A
M E M O R IA L
0F
SAMUEL F B
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FR O M
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MORSE
THE
ma c
W S TO
N CO L L E GE L IB R
AR"
U H E S T N U T H IL L
MA SS.
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PR I N T E D B "
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O RD E R
O F T H E CIT "
1 8 72
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CO U N CIL
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C O N T E N T S
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PA GE
L ette r
of
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L e tt er
of
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S ol o
m ons
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City Co nc il , B
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M e eting i n Fane uil H a ll
O rder
of
o s to n
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a r
R e so
lution of the N atio nal T el e g raph A ss o ciation
R eso
lutions
L e tt er
of
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H on R obert C
D e s patch
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Winthrop
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fro m the N ational M o rs e M e morial M ee ting Wa shingt on
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Re
mark s of H on
A PPE N D I CE S
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G e org e S
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H illard
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Pag e 1 4
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CIT"
B O S TO N
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E X E CU T IVE D E PARTM E N T ,
CIT"
To
TH E
CIT"
HAL L B O S T ON A pri l 1 0th 1 8 72
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CO U N CIL
hav e r e c e iv e d a l ette r fro m A S S o l o m o ns E s q
en c l osing a c opy o f a r e so l ut io n pass e d by the N a t io na l
T e l e graph M e m orial Mo n u m ent A ss o c ia t io n in ho nor o f the
m e mory o f t h e l a t e S a mu e l F B Mors e w hi c h l ette r a n d
r e so l u t io n I t rans mi t h e r e w i th and I r e spe c tfu lly i nvi te yo u r
a tt e nt io n t o the sa m e
WIL L IA M G A S T O N M ay or
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NAT I ONAL TE LE G RAPH ME M O RI AL MO NU M E NT A S S OC I AT I ON
WA S H ING T ON
To
TH E
H ONORAB L E MA" O R
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i TH E: CIT"
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Apri l 5 1 8 7 2
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OF
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— I hav e
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B O S T ON :
ho nor to t ra ns mi t to y o u h e r e w i t h a
r e sol ut io n a d op te d by this A ss oc ia t io n i nvi t i ng the co o p e ra
t io n o f th e fri e n d s a nd a d mir e rs o f th e l a t e Profe ssor S a mu e l
F B Mors e thro u gho u t t h e c o u nt ry i n ho l d i n g m e et i n gs o n
T u e s d ay e v en i n g the l 6th i n s t a nt si m u l t a ne o u sly w i t h a
gr e a t N atio n al M e m oria l M e et i n g to be h e l d in the H o u s e o f
R e pr e s e nt a t iv e s a t the N a t io n al Capi t al
O n b e hal f o f t his A sso c ia t io n I r e sp e ct fu lly a n d e ar ne s t ly
r e qu e s t y o u to t ak e appropria te m e as u r e s a t the e arl i e s t
m o m ent possibl e fo r ho l d i n g su ch a m e et i n g in yo u r c i ty a t
S IR ,
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The te l e graph w ir e s Wi ll be fr e e ly op en o n
t i me n ame d
t h e o cc asio n fo r an e x chang e o f s e nt i m ent s b et w e e n the
s e v e ra l m e et i n gs a n d th e o ne h e l d h e r e
The favor o f an e ar l y r e pl y is r e qu e s te d
Ve ry r e sp e ct fu lly yo u rs ,
the
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Cha i rma n of the Commi ttee
R E S O LUTI O N
Wh erea s
S O L O MO N S
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f A rra ng ements
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U ni ted S t ates House o f Represe nta tives has pl aced
it s hall at th e dispos al o f the Na tional Telegraph Mem orial Monu
ment Ass o ciation , fo r the purpose o f holding a memorial mee t i ng
in hon or o f the late S amuel F B Morse o n Tuesday April 1 6 th
a nd p ro minent member s of bo th houses of Co ngress and o ther dis
ting u i s h e d speakers hav e co nse nt ed t o address the mee ting
A nd , wherea s the t elegraph has been freely placed at the dis
posal o f this Association for that eveni ng to secure a n ex change o f
sen timen t s wit h the mee tings held in all portions of the c ou ntry :
B e i t res o lved Tha t the municipal authori ties o f the ci ties of
the Uni ted St at es are hereb y i nvi ted t o call meetings o f similar
characte r i n thei r several locali tie s o n t h e same evening in o rde r
that the mee ti ngs ma y be in t elegraphic communication a nd thus
a simulta neous e x pression be given t o the na tional grief on th e
occasi o n o f this irrepar able lo s s
At tes t
H AMID O N S ecreta ry
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C I T"
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B O S T O N
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IN COM M ON CO U N C IL , A pri l 1 1 , 1 8 7 2
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O rdered , Tha t
his Honor t h e Mayor be r e qu e s te d to c all a
m e et i n g o f the c i t izen s o f B os t o n i n Fa ne u i l H all o n T u e s
day e v e n i n g n e x t the 1 6 th i ns t fo r the p u rpos e o f givi n g
e x pr e ssion to the fe e l i ngs of this c o mmu n i ty o n the gr e a t l o ss
s u st ai n e d by t h e n
a t io n i n the dea t h o f S a mu e l F B Mors e
S ent u p fo r c o nc u rr en ce
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B OARD
D I C" IN S O
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Pr es i dent
ALD ERM EN Apri l 1 3
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Co n c u rr e d ,
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L I TTL E
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Cha i r ma n
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ME ETING IN FANUE IL HAL L
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IN
a cc ord a nc e wi th the r e qu e s t of the Ci ty Co u nc il his
H o n or the Mayor c all e d a m e et i n g o f the c i tizen s i n Fa ne u i l
Hall o n T u e s d ay e v e ni ng the l 6th o f A pri l a t 7 g o c l o c k
fo r th e p u rpos e o f givi n g e x pr e ssio n to the fe e l i n gs o f t his
c ommu n i ty o n the gr e a t l oss s u s t ai ne d by the na t io n i n the
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d e a t h o f S a mu e l F B Mors e
The m e et i n g was orga n i ze d by the c hoi c e o f the fo ll o wi ng
o ffic e rs
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—His Honor William
Pres ident
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Gaston
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s
d
n
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P
i
His Ex cellency William B W a shburn Wil
ee
r
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e
t
W
liam Cl aflin H . H Coolidge J o siah Quincy , John E S a nfo rd
Ale x ander
R ice F W Lincoln O tis Norcross Marshall P
Wilder E mor y Washburn John H Cli fford J M Wightman ,
N B Shurtle ff Thomas R ussell , Georg e B Upton E R Mudge ,
Harve y J e well Alpheus H ardy George S Hillard Pr ofessor
S amuel E l i o t Pro fe s s o r J D R unkl ej S H Wall e y , B R Cur tis
William G ray George C Rich ardson Albert Fe ar ing R A Chap
man Horace G ray Jr , J ohn Wells J D Colt Seth Ames Mar
cus Morton , George B L oring Lore nzo S abi ne Homer B artl e tt
Thomas Aspin wall , Willi am Perkins J M Forbes Gar dner
B re wer Nath a n Carruth Am os A La wrence J a mes L Little
Francis B ac o n J a mes M B eebe E d w ard Austin J Inger soll
B o wdi tch Henry L Pierce , B enj ami n E Ba tes B enj amin T
Reed J ames T Fields S amuel Li ttle M F Dickinson Jr E S
Tobey Willia m B Spoo ner Charles G Greene Henry W Pai ne
William Whiti ng George Le wis H O Hought o n William H
" ent E d ward Atkins o n Charles W Slack S N S tock well
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D elano A Goddard , Rola nd Wor thi ng ton George L Ward ,
J oseph S Ropes William Parsons Avery Plumer J C Co n
verse Na tha niel H E mmons F B Cro wni nshi e l d N J B radlee
Charles E J e nkins , Westo n Le wis W W Greenough T C
A mory Charles H Allen, S amuel C Cobb G eorge B Nichol s
Charles W Wilder Alvan Adam s R B Forbes E d ward Whi t
ney Hamilton A Hill Na thaniel Adams Na tha n Cro well George
B Fau nce S D Warre n, Nathan Matthe w s Cyru s Wakefield
Nehemiah Gibson G W Pope
Charles F Wood William G B lanchard J oh n F
S ecreta ri es
" ennard
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Mayor r e a d th e r e so l ut io n pa s s e d by th e Na t io n a l
T e l e graph A sso c ia t ion a n d sai d
Th e
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Ladie s and Gentlemen,
S everal distinguished citi ze ns have
consen ted to appear here to—
night and address y o u They are
gentlemen known here and every where in the coun try a nd there
w ill therefore be no o cc a sion to an nounce them other wise than b y
I will fir s t i ntro duce t o y ou th e H o norable J o siah
t heir name s
Quincy
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Mr Qu i ncy th e n r e a d
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the
foll o wi ng r e sol u t io ns
That th e City o f B oston in common wi th the re s t o f
the country and th e whole civilize d world feel sensibl y the loss
which science has sus t ai ned in th e dea th o f Profe ss or Mors e
whose grea t i nve ntion has been o f inc alculable v alue to all th e
i nterests o f life and has c o nferred las ting ho nor upon his cou ntr y
R eso lv ed That it is peculiarl y incumbe nt upon us to e x press
o ur sense o f t h e loss w hich th e wo rld has s u s t ain ed i n the dea th
o f th e emi ne nt benefacto r o f th e human race fr om th e fac t t ha t
he w a s born amo ng u s , and tha t his earl y tra ining wa s dra wn
fro m the ins ti tu tions of N e w England
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Charl e s F
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Woo d
c o mmu n i c a t io n
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t h e S e c r e t ary r e a d the fo ll o wi n g
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April 1 8 72
D E AR M R MA" OR —I a m S incerely s orry th at a previ ous
engagem e n t fo r this evening will prevent m y att e ndance at
the mee ting to which y ou have so ki ndly i nvited me It wo uld
have given me peculiar s atisfaction to t ake p art in t he pr o posed
tribute to the memory o f Professor Morse
I could hardly
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i nd eed have said much o f the loss sust ained in hi s death
Spared a s he wa s t o a venerable old age w i th hi s great work
fully accomplished and universally recognized nothi ng r emai ned
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fo r him bu t t o
put o n that immortali ty to which he had ever
looked for war d wi th a Christian s hope and faith There i s no
loss in such a death B u t th e gain a nd the glory which the nati o n
has derived from his life wo uld have furnished such a subj ect o f
r emar k as has rarely been prés e nte d at a ny public co mme mo
rati on
When Profess o r M orse fi r st appealed to the Go vern ment o f the
United States fo r aid in his telegraphic e x periment s thirty years
a g o it wa s m y for tune n o t onl y to be a r epresen t a tive i n C o n
res
s
from
t
h
e
ci
t
y
o
f
B
o
s
ton
b
u
t
t
o
be
a
member
o
f
the
Co m
g
mi ttee of C o mmerce to which his appe al was r eferr ed and b y
which the first appr o priatio n i n his beh alf was r epor ted
I rejo ice
to reme mber that I s uppor ted that appro priati on b oth in co m
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mitte e and in the House t ho ugh no t a fe w arou nd me we r e ei the r
B R OO" L I NE
1 6 th
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leaving their seats to avoid th e responsibili ty of the measure , or
r emaining only t o deride a nd oppose it B ost o n may thus claim
t o night t o hav e c o n tributed at least one v o te t o the or iginal s u c
cess of th e gr eat enterprise
T wo y ears aft er w ards I s tood in the thro ng o n the s teps of the
Capitol while the firs t fo rmal messag es were p a ssing along t he
m agic chords bet ween Washingt o n a nd B al tim or e ; and when the
ann o uncement o f Mr Polk s nomina tion fo r the presidency , a fe w
s econds onl y after i t had been decided up on b y a co nventio n fo rty
o r fifty miles o ff wit h the t ender o f the vice pre s idency to M r
Sil a s Wright refu sed in o ur prese nce as soo n a s made gave u s all
th e earl ies t and most vivid impressi o n no t merel y that a ne w kind
of wi re p u ll ing had en tered i nto poli tics , bu t that a m y steri o us
a nd marvellous po w er of t h e air had a t le ngth been subd u ed and
t r ained to the s ervice of m ankind
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Sin c e then , I need no t s ay the triu mphs of the electric tele
graph , o ver land and over s e a h ave made themselves fel t in ever y
sphere , pu blic and private , througho u t the w orld and have lit
erall y come home to every m an s for tu nes and fireside
We o f Massachuse tts d o not forge t that Morse like Fra nkli n
and Coun t Rumfor d , pursued his researches a nd achieved his
su ccesses far a way from the place of his bir th B u t we cannot
forget al s o that the n ative soil of them all is contai ned within
the same narr ow boundaries which i nclude Lex ington and B unker
Hill and Faneuil Hall
We have thu s somethi ng of a peculiar right and du ty to uni t e
i n doi ng h o nor to th e name and fame o f Professor Morse a nd to
cou nt t hem and cherish them among our o wn his torical treasu r es
Regretting once more m y inability t o be with y ou ,
I am , dear s ir
With great respec t and regard
" o urs fai thfull y ,
R O B E R T C WINTHR OP
His Honor WIL L I AM GA STO N M ay or o f B os to n
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S e c r et ary al s o r e a d the fo ll o wi ng d e spa t ch
Th e
WA S H I N G T ON ,
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April
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P M
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Chicago , Mil waukee , St Paul St Louis Pit tsburg Ci ncinnati
Indi anapolis L o uisville S an Francisco Memphis Charleston S a
v annah , Mobile N ew O rleans Mon treal Por tland Augusta Lyn n
Bo s to n Concord , N e w Haven
Th e N ational M o rse Memori al mee ti ng is no w in progress in th e
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hall o f the Hou s e o f R e present a ti v es , Speak er B laine assisted b y
the Vice Pr esiden t of the Unit ed S ta t es presidi ng , and the g o v
e rno rs of the s eve r al S t ates ac ting a s Vice presiden ts and is no w
r eady to r eceiv e communications
A S S O L O M ONS , Ch air man
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Th e pr e si d e nt t h e n int ro d u c e d Profe ssor E b e n N Horsfor d
of Ca mbri d g e , who spo k e as fo ll o ws
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MA" OR —" ou have a ssigned to me the duty o f presen ting
a sketch of Prof Morse s connecti o n wi th the in ve ntion of the
elec tric telegraph
To e nable us fairly to appreci ate wh a t Prof Morse did , l e t u s
briefly gla nce at what ha d been done be fore him He di scovered
no thi ng in the field of frictio nal electrici ty
Its grea t doc trine s
were settled more tha n a ce ntury ago He did no t discover that the
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electrical force could be tr ansmitted along wha t is called a conduci
to r fo r i t wa s fou nd o u t b y Mr Gre y and Mr Wheel er (Tr u mbull ,
tha t the elec tric shock could be tra nsmi tted thro u g h s e v e ra l
hu ndred feet of w ire as early as 1 72 9 ; and Dr Franklin dre w
ligh tni ng from the clou d s ; nor did he disco ver t ha t th e e arth
m i ght be made a par t o f th e elec tric circui t fo r that is due to Dr
Wa tso n, who i n 1 74 7 tra nsm itted shocks acros s the Thames and
th e N e w R iver the circui t bei ng composed of o ne wire t wo miles
long and t wo miles of ear th
Dr Fra nklin perfor med a S imilar ex periment in 1 7 4 8 (Par to n )
Franklin say s T wo iron rods about three feet lo ng were pl ant ed
j ust wi thin the margin of the river on opposi te S ides A t hick
piece o f wire , wi th a small r o und knob at its e nd was fi x ed on th e
t o p o f o ne o f th e rods be nding do wn wards s o as to deliver com
mo dio u s l y the spark upo n the surface of th e S pirit
A small w ire
fastened by one e nd t o a handle of the spoon cont aining the spi rit
w as carried across th e river and supp or ted i n th e ai r b y t he rope
The o ther
c om mo nl y used to hold b y i n dra wing ferry b o at s over
end of this W i re was tied rou nd the coating o f the bot tle which
bei ng charged the spark wa s delivere d f rom th e hook t o the to p of
A t the sam e i ns tan t
th e rod s t andi ng i n th e water o n tha t side
the ro d on the o ther side delivered a spark i nt o th e spoon a nd fired
the spirit ; the electric fire returning to th e c o ating o f th e bo ttle
through the han
dle of the spoon and the suppor ted wire connected
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w i th them
N o r was he t h e first to employ the elec trical curren t to transmi t
i ntellige nce ; sig nals were commu nicat ed from one apartme nt to
a no ther by mea ns o f the electric S hock b y Lomo nd in Fra nce i n
1 7 5 7 ; b y L e S a g e a t Geneva , in 1 7 7 4 ; a nd Reusser O f Gen
eva in
employ ed the e lectric S park to transmi t i ntellige nc e,
using an arra ngement o f lines and spaces with strips of tin foil s o
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contrived that when these Space s wer e illuminated b y the spa rk s ,
the for m of the le tter or figure was ex hibited T he illum i nati o n
of each le tter or figure required a direct and r e turn wire , a nd as
his plan employ ed t hir ty seven char ac ters there were required
seven ty four w ires bet ween each two s tations Similar telegraphs
W er e devised b y S alva and B et ancou rt , at Madrid operati ng man y
miles in le ngth in 1 79 7 and 1 79 8
Humbold
t )
(
All these employ ed fric tio nal elec tricity , as did Ronald s of
E ngland in 1 8 1 6 o n a line eight miles in le ng th , op erati ng wi t h
pit h balls on t he faces o f synchron o us clocks a nd Harrison G
D y er o n the Long Island race course ne ar N e w " ork , in 1 82 7 ,
usi ng th e curren t t o discolor prepared
o n a line o f t wo miles
p aper Up to t his time the elemen ts o u t o f which to produce a
successful telegraph had n o t been bro u ght t o light The agen t at
comma nd —frictional electricity — wa s fitfu l i nfl ue nced b y the
w ea ther and , a t a dist ance liable at times to be feeble
The discover y o f the voltaic pile in 1 8 00, ope ned u p a ne w
era for inven tion in telegraphy It gave t h e advan tage o f th e
cons tant currre nt o f a ba ttery over the in t ermitted shocks o f t he
electrical app ara tus
Soe mmering in 1 809—1 1 e mploy ed the
electric current devel o ped b y the volt aic pile to produce chemical
dec o mposition s with the evolu ti o n o f vis ible gas ; be employ ed
thir ty fiv e wires each wi r e having the same le tter o r figure at eithe r
e nd
It would of cou r se be p o ssible to transmi t words b y pro
du ci ng gas bubb les at th e ends of the wires bea ring i n their o rde r
o f successi on the letters o f w hich the words w ere composed
This wa s no t a telegraph —a writing at a distance I t wa s a
s igna l appar atu s ; a v o l t aic semaphore
B ut it wa s cumbrous
t ime consuming , and in t eres ti ng chie fly as illus tra ting ho w early
th e discover y of th e proj ect ile force of th e vol t aic battery w a s
recogni zed and a pplied to the producti o n o f visible chemical
effect s at a dis tance
S ch weigger pro posed to reduce the g reat number of Wi res In
S o emmering s appara tus to onl y tw o , and ins tead o f a t ube fo r th e
evol ution o f gas for each le t ter a si ngle tube a nd the le tter to be
indica ted by th e number o f seconds through which th e evolution
of hy drogen should con ti nue
This appara tus s o s implified was
t o be used in c o nnec t i o n wi th a S ignal b ook
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13
There wa s needed further discovery
The first s tep in the ne w
branch of scie nce which wa s to fulfil this want wa s t aken b y the
S candi navia n ( E rs ted , of Copenhagen who in 1 8 1 9 fou nd that
when the electric curre nt passes in a direc tio n north or s o uth t hrough
a wire , it causes a free mag ne tic needle immedia t el y above or
belo w it , to as s u me Or tend to assume a posi tion at righ t angles
to th e direc tio n of the curren t a nd t hat b y reversi ng th e direct ion
o f th e curre nt the moveme nt o f t h e needle may be alike reversed
In the nex t year Schw eigger o f Halle and Po gg e ndo rff of B erlin ,
S imul taneousl y d isc o vered t ha t th e de fl ec tion o f th e need l e may
b e i ncreased b y coili ng an i nsu lated w ire in a series of ovals or
g the cur
fl a t ri ngs , c o mpactly dispose d i n a loop a nd co nduc ti n
rent arou nd the needle from e nd to end ; and p r oduced the “ gal
”
va nio mul tiplier by which the de fl ection o f th e needle wa s much
great er and more prompt This i nve ntion wa s the basis of the
galvan o m e ter first used by Professor Henry
Amp ere took adva nt age of the discovery of Schw eigger to pr o
p o se a plan for a telegraph in which there wa s a needle fo r each
le tter These disc o veries made possible the electro mag ne tic s i g
n al o r semaphoric telegraph The early telegraphs, of Schilli ng
of S t Pe tersburg , of Gauss and Weber of G Otting e n, a nd o f C o Ok e
a nd W hea t stone of E ngland w ere based on t hese disco v eries
The
electric cu rrent c o uld no w be ma de to produce recip roca l moti on
bu t the force wa s to o feeble to be used in prac tical recording
a nd th e necessar y devices for the p ro duc t i o n o f in tellig ible sig nals
were u ndesirably complex
'
S till further disc o very wa s re qu ire d fo r a regi s teri ng te l eg raph
a nd the first step i n t his needed direc tion w as made b y A r ago
who i n 1 82 0 mag neti zed a straight iron bar or needle b y placing it
i n a lo ng spiral o f wire and tr ansmitti ng th e galvanic curren t through
th e co il fiI
The second s tep w a s t aken by Sch weigger in t he pro
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hro u gh a c lo se circuit of ins u late d c opp e r
w i re s h o wi ng th at th e ri ng p ro du c e d by th e c urre nt a cq u i réd S i ng u l ar m a g
ne ti c p ro p e rtie s
B arl o w in de s c ribing th e a pp ar atu s i n 1 82 4 s ay s ; “ A fine
c opp e r wire c ov ere d w ith s ilk thre ad is c o ile d fiv e o r six time s and tie d to g eth
e r so a s to fo rm a ring ab o ut a n inch i n dia m e t e r and th e e nd s o f th e wi re ar e
c onne cte d by s olde r o ne with th e zinc and th e o the r with th e c opp e r s lip
a b o v e th e c o rk
W h e n th e app ara tu s i s pl a c e d in w ater slightly a ci du l ate d
with s ulphu ri c or nitri c a c i d th e ri ng b e c o m e s h ighly m a gne ti c e tc
D e l a R iv e
s e nt a
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rre nt
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14
d ucti o n
of the fl at spir al In 1 8 2 4 Barl o w give s a diagr a m o f th e
volut e In o ne plane inve nted by S ch weigger , and say s p 2 6 6
The best form for the spiral h o wever is t hat in which the wire
lies all i n o ne plane (as in Fig
This
figure
e
hibi
s
a
coil
x
t
(
like the hair s prl ng o f a wa tch ) “ This bei ng connec ted by its
t wo ex t remities wi th th e poles o f t h e b att ery will take up an as to n
i s hing qua nti ty o f fili ngs which b y their reciprocal a ttrac ti o n t o
”
w ard each o the r e x hibi t the mos t pleasi ng appearance
The ne x t s tep was taken b y Mr Willia m S turge o n o f Londo n
in 1 825
He fou nd tha t by coili ng O opper wire loosel y arou nd a
p i ece of i nsul ated soft iro n ben t in to th e form of a horseshoe th e
success i ve 0011s o u t of co ntac t w i th each other he co uld convert
t he no n mag ne t ic soft iron in to a n elec tro mag ne t
When the cur
r e nt wa s in terrupt ed , the soft iron ceased to b e magne tic when the
current was res tored the iron became agai n mag ne tic T his gave
The force thus
t he possibilit y of produci ng reciprocal mo tio n *
impar ted to the iro n the capaci ty to a tt rac t other iron a nd to re
lease i t when the curre nt wa s interrup t ed t houg h ac tual Wa s no t
sui ted in two par ticulars to be used in t e l egraph y It employ ed a
quan ti ty ba ttery , a nd the le ng th of wire co nne cti ng the bat ter y
with the mag ne t wa s inco nsiderable
A t this s tage of th e developme nt of elec tr o mag ne tism came in th e
series of brillian t ex perimen tal researc hes made b y Professor Joseph
H e nry no w S ecre tar y of th e S mi thsonian Ins ti tu tion the n residi ng
in Alban y They were made from 1 8 28 t o 1 8 3 1 Re fl ec ti ng o n the
increased mag ne tic e ffec t s observed i n th e compac t circles of insu
la t ed wire o f Sch weigger and D e La Rive th e first employ ed th e ins u
la ted wir e of ma ny coils to make a n electro magne t B y a coveri ng o f
silk or co tton Successive coils of the wire were kep t dis tin ct and
apar t, s o tha t it could be compac tly wou nd i n s u ccce s s w e lay ers
