Cbe Blectric Gelegrapb. 



latter is very large. As late as 1820 the Euro- 

 pean philosophers were trying to construct a 

 telegraphic system based upon two ideas, an- 

 nounced a long time before, to wit, the use of 

 static or fractional electricity, and a wire for 

 every letter. It does not seem to have occurred 

 to any one to devise a cods consisting of 

 motions differently related as to time, and to 

 use simply one wire. 



In 1819 Oersted discovered the effect of a 

 galvanic current on a magnetic needle, and 

 published a pamphlet concerning his discovery. 

 This stimulated others, and Ampere applied it 

 to the galvanometer the same year. Arago 

 applied it to soft iron, and here was the germ 

 of the electromagnet. We see that as far back 

 as 1820 we had the galvanic battery and the 

 electromagnet, the two great essentials of the 

 modern telegraph. 



However, there remained another great dis- 

 covery to be made before these elements could 

 be utilized for telegraphic purposes. One cell 

 of battery was used, and the magnet was made 

 by winding one layer of wire spirally around 

 the iron, so that each spiral was out of touch 

 with its neighbor. Barlow of England, a Fel- 

 low of the Royal Society, tried th<> effect of a 

 rMirrent thnmirh a wire 200 feet l<mg, and 

 found tli;it tlie power wns so diminished that 

 he w;s discouraged. :md in a paper gave it as 

 his opinion that galvaui>ni w;is of no use for 



