy the position in King's College that you do 
 now? I have been invited there — I have not sought it. 
 
 I wish to ask you whether you, as an inventor, without any con- 
 siderable funds, would have had any chance of competing with a 
 company with unlimited funds, in the matter of rival inventions? 
 There is no doubt that a company would have an advantage with 
 funds, because funds are the sinews of commerce as well as the 
 sinews of war. 
 
 You have had considerable experience in the litigation of patents. 
 Do you know in what way it is proposed by Messrs. Cooke and 
 Wheatstone, under this Bill, to carry out the patent? No, that I 
 certainly do not. 
 
 Has your attention been directed to, or have you heard of a power 
 which there is in the Bill for taking up the streets to lay down the 
 invention in its present form ? I beg pardon, I thought you meant 
 any particular power in the telegraph. I should understand the 
 power of the Company as being in the nature of the power of a 
 Water Company or Gas Company. 
 
 Do you understand that. Do you consider that essential to the 
 
 now, and it takes more time in coming from Nine Elms to the Ad- 
 miralty than it does from Portsmouth to Nine Elms. 
 
 Then I may presume that it is essential, that the wires ought 
 to be laid in the earth for the telegraph, and not to be carried 
 on poles? They may carry it over the houses if necessary. 
 
 Perhaps you are not aware that there is a provision in the Bill 
 that they are not to carry it over the streets ? No ; I thought it 
 was probable they would carry it over the tops ot the houses. The 
 telegraph on the Great Western cannot be carried to Buckingham 
 Palace. 
 
 The thirty-fourth section of the Bill is one which I wish to ask 
 
 Yes. 
 
 carrying out of the invention? 
 
33 
 
 you a question upon. The clause is, That it shall be lawful for the 
 Company from time to time to lay down and place under (whether 
 along or across, but not above) any street, highway, or other public 
 way, lying in or across the line of any Electric Telegraph, or intended 
 Electric Telegraph, any pipes or tubes which shall or may be neces- 
 sary or convenient for the purposes of such telegraph," and so on. 
 Now that power being in the hands of the Company, could Mr. 
 Bain carry out his invention practically without a license from such 
 a company? He could not take up the streets, no doubt, unless he 
 were to have a company of his own. 
 
 And a Bill of his own? And a Bill of his own. 
 
 I need hardly ask you, as an inventor, whether it is easy to get 
 up and find funds sufficient to form companies. I never tried. 
 
 Do you believe, if this Bill passes, with a power to the Company 
 to take up streets and with the powers incident to that, that Mr. 
 Bain can possibly carry on his trade of Electric Telegraphing? No. 
 
 Do you know any thing of the cost of laying down the telegraph? 
 No ; that has not come under my notice at all. 
 
 Do you know practically, from your own experience, the difficul- 
 ties that subsequent patentees are liable to when prior patents are 
 in the hands of rich companies? If I understand, your question 
 means whether, in my opinion, Mr. Bain will be damnified or in- 
 jured by this Bill. I should say not, and if you would allow me, I 
 will give you an instance that occurred in my own invention. Mr. 
 Beasley was a large capitalist, in fact, they had spent 13,000/. or 
 14,000/. When I had made my invention, I thought they had 
 made so much money, that I offered them half the patent if they 
 would agree to pay half the expenses, which was about 90/. The 
 company refused it, but Mr. Beasley, as an individual, after the 
 patent had run something like eight or nine years, gave us 2500/. 
 for a third share of it. There was no difficulty. I have not sought, 
 as a private individual, for capitalists in any way. I, as an indi- 
 vidual, found no difficulty in fighting against a company. Then, 
 on the other hand, there was a large company with something about 
 15,000/. or 20,000/. spent in the screw-propeller, and you are aware 
 that in the case of an individual, brought before the court the other 
 day, the verdict was in favour of the individual, namely, Mr. 
 Simon, who was alleged not to have infringed the patent, and before 
 a committee of the Privy Council, the other day, there was a 
 14,000/. company opposing the extension of Mr. Woodcroft's patent, 
 and six years more was granted to him. I merely mention that as 
 an illustration for the honour of the country. You think that there 
 maybe a prejudice. I admit there may be, but I put it upon this 
 — I think Mr. Bain has some clever things ; there is a clock and 
 so on, and if there was any occasion for me to go into that, and 
 you were to ask me what his clock is, I should say that the clock 
 which he showed me in Edinburgh is a very clever thing indeed. 
 
 Did you not see many things in Edinburgh in a very advanced 
 
 D 
 
34 
 
 state, as regards tlie application of electricity ; in fact, in a more 
 advanced state than anything you had seen before ? No, no ; that 
 is too general a great deal. 
 
 Did you not see many inventions by Mr. Bain very much more 
 advanced, as regards the application of electricity, than any thing 
 you have seen at Cooke and Wheatstone's ? No ; if you will ask 
 me what I saw, I will tell you. 
 
 Just say yes or no, and then you can explain afterwards ? I can- 
 not say yes or no. I saw a clock worked by a battery from the 
 earth, which I consider is entirely a new invention ; I know of no 
 person having any claim against that ; I think it an extremely 
 clever thing, and likely to come into general use. I am speaking 
 of a clock worked by electricity entirely, and not a sympathetic 
 clock. 
 
 By Mr. Hill. 
 
 A clock for time, and not for telegraphs ? Yes. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 Is that a matter contained in some of these patents of Cooke and 
 Wheat-stone ? No ; nothing at all. 
 
 Is there nothing in Cook and Wheatstone's patents relating to it ? 
 No ; those are sympathetic clocks, one clock worked by another. 
 Mr. Bain's has an original idea of working from the earth. 
 
 Did you see any cases of the application of the earth circuit, of 
 the kind that you have described, with respect to clocks, to signals? 
 The clocks I did, but not the signals ; at Glasgow the telegraph is 
 worked by a battery. 
 
 The application of electricity would be the same to signals as 
 clocks, would it not ? The telegraph at Glasgow is worked by a 
 battery and with a return current through the earth. 
 
 Did you see that model worked ? This was worked, not at the 
 Edinburgh or the Glasgow telegraph, but in Mr. Bain's own office. 
 
 Can you say how quickly that worked ? Yes, he showed me ; 
 that was much quicker in working than this (another model on the 
 table). 
 
 Re-examined by Mr. Hill. 
 Is this claimed in any of the specifications before the Committee ? 
 
 Do you know, Mr. Cowper, of any telegraph laid down by Mr. 
 Bain in England ? No, I do not ; the experimental one at Nine 
 Elms was afterwards, I believe, removed. 
 
 And you are very much acquainted with this subject of tele- 
 graphs ? Yes. 
 
 Could any telegraph be laid down in England by Mr. Bain 
 without its coming to your knowledge ? That is saying too much ; 
 but I think I could, for Mr. Bain probably would have told me. 
 
 Mr. Bain has a telegraph from Edinburgh to Glasgow, in Scot- 
 land ? Yes. 
 
35 
 
 Have you examined that ? I have. 
 
 How many of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's inventions has Mr. 
 Bain used there ? I have not gone into the patents for that pur- 
 pose. I did not consider this to be a question of the value of the 
 patents, and, therefore, I merely went to a matter of fact. 
 
 Has he abandoned his own peculiar plan of asphalt and other 
 matters in the telegraph from Edinburgh to Glasgow ? Do you 
 mean in insulating the wires ? 
 
 Yes ? The wires are there carried on the tops of posts. 
 
 He does not use his asphalt ? No. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 You spoke of the insulation : how were the wires carried on ? 
 Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's are insulated by little knobs, if I 
 may so call them, as large as a walnut, with holes through them, 
 and the wire passes through these holes, and they are fastened to 
 the post, so that they are insulated by means of the earthenware. 
 Mr. Bain informed me, he did not consider the earthenware so good, 
 and he makes use of a small cap, like an inverted funnel, this is put 
 over the top of the post. 
 
 What is it made of ? A zinc cap, the insulation being produced 
 by introducing asphalt between the posts and the cap ; then the 
 wire rests on the cap at the top. 
 
 Mr. William Henry Hatcher called; examined by Mr. Hindmarsli. 
 
 Are you the engineer of the proprietors of the patent ? I am. 
 
 Are you engaged in laying down several telegraphs along lines 
 of railway ? Yes, I am. 
 
 The Eastern Counties ? Yes. 
 
 Midland Counties ? Yes. 
 
 Norfolk? Yes. 
 
 Great North of England ? Yes. 
 York and Scarborough ? Yes. 
 York and North Midland ? Yes. 
 Hull and Selby ? Yes. 
 
 Ely and Peterborough ? That is about to be commenced. 
 South-Eastern ? Yes. 
 Canterbury and Ramsgate ? Yes. 
 South Devon ? Yes. 
 
 I believe a distance of upwards of 800 miles ? Yes, about that. 
 
 What is the expense of laying down a telegraph per mile ? 
 That varies from about 100/. to 150/. per mile. 
 
 I believe the cost of constructing these telegraphs will be some- 
 where about 100,000/. ? Those that are at present in hand would 
 be as much as that. 
 
 I believe you calculate, that altogether you will have about 5000 
 miles of telegraph to construct ? I think that is a reasonable 
 amount to assume. 
 
 d 2 
 
38 
 
 Are you aware of the proposed plans of the proprietors to carry 
 out the invention ? Generally so. 
 
 Constructing telegraphs all along the lines ? Yes. 
 
 To be used in connection with each other ? Yes. 
 
 How do you connect the telegraphs with each other ? That 
 must be done by having proper offices for the purpose. 
 
 And with regard to the conducting wires, do you propose to 
 take them under streets, by means of pipes ? That appears to be 
 inevitable in many instances. 
 
 You calculate there will be about one hundred offices required for 
 this purpose ? I think so. 
 
 The offices themselves would involve an expense, would they not, 
 of about 100,000/? You may reasonably assume that. 
 
 Looking at all this great expenditure which must be necessary, 
 do you think a capital of 600,000/. would be at all too large ? I 
 think not. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 You have spoken of 5000 miles that you think it probable may 
 be applicable to Electric Telegraphs ? Yes. 
 
 They are all along the lines of established railways? I think you 
 may say as much as that on the lines of railways either now esta- 
 blished or about to be established. 
 
 But Electric Telegraphs may be required in directions in which 
 there are no railways ? Certainly. 
 
 Do you know any instance of that sort ? Several instances in 
 which it might be very desirable, undoubtedly. 
 
 Therefore the 5000 miles is rather a low estimate of distance that 
 may be covered by lines of Electric Telegraphs? Certainly so. 
 
 And it may be applicable, may it not, to either purpose, besides 
 communicating between towns — it may be applied to a very great 
 variety of comparatively domestic purposes ? Yes. 
 
 Communications between large establishments ? Yes. 
 
 Between town and town independently of a railway ? Yes. 
 
 Therefore 5000 miles, I again repeat, is rather a low estimate, is 
 it not ? I consider it so. 
 
 Assuming 5000 miles to be the lowest estimate, and taking the 
 mean cost of the lines to be 125/. a mile, how much would that 
 amount to ? I think 625,000/. 
 
 If you had to carry your telegraph through a populous town for 
 one mile, have you estimated the expense of going through that 
 mass of building? I have not estimated that expense but it 
 would be more than carrying it along the line of a railway. 
 
 You mean more than 125/.? Yes. 
 
 You do not take that into consideration ? I think you might 
 take the mean as 125/. 
 
 Including towns and open country ? Yes; it it is perhaps rather 
 low even for that. 
 
37 
 
 By Mr. Hill. 
 It is a low estimate ? It is a low estimate. 
 
 By the Committee, 
 
 You have taken a low estimate of the cost, and of the probable 
 mileage that may be covered with lines of Electric Telegraphs ? Yes. 
 
 Would the lines underground require repairing ? They might in 
 case of accident arising from them. I know of no cause of natural 
 decay. 
 
 When you say 625,000/. will be required, that is assuming they 
 are all in progress at the same time ? That is assuming they should 
 all have to be defrayed out of that capital. 
 
 But if they are not all in formation at the same time you would 
 not require the same capital 1 Not at once : it must eventually be 
 required. 
 
 But that estimate you have given as the cost of laying down the 
 lines ? Yes. 
 
 There would be a great many other expenses previous to the lay- 
 ing down of lines ? Yes ; the providing of stores, which would of 
 course amount to great expense. 
 
 And the whole establishment of a company ? Yes. 
 
 Including salaries to officers, and so on ? Yes. 
 
 Cross-examined by Mr. Webster. 
 Is this 600,000/. an estimate formed upon the lines that you have 
 already laid the telegraph down upon ? You may esteem those as 
 data. 
 
 You have taken 100/. to 150/. a mile ; what proportion of 600,000/. 
 do you apply to laying down lines and what for offices ? I think 
 you may assume that as much as 100,000/. may be required for 
 offices. 
 
 What is the object of those offices to be ? To afford the means 
 of communication from one place to the other to individuals who 
 may require to avail themselves of the telegraph. 
 
 Do you contemplate connecting the various railway stations in 
 London with each other ? That might be done. 
 
 Is that part of your scheme ? I believe it is so. 
 
 What have been the arrangements made with the companies in 
 the lines you have laid down ? In what respect ? 
 
 Have they paid for them as you have gone on ? They have paid 
 for them. 
 
 Has there been any difficulty in laying the Electric Telegraph 
 along the existing lines of railway — any difficulties of the Com- 
 pany ? I don't know that there have been. 
 
 Any engineering difficulties ? None but what could be overcome. 
 
 Do you know the Board of Trade has the power to compel many 
 of them to lay down an Electric Telegraph ? I have heard that ij 
 the case. 
 
38 
 
 And do you calculate this Company is to lay down an Electric 
 Telegraph along existing railways ! That is what I understand. 
 
 Is it necessary for the purpose ? It is necessary for the purpose to 
 carry it out — to make it generally useful. 
 
 Along existing railways ? Yes. 
 
 What single thing is there, as regards existing railways, which 
 will not be done by the railways themselves throughout the king- 
 dom, in the same way that has hitherto been done ? Carrying it 
 out to the extent that seems probable at the present time is im- 
 possible, 
 
 To what extent ? To the extent of 2000 or 3000 miles. 
 
 I don't understand what you mean. So far as regards laying 
 the telegraphs along the lines of railways, what use in the world is 
 there for this Company ? It is almost a general question. 
 
 A general question ! Will you suggest any thing — one single 
 thing — that this Company will do, so far as regards existing lines of 
 railway, that Mr. Cooke cannot do and has not done ? I think in 
 many instances the Company might lay down lines on their own 
 account, which might be a useful means of communication that it 
 would be out of Mr. Cooke's power to do alone. 
 
 If the Company wanted a telegraph for any purpose whatever, 
 along the line of railway, do you think they have any difficulty in 
 doing it ? If they had provided the necessary funds, I think there 
 would be no difficulty in doing it. 
 
 How many miles of railway are supplied or being supplied with 
 Electric Telegraphs ? Being supplied about eight hundred miles. 
 
 Do you know that every railway may be compelled by the Board 
 of Trade to put this telegraph down ? I have heard that this is the 
 case. 
 
 Now you have not pointed out to me any one advantage, or any 
 one thing that this Company would be able to do, so far as regards 
 existing lines of railway, that the railway companies cannot them- 
 selves do ? I imagine the funds of an individual must be totally 
 inadequate. 
 
 But I suppose railway companies have paid for this Electric Tele- 
 graph when it has been laid down ? They have laid it down them- 
 selves. 
 
 Are the funds of the companies not adequate for that ? When 
 they lay it down themselves, 1 dare say their funds would be. 
 
 If a telegraph were wanted along a line of railway, or between 
 any points on a railway, is it not quite within the funds of one or 
 two individuals to lay it down ? No, not unless they were indi- 
 viduals of great wealth. 
 
 You estimate it as from 1007. to 1507. sl mile ? Yes. 
 
 How are these pipes that are to be carried under roads to be 
 insulated ? The mode would be by carrying them by pipes of 
 metal. 
 
39 
 
 Do you contemplate any other mode of laying it down than 
 by breaking up the streets? I am not aware of any other in 
 towns. 
 
 Do you know of any practicable mode of laying it down gene- 
 rally throughout the country in the way you describe, excepting by 
 breaking up the streets or the roads ? Where it can be carried on 
 poles and posts it might be so done. 
 
 What is the nature of the return that you expect on this 600,000/.? 
 One of the most important would probably be that of the con- 
 veyance of important messages from town to town, or from one part 
 of England to another. 
 
 You have estimated, you know, at from 100/. to 150/. a mile, 
 and 5000 miles of it. What is to be the return on the cost ? 
 Probably the return would arise in a great degree, if not entirely, 
 from the payment for the conveyance of messages. 
 
 Have you formed any estimate of that ? No. 
 
 Have you any idea that you will get any return at all ? I hope 
 
 so. 
 
 You can give me no details of the estimate of any return at all ? 
 No. 
 
 Have any been made, do you know ? I am not aware; they have 
 not come within my notice. It does not come within my province 
 to look at that. 
 
 Can you give me any detail of the cost of offices ? I can give 
 you no other detail than a general idea. 
 
 Re-examined by Mr. Hill. 
 
 You are aware there is a power in this Act by which government 
 may call on the Company to lay down lines of telegraph — that will 
 require a great outlay, will it not ? Yes. 
 
 You are aware, perhaps, that on the South Western Railway a 
 line of telegraph was laid down for the government, for which they 
 pay 1 500Z. a year. ? I have heard that is the case. 
 
 I was going to ask you, with regard to lines of telegraph laid 
 along a railway. There must be certain wires for the use of the 
 railway company, must there not ? Yes. 
 
 And strictly for railway purposes ? It will be desirable to have 
 them so. 
 
 Now suppose you avail yourself of that telegraph for the general 
 purposes of the country, you would put additional wires along the 
 railway, and carry on those wires to an office at some distance from 
 the railway ? Yes. 
 
 And in that office you would have other wires which w T ould go 
 to the next railway ? Yes, 
 
 And go all along the next railway, not interfering with the wires 
 for railway purposes ? Yes. 
 
 So that your own wires would connect office and office, whereas 
 
40 
 
 the railway wires only connect terminus and terminus, or station 
 and station ? Yes. 
 
 Now in order to effect that object, would it be necessary to have 
 a tolerably large capital, inasmuch as you could not draw upon the 
 railways for these additional wires ? Certainly. 
 
 To say nothing of the crossing of the offices ? Yes. 
 
 Having considered well the subject, do you think a capital of 
 600,000/. unreasonable for such a vast object as this, which is con- 
 templated by this Company ? I should not think it unreasonable as 
 far as I have considered it. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 How many wires do you propose to use for this purpose in each 
 case — five, or three, or two, or one ? That would, in a great de- 
 gree, depend on the kind of communications that you would require 
 in any one instance. 
 
 But in the cases which you have laid down hitherto, how many 
 have you used ? We have used them in a great many instances. 
 
 The most recent ? We have used one likewise in particular in- 
 stances. 
 
 And that the more recent ? Yes. 
 
 You originally used five, and now you have got to one ? I was 
 not connected with it when five were used. 
 
 You have gone on decreasing the number of wires, and now you 
 have got to one ? Yes. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 I suppose the capital required by this Bill would facilitate the 
 erection of Electric Telegraphs — I mean not having to negotiate 
 with companies, would have a tendency to spread its use ? Yes. 
 
 I think you said there were 800 miles already concluded, or in 
 progress of being concluded ? Yes. 
 
 And taking that at 125/. a mile only, that alone is 100,000/. ? 
 Yes. 
 
 That is jointly advanced, I suppose, by individuals, and by the 
 Company? Yes. 
 
 Have any difficulties arisen between the companies in advancing 
 funds — any delays? I can hardly speak personally to it my- 
 self. 
 
 You do not know whether negotiations have been going on for 
 some time ? I am aware that in more instances than one negotia- 
 tions have been going on for some time with companies. 
 
 And has the point of difficulty been the raising the necessary 
 funds or not ? _ I should think that was a likely point of difficulty, 
 I don't know it myself. 
 
 Now if this central office in the metropolis should be connected 
 with the different public offices, would not the laying down of such 
 wires be very expensive in the metropolis ? Undoubtedly. 
 
41 
 
 And far beyond the 125/. a mile, which I assume is the mean 
 cost ? Very considerably beyond that. 
 
 Have you any profit arising out of the line you have laid down ? 
 Personally ? 
 
 Now do you derive any profit besides that which you derive from 
 laying down the lines ? No. 
 
 By Mr. Hill. 
 
 Have the lines already down yielded a dividend ? I believe 
 
 so. 
 
 Are the lines at present the property of the companies ? They 
 are all. 
 
 But they have paid the patentee, have they not ? They have 
 paid the cost of erection, but they have not yielded any return as 
 an annual return. 
 
 But they have paid a capital sum for the use of the patent ? 
 Yes. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 The companies have paid so much a mile, and then you have 
 erected the telegraph complete, and they use it ? Yes. 
 
 It is their property, and they use it for ever afterwards ? Yes. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 And being a beneficial use, they pay a capital sum for it? 
 Yes. 
 
 By Mr. Hindmarsh. 
 The Great Western Telegraph is the joint property of the com- 
 pany and the patentees, is that not so ? I cannot speak to that. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh. 
 Sir, we do not propose to go on with the evidence further, unless 
 necessary, in reply to my friend's case. 
 
 The Chairman. 
 Then your case is closed. 
 
 Mr, Hindmarsh. 
 Yes, sir. As the case is now closed, it would become my duty 
 to address a few observations to you upon the evidence that has been 
 given, and to sum it up ; but it is not my intention to inflict on you 
 another speech ; therefore I close my case here, and perhaps at the 
 next meeting Mr. Webster will be prepared to go on with his, 
 {Adjourned.} 
 
42 
 
 LUNil 23o DIE MARTII, 1846. 
 
 (CAPTAIN BOLDERO IN THE CHAIR.) 
 
 Mr. Webster addressed the Committee on the behalf of the 
 petitioner. 
 
 Chairman — Will you state to us what course you are going to 
 follow ? 
 
 Mr. Webster — I shall address the Committee and then call 
 evidence. 
 
 Chairman — On what point ? 
 
 Mr. Webster — On the general case. — Sir, it is my duty on be- 
 half of Mr. Bain, to bring his case before you, and to state the 
 public grounds on which he conceives this Bill ought not to pass into 
 an Act, and the private grounds affecting him individually, and, sir, 
 I feel some apology is due from me for not having stated more par- 
 ticularly the objections I intended to raise. But you are perfectly 
 well aware that a party promoting a Bill, may put his opponent in 
 difficulty by opening the case generally, and leaving the Committee 
 in the dark as to the particular enactments, and the way in which 
 they would affect private and public interests, and then getting his 
 opponent called upon to state the specific grounds of his case. 
 
 That, sir, is my apology, and I hope the Committee will think, 
 when I have laid the whole case before them, that it is one of a very 
 different aspect from that which it at present bears. This case was 
 opened to you as one very much of the ordinary kind, of the assign- 
 ment of letters patent to a company. Sir, it differs materially from 
 that as will appear from the comparison of this Bill and other Bills. 
 Some difficulty, I think, may exist as to what it is the province of 
 the Committee to inquire into. Opposition to Bills of this sort for 
 the assignment of letters patent, have been very rare of late years. 
 There was one, which I have before me, that was, I believe, opposed, 
 and which led to the introduction of a special clause. They were 
 more common a few years ago, when committees had to hear appli- 
 cations for extending the terms of patents, which jurisdiction is now 
 referred to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, but so far as 
 the public are concerned, the matter of inquiry is the same in every 
 case, where the party comes for some alteration of restrictions to 
 which he is subject, and therefore the rules which were adopted by 
 Parliament before the jurisdiction of the Privy Council was estab- 
 lished, and those which have been adopted by that body, are rules 
 which the Committee will act upon; these rules are perfectly well un- 
 derstood, as laid down and reported in many cases before the Privy 
 Council. The Committee of the Privy Council do not entertain 
 questions of the sufficiency of the specifications, or of the novelty of 
 the invention, but they do inquire into the general history of the in- 
 vention to show what has been done to ascertain the merit of the 
 
43 
 
 party and to see whether on private, as well as on public, grounds of 
 utility, the extension of the patent ought to be granted. 
 
 Now, sir, these I conceive are questions before you, and I will 
 observe that this is a peculiar case, namely, a privilege granted by 
 letters patent. It is not an ordinary species of property which may 
 be assigned in any manner. This being for the establishment of a 
 trading company for working a monopoly which may lead to public 
 inconvenience, the law has hemmed it in with every kind of diffi- 
 culty. You cannot obtain a patent without being liable to opposi- 
 tion in every way. The Privy Council encourage opposition to ap- 
 plications for extensions, inasmuch as they will give costs to a suc- 
 cessful opponent to encourage them to come for the protection of the 
 public. And therefore, this is by no means an ordinary case. How 
 did Mr. Hill deal with the case ? I propose to address some obser- 
 vations to you following my learned friend, that I may not leave any 
 ground untouched. He brought this case before you as if the ap- 
 plication of electricity to telegraphic purposes was perfectly new in 
 1837; whereas the fact is, that it was the development of railways 
 that rendered something of this sort necessary, which induced Messrs. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone, and other persons, to turn their attention to 
 the application of electricity to these purposes. It was perfectly 
 well known long before 1837, that electricity might be used for the 
 purpose of transmitting signals, but it was not till the Blackwall and 
 other railways made it incumbent on the companies to adopt some- 
 thing of the sort, that the invention presented itself in its present 
 shape. The invention appears to have gone on progressing; 
 continual improvements have been made ; the invention as now 
 practised, differs widely from that originally laid down by Cooke and 
 Wheatstone, and for all that appears before you at present Cooke and 
 Wheatstone may have abandoned every thing patented. No witness 
 has been called who could speak to the fact as to whether the inven- 
 tion, laid down in its improved form of one wire, was their inven- 
 tion, the last witness was utterly ignorant of it. No witness has been 
 called to speak to the fact whether Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone may 
 not have abandoned every one of their inventions, and whether that 
 which is now practised, and which Mr. Bain lays claim to, is not a 
 different invention. Their existing patents may be utterly void, 
 and may be mere useless monopolies. I do not mean to say that it is so, 
 but it is a remarkable thing that the case should have been left so 
 bare of evidence before you, and you will observe the importance of 
 this when I come to address a few observations to you on what is 
 the understood law with respect to useless monopolies. 
 
 Another remarkable omission on the part of my learned friend was, 
 that he did not call your attention to any of the peculiar character- 
 istics or provisions of the Bill. Now that is a most material thing 
 for your consideration. The preamble of the Bill is, that it would 
 be of public utility, that'a Company should be formed with the power 
 and provisions thereinafter contained. My learned friend said it 
 only required a power similar to that possessed by every gas com- 
 
44 
 
 pany and water company. Is there any gas company and water 
 company that has power to break up every street and every road in the 
 kingdom ? It is the most extraordinary power that was ever heard 
 of. And yet this is represented to be a Bill of course and in the usual 
 form. I say, sir, this is a Bill entirely without precedent in many 
 particulars. My learned friend said that some twenty Bills have been 
 passed within the last few years, giving similar powers to companies. 
 I hold in my hand some twelve or fourteen Acts for the assignment 
 of letters patent, and this Bill differs from every one of them in a 
 great many most material particulars, which may affect the public, 
 and many of which will and must affect my client most materially. 
 
 Now, sir, what are those particulars ? I will briefly enumerate 
 them. First, it establishes a trading company with powers co-ex- 
 tensive with the United Kingdom, some of the letters patent not 
 being so extensive, and not including the colonies. It empowers a 
 trading company to hold lands; it empowers a company to buy 
 thirteen existing patents, and to buy any other patents that have 
 been, or shall be hereafter granted with reference to telegraphing by 
 electricity. That is a most extraordinary power, a power far beyond 
 any thing which is contained in any Act of this nature. It also em- 
 powers the Company to open any streets. It empowers railway com- 
 panies to sell lands, it empowers railway companies to erect tele- 
 graphs, it affects existing Acts, existing railways, and existing rights, 
 objections which would have been fatal on standing orders if the op- 
 ponents of this measure had known of the existence of it, and then 
 my friend treats all these extraordinary powers in this way; he calls 
 them " a few other powers," and he says it is not right to arm a 
 private individual with such powers. Why, sir, for all that appears 
 before you, there is nobody connected in this concern, except Mr. 
 Cooke and the honourable member, Mr. Ricardo. For all that appears 
 this may be an application to grant a Bill to two persons with great 
 powers, which they intend to put in practice in their own way and 
 without any restriction ; and another remarkable feature of this Bill 
 is, that there are none of the usual clauses about general and other 
 meetings. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh — They are all in the general Act. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — Is not that recited? 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh — It is, sir. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — Just turn to it and read it. 
 
 Mr. Webster — I thought it was confined to the land clauses. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh — It is the first. 
 
 Mr. Webster — In that respect I was mistaken. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — It is in a very important respect. 
 
 Mr. Webtser — But it does not affect this objection. I say that 
 for any thing that appears before you now there may not be more 
 than two persons interested, and in that respect it differs from the 
 Acts I have here before me. The important question on all Bills of 
 this nature arises on this alienation clause, it is that, and that alone, 
 that renders it necessary that an Act of Parliament should be ob" 
 
45 
 
 tained. The letters patent were granted distinctly on the proviso 
 that no more than twelve persons shall be interested in them. My 
 learned friend Mr. Hill said, he hardly knew the object of that pro- 
 viso, and he said it had formerly been altered by Sir John Camp- 
 bell from five to twelve. I believe it was altered before that, at the 
 time when Lord Denman was Attorney-General. If my learned 
 friend had referred to the excellent work of Mr. Hindmarsh, he 
 would have found the reason of the proviso. It was introduced in 
 conformity with the spirit of the Act of the 5th & 6th George the 
 First, commonly called the Bubble Act to prevent wild and ruinous 
 speculations. I will read from the work of my learned friend Mr. 
 Hindmarsh: "The object in restraining the alienation of these 
 patent privileges has always been, firstly, to prevent the public being 
 imposed upon by specious projects under the colour of letters patent, 
 which too often terminate in the ruin of those who are induced to 
 embark in them; and, secondly, to avoid the oppression which would 
 be practised if large and powerful companies were permitted to 
 become possessed of such privileges." That is perfectly well under- 
 stood, and the law has adopted that proviso with the greatest 
 jealousy in all cases. In almost all the acts passed by the legislature 
 for extending the terms of letters patent, that proviso is inserted. I 
 have referred to a great many ; there are one or two that do not con- 
 tain it, but the majority of them, in fact all, with the exception of 
 one or two contain that clause. What might be the consequences of a 
 patent being granted for an article for general utility without that 
 proviso ? I will put the case of an important patent invention which 
 was before the Privy Council, the introduction of the manufacture 
 of vegetable candles, by the application of cocoa-nut oil brought from 
 Ceylon, and for the establishment of which trade the government had 
 made considerable sacrifices. What might be the consequences of 
 granting or extending such a patent for an article of very general or 
 universal consumption without this clause ? Some few persons 
 engaged in that which has now become one of the staple trades of 
 the kingdom, seeing the importance of the commodity, and the 
 utility of it to the public, as affording a cheap and good candle, and 
 to the colony as introducing a manufacture, which the government 
 could not introduce, that its importance was pre-eminent, and 
 that it would be one of the staple trades of this country, might 
 create an odious monopoly in an article of universal consump- 
 tion. If parties had the power of embarking an unlimited amount 
 of capital without the regulations of an Act of Parliament, might it 
 not lead to one of the most odious monopolies ; and can you suppose 
 that any candle-manufacturer has not a deep interest in opposing the 
 extension of a patent of that sort ? One or more candle-makers 
 might be excluded from this trade, supposing a large number of 
 candle-manufactures associated together in a town like London, for 
 the exclusion of others. That is the very thing which this proviso was 
 intended to obviate, and it is a remarkable thing, that in the only 
 Act of Parliament which I have for the assignment of letters patent 
 
46 
 
 relating to a trade of this nature, an Act of 1 & 2 Victoria, for the 
 establishment of the Colonial Patent Sugar Company, which recites 
 letters patent for England and Ireland in the usual form, there is this 
 remarkable clause, that the company are not to practise the inven- 
 tion except in the colonies, but may grant licences anywhere. The 
 reason of that is to prevent the consequences of an important manu- 
 facture, like the sugar manufacture, getting into the hands of a few 
 persons. That clause was introduced to avoid the consequences of 
 too extensive trading copartnership, and oppression by a number of 
 persons in the particular trade combining together to raise prices and 
 to keep out other persons. I say the introduction of a clause of that 
 sort shows distinctly what is the object of the legislature, and when 
 that is taken into consideration with the fact, that if a private Act 
 of Parliament has been passed for extending or altering the terms, 
 that no patent on the recommendation of the Privy Council is granted 
 without these terms, that any body might oppose a patent to be 
 granted without this clause before the Attorney-General, it is quite 
 clear the reasons for this are reasons founded on public policy, and it 
 is not a matter in the ordinary course that a power of this nature is 
 to be granted. 
 
 Now, sir, in all these acts to which I have referred, the utility of 
 the invention, and the advantage to the public, were the grounds on 
 which they were granted. The case here differs in no respect from 
 those, excepting that here you have not to inquire into the question 
 of profit. The advantages and utility of the inventions are treated 
 as conditions precedent to the granting of the Act, and the legisla- 
 ture has not granted the Act unless those are proved. 
 
 Before I leave this part of the case I would just refer again to the 
 case of Soames's patent before the Privy Council, in which Lord 
 Brougham said distinctly there were many cases in which the Privy 
 Council would grant extensions which never would have been 
 granted by Parliament — that the rules of the two Houses of Parlia- 
 ment are more strict in that respect than the rules of the Privy 
 Council. 
 
 Then, sir, my friend says this has been submitted to the Board of 
 Trade, and that the Board of Trade do not object to it. Are the 
 functions of the House of Commons delegated to the Board of 
 Trade ? Suppose an application for letters patent to the Board of 
 Trade under the 1st of Victoria, c. 73, an Act brought in I believe 
 by Lord Sydenham, to allow the crown to grant certain powers by 
 letters patent to persons associated together as a trading company, 
 without incorporating them, notice must be given in the Gazette. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — That had only reference to a limited liability. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh — Powers to sue and be sued. 
 
 Mr. Webster — I do not say it had any thing to do specially 
 with patents. I am using it only in this way. My learned friend, 
 Mr. Hill, said this has been before the Board of Trade and they do 
 not object, I say that is no answer. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — But with regard to the case you cite it had only 
 
47 
 
 reference to the right of suing and being sued ; it had nothing to do 
 with the incorporation of a company. It was a simple means of 
 pointing out the mode of conferring a benefit on companies — it was 
 never done except in one or two instances. 
 
 Mk. Webster — It has been found inoperative, but it was in- 
 tended to give companies the benefit of certain privileges which it 
 was thought would make it unnecessary for them to come to Parlia- 
 ment. I submit it is no answer to say that the Board of Trade 
 don't object to this Bill or these clauses. We have had no oppor- 
 tunity of opposing them; but this matter must be of course taken 
 into consideration on general grounds. Now my learned friend 
 objected further, and I was very much pressed on this point by an 
 honourable member of the Committee, — that our legal rights and 
 position are not affected by this Bill. There is some ambiguity 
 in the use of those terms. In one sense of the word we are not, in 
 another sense we are affected. I say, first it is not true to say 
 our legal rights and position are not affected, and if it were true it 
 is no answer to our objections. My learned friend said all remedies 
 were open to the petitioner, and he particularly specified the case 
 of a scire facias. Suppose a person to bring a scire facias to repeal 
 one of these patents after this Act is passed ; it may be a very grave 
 question whether a scire facias would lie at all in that case, for the 
 scire facias would be against the Company. But suppose this 
 case : that the ground of avoiding the letters patent was the incon- 
 venience of its being assigned to a great number of persons; if a 
 patent is inconvenient it may be repealed on that ground, supposing 
 that to be the ground of the inconvenience. Why, would it not 
 be a distinct answer to say that Parliament had sanctioned such 
 assignment ? The inconvenience is that there are more than twelve 
 or a great number of persons interested in it. That ground of ob- 
 jection would be gone, therefore the legal right or remedy is 
 affected in the strictest sense of the terms. But that is not all. Any 
 party interested as assignee in a patent is a joint owner, a joint 
 tenant, and such assignee may sue or grant licences. In the case of 
 an assignment to twelve, any one of them may grant licences, or 
 bring an action for infringement. Now is a person in no different 
 situation when he has to contend with more than twelve, and when 
 as many as 100 may sue him and grant licences ? I say it goes 
 directly to the question of general inconvenience, and is a most 
 material consideration. But that is not all. What is the position 
 of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone and of Mr. Bain ? They are 
 both parties having a prima facie right, because it appears already 
 in evidence, and will be proved, if it does not already appear, that 
 Mr. Bain has patents — that since 1840 these parties have been rival 
 patentees, and have been going on together. This therefore is a 
 case of rival patentees. There are rival patents of a different date 
 since 1840 ; some of Mr. Bain's are earlier than Messrs. Cooke and 
 Wheatstone's. In that case the prior patentee has a right to have a 
 
48 
 
 scire facias if he complains of an infringement. That right will 
 be most materially affected by this patent being assigned, and all 
 the patents being in the hands of a company. 
 
 There is one other case which I will put respecting this question 
 of legal right, as it is a matter which has been much pressed upon 
 me. We had a picture from my learned friend, Mr. Hill, about the 
 eye of the Admiralty, and the Lords of the Admiralty seeing 
 every thing that was going on in the Channel. What would be the 
 consequence^ supposing these patents pass into the hands of a com- 
 pany having an arrangement with government, and that an injunc- 
 tion was obtained by Mr. Bain against the Company ? One of two 
 things must happen ; either the telegraph must stop, and the eye 
 would be closed^ or, under the proviso in all letters patent, that go- 
 vernment might use the invention, in spite of the patentee; this 
 Company would set Mr. Bain at defiance, by reason of the com- 
 bination between a private trading company and the government. 
 The latter would, in all probability, be the practical course ; so 
 that, this Company being established, an injunction would be in- 
 operative. There are other cases in which Mr. Bain's legal rights 
 may be equally affected ; but that is not the question, whether they 
 are, or are not. 
 
 This is not a tribunal to judge of legal rights. The question 
 is, as to public necessity and public utility, and the interfer- 
 ing with private rights. We allege, on the part of Mr. Bain, 
 that there are two parties having prima facie equally legal rights, 
 and that one of them will be precluded from the exercise of those 
 rights, if this Bill passes. We say, it will be an injury to the com- 
 munity to pass this Act on the ground that the inventions of 
 Mr. Bain, as compared with the inventions specified by Cooke 
 and Wheatstone, are so superior, that all the telegraphs of Cooke 
 and Wheatstone will be practically useless. 
 
 Now, Sir, that is a matter that you must look to in the same way 
 as the Privy Council would look to it, and see what has been the 
 progress of the invention and its present state ; and it is remark- 
 able that, in this case, there should have occurred, what has often 
 occurred in other cases, that, at the time Cooke and Wheatstone's 
 telegraphs are practically superseded by other inventions, an Act of 
 Parliament should be applied for. I am not aware, with the ex- 
 ception of the S crew-Propeller Company, of any assignment of 
 letters patent to a company having been of practical and public 
 utility. It is convenient to get these Acts ; but if a patent is 
 valuable in itself as a good trading speculation, it has always been 
 found that it has been kept in the hands of a few people, for reasons 
 that are well understood ; but if it begins to be useless, then is the 
 time when large powers are sought for and obtained, and used to 
 the prejudice of the public. 
 
 Now, sir, my learned friend having left the case in that way, as, 
 regards the general features of the Bill, states that it is necessary for 
 railway purposes. No doubt j but will not the Railway Companies 
 
49 
 
 get the benefit of Electric Telegraphs ? Where is the necessity of 
 this Bill for railway purposes ? Then my learned friend talks 
 about a central government office, and about a clause empowering 
 government to lay down or use the telegraphs, and another object 
 is the establishment of a central post-office. It may be, perhaps, 
 useful to have a central post-office, but is not that a matter for the 
 government ? Is that to be in the hands of a private company ? 
 Is a scheme that is to affect the communications of all the parts of 
 the world, and to be the eye of the Channel, as it was said, is that 
 to be in the hands of a company ? This appears to me to be a 
 scheme having no legitimate object, or that it is most material that 
 the scheme should be in the hands of the government. 
 
 Next, sir, with respect to the evidence that my learned friend 
 has brought forward. The witnesses he called were witnesses, re- 
 markable, not for what they knew, but for what they did not know. 
 His first witness was a gentleman of great eminence in his depart- 
 ment, Major-General Pasley ; a person, who is applied to and who 
 gives evidence in many cases, and whose evidence, of course, is very 
 material. Now, what is the sum and substance of that gentleman's 
 evidence. He first speaks about the telegraph having been laid 
 down on railways, and he negatives at once one of the hypotheses 
 of my learned friend ; namely, that the telegraph would be used as 
 connecting the different stations in towns ; he says, that is not 
 wanted ; he says, when railways are laid down, then the telegraph 
 will be laid, and without any difficulty. But this gentleman is 
 called for another purpose, and I must say, the General ought to 
 have considered a little before he went so far as he did. He is 
 called upon to give an opinion upon the comparative merits of two 
 inventions, when it is quite clear he knows nothing about them. 
 He asserts that Mr. Bain could not have improved his invention, 
 without having borrowed some of the arrangements of Cooke and 
 Wheatstone. What an extraordinary thing it is, that a gentleman 
 of his eminence should come forward and make such statements, 
 without knowing the least about the matter, without any fact 
 upon which to found his statement ! He is speaking of an invention 
 of a totally different kind, and I could not help feeling, at the 
 time, that I was trespassing on the patience of the Committee, in 
 pursuing the cross-examination, but I knew how material it was. 
 This gentleman is called on to condemn an invention, to institute a 
 comparison between two inventions, and to say one must have been 
 stolen from the other ; and what are the grounds for that opinion ? 
 That in 1844 (and the date is material), that in February, 1844, 
 and in March, 1844, he was called on to examine a telegraph that 
 he saw at the house of Mr. Bain, and on the South- Western Rail- 
 way. Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's patents, you will remember, 
 date from 1837 to 1840 — the first set of patents. The Blackwall 
 Railway had been in full operation in 1840. In February, 1844, 
 he pays a visit to Mr. Bain's house. He says, as regards what he 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 saw at Mr. Bain's house, the invention worked perfectly well, but 
 that when it came to be applied on the South- Western, it failed. 
 He says, Mr. Bain was obliged to use a voltaic battery, and that it 
 failed. This will turn out to be altogether a mistake. When he 
 was pressed, on cross-examination, it turned out that he did not 
 remember perfectly the circumstances. He was speaking of a 
 matter some time ago, and upon which he made a report. The 
 General's evidence would have had very great weight with the 
 Committee, unless sifted by cross-examination, and contradicted 
 distinctly, as it will be. It turns out, that Mr. Bain's was a print- 
 ing telegraph, and that Mr. Wheatstone's, with which he compared 
 it, was an ordinary signal telegraph. I say, that gentleman ought 
 not to have been called upon, without having a precise knowledge 
 of the subject, to come and make use of his high position to give 
 colour to the inventions of gentlemen, who unquestionably occupy a 
 high position, and well deserve it; and Mr. Bain is not to be pre- 
 judiced, in this manner by a gentleman having a good feeling 
 towards his rivals. Now, what further evidence does he give ? 
 He says, in the most unqualified terms, that Messrs. Cooke and 
 Wheatstone's was in an efficient state in 1840, which I do not 
 deny, but that Mr. Bain's, though it answered at his house, when 
 tried between Nine Elms and Wimbledon, on a larger scale, failed 
 entirely. Those are the words he used in his examination-in-chief. 
 I asked him, if he knew anything about the insulation. No, he 
 did not; and yet this was the gentleman who was sent down by 
 the Admiralty to report upon the telegraph. I do not make any 
 complaint of his being sent down, or of his report. I have no 
 doubt he made an excellent report, and that the report will speak 
 for itself ; but what was he sent down to examine ? The printing 
 telegraph of Mr. Bain, not the qualities of a signal telegraph. You 
 will find that the wires of this telegraph of Mr. Bain's were put up 
 on posts, and not perfectly insulated. It was a mere experiment to 
 show the merits of the printing telegraph, and had nothing to do 
 with the telegraph as a signal telegraph. With respect to the 
 opinion of the General, that Mr. Bain's experiment, in 1844, was a 
 failure, it will turn out that he is mistaken, and that he had for- 
 gotten the circumstances — that he was comparing two totally distinct 
 instruments. When his attention was called to this, it rather 
 startled him, and he said, et I must mention, the only objection to it 
 was, that it worked slowly." 
 
 Mr. Hikdmarsh — He did not say the only objection. 
 
 Mr. Webster — You will hear from Mr. Bain and Mr. Cooper 
 what the fact was, and you will find this gentleman was entirely 
 mistaken; but be his evidence of much value, or of little value, it 
 was not right that he should have been allowed to come and give it 
 in this manner. If his evidence had not been cross-examined and 
 sifted, it would have gone forth to the world as condemning an 
 invention of Mr. Bain's, which will turn out to be a most important 
 invention. 
 
51 
 
 Then, sir, after having discussed this matter, of the comparative 
 merits of the inventions, he goes on to speak of a pamphlet he re- 
 ceived from Mr. Finlaison, and that he found Mr. Bain laid claim 
 to things not his invention, and which were old. It turned out 
 afterwards, that he had not paid much attention to electro-mag- 
 netism, and yet he took upon himself to condemn Mr. Bain as 
 having laid claim to what had been discovered by Dr. Watson, in 
 1748. Now, the General was speaking of something that was not 
 known till 1800, when Galvani discovered the properties of voltaic 
 electricity and the action of metals. So that this gentleman comes 
 forward and confounds two discoveries together ; the fact being, as 
 will appear from the evidence of Mr. Cooper, that Dr. Watson dis- 
 covered, in 1748, that the earth is a conductor of frictional electricity; 
 that Galvani discovered general voltaic electricity, in 1800 ; that 
 Steinheil discovered the earth was a conductor of voltaic electricity, 
 and that Mr. Bain discovered that the earth was a generator of, as 
 well as a conductor of, electricity. The General has confounded the 
 one thing with the other, from the beginning to the end, and has 
 come forward and condemned Mr. Bain's invention, and charged 
 him with a piracy of Cooke and Wheatstone's inventions. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh — I must interrupt my friend, for he is mistaking 
 General Pasley's evidence which was not respecting the generation 
 of electricity, but only the conducting; my friend is mistaken 
 in all his observations. 
 
 Mr. Webster — Sir, I say it was not right for General Pasley, 
 considering his eminence, or right for my learned friend to bring 
 him here to speak of Mr. Bain as he did ; and to say, that 
 M Mr. Finlaison asserted that Mr. Bain was the inventor of certain 
 discoveries, which afterwards, on perusing scientific works on the 
 subject, I found had been discovered long before he tried them in 
 Hyde Park." The General then goes on to speak of Dr. Watson's 
 discovery, in 1748 ; of other experiments, published by the Bavarian 
 Institute many years ago ; of a paper from Steinheil, published by 
 Sturgeon. The simple fact is^ that the course of inventions was, 
 as I have told the Committee. Dr. Watson, in 1748, discovered 
 one thing ; Steinheil discovered, and Sturgeon published, in this 
 country, another ; and Mr. Bain, at a period subsequent to the first 
 patents of Wheatstone, discovered the earth to be a generator as 
 well as conductor of electricity. I am sorry to say, that is not all ; 
 the General said, that Mr. Bain had complained of Mr. Wheatstone 
 having stolen something from him, whereas he believed, if there 
 had been any stealing, that Mr. Bain had stolen from Professor 
 Wheatstone. You will hear what the facts of the case are; and, 
 when Mr. Bain is thus disparaged, it is a matter of importance 
 to consider, whether the promoters of this Bill ought to have the 
 great powers they ask at your hands. 
 
 What, sir, are the facts ? Cooke and Wheatstone's first patent 
 was in 1837, the second was in 1838, and the third in 1840. 
 E 2 
 
52 
 
 With the year 1840 began another era in the invention, of a re- 
 markable character. In considering the merits of the case, and, 
 whether the public interest will or will not be sacrificed by this 
 Bill, you will have to consider this era of invention. Mr. Bain, 
 originally apprenticed to a watchmaker in Scotland, came to Lon- 
 don, about 1837 or 1838, to pursue his trade. On attending 
 lectures in this city, at which the powers of electricity were ex- 
 plained, he was at once struck with the notion that it might be 
 applied to the purpose of indicating time and signals; and, from his 
 experience as a practical man, seeing what use might be made of it, 
 in August, 1840, having made the discovery of the electric clock 
 and the printing telegraph, about which you have heard something, 
 but being without funds or patronage to introduce it, applied to 
 Sir Peter Laurie, who gave him a letter of introduction to Dr. 
 Birkbeck, who was too ill, at that time, to be seen. He then 
 called on Mr. Baddeley, who recommended him to call on Professor 
 Wheatstone. He called on that gentleman on the 1st of August, 
 1840 (Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone having specified in June or 
 July, of the year 1840, the last of the first series of patents, to 
 which I called your attention), and says to him, " I have invented 
 an electric clock and printing telegraph." The professor said 
 nothing about any invention of his own, or of the specification 
 which had just been enrolled, but advised him not to trouble him- 
 self about the electric clock, and entered into an agreement with 
 him to make a model of the printing telegraph. 
 
 An agreement was entered into upon which I believe he received 
 57. He was in considerable want of funds, and he saw the Pro- 
 fessor again on the 18th, and then some further agreement was 
 made, and he was to receive 1257. upon certain models being com- 
 pleted. He did all he could to perfect these, and brought them to 
 the Professor. The Professor received some of these models, but 
 Mr. Bain never received the money. Now, from that time to the 
 present these gentlemen have been in collision; and you will see, 
 when I call your attention shortly to the progress of the inventions 
 from that time forward, where the merit lies, and what is the state, 
 as regards the public, of the invention of Cooke and Wheatstone in 
 1840, and of the invention of Mr. Bain at the present time. My 
 learned friends knew these facts, and they have had notice to pro- 
 duce the documents : these facts having been matter of controversy 
 in the public journals, it was rather extraordinary that the General 
 should have been allowed to come and give such evidence con- 
 demning Mr. Bain, and saying, if there had been piracy, it had been 
 the piracy of Mr. Bain from Professor Wheatstone, and not of Pro- 
 fessor Wheatstone from Mr. Bain. 
 
 Before I quit this part of the subject, I wish to observe that there 
 are one or tw T o things proved by the General which are most mate- 
 rial. It is proved that in March, 1844, Mr. Bain had an electro- 
 magnetic printing telegraph. It appears also that the Professor about 
 
53 
 
 the same time had something of the same kind, but betwixt August, 
 1840, and this date in May, 1844, we know nothing. You will see 
 what did take place when Mr. Bain is called and all the circum- 
 stances are laid before you. 
 
 The Chairman — This is all a question of piracy, is it not? 
 
 Mr. Webster — No, sir, it is exactly the matter which the Privy 
 Council would inquire into. 
 
 Mr. Ha wes — Precisely ; but we are not the Privy Council. 
 
 Mr. Webster — You are exercising functions of the same sort. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — No, no. 
 
 Mr. Webster — If it should appear most distinctly that the pre- 
 sent state of the invention was Mr. Bain's and not Mr. Wheat- 
 stone's, and that Mr. Bain's invention was ten times more valuable, 
 and could be worked so much cheaper, commercially, that the public 
 would adopt the one and not the other, — 
 
 Mr. Hawes — Then this Bill is not worth a farthing. 
 
 Mr. Webster — We have a strong opinion on that, and I trust 
 that in the discharge of my duty I shall not travel out of the limits 
 which the Committee has assigned to me. I shall show how the 
 public will be affected by it, and how our private interests will be 
 affected ; but I do submit with great confidence that when you are 
 asked by a party for a measure of this sort, when there are well- 
 established rules adopted by the Privy Council (because it may not 
 have been customary for honourable Members to hear cases of this 
 sort) that you Avill not shut your eyes to the course of practice 
 formerly pursued before this tribunal and others. The Privy 
 Council do not inquire into portions of piracy, or novelty, or ques- 
 tions as to the sufficiency of a specification, but if the patent is 
 clearly void, if the progress of invention is such that the party op- 
 posing the patent has contributed to the public good as much as the 
 other has, then they say there is no merit in the party applying and 
 that he is not entitled to that for which he asks. That is going 
 to the question of public utility. 
 
 Now, sir, what more is proved in this matter, which brings us 
 at once to the position of Mr. Bain? It is proved by Professor 
 Cowper that in January, 1844, he lectured upon information which 
 he received from Mr. Bain upon a signal telegraph of one wire and 
 one signal plate, by means of a circuit, not metallic, and that appears 
 distinctly on the evidence to be the state of the invention as now 
 adopted by Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone themselves. Now then, 
 when it appears on the case before you that the invention in respect 
 of which they ask the extraordinary power is one that, prima facie, 
 has been borrowed from Mr. Bain, that the merit is due to him, it is 
 surely material, in considering the merit, to inquire and look at what 
 are the simple state of facts. You are not to pass this Bill, which 
 is to confer a great benefit upon these parties, and to repeal clauses 
 inserted in every patent and in every Act of Parliament, without 
 
54 
 
 inquiring how the public will be affected by it. It is on that ground, 
 and that ground alone, that I put it — it is one of public right. 
 
 Now, sir, as regards the question of private injury to Mr. Bain. 
 What does Mr. Cowper say on that ? Mr. Cowper cites the case of 
 the printing-press. I knew how well that bore on the present 
 case, and consequently I put the questions to him. What was that 
 case ? Parties having a prior patent refused to enter into an arrange- 
 ment with him, and he says — (( I was not injured, because one of the 
 parties afterwards entered into an arrangement with me." We say 
 we shall not be injured if we can enter into an arrangement with 
 one of these gentlemen ; but if we do not, can any man doubt, com- 
 mercially speaking, Mr. Bain will be practically excluded from his 
 trade. What use will be made of this power of breaking up the 
 streets, and of other powers to which I have called your attention, 
 as against a party not having those powers ? What will be the im- 
 mediate operation of this Bill ? They will enter into arrangements 
 with every railway, and they will exclude Mr. Bain, of necessity, 
 by the operation of this Bill, from every railway; they will exclude 
 him from every street, because he has not the power of breaking 
 them up. The honourable Member for Lambeth suggested that 
 Mr. Bain might himself come for a Bill. Is it to be supposed that 
 Parliament will give several bills of this description ? 
 
 Mr. Ha WES — Why not ? Parliament has given Bills to water 
 companies, and several gas companies. 
 
 Mr. Webster — Other companies have a limited jurisdiction. 
 If my learned friend's Bill had been confined to breaking-up the 
 roads between the Admiralty and Nine Elms it was perfectly com- 
 petent to Parliament to grant that power, and there is no objection 
 to it; but if it sanctions a measure of this sort, giving powers co- 
 extensive with the United Kingdom, — if it sanctions two Bills of 
 this sort, why not twenty? Where is the necessity of Mr. Bain 
 applying for a Bill when there are two courses open to you, either 
 to give Mr. Bain the power of obtaining the same benefit by this 
 Bill, or to reject the Bill altogether on public grounds. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — That is a matter for you below the bar. We have 
 nothing to do with that. 
 
 Mr. Hill — It will require a good deal of consideration. 
 
 Mr. Webster — Every thing has been done on our part that 
 could be done. We say we shall be completely destroyed. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — Are you arguing against the public policy of a Bill 
 which you ask the Committee to consider whether it might be right 
 for Mr. Bain to participate in ? I think that is a fatal argument. 
 
 Mr. Webster — It is in answer to the question from the honour- 
 able Member, why should not Mr. Bain come for a Bill? I say we 
 are irretrievably ruined, and you will hear the reason of that from 
 gentlemen of experience who know the operation of extensive trad- 
 ing monopolies. Gentlemen unacquainted with mercantile transac- 
 
55 
 
 tions may know nothing of these inconveniencies, but persons 
 connected with trade and commerce know what is their operation. 
 Why do people come for Bills for companies of this sort, but for 
 the sake of the benefits obtained and the influence which large 
 capital gives them. It is unnecessary, I am sure, for me to tell 
 the Committee that commercial men know, and people interested in 
 patents know, how injuriously Mr. Bain's interest will be affected 
 by this Bill. Mr. Cowper instanced the case of a private indivi- 
 dual and a company in answer to a question which I put to him. 
 He instanced a case before the Privy Council, where a company was 
 opposing Mr. Woodcroft in obtaining an extension of a patent. 
 What did the Privy Council do in that case? They protected the 
 individual against a company — the very thing which I trust we 
 shall receive at your hands. 
 
 Mr. Ha wes — So will the Privy Council protect you against the 
 Company. 
 
 Mr. Webster — That was the case of the screw-propeller, and 
 that is the only case that I am aware of in which an act of this sort 
 has contributed to the public benefit. And how did that contribute 
 to the public benefit ? Why, in a way that this cannot. In that 
 act, and in most of those other acts which I have before me, it is 
 recited that certain persons, being convinced of the utility of the 
 measure, but being satisfied that private funds could not effect the 
 object, it was necessary that a company should be formed. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — What are you referring to ? 
 
 Mr. Webster — The Ship-propeller Company's Act. That, sir, is 
 the solitary instance of an Act of this sort, so far as I am aware, having 
 been of service to the public. Here was an invention for applying 
 the screw for the propelling of ships. We know how important that 
 has now become — so important, that many of our ships of war are 
 to be fitted with screws. This act recites that certain persons were 
 satisfied of the utility of the invention. It was impossible for an 
 individual alone to build ships. I believe that company spent 
 40,000/. in proving to the public the utility of the invention. This 
 was a case of necessity on the part of the public. It was necessary 
 to prove the utility of an invention as to the utility of which a few 
 persons, reasoning on scientific principles, were well satisfied: here 
 was a proper case for an act of this sort. But where is the case for 
 an act where the utility is already established, and where ordinary 
 persons can carry it out, unless powers are wanted for purposes not 
 perfectly straightforward, so far as regards trading, with reference 
 to the interests of other persons ? 
 
 Now, sir, that being the effect of Mr. Cowper's evidence, and the 
 way in which it bears on the case, the last and only witness is their 
 own engineer — a gentleman who knew nothing about the invention 
 till within the last two or three years. What does he tell you ? 
 Why, that the average cost of constructing the telegraph is 1251. a 
 mile. I will show you that Mr. Bain has laid down on the Glasgow 
 
56 
 
 and Edinburgh railway a telegraph, infinitely better than Messrs. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's, at 50/. a mile, and with profit to himself; 
 and that, being paid mile by mile, he would take any number of 
 miles on those terms, being paid as he went on at 50/. a mile. 
 Now if that be the fact, (and there will be no doubt about it), 
 and if the fact be that the inventions in their present perfect 
 state, are the inventions of Mr. Bain, and of no one else, and if 
 his telegraph can be laid down at half the expense, perhaps much 
 less, about one-third, of the cost of the estimate upon which this 
 Bill is founded, where is the necessity for a bill of this sort ? What 
 use is to be made of it except to oppress Mr. Bain ? We believe 
 that commercially we shall be ruined ; although, with regard to cost, 
 which is a fact on wdiich you must consider the question of utility 
 or no utility, it appears that a better rival invention can be laid 
 down at a cost that is certainly half, and perhaps one-third the esti- 
 mate of the Company. So far as regards the question of railways, 
 the railway companies have already adopted it ; and is there any rail- 
 way company in the kingdom that would not gladly lay down an 
 Electric Telegraph for the Government at five per cent, on the out- 
 lay ? Cannot the railway do it cheaper than any body else? There- 
 fore, so far as regards laying down the telegraph along railways, 
 there is no case for exclusive privileges. But it was suggested by 
 an honourable member that they might want to lay the telegraph 
 down where there were no railways. The promoters of the Bill did 
 not dare put their case on that, and for this reason; — they knew it 
 w r ould fail them as regards estimate. The estimate brought before 
 you relates to telegraphs on railways. 
 
 They further tell you they want this money for offices, for taking 
 lands where there is no compulsory power, for the furniture, &c, of 
 offices, and a variety of matters of that sort, to which their estimate 
 is totally inapplicable. Did Parliament ever do any thing so wild 
 as to grant a Bill for raising a capital of 600,000/., with power to 
 borrow 200,000/. more, there not being a shadow of estimate as to 
 any return, or any definite and well-defined purpose to which the 
 funds of the Company are to be applied, aud the object from which 
 the estimate is derived, namely, the laying the telegraph down on 
 railways, being an object for which such capital is wholly unneces- 
 sary. I say that for the first time, if this Bill passes in its present 
 form, will Parliament have sanctioned a measure of this kind ? In 
 the ordinary case of a Bill with respect to public works, it is ne- 
 cessary to show some detailed plan, some grounds for believing it 
 would be commercially useful, but that has not been done in the 
 present case. 
 
 It must appear to the Committee, as a condition for sanctioning a 
 Bill of this sort, that the capital is a proper and reasonable capital, 
 and that the returns will be such as may, on reasonable expectation, 
 be commercially advantageous. You have not a tittle of evidence 
 before you that can lead you to come to any such conclusion. The 
 
57 
 
 evidence is drawn from such a state of tilings that the objects of 
 the Bill are wholly inapplicable to it. Now to what item does the 
 average of 125/. a mile relate ? It is for posts, wires, and the tele- 
 graph, the railway company finding every thing else. Can an es- 
 timate for materials of that sort, founded on such a basis, be of any 
 use in showing to you what is the proper capital for establishing 
 offices and buying land without compulsory powers. The capital of 
 600,000/. may be too much, or it may not be enough. For all that 
 appears before you, 10,000/. may be enough, or a million or two 
 millions may not be at all adequate. 
 
 Now I have already called your attention, sir, to what is a pecu- 
 liar feature in this Bill, namely, that for all that appears there are 
 no parties but these two gentlemen interested in the measure. Par- 
 liament does not give powers of this sort without knowing something 
 more about the Company. These two gentlemen may be getting 
 their present powers, intending to work the invention themselves. 
 My learned friend called it a magnificently useful plan. So it may be 
 in some respects; but I say there is no such case made out before you, 
 there is no detailed plan shown ; and the estimates that have been 
 laid before you are entirely without any evidence of a prospect of 
 any return, and for all that appears to you, the Bill may be entirely 
 abortive, excepting so far as it will give powers that may be used for 
 the purpose of oppression. 
 
 I submit, therefore, sir, with reference to the two principal 
 grounds, that the Bill is prejudicial to the community; that for all 
 that appears on the evidence, the invention of Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone may be superseded by the invention of Mr. Bain ; and that in 
 a commercial point of view, the former would never be adopted 
 except for the factitious support given to it by this Bill. 
 
 Now, sir, what is the well-established rule as regards patents for 
 useless inventions? Why will Parliament, why will the Privy 
 Council, why will courts of law give no encouragement to patents 
 that are practically useless. Because they are creating a monopoly, 
 which stops improvement. And therefore when it appears, as it 
 does in the present instance, that the earlier patents have been 
 abandoned — 
 
 Mr. Hindmaesh — It does not appear yet. 
 
 Mr. Webster — The evidence is distinct on this point, that at 
 first they had five wires with a complete metallic circuit, whereas 
 they have now got to one wire, and abandoned the metallic circuit, 
 and there are other details with which it is unnecessary to occupy 
 your time. That being the case, is it not fair to presume that the 
 earlier patents are practically useless. I say practically, because the 
 test is, can they be worked practically, having regard to the present 
 state of invention ? When I say an invention is useless to the 
 community, that is what courts of law, the Privy Council, and Par- 
 liament always understand, having regard to the then state of in- 
 vention, as making the invention specified practically useless. For 
 
58 
 
 all then that appears in this case, the earlier patents of Cooke and 
 Wheatstone may be useless, and the presumption is, that the inven- 
 tion that is now useful, is Mr. Bain's. Without entering upon any 
 question of piracy, for all that appears before you, their invention 
 may be a useless invention, as compared to that which is now in use, 
 and the promoters of the Bill ought not to have left the case in 
 this way. They knew perfectly well the course which this case 
 would take. If it had not been the tenderest point in the world, 
 they would not have put Mr. Cowper forward, and then immediately 
 withdrawn him. 
 
 Chairman — It was requisite that they should do so to raise the 
 point as to your right to be heard. 
 
 Mr. Webster — Yes, sir, but they did not offer any evidence of 
 the kind I am now adverting to. 
 
 Mr. Hill — I beg pardon; I have heard a great many statements 
 that have no foundation, but I do beg to call the attention of the 
 Committee to this, that I offered to go step by step through the 
 whole of this invention, for the purpose of showing priority in 
 every step from beginning to end ; that I am prepared to do now, if 
 the Committee are prepared themselves to depart from their own 
 decision, and try the question of piracy or not. Personally, those 
 gentlemen would be delighted that the Committee should so depart, 
 and let them in to prove what they undertake to do, the utter 
 falsity of all these statements my friend is instructed to make. 
 
 Mr. Webster — I say it is not trying a question of piracy, and 
 not a departure from the rule which the Committee have laid down. 
 As regards the particular details of the invention, that may be a 
 matter of dispute to be settled in a court of law, as to the patents 
 of 1841, the patents of 1843, and the patents of 1845 — as to whether 
 the one is a piracy or not of the other. Those are questions for 
 the courts of law ; but you have the inventions of Cooke and 
 Wheatstone on the one hand, and the inventions of Mr. Bain on 
 the other; and I say it is not a question of piracy which you pro- 
 perly do not enter upon, which these Committees and the Privy 
 Council never enter upon; but it is a question on general policy as 
 to whether extraordinary powers are to be given to the parties now 
 asking for them, and from which the party opposing is to be ex- 
 cluded. 
 
 Sir, I have already observed on the fact, that there are thirteen 
 patents to be summarily dealt with ; thirteen patents extending over 
 nine years. The alienation clause is to be repealed in respect of all 
 those, and not only in respect of all those thirteen, but in respect 
 of all others that -have already been, or hereafter may be, granted, 
 and that upon a case of this sort ; for I say there is no evidence at 
 all on the part of the promoters that will justify you in saying the 
 preamble of this Bill is proved as regards public utility, or as re- 
 gards the general powers necessary to carry it out. 
 . Sir,.! am happy to. say, I have now almost discharged my duty in 
 
59 
 
 addressing yon. I have commented on the opening speech of my 
 learned friend, and on the evidence given in support of the general 
 case for the Bill. 1 have only to call your attention to one or more 
 dates that may be material in considering the progress of the inven- 
 tion in its present shape. I have already remarked the first era, 
 terminating in 1840, with Cooke and Wheat-stone's patents; the 
 specification of the last being enrolled in July, 1840, containing no- 
 thing respecting electric clocks, containing nothing respecting print- 
 ing machines, but relating to a telegraph with several wires, and 
 with a metallic circuit. And when my friend opened the case to 
 you, as if the whole invention were new, why, so far as regards 
 communication by electricity by several wires and needles, it is a 
 matter of notoriety that books were published abroad, and that in 
 this country, long before 1837, lectures were given on this subject, 
 and therefore those patents were, as indeed appears by the specifi- 
 cations of the patents themselves, which recite the application of 
 electricity to this purpose — those patents were improvements on the 
 discovery of M. Oersted, in 1819, of electro-magnetism. 
 
 I have also called your attention to what took place in 1840, when 
 Mr. Bain communicated his invention to Professor Wheatstone, and 
 when agreements were entered into, that were not carried into effect. 
 On January the 8th, 1841, Mr. Bain obtained his first patent, which 
 was for electric clocks, the invention having been communicated to 
 Professor Wheatstone in the preceding August. On the 7th of 
 July, 1841, Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone obtained their fourth 
 patent. 
 
 In the obtaining of that patent, a material fact took place. I 
 told you that since August, 1840, Professor Wheatstone and Mr. 
 Bain have been in continual collision. There is a power in any one 
 of the public to oppose a patent before the Attorney- General and in 
 some subsequent stages. In the case of an opposition, the party who 
 applies for the patent is obliged to leave a deposit, stating the nature 
 of his invention, because it has frequently turned out that parties 
 have enumerated in their specification, inventions they had not dis- 
 covered when they obtained their patent. On obtaining the patent 
 of July, 1841, Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's fourth patent (the 
 first of the commencement of the second era, so to speak), there was 
 a deposit with Sir John Campbell, and that patent was still for a 
 metallic circuit. On December the 7th, of the same year, Mr 
 Bain obtained his second patent. He was then opposed by Profes- 
 sor Wheatstone. The patent was opposed by Professor Wheatstone, 
 and was refused in the first instance ; but on Mr. Bain requesting 
 that the deposit, which had been left with Sir John Campbell, of 
 Professor Wheatstone's patent of July 7th, should be referred to, 
 this patent was granted. 
 
 Mr. Hill — I must beg to know, what course we are pursuing. 
 I am, as I before said, willing to go into the minutest details of 
 every allegation contained in Mr. Bain's petition; but the Com^ 
 
60 
 
 mittee themselves have gone over the petition, allegation by allega- 
 tion, and they have confined my friend to a particular part, which 
 has been so often repeated, that every gentleman must have it by 
 heart. My friend is now, in the last part of his speech, getting back 
 to one of the early allegations. Let me only know what I have to 
 do, and I am perfectly ready to do it. I will prove the priority of 
 every invention claimed in every patent. I will prove that we in- 
 fringe nothing of Mr. Bain's. I will disprove every thing my friend 
 has said the moment he has given me a reason for doing it, by giving 
 evidence of its truth. But if my friend is not to be permitted to 
 go into this matter, is it not rather hard upon the two respectable 
 gentlemen that I represent, that they should sit here to have state- 
 ments made which, if they were true, would utterly drive them out 
 of society, and justly so, as honest men and gentlemen, when my 
 friend must know that the matter cannot, with any regard to the 
 decision which the Committee has entered into, go beyond his state- 
 ment, and never can be tested as to its truth or falsehood by putting 
 witnesses into the box. 
 