upon i tself, and thus a curre nt could be made to pass an inde fi
ni te number of times arou nd a n ir o n bar , a nd the po wer o f th e
bar to a ttr a ct o ther iro n mul tiplied alike somewha t correspo nd
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l ctro —
m a gne t of S turg e o n with its arm ature a nd th e o p e ni ng a nd
cl osing of th e batte ry c ir cuit and th e falling and re storati on o f th e armature
w e re e x h ibite d i n a c o urs e o f l e c tu r e s a t th e N ew " o rk A th e nae um in 1 82 7
T h e s e l e c ture s w e re att e nd e d by th e c o ll e a g u e s o f Pro f D ana i nc l u ding Prof
D e p o siti ons o f M rs D ana and Pro f R e nw i ck
M o rs e
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th at the telegr aph ic c o nducti o n d o e s n o t depend o n the great
nes s o f the pair s o f pl ates , and the strength of the c o nducting
fl uid (quanti ty o f electricity ) bu t , o n the contrary o n the numb e r
direct
o f the pairs o f pla t es in the pile ; and wo uld i ncrease in
”
r elatio n to the thicknes s of the wire
O hme s l aw of 1 8 2 5 and S ch weigger s mul tiplier o f 1 8 2 0 w ere
here fir st traced o ut to their practical end o f a galvanic semaphore
The co nditi o ns were ex pressed o n which the success o f the needle
i nven t ion depended :
numerous pairs , a large cond u c ting wire
m u l tiplied convolutions of i nsulated wire —all were wr apped up
i n these fewclear sent ences o f Fechner before 1 8 3 2
Schilli ng o f S t Petersburg devised a
I n 1 8 3 2 (from 1 8 2 0
telegr aph u pon the principle o f de fl ecting a needle
Gau ss a nd Weber o f G Otting e n in 1 8 33—
34 , caused a mag ne tic
bar t o be de fl ec ted to o ne S ide o r th e o ther a t will , and produce
movements which the y i nterpreted i n letters of the alphabe t
Co oke and afterwards Cooke and Wheats to ne o f E ngland followed
i n this line o f e x pe r iment and produced their needle telegraph s
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in 1 836
and
1 83 7
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Steinheil of Munich , i n 1 8 3 6 , employ ed a mag net o electrica l
machine in lec tures to hi s classes t o produce sounds upon a
series o f bells o f di ffere nt tones , which were re a dily tr anslated
Up t o this time no practical working regis tering telegraph had
been i nvented For modera t e distances th e t elegr aph wa s p oss ible ,
Prof Henry had remarked
bu t had u t been r e nder ed p ra cti ca ble
p
that the force of the curren t fro m a battery o f many pairs w a s
not sensibl y dimi ni shed b y transmiss ionthrou gh a wire of o ne
There rem ained both disco very a nd
thousa nd and si x ty fee t
i nve nti on t o meet the necessi ty and these w ere the gre at services ,
as I co nsider them in th e labo r s of th e life W hose sunse t has j ust
passed before us
I n 1 8 3 2 Pr o f S amuel Fi nley B reese Morse wa s returning fro m
Fra nce o n board th e packet S hip Sully Among the topics of con
versation on that memorable voy age w a s t he possi bili ty o f the
practical electric t eleg raph i n vie w o f the rece nt discoveries in the
depar tme nts of elec trici ty magne tism and galva nism This p oss i
bi lity wa s rec o g ni zed b y electricia ns generall y bu t i ts p ra cti ca bi li ty
c o uld be demon s tra ted o nly by pa tie nt a nd fai thfu l ex perime nt in
the line of a well thought o ut pla n The magni tude o f the diffi
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that lay in the way c o uld no t be known till they had been
surmoun ted
Duri ng th at voy age Prof Mors e bec a me inspired
no t a signal elec tric semaphore n o t
wi th th e idea of a telegrap h
a needle appar atus u sing eva nescent sig nals but a recording elec
tro magne tic telegraph , and the plans and devices w ere made a nd
the res olution formed b y him to enter upon and prosecu te the
necess ar y e x pe rimental r esearches required t o pr o duce the grand
r esul t he had c o nce i ved
Prof Mors e h a d i n hi s college c o urse attended the lectures of
‘
Pro fess o r Silli man, which w ere o f an adva nced and high order ,
cover ing especiall y all that wa s kno wn i n 1 8 08—
1 8 1 0 of galvanic
elec tricity ; and al so the lectures o f Pr ofes s or (after war d Presi
dent ) Day e x perimentally illustrated , O u fr ic tional electrici ty
In 1 8 2 7 his college recollecti o ns were r evived a nd his in terest in
these subj ect s r e newed b y his at tenda nce o n the lectures of his
colleague , Prof J ames Freeman Dana in the N e w " ork A the
It is clear that he believed that there was enough di sco v
naeu m
ered and kno wn to him to enable him t o invent the registering
elec tro magnetic teleg r aph I t is clear that he e x hib i ted diagr a m s
illustrating his devi ces of apparatus , and dis cussed with other s
the combinations to produce lines a nd d o ts co ns t ituting a n alphabet
which o f itself demons tra tes the ex is tence in hi s mind of a plan o f
I t may be fairly presumed that Prof
th e work o f regi stra ti on
Morse , whose previ o us life had no t bee n devot ed t o scientific pu r
suits on tha t occasi o n gathered from all with wh o m he co nversed
B efore co m
o n the subj ect , all t he y w ere in co ndi tion to i mpart
pi eting the vo y age Pro f M o rse h amacc ording to his o wn account ;
worked out a nd commi tt ed to p ape r the general pl an o f his regis
a
t e ring t elegr aph , l and before the cl o se o f the y ear he h a d m a de a
part of th e apparatu s to tes t his plan
If there may have been others who might ha ve ma de the inven
ti on i t is cert a in th at he al o ne a t t hat time had th e inventive
t alent , and the necess ary measure o f fai th and patience o f which
c u l ti e s
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ll not be d ou bte d by any wh o k now him th at D r Cha l e s T Ja ck son
fe ll w p s e nge r on th e S ully c he e fully imp rte d hi s
o f o r c ity wh o w
c o nv i ctio n of the p o s ibility and p r cti c ability of th e tel e g ph
B u t th e
cts and
nd t o hi
t e ti m o ny t o th e p at e ni ty o f th e i d e a i n M o e s mi nd
d awi ng s o n b oa d the ship is ampl e (A m E ncy cl op e dia ) S ee A pp endix B
It w i
u
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resolution and conquest are the offspri ng to accomplish it He
ha d the clearness o f vision which enabled him to s ee th at in spite
o f an y difficulties incidental to so great a ne w departure , there w a s
e nough positively known and certain to insure the success o f a
recording t e l e graph to wh oever would pay the price and he h ad the
genius to appreciate the privilege a s w e ll a s the honor of the self
sacrifice with which the great g ift to mankind could be purchased
O f the progress of Prof Morse s inve ntion from 1 83 2 to Septe m
ber , 1 8 3 7 when be publicly e xhibited his regi s tering telegraph
those who are familiar w ith the difficulties o f invention general ly
can form s ome idea ; h o w m an y devic e s he had t e sted and thro wn
aside the w orld w ill probabl y never kno w He e x peri m e nted at
great length in the direction o f a che mical telegraph but wa s not
sati s fied with his results H i s m ind s ettled u pon the idea o f a
s i ble mark or s u cces s ion of m a rks up on pap er requiring
i
m
a
n
e
n
t
v
e
r
p
pressure to make I am not a w are that at thi s early period he had
an y idea o f e mploy ing as the medium o f trans m itting intellig e nce
the sound which accom panies each m
ark a s made in the m odern
B ut the principle wa s distinctl y recognized in
M orse instrument
h i s application fo r a patent i n 1 8 3 8 and fro m this p eriod of view
h i s instrument wa s at the outset an acoustic i ndi ca to r a s w ell as
a recordi ng tel egraph
In 1 8 3 5 Morse m a de his discovery o f the rela y the m ost bril
liant o f all the achievements to which his nam e must be forever
attached It was the discovery of a me ans b y which the current
w hich through distance from its source had become fe e ble , could
be reinforced or renewed This di scovery according to the di ffer
ent obj ects for which it is e m ploy ed is variou s ly kno wn as the
registering magnet , the local circuit the marginal circuit the re
etc
It
made
tran
s m ission from o ne point o n a m a in line
a
t
e
r
e
p
through indefinitel y great di s tances and through an indefinite
number of branch lin e s and t o an indefinite number o f wa y s ta
tions and registration at all possible and practicable from a
single act of a single operator
It was m y pri v ilege to be sho wn b y Prof Morse in 1 8 4 ] (and I
shall never forget the char m wi th which he inve s t e d the two hours
h e gave to me , an u tte r stranger ) o ne of the instrum e nts which
illustr ated his inventive geniu s It resembled i n e x ternal appear
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nce a s mall melodeon having a key board o n which were the let
ters the figures periods commas , etc
These key s were levers
The ends o f the levers distant from the seat of the operator w ere
in connection with bra s s circular disks upon the rims o f which
were pro minences and depressions of unequal length so arr anged
that the prominences wou ld clo s e and the depressions open the
m agnetic circuit and thus magnetize and demagnetize a bar of
soft iron
When magn etized the bar o f iron d re w to itself
o ne end o f a lever having a n iron armature
to the other end of
w hich a pencil o r pen w a s attached the point of w hich by this
action o f the m agnet was pre s s ed against a moving ri bbon of
paper ; w hen the bar w a s demagnetized the lever w a s restored
to its original p o sition b y a spring and the pencil lifted fro m
the pap e r
It is eas y to s ee that an arrangement of prom
i ne nce s and d epressions o r conductors and non conductors on
the brass circles might be s o contrived that eac h k e y should pro
duce its o wn particular set o f lines do ts and s pace s
Thi s w as
the firs t p ra cti ca l reg is tering telegrap h * Cooke of E ngland when
a student o f anato my at Heidelberg in 1 8 36 saw the S chilling
telegraph in the rooms of Professor Moueke and conceived t he
idea o f an improved telegraph from the ex hibition which he wit
ne s s e d at that ti m e in w hich the d e fl ection o f the magnetic needle
was cau s ed b y the electric current He produced in that y ear a n
instru m ent illustrating his plan and after w ards a ssocia ted hi msel
wi th Prof Wheat s tone and the y together invented a m uch m ore
elaborate apparatu s and brought it o u —
They e mplo y ed
t in 1 83 7
at that ti m e five magnetic needles ar
id c oil s and either five or si x
w i re s
Morse u sed onl y o ne The telegraph o f Cooke and Whe at
s tone i n i t s gr e ate s t perfection addres s ed itself to the e y e for the
interpretatio n o f its signals — i t m ade no record Morse s tele
graph recorded its mes s ag e i n p erm a nent chara cters
The piano ke y board o f Morse and his co mple x devices for
interru pting and closing th e circuit g ave plac e as the r e sult o f
W e m ay exce pt p o s sibly th e exp e rim e nta l re s u l ts o f S teinh e il not pu b
li sh e d u nti l 1 8 3 8 (and w h i c h a t th e tim e w e re t o Pro f M o rs e ab s o l u te ly u n
k now n) w hi ch m ade co m b inati ons o f do ts u p o n a ri bb o n o f p ap er as w e ll a s
p ro du ce d s ou nds u p on s e rie s of b e ll s T h e inv e ntion ne v e r cam e i nto g e n
e ra l u se a s S t e i nh e i l a b ando ne d h i s o w n de vi ce and a dopte d M o rs e s i n i ts
p l ac e a s s o on as it b e ca me k no w n t o him
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pr actical e x periment before the issue of the patent to the very
si m ple device o f the single key wit h which we are al l familiar
The pencil and pen gave place to a stylus
a simple , har d point
resti ng upo n a ribbon of paper movi ng at a uniform rate i mme di
atel y over a groove His pl an from the outset contemplated a
single current and circuit After the discovery o f Steinheil that
what had been observed b y Watson and Franklin in regard to
‘
frictional electricity — that the earth might be used for a part o f
the circuit —w as applicable to galv anic electricity , Morse a dopted
the arrangement o f a single line o f wire betw een the stations
It is no t pos s ible within the time allotted me to enumerate the
inventions that h ave been m a de contributi ng to the perfectio n of
the worki ng telegr aph to the transition from the trough to the
const ant b atter y of D aniell first brought o u t in 1 8 3 6 , and with
out which , o r its equivalent , the telegraph would be still in its
infancy , and the improvement s that have been m ade upon it since ;
nor o f the transition from the mercury cups to the thumb scre w of
Dr H are and the convenient switch ; nor of the sounder ; or the
insulators ; o r the paratonnerre (lightning gu ard ) or of nu m er
ous other devices and varied forms of app ar atus , covered b y more
tha n a thousand sep ar ate p atents th at h ave been taken out in
E urope and in this cou ntr y
O n O ctober 3 , 1 8 3 7 Prof Morse filed his cave at in the Patent
O n the 7 th of April 1 838 he m ade
O fli ce to secure his i nve ntion
his application for a patent which p a ssed the e x aminer in the
same y e ar , and , on the 2 0th of J une , 1 84 0, was issued The first
recording telegraph was brought into pr actic al u s e , May 2 7th ,
1 8 4 4 , be tween B altimore and W a shi ngton
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I NVE NT I ON
A ND
S CIENT I FI C
I
D SC
OVER"
.
It often happens after the cro w n of success has been att ained
b y the faithful e x perimentalist that the germ o f the hy pothesis
upon which he besto w ed his thought and labor i s claimed to have
been entert ained at an earlier period b y s ome one else
The claim alleged is for the specific sci entific discovery which is
s aid to underlie the invention Now scientific discoveri es are of
various classes and degrees of merit
There are simple facts
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21
which like m aterial gems , rewa rd an e x plorer in a fruitful field ,
and de m and little e ffort bey ond the e x ercise o f attentio n and a
capacity to collect and record There are others in which the laws
o f phy sical force and che m ical composition are determined b y s y s
There are still others in which abstract rela
t e mati c e x periment
tions are brought to light as in m ath e m atics and others in w hich
the properties conferred upon m atter b y organic life are the sub
je cts o f research as in phy siology Achievements in these several
fields have a certain value as an evidence of culture and a title to
social consideration There is another class in which s u ccess is
so m etimes rewarded b y pecuniary as w ell as social distinction It
is the class in which the obj ect of di s covery is a device b y which
the for ces of nature or the qualities of matt e r ma y be m ade to
render new s ervice to civilization
In this class discovery has u su all y for its first step the percep
tion o r appreci ation o f a w ant
Its ne x t step is speculation as to
the devices b y which the wan
t may be met Then there is the
production of a crude contrivance b y w hich to test the so undnes s
Then come m odifications and ne w trials and
o f the speculation
ultimatel y wh at seems success
Then comes e x pansion of the
process approaching a w orking scale
Trial o n the larger plan
reveals fresh imperfections new relations appear and new e x pe
d i e nt s have to be resorted to
The d evices which at the com
m e nce me nt were distingu i s hed o n account o f their co m ple x ity ,
are replaced b y others of m arked simplicit y
Again succe s s see m s
N o w comes the grand econo my and organization
to be attained
o f the enterprise for renderi ng the dis cover y available and usefu l
The rank o f the sci e ntific discovery or serie s of discoveri e s which
m ake u p such an invention is high in propor tion as the intrinsic
difii c u l ti e s to be overcome have been great a nd as the inve s tigation
and solution of the proble m presented have been e xhau s tive and
l o w in proportion a s the difficulties were i ncon s iderable and a s the
investigation h as be e n s u perficial and the sol u tion defectiv e
It rare ly happen s that all the stag e s o f a n i mportant a nd useful
di s cov e ry of thi s class are presided over b y o ne m ind More fre
qu entl y the earlier and lat e r stages fall into di fferent ba nd s In
this event the rew ards are divided The nearer o ne is to the co n
cl u s io n of the serie s the larger u nifor ml y is h i s measure of mat e
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22
rial return Where all have been the o ffspring o f o ne mind the
honors and pecuniar y e m ol uments enter alike into the reward
Where the naked speculation o r suggestion onl y can be claimed
or where a crude devi ce merel y had been proposed and success
predicted the author w ill be a ssigned a place in the world s estee m
distinguished in some degree in proportion to the clearness and
details o f his plans a nd predictions If it be not as high a s the
man of suggestion someti m es dee m s his due it is because the a p
—
l
a
u
e
s
o
f
mankind
see
m
s
to
be
re
s
erved
heroes
the m e n
f
r
i
t
s
o
p
who have no t onl y encountered difficulty but made its conquest
rather than fo r its me n o f speculation w hose i nfl uence o n the w e ll
being o f the race is more transient or if lasting less direct
The common sense of the world has m ade a uniform and w e
must believe a j ust discrimi nation in its a w ard of merit to him
who patiently follow ing the lead of a conc e ptio n h as brought to
successful issue and recognition ne w agencies for advancing civili
za ti o n rather than to hi m who equall y with the fo r m er had the
s ame happ y conception and had it even at an earlier date but
neglected the duties n ature pr e s cribed as the condition o f fruition
“
The step from the first more o r l ess vague conception of a new
truth to its conclusive de monstration is a matter o f far more i m
portance and difficulty than the happ y and s ometi me s to all a p
pe arance s intuitive guesses w hich have invariabl y preceded ev e r y
gr e at discover y Newton form e d a right e s timate of hi s o wn cl ai m s
w hen he a s cribes his s uccess to the patient and laborious perti
na ci ty with which he kept fa s t hold o f an idea until b y lo ng thinking
and varied e x peri me nt he has proved either its truth or it s false
”
hood
(Quarterl y R eview : Newton a s a Scientific Discoverer )
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CL
AI M S
I
O F D SC
OVERERS
A ND
I N VE N T ORS
.
natural and proper w hen a great and u s eful art has bee n
born to civilization that all person s and e s pecially the friends of
t h e p e rsons wh o have had a s hare i n the production and perfe cti o n
of t he art s hould feel j e alou s l y alive to the j ust distribution of t he
honors w hich follo w s uch an eve nt
Such honor s are so me ti mes not infre quently indeed unfairl y
di s tri buted
Ad v entitiou s circu ms ta nces may ca u s e mistake
It is
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24
Professor Mou eke o f Heidelberg awoke at a later period ( 1 8 3 6 )
the inventive genius of Cooke
The ne xt was that of G auss and
Weber , in 1 8 33—3 4 Then came Cooke s in 1 8 36 and Cooke a nd
Wheatstone s i n 1 8 3 7 ; and at about the same time Steinheil s
Th e s e we re not writing o r printing instruments
The y made eva
ne s ce nt signs which could be observed translated and re corded
St einheil after w ard (1 8 3 7 ) completed a m a gneto electric recording
or writing telegr ap h ; which sho wed that the result was possible
and practic able though not practical E lectro magnetic telegrap hs
were not practicable before an intensity battery had been emplo y ed
i n connection with a distant electro magnet surrounded with a
multiplied insul ated coil T his w a s first actuall y done through a
distance of
feet , i n 1 8 2 8 —2 9 by Prof Henr y This e x pe ri
ment made it possible that w ith increased power in the battery with
improvements i n the magnet , and inventions of special mechanical
devices , an electro m agnetic tel e graph for registr ation a t dis
tances su fficiently great to meet the wants o f the every day world ,
might be devised
The invention however , i n its most eleme ntary condition was
no t made for four y ears and then w ithout a knowledge of these
e xperiments nor was it brought into working condition for three
more and then at first w ithout employ ing either o f the s e es s ential
elements , to wi t the battery o f multiplied p airs the magnet of
multiplied coil and the long conductor ; an d more than t wo y ear s
additional before a caveat was lo d ged and three before a patent
wa s gr anted and still four y ears elapsed before the invention was
in successful public service
This dela y between the discover y of a s e l e ntifl c truth and i ts
application to the useful arts i s not unusu al
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Interv a l
wa s ma de
i
i
l
i
r
h
e
oss
b
ty
t
t
e
p
f
a
,
f
o
an
i nv enti on before the i nventi on
.
A fter Wi nclcler s
exp eri ment
at L eipsic in 1 74 4 , w ith a L eyden j ar
and a long conducting wire , and Watson s e x periments in 1 74 7 8 ,
with a circuit of two m iles of wire and t wo of earth ; and Frank
lin s e xperi m ents fro m 1 748 to 1 7 54 exhibiting reciprocal mo
tion rotation o f w heels ringing o f bells firing of co mbustible s
etc , it wa s possib l e to produce electric signals convey ing i ntell i
gence
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25
th at appeared w a s that of L e Sage in 1 7 74 , after an i n
* then
e u s s e r s in 1 7 94 after forty y ears
R
l
of
t
w
ent
y
ears
t e rv a
y
then Salva s with a conducti ng wire o f man y m iles in 1 7 9 6 after
about forty two y ears ; then B et ancourt s o f t wenty s ix m iles , i n
98 after forty three y e ars ; then R onald s , in 1 8 1 6 , after
1 7 9 7—
si x ty two y ears ; and then Harrison Gr Dy ar s , in 1 8 2 8 , after
s event y four y ears
A fter the di scov ery of the p i le of v olta i n 1 8 00, it was possible to
invent
Soemmering s electro che mical semaphore w hich did no t appear
til l 18 09—1 1 after eleven y ears J R edman Cox e s (of Phi l adel
phia ) suggestion dates 1 8 1 6 after si x teen y ears B ain s electro
chemical recording telegraph which did not appear till 1 84 6 after
forty si x y ears
Afte r GErs ted s di s cov eri es of 1 8 1 9 a nd 1 8 2 0 and especi all y of
S chweigger s multiplier construct e d w ith in s ulated wire i mme di
atel y after it was possible to produce A mp ere s suggestion (or
invention ) which a ppeared the sa m e y ear a nd he re m arks that a
like re s ult had been sugge s t ed b y L a Place
Schilling s i nven tion wa s in progress from 1 8 20 to 1 8 32 twelve
y ears G auss and Weber s appeared in 1 8 33—3 4 —fourteen y ears
Cooke and Wh eatstone s in 1 8 3 6 —3 7
si x teen y ears
A fter S tu rg eon s electro ma g net in 1 8 2 6 when an electro m agnetic
recording telegraph wa s po s sible for short distances , Morse s con
ce pt i o n came in 1 8 3 2 , after s ix y ears
A fter H enry s electro mag net, wound with insu l ated wire in 1 8 2 8
publis hed i n 1 8 3 1 which made e l e cti ofrfiag ne ti c telegraphy possi
ble for inc r
eased di s tances ca me Morse s rec e iving o r relay bat
te ry and r e cording telegraph i nvented in 1 8 3 2 , and in w orking
condition in 1 8 36 after an inte rv al o f five y ears
It w a s publicl y
e xhibited in 1 8 3 7 , after si x y ears ; and operated betwee n B alti
more and Washington in 1 84 4 after thirteen y ears
A fter F ara da y s di scov ery of ma gneto electr icity , i n 1 8 3 1 , cam e
Steinheil s telegraph in 1 8 3 7 after s ix y ears Steinheil had demon
s trate d the practicability o f using the earth for a p art of t h e
electro magnetic circuit in 1 8 3 8 It was not used i n this countr y
till 1 8 4 5
T h e first
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l
L o m o nd s te l e graph
on y o
’
s e ems
to
h av e
b e en
p erate d betwee n one ro om and anothe r
.
produ ce d
rly
as e a
as
1 7 57 , bu t
26
As we h ave no w fix ed so m e of the more import ant dates a nd
intervals let us put o n record two o r three m ore that w e need to
bear in mind
recalling that while Soemmering and B ain needed
onl y the voltaic pile or a batt ery o f man y pairs ; Schil ling G auss
and We ber Cooke and Wheatstone needed in addition the gal
vani o mu ltiplier ; Morse the battery and electro m agnet , and Stein
heil a magneto —
electric machine
Soem m ering s voltaic se m aphore preceded Schilli ng s needle
semaphore b y a dozen y e ars and m ore
In point o f ti me , Morse s invention on the Sully preceded
Cooke s at Heidelberg b y four y ears
1 8 3 2—
1 836
In point of construction and a ctual W orking Morse preceded
Cooke b y a y ear 1 8 3 5 1 8 36
I n point of e x hibi tion to the p ublic , Cooke and Wheatstone were
1 8 37
coi nciden t wi th Morse
In point o f a ctual use b y the public , Cooke and Wheatstone
1 8 3 8—
1 84 4
preceded Morse b y si x y ears
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These relations of discover y to i nvention and pr actic al a pplic a
tion may be illustrated i n t ab u l ar for m
E l ectro ch e mi ca l s e maph ore
11
S mme i ng s i n 1 8 09—
Vol ta 1 800
B ai n s e l ect o ch emi ca l te l egraph i n 1 84 6
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oe
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,
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r
’
cO D S tan1, ba t
t ery 0f D i m e u’
i:
n
hv
(E
rste d,
h
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.
a
.
e su c
r -
go i n 18 20
g on i n 1 825
H e n y i n 1 8 29
A ra
S tu r
p
r
.
b
g
R ecordi n tel e
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.
