DEI^OSITIOISr OF JOSEFH HE^H 



IN THE CASE OF 



MOESE vs. O'REILLY, 



T.A.ICE3Sr .A.T BOSTOISr, SEX^rEIvI BEI^, 184:9. 



[From the Record of the Supreme Court of the United States.] 



1. Please state your place of residence and your occupation ; also, 

 what attention, if any, you have given to the subjects of electricity, mag- 

 netism, and electro-magnetism. 



Answer. — I begin this deposition with the express statement that I do 

 not voluntarily give my testimony ; but that I appear on legal summons, 

 and in submission to law. I am Secretary to the Smithsonian Institution, 

 established in the city of Washington, where I now reside. The prin- 

 cipal direction of the Institution is confided to me. As I do not expect to 

 return to Washington until some time in October, I have been called upon 

 to give my testimony here in Boston ; on this account I labor under the 

 disadvantage of being obliged to testify without my notes and papers, 

 which are now in Washington. 



I commenced the study of electro-magnetism in 1827 ; and since then 

 have, at different times, (until) within the last two and a half years, when 

 I became Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, made original inves- 

 tigations in this and kindred branches of physical science. I know no 

 person in our country who has paid more attention to the study of the 

 principles of electro-magnetism than myself. 



2. Please give a general account of the progress of the science of elec- 

 tro-magnetism, as connected with telegraphic communication ; and of any 

 inventions or discoveries in electro-magnetism applicable to the telegraph, 

 made by yourself. 



Ansiver. — I consider an electro-magnetic telegraph as one which 

 operates by the combined influence of electricity and magnetism. Prior 

 to the winter of 1819-20, no form of the electro-magnetic telegraph was 



