HARD LUCK AND HUMAN NATURE 83 
In the words of Bright’s son: “But the insulation of the 
precious wire had, unhappily, been giving way. The high- 
potential currents from Mr. Whitehouse’s enormous induc- 
tion-coils were too much for it; and the diminishing flashes of 
light proved to be only the flickering of the flame that was 
soon to be extinguished in the external darkness of the waters. 
After a period of confused signals, the line ultimately 
breathed its last on October goth, after 732 messages in all 
had been conveyed.” Just to indicate how little voltage was 
actually required: after the 1866 cable was laid, an experi- 
ment was made in which a message was sent successfully from 
Newfoundland to Ireland by an improvised apparatus con- 
sisting of a small copper percussion-cup and a tiny strip of 
zinc, activated by a drop of acidified water—a truly pigmy 
battery. The superior insulation made this possible. 
The mistakes that had been revealed about the cable were, 
that it was too light and the insulation too thin. Bright had 
been correct in his original recommendation for a heavier 
cable; and Faraday, Whitehouse, and Morse had been wrong. 
Dr. Whitehouse, who had been a physician before he turned 
electrician, was a painstaking technician and an ingenious 
experimenter; but he did not know enough about electricity. 
The moderate power from the batteries used on the ships, 
helped out by ‘Thomson’s sensitive reflecter, would have been 
better for sending messages than Whitehouse’s enormous in- 
duction-coils. He wished to standardize a sturdy apparatus, 
with a special relay and the Morse recorder, but he overdid 
his part. He sent a stroke of lightning over the cable, which 
required only a spark. 
Consulting electricians were called in and distinguished 
advice was asked. Various devices were tried to enliven the 
dead cable. None of them gave any promise. Efforts were also 
made to raise the cable, but the grappling-tools of that period 
were of slight consequence, so that very little was accom- 
plished. Sir Charles Wheatstone and Professor David Hughes, 