 Mr. Webster — If I believed I was travelling the least out of 
 the course which the Committee prescribed to me, I should be ex- 
 tremely sorry. I undertake to prove that it is not for the interest 
 of the public these powers should be given, that it is not for the ad- 
 vantage of the public that patents, which are practically useless, 
 should be extended prejudicially, that is, should be enjoyed by a 
 large body that will give them a sort of factitious influence they 
 would not have on their own merits. The course that is now 
 adopted by the Privy Council, is to take the state of the invention 
 at particular eras, as disclosed in the specification or otherwise, with- 
 out entering upon details. In order to enable you to form a proper 
 estimate of the progress of inventions, and to show where the merit 
 is, and how the public must be affected, it must be material you 
 should know what has been the general history of the invention; 
 but as to going to details, as to whether the patent of July 7th is 
 a piracy on any that preceded it, that you will not do ; you will 
 entertain that question no further than this, to see what has been 
 the course of the invention, so as to know how the public interest 
 is affected. Now it is with that view, and with that view alone that I 
 have troubled you at some length on these facts of the case, which, so 
 far as I have opened them, 'and stated them to you, will be proved most 
 distinctly by Mr. Cooper and Mr. Bain. In fact, some of them are 
 already proved by Mr. Cowper and General Pasley , only the matter is 
 left detached and broken. A few isolated facts have been proved; 
 and am I to be told when the promoters of a Bill, who are to make 
 out their case (and no one in the profession knows better than my 
 learned friend Mr. Hill, whose experience is so great, that he can 
 see into the mind of any counsel conducting a case of this sort), am 
 I to be told when he has conducted his case in this way, so as to 
 leave you in the dark; when he has called evidence to say that Mr. 
 
61 
 
 Bain's invention, as compared with Professor Wheatstone's, is worth- 
 less ; that Mr. Bain stole from Professor Wheatstone, and not Pro- 
 fessor Wheatstone from Mr. Bain, that I am not to bring before you 
 generally the progress of the invention; all I can say is, if that be 
 so, it is a sort of injustice on the individual, and a sort of injury to 
 the public that this Committee could never have intended; when 
 the fact is, that in grants of this nature, and in any alteration of 
 them, every encouragement is given to the public to come and op- 
 pose them, yet we are to be shut out on some technical difficulty of 
 this kind. 
 
 Now, sir, I will give you the date of Mr. Bain's second patent, 
 which is the 7th of December, 1841. 
 
 Chairman — Do you think it necessary to call our attention to 
 the several patents? Can you not put them in as Mr. Hill did? You 
 are going to call witnesses. 
 
 Mr. Webster — In this patent of December 7th, 1841, there 
 was the abandonment of the metallic circuit, and the substitution of 
 one wire and the Electric Printing Telegraph. That was in 1841. 
 That is all I have to say about it. 
 
 Then, sir, in December, 1842, comes Cooke and Wheatstone's 
 fifth patent. There the metallic circuit was also abandoned, and 
 there were other alterations similar in character to what I have last 
 mentioned. 
 
 On the 27th of May, 1843, comes Mr. Bain's third patent, and 
 this, sir, is a most material era. That invention was for one wire — 
 one pointer (that which is before you on the table), and a complete set 
 of signals, the earth making the circuit either with or without voltaic 
 electricity. That was the invention that Mr. Cowper lectured upon 
 in 1844, at the Royal Institution; so that you have in March, 
 1844, Mr. Bain — having done all he could to bring an invention be- 
 fore the public, having obtained a patent for it, and having fur- 
 nished Mr. Cowper with information to lecture upon it — he is then 
 publicly declaring himself to be the inventor of an Electric Telegraph 
 of a single wire, a single pointer, and of a complete set of signals, 
 the earth completing the circuit. After that comes the patent of 
 Cooke and Wheatstone, of May 6th, 1845, their sixth patent; and 
 it is between those two patents the question of litigation has arisen 
 — with that I have nothingto do at all — I have only to remark, that 
 upon the evidence you have distinctly before you, that in May, 
 1844, this disclosure was made to the public by Mr. Bain, of the 
 invention that is now used — the invention that Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone themselves adopted as appears by their last witness; and in or- 
 der to complete the catalogue, on the 25th of September of last year, 
 Mr. Bain obtains his fourth patent. That is the history of the case 
 with regard to the general principle of a single wire, and the aban- 
 donment of the metallic circuit, and a complete set of signals, with 
 one signal plate, and the earth forming part of the voltaic cir- 
 cuit. 
 
62 
 
 Now, sir, what are the general facts that appear before you, with- 
 out entering into general details ? That since 1840, inventions have 
 gone on betwixt these two gentlemen, and that it has been brought 
 to its present state and the invention now adopted is that of my 
 client. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh — Nothing of the sort appears. However, I 
 will not say any thing, because if one answers one thing, and does not 
 answer another, it may be supposed we admit those things which we 
 do not answer, therefore I will answer nothing. 
 
 Mr. Webster — Those, sir, are the facts of the case. Many of 
 them are before you, and some few others will be added by Mr. 
 Bain and Mr. Cooper. It appears, then, that there are Professor 
 Wheatstone and Mr. Cooke, having made certain inventions, pos- 
 sessing the command of society, for these gentlemen deservedly bear 
 great reputation, and competing with a gentleman like Mr. Bain, 
 having nothing to depend on but his own talent ; — they come and ask 
 for extraordinary power to be given to them to the exclusion of 
 Mr. Bain, though the more perfect invention of Mr. Bain may be 
 laid down at a cost less than one-half the estimate of Cooke and 
 Wheatstone. 
 
 I say, sir, upon those grounds there is no case made for the pre- 
 amble of this Bill, and that it is not a case in which you would pre- 
 judice an individual, while at the same time you confer no benefit 
 on the public. 
 
 Mr. J ohn Thomas Cooper was then called and examined. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Bain was called, and in the course of his ex- 
 amination upon the following question being put to him, and answer 
 given, " Did you furnish the model?" " There was more than one 
 model — there were two models that constituted the agreement. I 
 finished one, and partly finished another," this discussion ensued. 
 
 Mr. Ha wes— What is the object of this ? Is it to show Mr. 
 Wheatstone is not the inventor of the clock? If so, let us clear 
 the room, and come to a resolution at once. 
 
 Mr. Webster — I should submit that in considering the preamble 
 of the Bill, and the question whether there is merit in the parties, 
 so as to entitle them to alter the relative positions of Mr. Bain and 
 of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone in the way this Bill will, that the 
 state of the invention now, as compared with the state of the in- 
 vention as it existed in 1 840, after the earlier patents of Professor 
 Wheatstone were taken out, is a material element for your consi- 
 deration, and in order that you may have the proper materials for 
 forming an estimate on the merit of the invention, and the state of 
 the invention, and in what way these individuals will be affected by 
 the passing of a Bill which will give considerable power relating to 
 earlier patents, you must know the general course of the invention, 
 what has been the invention step by step, and where the merit is. 
 I submit to you that this is a line of evidence always introduced 
 before Committees of this House, when questions as to the extension 
 
63 
 
 of patents were before them, and that the Privy Council have in- 
 variably laid down that they would adopt some rules that Parlia- 
 ment had adopted. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — But Parliament has not said it will lay down the 
 same rules that the Privy Council adopts. 
 
 Mr. Web ter — I say, that when matters of this sort have been 
 brought before Parliament they have been viewed with great jealousy, 
 and Parliament has examined strictly into these matters. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — To what case do you refer? 
 
 Mr. Webster — I refer to the invariable course in the Privy 
 Council. ... 
 
 Mr. Hawes — You said Parliament adopted a certain practice. 
 What is that? 
 
 Mr. Webster — In the case of the Bills that were before them. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — If you allude to precedents you are bound to give 
 us the precedents. 
 
 Mr. Webster — In Watt's Act, 15 George III., relating to the 
 steam engine, chapter 61, you will find there the recital of the public 
 utility of the invention, and of the insufficiency of private means. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — I suppose we shall find that here. 
 
 Mr. Htndmarsh — In substance. 
 
 Mr. Webster — The argument I address to you is this, and I was 
 going to furnish you with five Acts of Parliament which are public 
 statutes, where the preamble sets forth distinctly the special grounds 
 on which the patent ought to be extended. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — This is not a question of extension of patent. 
 
 Mr. Webster — But it is the same thing, substantially. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — Your cases do not apply. Since that time a special 
 tribunal has been appointed. 
 
 Mr. Webster — With great deference, sir, they do apply and for 
 this reason: the course of practice was very well understood, and 
 it is now to be found in the practice of the Privy Council in the ex- 
 tension of patents. I say this, though not a question of extension, is 
 to be tried by the same rules, because a party is coming to ask for 
 enlarged powers which he cannot have without the sanction of Par- 
 liament. Why does he ask for them ? but on the ground that it is 
 for the benefit of the public that they should be given. It was for 
 the benefit of the public that the extensions were given. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — It may be for the benefit of the public, even though 
 Mr. Cooke and Mr. Wheatstone had robbed Mr. Bain of every 
 thing which they now have. We ought not to go into that, surely. 
 
 Mr. Webster — Surely you ought, sir. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — If you say' we are to try the priority of inventions, 
 then that is contrary to the rule laid down by the Committee. 
 
 Mr. Webster — I do not say you are to try it, as if you were a 
 court of law, but you must try the priority in some measure ; you 
 would not surely encourage a fraud or grant a Bill if it is a useless 
 patent. 
 
64 
 
 Mr. H awes — If you mean to say that by this Bill they will set up 
 a company to make fools of themselves by invalid patents, and in- 
 vest their capital in a shadow, the Committee will consider that by 
 and by — whether it is a company that ought to be formed. If you 
 show the invention as useless, and that it is utterly impossible a re- 
 turn will be made for the capital, and that the demand of 600,000/. 
 capital is beyond all bounds, extravagant, and not to be sanctioned, 
 then you give us good grounds for rejecting the Bill. 
 
 Mr. Webster — Those are the points. 
 
 Mr. H awes — But those are points which you have not addressed 
 yourself to at all. If you will do that, we will sit for six weeks to 
 hear you. 
 
 Mr. Webster — No, I will not trouble you to do that, sir. All 
 I say is, that to enable you to judge whether the inventions of Cooke 
 and Wheatstone are worthless and useless, you must know the course 
 of the inventions, and I take these gentlemen up at the earliest stage 
 when they come into collision with Mr. Bain from August 1840. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — You said you would show that the inventions were 
 utterly worthless and useless. Will you put in witnesses to show 
 that the patents and the telegraphs of Cooke and Wheatstone are 
 utterly useless and worthless. Show that and cadet questio, I don't 
 think the House would sanction a Bill to form a company to carry 
 out that which was proved to be utterly useless and worthless. 
 
 Mr. Webster — It is not utterly worthless and useless in the 
 abstract. I must show you that the inventions are worthless by the 
 present state of inventions, and I can only show that by this gen- 
 tleman. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — I wish to pay the greatest respect to Mr. Bain, but 
 do come to something like evidence. Show us that the invention 
 of Cooke and Wheatstone is bad, and show us that those of Mr. 
 Bain will supersede it. 
 
 Mr. Webster — I must begin at one end or the other. My case 
 is to show that the inventions, of which Mr. Bain is the author, are 
 infinitely superior, so superior that the inventions of Cooke and 
 Wheatstone are worthless, commercially speaking. I do not care 
 which end I begin at. I begin at the beginning, as being most con- 
 venient, but if you like I will examine him as to that model before 
 you, and then take him back. I thought it right to begin at the 
 earliest time when these gentlemen were in collision. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — What course is to be taken with the other gentle- 
 man? If you put in one Electric Telegraph to knock down the 
 other then you will have another witness to set it up. Then we 
 shall be in the midst of the respective inventions. 
 
 Mr. Webster — But I am sure, sir, you will see that I am not 
 to be excluded from bringing my client's case forward by reason of 
 my friend having adopted a course that may be inconvenient. My 
 friend opened a case really keeping all information back from you, 
 calling neither Mr. Cooke nor Professor Wheatstone, and I can only 
 
65 
 
 prove my case of the worthlessness of their invention by calling Mr. 
 Bain. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — To prove that they have failed, and that their in- 
 vention is worthless. 
 Mr. Webster — Yes. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — Now we must consider what course we are to 
 take. 
 
 Mr. Webster — I beg there may be no misunderstanding as to 
 the way I put the case. I do not say that in 1837, 1838, and 1840 
 those inventions of Cooke and Wheatstone were not good and valu- 
 able inventions, and that they were not more valuable than the inven- 
 tions of Alexander, Davy, and other people, and that they were not 
 the first persons who combined with the Railway an Electric Tele- 
 graph, but I further say that those inventions are, as compared with 
 the inventions of Mr. Bain, worthless, commercially, Mr. Bain's 
 being so much better. Now I thought it my duty to put the case 
 clearly before you. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — The public will soon put a value on that. 
 
 Chairman — If they find Mr. Bain's is a good one they will em- 
 ploy Mr. Bain at once. 
 
 Mr. Webster — But you prejudice Mr. Bain in a way that he 
 will explain, and other witnesses will explain, if you grant a Bill of 
 this sort, by which he is set at defiance. 
 
 Captain Gladstone — The promoters of the Bill have only to 
 show that Cooke and Wheatstone's is a public benefit. 
 
 Mr. AVebster — Yes, sir, a public benefit means a public benefit 
 with regard to the existing state of invention. Watt's first steam- 
 engine was a public benefit at that time. The roughest locomotive 
 that ever existed was a public benefit at the time it was first invented, 
 but when it is compared with the latest improvements of Messrs. 
 Stephenson, it would be absurd to say that it is a public benefit. 
 
 Captain Gladstone — They have to prove it is a public benefit 
 at this time. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — If we go on and examine Mr. Bain as to his being 
 better than Cooke and Wheatstone's, somebody else may come and 
 say we have something better than that. 
 
 Mr Webster — I believe there is no question but that the inven- 
 tion is in the hands of the gentleman before the Committee. I 
 answer to an observation that was just made by an honourable 
 member, that the promoters must show that it is a public benefit. I 
 should submit that the House will not grant more extensive powers 
 in respect of patents that are superseded. 
 
 Captain Gladstone — If yours is a greater public advantage, the 
 public will avail themselves of it. 
 
 Mr. Webster — That is not a principle that was ever adopted by 
 the House, or that ought to be adopted, because what constantly 
 occurs in practice is, that when a patent is worked out a company is 
 obtained to bolster it up. 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 Captain Gladstone — What do you mean by worked out. 
 
 Mr. Webster — Superseded by superior inventions. It is known 
 to many gentlemen conversant with these things, that an Act of 
 Parliament to form a company for the extension of a patent (except 
 in the case of an invention like Mr. Smith's screw propeller) is not 
 asked for till the thing is worthless. By means of the influence 
 which an Act of Parliament gives, the thing can be kept afloat. 
 
 Captain Gladstone — Not if other patents have superior merit. 
 
 Mr. Webster — Even then. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — What point do you mean to examine Mr. Bain 
 upon ? Will you begin by proving that the telegraphs of Messrs. 
 Wheatstone and Cooke are worthless and useless ? The point to 
 which you now mean to examine Mr. Bain. 
 
 Mr. Webster — Yes, sir. 
 
 Mr. Hawes — Then I think it is for the Committee to consider 
 whether that ought to be allowed or not. 
 
 Chairman — Mr. Bain has one telegraph at work, has he not. 
 Mr. Webster — Yes, sir. 
 
 Chairman — Then go into that and compare it with Cooke and 
 Wheatstone's. 
 
 {The examination of the witnesses was then proceeded with.) 
 
 Mr. John Thomas Cooper called; examined by Mr. Birkbeck. 
 
 I think you are well acquainted with the science of electricity ? 
 I believe I am. 
 
 You have paid a great deal of attention to it? I have. 
 You lecture upon it? Yes; occasionally. 
 For how many years ? — 
 
 Mr. Hill said he would at once admit Mr. Cooper was perfectly 
 competent to give evidence upon the subject; there could be no 
 doubt of it. 
 
 By Mr. Birkbeck. 
 
 Were you present at Nine Elms in the year 1844 when any 
 experiments were going forward ? I was there on one occasion. 
 
 Do you recollect when that was ? It was, to the best of my 
 recollection, on the 22nd of April, 1844. 
 
 Whose telegraph was that ? Mr. Bain's. 
 
 Explain it. It was a Printing Telegraph ; at least, a machine for 
 printing and passing signals at the same time. 
 
 Do you consider that a printing telegraph is more useful than 
 an ordinary telegraph ? I should say so, generally speaking; but I 
 have not much experience in those matters, as to the utility of one 
 invention or the other. I should think that a thing which would 
 register what is sent by it to be an advantage. 
 
 Was this telegraph exhibited under favourable circumstances? In 
 relation to what? 
 
 Were the arrangements complete? I think they may hardly be 
 
67 
 
 said to be complete, because it was put up in a temporary sort of 
 way. 
 
 It was not a permanent telegraph ? I conceive not. The arrange- 
 ments made at the time were those that were, I should say, tempo- 
 rary, not permanent. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 An experimental trial? An experimental trial. 
 
 By Mr. Birkbeck. 
 
 How did it act on that occasion? It acted very well. 
 
 Is it of importance that the insulation of the wire should be good ? 
 I should conceive it was of great importance it should be so; as 
 perfect as possible. 
 
 I suppose you would consider, if you had to report upon such an 
 experiment as that, whether the insulation was perfect or not? I 
 should say that the insulation in this case was not perfect. It was 
 put up in a temporary sort of way, and I should say the insulation 
 was imperfect ; at least not so perfect as it might be made. There 
 was no positive attempt to insulate the wire on this occasion — 
 in the short distance that I examined it the wires were twisted 
 round the posts. 
 
 What sort of posts? They appeared to me to be some old pal- 
 ings — some old fence — or something of that sort, put up on that 
 occasion. 
 
 How high from the ground? I should say about four feet. 
 
 Old posts? Old posts, to the best of my recollection. 
 
 Were the wires not liable to injury? There was no protection. 
 They were too low to prevent any person running against them, or 
 any thing of that sort. 
 
 Did you consider this experiment a total failure ? Oh ! cer- 
 tainly not. 
 
 How was the electric current produced? The only part of the 
 apparatus for making the current I saw was some plates of copper 
 tied together with some wires, and these plates of copper were 
 thrown into a ditch at Nine Elms. I did not go to the Wimbledon 
 extremity, but there were a quantity of copper plates tied together 
 with wires, and these copper plates were thrown into a ditch in 
 the neighbourhood of the Nine Elms station. 
 
 Was there any voltaic battery used then ? None . 
 
 Then how do you presume the current was produced? Why it 
 must be presumed, because I did not see the other extremity, and 
 therefore I presume that the zinc plate must have been put into the 
 earth in some other position, at Wimbledon probably. 
 
 Are you aware that an electric current can be produced in such a 
 manner ? I saw it on that occasion. Until that occasion I was not 
 aware that putting into the earth a plate of zinc at one position, 
 and a plate of copper into it at another at certain distances from 
 each other, would produce a current ; it was new to me at that time. 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 What do you do with those two plates ? These two plates are 
 connected together by ivires or a wire. For instance, suppose this pen 
 which I hold in my hand to be the wire, and these two sheets of 
 paper the plates, the current of electricity will pass through the 
 wire in one direction, and through the earth in another: supposing 
 the plates to be both in the earth, and the pen to represent the 
 wire, the current of electricity set up will pass along the wire 
 and through the earth, or through the earth and return by the 
 wire. 
 
 And you believe the electricity by which that telegraph was 
 worked, was produced in that manner ? I have no doubt about it 
 whatever, though I did not see the zinc plate immersed. 
 
 Whose discovery do you consider that to be ? Mr. Bain's. 
 
 Did you ever previously hear of it ? I never heard of it till that 
 time. 
 
 Mr. Hill. 
 
 Which discovery are you speaking of? 
 
 The production of the current of electricity by immersion of plates 
 of dissimilar metal in the earth. 
 
 By Mr. Birkbeck. 
 
 You have little doubt that is Mr. Bain's invention ? I have no 
 doubt of it in my mind. I have not heard any thing to convince me 
 to the contrary of the opinion I thus formed. 
 
 Is that a distinct discovery from the other discoveries we have 
 heard a good deal of — that the earth will complete a voltaic circuit ? 
 You mean the discovery of Steinheill ? 
 
 Yes? Yes, I conceive it to be a distinct discovery from that of 
 Steinheill. 
 
 I believe you are aware that General Pasley stated the other day 
 that the substitution of the earth for the metallic circuit was dis- 
 covered by Dr. W T atson. Do you know what Dr. Watson dis- 
 covered ? I do not, only as a matter of history. 
 
 If General Pasley said this — u The principal discovery which 
 Mr. Bain claims was made by Dr. Watson in 1748." Is that true ? 
 You must tell me what it is that Mr. Bain does claim, and then I 
 can answer the question. If Mr. Bain claims the introduction into 
 the earth of a plate of copper and a plate of zinc, then I should 
 say that Mr. Bain is light in his claim ; because certainly Bishop 
 Watson could not know any thing at all about such a thing — his had 
 been prior to the discovery of galvanic electricity. 
 
 You mean Dr. Watson's book ? I have never seen Dr. Watson's 
 book. I have hunted all over the essays, and I cannot find any 
 record of it there; but if Dr. W r atson discovered it in 1748, as I 
 understand it has been stated that he did — 
 
 Mr. Hill begged to interpose. 
 His learned friend, Mr. Birkbeck, had been speaking of one 
 thing, and General Pasley of another. General Pasley spoke of 
 
69 
 
 completing the circuit by water, or by means of earth, so that a 
 single wire connected with the earth or water at both ends, gave a 
 perfect circuit. That was what General Pasley had spoken of, and 
 not the generation of electricity or galvanism, by thrusting different 
 metals into the earth. With respect to the last, it might or might 
 not be that Mr. Bain was the discoverer of that. He (Mr. Hill) 
 did not want that, and Mr. Bain was welcome to the merit of the 
 discovery. What he had asked General Pasley about was, the 
 power of completing a circuit when you had got half the circuit, by 
 means of water or by means of the earth. 
 
 The Witness. 
 
 Common electricity? 
 
 Mr. mil, 
 Mr. Cooper knows that is old. 
 
 The Witness. 
 
 As old as the hills as relating to common electricity. 
 
 By Mr. Birkbeck. 
 
 Is not that which we have just been speaking of, Mr. Bain's in- 
 vention ? The invention, if I understand you, of the production of 
 electricity, by placing two different metals in the earth, I consider to 
 be due to Mr. Bain: 
 
 Now I will read to you what General Pasley said: " The prin- 
 ciple was, that an electrical circuit may be made by water or the 
 earth, using only one single wire. That water or the earth are 
 electrical conductors, and therefore that one wire, with one plate of 
 zinc at the extremity of one wire, buried in the ground or immersed 
 in water, and with another plate of copper put into the ground or 
 water at the other end of the wire, near the electrical machine and 
 voltaic battery, will make a perfect circuit, instead of using two 
 wires, which had been considered necessary before." Now I wish 
 to ask you whether it makes the least difference whether you put 
 in a plate of zinc at one end and a plate of copper at the other — or 
 two plates of zinc and two plates of copper ? It makes no difference 
 at all. 
 
 What should you say if you did not know this evidence had been 
 given by General Pasley — should you say the person who gave it was 
 acquainted with the principles of voltaic electricity ? Why, I should 
 be very sorry to give an opinion on a matter which would affect in 
 any degree the reputation of General Pasley. 
 
 What should you say if you did not know by whom it was given ? 
 I should say from what you have just read to me, that it appears to 
 me to be jumble, I can hardly understand it, I really cannot under- 
 stand the question, or what the plate of zinc and plate of copper have 
 to do with the electrical machine. He is talking of voltaic electri- 
 city in combination with frictional electricity. 
 
70 
 
 The General is ? — Yes. 
 
 If General Pasley stated his impression to be that Mr. Bain had 
 borrowed from Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone — 
 
 Mr. Hill submitted that if Mr. Birkbeck wished to ask any ques- 
 tion to contradict General Pasley he must read the General's 
 evidence. 
 
 Mr. Birkbeck was perfectly willing to do so. 
 
 Now the General said, " I ought to have mentioned that on com- 
 paring the pointing telegraphs of Mr. Wheatstone and of Mr. Bain, that 
 Mr. Wheatstone's printing telegraph worked three times as quick as 
 Mr. Bain's, and there was an assertion made by Mr. Finlaison and Mr. 
 Bain that Mr. Wheatstone had copied, or had appropriated his 
 printing telegraph, that he had taken the idea from him, and Mr. 
 Wheatstone's appeared to me so much superior, that I thought, if 
 there was any copying in the case, that Mr. Bain had copied from Mr. 
 Wheatstone, and not Mr. Wheatstone from Mr. Bain." Now I wish 
 to ask you whether that is your opinion also ? I have never seen 
 Mr. Wheatstone's printing telegraph in action. 
 
 Have you seen it in the specification ? Yes, I have seen his speci- 
 fication. 
 
 What conclusion did you come to ? I cannot say which has the 
 priority of claim. I cannot recollect at the present time which is the 
 prior patent. 
 
 Is there any similarity between them ? There is some similarity. 
 Did this telegraph which you saw at Nine Elms give signals ? 
 Yes, it did. 
 
 Will you be kind enough to describe how it gave signals ? By a 
 circular dial-plate, which had certain figures upon it, and the signal 
 was transmitted. For instance, I requested a certain message to be 
 sent, and I gave, I think it was the 22nd of the fourth month, 1844, 
 that was the 22nd of April, 1844. I requested that might be sent. 
 It was printed when the message was sent and it was printed when 
 the message was returned, and I had that piece of paper until within 
 a very short time. 
 
 I believe that was not the paper (handing a small piece of yellow 
 paper to the witness) ? Something like this. This was not the 
 message I think I sent. I sent two messages. This may be one : 
 but one I recollect perfectly well was the 22nd of April, 1844. I 
 have that, but have unfortunately left the book at home in which it 
 is placed. I have not brought it here to-day. It transmitted the 
 signal, it was sent to Wimbledon, and the paper printed was put 
 into my hands, and I was asked if that was the same message I sent. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 Is that the same paper ? No ; it was something analogous to that* 
 (Mr. Bain explained the working of a model to the Committee.) 
 
71 
 
 By Mr. Birkbeck. 
 
 Are you acquainted with any more perfect form of Electric Tele- 
 graph than that? I never saw that model until this morning. There- 
 fore I have not had time to examine it attentively ; but it appears to 
 me to act remarkably well, very quickly and very steadily. 
 
 Do you consider Mr Bain has made any improvement in Electric 
 Telegraphs ? 
 
 Mr. Hill inquired what that had to do with the issue which the 
 Committee had stated they would confine the inquiry to. 
 
 Mr. Birkbeck submitted that it had a great deal to do with it, for 
 it bore directly upon the very issue which the Committee had men- 
 tioned, because he would show the Committee that through the com- 
 petition of this Company those great improvements which had 
 hitherto been made in Electric Telegraphs would be put an end to if 
 this Bill were to pass. 
 
 Mr. Hill was willing to go into the whole inquiry, if it were 
 thought necessary to do so, but he was only anxious that his client 
 should not be prejudiced by any piecemeal inquiry. If Mr. Bain 
 had made an invention which was not included in any of Messrs. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's patents, he would have a right to exercise 
 his invention after the Bill was passed, and if it were an invention 
 that superseded all that had gone before it, and he had a right to 
 practise it, all the Acts of Parliament that could be passed, all the 
 power of government, all the power of commercial interest could not, 
 thank God, prevent such a useful invention coming into full play. 
 
 By Mr. Birkbeck. 
 You know something about the progress of inventions ? Relating 
 to Electric Telegraphs ? 
 
 Inventions generally ? Yes, I do. 
 
 Do you think if this Bill had been passed five or six years ago Mr. 
 Bain would have been so likely to make these improvements? 
 
 Mr. Hill — Really this is imagination double distilled. I trust 
 the Committee will lay down some intelligible rule of inquiry. I 
 shall be happy to follow it, but this Jack-o'-lantern sort of investi- 
 gation I really do not know how to meet. 
 
 By Mr. Birkbeck. 
 Do you consider that Mr. Bain made improvements in Electric 
 Telegraphs? Yes, I do. 
 
 Very considerably ? Yes, I do. 
 
 Do you know whether asphalt is a good non-conductor of electri- 
 city? I know that it is a non-conductor of electricity, it is a very 
 perfect non-conductor of electricity. 
 
 Do you consider it a good mode of insulation to support the wires 
 or to case the wires in asphalt ? Yes, I do. 
 
72 
 
 Cross-examined by Mr. Hill. 
 
 With regard to this experiment in 1844, you say you do not con- 
 sider it a complete failure ? No, I do not consider it a failure at all. 
 
 What did it do ? It transmitted a message to Wimbledon and 
 brought me the answer back. 
 
 That is to say, you stood there and were told so, that is all you 
 know about it, as you did not go to Wimbledon? No, I could not 
 be in two places at once. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 What was the interval of time ? I did not take particular account 
 of the time, but it appeared to me not to work so rapidly as I should 
 have expected to have seen it; but then it had two operations to per- 
 form, it had to transmit a message, and had to print it. 
 
 What was the interval do you think, speaking as near as you can ? 
 I should think somewhere about two or three minutes. 
 
 By Mr .Hill 
 
 Did you note it at all ? I did not. 
 
 Can you tell whether it was six minutes and a half? This, which 
 is on this yellow piece of paper, was not the message. This may be 
 one of them, but this is not the one I am particularly alluding to, I 
 don't know whether I sent this message or not ; I recollect the other 
 because it was the 22nd of April, 1844; that I recollect very well. 
 
 And do you mean to say that you did not note, nor that any hody 
 noted the time it took to send and return the message ? I did not, 
 only it appeared to me to be rather tardy. 
 
 What did you compare it with when you considered it rather 
 tardy ? With what I expected to see. 
 
 Had you seen Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's on the Great 
 Western? I don't think I had at that time. 
 
 But you had heard accounts of it ? Yes, I knew perfectly well the 
 motion of Electric Telegraphs in general. 
 
 Was General Pasley there ? No. 
 
 Who was there ? There were two other gentlemen, I do not know 
 their names, I never saw them before, and do not think I have since. 
 
 Friends of Mr. Bain ? They may have been. I don't know ; 
 Mr. Finlaison was there; but independently of Mr. Finlaison, there 
 were two other gentlemen there, but I do not recollect who they 
 were; I understand they came from one of the government offices, 
 and that is all I know about it. 
 
 Mr. Alexander Bain called. Examined by Mr Webster. 
 Are you a native of Scotland? I am. 
 
 Did you serve your apprenticeship to the business of a watch- 
 maker in Edinburgh? Not in Edinburgh, in Wick. 
 A town in the North of Scotland ? Yes. 
 About the year 1837 did you come to London? Yes, 
 
73 
 
 With what object ? To follow my business as a watch and clock 
 maker. 
 
 I believe about that time your attention was directed to the appli- 
 cation of electricity? Very shortly afterwards. 
 
 Was that on hearing a lecture ? Yes, at the Adelaide Gallery. 
 
 Did it strike you that it was applicable to your business ? It did. 
 
 Now, some time after that I believe you made some applications 
 of it? I did. 
 
 What was the first you made ? The first was an endeavour to 
 move clocks with it. 
 
 Did you succeed in moving clocks by electricity ? I did. 
 
 The application of electricity, as a moving power of machinery, 
 had then become a matter of experiment ? My attention was not 
 drawn to it for the purpose of moving machines to work instead of 
 steam , until afterwards ; but the little machines in the Adelaide 
 Gallery were moved by rotating magnets. 
 
 You have spoken of having made your invention relating to 
 clock-making. Did you also make an invention relating to Electric 
 Telegraphs? Afterwards — after the clocks. 
 
 Was that about the same time ? Shortly afterwards ; very 
 shortly. 
 
 What was the nature of the invention relating to the Electric 
 Telegraph ? It was to make a printing telegraph. 
 
 Was the object of that to print by the current, or by the 
 machinery moved by the current? My first object was to print by 
 the current; but at that time I was not so well acquainted with the 
 power of the current when sent through a long wire. 
 
 What was the first machine that you made ? How was the first 
 machine made that you constructed ? The first machine that I 
 made at all, was a wheel with types upon it, to be worked by an 
 electro magnet. 
 
 Did you, about that time, make a machine with types, that 
 would print a message? Yes. 
 
 I do not want you to go into the details of that machine : 1 be- 
 lieve, at that time, you had not funds to enable you to bring it 
 forward? I had not. 
 
 You were a journeyman Watchmaker ? Yes. 
 
 The only resources you had were what you earned in your 
 trade ? I had no other resources. 
 
 Did you make application to Sir Peter Laurie ? Yes, a con- 
 siderable time afterwards — after I attempted the first machine. 
 
 What was the earliest time at which you constructed an elec- 
 trical machine for printing, of the kind you have described ? In 
 1840: it was then I overcame many difficulties which I had met 
 with before. 
 
 You made an application to Sir Peter Laurie? On the 1st of 
 August, 1840. 
 
 Had you made this machine, so that it would work, some time 
 
74 
 
 before that ? Yes : I may mention here that I had several pieces of 
 machinery at that time ; it was not confined to one or two, there 
 were several. 
 
 I wish to know how long before your application to Sir Peter 
 Laurie, you had satisfied yourself of the practicability of making an 
 electrical printing machine ? A considerable time before. 
 
 Two or three months, or how long? Many months. 
 
 Was it early in that year? I think I was satisfied of the prac- 
 ticability of it before 1840. 
 
 Then you applied to Sir Peter Laurie on the 1st of August, 
 1840? Yes. 
 
 You had an introduction to Dr. Birkbeck ? I did not see him. 
 
 Did you apply to Mr. Baddeley, the editor or assistant-editor of 
 the Mechanics' Magazine? I did. 
 
 Were you recommended by him to go to Professor Wheatstone ? 
 Yes, by Mr. Baddeley I was. 
 
 Had you at that time any knowledge of the Professor? None. 
 
 Did you go to him as a man of science? I was recommended to 
 go to him by Mr. Baddeley. 
 
 At what date did you go to him ? The same day, the 1st of 
 August. 
 
 Where did you see him? At King's College. 
 At that time had you seen any of the specifications of Messrs. 
 Cooke and Wheatstone ? None : I did not know that there were 
 
 ww- . . . . '-: : *Wg? 
 
 You were not acquainted with their invention? Quite unac- 
 quainted. 
 
 What passed at that first interview with you and the Professor? 
 There was an appointment made. I explained my invention to 
 Professor Wheatstone, and there was an appointment made for 
 another day, when I was to call at Professor Wheatstone's house. 
 
 There was nothing done that day but an appointment made ? 
 No. 
 
 When did you see him next ? I think on the 18th of the same 
 month. 
 
 Did you explain to Professor Wheatstone, the first day, the 
 nature of the invention ? I explained the nature of the two in- 
 ventions — the Electric Printing Telegraph, and the electric clock. 
 I partially explained them ; I did not explain them very fully. 
 
 You did not take the model with you ? No. 
 
 Did he at that time say any thing to you about any invention of 
 his own, relating either to the electric clock or the Electric Tele- 
 graph ? Not the Electric Printing Telegraph : he spoke of other 
 telegraphs, but not of printing telegraphs nor of the electric clock. 
 
 Did he say any thing of an invention of the kind you described 
 to him ? No. 
 
 Was the next appointment at his house ? As far as I can re- 
 member. 
 
15 
 
 Did you see him then ? I did. 
 
 Did you take any thing with you ? Two models. 
 
 What models were they ? A rough model of part of the print- 
 ing telegraph, and a model of a portion of the electric clock. 
 
 What passed on that occasion ? Professor Wheatstone bought 
 the model of the printing telegraph I had with me. 
 
 What did he give you for it ? Five pounds then ; and there was 
 a written agreement that I was to receive 50/. as soon as Professor 
 Wheatstone made use of it. 
 
 As soon as he applied your printing telegraph to his telegraph, 
 then you were to have 50/. ? Yes, 501. more. 
 
 Was any agreement made then or at any time about the electrical 
 clock? None. 
 
 Was any thing said about the electrical clock? I brought a model 
 with me and showed it to Professor Wheatstone — 
 
 The Committee thought they had nothing to do with any private 
 conversation that might have passed between Mr. Bain and Professor 
 Wheatstone. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 An agreement was made on that occasion that you should furnish 
 a model for 150/.? That was afterwards. 
 
 On another occasion? On another occasion. 
 
 Did you furnish the model which was part of the agreement ? 
 There was more than one model, there were two models that con- 
 stituted the agreement. I finished one and partly finished another. 
 
 The Committee could not see that any useful object would be 
 gained by this line of examination. 
 
 A long discussion ensued, which terminated thus — 
 
 The Chairman — Mr. Bain has one telegraph at work, has he not? 
 
 Mr. Webster— Yes. 
 
 The Chairman — Go into that and compare it with Messrs. Cooke 
 and Wheatstone's. 
 
 13?/ Mr. Webster. 
 
 You, I believe, have erected a telegraph between Glasgow and 
 Edinburgh? I have. 
 
 How many wires has that? One wire. 
 
 Is that a metallic circuit or does the earth complete the circuit? 
 The earth completes the circuit. The wire is one-half of the circuit, 
 and the earth is the other half of the circuit. 
 
 Is that different in that respect from what has been referred to 
 here as the metallic circuit as described in the earlier patents of 
 Cooke and Wheatstone? Yes. 
 
 It is different in that respect ? The patents of Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone prior to 1842 had what is termed metallic circuits, that is, two 
 wires. 
 
 What was the cost of putting up that telegraph between Edin- 
 burgh and Glasgow? The contract is 50/. per mile. 
 
76 
 
 Have you been paid for that as it has gone on? I have. 
 
 Have you heard any complaint respecting it from the Company 
 or other persons? None whatever. 
 
 Has it answered to your satisfaction ? It has. 
 
 You have told us the cost and you have told us that it is a single 
 index? There is a single pointer with two signals. 
 
 Was the contract profitable to you? Yes. 
 
 Would you take any number of miles at the same price? I 
 should be glad to take any number I could get at the same price, 
 and it would yield a good profit. 
 
 You were paid as it went on? You are not a man of considerable 
 capital? No; I was paid as it went on by the Company. 
 
 You say you put up at a good profit a single wire and not a 
 metallic circuit. Had it a complete set of signals with a single 
 signal-plate ? The instruments there have each a single pointer, and 
 two signals, I and V. 
 
 Does that I and V telegraph accurately represent the one at the 
 Glasgow and Edinburgh Railway? Yes; I call it the single wire 
 and the single index telegraph. 
 
 Does that one on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway work at 
 intermediate stations as well as at the extreme stations ? Yes. 
 
 How many — do you know ? Seven intermediate stations. 
 
 Now with what rapidity will that work ? About from twenty- 
 seven to thirty letters of the alphabet per minute. 
 
 I wish you to compare that with the invention of Messrs. Cooke 
 and Wheatstone on the Blackwall Railway ? I have not seen Cooke 
 and Wheatstone's, or rather not examined Cooke and Wheatstone's 
 telegraph on the Blackwall Railway. 
 
 You know now, I suppose, the invention described in their speci- 
 fications ? Yes, I do. 
 
 I wish at present to confine you to the metallic circuit. The first 
 three, I believe, relate to the metallic circuits ? The first three or 
 four. I think there are four. 
 
 What is the difference in the expense of construction, or conve- 
 nience of a single wire of that kind and the metallic circuit of Cooke 
 and Wheatstone ? There is very great difference. 
 
 Describe them in your own way? In the first place, Cooke and 
 Wheatstone's telegraph with metallic circuits requires two wires. 
 There is the double quantity of wire used ; there are also two needles 
 used. 
 
 Do they work with less power than your's work with ? When the 
 earth is used as half of the circuit, the telegraph works with less 
 power than where there is a complete metallic circuit. 
 
 And with respect to the rapidity of working ? The rapidity of 
 working I should say would be the same. 
 
 I believe you have several further improvements which is the 
 matter of the last patent you have taken out ? I have. 
 
 Are those considerable improvements on any thing which has pre- 
 
77 
 
 viously been in use, or which is now in use ? They are improvements, 
 or rather I consider them improvements on every thing that I knew 
 before of the same kind. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 What is the date of your last patent? 25th of September, 1845. 
 By Mr. Hill 
 
 That is not yet specified ? No, it must be specified in a very few 
 days. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 Will those improvements of this last patent enable you to give a 
 much greater number of signals in the same time ? Much greater. 
 
 What is the number of signals that can be given ? There are two 
 arrangements I have for giving signals ; one arrangement is to spell 
 words merely by the letters of the alphabet, which is exceedingly 
 rapid compared to every other method that I am acquainted with, 
 and as far as I can imagine, I can transmit them at the rate of about 
 fifty or sixty letters of the alphabet in a minute. That is one 
 method. 
 
 According to one method you transmit the signals at the rate of 
 fifty or sixty letters in a minute ? Yes ; according to another method 
 I arrange the signals on tables, and these tables are folded opposite 
 to each other, like the leaves of a book. The signals are in squares on 
 a table. Now I mean to use sentences or words in these squares and 
 the tables altogether, about thirty-four of them, will contain an im- 
 mense number of words, — in fact almost the whole of the language. 
 
 The whole of the English language 1 Yes, they may be taken 
 either in sentences or in words. 
 
 Then you will be enabled to combine words ? To combine words, 
 yes. There are words in each square, for instance. I can combine 
 the words — 
 
 You will combine words so as to read sentences instead of reading 
 letters ? Yes, instead of spelling the words. 
 
 Can you compare the rate at which intelligence can be transmitted 
 by the means you have last described with the rate at which it can 
 be done by the other ? No comparison can be drawn between them, 
 because the table of sentences will transmit perhaps about from 
 twenty- five to thirty sentences in a minute — full sentences. 
 
 I believe you are able, when required, to explain to the Commit- 
 tee in detail how that is done ? It is done in this way. There are 
 two actions on the machine ; by reversing the currents of electri- 
 city, I show any one of two sets of signals ; I take two actions : in- 
 stead of making the electricity act on a single pointer, I make it act 
 on two magnets ; I thereby run one point along the top of the 
 table, and the other down the left-hand side. By these two actions, 
 T. can run both of the pointers together, one along the top of the 
 table to the right, and the other down the side at the left ; or I can 
 
78 
 
 run any one I like of them ; I can run the one at the top along, or 
 the one at the side downwards. 
 
 You say by that means you can transmit intelligence in words and 
 in sentences, with almost inconceivable rapidity ? Yes ; I may re- 
 mark here to illustrate it further, the table is divided into squares by 
 lines downwards and across ; when the pointer is opposite any line 
 at the top, it shows the whole line downwards, and at the side, the 
 lines across, and where the lines intersect each other, the sentence 
 or word is found. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 Have you made experiments on the new patent ? I have. 
 Quite sufficient to satisfy you ? Yes. 
 
 On a railway ? No ; but I know the current of electricity is the 
 same that I use in the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway forty-six 
 miles. The current of electricity which I use in this I and V tele- 
 graph, will, I know, do for the new one. 
 
 By Mr. Webster, 
 I believe your specification is due to-morrow ? On the 25th ; 
 
 yes. # t ■ ; ! 
 
 Have you the complete working drawings of this invention al- 
 ready prepared? I have. 
 
 It is not a matter of policy or prudence to publish things of this 
 sort until you are obliged to enroll them in your specification? 
 No ; I do not do it generally. 
 
 You tell me that this is working. I presume upon the single 
 wire, and the earth used as half the circuit? Yes. 
 
 When was that first used for telegraphic purposes in England? 
 It is a difficult question for me. 
 
 Did you hear Mr. Cowper's evidence? I did. 
 
 Was the telegraph on which he lectured comprised in your speci- 
 fication, or patent, of the 27th day of May, 1843 ? It was^ 
 
 Then in respect to the single wire and single signal-plate, or 
 needle, and the earth forming the circuit, as the one on the Edin- 
 burgh and Glasgow — is that invention and the one you have 
 just described as the subject of your patent, the same? In prin- 
 ciple. 
 
 I limit it to a single wire and non-metallic circuit and to a single 
 needle ? The expense of fitting up the new telegraph on the railway 
 will be the same as the one I have fitted up. The wire the same ; 
 the posts the same, and so on. 
 
 I wish to have a distinct answer to this question, that in respect 
 to the mode in which it is worked, as regards the electricity, it is the 
 same as that described by Mr. Cowper, and contained in the specifi- 
 cation of your patent of 1843? There are two ways of working the 
 patent of 1843 ; one is by the electric current of the earth, and the 
 other by the currents produced either by a voltaic battery, or by a 
 magneto-electric machine, or by thermo-electricity, or any thing of 
 
79 
 
 that kind ; any such currents produced in any of those ways requir- 
 ing to be transmitted through the circuit — 
 
 I do not wish to go into the details of that. This is the only 
 patent you have taken out since 1843 1 It is. 
 
 You told us the expense of the telegraph on the Edinburgh and 
 Glasgow Railway was 50/. a mile? Yes. 
 
 Would the expense of this last improved patent be more or less 
 than that, or the same ? On the railway it would be the same ; but 
 the telegraph instruments in the station would be more. 
 
 By the railway you mean the posts, and the wires, and the insula- 
 tion ? Yes, they are the same, in point of expense, by either patent. 
 
 What would be the difference of expense of the apparatus ? They 
 would be, perhaps, from 50/. to 60/. difference for each instrument. 
 
 Do you mean that 60/. would do it? Yes ; that instrument, 
 which you see there, I could make for 12/. ; and the other, I con- 
 sider, would, before I am remunerated properly, cost 70/. I mean 
 the tables, and the arrangement of the machinery to work them. 
 
 The cost of the telegraph on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Rail- 
 way, when complete, was 50/. a mile? Yes. 
 
 Well, I want to know for what you would contract per mile, for a 
 distance of forty-six miles — I want to know what you would charge 
 per mile, to lay down your most improved form of telegraph ? The 
 telegraph on the railway itself, not the instruments in the stations, 
 but the laying down the wire on the line, will cost just the same, 
 50/. per mile. 
 
 I will take it another way. What will the indicating apparatus 
 cost on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway. 12/. 
 
 What will that cost in its most perfect form ? The same. 
 
 Of the last patent, I mean ? About 60/. or 70/. 
 
 Now, if you had a contract offered you for 100 miles, what 
 would you lay down your most improved form at per mile? 50/. 
 per mile. 
 
 If you had so large a contract for 100 miles, you would lay it 
 down in the most improved form of your last patent at 50/. a mile, 
 and get a profit too? Yes. 
 
 Now, you have heard described the Rheotome ? Yes. 
 
 That is one of the subjects of Cooke and Wheatstone's patent? 
 It is. 
 
 What is the defect of the instrument ? The practical defect in 
 the instrument called the Rheotome? 
 
 Mention the practical defect? It is that the signals do not show 
 correctly : for instance, if A is shown at London by that instru- 
 ment, B might be shown at another station while A was shown at 
 London. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 Do you mean at the same time ? At the game moment— it is 
 liable to this error. 
 
80 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 I believe it is important to have some check observed at the 
 end ? Yes. 
 
 You have that in the Rheotome ? No. 
 
 Have you it in your apparatus ? Yes. I thought you meant the 
 telegraph that was tried on the South Western Railway. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 That is the one you are speaking of ? Yes. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 Is that a printing telegraph? Yes. 
 
 You spoke of some defect that the Rheotome was subject to ? 
 
 What is the nature of that defect ? It is a machine which is 
 very liable to go wrong; and the defect is, that if it once goes 
 wrong, there is no means of ascertaining that it is so, and it will 
 ever after remain wrong. 
 
 Is that a fatal objection to the general use of the instrument? I 
 consider it so. 
 
 Will that sort of defect occur in your instrument at Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow ? No ; because it is on a different principle : it does not 
 occur in the deflecting needle telegraph at all. 
 
 I was asking you respecting the check on the observer; is that to 
 be done by the printing telegraph ? Yes. 
 
 Do you know if the Rheotome is in use on railways? I don't 
 know. 
 
 Since 1843, the date of your patent of May 27, have you been 
 continually improving the telegraph, till you have brought it to 
 this improved state ? I have. 
 
 Now your attention has been called to the clause in this Bill, 
 with reference to breaking up streets, and so on? Yes. 
 
 In what way will that affect you, if you have not the same 
 power? I consider it would affect me in this way; that if I get a 
 contract, we will say, for instance, from London to Bristol — I get 
 this contract, and make an arrangement with the railway to lay it 
 down on this line — the Great Western Railway — I might lay down 
 the whole distance on this railway ; but if this Company get this 
 Bill, I should be prevented opening the street, and bringing it 
 through the centre of the town where the offices might be con- 
 veniently placed. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 How would you be prevented from opening the streets? I 
 might not actually be prevented ; but it is very likely that those 
 who required the telegraph would apply to the Company that have 
 the power to open the streets. 
 
81 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 In order to lead the telegraph through towns, must you have the 
 power to open the streets ? Yes. 
 
 Do you think that you would be excluded from laying your 
 telegraph on railways if this Bill should pass ? Yes. 
 
 Is the advantage of the powers that this Bill will give to the 
 Company, such that, in your opinion, you would be practically 
 excluded from introducing your improved telegraph? I think I 
 should ; at least, to a great extent. I might have a little to do, 
 but very little to what I might have if it was fair single-handed 
 competition. 
 
 Do you know that inventors, without considerable funds, are 
 very much prejudiced by competition with people who have 
 funds? I do. 
 
 Have you experienced considerable difficulties yourself in Eng- 
 land, from the influence of these gentlemen, Messrs. Cooke and 
 Wheatstone? I have, indeed. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 Up to this time, you have found they have obstructed your in- 
 vention? I have. 
 
 And seriously? And seriously. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 How have you been obstructed? By the influence that these 
 gentlemen have in England with railways: — and the society that 
 Professor Wheatstone has moved in, the Scientific Society, has 
 obstructed me very considerably — at least, I consider so : I may be 
 mistaken ; but I consider I have been, because I understand that ru- 
 mours have been put out frequently, very frequently, that my tele- 
 graph was not any thing like so good as his telegraph, or Cooke's 
 telegraph; and these rumours were kept up among that portion of 
 society in which I did not move; and their position in society had 
 influence, which operated against my getting orders for telegraphs. 
 
 I believe you have also been met with threats of legal proceed- 
 ings? I have from Professor Wheatstone, not from Mr. Cooke. 
 
 Now, I ask you whether these complete improvements have gone 
 on progressively from the time of your patent in 1843 — have the 
 series of improvements that have led to this complete one, gone on 
 progressively from 1840? Yes. 
 
 Have you seen lately the telegraph put up at Derby and at 
 Croydon? I have seen the telegraph at Croydon, and a portion of 
 that which is being put up at Derby ; it was not finished at Derby. 
 I have seen a telegraph instrument at Derby. 
 
 Is that the same that you have described? Yes. 
 
 It is not put up by you? No. 
 
 Do you know who it is put up by? I was at Derby, and the 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 engineer, Mr. Barlow, told me it was put up by Cooke and 
 Wheatstone. 
 
 Is that the same as the subject of your patent in 1843? I con- 
 sider it the same. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 How many have you put up altogether? Only the one on the 
 Edinburgh and Glasgow. 
 
 How long has that been working ? Several months. 
 
 How long ; state precisely ? Nearly three months. 
 
 Is any official report made of it ? Not yet. 
 
 I understand you to say you have heard of no complaints ? No. 
 
 And that it works perfectly satisfactory ? Yes. 
 
 And perfectly correctly ? Perfectly correctly. 
 
 By Mr. Hill. 
 And that was put up at 50/. a mile ? Yes. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 Is it intended at the expiration of any period that any report 
 should be made ? It has not been said that there would be a report, 
 nothing has been said respecting it. 
 
 Cross-examined by Mr. Hill 
 
 You say it has been at work three months ; are your wires carried 
 under the ground by asphalt according to your invention ? No. 
 
 Are they carried above the ground on posts ? They are carried 
 on posts. 
 
 Is it a printing telegraph ? No. 
 
 Now, you have an invention for moving the coil and not the 
 needle, the needle being Cooke and Wheatstone's invention ? I don't 
 understand you. 
 
 You have an invention for moving the coil in giving the signal, 
 instead of moving the needle to give the signal ? I have. 
 Do you understand that ? Yes. 
 
 Moving the coil instead of the needle was your own invention, 
 moving the needle being Mr. Wheatstone's invention ? No, the 
 moving of the needle is, I understand, Professor Oersted's, of Copen- 
 hagen. 
 
 Is it not your own ? I don't claim it. 
 But the coil you did claim ? I did. 
 
 What do you use on the railway at Glasgow ? I claim — 
 Never mind what you claim, what do you use ? I use, not the 
 
 needle but two circular magnets, mounted on an arm of brass. 
 Then you use some third apparatus, neither needle nor coil, is that 
 
 it? Yes. 
 
 It is a mere substitution for a needle is it not? I don't consider 
 it so. 
 
83 
 
 Now we have heard a great deal of your discovery, that the earth 
 generates electricity and galvanism ; in your railway do you use that 
 discovery or do you resort to a voltaic "battery ? I use voltaic 
 batteries. 
 
 Do you use the alarum which you have described there, or do 
 you use an alarum upon similar principles to those of Messrs. Cooke 
 and Wheatstone ? I do not. 
 
 Which do you not ? I do not use Messrs. Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone's alarum. 
 
 Do you use the one you have described ? The model that is 
 there do you mean ? 
 
 Do you use one like that model? I don't understand you. 
 
 When I came into the room last, you were explaining anew signal, 
 do you use the new signal now on that railway ? Yes. 
 
 What you call I and V ? The single wire and single index I 
 call it. It is very often called the I and V telegraph. 
 
 Now you have told the Committee that generating or obtaining 
 your electric, or magnetic, or galvanic power from the earth is not 
 so powerful as by a voltaic battery ? By the voltaic battery there 
 is a greater command of power than from the earth. 
 
 It is more certain in its application, is it not ? No, what I mean 
 is, that by the voltaic battery I can produce it to any extent I re- 
 quire ; but by the earth I cannot produce it to that extent, but to the 
 extent it is produced it is more certain, far more certain than the 
 voltaic battery. 
 
 What extent can you produce it to ? I have produced ten miles. 
 But you cannot the whole distance between Glasgow and Edin- 
 burgh ? No. 
 
 .Bij the Committee. 
 Forty-five miles ? Forty-six. 
 
 By Mr, Webster. 
 
 I forgot to ask you one question; did you hear General Pasley's 
 evidence respecting the experiments on the South- Western Rail- 
 way and at your house ? I did. 
 
 Was the General correct as to what he stated about your having 
 used a voltaic battery at the South- Western Railway ? No, quite 
 incorrect. 
 
 Was the insulation there perfect ? No. 
 
 Was it any thing more than an experiment to show the practicabi- 
 lity of the printing telegraph ? Nothing more than an experiment. 
 
 No voltaic battery at all there ? There were voltaic batteries at 
 the station that I experimented with, but I did not work the print- 
 ing telegraph with the voltaic battery at all. 
 
 By Mr. Hill. 
 You had a voltaic battery there ? I had several 
 
84 
 
 "Was that experiment with reference to laying down the telegraph 
 from Nine Elms to Portsmouth ? I don't understand you. 
 
 Was the object of the experiment to convince General Pasley, and 
 the other gentlemen employed by government, that you by your 
 plan could lay down a telegraph from Nine Elms to Portsmouth, was 
 that the object of the experiment ? The object was to show that 
 the currents produced by the earth could print; that from the cur- 
 rents of the earth I could print messages backwards and forwards ; 
 the distances were not stated. I did not know what distance at that 
 time it would print. 
 
 Did you not know that government was entering into these expe- 
 riments for the purpose of choosing what telegraph should be laid 
 down between Nine Elms and Portsmouth ? I did. 
 
 Did you know at that time, that the power of electricity obtained 
 from the earth, and without the use of a galvanic battery, will only 
 run for ten miles? I was not aware at that time it would run so far. 
 I found it to run six miles very well there. 
 
 Now your telegraph, I think you say, has only one wire? Only 
 one. 
 
 Is there no use at all in having several wires ? — Is it utterly use- 
 less to have several wires ? I consider it utterly useless to have 
 several wires for one telegraph. 
 
 But what I want to know is, in laying down what we call a tele- 
 graph, is it not important to have several wires, although each wire 
 with the earth may complete a circuit ? I don't understand. 
 
 Suppose you take it right away ; suppose that you use a plan of 
 double wires for the purpose of completing the circuit : are there 
 not many cases in which it is useful to have four or two sets of such 
 wires? Yes, if you require four or six telegraphs. 
 
 If you want a plurality of telegraphs, it is useful to have a 
 plurality of wires ? Certainly. 
 
 That is true ? Certainly. 
 
 Now, I ask you, is it not very important to have a plurality of 
 telegraphs combined with one apparatus? That depends on the 
 amount of intelligence to be transmitted. 
 
 No doubt of it ; but I suppose you have not laid down this tele- 
 graph, prosecuting all this labour and invention for so many years 
 without being able to give me a practical answer. Are there not a 
 great many cases in which it is absolutely essential to have a plura- 
 lity of telegraphs ? Only when one telegraph will not do the 
 work. 
 
 But is not that a common case ? Not that I am aware of. 
 
 Now do you not happen to know that the government telegraph 
 from Nine Elms to Portsmouth, has two telegraphic communications 
 and not one? Don't you know that? No, I do not. 
 
 Now, were you not in the habit of going to the Great Western 
 termini, to see how Cooke and Wheatstone's telegraph worked? 
 I went twice to the Paddington Station of the Great Western 
 
85 
 
 Railway after I showed my own telegraph on the South-Western, 
 but not before. 
 
 Then do I understand you to say, that you never saw Cooke and 
 Wheatstone's telegraph at work at the Great Western Railway, 
 until after the year 1844 ? Never. 
 
 Have you never been to Blackwall ? Never, never at all. 
 
 Never at all to Blackwall ? No. 
 
 Then you do not know that Cooke and Wheatstone w r ere in the 
 habit of working a single wire with the earth to make a complete 
 circuit long before your patent ? I did not know it at all. 
 
 You never knew it till this moment ? No ; I saw it specified 
 about three months ago. 
 
 What was the date of the specification ? I don't remember the 
 date exactly, but I think it was after January last that it was lodged 
 in Scotland. 
 
 You have watched the progress of these patents ; I suppose, care- 
 fully, have you not? I have. 
 
 Do you know if Mr. Wheatstone, in the name of another person, 
 according to the law of Belgium, took out a patent? I w T as quite 
 ignorant of it. 
 
 You will be surprised to find this use of a single wire, together 
 with the earth, to complete a circuit specified in a patent in the year 
 1841, would you not? I did not know of it. 
 
 Do you read French? No. 
 
 Now you tell us you can make a telegraph for 507. a mile? Yes. 
 That is as good or better than any of Cooke and Wheatstone's? 
 That is my opinion. 
 
 Better? That is my opinion. 
 
 A great deal better? A great deal better. 
 
 But you are afraid that if these gentlemen have the power of 
 opening streets and you have not, that then you will not be able to 
 lay down a telegraph, even upon railways and for railway purposes? 
 I am afraid I should be greatly restricted in the number I should get. 
 
 Restricted in the number of telegraphs for railway purposes? Yes. 
 
 Do you consider that it is so very important, that the streets 
 should be open for the purpose? I think it is the best way of lay- 
 ing down a telegraph in a town. 
 
 And you think the advantage of opening the streets are such as to 
 make railway companies, and other persons requiring telegraphs, 
 pay for an inferior telegraph 125/. a mile, instead of 50/. a mile — 
 is that it? I think it likely they would do so, but there are other 
 considerations if you would allow me to explain. 
 
 By all means. — In laying down the telegraph it is most likely 
 that those who require it would go to a company who had such 
 powers to lay it down at once ; that is, the railway company would 
 go to the company that had the power to lay it down in the streets, 
 instead of going first, for instance, to myself, and then having to go 
 
86 
 
 to the Company afterwards to get their sanction, or to employ thein 
 to open the streets to complete it. 
 
 But, supposing the Company, and nobody else, had the power of 
 opening the streets, how should you do then? Certainly, to open 
 the streets would be the best plan, but other plans could be used. 
 
 What are these other plans? For instance, if the wire could be 
 suspended to the wall of houses, cast-iron brackets could be fixed in 
 the wall to support the wire. 
 
 "With the leave of the owner of the wall ? With the leave of the 
 owner of the wall, it is true ; but still cast-iron brackets could be 
 used and wire put on them in the wall. Another plan would be to 
 put up posts at the side of each lamp-post, without interfering with 
 the traffic of the town. 
 
 You are lawyer enough to know, I suppose, that none of those 
 plans can be adopted without the aid of Parliament, or the consent 
 of each individual owner ? If they are carried along the lamp-posts 
 of the street, perhaps the consent of the town-councils might be 
 sufficient. 
 
 Or might not ? Or might not. 
 
 Well then, you are of opinion, that some mode of enabling the 
 person who lays down the telegraph to carry it through the town 
 against all opposition is exceedingly important, are you not? Re- 
 peat the question. 
 
 You are aware of this, are you not, that some mode of enabling 
 the person who lays down a telegraph to carry it through a town 
 against any opposition is of exceeding importance for the perfection 
 of the telegraph ? It would be of importance for the perfection of 
 the telegraph, I have no doubt. 
 
 Is it not of very great public importance, that this telegraph 
 should be perfected — either yours, or Mr. Wheatstone's, or any 
 body else's plan? Yes. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 Have you any proposition made to you for the purchase of your 
 patent ? No ; there was some communication with my solicitor, 
 Mr. Van Sandau, I understood, from Mr. Wilson, Messrs. Cooke 
 and Wheatstone's solicitor, but it was so vague that I do not know 
 what it was. 
 
 You have not had any proposition from any other parties? No, 
 I have not. 
 
 You say 50/. a mile was the cost of the Edinburgh and Glasgow 
 line with one wire ? Yes. 
 
 If three wires were used, what would it have been? 20/. or 25/. 
 a mile more for each wire. 
 
 By Mr. Hill 
 
 Suppose they had a telegraph in which the circuit was made by 
 two wires; would it not be very easy to make that into two tele- 
 
87 
 
 graphs, according to the plan of making the earth half a circuit? 
 There would be no difficulty about it. 
 
 It might be done in ten minutes ? Not so short as that. 
 
 Half an hour? It would depend on the arrangement of the 
 instrument that might be fixed upon it. 
 
 It is only letting down the plates from each wire, instead of from 
 both wires, into the ground ? Exactly, and attaching some metallic 
 surface, or carbon, to conduct the current into the earth. 
 
 If you were well paid you could do it in an hour? I should 
 want more than that. 
 
 Two hours? More than that. 
 
 Well, three? I should like a day. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 Is the telegraph complete between Edinburgh and Glasgow ? It 
 is complete so far as the whole line is concerned ; the intermediate 
 stations are not yet complete, 
 
 You mean to say it would only cost 501. a mile to complete 
 it for working purposes ? To complete it entirely : there is no other 
 expense, except the instrument at each station. 
 
 That has been working three months ? It has been working, 
 seven miles, since July last. On that line, seven miles were com- 
 plete in July, from Edinburgh to Ratho. 
 
 Perhaps you know the expense of Messrs. Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone's ? I do not. I heard it stated, on Friday, at 125/. a mile: 
 I think I understood so. 
 
 That was the mean cost? Yes, the mean. 
 
 Have you made any offers to any railway companies in England, 
 to lay down telegraphs at the rate of 501. a mile ? I made an offer 
 to the Midland Counties Railway. 
 
 When? I think it was in December; I am not certain. 
 
 Had you any answer? I got an answer, but I did not get the 
 contract. 
 
 What was the answer? I do not remember at this moment. 
 Several letters passed between Mr. Barlow, the managing engineer, 
 and myself ; but I think I did not get an answer to my estimate — 
 I think not. For some time afterwards I had occasion to come to 
 London, and I called on Mr. Barlow, and was surprised to see the 
 instrument which you see there, with the needle, in his office. He 
 told me that Mr. Cooke had got the contract ; and I told him then 
 that that instrument was on the principle of rny single wire and 
 single index telegraph. He said he had nothing to do with that. 
 
 Have you applied to any other company? No, that is all. 
 By Mr. Hill 
 
 When was it you obtained that answer? Which answer? 
 The one you have just mentioned from Mr. Barlow? It was in. 
 the beginning of the year. 
 January ? Yes. 
 
 {Adjourned.) 
 
88 
 
 M A R T I S, 24o DIE MARTII, 1846. 
 (CAPTAIN BOLDERO IN THE, CHAIR.) 
 Cross-examination by Mr Hindmarsh continued. 
 Did you not make some application to the South-Eastern Railway 
 Company respecting the erection of a telegraph? No. 
 Or some offer? No. 
 None whatever? No. 
 
 Was there no negotiation or communication whatever between 
 you and the South-Eastern Company? No. 
 
 Or any of the servants or officers of the railway? I called once 
 at a station on a gentleman connected with the Croydon Railway. 
 I called once and that was all. 
 
 And that was respecting the erection of a telegraph, was it not? 
 Yes, it was. 
 
 Who was that, Mr. Barlow, was it not? I don't think it was, I 
 don't recollect the gentleman's name. 
 
 Was it Gregory ? No, it was not. 
 
 However, you did call on some one? Yes, I did. 
 
 And did you state to him the terms on which you would erect a 
 telegraph? I don't remember the conversation, it is a long time 
 ago — a considerable time ago. 
 
 A long time ? Yes, before I went down to Scotland. 
 
 How long ago is that? More than twelve months. 
 
 I want to know the kind of posts that you have erected upon 
 your Scotch telegraph? The posts I have erected are what are 
 termed Norwegian spars. They are used in London for scaffolding. 
 
 Common scaffolding spars? Yes. 
 
 Round spars? Yes, which I consider to be the best. 
 
 And they are also the cheapest, I believe? They are cheapest also. 
 
 They come to a very small sum of money? They do not come 
 to a very large sum of money, but I decidedly consider them to be 
 the best. 
 
 I believe some shilling or two each, independent of the labour, is 
 the outside cost? More than that. 
 
 Not much, some two or three shillings each? It hardly amounts 
 to three shillings. 
 
 It does not amount to three shillings ? No. 
 
 I believe you have seen the Great Western Railway telegraph, 
 have you not? I have. 
 
 The posts erected there are somewhat similar to yours ? They 
 are not. 
 
 Are they a more expensive description? I should think they 
 were, but they are such posts as I would not use in preference to the 
 Norwegian spars. 
 
 You have only one wire on your Scotch telegraph, and that, I 
 believe, is placed at the top of the pole ? It is. 
 
89 
 
 What is the cost of each of your indicating instruments, or what- 
 ever you call it, which you place at each station ? Twelve pounds. 
 
 How many stations have you on the Edinburgh and Glasgow 
 Kail way for your telegraph? Nine, including seven intermediate 
 stations between the termini. 
 
 When you communicate intelligence from either of the termini, 
 does the apparatus at the intermediate stations also communicate 
 like signals ? Yes, they do. 
 
 Now having one wire only, if there was any accident to happen 
 to any part of the line, of course, until that was repaired you could 
 not go on? I consider that if any accident happened to one wire, 
 it would happen to two, three, or four, equally the same. 
 
 You mean to each of the other wires? Yes. 
 
 But still if there was'an accident to happen, as a matter of course 
 you could not go on till that was rectified? Certainly not. 
 
 Now whilst you are making communications between the two 
 termini of your telegraph, if you have only one wire you cannot 
 make communications between the intermediate stations at the 
 same time? If the intelligence is intended to be delivered be- 
 tween the intermediate stations, there are first signals given to say 
 that the intelligence is from one particular station to another par- 
 ticular station. Signals are, in the first place, given for that 
 purpose. 
 
 You don't understand my question. I have not put it clearly. I 
 should be glad to explain this. 
 
 I am quite sure you will. Suppose communications of intelli- 
 gence are going on between Glasgow and Edinburgh along the 
 entire line, and you want to make communications between any of 
 the intermediate stations, can you do that while the communication 
 is going on along the whole line? You cannot send two commu- 
 nications through the same wire at the same time. 
 
 Then if you want the power of having double means of com- 
 municating intelligence at the same time you must have more wires 
 than one ? Yes, certainly. 
 
 I think I caught, but I was not quite sure, yesterday, that the 
 most improved instrument which you say you have invented, cost 
 somewhere about 601. Is that true? Yes, something near that 
 sum. 
 
 Is that the instrument which you say is comprised in your last 
 patent about to be specified? I mean the instrument not the wire 
 ' — the mere signal instrument. 
 
 Then it would be necessary if you use that instrument at all, to 
 place that instrument at each of the termini, and also at each inter- 
 mediate station where that was to be used ? That instrument would 
 be more particularly employed in its fullest extent, if the whole lan- 
 guage is put into it (as I mentioned yesterday,) between two 
 towns or two places where a great deal of communication is neces- 
 sary ; but for railway purposes, for the purpose of transmitting intel- 
 
90 
 
 ligence from station to station, I should, instead of taking it in its 
 full extent, put all the intelligence necessary into one table. 
 
 My question is this — if you use this improved instrument of 
 yours at all, you must have one at each terminus and at each 
 station? Yes, certainly. 
 
 An instrument costing 60/. to 70?. I think you said? Yes, hut 
 I consider that it is not necessary to use that instrument for railway 
 purposes. 
 
 But for the purpose of a general telegraph it would be necessary, 
 in your judgment? Yes, to have the best telegraph. 
 
 I hardly need ask you whether it is possible to construct a tele- 
 graph at 50/. a mile with an instrument of that description? Cer- 
 tainly at 501 a mile— it has nothing to do with the wire — the wire 
 is a different thing. 
 
 The 501. a mile was for the conducting wire only and the sup- 
 porters? Yes. 
 
 It has nothing to do "with the indicating instrument ? No; these 
 indicating instruments on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway 
 cost 12/. each. 
 