.
g
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e
.
ph
h
u
wou l d
ceeded
.
N ee dl e se ma ores
’
A m ere s i n 18 20
1 83 2
S c i ll i n ’s, 1 82 0—
Gau ss a nd We er’s i n 1 8 33- 34
Cook e ’s i n 1 836
’
ea
t
o
n
e
st
s i n 1 83 7
Cook e a nd W
181 9
e r, 1 8 20
S ch wei gg
’
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graph of M orse in 1 83 2
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.
g
y in 1 83 1
Fa rada
g ph
M a ne to-el ectri c tel e ra
’
S te i n e i l s i n 1 8 3 7
’
W e ats tone s later u si ness
h
.
h
.
b
.
a
lph ab et sema
pho e
H aving thus before u s the great facts in the history of the new
art we are in condition to e x amine more carefull y into the cl aims
to originality and priority of the discoverers and inventors
r
.
,
.
L et u s h ave distinct ideas in our assignment of credit T he
discovery o f a l aw or the invention o f a device ma y be strictl y
original to two or more persons
It may be made b y one in i g no
rance that it had been made b y another before him , or the two
may h ave bee n coincident in time as wel l as result
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27
Volta was alone in the invention
the pile
Soe mm ering wa s alone in ob s erving that t he current o f the voltaic
pile might be proj ected to g reat distances wit h as great e ffective
force to produce ch e mical deco mpositions as at m o derate di s tances
CE rs te d w a s alon e in originality and ti m e in observing the
de fl e ction of the nee dle by the galvanic current
Sch w e igg e r w a s co i ncident w it h Po g g e ndo rfl in originality and
time in the multiplier o f in s ulat e d wire
Arago wa s alone in magnetizing iron in the a xis o f a l ong
obli que spiral
S turg e on w a s al one in the electro magnet w ith the loose obl ique
spiral ; and later in amal ga m ating the z i nc ele me nt of the batt e ry
M 011 and Henry w ere coincid e nt in the quan tity magnet wi th a
single pair
Henr y was alon e in th e insulated concentric coil and m ulti pl i e d
windings applied to a horseshoe shaped bar of iron with a s ingle
p air and with m a ny pairs
Henry w a s alone i n the insulated con
centric wire of man y windings and battery o f man y pairs at a
distance fro m the el e ctro m agnet
N o w all t he se di s coverie s in so far as th e attri bute of origi
nal ity is concerned w ere i n some degr e e suggested so me what i n
their order of succession b y the pu blicati o n o f the di s cove ri e s
which preced e d the m (E rs ted d e fl e c t ed a nee dle slo wly wit h a
single wire S chw eigger and Po g g e ndo rff quickl y with the multi
plied coils
Arago made strai ght hard iron (st eel) magnetic by a singl e l oose
long coil Sturgeon m ad e a hor s e shoe of soft iron m agnetic with
a loose lo ng coil o f si x t e e n turns and lifted ni ne pounds i n
Moll ma d e a cl o ser co i l of eighty three turn s and lifte d
1 8 2 5—
6
seventy fiv e poun d s a nd finall y one h u ndred and thirty fiv e pounds ,
in 1 8 2 8 Henry wit h greatl y m ulti pl ied coil s lifte d more than a
All these O perated b y a batt e ry of a s ingle pair of
t o n in 1 8 3 0
plat e s and little interval bet ween the bat tery and the m a gnet
N o w H enry s tarte d out before the publica ti o n of Moll with a
ne w co mbinati o n o f m a ny pairs and d is ta nce bet we en the batter y
and the m agnet and found as t he e x p e ri ment s eemed to sho w that
the effe ct of t he cu rre nt i n magnetizing so ft iro n at this distance
w a s at least no t a ppreci a bly le s s at a di s tance of one thousand
and si x ty feet tha n at points near the battery
of
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28
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The lifting of gre at weights b y the single pair of l arge plates
near the magnet , b y Sturgeon , Moll a nd Henry , w as of compara
It was the necessity
tiv el y little moment to the future telegraph
of producing a certa in but not great lifting effect at a di s tance that
the telegraph required
L et u s m ake the discovery of Professor Henry clear He found
that a battery o f a single pair the zi nc pl ate four by seven inches
at a distance o f eight feet , oper ating through a coil o f insul a ted
wire eight feet long , wound around a small horseshoe magnet pro
At a dis
du ce d magnetism enough to lift four and a half pounds
tance of o ne thous and and si x ty feet it lifted but half an ounce ,
o nl y T "; as much B y no w sub s tituting a Cruik s hanks battery , i n
which wa s e x actly the same amount of zinc surface —
but i n t w en
—
o
f
n
e
plates
instead
o
the magnet , at a distance of one
e
v
fi
ty
thousand and si xty feet as before lifted eight ounces That i s ,
b y dividing the zinc plate into t w enty fiv e plates , and putting each
w ith its fellow of copper into a separate cell the po wer to lift at a
distance o f o ne thousand and si xty feet was increased si xtee n
times
O f al l the brilliant researches of which this was a small part
this is the o ne o f significance in its relations to telegraphy
It w a s the recognition o f the relation of theintensity battery to
‘
electro magnetic e fl e cts at a di s ta nce It does no t detract fro m its
importance that che mical e fl e cts had been produced b y an inten s ity
battery at a distance as b y Hare s d efl ag ra to r in 1 82 1 an y more
th an Soemmering s voltaic semaphore in 1 8 1 1 detract e d from the
i mportance o f the discover y o f electr o magnetis m by ( E rsted in
1 8 1 9 , a nd the needle se m aphore o f S chilling of a later peri od
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WH AT TH E
I NVE NT OR
G
E L E CT RO
M U S T H AVE
O F TH E
RAPH
-M
"
A G N ETIC
N OWN
RE C ORD I N G
TE L E
.
Wh at was needed to the original conception o f the Morse record
i ng telegr aph "
1 A knowledge that soft iron , bent in the form of a horseshoe
could be magnetized b y s e nding a galvanic c u rrent throug h a coil
wound round the iron , and that it wo uld lose its magnetis m when
the curre nt wa s suspended
.
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29
A knowledge th at s uch a magnet had been m ad e to lift and
drop masses of iron of con s iderable weight
3 A kno wled g e , or a belief, that the gal v anic current could be
transmitted through wires o f g reat lengt h
These were al l N o w comes the conception o f devices for e m
ploy ing an agent which could produce reciprocal motion to effect
regi stration and the invention o f an alphab et In order to thi s
invention it must be seen ho w up a nd down
r e ciprocal
motion
could be produced b y the op ening and clo s ing o f the circuit Into
this simple band of vertic al tr acery o f pat hs in space must be
thrown the shuttle of time a nd a ribbon o f paper It mus t be see n
how a lever pen alternately dropping upon and rising at defined
intervals , from a fillet o f paper moved by independent clock work
would produce the fabric o f the alphabet and writing and printing
Was there an y thing required to produce this result which was
no t known to Morse "
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O f the details of scientific research bearing o n el e ctro m agnetism
sc attered through j ournals in various la nguages Prof Morse kne w
comparativel y little
He wa s a liberally educat e d gentle m an de
voted to the art o f pai nting He had had as alread y mentioned
some what unusual advantages He had attended the courses o f lec
tures o f Prof Silliman and Prof D ay e mbra cing t he sci e nces o f
galvanis m and electricity when an under graduat e in 1 8 08 —9—1 0
at " ale Coll e ge He had been an assistan t to Professor Silli m an
in his laborato ry in 1 8 2 2 and the y ears fo llo wing He had at
a later period attended the lecture s pf _Pro fe s s o r J ames Freema n
D ana before the Athen aeu m i n N e w " ork and witne s sed a n ori
e
m
br
a l and brilliant course of e x peri m ental lecture s
a cing
i
n
g
all that w as kno wn in 1 8 2 7 o n electro m agnetis m
Professor
R e nwi ek a fe llo w me m ber with Professor Morse in several clubs ,
reme mbers th at before the visit of the latter to E urope , in 1 8 2 9
he paid much attention to electricity and magnetis m and that
“
e
he was study ing those subj cts in reference to the plan for a tele
”
graph
He kne w gener all y when he stepp e d o n board the S ull y
in 1 8 3 2 that a soft iro n ho rse s hoe shaped bar o f iro n could be ren
dered magnetic whil ea current o f galvanic electricity w as passing
through a wire w ound round it and he k new that electricity had
been tr ansmi tted app arently i ns tanta neousl y , through wires of
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30
miles in length , b y Franklin and others
I n the
course of conver
sation on board th a t ve s s e l the t o pic o f e m ploy ing electricity to
co m mu nicate intelligence at a distance arose In the leisure o f
sh ip life the idea o f a record ing electric telegraph seized Professor
Mor s e s mind He k new fo r he had witnessed it y ears before that
b y means o f a battery and an electro magnet reciprocal motion
could be produced He kne w th at the force w hich produced it
could be trans mitted along a wire He bel iev ed that the batter y
current could be made , through a n el e ctro m a g ne t to produce
He s a w in his m ind s ey e the e x
ph y sical e ffects at a distance
i s te nce o f an agen t and a medium b y which reciprocal motion
could be not only produced b ut contro lled at a di s ta nce The ques
tion that addressed itself to him at the outs e t was naturall y this :
H o w can I make u s e o f the s i m ple u p and do w n m otion of opening
a nd closing a circuit to w rite an intelligible message at one end o f
If w e pause a
a W i re a nd at the same time print it at the other "
m oment to consider that in our ordinary writing with a pen u po n
p aper we m ust e m plo y at least a hundred di fferentl y shaped and
proportioned lines and produce the m b y man y hundred co m bina
tions of nerve and muscular e ffort ; and that in printing we m u st
have no t less than about thirty s ix letters and figures we shall
appreciate the grandeur o f Morse s conception in which an y mes
sage whatever could be written a t o ne end o f the wire and printed
with perfe ct distinctness at the oth er for per manent pre s ervation ,
Like many a kindred
at the rate o f t w enty fiv e w ords a m inute
Work o f ge nius it w a s in nothing m ore wonderful tha n i n its s im
First he caused a continuous ribbon er strip o f paper to
pl i ci ty
move under a pencil b y clock work that could be wound up The
paper m oved horizontally
The pencil moved onl y up and do wn ;
when resting o n the pap e r it m ade a m ark
if fo r an instant onl y
When lift ed from th e paper it
a dot ; if for a longer time a line
left a blank Here w ere thr e e ele m ent s
dots lines and spaces
which interwoven w ith int e rval s of ti me could ei ther of the m be
repea ted or they could be co mbined variously with each other , to
produce group s that should s tand for letters
The grandeur o f thi s w onder ful alphabet o f dots lin
es , and
spaces has not been full y appreciated It has been translated
fro m one se nse to another In the Morse telegraph it may be
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the rel ay to various persons i n 1 8 3 5 and 1 8 3 6
His alph abet , his
ne w mode o f writing a nd printing w ere clear cut realized co ncep
tions but to perfect the apparatus involved resources which he had
There were no shops at that ti me to which he might go for
no t
the ready purchase of electro m agn e ts , batteries , insulated wires :
etc A blacks m ith must be e mploy ed to bend an iron ro d' to the
Nor
form o f a horseshoe and the wire must be w ound b y hand
were there a t h an d facilities for repairs o r profe s sors accomplished
and read y to advise in the science scarcel y y et developed enough
Th e re was not a con s tant bat
t o meet the wants of the inventor
There w a s indeed the batter y o f m an y pairs and Sturgeon
t e ry
h a d produced his electro magnet in 1 8 2 5 B ut the ne w art requ ired
an inventor
The substitution b y Henry o f the con centric multiplier of
S ch weigger in place of the loose oblique coil of S turgeon reduced
the strength o f the battery necessarily re quired ; and the e mploy
m ent of a battery of man y pairs in place o f a single pair having
the same surface which proj ected the current through greater
length o f wire and so made possible the mag netizing of iro nat a
distance , revealed the direc tion in which development w a s to take
place
This disclosed a principle on w hich the registering appa
ratus c ould be worked at a distance B ut still there was needed
a n i nventor
Not o ne o f all the brilliant scientific m e n who have attached their
names to the history o f electro magnetism cou ld bring the means
to purchase the practical registering telegraph Some of the m had
ascended the to wer that looked out on the field of conque s t Som e
Som e of them stood
o f them brought keen e r Vl S l O Il than others
higher than others B ut the gen i us of inve ntion had not recognize d
them There was needed an inventor N o w, what sort of a want
is this "
There w a s required a rare combination of qualities and condi
tions
There must be ingenuity in the adaptation of available
means to desired ends ; there mu st be the genius to s ee through
no n essential s to the fundamental principle on which success de
pends ; there must be a kind o f skill in manipulation ; great
p ati e nce and pertinacity ; a certain measure o f culture and
the i nve ntor o f a recordin g teleg r ap h must be c ap able of bein g
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b y the grandeur of the thou ght of writing fig u ra
with
tiv e l y speaking with a pen a thousand miles long
the tho u ght o f a postal s y stem without the element o f ti m e
Moreover the p erson who is to be the i nventor must be free fro m
the e x acti on s of well compen s at e d e very da y absorbing duties
p erhap s he must have h ad the final baptis m of poverty
N o w the inventor of the re gi stering t e legraph did not rise from
the perusal o f an y brilliant p aper ; he happened to be at leisure o n
s hip board read y to contribute and share in the after dinner co n
versation of a ship s cabin when the occa s io n arose
Morse s electro magnetic telegraph was mainly a n invention
e mploy ing power and agencies through mechanical dev i ces to
produce a given end
It involved the co m bination of the results
of the labors o f others with a succession o f special contriv ances and
so me di s coveries of the inve ntor himself There was an ideal whole
almost at the outset but involvin g gre a t thought and labor and
p a tience and invention to produce an art harmonious i n its organ i
zatio n and action
There wa s involved wh at he did no t find as he had assumed
The distance through which any effective force had been called
i nto play for th e w ork o f regi s tration was a s an established fact
a ltog e ther inconsider able
It w a s as a pri mary fact , to be as oer
t a i ne d in order to the development of the electro magnetic record
ing telegraph whether the distance between the battery and electro
m agnet could be increased be y ond the n arro w li mit of previous
laboratory ex peri ment to a distance that in use would be p ra cti ca l ,
and in the event o f finding the fbrce becomin
g feeble with i n
creased distance to discover a mode o f rei nforcing the cur rent at
the point w here it beca m e too feeble to produce printing o r regis
tra tio n, and s o rene wing it b y the a ction of the Writer at the pri
mary point of transmission , thus making the distance su fficientl y
great for practical needs
This w a s a discovery o f the s ame chara cter as the discovery of
th e u s e of the intensit y battery
It involved a self a cting device
for opening and closing a circuit
It required th at the armature
in the first circuit should play throu gh a narrow a nd a dj ustabl e
i nterval near but not touching the face of the mag net a nd far
enough to close the second circuit , wi thout g e tting beyo nd the
T h e arm at u re must also h ave
re ach o f the action of the ma g net
i nspired
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a dj u s table spring to meet the ex igencies o f imperfect insulation
This discovery of a mode ho w
o r enfe e bled action of the battery
to r e inforce th e current wa s the fru i t of Morse s tho u g ht a nd emp er
i mcnt
I t w a s the rela y which w ith its modi fications for registering
local and side circuits was the crow n
ing feature of the recording
telegraph
The discovery that the voltaic current could be made e ffective in
magnetizi ng soft iron and produce mechanical effects at a dis
ta nce o f ten hundred a nd si x ty feet w a s m ade by Professor Henry
Morse found that the force di minished with increased di s tance ,
a point doubtful a s the resul t of Professor Henry s e x peri m en ts
and he discovered that b y addition of successive pairs he could
gain su fficient force to produce the necessary mechanical e ffects at
ten miles i n 1 8 3 7 and at a distance o f thirty three miles in 1 842
In 1 8 4 3 he carried the distance up to one hundred and s i x ty miles ,
and the res ults o f his e x peri m ents w ere embodied in a paper b y
Dr J oh n W Dr aper in the September nu mber o f S il li man s J ourn al
of that y ear
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There h a s arisen a notion that in the distribution o f honors Pro
fess e r Mor s e has received credit for so m e discoveries that was
properl y due to others The al mo s t u niversal adoptio n of the
Morse sy s tem as a con se quence of i ts wonder ful simplicity rapid
it y of action , and perfectness has led the great public to feel less
interest in the trib u tary details of what others have done than i n
the brilliant r e sult w ith which the name of Morse is forever com
The great public is liable to overlook the individual dis
bine d
c o v e rie s w hic h brought to lig ht fro m time to time ministered to
the w ants of civilization but little by themselves , to the work of
him who co mbined the discoveri es of others with his own a nd his
inventions to make them all u s ef ul
That strict j ustice w ill be done though it wait long w e must
believe
None have su ffered more i n the absence o f i ts a wards
in ti me s gone b y than Professor Morse N o w there is fear th at
others w ill get les s than i s th eir due
I n E urope the friends of Professor Wheatstone feel aggrieved
B ut they need not
The inventions w ith which hi s name is con
In s i m
ne ct e d are quite independent ver y brilliant and usefu l
n ty pe the y are se m aphores ,
I
the
y
are
inferior
to
Morse
s
t
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i
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p
y
They are the results o f st udy in the direction of
no t telegraphs
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Am p ere and Schilling —needle instrume nts The latter in the di
rection of Steinheil are magneto el ectric in s tru ments The count
ing house m agn e to el e ctric apparatus w orking with an a l phabet
and w and has advantag e s not e x ce e ded by an y apparatus y et
devised An y body can use it w ith but little practice
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In o u r o wn country there has arisen a conviction th at to Pro fes
both in the old
s or Henry there has been a w arded a less credit
world and at ho me than i s j ustl y his d u e
Thi s has come partly fr
om the circu m stance that o f 111 8 vast
They a wait a
nu m ber o f researche s but fe w h ave seen the light
leisure which the absorbing n ature of his every day d u ties is con
ti nu al l y putting farther a way
It i s in part d u e to accident w hich
i s greatl y to be d eplored ho wever it m ay ad mit o f ex planation
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It wa s the ser i ous conviction o f Profes s or Morse in the later
y ears o f his life that he wa s not indebted to Professor Henry
either di rectly throug h personal inter v ie w or by corre s po ndence
or indirectl y through others fo r an y scientific discover y in his i n
That he w a s unconscious of an y
v e nti o n o f the recording telegraph
such inde btedness there cannot be a doubt That he reall y w as ,
nevertheless indebted to h i m indirectly through others , I think
appear s from a careful ex a m ination o f the facts
It i s clear that Professor Henry was the first to appl y Schw eig
ger s insulated m ultiplier to the e lectro mag net
1 82 8 29
It is
cl ear that Profe s s or Henry wa s the firs t to render such a m agnet
effective through a battery of man y pai rs a t a di stance The re
cording telegrap h of Profe s s or Mo rs e rest s o n principles w hich
thes e deter mination s were the firs t to illustrate The s e e x pe ri
ments were fir s t publi s h e d in J anuary 1 8 3 1
The invention o n
board the Sully was in O ctober 1 8 3 2
The dates o f these events are such as to place the labors of Pro
fe s s o r Henry in the positio n of p riority in poi nt of time
The inv e ntion o f Profe s s or Morse i n 1 8 3 2 proceeded o n the as
sumption that the velocity o f the electric current wa s i nfinitel y
great and that the voltaic current could be m ade to m agne tize spft
iron at great but undefin e d d istances He was chie fl y occupied
a t the out s e t with the inventio n o f the alphabet , and the m eans
for writing and printing The chief ex pe ndit ure of po wer i n writ
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the intelligent human hand
The chief e xp enditure of
power i n printing was to be in a fallin g weight connect e d with
c lock work , and this weight could be wound up
He had assu m ed ,
what wa s really true as the event proved th at the electro magnet
c o uld be made to do the rest according to his conception
With the
prod u ction and arrangement of the devices connected w ith the writ
ing and printing he was occupied at intervals bet w een 1 8 32 and
1 8 3 5 in which latter y ear he had completed a working apparatus o n
‘
a scale adapted to his slender mean s
He h ad no w in substance ,
the whole operating telegraph , w ith the e x ception o f a proper
length o f wire for testing the question whether the force co u ld be
projected s u fli ci e ntl y far to make the invention p ra ctica l ; that is ,
i ne x pe ns w e enough to be s u cce s s fn
l l y intro duced to public use
He was working with a single pair
hi s Cruik s hanks battery
being out of repair At this time early in 1 8 3 6 Dr G ale w as
confidentially invited to s e e the invention I t wa s it should be
reme mbered in actual w o rking condition — as an invention co n
taining all t hat was essential to its demonstrative O peration Fro m
this period to the early spring o f 1 83 7 , circumstances prevented
Professor Morse from going on w ith his invention
With the recollectio n o f the appar atu s working with a single
pair through a comp arativel y short circuit an d a Sturgeon magne t ,
i n the y ear p reviou s it wa s n atural that Dr G ale on again seeing
the apparatus in 18 3 7, should desire to s e e it operated with a more
powerful battery a wire of greater length and a magnet of nu m er
o u s coils
Professor Morse had (Dr G ale s ay s i n h i s deposition )
al w ay s ex pressed his con fidence o f success in propagating m ag
netic power throug h any di s tance o f el e ctric con d uctors w hich cir
”
c u ms tance s might render desirable
Dr G ale would like to s ee
the questio n tested and proffered the necessary cups and wire from
h i s o w n labor atory fo r the e x peri m ent
The result w as preci s el y
w hat Pr o fessor Morse had anticipated
had scarc e ly doubted
D r G ale in g iving an account of this e x periment in a l e tter to
Profe s sor Henry dated April 7 1 8 56 and published i n the R e
p ort o f a co mmittee of the R egents o f the Smith sonian In s titution
for 1 8 5 7, s ay s :
“
The s p arse ness o f the wires in the magnet coil s a nd
the u se of the sin g le cup b attery were to me , on the firs t look of
i ng wa s
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the instrument obviou s marks o f defect and I accordingl y s u g
gested to the professor wi thou t g iv i ng my reas o ns for s o do ing tha t
a battery o f man y pairs should be substituted for that o f a single
pair and that the coil o n each arm of the m agnet should be i n
a lthough I ga v e
creased to m an y hundred turns each
no rea s ons a t the ti me for the su gg es ti o n I had proposed , in m odify
i ng the arr angement of the machine I di d s o afterwards , a nd re
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i n my
ferred ,
exp l a na ti ons ,
to the p ap er
r
s
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es
o
P
o
f
f
o
It i s obvious th at Dr G al e was enabled to m ake
he did and give the cc operation he did in reg ard t
o f wire and multiplied pairs ,
through his
Now , in this con nection
nu merou s coi ls around the e l ectF
o m agnet made
as 1 8 3 1 had been mentioned b y Dr J ack s o n in
tion at the dinner table on the Sully , and Pro fe s
it , in his letter to Dr J ackson of November 1 8 3
an y com munication had been held with Professor Henry and in the
same conversation the t ransmis s ion of a current (the identity of
the t wo —the electric and the galvanic
seems to have been as
sumed pos s ibly in Vie w o f Faraday s disco very o f the drawing o f
a s p ark from a magnet ) , without appreciable loss of energy four
s ay fro m
hundred ti mes around the lecture room o f the S o rbo nne
twenty to thirty miles , — wa s men tioned b y Dr J ackson in the
same conv e rsation , and thi s , too , Professor Morse recalls in the
same letter
“
In a recent letter from Dr G ale to the speaker , he say s
B ut
Morse not havi ng been ac customed to investigate scientific facts
could not appreciate the investigations of Henry as applicable to
the telegraph and I presu m e that Morse never did fully appreci ate
”
the b e nefit which his m achine derived from Henry s discovery
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TH E
RE L A"
.
