170 



probably balance the tailings due to imperfect conductance and the 

 cable would be distortionless. The signals received would, there- 

 fore, be the exact counterpart of the signals sent, and an indefin- 

 itely high speed of signaling should be possible. In respect to 

 absence from distortion, such an Atlantic cable would transmit tele- 

 phonic speech waves perfectly. It would, however, possess so 

 much leakage that the received signals would be far too attenuated 

 and feeble to perceive. The conductor would only oifer at the 

 sending end a resistance of, approximately, 28 ohms, instead of 3108 

 ohms, the total conductor resistance, and the current strength 

 which would flow from the receiving end to ground would be, ap- 

 proximately, 5x10^^ times less than the current entering at the gener- 

 ating end. No telegraphic or telephonic instrument at the present 

 time could detect so feeble a current as this. Moreover, if any 

 accident happened to such a cable it would be impossible to localize 

 the position of the fault unless the same occurred within a mile or 

 two of either end. Consequently, the distortionless circuit does 

 not provide at the present time a practical solution for trans-Atlan- 

 tic telephony. About one hundred miles is, probably, the limiting 

 length of this particular cable, with its good insulation, over which 

 telephonic speech can be carried. 



We have not considered the mechanism whereby the electric and 

 magnetic flux, when it reaches the receiving end, is absorbed and its 

 energy utilized for the performance of any kind of work, such as 

 the operation of a motor, the production of signals, or of articulate 

 speech. It has been sufficient to point out that the electric current 

 runs through the insulator from one end of the circuit to the other, 

 and is guided by the two conductors, which with the insulator 

 form the circuit. If it were not for these two conductors, any elec- 

 tric wave or impulse would radiate out into space in all directions, 

 like light from an unprotected candle. The wires do for the elec- 

 tric wave what a reflector does for the search light ; namely, local- 

 izes and concentrates the beam into a single path, whereby it may 

 be transmitted to the desired point with the minimum attendant 

 loss in transmission. 



Discussion. 



Mr. Paul A. N. Winand said : 



I have been very kindly invited by the authors of the paper to 

 participate in its discussion. I wish to express first my appreciation 

 of the remarkably thorough, clear and original manner in which 