 You say that you made a considerable profit out of your 50/. I 
 suppose you would make somewhere about 201. a mile, did you not ? 
 I do not think it is for me to say the profit I made exactly. I made 
 a profit, and a profit that I am contented with. 
 
 Your mode of insulation, I believe, is asphalt placed in iron caps 
 at the top of your pole ? That is one mode. 
 
 Is that the mode you have adopted ? Yes ; asphalt and wood on 
 this one. 
 
 What sort of wire do you make use of? Iron wire. 
 Galvanised ? Yes. 
 
 How thick ? The thickness known by No. 9. 
 
 About three-sixteenths, is it ? Yes; I think rather more. 
 
 Re-examined by Mr. Webster, 
 
 This which you have spoken of as the more expensive instrument, 
 that is to have the whole of the language in it, as I understand, was 
 the sort of instrument that would be used as between London and 
 Portsmouth or London and Dublin? Just so. 
 
 But that it is wholly unnecessary to have so expensive an instru- 
 ment for railway purposes ? Yes. 
 
 The signals are limited? Yes. 
 
 The I and V would answer for that purpose ? Yes ; I have 
 arranged a table for railway signals with 190 squares in it, and the 
 I and V is so arranged at the top and the side that I can transmit 
 sentences by the I and V. I have arranged that for railway pur- 
 poses and it answers extremely well. 
 
 What is the cost of that? Twelve pounds. 
 
 That is the ordinary instrument? Yes. 
 
 My friend has asked some questions about the cost, and so on. 
 
91 
 
 I understood you to say yesterday you should be most happy to take 
 any contract for 501. a mile, being paid as you went on? Yes, I 
 should be glad ; I should make a good profit, at least a profit I am 
 contented with. 
 
 Now as to this distinct telegraph, you say you cannot send two 
 communications through the same wire at the same time, but that 
 you can send a communication from end to end of one wire, and 
 also to the intermediate stations at the same time? Yes. 
 
 How is that done? There is one wire from end to end. I cut 
 the wire at each of the intermediate stations, and take the two ends 
 into the station. I attach the ends to the telegraph instrument so 
 that the electric current, when it passes at all, has to pass through 
 all the instruments on the line, and works them all alike. If I move 
 the handle of any one instrument it affects the pointers of all, so 
 that the same signals are given at all the stations at the same 
 instant. 
 
 There could not be two communications along the same wire at 
 the same time, but you can send a communication from end to end 
 and to each intermediate station at the same instant ? Yes. 
 
 And the velocity of transmission is so great that it appears to 
 be instantaneous? Yes. 
 
 Now may that be described as taking off a portion of the current, 
 diverting it, and then returning it again to the main wire ? That 
 is a plan I adopted for the electric clocks. 
 
 May this mode be described in this way, as taking off a portion 
 of the current and then diverting it again into the main wire? Yes. 
 
 Was that a discovery of your own ? I believe it to be so. 
 
 Is it a very important discovery ? It is for electric clocks but I 
 do not think it is for telegraphs. 
 
 You say you believe it to be your own? I do. 
 
 Did you borrow it from any one else ? No. 
 
 If it existed before, it was without your knowledge? Yes, it 
 might exist before as a scientific fact, but I have never seen it applied 
 at all to any useful purpose. 
 
 You did not know of it having existed as a scientific fact ? I did 
 not. 
 
 You discovered it yourself as a scientific fact, and also applied it? 
 I did. 
 
 Whether it existed before or not you do not know? No. 
 
 As I understand you, before the applications you have last re- 
 ferred to, it was perfectly well known that electricity would pass 
 from one end to the other end of a wire ? Yes. 
 
 Did you discover that in addition to passing from one end to the 
 other of a wire, you could take off or divert a portion of the 
 current and return it into the wire again ? Yes. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 The whole portion of the current you take off ? Only a part. 
 
92 
 
 You never heard of that before ? No. 
 
 Not in the course of your investigation ? No. 
 
 Did you ever read any book on electricity or magnetism ? I have 
 read a good deal. 
 
 You never heard that any portion of an electric current could be 
 diverted and returned again into the same wire? No 3 not to make 
 it useful. 
 
 That is not the point, I am speaking of the discovery, leave the 
 application alone — you never heard of it ? No. 
 
 I believe Mr. Cooper stated the same thing the other day ? I 
 don't remember. I should be happy to explain that, for it does not 
 seem to be properly understood. It has been well known, that if 
 two wires are used instead of one, that a portion of the current would 
 pass through both; suppose two long telegraph wires are used in- 
 stead of one, and allow the current to pass through both, if they are 
 of equal length and equal thickness, an equal share would pass 
 through each. But take a portion of one wire, say the wire was a 
 mile long, and that on any two yards of that wire you tie a wire 
 there, and then from two yards of it tie the other end of it; it is not 
 so evident, at least it was not to me, that a portion of the current 
 would pass through the small wire ; it is that which I mean applying ; 
 it is that I use for the purpose of working clocks. But if a wire was 
 carried throughout a town, for instance, to work electric clocks, and 
 that wire had to be broken, as I break the telegraph wire for the tele- 
 graph stations — if it had to be broken in passing to every house, 
 and injured in any one house, then the accident would stop all the 
 other clocks. It occurred to me it would be useful if the main wire 
 were left whole and a derivative current let into every house without 
 breaking the main wire. It was in that way 1 considered it a dis- 
 covery. I tried it and found it would answer, and it is contained 
 in the patent of 1843. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 That, I believe, would represent what you mean (handing a dia- 
 gram to the witness) ? Yes. 
 
 Did you ever before your discovery or since your discovery, see 
 that contained in any published book ? No, I did not. 
 
 Not since your attention has been directed to it ? I have never 
 seen this published at all in any manner. 
 
 Did you publish it in your specification as a new thing. I did. 
 
 Do you know it is published in a subsequent specification of 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's as a new thing? Yes. 
 
 In a patent subsequent to yours? Yes. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh — My friend had better point out where we have 
 done so. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 An honourable member asked you whether you had made any 
 offers to railway companies to lay down your telegraph at 50/. a mile 
 
93 
 
 — have you offered it to railway companies, and advertised it in 
 papers to the extent of your powers ? Yes, I have. 
 
 I believe, with the exception of the contract on the Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow Railway, you have been unable to obtain any contract? 
 I have obtained none other. 
 
 Had you considerable difficulty in getting that contract? Yes. 
 
 Were the directors generally very much prepossessed with what 
 they had heard or knew of the invention of Cooke and Wheatstone ? 
 They were. 
 
 Were you obliged to institute several experiments to satisfy the 
 chairman of the superiority of yours? Yes. 
 
 And was it owing to that that you obtained the contract? I con- 
 sider so. 
 
 You were also asked by an honourable member of the Committee 
 whether you had had any proposition made to you from any parties 
 respecting the purchase of your patent ? Yes. 
 
 I think your answer was that you had ? It was. 
 
 I believe there was a proposition to Mr. Van Sandau, your attorney? 
 Yes. 
 
 But you had at some time or other some conversation with some 
 gentlemen upon it? Yes, it was mere conversation. 
 
 State the purport of that ? There was some conversation between 
 myself and two other gentlemen. 
 
 It did not amount to a proposition? Not at all. 
 
 What you did refer to passed between Mr. Wilson, the attorney 
 for the promoters, and Mr. Van Sandau ? Yes, what I referred to 
 yesterday. 
 
 Now you were asked by Mr. Hill whether you were not aware 
 of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's having used a single wire with 
 the earth for completing a circuit for a long while before your patent? 
 I believe I was asked that question. 
 
 When were you first aware of their having used it, or of their 
 having laid any claim to it ? It was a very considerable time after 
 my specification of 1843 was enrolled. 
 
 Was it from seeing their specification of their last patent? I be- 
 lieve it was. 
 
 Was that the first time you were aware of it ? I think it was — I 
 believe it was; no, I remember, it was at a meeting of the Society of 
 Arts in the Adelphi : it was there, I think. 
 
 Was it after the date of its being published in the specification of 
 your own patent ? A very considerable time. 
 
 You mentioned the advantage of the single wire and the circuit 
 of the earth. I think you said there was the saving of the wire, and 
 there was less power required in passing the electricity ? Two ad- 
 vantages — a saving of the wire, and a given power of electricity 
 would work at a greater distance than it would with a double wire ; 
 a much greater distance. 
 
94 
 
 Is the use of the metallic circuit a peculiar disadvantage as regards 
 the quantity of power ? It is. 
 
 With respect to long distances for instance ? I think it will be- 
 come more obvious when telegraphs are extended and the distances 
 will be longer than they are now. 
 
 You think for telegraphs of one hundred miles the metallic circuit 
 could be employed ? For one hundred it might, or perhaps two 
 hundred, but it is evident to my mind, from the investigations I have 
 made, and the experience I have had, that whenever the limit comes 
 to the transmission of electric currents through wires, it will appear 
 much sooner on a metallic circuit than what it will on a circuit com- 
 posed of earth and wire. 
 
 I believe you expressed that in this way ; you say that the resist- 
 ance to the motion or power required to produce it is incomparably 
 less in the earth than in the wire ? Yes ; I don't think the earth offers 
 any resistance, if there is a sufficient quantity of conducting surface 
 to the ends of the wire. I don't think the earth offers any resistance, 
 whereas the wire does. 
 
 The wire offers sensible resistance. If there is sufficient surface 
 you think the resistance of the earth within the distance is insensible ? 
 Yes. 
 
 You were asked some questions by my friend, as to having been 
 at the Great Western Railway and the Blackwall Railway ; did you 
 knowingly, in point of fact, borrow any thing, at any time, from 
 the inventions of Cooke and Wheatstone ? Never. 
 
 Did you learn any thing respecting this invention from Wheat- 
 stone, at the interview you have spoken to? Never. 
 
 You were asked some questions, by my friend, respecting this 
 telegraph on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, and the sub- 
 stitution of the needle, or of the circle : is the mode that you use 
 there for the needle a different thing from any thing used by 
 Cooke and Wheatstone ? It is new altogether : it is different in 
 application from the deflecting needle of Oersted. My plan of de- 
 flecting, or making the electricity act on the magnet, is very 
 different in arrangement from the deflecting needle of Oersted. 
 
 When was the needle of Oersted published to the world? I be- 
 lieve in 1819. 
 
 Was it made the subject of a paper by Dr. Richie, Sir Humphrey 
 Davy, and many others, before 1830? Yes. 
 
 And by Monsieur Ampere? Yes, I believe M. Ampere sug- 
 gested it for telegraphic purposes. 
 
 Was it published by Alexander, in Scotland, and lectured on by 
 Mr. Davy in this city, in 1837? I have seen it recorded so. 
 
 Now, my friend asked you about an invention for moving the 
 coil for giving the signal; that is valuable for slow motion and for 
 application to clocks, but not so valuable for telegraphic purposes? 
 For telegraphic purposes you want quicker action. It would not do, 
 
95 
 
 in the pendulum of a clock, to put a magnet at all, because the 
 magnet would attract iron, or any thing of that kind, in the neigh- 
 bourhood: therefore, I put the copper wire in the pendulum, and 
 make the magnets fixtures, so that for clocks it is valuable. 
 
 My friend also asked you a question respecting your not having 
 used the asphalt on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway ; what is 
 the reason ? The principal reason was that the directors would not 
 permit the railway to be opened. 
 
 I believe in new railways, when there is a new embankment, 
 there is considerable subsidence? Yes, there is. 
 
 So that it would render the opening of an embankment a serious 
 thing? There is an objection to it on a railway newly made, be- 
 cause the embankments do not subside equally. 
 
 Is that mechanical or engineering objection the only objection 
 to using asphalt? It is. 
 
 Is it a cheap mode of doing it? It is — I consider it so. 
 
 My friend has asked you some questions about the use of these 
 posts : the use of the posts was mentioned in that paper of Stein- 
 heil's that General Pasley referred to, and in this relation of Mr. 
 Sturgeon, published in 1839? The uses, and some modes of apply- 
 ing the posts, are set forth there. 
 
 In the manner of Steinheil, many years ago? Yes. 
 
 I believe that passage describes it (pointing out a passage in a 
 pamphlet to the witness)? Yes. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 You stated that your system of communication between Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow is altogether different to that of the Great Western? 
 Yes, excepting that posts are used in both. 
 
 You have one wire instead of five? Yes. 
 
 And the machines at each end are different? I am not aware 
 that in Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's telegraph they have put up 
 any apparatus at intermediate stations, such as I have done. 
 
 Would you propose to put up a telegraph with one wire on a 
 line having the traffic of the Great Western Railway ? Yes. 
 
 You would put up only one wire? Yes, for the traffic of the line 
 alone. 
 
 I am speaking of all the purposes of or which a telegraph is to be 
 
 applied ? I think with the arrangement of my new instrument one 
 
 wire would be quite enough. 
 
 For all purposes ? whether railway purposes or otherwise? Yes* 
 And you would advise that? I would advise that certainly in 
 
 the first instance. Another wire could be put up at any time on 
 
 the same posts. 
 
 Would you advise that with reference to expense, and what would 
 be the expense? The expense would be the same as I have stated, 
 50/. a mile. 
 
96 
 
 . That is the wire, exclusive of the instruments at stations? Yes, 
 exclusive of the mere signal instruments at stations. 
 
 And for the traffic of a line like the Great Western, seeing that 
 the telegraph might be used for all purposes, you think one wire 
 w r ould be sufficient? Yes. 
 
 Do you think it would be sufficient in the event of an accident 
 to that one wire? I consider that if an accident happens to one it 
 is sure to happen to the rest at the same time. 
 
 How? Because it must be by some injury. 
 
 Are they not placed one above another? They are, but I do not 
 know of any thing that would come in contact with one wire that 
 w r ould injure it that would not injure the rest. 
 
 Do you think it impossible that the lower wire should be struck 
 without the other four above it being struck also ? I do not think 
 it impossible, but I think it improbable. 
 
 Why is it improbable? A stone or a piece of iron falling off a 
 carriage might strike the lower wire without injuring the others? 
 I do not think & stone or a piece of iron would break either of 
 the wires. 
 
 What accident, then, do you contemplate ? Such as the train 
 running off the line. 
 
 That you think would be fatal whether to one or five ? Yes. 
 
 Have you ever heard of an accident of that kind happening? I 
 heard of one on the Great Western Railway — I did not see it. 
 
 Did it break one or all ? I understood it broke all. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 Running against a post, for instance, would break them all ? It 
 would take them all to the ground, it might or might not break them. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 You say you have advertised your telegraphs at 50/. a mile ? Yes. 
 . Have you had any applications from companies ? No, I have 
 not in consequence of the advertisements, that I am aware of. It 
 was through an advertisement that the Edinburgh and Glasgow 
 Railway directors had their attention first drawn to it. 
 
 The use of the telegraph on that line you think arose from your 
 advertisement ? I think so. 
 
 Was it advertised in the English papers as well as the Scotch? It 
 was advertised in the Railway Times, the Raihvay Record, and the 
 Scotch papers. 
 
 Have you had applications from English railway companies? 
 There is one application just now that is in negotiation for a short 
 line. 
 
 From a railway company ? Yes. 
 For a short line ? A short telegraph. 
 It is for a short line ? Under a tunnel. 
 
97 
 
 You have not had an offer for laying down a telegraph where the 
 expense would be the greatest. The longer the line the greater the 
 expense of laying down the wires? I have no offer of that kind. 
 
 Will you tell me when you inserted this advertisement in the 
 newspapers in England? They have been inserted these last nine 
 months I think ; I have revoked them — I mean to alter the adver- 
 tisements — they have not appeared for these last six weeks or two 
 months. 
 
 When was the experiment at Nine Elms? In 1844. 
 
 Have you advertised since that ? Yes, it was since that I did 
 advertise; I never advertised before. 
 
 But the experiment at Nine Elms was not altogether successful, was 
 it ? I considered it successful as a mere experiment, because I had no 
 idea that it was to be considered any thing but a mere experiment to 
 see whether the printing telegraphs, that is the machines themselves, 
 would work or not. It was never told me at the time, nor till a 
 little time afterwards, that it was going to be compared with a com- 
 plete telegraph at all. I was obliged, at that experiment, to do it 
 at my own expense entirely. I could not afford much, and instead 
 of setting up poles or laying down asphalt to insulate the wires 
 properly, I got permission to take the use of an old paling to set 
 the wire on. I used that. There was no other insulation used, ex- 
 cept a kit of leather to keep the rain offl Therefore the insulation 
 was not perfect. 
 
 Tell me exactly the object of that experiment as you understood 
 it. The object of the experiment was to show the instrument 
 working. That was my object. The object of my friends was to 
 get the Admiralty contract. 
 
 Do I understand you that your single object in that experiment 
 was to see whether you could print with certainty and rapidity by 
 means of electrical arrangements? Yes, by means of electric 
 currents derived from the earth. 
 
 That was your sole object ? No, my principal object. 
 
 What other ? We were in correspondence with the Admiralty 
 w r ith a view of laying it down between London and Portsmouth. 
 
 But not for printing? Yes, printing. 
 
 Printing solely? Yes. 
 
 Will you be clear with me ? I want to know from you distinctly 
 what object you had in view in trying the experiment at Nine Elms. 
 Was it, first of all, with this object, namely, to show that you could 
 print by electrical arrangements ? Was it for another object, to 
 show that you could convey telegraphic signals with certainty and 
 rapidity, that is to say, for the ordinary purposes of the electric 
 telegraph your plan could succeed ? It is rather a difficult question 
 for me, because a friend of mine, Lieutenant Wright, was the prin- 
 cipal person that first negotiated with the Admiralty. What passed 
 between him and the Lords of the Admiralty I do not know. 
 
 1 want to know from you what your object was as a man of 
 
 H 
 
98 
 
 science ? My object was to show a printing telegraph worked, by 
 currents derived from the earth. 
 
 What was your second object ? The second was, together with 
 Lieutenant Wright, to see if we could get the Admiralty contract. 
 
 By showing that your experiments were successful ? Certainly. 
 
 Were they successful for that purpose ? To my mind they were. 
 
 Nay, nay ; were they successful ? Did they convey the signals 
 in less time than other telegraphs would convey them, or in what. way 
 did you make out your success to your own satisfaction ? I will tell 
 you. All other telegraphs that were in action were signal tele- 
 graphs. I considered it a very great improvement if a correct 
 printing telegraph could be made. 
 
 Leave alone the printing ; keep them distinct. I am endeavouring 
 to do so. In the signal telegraph the recipient of the message 
 marks down every letter sent by the telegraph. Therefore if there 
 is any mistake, the recipient of the message may say he marked it 
 down as the telegraph presented it, and it would not be known at 
 which end of the line the mistake occurred. Therefore, to get over 
 that difficulty, I endeavoured to make a printing telegraph that would 
 mark down its own signals ; and to do that it was necessary to make 
 an arrangement whereby the instrument would from one end 
 send to parties at the other end intelligence whether it was 
 working right or not. There was no other telegraph that 
 would do that before. In signal telegraphs it was the recipient 
 of the message that always put down the signal, but a printing 
 telegraph is for a different purpose. Therefore it is necessary 
 the instrument should give it even if no one might be there to 
 receive the message. I accomplished that object. I made an 
 arrangement whereby the telegraph sent back notice to the trans- 
 mitter of the message whether it was working rightly or not. I 
 also applied the currents of the earth to it — a scientific fact I had 
 discovered — and I was anxious to see how far it would work, and I 
 tried it as far as my means would permit me. It was for this object 
 and not as an experiment for the contract of the Admiralty, that I 
 was interested in it, but Lieutenant Wright, and, of course, myself 
 were eager to get the contract for laying it down. 
 
 Do I understand, then, that you had three objects in view? 
 First, to show that your printing telegraph would work and return 
 information to the party working it that it was working ; next, that 
 you had a telegraph which could send signals of an ordinary 
 kind, and thirdly, that you wanted to get the contract with the 
 Admiralty? The object of sending ordinary signals I had not so 
 much in contemplation, but the rest I had. 
 
 That is the point ; then for the purpose of transmitting signals, 
 you did not make experiments at Nine Elms ? I made a few expe- 
 riments with the I and V telegraph. 
 
 For that purpose? Yes, after I had done with the experiments 
 on the printing telegraph, I tried several with the I and Y. 
 
99 
 
 Were they successful? Yes. 
 
 Tell me in what you consider they were successful ? The signals 
 were transmitted correctly. 
 
 And returned correctly? And returned correctly. 
 
 And in what time ? In less time than the printing telegraph. I 
 cannot say the exact time. 
 
 I want the actual time, to compare your experiments with ours? 
 I did not bring that invention forward at all equal with the printing 
 telegraph ; it was not so matured at that time. 
 
 Keep from the printing telegraph ; what I want to know from 
 you, as a gentleman is, whether your experiments made then for 
 the purpose of transmitting signals in the ordinary way, were 
 successful or not, and if so, in what the success consisted? I 
 consider the success consisted in transmitting intelligence backwards 
 and forwards with sufficient quickness, when compared with the 
 means I was obliged to employ. 
 
 "With sufficient quickness ? Yes. 
 
 What quickness — what do you consider to be quickness? I 
 must be allowed to think a little. 
 
 As much as you please. I should say by the I and V telegraph — 
 I had not complete instruments there — but I think I could send 
 about twelve letters of the alphabet per minute. 
 
 Will you reduce your answer to a practical shape ; in what time 
 could you send a signal to Wimbledon and back, or in point of 
 fact, what time did you send a message to Wimbledon and back? 
 I should like to make a reference to the number of letters. 
 
 Tell me the shortest time that was occupied from the time that 
 you first made the signal till the time the answer was returned to 
 you ; let it be the shortest signal you like ? Within a minute. 
 
 That you are prepared to state ? Yes. 
 
 That was done more than once ? Yes, with the I and V telegraph. 
 Now take a message involving four-and-twenty letters? Two 
 minutes. 
 
 Did you happen to see a yellow bit of paper that was handed 
 about here yesterday? I did. 
 
 Did you see the time mentioned as occupied was six minutes and 
 so many seconds? I saw the memorandum, I don't know what it was. 
 
 You know nothing of it? No, that was printed by the printing 
 telegraph. 
 
 That occupied some minutes? Yes, six minutes I am told and 
 some seconds. 
 
 I understand you to say, you sent signals to and from Wimbledon 
 in a minute ? Yes, by the I and V telegraph. 
 
 Were any of the Directors of the Company present? I don't 
 know that they were, because it was after the experiments with the 
 printing telegraph. 
 
 Did any body present make any remark to the Directors? Not 
 on the I and V telegraph, that I am aware of. 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 But in any respect relating to those experiments? Not that I am 
 aware of. 
 
 "Were the experiments tried then, with no view of introducing 
 your patent on the line of railway? The Lords of the Admiralty 
 called themselves, several of them. 
 
 Was any report made to them^ or did they make any report? I 
 never saw any report; I understood that General Pasley made a 
 report, and I heard General Pasley say, that Captain Brandreth and 
 Mr. Farraday did. 
 
 Was Mr. Farraday present? Yes, he saw the experiments twice. 
 
 Would he attend here to give us an account of them? I dare 
 say he would. 
 
 Can you tell me whether or not any report was made to the 
 Directors, and whether the Directors subsequently have made appli- 
 cation to you to lay down your wires? I never heard of it. 
 
 But if your telegraph can be laid down at 50/. per mile, how 
 did it happen that the Company has purchased one three times your 
 cost, is there no explanation of that? I cannot give any explana- 
 tion of it, it is quite unknown to me. 
 
 Then you think that your experiments were successful, and that 
 you have no doubt that you could lay down your wires at 50/. a 
 mile? No doubt of it. 
 
 And yet you have the fact that the Company preferred another 
 telegraph at 1501. per mile? I don't know what it is. 
 
 Have you not heard? It was said 125/. 
 
 That is the mean between 100/. and 150/.; but those facts are 
 known to you ? Yes. 
 
 And you cannot furnish the Committee with any explanation of 
 them? The explanation that is before my own mind would not, 
 perhaps, be suitable. My own conviction is this : — the experiments 
 that were undertaken with limited means, of course could not be 
 effected so as to compete with a telegraph that was put up and was 
 long in action before : there had been time to mature it ; time to work 
 it; time to learn the men to work it correctly; time to give them 
 practice; and time to work it expertly; and that, too, along a line of 
 twenty miles, on the Great W estern Railway. When mine had to 
 compete with that, it is not so very difficult to imagine the reason. 
 But there is another reason. It was put out by Professor Wheat- 
 stone, as I am given to understand, that I was a working mechanic 
 in his employment ; and that has gone through the whole scientific 
 society of this country. Now, I deny it : I was not — I never was 
 — in Mr. Wheatstone's employment. That had had an influence 
 with the public. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 Have you not certain means of knowing what the feelings of 
 men are, very lately, from an interview you had with Mr. Mouat ? 
 Yes, I had an interview with Mr. Mouat. 
 
101 
 
 By the Committee. 
 What Mr. Mouat? He is connected with railways. 
 Is he connected with the London and York Railway? I believe 
 
 so. 
 
 In point of fact, you never were in Mr. Wheatstone's employ- 
 ment as a journeyman? Never for a moment. 
 
 You had never seen him previously to the 1st of August, 1840 ? 
 No; that was the first time. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 You 'never heard of him before you were recommended to go 
 to him by Mr. Baddeley ? I never heard of him before that 
 time. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 If you were called on to establish a telegraph communication 
 along a line of railway, which would you adopt, the I and V, or 
 the printing telegraph? I would use for railway purposes the I 
 and V telegraph. 
 
 And do you consider you could send messages with as great 
 rapidity by the I and V, as is now done by Messrs. Cooke and 
 Wheatstone's? Certainly, if not greater. 
 
 Have you drawn up any regular report yourself of these experi- 
 ments at Nine Elms ? I have not. 
 
 Not for the purpose of showing their success? No, I have not. 
 
 You have not made their success the foundation of an application 
 to any company, have you? No; because the experiment there of 
 my invention was compared, directly it was shown by me, with 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's that was in action for so long a time be- 
 fore. When it was compared with that, a report from me would 
 have been of no use, because it was so very experimental. 
 
 Have you any means of stating to the Committee, in point of fact, 
 the time required for sending your signal from Edinburgh to 
 Glasgow, or the intermediate distance, specifying the several num- 
 bers that are required — eight, ten, or twelve — for spelling words, 
 or for vocabulary signals? I have made arrangements for spelling 
 words, and vocabulary signals. 
 
 State the time? By the latest experiment in the I and V tele- 
 graph, I can transmit from twenty-seven to thirty letters of the 
 alphabet in a minute. 
 
 And that is the working condition of this instrument now upon 
 that line? Yes. 
 
 And has there been no interruption from any accident during 
 the time it has been at work? No. 
 
 No failure? No; I have been obliged to stop the telegraph at 
 the extreme ends when I was setting up an instrument in the cen- 
 tre. They are not all filled in yet. 
 
102 
 
 Is there one at Kirkintilloch? Yes, another at Ratho, and an- 
 other at Castle Carey, and so on. 
 
 Are you aware of any circumstance to which you attribute, or 
 may explain, the circumstance of your not having had any offers in 
 reply to your advertisement? To my mind it is these rumours that 
 have been spread abroad. 
 
 And not through any sense entertained by the public, either the 
 scientific part or any other, of any imperfection in your system? 
 Certainly not. 
 
 Mr. Hill, in his very able speech, stated, I think, that if an acci- 
 dent occurred to a train passing between station and station, if it 
 either came to a dead stop, or that its speed was diminished, the 
 guard would be provided with an apparatus, might leave the train and 
 apply to the line and communicate with the station in advance of 
 him, or the one in the rear, do you think that practicable? I think 
 it is; I consider that practicable, and as far as I know it belongs to 
 these gentlemen. 
 
 That would effectually prevent collisions ? It would help. 
 
 And would help to save life and property? Yes. 
 
 And you consider that this Bill, enabling capitalists to buy Cooke 
 and Wheatstone's patent, will be prejudicial to you? I do. 
 
 Do you think that your own scheme could be carried out in a 
 very large and comprehensive way without the aid of Parliament? 
 I think so. 
 
 How would you propose, in the event of opening streets being 
 necessary, to communicate between a station and different parts of 
 the town; how would you propose to effect that without the aid of 
 Parliament? The only way that I could imagine is to get the per- 
 mission of the authorities of the town to put up the wire on cast- 
 iron pillars, such as the lamp-posts, but much higher, sufficiently 
 high to allow all vehicles to pass under it without danger. 
 
 That would be a voluntary act on their part, depending upon the 
 consent of the municipal bodies? Yes. 
 
 But, in the event of its being thought important to introduce 
 Electric Telegraph Companies, power must be obtained from Par- 
 liament? Yes. 
 
 Then, how is a great system of Electric Telegraphs to be carried 
 on? Only in the way I have mentioned. 
 
 Suppose they refuse it, then it will not be done ? Then an Act 
 of Parliament would be necessary. 
 
 What is there to prevent you, with your superior invention and 
 the greater economy of your telegraph, assigning your patents, 
 under the authority of an Act of Parliament, to capitalists? I do 
 not know of any thing to prevent it. 
 
 If your invention be what you describe it, and if you can carry 
 out a system of Electric Telegraphs through the country at 507. a 
 mile, instead of 120/. or 150/., do you not hold out great induce- 
 
103 
 
 ments to capitalists to take up yours instead of Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone's? Yes, but it would take a great deal of time and money to 
 convince the public that they were what I state them to be. 
 
 Do you know the time and difficulties that have taken place in 
 introducing Cooke and Wheatstone's inventions? I do not know. 
 
 Do you know how many years they have been getting the public 
 even to condescend to notice it? I believe since 1837. 
 
 And this is 1846, is it not? Yes, it is. 
 
 Why should you be exempt from the difficulties and delays which 
 they have had to encounter — in introducing your invention to the 
 public notice ? I commenced shortly after or about the same time, 
 and am not near so far forward as they are. 
 
 How does that happen ? You are the cheaper, and do you not hold 
 out greater inducements to capitalists ? The inventions have not 
 come to the perfection they are now in till lately. 
 
 Do you think capitalists will go into two concerns, one involving 
 three times the amount of capital that the other does with equal pro- 
 fits ? If the public knew the merits of the case, they would not, I 
 really believe, but the public does not know the merits of the case. 
 
 Have you not had opportunity of trying two great experiments, 
 one on the Edinburgh and Glasgow Railway, and the other at Nine 
 Elms? I admit I have a greater chance now; but the one at Nine 
 Elms had not that effect, because it was a temporary experiment. 
 
 Even appearing before this Committee and opposing this Bill, 
 may give it greater circulation. Now that you are more known, is 
 there any thing to prevent you going into the market with Cooke 
 and Wheatstone's, and selling your patent, which enables you to 
 construct telegraphs at one- third of the cost that they do? I must 
 have the prejudice removed from the public mind. If I had, then 
 I should have equal advantages. 
 
 How can you remove it from the public mind except by experi- 
 ments ? And if the experiment on the Railway between Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow is successful, will not that be a sufficient ground to in- 
 duce capitalists to take you up ? It might. It remains now to ap- 
 pear. It is not known much yet in England. 
 
 Would you not think it beneficial, if capitalists were to combine 
 to purchase your patent? I think so. 
 
 And would you not think it rather hard, if opposition were to take 
 place from a rival inventor to prevent your having the benefit of 
 the combination of capital in your favour ? I do not know that I 
 would. If I applied for advantages that he had not got, I could 
 not find fault with him. 
 
 Can you, by your apparatus, effectuate that to which the Chair- 
 man alluded, and which you have given credit to the other party 
 for, that in the event of an accident happening, you could send the 
 message backwards and forwards. Can you, by your system, effec- 
 tuate that, in the event of any accident happening ? I give them 
 entire credit for that. 
 
104 
 
 Your apparatus could not do that? I have done nothing to 
 effectuate it as yet. 
 
 When did you become acquainted with Mr. Finlaison, and state 
 the circumstances ? I do not recollect the exact date, but it was in 
 the Polytechnic Institution, Regent-street, when I was exhibiting 
 my Electric Clock and Printing Telegraph, and Mr. Finlaison called 
 at the Polytechnic Institution upon me, and introduced himself to 
 me as coming from the same part of the country. 
 
 Is that Mr. Finlaison the celebrated actuary who is now present ? 
 Yes. 
 
 Then you have found some friends in London ? I have found. 
 Mr. Finlaison a very great friend. 
 
 Did he state what his object and motive was ? It was merely 
 because he came from the same part of the country, he wished to be 
 introduced to me, and he introduced himself. 
 
 You have found friends to give you some support and countenance 
 in London ? I could not have done what I have done, unless I had 
 found some friends. 
 
 Mr. Finlaison's object in seeking your acquaintance, was to take 
 you up, and, in short, in consequence of his impression of your inge- 
 nuity, and the value of your discoveries, to support you and to 
 protect you as a deserving man ? Yes, I believe so. 
 
 You do not contemplate applying for an Act of Parliament to assist 
 you in carrying out your inventions ? At the present moment, we 
 hardly are resolved what to do — but if this Act passes, I do not know. 
 We must protect ourselves the best way we can. 
 
 Do you consider, upon the whole, the experiments that took place 
 at Nine Elms gave the merits of your system a fair trial ? It did 
 not, I think ; and it exhausted all my resources ; and I could not 
 go on with it. 
 
 That was before you became acquainted with Mr. Finlaison ? 
 No, after. 
 
 But it is in full operation on the railway between Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow ? Yes, from end to end. 
 
 Where it may be inspected by the public ? Yes, at either end. 
 
 Why did you consider it was not a fair trial at Nine Elms ? 
 The posts that the wire was suspended on were not insulated. They 
 were wet wood, and the electricity passed through from the wire to 
 the ground, by the wet wood — and the wire was also broken every 
 day, and almost every hour of the day. People along the line took 
 it away with them and broke it. 
 
 You were quite prepared to take the contract, and could have exe- 
 cuted the contract as efficiently, or more efficiently than it is done 
 on that line, at 50/. a mile? Yes. 
 
 Have you made a positive offer to the South- Western Company 
 to do what Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone have done for 50/. a 
 mile ? No, because the South- Western Company have a telegraph 
 of Cooke and Wheatstone's. 
 
 Have you made offers to other companies to try the experiment? 
 
105 
 
 I have not, for I have been so engaged with this new patent, and 
 other things, that I have not had time. I have been so engaged 
 with these inventions for the last six months, that I have not had 
 time to seek for orders. I have been confined to the maturing the 
 inventions, and not to getting orders. 
 
 Is there any body connected with the Edinburgh and Glasgow 
 line in London ? Mr. Miller, the engineer, is here. 
 
 I understand that the telegraph on the Edinburgh and Glasgow 
 Railway is your patent entirely ? Entirely. 
 
 That there is nothing that may be called an infringement of any 
 other patent. I do not pronounce any opinion, and do not say it 
 invidiously at all, but nothing that you adopt there has been con- 
 sidered by any one an infringement of any patent ? Nothing that I 
 adopt there is the subject of a patent at all in this country, except 
 my own. 
 
 That is your patent exclusively, as contra-distinguished from 
 Cooke and Wheatstone's ? Yes. 
 
 By Mr. Ilindmarsh . 
 Were you not allowed to try your experiments on the South- 
 western Railway as long as you pleased, and did you not do so for 
 seven weeks ? It was so for about seven weeks. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 Did the Directors give you every facility or not? They allowed 
 me to lay it down, but without any expense to them, or interfering 
 with me. 
 
 I don't mean with respect to pecuniary interest, but did they give 
 you every facility? Yes, they did. 
 
 They did not throw any obstruction in your way ? No. 
 
 As far as they are concerned they gave you every facility ? Yes. 
 
 And in your opinion that experiment only failed from your not 
 having funds to carry it out in the manner you could most wish? 
 Yes. 
 
 That is the only ground of failure? The only ground. 
 By Mr. Ilindmarsh. 
 
 And did you not afterwards make a claim on the Admiralty for 
 the costs of that experiment? I do not think it; at any rate I got 
 nothing. 
 
 My question is, whether you did make a claim on the Admi- 
 ralty? I did not. 
 
 You said you had never been to the Great Western Railway ? 
 I did not. I have been at the Great Western. 
 
 Did you not say you had never inspected any of the tables, or 
 any thing of that sort there ; did you ever see that [handing a card 
 to the witness] ? I can state I never saw that before. 
 
106 
 
 Mr. Andrew Van Sandau called; examined by Mr, Webster. 
 
 Are you the solicitor for the opponent to this Bill, Mr. Bain? 
 % am solicitor for Mr. Bain. 
 
 You had some communication with Mr. Wilson, one of the 
 solicitors for the Bill, in January, this year, I think, had you not? 
 I had several communications in January. 
 
 State what took place. On the 8th of January Mr. Wilson 
 called on me, to state some error in the Scotch specification, under 
 Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's patent. Having explained that 
 to him, he then told me there was another subject upon which he 
 was desirous of communicating; that Mr. Bain (as he said) would 
 probably by that time have become satisfied that his inventions 
 were altogether valueless in England; that he could not possibly 
 get any telegraph on any English line, as Mr. Cooke, who had 
 formed other connexions, had already engaged all the greater lines ; 
 but that they considered Mr. Bain a gentleman of ingenuity and 
 honour, who they would rather have with them than against them, 
 and suggested that if Mr. Bain's notions were moderate, that then 
 they would be disposed to purchase his interest, and to give him 
 employment on the railroad. I asked him to make a specific pro- 
 position; he said no, he would not make any specific proposition, 
 nor could he have it said he had made any proposition, but they 
 were desirous of feeling the mind of Mr. Bain, and ascertaining how 
 far Mr. Bain would be willing to enter into such an arrangement. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 Was this on January 8th? All this was on January 8th. He 
 said that if Mr. Bain should be disposed to sell his patents 
 at a price somewhere about what those patents cost him, and 
 to take employ under them, they would so arrange that he 
 should not come in collision with Professor Wheatstone, and they 
 would employ him as a Telegraph Engineer, paying him from 300/. 
 to 400/. a-year, and increasing progressively till it had arrived at a 
 certain amount. I desired that communication to be put into writ- 
 ing, that I might communicate it to Mr. Bain. That was objected 
 to, and I was desired to write to Mr. Bain. I stated that I should 
 communicate with Mr. Finlaison, and I asked that I might be fur- 
 nished by them with a copy of their specification, and to know what 
 was the particular error that was made, which Mr. Wilson was to 
 consider again. On the 17th of January Mr. Wilson called upon 
 me; he inquired if I had heard from Mr. Bain, and I again desired 
 that he should put his propositions into writing. He declined, and 
 I then told him that I would write a letter to Mr. Bain, specifying 
 what I understood as his suggestions, and would show it to him, and 
 I asked for a copy of the specification. The answer then given was, 
 that the specification was in Scotland, and they could not give me 
 
107 
 
 a copy. I suggested they had their draft, and that from the draft they 
 might furnish me with a copy. I was then told that the draft 
 would probably not be accurate; that alterations might have been 
 made in the engrossment, and that, therefore, they could not fur- 
 nish me with a correct copy. I asked him to give me the best copy 
 he could furnish; he said he was to see Mr. Cooke and take his 
 instructions upon it. He again called on me the 19th of January, 
 stated that he had communicated with Mr. Cooke, that Mr. Cooke 
 declined to furnish any copy of the specification, and at the same 
 time said that he should decline to see my letter, because he would 
 not have it said that they had made a proposition. All they were 
 desirous of doing was of feeling Mr. Bain's pulse, and ascertaining 
 what he was determined to do in the arrangement. I should state 
 that which I omitted, that on the 8th of January Mr. Wilson said 
 if Mr. Bain's views were immoderate, if, for instance, he required 
 5000/. for his two patents that would be totally out of the question. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 I believe at that time you were not aware of there being a Bill 
 in Parliament? I was not aware till long after the last interview 
 there was a Bill in Parliament, or that there was a Bill contemplated. 
 
 You did not learn it from Mr. Wilson ? I never learnt from him 
 there was a Bill or a Company in contemplation. 
 
 When was the first intimation you received of there being a Bill 
 in Parliament? Not till I [saw in the newspapers that it had 
 passed the Standing Orders. 
 
 That was the first intimation you had had of it? That was the 
 first intimation I had of it. 
 
 Cross- Examined by Mr. Hindmarsh. 
 
 This I believe was a confidential communication which was 
 passing between you and Mr. Wilson sitting here ? I certainly did 
 not consider it a confidential communication; Mr. Wilson called 
 upon me — made the communication, and all that made it confiden- 
 tial, if that made it confidential, was what I have mentioned — that 
 he stated he could not have it said he had made a proposition, and 
 therefore he would not put it into writing. 
 
 And did you not yourself say that any thing that passed in this 
 way, verbally, was to be considered as confidential? Certainly not 
 — with reference to the Bill, I said, I will speak to you as much as 
 you please on the subject of litigation — the Bill was not mentioned 
 — but what I put in writing, that shall be the subject of evidence. 
 
 Any thing that passed verbally, did you not say that must be 
 considered confidential? Something of the kind may have been 
 said, but not with reference to this communication, because I was to 
 put it into writing, and communicate with my client. 
 
108 
 
 By the Committee. 
 Was it not a communication which you professional gentlemen 
 consider to be without prejudice? I certainly consider the commu- 
 nication of the offer was not without prejudice, but I should have 
 considered I was not acting the part of an honest man if I had not 
 stated at the time the communication was made to me, that I would 
 not have it said that I had made an offer. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 I believe Mr. Finlaison is part proprietor of Mr. Bain's patents? 
 What interest Mr. Finlaison has in Mr. Bain's patent, I know not 
 certainly. 
 
 Mr. Alfred Deacon called ; examined by Mr. Webster. 
 Are you a mechanist? I am. 
 An Electro-Mechanist? I am. 
 
 Have you been in business as a mechanist for eighteen years? I 
 have. 
 
 Are you well acquainted with the specifications of Messrs. Cooke 
 and Wheatstone, and the specification of Mr. Bain? I have ex- 
 amined them both. 
 
 Have you been employed by Mr. Bain in examining the specifica- 
 tion of his last patent which you have heard described ? He brought 
 the drawings to me, and I examined them closely. 
 
 You are conversant with the mechanical details of the inventions 
 he spoke to yesterday ? Quite so. 
 
 Are the objects of that last patent so far as regards the single 
 wire, and the single needle telegraph, the same as those which were 
 contained in the early patents of Mr. Bain. They are not the 
 same, they are modifications of it with very vast improvements. 
 
 But simply so far as they relate to the single wire and the earth 
 circuit, they are the same? Yes. 
 
 Having regard to the earlier patent you have spoken to, have the 
 general series of inventions throughout the three patents been the 
 same? Yes. 
 
 You heard what Mr. Bain said yesterday of the capabilities of 
 the new instrument? Yes. 
 
 Do you know the capabilities of that model and of the Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow Telegraph? Yes. 
 
 Is that capable of doing every thing that has hitherto been done 
 for telegraphic communication so far as you know ? I should think 
 so, and more; it works with less amount of force; its construction 
 is superior to any arrangement of electro-telegraphs that I have 
 seen. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 That is the I and V telegraph? Yes, the model of it is now at 
 the corner of the table. 
 
109 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 Do you know how many separate signals could practically be 
 exhibited in the telegraphs that existed previously to those of Mr. 
 Bain? The separate signals would amount to somewhere about 
 thirty-two, which may be combined : with regard to them I should 
 say, from about twenty to thirty per minute might be recorded. 
 
 And you say that Mr. Bain's is superior? It is superior decidedly 
 to any thing I have yet seen. 
 
 By the Committee. 
 
 When you say the instrument there on the table is superior to 
 every thing, are you well acquainted with all the Electric Tele- 
 graphs introduced by Cooke and Whcatstone? I have examined 
 the specification and the drawings of both. 
 
 Have you seen them in action? I have not. 
 
 Can you speak as to the rapidity with which they convey signals? 
 I saw one in action at the Royal Institution, and I conceived it 
 important on this account, that if the current was very weak at 
 the time, there was very great liability of its losing a signal. 
 
 My question is, whether you have seen the telegraphs at the 
 different stations at work ? I have not. 
 
 Then you are not acquainted practically with what is done at 
 the railways? I can ascertain by a drawing, if I see it, the rela- 
 tive merits, as well as when it is put into practice — I can judge 
 pretty nearly of it. 
 
 But you have not seen it in operation? I have not seen it; I 
 saw many defects in the old one, that I do not see in the model 
 before you. 
 
 Have you been employed by Mr. Bain to make his drawings ? 
 No — I was draftsman to Messrs. HoltzapfFel, the great engineers 
 of Charing Cross. 
 
 You are only a practical draftsman ? I am the manager of the 
 mechanical printing department at Mr. Whiting's, Beaufort 
 House. I have followed up mechanism for many years. I have 
 spent a great deal of time and money in experiments. I have 
 many experiments recorded. It is a subject that has taken my 
 attention for many years, and I am tolerably well acquainted with 
 the subject. 
 
 Except so far that you have not investigated the practical work- 
 ing of them? No — I do not take the trouble to do that always. 
 If I see a drawing where the principle is so clear, I don't want to 
 see it work. If the error is in the drawing, it will not be very 
 perfect in practice. 
 
 You have not found any thing in practice differ from your 
 previous opinion of it? Very seldom. I am not a person who 
 takes a drawing and makes a model in a moment. I have twenty, 
 thirty, or forty drawings made previous to my model. I may state 
 
110 
 
 I have a calculating machine now tinder my hands, made from a 
 drawing, without having my mind worried by the drawing after- 
 wards; and every part has been successful — I have not had to 
 alter a single part. I have been called on in many instances to 
 look at drawings. I have drawn many times for the Patent Office, 
 and therefore my experience in those matters is great. 
 
 Your experience in drawing is greater than in practice? My 
 practice is also great. I have made the present engraving engine 
 at Beaufort House myself, and I can say it is capable of doing 
 more than any other engine. 
 
 What engraving engine? For the prevention of forging bank 
 notes, &c. 
 
 Was it similar to the one used at the Excise Office? No — the 
 printing machines are similar, but the engraving machine they 
 have not ; ours is the only house in London that has such a 
 machine. 
 
 You are acquainted with that at the Excise Office ? Yes — they 
 were put there, in fact, by Mr. Whiting. 
 
 Mr. John Finlaison called; examined by Mr. Webster, 
 
 I believe you are the Government Actuary. I am. 
 
 You have been long engaged in the service of Government? 
 Yes—for forty years. 
 
 Were you in the Admiralty? I was — seventeen years. 
 
 You became acquainted with Mr. Bain, I believe, some years 
 ago? Early in 1842. 
 
 What led to that acquaintance? Simply my going in to see 
 his productions at the Polytechnic, and wondering at his printing 
 telegraph and his clock. 
 
 I believe at that time Mr. Bain was in very limited circumstances? 
 Very — poor fellow I that he was — very. 
 
 I think you assisted him in endeavouring to bring his invention 
 forward ? To the utmost of my power, which I am sorry to say is 
 itself limited. 
 
 Did you assist as regards experiments on the South- Western 
 Railway? To the amount of 300Z., and it cost him 2007. more. 
 I heard it asked here whether he had made any claim to the 
 Admiralty. I can assure the Committee from my own know- 
 ledge, that he has never made any claim to the Admiralty ; and if 
 he had, I should have doubted very much the success of it. 
 
 I believe you were present at that experiment ? I was, many 
 times ; I was also present when General Pasley inspected the 
 engine at work in Mr. Bain's own house; and another scientific 
 friend was also present, Mr. Henry James Brooke, the author of 
 the " Geometry of Solids." 
 
 You concur in the evidence of General Pasley with respect to 
 the experiments in Mr. Bain's house? I heard him express the 
 highest estimation of them. It was worked by the currents gene- 
 
Ill 
 
 rated from the earth — the lead water-pipe in the house being the 
 positive agent, and the coke the negative. 
 
 The use of those currents generated from the earth, was new? 
 It was discovered on my grounds in my own presence. 
 
 Now, with respect to these experiments at the South- Western 
 — you have heard the account that Mr. Bain has given of them — 
 do you concur in the account he has given ? Perfectly — every 
 word is true. 
 
 So far as satisfying you as to the capability of working a printing 
 telegraph by currents from the earth, it was satisfactory so far? 
 Perfectly. Sir George Cockburn had it before his eyes as well 
 as me. 
 
 Was that the principal object of the experiment? I understood 
 the principal object of that experiment was to get the Admiralty to 
 adopt a printing telegraph. From my own experience in the Ad- 
 miralty, and no one knows better, it did not appear to me that the 
 rapid transmission of a message, which I took to be mere legerde- 
 main — jugglery — was of any importance in state affairs. It did not 
 appear to me that it was of importance whether a message which 
 would be delivered from the Admiralty to the Commander-in-chief 
 at Plymouth was delivered in ten minutes or half-an-hour ; that ap- 
 peared to me not to be a matter of much importance ; but the pre- 
 cision and accuracy of the message I thought was; that it ought 
 not to depend on the observance of a third party whether it was 
 printed at the Admiralty and at Portsmouth or Plymouth in the 
 self-same words. If the officer to whom the orders are transmitted 
 should neglect his duty, there are, by such printing, the means of 
 bringing him to responsibility; but by the simple needle there are 
 no such means. It was, therefore, by my own earnest suggestion 
 to Mr. Bain that he applied himself to the printing engine, which 
 he did make, and which I believe was the admiration of Mr. Farra- 
 day. It was by my own earnest advice to him that he applied 
 himself to perfect the printing telegraph rather than the telegraph 
 with rapid motions, which only showed signals, and which signals 
 must be, therefore, derived from the report of another person. It 
 was an unfortunate advice, because it occasioned, I believe, the re- 
 jection of his plan. 
 
 Do you think it was owing to the confusion there was between 
 the telegraph for transmitting signals merely, and that other for 
 printing purposes, the distinction which Mr. Bain assumed, that 
 his plan was rejected? I think so, distinctly. I have no doubt 
 about it. The two were confused, when they were for very dif- 
 ferent purposes. 
 
 Do you concur with him in this, that the experiment was not 
 directed to the transmission of signals? No, butvto print. Another 
 thing was, there was a letter referred to by the learned counsel 
 which I drew up myself, and it was signed by Mr. Bain and sent 
 to the Admiralty about the middle of May, 1844. That letter 
 
112 
 
 is of the utmost importance to Mr. Bain's case, because in that letter 
 Mr. Bain gives the Admiralty the alternative of using the two en- 
 gines, either of them attached to one and the same wire. The 
 printing engines that conveyed the message would also record it. 
 But then, if the end of the wire were shifted to the other or rapid 
 signal telegraph, this last engine would, for ordinary circumstances, 
 be sufficient for the Admiralty, and it made signals as quickly as 
 human eyes could see them. I know, in consequence of that letter, 
 Captain Brandreth came to Mr. Bain with the letter in his hand, 
 for I saw my own hand- writing on it, and he did inspect not only 
 the printing telegraph, but the telegraph for transmitting rapid 
 signals. I saw him examine it, and I was present, and I do know 
 that the Captain's sight could not see the signals faster than the 
 wheel went round and indicated the letters ; but I believe Mr. Bain 
 received no answer to that letter. I further beg to say, that on the 
 3rd of August, 1843, a letter appeared in print in the Mechanics' 
 Magazine, signed by Mr. Cooke, in which he asserted 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh. 
 I object to this; the document must be produced if it is to be 
 given in evidence. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 You have searched for, and been unable to find, the copy of the 
 letter that went to the Admiralty? I cannot find it. 
 
 Now, you were giving an account of the South- Western experi- 
 ments, and you stated the objects accomplished, has Mr. Bain, from 
 that time down to this, so far as you know, been very much 
 devoted to the advancement of communication by means of elec- 
 tricity? Oh! certainly. 
 
 Are you aware of the different steps he has made in it? Oh! 
 yes, as far as I am able to judge of mechanical productions, which 
 I am not very conversant with. 
 
 Do you know as a fact that Mr. Bain has been unable to intro- 
 duce his invention in England? Oh dear yes; I know it indeed. 
 
 Do you know that very great efforts have been made by yourself 
 and others for that purpose ? Every effort in my power has been 
 made to get him on, but without any effect whatever. 
 
 Was the name of Professor Wheatstone so great that nobody 
 would listen to any thing that Mr. Bain did? So much so that 
 Mr. Mouat said that none of the railway people would believe an 
 angel out of heaven, if he were to assert that Mr. Wheatstone did 
 not make the best telegraph, 
 
 Do you know as a fact that commercial men have not hitherto 
 taken up Mr. Bain ? Most assuredly I do know that. 
 
 Was this observation that Mr. Mouat made use of with reference 
 to an attempt about to be made to get Mr. Bain taken up ? Yes. 
 
 And he said that if an angel out of heaven were to say Wheat- 
 stone's was not the best telegraph he would not be believed? Yes. 
 
113 
 
 You know that they advertised very expensively, and have done 
 so for many years? Yes. 
 
 What do you mean by advertising? They inserted advertise- 
 ments of the price at which they were ready to lay down telegraphs. 
 
 Now, was an attempt made by you to get Mr. Bain's invention 
 brought before the Royal Society, in a paper ? Certainly — his disco- 
 very of the generation of electric currents from the earth. 
 
 You made an attempt to get Mr. Bain's discovery of the gene- 
 ration of electric currents from the earth brought before the society ? 
 I did, after taking every means to ascertain from two eminent phi- 
 losophers that it was perfectly new. 
 
 Did you succeed ? I had a promise from a very eminent member 
 of the council of the Royal Society, in the first instance, to present 
 it, and afterwards he refused to comply. 
 
 You were unable to get it brought forward ? Yes. 
 
 Has your attention been directed to the probable effect which the 
 Bill, in its present shape, may have on Mr. Bain's interest ? I con- 
 ceive it would be the consummation of that system of depreciation to 
 which he has been subject from the first hour to the last. 
 
 Cross-examined by Mr. Hindmarsh. 
 
 I think, Mr. Finlaison, you are a part proprietor of some of those 
 patents, are you not ? I am not. I hold a verbal expectation of 
 being repaid the heavy advances I have made, and probably, ulti- 
 mately, of deriving some benefit ; but I am no proprietor in the 
 improved patents ; and I will not be a proprietor in any thing that 
 will subject me to commercial consequences. 
 
 Mr. Bain and you are connected together in some way, I believe ? 
 Lately, after the experiments at the South Western, and when I 
 had been acquainted with him two years, he rose so highly in my 
 estimation that I willingly connected him with a member of my 
 family. 
 
 He married your sister ? No, my sister-in-law. That was two 
 years and more after I became acquainted with him. 
 
 JBy the Committee. 
 
 That connexion did not lead to your estimation of him, but that 
 connexion was formed by the high estimation in which you held 
 him ? Yes — after his experiments, and after I had assisted him to 
 the best of my power. I was asked whether I was part proprietor of 
 the patent. I wish to explain that point. In the first instance, 
 before the patent I think it was, before the patent of 1843 was 
 sealed, considering that very heavy advances were likely to be made 
 by me, an agreement was entered into between Lieutenant Wright 
 and Mr. Bain, and myself — a mere memorandum — that we should 
 be co-proprietors of that patent. But I must state to you that this 
 I 
 
114 
 
 agreement is not at all binding, because there were circumstances 
 attending it that rendered it invalid. 
 
 By Mr. Webster. 
 
 There is no subsisting agreement ? No, none whatever. There 
 is nothing else but that, and that was with respect to the patent of 
 1843, not this new one, in which I have no interest whatever. 
 
 By Mr. Hindmarsh. 
 
 Now, with reference to these experiments at Nine Elms, I think 
 you said that you saw them very frequently ? When I say very 
 frequently, perhaps three or four times. 
 
 They were earned on I believe for seven or eight weeks ? I 
 should not have thought so much, because it was a dreadful expense, 
 and his means, and mine too, were quite exhausted. There were a 
 great many men employed, and the construction of the printing- 
 engines was enormously expensive. 
 
 You had two ? There was one at Wimbledon, and one at Vaux- 
 hall. 
 
 And one single copper wire ? Yes. 
 
 By the Committee, 
 
 Are the models of those printing engines in the room? No. 
 There was a description of them in the scientific journals of the 
 day. I was told they were very refined specimens of mechanism. 
 
 You have referred to them in your pamphlet? I got a friend to 
 describe the mechanical drawings; they are referred to, but that 
 part was written by a friend. 
 
 By Mr. Hindmarsh, 
 You are the author of a book published respecting these inven- 
 tions? I am; it was a reply to certain attacks of Mr. Wheatstone 
 on Mr. Bain. It was a vindication of Mr. Bain, and not an original 
 effort. Mr. Wheatstone had written certain letters in the " Literary 
 Gazette," greatly disparaging Mr. Bain, and saying he was a 
 workman in his employ. I wrote a book in reply to those, and in 
 vindication of Mr. Bain. The letters themselves are in the appendix 
 to the book. 
 
 Have you the letters here? They are in the appendix of the 
 book. I faithfully took the letters from the " Literary Gazette." 
 
 With respect to those experiments, you say there were none of 
 them directed to the telegraph? Not the experiments with the 
 printing machine, but the I and V was there. 
 
 At Nine Elms? Certainly, and was seen there by Professor 
 Oowper and Mr. Cooper. 
 
 Was that seen by General Pasley when he was there ? I do not 
 think it was; not the single needle telegraph. 
 
115 
 
 How came you not to let him see that? He was a very short 
 - time there, and was greatly dissatisfied at the wire being broke. 
 
 Was he not there more than once? I never saw him there but 
 once, and it happened on that day that the people were treading 
 the wire down, as they did every day. 
 
 I think you say that Dr. Farraday was there? I saw him. 
 
 Did he see the needle telegraph? I think not. 
 
 You think not? I am not certain. 
 
 Was Captain Brandreth there ? Yes, I think he was. 
 
 Did you show him your needle telegraph ? I had nothing to do 
 with the showing. 
 
 Was it exhibited to him ? Not that I am aware of. 
 
 Mr. Webster then put in a Patent, 8th of January, 1841; a 
 Patent, dated 7th of December, 1841; a Patent, dated 27th of 
 May, 1843; a Patent, dated 25th of September, 1845, with the 
 correspondent Scotch and Irish Patent. 
 
 Mr. Webster then said — That, sir, with the letters and docu- 
 ments from the Admiralty, will be the case on the part of the 
 petitioner. 
 
 Strangers were then ordered to withdraw. 
 
 Counsel and parties were then called in and informed, that the 
 Committee were of opinion that the preamble was proved. 
 The Clauses of the Bill with amendments were then passed. 
 Several new Clauses were added. 
 
 The Bill was then ordered to be reported to the House with the 
 amendments. 
 
116 
 
 EXPLANATORY NOTES. 
 
 * [ Page 2.— Speech of Mr. HilL 
 
 The first patent of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone was specified on the 12th 
 of December, 1837. It was not, however, practically in operation until July, 
 1839, when the Directors of the Great Western Railway had wires laid down 
 from Paddington to Drayton, a distance of thirteen miles, at an expense of 
 nearly 300/. per mile, viz., 3500/. — See the fifth report of the Committee on 
 Railways, No. 474, in the session of 1840, and see especially the evidence of 
 the then secretary of that company, and of Professor Wheatstone, taken by the 
 committee on the 7th of February, 1840. It will be seen by the answer to 
 Quere 317, that this first telegraph could not be worked without six wires. 
 But from Mr. Bain's evidence ante, p. 76, it appears that he is well content with 
 the profit to be derived from laying down a far better telegraph at about one- 
 sixth of the above price, having only a single wire to keep in order instead of six. 
 
 On the 17th of March, 1839, there appeared in "Sturgeon's Annals of Elec- 
 tricity," a translation of an essay by Professor Steinheil, of Munich, on electric 
 telegraphs, and especially explaining his own improvements on Gauss's Tele- 
 graph, by causing the earth to complete the current when only one-half of the 
 wire is insulated. Such an expense as 300/. per mile, after the knowledge of 
 Steinheil's operations, would, on the part of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone, 
 have been wholly unjustifiable if Sturgeon's publication, of March, 1839, had 
 come to their knowledge in the course of that year. But this subject is resumed 
 in the next note. Long before Steinheil and Gauss, however, namely in 1816, 
 Mr. Francis Ronalds, now living at Hammersmith, had reduced to practice a 
 very ingenious, although somewhat costly, system of Electric Telegraphs, which 
 he submitted to the Admiralty, and afterwards described with diagrams in a 
 little treatise published by Hunter, of St. Paul's Church Yard, in 1823. That 
 publication, as well as some score of other announcements of a similar kind, 
 between 1823 and the 12th of December, 1837, when Messrs. Cooke and Wheat- 
 stone first published their system, sufficiently refutes the notion that they were 
 the first to propose Electric Telegraphs in England. An idea that they were 
 also the first to apply magneto-electricity to telegraphic purposes is very gene- 
 rally, though most erroneously, circulated. Apiece of soft iron enveloped by a 
 coil of wire, and then made to rotate before the poles of a powerfully fixed 
 magnet, will, by means of this process of rotation, produce a strong electric 
 current in the wire by induction from the magnet. Such a current is termed 
 magneto-electricity. It was applied by Gauss, and improved on by Steinheil, 
 in the year 1837, as may be seen in the paper already referred to in Stur- 
 geon's Annals, but was, nevertheless, patented by Mr. Wheatstone in 1840, 
 and by him specified on the 21st July of that year, without any scruple. 
 
 Pages 3, 7, 60.— Speech of Mr. Hill. 
 Mr. Hill's very able speech glances at some passages in the history of this 
 case, which though sufficiently remarkable, are yet, without explanation, not 
 quite intelligible. 
 
117 
 
 In June, 1843, Mr. Finlaison, the Government Actuary, published a vin- 
 dication of Mr. Bain from certain cruel and unfounded aspersions cast on him 
 by Professor Wheatstone in the " Literary Gazette" of the 18th of June, and 
 the Cth of August, 1842. In this work it was shown — 
 
 1. That Mr. Wheatstone had, in the "Literary Gazette," and through many 
 other channels, reported most untruly that Mr. Bain was only a working me- 
 chanic, who had been as such in his employ. At p. 101, Mr. Bain is asked by 
 the committee, "In point of fact you never were in Mr. Wheatstone's employ- 
 ment as a journeyman?" To which he answers, " Never for a moment." 
 
 2. That in the same letters the professor had asserted an astounding untruth, 
 viz. : that Mr. Bain, while in his employ, was under a written agreement not to 
 mention to any one what he was about : no such employ or agreement having 
 ever taken place. 
 
 3. That Mr. Bain had never seen nor heard of Professor Wheatstone until the 
 1st of August, 1840, when he waited on the professor to ask his assistance in 
 bringing forward his then two matured inventions — one of an electric telegraph 
 which should print the message, another of an electric clock; that on the 18th 
 of August Mr. Bain produced to him two rough models of those inventions, 
 one of which, viz., that for printing, the professor purchased for 51. in hand, 
 with a written promise of 501. more eventually — the other of the clock he 
 advised Mr. Bain to lay aside for a time. That in the meanwhile the professor 
 secretly employed one John Lamb, his workman, to manufacture a clock, the 
 very fac-simile of Mr. Bain's model, and had it ready for exhibition at the first 
 meeting of the Royal Society, on the 26th of November following, where he 
 showed it as his own invention. 
 
 4. That in ignorance of any such publication or appropriation of his model, 
 Mr. Bain, by the aid of another person, had indeed applied on the 10th of 
 October, for a patent for those clocks, but as her Majesty's first confinement 
 took place on the 24th of November, the royal sign manual could not be ob- 
 tained until the end of the year, so that his patent bears date only on the 8th 
 of January, 1841. N.B. The stratagem of prior publication is afterwards turned 
 to account by Mr. Cooke, who claims it as public property,'Jn a letter to the 
 "Mechanic's Magazine," printed on the 5th of August, 1843. 
 
 5. That between August and December Mr. Bain was engaged by the pro- 
 fessor (the better as it would seem to divert his attention from proceeding 
 with the electric clock) in executing a perfect working model of his own 
 printing telegraph, which he had thus previously sold, and which model he 
 delivered at King's College, as also in executing a working model of a more 
 elaborate one, which Mr. Bain also invented, but which was delivered unfinished 
 to the professor at his desire. Both models, however, were retained by the 
 professor (who never to this day has paid the expense of their construction), 
 but who, having thus attained his end, immediately broke off all communication 
 with Mr. Bain under circumstances of the utmost insult and injustice. 
 
 6. That notwithstanding his purchase under a written agreement of Mr. 
 Bain's model of the printing telegraph on the 18th of August, 1840, and 
 his clandestine fabrication of the other model of the electric clock, Pro- 
 fessor Wheatstone scruples not in the least to deny under his band in the 
 " Literary Gazette" as above, that Mr. Bain ever showed him the model of 
 either invention at the date specified. Nay, he boldly claims to be himself the 
 author of those two inventions — adducing evidence which only proves that he 
 had some thoughts of effecting or setting about such things, but not until after 
 Mr. Bain had actually completed them, and he menaces Mr. Bain, as he had 
 frequently done before, with a threat of making an example of him in a court of 
 law if he should venture to make any use of his own discoveries. 
 
 7. That the wide dissemination of such threats, such unfounded assertions, in 
 detraction of Mr. Bain, and such unscrupulous pretensions to the merit of Mr. 
 Bain's inventions, had rendered the Board of Admiralty, the directors of rail- 
 ways, and other persons who were otherwise well disposed to encourage Mr. 
 
118 
 
 Bain, doubtful whether he really had the right to exercise his calling as an elec- 
 trical engineer at all. [This doubt is still spread notwithstanding he is now 
 the patentee of seven patents under the Great Seal, each one of which had 
 in succession been opposed by Cooke and Wheatstone.] 
 
 8. That Mr. Bain having thus, on the 8th of January, 1841, obtained his 
 patent for clocks, and having, on the 25th of the same month, published in a 
 provincial journal a description of his printing telegraph; having, moreover, 
 exhibited both inventions in public lectures at the Polytechnic Institution 
 during the spring of that year, proceeded to make some most important improve- 
 ments on the telegraph (including the property of the earth to complete one- 
 half of the voltaic circuit without a return wire), which he tried to secure by 
 Letters Patent on the 9th of September, 1841. On the 7th of July preceding, 
 Mr. Wheatstone had also patented, and deposited with Sir John Campbell, a 
 description of certain improvements in his telegraph, in which, however, there 
 was not one word with reference to printing telegraphs. But the ministry being 
 changed before September, Mr. Wheatstone next, but with very transient suc- 
 cess, opposed Mr. Bain in obtaining leave to print messages, before the new 
 attorney-genera], Sir Frederick Pollock, on the untrue pretence that printing 
 was within the province of his patent of the 7th of July. Mr. Bain being thus 
 refused permission to perfect his own invention, prayed that the deposit lodged 
 in July previously with Sir John Campbell might be opened. This being done, 
 the imposition on the attorney-general was at once detected, an^ Mr. Bain's 
 patent for printing was sealed, but not until the 8th of December, a delay of 
 three months. 
 
 9. That Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone on the 7th of January, 1842, in 
 contempt of the foregoing decision, as well as of all legal consequences, 
 nevertheless, now included in their specification of their patent of the 7th of 
 July previously, although it was not in the previous deposit, Mr. Bain's invention 
 of printing, but only by complete metallic circuits, they being then manifestly 
 ignorant of the property of the earth itself, and of Mr. Bain's intention to 
 apply it as a substitute for the return wire. In the same month Mr, Cooke pub- 
 lished (by Simpkin and Marshall) a book on electric telegraphs, without a hint 
 to imply that he was aware that the earth possessed the property in question, 
 much less that he himself had ever applied that property. Mr. Bain, however, 
 on the 4th of June following, having publicly in Hyde Park shown by experi- 
 ment this valuable discovery, and claimed it in his specification of the 7th of 
 June, 1842, in perfect ignorance that it had previously been known in Ger- 
 many, Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone, equally ignorant of the matter, Repeated 
 the same experiment on Waterloo Bridge on or about the 5th of September, and 
 then on the 11th of September, 1842, took out their fifth patent, including now, 
 for the first time, this property of the earth, which they specified on the 11th of 
 March, 1843. They have, notwithstanding, ever since given out in many publi- 
 cations, that they had all along used the discovery in question, even as far back 
 as since the year 1839. 
 
 10. That in the early part of the year 1841, Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone 
 had most extensively advertised their electric telegraphs, and in many scientific 
 journals had claimed as their own invention Mr. Bain's printing telegraph and 
 electric clock, on which, as above stated, he was then lecturing at the Poly- 
 technic. They had thereby obtained such influence with the periodical 
 press that Mr. Bain found the utmost difficulty in gaining admission for his 
 claims to the columns of any one journal. At last the " Inventor s Advocate" 
 inserted a letter from him on the 24th of March, 1841, and one or two subse- 
 quently. On the 20th of May following, a clerk, as it afterwards appeared, 
 from the office of Mr. Wilson, the solicitor of this bill, proffered on behalf of 
 Mr. Cooke, a series of advertisements to that journal if the correspondence 
 of Mr. Bain, respecting electric clocks were to be thereafter discontinued, and 
 the journal was to commence advertising, as it did in fact in the next number, 
 of the 22nd of May. The high-spirited editor, Mr. Bakewell, however, refused 
 
119 
 
 to comply with the iniquitous stipulation, so that only this one advertisement 
 appeared. This transaction is adverted to by Mr. Cooke himself, who inserts 
 the original correspondence between Mr. Wilson and the editor in the " Rail- 
 way Times" of the 24th of July, 1843. No one who reads Mr. Cooke's letter 
 can doubt the truth of the charge. 
 
