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made by the two external or by the two internal pointers, clfe 

 they could not be repeated by the intermediate ftations without 

 confufion, becaufe in the middle ftations that pointer which re- 

 prefents thoufands, when conveying a mefTage eaftward, for 

 inftance, muft, when an anfwer is returned in an oppofite di- 

 rection, reprefent units ; the fame change will take place between 

 the pointers that denote hundreds and tens. 



Certain hours of the day muft be appointed for ordinary 

 communication. Suppofe ten o'clock in the morning and five 

 in the afternoon in Summer. Every communication begins 

 from the capital. If no intelligence is required to be conveyed 

 from thence the word Begin is fent to the country ftation, 

 which may then proceed or difmifs the meeting. 



When any communication is to be commenced, the pointers 

 that denote thoufands and units are whirled round till the fame 

 is done at the correfponding ftation. When this fignal has been 

 anfwered, the perfon who gave it proceeds to fend his intelli- 

 gence. As foon as he begins, the pointer of hundreds at the 

 oppofite ftation is turned to Two, and kept in that pofition 

 till the word is made out from the vocabulary ; it is then turned 

 up to O or Zero. The perfon who is fpeaking, when he per- 

 ceives by this fignal that he is underftood, turns all the ma- 

 chines to Nought, which is always to be done at the conclufion 

 of every word. 



When 



