26 



tratcd by drawings on the board.] I used a common 

 battery and instead of breaking the current I used a con- 

 stant current, and a vibrating membrane. I found that 

 by placing a membrane before the magnet and speaking 

 before it, the sound was transmitted. 



It was my good fortune to meet with another person 

 interested in similar studies, Mr. Watson of Salem. It 

 is chiefly due to his assistance that the invention is pro- 

 ceeding to a successful issue. 



o 



[The lecturer then explained the construction of the 

 magneto-electric telephone on the blackboard.] 



Though the sounds are at present feeble and heard with 

 difficulty at a distance, I hope in the future to be able to 

 havcHhem more aucfible. Soft articulation is more intel- 

 ligible than loud. A whisper is 'perfectly audible. 



Messages have been transmitted through this instru- 

 ment between Boston and Con way, a distance of 143 

 miles. I have passed the messages through the human 

 body and through water, which has a million times more 

 resisting power than a wire. The result of these experi- 

 ments seemed to demonstrate that the resistance retard- 

 ing the magneto-electric current was vastly less than the 

 resistance to the galvanic current, and encouraged me to 

 believe that it will, in time, be possible to converse across 

 the Atlantic by means of international telephony. These 

 experiments we are now conducting are made over a dis- 

 tance of twenty miles ; and there is no battery, only a 

 wire. 



[Coughing and singing were then heard, and a variety of 

 questions was then asked from the Salem end and among 

 them : "What news from the Electoral Commission?" fol- 

 lowed by the distinct answer of "I don't know of any." 

 But the news came fleoiting along that the engineers of 

 the Boston and Maine 'Railroad had struck. General 