 Those are among the most material of the charges set forth in Mr. Finlaison's 
 pamphlet, omitting, for the present, the numerous plagiarisms of other men's 
 inventions , which are therein proved against Mr. Wheatstone. They have now 
 for nearly three years remained unanswered, save by Mr. Cooke's letter in the 
 " Railway Times" as above, and by his other letter of the 5th of August, 1843, 
 before referred to in Article 4, which last contains more than one enormous 
 misrepresentation in disparagement of Mr. Bain. These have already been 
 contradicted, however, and their fallacy manifested by invincible evidence in the 
 correspondence with the Admiralty, the production of which was not insisted 
 on by the committee, notwithstanding Mr. Bain's counsel declared it to be a part 
 of his case. — Vide p. 115. 
 
 Some of those charges, with the additional one of their having pirated one or 
 two of his best inventions in their patent of the 5th of May, 1845, as undermen- 
 tioned, are reiterated in Mr. Bain's petition against the bill. Some were proved, 
 as far as permission was given, by Mr. Bain and Mr. Finlaison, who gave the 
 book in evidence to the committee, and who both courted cross-examination as 
 to its contents. But not a word in reference to the charges was asked. 
 
 It is stated by Mr. Hill (foot of p. 3) that Mr. Wheatstone' s mind being 
 absorbed in science he was bought out of the concern. He was, therefore, an un- 
 objectionable witness. Now the three witnesses produced by the promoters knew 
 absolutely almost nothing of the history of the case. But Mr. Wheatstone, 
 Mr. Cooke, and Mr. Wilson, his attorney, knew it perfectly from first to last. 
 They were in the committee-room personally present on each of the four days 
 of contest. Why were they not called for the better information of the com- 
 mittee, or at least asked to explain away, if they could, any of the foregoing 
 charges ? The obvious inference is, that in the opinion of those who had the best 
 means of knowing, the effect of a cross-examination might be of rather perilous 
 consequences. " Pudet hsec opprobia dici et non potuisse repelli." Mr. Hill's 
 own upright mind, save when misled by his instructions, very naturally suggests 
 (p. 7) that " if the facts in Mr. Bain's petition were true, they would be highly 
 discreditable to those whom he represented," and again, at p 5 GO, he asks " Is it 
 not rather hard upon the two respectable gentlemen whom I represent that they 
 sit here to have statements made, which, if they were true, would utterly drive 
 them out of society, and justly so, as honest men and gentlemen, when the matter 
 never can be tested by putting witnesses in the box." 
 
 But as the honourable committee had offered no interruption to General 
 Pasley when he was doing his utmost to disparage Mr. Bain's capacity as an 
 inventor, it might reasonably be supposed that they would not refuse, at so con- 
 venient an opportunity, to permit the parties in question to vindicate their 
 character, if Mr. Hill had only strenuously exerted himself to put them for- 
 ward. 
 
 Mr. Bain and his friends would gladly have acquitted Mr. Cooke of having 
 personally consented to the attempt to tamper with the press, in order to ex- 
 clude Mr. Bain from any public notice, if he had only said a word to that effect 
 in his letter of the 24th of July in the " Railway Times." But in that letter 
 he states that the attempt so far succeeded, as that the editor of the " Inventor's 
 Advocate," in the hope of obtaining Mr. Cooke's advertisements, did, in fact, 
 after the receipt of Mr. Wilson's letter of the 22nd of May, 1841, insert no more 
 letters from Mr. Bain. Yet, in the same breath, he gives currency to a pre- 
 tended rumour, which it is impossible he could have believed, if indeed such a 
 rumour ever existed, viz., that it was said this same editor was in partnership 
 with Mr. Bain ! The two statements are, on the face of the documents, not 
 only unfounded, but manifestly inconsistent with each other. 
 
120 
 
 In his letter of the 3rd of August, 1843, to the " Mechanic's Magazine," Mr. 
 Cooke lays down three propositions in disparagement of Mr. Bain's mode of 
 insulating a telegraphical wire by asphalte, which the non-produced documents 
 at the Admiralty would have most effectually refuted, if they had been made 
 forthcoming. 
 
 1st. That the expense of the material itself must have cost nearly 66/. per 
 mile. 
 
 2nd. That the cost of laying it down,, inclusive of this, but exclusive of the 
 wire, could not be less than 150/. per mile. 
 
 3rd. That, except at very low temperatures, asphalte itself is not an insulator 
 but a conductor of electricity. He adds, that dear-bought experience had in- 
 duced him to lay aside all thoughts of using asphalte for such a purpose. 
 
 Possibly Mr. Cooke, although at that date an electrician of seven years 
 practice, might nevertheless have been ignorant that there exists in this country 
 a material, costing no more than twenty shillings per ton, which is absolutely 
 identical, as Mr. Cooper the eminent chemist proved, with Claridge's asphalte, 
 both in analysis and in every other property ; and that when boiling hot, at 
 320 degrees of Fahrenheit, it was found to be a most perfect wow-conductor. 
 
 It is a sufficient answer to the unscrupulous statement just referred to, that 
 Mr. Bain is willing to lay down his wires in asphalte, at one-half the sum 
 which Mr. Cooke specifies. 
 
 The last and most serious grievance which Mr. Bain has to lay to the charge 
 of Mr. Cooke, is the appropriation to himself, with scarcely a colourable differ- 
 ence, in his and Mr. Wheatstone's last patent, specified only in November, 1845, 
 of Mr. Bain's single-wire and single-index telegraph, which was worked be- 
 fore the Committee, and had been patented by Mr. Bain on the 27th of May, 
 1843. The deviations which are made from Mr. Bain's original plan, are, in 
 truth, only so many imperfections in the imitation. As Mr. Cooke is now 
 using this copy of Mr. Bain's invention on every line which he has recently laid 
 down, it is very difficult to exculpate him from a wilful invasion of another 
 man's property on the score of ignorance. The facts of the case, however, are 
 matter for judicial investigation, and it is not to be lost sight of that these, and 
 all the foregoing charges are sworn to in many affidavits, already on the file of 
 the High Court of Chancery. 
 
 Let the impartial reader of this note, now only ask himself whether Mr. Bain, 
 in his competition as an inventor with the promoters of this Bill, has hitherto 
 had fair play, in any quarter ; whether he and his friends have not shown the 
 utmost anxiety for publicity, even to the minutest detail ; and whether, on the 
 contrary, his opponents have not, in every instance, shown a desire for the 
 most furtive-like concealment, even to the degree of withholding, as witnesses, 
 the men who have practically worked Mr. Cooke's original telegraph, from 
 whom it might have been elicited, as is rumoured, that its imperfections in 
 practice were so numerous, that its service could not have been depended on 
 for a day. 
 
 Page 20. 
 
 General Pasley says, " The Telegraph established by Messrs. Cooke and 
 Wheatstone, long before my examination and comparison, was infinitely su- 
 perior to what Mr. Bain's was then. It is possible he may have improved it 
 since. I dont think he could have improved it without borrowing some of the 
 arrangements of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone.' 1 When a public officer of 
 General Pasley's high rank deposes to such an opinion, his belief must be 
 founded on one or other of two convictions : either that, by some gauge 
 of his own, he had sounded the depth of Mr. Bain's capacity as an inventor, 
 and found him shallow, or else, that in 1844, Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone 
 had attained the ne plus ultra of perfection. But this last is negatived, by their 
 having taken out a patent for further improvements, in May, 1845, in which 
 
121 
 
 the subsequent evidence shows they have appropriated more than one of Mr. 
 Bain's most important inventions — a matter now actually subjudice. 
 
 Page 21. 
 
 General Pasley says very truly, " He stated that unless he (Mr. Bain) com- 
 municated between parts of some distance, that it was impossible to form an 
 opinion." This very kind advice, however, involved Mr. Bain and his friends 
 in an expense of 500/., without any other result than that of demonstrating his 
 ability to print by electricity at very distant places. — See the Evidence, p. 110. 
 
 Page 24 (last Line). 
 When a wire is, by means of asphalte or some other substance, protected 
 from moisture, or so placed as that no moisture shall convey any part of a 
 current of electricity passing along such wire into the earth (which would 
 occasion a dissipation of the fluid), it is said to be " insulated." When a me- 
 tallic pointer revolves on a dial, having radii of wood and metal alternately, 
 if an electric current acts on this dial, the current will flow when the pointer is 
 in contact with the metal, it will not flow when the pointer is in contact with 
 the wood. This process of making and breaking the current, as occasion re- 
 quires, General Pasley deems to be the insulation of a wire ! — See his further 
 answers to the succeeding queries in connexion with this. 
 
 Page 28. 
 
 The General's assertion, that the power necessary to send a current when the 
 earth completes one half of the circuit, must be twice as great, as that used 
 when a complete metallic circuit is formed by a return wire, is not only contra- 
 dicted by Mr. Bain (see last line of page 93, et seq.), but is evidently in igno- 
 rance of the first rudiments of electrical science. The return w r ire being of very 
 small diameter, does oppose some resistance to the fluid. The earth, however, 
 opposes none at all, simply because of the large section of it which is opened to 
 the fluid by the metallic plates, which are immersed, at each end of the wire. 
 The current passing through the earth, may, therefore, be said to pass through 
 a channel which is equal to a square foot or more. 
 
 Page 29. 
 
 The General sees no use in attaching a printing apparatus to an Electrical 
 Telegraph. That it is, however, indispensably necessary to insure official re- 
 sponsibility, is shown in Mr. Finlaison's evidence, p. 111. 
 
 Page 80. 
 
 It does not distinctly appear in evidence, but it is, nevertheless, a fact, that 
 Mr. Edward Cowper was sent down expressly to Edinburgh by the promoters 
 of the Bill, in order to examine Mr. Bain's telegraph on the Edinburgh 
 and Glasgow line, as also his electric clocks, and especially to see if Mr. Bain 
 had used any of their patented apparatus (see top of p. 35). This explains his 
 answer at the foot of p. 31 : — " I visited it the next day when I went down, 
 and I visited it as one of the public." But he candidly informed Mr. Bain, 
 that he was sent on such an errand ; adding, that he had previously told his 
 employers that he would be no spy, but openly declare to Mr. Bain why he 
 came. His silence as to any infringements of Mr. Bain on the patents of 
 Cooke and Wheatstone is, therefore, very material. Still more so is his admis- 
 sion (p, 35), that Mr. Bain's mode of insulating the wire on the posts by 
 asphalte, is entirely different from that of the other parties, and, in Mr. Bain's 
 opinion, a superior method. There are two models referred to by Mr. Cowper 
 in the 7th and 8th answers, at p. 30. One is a paper model, which he had 
 made himself, in order to explain, at his own lecture, in March, 1844, Mr. Bain's 
 K 
 
122 
 
 system of the I. and V. Telegraph. The other model referred to was Mr. 
 Bain's own finished working model, then on the table of the Committee, which 
 Mr. Cowper had also seen at Edinburgh on the railway. The two models are 
 again contrasted in the last question of Mr. Webster, at p. 34. 
 
 Page 35 {at the Top). 
 Mr. Cowper is asked, l< How many of Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone's in- 
 ventions has Mr. Bain used there ?" (meaning between Edinburgh and Glasgow). 
 He answers, " I have not gone into the patents for that purpose. I did not 
 consider this to be a question of the value of the patents, and, therefore, I 
 merely went to a matter of fact." N.B. The matter of fact which he was pro* 
 bably sent to see was, not only whether Mr. Bain's telegraph was in operation 
 with perfect efficiency, but also whether Mr. Bain had insulated his wires in the 
 same way as his adversaries had patented. This last Mr. Cowper negatives dis- 
 tinctly in the next question but one, as is already referred to in the preceding 
 note. He is then asked, " Has he (Mr. Bain) abandoned his own peculiar plan 
 of asphalt and other matters in the telegraph from Edinburgh to Glasgow ?" — 
 Witness. " Do you mean in insulating the wire ?" " Yes ?" — Answer. " The 
 wires are there carried on the tops of posts." " He does not use his asphalt?" 
 — Answer. " No." At p. 95, Mr. Bain explains, that his principal reason for 
 not using it in his own peculiar way on this railway — that is, in a bar of asphalt 
 under ground — was, that the Directors would not permit the railway to be 
 opened ; and that the only other reason for not using it, applies to new rail- 
 ways, during the period in which the embankments might not have fully sub- 
 sided ; also, that it is a cheap mode of insulation. At p. 35. it appears from 
 from Mr. Cowper, that he had, in fact, insulated his wires on the tops of the 
 posts effectually with asphalt, as before stated. 
 
 Page 69. 
 
 The jumble alluded to by Mr. Cooper, at the foot of this page, is, indeed, a 
 singular one. Dr. Watson, in 1748, discovered that a current of frictional 
 electricity sent from the Leyden phial along a wire to some distance, returned, 
 when the end of that wire was made to penetrate the earth, back to its source 
 at the phial^ all through the earth. Voltaic electricity was only discovered in 
 1800. But, in 1803, Aldini showed, by experiment, at Calais, that this last 
 form of electricity, when sent from a battery of eighty cells (that is, when in a 
 high state of intensity), would also return to its source through the earth or 
 water. In 1838, Dr. Steinheil, of Munich, but with what power of intensity is 
 unknown, applied this isolated fact, that the earth could complete the voltaic 
 circuit, to the more economical working of electric telegraphs. On the 4th of 
 June, 1842, Mr. Bain, perfectly ignorant of all the preceding discoveries, showed 
 in Hyde Park the same property of the earth, with a small battery sending very 
 feeble currents, and applied it to telegraphic purposes for the first time in this 
 country, in his second patent just then specified, viz., on the 7th of June, 1842. 
 Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone repeated Mr. Bain's experiment with a battery, 
 on or about the 5th of September, 1842, on Waterloo-bridge ; and, on the 1 1th of 
 that month, they took out their fifth patent, in which they also, in imitation of 
 Mr. Bain, included the use of this property of the earth, as if it were a new dis- 
 covery of their own. But on the 10th of October following, Mr. Bain made 
 the further remarkable discovery, that without any voltaic battery at all the earth 
 could be made to produce electric currents of considerable power, and of very 
 valuable properties in other respects. This discovery he published, for the first 
 time, in June, 1843, having included it in the specification of his third patent, 
 lodged on the 27th of May preceding. As the new discovery was undeniable, 
 his detractors most cunningly laboured to deprive him of the meri f of it, by 
 persuading General Pasley, when he, in February, 1844, was sent by the 
 Admiralty to inspect Mr. Bain's telegraph, which was to print messages by the 
 
123 
 
 currents generated from the earth without any battery, that this property of the 
 earth to produce currents was one and the same with its other property of 
 conducting currents when these are produced from the Leyden phial or from the 
 voltaic apparatus. Being surprisingly ignorant of electric science, the General, 
 as it appears, believed the story so plausibly told him, and on that authority 
 affirmed that Mr. Bain had also, in this his last discovery, taken the merit of prior 
 inventions. He now repeats, with singular confusion, the same jumble before 
 the Committee, which Mr. Cooper, an old and experienced electrician, contra- 
 dicts. The General had eagerly and voluntarily produced his official report 
 (see p. 23), but was prevented by the Committee from giving it in as evidence, 
 apparently from a disinclination to avail themselves of any documents from the 
 Admiralty. 
 
 Page 103 (at the Foot). 
 In the preceding page, allusion is made to a statement in Mr. Hill's speech, 
 that Cooke and Wheatstone had invented a portable telegraph, to be carried by 
 a train, which, in case of accident, the guard could in any part of the line so 
 apply to the wire as to make signals to the station, in advance or in the rear of 
 the place where the accident might occur. This rested simply on the state- 
 ment of counsel. They produced no model of such a machine, nor any witness 
 to prove its utility or its practicability, or, in fact, that it ever had been 
 tried. This defect one of the honourable members — not the counsel for the 
 promoters — determined to supply by the cross-examination of Mr. Bain, so 
 that he himself might be made, in this one respect at least, to confess his own 
 inferiority to his opponents. At p. 102, he is asked, " Do you think that prac- 
 ticable?" He says, " I think it is. I consider that practicable, and, as far as I 
 know, it belongs to these gentlemen." Q. " That would effectually prevent 
 collisions?" — A. "It would help." Q. "And would help to save life and 
 property?" — A. "Yes." The examination then suddenly diverges from the 
 subject, and as suddenly returns to it, at the foot of p. 103. Then he is asked, 
 " Can you by your system effectuate that in the event of any accident happen- 
 ing?" — A. "I give them entire credit for that." Q. "Your apparatus could 
 not do that?" — A. "I have done nothing to effectuate it as yet." Here the 
 subject of examination suddenly changes, to the grievous injury of Mr. Bain. 
 Had it continued he would have stated, that a portable telegraph can only be 
 worked by a portable battery ; that in his opinion — and whether right or wrong, 
 such is his opinion, — when an accident happens to a train, the confusion is 
 always so great that the apparatus could not be got into working order in the 
 same time as he by his system can now notify the disaster. A single signal 
 from station No. 5 notifies to station No. 6, and to every other station, that the 
 train A. has started. This train, if no accident had happened, would arrive at 
 No. 6 by a given minute. No. 6 signals to No. 5, and every other station, that 
 the train A. has not arrived at the time it ought to have ; an engine from each 
 station starts to see what is the matter, and in the meantime every other train is 
 stopped. Now, each of the signals alluded to can be made in a second of time, 
 and the del iy is thus limited to the number of minutes elapsing between the 
 time wher. the accident happens, and the time when the train ought to have 
 arrived at No. 6. Mr. Bain thinks that this delay is less than that which 
 would occur in getting ready the portable telegraph, and setting it to work. 
 But, if the directors of railways should think otherwise, it is not for his interest 
 to withhold a telegraph from every train. His own one of the I. and V., 
 which was worked before the Committee, is portable enough ; being only fifteen 
 inches long, nine inches broad, and about six inches deep : a small battery, with 
 a wire connecting the I. and V. telegraph with the main wire, numbering the 
 posts or mile-stones along the line, would at once tell the stations in front and 
 rear at which post or mile- stone the accident had happened. It requires little 
 knowledge of law to say, that the mere portability of an instrument cannot 
 be the subject of a patent. Mr. Bain is, surely, therefore at liberty to work 
 
124 
 
 his own telegraph, whether it is fixed at any station, or fixed on a locomotive 
 engine, so long as he carefully abstains from using the particular method pa- 
 tented by Messrs. Cooke and Wheatstone. 
 
 Page 1 13. 
 
 The shorthand-writer has omitted in this copy a part of the proceedings on 
 the cross-examination of Mr. Finlaison. They were as follow : — 
 
 Mr. Hawes — The Committee do not see the propriety of entering into these 
 domestic circumstances. 
 
 Mr. Hindmarsh — Sir, it is always allowed at nisi prim to show, but without 
 imputing any want of veracity to Mr. Finlaison, that a witness may uncon- 
 sciously have a bias on his mind from family connexions. 
 
 Mr. Hawes to the Witness — Mr. Finlaison, do you wish the questions and 
 answers to be removed from the minutes ? 
 
 Witness — Quite the contrary. I consider my connexion with Mr. Bain to be 
 an honour to me. 
 
 Captain Gladstone — It is honourable to you both, 
 
 Chairman — No person who has heard the manner in which Mr. Bain gave 
 his evidence before this Committee, can help feeling the highest respect for 
 him. 
 
 [This hiatus must be apparent from the next question put by the Committee.] 
 
 § 
 
 THE END. 
 
 C. WHITING, BEAUFORT HOUSE, STRAND. 
 
OF GALVANISM, 
 
 OR 
 
 VOLTAIC ELECTRICITY. 
 
 300. As to the nature of the cause of electrical pheno- 
 mena, there is a great and mysterious uncertainty. By a 
 majority of electricians, Dufay's suggestion of the existence 
 of two fluids is sanctioned (E, 217, &c. # ), while, by others, 
 Franklin's idea of one fluid is preferred; yet philosophers 
 of high pretensions question the existence of any impon- 
 derable matter. Whewell, of the University of Cambridge, 
 in England, published an essay a few years since, of which 
 it was the object to prove, that "all matter is heavy." 
 Faraday, so highly distinguished by his Herculean re- 
 searches, advanced the idea that electrical induction is the 
 consequence of an action of contiguous ponderable parti- 
 cles ; not an affection arising from their association with 
 imponderable matter. In letters published in Silliman's 
 Journal, I consider myself as having invalidated the posi- 
 tions thus taken by these eminent philosophers. 
 
 301. Nevertheless, I find it necessary to abandon the 
 idea that there is any transfer of imponderable matter 
 during electrical discharges. Latterly I have conjectured, 
 that electrical phenomena are due to the opposite polari- 
 zation of electric matter, which pervades all bodies and all 
 space ; so that the two electricities are the effects of the 
 same matter in different states of polarization, and an elec- 
 tric current consists of a succession of polarizing impulses. 
 To this subject I shall return when the facts on which this 
 inference is founded shall be the subject of consideration. 
 
 302. Nevertheless, it seems universally to be deemed 
 expedient to suppose, provisionally, the existence of fluid 
 electric imponderable matter; and as the movements of 
 one current are more easy to conceive of and describe, 
 
 * In referring to the numbers of paragraphs in the treatise on " Electricity Pro- 
 per," I shall prefix the letter E : in referring to my Compendium, the letter C. 
 A 
 
2 
 
 than those of two fluids, the language founded on the 
 Franklinian theory is much used, even by those who as- 
 sume the existence of two fluids. 
 
 303. Consistently with the hypothesis of Dufay (E, 217), 
 there must, in every part of any active electric circuit, be 
 two fluids flowing oppositely to each other. The quantity 
 of either fluid must be increased as that of the other is di- 
 minished, so that there can neither be any diminution, nor 
 any increase of the sum of the quantities of both fluids. 
 Moreover, the current in an electric circuit can no more 
 be directed from positive to negative, than from negative 
 to positive. Nevertheless, the terms positive and nega- 
 tive, or minus and plus, are applied to the states of bodies; 
 implying, of course, a deficiency in the one case, and a re- 
 dundancy in the other. Moreover, arrows indicating the 
 current to move from the positive to the negative pole are 
 almost universally used. 
 
 304. I shall employ, on all occasions, a language cor- 
 responding with the theory of Franklin, wishing it to be 
 understood, that when employing the words electrical cur- 
 rent^ as designating the phenomena of an active galvanic 
 circuit, I do not mean to convey the idea that those words 
 are sufficiently descriptive or accurate. The words elec- 
 trical current should rather be understood to designate the 
 unknown cause of certain effects, which are in some re- 
 spects such as might result from a current of imponderable 
 matter. 
 
 Of the Elementary Battery, or Simple Galvanic Pair, and 
 its Circuit: more properly designated as a Galvanic 
 Triad. 
 
 305. It is generally known that metals are liable to 
 what is called corrosion, arising from a reciprocal action, 
 or reaction, with certain gases or liquids; also, that some 
 metals will react with liquids or gases, with which other 
 metals will undergo no reaction. 
 
 306. It may be assumed as a general law, that when 
 two metals are simultaneously exposed to a liquid, exer- 
 cising with one of them a more energetic reaction than 
 with the other, the phenomena will be such as to comport 
 with the idea of an electrical current from the more sus- 
 ceptible metal, through the liquid, to the other metal; and 
 
3 
 
 from this, through any competent conductor, back again 
 to the first mentioned metal. # To this result a complete 
 circuit is indispensable; and it is on the completion of the 
 circuit that the phenomena take place which are assumed 
 to demonstrate a current. It is on this account that when 
 the tongue is situated between a plate of copper and a 
 plate of zinc, no sensation is perceived until the projecting 
 extremity of one, touches that of the other : but as soon as 
 this contact is effected, a discharge takes place from the 
 zinc to the copper (or silver) disc, which affects the taste 
 somewhat like a feeble acid. Where the surfaces are 
 large, the current may be indicated by the ignition of a 
 wire made the medium of communication, or by the at- 
 traction and polarization of iron filings; but among the 
 most competent means of detecting such currents, is the 
 galvanometer or multiplier of Schweiger. In this a mag- 
 netic needle, situated within a coil of wire as represented 
 Fig. i. in figure 1, by its deflection detects 
 
 the existence of the most feeble gal- 
 vanic current, which may be made to 
 pass through the coil by means of a 
 due communication with the ends, a b, of the wire. 
 
 307. Hereafter the reaction of the galvano- 
 electric current, so called, with the cause of 
 magnetism, will be more fully brought into 
 view, while at present it may be well to ad- 
 vert to another galvanoscope, which owes its 
 existence to the same source. Fig. 2 repre- 
 sents this galvanoscope. When a small ribbon 
 of gold leaf situated between the legs, N S, of 
 the magnet, D, and parallel thereto, is made the 
 medium of a minute galvanic discharge, the 
 ribbon is swayed one way or the other, ac- 
 cording to the direction of the current. 
 
 308. The tongue has been mentioned above 
 as performing the office of a galvanoscope. 
 Originally, the limb of a frog, with the lumbar 
 
 or spinal nerves denuded, was employed by Galvani and 
 his nephew, Aldini; and, recently, this organic instrument 
 has been found by Matteucci, a distinguished modern in- 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 * I here state the opinion generally held, yet Sturgeon alleges, that in the case of 
 iron and amalgamated zinc, although the former is much the most rapidly dissolved, 
 it nevertheless acts as copper. 
 
4 
 
 vestigator, to be competent to the detection of a current 
 too feeble to affect a most delicate galvanometer, of a con- 
 struction analogous to that above illustrated. 
 
 309. The following figure will give an idea of a frog 
 prepared so as to answer as a galvanoscope. The de- 
 nuded lumbar nerves, with a portion of the spine attached, 
 
 Fig. 3. 
 
 are represented at £, the feet at s. Now, if z be a plate 
 of zinc, and s a plate of silver, copper, or platina, on 
 making or breaking the circuit by the metallic arch, C, 
 convulsions will be produced. When the interruptions 
 and renewals of contact at one of the extremities of the 
 arch are rapid, the agitation is incessant. 
 
 310. When the frog is used as a galvanoscope, the me- 
 tallic plates should be perfectly homogeneous, so as of 
 themselves to produce no discharge. In lieu of resting on 
 metallic plates, the nerves and feet may each be enveloped 
 in tin, or such lead foil as is used in tea chests. 
 
 311. Thus prepared, a dissected frog may be included 
 in any circuit, in lieu of the galvanoscopes above described. 
 Under those circumstances, the passage of the most mi- 
 nute galvano-electric current will be indicated by a cor- 
 responding tremulous motion in the organic instrument 
 employed. 
 
 312. When a galvano-electric current is produced by 
 two metallic plates, or any other competent masses, and 
 an interposed exciting agent, they are usually called a gal- 
 vanic pair: but as three elements are requisite to the cha- 
 racteristic effect, I prefer to call the apparatus which they 
 form, a galvanic triad (306). 
 
 313. In the construction of galvanic triads, various 
 forms may be given to the metals upon which the liquid 
 is made to operate; and any two metals will be produc- 
 tive of analogous results, provided that one be more sus- 
 ceptible of erosion by the exciting liquid than the other. 
 
5 
 
 Usually copper and zinc are employed, as combining in 
 a preeminent degree, efficiency with cheapness. Yet sil- 
 ver would be preferable to copper, gold to silver, and pla- 
 tinum probably to gold. 
 
 314. It follows, that whatever may be demonstrated 
 with respect to copper and zinc, will apply, more or less, 
 in the case of other metals. Hence C and Z, the initials 
 of copper and zinc, may be considered severally as re- 
 presenting two metals, one of greater,, the other of inferior 
 susceptibility of erosion. The electric relation of these 
 metals may be changed by varying the exciting liquid. 
 Thus, for instance, in a galvanic arrangement, in which 
 copper and zinc should be subjected to ammonia, which 
 acts upon copper more than upon zinc, the latter metal 
 would, in a simple galvanic circuit, give electricity to the 
 former. It appears, also, that in lieu of two metals and 
 one liquid, we may employ two liquids with one metal; or 
 one metal with one liquid may be employed, provided the 
 surfaces be in a different state as to roughness, since a 
 more powerful reaction takes place with the rougher sur- 
 face. 
 
 315. The energy of the current varies also with the 
 greater or less disposition of the negative, or less oxidiza- 
 ble metal, to become tarnished by oxidation, or depositions 
 from the liquid, and of being partially dissolved and pre- 
 cipitated on the other metal. These evils are so great in 
 the case of zinc and copper, as to cause a battery con- 
 structed of them, without any remedial contrivance, to lose 
 almost all its efficiency, before the zinc is exhausted. The 
 zinc becomes so completely coated by a mixture* of its 
 suboxide with metallic copper, that due access of the acid 
 is prevented. 
 
 316. As either silver, gold, or platinum, differ from zinc 
 more than copper does, as to liability to erosion, were it 
 not for their superior costliness they would be preferable 
 to this last mentioned metal. Platinum is preeminently 
 preferable, being less susceptible of change than gold. A 
 minute quantity of this metal, precipitated on the surface 
 of silver or copper, has been found to make these metals 
 
 * This mixture, after being softened by soaking in water, and then scraped off, I 
 found, in one instance, to grow hot spontaneously. Probably this arose from a gal- 
 vano-chemical reaction between the moisture and the copper and zinc particles, 
 during which these were acquiring an additional quantity of oxygen. 
 
6 
 
 more efficacious in a galvanic triad, by diminishing the 
 injurious tendency to coherence, between them and hydro- 
 gen. Recently it has been found, that either plumbago, 
 coke, or the indurated carbon sublimed in vessels for 
 evolving gas from bituminous coal, may be substituted for 
 the copper in a triad. 
 
 317. From the phenomena of electrical fishes, and 
 those observed by Matteucci in the muscles of frogs, 
 fishes, and warm blooded animals, it is evident that the 
 law, which has been assumed to be in operation in the 
 case of metals, must prevail no less where organic sub- 
 stances are solely concerned (306). 
 
 318. Although at this stage of our illustration, any at- 
 tempt to explain the theory or construction of the multi- 
 plier, or galvanometer, would be premature, it will be 
 highly advantageous to employ it as the best means of de- 
 tecting the direction and force of a galvanic current. At 
 present, it will be sufficient to state, that when a galvanic 
 discharge takes place through a wire, as from the copper 
 plate C, to the zinc plate Z, both subjected to diluted acid, 
 
 Fig. 4. as in fig. 4, the magnetic needle has a 
 
 tendency to arrange itself, at right angles 
 to the path of the current,* and that con- 
 sequently, if the current be made to pass 
 parallel to the needle, a deflection in pro- 
 portion to the quantity of fluid which 
 passes, will ensue. The interposition of the coil of the 
 galvanometer, merely reiterates the influence of the cur- 
 rent, by causing it to circulate many times about the nee- 
 dle. See Electro-magnetism, for various engravings and 
 descriptions of this instrument. 
 
 319. The direction of the galvanic current is known, 
 from the manner in which the needle is deflected; since 
 when the current is above, and flows in a direction ' paral- 
 lel to the meridian, from south to north, the north pole is 
 deflected so as to point westward, and of course the south 
 pole, oppositely deflected, points eastward. When a si- 
 milar current is flowing in the same direction below the 
 needle, the deflection is the reverse of that just described; 
 
 * More accurately, it may be said to take the attitude of a tangent to the circum- 
 ference of a cylinder, in the axis of which the current flows. 
 
7 
 
 but in any case, reversing the direction of the current, re- 
 verses the deflection. 
 
 320. In an elementary battery, or triad, consisting of 
 copper, zinc and water, or any aqueous solution, the oxi- 
 dation of the zinc is, as already suggested, indispensable 
 to the production of the phenomena, which are conven- 
 tionally attributed to an electrical current circulating from 
 the zinc, through the liquid to the copper, and back again 
 to the zinc. Under these circumstances, as the oxygen of 
 the water combines with the zinc, it might be expected, 
 that hydrogen, the other elementary ingredient of the li- 
 quid, would be liberated at the surface of the metal, as is 
 known to be the fact, when zinc in an impure state, as 
 found in commerce, is subjected to diluted sulphuric acid. 
 But, in fact, so long as there is a metallic communication 
 between the plates, the hydrogen will be liberated only at 
 the surface of the copper. According to Faraday, there 
 is no reaction and consequent evolution of hydrogen, when 
 zinc, purified by distillation, is subjected, per se, to diluted 
 sulphuric acid; nor from commercial zinc, if the surface 
 be amalgamated, or in other words, coated by a film of 
 mercury. The effect of this coating is to prevent the for- 
 mation of local circuits, between the zinc and certain me- 
 tallic impurities which it contains. A homogeneous sub- 
 stance is produced, which, per se, is scarcely susceptible 
 of reaction with diluted sulphuric acid. 
 
 321. But although neither pure zinc, nor impure zinc 
 when amalgamated, has, per se, any reaction with the 
 water of diluted sulphuric acid, yet if touched by a piece 
 of copper previously immersed in the solution, the oxygen 
 of the water combines more or less with the zinc, while 
 the hydrogen is copiously evolved from the cupreous sur- 
 face. 
 
 322. This may be considered as another of the charac- 
 teristic features of a galvanic circuit, though it cannot be 
 so conveniently nor satisfactorily made manifest as the in- 
 dications above cited (306, 307, 309). 
 
 323. The characteristic phenomena which have been 
 described as resulting from a galvanic triad, are not inse- 
 parately associated with any particular forms of the gene- 
 rating surfaces, or arrangement of them. The same ex- 
 tent of superficies may be more efficacious when arranged 
 in one way than in another, or may vary in its efficacy 
 
8 
 
 with the energy of the exciting liquid; but whether either 
 or both of the metals be used in one plate, or in several, 
 does not alter the characteristic features of the circuit as 
 they have been described. 
 
 Of the Calorimotor. 
 
 324. In 1818 I contrived a modification of the galvanic triad or elemen- 
 tary battery, which I designated as a calorimotor or heat mover, under the 
 idea that a current of heat no less than one of electricity, is an effect of the 
 galvano motive power.* 
 
 325. The calorimotor consisted of twenty-one plates of copper communi- 
 cating by a metallic strap, and twenty plates of zinc similarly associated, 
 the plates of the one set being alternated between those of the other. In an 
 apparatus thus constructed, the zinc is every where opposed by copper, so 
 that both of its surfaces become equally efficacious. Still this apparatus, 
 although consisting of forty-one metallic sheets, and twenty interstices re- 
 plete with the exciting liquid, comprises only the three elements of a gal- 
 
 * The ignition and deflagration of wires by the galvanic current has, by philoso- 
 phers generally, been ascribed solely to electricity; the heat and light evolved 
 having been treated as secondary effects. But as, agreeably to the observation of 
 Davy, sanctioned by general experience, a finite portion of wire, exposed in the vol- 
 taic circuit, may be kept ignited for an unlimited time, it follows, that if heat be ma- 
 terial, it cannot be supplied by the wire, and must be supposed to flow from the same 
 source as the accompanying electricity. Considering the imponderable fluid put 
 into circulation by galvanic reaction, as consisting of caloric as well as electricity, I 
 inferred that the proportion of the caloric increased with the size of the pairs, that 
 of the electricity with the number ; and that in a large apparatus of one pair, the 
 latter fluid was in a minimum proportion, so that it was mainly caloric, which was 
 made to circulate by a large galvanic pair which I had constructed. 
 
 It is demonstrated by the phenomena of thermo-electricity, of which an account 
 will be given in due course, that a current of heat may be the primary cause of a 
 galvanic current, in thermo-electric apparatus, just as much as a current of electri- 
 city is the cause of an evolution of heat from an apparatus, such as above described, 
 called hydro-electric, because a liquid is requisite to the result. It seems, therefore, 
 reasonable to consider, that both caloric and electricity may be products either of 
 galvano or Z^ermo-electric reaction; and that if heat be a secondary product in one 
 case, electricity is no less so in the other. There is the most ample proof that the 
 cause of the one, as well as of the other, exists in metals to an enormous degree. 
 The arguments against the idea that a fluid is the cause of electricity, are, it seems 
 to me. more difficult to answer than any that can be adduced against the existence 
 of a material cause of calorific repulsion. 
 
 Contemplating a galvanic pair as simply a mover of the electric fluid, Volta had 
 called such pairs, as existing in his series, electromotors. By analogy, I applied the 
 term calorimotor to signify the large pair or heat mover above mentioned. 
 
 The opinion above alluded to, that the heat of an active galvanic circuit is not an 
 electrical effect, as generally supposed, but that, on the contrary, caloric and electri- 
 city are connate and collateral products of galvanic reaction, was entertained when 
 the causes, both of the calorific and electrical phenomena, were generally considered 
 as material fluids, the electro-magnetic powers of the circuit in question being un- 
 known. It will, in due course, be explained, that I am now disposed to consider the 
 powers of the active circuit as the consequence of waves of polarization, and proba- 
 bly of concomitant vibrations or movements, in one or more imponderable principles, 
 which, pervading all space, are combined more or less in a condensed state with 
 ponderable atoms, and enter enormously into the constitution of perfect conductors, 
 in other words, metals. 
 
 But this view of the subject is entirely consistent with the inference, that heat 
 and electricity are connate and collateral products of galvanic reaction, and that 
 heat is no more an effect of electricity, than electricity is an effect of heat. 
 
9 
 
 vanic triad, one associated zinc surface, one associated copper surface, and 
 the liquid interposed every where between them. 
 
 326. I ought to mention, that by means of a silver thimble, within which 
 a minute piece of zinc was supported and insulated, Wollaston made an 
 elementary battery capable of igniting a minute platina wire. In enlarging 
 the size of the galvanic triad, as above stated, my course was diametrically 
 opposite. Several methods of accomplishing this design occurred ; among 
 others, I contemplated concentric coils of copper and zinc, the former being 
 so wound as to surround the zinc completely. Also, to unite several sheets 
 of copper to one bar of metal, and several zinc sheets to another bar, the 
 zinc and copper alternating. To the latter plan I gave the preference. 
 Twenty sheets of copper, and a like number of zinc sheets, associated as 
 above described, were secured in a wooden frame, so as to leave about a 
 quarter of an inch between them. One end of a rope, passing over a pul- 
 ley, was attached to the frame, while to the other end a counter weight was 
 fastened. A cubical box of suitable size being placed under the frame thus 
 suspended, and supplied with diluted sulphuric acid, the frame could be 
 lowered into the acid liquid, or lifted out in an instant. 
 
 327. When one plate of zinc is placed between two of copper, as in the 
 Wollaston elementary battery, represented by the adjoining cut, out of four 
 
 Fig. 5. copper surfaces two are useless; but in a calorimotor 
 z where the same quantity of zinc is used so as to form seve- 
 
 —-v P^-^ C ral plates, say four, for instance, five copper plates of the 
 same size, will be sufficient to constitute a calorimotor in 
 which each zinc plate will be opposed by a cupreous sur- 
 face, and only the outermost surfaces, the two external cop- 
 per plates, will be useless. Hence, of the ten surfaces in 
 ™ the five copper plates, all but two are brought into action. 
 
 328. A battery, resembling the calorimotor in the alternation of surfaces, 
 has lately been constructed, in which iron plates are made to perform the 
 office of those of copper: much merit is attached to the construction, no 
 reference being made to its previous employment by me. 
 
 329. While I was engaged in these experiments, Mr. Lukens, to whom 
 I had mentioned the various plans which I had projected, of calorimotors, 
 put into operation, with the aid of Dr. Patterson, the plan of concentric 
 coils. Although this apparatus had less surface than that which I had 
 constructed, and would not heat as large a wire as the latter, yet it com- 
 municated a much higher ignition to a small wire than mine was capable 
 of producing. 
 
 330. Soon after this experiment of Patterson and Lukens, J. P. Wethe- 
 rill, Esq., had a pair made in the form of concentric coils, of one hundred 
 square feet of surface. From this great results were expected, and a large 
 assemblage, of those interested in such experiments, attended to see the mam- 
 moth pair tried. But to the surprise of all present, it did not induce even a 
 red heat in connecting wires, such as had been vividly ignited by my appa- 
 ratus, or that of Patterson and Lukens. * 
 
 * Some time after these large pairs were constructed, similar apparatus was made 
 by Mr. Pepys, of London, and likewise by Col. OfFerhaus, on the continent; and al- 
 though a memoir, in which I gave an account of these experiments, was published 
 in Silliman's Journal, and in the Annals of Philosophy, Pepys' apparatus of concen- 
 tric coils has been treated of as an original contrivance in Turner's Chemistry, and 
 elsewhere. The apparatus of OfFerhaus, though made long after those constructed 
 B 
 
10 
 
 331. It struck me afterwards, that in a very large pair, the intensity does 
 not increase with the quantity of the fluid generated, since the impondera- 
 ble matter, or the waves of polarization, cannot be concentrated upon a 
 given small point of afflux, as soon from a large surface, as from a small 
 one. 
 
 332. It is analogous to the case of a small and a large stratum of water, 
 
 by Patterson and Lukens, and by Wetherill, was described as if it had been a novel 
 form of apparatus. 
 
 Finding that in consequence of the low intensity of the current from my calori- 
 motor, consisting of one pair formed of two surfaces of fifty square feet, it did not 
 produce a heat sufficient for the active deflagration of wires, I subsequently con- 
 verted it into an apparatus of two pairs, the copper sheets of one alternating with 
 the zinc sheets of the other. 
 
 Two of the surfaces were united by a mass of solder. To the others forceps were 
 soldered, into which the ends of the wire were fastened, which was to be made the 
 medium of discharge. This form of the calorimotor I have found of great use, as the 
 means of igniting gaseous mixtures in eudiometrical experiments, and other pro- 
 cesses requiring ignition in close vessels. 
 
 Figure 5 represents a calorimotor of four pairs, so constructed that the diluted acid 
 contained in a vessel of suitable form and size is brought into contact with the me- 
 tallic surfaces, by applying the hand duly to the end of a lever associated with two 
 pulleys and two cords, attached severally to the ends of the vessel. The cords, by 
 being wound up on the pulleys, raise the copper vessel so as to cause the plates to 
 be immersed in the diluted acid. 
 
 The two forms of the calorimotor represented by fig. 6 and 7, have been much 
 used by me for what is described in my Compendium as " galvano ignition." (C, 335.) 
 Within any cavity, ignition of any intensity short of fusing platina may be produced, 
 by making a platina wire the subject of a galvanic discharge from an instrument of 
 this kind. I first resorted to this process in the year 1820, for the purpose of igniting 
 gaseous mixtures in eudiometers of various forms. In June, 1831, I applied it to ig- 
 nite gunpowder in rock blasting; and to this object it was subsequently applied, 
 agreeably to my recommendation, by Colonel Pasley, Professor O'Shocnessy, and 
 others. 
 
 Engraving and Description of a Calorimotor of Four Pairs, or Triads. 
 Fig. 6. 
 
11 
 
 both of one depth. It is well known that the surface in both, being sus- 
 tained at the same height above the points of efflux, a jet from the former 
 stratum will go as far as one of the same diameter, emitted by the latter. 
 
 333. There was, however, one characteristic noticed by me, in which 
 this analogy does not hold ; I allude to the fact, that fine wire will not fuse 
 when made the medium of discharge from a very large pair, although the 
 same wire may be fused by a small one. 
 
 334. The capillary wire ignited by the thimble battery of Wollaston, 
 could not be similarly ignited by a calorimotor of fifty square feet. I have 
 mentioned that the coil of Patterson and Lukens ignited an iron wire about 
 No. 24, more intensely than my larger apparatus of one pair, consisting of 
 alternate plates. 
 
 335. Adopting the idea, that a current of electricity consists of waves of 
 polarization, the mystery may be thus explained. The application of a 
 wire to the electrodes, disproportionate in sectional area to the triad, the 
 circuit of which it is employed to close, impedes the polarization of the 
 greater part of the masses which enter into the construction of the triad. 
 Hence the polarizable matter within those masses is prevented from attain- 
 ing even that low degree of tension, of which one triad is susceptible when 
 its circuit is completed by a competent conductor. It appears, therefore, 
 reasonable to suppose, that the waves in a large calorimotor move less 
 
 Diagram illustrating the arrangement of the Plates. 
 Fig. 7. 
 
 1 A 2 
 
 4 S B S 3 
 
 This machine consists of sixteen plates of zinc, and twenty plates of copper, each 
 twelve inches by seven, arranged in four galvanic pairs. The plates are supported 
 within a box with a central partition of wood, A JB, dividing it into two compart- 
 ments. Each of these may be considered as separated into two subdivisions, by 
 four plates of copper between the letters C C. Of course the box may be consi- 
 dered as comprising four distinct spaces, No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4. The cir- 
 cuit is established in the following manner. Between the zinc plates of compart- 
 ment No. 1 , and the copper plates of compartment No. 2, a metallic communication 
 is produced, by soldering their neighbouring corners to a common mass of solder, 
 with which a groove in the wooden partition between them is filled. With similar 
 masses of solder, two grooves severally made in the upper edges of each end of the 
 box are supplied. To one of them, the corners of all the copper plates of space No. 
 1, and the zinc of space No. 4, are soldered. To the other, the zinc plates of space 
 No. 2, and the copper plates of space No. 3, are soldered in like manner. Lastly, 
 the zinc plates of No. 3 are connected by solder in a groove, and the copper plates 
 of No. 4 are in like manner connected by solder in another groove. Upon the ends, 
 S S, of the solder just mentioned, the gallows screws are severally soldered, and to 
 these the rods, P P, called poles, are fastened. The means by which the acid is 
 made to act upon the plates, must be sufficiently evident from inspection. Depress- 
 ing the handle causes the wheels to revolve, and thus, by means of the cord which 
 works in their grooved circumferences, to lift the receptacle which holds the acid, 
 until this occupies the interstices between the plates. 
 
 The rationale of the increase of intensity resulting from the above described con- 
 struction, will be given under the head of compound circuits. 
 
12 
 
 speedily, while they have, on the average, much further to go than those 
 created in comparatively minute apparatus, essentially of the same con- 
 struction. 
 
 336. There seems to be an analogy between the part performed by a 
 conductor in completing a galvanic circuit, and that of a keeper in com- 
 pleting the circuit of a magnet so far as this; that in either case, the body 
 by which the completion is accomplished, is the cause as well as the sub- 
 ject of the resulting power. 
 
 Of the Galva?ioscopic Frog. 
 
 337. It must follow, from the facts already alluded to, 
 that the limb of a frog must combine all that is essential 
 to a galvanic triad; and, agreeably to the observations of 
 Matteucci,* sections of the muscles either of warm or 
 cold-blooded animals are competent to give discharges 
 analogous to those of a very feeble galvanic triad. The 
 
 Calorimotor of Two Pairs, or Triads. 
 Fig. 8. 
 
 The apparatus represented by the preceding figure is a calorimotor quite analogous 
 in construction to that above described, but which differs from it in being of only 
 one-fourth of the sizt, and in consisting of two pairs instead of four. The plates are 
 nine inches by seven. There are four of zinc, and six of copper. 
 
 In the form of sheets arranged as two pairs alternating, Faraday, in some of his 
 researches, employed a calorimotor. 
 
 Of course, when consisting of more than one triad, the calorimotor ceases to come 
 under the head of simple circuits. It operates, when constituted of more than one 
 triad, upon the principle of a compound circuit, which will be explained in the next 
 chapter. 
 
 * Annales de Chymie et de Physique, Troisieme Serie, Tom. 7, page 425. 
 
13 
 
 organs by which electrical fishes are enabled to give 
 shocks to produce ignition, or deviations of the galvano- 
 metrical needle, are, no doubt, a series of galvanic triads, 
 in which organic masses, associated in a series voltaic- 
 ally, perform the office of the plates in galvanic triads, 
 forming a compound circuit, of which the description and 
 explanation is the subject of the next chapter. 
 
 Experimental Illustration. 
 
 338. The electrical excitement arising from the contact 
 of copper and zinc, shown by means of the single leaf 
 electrometer. 
 
 339. Effect of the active circuit upon Schweiger's gal- 
 vanometer and the gold leaf galvanoscope. Also, upon a 
 leech or prepared frog. 
 
 340. Disks of zinc, provided for the purpose of pro- 
 ducing a galvanic discharge through the tongue, when 
 severally placed over and under it; the projecting limb of 
 each disk being brought into contact. 
 
 341. A plate of copper and a plate of zinc, connected 
 by a small wire, being plunged into a vessel containing a 
 dilute acid, the ignition of the wire is produced. The 
 same result obtained, by concentric coils of sheet copper 
 and sheet zinc: also by several plates of copper and zinc, 
 alternated with each other; all the copper plates being 
 associated by one metallic bar, and all the zinc plates by 
 another. These heterogeneous surfaces have, every where, 
 interstices between them, and are connected only by a 
 small wire, which is deflagrated as soon as they are im- 
 mersed in an acid. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 OF COMPOUND CIRCUITS, OR VOLTAIC SERIES. 
 
 342. Having briefly described the construction and the 
 process of a single galvanic triad, or elementary battery 
 as it is usually called, I will, in the next place, direct at- 
 
14 
 
 tention to the compound or complex circuits, consisting of 
 two or more triads. For the illustration of this more 
 complicated form of the galvanic battery, a series of three 
 triads will answer every purpose, since, were any number, 
 however great, interposed between the terminating triads, 
 each would be in a situation, theoretically and practically, 
 perfectly analogous to the triad occupying the mean space 
 in a triple series. 
 
 343. Let us suppose three galvanic 
 triads like that represented by Fig. 9, 
 c to be situated side by side, no metallic 
 communication existing between the 
 plates of any one triad, while each 
 plate in each communicates, by a me- 
 tallic conductor, with one of a different 
 metal in one of the triads on either side; also, let the ex- 
 treme plates communicate by wires, meeting as repre- 
 sented. 
 
 344. The plates of neither triad communicating directly, 
 neither can form an independent circuit, but still any of 
 them may make a discharge through the complex conduc- 
 tor, formed by the uniting wires, and the intervening por- 
 tions of the exciting liquid. It follows, that if the two 
 plates in the exterior receptacles were both of one metal, 
 so as to be incapable of producing a galvanic current, the 
 middle triad would act as a simple elementary battery, per- 
 forming its circuit through a complicated conductor. But 
 as in the actual construction, the plates of each triad are si- 
 milarly excited, the disposition to discharge electricity ex- 
 ists in each. In other words, each copper plate becomes 
 surcharged, each zinc plate deficient, to a commensurate 
 extent.* Hence, the redundancy engendered in the cop- 
 per plates, is neutralized by the deficiency engendered in 
 the zinc plates; and no more of the fluid can pass at any 
 point which may be selected, than that which is generated 
 by the two plates, between which the selected point exists. 
 Intensity is all that is gained in the complex circuit. As 
 all the pairs have to use one complicated circuit, they all 
 cooperate to effect a current in that circuit. 
 
 * It should be recollected that the zinc, discharging through the liquid to the cop- 
 per, renders this metal proportionably redundant, and becomes proportionally defi- 
 cient. 
 
15 
 
 345. During the operation of a single circuit, the dis- 
 charge from the zinc to the copper, through the liquid, is 
 compensated by that of the copper to the zinc, through the 
 wire, excepting so far as the current is retarded by the 
 obstruction created by the nature or dimensions of the 
 conductor interposed. 
 
 346. In the compound circuit, the discharge from the 
 zinc to the copper of each triad, through the liquid, is 
 compensated by the discharge from the copper of one pair 
 to the zinc of the other, and as the deficiency in each zinc 
 plate is exactly equivalent to the surcharge produced in 
 each copper plate, it is evident that the equilibrium must 
 be restored almost as soon as destroyed, where the con- 
 ducting communication between each pair and that be- 
 tween the extremities is very ample. But after making 
 the communications ample every where else, if there be 
 a deficiency arising either from the size, or the nature of 
 the interposed body, between any two of the triads, the 
 whole of the series will cooperate to effect a discharge 
 through it. So long as this cannot be accomplished, the 
 copper and zinc plate of every triad is brought into an 
 opposite state of polarity, producing a tension, or in other 
 words, an effort to effect a discharge. Hence, the inten- 
 sity of the effort to overcome the obstruction, is as the 
 number of triads, excepting the loss by retroconduction. 
 This loss necessarily augments in an increasing ratio, so 
 that there is probably a point, at which any numeric ex- 
 tension would injure by promoting retroconduction, more 
 than it would contribute to the intensity. 
 
 347. Usually, a galvanic series is considered as com- 
 posed merely of pairs, each consisting of an electro-nega- 
 tive and an electro-positive metal, copper and zinc, for 
 instance. This was the idea of the inventor, who erro- 
 neously ascribed the energy of his apparatus to an electro- 
 motive power in the metals, treating the liquid interposed 
 as performing only the humble office of transmitting the 
 electricity from one of the electro-motive surfaces to the 
 other. 
 
 348. The first construction of the Voltaic series was 
 that of a pile of such pairs, separated from each other by 
 moistened cloth or pasteboard. Hence, the appellation 
 Voltaic pile is often used to signify a series of galvanic 
 triads in any form. Fig. 10 may give an idea of the cele- 
 
16 
 
 brated pile of Volta, which has immortalized the 
 name of the inventor, and given rise to results 
 unsurpassed in importance by those of any other 
 invention. The first four, and the last two zinc 
 and copper plates, are distinguished by the let- 
 ters, C Z. By these means the relative position 
 of all the plates may be understood, as well as 
 those of the disks of cloth represented by inter- 
 vening dark lines. 
 
 349. The following is the account given of his invention by Volta, in a 
 letter to the president of the Royal Philosophical Society of Great Britain : 
 
 350. "The principal result is the construction of an apparatus which, as 
 respects the shocks it is capable of giving to the arm, resembles that of a 
 Leyden jar, or of an electrical battery feebly charged, but which shall act 
 incessantly, being self charged after each explosion ; which is, in fact, en- 
 dowed with an inexhaustible charge, or perpetual action or impulsion, upon 
 the electric fluid, but which is peculiar in this power of continuous action; 
 and, moreover, is peculiar in not consisting, like the ordinary batteries, of 
 one or more jars coated by conductors. The apparatus of which I write, is 
 an assemblage of good conductors of different kinds, arranged in a certain 
 manner. Twenty, forty, or sixty, pieces of copper (or better of silver), 
 each applied to a piece of tin (or much better of zinc), and an equal num- 
 ber of strata of water, brine, ley (or other solution which conducts better 
 than water alone), or pieces of card, skin, &c, soaked with any of these 
 liquids ; these being interposed between each couple of the different metals, 
 alternately, so as to have the three kinds of conductors arranged in the 
 same order throughout. Such is the constitution of the new instrument. 
 This instrument imitates, as I have alleged, the effect of Leyden jars, or 
 batteries, in giving similar shocks, which are, nevertheless, as evinced 
 either by the noise or force of the explosion, the length of the spark, &c, 
 very inferior in intensity to those given by batteries of coated glass, when 
 highly charged. Although equivalent only to a battery of immense sur- 
 face, very feebly excited, the pile has the preeminent virtue of not requiring 
 to be charged in advance, by an electrical machine, in order to give shocks 
 as often as it may be properly touched. 
 
 351. "I propose to call this instrument the artificial electrical organ, as 
 having both in principle and form, as I have constructed it, much greater 
 resemblance to the electrical organ of the torpedo, than any other known 
 electrical apparatus. In truth, it is no less than the latter, composed entire- 
 ly of conductors." 
 
 352. After giving minute instructions for the construction of his pile, the 
 author states, " should it comprise twenty of the metallic pairs, it will not 
 only be competent to cause the leaves of a condensing electrometer to di- 
 verge, but will give a charge adequate to a spark, and to create a sensation 
 in the fingers, as often as they may be brought into contact with the extre- 
 mities simultaneously, resembling that of a torpedo, which has been ex- 
 tremely enfeebled." 
 
 353. It is remarkable, that Volta in this communication took not the 
 smallest notice of the rapid decline of power, which ensues in his apparatus, 
 and the fact that it soon becomes comparatively effete. The only recog- 
 
17 
 
 nition which he makes of this decline is accompanied by the suggestion, 
 that being caused by the evaporation of the moisture, it might be prevented 
 by a resinous covering. But the inadequacy of the escape of moisture to 
 explain the diminution of power, ought to have been sufficiently evident 
 from the striking fact, that this diminution ensues in the couronne des 
 tasses. In this apparatus, as well as in the pile, the acid becomes saturated, 
 and the plates coated with reduced copper and suboxide of zinc, although, 
 from the ample supply of water, there can be no injurious desiccation. 
 
 Of the True Members of a Voltaic Series. 
 
 354. I have endeavoured to make it evident, that the apparatus, which 
 has been called an elementary battery, or galvanic pair, is more properly 
 considered and designated as a galvanic triad; since to form it requires, at 
 least, three agents. Consistently, the metallic pair, belonging to each triad, 
 comprised in a voltaic series, does not consist of the plates which touch each 
 other, but of those which are separated by the exciting liquid, whether held 
 in cells or interposed cloth. Erroneously ascribing the power of his series 
 to an electromotive power, and conceiving the agent intervening between 
 the metallic couple as acting merely as a conductor, Volta constructed his 
 pile, as represented by fig. 10, in which there are two useless plates, one 
 of each metal, at the extremities. The series really commences with the 
 lowermost zinc plate, and ends with the uppermost copper plate, and as the 
 current is from zinc to copper within, and from copper to zinc without, as 
 represented by the arrows, fig. 10, it follows, that when rightly construct- 
 ed, the copper end is positive, the zinc end negative. The addition, by 
 Volta and his imitators, of two useless plates, as above stated, has led to a 
 general impression, that the true zinc end of a series is positive, and the 
 true copper end, of course, negative, contrary to the real state of the case. 
 
 355. I consider the original pile of Volta, and every other modification 
 of the voltaic battery, as consisting of a series of elementary batteries, each 
 alone competent to supply a galvanic current, and to the accumulated 
 powers of which the energy of the whole is due. But such batteries do not 
 severally consist of the two plates of metal which are in contact, or united 
 by a wire or strap, but of two plates, forming a triad with the interposed 
 exciting liquid. But if such a pile consists of such triads, making the base 
 negative, we must begin the pile with zinc, and of course terminate it with 
 copper. 
 
 356. Since, when a wire or strap is made to proceed into a liquid, from 
 the copper plate really forming the positive or delivering end of the series, 
 it occupies the place which a zinc plate would occupy in the next additional 
 cell in the couronne des tasses, or Babbington's apparatus, were the series 
 extended, Daniell designates the surface of such a wire or strap, as the 
 " zincode." This appears to me objectionable, since it tends to produce a 
 narrow association of a general property with a particular metal. Though 
 it may be truly alleged, that the zincode occupies the place which the ge- 
 nerating metal zinc, would occupy; yet, nevertheless, it does not act as a 
 generating metal. It does not, like the preceding zinc plate, contribute to 
 the current. 
 
 357. Faraday has proposed to call the poles of the voltaic series, elec- 
 trodes, from eJos, a way, and electron ; the sectional polar areas thus desig- 
 nated, being the passages through which the electricity is assumed to flow 
 into or out of the series when the circuit is in operation. Supposing the 
 wires of the series, those of fig 9, for instance, to be introduced into water, 
 
18 
 
 so as to take a portion of this liquid into the circuit, that end of the row of 
 atoms of water which touches the wire proceeding from the copper plate in 
 the liquid, is called by the same author the anode, while the other end of 
 the row in contact with the wire, proceeding from the first zinc plate in the 
 series, is called the cathode. 
 
 358. In order to understand the etymology of these words, it may be 
 expedient to refer to the fact already mentioned, that the magnetic needle 
 tends always to take a position at right angles to an electrical current, to 
 the influence of which it is sufficiently exposed. The direction of the com- 
 pass needle is ascribed to such a current, caused by the progression of the 
 solar heat from east to west, consequent to the diurnal rotation of the earth. 
 In the case of any portion of the crust of the earth subjected to the thermo- 
 electric currents, originating as suggested, the fluid will enter from the 
 east, or where the sun rises, hence anode, from ma, upwards, and 0^0$, a 
 way. Again, the fluid passing out westward, we have cathode, from 
 xs4Ti4, downwards, and oh$. It follows, that any mass of liquid or other 
 body made to complete the circuit, by having each of its extremities in con- 
 tact with the ends of the wires forming the electrodes of a galvanic battery, 
 the part in contact with the positive pole will be the anode, while the part 
 in contact with the negative pole will be the cathode. 
 
 359. I shall, however, continue to designate the poles as they have been 
 heretofore named, using also Faraday's new appellation (electrode) for 
 either. Noad has judiciously, as I think, proposed that the positive pole be 
 designated as the anelectrode, the negative pole as the cathelectrode. 
 
 360. The process of decomposition, as effected by the voltaic current, is, 
 by Faraday, designated electrolysis, from electron, and luo, to unbind or 
 free from bondage. A substance, susceptible of this process, is designated as 
 an electrolyte, and is said, when subjected to it, to be electrolysed. Its ele- 
 mentary constituents are called ions, from io, to go. That which is evolved 
 at the anode, anelectrode or positive pole, is called an anion, while the 
 other, which is evolved from the cathode, cathelectrode or negative pole, is 
 called a cation or cathion. 
 
 361. In stating the dimensions of a pile, it is most convenient to mention 
 the size of the pairs, and the whole number associated in the series. As 
 there must be two plates for every triad, this mode of estimation causes no 
 error in fact, however it may tend, when unnoticed, to be productive of an 
 hypothetical misconception. In the voltaic pile, fig. 10, the electro-negative 
 and electro-positive metals, copper and zinc for instance, are in contact. 
 Hence, there is no necessity for a conjunctive wire or strap to enable the 
 copper of one triad to discharge to the zinc of the other, as in figures 4 and 
 9. I hold this language, under the impression that the elementary batte- 
 ries, or triads, forming the series, consist each of a copper and zinc plate 
 which do not touch or communicate otherwise than through the liquid, not 
 of those which are in contact as in the pile, or connected by a wire as in 
 the couronne des tasses, figure 9. 
 
 „ 362. Soon after the pile and the couronne des 
 
 tasses were invented by Volta, another form of the 
 •' voltaic series was contrived by Cruikshank, one of 
 the most distinguished chemists of his time. Of 
 this, figure 11 is a representation; usually it is de- 
 signated as the Cruikshank trough. The pairs in 
 this apparatus consist of a zinc and copper plate of 
 similar dimensions, united so as to bring their cor- 
 responding surfaces in contact throughout. Each 
 
19 
 
 pair forms one partition, consisting, on one side, of copper, on the other, of 
 zinc. The partitions thus formed being inserted in an horizontal trough, 
 have between them interstitial cavities for holding the acids, and which con- 
 sequently perform the office of the cloth in the voltaic pile. Of course, the 
 metals must be in the same alternate order as in the pile. The right side 
 of the partitions being all of one kind of metal, those on the left must 
 all be of the other: so that looking down at the trough obliquely from 
 one end, we see none but copper surfaces; when looking from the other 
 end, we see none but zinc. It is better, however, to have an extra copper 
 plate at each end, to which to solder the rods or wires employed to commu- 
 nicate the galvanic current, or to act as the electrodes. These plates should 
 be attached severally to the pieces of board forming the ends of the trough. 
 This successive alternation of copper and zinc, or any other masses having 
 a similar efficacy, whether organic or inorganic, I shall designate as vol- 
 taic order, being that which is essential to any modification of what we 
 call the voltaic series, whether natural or artificial. 
 
 363. The analogy between the Cruikshank trough and the pile must be 
 evident, since, if we place the trough upright, and after filling the cells be- 
 tween the pairs with moistened cloth, remove the wood, we shall have the 
 voltaic pile in the form of a rectangular prism. 
 
 364. The trough of Cruikshank has great advantages over the pile, or 
 the couronne des tasses. As the energy of the current diminishes with the 
 activity of the acid, and this is lessened in abundance and strength by re- 
 action with the zinc, the quantity which can be held by the cloth is soon 
 exhausted ; and although, in the couronne des tasses, the supply of acid 
 was as much too great, as in the pile it was too small, the plates could not 
 be kept parallel, nor sufficiently near without liability to touch each other. 
 In the trough there was an abundance of acid, and the plates, however ap- 
 proximated, were secure from contact: moreover, the Cruikshank trough, 
 as since modified by me, in order to comprise an equivalent degree of effi- 
 cacy, need not occupy a tenth part of the space required by the couronne 
 des tasses. Again, the contact is immediate and more effectual between 
 the zinc of one pair, and the copper of another. 
 
 365. The direction of the current in the trough is indicated by the ar- 
 rows in the figure. It will be observed, to obey the general law of the cir- 
 culation, as already mentioned, it proceeds from zinc to copper within the 
 liquid, and from copper to zinc through the wire. 
 
 366. The analogy between Babington's apparatus, fig. 12, and the cou- 
 ronne des tasses, is as great as that which has been shown to exist between 
 the trough of Cruikshank and the pile of Volta; the superiority of the appa- 
 ratus of Babington over the couronne des tasses, being equally striking. 
 
 367. In Babington's apparatus, a trough of porce- 
 lain is so constructed, as to have in it partitions of the 
 same material, dividing the interior into ten or more 
 cells of a rectangular shape. With a view to eco- 
 nomy both of the sheet metal employed and space, the 
 plates are made also of a corresponding rectangular 
 shape. We have seen that in the pile, and in the 
 Cruikshank trough, the triads communicate by direct 
 contact. In the apparatus of Babington, a communi- 
 cation between them is established by straps of cop- 
 per, which serve also to attach severally to one beam each couple appertain- 
 ing to one trough, so that they may be simultaneously introduced into or 
 
20 
 
 removed from the cells. By these means, the operator was enabled to 
 cause the reaction between the plates and exciting liquid to begin or to ter- 
 minate with greater conveniency. It must be evident, that in the series 
 under consideration formed with porcelain troughs, cells are substituted for 
 the tumblers of the couronne des tasses, while straps are substituted for the 
 wires, and square plates for disks. The apparatus in question is, therefore, 
 virtually a couronne des tasses, very much improved as to compactness, 
 convenience, and efficacy. 
 
 368. The great apparatus of Davy consisted of two hundred porcelain 
 troughs of ten pairs each, upon Babington's plan, and comprised, of course, 
 two thousand triads. 
 
 369. Subsequently, agreeably to the suggestion of Wollaston, in an ap- 
 paratus, otherwise constructed like that last described, the zinc was sur- 
 rounded by copper, contact being prevented. By these means, the efficacy 
 of the zinc was conceived to be increased by one- half. 
 
 370. The celebrated apparatus of Children was made agreeably to Wol- 
 laston's plan; it consisted of twenty pairs, each comprising two sheets of 
 copper coupled by a metallic strap, and one of zinc. The zinc sheet in 
 each pair was situated between the two sheets of copper. Each sheet mea- 
 sured six feet by two feet eight inches. 
 
 371. Subsequently, adopting the same plan as in Wollaston's battery, as 
 respects surrounding the zinc by copper, I made an apparatus of three hun- 
 dred pairs, in which the vertical edges of the zinc were protected by the 
 copper, instead of the upper and lower edges. This difference I found of 
 importance in diminishing the necessity of insulation. The copper cases 
 thus constructed were separated by veneers of mahogany; yet they were 
 not insulated any further than as copper serves to insulate the peculiar po- 
 larity on which voltaic action depends. But the most important change in 
 the arrangement of my apparatus, was that by which it was permitted to 
 throw the whole of the acid on or off of a series at once.* 
 
 * The opinions of Faraday respecting the superior efficacy of the deflagrator, will 
 be found in the following abstract republished in Silliman's American Journal of 
 Sciences. They are preceded by the following introductory remarks by the distin- 
 guished editor of that Journal. See Vol. XXXII. page 170, for 1833. 
 
 M An account was given in this Journal (American Journal of Science, 1821, Vo- 
 lume 3) by Dr. Hare, of his galvanic deflagrators, and of their great power in propor- 
 tion to their size in producing intense ignition. Not long after, the experiments of 
 Dr. Hare were, with some additions, repeated by us, and the results fully confirming 
 the allegations of the inventor were also published in this work. Although Dr. 
 Hare's memoirs and ours, with engravings, were published in the Annals of Philo- 
 sophy and Philosophical Magazine, London, yet it does not appear that his deflagra- 
 tors were imitated in Europe, the old and inferior constructions continuing in gene- 
 ral use. It is satisfactory to find, from the following abstracts from a paper of Mr. 
 Faraday, that the course of his investigations has led him latterly to consider the 
 deflagrator of our countryman as the most efficient form of a galvanic series. We 
 quote those passages of Mr. Faraday's paper on the subject of the deflagrator which 
 tend to justify our statement. 
 
 " The advantages of this form of trough are very numerous and great. 1st. It is 
 exceedingly compact, for one hundred pairs of plates need not occupy a trough of 
 more than three feet in length. 2d. By Dr. Hare's plan of making the trough turn 
 upon copper pivots which rest upon copper bearings, the latter afford fixed termina- 
 tions; and these I have found it very convenient to connect with two cups of mer- 
 cury, fastened in the front of the stand of the instrument. These fixed terminations 
 give the great advantage of arranging an apparatus to be used in connexion with the 
 battery before the latter is put into action. 3d. The trough is put into readiness for 
 use in an instant, a single jug of dilute acid being sufficient for the charge of one 
 hundred pairs of four inch plates. 4th. On making the trough pass through a quar- 
 
21 
 
 372. It was the power of simultaneously lowering or lifting all the plates 
 attached to a beam, that caused a preference to be given to the apparatus 
 of Babington's construction, over that of Cruikshank. Yet as it was found 
 expedient, by Davy and others, to attach no more than ten couples to a 
 beam, the object of an instantaneous and simultaneous immersion of the 
 whole series in the liquid, or that of its extrication therefrom, could not be 
 effected conveniently upon the Babington plan. 
 
 373. I succeeded in this object by various constructions, which I have 
 designated generally as galvanic deflagrators. It may be inquired, in what 
 respect do series thus constructed so much differ from others as to deserve 
 a peculiar name? The reply is, that in voltaic series, as employed by its 
 inventor, and as used by all subsequent operators, the plates were necessa- 
 rily subjected to the exciting reagent in the first instance, the circuit being 
 completed by a communication, subsequently made, between the electrodes. 
 In that construction, to which I give the generic term deflagrator, the cir- 
 cuit may be completed by the simultaneous exposure of the whole series of 
 plates to the exciting reagent, either simultaneously with, or subsequently 
 to, the completion of the rest of the circuit. 
 
