THE TELEPHONE AND ITS INVENTOR. 551 



sounds, or combination of sounds, in the transmitter. And he rep- 

 resents graphically the undulatory curves of consonant and vowel 

 sounds, byway of illustration. Between the transmitter and receiver, 

 on whose necessary identity of vibrations he constantly insists, he em- 

 ploys an electric current as the intermediate, to take on, in its wave- 

 motions or polarizations, all the possible variations of the sound-waves 

 striking on the transmitter, and to give them up again to the receiver. 

 Reis, without talking about " undulatory " currents, makes them the 

 staple of his telephone. 



Professor Thompson, without the least imputation of plagiarism, 

 shows, in parallel columns, the identity of expression between Reis 

 and Bell, in their statement of the essential principles of the tele- 

 phone. The impression of the identity of Reis's and Bell's discovery 

 grows, page by page, during the perusal of this book. 



The conclusion reached by Professor Thompson, from the survey 

 of the whole field a conclusion which seems to be fully borne out by 

 the facts adduced is the following : " There is not, in the telephone 

 exchanges of England to-day, any single telephone to be found in 

 which the fundamental principles of Reis's telephone are not the es- 

 sential and indispensable features." 



This conclusion makes the speaking telephone, in its elementary 

 form, free to the whole world. It opens wide the door for the future 

 development of the telephone ; and it should assure to all those who, 

 by their genius and industry, in our day and generation, have im- 

 proved or may improve the telephone, an ample pecuniary reward. 

 The recompense due to the family of Philipp Reis should take the 

 form hereafter not of a tax, but a free gift from the world's grati- 

 tude. 



This book comes, then, as a charter of freedom of speech in a 

 larger sphere than ever before known. 



In the light of historic facts which this book establishes, the de- 

 cision of the courts of the United States that Professor Bell is the 

 discoverer of a new and useful art (the electric transmission of speech), 

 to which he has exclusive title, must be reversed as speedily as pos- 

 sible, that our courts may retain the respect of the people of the 

 United States. 