There has bee n much discus s ion upon th e question of who was
the inventor of the relay
It has been claimed for Schilling , for
Cooke , for Wheatstone , for Henry and for D avy , by those who have
.
S ee A pp endi x A
.
38
carefull y considered the questi o n , or wh o are reluct ant to ao
knowle dge the cl a im o f Pro fess o r M o rse The significance of this
fe a ture in the Morse s y stem will j ustify a ful l c o nsider a ti o n o f the
subj ect
Much o f the obscurit y rests upon an imperfect appreci a tion o f
wh a t the relay i s s o me o f it upo n the dates o f p a tents for special
a pplic a tions o f the principle
a sm a ller fr a ction still o n the di ffer
e nce o f d a tes a t which the i nventi on w a s ex hibited to the publ i c
o r bro ught int o actual service
not a little of it on nati o na l pride
To tho se who c o n ceive that it c o nsists in the produc ti o n of a
speci a l mech a nical e ffect the e ffect being the o pening o f o ne cir
cuit b y the cl o sing of a n o ther will find the inventi o n in the e x
i
e
r
me nt o f Pro fess o r Henry at Princeto n where he e a rl y a nd I
p
think first of a ny empl o y ed an electr o m a gnet to bre a k the cir
cuit o f a qu a ntity b a ttery w hich thro ugh its electro magnet was
"
i
ho lding a gre a t we g ht f
B ut this is not the rela y E ven if there h ad e xisted a device for
restoring the circuit a nd ag a in lifti ng the a rmature a nd i ts weight
it w o uld not have been a relay fo r it wo uld h a ve bro u g h t i nto pla y
o nl y a qu a nti ty ba tter y which as a rela y fo r reinforcing the curre nt
B ut there w a s no such device a nd no le ngth o f
w a s w o rthless
wi re bey o nd the connecti o n through w hich a s a rela y the b a tter y
could h a ve acted The phy sical e x periment as such ha d a s o me
wh a t ne a rer rel a tion to a l o c a l circuit fo r registrati o n
Pro fess o r Henry in his letter to the B o a rd o f Regents o f the
Smiths o ni a n , M a r ch 1 6 1 8 5 7 Ann Rep 1 8 5 7 p 8 7 w i th the
magn a nimit y w hich belo ngs to his n a ture disc l aims this c o nstru o
ti o n o f h i s scientific rese a rches He s ay s : My testim o n y tended
to establish the fa ct that t h o u g h no t entitled to the e x clusive u s e
o f t he electro magnet fo r telegr a phic purp o ses he w a s entitled to
”
The regi st ering
hi s p a rticular m a chine R E G I ST E R a l ph a bet etc
device 1 s the identic a l device of the rel ay , e x cept th a t i t is ap plied
to a di fferent purpose O f the necessity o f the relay a s a means
no t
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Profe ss or H e nry op e ne d th e c ircuit of a l arge qu antity m agne t at Princ e
t o n w h e n l o a d e d w ith s e v e ra l h u nd re d po u nd s by attra c t ing u pw a rd s a s m a ll
m o v abl e w i re by m e ans o f a s m a ll i nte nsity magne t c o nne c te d W l th a l ong
w i re c ir c u it and an i nt e nsity batte ry
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40
building o n Washington square in said city That during the sai d
fo resaid the s a id Professor Morse
month o f J anu a ry o f the y ear a
invited me into his private room in the s a id U niversit y , where I
saw fo r the first time certai n apparatus co nstituting his electro
”
m agnetic telegr a ph
Here foll o ws a description of the app a ratus , and , i n repl y to
cross questio ning he say s th a t the a pp a ratus was l n p erfect and
work ing o rder when he s a w it (in
Letters
from
Commo
(
d o re Shubrick , President Tappan Robert R a nkin and o thers a re
printed b y Professor Morse fi x ing the d a te o f the e x hibiti o n to
them a s e arl y as 1 8 3 5 The testim o ny of Huntington and O lm
stead pupils in art to Pr o fessor Morse in 1 8 3 5 and 1 8 3 6 a nd not
there after , upon the whole ap paratus , including the c o mbine d
series (relay ) is conclusive u pon the s a me point )
Dr G a le s ay s in his deposition :
I t w as earl y a questi o n be
tween Profess o r Morse and my self Where was the limit o f th e
m agnetic p o wer to m o ve a lever " I ex pressed a d o ubt whethe r a
lever could be moved by this p o wer at a distance o f t wenty miles ;
and m y settled c o nvicti o n was that it could no t be done with s u ffi
cient fo rce to m ark paper at o ne hundred miles distance To
‘
this Pro fessor Morse was accusto med t o repl y , If I ca n suc
c e e d in w o rking a magnet ten m iles I c a n g o round the globe
The chi e f an x iety a t this st a ge of the inventi o n w a s to ascertai n
the ut most limit of dist a nce a t which he (Mo rse ) could w o rk or
He often s a id to me It mat
m ove a lever b y magnetic po w er
ters no t h o w delic a te the m o vement may be ; if I can o bt a in it at
all , it i s all I w a nt
Pr o fessor Morse o ften referred to the nu m
ber o f st a tions which might be required a nd which he o bserve d
would a dd to the c o mplication s and ex pense The said Morse
al way s ex pressed hi s c o nfidence o f success in pr o p a g a ting m ag
netic p o w er thr o ugh a ny distance of electric conduct o rs which cir
His pl a n was thus ofte n
cu m s t a nce s might render d esirable
‘
a
e x pl ained to m e :
Suppose s id Professor Morse , that i n e x
er
pe ri me nt ing on t w enty miles o f Wi re w e should find that the po w
of m a gnetis m is s o feeble that it will bu t move a lever with cer
tainty a h a ir s bre a dth ; th a t w o uld be insu fficient it may be to
write o r print ; y et it w o uld be s u fficie nt to close a nd break another
or a sec o nd circuit t wenty miles further , and this sec o nd circuit
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could be made in the sa me manner to bre a k and close a third cir
cuit t wenty miles further ; and s o o n around the globe
“
This general st a tement o f the means to be resorted to no w e m
‘
braced i n wh a t is c a lled the receiving magnet to render practic a l
writing o r printing by telegraph , through long distances was sho wn
to me mo re in detail e a rl y in the spring o f the y ear 1 8 3 7 (o ne thou
san d eigh t hundred and thirty seven )
It is to be obse rved there
fore , that he
Dr G ale
had not tes ted it o r seen it tes ted before
and all thi s is in keeping with the letter of Professor Henry to Pro
He was reply ing to the i nquir y
fe s s or Morse o f date M ay 6 1 8 3 9
Have y o u met with an y fa ct i n your e x periments thus far that
would lead y o u to think that m y mode of telegraphic co mmu nic a
tion will prq v e impractic a ble " and writes
I can s ay ho wever ,
that s o far as I am acquainted with the minuti ae of y our plan I see no
pra ctical difficulty in the way of its applicati o n for comp ara ti vely
s hort di s ta nces ; but if the length o f the w ire between the stations
be grea t I think that some other modifica tion will be found neces
s ary in order to develop a su fficie nt power at the farther end of
the line
At this st a ge , 1 83 9 t wo y ears after th e cave a t and one y ear a fter
the applicati o n fo r a patent covering the rel ay had been passed
upon it is obvious th a t Professor Henry was not a ware o f this
fe a ture o f Professor Morse s plan
the rela y He could not h a ve
suggested it ; nor could it have already occurred to him The
finding out of the requ i red mo difica ti on wa s a discov ery and cer
t a inly one o f the most brilliant of all in electro magnetis m applied
to el ectric telegra phy that h a ve at any ti me been m a de
Davy s apparatus Cooke s and Wheatston e s s o called relay s
were not rel ay s at all They were devices for alarms
for calls
D evices for this obj ect are as o l d as Soemmering in 1 8 1 1 Henry s
bell ringer at Alban y , befo re 1 8 3 2 (Professor Hall s letter ) was of
this class B u t l e t us look at the d a tes C o o ke was a student at
Heidelberg in 1 8 3 6 when he was invited b y a n acqu a intance to
visit (March 6 ) Pr o fessor M o nck e s rooms where he had in ope
ti o n a rude Schilling telegr aph This device he reproduced partl y
in Heidelberg and partly in Fr ankfort o n the Maine and has
”
tened to England , where he spoke of it as M o nck e s telegraph o r
”
H e greatl y modified it and plann e d
the Heidelberg telegraph
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alarm in the y e a r
1 8 36 ,
which was to relea s e a detent a nd s et
It is easy to see that this had
i n moti on clock work to ring a bell
no c o nnection with the ide a o f a relay a device fo r renewi ng the
The device o f C o oke wa s simply a
s trength o f an e x p i r i ng current
contrivance to wake up an office clerk or c a ll him to dut y
The
d evices o f the Morse rel ay contemplated the indefinite extensi on of
I t eon
the length of w i re through which mess a ges c o u l d be sent
te mpl at e d dispe nsi ng with the necessit y o f c alling clerks at inter
mediate stati o ns to dut y a nd even of dispensi n
g in gre a t pro por
tion w i th the services of m an y o fficers a ltogether Huntington and
O lmstead testify to havi ng seen it in 1 8 3 5
I s hould not have dwelt upon this subj ect at such length had I
no t seen in a recent American tex t b o ok o n chemic a l forces that
th e author , somewhat doubtfull y it is true , ascribes the rel a y to a
source which never claimed it but has distinctly disclaimed it It
is a mistake to refer the rel ay c o ncepti o n and e x ecution to a ny
other source than Profess o r Morse The credit to Morse is given
without hesitation o n the contine nt o f E urope —a mong the rest
by D e la Rive and Steinheil , than whom there are no higher au
an
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U SE
TH E
OF
W I RE
O N P OSTS O R AI R
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L INE
C O ND U C TOR S
.
wire sustained o n p o sts fo r conducting friction a l elec
tri city through the ai r goes b a ck a t least to Fr a nklin s ex periment
W a tson in 1 8 4 7 l aid hi s wire o n the ground
a cross the Schuy lkill
Fo r the volt a ic current , it w a s pl a inly first used b y Soemmering
in 1 8 09 It had first seven h u ndred and t w enty four feet ; t wo
day s later , o ne thous a nd feet ; and te n day s l a ter two thousand
feet Such lengths he did not need to bury for the experiments
he made He eventuall y used t e n thousand feet , and settled
co nclusively points long after re discovered , such a s the proj ecti o n
o f the e ffective current from an intensit y battery to gre a t distance s
Air line conductors must h ave been nex t used by B aron Schilling in
his e x periments through man y miles on his estate between 1 8 2 0
It was used , according to Gould s statement by G a uss
a nd 1 8 3 2
and Weber in 1 8 33 —3 4 , and by Steinheil in 1 8 3 7 The use of
posts was covered by Morse (unconscious of what had been done
before him ) in hi s caveat o f 1 8 3 7
The
u se o f
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Some of the frie nds of Professor Henry have the i mpressio n that
he made the first suggestion to Professor Morse about the eleva
tion o f the conducting wire on posts in the air This is a mistake
The literature of the case shows that the letters which passed be
tween the two gentlemen do not contain the suggestion Their
first personal intervie w was in 1 83 9
I n Morse s letter to the
S ecretary of the Treasury , dated S eptember 2 7 1 83 7 , he say s
speaking o f the cost of the constr u cti o n of a working telegraph :
“
Iron tubes inclosing the wires , and filled i n with pitch a nd resi n
would pro babl y be the most eligible mode of securing the co nd u e
tors from injury while at the same time it w o uld be the most
costl y
Iro n tubes o f one and one half inches in dia me
ter I learn can be obtained at B altimore at t went y eight ce nts per
foot The trenching will not be m ore tha n three cents fo r two feet
or about seventy fiv e dollars a mile
If the c urrent is laid
through the air the first c o st will doubtless be much lessened
Stout spars o f some thirty feet in height well planted in
the ground , and placed ab o ut three hundred and fifty feet apart
would in thi s case be required along the tops of which the circuit
”
might be stretched
It will thus be seen that the pl an w a s orig
inal with Professor Morse , although , to hi m u nknow n S teinheil
used the posts and elevated wire in the sa me y ear and in the n
ex t
y ear published an accou nt of it
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S NG
U I
TH E
E
ARTH A S PART
O F TH E
CIR C U I T
.
In the e x periment s of Watson a nd Franklin with frictional
electricity , the earth was used , as we have see n as a part of the
circuit
Steinheil was the first to use it as part o f the circuit of the vol
Morse a dopted it i n 1 8 4 5
t aic current in 1 837
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TH E
S TOPPIN G A PP ARAT U S
.
This ingenious device for starting the fillet o f paper at the i n
stant the message begins to be received indepe nde ntly o f the atten
tion o r presence o f the o ffice clerk a nd st o ppin g it a s soon as the
mess a ge h as been received s o a s to prevent w a ste was invented b y
Professor Morse i n 1 8 3 7 , and fully described by Alfred Vail in his
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work on Telegraph y i n 1 8 4 5 The i nstru ment was patented in
France in 1 83 8 and in this country in 1 8 4 6 It was impr o ved
u po nb y S o rtais in 1 8 6 1 o r 1 8 6 2 , and invented ane w b y Professor
Wheatst o ne in 1 8 63 The invention o f the latter is spoken o f i n
“
a contemporary public print as follows :
A merchant can no w
l o ok up hi s counting house and on his return find every message
faithfully r ecorded in legible ty pe , during his absence , b y this
”
beautiful little machine
The report o f the Com mittee on Commerce of the House of Rep
res ent a ti v e s , December 3 0 1 8 4 2 , announced as follows in giving
the su perior advantages of Professor Morse s invention : “ Pos
sessing an adva ntage over electric telegraphs heretofore in u s e
inasmuch a s it records , in permanently legible characters o n paper
a ny commu nicationwhi ch ma y be made b y it w ithou t the a i d of
a ny a gent a t the p lace of record ing , excep t the app a ra tu s , which is
‘
Thus the recording
p u t i n mo ti on a t the p oi nt of co mmu nica ti on
appar atus , called the register , may be l eft i n a closed cham ber where
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i t wi ll gi v e noti ce of i ts
nica ti on ma y be fou nd
commenci ng
on openi ng
to wri te by
the
a
bell ,
ment
ap a rt
a nd
the comma
”
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the course of the pro tracted litigations to which Professor
Morse has been subj ected in defence of his rights every source of
testimon y has been ex hausted to sh a ke if possible his cl aims to
originality and priority Scientific ex perts a nd rival clai mants
have bee n m ars hall e d o n repeated o ccasions to sustain the assault
b y every means in their power The effort could not well h a ve
been stronger It has o n every occasion been overwhelmingly de
feated
the S u
The d e cisio ns of the highest tribunals in the country
‘
preme Court o f the U nited States and the Patent O fii ce , -which
have been re ndered in these cases are s o cle a r , emph a tic and
convincing , th a t they must forev er be accep ted as determining
affirmativel y all the qu estions bearing o n Professor Morse s claims
l
that can fall to courts weighing hu man te s ti mo ny fi
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In o u r sketch of the histor y o f the recording telegr a ph we were
brought do wn to the period o f the successful working o f the Morse
apparatus between B altimo re and Washington l n 1 84 4
.
S e e A pp e nd ix C
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45
The public j ournals of that ti me and o f recent date have made
the j eers , the bu fie ti ng s the strug
u s famili a r with the det a il s ,
gle the self s acrifice which attended the e fiort to procure the ap
propri a ti o n by Congress of the m o ne y necessary to construct the
first ex perimental line It is no t in m y pro vince on thi s occ a sion
to dwell upon them , nor upon the plaudits and honors and fortune
th at came at las t to cro w n the noble life which has s o recently
cl o sed
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I will occup y but a moment further in stating in a word wh at I
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conceive to be the j ust claims of Professo r Morse as the i nvento r
of the electro magnetic recording telegraph
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W H AT W A S
H IS
O
WN "
The conceptio n o f regi stra ti on This u nderlaid the idea o f
a n alphabet
It involved the fillet of paper moving b y clock
work with unifo rm velocity under the lever pen , rising and fall
ing at measu red intervals controlled by the tr a nsmitting ke y
O perating the electro magnet through the opening and closing of
the galvan ic circuit It included the mathematical and m echan
ical c o nception of the combin a ti o ns of d o ts lines and sp a ces to
stand for letters whethe r recorded chemica ll y o r by pressure
2 d The c ombined series or rela y which made it practical to
transmit from an y station intelligence to an y point h o we v e r far
and to receive and record messages at the e nd , and at all interm e
diate points , however numerous
3 d The first practical deter minati o n t hat the galvanic force
could be made practicall y operative t hrough su fficientl y great dis
tances without repetitio n to render the recording telegraph a prac
tical success suited to public use
4 th The electro magnetic sounder or ac o u stic semaphore , with
an a lphabet corresponding to dots lines and sp a ces
5 th The stopping apparatus for controlling the movement of
the fillet o f paper at a distant statio n through the ke y of the trans
l
f
fi
ce
fi
mitting o
1 st
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6
Pro fe ss or M or s e s u gge s te d to A rago in 1 839 th e u s e
neti c re c o r ding te l e graph fo r d e te rm i nati o ns o f l o ngi tu de
bee n th e firs t to l ay a w ork ing s ubmari ne c abl e
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s ee m s to h av e
th e
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The combina tion of the battery of Volta improved b y D an
i e ll the electro m a gnet of Sturge o n the multiplied insulated coil ,
and the battery of man y p a irs and long conducting wire of Henry
and the single wire a nd e a rth circuit of Steinheil
with his o w n
w riting and registering app a ratus including the ke y lev er pen
movi ng fillet o f p a per stopping apparat u s , and register magnet ;
his o wn alphabet o f d o ts lines and spaces and his o w n rela y
working with a n intensity batter y ,
all proportioned and adj usted
in a harmonious whole of e x treme simplicity , and a dapted to pra o
tic al w orking for every day public use
7 th He is entitled to the fur t her honor o f having fought and
conquered the difificu l tie s scientific pec u niary material and in
the way o f legislation and litigation , which the effort to make the
i nv e nti n u sefu l and s u ccessfu l encountered
The
strength
and
g
faith and patience and cour a ge w ith which he pursued h is inv e n
tion to its completion are the attributes which me n honor
6 th
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If we do not credit to Professor Morse individual discoveries in
electro magnetism , which he never claim ed we ascribe to him the
greater honor o f having c a st previous discoveries into the alembic
o f his own mind and evolved the first practical registering tele
gra ph and so made those discoveries by fusion with his o wn dis
co v eri e s and inve ntions subservient to the highest interests of
civilization
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day those fl ags dro o ping from half mast mour ning th e u ntimel y
fate o f him who h a d u pheld them and the republic of which
they were the s y mbols , in the d a rkest hours —remind u s sir o f
the d a y s when this hall w ore the emblems of m o urning fo r the
de a th of o u r gre a t chief magistrate , patriot , and martyr
As w e
are looki ng about this h a ll at these pictures upon its walls we
are reminded th a t it is m ainl y to the heroes and patriots and sages
and statesmen of the l a nd that the honors o f these o ccasions h ave
B ut sir I am sure y ou will s ay —I am sure that all
been given
present will agree —that we are met to night on an occasionwo rth y
o f thi s place w orthy o f o u r best e ffo rts a nd appealing to the best
feelings o f ev ery American We are met to pay honors to one of
the heroes o f peace It is right , eminentl y right that the citizens
o f a republic more than those o f an y other government
should
give a generous recogniti o n to gre a t p u blic merit U nder the
o l d sy stems in other parts o f the w o rld the y h a ve their m o des of
remuner a ting public benefactors There are orders o f merit that
are con
ferred upon them There are titles o f nobility and pension s
to them and their descend a nts T o the l a test ge ner a tio n the de
s cenda nt bears a title which every where and to a l l pers o ns recalls
the gre a t citizen up o n who m that title was first conferred N o w
we citizen s o f a dem o cratic republic have discarded o n principle
all these methods o f encouragi ng e ffo rt and rewarding success We
consider th em to be un reason a ble and unnecessary a nd i nco nsi s t
ent with the fair rights and interests of the greatest number B u t
it has al way s seemed to me that fo r that very reas o n there i s a te n
fold obligatio n resting upon the citizens of a republic to give the
freest and mo s t generous ex pression of gratitude and admirati o n
t o their fello w citizens who h a ve bee n the benefact o rs of their
race We have no title of nobility to con fer upon Morse We
enr o ll his name in no legion of honor So much the rather must
we give hi m the admirati o n of o u r understandings and the w a r m
est a fie cti o ns of o u r h e arts
Mr May or I can contribute nothing like that which ha s been
contributed b y Profess o r H o rsfo rd o f a scientific character re
specting M r Morse What little I can s ay , o f a humbler sort I
respectfully submit to m y fellow citizens In m y boy ho o d I kne w
him i n my earliest manho o d I knew him I had the hon o r I may
no t trul y s ay o f hi s friendship but cert a inl y of his most friendl y
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cqu a intance He was co nnected with those I most loved and
h o nored i n the world , by ties not of blood but of affection and
c o mmon pursuits a nd common st u dies and I know from the e arli
est period before he wa s known to the world as th e grea t i nv e n
tor the a fie ctio n and respect which were e ntertained for him b y all
persons who came within the range of his acqu a intance Findley
Morse
by that n a me I al way s l ov e to speak of him for s o I al way s
heard him c a lled by his friends
Findley Morse was a y ou th o f re
markable personal beaut y of very attr a ct ive manners of a most e n
t h u s i a s ti c temperamen t o f a pure heart and a blameless life There
are no dra wback s in the eulogies which we canpronounce upo n
Mr Morse All these characteristics he had ; and I am remi nded
t o nig ht , by seeing upo n the platfo r m one of the heroes of the wa r
o f 1 8 1 2 and 1 4 , wh o se vacant sleeve carries with it alway s the
mem o ry o f the g allant sortie of Fort Erie
This
reference
to
"
Co l A s pinwe l l w a s acknowledged b y loud a ppl a use ]
I am remind
ed that M r Morse with t wo or three other B o sto n citize ns was
unfortu natel y overt a ken a nd detained in London b y the une x pect
ed bre a king o u t of that war I have frequentl y he a rd these gentle
men his companions ( among them W a shingt o n Allston ) speak
o f this characteristic
the a rdent and enthusiastic patri o tis m of
Mr Morse It knew no bo unds So intense was it that it some
times endangered his personal s a fety Why he l o v e d the old
frigate Constitution , launched within sight o f his father s house a s
he loved his brother Wh en the news c a me that she ha d captured
the Guerriere and brought her int o B o ston , and then ag ai n the
J ava his enthusiasm rose to fever h e at Througho ut the war his
spirits sunk or rose like a thermometer , with the tidings of good
or ill s uccess o f his co untry Had he been at ho me e y ery faculty
of his ardent nature would have been given to her service
It h as alw ay s seemed to me that Mr Morse s i nve ntio n is the
most attractive to the imagination of an y ever m a de Its utility and
e xtent no one can overstate B u t o the r inventions are vastly u se
ful This p art akes of a s piritu a1 character If no t spirit itself it is
born of the spirit We often hear it said we someti mes feel that
progress in material arts and the advance o f material scie nces
m ay tend to l o wer the tone of the soul and to de press the highest
aspiratio ns o f the spirit As to some o f them this may be true ;
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but do we not feel th at in this i nvention , the my steries o f that
bo rder l and between se nse and spirit a re brou ght home into o u r
d a ily live s " Does no t this inventi o n feel ingl y persuade u s what
M uch of matter which o u r senses recognize bu t more
we are
of spirit which is bey o nd o u r senses It w akes u p o u r i magina
tions to the truth that the earth i s filled with an invisible intang i
ble essence , o f which w e see nothing and know scarce more than
no thing which y et a few slight and simple applicatio ns of matter
an ywhere every where can evoke and bring into an intensity and
p o wer of action o f which our fancies would never have con
The mo st
ce iv e d , and which are to u s still a never ending wonde r
pow erful poisons indeed the most powerful material agencies o f
all kinds , are almost in the i nverse ratio o f their bulk and o f their e f
fe ct u pon a ny of the senses The invisible are the most powerful o f
all Such results of science , then , as Mr Morse has brought to
light , in such fields of research , instead of tending to belittle o r
d epress spirit and subj ect it to m atter teach us that the forces
u nperceived by the se nses are the re a l po wers i n t he u niverse of
They preach over again to us no t in words but in act ,
m atter
the sublime lesson of the Scriptures ,
things not seen are eternal
B ut , Mr May or there are man y others whom y ou have kindly
in v ited to s ay a word to the citizens o f B o sto n this evening a nd I
must not trespass further upon these sacred hours I wish simply
to j oin wi th m y fellow citizens , for one moment in the ex pressi o ns
of gratitude which we o we and which all portions of the world
There is not a spot of the h a bitable
o w e to this gre a t inventor
earth that might not well res p
ond to night in tones of s y mpathy
and gratitude The last despatch y ou received was dated from
Eg y pt B ut sir that is not all I a m no t o ver sanguine , I am
sure , when I s ay that not m a n y y ears hence there will be the
m a gnetic telegraph across the desert s o f Africa It will wake into
life that vast silent continent and E thiopia will stretch forth her
hands for the grasp of her brethren throughout the world O ne
t o uch o f the electric wire , like one touch of nature , m akes the
whole world kin
B ut o f all the places which may well respond to night there is
none th at h a s a better cl aim to be he ard none upon which the
duty of spe aking with the heart and w ith the u hde rs ta nding i n his
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m e mory presses more urge ntl y tha n upo n B oston and this hal l
.