 374. Turner alleges, that an advantageous variation of this contrivance 
 was made by Mr. Hart, of Glasgow, by which the copper was formed into 
 a hollow parallelopiped. This construction was resorted to by me as early 
 as the year 1822, but not finding it as convenient for filling and emptying 
 
 ter of a revolution, it becomes active, and the great advantage is obtained of pro- 
 curing for the experiment the effect of the^rs^ contact of the zinc and acid, which is 
 twice or sometimes even thrice that which the battery can produce a minute or two 
 after. 5th. When the experiment is completed, the acid can be at once poured from 
 between the plates, so that the battery is never left to waste during an unconnected 
 state of its extremities; the acid is not unnecessarily exhausted; the zinc is not use- 
 lessly consumed; and, besides avoiding these evils, the charge is mixed and ren- 
 dered uniform, which produces a great and good result; and, upon proceeding to a 
 second experiment, the important effect of first contact is again obtained. 6th. The 
 saving of zinc is very great. It is not merely that, whilst in action, the zinc per- 
 forms more voltaic duty, but all the destruction which takes place with the ordinary 
 forms of battery between the experiments is prevented. This saving is of such ex- 
 tent, that I estimate the zinc in the new form of battery to be thrice as effective as 
 that in the ordinary form. 7th The importance of this saving of metal is not merely 
 that the value of the zinc is saved, but that the battery is much lighter and more 
 manageable ; and also that the surfaces of the zinc and copper plates may be brought 
 much nearer to each other when the battery is constructed, and remain so until it is 
 worn out: the latter is a very important advantage. 8th. Again, as, in consequence 
 of the saving, thinner plates will perform the duty of thick ones, rolled zinc may be 
 used; and I have found rolled zinc superior to cast zinc in action; a superiority 
 which I incline to attribute to its greater purity. 9th. Another advantage is ob- 
 tained in the economy of the acid used, which is proportionate to the diminution of 
 the zinc dissolved. 10th. The acid also is more easily exhausted, and is in such 
 small quantity that there is never any occasion to return an old charge into use. 
 Such old acid, whilst out of use, often dissolves portions of copper from the black 
 flocculi usually mingled with it, which are derived from the zinc: now any portion 
 of copper in solution in the charge does great harm, because, by the local action of 
 the acid and zinc, it tends to precipitate upon the latter, and diminish its voltaic effi- 
 cacy. 11th. By using a due mixture of nitric and sulphuric acid for the charge, no 
 gas is evolved from the troughs; so that a battery of several hundred pairs of plates 
 may, without inconvenience, be close to the experimenter. 12th. If, during a series 
 of experiments, the acid becomes exhausted, it can be withdrawn, and replaced by 
 other acid with the utmost facility ; and after the experiments are concluded, the 
 great advantage of easily washing the plates is at command. And it appears to me, 
 that in place of making, under different circumstances, mutual sacrifices of comfort, 
 power, and economy, to obtain a desired end, all are at once obtained by Dr. Hare's 
 form of trough." 
 
22 
 
 as other constructions, the parallelopipeds were laid aside, and are still in 
 my laboratory. 
 
 375. I shall introduce into an appendix, engravings and descriptions of 
 several forms of voltaic series to which I successively resorted. The con- 
 struction to which I have finally given preference, is that of a Cruikshank 
 trough, so modified as to increase its power, to enable it to act as a defla- 
 grator, and render it possible to scrape the plates.* 
 
 * Engraving and Description of a Deflngrator of Tico Hundred Pairs of Fourteen 
 Inches by Seven and a half, being one of the Members of a Pair of Troughs, both of 
 the same size, and which may be used collaterally or consecutively. 
 
 Fig. 13. 
 
 Fig. 13 represents a deflagrator. It consists of a wooden trough upon the Cruik- 
 shank plan, joined lengthwise, edge to edge, to another trough, so that when the 
 sides of the one are vertical, those of the other must be horizontal. The advantage 
 of this arrangement is, that by a partial revolution of both the troughs, thus united, 
 upon pivots which support them at the ends, any fluid which may be in one trough, 
 must flow into the other; and, reversing the movement, must flow back again. The 
 galvanic series being placed in one of the troughs, the acid in the other, by a move- 
 ment such as described, the plates may all be instantaneously subjected to the acid, 
 or relieved from it. The pivots are made of iron, coated with brass or copper, as 
 less liable to oxidizement. A metallic communication is made between the coating 
 of the pivots, and the galvanic series within. In order to produce a connexion be- 
 tween one trough of this description and another, it is only necessary to allow a pivot 
 of one trough to revolve on one end, and a pivot of the other trough to revolve upon 
 the other end of a strap of sheet copper. To connect with the termination of the 
 series, the leaden rods, to which are soldered the vices, or spring forceps, for holding 
 the substances to be exposed to the deflagrating power, one end of each of the lead 
 rods is soldered to a piece of sheet copper. The pieces of copper thus soldered to 
 the lead rods, are then to be placed under the pivots, which are, of course, to be con- 
 nected with the terminations of the series. The last mentioned connexion is conve- 
 niently made by means of straps of copper, severally soldered to the pivots, and the 
 poles of the series, and screwed together by a hand-vice. Each pair consists of a 
 copper and a zinc plate, soldered together at the upper edge, where the copper is 
 made to embrace the edge of the zinc. The three remaining edges are made to enter 
 a groove in the wood. For each inch in the length of the trough there are three 
 pairs. In the series represented by fig. J 3, there are one hundred pairs of nearly 
 fourteen by seven and a half inches. 
 
 The pair of troughs, forming, when associated, a single deflagrator, of which one 
 is represented by fig. 13, may be employed either by connecting them at their homo- 
 
33 
 
 Of the different Modes in which the Power of a Galvanic 
 Battery may be augmented. 
 
 376. Obviously there were two modes in which the 
 power of a galvanic battery could be augmented; one was 
 that of increasing the size of the plates of each pair, the 
 other that of increasing the number associated as a se- 
 ries. 
 
 377. It has been mentioned, that under the name of ca- 
 lorimotor, the elementary battery or galvanic triad (312) 
 was first made of gigantic size in this country (324). By 
 Wollaston it had been tried in the minute form of a silver 
 thimble, of which the cavity was occupied by a minute 
 cylinder of zinc surrounded by a potent exciting liquid. 
 In the calorimotor the number was reduced to unity, 
 while the size was enormously increased, the liquid being 
 highly energetic. In Davy's pile of two thousand pairs, 
 the number was comparatively very large, the energy of 
 the liquid as great as could be used with advantage. By 
 Gassiot, the number has been carried to three thousand 
 five hundred and twenty, excited by a liquid of no higher 
 energy than river water. 
 
 378. In the voltaic series thus employed by Crosse and 
 Gassiot, we see that the number of the triads is exceed- 
 ingly large, while the activity of the liquid is brought down 
 
 geneous or heterogeneous extremities. When connected at their homogeneous ends, 
 they act collaterally as a series of one hundred pairs of fifteen by fourteen; when 
 connected at their heterogeneous extremities, they act consecutively as a series of 
 two hundred pairs, each fourteen by seven and a half. Of course, agreeably to the 
 first mentioned arrangement, we double the quantity, the intensity being unaltered: 
 according to the arrangement last mentioned, the intensity is doubled without an 
 increase of the quantity. 
 
 It may be proper to mention, that these Cruikshank deflagrators are so con- 
 structed, as that the plates may be scraped after each operation. Every fifth plate is 
 cemented, so as to form a water-tight partition. As the plates are purposely so cut, 
 as to lessen in width from the upper to the lower edge, those which are not cemented 
 may be easily withdrawn in order to be scraped. But the withdrawal of every four 
 moveable plates, leaves vacant spaces sufficiently large for the introduction of a tool 
 suitable for scraping those which are not removable. 
 
 A battery of this construction was made, under my direction, for the Lowell Insti- 
 tute, consisting of four troughs, each containing one hundred plates six and a half 
 inches square. A piece of wooden plank, three inches wide, thirteen inches long, 
 and two inches in thickness, is so bored by a centre-bit as to have eight cylindrical 
 cavities, all these being supplied with mercury. By means of ropes of copper wire, 
 the various portions of mercury are made to communicate each with one of the eight 
 poles of the four troughs. Arches of stout copper wire are provided of different 
 lengths, so that, by variously connecting the mercury in the holes, the whole may 
 be made to cooperate as one series of four hundred pairs each of forty-two inches 
 one series of two hundred pairs of eighty-four inches, or one series of one hundred 
 pairs of one hundred and sixty-eight inches surface. 
 
24 
 
 to a minimum, even below that of the saliva in the experi- 
 ment with the tongue (306), or the sanguineous slime of the 
 frog in the experiment of Galvani (309). But in the co- 
 lumn of De Luc no liquid reagent is employed, since it 
 cannot be pretended that the hygrometric moisture of the 
 paper, entering into its construction, exists in the liquid 
 form. This series, as originally contrived, consisted of 
 disks of silvered paper alternated with disks of zinc as thin 
 as possible, and each of about five-eighths of an inch in 
 diameter. An analogous series, devised by Zamboni, con- 
 sists of disks of the same size, coated on one side with leaf 
 tin, on the other with a paste of black oxide of manganese 
 and sulphate of zinc. According to Daniell, a series of 
 this last mentioned construction has been made, com- 
 prising 20,000 pairs, respecting the powers of which an 
 account will be given in due course. 
 
 Engraving and Description of the Electric Columnar Apparatus of De 
 Luc, as modified by Zamboni. 
 
 Fi s- 14 - 379. Of an apparatus of the above 
 
 mentioned construction, the adjoining 
 figure is a representation. It consists 
 of two columns, which communicate 
 by a plate of zinc. The letters P p, 
 show the ends forming the positive 
 poles, while N n indicate those form- 
 ing the negative poles. The anode of 
 one, and the cathode of the other, com- 
 municating through the zinc plate, it 
 must be evident that the columns are 
 so arranged as to act consecutively. 
 (See note, page 22, 2d paragraph.) 
 
 380. No doubt the electric columns 
 owe their efficiency to that electromo- 
 tive process, which, in other apparatus, 
 causes an electric accumulation at the 
 electrodes; but the phenomena are al- 
 most exactly those of electricity created 
 by friction. 
 
 381. When the apparatus repre- 
 sented by the engraving was recently 
 constructed, it produced sparks at every 
 
 contact of the bells with the pendulum. It communicated a charge to a 
 small coated glass cylinder, sufficient, in passing through the thumb and 
 finger, to give a shock extending to the wrist. After it had been con- 
 structed for more than ten years, when warmed it would cause a gold leaf 
 to vibrate between balls severally communicating with the electrodes. The 
 
25 
 
 two columns comprise about 4500 disks of tinned paper, coated, on the 
 otherwise naked side, with manganese and sulphate of zinc. # 
 
 * On the Construction of De Luc's Columns, as modified by Zamboni; and on a Modi- 
 fication of the Single Leaf Electrometer contrived by the Author, by which the ultimate 
 efficiency of a large electric series may be ascertained, by testing a small portion of the 
 members of which it is to be constituted. 
 
 About fifteen years ago, the construction of De Luc's electric columns, as modi- 
 fied by Zamboni, was undertaken by Isaiah Lukens, one of our most skilful and in- 
 genious mechanicians. 
 
 The materials employed were paper covered with leaf tin (erroneously called sil- 
 vered paper), peroxide of manganese, and crystallized sulphate of zinc. 
 
 The peroxide was finely pulverized and mixed with a concentrated solution of the 
 sulphate. The mixture thus formed was, by means of a brush, applied like a pig- 
 ment to the surfaces of the paper not coated by the tin. The sheets were afterwards 
 spread out on the floor of an apartment, and left during the night to dry. By these 
 means, unnecessary exposure to light was avoided, which Mr. Lukens conceives to 
 be injurious, especially as received directly from the sun. Next day the sheets were 
 cut into disks of about five-eighths inch diameter, by means of a hollow punch. The 
 disks were then piled, with the heterogeneous surfaces alternating, as in other voltaic 
 series, and were introduced into, and compressed within, glass tubes, accoutred as 
 usual with pedestals, caps, and bells. Notwithstanding his skill and experience, Mr. 
 Lukens latterly complained of occasional want of success, arising, as he supposed, 
 from the defective quality of the manganese. In various instances, his columns, 
 after being constructed with the utmost care, proved inert. 
 
 The manipulation, likewise, according to his plan of operating, appeared to me to 
 be troublesome and precarious. He was accustomed to place a row of the disks, as 
 large as could be conveniently handled, in a trough of sheet metal, and then transfer 
 the pile thus formed to the glass tubes. This operation, to be successful, required 
 dexterity. 
 
 In February, 1833, wishing to replenish the tubes of a pair of electric columns 
 which had become effete, I contrived to avoid the risk of expending the labour and 
 attention requisite to finish a series, while uncertain as to its eventual efficiency. 1 
 
 Fig. 15. 
 
26 
 
 Of Groves* Gas Battery. 
 
 382. "In the L. and E. Phil. Mag. for December, 1842, a most extraor- 
 dinary and perfectly novel voltaic battery is described by the inventor, Mr. 
 
 contrived, likewise, by a very simple expedient, to facilitate the process of piling the 
 disks. 
 
 The first mentioned desideratum was obtained by means of a single leaf of gold, 
 suspended in a glass vessel (represented by the subjoined figure), between two 
 knobs at the ends severally of two brass rods, B B, proceeding through opposite sides 
 of the vessel towards each other, so as to be capable, if requisite, of meeting in the 
 centre. By means of screws, the knobs on these rods were susceptible of being 
 adjusted to any distance from the gold leaf suspended between them. Externally 
 the rods are so made and placed, as to be easily connected with wires. In the gold 
 leaf thus situated, vibrations may be produced by a series of disks, comprising not 
 more than one-twentieth of the number necessary to cause such a pendulum as com- 
 monly pertains to the electric column, to oscillate. In the case in point, I found 
 that the disks produced by one sheet of paper, were sufficient to make the leaf vi- 
 brate actively between the knobs. The mode in which this effect was produced, 
 may be understood from the following figure, which represents the disks, as com- 
 pressed, in due order, within a glass tube, by spirals of wire. 
 
 Each of the wires of which these spirals were formed at the ends enclosed in the 
 tube, being unaltered throughout the remaining portions of their length, were passed 
 through corks closing the orifices of the tube. The series thus prepared, is to be 
 
 Fig. 16. 
 
 placed in the situation of the electric column, appended to the instrument agreeably 
 to fig. 15, being in like manner suspended from the rods outside of the vessel, by 
 means of the projecting wires already mentioned. Thus situated, if there be any 
 adequate degree of electromotive power in the series under trial, and the atmosphere 
 sufficiently dry, the excitement of the poles will be communicated to the knobs, and 
 be indicated by the consequent vibrations of the gold leaf suspended between them. 
 
 When a larger series is used, such as that represented at D D, fig. 15, the vibra- 
 tions will be discontinued, only in consequence of the adherence of the leaf to one 
 or the other of the knobs. This adherence usually ceases, on touching with a finger 
 the little brass ball at the vertex of the instrument, to which the forceps holding the 
 leaf is affixed. The finger being removed, vibratory pulsations will recommence, to 
 be sooner or later arrested in the same manner as at first. 
 
 When the knobs, B B, were properly connected with the poles of a voltaic battery, 
 of seven hundred pairs, excited merely by pure water, the pulsations of the leaf were 
 quick and incessant. These pulsations may indicate the electric intensity, but do 
 not furnish any criterion of the divellent igniting, or electro-magnetic powers of a 
 voltaic series. 
 
 It may readily be perceived, that the electrometer, constructed as herein de- 
 scribed, constitutes an electrical discriminator, which may enable us to discover the 
 electromotive powers of various substances arranged as disks in a series, or as coat- 
 ings to disks. I have already ascertained that aurum musivum, spread on the naked 
 surface of the tinned paper, produces an electromotive series. 
 
 The piling of the disks was facilitated by using a punch excavated so as to leave 
 a point in the centre, by which the centre of each disk was punctured. By means 
 of the puncture thus made, it was easy, even for an unskilful operator, to string 
 them concentrically upon a silk thread, and to transfer them to the tubes without 
 derangement. 
 
 The manganese which I employed with success, in the replenishment of the elec- 
 tric columns alluded to above, consisted mainly of needle-shaped radiated crystals, 
 aggregated into lumps. Mr. Lukens alleges that the crystallized manganese has 
 always, agreeably to his experience, proved the best for the construction of electric 
 columns. 
 
 The electrometer, with an electric column attached to it, as above represented, 
 
27 
 
 Grove. It consists of a series of fifty pairs of platinized platinum plates, 
 each about a quarter of an inch wide, enclosed in tubes partially filled, al- 
 
 Fig. 17. 
 
 ternately with oxygen and hydrogen gases, as shown in fig. 17. The 
 tubes being charged with dilute sulphuric acid, sp. gr. 1.2, the following 
 effects were produced : — 
 
 "1st. A shock was given which could be felt by five persons joining 
 hands, and which, when taken by a single person, was painful. 
 
 "2d. The needle of a galvanometer was whirled round, and stood at 
 about 60°; with one person interposed in the circuit it stood at 40°, and 
 was slightly deflected when two were interposed. 
 
 "3d. A brilliant spark, visible in broad daylight, was given between 
 charcoal points. 
 
 "4th. Iodide of potassium, hydrochloric acid, and water acidulated with 
 sulphuric acid, were severally decomposed : the gaseous elements from the 
 decomposed water were extricated in sufficient quantity to be collected and 
 detonated. They were evolved, as chemical theory and experience would 
 indicate, the hydrogen at the anode, the oxygen at the cathode. It was 
 
 may serve to show the nature, as well as the extent of electric excitement; since, 
 when an electrified mass is made to communicate with the brass ball, A, from which 
 the leaf is suspended, the latter ought to be attracted by that knob, which receives 
 from the series an opposite excitement. Hence, the excitement of the electrified 
 body being known, that of the poles may be detected : or the latter being known, 
 the excitement of the body may be discovered. This application of the electric se- 
 ries is not, however, a new idea. I saw many years ago a notice of an electrometer, 
 associated with an electric column, in such manner as to be used as an electrical dis- 
 criminator. 
 
 The great difficulty in resorting to this means of discrimination is, that an elec- 
 trified body may, by induction, produce in a conductor alternately, opposite states of 
 electrical excitement. As it approaches the conductor, it may cause it to receive, 
 or give out electricity; of course, when retracted, the conductor will have the oppo- 
 site excitement to that consequent to approximation. Supposing the brass ball of 
 the electrometer in question, to be affected in the mode just described, the leaf sus- 
 pended from it must be successively attracted by each pole. Besides, the excite- 
 ment may be so strong, as to render that of the series nugatory ; as in the case of a 
 powerful magnet, which will attract either pole of a feeble one. 
 
 The direction of the first pulsation of the leaf is the best criterion ; but reliance 
 should not be accorded to one experiment, especially when so easily repeated. I 
 find that a gilt pith ball, if suspended in place of the leaf, will vibrate for a time. It 
 is, however, like the leaf, liable to have its movements arrested by an adherence to 
 one or other of the knobs. 
 
28 
 
 found, that to decompose water, twenty-six pairs were requisite, but that 
 four pairs would decompose iodide of potassium. 
 
 "5th. A gold leaf electroscope was perceptibly affected. 
 
 383. " When the tubes were charged with atmospheric air, no effect was 
 produced, nor was any current determined when the gases employed were 
 carbonic acid and nitrogen, or oxygen and nitrogen. 
 
 384. "The original experiment was not made with sufficient exactness 
 to show with accuracy the proportional diminution of gas in each tube, 
 though it was plain that the hydrogen diminished much more rapidly than 
 the oxygen." 
 
 385. The electrodes are represented as terminating in tubes for catching 
 the gaseous elements of water, evolved by the electrolytic power of the 
 same elements, under the electro-polarizing influence of platinum. 
 
 Of the Electrolytic Process by which the Galvano-Electric Current is 
 propagated within Liquid Reagents. 
 
 386. Before giving an account of these forms of the galvanic series, in 
 which more than one chemical reagent is employed, it may be expedient to 
 enter more fully into the rationale of that part of the galvanic process by 
 which the electric fluid is supposed to be transferred from the zinc to the 
 copper, through the exciting liquid. 
 
 387. Faraday assumes, that the fundamental cause of the hydro-electri- 
 cal current, or that produced by the reaction of metals with liquids, is che- 
 mical affinity between one of the metals employed and an ingredient in 
 some electrolyte contained in the liquid, and that the combination of an 
 atom of the metal with an ingredient atom, taken from the liquid electrolyte, 
 causes an equivalent discharge of electricity from the atom so taken. 
 
 388. Thus, when zinc combines with the oxygen of water, performing 
 the part of an electrolyte, a discharge of electricity from the atom of oxy- 
 gen is a necessary consequence. Hence, in some cases, as, for instance, 
 that of pure zinc exposed to diluted sulphuric acid, unless the requisite dis- 
 charge be facilitated by contact with a metal not capable of combining with 
 oxygen, no combination ensues. But, under the same circumstances, if, 
 while the oxygen of the liquid is attracted by zinc, the liquid be in contact 
 with a plate not liable to be oxidized by it, the discharge of electricity is fa- 
 cilitated, as soon as a conducting communication is established between the 
 metals. He supposes a series of decompositions and recompositions to take 
 place within a row of the particles of water lying between the zinc and cop- 
 per surfaces, so that the atom of oxygen next the zinc surface, uniting with 
 an atom of this metal, discharges its electricity to the next atom of hydro- 
 gen, which unites with the oxygen of the next atom of water. But in doing 
 this, it causes the transfer of its electricity to the third atom of hydrogen. 
 This process being repeated, an atom of hydrogen surcharged with electri- 
 city, is evolved against the copper surface. Hence the surcharge acquired 
 by the copper goes through the connecting wire, to restore the electrical 
 tension within the zinc which the chemical reaction tends to diminish as 
 above stated.* 
 
 * If we suppose, in a dance, a number of girls and boys standing in a row, in cou- 
 ples, alternately arm in arm, alternately separate, and that a girl is suddenly taken 
 from one end of the row, and a boy from the other end, evidently of each sex there 
 would be an individual isolated. But if, simultaneously, each girl relinquishing her 
 hold on the partner of which she had the arm previously, takes that of the next boy 
 on the other side, there will be no individual of either sex in a solitary state. 
 
29 
 
 389. The idea that the appearance of hydrogen at one electrode, and 
 oxygen at the other, is the effect of a series of decompositions and recom- 
 positions, as above stated, was originally suggested by Grothus, as account- 
 ing for the fact, that the extrication of hydrogen and oxygen from electro- 
 lysed water does not take place at the same spot. It had been objected 
 that it was inconceivable that the elements of water, arising from the de- 
 composition of a succession of atoms of this liquid, could be severally 
 evolved at the distance of some inches from each other. 
 
 390. In the last edition of my Treatise on Galvanism, after having cited 
 the electrolytic theory of Faraday, (386, 387,) I subjoined the following 
 it marks : — 
 
 391. Whatever may be the source of the imponderable matter which 
 circulates in voltaic series, I infer, that its confinement within the circuit, 
 and its endowment with an ability to pass over an interval, or to penetrate 
 through imperfect conductors, must be due to an influence of the masses 
 concerned, which has not as yet been satisfactorily explained. fc 
 
 392. Probably upon an analogous ability to produce or annul, to pro- 
 mote or retard, chemical reaction, the efficacy of animal and vegetable or- 
 ganization is founded, being obviously dependent on an arrangement of 
 masses. The voltaic series of a gymnotus is evidently an animal organ, 
 and its analogy with the voltaic series, produced by human ingenuity, in- 
 duces me to consider the latter in the same class of agents as the organs by 
 which life is supported. 
 
 393. The opinions thus expressed by me have, I think, found much to 
 justify them in the facts established by means of Groves' gas battery. In 
 that apparatus, a portion of hydrogen performs the part of zinc, while oxy- 
 gen performs the part of copper (314). These gases exercise chemical 
 affinity neither with water nor with platinum. An electro-polarizing reac- 
 tion with the platinum is evidently the only imaginable cause for the union 
 of an atom of gaseous hydrogen with the oxygen of water, at one of the 
 terminating surfaces of that liquid, while, analogously, an atom of gaseous 
 oxygen combines with hydrogen at the other aqueous surface. 
 
 394. It appears to me, that precisely the same change must ensue in the 
 electro-polarity of the gaseous atoms during this electrolytic process, as 
 when a mixture of the gases employed, is made to combine by the presence 
 of platinum sponge. 
 
 395. But whatever may be the rationale, the phenomena of this gas bat- 
 tery, as well as those previously used, all tend to confirm the fact, that what 
 is called the electric current, in its passage in a galvanic triad from the elec- 
 tropositive surface to the electronegative surface through the liquid, is inse- 
 parably associated with a series of decompositions and recompositions. 
 
 396. This electrolytic exchange of partners, in rows of atoms which, 
 within the battery, appear to be concerned in the generation of the current, 
 seems, externally, to be one of its effects; so that the evolution of the ele- 
 ments of an electrolyte, severally at the cathode and the anode (358), are 
 ascribed to a series of decompositions and recompositions, like those which 
 accompany the generation of the current. 
 
 397. The impression seems to exist among many electricians, judging 
 from their language, that the elements actually travel from one electrode to 
 the other. The choice of the word ion, from io, to go, (360) is in this re- 
 spect disadvantageous. In point of fact there can be no such locomotion. 
 Simultaneously with the liberation of an atom of each ingredient at the 
 poles, the residual ions in the electrolytic row, rearrange themselves so as 
 
30 
 
 still to form atoms of the electrolyte. Of course, a greater or less number 
 of the electrolytic atoms will be simultaneously decomposed, out of as many 
 rows existing in due contact with the electrodes ; but it cannot be reason- 
 ably supposed, that there is not a change of relative position too incessant 
 to permit the electrolytic process to take place twice through precisely the 
 same row of atoms. Probably the loss of an atom can never arise from 
 the interposition of precisely the same residual atoms which have existed 
 once together in a row long enough to lose one atom from among them. 
 As reasonably might a sportsman expect to find in a numerous flock of 
 birds while wheeling about him, the same individuals twice in a line with his 
 rested fowling piece. 
 
 398. Between the galvanic batteries above described, in which only one 
 liquid is employed, and those constructed with the aid of two liquid chemi- 
 cal reagents or electrolytes, as in the case of the series of Daniell or Grove, 
 there is this striking difference, that, in the requisite series of decomposi- 
 tions and recompositions, the part performed by hydrogen as the electro- 
 positive element on one side of an interposed diaphragm, is on the other per- 
 formed by copper, nitric oxide, or some other radical more ready than hy- 
 drogen to separate from oxygen. The porous diaphragm soaked with sul- 
 phate of copper or nitric acid, presents throughout the whole of its area an 
 oxidizing surface which cooperates with the opposite influence of the de- 
 oxidizing zinc to effect the disunion of the elements of water. Hence while 
 the electrolytic exchange is solicited on one side, by the attraction of zinc for 
 oxygen, it is solicited on the other side by the attraction between hydrogen 
 and the oxygen of the other electrolyte with which the pores of the diaphragm 
 are imbued. In nitric acid, nitric oxide, acting as a compound radical, per- 
 forms the part of the simple radical copper, in the oxide of this metal held 
 in the sulphate. The liberation of one atom of nitric oxide, at the surface 
 of the platina, causes three atoms of oxygen to be yielded to the hydrogen 
 of water at the membrane, more readily than an atom of copper, analo- 
 gously liberated, causes one atom of oxygen to be yielded. This I con- 
 ceive to be the main cause of the superior efficacy of Grove's nitric acid 
 sustaining battery, of which a description is given in the following pages. 
 To the advantage thus gained is to be added that of the protection of the 
 metallic surfaces from injurious deposition (315). 
 
 Of Constant or Sustaining Batteries, 
 
 399. In the year 1835, Prof. Daniel], of King's College, 
 London, made an interesting and important innovation in 
 the construction of galvanic batteries, by the interposition 
 of an animal membrane, the gullet of an ox for instance, 
 between the heterogeneous metallic surfaces. A battery 
 of this kind in my possession, consists of a cylinder of 
 copper, about six inches in height and four inches in 
 diameter. Within an inch and a half of the brim, a 
 diaphragm of copper is inserted. This diaphragm is per- 
 forated like a colander, and has, at the centre, a hole of 
 about an inch and a half in diameter. It is through this 
 hole that the gullet is made to descend to the bottom of 
 
31 
 
 the vessel, where it communicates with a glass tube, which 
 is so bent at right angles twice, and so extended as to rise 
 by the side of the cylinder and terminate in a recurved 
 orifice on a level with the brim. A solid cylinder of amal- 
 gamated zinc, of half an inch in diameter, is made to oc- 
 cupy the cavity of the gullet. 
 
 400. It has already been mentioned, that in this con- 
 struction, the copper is not liable to be tarnished nor the 
 zinc to be coated by a deposition,* and thus to be rendered 
 incapable of their appropriate reaction with the interposed 
 liquid. The membrane will not allow a solution of either 
 metal to permeate it, although it permits the transmission 
 of the electro-chemical decomposition and recomposition, 
 by which the voltaic current is sustained. The space be- 
 tween the gullet and the cupreous surface of the enclosing 
 cylinder, is occupied by a saturated solution of sulphate of 
 copper, the cavity within the gullet by diluted sulphuric 
 acid, or some saline solution not liable to be decomposed, 
 per se, by zinc. Upon the diaphragm, crystals of sulphate 
 of copper are deposited, for the purpose of preventing any 
 decline in the strength of the solution of that salt. As the 
 diluted acid employed becomes saturated with zinc, it is 
 displaced by a fresh portion which causes that first men- 
 tioned to be expelled at the orifice of the glass tube. Of 
 course, the chemical reaction may be kept up as long as 
 the zinc lasts. Latterly, in the construction of DanielPs 
 battery, the glass tube has been omitted, as the advantage 
 arising from its employment, has not been found to com- 
 pensate for the additional liability to derangement. 
 
 401. I saw at the laboratory of Prof. Daniell, an asso- 
 ciation of his sustaining batteries, of which the power to 
 ignite wire was surprising. 
 
 402. According to Brande, with a constant battery of 
 twenty cells arranged in a single series, twelve cubic inches 
 of mixed hydrogen and oxygen may be collected in every 
 five minutes of action ; and, when they are connected in 
 pairs and afterwards in a series of ten, the quantity amounts 
 to seventeen cubic inches. Eight inches of platinum wire, 
 one two-hundredths of an inch in diameter, may be kept 
 permanently hot by the same arrangement, and the spark 
 
 * The deposition thus formed consists of a mixture of copper and suboxide of 
 zinc (315, and note). 
 
32 
 
 taken between charcoal points is very brilliant. To the 
 original form of DanielPs battery above described, there is 
 however, a great objection, founded on the employment of 
 an animal membrane, which is of course liable to be in- 
 jured or spoiled. Porous vessels of unglazed earthenware 
 have been, however, substituted for animal membrane 
 with great increase of convenience, and they are now 
 employed both in this and other forms of voltaic apparatus. 
 Leather has also been successfully substituted for raw 
 membrane. 
 
 Engraving and Description of a Voltaic Series of Constant 
 Batteries* 
 
 Fig. 18. 
 
 403. The preceding figure will convey a sufficient con- 
 ception of a sustaining battery, in which cylinders of 
 porous porcelain are substituted for the ox gullet employed 
 agreeably to the original construction of DanielPs ap- 
 paratus. 
 
 404. The external lines represent sections of round cop- 
 per jars, the dark central lines represent the amalgamated 
 zinc rods, situated in the common axis of the copper jars, 
 and of the cylinders of porous porcelain. These are re- 
 presented as occupying a mean position between the zinc 
 and copper. The charge of the apparatus and rationale 
 of its operation, is the same as that already stated in re- 
 ference to the constant battery in its original form. 
 
 405. I do not believe the effects of any apparatus con- 
 structed upon this plan, to be at the outset as powerful or 
 striking as those which are producible by a deflagrator of 
 a like extent of surface. Still less would it be possible to 
 comprise a series of like degree of power within a space 
 equally small. A series of two hundred pairs of sustaining 
 batteries would be extremely unwieldy and cumbrous. It 
 
33 
 
 has been mentioned that the construction of the deflagrato? 
 is such, as to enable me to withdraw four plates out of 
 every five, so as to have the whole accessible to a scraper. 
 Moreover, the amalgamation of the zinc surfaces, devised 
 by Sturgeon, confers upon the plates of the Cruikshank 
 construction, to a certain extent, the properties of a sus- 
 taining battery. The great objection, to the somewhat 
 costly use of mercury, is, that it enfeebles the zinc plates so 
 as to make them liable to fracture ; but this is less to be 
 apprehended when the zinc is supported by corresponding 
 copper plates, as in pairs of the kind above designated, and 
 where the mercury, as in these pairs, is to be applied only 
 to one of the surfaces of each zinc plate. 
 
 Of Grove's Sustaining Battery. 
 
 406. About the year 1840, Prof. Grove made a very in- 
 teresting modification of DanielPs battery, not only by 
 substituting vessels of porous porcelain for the ox gullet, 
 but also by using platinum and nitric acid in lieu of copper 
 and a solution of the sulphate of that metal. The porous 
 cell, nearly full of nitric acid, is surrounded by zinc im- 
 mersed in sulphuric acid diluted with only four parts of 
 water, contained in a sufficiently capacious receptacle. 
 The nitric acid, by oxidizing the hydrogen, accelerates the 
 electrolysis, nitric oxide is evolved at the surface of the 
 platinum, which is made to occupy an intermediate posi- 
 tion within the porcelain cell. 
 
 Fig. 19. 
 
 407. The dark central lines (figure 19) represent sec- 
 tions of the platinum plates ; the dotted lines C, which in- 
 clude these, represent the hollow cylinders of porous por- 
 
34 
 
 celain. The double lines, which comprise both of those 
 already mentioned, represent sections of the zinc cylin- 
 ders. The dark external lines, in like manner, represent 
 the glass jars within which the rest of the apparatus is 
 situated. The arrows indicate the course of the current 
 flowing externally agreeably to the general law, from the 
 metal less susceptible of erosion, to that more sus- 
 ceptible; while conveyed internally by the electrolytic 
 process, it takes the opposite course so as to complete 
 the circuit. (306). 
 
 408. A series of this kind of only four pairs, constructed 
 in my laboratory, caused the long continued ignition of 
 about two inches of platinum wire. According to Prof. 
 Grove, a series of one hundred pairs, each of the same di- 
 mensions as those above described, caused a diruptive dis- 
 charge, accompanied with intense heat and light, through 
 an interval of three inches, which is as much as was ef- 
 fected in this way, by the great battery of two thousand 
 pairs with which Davy operated at the Royal Institution. 
 
 409. Latterly it has been found that plumbago or coke 
 may be substituted for platinum in Grove's apparatus. 
 This material was resorted to independently both by some 
 German chemists, by Prof. B. Silliman, Jr. and myself. 
 An extensive series was constructed for the Lowell Insti- 
 tute, by Prof. B. Silliman, which was very powerful, and 
 had the advantage over the deflagrator of a much more 
 durable intensity of action. In practice, 1 however, there 
 are several objections to Grove's apparatus. The separate 
 introduction of sulphuric and nitric acid into a great num- 
 ber of receptacles in a much more concentrated state than 
 that in which they are used for other voltaic series, as well 
 as the subsequent removal, is a very troublesome and dis- 
 agreeable task. Moreover, the fumes of nitric oxide which 
 are copiously evolved, are extremely annoying to all per- 
 sons exposed to them, and are to some persons insupport- 
 able. The porcelain cells are very liable to be broken, 
 and soon suffer by the disintegrating influence of the 
 acids. 
 
 410. In an arrangement suggested by Berzelius, a cy- 
 linder of coke is hollowed out into the form of a cup, into 
 which the nitric acid is placed, and thus the use of an 
 earthenware diaphragm is avoided. 
 
 411. A great difficulty arises from the expensive neces- 
 
35 
 
 sity of employing platinum as the material of the screws 
 and wires, by which the requisite attachments are made 
 in batteries formed by the aid of carbon, as above de- 
 scribed. Any other metal, excepting gold, which is three 
 times as dear as platinum, is liable to be corroded by the 
 nitric acid, which rises in the carbonaceous pores, by ca- 
 pillary attraction. 
 
 Of the Passive Iron Battery, 
 
 412. The battery thus designated, was first suggested 
 by Mr. Hawkins (L. and E. Phil. Mag. Vol. XVI.), in con- 
 sequence of the previous discovery by Herschell, Schoen- 
 bien, and others, of the susceptibility of iron of what is 
 called the passive state, which renders it insusceptible of 
 being acted upon by strong nitric acid ; whereas, in its 
 ordinary state, it is oxidized and dissolved in that acid. 
 The passive state does not protect the metal from acid of 
 the s. g. 1.2. This state of iron is induced by the contact 
 or association with platina, of which, being highly electro- 
 negative, the presence by analogy with copper and zinc 
 should promote reaction with corroding reagents (321). 
 The passive state also protects iron when exposed to di- 
 luted sulphuric or phosphoric acid, but cannot avail against 
 chlorohydric acid. 
 
 413. This phenomenon is one of the most mysterious, 
 but it is not expedient now to enter into any discussion 
 respecting the cause. The object is to mention the use 
 made, of this wonderful property. As the inactive con- 
 dition is spontaneously assumed when iron is plunged into 
 acid of s. g. above 1.35, a plate of this metal has been 
 substituted in a Grove's battery for the platina plate. Ac- 
 cording to the authors above named, batteries thus formed 
 were found to be efficient; but, unfortunately, the peculiar 
 condition of the iron is liable to cease. When this hap- 
 pens, the rapid solution of the negative plate follows. 
 
 414. Schoenbien mentions the formation of batteries 
 either of zinc and passive iron, or altogether of iron cylin- 
 ders, one set being passive, the other in the normal con- 
 dition. Five cast iron cylinders, 10 inches high, 3y dia- 
 meter ; as many of zinc of same height, and 3t 3 2 in dia- 
 meter. Intermediate between the zinc and iron, porous 
 cylinders of earthenware, one part nitric, s. g. 1.4, with 
 from twelve to three parts sulphuric acid, were found, to 
 
36 
 
 answer. Subsequently, cylinders of iron, in its ordinary 
 state, were substituted for zinc cylinders. By this bat- 
 tery, 2400 cubic inches of the gaseous elements of water 
 were liberated in one hour. 
 
 415. It seems, however, that the passive condition of 
 iron is liable to cease, and when this happens, the metal is 
 dissolved. I am under the impression that batteries of 
 this kind can never be found advantageous, as, indepen- 
 dently of the uncertainty arising from the precariousness of 
 the passive state of iron, this metal is very liable to be in- 
 jured by rust when out of use. 
 
 Of Smee^s Battery* 
 
 416. About six years ago, Mr. Smee, of London, disco- 
 vered that the efficacy of a battery, made like calorimo- 
 tors or deflagrators (324, 375), Babbington's apparatus, 
 (367), or one of his own contrivance, in which a thin sheet 
 of silver is situated between two plates of zinc, may be 
 augmented by a deposition of platina sponge being made 
 upon the surface of the negative metal. For this purpose, 
 platina, palladium, silver, or plated copper, may be used; 
 but, taking both efficacy and economy into view, silver, 
 rolled very thin, was found preferable. 
 
 417. In the case of a constant or sustaining battery, 
 (398) it has been stated that the oxidizement of the hydro- 
 gen at the diaphragm, obviating the necessity for its evo- 
 lution in the gaseous form at the cathode, facilitates the 
 electrolytic part of the electromotive process in a galvanic 
 circuit. In Smee's apparatus, the extrication of the hydro- 
 gen at the cathode, is alleged to be facilitated by the 
 mechanical power of the asperities of the platinizing depo- 
 sition. I infer, however, that the contact of the platinum 
 may have a favourable polarizing influence on the hydro- 
 genous cathion, promoting its separation from the other 
 element of water, analogous to that exercised by the same 
 metal in the gas battery (393-4). 
 
 418. The following directions are given for platinizing 
 the plates : " Each piece of metal is to be placed in water, 
 to which a little dilute sulphuric acid, and nitro-muriate of 
 platinum, is to be added. A simple current is then to be 
 formed by zinc placed in a porous tube with dilute acid ; 
 when, after the lapse of a short time, the metal will be 
 
37 
 
 coated with a fine black powder of metallic platinum. 
 The trouble of this operation is most trifling, only re- 
 quiring a little time after the arrangement of the apparatus, 
 which takes even less than the description. The cost is 
 about 6d. a plate, of 4 inches each way, or 32 inches of 
 surface. It is necessary to make the surface of the silver 
 rough, by brushing it over with a little strong nitric acid, 
 w r hich gives it instantly a frosted appearance, and after 
 being washed, it is ready for the platinizing process ; but 
 the finely divided platinum does not adhere firmly to very 
 smooth metals." 
 
 OF THE PHENOMENA OF GALVANISM. 
 
 Under this head wh may put effects upon the animal organs, 
 statical effects, ignition of continuous conductors, defla- 
 gration, electrolysis or decomposition, galvanic powers and 
 effects of animal organs, magnetic influence or electro- 
 magnetism, galvanic effects of heat, or thermo- galvanism, 
 sometimes called thermo-electricity, or ther mo-magnetism. 
 
 EFFECTS UPON ANIMAL ORGANS. 
 
 Effects on the Organs of Taste, on those of Sight, Nerves of 
 Sensation ; in producing Convulsions. 
 
 419. Electricity is not the only one among the supposed 
 imponderable elements, which can cause sensation. The 
 influx and efflux of caloric produces a sensation in one case 
 of cold, in the other of heat ; moreover intense light, like 
 that of the sun, of galvanic ignition, or the oxyhydrogen 
 lime light, produces in the eyes a painful feeling. But in 
 giving shocks to live animals, and in causing muscular 
 movements or convulsions in a carcase or corpse, electri- 
 city has a peculiar attribute. 
 
 420. Probably the first knowledge of the shock produced 
 from a galvanic circuit, arose from experiencing that given 
 by the torpedo and other electrical fishes. This wonderful 
 faculty could not but have been observed in the most an- 
 cient times by fishermen in the countries where such ani- 
 mals are found. 
 
 421. A very feeble discharge like that between a zinc 
 and silver disk, including the tongue, has been felt from the 
 
38 
 
 earliest period at which wine, cider, or beer of any kind, 
 was drunk from a metallic vessel. The preference given 
 to pewter as the material of a mug from which to drink 
 beer, is now ascribed to a galvanic discharge arising from 
 the metal, the lips and the beverage, forming a feeble gal- 
 vanic triad, in which the liquid is electropositive, being 
 slightly acidulous. Probably from an analogous cause 
 arises the characteristic taste of acids, while from an oppo- 
 site galvanic discharge in which the solution is electropo- 
 sitive, arises the peculiar savour of the principal alkalies. 
 I am inclined to the idea that all the various tastes and 
 odours, which we are liable to experience, are due to mo- 
 difications of galvano-electro-chemical causes. 
 
 422. But the first recorded notice of the phenomena of 
 a galvanic discharge, as respects its obvious production by 
 a metallic triad, was published not as associated with a 
 theory directed to the explanation of physical phenomena ; 
 but on the contrary, in a metaphysical effort to suggest a 
 theory of pleasures. In the year 1767, more than twenty- 
 three years before the convulsions produced in frogs by 
 metals was noticed by Galvani, Sultzer, the author of the 
 theory of pleasures alluded to, gave an account of the 
 taste produced by heterogeneous metals, when including 
 the tongue, and brought into contact at their projecting 
 extremities. 
 
 423. It must be evident that the original observer of the 
 phenomenon, thus described by Sultzer, was the discoverer 
 of the elementary galvanic battery ; and it is remarkable 
 that Galvani was led to infer the existence in nature of the 
 powers of such a battery, by a phenomenon which had no 
 connexion therewith. The hind parts of the carcases of 
 some frogs, prepared for stewing, happened to be situated 
 in a dish, one of them in contact with a scalpel, near an 
 electrical machine, from the prime conductor of which 
 sparks were proceeding. Under these circumstances it 
 was observed, that every spark was followed by convul- 
 sive motions in the limbs in the vicinity of the scalpel. 
 The effect was greatest in any limb to which the scalpel 
 might be most approximated. The annexed figure will 
 convey an idea of the manner in which the frogs were 
 situated, relatively to the scalpel; and likewise to the 
 conductor of the machine and knob, between which the 
 sparks were thrown. Galvani was absent, and was in- 
 
39 
 
 debted for his knowledge of the fact to Madam Galvani, 
 by whom it was noticed. 
 
 Fig. 20. 
 
 424. The convulsions thus observed, it is now known, 
 were the consequence of the limbs and the scalpel being 
 inductively electrified. It is by an analogous inductive in- 
 fluence, that when one person is struck by lightning, by- 
 standers are stunned, though not in the circuit. Electrical 
 discharges deleterious to human life have been attributed to 
 an inductive charge and discharge consequent to lightning, 
 and analogous to those which convulsed the frogs. (See 
 Dynamic Induction.) 
 
 425. Galvani having been previously engaged in the 
 experiments, to verify a conjecture of his, that muscular 
 action is due to electricity, became inspired with additional 
 zeal by these facts, for a knowledge of which he was in- 
 debted to accident and his wife's observation. Never- 
 theless, he would have attributed little importance to 
 the convulsions produced in the frogs, had he not erro- 
 neously supposed that the animal organs were instru- 
 mental in the generation of the electricity by which they 
 were affected. 
 
 426. But, as already stated, (309) the limb of a frog, 
 with the spinal nerves denuded, is a most sensitive galvano- 
 scope, since the minutest discharge of electricity through 
 a circuit of which the nerve forms a part, will produce 
 convulsions in the rest of the limb. Of course during 
 their exposure to the alternate charging and discharging 
 of the machine, the frog limbs acted merely as galvanos- 
 copes. 
 
 427. It was, however, subsequently ascertained by Gal- 
 vani, that convulsions ensue, on making a conducting 
 communication by a metallic wire between the feet of a 
 frog and a portion of the spine appended thereto by the 
 denuded nerves (309). This he correctly ascribed to a 
 power in the parts of the animal to generate electricity ; 
 
40 
 
 but erroneously supposed that there was any analogy be- 
 tween the mode of its previous existence, and that of the 
 charge of a Leyden phial. This view of the subject was 
 not unreasonable at a period when no knowledge had been 
 obtained respecting the electrolytic process, by which the 
 current in a galvanic circuit is generated. But the inves- 
 tigation was rendered complicated and perplexing, by the 
 fact, that galvanic discharges causing convulsions are pro- 
 ducible in three different ways, of which only the last 
 described is due to the animal organs. Now, it is known 
 the leg of a frog may be convulsed, not only as above 
 described, by a metallic communication between the spinal 
 nerve and the feet, but likewise by bringing those parts 
 into contact without the intervention of a metal. 
 
 428. Figure (21) will il- 
 lustrate the mode by which 
 the leg of a frog being made 
 
 h to touch the spinal nerve, 
 convulsions will ensue in 
 consequence of an inherent 
 diversity as respects elec- 
 tropolarity in the different 
 parts of the animal. 
 
 429. The dissected frog 
 limbs are suspended by 
 means of a glass rod, H, 
 held by the hand at one end, 
 
 while the other is situated between the two partially de- 
 nuded nerves of the spine, a portion of the latter, s, 
 which is retained, serving to keep them united. By means 
 of another glass rod, M, one of the legs is brought at I, 
 into contact with a nerve. By these means the limbs may 
 be sensibly convulsed. The previous immersion of the 
 limbs and nerves in brine, is recommended by Sturgeon, as 
 rendering success more attainable ; but there seems to be 
 some objection to the assistance of an inorganic reagent 
 in an experiment intended to prove that the organs em- 
 ployed are per se, equivalent to a galvanic triad or elemen- 
 tary battery : it is nevertheless certain that much more 
 active convulsions may be produced by the discharge from 
 the most minute galvanic triad or the smallest spark 
 arising from the friction of an electric (E, 211). Where a 
 prepared frog is made, like the tongue in the experiment of 
 
41 
 
 Sultzer, to perform the office of the liquid reagent in a gal- 
 vanic triad such as above mentioned, the slime of the ani- 
 mal takes the place of the liquid, and the muscles included 
 are convulsed by a discharge analogous to that by which 
 the tongue is affected by the appropriate sensation. 
 
 430. Resting his inferences upon the superior efficacy 
 of extraneous sources of electricity, Volta succeeded in 
 creating an almost universal impression, that the idea of a 
 current originating in the organs of frogs had been erro- 
 neous. This impression was strengthened by the, subse- 
 quently discovered, surprising energy of his inorganic pile 
 in effecting ignition and chemical decomposition.* 
 
 Of the Diversity in the Sensations produced in the Human 
 Frame by variations in the size and number of the Galvanic 
 Pairs employed. 
 
 431. The different modes, as respects size and number, 
 in which galvanic apparatus may be diversified, has been 
 alluded to. It was soon found that the shock given to the 
 animal frame was increased more by the number, than by 
 the size of the plates. I have found the shock from two 
 hundred and eighty triads, each two inches square, more 
 severe than from one hundred, nearly eight by fourteen or 
 sixteen times as large. The sensation from the latter is 
 more excruciating, if the contact be sustained, because the 
 quantity is so much more copious ; but after repose, the 
 poles of the more numerous but smaller series becomes as 
 much greater than the other as twenty-eight is to ten. 
 This greater intensity enables the charge to act more 
 suddenly, and thus to produce the jerking sensation, usually 
 called a shock, in a much higher degree. Davy mentions 
 that severe shocks were received from his large pile 
 through the floor upon which it rested. I have experienced 
 shocks in like manner, when the floor on which a series of 
 three hundred pairs rested, was wet. 
 
 * Under these circumstances, injustice has been done to Galvani, by designating 
 the branch of science originating in his investigations as voltaic electricity. In 
 Ure's Chemical Dictionary, so much of the phenomena of this branch as are asso- 
 ciated with experiments on recent carcasses, whether of cold or warm blooded animals, 
 are treated of under the head of galvanism, while the other phenomena are treated 
 of under that of voltaic electricity. It appears to me, that galvanism or galvanic 
 electricity, should be known under the general appellation, and that sufficient justice 
 will be done to the other celebrated inventor, if we speak of the compound circuit, 
 as the voltaic series, pile, or battery. The appellation, voltaic series, seems to be 
 preferable, being most descriptive, since whatever may be its construction, it must 
 consist of a series of elementary batteries. 
 F 
 
42 
 
 432. Even with closed eyes an ideal flash of light is 
 produced in the Sultserean experiment. According to 
 Sturgeon, it is best executed when one of the pieces of 
 metal employed is pressed close upon the gums beneath 
 the upper lip, the other on the tongue. This preparation 
 being made, a flash is produced by bringing their extreme 
 edges into contact. To enhance the effect, the application 
 of brine to the tongue is recommended. It should be un- 
 derstood that the taste endures so long as the contact con- 
 tinues, but the affection of the optic nerve and the slight 
 quivering of the tongue are transient effects, attendant on 
 the peculiar intensity of the discharge which takes place 
 when the circuit is first completed. 
 
 433. To a cut sufficiently deep to draw blood, the most 
 feeble galvanic discharge is perceptible ; and that of an 
 extensive battery is excruciating. On the back of the 
 hand, from the comparative delicacy of the epidermis, and 
 the superior conducting power of the veins, the sensibility 
 to galvanic discharges is much higher. Moistening the 
 skin, more especially if any saline solution be employed, 
 causes such discharges to be much more difficult to bear. 
 One of the best modes of taking the shock is to connect 
 each electrode with a cup of mercury covered by water. 
 Dipping a finger of the right hand in one, and of the left 
 in the other, the shock will be felt in perfection. However 
 large the plates of a voltaic series, they cannot produce 
 any perceptible effect until the number of them, made to 
 operate on a conductor, is sufficient to cause a discharge 
 through it. Hence, they may cause the deflagration of a 
 wire, when they cannot give a shock to an animal nor de- 
 compose any chemical compound. When a number com- 
 petent to effect a passage is employed, the shock is not as 
 much greater in proportion to the size of the plates as 
 might be expected, just as in passing a needle through a 
 muscle, our suffering would not be much increased, al- 
 though, by doubling the diameter of the instrument, we 
 should quadruple its bulk. 
 
 434. The sensation created by a comparatively small 
 number of large pairs is more incessant, less jerking, and 
 becomes intolerable from a sensation like the boring of a 
 hot iron. This burning sensation is not surprising, when 
 it is considered that fluids grow hot under the influence of 
 such a series. In 1839, 1 assisted in some experiments on 
 
43 
 
 the corpse of a recently hanged murderer, of whom the 
 muscles of the face and those on which respiration is 
 dependent, were made to act. I then observed that igni- 
 tion took place whenever the lifting of the end of either 
 wire acting as an electrode, caused an interruption of the 
 circuit. The series employed was a deflagrator of three 
 hundred pairs of seven by three. 
 
 Of the Statical Effects of Galvanism* 
 
 435. It will be well to remember, that under this desig- 
 nation are placed those phenomena of galvanism which, 
 although extremely feeble as to comparative intensity, still 
 resemble the phenomena of frictional electricity as respects 
 the spark, the separation and approximation of light bo- 
 dies, and the charging of the Leyden phial. 
 
 436. Of all the phenomena of galvanism, only those of 
 a statical kind are to be produced when the circuit is in- 
 complete; and it is under these circumstances, and others 
 which are inconsistent with the other powers, that those 
 in question appear to most advantage. It is only on 
 breaking contact that galvanic apparatus, in the usual 
 forms, will produce a spark. If we attach a metallic mass 
 to one pole of a galvanic battery, and after bringing into 
 contact with it the end of a wire, rod, or strap of metal, in 
 due connexion with the other pole, suspend the contact, a 
 spark ensues; yet none can be perceived on renewing the 
 contact. 
 
 437. Sparks arising from the rupture of the circuit are 
 advantageously seen, by attaching to one of the electrodes 
 a rasp or a rachet wheel, which is so situated as to touch 
 a spring strap in due connexion with the other electrode. 
 By scraping the rasp with the strap, or if a rachet wheel 
 be used, causing it to revolve against the strap, a spark 
 occurs as often as the strap passes from one tooth to 
 another. The spark may be produced by metals, which, 
 like gold and platinum, are difficult to oxidize, but is larger 
 and more brilliant when iron, steel, or mercury, is used. 
 Of these metals, minute portions are mechanically abraded, 
 the combustion of which cooperates in the production of 
 intense light and heat. 
 
 438. The phenomenon which, when produced by the 
 puny apparatus of man, we call a spark, is designated as 
 
44 
 
 lightning, when evolved by the gigantic apparatus of na- 
 ture. In no respect are the powers of galvanic batteries 
 more discordant with those of electrical machines than as 
 respects the spark. By electrical machines of the largest 
 size, sparks of from twenty inches to two feet have been 
 emitted : from a very small one, they may be obtained 
 sometimes two inches in length ; yet, before contact, the 
 most powerful voltaic batteries could not, by the most in- 
 genious and skilful efforts of Gassiot, be made to give any 
 spark ; and, according to Davy, the battery of the Royal 
 Institution, comprising thirty-two thousand square inches 
 of zinc surface insulated by porcelain, did not give a spark 
 at a greater distance than one-fortieth of an inch (368). 
 It follows, that to give a spark at ten inches, or four hun- 
 dred times as far, would require a striking power which 
 would be to that of Davy's series as the square of four 
 hundred to that of one ; so that the striking power of a 
 machine giving such a spark must be one hundred and 
 sixty thousand times as great as that of the celebrated 
 battery above mentioned. 
 
 439. With insulated voltaic batteries of 1626 pairs made 
 by Crosse, and of 3520 pairs made by Gassiot, excited by 
 river water, sparks were obtained before contact. From 
 the last mentioned battery we are informed that a current 
 of them was obtained. The other powers of the battery 
 are enfeebled, in proportion as its statical power is 
 strengthened. 
 
 440. An engraving and description has been given of 
 the dry pile of De Luc, as modified by Zamboni. Ac- 
 cording to Daniell, when a wire proceeding from one pole, 
 of a pile of 20,000 pairs, was drawn lightly over a var- 
 nished metallic surface communicating with the other pole, 
 a series of minute sparks were obtained. A Leyden bat- 
 tery might be so charged as to produce a disagreeable 
 shock extending to the elbows and shoulders (378). 
 
 441. It does not appear to me that sufficient considera- 
 tion has been given to this form of voltaic apparatus by the 
 advocates of the purely chemical origin of the galvanic cur- 
 rent. Faraday, the, matter of fact, Ajax of that corps, in- 
 sists on the necessity of a species of electrolytic convection, 
 between the zinc and copper surfaces, to the conveyance 
 of the current. He urges the necessity of a process like 
 that which is supposed to take place during the decompo- 
 
45 
 
 sition of water between the electrodes (395). It cannot 
 be pretended, that any such electrolytic series of decom- 
 positions can go on by means of the minute and detached 
 particles of hygrometric water contained in the paper ma- 
 terial of Zamboni's disks: and admitting that moisture, 
 thus existing, could, by its electrolytic decomposition, be 
 adequate to sustain the electrical discharges for years 
 (381), by what process is it transferred from surface to 
 surface through the intervening paper ? Evidently it can- 
 not be conceived to pass by the series of decompositions 
 and recompositions in rows of the atoms of an intervening 
 liquid. Sturgeon avers, that the powers of De Luc's se- 
 ries is greater in proportion as the surfaces are kept 
 brighter, so that chemical action, far from being necessa- 
 ry, is actually injurious to the energy of the apparatus. 
 
 Of Continuous Ignition* 
 
 442. I deem it expedient to distinguish, under the gene- 
 ral designation of continuous ignition, those cases in which 
 a body, to be ignited, is a good conductor (a wire or char- 
 coal, for instance), forming that part of the galvanic cir- 
 cuit which lies between the electrodes (356). In this case 
 a wire being uniform in diameter and shape, the length 
 may be directly as the intensity. The larger the plates, 
 the stouter the wire which can be rendered incandescent : 
 the greater the number of the series, the longer. Within 
 any reasonable limits, the sectional area for a given length 
 may be as the area of the oxidizable surface of one pair; 
 the length as the number of pairs in the series. 
 
 443. By the gigantic apparatus of Children, a platinum 
 wire, five feet six inches in length, and more than one- 
 tenth of an inch in diameter, was heated red-hot. By my 
 deflagrator, several feet of wire of the same material may 
 be raised to incandescence, and when consisting of iron, 
 it may be burned by the atmospheric oxygen before fu- 
 sion. 
 
 444. The platinum wire employed in igniting gaseous 
 mixtures (C, 335), is liable to fusion, if care be not taken 
 to break the circuit before the temperature reaches its 
 maximum. 
 
 445. It is remarkable that if the wire, subjected to con- 
 tinuous ignition, be of uniform thickness, as is usually the 
 
46 
 
 case with a wire in good preservation, the ignition begins 
 about the middle, and extends gradually towards the elec- 
 trodes^ 
 
 446. If a prism of well-burned charcoal be made to 
 connect the poles of a powerful deflagrator, on completing 
 the circuit, by bringing the plates and acid into contact, 
 the charcoal will be instantaneously ignited throughout. 
 
 Of the Ignition of a Continuous Conductor by a Color imotor 
 or Deflagrator* 
 
 447. If the electrodes of a galvanic triad, of the con- 
 struction to which the name calorimotor has been given, 
 be united by a wire before the immersion of the plates; on 
 immersing them, the wire will be more or less heated, ac- 
 cording to the extent of the oxidizable metallic surface, 
 and the size and length of the wire ; excepting that the in- 
 tensity produced by one pair lessens as its size is enlarged. 
 Although on estimating the heat which it can produce, in 
 wire of a certain magnitude, it may be found in quantity 
 proportionable to the size, in order that this proportionable 
 quantity may appear, the wire must have magnitude too 
 
 * As, when the wire is of a sufficient length, it takes some time for the whole to 
 become incandescent, and as fusion cannot be effected in the central portion so long 
 as the rest of the wire is below a white heat, the operator is enabled to avoid fusing 
 the central portion, while raising it, nevertheless, to the highest temperature which 
 platinum will bear. To effect the combustion of hydrogen with nitrous oxide, re- 
 quires a heat so intense, that I always use a wire for that purpose of nearly two 
 inches in length, and of about No. 26 of the wire gauge. 
 
 An argument in favour of the theory of Dufay has been founded upon the idea, 
 that the heat taking place midway, corresponds with the meeting of two fluids at an 
 intermediate space within the circuit equidistant from their respective sources. But 
 it should be kept in mind, that agreeably to the theory of two fluids, the negative 
 end of the pile has to receive as much vitreous as it yields up resinous, and the posi- 
 tive end has to receive as much resinous as it emits of vitreous electricity. 
 
 It follows, that the conditions necessary to electric activity, agreeably to that 
 theory, consist in the simultaneous motion of two fluids in opposite directions. It 
 cannot consist in their coming together at any particular part of the circuit more 
 than in any other. It is true, that when the circuit is interrupted, an excess of 
 vitreous electricity will be accumulated towards the positive end of the series, and 
 an excess of the resinous towards the negative end ; but, on completing the circuit, 
 commensurate with the discharge of the vitreous accumulation into the anode will 
 be a discharge of the resinous electricity in the opposite direction. In like manner, 
 commensurate with the discharge of the resinous into the cathode will be an oppo- 
 site discharge of the vitreous. The fluids are necessarily in motion throughout the 
 circuit, to restore the equilibrium which the electro-chemical reaction is necessarily 
 destroying. 
 
 The phenomenon under consideration, though irreconcilable either with the theory 
 of one or that of two fluids, agrees with the idea of waves of polarization moving 
 from the centre of the generating battery towards the extremities, thence passing 
 through the metallic conductor to neutralize each other at an intermediate point in 
 the wire. Possibly each wave, carrying with it caloric in a latent state, may yield 
 it up when, by neutralization, the power to retain it ceases; and thus may arise the 
 heat evolved at the place of meeting, so long as the current is sustained. 
 
47 
 
 great to be consistent with intensity. Hence, a more m- 
 tense heat may be produced in a fine wire by a triad of a 
 square foot of oxidizable surface than by one of fifty. On 
 this account it is necessary in a very large calorimotor to 
 employ more than one triad in order to produce a white 
 heat in a wire whether stout or fine* (331). 
 
 Of Deflagration. 
 
 448. Those experiments in which the contact or con- 
 tinuity of the conductor between the electrodes, after being 
 established, is destroyed by its reaction with the current, 
 or by the interference of the operator, fall under the head 
 of deflagration. 
 
 449. Thus when suitable tapering pieces of charcoal, 
 severally attached to the electrodes of an active and suffi- 
 ciently powerful series, after being brought into contact, 
 are separated, the resulting interval becomes occupied by 
 an arc of flame of which the light and heat are the most in- 
 tense that art can produce. It is not without pain, and 
 the risk of permanent injury, that this flaming arch, or 
 
 * For more than twenty years, I have employed calorimotors for effecting the ex- 
 plosive combustion of gaseous mixtures, or for igniting- a jet of hydrogen in oxygen 
 in the Lavoisierian experiment for the synthesis of that liquid (834-5). In such 
 experiments, that distinguished philosopher, and generally all the chemists of the 
 old world, have used for the same object, the electric spark. This it is difficult to 
 command in damp weather, and in the vicinity of the water usually employed in 
 pneumato-chemical experiments. 
 
 In June, 1831, I was induced to make a series of experiments, in order to explode 
 the charges of gunpowder in rock-blasting, and succeeded by one of my deflagratora 
 in exploding twelve charges at the distance of one hundred and fifty feet. Of these 
 experiments, I published an account in 1833, in the Franklin Journal, and recom- 
 mended this process as peculiarly well suited for blowing up fortifications and blast- 
 ing under water. 
 
 In England, about five years afterwards, efforts having been unsuccessfully made 
 by other means of ignition, to remove the wrecks of vessels by the explosion of gun- 
 powder previously introduced into their holds, galvanic ignition was resorted to pur- 
 suant to my suggestion. Nevertheless, upon the plea that my apparatus had not been 
 employed to affect ignition " under water ," resort was had to another, which was of 
 course, previously to trial, amenable to the same objection. In fact, the deflagrator 
 was peculiarly competent to effect ignition under water, far more so than the con- 
 stant battery which was used. This arises from the completion of the circuit being 
 affected by throwing the acid on the plates at the moment when the ignition is re- 
 quired. In this mode of operating, a transient power may be obtained far greater 
 than can be had from an equal extent of surface in a constant battery. 
 
 Finally, however, Col. Paisley succeeded in blowing up the wreck of the Royal 
 George, by means of galvanic ignition. Since then, a person by the name of Colt, 
 has applied the process of galvanic ignition so successfully, as to blow up a vessel at 
 the distance of several miles from the battery employed. In the employment of this 
 process, it does not appear, that he made any due acknowledgment either as to Col. 
 Paisley or myself. So entirely was the committee of congress with whom he con- 
 ferred, in the dark, that in April last, both Prof. Joseph Henry, of Princeton, and 
 myself, were applied to, by the Secretary of War of the United States, to give that 
 information, which it was evidently Colt's duty to have given at the outset. 
 
48 
 
 the bodies exposed to it, can be viewed by unprotected 
 eyes. # 
 
 450. On comparing the light thus generated from nine 
 hundred pairs of seven by three inches, with that of a can- 
 dle, the ratio appeared to be as sixteen hundred to one. 
 The shadow of the whiskers, or of a prominent lock of 
 hair, partially intercepting the light, was cast upon a wall 
 with extraordinary accuracy. The side of an adjacent 
 house, on which the rays fell in the night, appeared as if 
 illuminated by the sun. 
 
 451. When a rod of platinum, of a quarter of an inch 
 in diameter, while attached to one pile, was made to touch 
 charcoal attached to the other, the instantaneous fusion of 
 the platinum at the point ensued. A knitting needle sub- 
 stituted for the rod of platinum was explosively defla- 
 grated. In such cases the wire is destroyed in detail, the 
 combustion being limited to the vicinity of the end. For 
 this and other deflagrations where a metal is in question, 
 it answers better to have one charcoal electrode, than to 
 have both of metal. Two metallic electrodes are liable to 
 be soldered or welded together. The incorporation thus 
 arising, takes place even under water. A platinum wire 
 brought into contact with an iron rod under water may be 
 welded thereto. It is preferable to have one wire always 
 stouter than the other. Of course tin-foil and other leaf 
 metal are rapidly deflagrated by the same process as the 
 knitting needle. A jet of mercury, so regulated as not to 
 form a stream quite continuous, being made the medium 
 of the discharge of a deflagrator, a splendid effulgence en- 
 sues, arising from the combined effects of the combustion 
 of the metal and the galvanic light. 
 
 Deflagration with Liquids. 
 
 452. Let a concentrated aqueous solution of chloride of 
 calcium be first brought fully into contact with a stout 
 platinum wire, acting as the positive pole of a deflagrator 
 
 * On one occasion, after making some experiments with an extensive series, my 
 eyes were so much affected, that all other flame appeared of a deep blood-red, and 
 on the following day they were blood-shot, and so greatly inflamed, that it was 
 deemed expedient to apply twenty leeches to each to procure relief. 
 
 On another occasion, similar consequences ensued to an assistant, who was not 
 deterred from subjecting his eyes injudiciously to an ordeal like that which mine 
 had undergone. 
 
49 
 
 of about three hundred pairs, seven inches by three, in full 
 operation. In the next place, let a platinum wire of about 
 No. 30 of the wire gage, acting as the negative pole of the 
 same series, be allowed barely to touch the solution, the 
 most intense ignition will ensue, causing the platinum to 
 be fused rapidly into globules, which will be found at the 
 bottom of the solution. An analogous result ensues with 
 other saline solutions, if capable of a similar degree of 
 density. The fusion of the platinum, however, is much 
 more readily effected with the chloride of calcium. This 
 arises, I infer, from the extrication of the calcium, its union 
 with the platinum momentarily, and subsequent rapid com- 
 bustion by the oxygen of the water. 
 
 453. It is remarkable that this experiment could not be 
 performed by a deflagrator of one hundred pairs of seven 
 and a half by fourteen, although succeeding perfectly 
 with three hundred pairs of seven by three, having less 
 than two-thirds of the surface disposed in a series of an 
 inferior number. 
 
 454. There is no mode by which a small portion of a 
 substance can be subjected to heat in the absence of the 
 oxidizing influence of the air, or with the co-operation of 
 the deoxidizing affinity of hydrogen, so powerfully, as that 
 of a large voltaic series acting in a receiver capable of 
 exhaustion and replenishment with that gas or any other. 
 Subjecting phosphuret of lime in this way to the intense 
 ignition produced by two hundred pairs, each of nearly 
 seven and a half by fourteen, I reduced the calcium very 
 nearly to a state of purity, as a small portion acquired a 
 metallic brilliancy under the burnisher, and decomposed 
 water rapidly on being thrown into it. 
 
 455. Having, in like manner, exposed cyanide of cal- 
 cium, the result was similar, but less exceptionable, as this 
 compound does not possess the property of liberating hy- 
 drogen from water, so that the acquisition of the property 
 indicated more certainly that the substance evolved was 
 calcium. In either case lime was found in the water, in 
 which the supposed calcium had been immersed. 
 
