PROCEEDINGS OF THE REGENTS. 93 



of the single cup battery were to me, on tlie first look at the instru- 

 ment, obvious marks of defect, and I accordingly suggested to the 

 Professor, without giving my reasons for so doing, that a battery of 

 many pairs should be substituted ior that of a single pair, and that 

 the coil on each arm of the masfnet should be increased to many hun- 

 dred turns each ; which experiment, if I remember aright, was made 

 on the same day with a battery and wire on hand, furnished I believe 

 by myself, and it was found that while the original arrangement 

 woukl only send the electric current through a few feec of wire, say 

 15 to 40, the modified arrangement would send it through as many 

 hundred. Although I gave no reasons at the time to Professor Morse 

 for the suggestions I had proposed in modifying the arrangement of 

 the machine, I did so afterwards, and referred in my explanations to 

 the paper of Professor Henry, in the 19th volume of the American 

 Journal of Science, ])age 400 and onward. It was to these sugges- 

 tions of mine that Professor Morse alludes in his testimony before 

 the circuit court for the eastern district of Pennsylvania, in the trial 

 of B. B. French and others vs. Rogers and others. — See piinted copy 

 of Complainant's Evidence, page 1G8, beginning with the words 

 "Early in 1836 I procured 40 feet of wire," &c., and page 169, where 

 Professor Morse alludes to myself and compensation for services ren- 

 dered to him, &G. 



At the time I gave the suggestions above named, Professor Morse 

 was not familiar with the then existing state of the science ot electro- 

 magnetism. Had he been so, or had he read and appreciated the 

 paper of Henry, tlie suggestions made by me would naturally have 

 occurred to his mind as they did to my own. But the principal part 

 of Morse's great invention lay in the mechanical ada})tation of a power 

 to produce motion, and to increase or relax at will. It was only 

 necessary for him to know that such a power existed for him to adapt 

 mechanism to direct and control it. 



My suggestions were made to Professor Morse from inferences 

 drawn by reading Professor Henry's paper above alluded to. Profes- 

 sor Morse professed great surprise at the contents of the paper when 

 I showed it to him, but especially at the remarks on Dr. Barlow's re- 

 sults respecting telegraphing, which were new to him, and he stated 

 at the time that he was not aware that any one had even conceived 

 the idea of using the magnet for such purposes. 



With sentiments of esteem, I remain yours truly, 



L. D. GALE. 



Prof. Jos. Henry, 



Sec/etary of the Smithsonian Institution. 



It further appears, that principally for the information thus commu- 

 nicated Mr. Morse assigned to Dr. Gale an interest in the telegraph, 

 which he afterwards purchased back for $15,000, as appears from the 

 following letter of Dr. Gale : 



Patent Office, August 5, 1857. 



Dear Sir : In reply to yours of this date, respecting the interest I 

 once possessed in Morse's telegraph patent, secured to me by the said 

 Morse, as alluded to by him in his statement to the Commissioner of 