For M r M ay or B oston is the capital of the St a t e of his birth ;
and he was born in o ne of those valley s that lie betwee n B unker
Hill and F a neuil Hall
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RE M A R" S
OF MR
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E P
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WHIPPL E
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The May or then prese nted Mr Whipple , who spoke as fol
lows :
Mr Chairman : I am specially attracted to this meeting
because its purpose is to co mme mora te the work of an i nventive
mi nd
The govern ment o f the city of B oston i n calling a meet
ing i n Fa neuil Hall to honor the dead inventor of an i nvention
which can never die has sho wn itself on a level with the science
and the humanity of the age
O ur c ivilizati o n depe nds for its
progress on an ever fres h supply of in t ellects which force reluct
a nt Nature to yi eld up secrets sh e j ealousl y hoards and hides
S uch intellects e x tend the dominio n of the huma n intelligence and
are , at the same time the bene ficent creators of new wealth , to
s atisfy human needs It is computed that Henry Cort whose
m a chines created the ir o n m a nufacture o f Great B ritain added
to i ts nati o nal we alth and th a t B essemer s process
Here is a su m
o f m aking steel h a s alread y added
equ al to the whole vast national debt of E ngland which is to be
traced to two inventive brains Great B ritain spent a thousand
millions of pounds sterling in her twenty y ears contest with
revolutionary and imp erial France Who supplied the sinews of
that long and terrible war " T he afist er is J ames Watt and
Richard Arkwright two men who gave to their country labor
saving machines which represented the manual labor o f five hun
dred millions of men E nglish sta tesmen and gener a ls with all
i
their blunders coul d r ot waste wealth as fast as Wa tt and Ark
wright cre a ted it and the first N a pole o n wa s at last overwhelmed
no t b y Pitt Perceval Liverpool o r Wellington , but b y t wo illus
tri o ns i nventors o ne o f w hom beg a n life a s a mathem a tical i ns tru
ment maker and the other as a penn y b a rber I doub t if an y of
u s with a ll our fa mili arity with the m a rvels wrought by mechan
ical invention reali ze the en o rmous debt of gratitude we owe to
such country men o f ours as Whitney F ulton Goody ear , M cCo r
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52
mick ,
B igelow , Howe and Morse As to Morse , he earned at on e
time a precarious living in N e w Hampshire by painting p o rtr a its
at fifteen dollars a head Who could h av e s u ppos e d th a t from
such a n artist w o uld have sprung such an artisan "
B ut as to M orse s p a rticular invention allow me to rec all to
y our mem o ries the well known li nes of By ron , as he witnessed a
thu nder stor m am ong the Alps :
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Co
M y th o
u l d I wre k
a
u ghts up on exp re ssion
hu s thr ow
s trong or w e ak
S o u l h e art mind pa ssi ons fe e lings
A l l th at I w o u l d h av e s o u ght a nd al l I s e e k
B e ar know fe e l a nd y et bre ath e into one w or d
A nd th at one w or d w e re L ightning I w o u l d sp e ak
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Well , Morse has not o nly compelled lightning to sp eak but to
w rite
He has forced it not merely to fl a s h terror but to fl ash
i ntelligence He has made it the obedient humble servant of the
meanest as well a s the greatest o f men and women
U nder his
control it condescends even to be doting garrulous insipid a
retailer of gossip a thrall of scandal mongers " o u all recollect
the remark of the o l d lad y , when she s aw the telegraphic poles s e t
”
“
“
up before her cou ntry cottage
N o w,
I
s h e spitefull y said
suppose nobod y can whip a child without its being know n al l
”
over creatio n Certainly no t m y g o od w om a n " The press of
Calcutta and S t Petersbu rg will hear every sl a p h o ld y o u to a
strict account and stigmatize every stroke o f super fl uous castiga
tion of infantile disobedien ce E ven the restless Y ankee who
asking the operator in the early day s o f the telegraph , how long
it would take to send a message to Washington and being
”
“
info rmed it would take five minutes , repli ed , I can t wait ca n
By the blessed difiere nce in time , he can at
now be satisfied
present be consoled b y the as surance that his telegraphs to some
places will arrive several hour s befo re he sent them " In short ,
Franklin drew the lightni ng from the skies ; Morse has sent it
over the earth to run errands — ah ign
ominious but still to us a
very convenient work fo r an element in itself s o sublime s o smit
ing and so wrathfu l l
B ut the tamin g of the seemi ngly unta mable lightning has
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worked noble a s well as frivolous results It enables great nation s
to co mmun icate with each other in a minute o f ti me and to avoid
war by the instantaneous fl a shing o f the thoughts o f each st a tes
It enables the great
man into the minds o f all st a tesmen
m erchant , in his summer resort at Newport o r S arat o ga , to direc t
the c o urses of his ships , separated from hi m b y three or ten , or
fifteen th o usand miles of mere distance and equ alizes prices b y
demonstrating the foll y o f monop o l y It enables the pres s to
annihilate space a nd to bring ever y morning and evening E u
r o pe Asia and Africa to y our doors A nd last though not l east
it m a kes every throb of the human heart
every dear and tender
an xiety fo r absent friends parents lovers — known everywhere
and converts B oston London Paris B erlin B ombay and Ho ng
" ong into o ne great metropolit an city
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REM AR" S
H ON
or
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G
E O RG E
M r H ill ard was t he n i ntro du c e d
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HIL L ARD
He
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s a id
It i s an honor able fact in the history o f our country that at thi s
moment , all over the land m e n are met t o gether to do honor to a
man whose cl a ims to memory and distinction rest upo n the fact
th a t he wa s em i nentl y successful in apply ing the laws o f science
to the arts o f life With peculiar propriety it belongs to us to do
hon o r to Mr Morse bec a use he w a s of us He was bor n but a
rifle shot from this spot ; he was reared under in fl uences indige
We have a right to a —
local pri d e in hi m Local
nous to our soil
pride national pride , is a proper and commendable sentiment ,
within re a sonable limits We h ave a right to be pr o ud of our
great men E very great man is the product o f two factors ; one
i s his original capacity and the other the institutions and condi
tions under w hich he was reared I suppose Mr Morse woul d
h a rdl y have invented the electric telegraph if he had bee n born i n
Mex ico o r Peru
I d o not propose , fellow citizen s to travel over the grou nd
which m y predecess o rs h a ve traversed Who is he that c o meth
after three such kings " Allo w me to de fl ect a little seemingl y ,
from the path of thou ght before us and y et I mean to be gui ded
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b y a law which shall in due season bring me back again I a m
re min d ed here to night of two o ther men bet w een who se live s
a nd th a t o f Mr Morse there is a peculiar parallelism
O ne of
these Franklin ha s already been mentioned wa s all o u r o wn
He was born here in B osto n, at the beginning o f the l a st century
The other is Count Rumfo rd born in Woburn about ten miles o ff
Franklin w a s born a bout fort y y ears before Rumford and R u m
ford ab o ut fo rty y ears before Morse Their respective birth d a tes
mark the beginning the middle and the end of the ei g hteenth
century These three m e n were memorable fo r investigations and
inventions in he a t light electricity and electro m a gnetism
those
air y and imponder able essences which seem more like thought
All three were
a cting thro u gh m atter than like matter itself
practical men m a king the i r science subserve the u s e and wants o f
With the first we associate the lightning ro d
m an in dail y life
and the Franklin stove and with the second the Rumfo rd oven
These y o u may s ay are but simpl o ,
a nd the Rumford firep l ace
trivial things ; bu t in a climate wher e fo r eight months i n the
ear
first
th
o ught i s how to keep warm the m a n th a t e co no
r
o
u
y
mizes fuel o n a great scale is a public benefactor And s o is he
who light e ns to o ne half o f creation the d a il y burden o f c o o king
B ut Franklin and Rumford besides being pr a ctical men were
great scientific discoverers
Frankl in d isco vered the id entity of
lightning and electricity , and Rumford th a t he a t is but a mode o f
m o tion These are vit al a nd germinating truths " o u know ho w
high i s the pl a ce of Franklin o n the rolls of fame as a ma n o f
science ; and I have the impressi o n that the reputation of Rum
ford as a scie n
tific discoverer is r a ther on the increase at the
present time
E a ch
I n o th er respects these three eminent m en Were alike
re a ched a good o l d age ; each h a d the good fortune which all
invent o rs and disco verers do not have o f re ap ing the h arvest of
success with their own hands While y et a live the y had hon o rs
recogniti o n and wealth ; they did no t die before the sight o f the
pro mised land t o w ard s which their hopes a nd their tho ughts were
turned And there i s a n o ther point in which these men were
alike th at i s the p a tie nce a nd tenacity with which they gr a sped
an idea and never let it go till success wa s achieved ; the power
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into shado w ; and there have been men of scie nce wi th i nfirmi tie s
o f temper a nd we a knesses o f chara cter over which ch a rity dra w s
a ve il B ut Mr Morse was alway s a ma n o f high pers o n a l ch a r
acter When an artist he resisted the peculiar temptati o ns t o
which artists from their impressi o nable temperament are often
apt to y ield He wa s simple in his habits a h a rd worker a nd
pure in life and conversation The beauty b e worshipped wa s
high and ideal no t sensual o r debasing So when we view him
as a man o f science we see the same elements of character self
respect , self contro l no unseemly self ass ertion , no taste for need
le ss controvers y , but al way s a calm serene , equable spirit His
was a noble life in b o th respects that o f art a nd that o f science
H eaven gave hi m no t merel y honor and we alth but also other
blessings It gave him an o ld ag e , witho u t i nfirm iti e s an o ld a g e
His deat h wa s
s urr o unded b y all that should accompan y old age
t h e going do w n of a great light in a calm and serene horizon
As I have befo re said it is an honorable thing for us that we
c o me here to do honor to the m emory of this eminent this pure
It marks a progress in civilization when men
a nd go od man
not merely to the great s o ldier and the
a s semble to do honor
—
reat
states
an
all
praise
to
the
i
their
spheres
but
to
n
m
m
,
g
the a rtist who p o urs the hues of beauty around the paths o f dail y
life ; to the scientific discoverer who by p atient investigati o n
forces coy and reluctant nature to reveal the secrets she is a l wa y s
a nx ious to hide ; to the practical mechanician who applies these
l aws to the service of humanity lightening the burden o f toil and
the pressure o f poverty These men are heroes they are soldiers
in that great battle which h a s alwa y s been going on between ig no
rance a nd knowledge error and truth Their triumphs are with
o u t allo y ; their victories are bloodless ; in the m is net mingled
the wail o f the widow or the tear of the orpha n
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A PPE N D IX A
.
The e fiect of the suggested addition of more cups and coils was
It was precisel y what he ex
no surprise to Pro fessor Morse
pe cte d and had assumed and one may add w o uld have e x hib
i te d if he had h a d the means before the interview with Dr G a le
Whatever Dr G ale may h av g sa id to Professor Morse at an y
time the latt e r was o bvi o usl y hnco ns ci o u s that an y suggestions he ,
D r Gale had made were other than such as might be made b y
an y o ne familiar With the principles o f electr o magnetism then
”
confidenti a l scientific friend
He
known, acting a s his
lodged his caveat in 1 83 7 applied for his patent April 7 1 8 3 8
and sailed for E urope immediately after He returned in M a rch
1 8 3 9 and found Dr Gale h a d sailed on the very day o f his arriva l
In the fo llo wing month (April 2 4
he
fo r New O rleans
wrote Pr o fessor Henry as fo ll o w s
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YO R" April
NE W
E AR
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O n m y return ,
S IR ,
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24 , 1 83 9
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few d a y s since from E urope
I found directed to me through y our politeness a cop y o f y our
valuable Contributions for w hich I be g y o u to accept m y w a rm
est thanks The variou s cares consequent upon s o long an a bsence
from home and which have demanded m y more immedi a te atten
tion h a ve prevented me fr o m more than a curs o ry perus a l of its
i nteresting contents y et I perceive m a n y things o f great interest
to me in m y telegr a phic enterprise I was gl ad to learn b y a let
ter received in P a ris from Dr Gale that a sp o o l o f five miles o f
W ire was loaned to y ou a nd I perceive that y o u h a ve alre a dy made
some interesting ex periments with it In the absence o f Dr G ale
who has gone South I feel a great desire to consult some scientific
gentleman o n points o f imp ortance be a ring up o n m y telegraph
which I am about to const ruct in Russia being under a n eng a ge
M
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ment with the R u ssian government agent to return to Europe fo r
t hat purpose in a few weeks I should be ex c eedingly h a ppy to
s ee y ou and am tempted to break away from m y a bsorbing engage
ments here to find y ou at Princeton I n case I should be able to
vis it Princeton for a few d a y s , a week o r two hence how shall I
find y o u engaged " I should c o me as a learner and co uld bring
no contributions to your stock of ex peri ments O f an y v alue nor
any means of furthering y our e x per i ments e x cept perhaps the
lo a n O f an additional five m ile s o f wire which it may be desirable
for y ou to have
I have man y qu estions to ask bu t sh o uld be happy i n y our
reply to this letter o f an answe rto this general one : Have y o u
met with an y facts , in y our e x periments thu s fa r that would lead
y ou to think that m y mode o f telegraphic communication W ill prove
impractic a ble " S o fa r a s I ha v e consu lted the sa va ns of Pa ri s , they
‘
ha ve s u gges ted no ins u rmou nta ble difitcu lties
I have however
quite as much confidence in your j udgment from y our v al u a
ble e x perience as in that o f an y one I h a ve me t abroad I think
that you have pursued an o ri g i nal course of ex perime nt and dis
covered facts O f more value to me th a n y ou have published abroad
I will not trouble yo u at this time with m y questions until I
know y o ur eng a gements Accompany ing this is t he cop y of a R e
port made by the Ac a de my of Industry of Paris o n m y telegraph
which I beg y ou to a ccept
B elieve me my dear sir ,
Wit h the highest respect
“
Your most obedient servant
S A M U E L F B M ORS E
”
To Prof J O S EPH H ENR" Princet o n
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To this letter
wa s
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received the following repl y
PRIN CETO N May 6 1 8 39
“
D E AR S I R
Yo ur fa vor of the 2 4 th ult c a me to Prince to n
d uring m y a bsence which will account for the l o ng del ay o f my
ans w er I am ple a sed to learn that y o u full y sancti o n the lo a n
which I o bt a ined fro m Dr Gale O f y o ur wire and I S h a ll be h a ppy
if a ny o f the results are found to have a practic a l be aring on the
electric a l telegr a ph
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/
It will g iv e me great pleas u re to see y o u in Pri nceto n after
this week m y engagements will not the n interfere with our com
mu ni cati o ns o n the subj ect o f electri city During this we ek I sh a ll
be almost const a ntly eng a ged with a friend in some scie ntific
labors which we are prosecuting together
I am a cquainted with no fa ct w hich would le a d me to suppose
that the proj ect of the electro m a gnetic telegraph is impracticable
o n the co ntrar y , I believe that science is now ripe for the applica
tion and that there are no difficulties in the w ay , but su ch a s
ingenuity and enterprise may obviate B u t what for m of the a p
paratus or what a pplication o f the power will prove best can I
believe be o nl y determined b y careful experiment I c a n sa y
however that so far as I am a cquainted with the minuti ae O f y our
plan I s ee no p ra ctica l difiicu lty in the w ay of i ts app lica tion fo r
co mp a ra ti vely s hort d i s ta nces ; but if the length of the wire between
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the
be grea t, I thi nk tha t
fou nd necessa ry , i n order to de velop
s ta ti o ns
the l ine
so
me
o ther
modifica ti on w ill be
fiici ent p ower
a su
at
.
the
fa r ther
I shall however be h a pp y to converse freely w it h
y ou on these points when we meet In the mea n time I remain
With much res pect yours etc
J OS EPH H E N R "
”
To Professor M O RS E
end o
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at this period the telegraph had been e xhibited i n pr a ctical
O per a tion fir st with a s ho r t circ u it to numero us friends a nd
pupils in 1 83 5 then with a circuit of te n miles to the public in
New York in 1 8 3 7 to a c o mmitte e Of th e Fra nklin Institute in
J anuary of 1 8 38 and for three months following to the C abinet
and Co ngress at W a shington ; to the Acade my o f Science and
thousands O f visito rs in Paris in the autu m n o f this y ear All this
happened before he had read Profess o r Henry s p a per A S his
appara tus emplo y ed ten miles of wire a nd Pro fess o r Henry s
p a per S p o ke O f the u s e o f but te n hundred a nd S i xty fe et it is no t
S i ng hl a r th a t he S hould have felt that he did no t o w e the d i s co v
ery that the effective current could be sent throug h g reat distance s
t o Professor Henr y
”
“
A fe w day s after the receipt o f this letter s ay s Pr o fess o r
Morse in hi s acc o unt
I visited him having prepared befo rehand
Now
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a few questions the better to econ o mize hi s time The fol l owing
is the co p y of the origin a l paper (which I preserved ) with the a n
s we rs o f Prof Henr y s o far as the y w ere given put do wn b y me
in pencil a t the time
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a red to a s k Professor Henry a nd shown him in
uesti
ns
prep
o
Q
m y v i sit M ay 1 8 39 and his answers on re a ding them to him
H ave y o u a ny re a s o n to think tha t m a gnetism c a nnot be
1 st
i nduced in soft iro n at the dist a nce o f o ne hundred miles or more
”
b y a S i ngle impulse o r from a single b a tter y a pparatus "
No
Supp o se that a horsesh o e magnet o f soft iron of a given
2d
size receive i ts m aximum of magneti sm b y a given number of
coils around it o f wire o r of ribbon , and b y a give n sized b a ttery
or number o f batteries at a g iven distance from the b a ttery does
a success i o n of m a gnets intr oduced into the circuit diminish the
”
m a gnetism i n each
No
3d
Have y o u ascertained the law which regulates the pr o por
tion o f quantity and intensity from the v o lt a ic battery necess a ry
to o vercome the resistance o f the wire in lo ng dist a nces in induc
”
ing magnetism in soft iron
O hm has determined it
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I
The o nly remaining letter to Professor Morse affords evidence
o f the kindl y interest o f Professor Henry in the invention o f Pro
fe s s o r Morse and is here inserted
.