 6 
 
50 
 
 Of the Electrolytic Power of Galvanism, or Galvanic Power 
 
 456. The voltaic series was first discovered to have 
 powers of decomposition, or electrolysis, by Nicholson 
 and Carlyle. These ingenious investigators found, on 
 subjecting water to copper wires acting as the electrodes 
 of a voltaic pile, that while hydrogen was evolved at the 
 negative electrode, the positive electrode was oxidized. 
 But when wires of gold or platinum were used, both of the 
 gaseous elements of water were evolved. In the following 
 summer I was invited by my predecessor, Dr. Woodhouse, 
 to see the experiment then going on in his laboratory, by 
 means of a series constructed of disks of copper, zinc, and 
 moistened cloth. This was considered as a great step in 
 science at that time, when it was still denied that water 
 could be decomposed, or that the hydrogen obtained by 
 passing it in the state of steam over incandescent iron, 
 was an element of that liquid. To the evolution of its 
 gaseous elements by the voltaic pile, those who considered 
 it as a compound, appealed with elation ; and the proofs 
 that it could be thus electrolysed, as we w^ould now say, 
 were finally such as to silence all who had been incredu- 
 lous.* 
 
 * Engraving and Description of an Apparatus for the Decomposition and Recomposi- 
 tion of Water, employed in the Laboratory of the Medical Department of the Univer- 
 sity of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Having to illustrate the decomposition and recomposition of water to a class of 
 between three and four hundred pupils, I have found it expedient to exhibit the pro- 
 cess on an extensive scale. Hence, for many years, I have employed a glass tube 
 of about two inches in bore, and about two feet in height, furnished with two tubu- 
 lures, B, b, about three inches below the upper extremity, where the bore converges 
 to an apex, having an aperture not larger than a goose quill. Upon this apex there 
 is an iron cap, in which a female screw is wrought so as to allow a large iron valve 
 cock, C, to be screwed into it. 
 
 Upon the tubulures iron caps are cemented, which are so wrought, as, with the 
 aid of appropriate screws, to constitute stuffing boxes. Through each of these a pla- 
 tina rod, D, or d, is introduced, and fastened to plates of platina, to act as "elec- 
 trodes" agreeably to the language of the celebrated Faraday. 
 
 The tube being supported over the mercurial cistern, by means of a communica- 
 tion with an air pump through the valve cock and flexible leaden pipe, the bore of 
 the tube is exhausted of air, so as to cause the mercury to take its place. The mer- 
 cury is so far displaced by a solution of borax, consisting of equal parts of water and 
 a saturated solution of that salt, as to sink the surface of the column of metal in the 
 tube about an inch or more below the " electrodes " The projecting end of one of 
 the rods, D, d, to the other ends of which the k£ electrodes" are severally attached, 
 is bent at right angles outside of the tube, so as to enter some mercury in an iron cap- 
 sule, supported purposely at a proper height, and communicating with one end of 
 my deflagrator of an hundred pairs of Cruickshank plates, described page 22. Of 
 course the rod of the other electrode must have a communication with the other end 
 
51 
 
 457. In 1807, Davy made the grand discovery of the com- 
 position of potash and soda, by means of two hundred pairs 
 
 Fig. 22. 
 
 of the deflagrator. Under these circumstances, if the circuit be completed by throw- 
 ing the acid on the plates of the deflagrator, a most rapid evolution of hydrogen and 
 oxygen will ensue in consequence of the decomposition of the water, so that within 
 a few seconds, several cubic inches of gas will be collected. 
 
 The action being now suspended by throwing the acid off the plates, and the foam 
 being allowed to subside, the resulting gaseous mixture may be ignited, and of course 
 condensed, by completing the circuit again as at first, and at the same time causing 
 the ends of the " electrodes" to come into contact with each other, and thus to pro- 
 duce a spark. This contact is effected by causing a very slight movement in the 
 rod, bent at right angles, and entering the mercury in the iron capsule. Of course 
 the process may be repeated as often as can be reasonably desired. 
 
 Generation of the Amalgam of Ammonium, upon a large scale, by " Electrolization.'" 
 
 An open necked bell, A, inverted and supported as in the figure, is furnished with 
 a plug, P, by which the orifice in the neck may be closed or opened, more or less, as 
 desirable. The lower part of the cavity of the bell is occupied by mercury, covered 
 by a stratum of a concentrated solution of chloride of ammonium (sal ammoniac). 
 An iron wire, W, so covered with gum elastic, as to pass through the solution of 
 chloride without any conducting contact, establishes a communication between the 
 mercury and the negative pair of the series. By means of a platina strap, S, a like 
 communication is effected between the positive pole and the dissolved chloride. The 
 circuit being completed, the mercury soon swells up, assuming the well known ap- 
 
52 
 
 of four inch square plates. By Sweiger and Berzelius, 
 analogous results were obtained by using mercury as the 
 negative electrode. By the presence of this metal, the 
 nascent metal of the earth subjected to the process, was to 
 a certain degree protected from oxidation, which other- 
 wise would have prevented it from being retained in a 
 metallic state. Davy, by submitting the amalgams to dis- 
 tillation, obtained minute portions of barium and stron- 
 tium, imperfectly deprived of mercury. In the distillation 
 of the amalgam of calcium, he failed, as the tube broke 
 before the process was complete. From my experiments, I 
 infer, that with sixty grains of mercury, which was the quan- 
 tity which he employed, he could not have obtained an 
 available portion of the metal had the process succeeded. 
 
 458. By means of two deflagrators, each of one hundred 
 pairs, seven and a half inches by fourteen (375), I was 
 enabled, in 1839, to procure as much as 3600 grains of 
 the amalgam of calcium. From this the mercury was dis- 
 
 pearance of an amalgam. When a sufficient quantity of this is formed, by loosening 
 the plug, any excess of mercury may be allowed to run out into one receptacle, and 
 afterwards the amalgam may be received in another; care being taken to close the 
 aperture, by means of the plug, before the residual aqueous solution can follow. By 
 these means about half a pint of the amalgam has been obtained. The diameter of 
 the bell, which I have used, is about five inches. 
 
 It has been found advantageous to add liquid ammonia to the solution, in a suffi- 
 cient quantity to prevent the evolution of free acid, which seems to destroy the amal- 
 gam when in contact with it beyond the influence of the circuit. 
 
53 
 
 tilled, by means of a crucible included in a cast iron 
 alembic, the cavity of the latter having been previously 
 supplied with some pure caoutchoucine to expel oxygen. 
 In this way I obtained sixty grains of calcium. In subse- 
 quent efforts I also succeeded in obtaining about the same 
 quantities, respectively, of barium and strontium.* 
 
 On Secondary or Indirect Decomposition. 
 
 459. In the case of the decomposition of a liquid by wires, 
 acting as electrodes, it was formerly inferred that the ele- 
 ments which appeared at the electrodes were liberated by 
 a direct electrolytic influence, but Faraday has shown that 
 the evolution of the element of one compound, another 
 compound being present, may cause the decomposition of 
 
 * The cuts having unexpectedly been found to be missing 1 , and not deeming it ex- 
 pedient to stop the press in order to replace them, I have to omit giving an engraving 
 and description of the apparatus employed in the processes above mentioned (444, 
 458). 
 
 As no account of these metals, as procured by me, is given under Inorganic Che- 
 mistry, the statements made respecting them in the last edition of this Treatise are 
 subjoined. 
 
 Properties of Calcium, Barium, and Strontium. 
 
 When the heat was sufficient to expel all the mercury, the metal was found ad- 
 hering to the bottom of the crucible in a crust, which required an edge tool to detach 
 it, though no incorporation of the iron with it appeared to have taken place. When 
 in distilling calcium, a crucible of platina was employed, a portion of this metal was 
 found to have united with some of the calcium, being detached therewith in the form 
 of a bright metallic scale. 
 
 In consequence of their susceptibility of oxidation, and of union with the elements 
 of naphtha, the metals obtained as abovementioned were devoid of metallic lustre 
 until their surfaces were removed by a file or burnisher. Either was rapidly oxi- 
 dized in water, or in any liquid containing it; and afterwards, with tests, gave the 
 appropriate proofs of its presence. They all sank in sulphuric acid; were all brittle, 
 and fixed, and for fusion, required at least a good red heat. After being kept in 
 naphtha, their effervescence with water is, on the first immersion, much less active. 
 Under such circumstances, they react at first more vivaciously with pure ether than 
 with water, or even chlorohydric acid; because in these liquids a resinous covering, 
 derived from the naphtha, is not soluble, while to the ether it yields readily. 
 
 By means of solid carbonic acid, obtained by Mitchell's modification of Thilorier's 
 process, I froze an ounce measure of the amalgam of calcium, hoping to effect a par- 
 tial mechanical separation of the mercury, by straining through leather, as in the case 
 of other amalgams. The result, however, did not justify my hopes, as both metals 
 were expelled through the pores of the leather simultaneously, the calcium forming 
 forthwith a pulverulent oxide, intermingled with and discoloured by mercury in a 
 state of extreme division. 
 
 By the same means I froze a mass of the amalgam of ammonium, as large as the 
 palm of my hand, so as to be quite hard, tenacious, and brittle. The mass floated 
 upon the mercury of my mercurial pneumatic cistern, and gradually liquefied, while 
 its volatile ingredients escaped. 
 
 When the freezing of the amalgam was expedited by the addition of pure ether, 
 the resulting solid effervesced in water, evolving ethereal fumes. This seems to 
 show that a portion of this ether may be incorporated with ammonium and mer- 
 cury, without depriving the aggregate thus formed of the characteristics of a metal- 
 lic alloy. 
 
54 
 
 the latter when the element first evolved has a predomi- 
 nant affinity for one of the constituents of the compound 
 to which it is thus presented. Thus the deposition of a 
 metal at the negative electrode from a solution of one of 
 its salts, by exposure to the circuit, may be the conse- 
 quence of its oxide being decomposed by the affinity of 
 hydrogen in a nascent state as evolved from water. The 
 nitrogen evolved at the anode from liquid ammonia, under 
 like circumstances, is conceived to be liberated by the 
 union of its hydrogen with the oxygen of water directly 
 decomposed. 
 
 460. As in the electrolysis of salts of the alkalies and 
 alkaline earths, when mercury is employed as the nega- 
 tive electrode, an amalgam is obtained of the metallic 
 radical of the salt, I had formed the opinion that it 
 is the metallic oxide which is the subject of direct de- 
 composition, and that when hydrogen appears at the ca- 
 thode it is the consequence of the decomposition of the 
 water by the metal. It is known that as soon as either 
 of these in its metallic state touches water, seizing the 
 oxygen, it liberates the hydrogen of this liquid. Subse- 
 quently, I found that Matteucci, a distinguished Italian phi- 
 losopher, had arrived at the same opinion as myself, on 
 this subject, after performing a. series of laborious experi- 
 ments with a view to ascertain the truth. 
 
 461. This question must excite great interest from the 
 fact, that it has an important bearing on the electrolytic 
 investigations recently made by Daniel], which by Kane, 
 Graham, and others, as well as the author of them, have 
 been considered as justifying the salt radical theory. But 
 in either way of viewing the subject, Faraday's suggestions 
 that the elements, which are the ostensible products of the 
 process, may be indirectly evolved, is fully sustained.* 
 
 * Figure 24 represents an apparatus which may be conveniently employed for the 
 electrolytic formation of amalgams with the metals of the alkalies or alkaline 
 earths. 
 
 The lower end B of the receiver A is perforated so as to have an iron, or pre- 
 ferably a platinum wire, so luted therein, that one end may just enter the cavity of 
 the receiver, while the other end is soldered to a metallic strap supporting the re- 
 ceiver, and held by a vice communicating through a wire rope with the positive end 
 of a competent voltaic series. The lower part of the cavity of the receiver is oc- 
 cupied by some mercury, necessarily in contact with the end of the wire already 
 described as entering that space. Upon the mercury a stratum of the aqueous solu- 
 tion containing the desired metal must be situated. By means of a strip of platina 
 in contact with this solution at one end and at the other held by a vice in communi- 
 cation with the positive end of the voltaic series, the circuit is completed. Under 
 
55 
 
 Results obtained by long enduring Galvano-Electric Currents 
 of Low Intensity. 
 
 462. Becquerel and Were Fox, have drawn the atten- 
 tion of the scientific world to processes, in which galvanic 
 currents long continued, of low intensity, have been suc- 
 cessfully employed. It has been rendered probable by 
 the investigations and observations of Were Fox, that gal- 
 vanic circuits are among the most efficient causes of 
 metallic depositions in mines, and by Becquerel, the pro- 
 cesses of nature in the formation of crystals have been 
 imitated. In this path, laborious experiments, of unpre- 
 cedented endurance, have also been made by Crosse. It 
 was during some efforts to produce by the voltaic current 
 crystals, and other compounds, analogous to those found 
 in nature, that this zealous electrician observed a species 
 of louse, since called acarus galvanicus, to appear. It is 
 certainly miraculous that these insects should come into 
 existence under the influence of agents, which are never 
 found to enter into the constitution of animals, and which 
 are of a nature to destroy life in the case of animated 
 
 Fig. 24. 
 
 these circumstances, the series being in a sufficient degree of activity, the mercury 
 acting as the negative electrode separates, and unites with any metallic cathion in 
 any electrolyte held by the solution subjected to the process ; meanwhile the anion 
 of the electrolyte is evolved at the anode, or where the surface of the platina elec- 
 trode is in contact with the liquid (358). 
 
56 
 
 nature in general. The insect so much resembles a 
 cheese mite, that it might be mistaken therefor on a 
 hasty examination. 
 
 463. The experiments of Crosse have been repeated, 
 with modifications, by Weekes of the London Electrical 
 Society. This ardent investigator subjected to the gal- 
 vanic current solutions of silicate of potash, in glass re- 
 ceivers over mercury, the greatest care being taken to 
 guard against the access of any extraneous bodies. Un- 
 der these circumstances, after an uninterrupted exposure 
 during upwards of a year, insects are alleged to have made 
 their appearance perfectly resembling those which seemed 
 to come into existence during the experiments of Crosse. 
 Mr. Weekes has since asserted that the acari appeared to 
 have originated in a solution of ferroprussiate of potash. 
 The origin of these insects is inexplicable, since it is 
 utterly impossible that they can be created by the agents 
 and process employed.* 
 
 * On this subject, in my Introductory, delivered in 1843, I expressed myself as 
 follows : 
 
 A few years since, many of the more inconsiderate among the reading portion of 
 society, were carried away by an account respecting certain experimental observa- 
 tions made by an enthusiastic electrician, to believe in the generation of certain in- 
 sects through the influence of the voltaic current. It struck me at first, that, as 
 nothing less than the miraculous interposition of the Deity could give rise to animal 
 life, this narrative must be a jocular fiction, like the statement respecting certain 
 observations of Herschel, in aid of which the light of the hydro-oxygen blow-pipe 
 flame was employed to co-operate with the solar rays in illuminating bodies, on 
 the lunar surface, at the distance of more than two hundred and thirty thousand 
 miles ! 
 
 It was, nevertheless, true, that an equivocal description had been given, in good 
 earnest, tending to create the idea that animals had been generated by a voltaic cur- 
 rent out of silicious earth, alkali and acid. It subsequently appeared, not that certain 
 species of acari or lice had been created, but that they had been stimulated to exhibit 
 themselves by the agents and apparatus employed. According to my apprehension, 
 it had been quite as practicable to repeat the Mosaic miracle of bringing water from 
 a rock, by the blow of a rod, without supernatural aid, as to create sentient organized 
 beings by the materials and apparatus employed by the electrician. Far more rea- 
 sonable were it to expect the formation of a watch by subjecting the ores of the 
 metals requisite for its construction to the voltaic process. 
 
 Perhaps human genius has in no instance approached more nearly to the produc- 
 tion of a machine having the attributes of an animal, than in the construction of the 
 locomotive steam engine, of which the furnace may be considered as performing the 
 office of a stomach, the cylinder and pipes that of the bowels, while the shaft, levers 
 and wheels act as limbs ; but still the will, the instinct, the power of self-reproduc- 
 tion, and the heaven-born sense of existence, are deficient. 
 
 In fact, human efforts have never attained the point of making a self-moving 
 machine, or perpetual motion, however wrong-headed projectors may have deceived 
 themselves and others with false expectations of success in that impracticable pro- 
 ject. For, although there be in nature incessant movements, like those of the 
 planets, or of waves, &c, and currents which, originating from calorific, or electrical 
 changes, move or flow without intermission from age to age, such sources of motion 
 are not to be created by man. 
 
57 
 
 Important Inferences of Faraday, respecting Electrolysis. 
 
 464. Among many important services rendered by Faraday, is that of 
 demonstrating that electro-chemical decomposition takes place in equivalent 
 ratio, being always directly as the quantity of electricity which passes by 
 the electrolytic separation and rearrangement of the ions (360). For the 
 investigation of the phenomena dependent on this law, an instrument was 
 devised by him, which, being interposed in the circuit, enabled him accu- 
 rately to measure the gaseous products of the electrolytic decomposition of 
 water. The result, thus obtained, was assumed as a standard by which to 
 estimate the products of the decomposition of other electrolytes exposed to 
 the same current simultaneously with water. To the instrument thus em- 
 ployed the name of volta electrometer, or by abbreviation voltameter, has 
 been given. The construction of this instrument does not differ essentially 
 from the apparatus above described for the decomposition of water (note to 
 450), excepting the absence in the latter of graduation, by which the vo- 
 lume of the gas generated is ascertainable on inspection. 
 
 465. By means of this apparatus it was ascertained, that when the fused 
 chlorides of tin and lead were either severally or simultaneously subjected 
 to the same active circuit, so that the products of their decomposition might 
 be compared with those of water with water, the weight of the elements, 
 evolved from this liquid, collected in the voltameter, and those of the chlo- 
 rine and metals, liberated from the chlorides, were to each other as their 
 equivalents, H 1, O 8, CI 36, Pb 104, Sn 59, C (560). 
 
 466. By these results, and many others of an analogous character, it 
 seems to have been fully established, that the quantity of any electrolyte 
 which can be decomposed by a galvanic current is directly as the quantity 
 of the electricity which passes through it: moreover, that the weights of dif- 
 ferent electrolytes discomposed by the same quantity, will be to each other, 
 as the numbers by which their atoms are represented in the table of equiva- 
 lents. The only motive for increasing the intensity by a numerical extension 
 of the series employed, is that for the passage of the fluid by the electro- 
 lytic process, the requisite force must be as the reciprocal affinity of the 
 ions of the electrolyte employed. Thus, «as in the chloride of calcium, a 
 stronger affinity is to be overcome than in decomposing the iodide of that 
 metal, a greater number of pairs are required, but the quantity of the com- 
 pounds in question decomposed, will be, ceteris paribus, as the size of the 
 plates, without reference to the number of the series. 
 
 467. Not only did Faraday show that the weights of the ions evolved 
 by the same galvanic current from different electrolytes, and consequently 
 the weights of these, were to each other as their equivalent numbers, it was 
 also shown by this skilful experimenter, that to produce the same quantity 
 of electricity from different metals by galvanic reaction, the weights of the 
 quantities corroded, must be to each other as the equivalent numbers of the 
 metals.* 
 
 * It seems to me remarkable, that under these circumstances, no reference is made 
 by Faraday to the analogous results, obtained by Pettit and Dulong, respecting specific 
 heat. It is well known, that it was rendered highly probable, by these philosophers, 
 that the quantity of heat given out by bodies was equally great for each atomic 
 equivalent. The specific heat of every gas is the same, so that although the weight 
 of equal volumes of gaseous hydrogen and oxygen are as one to sixteen, the quantity 
 H 
 
58 
 
 An Interesting Summary of Faraday 1 s Inferences. 
 
 The following summary of his inferences is given by Faraday. 
 
 468. " i. A single ion, i. e. one not in combination with another, will 
 have no tendency to pass to either of the electrodes, and will be perfectly 
 indifferent to the passing current, unless it be itself a compound of more 
 elementary ions, and so subject to actual decomposition. Upon this fact is 
 founded much of the proof adduced in favour of the new theory of electro- 
 chemical decomposition, which I put forth in a former series of these Re- 
 searches. 
 
 469. " ii. If one ion be combined in right proportions with another 
 strongly opposed to it in its ordinary chemical relations, i. e. if an anion 
 be combined with a cation, then both will travel, the one to the anode, the 
 other to the cathode, of the decomposing body. 
 
 470. " iii. If, therefore, an ion pass towards one of the electrodes, an- 
 other ion must also be passing simultaneously to the other electrode, al- 
 though, from secondary action, it may not make its appearance. 
 
 471. " iv. A body decomposable directly by the electric current, i. e. an 
 electrolyte, must consist of two ions, and must also render them up during 
 the act of decomposition. 
 
 472. " v. There is but one electrolyte composed of the same two ele- 
 mentary ions; at least such appears to be the fact, dependent upon a law, 
 that only single electro-chemical equivalents of elementary ions can go to 
 the electrodes, and not multiples. 
 
 473. " vi. A body not decomposable when alone, as boracic acid, is not 
 directly decomposable by the electric current when in combination. It may 
 act as an ion going wholly to the anode or cathode, but does not yield up 
 its elements, except occasionally by a secondary action. Perhaps it is su- 
 perfluous for me to point out that this proposition has no relation to such 
 cases as that of water, which, by the presence of other bodies, is rendered 
 a better conductor of electricity, and therefore is more freely decomposed. 
 
 474. " vii. The nature of the substance of which the electrode is formed, 
 provided it be a conductor, causes no difference in the electro-decomposi- 
 tion, either in kind or degree : but it seriously influences, by secondary ac- 
 tion, the state in which the ions finally appear. Advantage may be taken 
 of this principle in combining and collecting such ions as, if evolved in their 
 free state, would be unmanageable.* 
 
 475. " viii. A substance which, being used as the electrode, can combine 
 with the ion evolved against it, is also, I believe, an ion, and combines, in 
 such cases, in the quantity represented by its electro-chemical equivalent. 
 All the experiments I have made agree with this view ; and it seems to me 
 at present, to result as a necessary consequence. Whether, in the secon- 
 dary actions that take place, where the ion acts, not upon the matter of the 
 
 of heat in the equal spaces which they occupy are equal; so that the specific heats of 
 these gases are inversely as their densities or weights. The densities of hydrogen, 
 oxygen, nitrogen, and chlorine, being respectively as 1, 8, 14, 36, the specific heats 
 of equal weights of hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and chlorine, are inversely as those 
 numbers. 
 
 * It will often happen that the electrodes used may be of such a nature as, with 
 the fluid in which they are immersed, to produce an electric current, either accord- 
 ing with or opposing that of the voltaic arrangement used, and in this way, or by 
 direct chemical action, may sadly disturb the results. Still, in the midst of all 
 these confusing effects, the electric current, which actually passes in any direction 
 through the body suffering decomposition, will produce its own definite electrolytic 
 action. 
 
59 
 
 electrode, but on that which is around it in the liquid, the same consequence 
 follows, will require more extended investigation to determine. 
 
 476. " ix. Compound ions are not necessarily composed of electro- 
 chemical equivalents of simple ions. For instance, sulphuric acid, boracic 
 acid, phosphoric acid, are ions, but not electrolytes, i. e. not composed of 
 electro-chemical equivalents of simple ions. 
 
 477. " x. Electro-chemical equivalents are always consistent ; i. e. the 
 same number which represents the equivalent of a substance A, when it is 
 separating from a substance B, will also represent A when separating from 
 a third substance C. Thus, 8 is the electro-chemical equivalent of oxygen, 
 whether separating from hydrogen, or tin, or lead ; and 103.5 is the electro- 
 chemical equivalent of lead, whether separating from oxygen, or chlorine, 
 or iodine. 
 
 478. " xi. Electro-chemical equivalents coincide, and are the same, with 
 ordinary chemical equivalents." 
 
 479. It is much to the honour of Faraday that these opinions, which were 
 mostly original, appear to be for the most part sanctioned by the scientific 
 world. The greatest error is, as I conceive, in his language being of a 
 nature to convey the idea of a loco-motion, which cannot take place agree- 
 ably to his own premises, and which I infer it was not his intention to treat 
 as necessary to the electrolytic process. On this, I have already com- 
 mented (397). Subjoined are some additional strictures (480, &c). 
 
 On Sir H. Davy's Experiments on the Transfer of Acids through Alka- 
 lies, and of Alkalies through Acids by the Voltaic Currents. 
 
 480. When three vessels A, B, C, were associated by moistened strips 
 of asbestos, so that the intermediate vessel A, held either an acid or an 
 alkali, B, a saline solution, C, pure water, Sir H. Davy found that by 
 taking them into a voltaic circuit, either an acid or alkali would reach the 
 water of C. Hence it was inferred that, under the magic escorting influ- 
 ence of the current, an acid ion, as we now call it, might pass through an 
 alkali, or an alkaline ion through an acid. Faraday treats this miraculous 
 result as the natural consequence of the interposition of a body capable of 
 combining with the ion during its journey. It seems, however, inconsistent 
 with his adoption of the Grotherian hypothesis (389), respecting the mode 
 in which ions are liberated by the current, that an ion should actually 
 travel. Consistently with that view of the subject, in order that an acid ion 
 should be liberated at the anode, and an alkaline ion at the cathode, there 
 must be a row of compound electrolytic atoms, subsisting between the elec- 
 trodes, in which the ions evolved are ingredients. 
 
 481. I trust that the following quotation from the work of his friend, 
 Daniell, fully justifies my conception of the subject. 
 
 482. "We have now to consider how the impulse, which is derived from 
 the zinc, is transmitted through the liquid to the platinum; and how we may 
 account for the extraordinary fact, that the radical of a portion of the acid 
 combines with the former, while the equivalent hydrogen, with which it 
 was associated, is evolved upon the distant surface of the latter. 
 
 483. " No visible transfer of the disunited elements takes place, and if 
 the vessel which contains the acid, be divided either by a diaphragm of blad- 
 der, a partition of porous earthenware, or other substance capable of im- 
 bibing the liquid, and the two plates be placed on its opposite sides, no im- 
 pediment arises to this extraordinary separation. 
 
 484. "The force must be conceived to travel in this part of its circuit by 
 
60 
 
 a species of convection, of which a mechanical illustration again may assist 
 us in forming a just notion. When a number of ivory balls are freely sus- 
 pended in a row so as just to touch one another, if an impulse be given to 
 one of the extreme ones, by striking it with a hard substance, the force will 
 be communicated from ball to ball without disturbing them, till it reaches 
 the most distant, which will fly off under its full influence. Such analogies 
 are but remote, and must not be strained too far; but thus we may conceive 
 that the force of affinity receives an impulse in a certain direction, which 
 enables the hydrogen of the first particle of aqueo-acid which undergoes 
 decomposition, to combine momentarily with the radical of the next particle 
 in succession : the hydrogen of this again with the radical of the next; and 
 so on, till the last particle of hydrogen communicates the impulse to the 
 platinum, and escapes in its own elastic form." 
 
 485. In order to render this resort to balls consistent with the phenomena 
 which it is intended to enlighten, I conceive, that instead of supposing one 
 row of balls, we must suppose two rows, one parallel to the other. At the 
 same time, it may be expedient to imagine that one row, representing the 
 anions, are white, while the other, representing the cathions, are black ; 
 and that they are arranged in pairs, each of which represents a compound 
 atom of the electrolyte. It seems necessary, also, that there should be two 
 impulses given, opposite in tendency, so that one operating upon each row, 
 may cause the expulsion of an anion, at one end, from the white row, a 
 cathion, at the other end, from the black row ; the residue rearranging 
 themselves within the same boundaries, so as still to exist in pairs, and to 
 have no unpaired ball at either extremity. Meanwhile it is inevitable, that 
 this loss of an anion and a cathion will be compensated by the access of 
 another pair, of which, to make the analogy hold, there should be an abun- 
 dance at hand. Moreover, the row, thus refitted, should, under the circu- 
 latory influence of the heat arising from the process, give place to another 
 row, similarly constituted, and equally susceptible of electrolyzation. Thus 
 it follows, from the illustration to which Daniell has resorted, when well 
 carried out, that, consistently with his own explanation of the process of 
 electrolyzation, there can be no travelling of an ion from one electrode to 
 the oLher. It is alleged by him, that the force travels, per se, by a species of 
 convection, without disturbing any other ball excepting that which may be 
 at the extremity of the row (484). Hence, in conformity with the premises, 
 it seems to me that an acid can only reach the cathode, through an alkaline 
 solution, by the endosmosis of the salt and its subsequent decomposition. 
 
 Of the Electrotype or Galvanotype Process. 
 
 486. It has been represented, that during electrolysis, by a simultaneous 
 exchange of partners throughout a row of atoms of water extending from 
 one electrode to the other, an atom of oxygen may be liberated at the 
 anode, and an atom of hydrogen at the cathode (358). Consistently, when 
 a galvanic circuit comprises two electrolytes, separated by a porous dia- 
 phragm having a common anion, oxvgen, for instance, but different ca- 
 thions, as, for example, hydrogen and copper, this metal may on one side 
 of the diaphragm perform the office which hydrogen performs on the other 
 side. Hence, while at the anode oxygen will still be evolved, a deposition 
 of copper will, at the cathode, be substituted for the evolution of hydrogen. 
 Of course, if instead of a solution of the oxide of copper, any other metallic 
 oxide be substituted, the deposition of the metallic radical will take place of 
 the evolution of hydrogen, unless the radical be one of those which decom- 
 
61 
 
 pose water on contact, at ordinary temperatures. If it be one of those, by 
 the consequent decomposition of water, hydrogen will appear, as if water 
 were the sole electrolyte. Analogous results will ensue, when any other 
 simple electro-negative element is the common ingredient in electrolytes 
 subjected to the galvanic current while separated by a membrane. Hence, 
 in the electrotype process, which it is now the object to explain, only those 
 metals can be employed, of which the deposition in the metallic state is 
 practicable, in consequence of their not uniting with the oxygen of water. 
 
 487. It will be perceived, that there is a great analogy between the ac- 
 tion of a simple battery for producing metallic depositions, and the constant 
 battery of Professor Danieli. It is to the substitution of copper for hydro- 
 gen, as above mentioned, that the superiority of Daniell's battery is to be 
 ascribed. By this change, cohesion between the cathion (360) and the sur- 
 face of the conductor, acting as the copper plate in a galvanic triad (312, 
 &c), is prevented ; and this conductor, incessantly renovated superficially, 
 presents always a bright metallic surface to the liquid. 
 
 488. After a constant battery, of the construction thus described, has 
 been in operation for some time, on removing the coating of metallic copper 
 from the surface of the copper plate, it is found to constitute a sheet of the 
 deposited metal of greater or less thickness, and which is a perfect fac 
 simile of the surface on which it has been formed, excepting that depres- 
 sions and elevations are represented in the new plate, in the opposite kind 
 of relief. Although these results could not have escaped the observation of 
 operators with the constant battery, no useful consequences flowed from the 
 hint which they were of a nature to afford, until the year 1838, when, 
 through the ingenuity of Mr. Spencer, of Liverpool, and of Mr. Jacoby, of 
 St. Petersburg, the new and important arts of electrotype and electro-gilding 
 were invented. 
 
 489. If a piece of coin* be made the negative surface of a simple gal- 
 
 Fig. 25. 
 
 * Figure 25 exemplifies a constant battery, arranged so 
 as to serve for the electrotype process. A plate of zinc, Z, 
 is suspended in diluted sulphuric acid, on one side of the 
 porous diaphragm, a medal on the other, being severally 
 attached to the ends of a copper wire. 
 
 Figure 26 will convey an idea of another mode in some 
 respects preferable. The mould M is connected by means 
 of a wire with the zinc of a Daniell's constant battery, a 
 coil of copper is connected by the same means with the 
 copper plate. Thus arranged, the coil and mould, or medal, 
 acting as electrodes, are plunged into a concentrated solu- 
 tion of sulphate of copper acidulated by sulphuric acid, con- 
 tained in a vessel without any porous partition, the coil 
 being made to enter the solution first. It has been men- 
 tioned, that the true zinc end of a galvanic battery is nega- 
 tive. Of course the metal communicating with the zinc 
 becomes Ihe negative pole or cathode of a galvanic triad, 
 (358) while the copper coil becomes the positive electrode. 
 Under these circumstances the copper coil is oxidized and 
 dissolved by the acid, while an equivalent portion of this 
 metal is deposited on the mould. 
 
 The roll of sheet copper should be introduced first into 
 the solution and must not touch the mould. Great precau- 
 tions as to cleanliness must be employed in this, as well as 
 in the former method of manipulating. When an arrange- 
 ment of this description is set in action, for each equiva- 
 lent of zinc, dissolved in the battery, an equivalent of cop- 
 per is dissolved from the coil of sheet copper, and is pre- 
 
62 
 
 vanic battery, by attaching it to a piece of zinc by means of a short arc of 
 copper wire, the zinc being acted upon by a saline or acid solution upon 
 one side of a porous diaphragm, while the coin is plunged into a solution of 
 sulphate of copper upon the other side, the coin will be speedily covered 
 with a light rose-coloured film of reduced copper, which by continuing the 
 action for some hours, will become proportionably thicker, and may then 
 be separated from the coin, by the application of a moderate heat. The 
 metallic plate thus obtained, as already mentioned, will display a perfect 
 reverse impression of the coin, and by making the copy thus procured, the 
 conducting surface of a similar arrangement, a perfect impression in re- 
 lief of the original will result. The conducting wire, and all those por- 
 tions of the coin upon which copper is not to be deposited, must be coated, 
 or varnished, with a non-conducting substance. The surface to be copied 
 must be perfectly free from uncleanliness, from grease especially. The zinc 
 should be immersed in the acid a little before the coin is plunged into the 
 metallic solution, and the surface of the last should then be freed from air- 
 bubbles by means of a feather or glass rod. The rapidity with which the 
 deposition is effected, is greater in proportion, as the temperature of the 
 solution is higher. But there is a certain degree of speed which should 
 not be exceeded, as the texture of the metallic deposition is more compact 
 when the process is slow. 
 
 490. A more expeditious method of producing the copy of a medal in 
 relief, consists in first making a copy, by stamping clean sheet lead upon it, 
 or pressing it upon fusible metal, while sufficiently soft : or taking an im- 
 pression on plaster, the surface of the cast thus obtained, being made to 
 conduct by means of a film of plumbago. The impressions thus procured 
 may be substituted for the medal in the process above described. 
 
 491. These last mentioned expedients are peculiarly appropriate in 
 
 cipitated upon the surface of the mould connected with the zinc plate. By inter- 
 posing between the zinc and copper of the generating cell a number of deposition- 
 cells, similar to that already described, the mould of one, being connected with the 
 copper roll of the next, and so on in the same order, any number of medals or moulds 
 may be copied at once, and at the expense of but a single equivalent of zinc. 
 
 The wires connected with the rolls of sheet copper should be varnished to prevent 
 their being dissolved off the moulds, and the copper electrodes should be placed ver- 
 tically and parallel to each other in the solution, and this last should be occasionally 
 stirred with a glass rod to preserve an uniform degree of saturation throughout the 
 mass of liquid. 
 
 Any conducting surface, negative to the zinc of the battery cell may be deposited 
 upon in this apparatus. Hence, if surfaces of wax, wood, plaster, &c, be made to 
 receive a thin coating of plumbago, by rubbing that material upon them with a 
 brush, they may be made to receive a coating of metallic copper very nearly as uni- 
 form and as perfect as if they had been themselves of metal. 
 
 The accuracy with which the minutest elevations and depressions of a conducting 
 surface may be copied, by means of the electrotype process, is so great, that the 
 method has even been applied to the multiplication of Daguerreotype pictures; and 
 the copies thus produced, are in every respect equal to the originals in perfection of 
 finish and minuteness of execution. They possess, besides, the advantage of being 
 indestructible by friction and slight mechanical injuries. For this beautiful applica- 
 tion of the discovery of Spencer and Jacobi, we are indebted to Mr. Endicott, of 
 New York. 
 
 The above described processes have not been confined to the production of elec- 
 trotypes. They have been recently applied by M. Becquerel, in France, and by 
 Jacobi, in Russia, to the separation of the precious metals from their ores: and agree- 
 ably to a statement made in some of the foreign papers, a mass of gold deposited in 
 this manner, weighing half a pound, was presented a few months since to the King 
 of Russia, by M. Jacobi. 
 
63 
 
 copying engravings on copper, or wood, or in procuring stereotype plates 
 from printing type set up so as to be ready for the press. 
 
 Of Electro-gilding and Electro-plating, S$c. 
 
 492. But a more generally useful application of the principle is the 
 electro-gilding and plating, now in almost universal use. If any polished 
 article of steel, copper, or brass, be connected with the zinc of the battery, 
 and placed opposite a fine wire of gold or platinum, connected with the 
 copper of the same, and if the two electrodes thus formed be plunged into 
 a very dilute solution of chloride of gold, or chloride of silver, to which an 
 equivalent of cyanide of potassium in solution has been added, a deposit of 
 gold or silver will be effected, and the article will receive a fine coherent 
 film of gold or silver, with a polish equal to that of the surface on which 
 the deposit is made. Platinum may also be worked in the same way, 
 though the operation is very far from being uniformly successful, and fur- 
 ther experiments are wanting to render the process less precarious. 
 
 493. The process of electro-gilding has been employed in England, by 
 Prof. Wheatston, and in Germany, by Prof. Steinheil, for the protection of 
 the reflecting surfaces of the specula of reflecting telescopes, and specula of 
 good instruments may be multiplied indefinitely, as well as very cheaply, by 
 taking electrotype casts of their surfaces, and then gilding the reflecting 
 surfaces of the copper specula thus obtained. 
 
 494. In depositing gold, silver and platina, by the electrotype process, it 
 is necessary to employ currents of feeble intensity, and very weak metallic 
 solutions, as the metals are very liable under the action of a very energetic 
 current to be precipitated in a pulverulent form. By Mr. Davis, of Boston, 
 the current of the magneto-electric machine was first employed for this pur- 
 pose, and a patent has recently been obtained in England for the same pro- 
 cess and manipulations.* 
 
 495. Besides the applications of the electrotype which we have noticed, 
 many others have been contemplated or employed, of which a due regard 
 to brevity renders it inexpedient to give the details in this treatise. 
 
 Of Metallo-Chromes.-f 
 
 496. The name which forms the preceding head, has been given to cer- 
 tain beautiful colours, which may be produced upon a plate of highly po- 
 lished steel by the electrolyzation of acetate of lead, while in contact with 
 the steel surface. The following directions are given for the production of 
 the phenomenon in question. Place the steel plate in a glass basin contain- 
 
 Fig. 27. 
 
 * Fig. 27 represents an apparatus suitable either for the process 
 of electro-silvering, or that of electro-gilding. It consists of a jar 
 of glass, or glazed porcelain, within which is situated a jar of po- 
 rous porcelain containing the metallic solution (492). The space 
 between the two jars is occupied by a cylinder of zinc, and sulphu- 
 ric acid very much diluted. A wire proceeds from the zinc cylin- 
 der, as represented in the engraving, for the purpose of supporting 
 the article which is to receive the metallic coating. It is recom- 
 mended to dip the article, which is the object of the process, in 
 nitric acid, just before placing it in the circuit. 
 
 t The etymology of this name from %ga>jux, colour, in Greek, 
 must be sufficiently obvious. As designating an iridescence pro- 
 duced by the peroxide of lead, it seems to me that a more appro- 
 priate appellation would be that of plumboxychromes. 
 
64 
 
 ing a clear solution of the acetate of lead, and place over it a card, out of 
 which some regular device has been cut. A small rim of wood should be 
 placed over the card, and upon that a copper disk. On contact being made, 
 from five to twenty degrees, in a circuit formed with two or three cells of a 
 small constant battery, the steel plate being made negative, the copper disk 
 positive, the deposit will be effected, and a series of exquisite colours will 
 adorn the steel plate. These variegated tints are produced by the various 
 tenuities of films of highly oxidized lead. Two sets of prismatic colours 
 are produced, complimentary to each other, one by transmitted light, the 
 other by that which is reflected from the steel. The colours are displayed, 
 in the greatest perfection, by placing the plate before a window, and in- 
 clining over it a sheet of white paper, at an angle of forty-five degrees. 
 
 Of the Galvanic Powers and Effects of Animal Organs. 
 
 497. Under the preceding designation, it seems proper 
 to treat of the galvanic apparatus and phenomena, which 
 owe their existence to organic masses. It will be per- 
 ceived by the student, who has given due attention to the 
 preceding pages of this treatise, that this topic, has neces- 
 sarily been in some degree anticipated. The references 
 made to the convulsions produced in frogs, by an inherent 
 electrical power, and to the shocks produced by electrical 
 fishes, has already introduced organic galvanism to his 
 notice. 
 
 498. Evidently of all the sources of the galvano-electric 
 current, none are more interesting than the organs with 
 which nature has furnished the torpedo, the gymnotus, and 
 other electrical fishes. 
 
 499. Of the Torpedo. — Experimental evidence of the 
 identity of the cause of the miraculous power of the tor- 
 pedo, in giving shocks to other animals, seems first to 
 have been satisfactorily obtained in the year 1792, through 
 the exertions of Walsh, a sagacious electrician. In the 
 following abstracts from a letter addressed to Dr. Franklin, 
 this able observer gives an account of the facts which he 
 had ascertained. 
 
 500. " It is with peculiar satisfaction, that I make to you my first com- 
 munication, that the effect of the torpedo appears to be absolutely electrical. 
 We have observed that the back and breast of the animal are in different 
 electrical states, * * * we have been enabled to direct his shocks through a 
 circuit of four persons, all feeling them; likewise through a considerable 
 extent of wire, held by two insulated persons, one touching the back, and 
 the other the breast of the fish. These experiments have been varied in 
 many ways, and repeated times without number, and they all determined 
 the choice of conductors to be the same in the torpedo as in the Levden 
 phial." 
 
65 
 
 501. Respecting the torpedo, I will quote a few para- 
 graphs from a report made to the Academy of Sciences at 
 Paris. 
 
 502. " The sensation which the torpedo causes when it is touched, has 
 long ago attracted the attention of physicists and physiologists, on account 
 of its analogy with that produced by an electrical battery, but it is only a 
 few years since that it has been decidedly proved that both were owing to 
 the same cause. Although all the principal circumstances of this phenome- 
 non had previously been carefully studied, yet no one had succeeded in de- 
 monstrating its electrical origin from the want of suitable apparatus. 
 
 503. "John Davy made known, in a paper published in 1832, a great 
 number of important data, such as the action of the discharge upon the 
 magnetic needle, and chemical compounds; but the direction of the electri- 
 cal current produced on this occasion was not well known until after the 
 experiments made at Venice, 1835, by two of your members, and from 
 which it resulted that the superior part of the electrical organ gives positive 
 electricity, and the inferior part negative electricity. Matteucci has con- 
 firmed, with the galvanometer and frogs prepared after the method of Gal- 
 vani, the observations which we had made respecting this point, as well as 
 others also relating to the torpedo, for which we are indebted to various 
 philosophers ; at the same time he has demonstrated some new facts, of 
 which the following is a short account. 
 
 504. " He commences by showing that when the torpedo lances its dis- 
 charge, no change of volume is observed in its body. When the animal is 
 possessed of great liveliness the sensation is felt at whatever point of the 
 body it may be touched, but when its vitality is considerably diminished, the 
 discharge is no longer felt, except by touching the electrical organs at two 
 different points. 
 
 505. "Matteucci establishes the general laws of the distribution of elec- 
 tricity in this manner: — 1. All the points of the dorsal part of the organ are 
 positive relatively to the points of the ventral part; a fact already known. 
 2. The points of the organ on the dorsal surface placed above the nerves 
 which enter it are positive in respect to the other points of the same dorsal 
 surface. 3. The points of the organ situated on the ventral surface cor- 
 responding to the points which are positive on the dorsal surface, are nega- 
 tive in respect to the other points of the ventral surface. 4. The intensity 
 of the current varies with the extent of the platina plates which terminate 
 the galvanometer, and with which the two surfaces of the organ are 
 touched. 
 
 506. " When the torpedo is very excitable the current may be compared 
 to that of a pile consisting of a great number of pairs charged with a good 
 conducting active liquid; whilst, on the other hand, when its liveliness is 
 weak, the electric current resembles that of a pile composed of a small 
 number of elements. 
 
 507. "The spark which accompanies the discharge in the electrical 
 fishes was remarked for the first time by Walsch in the Gymnotis ; many 
 vain efforts have been made since to reproduce it; MM. Matteucci and Li- 
 nari have succeeded in obtaining it in every case from the torpedo; both 
 these philosophers claim the priority of the observation. 
 
 508. " Matteucci has since succeeded in obtaining the spark by placing 
 
66 
 
 the torpedo upon an isolated plate of metal, and placing another plate of 
 metal above it, then fixing to each of them a gold leaf separated the one from 
 the other by the distance of half a millimetre. By slightly moving the 
 upper metallic plate the animal became irritated, and at the same moment 
 the two leaves approached one another and the report of the spark was in- 
 stantly heard. 
 
 509. " M. Matteucci having entirely separated from a great torpedo one 
 of the electrical organs, without detaching the epidermis, one of the plates 
 of the galvanometer was inserted in the organ near the outward edge, the 
 other plate was put in communication with one of the four nerves : the 
 needle deviated four degrees in the common direction of the discharge of 
 the torpedo; on tying the nerves there was no longer any deviation. This 
 result appears to us very remarkable. 
 
 510. " The above observations, which we have not been able to confirm 
 from the want of torpedoes, go to prove, 1st, that the electricity which pro- 
 duces the discharge proceeds from the last lobe of the brain, and is trans- 
 mitted by the nerves to the organ ; 2, that the discharge ceasing under the 
 influence of the electric current, when the nerves are tied, must, in order to 
 be transmitted, find in the nerve a particular molecular disposition ; a con- 
 clusion to which the electro-physiological phenomena of the frog equally 
 lead, as one of us (M. Becquerel) has indicated in various places in his 
 treatise on electricity. 
 
 511. " Since the ever memorable epoch when Galvani demonstrated that 
 the contact of two different metals in communication with the muscles and 
 nerves of a frog sufficed to make it contract, the experiments have been 
 varied infinitely in the hope to discover in this phenomenon the cause which 
 constitutes life in animated bodies. The most remarkable fact, for which 
 we are also indebted to Galvani, is that which relates to the contractions 
 produced by the simple contact of the muscles and nerves without the inter- 
 mediary of metallic armatures. It is now nearly demonstrated that this 
 action does not proceed from a chemical action, but from the inherent cur- 
 rent of the frog, which has been indicated with so much sagacity by M. 
 Nobili." 
 
 512. The opinion and facts with which these quotations 
 tend to make the reader acquainted, seem to me to prove 
 that if Volta was right in conceiving the powers of his pile 
 as independent of vital action, still Galvani was justified in 
 supposing that animal organization could give rise to ana- 
 logous results. 
 
 513. Of the Gymnotus Electricas. — According to Hum- 
 boldt, the gymnotus abounds in the small rivers which flow 
 into the Orinoco. It employs its electrical powers as other 
 animals do their horns, teeth, or fangs, to secure its prey, 
 or repel aggression. Hence, horses or mules are attacked 
 by them, when forced reluctantly to enter the streams in 
 which they reside; and while, on the one hand, the quad- 
 rupeds suffer severely, from the shocks which they receive, 
 
67 
 
 their assailants are so exhausted, as to be unable either to 
 give further shocks, or to escape from seizure. 
 
 514. The gymnotus is sometimes five feet in length. 
 One of the length of forty inches was lately conveyed to 
 England, and put at the disposal of Faraday, who has given 
 a most valuable account of the various phenomena noticed 
 by himself, and other intelligent observers. 
 
 515. The shock was most powerful when the ha ids 
 were made, the one to touch the animal near the head, the 
 other near the tail, and was less severe in proportion as 
 the distance between the hands was less. When the points 
 of contact were in a line at right angles to the spine, little 
 sensation could be produced. 
 
 516. The farther the hands were from the fish, while the 
 line extending from one to the other was parallel to the 
 spine, the less was the sensation experienced, and the dimi- 
 nution became greater in proportion, as the line joining 
 the points of immersion deviated from parallelism with the 
 spine. 
 
 517. Conductors of an ingenious construction, being ap- 
 plied to the anterior and posterior parts of the gymnotus, 
 Faraday gives an account of the results in the following 
 words : — 
 
 518. "A galvanometer was readily affected. It was not particularly 
 delicate; for zinc and platina plates on the upper and lower surface of the 
 tongue did not cause a permanent deflection of more than 25° ; yet when 
 the fish gave a powerful discharge the deflection was as much as 30°, and 
 in one case even 40°. The deflection was constantly in a given direction, 
 the electric current being always from the anterior parts of the animal 
 through the galvanometer wire to the posterior parts. The former were 
 therefore for the time externally positive, and the latter negative. 
 
 519. " Making a magnet. When a little helix containing twenty-two 
 feet of silked wire wound on a quill was put into the circuit, and an an- 
 nealed steel needle placed in the helix, the needle became a magnet, and 
 the direction of its polarity in every case indicated a current from the an- 
 terior to the posterior parts of the gymnotus through the conductors used. 
 
 520. " Chemical decomposition. Polar decomposition of a solution of 
 iodide of potassium was easily obtained. Three or four folds of paper 
 moistened in the solution were placed between a platina plate and the end 
 of a wire also of platina, these being respectively connected with the two 
 saddle conductors. Whenever the wire was in conjunction with the con- 
 ductor at the fore part of the gymnotus, iodine appeared at its extremity ; 
 but when connected with the other conductor none was evolved at the place 
 on the paper where it before appeared. So that here again the direction of 
 the current proved to be the same as that given by the former tests. 
 
68 
 
 521. " By this test I compared the middle part of the fish with other por- 
 tions before and behind it, and found that the conductor A, which being 
 applied to the middle was negative to the conductor B applied to the ante- 
 rior parts, was, on the contrary, positive to it when B was applied to places 
 near the tail. So that within certain limits the condition of the fish exter- 
 ternally at the time of the shock appears to be such, that any given part is 
 negative to other parts anterior to it, and positive to such as are behind it. 
 
 522. " Evolution of heat. Using a Harris's thermo-electrometer be- 
 longing to Mr. Gassiot, we thought we were able in one case, namely, that 
 when the deflection of the galvanometer was 40°, to observe a feeble eleva- 
 tion of temperature. I was not observing the instrument myself, and one 
 of those who at first believed they saw the effect now doubts the result.* 
 
 523. " Spark. The electric spark was obtained thus. A good mag- 
 neto-electric coil, with a core of soft iron wire, had one extremity made fast 
 to the end of one of the saddle collectors, and the other fixed to a new steel 
 file; another file was made fast to the end of the other collector. One per- 
 son then rubbed the point of one of these files over the face of the other, 
 whilst another person put the collectors over the fish, and endeavoured to 
 excite it to action. By the friction of the files contact was made and broken 
 very frequently ; and the object was to catch the moment of the current 
 through the wire and helix, and by breaking contact during the current to 
 make the electricity sensible as a spark. 
 
 524. " The spark was obtained four times, and nearly all who were pre- 
 sent saw it. That it was not due to the mere attrition of the two files was 
 shown by its not occurring when the files were rubbed together, indepen- 
 dently of the animal. Since then I have substituted for the lower file a 
 revolving steel plate, cut file fashion on its face, and for the upper file wires 
 of iron, copper and silver, with all of which the spark was obtained."! 
 
 525. It has been shown there are two ways in which we 
 may increase voltaic power, one that of augmenting the 
 quantity, the other, that of increasing the intensity. To 
 the latter, the conducting power of water assigns a limit in 
 the case of an animal created to live in that liquid. Of 
 course, to secure to these electrical fishes the peculiar 
 weapon with which they are endowed, there seems to be 
 an enormous quantity of the requisite principle placed at 
 their disposal. 
 
 526. The shock from the gymnotus, on which Faraday's 
 observations were made, was, as he conceives, equivalent 
 to that of a large Leyden battery charged to a low degree 
 of intensity; or to a voltaic series of 100 pairs, of which 
 the circuit should be completed for a moment. 
 
 527. He conceived it to convey a quantity of electri- 
 
 * " In more recent experiments of the same kind we could not obtain the effect." 
 
 t " At a later meeting, at which attempts were made to cause the attraction of 
 gold leaves, the spark was obtained directly between fixed surfaces, the inductive 
 coil being removed, and only short wires (by comparison) employed." 
 
69 
 
 city equivalent to a high charge from a coated surface of 
 3500 square inches. 
 
 528. The gymnotus gives sometimes two, and at other 
 times, even three successive shocks ; as had been pre- 
 viously noticed in the case of the torpedo, by various dis- 
 tinguished observers. 
 
 529. At the moment when the fish wills the shock, of 
 two parts of the body parallel to the spine, that which is 
 nearer the head will be positive, the other negative. 
 
 530. The fish has four electric organs, which, it is con- 
 ceived by Faraday, it may have the power to throw into 
 action separately, or together, and so as, to a certain ex- 
 tent, to direct the shock at the moment of the discharge. 
 But it is not inferred that the direction of the current can 
 be controlled after it has entered the liquid or other sur- 
 rounding bodies. 
 
 531. I saw the gymnotus with which these experiments 
 were made in 1841, and received a shock from it. I was 
 moreover gratified at seeing what I had not been led to 
 expect, the deflagration of a thin metallic leaf by subjec- 
 tion to a circuit formed with the aid of the animal. 
 
 532. The gymnotus can stun or kill fish in various posi- 
 tions of its body, but in killing a small fish, thrown into 
 the tub, was found to coil itself so as to make the fish oc- 
 cupy the situation of a diameter to the resulting coil. In 
 an instant the fish was struck dead and motionless, and 
 turning on its side, was soon bolted by its hungry assailant. 
 
 533. " Living (says Faraday) in the midst of such a good conductor as 
 water, the first thoughts are thoughts of surprise that it can sensibly elec- 
 trify any thing; but a little consideration soon makes one conscious of many 
 points of great beauty, illustrating the wisdom of the whole arrangement. 
 Thus the very conducting power which the water has ; that which it gives 
 to the moistened skin of the fish or animal to be struck ; the extent of sur- 
 face by which the fish and the water conducting the charge to it are in con- 
 tact; all conduce to favour and increase the shock upon the doomed ani- 
 mal, and are in the most perfect contrast with the inefficient state of things 
 which would exist if the gymnotus and the fish were surrounded by air; 
 and at the same time that the power is one of low intensity, so that a dry 
 skin wards it off, though a moist one conducts it; so is it one of great quan- 
 tity, that though the surrounding water does conduct away much, enough 
 to produce a full effect may take its course through the body of the fish that 
 is to be caught for food, or the enemy that is to be conquered. 
 
 534. " Another remarkable result of the relation of the gymnotus and its 
 prey to the medium around them is, that the larger the fish to be killed or 
 
70 
 
 stunned, the greater will be the shock to which it is subject, though the 
 gymnotus may exert only an equal power; for the large fish has passing 
 through its body those currents of electricity, which, in the case of a smaller 
 one, would have been conveyed harmless by the water at its sides. 
 
 535. " The gymnotus appears to be sensible when he has shocked an 
 animal, being made conscious of it, probably, by the mechanical impulse 
 he receives, caused by the spasms into which it is thrown. When I touched 
 him with my hands, he gave me shock after shock; but when I touched 
 him with glass rods, or the insulated conductors, he gave one or two shocks, 
 felt by others having their hands in at a distance, but then ceased to exert 
 the influence, as if made aware it had not the desired effect. Again, when 
 he has been touched with the conductors several times, for experiments on 
 the galvanometer or other apparatus, and appears to be languid or indiffer- 
 ent, and not willing to give shocks, yet being touched by the hands, they, 
 by convulsive motion, have informed him that a sensitive thing was present, 
 and he has quickly shown his power and his willingness to astonish the 
 experimenter. 
 
 536. " It has been remarked by Geoffroy St. Hilaire, that the electric 
 organs of the torpedo, gymnotus, and similar fishes, cannot be considered 
 as essentially connected with those which are of high and direct import- 
 ance to the life of the animal, but to belong rather to the common tegu- 
 ments; and it has also been found that such torpedoes as have been deprived 
 of the use of their peculiar organs, have continued the functions of life quite 
 as well as those in which they were allowed to remain. These, with other 
 considerations, lead me to look at these parts with a hope that they may 
 upon close investigation prove to be a species of natural apparatus, by means 
 of which we may apply the principles of action and reaction in the investi- 
 gation of the nature of the nervous influence" 
 
 537. I cannot perceive, with Faraday, that the facts 
 above mentioned, as stated by him, are all consistent with 
 the idea of the powers of the gymnotus, being due to a 
 great quantity of statical electricity of low intensity. 
 
 538. The fact which appears to me inexplicable, upon 
 this view of the subject is, that a shock should be received 
 by a person having only one hand in the water containing 
 the fish. 
 
 539. Agreeably to universal experience, no shock can 
 be received by any person who is not within the electrical 
 circuit through which the discharge is made ; or of some 
 other induced circuit in the vicinity. But within what 
 circuit can a single hand be brought, unless the body and 
 legs of the person to whom it belongs, the floor on which 
 he stands, and the tub containing the gymnotus, be made 
 to form a conducting communication between the organic 
 electrodes of that animal. But if the electricity discharged 
 through these electrodes be of an intensity too low for 
 
71 
 
 them to discharge themselves through the water, a fortiori, 
 it must be too low to make its way by means of the floor 
 of which the conducting power must be vastly inferior to 
 that of water. 
 
 540. I regret that it was not ascertained whether this 
 result could not have been prevented by placing the tub 
 upon glass legs, as dry as possible. 
 
 541. I doubt if a voltaic series of 100 large pairs, placed 
 in water as the fish was, would cause shocks to a person 
 on immersing only one hand. 
 
 542. A battery of 100 pairs, when out of water, will 
 not, agreeably to my experience, give a shock to one hand. 
 Of course, it could not do more when submerged in that 
 liquid. 
 
 543. It is difficult to reconcile this fact with the idea, 
 that the powers of the gymnotus are those of a large 
 Leyden battery lowly charged, unless it be supposed that 
 the animal is enabled to project the electric fluid in obedi- 
 ence to its will, as the porcupine has been supposed to 
 shoot forth his quills. 
 
 544. The anatomical researches of Hunter, and other 
 anatomists, have been considered as demonstrating, that 
 the electrical organs of the torpedo, bear a very striking 
 resemblance to a galvanic series in the columnar forms of 
 the original pile of Volta. They have been alleged to con- 
 sist of hexagonal columns, amounting in one instance, to 
 one thousand one hundred and sixty-two, arranged like the 
 cells of a honey comb, each column consisting of a pile of 
 flat disks separated from each other by cellular tissue. 
 The organ is abundantly furnished with nerves. Neverthe- 
 less, little satisfaction seems to have been afforded by the 
 investigation of anatomists respecting the mechanism, by 
 which nature has endowed this animal and other electrical 
 fishes with their peculiar powers. 
 
 545. Both Matteucci and Schoenbien concur in con- 
 sidering, that neither dissections, observation, nor experi- 
 mental inquiry, have thus far afforded any competent 
 explanation of the apparatus by which the powers of the 
 torpedo or gymnotus are imparted and made obedient to 
 animal will. By the former it is alleged, " that it is im- 
 possible to find the least analogy between piles, secondary 
 coils, batteries, and the electric organ of the torpedo :" 
 
72 
 
 by the latter, after a careful repetition of the experiments 
 of Faraday, with the same gymnotus, it is stated as the 
 result of his mature consideration, " that the true cause of 
 the phenomena is still completely obscure, and must neither 
 be sought for in the physical or chemical constitution, nor 
 in a fixed organization of certain parts of the animal ; but 
 that there exists, without our being able at present to de- 
 termine how, an intimate connexion between the vital 
 actions dependent on the will of the fish, and the physical 
 phenomena which these vital actions produce." 
 
 Of the Observations of Nobili, Matteucci, and Others. 
 
 546. It has been mentioned that Galvani considered that the convulsions 
 produced in frogs by contact with metals, or the proximity of the discharges 
 from the conductor of an electrical machine, as more or less dependent on 
 a diversity of electrical excitement in the different animal organs. 
 
 547. That Volta having subsequently discovered his pile to be capable 
 of producing effects altogether independent of the animal, similar in their 
 character and vastly more powerful than those noticed by Galvani ; this 
 eminent philosopher was led into an error, which was generally adopted, of 
 supposing that the organs of a frog, when convulsed by an electric dis- 
 charge, are in all cases the medium, not the source of the current. Yet the 
 recent observations of Nobili and Matteucci, have shown that although the 
 impressions of Galvani may not have been warranted by any of his own 
 experiments, they are fully justified by those which have been recently 
 made. 
 
 548. From the experiments of Matteucci, it appears, that in frogs there 
 is a current, peculiar to them, proceeding from the feet towards the head. 
 This can be made sensible either by the deviation caused in the needle of a 
 very delicate Sweiger's galvanometer of 2500 circumvolutions, or by the 
 contractions produced in the leg of another frog, of which the denuded 
 spinal nerve is made the medium of discharge. I shall call a frog's limb 
 and nerve thus prepared, a galvanoscopic frog limb. To produce the cur- 
 rent in question, only the leg of the animal is necessary ; although, in 
 several experiments, the leg, thigh, denuded nerve, and a portion of the 
 spine, are mentioned as being employed. The author in one of his sum- 
 maries, uses the following language : " Each member of a frog, com- 
 prising the leg, thigh , spinal nerve, and a small portion of the spine, con- 
 stitutes a complete electromotor." Yet it fully appears from his subsequent 
 narrative, that the thigh, nerve, and spine, contribute nothing to the elec- 
 tromotive energy. The nerve, from its low conducting power, rather 
 diminishes than increases the intensity of the discharge. It follows, that 
 the statement, above made, should have been reserved for the leg of the 
 frog; which, agreeably to the author's observations, is really an electromo- 
 tor as much as any galvanic triad (312). It does not appear to be deter- 
 mined, what portions of the leg perform respectively the parts of copper 
 and zinc : the sanguineous liquid, retained in the pores of the flesh, seems to 
 act as the electrolyte. 
 
73 
 
 549. Nobili had found, that by disposing a number of 
 frogs in such order as to resemble a voltaic series, an 
 increase of power in the resulting electrical current 
 would ensue. To construct such a series, it is suffi- 
 cient that the frogs, duly prepared, be. supported by one 
 or more non-conductors, so that their dissimilar ex- 
 tremities may be in contact, or communicate through 
 weak brine, forming thus a species of couronne des 
 tasses. The adjoining figure illustrates one convenient 
 mode among others, by which the frog limbs may be 
 connected, so as to be in voltaic order. Of course the 
 series might consist of several similarly associated. 
 M N is a glass rod, by which the frog's limbs, A, and 
 those at B, are supported and insulated. According to 
 Sturgeon, when the spine, D, of B, is, by means of 
 another glass rod, brought into contact with the feet of 
 A, convulsions are produced. Moreover, it will be 
 seen, that agreeably to the experiments of Nobili, and those of Matteucci 
 when a conducting communication is made between the extremities of such 
 an organic series, through the coil of a galvanometer of 2500 circumvolu- 
 tions, deviations are produced, which are, as far as tried, greater in propor- 
 tion to the number of the series. 
 
 550. At first the frogs thus employed were prepared as above described 
 so as to consist of the legs, thighs, and a bit of spine, but Matteucci disco- 
 vered that, as naturally associated, one limb operated in some degree as a 
 discharger to the other, so that on the removal of one, the other became 
 more efficient. It has been mentioned that the thigh and nerve added no- 
 thing to the electromotive power. Accordingly it was found that a battery 
 might be made of legs only, the feet belonging to one leg touching the 
 denuded muscular extremity of another, so that the dissimilar parts of the 
 whole number were in contact in voltaic order (362). 
 
 551. Of the voltaic series thus formed, the effects upon the needle of the 
 galvanometer increased within certain limits with the number, so that when 
 one element could produce a deviation of only four or five degrees, the se- 
 ries would produce fifteen to twenty degrees.* These deviations were of a 
 nature to show that the current sets invariably from the feet towards the 
 rest of the limb. The current, thus described, is designated by Matteucci 
 as the current proper to the frog. He has not been enabled to detect any 
 thing analogous to this current in any other animals of a neighbouring 
 grade, such as lizards, tortoises, or eels. 
 
 552. Nevertheless, agreeably to the same authority, currents may be 
 shown to take place from the internal to the external portions of the mus- 
 cles of both warm and cold blooded, animals, by which, deviations in the 
 galvanometrical needle and contractions in a galvanoscopic frog's leg may 
 be produced, as striking as those resulting from the current proper to 
 frogs. 
 
 553. Sections of thighs of frogs, of the bodies of eels, or of the thighs of 
 rabbits or pigeons, being arranged in a series of eight or ten on a varnished 
 plank, so that the internal surface of one should touch the external surface 
 
 * The deviations of the needle of a galvanometer are estimated by a semi-circle, 
 graduated to ninety degrees on each side of the point at which it rests when undis- 
 turbed. 
 
 K 
 
74 
 
 of the other in voltaic order (362), the batteries thus formed of eels, con- 
 sisting of two elements, caused deviations of two degrees ; when the series 
 was extended to five, a deviation of twenty -eight degrees was obtained. A 
 battery of sections of tench, of two elements, produced five or six degrees, 
 while four elements produced twelve degrees. Similar results were obtained 
 with batteries made either with hearts of pigeons, or with the muscles of 
 beef, mutton, or poultry. 
 
 554. The following inferences, by the ingenious and indefatigable au- 
 thor, are made from his investigations. 
 
 555. That in all cases where a conducting communication is established 
 between the interior portion of the muscle of a recently killed animal, and 
 the external, the skin being removed, a current is established from the inner 
 parts to the outer. 
 
 556. That this current varies as to intensity according to the animal 
 whose muscles are employed. 
 
 557. That by disposing duly made sections of muscles, such as above 
 described, in a series, voltaically, the intensity of the current is in propor- 
 tion to the number of the sections so associated. 
 
 558. The author adverts to a fact which he had himself ascertained, that 
 when water and blood communicate through a liquid conductor, a current 
 is induced from the latter to the former. Foreseeing that this may be re- 
 presented as accounting for the current from the inside to the outside of ani- 
 mal muscle, he points out that a current, resulting from sanguineous matter 
 in the muscle and the water used as a conductor, would be the opposite in 
 its effect on the needle to that observed, which is only to be reconciled with 
 the direction being from the water towards the sanguineous matter. But 
 a conclusive answer to the objection thus founded, is, that if the effect on 
 the galvanometer were due to the electromotive influence of blood and 
 water, arranging the sections, so as to form a voltaic series, could not have 
 augmented the intensity as it was actually ascertained to do. 
 
 559. Further, it is alleged that the current detected in being generated 
 between water and blood, endures without diminution of intensity, while 
 that which takes place in the muscles of recently killed animals is tran- 
 sient, and ceases sooner in proportion as the animal is of a higher order. 
 
 560. Contractions were produced in the leg of a galvanoscopic frog, 
 when the nerve was made to complete the poles of a thigh series, by strips 
 of moistened paper. Even when the paper was so extended in length, as 
 that the galvanometrical needle was not affected by placing the terminating 
 platina blades in contact with the paper at different points, on making like 
 communications between the paper and frog, contractions ensued. The 
 longer the strip of paper employed for a part of the circuit, the greater the 
 number of the sections requisite to produce the contractions. 
 
 Of Galvano-Electrical Currents in Living Animals, 
 
 561. In the next place, we are informed in what manner to obtain indi- 
 cations of galvano-electrical currents in living animals. The process is 
 simply to touch the bottom of a wound with one of the galvanometrical 
 blades, while the other is made to touch the surface of the wounded muscle. 
 Under these circumstances, deviations of twenty, thirty, or forty degrees 
 may ensue, directed from the former place of contact to that last men- 
 tioned. The indications cease after two or three immersions in the same 
 wound, and not unfrequently they are followed by a contrary deviation. 
 
75 
 
 562. An experiment is described, in which several live frogs were sub- 
 jected to a process, which may be literally considered as excruciating, by 
 nailing their feet against a varnished plank, removing their legs, skinning 
 their thighs, and in cutting in half each alternate thigh; then the uncut 
 thigh of the first, and the raw surface of the remaining half of the next 
 thigh, were brought into contact in voltaic succession. By these, a series 
 of four elements gave a current of twelve degrees, always from the interior 
 to the surface. 
 
 563. The galvanometrical deviations caused by a current obtained from 
 a live sheep, or rabbit, by the means above described (560), was more 
 than six times greater than those obtained from a frog in like manner. 
 
 564. The potency of muscular batteries, in which the size of each ele- 
 ment in one, was uniformly double or triple that of those in the other, was 
 found nearly the same ; since, when they were so arranged as that the one 
 counteracted the other, there was scarcely any current produced by the 
 excess of power in the larger element. When, of two batteries of frog 
 thighs, of the same size and number, the nerves were removed only from 
 one, no diversity of power was found to ensue: so that the muscular cur- 
 rent depends neither as to quantity, nor as to intensity, on the integrity of 
 the nervous system of motion and sensorial power. Two batteries of ten 
 elements each, being constructed, the one of the thighs of frogs, of which 
 the spinal marrow had been destroyed by a hot iron, and their lower limbs 
 thus paralyzed, the other differing only in being made from animals of the 
 same kind, in which the spine had sustained no injury, it was found that 
 where the two batteries were made to act in opposition in the same circuit 
 completed by the galvanometor, the deviations of the needle in the direction 
 of the former, was from sixteen to eighteen degrees. In fact, this battery 
 gave separately, from fifty to fifty-five, while the other gave only from 
 forty to forty-five degrees. 
 
 565. This is considered as confirming the inference already made, that the 
 integrity of the motive and sensorial nervous system, has no bearing on the 
 intensity or the direction of galvano-muscular currents. Whether or not, the 
 frogs from which batteries were constructed, had been rendered drowsy by 
 opium, nux vomica, or other narcotic poisons, made no difference in the 
 currents which they gave ; excepting in one instance, in which it seemed 
 as if a feeble dose augmented the power of the current. Moreover, it is 
 not to be inferred, that the capacity to produce a current, is not enfeebled 
 or destroyed, when narcotics have been used to an extent to produce death. 
 Frogs, thus poisoned, are as unsuitable for a battery, as those which have 
 been dead for a much longer time, after being killed and prepared in the 
 usual manner. In operating with the muscles of a pigeon, which had been 
 more or less poisoned, similar results were attained. Contrasting the gal- 
 vano-electric power of equal series of the muscles of frogs or pigeons killed 
 by immersion in carbonic acid, cyanhydric acid, or arsenuretted hydrogen, 
 and of such as were killed as usual, no superiority was found in any case, 
 excepting that a little superiority appeared in the muscles of those which 
 had been poisoned. Yet, in the case of muscles from frogs, or pigeons, 
 killed by sulphuretted hydrogen, a great loss of power was discovered, as 
 contrasted with the muscles of animals prepared in the ordinary way ; 
 since, when by a similar series of the latter, scarcely any deviation could be 
 obtained, by the former fifteen degrees were effected. 
 
