THE TELEPHONE AND ITS INVENTOR. 543 



no precise information of his family. Disabled finally by haemorrhage 

 of the lungs and loss of voice, he disposed of all his instruments to 

 Garnier's Institute, and died of consumption, January 14, 1874, at 

 forty years of age. 



Four years later, in 1878, the Physical Society of Frankfort erected 

 an obelisk of red sandstone over his grave in Friedrichsdorf bearing 

 upon it a medallion of the great inventor. 



The description of Reis's telephone is divided naturally into two 

 sections. Here, fully illustrated in Professor Thompson's book, we 

 have ten forms of transmitter, all imitating the mechanism of the ear, 

 and applying the vibrations of an artificial tympanum to vary or 

 modulate a current of electricity, by varying the degree of contact at 

 a loose joint in the circuit, one or both of the members at this point 

 of contact having an elastic bearing. This is the essential principle 

 and method, leaving out certain adjuncts, of the most approved mod- 

 ern transmitters. In the very first transmitter made by Reis, in 1860 

 or 1861, a little curved lever is attached by one end to the center of 

 an elastic tympanum, while the other end makes varying contact with 

 a delicate spring, regulated by an adjusting screw the surfaces of 

 contact being of platinum and the lever and spring included in a 

 telephonic circuit equipped with a galvanic battery and receiver. 



Of the receivers four forms are given. The first receiver made by 

 Reis consisted of a knitting-needle wound with a helix of silk-covered 

 copper wire, one end of which knitting-needle was thrust into the 

 bridge of a violin, which served as a sounding box. This instrument 

 was given to Reis for the purpose by Herr Peter, the music-teacher of 

 Gamier Institute, and it is now preserved with other relics in the mu- 

 seum of that institution. In the second form the helix was laid hori- 

 zontally upon a sounding-box (a cigar-box), and the knitting-needle, 

 passed through it without contact, was supported by a " bridge " at 

 each end. The third form was the electro-magnetic which will be de- 

 scribed in connection with Fig. 1. Of this class of receivers Reis 

 himself writes, " Electro-magnetism affords the possibility of calling 

 into life, at any given distance, vibrations similar to the vibrations 

 that have been produced (in the transmitter), and in this way to give 

 out again in one place tones (sounds) that have been produced in an- 

 other place." In the fourth form of receiver Reis recurred to the 

 " knitting needle," more elaborately arranged. This is shown in Fig. 2. 

 Among these instruments of Reis are two noteworthy types of 

 transmitter and two of receiver. They all happen to be grouped in 

 two very early illustrations, published in the proceedings of learned 

 bodies, and therefore of the highest authenticity. The first of these 

 is contained in the report by Wilhelm von Legat to the Austro-Ger- 

 man Telegraph Verein in 1862, printed in the journal of that society, 

 and reprinted verbatim in Dingler's "Polytechnisches Journal" for 

 1863. This is shown in Fig. 1. 



