ON SOME MARVELS IN TELEGRAPHY. 261 



But now we must turn to the greatest marvel of all the 

 transmission of tones, tunes, and words by the electric wire. 

 The transmission of the rhythm of an air is of course a 

 very simple matter. I have seen the following passage from 

 "Lardner's Museum of Science and Art," 1859, quoted as 

 describing an anticipation of the telephone, though in reality 

 it only shows what every one who has heard a telegraphic 

 indicator at work must have noticed, that the click of the 

 instrument may be made to keep time with an air. " We 

 were in the Hanover Street Office, when there was a pause 

 in the business operations. Mr. M. Porter, of the office at 

 Boston the writer being at New York asked what tune 

 we would have ? We replied, ' Yankee Doodle,' and to our 

 surprise he immediately complied with our request. The 

 instrument, a Morse one, commenced drumming the notes 

 of the tune as perfectly and distinctly as a skilful drummer 

 could have made them at the head of a regiment, and many 

 will be astonished to hear that ' Yankee Doodle ' can travel 

 by lightning. ... So perfectly and distinctly were the 

 sounds of the tunes transmitted, that good instrumental 

 performers could have no difficulty in keeping time with the 

 instruments at this end of the wires. . . . That a pianist 

 in London should execute a fantasia at Paris, Brussels, 

 Berlin, and Vienna, at the same moment, and with the same 

 spirit, expression, and precision as if the instruments at these 

 distant places were under his fingers, is not only within the 

 limits of practicability, but really presents no other difficulty 

 than may arise from the expense of the performances. From 

 what has just been stated, it is clear that the time of music 

 has been already transmitted, and the production of the 

 sounds does not offer any more difficulty than the printing 

 of the letters of a despatch." Unfortunately, Lardner 

 omitted to describe how this easy task was to be achieved. 



Reuss first in 1861 showed how a sound can be trans- 

 mitted. At the- sending station, according to his method, 

 there is a box, into which, through a pipe in the side, the 

 note to be transmitted is sounried. The box is open at the 