,
PR IN CETO N C O L L E G E Feb 2 4 th 1 8 4 2
M " D E AR S IR
I am ple a s ed to hear y o u have again petiti o ned
Congress in reference to y our tele ra ph a nd I m o st sincerely h o pe
u
will
s
u
cceed
in
convincing
o
u
r
representatives
of
the
imp
r
o
o
y
tance of the inve ntion In this y o u m ay , perhaps find s o me dihi
culty S ince , i n the minds o f man y the electro ma gnetic telegr a ph
is ass o ci a ted with the vari o us chimeric a l, proj ects constantly pre
sented to the public , and p articularl y with the schemes s o popul a r
a y ear O r t wo ago for the application o f electricity a s a moving
power in the arts I have asserted from the first that all attempts
o f this kind are premature and m ade w ith o ut a pro per knowle d ge
of scientific principles The c a se is ho wever entirely di fferent i n
regard to the electro m a gnetic telegraph S ci ence is no w fu lly rip e
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A PPE N D IX B
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The Abbe Mo igno published i n 1 83 7 a letter from Dr J ackson
in which the l a tter l ay s cl a im to the wh o le invention o f Mo rs e s
”
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4
telegr ap
h The cl a im i s repeated in the B oston Po st in 1 8 3 9
This cl a im is supp o rted in s o me degree by a statement o f Dr
H a mel o f St Petersburg wh o visited this co dntry d uring the
Crime a n w ar a nd s a w the n o te b o o k o f Dr J acks o n It is i h
tim a ted in the work of " uhn (Leipsic 1 8 6 6 ) th a t the cl a i m o f
‘
M o rse to the peri o d o f 1 83 2 as th e d a te o f the invention of the
M o rse telegr a ph sho w s a want o f love of truth
In vie w o f these i mputa t ia ns up o n the go o d n a me of a man al l
o f w hose wri tings and priv a te a nd pub l ic life p o i nt him o u t a s
high t o ned a nd sensitivel y j ust a nd truth l o ving , and in Vie w O f
m y instr u ctio ns to present a S ketch o f Pr o fess o r Morse s c o nn ec
tion with the ele ctric telegr a ph I h ave no a lternative but to pro
c oed to the vindic a ti o n o f Pro fess o r M o rse
The p u blic—no ti c e of C o o ke a nd Wh e a t sto ne s telegr a ph , i n 1 8 3 7
had a wa kened Pro fess o r M o rse s solicitude lest the h o n o r of the
first i nventi o n o f a pr a ctical working telegr a ph should be lost to
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icl e i n th e B o s to n Po s t of Ja nu ary 1 8 39 th e d ata o f w hic h
w e are info rm e d th a t
w e r e fur nish e d by D r Ja c k s o n o cc u rs t h e fo l l O Wih g
th e inv e nti o n o f th e e l e c tro m a gne ti c t e l e g ra ph w hi c h h a s be e n c l a im e d by
M o rs e o f N ew " ork is e nti e ly du e to o u r fe ll o w c itize n D r
Mr S F B
C h a rl e s T Ja c k s o n w h o firs t c o nc e iv e d t h e i d e a o f s u c h a n i ns trum ent du r
i ng his re tu rn v oy ag e fro m E ur o pe in th e pa ck e t ship S u l l y i n O c tob e r 1 8 3 2
*
Ih
“
an ar t
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The
o ri g i n o
nu m ber
a
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f
f
o
th e i d ea /of th e tel eg r ap h ,
p a ss eng er s
on
bo a r d th e S
a s a bov e s ta ted , ca n
a ll y ;
a nd
M
r
.
.
be p r ov ed by
R iv e s , th e A m e ri c a n
ss a d or to Fra nc e M r F ishe r o f Phil a de lphi a a nd Captai n P oll of th e
S u l l y h a ving l is te ne d to th e c o nv e r s at io n w il l re c oll e c t th at M r M ors e a c
know l e dg e d him s e l f w h o lly una c qu a inte d w ith e l e c tro m a gne tis m and th at D r
J fre e l info rm e d h i m of e v e ry p a r ti c u l ar d is c o v e ry appli c abl e to th e c a s e
I n a d e po siti on m ad e i n 1 8 4 8 D r Ja c k s o n appe als to th e s am e g e nt l e m e n
D uri ng th e c o nv e r s a ti o n w ith M r R iv e s a nd M r Fish e r w e re pre s e nt
tw o M e ss r s P al m er o f N e w " o rk and Cap ta i n Willi a m P e ll
a m ba
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66
c ou n try Conscious that his invention had been m ad e o n board
the S u lly in 1 8 3 2 h e addressed a circular l e t ter to several of his
o ur
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,
,
fellow passengers e x pecti ng with their replies to be able to confirm
T he letter was as follows
h i s claim to pri o rity
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,
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Y OR" C IT Y
NE W
U NIVERS ITY , A
ugust
2 7, 1 8 3 7
.
D EAR S IR
Y ou may have seen some notice i n the papers of
an electri c telegraph o f which I am the inventor There is t o be
a c o ntest it seems for priority o f inven tion o f this electri c telegraph
between England and France G erm an y and this c ountry I clai m
for m y self and consequentl y fo r A merica priority over all o ther
countries in the invention of a mode o f communicating intelligence
b y electrici ty M y obj ect in writing y o u i s to ask whether y ou re
member m y c onversing o n the subj ect of the ele ct ric telegraph as
m y inventio n when a fellow passe nger with y ou o n b o ard the ship
If y ou do ,
S u lly Capt Pell in the month o f O ctober 1 8 3 2
please in form m e as soon as possible and state precisely what y ou
remember concerning it Y our testi mon y to the fact o f m y having
i nvented it at the time will be importan t in establishing the pri o r
ity of the A merican invention
Wi t h sin c ere respe c t sir , y our obedien t servan t
”
S F B M O RS E
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To the letter to Dr J ackson he added the following sen t ence :
M y plan o f marki ng b y means o f an electro m a gne t h as prove d
”
c o mpletely successful
To the l etter to Captain Pe l l he added this sentence
Have yo u
ever spoken of m y invention to passengers in subsequent passages
“
To the letter to Mr Palmer th is sentence : If those o f y ou r
famil y who remember any thing of t he matter would testify to the
”
s ame it would be doing m e an essential service
.
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In answer , he received from M r Fishe r the fol l owing under date
o f S eptember 1 9 th 1 8 3 7 and said
.
,
,
I certainly re c olle c t man y conversa tions wi t h y ou o n t he sub
je ct o f an el ectric telegraph duri ng our voy age fro m E urope in the
S u lly in O ctober , 1 8 3 2
I am a t any time rea dy t o g ive m y c e r ti fi c a te that y ou prop o sed
,
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67
we r e
o c cupied abou t the d e t ails o f an e l e ctri c t el egraph a t the
time referred to Wishing y ou all success in this as well as ever y
other o c cupati o n and that the estab lishmen t o f y our fame fo r thi s
invention may be as e xtensive as it is deserve d
”
I remain e tc
a nd
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,
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,
Captain Pell answered on the
o ther t hings said
.
an d am on g
2 7 th S eptember , 1 8 3 8 ,
I am happ y t o s ay I have a d isti n c t remembran c e o f y our sug
i
s
e
t
ng as though t newl y occurred t o y ou t he possibility of a
g
t el egraphic com munication being e ffe cte d by el ectric Wi res A s
the passage progressed and y o u r idea developed itself i t became
frequentl y a subj ect of conversation Difficulty after d ifficul ty was
suggested as obstacles to i t s operation which y ou r i nge nuity still
labored to re move until y our invention , passing from i t s firs t cru d e
state through different grades of perfecti on m ent , was in s eeming ,
m ature d to an available instrument wan ting onl y patronage to
perfe c t it and ca l l i t into reality A nd I sincerely trust that ci r
cu ms ta nce s m ay no t deprive y ou of the rewar d due to the i nv e n
tion which wha t ever be its source i n E ur o pe is wi th y o u at l eas t
”
I am convin c e d , original
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Mr Rives answe r e d on the
.
2l st
of S eptembe r ,
1837,
an d s aid
:
I retain a dis tinc t re c ollec ti o n o f y ou r having e x p l aine d to m e
the c oncep tion of this ingenious invention during our voy age from
France to the U nited S tates in tli e afit fimn of 1 8 32 , and that i t
wa s mo r e than o nce t he subj ec t o f conversation between u s in
whi c h I suggested difficulties t hat y o u met and s o lv ed with great
”
p r omptitude and con fiden c e
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Mr Charles C Palmer ha d l eft the c oun try
n o t answer
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,
we
bel ieve , a n d d i d
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is evi d ent , from the d epositions an d le tt ers of Mr J F Fishe r
o f Philadelphia , Hon William C R ives , of Virginia e x minister to
France , fel low passengers with Professor Morse and Doctor J ack
s o n i n the S u l ly in 1 8 3 2 , and Captai n William Pell , c hief o ffi c er
o f the vessel gentlemen t o W h o m D o ct or J a c kso n c o nfi d entl y a p
It
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68
pealed t o c o nfirm his cl aims to the originali ty of the i dea of the
ne w telegraph did no t remember an y person in connection w ith
the discovery and invention but Professor Morse (S e e note p
After Professor Morse received Doctor J ackson s letter of the
seventh o f November 1 8 8 7 in which the latter attributed to Mr
R ives or Mr Fisher the firs t s u ggestio n of sending news by elec
tri ci ty h e — Prof Mo rse — wrote a no th er l e tt er to Mr Fisher
dated N o v e mber 1 4 th 1 8 3 7 in which he propounded the following
que stions , viz
Do y ou recollect having made the observation attrib
F i rs t
u te d either to y o u or to Mr R ives "
Have y ou an y impression from y our recollection of
S econd
What occurred o n board the S u lly that an y other person than my
”
self wa s the inven t or o f the electric telegraph "
O n the seventeenth Mr Fisher answered to the first inquir y
Certainl y not ; and it would have been strange if not silly to
have don e so since th e first mention o f an elec t ric or galv a nic tel
”
e g ra ph by yo u implied the possibilit y
To the second he answered
I had no idea that an y of our fel
low passengers could claim the credi t of i t I am quite sure I re
ce i v e d m y fi rs t idea o f it from y o u ; t hat y ou wer e m ost interested
in it that yo u a lone seemed incline d to t est its practicability after
”
l anding et c
Professor Mo r se also wro t e t o Mr Rives making simila r inqui
ries an d re c eived an answer dated March 1 s t 1 83 8 in w hich t hat
gentlemen say s
“
I am utterl y surprised t hat an y o ne should have given m e
c r edit for suggesting it I am perfectly sure that such a co nce p
tion had never entered m y mind and that it was a complete nov
cl ty to m e when first presen t ed to m y contemplation by yo u r con
v ers a ti o ns duri ng the progress of the vo y age above mentioned
Wishi ng y o u m y dear sir great success in maturing and carrying
into e x ecu t ion an invention which promises to mark a ne w era in
”
the progres s o f improvements , I remain e t c
This letter was written by Mr R ives some months after Dr
J ackson wrote to him claiming that he was the inventor and ask
ing a sta t ement to that effect
O n the 2 0th o f January 1 838 Pr ofesso r Morse again wrote to
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Cap t ain Pell wi t h the view of est a
blishing the originality of his
invention against Dr J ackson s clai m In his repl y dated Feb
ru ary l s t , 1 8 3 8 Captain Pell said
It is a m atter of great astonishme nt to m e that a fellow pas
senger with us in the S u lly from Havre in O ctober 1 8 3 2 should
attempt to contest w ith y ou t he claim of having been the invento r
o f the electric telegraph which occ u pi ed so much of y ou r atten
tion during the passage or that there was o ne on board o f he r
who had any claim to even a participation o f i ts honors
M y impressions rest upon m y mind with the freshness and
force of conviction that yo u only on board of that ship was the
originator o f the invention ; that you r mi nd a lone seemed inter
e s t e d in it with an y seriou sness o f purpose even aft er its first s u g
gestion b y y ou and w hile i t w a s in S eemi ng the d ail y and favor
ite obj ect of y our stud y which was each d ay developing it into a
higher perfection
S o when a fe w day s since I e x amined y our instrument I rec
o g ni ze d in it the principles and mechanical arrangements which on
board I h ad he a rd y o u s o frequentl y ex plain through all its de
v e l o pm e nt s
With the sincere wish that no hand may be so rash
as to persist in the attempt t o sn a tch from y ou the reward whic h
”
belongs to y o u I subscribe m y self etc
While in Paris i n1 8 3 9 Professor Morse received in t elligence
that Dr J ackson h a d s e t u p a claim to his entire i nv enti on; and
havi ng ascertai ned that one of the Palmers resided at R ahan in
Ireland he addressed him a letter dated Paris February 2 2 d
1 8 89 from which the follo wing i s a ne xt ract viz
Please to designate whom y ou believe to be t h e i nv entor H a v e
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you a ny i dea tha t a ny o ther p ers on on board tha t s hip co u ld cla i m to
be the inv ento r , or to be a pa rti cipa to r i n th e i nv enti on of the E l ectro
M y obj ect in requesting an
answer to thi s question is to defend m y self against a claim j ust
publicl y made b y one of ou r fellow p a s s engers who since the a n
no u ce m e nt o f the success of this invention has boldl y attempted
to deprive m e of the entire invention
M
a gneti c
Telegrap h ;
as
there pla nned "
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M r Palmer replied , under d at e of March
other things said :
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,
5 th , 1 8 39 ,
and among
,
7O
I
re c ollec t y o ur d escribing t o m y self and other o f our
fellow pass e ngers o n board the S u lly during her homeward passage
fro m Havre to New York in 1 83 2 an electri c telegraph , whic h
y ou stated y ou had invented or which had occurred to y ou since
y our being o n board
It was cer t ainly ne w to me and t o the best o f m y knowledge
and belief was s o also to the rest o f o u r fellow passengers ; for
(if m y memory does not bet ray me ) no one at that time claimed a
priority of invention in y our method of apply ing the electric fl uid
t o the convey ing o f disp atches I certainly did understand at the
time that y ou intended to perfec t this i nvention which y o u con
”
s id ere d y our own and to obtain a patent for it
Mr Fisher in reply to Dr J ackson s letter of J une 6 th 1 84 7
among other things said
“
Whoever first started the idea he (Morse ) at once embraced
i t and b y dint of his inquiries and by the aid he solicited fro m
others w a s able to carr y it to perfection Without y our assist
others equally accomplished i n the sciences he
a nce o r that o f
in all probability would have been unable to proceed but would
have ridden i t as a hobby horse with as l ittle progress as an ih
fant in his B ut the praise must be his o f seeking wherever he
could find it the science and mechani c al skill which previously he
”
had not , a nd using them in prosecu ting his fav o rite scheme
Mr Fish e r was required to give his deposition in the " entuck y
case of Morse e t al v s O R e il ly e t al , and on that occasion stated
under oath that he wr o te the le tters to Profes sor Morse above
quoted d ated S eptemb er 2 1 and Novembe r
that he
then bel ieved and still believes the mat ters therein stated to be
true ; that neither D r J a ckson nor an y other passenger , e x cept
Professor Morse was engaged on board o f t hat ship in planning
or devisin g an y m a chine or telegraphic instrument o r the mode
”
“
that
Professor
o f co mmunicating intelligence by telegraph ;
Morse s mind , and his only seemed to be engaged in th at subj ec t
and that intensely
that Dr J acks on did not , to his recollection ,
o n board of the packet ship S u lly or elsewhere give an y minute
or o f an y means o r of an y
o r an y descriptio n of the appropriate
instrument by which news might be communicate d by galvanic
electrici ty , or by electro magneti c machinery ; that t o the best
pefe ctl y
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”
perfected
I suppose that the reason why m y name
was no t attached to the invention of the electric t elegraph i s sim
pl y that the editor did no t know that the inventio n was our
m u tu al discover y
I trust y ou will take care t hat the proper share
”
f
o credit shall be given me when y ou make public all y our doings
T o this Professor Morse replies
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.
NE w
DR
To
YO R" C IT Y
U NIVERS IT Y , S eptember 1 8 , 1 83 7
.
CH ARL E S T JA C" S O N :
.
.
D EAR S IR
Y our s of the 1 0th instan t from B angor I have
received and I lose no time in endeavoring to disabuse your mind
o f an error into which it h a s fallen in regard to t he electro magnetic
‘
f
telegraph Y ou speak o it as our electric telegraph and as a
mutual discovery
I a m persuaded that when y ou shall recall the
ci r cumstances as they occurred o n board th e ship and shall also be
informed of the n ature of the invention of which I claim to be the
sole and original inventor y ou will no longer be surprised that
y our name was no t connected with mine in the l ate announcement
of the invention I have a distinct recollec tion of the manner the
place and t h e m oment when the thought of m aking an electric wire
the means o f comm u nicating intelligence first came into m y min d
and was uttered It was at the table in the cabin , j ust after we
h a d c o m pl e t e d the u sual repast at mid d ay y ou were u pon one side
We were conversing on the
o f the table an d I upon the other
recent scientific discoveries in Electro Magnetism a nd the e x pe ri
ments of Amp ere with the E lectro Mag net ; y ou were describi ng
the length of w ire in the coil of a magne t and the question was
asked by o ne of the passengers i f the electricity was not retarded
b y th e length of wire Y ou repl i ed no that electricity pas sed
instantaneousl y over an y known length o f wire and y o u then al
l u de d in proof to the e x periment b y D r Franklin who had made
m a ny mi l e s in circuit nea r (L ondo n) Philadelphia to ascertain th e
v elocity of electricit y but could observe no d ifference of time b e
tween the touch at one e xtremity a nd the spark at the other I
then remarked this being so if the presence of electricity can be
ma d e visible in an y d esire d part of the circuit I see no reason w hy
intelligence might no be trans mitted ins t antaneously b y e l e ctri
city Y ou gave y our assent t hat i t wa s possible The co nversation
M
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73
not diver t ed b y this remark o f mine from t he details of the
e x peri m ent y ou were descri bing which was the obtaining of a spark
from a magnet nor w a s this thought of the telegraph agai n men
While y our
t i o ne d until I introduced the subj ect the ne x t day
during the voy age more occupied with ot h er
o wn m i nd was
branches o f science , geology and anatom y the though t which I had
conceived took firm possessio n of m y mind and , as y ou well kno w,
occupied the wakefu l hou rs o f the night ; for I used to report
occasionally to you and to severa l o f the other passengers m y
progress and to ask y o u questions i n regard t o the best mode
as c ertaining t he presence o f electricity I had devised a
of
s y stem o f signs and constructed a species of ty pe which I drew
b y which to regulate the passage of
o u t in m y sketch book
electricity but I had no t se ttled the best mode of causing the
electricity to m ark
S everal method s suggested themselves to
m e such as causing a puncture t o be m ade in a paper b y the pas
s age o f a spark between two disconnected parts etc which I
soo n discarded as impracticable I asked y ou if there was no t
some mode of decomposition which c ould be tur ned to account
" o u suggested the following e x periment which we agreed should
be tried together if we could meet for tha t purpose It was this
t o dec ompose b y the electr icity , glauber salts u pon the paper ,
which was firS t to be covered with turmeric This to me see med so
simple and eas y a mode that I fell in wi t h the idea and we agree d
to try this e x periment as soon as possible after o ur landing I n
m y occasional visits to B oston since m y return from E urope I
hav e al way s en deavor e d to see
never s aw you as you
well know without introd ucing the subj ect of the telegraph and
e x pressing a wish that the e x periment we had talked o f might be
t ried Y ou were alway s otherwise busil y and necessarily engaged ,
and the e x periment was n ever tried I really do not see the
ground of y our claim to be a m u tual discoverer even if we had
tried the e xperiment proposed and it had been successful
This
fact would not have constituted y ou a mutual discoverer but it
might have made y ou a partner i n a certain sens e of the i nv e n
tion The discovery is the origin al suggestion o f co nvey ing i ntel
The invention is devising the m ode of con
i g e nce b y electricity
T he d iscovery so far as we alone are concerned
v e yi ng it
wa s
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74
belongs to me and it mu s t o f necessity belo ng e x clusivel y t o me ;
and if b y an e x periment which w e proposed to try together we
h a d mutu ally fi x ed u pon a successful mode of convey ing i nt e l l i
gence then might we with some propriety be termed mutual or
j oint inventors B ut as we have neither tried any e x periment
together nor has the one proposed to be tried b y y ou been
a dopted b y me I cannot s e e how we can be called mutual inven t
o rs
Y ou are not aware perhaps th a t the mode I have carried
into effect after m an y and various e xperimen t s with the assistance
o f m y colleague Professor Gale was never m entioned either b y
y ou or to y ou The plan of marking b y m y peculiar type and the
use which I m ake o f the electro magnet was entirel y original with
m e ; all the m achinery has been elaborated withou t a hint from
y ou of an y kind in the rem otest degree I a m the sole inventor ;
indeed ha d y o u been aware of these facts I am sure y ou would
not have preferred a cl aim to be cc inventor i n a n instrument
wholly mine " o u s ay I trust that y ou will take care that the
proper share of cred it shall be given to me when y ou m ake public
your doings
This I have alway s d one and with pleasure
I
ha v e alway s given y ou credi t for great genius and acquirements
and have alway s said in giving m y account o f m y telegr aph t ha t
it wa s on board the Ship during a s cienti fic conversation with y ou
that I first conceived the thou ght o f an electric telegraph I s
there really any more y o u will claim or that I could in truth o r
j ustice give " I have acknowledg ments o f similar kinds to make
t o Professor S illiman and Professor G ale to the former o f whom I
am u nder the same obligations in kind and degree as to y ourself ;
'
and to the latter I am most o f all indebted for substantial an d
e ffective aid in man y of m y e xperiments If an y one has a clai m
to be mu t ual inventor o n the score o f aid b y hints , it i s Professor
Gale ; bu t he prefers no claim o f the kind I certainl y have no
cause to compl ain b ecause y ou were never at leisure when I was
in B oston , to try the e x peri m ent which we agreed together to try ;
but y ou will s e e in a mom ent that I Should have j ust reason to
complain if, after repeated disappointments in this respect and
after having availe d m y self o f a differen t method one entirely m y
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t o car ry in to e ffe ct m y origina l inven ti o n yo u shoul d p r efe r
a clai m to partnership in i t because we ha d once c onfe rre d togethe r
o wn,
,
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on
an
e xperiment never tried
”
.
B elieve m e d ear sir
Truly y our friend and servan t
,
,
“
S A MU EL
D r Ja ckson s A ns wer
F
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B
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M OR S E
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B O S T O N Novembe r
,
7 , 1 83 7
.
