.S7A- WILLIAM SIEMENS, F.R.S. 5 



factor! ly the beautifully contrived mechanism by which Mr. 

 Sirineus's telegraphs work, beyond stating that the telegraph is a 

 self-acting machine, breaking and restoring the current itself ; 

 and when put in motion, it continues to work until stopped, by 

 preventing at any time the restoration of the current. 



At each end of the line is a dial, with the letters of the alphabet 

 arranged round its face, with pointers like the hands of a clock. 

 These hands revolve contemporaneously at each end of the line ; 

 and by pressure on a button opposite to any given letter, the hand 

 stops opposite that letter ; whilst at the other station, the hand of 

 the instrument there stops in a similar manner at the same letter. 

 The mode by which this is accomplished is extremely ingenious 

 and accurate. 



These telegraphs have been in use for upwards of two years with 

 great success on the German lines. One wire only is required, and 

 this, covered with gutta-percha, is buried in the earth. This plan 

 has answered admirably. By means of this telegraph the Govern- 

 ment despatches are sent ; and the speeches of the German Par- 

 liament at Frankfort have been regularly transmitted to Berlin, 

 and printed the following day at Berlin. 



In the discussion of the Papers * 



"ON THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH; ITS HISTORY, 

 THEORY, AND PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS," by 

 C. C. ADLEY ; and 



"ON THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH, AND THE PRIN- 

 ' CIPAL IMPROVEMENTS IN ITS CONSTRUCTION," 



by F. R. WINDOW, 



MR. C. W. SIEMENS said, that the arrangements of the instruments 

 and wires which had been executed and adopted by his brother, to 

 a large extent, in Germany and in other countries, differed essen- 

 tially from other systems. 



* Excerpt Minutes of Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Vol. XI. 

 Session 1851-1852, pp. 362-366. 



