HENRY AND THE TELEGRAPH. 303 



patent and to protect for one year by a caveat, is a method of record- 

 ing permanently electrical signs wliicb by means of metallic wires or 

 other good condnctors of electricity, convey intelligence between two or 

 more jilaces." 



Of the above described apparatus, the two most important features 

 were those numbered the first and the fourth, — the system of signs and 

 the recording device ; and though neither of these presented much orig- 

 inabty, the method of the former being that long established for naval 

 signals, and the clock-moved fillet of the latter being essentially the ar- 

 rangement long employed for self-registering instruments generally, yet 

 the combination of these parts with the others undoubtedly possessed 

 great practical merit ; and none the less that the several elements were 

 evidently worked out indeiaendently by the inventor. It is not a little 

 remarkable however, that of the specified six i)arts of this earliest in- 

 vention of Professor Morse, not one enters into the established " Morse 

 telegraph" of to-day. That feature regarded by the inventor as its vital 

 and fundamental characteristic (the fourth), the subject of his formal 

 " claim," survived the longest ; but after undergoing considerable modi- 

 fication, it has for more than twenty years been neglected and aban- 

 doned. 



In response to a public circular which had been issued by the Secretary 

 of the Treasury, March 10, 1837, "with a view of obtaining information in re- 

 gard to the propriety of establishing a system of telegraphs for the United 

 States," Professor Morse addressed a communication to the honorable Sec- 

 retary, dated September 27, 1837, pointing out the disadvantages of the old 

 mechanical telegraphs as being " useless the greater part of the time:" 

 (as in toggy weather and during the night.) He then proceeded : "Hav- 

 ing invente<l an entirely new mode of telegraphic communication, which 

 so far as experiments have yet been made with it, promises results of 

 almost marvelous character, I beg leave to present to the department 

 a brief account of its chief characteristics." After stating that at the 

 time when he first conceived the thought (some five years previously) he 

 had " planned a system of signs and an ai>paratus to carry it into efiect," 

 he added, " although the rest of the machinery was i)lanned, yet from 

 the pressure of unavoidable duties I was compelled to postpone my ex- 

 periments, and was not able to test the whole plan until within a few 

 weeks. The result has realized my most sanguine expectations." 



The construction of a more complete apparatus was carried on at the 

 Speedwell Iron Works of the Messrs. Yail, near Morristown, while Pi'O- 

 fessor Gale pursued his experiments at the ISTcw York City University.* 



Having finished his laborious task of numbering a dictionary, Octo- 

 ber 24, 1837, Professor Morse gave more attention to the Vail Works.t 



* Professor Morse, writing to Mr. Alfred Vail, October 7, 1837, says : " Professor Gale's 

 services will be iuvaluable to lis, aud I am glad that lie is disposed to enter into the 

 matter with zeal." 



t " The dictionary is at last done. Yon cannot conceive how niueli labor there has 

 been in it, bnt it is accomplished; and we can now talk or write anything by num- 

 bers." Professor Morse to A. Vail, October 24, 1837. (Prime's Life of Morse, chap, 

 viii, p. 326.) 