EL F B M O R S E :
M " D EAR S I R
I will confine my remarks to t he inven tion made o n b o ard t he
" o u say that y ou have a distinct recollection of the man
S u lly
ner time and place and the moment when the though t of m aking
an electric wire the m eans o f communicating in t elligence firs t came
into y our mind and was uttered
If y ou have t his vivid re co l
lection y ou c anno t refuse y our assent to the following remarks for
I rem ember t oo and am happil y endowed with a strong and reten
tive memor y a s to the facts In the first pl a ce , y o u will a ck no wl
edge tha t yo u were a t t hat time wholly unacquainted wi t h the
history and management o f electricit y and elec tro magnetism
while I wa s perfectly familiar with the subj ect , it having been o ne
and I
o f m y favori t e studies fro m boyhood to 1; he present hour
had enj oy ed ever y possible advantage in ac quiring a fu ll knowledge
o f the subj e ct d uring m y studies in the sc i entific schools of Paris
and elsewhere
N O W in what manner did the discovery and
invention arise ; an d to whom are the suggestions due " I wa s
enthusiastically describing the curious and wonderful properties o f
electricity and elec t ro magnetism before yourself Mr R ives , Mr
Fisher and ot hers at th e table after dinner while the compan y were
all lis t eners and as appeared to m e w ere somewhat incre d ulous
they knowing little o r not hing o f the subj ect I mentioned among
o ther things that I had seen the electric spark pass instantaneously
without an y appreciable loss of time four hundred times around
the grea t lecture room o f the S orbonne This evidentl y surprised
S AM
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76
the c ompan y and I then asked if t hey had no t read of Dr Frank
lin s e x periment in which he caused electricit y t o go a j ourney o f
t wenty miles b y means of a wire stretched u p the Thames the
water being m ade a por tion of the circuit "
“
The answer was from y ourself that y ou had no t read it After
a s hort discussion as to the in stan t aneo u s nature o f the passage
o ne of t he party either Mr R ives or Mr Fisher , said it would be
well if we could send news in the same rapid manner ; t o which
"
u replied
Wh
y
can
t
we
I
t
hen
proceede
d
to
inform
y
o
u
o
y
in answer t o y our questions ho w it might be done
I observed that electricity might be made visible in a ny
1 st
par t o f the circuit b y dividing the wire , when a spark would b e
seen at the intersection
That it could be m ade to perforate paper if interposed
2d
b etween the disconnected wires
3d
S aline compounds might be d ecomposed so as to produce
c o lors o n paper
T he second and third proj ec t s were finall y adopted for a future
tri al since t he y could be m ade t o furnish perm anent records
The saline substances mentioned were certain salts of lead such
as the ace t ate and carbonate which an interrupted electro galvanic
c urrent would decompose , and leave a black mark o n the prepared
paper
Ne x t t urmeric paper was t o be dipped in a neu tral sal t say sul
p h a t e of sod a and then ac t ed upon b y a galvanic current This
would produce brown marks from the presence of the disengaged
alkali Platina points were proposed to e ffect the changes o f color
Y ou then questioned m e again on ever y point o f the conversa
tion and said you had been thinking much about i t and pencil in
hand proposed a m ethod o f deciphering the marki ng the dots
and m arks being made regularl y
This was a subj ect of discus
sion and we both took part in i t bu t I acknowledge that y ou d id
most i n planning the numeration o f the marks You at first pro
posed 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 O an d subsequentl y reduced the
number t o five figures and a 0 Now as to the inve ntion I be g
l eave to remark that I knew every ex periment mentioned fro m
m y own frequent practice in making them It was t o me no u n
wro u gh t problem , bu t a matter o f abso l ute cer tain ty
I wa s not
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77
making co n
j ec t ures bu t repeating t he facts of hemi c al and phy s i
c
cal science Hence since I have performed all t he e x periment s
in detail and here bro u gh t t ogether for a special purp ose , I was ,
s o far as the y are concerned the tru e inventor and I do claim to
be the principal in the whole inve ntio nm ade o n board the S u lly
It rose who l ly from m y materials and was put together at y o ur
request b y me This y o u certainl y will not pretend to dispute I
give y ou full credit for y our ingenious suggestions as t o the divis
ions i h the markings which y ou certainl y did propose
“
" o u will not I presume venture to main t ain t hat y ou at tha t
time knew any thing about electro magnetism more than what y o u
learned from me If I wanted an y other proof bey ond y our o wn
confession I should onl y have to recall to mi nd y our futile a t
tempt , after y our _
in
N
e
r
k
at
making
a
galvanic
bat
w
¥
o
arrival
levers etc which were wholl y
t e ry , and the plan of t y pes
impracticable and demonstra t ed to me that y ou did not under
stand the subj ect
I have searched t he ar c hives o f s cience and fin d that the first
idea of such an instr u men t was c o nc eived b y S oemmering , who
proposed an electro magnetic t elegraph O ersted o f Copenhagen
also invented one A mp ere say s i t is easy to construct a n ele c tro
m agnetic telegraph S e e Amp ere Ex pos é des Nouvelles Decou
vertes sur l E l e ctri ci té et l e M a g ne ti s m e Paris 1 8 2 2 , page 7 1
The discovery i s not then to be claimed by u s
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Mos t respectfully y our friend
“
C T JA C " S O N
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w
e
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P S I did no t read t his in A mp ere until three y ears since
al though I have owned the book since 1 8 3 2 and when I s a w y o u
last I forgot t o mention to y ou that he had conceived the idea o f
such a telegraph I had rea d portions o f the book before bu t no t
”
that section
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78
Professor M
S
’
orse s
“
econd
NE W
R
e oi nder .
j
YOR" C IT Y U NI VERS IT Y
“
To
DR
.
Dec
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,
7 , 1 837
.
C H A S T J A C" S O N
.
.
D EAR S IR ,
Your memory and mine are at variance in regard to the firs t
suggestion of convey ing intelligence b y electricit y I c lai m to be
the one who made it and in the way w hich I s t ated in m y letter
t o y ou " o u acknowle d ge that the suggestion was made by o ne o f
the compan y a nd not b y y ourself and so doubtful are y o u b y whom
i t was made that although y our me mor y serves y o u u p to the
point of giving it to o ne of two others rather tha n to me y et y our
m emor y then fails and y ou d o not know which of the two i t was
N o w s ir it was neither M r Fisher nor Mr R ives who s ugges t e d
that thought I suggested it and in consequence procee d ed to
found upon it m y whole I nvention Had not the thought been orig
inal with m e I could not have dwelt upon it with any satisfactio n
The idea that I had made a brilliant discovery that it was original
in m y mind was t h e e x citing cau se a nd the perpetual stimulus to
urge me forward i n maturing it to a result Had I supposed a t
that t ime that the t hought had ever o c curred to any other person
I could never have pursued i t ; and it was not t ill I had complete d
m y present invention that I was a ware that the thought of convey
ing intelligence b y electricit y had o ccurred to scientific m en some
y ears before The thought was suggested to m y mind b y a well
known fac t recalled to m y memory in y our account of a magnetic
e xperiment
the e xperiment of Franklin o n the velocity of ele c
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tri ci ty
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sugges t ion to ano t her y ou make m e
answer it b y asking y ou Wh y can t we " and to this question y ou
represent y ourself as having immediatel y given a methodical
answer which implies that the w hole idea o f an electric telegraph
was then not onl y perfectly familiar with y ou but that t he m odes
o f carry ing it into e x ecution were also as familiar as an y common
chemical e xperiment N o w if y our memory is good y ou must e
conscious that this is altogether incorrect ; t hat it is i mpo s s i t l e
that it should be correct since the very thought was new to all
“
After having given
my
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80
m y errors How y ou corrected m y errors y ou don t say , nor what
mode y ou proposed as a substitute If y ou did propose an y , y ou
can doubtles s tell what it is
’
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.
I den y that I am indeb t ed to y o u for an y single hint of an y
kind whatever which I have used in m y invention
.
“
M y inven tion on board the S u lly is mechanical and m ath e m a ti
; i t had no more to do wi t h chemical science than with geolog y
cal
o r anatom y
The single scientific fact ascertained by Franklin
t hat electricity can be made to travel on a co n ductor an y distance ,
in stantaneousl y i s all that I needed t o know aside from mathe
m aties and mechanical science in order to plan all I invented o n
board the ship as an y one will be able to s e e fro m a mo ment s i h
s pecti o n o f m y machinery , as there planned
This machinery
cons i sted chie fly as y ou well kno w, of a s y stem o f signs which
were numer als to be read b y intervals , typ e and apparatus t o
arrange the numbers for transmission a lever to mark on the regis
t er b y closing and breaking the circuit and a register moving b y
clock m achinery to receive the marks at t he proper time S o much
o f the invention at least y o u ver y properl y concede to me
The apparatus whic h I invented on board the S u lly was grad
u all y m atured and was constructed for a nd a d apted to the use O f
Now this y o u have often asserted
o ne wire o r a single circuit
to me to be impracticable and although y ou never devised to m y
knowledge any other method un t il I infor med y o u of mine with
an electro magnet y ou no w talk i n y our letters o f using t wenty
four wires and twenty four magnets and of marking in real ty pe
Now w hat have these to do w it h m y invention o n the S u lly " The
use of t wenty four wires was probably adopted by y ou from a hint
o f mine in the very ou t set for it w a s m y first and most na t ural
t hought ; bu t having devised what I considered a m uch more s i m
ple and less e x pensive mode to wit u sing one wire I almost
immediately relinquished the firs t for my new mode whether y ou
der ived the hint from me or not is to me of little consequence , for
provided y ou use nothing that was invented by me , upon the packe t
o f t we hty four wires y ou are at liberty to u s e the m as y ou please
If y ou have invented a telegraph of t wenty four wires , and a mod e
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o f marking in r eal type , why do yo u cl aim t o be a mu t ual i nv en
to r o f mine which is a d ap ted t o o ne wi r e o r a si n gl e c ir c ui t , and
‘
which y ou at t he same t ime pronoun c e imp r acticable
Y ou r
c l aim t o an y share in m y imprac ticable mode i s , to s ay the l east
ver y singular U nfor t unatel y for the sus t ainmen t of yo ur cl aim ,
the plan which I devised o n board the ship the pla n o f numerals
t y pes lines , e tc which y ou pr o nounce wholly impra c ticable and
t he use o f o ne wire o r a Single circuit whi ch y ou pronounce i m
p r a c ticab l e , i s the onl y p l a n I have no w in suc c es sfu l ope r at i o n
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Yo ur mos t obed ie nt se r van t ,
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enda ll s
“
Fu l l E avp os u re ,
”
etc
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S A MU E L
F B M O RS E
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”
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1 8 50
.
From these le t ters a n d from deposition s in substantial a cc ord
wi t h them the incidents that occurred on board the S ull y and
s ubsequen tly , spe c iall y bear ing upo n the inven t ion o f t he tel e
g raph may be thus state d
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dinne r conversati o n am ong the cabin passengers a n d
chief offi c er o f the p acke t ship the subj e ct o f the recent dis c overy
b y Faraday o f the means of Obtaining a spark from a magne t and
t he great facts of electro magn e tism and magneto electrici ty we r e
in trodu c ed Dr J ackson e nte rta ine d the com pa ny with an e nthu s i
as t io ac c oun t of e x perimen ts he had wi tnessed in Paris , among t he
res t mentioning as an illustration o f t he great velo city of the electri c
current i t s transmission four hundred times around the hal l of the
At this
S orbonne without the consump t ion o f appreciable time
point the brillian t t hought o c curs t o Professor Morse t o whi c h he
gives e xpression , t hat t his agen t might be employ e d t o c o nve y
i n t elligence through grea t distances D r J ackson responds that
there is no doubt about it , and resu mes his accoun t of e x peri
men t s he had witnessed not fur ther disturbed by the interj ec tional
remark of Professor Mo r se Nothing was sai d of a t e legr aph by
any o ne
I n a n after
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82
N o w the ne x t mo rning , Pr ofess or Mors e men tions t o D r J a ck
s o n tha t he had been o cc upied m
u c h o f the night with t he idea o f
an electri c telegraph
I n the c onversat ion t ha t followed it may be assumed that t he
three me thods mentioned b y Dr J ackson in his le t ter of N O V 7 ,
1 8 3 7 were discussed between them
Professor Morse remembers
t o have men t ione d o ne of the m A s given by D r J ackson the y
are as fo l lows
l et I o bserved tha t elec t ricit y might be m ade visible in a ny
par t o f t he c ir c uit b y d ividing the wire , when a spark would be
seen a t the intersection
2 d That it could be made t o perforate paper if in t erposed
be twee n the disconnecte d wires
3 d S aline compounds migh t be d e c omposed , s o as t o pro
”
d uce colors o n paper
I f we now turn to E nfiel d s Ins ti tu tes of N a tu ra l Phi los op hy the
t e x t book which was e x perimentally illus trated b y Professor D ay
a t Y ale College when Professor M orse was an undergraduate ,
published in 1 802 in prop o sitio n XX L , chap 5 book 1 we find
the followin g
If t he circuit be interrup t ed t he fl uid will become visible and
when i t passes i t wil l leave an impressi o n upon an y intermediate
bod y
“
E x p 1 L e t t he fl ui d pass through a chain or through an y
me t allic bodies placed at small d istances from each other The
fl uid wi l l be visib l e be t ween the links o f t he ch ain o r be tween
metallic bodies
“
E x p 2 If the circui t be interrup t ed b y several folds of
paper a perforation will be m ad e thro u gh it and each of t he
leaves will be protruded b y the strokes fro m the m iddle t o the
o utwar d leaves
Ex p 3 L et a card (car d s are u sually glazed with a prepara
t ion of lead salts ) be pl aced under wires which form the circuit
when the circui t i s interrup t ed for the space of an inch t he card will
be discolored Cavallo say s , cards glazed with white lead were
”
marked by a long black track
It will be seen o n comparison that th e three methods given in the
one ar e bu t the t ra n script of the three cl asses of e x periments in
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other , and that they involve t he appli c ati o n o f fri ctional
They were men t ioned by Cavall o an d Lu lli n
e le c tricity o nl y
in the l as t century and R eusser applied , in 1 7 9 4 the principle
illu s trated i n the firs t e xperimen t o f E nfie l d in his plan of the
e l ec tric telegraph alread y referred t o , an d B oeckm an applied the
method of coun ting the sparks in hi s p lan of an e l ectric t el e g raph ,
in 1 79 5
N o w fo l lowing t his in t erview , seve r a l day s e l apsed d uring
which up t o this time if credi t was r eally due t o an y bod y ,
it wa s to the a uthor o f the in t erj ectional remark sugges t i ng the
and he was
u s e of e l ec t ricity fo r t he c o nv ey a n ce of in t elligence
Professor Morse B oth Morse a nd J ackson (see J ackson s letter
s up ra
) seem at this time t o have been ign o rant t ha t this use o f
electricity , ei the r fric tional or v ol t aic had ever befo r e been made by
any o ne
Professor Morse a t the ou t set c o n c eived th e mathemat i c al an d
me chanical el emen t s of his method o f rec ording After some te n
d ay s from the firs t conversation at the d inner t able Professor
Mors e asked Dr J a ckson if he knew o f a chemical prepara tion with
whi ch paper might be sa t urated , and whi c h the electri c c urren t
would decompose leaving a perma n ent discol oratio n of the pape r
Dr J ackson replie d with the sugges t ion tha t paper might be
saturated with sulphate o f soda and turmeri c which o n the electri c
spark passing from one platinum point t o another through the
pape r wou ld , by d ecomposition o f the su l phate o f soda se tting
the soda free c o lor the tur meric brown It was agreed t ha t a n
e x perimen t should be made to a s ce ft ain whethe r this preparation
would y iel d t he desired permanen t d is c o l oration Pr o fessor
Morse at t he time , e x plained to Dr J a ckson his me thod o f s o
interrupting the elec tric c u rrent as to pr o d uce d o t s l ines and
spaces at measure d and d etermined intervals , whic h Should stan d
for numerals , and which developed in t o the a lphabet
It was in memory of the in c iden t s of this interview t ha t Dr
J ackson wrote , fol l owing the three metho d s given above :
The second and third proj ects were finally adop t ed for future
t rial since they c ould be made to furnish permanent records T he
saline substances men t ione d were c ertain salts of lead such as t he
a c e tat e an d c arbonat e , which a n in t errup t e d galvani c c ur r e n t wo u ld
t he
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84
de c ompose an d leave a b l ack mark on the paper Ne x t t urmeri c
paper was t o be dipped in a neu t ral salt , say sulphate o f soda ,
and t hen acted u pon b y the galvanic c urren t This would pro
duce bro wn marks from presence of free disengaged alkali
Platina poin t s were proposed to effect t he changes in color I
then observe d that it would be easy to devise a method o f read
ing the m arkings
Here the conversation changed fo r a while and was resume d
b y y ou the ne xt day after breakfast Y ou then qu estioned m e
again o n ever y point of the inventi o n and said that yo u had been
thinking m uch abou t i t , and pencil in hand proposed a metho d
of deciphering the ma rkings the dots and marks being m ade
r egularl y
This was a subj ec t of dis cussion , and we both t ook par t in it
bu t I acknowle d ge t hat y o u did mos t in planning the numeration
o f the marks
" o u a t fir s t proposed 1 2
5, 6 7 8 9 0
”
and subsequently reduced the number to five figures and a O
“
I give y ou full credit for y our ingenious suggestion s
as t o the d ivisions in t he m ar kings which y o u cer t ainly di d
”
propose
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This metho d s o far c on c eive d w a s m anifestl y at the best a plan
fo r a purel y electro chemi ca l telegraph and in no sense whatever
an electro ma gneti c telegraph The ex periments w hich were t o
h ave been m ade were neve r carrie d o u t and the invention , s o far
as M orse was concerned , w as neve r brough t into suc c essfu l opera
tion
The electro M A GN E TI 0 telegrap h which Morse also con c eived
and the devices for which be elaborated and committed to paper o n
board the S ully was in the course o f the voy age shown to the
Various passengers a nd among the rest to Dr J ackson and con
ee
S
de mne d b y him as impracti c able in the fol lowing terms
(
lett er above cited )
I should onl y have to recall y our fu tile attempt a fter
y our arrival in N e w Y ork at m aking a galvanic battery and the
plan o f ty pes levers etc which were wholl y impracticable and
”
d emonstrated to m e that y ou did no t u nderstand the subj ect
This invention , thus admitted to be Morse s and denoun c ed b y
J acks o n , was the ul timat el y successful Morse re c or d ing telegraph
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In con c lusion , in view of the whole lit era t u r e o n the c l ai m
of Dr J ackson, it may be said t hat but for the after dinner con
versation o n the S u lly the Morse re c ording telegraph would not
in all probability have been inven t ed on this voy age It m ay
perhaps be further said that bu t for the enth usiasm with which
Dr J ackson described the brillian t e x periments he had witnessed
Morse s t elegraph might have been probabl y would have been ,
delay ed — possi bl y never have been conceived B u t it Is I mpo s
sible to admit after Morse s firs t suggestive i nqu iry th at the re
c alling i n a subsequen t conversation o f the familiar e x periments
with frictional electricity m entioned in E nfiel d s Philosophy
as suming t hem t o have been reproduced wholl y from J a ck s o n s
m emory which i s no t the fact
could fairl y be said t o contain
the suggestion of the Morse re cording telegraph J ackson con
cedes substan tially the inven t ion o f the alphabet t o Morse and it
i s not fair to award a Share in this invention becaus e in respons e
at a s till later peri o d to an inquiry o f Professor Morse for a chem
ical preparation sensitive to change in color under the d e co m
‘
posing e fie ct o f electricity he should have named a preparation
which subsequent e xperiment proved to be without value for the
purpose required Nor is it proper that J ackson should share in
the credit of the successfu l development o f the electro magneti c
t elegraph (i nvolving t his alpha bet ) the practicability o f which he
takes credit to him self for h av m g denounced at the time o f its
description t o him by Pr ofe ssor Morse
It m ay however , be fairl y credited t o Dr J ackson that i n the
conversation o n the S u lly he was in s t ru mental , as a lecture or the
perusal of a brilliant article in a j ournal might have been i n
awakening a train of t hought in the mi nd o f Professor Mors e
that has been fr u itful in services t o civilization with which an y
o ne ma y be gratified to be j us t ly c o nnected
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d eve l ope d an d a rranged in his ow n mi n d that he was c onfi d en t
of u l timate suc c ess It is in proof tha t he pu r sued these inves ti
n
a
t
i
n
ith
unremitting
ardor
and
in
us
t
r
y
interrupted
occasio
o
s
d
w
g
all y by pe c uniar y embarrassments an d we think that i t is es tab
l i s he d b y the testimon y o f Professor Gal e and o thers that ear ly in
the spring o f 1 8 3 7 Morse had inven t ed his plan for combining two
or more electri c or gal vanic c ircuits wi th independen t batteries
fo r the purpose o f o ver c oming t he diminished force o f electro mag
ne ti s m in l ong circuits although i t wa s no t discl o sed to the W itness
until after wards an d tha t there is reasonable ground for believing
that he had so far c omple t ed his invention that the whole pro c ess
far
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combination , powers and machinery were arranged in his mind
and that the delay in bringing it o u t arose from his want of mean s
fo r i t r equired the highes t order o f mechanical skill t o e x e c u t e an d
adj us t the ni c e and delicate work necessary to pu t the telegraph
into ope r a tion and the slightest error o r defect would have bee n
fatal to its su c cess He had not the means at that time to procure
the aid o f workmen o f tha t c hara c ter ; an d withou t their aid no
model could be prepared which would do j u stice to his invention ;
and it moreover required a large s u m of money t o procure prope r
He however filed his caveat o n the 6 th o f
m aterials fo r t he work
O ctober , 1 8 3 7 an d o n the 7 th o f A pril 1 8 3 8 applied for his pa
t ent accompany ing h i s application with a specificati o n of his
invention , an d des c ribing the pro c ess and means use d to produce
”
the effect
Wi th this evidence before us we t hink it is evident that the
invention o f Morse was prior to t h at o f S teinheil Wheatstone o r
D av y The discovery of S teinheil taking the time which he gave
hi mself to the French A cademy of S cience , canno t be unders tood
as carry ing it back bey ond the months o f May o r J une 1 8 3 7 an d
that o f Wheatstone as e x hibited to Professors Henry and B ache
g o es back onl y to A pril in that y ear A nd there is nothing i n
the evidence to carry back the invention o f Davy bey ond the 4 th
of J anuary 1 8 39 , when his specification was filed e x cept a publi
cation said to have been made in the L ondon Mechanic s Maga
zine J anuary 20 1 8 3 8 and the invention o f Morse is justly
entitled to take date from earl y in the spring of 1 83 7 A nd in
the description o f D avy s invention as given in the publication of
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t here is no thing Specifie d whi c h M ors e coul d
have borrowe d ; and we have no eviden ce to show that his i nv e n
tion ever was o r could be c arried into su c cessful operation
N o w we s u ppose no one will doubt t h a t M orse believed him
self to be the origin al i n ventor when he app l ied for his patent i n
A pril 18 3 8 S teinheil s disco ver y d oes not appear to have bee n
patente d u ntil after Morse s appl ication for a patent nor to have
been paten t ed until after Morse s previous publication o r to em
bra c e any substantial par t of his invention A nd if his applica
tion for a patent was made under such ci r cumstances the paten t is
go o d even if in point of fact he was not t he first invento r
“
In this view o f the subj ec t it is unnecessary t o compare t he
t elegr aph of Mors e with these E uropea n inve ntio ns t o ascertai n
whe ther they are substantiall y the same or not If the y were the
S ame in every particular it would no t i mpair hi s right s B ut it is
impossible t o e x amine them and look at the process and the ma
chinery a n d results o f each so far as the fac t s are before us wi th
o u t perceiving a t once the substan t ial an d essential difie re nce
between them an d the d ecided superiority of the o ne invente d b y
January 2 0, 1 8 38 ,
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Pr o fessor Morse
Neither can the inqui r ies he made n or the informat ion or ad
vi c e he received from men of science in the course of his researches
impair lii s righ t to t he charact er o f an inventor No invention
can possibly be made consis t i ng o f a combinat io n of differen t ele
ments of power without a thorough knowledge o f the pro per
ties o f each of t hem and the mode in which the y operate o n eac h
‘
other A nd it c an make no difie re nce i n t hi s respec t whether he
d erived his i nformation fr o m books o r from c onversation with men
skilled in t he science
“
If it were otherwise , n o patent i n which a combination o f dif
fe re nt e l e me ii t s is used could ever be o btaine d
For no man eve r
made such an invention withou t having firs t obtained this infor
mation unless i t was discovered by so me fort una t e acciden t A nd
it is evident that such an invention as the electro magne tic tele
graph could never have been brought i nt o action without it Fo r
a very high degree of scientific knowledge and the nices t skill in
th e mechanic ar ts were combined in it and were bo t h necessary to
b r ing i t i n to su cc essful o pe r a ti o n A nd the fa ct tha t M or se s ough t
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an d ob t ained the ne c essary information and counsel from the best
source , and acted upon it , neither i mpairs his rights as an inv e n
”
tor n or de tracts from his merits
.
,
D I CI S I O N
O F JU D G
ES
"
ANE
A ND
G
RIER
.
U ni ted S ta tes Ci r cu i t Co u rt, D i s tr ict of Pennsylv a ni a , 1 8 51
.
