﻿584 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  telephone 
  system 
  that 
  I 
  look 
  back 
  upon, 
  what 
  is 
  it 
  compared 
  to 
  the 
  mighty 
  

   system 
  that 
  goes 
  through 
  the 
  whole 
  extent 
  of 
  our 
  country 
  to-day? 
  It 
  is 
  to 
  

   you 
  that 
  this 
  great 
  telephone 
  development 
  is 
  due, 
  and 
  I 
  feel 
  that 
  it 
  behooves 
  

   me 
  to 
  speak 
  very 
  modestly 
  of 
  the 
  little 
  beginning 
  that 
  led 
  to 
  this 
  great 
  end. 
  

   I 
  can 
  not 
  tell 
  you 
  anything 
  about 
  the 
  telephone. 
  I 
  can 
  not 
  speak 
  to 
  you 
  about 
  

   undulating 
  current, 
  intermittent 
  current, 
  and 
  pulsatory 
  current. 
  I 
  belong 
  to 
  

   the 
  past 
  ; 
  you 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  present. 
  

  

  Here 
  stand 
  revealed 
  those 
  lovable 
  qualities 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  pioneer 
  — 
  

   generosity 
  and 
  modesty 
  — 
  which 
  endeared 
  him 
  to 
  us 
  all. 
  It 
  is 
  true, 
  

   indeed, 
  that 
  he 
  belonged 
  to 
  the 
  past, 
  though 
  then 
  he 
  still 
  belonged 
  

   to 
  the 
  present. 
  Now 
  he 
  belongs 
  to 
  the 
  ages. 
  

  

  Alexander 
  Graham 
  Bell 
  died 
  on 
  Wednesday, 
  August 
  2, 
  at 
  the 
  age 
  

   of 
  75, 
  at 
  his 
  summer 
  home 
  in 
  Nova 
  Scotia, 
  near 
  Baddeck. 
  He 
  was 
  

   buried 
  on 
  August 
  4, 
  at 
  sunset, 
  on 
  the 
  summit 
  of 
  a 
  mountain 
  over- 
  

   looking 
  the 
  Bras 
  d'Or 
  Lakes. 
  As 
  a 
  tribute 
  to 
  his 
  memory 
  telephone 
  

   service 
  was 
  suspended 
  for 
  one 
  minute 
  throughout 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  

   and 
  Canada 
  during 
  the 
  simple 
  ceremony. 
  

  

  The 
  manifold 
  activities 
  of 
  his 
  life, 
  devoted 
  to 
  the 
  service 
  of 
  man- 
  

   kind, 
  would 
  require 
  volumes 
  to 
  portray. 
  The 
  medals 
  and 
  other 
  

   honors 
  which 
  he 
  received 
  from 
  learned 
  societies, 
  his 
  honorary 
  degrees 
  

   from 
  universities 
  at 
  home 
  and 
  abroad, 
  and 
  special 
  recognition 
  by 
  

   governments, 
  all 
  testify 
  to 
  the 
  esteem 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  held. 
  His 
  

   scientific 
  researches 
  in 
  the 
  field 
  of 
  heredity 
  and 
  eugenics, 
  his 
  experi- 
  

   ments 
  in 
  aeronautics, 
  his 
  work 
  in 
  improving 
  the 
  phonograph 
  and 
  

   in 
  teaching 
  the 
  dumb 
  to 
  talk, 
  and 
  his 
  invention 
  of 
  the 
  photophone, 
  

   reveal 
  the 
  scope 
  of 
  his 
  mind. 
  This 
  record 
  alone 
  is 
  enough 
  to 
  insure 
  

   his 
  fame, 
  but 
  his 
  discovery 
  of 
  the 
  method 
  of 
  transmitting 
  articulate 
  

   speech 
  by 
  electricity 
  and 
  his 
  invention 
  of 
  the 
  apparatus 
  to 
  do 
  this 
  

   have 
  placed 
  his 
  name 
  among 
  the 
  immortals. 
  

  

  Doctor 
  Bell 
  was 
  born 
  March 
  3, 
  1847, 
  in 
  Edinburgh, 
  Scotland. 
  

   He 
  went 
  to 
  Canada 
  in 
  1870, 
  and 
  the 
  next 
  year, 
  at 
  the 
  age 
  of 
  24, 
  he 
  

   removed 
  to 
  Boston. 
  After 
  introducing 
  into 
  New 
  England 
  schools 
  

   improved 
  methods 
  of 
  teaching 
  deaf 
  mutes 
  to 
  speak, 
  he 
  was 
  appointed 
  

   professor 
  of 
  vocal 
  physiology 
  in 
  Boston 
  University. 
  

  

  In 
  his 
  spare 
  time 
  he 
  conducted 
  experimental 
  researches 
  in 
  elec- 
  

   trical 
  wave 
  transmission. 
  He 
  was 
  assisted 
  financially 
  in 
  these 
  ex- 
  

   periments 
  by 
  two 
  gentlemen 
  of 
  Boston, 
  Thomas 
  Sanders 
  and 
  

   Gardiner 
  Greene 
  Hubbard. 
  By 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1874 
  he 
  had 
  worked 
  

   out 
  his 
  theory 
  that 
  the 
  transmission 
  of 
  speech 
  by 
  electricity 
  could 
  

   be 
  accomplished 
  by 
  producing 
  " 
  electrical 
  undulations 
  similar 
  in 
  

   form 
  to 
  the 
  vibrations 
  of 
  the 
  air" 
  which 
  accompany 
  the 
  original 
  

   words 
  or 
  sounds. 
  In 
  spite 
  of 
  great 
  difficulties 
  and 
  discouragements, 
  

   he 
  succeeded 
  in 
  reducing 
  his 
  theory 
  to 
  practical 
  form, 
  when, 
  at 
  Bos- 
  

   ton, 
  in 
  the 
  summer 
  of 
  1875, 
  he 
  invented 
  a 
  telephone 
  which 
  faintly 
  

   transmitted 
  parts 
  of 
  words 
  and 
  even 
  entire 
  words. 
  

  

  