SCIENCE IN THE INDUSTRIAL WORLD 



sages in the form of verbal communication could not be 

 transmitted in this manner, but if a telegraph instru- 

 ment was used the clicking could be readily detected, 

 and messages by the Morse code read at a considerable 

 distance. Trowbridge suggested that by this means it 

 might be possible to establish transatlantic communica- 

 tions. He suggested the use of this method, or a modi- 

 fication of it, for the communication between vessels at 

 sea, and his suggestions were tested practically by 

 Graham Bell, of telephone fame. In his experiments 

 Bell was able to send and receive messages from ships half 

 a mile apart ; but at long distances his attempts were un- 

 successful. Messages thus limited were of course of no 

 practical importance, and experiments in this direction 

 were soon abandoned. 



In 1882, Sir William H. Preece turned to practical 

 account the foregoing experiments of Morse and Trow- 

 bridge, by sending messages across the Solent to the Isle 

 of Wight from the mainland of England. The cable be- 

 tween these two places having been damaged and 

 rendered useless, Preece erected parallel wires on the 

 opposite shores arranged in a manner similar to the 

 wires of Morse, but having a telephone receiver inserted, 

 which made the detection of feeble currents possible. 

 This wireless telegraph worked satisfactorily and was 

 used for some time until the cable was repaired. This 

 was one of the first successful attempts to turn wireless 

 electric telegraphy to practical account. 



Three years later, in 1885, Thomas A. Edison pat- 

 ented a system of wireless telegraphy whereby moving 

 trains could send and receive messages at any point 



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