The trial in thi s important a nd i nteresti ng case occurred in
Ph iladel phia in S eptember 1 8 5 1 involving important questions
relative to the orig in ality o f the inventions claimed b y Professor
S amuel F B Mor s e
The plainti ffs who represent the Magnetic
Telegraph Company u si ng M orse s patents allege that the defend
”
“
ants , wh o represent the B ain L ine from Washington to N e w
Y ork have violated the patents granted to Morse
The j udges o n the bench were the Hon R C Grier and Hon
J " " ane
O n the 3d o f Novem ber J u dge " ane delivered the opinion of
the cou rt J u dge G rier e x pressi ng hi s concurrence therein
Op i ni on of the Cou rt —This case is before us o n final hea ring
upon the pleadings and proofs
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Mr Morse s pat ent o f 1 840 i n all its changes asser t s his title
the first founded o n t he di s
to t wo distinct patentable subj ec t s
the second , o n the invention o f the means of
cov e ry o f a new art
prac tising it
That he w a s the first to devise and practise t he art o f recording
l anguage at telegraphic dis tances b y the d ynamic force of the
elec tro m agnet or indeed by an y agency whatever i s to our
minds plain upon all t he evidence It is unnecessary to re view the
t es timon y for the purpose of showing this His application for
a patent in April , 1 8 3 8 was preceded by a series of e xperi ments
resul t s illustrations and proofs of final success which leave no
doubt whatever bu t that his grea t invention was consummated be
fore the earl y spring of 1 83 7 There is no one person , whose i n
v e nti o n h as been Spoken of b y a ny witness referred to in an y
book as involving the principle o f Mr Morse s discovery but
must y ield precedence of date to this Nei ther S teinheil nor
C o oke and Whea t s ton e , nor D avy , n or Dy ar , no r Henry , had at
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this time mad e a recording t el egr aph o f an y sor t T he devi c es
then known were merel y s e mapho res t ha t spoke t o the e y e for the
moment —bearing about t he same relation to the grea t d is c over y
no w before us as the Abbe S icard s in v ention o f a visual alphabet
for the purposes o f co nversatio n bore to the art o f pri nt in g with
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movable ty pes Mr D y ar s had no recording apparatus , as he
e xpressly tells us ; a nd Professor Henry had conten t ed himself
with t he abundan
t honors of his laboratory a n d l ect ure rooms
When t herefore Mr M orse clai med in his first spe ci fication
”
the applicatio n of the electro mag ne t
for tra ns mitting by s igns
”
and sounds intelligence betwee n d istant poi nts and the mode
and process of recording or making permanently signs of inte lligence
transmitted between distant points
and when in his secon d
specification he claimed th e making us e of the motive power o f
magne tism whendevel o pe d b y the a c tion of currents of elec tri city
as a means of operat ing and giving motion to machiner y which
may be used t o imprint signals upon paper or other suitable ma
”
terial
for the purpose of telegraphic com mu nicatio n
c h arac
t e ri zing his “ inven t ion as t he fi rst recordi ng or pr inting telegrap h
a nd whe n in his third , after
b y means o f electro magnetism
agai n describing his machinery and process he once more c harac
a s the essence o f his
t erize d i t in the same terms and claimed
invention the use of the mo tive power of the electric or galvanic
c urre nt (ele ctro—
m agnetism as he now terms it ) however developed
fo r marking or prin ting intelligible characters signs of letters at
any dis t ance
throu gh these several forms of specification c laim
ing and renewing his clai m o f pro pe rty i nt he same invention as
i t seems to us
and claiming in each a nd i n all O f the m no more
as i t also see ms to us tha n he w as j ustl y e ntitled to clai m
he
declared t he e x istence of a ne w art asserted his right i n it as it s
inven tor and owner and announcing full y its nature and ele ment s
invoked in return the protec tion o f the laws
From this ti me hi s title was vested as patentee of the art and
other men became competitors with him onl y in the work of diver
s ify i ng and perfectin g its details
He himself used the s tylu s to
impress paper or parchment or Wa x coated tablets it may be ;
th o ugh he sometimes made a colored record b y the frictio n of a
pen ci l ; another substi t utes a liquid pig ment or stains h is paper
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a ch e mi c al ink ; the ne x t perh aps stains his pape r beforehan d ,
and writes on it by decom posing the coloring m atter ; and another
y e t more studious of originality than th e rest writes in a cy clo
v olute i nstead o f a stra i ght l ine a nd m anufactures his ink as he
go e s alo ng by d e c o m posi ng the tip of his stylus on a chemicall y
mo istene d p aper They are no doubt a l l of them inventors ; as
was the m an who first c ast ty pes in a mould or first ben t metal
into the practical semblance of the gray goose quill o r firs t devised
sy mpathetic ink , that the curious in letter writing might veil their
secrets from the profane A ll these toiled i ngeniousl y and well to
a d van c e and embellish a pre e x isting ar t B ut they had no share
in the discovery of the art itself and can no more claim to share
th e property whi ch its di scovery m ay have confe rred o n another
than he who has devised some appropri ate setti ng for a gem ca n
asser t an interest in the gem itself
Y e t admitting , for the sake of argument that Mr Morse s leading
i nven tion is correctly designate d as a new art ; and that he has
sough t t o patent it accordingly by a compliance with all the requisi
tions of the sta t u t e
it is still contended and with much of ele
gan t research into the radical meani ng of the term that an art as
such cannot be made the subj e c t of a patent B u t interp reting lan
guage as m en u s e it arou nd u s and as it re fl e cts ideas the question
can hardly be regarded as doub t ful The constit u tional provision
un d er which our paten t laws are framed looks to the promotion of
”
useful arts
The ac t of Congress places a new and useful art
among the discoveries it profes ses to protect , and assigns it to the
firs t place on the list The statute of 2 1 J ames I c s from which
the patent sy stem of E ngland has grown u p speaks only of ne w
”
Yet the j udges in that kingdom find a warrant in
m anufactures
this limited ex pressio n for sustaining patents for an art and even
for the renewed discovery of an art that had been lost (S e e the
H o t B last case Webs ter P C 6 8 3 7 1 7 and M r W e b s t er s note at
p 7 1 8 , and the case of Wright s patent i bid , 7 3 6 and the cases
groupe d in H i ndmarch pp 7 7
Indeed the author whose treatise we have cited last asserts
with much emphasis that it is the art and nothing else which is
the characteristic subj ect o f every privi l ege granted by a patent
—
And it may be noted as not without
nder
the
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i nt e r es t , tha t in j us t a cc ordan c e wi t h t he Spiri t of t he Engl ish l aw
cases the English pat ents of Cooke and Wheatstone D av y an d
B ain claim property in the arts for which their mechanical devi c es
are respec t ivel y adapted ; not indeed in s o m an y wor d s but in
language a s unequivocal as that emplo y ed b y Mr Morse no r can
we see t hat there is an y reason o f policy which should d en y
pro t ectio n to an art while e xt ending it to the m achinery o r pro
cesses which the art teaches employ s and makes useful Why
should the ty pe or the ink ball o r the press itself be dig ni fied
bey ond the art t o which they minis t er in such humble subord inat ion ,
and without which the y are rubbish " Will y ou pate nt the ne w
produ c t and the ne w ele me ntal means and the ne w process by
which they a c t and t he n debate whether y ou may patent the art "
Y ou have paten t ed i t alread y
We are aware of course that it has bee n held in so me cases
under the E nglis h patent law that the art to be patente d must
have some refere nce to a manufacture (S e e H i ndm arch u t s up ra )
B ut while suc h a deduct ion might be legiti mate fro m the words of
the stat u t e of J ames i t would be obviousl y o therwise under t he
more l iberal phraseology of an ac t of Congress And even in
E ngland it mus t be apparen t to ever y o ne who has watched the
progres s of this patent s y stem that this limitation is practically
disregarded alread y and that i t i s to be repudiated as soo n as it
shall in t erfere with the protectio n of an importa nt i nvention
Y et in truth there are fe w discoveries o f practical moment to
the dail y concerns o f men even in the lapse of man y y ears that
are not more or less directly cO nneCti éd With some department of
manufac turin g industry or skill The co nve x lens the stea mboat
th e iron road o n which c ars are propelled b y the friction o f
driving wheels — some o f these may be so indirectl y connected
with manufactures o r rather the y are associated so intimate l y with
the leading pursui t s and interests and enj oy ments of all of u s as
t o make it difficult to refer them to the category of a particular
manufacture Would i t not be strange if on this account they
were e x cluded fro m the benefits of the patent s y stem " If w e go
back to the earl y story of our race and mark the stages of its long
and difficult advance
from language t he first e x ponent of
thought to let ters its first record ,
and fro m letters to printing
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which fi r st d i ffuse d le t ters wi d el y t hough slowl y among men ,
an d
fr om printing t o the t elegraph the ele c tric regis t er of thought
spreading its fibres o f sy mpathy over the intelligent world , and
making it throb simultaneously every where as with the pulsations
O f o ne hear t ; who will s ay that each transition between these
great epochs tha t signalize the moral and intellec t ual progress o f
m ankind should not be marked b y a memorial as statel y as the
first clipping of a cut nail or the compounding of a new variety o f
l iquid blacking " or that the men to who m we o we them should not
be deal t with as liberall y or at least as j ustly b y the S tate "
2 The second general subj ect of Mr Morse s patent o f 1 8 4 0
includes man y particulars all o f them interesting and valuable in
their connecti o n with the claim we have j us t been cons ider ing
Taken together they give a prac tical form to his leading i nv e n
tion , and guard it from the imp u tation of being a mere abstract
notion , a principle resting in idea Taken singly , some o f t he m
appear to us t obe new as his alphabet (cla i m
his combined
series (cla i m
b y which the electric current from one battery
before entirely e x pending itself in its lengthened circuit i s made
t o s e t another batter y in action from which another circui t trav
erses to a bat tery still bey ond and so onwards his adaptation o f
clock work t o the recording cy linders (cla i m 2 ) o t hers again are
onl y ne w as they are elements of a novel combination There is
no proof before u s that an y o f the devices which Mr Morse has
claimed in his paten t whether as independent inventions or part
of a combination are not really his so far as he has claimed them
It is unnecessary to clai m them in de t ail for they are all s u bs tan
t i all y protecte d as applian c es of the ar t which is the grea t subj ect
o f his patent
II The second pat en t of M r Morse is for what has been
termed his L ocal Circuit
To understand the questions which
arise u pon this it is necessary to refer back to the appar a tus which
he had patented before and to e xplain in general terms its princi
ple and modes of operation I shall attempt t o do this in popular
language and without stopping to consider very carefully the Va
r i ng niceties of scientific no m enclature
y
It is well known that a current of galvanic electricity while pass
ing along a w ire that has be en wound spirally r ound a bar of soft
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the wire in a spi r al c oil ro un d a bar of soft iron and thence l ea d
i t back again to the other pole o f the battery o r avail o urselves o f
the e arth itself as a par t o f the circui t It is obvious from what
we have said before that the electri c fl uid passing from the bat
t e ry alo ng t he wire arou nd the occasional magnet and back to the
battery a nd then at appropriate intervals o f time interrupted at
its circuit , w ill cause t h e sty lu s t o make its trace of l ine s o r do t s ,
o r in other words its alphabetical recor d a t the distant s t ation
I t only remains then to devise a mode o f interrupting and re
n ewing at pleasure the fl ow o f electricity , brea ki ng and closing
This is done b y d ivid
the ci rcu i t in th e la ngu age o f the e x perts
i ng the wire near the battery and then arranging a simple fing e r
key , which when stru ck o r pressed u pon b y the finger bri ngs a
Short m e t allic conducto r into intimat e contact with the two ends
o f t he divided wire and thus restores the continuit y o f the circuit
while t he pressure con tinues o n the ke y T his may serve as a
rude e x planation o f Mr Morse s Electr o Magne tic Telegraph in
its simplest form
It w a s foun d , however at an earl y period , that though the ele c
tric current was still appreciable after i t had passed over a great
le ngth o f wire y et i n traversing the very lo ng circuits that were
re quired to include d istant telegraph station s i t ceased to impart
a sufficient degree of energy to the temporary magnet to work the
To meet t his difficult y Mr Morse resorted to
s tylus e ffectively
the simple d evice o f em ploy ing a series o f batteries , distributed
over his line of telegraphic communication with as man y shorter
circuits each operating b y me ans of a m agnet at i t s e x tremity to
control the movements o f a small lever that opened o r closed the
circuit of the battery bey ond The last battery gave e fli ci e ncy to
the recording apparatus at the distant stati o n This formed the
co m bi ned seri es of Mr Morse s first paten t
It i s easy to s e e that the in terme diate magnets of the combine d
series besides opening and c losing the circu i ts might be also made
to act as recording magnets by m ere l y ad ap ting to them the sty lus
with its appen dages and there would thu s be as many s t ations of
telegraphic communication as there were batteries and minor cir
cuits
B u t there still remained this O bj ection to the combined
series that it could only be worke d in o ne di r e c tion , an d it wa s
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n e c essary t her efo re to have t wo c omple t e l ines o f wi r es wi th their
batt eries and magnets in order t o establish a recipro c al co mmu
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ni catio n
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To dispense with t his dup l ica tion of machinery and e x pense was
t he obj ect o f Mr Morse 1 n the invention which is the subj ec t of
his second patent I t had been found that the m agnetism e x cited
b y the electric coil wa s capable at the end of an a l most inde fi
ni te ly e x te n ded c ircui t of giving motion to a d eli c atel y adj u ste d
l ever , bu t that this Was the apparent li mi t o f i t s d ynamic p owe r
A single wire might be emplo y ed then withou t intervening mag
ne t s by c o nnec t ing i t at the e x tremities wi t h electr o magnets O f
great sensibility of mechanism and emplo y ing the force o f those
magne t s merel y to open short local circuits fr o m which local cir
‘
cuits the degree o f magne tic energy adequate to t he purp o se of
the recording apparatus c o u ld be derived
It i s found however , that the magne t is m in d uced in soft ir o n b y
the electri c current t hough trul y occasional does no t absolutel y
cease at the instan t o f breaking the c ircui t bu t see ms to linger in
the iron for an appreciable interval o f time after wards with an
intensity which though slight , bears an apparen t relation t o the
intensity o f the current that induced it
This would in t erfere
greatl y with the very rapid O peration o f the telegraph if the l ever
were left to withdraw itself from the magnet , to which it serves as
ar mature b y the force o f gravity alone A small compensation
Spring is therefore connec t ed with t he m achine of sufficien t
s trength to overcome the attraction of this lingering or con tinuous
magnetic force bu t no t su fficient t o E€ S l S t the a ttraction of the
m agnet when the circuit is closed
B ut the electric curren t after passing over a long wir e , does no t
e x ert a uniform dy na mi c energy However carefully insula t ed a t
first the wire becomes aft er a time more o r less ex posed t o
atmospheric action and the flu id is mo re or less dissipat ed in co n
sequence The posts o n which it is suppor ted become co nductors
d uring storms of rain and carry o ff the fl uid t o the earth U nder
other c ircumstances the electro magnetic phenomena are e x agg er
ated at the recei v ing station b y atmospheric electricity from the
regions through which the conducting wire has passed The bat
terie s too do not alway s gener a te the fl ui d w ith the same rapidity
In a word the current at the e x t r e mity o f the ci r c ui t i s i rr egu l ar
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98
Then it is apparen t tha t under these vary ing states o f the mag
netic energy the adj ustment of the compensating spring at the rc
ce iv in
If its tension were j ust that
g station must not be u niform
which would neutralize o r barel y overcome the continuous magnet
ism induced b y a n electric current of small intensity it would not
d ra w back the arma t ure when the inducing current had been in
greater force ; and on the other hand a st ronger spring adapted to
the case o f a powerful current w ould oppose con trollin g resistance
t o the magne tism induced b y a feeble one The A dju sta bl e R e
cei v ing M a net
described in Mr Morse s second p a tent meets
g
perfectly the conditions of this difli cu l ty and enables the operator
b y the mere touch of a finger on a n adj usting screw to regulate
the tension o f t he spring and adap t hi s appar atus to t he circum
st a n c es o f the moment
The mai n line thus arranged with i ts d elicat e receiving m agne t
and its shor t recor ding circuit at each e x tremi ty , made no pr o
vision fo r intermediate or collateral stations B ut a s i t had been
found desirable in practice to distribute the batteries in which the
electri c fl uid was generated o ver di fferent par ts O f the line so as
to reinforce the energies o f the current i n its progress it w a s
almos t an obvious s u ggestion to connect at these several points a
re c eiving magnet o f adj ustable character either with the main
l ine o r with the bat t ery forming part o f it and to attach to this
or a branch circuit
re c eiving m agne t a l ocal registering circuit
l eading to one or more collateral stations
S uch I u nderstand to be Mr Morse s L o ca l o r I ndep endent Cir
His patent of 1 8 56 as reissued in 1 8 4 8 claim s it in th e se
cu i t
“
words :
The employ ment i n a cer tain telegraphic circuit of a
device or contrivance called the receiving magnet in combination
with a short local independent circuit o r circuits , each having a
r egister and registering magnet or other m agne t ic co ntrivances for
r egisteri ng , and sustaining such a relation to the registering mag
ne t o r other magnetic contrivances for registering and t o the
l ength o f circuit o f telegraphic line as will enable me to obtain
with the aid of a main galvanic battery and circuit and the inter
such motion or power fo r
v e nti o n of a local batter y and circuit
r egistering as could not be obtained other wise without the u s e
o f a mu c h lar g er galvanic batter
y if at all
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1 00
question of s cience opinion can be dignified here or e l s ewher
with the mantle of authority Still less can we allow i t to avail us
here when it assumes contested fac ts o r volunteers to aid us in
de termini ng the import of written instruments
These remarks are not dic tated by a spirit of unkind or u ncou r
We know tha t
te ou s commen t ar y o n the depositions before u s
when opinion i s act ive it is not alway s easy to l imit its ra nge
T here i s besides ver y much o f a c curate s me ntific histor y and o f
j ust and well guarded deduct ion fr o m it in these volumes o f e x
h ibi ts B u t it must be confessed a l s o th at there is to be found here
and t here no t a li ttle o f imperfectl y considered dogma as well as
some t hing of doub tfu lly regu lated memory— an d it h a s seemed to us ,
in this case as wel l as in others that the toil a nd e x pense and e x cite
men t of litigation migh t have been moderated perhaps if the appro_
pri at e t one and province of testimony had been more e x actly under
stood by some of the witness es
The obj ecti ons which have been taken to t he terms of t he reissue
o f Mr Morse s pa t ent i n 1 84 6 m ay be answered b y a simple ref
erence t o tha t part of o ur opinion in which we have considered the
argumen t s o f the same chara cter that were urged agains t the
patent of 1 84 0
It is bey ond con trovers y t hat t he local circuit paten t has been
infringed upon at some of the stations of the res pondent s line and
it is the opinio n of the court that it is also violated whenever the
bran c h circuit of Mr R ogers i s employ e d We have not been able
to see the asserted di fference i n principle be t ween the two device s
B oth are equally well described as branch or as local circuits
They have the s ame purpos e ; they e ffe ct i t by the same i ns tru m e n
tality eve n i n appearance to a great degree and they seem to
vary o nl y in this tha t the one derives i ts electric fl uid fro m a bat
t e ry placed within the line of the main circui t and the other fro m
a battery placed without it The c hange may be for the better or it
may not ; if it be it is patentable as a n improvement but it cannot
be used without Mr Morse s license un til after h is patent has e x
w
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pire d
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III The third patent is for the chem i cal telegraph We do no t
propose to enter on the discu ssion of this The su bj ect o f it is
clearly within the original patent o f Mr Morse if we have cor
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1 01
apprehen d ed t he legal in t erpre t ati o n a nd effe ct of t ha t
instrumen t We wil l onl y say that we do no t hold i t t o hav e been
invalidate d b y the decision of the learned chief j ustice of the dis
tri ot o f Colu mbi a on the question of interferen c e The for ms o f
the t wo machines before him were not the same ; and the leading
prin c iple of bo t h having been alread y appropria t ed and secured b y
the magneti c telegraph paten t o f 1 84 0 nothing remained but for m
t o be the subj ect of interference
The counsel for t he complainants will be pleased t o prepare fo r
the consideration of the cour t the draft o f a d e c ree in a c cordance
W ith the pray er o f their bi ll
rectl y
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xtra ct
from the deci s i o n of Ju s tice Wo o dbu ry U nited S ta tes Ci rcu i t
,
Cou rt, D i s tri ct of M
a s s a chu s etts ,
/
1 8 50
.
mong the si xty t wo compe titors for the discover y o f the elec tric
t elegr aph by 1 8 3 8 (as c omputed in ( Ma nning s E v 4 1 a ) Morse
alone in 1 8 3 7 , seems t o have reached the most perfect result
d e s ira bl e fo r public and practical u s e (R 6 Morse E v 1 2 8—9 r )
T his may not have be en cco m pl i s h e d so wholly by the invention of
”
“
much that was entirel y ne w as b y improvements t o use t he
language of his pat ent o n what had alread y been d o ne o n
the same su bj ect i mp rov ements ingenious usefu l and v a l u a
ble
By the needle , o r lever instead not only de fl ected b y
the magnet but provid ed with a pe n to write o r i n other
word s , a pin at the end to m ake a dot or str oke ; —when
thus de fl ected as the circuit was held longer c losed or broken with
m achinery to ke ep the paper moving in the m ean time and s o as to
inscribe the dots and lines separat el y and more e specially with a n
alphabe t inven t ed and matured assigning letters and figures to
these dots and lines according to their number and combination
he accomplished the last desideratum (1 R enwick s E v
Thus
the fortunate idea was at last formed and announced whi c h
enabled the dead machine t o move and speak intel lig ibl y at an y
distance with lightning speed
It will be seen that a midst all these e fforts at telegraphic com
mu ni ca ti o n b y electricity and electro mag netism more o r les s s u c
c es s ful fro m 1 7 4 5 to 1 8 3 8 , none had full y attained to what Mors e
accomplished
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1 02
ha d su c ceeded i n sending information by signals even
bey ond the decomposition o f water a nd the de fl ection of the needle
They had made persons at a distance recognize the sig n used and
thus obtain intelligence They had also made marks at a dis t ance
S ome
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B
ut
i n no w a y do es i t
di s ta nce ,
do wn
a nd
a nd
at
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s a me
the
tha t they h a d s ent i nform a ti o n a t a
app ea r
moment by
i t p erma nently
record ed
s a me
the
,
a nd
m a chine ,
i ntelligi bly
a nd
tra ced
qu i ckly
.
T his triumph was reserved to Morse s in fl ex ible perseveran c e i n
e xperiments and close observat ion ; and chiefly after arming the
’
end o f the needle o r lever with a pin b y use of a roller with ap
pro pri a te machinery t o mo ve his paper so as to trace su c cessive
dots and marks and by a stenographi c alphabet to e x plain the
marks m ade o n the paper a nd by m ore p ower throu gh his com
,
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bi ned
ci rcu i ts ,
j
to
e
ect a ll
at a
grea ter di s ta nce ,
w i th grea ter
a nd
Gale
s
E
1
23
r
v
)
(
A fterwar d s b y the improvements in ba tteries by Daniell an d
G rove in 1 84 3 he was enabled with these local circuits to increa s e
the power of the electro magnet so as to accomplish this at a dis
tance and with a speed and econom y which rendered the i nv e n
tion applicable to general use (Jackson s E v ,
B efore 1 8 4 3 Hare s battery was use d and was too feeble
J
ackson
s
1
6
4
v
Channing
s
E
v
4
5
v
and
before
that
E
v
)
(
Cruikshank s The want o f this increased power had rendered
former attempts at times abortive for practical p urposes and its
being recently supplied b y the science o f Faraday a nd Henry
tended more speedil y by Daniell a nd G rove s battery founded o n
them to remove the greates t obstacle to success (Davis Manual
p 1 2 5 ; S il l im a n s E v 9 5 v ; J ackson
O thers had before and abo u t the same time as has been
noticed alread y made marks o n paper at a distance b y the d e
fl e ctio n of the needle and b y sparks and attached special mea n
ings to them and the spaces between the m
B ut the evidence is strong that Morse s if not the very first i n
these respects was the most perfect and available for practical use ,
and the improve ments by others i n batteries came very O ppo r
t u ne l y t o aid i n its power for distant operation s bey ond what eve n
the local circuits had done (Prof S il l i m an s E v 9 6 a ) This
speci al advance bey ond all others ex cep t some ne w c ombinat ion
d esp a tch
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