 The following is the author's summary of his inferences. 
 
 566. 1st. The intensity of the galvano-muscular current, as measured 
 
76 
 
 by deviations of the galvanometrical needle, varies in cold blooded animals 
 proportionally to the temperature of the medium in which they have lived 
 for some time previously to the experiments. 
 
 567. The durability of the current, is less in proportion, as the animal is 
 more elevated in the scale of beings. 
 
 568. The intensity of the current varies as the animal has been better or 
 worse fed, and is invigorated by inflammation, or sanguineous congestion, 
 resulting from a wound. 
 
 569. It is independent of the integrity of the nervous system, as respects 
 the sensorial and motive power. 
 
 570. Narcotic poisons have scarcely any influence on this current as re- 
 spects intensity, and as to its direction they have none. 
 
 571. Among gaseous poisons, sulphuretted hydrogen, is to a striking 
 extent, pi'oductive of an enfeebling influence, while cyanhydric acid, or ar- 
 seniuretted hydrogen, if productive of any change, strengthen it a very 
 little. 
 
 572. The direction and the strength of the galvano-muscular currents 
 are altogether independent of any assistance from the nerves, which act 
 only as imperfect conductors, representing and transmitting the electric ex- 
 citement of the muscle with which they are associated. 
 
 573. Messrs. Pacinotti and Puccinotti, of Pisa, in a great many experi- 
 ments, in which one of the blades of a galvanometer was plunged into the 
 leg, the other into the brain, obtained deviations of the needle, which were 
 at the same time sufficiently striking, and of a nature to demonstrate the 
 existence of a current flowing from the brain towards the muscular parts of 
 the animal fabric. 
 
 574. Alluding to these results, Matteucci adverts to the difficulty of 
 avoiding erroneous results. He suggests that the action of the blood which 
 flows copiously from the wound in the brain as usually made, is sufficient 
 by its reaction with the terminating blades of the galvanometer, to produce 
 deviations, especially as, in order not to diminish the vitality of the animal, it 
 had been preferred to perforate the head the last. Merely the friction re- 
 sulting from moving the blades is sufficient to increase the deviations. But 
 having himself taken various precautions, the deviation on first immersion, 
 was always such as to comport with a current in the direction from the 
 brain towards the feet, as observed by the electricians above named. From 
 Matteucei's statement, that deviation varied from eight to ten degrees, and 
 as the current did not persist in its direction after the first plunge, was 
 very much enfeebled after the third immersion, and was very often re- 
 versed, it does not seem that much reliance is to be placed on the existence 
 and direction of the current in question. 
 
 575. Assuming, however, that there is a current from the brain towards 
 the lower parts of the body or limbs, our author conceives, that it is a con- 
 sequence of the nervous system acting as a conductor to the muscular 
 masses into which the nerves ramify. Yet, he admits, that this idea is not 
 altogether compatible with the fact of the production of a current equally 
 either by a contact with the interior of any of the muscles, or with any of 
 the muscular surface ; and, further investigation is requisite for the elucida- 
 tion of this subject. 
 
 576. The author concludes with this observation. Perhaps the nervous 
 system may exercise on the galvano-animal current an indirect influence, 
 arising from its participation in the process of muscular nutrition, which it 
 is not, however, possible to prove by direct experiments. 
 
77 
 
 EXHIBITION OF VOLTAIC SERIES OF VARIOUS CONSTRUCTIONS. 
 
 577. Voltaic Pile, as originally constructed, exemplified 
 ■ — also the Couronne des Tasses. 
 
 578. Apparatus, employed by Sir Humphrey Davy, ex- 
 emplified by two porcelain troughs, in each of which are 
 suspended ten pairs, consisting severally of a zinc and a 
 copper plate. 
 
 579. Apparatus exhibited, in which the cells are made 
 by partitions of glass, and the galvanic pairs, instead of 
 being attached to beams in order to be lifted out of the 
 acid, are kept permanently in their cells; the acid being 
 removed by a partial revolution of the trough upon pivots, 
 when the action is to be suspended. 
 
 580. Construction of Cruikshank pairs and trough illus- 
 trated. 
 
 581. Galvanic deflagrators exhibited of various dimen- 
 sions and numerical extension, combining the advantages 
 of the Cruikshank trough with those of the deflagrator. 
 
 582. Effect of the circuit upon the animal frame. 
 
 583. Iodine evolved and made evident by starch. 
 
 584. Water decomposed, and recomposed. 
 
 585. Various apparatus for different amalgams pro- 
 duced. 
 
 586. Deflagration, fusion, and volatilization of charcoal, 
 metals, anthracite, and plumbago, exhibited. Likewise of 
 various metallic wires, of tin-foil, tinsel, and mercury. 
 Fusion and incorporation of iron and platina, under water. 
 Hydrate of potash deflagrated upon charcoal, and upon a 
 piece of silver coin. 
 
 587. Fusion of platina, on contact with chloride of cal- 
 cium and other solutions in the voltaic circuit. 
 
 588. De Luc's columnar apparatus exhibited and ex- 
 plained. 
 
 Exhibition of 
 
 Grove's gas battery. 
 
 Daniell's original constant battery. 
 
78 
 
 Improved constant battery. 
 Grove's sustaining battery. 
 
 Apparatus and processes for electro-typing, also for 
 electro-gilding and silvering, &c, and metallo chromes. 
 
 Of a Process for Rock-blasting. 
 
 589. I have already adverted to the efficacious and 
 perfectly safe process, for rock-blasting and blowing up 
 wrecks of vessels, fortifications, &c, with which I con- 
 trived, in 1831, to ignite twelve charges of gunpowder at 
 the distance of one hundred and fifty feet (447). Hoping 
 that it will serve the cause of humanity to make this pro- 
 cess better known, I subjoin the original account of it as 
 published in the Journal of the Franklin Institute in 1833, 
 Vol. XX. page 221. 
 
 Description of a Process and an Apparatus for Blasting Rocks, by means of Galvanic 
 Ignition. Communicated by Robert Hare, M.D., Professor of Chemistry in the Uni- 
 versity of Pennsylvania. 
 
 590. I have observed various accounts in the newspapers of workmen killed, or 
 dreadfully lacerated, by the blasting of rocks. 
 
 591. I have ascertained that by a new application of galvanism, rocks may be 
 riven with less danger than that which attends the firing of a pistol. I was induced 
 to attempt this improvement in consequence of an application by a patentee (Mr. 
 Moses Shaw,) for assistance in perfecting his patented mode of blasting rocks, by an 
 electrical discharge from a Leyden jar. 
 
 592. In a letter dated June 1st, 1831, he says, " I have been engaged in blasting 
 rocks by means of a fulminating powder, introduced into several cavities, and ignited 
 in all of them simultaneously, by a spark from an electrical machine, by which 
 means masses of a much larger size, and of a much more suitable shape, for any 
 object in view, may be procured, than by the old plan. I have, however, to lament 
 my inability to succeed in this method of blasting, during a great part of the year, 
 when, in consequence of the unfavourable state of the weather, the ignition cannot 
 be effected by electricity in any mode which I have devised, or which has been sug- 
 gested by others, although I have consulted all the best informed professors to whom 
 I have had access." 
 
 593. It occurred to me, as soon as this statement was made by Mr. Shaw, that the 
 ignition of gunpowder, for the purposes he had in view, might be effected by a gal- 
 vanic discharge from a deflagrator, or calorimotor, in a mode which I have long used 
 in my eudiometrical experiments to ignite explosive gaseous mixtures. This pro- 
 cess is free from the uncertainty, which is always more or less attendant upon the 
 employment of mechanical electricity, for similar purposes. 
 
 594. 'The expectation thus arising, has since been fully verified. I have ignited 
 as many as twelve charges of gunpowder at the distance of one hundred and thirty 
 feet, from the galvanic machine employed. This distance is much greater than is 
 necessary to the safety of the operator, as the deflagrator may be shielded so as not 
 to be injured by the explosion, and by means of levers and pulleys it may be made 
 to act at any distance which may be preferred. There is no limit to the number of 
 charges which may be thus ignited, excepting those assigned, by economy, to the 
 size of the apparatus employed. 
 
 595. These remarks have reference to the principal and highly important object of 
 Mr. Shaw's project, which is to ignite at once a great number of charges, in as many 
 perforations so drilled in a rock, as to cooperate simultaneously in the same plane. 
 By these means it is conceived that the stone may be separated into large prismatic, 
 or tabular masses, instead of being reduced to irregular fragments of an inferior size. 
 The object to which I propose now to call attention more particularly, is a modifica- 
 
79 
 
 tion of the common process of blasting by one charge, which renders that process 
 perfectly safe. 
 
 596. This part of the subject I shall introduce by premising, that almost all the 
 accidents which have taken place in blasting rocks, have occurred in one of the 
 three following modes : — 
 
 1st. The explosion has taken place prematurely, before the operator has had time 
 to retire. 
 
 2d. A premature explosion has ensued from a spark produced by the collision 
 arising from ramming into the perforation, containing the powder, the brickdust, or 
 sand, or other matter, employed to close it. 
 
 3d. The fire not reaching the charge after the expiration of a period unusually 
 long, and the operator returning to ascertain the cause of the supposed failure, an ex- 
 plosion ensues when he is so near as to suffer by it, as in the instance near Norris- 
 town, published some years ago. 
 
 The means of communicating ignition, to which I have resorted, are as fol- 
 lows : — 
 
 597 Three iron wires, of which one is of the smallest size used for wire gauze, the 
 others of the size (No. 24,) used by bottlers, are firmly twisted together. This is 
 best accomplished by attaching them to the centre of the mandril of a lathe, which is 
 made to revolve while the other ends of the wires are held by a vice, so as to keep 
 them in a proper state of tension. After being thus twisted, a small portion is un- 
 twisted, so as to get at and divide the larger wires by means of a pair of nippers. 
 In this way the smaller wire is rendered the sole mean of metallic connexion be- 
 tween the larger ones. These are tied in a saw kerf, so made in a small piece of 
 dogwood as to secure them from working, which, if permitted, would cause the 
 smaller wire to break apart. At one end, the twist formed of the wires is soldered to 
 the bottom of a tin tube of a size to fill the perforation in the rock to such a height 
 as may be deemed proper. This tube being supplied with gunpowder, the orifice is 
 closed with a cork, perforated so that the twisted wire may pass out through it with- 
 out touching the tube at any point above that where the finer portion alone inter- 
 venes. To the outside of the tube, a copper wire, about No. 16, is soldered, long 
 enough to extend to a stout copper wire proceeding from one of the poles of a gal- 
 vanic deflagrator or calorimotor. The wire passing through the cork from the inside 
 of the tube, is in like manner made to communicate with 
 lg ' ' the other pole. The connexions between the wires and 
 
 the poles, should be made by means of soft solder, pre- 
 lO ^ viously to which we must imagine that the tube has been 
 
 introduced into a perforation made for its reception in a 
 rock to be blasted. The tin tube may be secured within 
 the rock by the usual method of ramming in brickdust or 
 sand, by means of a plug, having holes for the protection 
 of the wires of communication already described.* 
 
 598. The apparatus being thus prepared, by a galvanic 
 discharge, produced by the movement of a lever through 
 the quarter part of a circle, the finer wire is ignited, in the 
 place where it intervenes solely in the circuit, so as to set 
 fire to the surrounding gunpowder. 
 
 599. As the enclosure of the gunpowder in the tube, 
 must render it impossible that it should be affected by a 
 spark elicited by ramming, as no means of ignition can 
 have access to the charge besides the galvanic discharge ; 
 and as this can only occur by design, without an intention 
 to commit murder or suicide, or by unpardonable neglect, 
 it is inconceivable that an explosion can take place in this 
 method of blasting, when any person is so situated as to 
 suffer by it. 
 
 600. It must be obvious that in all cases of blasting un- 
 der water, the plan of a tin tube, and ignition by a galvanic 
 circuit, must be very eligible. 
 
 601. At A is represented a cylinder or tube of tinned 
 iron, replete with gunpowder. At C, the twisted wires 
 are represented as they protrude from the cylinder through 
 a cork, by which the latter is closed at the upper end. 
 
 * It has occurred to me that plaster of Paris might be used advantageously, as it 
 would require no ramming, and might set with sufficient firmness. 
 
80 
 
 The other ends of the wires are soldered to the metallic disk which forms the bottom 
 of the cylinder. D represents the twisted wires as they appear when all the larger 
 ones are cut, the smaller wire still uniting them. F represents the piece of dogwood, 
 duly prepared ; and E the wires as when supported by the wood. The reader has 
 only to imagine the hole in the wood to be supplied with the fulminating composi- 
 tion, and covered by a fillet of paper or cloth, glued or pasted around the wood, in 
 order to complete his conception of the wires as finally accoutred and situated within 
 the cylinder A. 
 
 602. Besides affording support to the larger wires, and thus protecting the smaller 
 wire uniting them from fracture, the piece of dogwood which has been described, by 
 m'eans of the small hole represented in it, serves to hold, and to preserve in contact 
 with the little wire, some fulminating powder. This not only facilitates the in- 
 cipient ignition of the contents of the cylinder, but must make it extend more 
 rapidly throughout the mass, and must, of course, cause it to be more powerful. 
 Metallic arsenic, and chlorate of potash finely powdered and mingled, make an ex- 
 cellent explosive powder for this purpose; being more ready to explode from heat, 
 and less so from other causes, than fulminating silver or mercury. Sulphur may be 
 used in lieu of arsenic. Yet the use of these is not necessary, as the gunpowder will 
 take fire directly from the wire, at least as effectually as in the usual mode. The 
 mixture of gum phosphorus, sulphur and chlorate of potash used for matches, would 
 answer, no doubt, in lieu of the preparation mentioned. 
 
ELECTRO-MAGNETISM. 
 
 720. The science of Electro-magnetism may be said to 
 consist of a knowledge of a series of facts ascertained re- 
 specting the influence of active electric circuits with each 
 other, or with bodies which may have been magnetized, 
 or which are susceptible of being rendered magnetic. To 
 describe and illustrate experimentally, some of the most 
 striking among the facts, to which allusion is thus made; 
 giving also such theoretic elucidation as the present state 
 of science will afford, is all that the limits prescribed to this 
 treatise will permit. 
 
 721. The science of Electro-magnetism may be con- 
 sidered as comprising the following branches, each pro- 
 ducing, as its appropriate fruit, phenomena, which are not 
 only highly wonderful and interesting, but likewise of great 
 practical importance. 
 
 SYNOPSIS. 
 
 Reciprocal reaction of Magnets. 
 
 Reaction between Magnets and Electrical Currents. 
 
 Attraction and Repulsion between Electrical Currents and 
 the Movements thence arising. 
 
 Induction of Currents by Electrical Currents, or Electro- 
 dynamic Induction. 
 
 Induction of Magnetism by Electric Currents, or Electro- 
 magnetic Induction. 
 
 Induction of Electric Currents by Magnetism, or Magneto- 
 electric Induction. 
 
 722. It had long been observed, that there were striking 
 analogies, as well as discordancies, between the charac- 
 teristics of electricity and magnetism. The similar poles 
 of magnets, freely suspended,* were observed to recede 
 from each other, and dissimilar poles to approach each 
 
 * Allusion is here made to what is called usually a magnetic needle, as represented 
 in figure (35). 
 
90 
 
 other, in a mode quite analogous to the separation or ap- 
 proximation, under like circumstances, of substances simi- 
 larly or dissimilarly electrified. 
 
 723. It had also been observed, that iron, in the 
 vicinity of lightning rods, or otherwise indirectly affected 
 by lightning, had in some instances been rendered mag- 
 netic. 
 
 724. So far then, the existence of an analogy, or of an 
 association, between electrical and magnetic phenomena 
 was demonstrable ; but, the magnetic repulsions and at- 
 tractions took place under circumstances extremely un- 
 favourable to the existence of the opposite electricities. 
 The magnetic needle being a perfect conductor, there could 
 of course be no permanent existence of opposite ordinary 
 electrical excitement at the extremities. Moreover, neither 
 pole of a magnet was more susceptible of being attracted 
 by electrified bodies, than any other metallic wire, similarly 
 suspended; nor did either of the electricities affect one 
 pole more than the other. The poles of the voltaic appa- 
 ratus were found to be perfectly indifferent to those of a 
 magnet, when it was presented to them, during that inter- 
 ruption of the circuit, which was deemed necessary to the 
 production of electrical excitement. 
 
 725. The contact of another magnetizable body, a bar 
 of iron for instance, was found to strengthen and preserve 
 the opposite magnetic excitement, while a similar applica- 
 tion would be destructive of the opposite electric excite- 
 ment. 
 
 726. Under these circum- 
 stances, then, it never occurred 
 to any one, that the magnetic 
 poles could be influenced by 
 electricity, whether galvanic, 
 or mechanical, till Professor 
 Oersted, in the winter of 1819, 
 ascertained the existence of a 
 reciprocal influence, between 
 the magnetic needle, and a 
 wire connecting the poles of a 
 galvanic apparatus. In obedi- 
 ence to this influence, indepen- 
 dently of terrestrial gravitation and magnetism, the former 
 when freely suspended, was found to assume invariably a 
 
91 
 
 position at right angles to the direction of the current, or 
 more precisely, that of a tangent to a circle, concentric 
 with, and at right angles to, the axis of the wire through 
 which the current flows (742). Reference has been made 
 to this wonderful reciprocal influence and the admirable 
 galvanometrical invention to which it gave rise (306). 
 It will be treated of more particularly under the appro- 
 priate head: Reaction between Magnets and Currents (731, 
 
 Of Magnetic Induction* 
 
 727. Magnetism has some analogy to statical electricity 
 in the phenomena of induction, but utterly differs from it 
 as respects conduction. 
 
 Fig. 36. 
 
 M E 
 
 (15 is ^ffl 
 
 728. Thus the bar of iron B, figure 36, becomes mag- 
 netic, while in the vicinity of the permanent steel bar mag- 
 net M, precisely as B would be electrified by M, if pre- 
 viously charged by a machine : but, in the one case, there 
 must be good insulation, while in the other none is requi- 
 site. The contact of M with B, would cause an electrical 
 charge to be divided between them, whereas the same 
 contact would cause the magnetic charge in B to be 
 higher. In the one case the existing body loses power by 
 contact, in the other it sustains no loss. That B is mag- 
 netized, may be shown by its attracting an iron nail or iron 
 filings, if sufficiently near. 
 
 729. If several pieces of soft iron be placed successively 
 in contact with each other, and with a steel magnet, as 
 represented in the cut, figure 37, they will become magnets 
 
 Fig. 37. 
 
 by induction, but will lose the property entirely if soon 
 separated. Yet, a piece of iron kept for some time in a 
 state of induced magnetism, retains the property to a cer- 
 tain extent, In proportion, as a steel bar is harder, it is 
 less susceptible of receiving magnetism, but is more reten- 
 tive of this property. On account of its superior retentive- 
 
92 
 
 Fig. 33. 
 
 V - - ------ 
 
 ness, all artificial magnets are made of steel, moderately 
 hardened. Latterly our means of imparting magnetism to 
 iron or steel have been immensely improved. A steel 
 needle, or bar, may be permanently magnetized by draw- 
 ing it, from one end to the other, over either pole of a 
 powerful magnet. The magnetism at the end which moves 
 towards the pole, becomes the opposite of the pole thus 
 approached. If drawn from end to end in the same di- 
 rection over the other pole, the magnetism will be enfee- 
 bled, if not destroyed or reversed; if contrarily, it will be 
 confirmed, if not strengthened. Hence, there are two 
 ways of producing the same results, drawing similarly over 
 the same pole, or dissimilarly over different poles. 
 
 730. If while a U magnet is 
 so situated as to have the poles 
 uppermost, as represented in this 
 engraving, a sheet of firm paper 
 be placed horizontally over and 
 in contact w 7 ith them, on show- 
 ering iron filings from a sand-box 
 or sieve, they will arrange them- 
 selves as represented in the ad- 
 joining figure. Each particle of the filings becomes a 
 magnet, having of course a south and north pole. The 
 magnets thus created, arrange themselves in files, in con- 
 sequence of the attraction between their oppositely mag- 
 netized extremities. 
 
 Pte 39. 731. In the files thus formed by the 
 
 inductive influence of the north pole of 
 the U magnet, each little magnet will have 
 its south pole the nearest, while in the files 
 formed by the south pole of the U magnet, 
 the files nearest the latter, will have their 
 north poles nearest. Hence, the extreme 
 ends of the files acquire opposite polarities, 
 which are at the same time the opposite 
 of those of the poles, with which they are 
 respectively associated, and hence these 
 extreme ends converge towards each other 
 when sufficiently near. 
 
 732. Figure 40, serves to represent the 
 magnetic power, given either to a disk or 
 to a star of sheet iron, by applying to it at 
 
93 
 
 Fig. 40. 
 
 about its centre a pole of a magnet. By 
 the polarity thus induced, several nails 
 may be suspended as represented at N, N, 
 N, N. To the disk a fringe of iron filings 
 is attached. This power only endures so 
 long as the magnet is applied. 
 
 733. If a prism of iron be attracted by 
 a permanent magnet at either pole, the 
 north pole for instance, the prism is con- 
 verted temporarily into a magnet, acquiring 
 at the place of contact a polarity the oppo- 
 site of that of the pole to which it is pre- 
 , sented. In other words, it acquires a south 
 polarity, when it is presented to a north 
 pole, a north polarity when presented to a 
 south pole. Meanwhile, the other end of 
 the prism acquires the same polarity as the pole by which 
 the charge is effected. Hence, when in contact with two 
 equally powerful bar magnets, as represented in figure 42, 
 a prism of soft iron will be attracted with more force than 
 the sum of their separate forces. 
 
 734. Further, if after having attached a prism of 
 n-. 41. j ron to ^ e nor t n p 0 ] e 0 f one b ar niagnet, and the 
 
 south pole of the other, on bringing the two poles 
 remaining free into contact with each other, or with 
 a second prism like that above mentioned, the at- 
 tractive power of the four poles will be more than 
 twice as great as that exercised by either pair* 
 when the others are without due communication. 
 
 735. Hence the superiority of the power of one 
 duly magnetized bar in the shape of the letter U, 
 
 fig. 41, over two bar magnets. A magnet, thus formed, is 
 called usually a horse-shoe magnet, from its having some 
 resemblance in shape to a horse shoe : but preferably on 
 account of its greater resemblance to the vowel U, it has 
 of late been called a U magnet, by Dr. Page, and others. 
 
 * Fig. 42, will convey a correct idea 
 of two bar magnets as they are advan- 
 tageously kept in a box with two arma- 
 tures usually called keepers, on account 
 of their sustaining the magnetic power 
 when kept in contact with the poles as 
 represented. 
 
94 
 
 736. Agreeably to the statements above made, a prism 
 of soft iron attached to both poles of a U magnet, reacts 
 upon them inductively, so as not only to preserve, but to 
 heighten their power, since it is found that when the weight 
 appended to it is gradually increased, additional power is 
 acquired to a certain point. On this account such a prism 
 always accompanies a U magnet, and is called a keeper or 
 armature. Some keepers have a hook to facilitate the at- 
 tachment of weights. 
 
 737. Thus the prism, A, figure 43, is the 
 keeper or armature of the compound horse- 
 shoe magnet to which it is represented as 
 attached. The compound magnet, it will 
 be perceived, consists of several U magnets 
 so combined, that all the legs endowed 
 with the same polarity are placed side by 
 side. Thus associated, I have had a 
 magnet to hold about nine times its own 
 weight. 
 
 738. Under the head of magneto-electri- 
 cal induction, it will be seen that compound magnets are 
 the means of affording a convenient mode of subjecting 
 patients to electrical discharges, somewhat peculiar in 
 character, but of which, the effect upon the animal frame 
 resembles the shock given by numerous voltaic series of 
 small pairs. 
 
 REACTION OF MAGNETS WITH ELECTRICAL CURRENTS. 
 
 739. The student has been made acquainted with the 
 deviations of a magnetic needle, when subjected to the in- 
 fluence of an electrical current. To this phenomenon it 
 was expedient to make a premature appeal, as the means 
 of detecting the currents resulting from galvanic or ther- 
 mo-electric influence (306). 
 
 740. In order to form an idea of the positions relatively 
 to an electrical current which a magnetic needle would as- 
 sume could it be free from the interference of terrestrial 
 gravitation and magnetism, let the student look perpendi- 
 cularly on the pivot of his watch ; let him suppose an ar- 
 row representing the needle, and the direction in which its 
 north pole points, to be attached to the end of one of the 
 hands, and at right angles to it, pointing in the direction 
 
95 
 
 in which the motion usually takes place in clocks and 
 watches. If a galvanic current be supposed to flow through 
 a wire passing from the student's eye, through the pivot, 
 the situations of the arrow, during one revolution of the 
 hand, will give him an idea of all the positions which the 
 needle, when carried round the wire, would assume, rela- 
 tively to the galvanic current. 
 
 741. Supposing the current to be reversed, to flow to- 
 wards the eye, it is only necessary to imagine the move- 
 ment of the hand reversed, and the arrow head pointing in 
 the opposite direction, to give an idea of the positions, and 
 the directions, which the needle would then be found to 
 assume if carried round the galvanized wire. 
 
 F i„. 44. 742. Suppose p, n, fig. 44, to be the 
 
 axis of a circle C, and that a current 
 is flowing through the axis in the di- 
 rection of the arrows. The arrow 
 heads in the circumference show the 
 — direction in which as many magnetic 
 needles would point if exposed to no 
 "influence besides that of the current. 
 When the current flows from N to P, 
 the relative position of all the needles 
 will be the reverse of those repre- 
 sented. 
 
 743. It is not possible to contrive any apparatus, which 
 will illustrate the reactions of a current and needle, except- 
 ing the three instruments known severally as the compass, 
 the astatic, or the dipping needle. These serve to illus- 
 trate the phenomena only when they take place in an hori- 
 zontal or a vertical position. Yet from the results obtained 
 in these, an idea may be formed of those which would ensue 
 in any other positions in which needles could be situated.* 
 
 744. Figure 35, already given, represents the needle in 
 the usual form. But the directive influence of the earth is 
 avoided by associating two needles as in the subjoined fig- 
 ures, so that there is at either end a pole of each kind. If 
 these be of equal energy, when thus combined reciprocal 
 neutralization ensues, as respects their reaction with ter- 
 restrial magnetism. Such a needle is called astatic. When 
 a galvanic current flows either above or below an astatic 
 
 ^ 
 
 * See engravings and descriptions of galvanometers. 
 
06 
 
 Fig. 46. 
 
 needle, excepting that as one of its needles will be some- 
 what nearer to the current than the other, its influence over 
 them will be neutralized no less than the magnetic influ- 
 ence of the earth; but when the cur- 
 Fig. 45. ^ rent - g mac [ e to fl ow between the as- 
 tatic pair, its influence on one, coope- 
 rates with its influence on the other. 
 
 745. Figure 45, represents an astatic 
 needle, in which two magnets are so 
 suspended, that there is a north and 
 south pole at each extremity. By these 
 means, if the needles are equally pow- 
 erful, the influence of the earth on one 
 is neutralized by its opposite influence 
 on the other. 
 
 746. Figure 46, represents an astatic 
 needle in another form, being made of 
 two slender U magnets (735). 
 
 747. In the most sensitive galvanome- 
 ters needles are preferably suspended by a 
 hair or filament of glass, or of silk from a 
 cocoon. By these means the influence of 
 the earth over horizontal needles is neutral- 
 ized. In another mode of suspension, the 
 needle moves in a vertical plane so as to 
 
 show that portion of the earth's influence 
 which causes it to dip. An ordinary 
 needle (35) being balanced on its pivot 
 before charging, on charging and re- 
 placing it, the north pole in these lati- 
 tudes will point obliquely downwards. 
 This tendency it is requisite to balance 
 by a counterweight, as it would inter- 
 fere with the usual object of its indicat- 
 ing the north. But needles are made 
 to indicate and measure this force. Fig- 
 ure 46, represents an instrument for the 
 illustration of this property, which is 
 called the dipping needle. The number 
 of degrees which it deviates from a hori- 
 zontal level, is called the magnetic dip. 
 
 Fig. 47. 
 
97 
 
 748. The following engraving represents an apparatus, 
 by means of which, four needles A, B, C, D, are simulta- 
 
 Fig. 48. 
 
 neously exposed to the influence of the same current, in 
 respect to which they occupy different situations. Of any 
 two needles, of the four, one of which is above the other 
 below the current moving the same way, the poles will be 
 seen discordantly directed. Of course any two of the four 
 of which one is above the current moving one way, and 
 the other below it, while moving the other way, will agree. 
 
 749. Accordance in the direction of needles exposed to 
 the same circuit, is found only when the situation relatively 
 to the current, and the direction of the current are alike, 
 or where diversity in one respect is compensated by di- 
 versity in the other. In order that the currents thus mov- 
 ing in opposite directions should not counteract each other, 
 it is necessary that two or three feet should intervene be- 
 tween those portions of the wire in which they take place. 
 
 750. The apparatus must, in order to show the pheno- 
 menon, have the wire in the plane of the meridian, so as 
 to have the needles parallel to it; as, when uninfluenced 
 
98 
 
 by the current, they place themselves so as to coincide 
 with the meridian plane nearly, or, in other words, so as 
 to point north and south. 
 
 751. The necessity which exists, of performing the ex- 
 periment so as to avoid every injurious influence from ter- 
 restrial magnetism, ought not to create the idea that the 
 phenomenon is dependent upon that magnetism. With 
 astatic needles (44, 45), in which the polarity of one nee- 
 dle is so counteracted by that of the other, as to render 
 the two indifferent to the polarity of the earth, the devia- 
 tions may be produced without reference to the meridian. 
 
 752. The magnetism imparted to a coil by a galvanic 
 current, agreeably to an observation first made by Am- 
 
 Fig 49 . pere, was ingeniously illustrated by 
 
 De la Rive, by causing such a coil 
 to float together with the galvanic 
 pair, of which it formed the connect- 
 ing wire by means of a cork, as re- 
 presented by fig. 49. C and Z are 
 small plates of copper and zinc, above which the coil is 
 supported, the ends being soldered severally to the plates. 
 When the whole is made to float upon acidulated water, a 
 galvanic current passes through the coil from the copper 
 to the zinc plate. Under these circumstances the coil will 
 react like a magnet with either of the poles of a magnet 
 sufficiently approximated, so as to cause the whole appa- 
 ratus to be apparently attracted or repelled. 
 
 Fig. 50. 
 
99 
 
 753. Two forms of the galvanometer (50, 51), are illustrated by the pre- 
 ceding figures, one of which represents the situation of the needle when 
 supported in a horizontal, the other in a vertical plane. Figure 51 cor- 
 responds with the dipping needle; figure 50 with the compass needle. 
 
 754. The rationale of these in- 
 struments may be made evident 
 H by the more simple form repre- 
 9 sented by figure 52. In this the 
 JJ C wire makes but one circumvolu- 
 tion, as in the larger apparatus, 
 fig. 49. The influence of the 
 simple current being understood, 
 it will be easy to conceive, that if 
 the needle were subjected to two 
 such circuits, the effect upon it 
 would be arithmetically greater 
 as the number of such circuits 
 acting upon it from an equally 
 favourable position. Consistent- 
 ly, Schweiger, by multiplying the 
 circuits or circumvolutions, pro- 
 duced the famous instrument in 
 question, appropriately called a 
 multiplier as respects its origination, but not as to a designation of the use 
 to which it is applicable. 
 
 755. In multiplying the circumvolutions, it is not necessary to multiply 
 the batteries by which they are supplied, since, when formed of a continuous 
 wire, the first and the last may, from the same battery, be supplied, if not 
 exactly at the same time, with an interval almost infinitely small. Sup- 
 posing each circumvolution to measure a foot in circumference, twenty- 
 six hundred would be only half a mile, and this distance would be gone 
 through in less than the five hundred thousandth part of a second, agree- 
 ably to the inferences of Wheatstone, supposing them applicable to currents 
 of low intensity, as well as those of the statical kind.* For a galvanome- 
 trical instrument of the highest sensibility, see Melloni's thermo-multiplier, 
 under the head of Thermo-electricity, 
 
 * Galvanometer or Multiplier of an unusually large size, made of Strips of Tin wound 
 in a Coil with interposed Strips of very thin Paper, 
 
 This engraving represents a large multiplier, or galvanometer, the needles of 
 which are each about eighteen inches in length. The instrument is furnished above 
 with a circle graduated into 360 degrees. Agreeably to the usual construction, the 
 needle being within the coil, is subjected both above and below to the concurring 
 influence of a current passed through the coil. Under these circumstances, the 
 lower needle is situated in the apparatus represented by the adjoining figure. In 
 the situation which the upper needle occupies, the influence of the lower portion of 
 the coil, so far as it operates, must counteract that of the upper one. Yet when the 
 lower portion of the metallic coil is at a distance from the upper portion of about 
 one-third of the length of the needle, and this is situated very near to the upper por- 
 tion as here represented, the influence of the latter may so far predominate as to 
 render the indications very nice ; while they are much more easily seen and esti- 
 mated by means of the graduated circle, when, as in the situation of the upper 
 needle, nothing intervenes between it and the eye. 
 
 In another instrument of the same dimensions, I have used only a semicircle for 
 the graduations, which, excepting the appearance, answers as well. 
 
 In lieu of wire, a coil of tin foil of about an inch in breadth, and eighty feet in 
 
100 
 
 Ampere's Revolving Battery. 
 
 756. The most simple process for creating a rotary motion, by means 
 of the reaction between an electrical current and a magnet, is that in which 
 
 Fig. 53. 
 
 length, separated by thin paper, may be used, but a copper wire of No. 16, and of 
 about 180 feet in length, coated with shell lac varnish, will be more efficacious. 
 
 The coil of tin-foil or varnished copper wire, is wound about the parallelogram, C, 
 C, C, C. The ends of the coil are severally soldered, or screwed, under the basis of 
 the gallows screws, S, S. 
 
 When both needles are placed upon the pivot at the same time by the repulsion 
 of their similar poles, they will diverge from the meridian unless they be in a re- 
 versed situation, in which case they will both appear as in the engraving, the north 
 pole of one needle pointing north, the north pole of the other, south. When, under 
 these circumstances, a discharge is made through the surrounding coils, the conse- 
 quent movements are very striking. 
 
 The clean surfaces of disks of zinc and copper, each an inch in diameter, separated 
 by paper moistened with pure water, are sufficient to move the needles sensibly. 
 The wires, W, W, are used for the purpose of connecting the disks with the poles of 
 the wires. They are attached to the instrument by gallows screws, S, S. 
 
 The level of the machine is preserved by the aid of four screws, of which only 
 three can be seen in the drawing at T, T, T. 
 
 Rotary Movements arising from the Reaction between Magnets and Galvanic 
 Currents. 
 
 ENGRAVING AND DESCRIPTION OF A ROTARY MULTIPLIER, 
 
 Or one in which one or more Needles are made to revolve by a Galvanic Current. 
 
 The preceding engraving represents a rotary galvanometer, or multiplier, which I 
 contrived in November, 1836, and which must have value as an addition to the 
 amusing, if not to the useful implements of science. It is well known that by 
 passing a temporary discharge through the coil of a multiplier, the needle may be 
 made to perform a revolution, whereas if the current be continuously applied, the 
 movement is checked as soon as the situation of the poles is reversed. To produce 
 a permanent motion, the discharge must be allowed to take place only when the 
 poles are in a favourable position relatively to the excited coil. This object I at- 
 tained by means of two pins, descending from the needle perpendicularly, so as to 
 enter two globules of mercury, communicating, on one side, with a galvanic pair, on 
 the other with the coil of the multiplier. In the next place, by winding over the 
 first coil, another of similar length, but in a direction the opposite of that in which 
 
101 
 
 the galvanic triad, by which the current is generated, is made to revolve 
 about the pole of a magnet, which serves as a support. This is exemplified 
 by what has been called Ampere's rotating battery, of which figure 55, on 
 the following page, will afford a satisfactory idea. 
 
 Fig. 54. 
 
 c 
 
 the first coil was wound, I was enabled, by two other globules, situated so as to com- 
 municate severally with the lower ends of the pins, at the opposite side from that on 
 which the first mentioned globules were, to cause an impulse at every semi-re- 
 volution. 
 
 The one coil being wound to the right, the other to the left, the alternate effect of 
 each upon the needle was similar in opposite parts of the orbits described by the 
 pins. Lastly, a second needle, furnished with pins in like manner, being fastened 
 at right angles to the first, so as to form with it a cross, as represented in the en- 
 graving, each needle is made to receive two impulses during every revolution. 
 Hence one of Daniell's sustaining batteries, as made by Newman, is quite adequate 
 to cause a revolution as rapid as consistent with a due degree of stability in the mer- 
 curial globules employed. 
 
 One end of each coil, by means of the branching wire A, communicates with one 
 pole of the galvanic pair ; the other ends of the coils terminate in mercurial globules 
 contained in cavities on opposite sides of the wooden disc G, upon the centre of 
 which the spindle of the magnetic needle rests. The branches of the wire K pro- 
 ceeding from the other galvanic pole, terminate in globules situated in the vicinity 
 of those above mentioned, so that as the needles revolve, the pins proceeding there- 
 from perpendicularly may touch a pair of the globules first on one side and then on 
 the other. Whenever this contact takes place, the circuit is completed, and a dis- 
 charge is effected through one or the other of the coils of the multiplier. 
 
 Supposing E and F to be north poles, a discharge through one of the coils will 
 cause E to move off a quarter of a circle, or more. As this ensues, the pins of F 
 will come in contact with the globules which those of E touched before. Of course 
 F will be propelled so as to cause the pins of E to reach the pair of globules at G-, 
 which, completing the circuit of a coil wound in a way the opposite of that first 
 mentioned, concurs with that coil in its influence, so as to promote the rotation pre- 
 viously induced. The same result ensues when the pins proceeding from F, come 
 in contact with the globules situated at G, and when E returns to its original start- 
 ing point. It follows that by a repetition of the process the galvanic action is sus- 
 tained. The phenomenon is as well illustrated by employing the single needle, N, 
 N, as by two, but the most pleasing and energetic effect is produced by the crossed 
 needles. In this simple form the spindle on which the needle rests and revolves is 
 represented at S; the pins at P, P. Each coil, consisting of copper bell wire, is 
 about thirty feet in length, and is contained in the groove C. The frame of the mul- 
 tiplier is constructed of mahogany, and is levelled by the milled headed screws, on 
 the ends of which it is supported. 
 
102 
 
 Fig. 55. 
 
 757. Two concentric cylinders of sheet copper, 
 one about three-eighths of an inch larger than the 
 other, are united by a flat ring of the same material, 
 so that the latter forms a bottom, while there is be- 
 tween them an interstice of three-eighths of an inch. 
 The inner cylinder is open and furnished with an 
 arch of copper, at the summit of which there is a 
 pivot pointing downwards. This pivot rests upon an 
 agate cup seated upon one of the poles of a steel 
 magnet. By means of another arch of copper a 
 cylinder of zinc is supported within the interstice, 
 resting by means of an appropriate pivot on a little 
 concavity in the lower arch above described, as sup- 
 porting the copper cylinders. Upon the other pole 
 of the magnet another similar apparatus of cylinders 
 is supported. When the apparatus is to be put into 
 operation, the interstices between the copper cylin- 
 ders must be supplied with a diluted mixture of 
 nitric and sulphuric acid. A galvanic current taking 
 place in each little battery through the supporting 
 arches from the copper to the zinc (320), the cylin- 
 ders revolve, the zinc and copper in opposite directions, as respects the 
 movement of the two batteries, the similar cylinders move oppositely, the 
 dissimilar cylinders move alike. 
 
 758. A magnet, n s, being attached, as in figure 56, 
 by a silk thread, to the centre in the bottom of a cup of 
 mercury, so as to float in that metallic liquid, a wire, a 
 b, is fixed over it vertically, so as just to enter the mer- 
 cury for a small depth. The metallic support of the 
 wire is connected with one pole of a galvanic battery, 
 the mercury with another. In this case, the upper end 
 of the magnet, while swimming in the mercury, revolves 
 about the wire from right to left, or from left to right, 
 accordingly as the poles of the magnet, or the connec- 
 tions with the galvanic apparatus, may be varied. If, 
 on the other hand, the magnet be made immoveable, 
 while the vertical wire is upon a universal joint, the 
 wire will revolve about the magnet, and be liable 
 to change its direction, in the same way, as the 
 moveable magnet was actuated, with respect to the 
 wire. 
 
 759. The letters n and s, and direction of the ar- 
 rows, in either of the adjoining figures, representing the 
 apparatus alluded to, show the relative situation of the 
 poles of the magnets, and direction of the current re- 
 quisite to produce a revolution from right to left. In 
 either apparatus a reversal of the relative position of 
 the poles, or of the direction of the currents, will reverse 
 the rotary motion. Of course n designates the north, 
 and s the south pole. 
 
 760. When one end of a wire is fastened to the axis of the pole of a 
 magnet, leaving the other end free, it will revolve about the point of attach- 
 ment as a centre of motion, and in like manner, if the magnet is fastened 
 
103 
 
 at one end to a point in the axis of the wire, the free end will revolve about 
 the wire, because in either of the cases, whether it be that of the wire or 
 magnet, an escape from one point of collision existing in the circle, through- 
 out which the conflicting influence prevails, only carries it to another such 
 point. Thus the point of attachment, about which the motion takes place, 
 becomes a centre, about which either the magnet or the wire revolves, 
 while making Ixion like efforts to fly from inevitable collision.* 
 
 Fig. 58. 761. Let the end of the wire Whang- 
 
 ing from a metallic bracket, which 
 communicates with one of the set 
 screws on the right of the platform, 
 enter some mercury, occupying a ca- 
 vity in the latter, which has a metallic 
 communication with the other set 
 screws. Under these circumstances, 
 as soon as the set screws are con- 
 nected with a galvanic battery in 
 operation, the end of the wire flies out 
 of the mercury, but the circuit being 
 thus broken, the end of the wire soon 
 falls again into contact with the mer- 
 cury, and from the same cause as at 
 
 * I here quote from Darnell's Manual a very interesting illustration of the reac- 
 tion of a galvanic current with a bar magnet. 
 
 " Magnet revolving round its own Axis — The instrument represented in figure 59 
 is designed to show that the action between the current and the magnet takes place 
 
 equally well when the magnet itself forms 
 the conductor of the electricity. The 
 lower end, N, of the magnet, being point- 
 ed, is supported on an agate at the bottom 
 of a brass cup connected under the base- 
 board with the binding screw cup, P. The 
 upper end, S, is hollowed out to receive 
 the end of the wire fixed to the cup, A; 
 the brass arm supporting this cup is insu- 
 lated from the brass pillar at I, I, by some 
 non-conductor of electricity. To the mid- 
 dle of the magnet is fixed a small ivory 
 cistern, C, for containing mercury, into 
 which dips the end of the wire, D. Thus 
 the magnet is supported with its north pole 
 downwards, and is free to rotate round its 
 vertical axis. A little mercury should be 
 put into the cavity at S, and into the brass 
 cup at N, and the ivory cistern be filled 
 sufficiently to establish a connexion be- 
 tween the magnet and the wire, D. 
 
 " On connecting the cups, A and B, 
 with the battery, the current will flow 
 through the upper half of the magnet, causing it to rotate rapidly. If the cups, B 
 and P, form the connexion, the current will traverse the lower half, equally pro- 
 ducing revolution of the magnet. Now connect A and P with the battery, and no 
 motion will result, because the electricity passes through the whole length of the 
 magnet in such a manner, that the tendency of one pole to rotate is counteracted by 
 that of the other to move in the opposite direction. Connect B with one pole of the 
 battery, and A and P both with the other pole. The magnet will now revolve, since 
 the current will ascend in one-half of its length, and descend in the other." 
 
104 
 
 first, again flies out. Thus an alternate motion is produced and sustained 
 as long as the current is continued. 
 
 Barlow's Revolving Wheel. 
 
 Fig. 60. 
 
 762. The apparatus repre- 
 sented by figure 60, is called 
 Barlow's revolving wheel, from 
 the name of the inventor, the 
 wheel being situated between 
 the jaws, either of a steel mag- 
 net or an electro-magnet, and 
 made the medium of the gal- 
 vanic current, any tooth in 
 contact with the mercury in the 
 cavity under it, is actuated in 
 the same way as the wire in 
 the experiment above described 
 (762). But when agreeably to 
 the same law, one tooth flies 
 from collision with the magnet- 
 ism, another takes its place, and of course encounters the same treatment. 
 Every tooth being sucsessively affected in like manner, the wheel revolves 
 as long as the current endures. It is not necessary to the motion that the 
 circumference be serrated, but it serves to make a pretty spark at each 
 contact. The endurance of light thus arising, is too brief for the wheel to 
 make a perceptible movement while it lasts. Hence, when the instrument 
 is illuminated only by its own scintillations, it appears to be at rest, however 
 rapidly it may revolve. It is computed that eight sparks in a second give 
 the effect of a continuous illumination, and as the wheel gives more than 
 these, it appears as if seen by a continuous light. 
 
 Explanation of the Motions produced by means of the Apparatus de- 
 scribed in the three preceding pages. 
 
 763. It has been shown, that the reciprocal reaction between a magnetic 
 needle free to move, and a wire transmitting a galvanic current, is such, 
 that the former will strive to assume a position at right angles to a line pa- 
 rallel to the axis of the wire. Of course, as action and reaction are equi- 
 valent, the wire, if free to move, while subjected to the influence of a sta- 
 tionary needle, or other magnet, will arrange itself so as to produce the 
 same relative position between the two bodies as when the wire is station- 
 ary, and the needle free. But if freedom of motion exist only at one ex- 
 tremity, whether of the needle or the wire, the motion can only take place 
 at that extremity. Yet if the movement hence arising be not such as to in- 
 terrupt the galvanic current, or be such as to permit its renewal as soon as 
 discontinued, the consequent movement must be continued or repeated, and 
 may be productive of rotary motion, as in the case of figures 54, 55, 56, 
 57, 59, or of alternate motion, as in the instance of 58. 
 
105 
 
 Revolving Rectangular Coil. 
 Fig. 6i. 764. As in the galvanometer of 
 
 Schweiger, the force of the conflict 
 between the dynamic polarity of 
 the current, and the stationary po- 
 larity of the needle, is multiplied by 
 reiterating the presence of the for- 
 mer in the coiling of wire through 
 which it has to pass, in order to 
 perform its circuit, so the instru- 
 ment of which figure 61 is a repre- 
 sentation, is an apparatus in which 
 a current transmitted through the 
 rectangular coil, between the jaws 
 of the magnet, is made to react 
 with the magnetic influence of the 
 latter, and strives to escape there- 
 from, in order to assume the posi- 
 tion in which there will be least in- 
 terference. This takes place when 
 the plane of the coil is so situated as 
 to be at right angles to a line pass- 
 ing through the centre of each 
 pole. 
 
 765. In fact the coil becomes a magnet, (752,) and of course tends to 
 arrange itself, as would a magnetic needle similarly situated ; but, by means 
 of a contrivance called the pole changer, described below, in making a 
 semi-revolution to effect this arrangement, the direction in which the cur- 
 rent goes through it is reversed, and consequently a different impulse is 
 received, causing another semi-revolution. No sooner is this made than 
 the impulse again changes. Thus a continuous revolution is produced as 
 long as the current endures. 
 
 Of Page's Pole Changer. 
 
 766. In some cases, in order to produce opposite impulses, it is necessary 
 to cause a galvanic current to flow alternately in opposite directions, in 
 others, as it will hereafter be seen, it is an object to render an alternating 
 current constant in its direction. For these purposes the following contri- 
 vance was devised by our countryman, Doctor Page, and executed by Daniel 
 Davis, jr., the highly ingenious artist, to whom we owe the successful fabri- 
 cation of a variety of electrip, galvanic, and electro-magnetic apparatus. 
 
 767. The apparatus in question being employed to reverse the polarity 
 of the electro-magnet in the apparatus last described (767), the following 
 
 explanation is given in reference to the use of it therein 
 Fig. 62. made. The pole changer, figure 62, consists of two 
 
 ^ "vy"" smau segments of silver S, S, fixed on opposite sides 
 ^t^ 5 °f an ax * s °f wmcn a section is represented in the 
 
 figure. These pieces are not in contact, and are 
 
 sufficiently insulated from each other, and from the 
 axis. Of the two ends of the coil, situated between the legs of the magnet 
 as represented, one is soldered to each segment. By means of a wooden 
 arch, of which the polar ends S, N, of a U magnet are the abutments, two 
 
 N 
 
106 
 
 wire springs, b, b, are so supported and insulated, that through the interven- 
 tion either of two cups of mercury, or two set screws, at B, B, they may 
 be made to communicate at pleasure with a galvanic battery. The free 
 ends of these wires are made to press against the segments of silver with 
 sufficient force to make a good contact. The arrangement is such, that the 
 respective contacts of the semi-cylinders with the springs will take place 
 when the coil C is, as represented in the figure, at right angles to a plane 
 passing through the axes of both legs of the magnet. 
 
 768. The apparatus being thus prepared, let the mercury cups and of 
 course the wire springs, be in communication with a competent battery, con- 
 sequently the current will from one semi -cylinder, enter one end of the 
 coil, proceed through the circumvolutions of the latter, and go out of the 
 other end of the coil to the other semi-cylinder ; but if the coil be turned 
 half round, the segments, and the ends of the coil attached to them respec- 
 tively, will have their electrical states simultaneously reversed, creating in 
 the sides of the coil a corresponding change of electro-magnetic polarity. 
 Thus when the coil is turned from the position into which the polarities 
 would bring it, in seeking to regain that attitude, it reverses them. This 
 causes it to make another half revolution, which equally operates to reverse 
 the propensity to change, and thus rotary motion is induced as long as the 
 current is sustained. 
 
 Attraction and Repulsion between Electrical Currents and 
 the Movements thence arising* 
 
 769. Not long after Oersted's discovery, it was ascer- 
 tained by Mr. Ampere, a French philosopher of celebrity, 
 to whose inventions and theoretic suggestions, electro- 
 magnetism is pre-eminently indebted, that wires, complet- 
 ing the circuit of different galvanic batteries, would attract 
 and repel each other; but not in a mode analogous to elec- 
 trical reaction, since it was between the bodies, similarly 
 excited, that the attraction was observed, while the repul- 
 sion took place between bodies dissimilarly excited. Elec- 
 trical indications are obtained only, when the poles of the 
 generating apparatus are unconnected, those afforded by 
 the galvanized wires, were the consequence of their con- 
 necting the poles of the galvanic apparatus. 
 
 770. Figure 63, represents an apparatus, contrived for the purpose of 
 shewing the reaction between wires subjected to galvanic currents. 
 
 771. Two copper wires, A, B, are supported parallel to each other, in 
 such manner as that their upper parts may move freely towards each other, 
 so as to touch, or in the opposite direction so as to become more remote. 
 These wires are supported on points, which rest on the bottoms of cavi- 
 ties replete with mercury, being amalgamated so as to insure a perfect con- 
 tact with that metal. By means of the little metallic balls, b, b, which may 
 be lowered or raised by screwing, the centre of gravity of the wires may 
 be so adjusted as to keep them perpendicular, when undisturbed, and yet 
 
107 
 
 Fig. 63. 
 
 render it easy for them to oscillate from 
 a very slight impulse. The four cavi- 
 ties holding mercury within which the 
 points rest, as above stated, have each 
 a metallic communication with the set 
 screws C, D, E, F, when E, F, are 
 made to receive wires from the same 
 pole of a battery, while the other two, 
 C, D, communicating with the other 
 pole, the current will go the same way 
 through both of the wires. Under 
 these circumstances they will attract 
 E each other, and come together; but if 
 E and C, be made to communicate 
 with the one pole, while D and F, com- 
 municate with the other, the current 
 will flow oppositely in the wires, and 
 they will move apart, as if actuated by 
 repulsion. If the wires be made to 
 oscillate by a timely opening and 
 of closing the circuit, the motion will 
 be increased. 
 
 Rotation of one Coil of Wire within another, in consequence of the rapid 
 creation and reversal of the Polarity arising from the change of direc- 
 tion in a Galvanic Current caused by Page's Pole Changer. 
 
 772. The adjoining figure 64, is designed to illus- 
 trate by means both striking and agreeable, the pow- 
 erful and rapid attraction, and repulsion, between 
 wires caused by electrical discharges made through 
 them alternately in opposite directions. 
 
 773. This apparatus has a close analogy with that 
 already described figure 61, as to the means by which 
 the polarity of the coil is imparted, and the direction 
 reversed at every semi-revolution, by means of a gal- 
 vanic current, and the pole changer (767). We have 
 only to substitute for the U magnet and rectangular 
 coil, two circular coils of the same material as the 
 rectangular coil. Of the two coils, one is large enough 
 to contain the other without touching, and being sta- 
 tionary, takes the place of the U magnet. The other, 
 
 excepting shape, does not differ from the rectangular coil ; while it is per- 
 fectly similar, as respects the means by which it is supported on an axis 
 and associated with the semi-cylinders of the pole changer, and the office 
 which it performs. In one case by polarities arising from a current, the 
 rectangular coil is made to rotate by conflicting with the poles of a U mag- 
 net; in the other case the polarities arising in a circular coil from the same 
 cause, conflict with those arising from a current in another coil. In either 
 case seeking a non-conflicting attitude, it is disappointed by the consequences 
 of its own efforts, and the perverting influence of the pole-changing appa- 
 ratus. 
 
108 
 
 Of Electro-dynamic Induction. 
 1st. Under this head we may put Induction of a Current upon itself. 
 2d. Generation of Currents by the Dynamic Inductive Influence of 
 other Currents. 
 
 Induction of a Current upon itself. 
 
 than if the same scraping were to be performed with the termination of a 
 conductor having a length no more than requisite to complete the circuit. 
 Moreover, Henry, I believe, first observed, that an operator touching the 
 rasp with one hand while holding the end of the coil during the scraping, 
 would be subjected to a perceptible shock at each of the interruptions of the 
 circuit, to which the sparks were indebted for their existence. 
 
 775. Under the circumstances of the experiment, described in the pre- 
 ceding paragraph, whenever the ribbon touches the rasp, the battery has 
 two circuits at command, one completed altogether by the coiled ribbon, the 
 other in part by the person of the operator. Yet on account of the low in- 
 tensity of the current, the imperfectly conducting circuit formed by the ani- 
 mal frame, will not be the mean of a perceptible discharge so long as the 
 other route afforded by the perfectly conducting copper ribbon is uninter- 
 rupted: but when the ribbon circuit is ruptured, a perceptible discharge 
 takes place through that made up of the operator's person, the coil which 
 he holds, and the rasp which he touches. 
 
 776. By the premises, the direct action of the battery is wholly incom- 
 petent to produce any perceptible discharge through the operator. Conse- 
 quently the shock, produced as described, and all the other characteristics 
 in which the phenomena arising from the breach of the circuit when the 
 coil is interposed, differ from those which appear when a short metallic con- 
 ductor is similarly employed, must be ascribed to the intervention of the 
 coil. It would seem, therefore, that the materials of the coil, both pondera- 
 ble and imponderable, become coerced by the battery into an unnatural 
 state; so that, on the rupture of the circuit to which this state is due, the 
 matter recoils towards its natural equilibrium, producing an electric dis- 
 charge of an intensity far above that of the parent stream sent through the 
 coil from the battery. On this account, it would seem as if the resulting 
 discharge might be appropriately designated as a recoil current. That the 
 conductor, which is the channel of a galvanic current, is in an artificial 
 
 Fig. 65. 
 
 a 
 
 774. Figure 65 represents a ribbon 
 of copper, in weight thirteen pounds, 
 in width one and an half inches, in 
 length ninety-three feet. This ribbon 
 is wound into a flat coil, of sixteen 
 inches in diameter, but, being insulated 
 by a double coating of silk, there can 
 be no metallic contact between any 
 of its circumvolutions. When one 
 end of the coil thus formed, is, as re- 
 presented, connected with one pole of 
 an active battery e, to the other pole 
 of which a rasp d, is soldered ; on 
 scraping the rasp with the free end of 
 the coil, sparks and metallic deflagra- 
 tions ensue with much more energetic 
 scintillation and louder snapping noise, 
 
109 
 
 state of polarization, almost the whole of the phenomena of electro-magnet- 
 ism seems to justify. This state, noticed by Faraday, was designated by 
 him as an electrotonic. The tension arising from this state, or the energy 
 of the effort to have it made by the matter in which it has been produced, 
 appears to be greater when the conductor, being in the ribbon form, is 
 wound up as a coil. Doubtless the proximity of the circumvolutions to 
 each other, must cause a reaction between the similar polarities, tending to 
 augment their resistance to the state imposed on them by the battery. 
 
 777. Analogous to the accumulation of power, above described as created 
 within the ribbon coil, is that which arises in a voltaic series of sufficient 
 intensity when the circuit is incomplete. Hence, agreeably to Henry's ob- 
 servations, the direct action of a series of high intensity, forming a circuit 
 through a short conductor by sudden contact, resembles, as to intensity, the 
 indirect action of a battery of low intensity, on breaking the circuit formed 
 through a long conductor. In the one case, the intensity being due to the 
 resiliency of the electrifiable particles of the conductor, is increased with its 
 length to a certain point; in the other case, the intensity being due to the 
 battery, the conductor cannot be too short : excepting that when the effect is 
 measured by the current inductively created in another conductor, agree- 
 ably to the process next to be explained, this effect must be influenced by 
 the length of the conductor, as well as the intensity of the current which it 
 conveys. 
 
 778. It has been suggested (776), that, the electrical discharge accompa- 
 nied by a shock and unusually large and noisy spark which characterizes 
 the process under consideration, is the consequence of the sudden effort of 
 the matter of the coil, both ponderable and imponderable, to recover its 
 natural equilibrium from a state of forced polarization within the coil. 
 There is a rough analogy between this resiliency of the supposed imponde- 
 rable current, and that which would ensue, if, instead of a copper coil dy- 
 namically electrified, a steel watch spring were wound up, to a certain de- 
 gree of tension, and then suddenly liberated so as to be allowed to react. 
 
 779. But in the act of recoiling, if, by the discontinuance of the broad 
 channel in which it may be generated, the current be diverted into a col- 
 lateral channel, in which it must experience far more resistance, the animal 
 frame of the operator, in the case in point, the concussion must be propor- 
 tionable to the impediments, just as if a torrent by being suddenly dammed 
 up, were forced into a circuitous channel, containing rocky obstructions. 
 
 780. In the instance of a principle, which moves with the inconceivable 
 velocity which characterizes electrical discharges, the larger the mass which 
 recoils, the greater the effect; but as to wind up a spring instantaneously, 
 requires an activity in proportion to its length, the longer the wire in which 
 the tension is to be induced, the greater the voltaic intensity required. Thus 
 Henry found, that when a voltaic series, consisting of six pieces of bell 
 wire, each one inch and an half in length, and an equal number of pieces 
 of zinc, of like dimensions, were employed to excite a due electrical ten- 
 sion in a spool of wire five miles long, and one-sixteenth of an inch thick, 
 the shock resulting from resiliency on the rupture of the circuit, was suffi- 
 cient to affect twenty-six persons joining hands.* 
 
 * I quote here from Davis' Manual of Magnetism, an engraving and description of 
 an instrument designated as the Contact Breaker. Supposing to employ this me- 
 chanism in the production of the phenomena, arising from a rapid rupture and re- 
 newal of a galvanic circuit, this explanation may be desirable to some of those who 
 may witness the processes in which it may be used. 
 
110 
 
 Generation of Currents by the Dynamic Inductive Influence of other 
 Currents. 
 
 781. The power which an electrified body has to produce an opposite 
 charge in another, has been explained under the name of " Electrical ex- 
 citement by Induction" (E, 107). There is another species of inductive 
 influence, to which allusion was made as dynamic induction (E, 120). 
 
 782. The attractive and repulsive influence of wires subjected to galvanic 
 currents has been illustrated (771-2). To Faraday we owe the discovery, 
 that there is such a reaction between the cause of electricity in any one 
 conductor, with the same principle in another, that under favourable cir- 
 cumstances a current in one may inductively produce a transient current in 
 the other. Thus, when two long wires were associated in concentric coils, 
 metallic contact between the circumvolutions being prevented by the silk 
 with which the wires had been covered like bonnet wire, on making or 
 breaking a galvanic circuit made through one of them, a transient current 
 was produced through the other. This effect was detected by subjecting a 
 needle to the dynamic discharge through a small hollow helix of wire, in- 
 cluded in the resiliating circuit. 
 
 783. The following laws have resulted from Faraday's researches: — 
 "1. During the time a galvanic current is increasing in quantity in a con- 
 ductor, it induces, or tends to induce, a current in an adjoining parallel con- 
 It consists of a bent copper wire W W, which by means of clock-work set in 
 
 motion by a spring, is made to vibrate rapidly, dipping its ends alternately into the 
 glass cups G G, intended to contain mercury. The spring is wound up by turning 
 
 the milled head A. The glass cups are 
 Fi S- 66, open at the bottom to allow the mercury to 
 
 come in contact with the brass pillars into 
 which they are cemented. These pillars 
 are both connected with one of the bind- 
 ing screw cups C C ; the other cup com- 
 municates with a brass mercury cup P, 
 into which dips a short wire connected 
 with the vibrating wire. Sufficient mer- 
 cury must be put into the cup P, to keep 
 the end of the vertical wire covered, and 
 enough into the glass cups to allow one 
 end of W W to leave the mercury in its 
 cup a little before the other end dips into 
 its portion. 
 
 The Contact Breaker may be advan- 
 tageously used in connexion with many 
 of the instruments for affording sparks and shocks, which will be described under 
 the following head. The current must be transmitted through the two instruments 
 in succession, by connecting one of the cups C C with one pole of the battery, and 
 the other cup with one of those attached to the spiral or other piece of apparatus, 
 the remaining cup of which is to communicate with the other pole of the battery. It 
 is better to break the circuit mechanically in this way, than by means of any inter- 
 rupting apparatus worked by the battery itself, as a considerable part of the power of 
 the current is then expended in giving motion to the interruptor. 
 
 On making connexion in this manner with a flat spiral, and turning the milled 
 head A. to put the vibrating wire in motion, a brilliant spark will be seen at each 
 rupture of contact, accompanied by a loud snap, and producing considerable com- 
 bustion of the mercury. With a battery consisting of a few pairs of plates of large 
 size, such as Dr. Hare's Calorimotor, the size of the spark will be greatly increased 
 and the snap become as loud as the report of a Leyden jar. The shock will also be 
 pretty strong, and may be increased by covering the mercury in the glass cups with 
 a stratum of oil. A shock may be obtained, especially when oil is used, on closing 
 the circuit as well as on opening it, though inferior to that given in the latter case ; 
 a faint spark is also sometimes seen when the wire dips into the mercury. 
 
Ill 
 
 ductor in an opposite direction to itself. 2. During the continuance of the 
 primary current in full quantity, no inductive action is exerted. 3. But 
 when the same current begins to decline in quantity, and during the whole 
 time of its diminishing, an induced current is produced in an opposite direc- 
 tion to the induced current at the beginning of the primary current." 
 
 784. Professor Henry, of Princeton, has shown that currents may be 
 strikingly produced by induction, in the following manner. The circuit 
 formed, through the ribbon coil, a, with the battery, figure 65, being alter- 
 nately made and interrupted, as stated (774), a helix of coated copper wire 
 of about 21 wire gauge, and of about 4900 feet in length, is subjected to the 
 inductive influence of the coil, as represented in the adjoining figure, in 
 
 which the coils and helix are situated concentrically one upon the other, 
 while separated by a plate of glass. The intensity of the resiliating cur- 
 rent as measured by the shock, increases with the length of the helix em- 
 ployed, until the resistance to the electrical current consequent to the length, 
 compensates the benefit otherwise arising. Yet, as might be expected, the 
 length to which the circuit may be thus extended with advantage, ceteris 
 paribus, is proportional directly to the numerical extent of the voltaic series 
 employed (431). 
 
 785. The ends of two wires severally connected with those of the helix, 
 being rubbed one against the other, while the circuit through the coil is 
 alternately broken and renewed in rapid succession, sparks will be visible, 
 and slight shacks may be felt through the fingers or tongue, on contact 
 with the wires. When the ends of the wires are joined, the sparks and 
 snaps, which can be obtained between the end of the coil connected with 
 the battery while passing over the rasp, are much diminished in energy, 
 and no shock can be received. 
 
 786. A delicate galvanometer being associated in the circuit with the 
 upper coil, whenever the battery circuit is completed through the coil, the 
 magnetic needle will be extensively deflected, but will immediately return 
 to the meridian, a flow of a current through the wire of the galvanometer 
 is thus indicated, which is nevertheless transient apparently. On opening 
 the circuit, a similar transient deflection will occur in the opposite direction. 
 No deflection occurs while the battery current is flowing steadily. The 
 galvanometer should be placed at such a distance from the coil that the 
 current through this may not affect the needle. 
 
 787. A sewing needle will be magnetized if placed within a spiral of 
 wire of very small diameter, duly comprised in the same circuit as the 
 helix. The polarity produced by the current which ensues on the comple- 
 tion of the circuit, will be the reverse of that communicated by the current 
 consequent to its rupture. If both currents are allowed to act on the 
 
112 
 
 needle, it will acquire little or no magnetism, as the magnetizing influence 
 of one will counteract that of the other. 
 
 788. Instructed by Faraday, Prof. Henry has added many ingenious dis- 
 coveries respecting the phenomena of dynamic induction ; among these is 
 the consistent consequence, that the transient secondary current, as above 
 described, inductively produced in a second coil, was capable of being com- 
 municated conductively, so as to circulate through a third coil, which, act- 
 ing inductively on a helix, was productive of a tertiary current of the same 
 character, though feebler, as that produced when the helix is exposed to the 
 inductive influence of the primary coil. Hence shocks will be received by 
 
 Fig. 68. 
 
 cv 
 
 a person holding in each hand one of the handles, to which the ends of the 
 helix are attached, as represented in figure 68. The process may be ex- 
 tended so as to produce, analogously, fourth and fifth currents. "Henry 
 alleges that a shock was given, by means of a current of the third order, to 
 twenty persons joining hands." Shocks extending to the arms were also 
 produced by the process above mentioned, " with currents of the fifth or- 
 der." 
 
 789. Of course, the characteristic efficacy of the primary current must 
 be liable to vary with those of the galvanic apparatus employed in its pro- 
 duction, and the length, width, and thickness of the ribbon employed. 
 With a simple elementary battery of a given size, there must be a certain 
 length, width, and thickness of ribbon, which will produce a maximum ef- 
 fect; and any deviation from this combination of requisites must be produc- 
 tive of deterioration. It follows, that with ribbons of various dimensions, 
 there must be for each a degree of intensity and quantity depending on the 
 number and size of the voltaic pairs, which will render the inductive power 
 produced by its means, a maximum. Hence the sectional area and length 
 of the ribbon, the extent of the oxidizable surface of the zinc, and the num- 
 ber of the series into which it may be divided, form variable elements, sus- 
 ceptible of an almost infinite variety of complications. Each of these va- 
 rious complicate combinations must have its appropriate effect upon a se- 
 condary coil, having a given length and sectional area, but must vary with 
 every change in either of these dimensions. In like manner, the charac- 
 teristics of the current produced by the inductive influence of a second, a 
 third, a fourth, or a fifth coil, or as many as may be employed with effect, 
 must vary with their length, shape, and sectional area. Another source of 
 variation arises from the distance of the inducing coil from that which is 
 the subject of the inductive power, and also their parallelism, and the de- 
 gree in which their axes may approach or recede from coincidence with 
 one line. The directions of the currents, inductively incited, seems to 
 have varied with the distance. 
 
113 
 
 790. To Prof. Henry is due 
 the detection of the screening 
 power of metallic sheets. I al- 
 lude here to the fact, that the in- 
 terposition of a metallic sheet, as 
 in figure 69, between the ribbon 
 and coil, or between a coil and a 
 helix of fine wire, nearly annihi- 
 lates the power to produce shocks, 
 although the interposition of a 
 plate of glass, or any other wow- 
 conducting material, does not im- 
 pair the inductive influence. Yet 
 a sheet of metal, out of which a gore or sector has been cut, 
 as represented in figure 70, does not impair the power of 
 induction. Moreover, when from the corners of the gash 
 made in a plate, by cutting out the gore, wires soldered thereto 
 were duly extended and attached to the ends of a helix, in- 
 cluding a needle ; to this needle, on 
 subjecting the plate to the inductive in- 
 -b fluence of a coil duly excited by a bat- 
 tery as in the adjoining figure, polarity 
 was imparted, which was such as to 
 show the resilient current to be in the 
 same direction as that in the inductive coil, a. This resilient current is 
 considered by Henry as a secondary one, but it seems to me it is to the im- 
 palpable current of which it is the resiliating effect, that the appellation of 
 secondary should be applied. 
 
 791. I find that a sheet of zinc does not prevent the creation of a resili- 
 ating current in my helix (793), sufficient to affect the gold leaf galvanos- 
 cope. I am under the impression that the plate acts by causing a diffu- 
 sion of the inductive force, so as to reduce its intensity too low for causing 
 a shock. 
 
 792. The screening power above described, as displayed by a sheet of 
 metal interposed between the first and second coil, equally availed, when a 
 like interposition was made between a second and a third, a third and a 
 fourth, or a fourth and a fifth coil. 
 
