DEVELOPMENT OF THE TELEGRAPH 



It was a most unfortunate thing, particularly for 

 Alexandra himself, that he was so secretive in regard to 

 his invention. Had he made known this to Delambre, 

 a man in whom he might have placed implicit trust, his 

 desired interview with Napoleon would undoubtedly 

 have been granted, and, in view of the enthusiasm and 

 generosity of the French Emperor toward successful 

 inventors, it is possible that Alexandra would have 

 lived as a famous and opulent scientist, instead of an 

 obscure, impoverished, and unhappy "crank." 



GALVANISM GIVES A NEW STIMULUS TO INVENTORS 



Alexandra's invention was undoubtedly made to 

 operate by the agency of static or frictional electricity, 

 inasmuch as galvanic electricity had only just been dis- 

 covered at that time. But shortly after this the invention 

 of the "voltaic column" gave a fresh stimulus to in- 

 ventors who were attempting to perfect the telegraph. 

 One of the first applications of this invention of Volta's 

 was by the same Spaniard, Salva, referred to a moment 

 ago, about 1804; but a more successful attempt was 

 made by the Bavarian Sommerring, who utilized with 

 this invention the discovery of Nicholson and Carlisle 

 that a galvanic current would decompose chemicals in 

 solution. 



It had been found by these two scientists that if two 

 points of metal were immersed in water and connected 

 with a galvanic cell, the water would be decomposed 

 into its elements, oxygen and hydrogen, by the action 

 of electricity, this decomposition being indicated by 