 793. When a copper ribbon coil is made to act inductively on a long 
 helix of wire, as illustrated in figure 67, the shock arising from the resili- 
 ency of the induced electrical tension seems, within an extensive boundary, 
 to be greater in proportion as the wire is longer and more slender. I have 
 employed a ribbon coil of about three inches and a half wide, and one hun- 
 dred and ninety-six feet long, and a helix of coated copper wire, No. 21, of 
 about twenty-eight pounds in weight, and a mile in length, furnished with 
 bright metallic handles. Although the helix may be supported at the dis- 
 tance of several feet above the coil, while the current of a calorimotor is al- 
 ternately established and arrested within it, a person holding one handle of 
 the helix wire in each hand, will receive shocks which augment in severity 
 as the helix is approximated to the coil, and become intolerable when it is 
 brought into contact with it nearly. 
 
 794. Figure 72 represents a helix such as described, situated as when it 
 gave smart shocks, in consequence of the inductive resiliating influence of 
 the coil, c. 
 
 o 
 
114 
 
 Fig. 73. 
 
 Fig. 72. 
 
 * L 
 
 795. From the preceding statement, it appears that 
 a current of great quantity may produce a resilient 
 current of great intensity. But Henry has ascertained 
 that the converse is possible. The adjoining figure has 
 been employed by him to illustrate the experiments by 
 which the facts alluded to were established. 
 
 796. The tension induced by coil a, in coil b, is 
 transmitted coraductively to coil c, whence it acts in- 
 ductively upon the helix d, producing intensity, and is 
 coraductively transmitted to e, whence it inductively 
 generates a current of quantity therein, sufficient, to 
 magnetize a needle included in a little spiral of wire 
 as represented.* 
 
 797. Much labour has been bestowed by Henry in 
 determining the directions of the current in the dif- 
 ferent coils ; but in this part of his investigations there 
 is too much abstruse and minute detail, but little con- 
 nected with striking phenomena, to be introduced into 
 a text-book. I am under the impression, that follow- 
 ing out the consequences which theory would suggest, 
 founded on the idea that each current, inductively pro- 
 duced, must be the opposite of that which immediately 
 induces it, would give the direction of each current 
 generated in the coils and helices of figure 73. 
 
 Dynamic Inductive Infuence of Statical Electricity. 
 
 798. On this subject I will quote a few lines from Henry's Memoir in 
 the American Philosophical Transactions, together with the appropriate en- 
 graving. 
 
 799. "The discovery of the fact that the secondary current, which ex- 
 ists but for a moment, could induce another current of considerable energy, 
 gave some indication that similar effects might be produced by a discharge 
 
 * It must be evident, from the experiments here illustrated, that the same induc- 
 tive power produces either quantity or intensity, accordingly as it is made to act in 
 the long and narrow circuits afforded by the wire helices, or the shorter and more 
 ample channels afforded by the ribbon coils. 
 
115 
 
 of ordinary electricity, provided a sufficiently perfect insulation could be 
 obtained. To test this, a hollow glass cylinder, fig. 74, of about six inches 
 in diameter, was prepared with a narrow ribbon of tin-foil, about thirty feet 
 long, pasted spirally around the outside, and a similar ribbon of the same 
 
 Fig 74. 
 
 .ength pasted on the inside ; so that the corresponding spires of the two 
 were directly opposite each other. The ends of the inner spiral passed out 
 of the cylinder through a glass tube, to prevent all direct communication 
 between the two. When the ends of the inner ribbon were joined by the 
 magnetizing spiral, c, containing a needle, and a discharge from a half 
 gallon jar sent through the outer ribbon, the needle was strongly magnet- 
 ized in such a manner as to indicate an induced current through the inner 
 ribbon in the same direction as that of the current of the jar. This ex- 
 periment was repeated many times, and always with the same result. 
 
 800. " When the ends of one of the ribbons were placed very nearly in 
 contact, a small spark was perceived at the opening, the moment the dis- 
 charge took place through the other ribbon. 
 
 801. " When the ends of the same ribbon were separated to a consider- 
 able distance, a larger spark than the last could be drawn from each end 
 by presenting a ball, or the knuckle. 
 
 802. " Also, if the ends of the outer ribbon were united, so as to form a 
 perfect metallic circuit, a spark could be drawn from any point of the same, 
 when a discharge was sent through the inner ribbon." 
 
 803. An analogous inductive influence to that observed in the case of a 
 series of coils, of which the first in the series is made the channel of a gal- 
 vanic discharge, has been noticed by Henry in the case of wires placed 
 nearly parallel to each other, of which one is made the medium of a dis- 
 charge from a battery of coated jars. Having, with my assistance, caused 
 two such wires to pass round my lecture room, as near as possible to each 
 other, without touching, the ends of one of the wires being severally in- 
 serted in cups of mercury, while the other wire was the medium of a dis- 
 charge from my battery, shocks were received in the fingers when they 
 were plunged in the mercury in the cups, at the moment of the discharge. 
 
 804. It is to discharges of this kind, as I conceive, that the souring of 
 milk and beer, during thunder storms, may be ascribed. 
 
 805. It is not possible to do full justice to the speculations, experiments, 
 and observations of Henry, in an elementary treatise : I therefore forbear 
 to extend this account of them further. 
 
 806. As respects the hypothetical explanation, I have resorted, in com- 
 mon with Henry, to the conventional idea of electrical currents inducing 
 other currents; but it will be hereafter suggested, in treating of the theory 
 of electricity, that the phenomena may be the effect of waves of polarization 
 
116 
 
 induced in that ocean of the imponderable material cause of electricity, 
 which, in a state of excessive condensation, is conceived to occupy the 
 space intervening between ponderable metallic particles, and at the same 
 time in a state of greater or less density to pervade the creation. 
 
 INDUCTION OF MAGNETISM BY CURRENTS. 
 
 807. Soon after Ampere, in observing the reaction be- 
 tween electrical currents, made the first step in the branch 
 of science last treated of, discovery was made of the power 
 of such currents to impart magnetic polarity to a coil of 
 wire, and of rendering a needle situated transversely to the 
 current, magnetic. 
 
 808. This power of imparting polarity, was prodigiously 
 increased, when the wire wound into a helix, was made to 
 include the needle. By these means the influence of the 
 current was reiterated, as in the instance of Schweiger's gal- 
 vanometer. 
 
 vanic fluid through the spiral cannot be made so transient- 
 ly as not to impart magnetism to the bar. The current 
 being from the cup, P, to the cup, N, the poles of the rod 
 will have the character indicated by the initials, S and N; 
 but either reversing the current, or substituting a left spi- 
 ral, would reverse the character of the magnetism commu- 
 nicated to the rod. 
 
 810. The polarity given to the needle, when the current 
 flowed one way, was found to be the opposite of that im- 
 parted when it flowed in the opposite direction. The cur- 
 rent being conceived to proceed in the wire from positive 
 to negative, the end of the needle pointing the same way, 
 as the flowing of the current must receive north polarity, 
 the other receiving consequently south polarity; but re- 
 versing the direction of the current, the polarity must be 
 reversed. The polarity varied also, as the helix was wound 
 to the right or the left, so that a left helix being used as 
 mentioned above, the currents would have effects the op- 
 posite of those produced by a right helix. 
 
 811. In fact the same wire was found to acquire difler- 
 
 Fig. 75. 
 
 809. The adjoining figure 
 
 57 represents a right spiral of 
 ■© copper wire, containing a rod 
 y of soft iron. The ends of the 
 wire terminate within small 
 cups of mercury. Thus si- 
 tuated, a discharge of the gal- 
 
117 
 
 ent polarities, when different parts of it were made to oc- 
 cupy a succession of cavities in different helices, some wound 
 to the right, the others to the left. A needle was magnet- 
 ized when situated on the outside of a galvanized helix, but 
 much less powerfully than when included discharges of 
 statical electricity were found competent to produce mag- 
 netism, when substituted in the same processes, for those 
 of galvanism, but the power imparted was comparatively 
 very feeble. 
 
 812. Mr. Ampere, besides other interesting discoveries 
 which my limits will not allow me to illustrate, and which 
 it would be impossible to describe satisfactorily, most in- 
 geniously caused the ends of a wire forming a helix to re- 
 turn through the axis of the helix, without touching it, to 
 the middle, and, passing them out of the helix, one on one 
 side, the other on the other side, they were made to form 
 an axis, on which the whole might revolve. The different 
 ends of the wire, thus arranged, being made duly to com- 
 municate with a galvanic battery, the helix was influenced 
 by a magnet, as one magnet is affected by another. 
 
 813. Two coils wound one to the 
 right, the other to the left, as in fig- 
 ure 76, and made the medium of a 
 galvanic current, in the usual way, 
 will impart opposite polarities to 
 two bars or rods of iron simulta- 
 neously introduced, one of them 
 within the coil on the right, the 
 other within that on the left. The 
 polarity of the outer extremities will be similar, and the 
 same is true of the ends near the centre. This may be 
 shown by withdrawing and presenting them to the poles 
 of an ordinary magnetic needle. 
 
 814. In this way if one bar be introduced so as to occu- 
 py the cavities of both spirals, it will have three poles, the 
 middle having only one polarity, which will be the oppo- 
 site of the similar polarity of the extremities. 
 
 Of the Electro- Magnet. 
 
 815. A rod of iron, magnetised by a galvanic current, 
 as above illustrated, is called an electro-magnet. Profes- 
 sor Moll perceived, that if a bar magnet was more pow- 
 erful in the horse-shoe form, the same ought to hold in the 
 
118 
 
 Fig. 78. 
 
 case of an electro-magnet. Hence he was led to construct 
 an electro-magnet resembling that represented in the sub- 
 joined figure. 
 
 Pi ;. 77. 816. It consists of an iron 
 
 rod in the shape of a horse 
 shoe, on which copper wire, 
 of the size used for bells, co- 
 vered by silk, is wound, from 
 one end to the other. His 
 electro-magnet thus made, 
 held seventy-five pounds, 
 while weighing itself only 
 five pounds. 
 
 817. The quantity of wire 
 employed in the construc- 
 tion of the electro-magnet 
 represented by the preced- 
 ing cut is evidently inadequate to pro- 
 duce a high charge, yet the engraving 
 may be more competent to convey a due 
 conception of the process by which such 
 a magnet is charged, than that of figure 
 78, which is closely covered with copper 
 bell-wire, so as to be capable of acquiring 
 from the same current proportionably 
 much higher power. Of course it must 
 be imagined that the cups at N and P, 
 figure 77, are to be supplied with mer- 
 cury, so as to make a connexion with the extremities of a 
 galvanic battery. Yet I prefer set screws, for effecting 
 such connexions. 
 
 Of Henry* s Electro-magnet. 
 
 818. The results obtained by Moll were eclipsed by 
 those accomplished by our countryman, Professor Joseph 
 Henry, of whom mention has already been made. 
 
 819. Of his celebrated electro-magnet, the following ac- 
 count is extracted from Silliman's Journal, vol. 21, 1831, 
 page 400. 
 
 820. " A soft iron bar, two inches square, and twenty 
 inches long, having the edges rounded, was bent into the 
 form of a horse-shoe. Five hundred and forty feet of cop- 
 per bell-wire were wound round it, in nine coils of sixty 
 
119 
 
 feet each. These coils were not continued from one end 
 of the magnet to the other, but each of them was wound 
 round a portion of the horse-shoe about an inch in length, 
 leaving the ends of the wires projecting, and properly num- 
 bered. The alternate ends were soldered to a copper cy- 
 linder, and the others to a small cylinder of zinc, contain- 
 ing only two-fifths of a square foot, and forming a voltaic 
 arrangement with dilute acid. When the armature of soft 
 iron was placed across the ends of the horse shoe, it was 
 found capable of supporting 650 pounds: an astonishing 
 effect for so small a battery, which required a charge of 
 only half a pint of dilute acid. With a larger battery, the 
 weight sustained was 750 pounds, which seemed to be the 
 maximum of magnetic power that could be developed in 
 that bar by voltaic electricity. It is remarkable, that when 
 the ends of the wires were united so as to form a contin- 
 uous wire of 540 feet, the weight raised was only 145 
 pounds." 
 
 821. Another magnet was made by Professor Henry, 
 which held upwards of two thousand pounds. 
 
 822. Subsequently magnets have been made adequate to 
 hold three thousand pounds. 
 
 823. As soon as the current through the coils of an 
 electro-magnet is arrested, the keeper, if loaded, falls off, 
 since the magnetic power which remains, is extremely 
 feeble. The rapidity with which the magnetic polarity is 
 produced, destroyed, and reproduced, or reversed by shift- 
 ing the direction of the current, is very remarkable. 
 
 824. The following figure represents a modification of Henry's electro- 
 magnet, as constructed by me, soon after the account above quoted was 
 published. 
 
 825. M is the electro-magnet, consisting of an iron cylinder, of If 
 inches in diameter, and 24 inches in length, bent so as to form a U. It 
 has six coils of sixty feet of covered copper wire on each leg. K, the 
 keeper, of which the sectional area should not be less than that of the bar 
 of which the electro-magnet is formed. The keeper is suspended from a 
 steelyard, divided into parts, each equal to the distance between the hook 
 supporting the keeper and the pivot of the fulcrum at F. The iron globe 
 W, weighs 100 pounds, and when slid to the fifth division necessarily acts 
 on the keeper with a force equal to five times its weight. When excited 
 by a calorimotor of two pairs, such as has been described, fig. 8, it has been 
 necessary to add additional weight to increase the force to 750 pounds, be- 
 fore the separation of the keeper could be effected.* 
 
 * The coils are twelve in number, each comprising sixty feet of copper bell-wire, 
 wound up with thin paper and shell lac varnish, to prevent metallic contact. They 
 
120 
 
 Fig. 79. 
 
 Of the Rapidity with which Polarity may be Reversed, and the consequent 
 Rapidity of Rotary Motion thence arising. 
 
 826. The attractive power above mentioned as imparted by an electrical 
 current to a cylinder or bar of iron in the U form, is rendered more sur- 
 prising by the inconceivable minuteness of the time requisite for the pro- 
 duction, and reversal of the polarity on which it depends. 
 
 827. The alternations of attraction and repulsion resulting from the re- 
 versal of polarity, has been an object of much attention and experimental 
 contrivance, with the view of obtaining an advantageous moving power for 
 machinery. 
 
 828. Previously to the career of Professor Henry, it was known that the 
 most transient duration of a galvanic current passing through a helix 
 would magnetize, or reverse the magnetism of an iron rod contained within 
 the helix. This susceptibility of opposite magnetization was more fully 
 presented to attention by Henry, and may be illustrated by a little ma- 
 chine, of which a description is subjoined.* 
 
 were severally wound upon an iron cylinder of the same diameter as that of the 
 electro-magnet, previously surrounded with thick paper so as to increase the bulk a 
 little. In consequence of this precaution the bore of the coils was sufficiently capa- 
 cious to allow them to be transferred with ease, from the iron cylinder to the legs 
 of the magnet. Six were thus affixed to each leg. In order that such a set of coils 
 should cooperate, when all are wound one way, so for instance, as to form right coils, 
 all the beginnings must communicate with one pole, all the endings with the other. 
 To facilitate this, the analogous extremities are soldered together as represented at 
 P and N. The same rule must be observed if they be all wound to the left. Yet, 
 a right and a left coil, may be made to cooperate in producing the same polarity, 
 if each beginning is applied to the same pole as each ending. By a beginning, 1 
 mean that extremity at which the coil is begun to be wound : by an ending, of 
 course, that extremity at which the winding terminates. 
 
 * Reciprocating Engine. 
 
 Figure 80, may afford a good idea of a reciprocating machine working upon the 
 principle suggested by Henry. The polarity of the two upright electro-magnets M, 
 
121 
 
 829. Davenporfs Machine, which drew so much attention, added no- 
 thing to our knowledge. The change from an alternate to a rotary 
 motion, was an easy step made independently by Richie and others, as 
 well as himself. As respects its efficacy as a moving power compared 
 with an alternating motion, it was a step towards the rear, which any 
 one well acquainted with the nature of the peculiarity of the powers of 
 electro-magnets and with mechanics, would not have taken. In my opinion, 
 the great defect of this power is, that its force is exerted through a very 
 minute space. For its advantageous exertion it is requisite that the sur- 
 faces of the armature and those of the poles of the electro-magnet be parallel 
 and exactly opposite. These objects cannot be well obtained when either the 
 armature or the magnet are undergoing a rotary motion. In that case, 
 when the position of the masses actuated by the opposite polarities, is most 
 favourable for the exercise of their reciprocal attraction or repulsion, their 
 position is least favourable for the production of circular motion. It is in 
 
 Fig. 80. 
 
 M, is established or nullified alternately, as the fly-wheel in revolving makes a 
 communication with the coil of one or the other, by a mechanism called the break 
 piece. The little cylindrical rod which forms the axis of the fly-wheel W, is filed 
 away at two places of about a quarter of an inch in width, on opposite sides of the 
 rod, leaving between them, a part which is not deprived of its rotundity. Of three 
 springs proceeding vertically from beneath the base board, so as to be held firmly by 
 it, one communicates by a wire beneath the board with the set screw on the right 
 and through it with a pole of a battery. Pressing at the same time on the interme- 
 diate round portion of the axis, it keeps it constantly in the same electrical state as 
 the pole of the battery with which it communicates. Each of the other two springs 
 communicates through the wire of one of the helices M, M, with the left set screw, 
 and through this with the other pole of the battery. The axis, as above mentioned, 
 being in constant communication with one pole, the current alternately passes 
 through the helix of one or the other electro-magnet, accordingly as the spring with 
 which it communicates is, or is not, in contact with the axis in consequence of the 
 alternate presentation at every semi-revolution of the portion which has been re- 
 moved by the file or that which has been left in statu quo. As the portions in the 
 last mentioned state, are on opposite sides, the contact of the springs with the axis, 
 is alternate. Thus each magnet is alternately charged and alternately free. Con- 
 sequently two keepers of soft iron associated with each other, and with a beam crank 
 and fly-wheel, by being alternately attracted and liberated, undergo an alternate 
 motion which is imparted to the beam. This motion by means of the crank causes 
 the fly-wheel and its axis to revolve, and thus gives efficacy to the mechanism of the 
 break piece. 
 
 It follows that the machine continues in motion as long as the galvanic current is 
 applied. 
 
 The analogy between the mechanism of this apparatus, and that which is resorted 
 to in steam engines, is self-evident. 
 P 
 
122 
 
 the vicinity of the " dead point" so called technically, that there is the most 
 intense reaction. 
 
 830. Davenport's apparatus did not differ essentially from that of Richie. 
 In both, the alternation of polarity by which the beam was set in motion 
 agreeably to the apparatus last described, was made to act upon an electro- 
 magnet turning on a vertical axis between the jaws, either of a permanent 
 magnet or of an electro-magnet. The former was employed by Richie, 
 the latter by Davenport. I have been under the impression that Richie did 
 not make due acknowledgment to Henry, for the hint afforded by the 
 alternating beam engine. Yet De la Rive alleges that he saw an appa- 
 ratus, in 1828, which had been contrived by Richie, to revolve by the al- 
 ternation of polarity, resulting from changes in the direction of the galvanic 
 current. % 
 
 On the great Advantage of Electro-magnets as the Means of 
 imparting Permanent Magnetism* 
 
 831. One of the practical advantages arising from the 
 art of making electro-magnets is, that we are enabled to 
 impart instantaneously the most powerful magnetism to 
 steel bars. The mode of employing for this purpose an 
 electro-magnet, does not differ from that already described 
 
 * Richie's Revolving Electro-magnet. 
 
 The following figure will give an idea of the apparatus which in Europe is known 
 as Richie's revolving electro-magnet. 
 
 Fig. 81. Two cups of mercury, or two set screws, 
 
 are supported severally on each side of an 
 arch of brass, by means of wires terminating 
 each in one of the springs of a pole changer 
 (767). By these means the helix in the elec- 
 tro-magnet is subjected to a current from a 
 battery, of which the direction is reversed as 
 often as the electro-magnet accomplishes a 
 semi-revolution. If, while subjected to the 
 current the electro-magnet be made to turn 
 through a quadrant, so as to be at right angles 
 to the position in which it is represented, each 
 of its poles will be attracted by one pole and 
 repelled by the other pole of the U magnet, 
 between the legs of which it is placed. Hence, 
 as soon as liberated, it will seek to arrange 
 itself so as to obey the polar impulses alluded 
 to. But in being thus impelled, it acquires a 
 rotary force which carries it so far as to have 
 the current reversed by the pole changer. It 
 is now impelled to reverse its position, but at 
 half a turn encounters a change of polarity 
 from the same causes as at first. Thus a rota- 
 tion ensues and endures so long as the current 
 is supplied. I have seen the electro-magnet 
 supported horizontally upon the vertical axis 
 as represented in the preceding figure, revolve 
 so rapidly, as to make a humming noise, and 
 to assume the appearance of an obtuse spheroid 
 or turnip-shaped disk. 
 
123 
 
 in using the permanent magnet for the same purpose (729). 
 In either case, however, when the magnet to be charged is 
 of the U form, the induction is more powerful if an electro- 
 magnet having the same distance between the legs is em- 
 ployed. As the coil may be made loose enough to slip on 
 and off (825), rods of iron in the U shape, may be provided 
 so as to suit the various permanent magnets required. 
 
 m „ 832. Figure 82, will serve to 
 
 illustrate the proper position of 
 the electro-magnet relatively to 
 a steel U bar to be magnetized, 
 as when first applied. It is to 
 be slid from the position in 
 which it is represented, towards 
 the ends of the steel U bar, two 
 or three times; and finally being 
 brought into the situation of a keeper, let the keeper be 
 applied before the magnet is slid off. 
 
 Dynamic Gold, Leaf Galvanoscope. 
 
 833. The figure of the gold leaf galvanoscope was introduced, in treating 
 n- qq » , m • r> „ of the galvanic circuit, in order to give the 
 
 Fig. 83.— Rotating Engine Bell. , & . , „ ' . . P T . „ 
 
 student an idea oi the means which it af- 
 fords of detecting a galvano-electrical cur- 
 rent. The explanation of this instrument, 
 requiring a reference to the laws and 
 phenomena which fall under the head of 
 reaction of magnets with electrical cur- 
 rents, was postponed in order to be given 
 here, the figure being of necessity rein- 
 serted in the next page. 
 
 834. Between the legs of a U magnet, 
 fig. 84, a glass tube is placed, to each end 
 
 Figure 83, represents the revolving magnet, 
 as associated with a bell, by means of a wheel- 
 work, like that of a clock. An endless screw 
 S, on the axis acts upon the teeth of a wheel, 
 which as it revolves by means of a projecting 
 pin, lifts the handle of a hammer until it ar- 
 rives at a due elevation, where it is released 
 from the pin. Then by the reaction of a 
 spiral spring, the hammer is make to strike 
 the bell. As the wheel has sixty-four teeth, 
 it takes sixty-four revolutions of the magnet 
 to cause one stroke. In some instances the 
 number'of strokes in a given time being ascer- 
 tained, the revolutions were found to amount 
 to more than one hundred in a second. 
 
124 
 
 of which a brass cap is fitted, supporting within the tube forceps so affixed, 
 as to be concentric with the axis of the tube. Between the forceps thus 
 supported and another similar pair affixed to the lower cap of the tube, a 
 strip of gold leaf is extended, of which one of the two ends is so held by- 
 each forceps, as to make it occupy the central space about the axis'of the 
 tube between the forceps. The caps communicate with set screws, to which 
 wires are to be affixed, to complete any circuit, which is to be tested. 
 When subjected to a very feeble galvanic discharge, the gold leaf will, agree- 
 ably to the law above stated (626), endeavour to quit the position which it 
 holds, in order to lake the tangential attitude, and while thus striving to 
 escape from between the jaws of the magnet, inclines one way or the 
 other, in a plane at right angles to one passing through the axes of both 
 jaws (740). 
 
 Of the Induction of Electrical Currents by Magnetism, or 
 Magneto-electrical Induction. 
 
 835. The influence of electric currents in inducing mag- 
 netism, having been fully demonstrated, the celebrated Fa- 
 raday was led to inquire whether the converse might not 
 be attainable. Accordingly he has ascertained, that elec- 
 trical currents may be induced by magnetic action. As, 
 on the one hand, an electrical current circulating through 
 a coil of wire will produce magnetism in an iron bar 
 situated within the coil, so, on the other, if a bar pre- 
 viously magnetized be alternately introduced into the coil, 
 and withdrawn, currents will be induced in the coil at each 
 ingress and egress of the bar. To the currents thus in- 
 duced, as well as to those already described as resulting 
 from the inductive influence of the current in one helix 
 producing a current in another in its vicinity (781), the 
 appellation of Faradian has been given in honour of their 
 discoverer. 
 
 836. The inductive influ- 
 ence of a magnet, in causing 
 an electrical current, may be 
 illustrated by the process 
 which the adjoining figure 
 exemplifies. It will be per- 
 ceived, that the gold leaf of 
 the galvanoscope, already 
 described (757), is made, as 
 represented in the engraving, 
 to complete the circuit of a 
 coil of covered copper wire, 
 which has been so wound as 
 to leave about its axis a va- 
 
125 
 
 cant space sufficient to receive either of the legs of a U 
 magnet. 
 
 837. In putting the coil into the situation in which it is 
 represented, the gold leaf will incline one way ; on re- 
 moving the coil, it will incline the other way: moreover, 
 the flexure which arises on putting the coil on one leg, 
 will be the opposite of that which will ensue when it may 
 be put about the other leg. Yet removal from one leg, 
 and placing it about the other, will be productive of a si- 
 milar flexure. While the coil is stationary, the gold leaf 
 is not affected. It is only during the changes of its situa- 
 tion relatively to the magnet, that any electric impulse is 
 given adequate to the production of a transient current 
 (633). 
 
 838. It has been pointed out that each end of the keeper 
 of a magnet assumes a magnetic polarity opposite to that 
 of the pole with which it may be in contact, but that the 
 magnetism thus acquired, ceases on the removal of the 
 keeper from the magnet. If we suppose such a keeper to 
 be surrounded by a coil of insulated wire, we have only to 
 remove it from its appropriate position, and restore it al- 
 ternately, in order to produce a Faradian current within 
 the coil at each change of position (835). 
 
 839. Under these circumstances, the magnetism of the 
 keeper is destroyed as often as it is removed from the 
 poles, and restored as often as it resumes its appropriate 
 position; and an alternate accumulation and subsidence of 
 the magnetic fluid within the keeper, is supposed to pro- 
 duce Faradian currents by its reaction with the electric 
 matter in the wire. 
 
 840. The current produced by this last mentioned pro- 
 cess was detected by Faraday, by causing the ends of the 
 wire coiled about the keeper to communicate with the ter- 
 minations of the coil of a multiplier, at the moment of re- 
 moval from the poles of a powerful magnet. But of the 
 current thus detected, indications were soon after obtained 
 by the production of sparks. This interesting result was 
 first attained by the distinguished Italian electricians, No- 
 bili and Antinori, by causing the ends of the wire coiled 
 about the keeper to break contact with each other through 
 the medium of an amalgamated surface, in consequence of 
 the jar arising from the lifting of the keeper from the poles 
 of a magnet. Professor Forbes, of Edinburgh, produced 
 
126 
 
 the same phenomenon shortly afterwards, by employing 
 the same process with a powerful loadstone. 
 
 Fig. 85. 
 
 841. This experiment is illustrated 
 by the adjoining figure. The armature 
 is a U bar of soft iron, and is surround- 
 ed by a fine wire coil of great length. 
 It may, advantageously, be fifteen hun- 
 dred feet long. Of course it has the 
 customary covering of cotton or silk. 
 A section of it, and its case, is repre- 
 sented at E, O, D. One end of the wire 
 is soldered to the armature and the case. 
 :B Hg j\ The other end of the wire is soldered to 
 
 flSflBte / \ HI set screw ' ^' insulated from the case 
 i f^MSm A N| by ivory. Ii, held by the operator, is a 
 
 laBBB^ >jk j metallic handle with two wires ; one is 
 
 " " - I - n. I attached to the set screw, E, and thus 
 
 communicates with one end of the coil ; 
 the other communicates with the coil 
 through the set screw, M, communicating 
 with the magnet, and of course with the 
 keeper, whenever it is in contact with the poles of the magnet. When the 
 keeper is applied to the magnetic poles, it becomes a magnet (733); when 
 separated, it returns to its previous state. The internal change which the 
 keeper undergoes in acquiring or losing polarity, is productive, by induc- 
 tion, of cotemporaneous currents in the coil. The resiliency of the polar- 
 ized matter in the keeper, when it is suddenly put on, or pulled off from, the 
 poles of the magnet, acts like that of a galvanic circuit when suddenly 
 opened or closed (775). Hence, simultaneously with the removal, a sen- 
 sation and a spark is perceived by the operator, who, when the circuit 
 through the magnet is suspended, becomes the only medium through which 
 the resilient secondary current (779) can pass. The current passes from 
 the case to the right hand, and through his left, and the wire to the other 
 end of the coil. 
 
 842. The changes of the relative situation of the keeper and magnet, by 
 which the current within the coiled wire is excited, and arrested and re- 
 versed alternately, were much facilitated by a mechanism contrived by 
 Pixii, of Paris, which caused the rapid rotation of a magnet near to a 
 keeper, surrounded by a coil of wire. But, by Saxton, an obviously ad- 
 vantageous improvement was made, in causing the keeper to revolve in- 
 stead of the magnet. 
 
 843. In consequence of the greater rapidity with which the reversal of 
 the positions of the keeper could be accomplished by the aid of bands and 
 multiplying wheels, the magneto-electric machine thus contrived by Pixii, 
 and improved by Saxton, not only produces deflections in the needle, and 
 a succession of sparks which seem to have no intermission, but likewise 
 severe shocks, the ignition of wire, and chemical decomposition. 
 
 844. If Richie's revolving electro-magnet, as modified by Page (81), be 
 connected with a galvanometer, as represented in the adjoining figure, on 
 causing the axis and electro-magnet which it supports to rotate, at every 
 semi-revolution in the needle will be observed a deviation, which will alter- 
 nately be opposite in direction. 
 
127 
 
 Fig. 86. 
 
 845. This phenomenon is perfectly analogous to that to which attention 
 is in the next place to be given, in which a current is produced at every al- 
 ternation of polarity of an iron keeper, consequent to the reversal of situa- 
 tion relatively to a permanent magnet. 
 
 Of the Magneto-electric Machine, 
 
 846. The following figure represents Saxton's magneto-electric machine, 
 as well constructed by Daniel Davis, jr., of Boston. 
 
 Fig. 87. 
 
 847. A, represents the armature of this apparatus, supported on an axis, 
 so as to be as near as possible to the terminating surfaces of the legs of a 
 compound magnet. Of this axis one end reaches between the legs parallel 
 to and equidistant from them, to a socket in the arched part. The other 
 end of the axis, furnished with a pulley, terminates in another socket be- 
 yond the armature; so that, by means of a wheel and band, it may be made 
 to revolve with great celerity. 
 
 848. The iron of the armature forms three sides of a rectangle. On the 
 two opposite sides, 2500 feet of copper wire, of a grain to the inch in 
 
128 
 
 weight, are wound so as to involve each side of the rectangular keeper in a 
 coil. 
 
 849. It has already been explained, that an armature becomes a magnet 
 by induction, so long as it is applied to its magnet; but that its polarity 
 ceases when it is removed, or may be induced in the opposite way by the 
 reversal of its position relatively to the magnet (733). 
 
 850. Now these changes all ensue during every semi-revolution, and 
 during the shifting of the polarities a corresponding change is induced in 
 the surrounding coil, equivalent to what is called an electrical current. 
 The coils, when their ends are in communication, have produced within 
 them alternate circuitous discharges, having all the attributes of those which 
 occur within the active galvanic circuit. 
 
 851. The process is the converse of that which takes place in Richie's 
 revolving electro-magnet, fig. 81. In that apparatus, alternations of opposite 
 magnetic polarities are produced by alternations in the direction of an elec- 
 trical current; in the magneto-electric machine, alternations of opposite 
 electrical currents are produced by alternations of opposite magnetic polari- 
 ties. This must be evident from the preceding illustration (829). 
 
 852. To obtain shocks from this machine, a toothed wheel attached to 
 the axis, is connected with one of the extremities of the wire surrounding 
 the keeper, the other end of this wire communicates with one of the set 
 screws of the board, a spring of metal attached to an upright column of 
 brass, plays upon the teeth of the revolving toothed wheel, and communi- 
 cates with the other set screw. Any portion of the animal frame, being 
 made to complete the circuit between the set screws, will receive a shock, 
 arising from a resilient current, at each interruption of the circuit caused by 
 the intermission of Contact between the spring and teeth, as it leaps from 
 one tooth to the other. 
 
 853. When cylinders of copper, soldered to the ends of the coil sur- 
 rounding the keeper of a powerful magneto-electrical machine, are grasped 
 firmly with the hands previously moistened, the most powerful man is un- 
 able during the action of the machine to relax his hold, he is placed at the 
 mercy of the operator controlling the wheel of the machine. 
 
 854. Experience has shown that, for the production of the shock, the 
 wire coiled about the keeper should be of comparatively great length, say 
 fifteen hundred feet, but for producing ignition, should be much stouter, and 
 not more than eighty feet in length. The propriety of making this differ- 
 ence of length, Mr. Saxton assures me, was first suggested by him. 
 
 855. Mr. Clark, of Adgar street, near the Adelaide Gallery, London, 
 applies the keeper to the magnet on one side, near the ends of the legs, so 
 that in his electro-magnetic machine the magnet is vertical, whereas in Sax- 
 ton's it is horizontal. A priori, this would seem to promise no advantage, 
 and yet machines thus constructed have proved at least as powerful as any 
 others. The only advantage which I can conceive of, as resulting from this 
 arrangement, is, that the movement of the keeper is in a direction tending 
 to confirm the polarity of the steel magnet. 
 
 856. The magneto-electric machine has been resorted to as a remedy for 
 nervous, rheumatic, and paralytic affections; and at all events may be of 
 use as a medicina mentis, which probably will do no harm, even when it 
 does no good. It has a great advantage over common electrical machines, 
 in being independent of the weather, and is preferable to voltaic apparatus 
 in not requiring the use of corrosive liquids. The apparatus may be car- 
 ried in a box, without detriment, by land, as well as by water. 
 
129 
 
 Magneto-electric Electrolysis, 
 
 857. The process by which the decom- 
 position or electrolyzation of water, is ac- 
 complished by the currents induced by a 
 magneto-electric machine, may be under- 
 stood from the annexed engraving. Two 
 wires proceeding from their solderings to 
 the set screws A and B, may be observed 
 to reach vertically into the trumpet-shaped 
 orifice of the tube G, which is situated over 
 them, and which must be at the outset re- 
 plete with water. 
 
 858. It has been mentioned that to ob- 
 tain the intensity requisite to severe shocks, 
 the circuit is abruptly broken by a toothed 
 wheel, while otherwise it would continue 
 until the keeper should be off of the mag- 
 net. But this secondary current is not suffi- 
 ciently enduring to be competent for elec- 
 trolysis. In this respect it resembles dis- 
 charges of statical electricity. Moreover, the current 
 should not alternate in direction, as this would render it 
 impossible to obtain the different elements separately. 
 
 859. In order to cause the electricity to flow always 
 in the same direction, a pole changer, like that already 
 described, must be employed. For the same reason 
 that a current otherwise uniform in its course, may by 
 this pole changer be made to flow alternately in opposite 
 ways, so where a current is alternately opposite, the pole 
 changer may render it uniform in its course. The change 
 of position of the silver segments which convey the cur- 
 rents to the set screws, to which the electrodes of the bat- 
 tery are affixed, and the change in the direction of the dis- 
 charges taking place simultaneously at every semi-revolu- 
 tion, if a segment begin with the reception of a positive 
 discharge, it must receive the same at the end of a half 
 turn, and of course the set screw with which it communi- 
 cates and any conductors thereto attached. All this is 
 equally true of the segment which receives at the outset a 
 negative discharge. 
 
 860. To effect the collection of the elements of water 
 separately, it is necessary to employ two tubes O, H, one of 
 
 a 
 
130 
 
 the wires acting as electrodes, being introduced into each. 
 In this case as in others, the ratio of the bulk of the hydro- 
 gen to the oxygen, will be indicated by the space respec- 
 tively occupied by them. With a good machine, to evolve 
 a cubic inch of a mixture of both gases, may require be- 
 tween five and ten minutes. 
 Fig . 89 . 861. By the primary current of a magneto-elec- 
 tric machine, various saline solutions may be de- 
 composed. For this purpose a tube in the shape 
 of the letter U may be employed, figure 89, a 
 pledget of cotton cloth may be made to occupy 
 the bend, as a partition. The solution occupying 
 each leg of the tube will give proof of its decomposition 
 by appropriate tests. Any salt with a metallic radical 
 which does not decompose water per se, will deposit the 
 metal on the negative electrode. Hence this process may 
 be employed in gilding or silvering by electrolysis. 
 
 Improved Magneto-electric Machine. 
 
 862. Since the preceding descriptions were written, I have received from 
 Mr. Davis, a magneto-electric machine, upon a construction which is evi- 
 dently new, and of which the effects are very energetic. 
 
 Fig. 90. 
 
 863. It will be perceived, that in Saxton's machine, 80, the keeper is a 
 soft iron bar so bent as to form three sides of a rectangle A, B, C, of which 
 the two opposite sides B, C, may be designated as legs. Each leg is enclosed in 
 a helix of covered wire. The end of each leg is acted upon by one pole of 
 a compound magnet, the side intermediate between the legs serves only to 
 be a mean of communication between them, having no ability to heighten 
 the"magneto-inductive influence. 
 
 864. But in the new instrument, a second compound magnet is made to 
 
131 
 
 take the place of the inactive part of the rectangular keeper; so that two 
 compound magnets are made to co-operate, to impart an opposite polarity 
 by their application, at four extremities of two bars, instead of two extremi- 
 ties of one, equivalent to two, usually employed. 
 
 865. Of course each of the iron cylinders which takes the place of the 
 legs of a rectangle in Saxton's construction, are presented to poles endowed 
 with an opposite magnetic power. The north pole of the lower magnet is 
 thus made to co-operate with the south pole of the upper one, and in like 
 manner the south pole of the upper magnet with the north pole of the lower 
 magnet, just as is the case when a keeper is in its appropriate place, each 
 of its ends being in contact with one of the poles of the same magnet, the 
 influence of these has a concurrent effect in producing an opposite polarity 
 at the extremities of the keeper. 
 
 866. Respecting the efficacy of this machine, the following is the sub- 
 stance of a statement in a letter from my sagacious and much esteemed 
 friend and pupil, Dr. W. F. Channing. The unmitigated shocks from this 
 machine are insupportable. When the wires which break the shocks are 
 removed, the current becomes sufficiently uniform to be competent for elec- 
 trolysis or imparting magnetism to iron included in a long helix of fine wire 
 comprised in the circuit of the helices of the machine. When sent through 
 a circuit of a mile, the current from this machine, was found abundantly 
 competent to work the telegraph of Professor Morse. 
 
 Of Ferro-dynamic Induction. 
 
 867. I venture here to use an epithet for which I have 
 no authority, so far as respects the employment of the 
 Latin word for iron to designate the property of a mass of 
 this metal to heighten the inductive influence of a coil by 
 which it is magnetized, whenever the primary current is 
 set in motion, and de-magnetized when this current is ar- 
 rested. 
 
 Of CallarCs Faradian Apparatus, and Page's Callan and Faradian 
 Electrotome. 
 
 868. Instructed by the observations of Faraday above alluded to, Profes- 
 sor Callan constructed a very powerful apparatus, by surrounding an iron 
 cylinder with two coils of covered wire, one within the other, the inner coil 
 being coarse and short, the outer one long and slender. When the inner 
 coil was made to form the circuit of a voltaic battery, the other was found 
 to give severe shocks or brilliant sparks, at the moment of interrupting the 
 circuit. 
 
 869. Dr. Charles Page has contrived several instruments upon the same 
 Faradian principle. One of these is extremely interesting and ingenious, 
 as it is so constructed as that the magnetic attraction of the included iron, 
 arising from the influence of the circuit, attracts a lever from the position 
 in which it forms a necessary portion of the circuit. The circuit is thus 
 broken, but as the lever falls into its previous position, the circuit is renewed. 
 Each time that the removal of the lever takes place, a shock is received by 
 a person duly communicating with the terminations of the finer wire ; and 
 
132 
 
 a brilliant spark appears as often as the lever quits the surface of the mer- 
 cury. 
 
 Pig. 91. 870. The apparatus alluded 
 
 to, is represented by the adjoin- 
 ing figure 91. A coil of coarse 
 covered copper wire is wound 
 about a bundle of straight coarse 
 iron wires like knitting needles. 
 The helix thus constituted, is 
 surrounded by a helix of fine 
 covered copper wire of at least 
 one thousand feet, of which the 
 ends are soldered to copper set 
 screws inserted into the base board on the right. These set screws are for 
 attaching severally one end of each of two wires, having a handle at the 
 free end. One of the ends of the inner coil is attached to the set screw A, 
 on the right, while the other end of this coil is soldered to a brass band 
 which secures the coil and supports the brass cup B, holding mercury. 
 The cup C similarly occupied, is connected with another set screw corres- 
 ponding to A, in size and situation. The wire W, which plays on a hori- 
 zontal axis by means of a spur and its right hand termination, establishes a 
 conducting communication between the cups of mercury B and C, when it 
 is kept down by its own unresisted weight. It carries, however, a piece of 
 iron at the left extremity, within half an inch of the bundle of coarse wires. 
 As soon as the set screws on the right, which communicate with the coarse 
 coil, are made to receive the electrodes of a galvanic battery, the bundle of 
 wire acquires an intense magnetic power, and attracting the iron attached 
 to the wire beam W, lifts the right end out of the mercury in the cup C. 
 This breaks the circuit, to which the magnetic attraction of the coil is due, 
 and the weight of the wire beam no longer counteracted, causes it to fall 
 back to its primitive situation. The magnetism is thus renewed, and the 
 circuit is again interrupted, by the lifting of the end of the wire beam above 
 the surfaces of the mercury in C. These alternations are accomplished 
 with surprising rapidity, a brilliant spark being given as often as the con- 
 tact with the mercury is broken. Meanwhile a person grasping the han- 
 dles attached to the ends of the smaller coil, will receive a shock. at every 
 breach of the circuit, through the coarser coil. The shocks thus expe- 
 rienced with an apparatus of a moderate strength and size, will be found 
 very severe. 
 
 871. Of the shocks resulting from the inductive power of one current 
 upon another, an account has been given. In that case, it seemed as if the 
 effect of a larger coil upon a smaller one, is to cause a degree of electro- 
 polarity commensurate with the weight and length of the inducing mass, 
 but that in the discharge of this polarity, the intensity was inversely as the 
 sectional area of the wire forming the coil. 
 
 872. But in the secondary current produced in Callan's apparatus, or 
 Page's modification of it, which I have been describing, we have added to 
 the reaction of all the electro-polarity of the coil, an additional force from 
 that of the magnetic polarity of the iron. The iron in the electrotome un- 
 dergoes the same magnetic change as that in the armature of the magneto- 
 electric machine, although from a different cause. In the one case it pro- 
 duces a current, in the other it merely promotes a current, which would 
 exist independently of its aid. 
 
133 
 
 Decomposition aided by the Influence of the Resiliati?ig Cur- 
 rent of an Electrotome. 
 
 873. M. De la Rive has devised an apparatus which he 
 terms " Condensature Voltaique." It comprises a small 
 bar of iron, on which is closely wound thick copper wire, 
 covered with silk. Through this wire the current of a single 
 voltaic pair is made to circulate, while by means of a little 
 electro-magnetic apparatus acting like Page's electrotome 
 above described, the circuit of the current is broken and 
 reversed. An apparatus for the decomposition of water 
 being included in the circuit, it is found that the electroly- 
 tic effect of the voltaic pair employed is nearly doubled; 
 while a bright light is afforded by interposed charcoal 
 points. The voltaic condensor succeeds well only with a 
 battery on which two electrolytes are used, as in those of 
 Daniell, or Grove. For its success it is necessary that 
 two chemical actions be going on at once within the vol- 
 taic pair employed with it. The wire wound around the 
 bar should also be large in diameter, and of moderate 
 length. The action of the apparatus is referred, by its in- 
 ventor, to the depolarization of the platinum electrodes in 
 the decomposing cell. Since its introduction into the cir- 
 cuit, however, produces precisely the same effect as would 
 result from an addition to the number of pairs, a part at 
 least of its efficacy must be referred to. the efficiency of 
 the iron as a reservoir of the polarity of which the re- 
 stating discharge (775) takes place, with a velocity 
 greater than that with which it is accumulated. 
 
 Page's Apparatus for Regulating the Energy of the Resiliating Shocks 
 of a Magneto-Electrotomic Apparatus. 
 
 874. The great power of iron in increasing the capacity of a coil, upon 
 Callan's construction, to give shocks, is beautifully illustrated by an appa- 
 ratus made by Davies, under the direction of Doctor Page. Agreeably to 
 the construction of this apparatus, two different coils, one of fine, the other 
 of coarse wire of Callan's apparatus are separable. Figure 92, represents 
 the instrument in question, as when the parts are duly associated. In 
 figure 93, it appears as when the coils have been taken apart. The ex- 
 ternal helix, a, is formed of fine covered copper wire, not being less than 
 one thousand feet in length. The ends of this coil are soldered severally 
 to the set screws C, D. The inner coil consists of not less than three 
 strands of coarse copper wire. The ends of these strands, which termi- 
 nate in the same direction, are soldered all to the set screw A, on the 
 base board. The other ends of the three strands are soldered to the serrated 
 
134 
 
 Fig. 9a. 
 
 steel bar B : when these coils are 
 situated one within the other, as in 
 figure 92, on subjecting the inner 
 coils to a galvanic current by at- 
 taching one of the electrodes to the 
 set screw, the other electrode being 
 in contact with B, on drawing the 
 end of the wire, forming the elec- 
 trode, over the teeth of the serrated 
 bar, a brilliant spark will be seen as 
 the wire leaps from one asperity to 
 the other. If, during this process, 
 wires with metallic handles be at- 
 tached severally at C and D, a per- 
 son holding the handles will receive 
 for every spark a perceptible shock. 
 The addition of a single wire like a 
 knitting needle will increase the shock 
 sensibly, and by the further addition 
 of such wires the shock will be greatly increased, so that if the galvanic 
 battery employed has only a square foot of zinc surface, the sensation be- 
 comes such as few are willing to bear. A rod of iron is not quite so effica- 
 cious as the bundle of wires of equal size. The inductive influence of the 
 wires is not intercepted by their inclusion in a glass tube, but is much im- 
 paired by inclusion in a brass tube, in consequence of its diffusive power 
 lowering the intensity. This is consistent with the experiments of Henry, 
 with flat coils (799). The brass tube, like the metallic sheets, interposes a 
 closed and perfectly conducting circuit.* 
 
 * A more convenient form for the application of these shocks as a remedial agent 
 is displayed by figure 115, by which the mode of operating is fully illustrated. The 
 circuit with the battery is established by means of the wire reaching from the set 
 
Of Thermo- Electricity. 
 
 0 875. When the needle of a galvanometer is deflected by 
 the proximity of any body or set of bodies, of which differ- 
 ent portions are of different temperatures, the phenomenon 
 is ascribed to a thermo-electric current in contradistinction 
 to those produced by galvanic apparatus. These have 
 been distinguished by some electricians as hydro-electric 
 currents, as in the necessity of water to their existence, 
 they differ most pointedly from the currents above men- 
 tioned, which owe their activity to dry heat. 
 
 876. A thermo-electric current resembles a galvanic 
 current of great quantity, but as to intensity extremely 
 feeble. Other things being equal, a thermo-electric cur- 
 rent flows from the hotter to the cooler portion of the 
 mass. For the advantageous exhibition of this property, 
 the bodies employed should have a great length in propor- 
 tion to their other dimensions, as in wires or prisms. If 
 the prisms of two heterogeneous metals have a conducting 
 communication with each other between an extremity of 
 each, while the other ends are in contact, or united by a 
 slight soldering, on heating the ends associated as last 
 
 screw on the base board to one on the battery, while from the other on the battery, 
 a wire proceeds through the coil of an electro-magnet to a set screw connected with 
 the coarse inner coil of the electrotome. 
 
 Fig. 94. 
 
 The interruptions of the circuit are effected by an armature, which, by means of 
 Page's pole changer (766), in revolving reverses at every half turn the direction of 
 the current and the polarity of the electro-magnet, which causes its motion. Any 
 part of the human body, the arm for instance, as represented in the figure, when 
 completing the circuit of the outer coil, will be subjected to resiliating shocks. 
 Although, as these occur at every semi-revolution, the shocks are more numerous 
 than when the serrated steel bar is employed, they are less severe. 
 
136 
 
 mentioned, a current ensues from one metal to the other, 
 through the juncture. The current flows always the same 
 way, when the same metals are employed. The metal from 
 which the current flows is said to be positive to the other. 
 It should be called thermo-positive, and those which are 
 relatively negative thermo-negative. 
 
 877. The reaction in this respect is of course consistent 
 with that established in respect to metals employed in 
 analogous galvanic processes. As the current in a gal- 
 vanic triad is stronger in proportion as there is greater 
 discordancy in the relation of the metals employed, so in 
 thermometric apparatus there seems to be a series, in which 
 each metal is positive as respects all that follow, and ne- 
 gative, as respects all that precede it. Heretofore bismuth 
 was deemed the most thermo-positive, antimony the most 
 thermo-negative of the metals, and hence, until lately, the 
 most efficient thermo-electric batteries were made of bis- 
 muth and antimony. Recently, however, German silver 
 has been found nearly as thermo-positive as bismuth, and 
 is preferable from not being so exceedingly fusible. This 
 fusibility limited the deflection of a needle, subjected to a 
 current produced with a pile of bismuth and antimony, to 
 82° ; while German silver with antimony caused a deflec- 
 tion of 88°. German silver, however, while producing with 
 antimony a deflection of 88°, produced under like circum- 
 stances a deflection of 85° with silver, brass, iron, palla- 
 dium, copper or cadmium ; being positive to all of them. 
 With zinc it produced a deviation of 84°. 
 
 878. It has been shown by Nobili, that cylinders of clay 
 partially baked, are capable of yielding thermo-electric 
 currents. 
 
 879. As in the case of a galvanic circuit, a diversity, in 
 the surfaces of the same metal or in the liquids to which 
 it may be exposed, will enable it to act as two metals, and 
 to give a current from one to the other ; even partially 
 twisting a wire, will cause the twisted portion to act as 
 the negative metal, heat being applied at a certain dis- 
 tance from the twist. 
 
 880. In all cases where thermo-electric currents are con- 
 cerned, no less than where those of galvanism prevail, the 
 circuit must be completed in order to have a current. 
 
 881. It does not appear that there is any connexion be- 
 tween the thermo-electric, and galvano-electric relation of 
 
137 
 
 metals, and those which exist between them as respects 
 weight, specific gravity or conduction either of heat, or 
 electricity. As heretofore combinations of antimony and 
 bismuth were found most efficacious, the one being pre- 
 eminently positive, the other pre-eminently negative, the 
 idea arose that these metals might be indebted for this 
 superiority to their eminently crystalline structure ; but it 
 has been found that German silver, with antimony, is more 
 powerfully positive than bismuth is with that metal, al- 
 though German silver is a malleable metal, of which the 
 structure is not remarkably crystalline. 
 
 882. For the following table we are indebted to Gum- 
 ming, one of the most distinguished among the cultivators 
 of this branch of science. 
 
 Thermo-electric 
 
 Hydro-electrie 
 
 Series of conductors, 
 
 series. 
 
 series. 
 
 of Electricity. 
 
 of Heat. 
 
 Galena 
 
 Potassium 
 
 Silver 
 
 Silver 
 
 Bismuth 
 
 Barium 
 
 Copper 
 
 Gold 
 
 German silver 
 
 Zinc 
 
 Lead 
 
 Tin 
 
 Mercury > 
 
 Cadmium 
 
 Gold } 
 
 Copper 
 
 Nickel $ 
 
 Tin 
 
 Brass > 
 
 Platinum 
 
 Platinum 
 
 Iron 
 
 Zinc ) 
 
 Iron 
 
 Palladium 
 
 Bismuth 
 
 Tin 
 
 Lead 
 
 Cobalt > 
 
 Antimony 
 
 Platinum 
 
 
 Manganese J 
 
 Lead 
 
 Palladium 
 
 
 Tin 
 
 Copper 
 
 Iron 
 
 
 Lead 
 
 Silver 
 
 
 
 Brass 
 
 Palladium 
 
 
 
 Rhodium 
 
 Tellurium 
 
 
 
 Gold 
 
 Gold 
 
 
 
 Copper 
 
 Charcoal 
 
 
 
 Silver 
 
 Platinum 
 
 
 
 Zinc 
 
 Iridium 
 
 
 
 Cadmium 
 
 Rhodium 
 
 
 
 Charcoal ) 
 Plumbago $ 
 Antimony 
 
 883. If to a platina wire which has been twisted about 
 the middle, a flame be applied at some distance on one side 
 of the twist, the ends of the wire being previously made to 
 cpmmunicate through a galvanometer, the needle will indi- 
 cate that a current flows from the heated part towards the 
 twist. This is ascribed to the twisted part being cooler 
 than the untwisted portion of the wire equidistant from 
 the flame in consequence of a diminution of conducting 
 power caused by the derangement of the metallic fibres 
 during the torsion. 
 
138 
 
 884. The needle will in like manner be affected, if a wire 
 similarly communicating with a galvanometrical coil, be 
 divided in the middle, then each end twisted, and one of 
 the twisted ends, after being made red hot, brought into 
 contact with the other. Similar results though feebler, 
 may be obtained by means of copper and silver wire. 
 That these effects do not depend on chemical reaction with 
 the atmospheric oxygen, has been ascertained by their 
 succeeding under pure oil. 
 
 885. If one-half of a ring or rectangle, consisting either 
 of bismuth or antimony, be heated, while the other half is 
 kept cool by ice, a current will be excited sufficient to af- 
 fect a needle, although no coil be employed to heighten its 
 influence. 
 
 Fig. 95. 
 
 886. Let one end of a wire of German silver G, be brazed to one end 
 of a brass wire B, on heating the juncture and making a communication 
 between their other two ends by a third wire, a magnetic needle duly ap- 
 plied will be affected, as if a galvano-electric current of feeble intensity were 
 circulating in the circuit thus formed. The deviation of the needle is such 
 as to indicate that the thermo-electric current thus induced, flows from the 
 wire of German silver to the brass wire. 
 
 Fig. 96. 
 
 887. In the preceding figure, at B a bar of bismuth is represented, at A 
 a bar of antimony, exactly alike as to dimensions. Each is represented 
 as communicating, at one end, with one of the terminations of the wire of a 
 galvanometer. Their other ends are, while touching, exposed to the flame of 
 a lamp. Under these circumstances the needle of the galvanometer will be 
 deflected. Of course the arrows indicate the current to take place, from 
 the thermo-positive metal, to that which is comparatively thermo-negative. 
 
 888. Figure 97. represents a series of eleven pairs of German silver 
 and brass wire, arranged in two rows, and soldered as above described in 
 voltaic order. It is sufficient to heat or cool the junctures on either side to 
 produce a current competent to deflect the needle of a galvanoscope, with 
 
139 
 
 which it is made to communicate as represented by figure 96. Even the 
 heat of the hand is sufficient to cause the needle exposed to the consequent 
 current to deviate to a perceptible extent. 
 
 Construction of a Thermo-electric Pile of Bismuth and Antimony, illus- 
 trated by an Engraving. 
 
 889. Let any number of bars of bismuth and antimony, exactly similar 
 in all their dimensions, be bundled together, paper being interposed between 
 their lateral surfaces, so as to avoid metallic contact. Let the neighbouring 
 ends of the heterogeneous bars thus associated be alternately soldered, and 
 alternately left free, so that any bar will have only one soldering at each 
 end, and not be soldered at more than one end to any one bar. The order 
 in which the bars must be united is exemplified in figure 97. The bars 
 thus connected, will form one continuous metallic conductor, consisting 
 alternately of bismuth and antimony, so that on taking the whole into a gal- 
 vanic circuit, all lateral discharge being prevented by the paper, the current 
 entering by a bar of bismuth, would proceed through a bar of antimony, 
 then through a bar of bismuth, and so on coming out finally through a bar 
 of antimony. The metals are in fact alternated like those of the couronne 
 des tasses, excepting that the fluid, instead of being alternately conducted by 
 metal, alternately transmitted convectively through an interposed liquid, is 
 conveyed from bar to bar, wholly through the alternate metallic junctures. 
 
 890. The metals thus associated, exercise, when their alternate solderings 
 are at different temperatures, an electro-motive power due altogether to 
 their contact ; so that the contact theory of Volta, however incompetent to 
 account for the powers of his pile, seems to be somewhat applicable in the 
 the case of the thermo-electric series. It is not pretended, that in the case 
 of the apparatus last mentioned, any chemical combination takes place, 
 unless the successive passage of heat from particle to particle be^ considered 
 as warranting such an idea. 
 
 Fig. 98. 891. By figure 98, a thermo-electric battery is 
 
 represented, consisting of sixty-three pairs of bars of 
 bismuth and antimony, each three inches in length, 
 three-fourths of an inch in breadth, and one-fourth 
 of an inch in thickness, of course the bars are sol- 
 dered to each other alternately, as above described, 
 so as to be arranged in a series in ^voltaic order. 
 They are insulated and secured by piaster of Paris, . 
 in a copper case, B, having above them, a space for receiving ice, and below 
 another so situated as to be exposed to an appropriate cast iron plate, pre- 
 viously heated to redness. 
 
 892. Two set screws for attaching wires are represented externally, each 
 of which is made to communicate with one pole of the batter^. The energy 
 of the current is in proportion to the difference of temperature, created in 
 
140 
 
 those solderings of the bars, which are in the different surfaces of the bun- 
 dle which they form collectively, by the application of heat at one surface, 
 and cold at the other surface. Of course the greatest power results from 
 applying ice or a cold mixture to the solderings at one of the surfaces, and 
 at the other as much heat as bismuth will bear from a hot iron without fu- 
 sion. A series thus constructed, caused the electro-magnet of Riche's ap- 
 paratus to revolve rapidly. A serrated bar is attached to the front of the 
 case, and is connected with one of the poles of the pile. When a wire, of 
 which one end is affixed to a set screw soldered to the other pole, had the 
 free end drawn over the teeth of the serrated bar, sparks were produced. 
 
 Of Melloni'' s Ther mo-multiplier, 
 893. By means of a thermo-electric series analogous to that illustrated 
 by the preceding figure, associated with an extremely sensitive galvanome- 
 ter, Melloni contrived a thermoscopic apparatus, more capable of detecting 
 minute differences of temperature than any before known. It proved the 
 means of making those interesting discoveries, of the difference in the per- 
 meability of bodies to the rays of heat and light, to which reference was 
 made under the head of caloric (C, 309). It has been used to ascertain 
 the temperature of insects and various parts of the animal system. 
 
 894. The series employed by Melloni, consisted of fifty pairs, about an 
 inch and a fifth in length, and the whole forming a bundle of little over an 
 inch in diameter. It was included in a cylindrical brass case, between which 
 and the bars, no metallic contact was permitted. Wires proceeding from 
 the extremities of the series were made to communicate with set screws b, t, 
 insulated from the brass case by ivory. 
 
 895. The mode in which this thermoscopic apparatus was employed, may 
 be understood from the preceding figure. The heat of the copper cylinder 
 d, received from the lamp Z, reaches one side of the thermo-electric series 
 through a hole in the screen s. The other not being exposed to the influence 
 of any hot body. Under these circumstances a thermo-electric current is 
 produced through the coil of the galvanometer, which by the attachment of 
 its ends to the set screws b, t, is made to complete the circuit between the 
 poles of the thermo-electric series. 
 
 896. It is inferred that the difference of temperature, created by the radiant 
 heat reaching the surface of the series exposed thereto, will be as the quantity 
 of electricity, and that as the deflections of the galvanometer measure the 
 
141 
 
 electricity, they must also be an index of the degree of heat applied at the 
 appropriate surface of the thermo-electric series. Melloni alleges, that this 
 correspondence between the heat applied, and the deflections, has been 
 ascertained to exist.* 
 
 The Converse of the Thermo-electric Process. 
 
 897. The object of figure 100, is to 
 represent a thermo-electric apparatus, in 
 which the phenomena are the inverse of 
 those produced by the thermo-electric 
 batteries, described in the preceding 
 pages. In those a current of electricity 
 is the consequence of a diversity of tem- 
 perature ; in the apparatus in question a 
 diversity of temperature is the conse- 
 quence of an electric current. The let- 
 ter A, indicates a bar of antimony so situated between two bars of bismuth 
 B, B, as to have its right end soldered to one, the left end to the other of 
 these bars. Thus the three bars, form one metallic prism, uniform as to 
 shape, though heterogeneous as to the materials, which rests horizontally 
 upon a frame as represented in the figure. At each soldering a little con- 
 cavity is made sufficient to hold a small quantity of water, and to receive 
 the bulbs of the two air thermometers F and T. The water serves to fa- 
 cilitate the conduction of heat from the metal to the glass bulbs. The prism 
 formed as described, of bismuth and antimony, being made the channel of a 
 galvanic current, in the direction indicated by the arrows, from B through 
 A to B, at the soldering of A to B, cold is produced and made evident by 
 the thermometer T. Meanwhile on inspecting the other thermometer, it 
 will be seen that heat is produced at the other soldering. By reversing the 
 direction of the current, the effect on the thermometer will be reversed. 
 
 898. The extent of the elevation above the previous temperature is 
 greater than the depression. This is ascribed to a small degree of heat, 
 which the electric current causes, and which of course adds to the heat on 
 one side, and lessens the cold on the other. 
 
 On Terrestrial Magnetism. 
 899. The thermo-electric branch of science has a pre- 
 eminent importance from the light which it has thrown 
 
 * The following are the dimensions of the galvanometer or thermo-multiplier of 
 Melloni and Nobili, associated with the thermoscopic apparatus as stated by Bequerel. 
 
 The wire is of copper doubly wound with silk, and of about three-hundredths 
 of an inch in diameter. It makes 150 circumvolutions around a frame of about two 
 inches square, and one-fourth of an inch in height. The needles are a little short of 
 two inches in length. 
 
 It will be perceived that there are two needles associated so as to form what is 
 called an astatic needle. They are suspended by a single cocoon filament. In the 
 apparatus as described by Bequerel, the cocoon is attached at the upper extremity to a 
 swivel, as in the torsion electrometer of Coulomb, (E, 136,) and the frame may be made 
 to rotate by means of a toothed wheel and pinion so as to adjust the needle to zero, 
 of the graduated arch of ninety degrees, by which the deflections are measured. 
 Th ere is also a contrivance for lowering the needles so as to rest on the frame on 
 which the wire is wound. When thus situated if it be desired to transport the in- 
 strument from one place to another, the needles are bound fast to the surface of the 
 frame by a silk ribbon. The apparatus is included in a bell glass to protect it from 
 being agitated by blasts of air, or soiled by dust. 
 
142 
 
 on the nature and causes of the all-important polarity of 
 the earth. This is now ascribed to the successive influ- 
 ence of the solar rays upon the temperature of the earth, 
 causing a perpetual thermo-electric current from east to 
 west. 
 
 900. It is by the reaction of its poles with this terres- 
 trial thermo-electric current, which flows parallel to the 
 equator, that the compass needle is made to arrange itself 
 at right angles to that current, and thus to assume a di- 
 rection nearly coincident with that of the meridian. 
 
 901. In the following figure, a coil of covered copper wire affords the 
 means of causing an electrical current to circulate about a globe repre- 
 
 Fig. 101. 
 
 senting the earth. A magnetic needle is represented in the position, in 
 which it would arrange itself by reaction with the current in the coil. 
 
 902. The apparatus represented by figure 
 101, serves to illustrate the reaction, with the 
 magnetism of the earth, of a thermo-electric 
 current, produced within an arch of brass wire 
 soldered at its two ends to a ring of German 
 silver. The arch is poised upon a pivot at the 
 top of the pillar at A, which the ring encircles. 
 The lamp, W, being situated as in the figure, 
 the apparatus must be so placed, that a line 
 passing through the centre of the flame to that 
 of the pillar, will be directed from west to east. 
 Then, when the flame is applied to the junc- 
 ture of the arched wire with the ring, a cur- 
 rent will flow from the juncture, and of course 
 from west to east through the arch. As this 
 current will conflict with that of the earth, it 
 & ^ will cause the wire to arrange itself, so as that 
 
 this discordance may be avoided. But a semi-revolution bringing the other 
 juncture of the arch and ring into the flame, a current through the arch 
 from west to east is again induced, producing another semi-revolution. Of 
 course this process will be repeated as long as the flame is applied. 
 
143 
 
 Fig. 103. 
 
 903. Another illustration of the efficacy of thermo-electric currents, is 
 afforded by their displaying an analogous reaction with a permanent steel 
 magnet to that which has been shown to exist between such a magnet and 
 the currents created by galvanism, in the experiment designated as that of 
 Ampere's rotating battery (757). 
 
 904. The frames of wire in the rectangular form, 
 supported on the jaws of the permanent steel II mag- 
 net, as represented in the adjoining figure, may con- 
 sist of silver in rings and platinum rectangles, or the 
 rectangles may be of silver, and the rings of German 
 silver. When the junctures of these frames are sub- 
 jected to a flame as represented in the engraving, elec- 
 tric currents are made to flow in each from the heated 
 juncture, through the silver wire, to the other junc- 
 ture. The currents, thus incited, conflicting with the 
 polar influence of the magnet, endeavour to arrange 
 themselves so as to escape from conflict. But the only 
 motion which the suspension will permit, is that of ro- 
 tation, which, by bringing a juncture into the flame at 
 every quarter revolution, causes the effort for a change 
 of position to be repeated as often. Hence the frames 
 revolve as long as the flame is applied. 
 
 Electro-magnets revolving under the Influence of Terrestrial Thermo- 
 electric Currents. 
 
 905. It has been shown, that an electro- 
 magnet, situated on an axis, and subjected to 
 the polar influence of another magnet, will 
 strive to arrange itself so as to bring opposite 
 poles into proximity ; but that if the current to 
 which it is indebted for its magnetism be, from 
 the construction, liable to be reversed by a pole 
 changer at every semi-revolution, a rotary mo- 
 tion will ensue. Two instruments have been 
 constructed, in which terrestrial polarity is 
 made to take the place of an artificial magnet, 
 or an electrical current. One of these re- 
 volves in a horizontal plane, the other in a 
 vertical plane; the latter having the same re- 
 lation to the dipping needle that the former 
 has to the compass needle. The instrument which revolves vertically, is 
 represented by figure 104. 
 
 Of the Electro-magnetic Telegraph. 
 
 906. Though the attempts which have been made to 
 employ electro-magnetism, as a moving power, have hith- 
 erto failed, yet another important application of this agent 
 has been made within a few years, in our own country, by 
 
144 
 
 Prof. Morse, and in England by Messrs. Barrit and Cook, 
 and Prof. Wheatstone. With the telegraph of Morse, 
 which has been the medium of communication between 
 the cities of Baltimore and Washington, the public has 
 become familiar. The apparatus thus employed, is far 
 superior in simplicity to any contrivance elsewhere put in 
 operation, of which any knowledge has reached this coun- 
 try. A description of his instrument, as now in operation 
 within the Capitol at Washington, is all that I deem it ex- 
 pedient to introduce. 
 
 907. Upon a base board of wood, a U shaped bar of soft iron, wound 
 with covered copper wire, is firmly attached in a vertical position. One of 
 the terminal wires of the electro-magnet thus formed, communicates with 
 the distant station by means of a wire, the other by means of the ground. 
 A short distance above the electro-magnet, a bar or keeper of soft iron is 
 attached at right angles to a lever. One extremity of this lever carries a 
 steel point or tooth projecting downward, while through the other extremity 
 is a pivot supported by two stanchions behind the electro-magnet. A spring 
 is attached to the upper surface of the lever tending to raise this, and with 
 it the keeper, from the poles of the electro-magnet beneath. When the cir- 
 cuit is completed with the voltaic battery at the distant station, the electro- 
 magnet being charged, and suddenly attracting the keeper, causes both it 
 and the lever to descend. Upon the rupture of the circuit, attraction be- 
 tween the magnet and keeper ceasing, the spring causes the lever to rise 
 again, and thus, by repeated completions and interruptions of the circuit, 
 the lever may be made to play up and down, working upon the pivot as a 
 fulcrum. Immediately beneath the steel point a cylinder of wood, covered 
 with soft paper, is made to rotate upon an axis uniformly by means of clock 
 work. When, by the completion of the circuit, the steel point is made to 
 descend, it presses upon the soft paper of the revolving cylinder only so 
 long as the circuit remains unbroken. As the cylinder revolves, a dot or a 
 line of greater or less length is described upon the paper, and an arbitrary 
 combination of such dots and lines constitutes the alphabet. Thus every 
 letter may be written upon the paper at one extremity of a telegraphic line 
 of any length, by successive completions and interruptions of the circuit at 
 the other. 
 
 908. As the velocity with which the electric current traverses a metallic 
 wire has been found by Mr. Wheatstone to be about 288,000 miles in a 
 second, it is obvious that no perceptible interval of time will elapse in the 
 transmission of intelligence in this way, between any two points upon the 
 earth's surface. 
 
 909. Various modes of establishing the wires between two stations have 
 been devised. It was at first proposed to enclose two insulated wires within 
 an iron pipe, buried beneath the surface of the earth ; but this method is 
 objectionable on the ground of expense, and liability to derangement. As 
 above stated, Prof. Morse employs the earth itself for one-half of the circuit, 
 and a wire, supported upon poles at some distance above the ground, as the 
 other.