488 MEMORIAL, OF JOSEPH HENRY. 



developed were applied by Dr, Gale to render Morse's machine 

 effective at a distance." This statement seems to me to be as direct, 

 as clear, as truthful, and as comprehensive as one can desire. They 

 are Henry's own words, and we all receive them as entirely satis- 

 factory. "The principles I had developed were applied by Dr. 

 Gale to render Morse's machine effective at a distance." Observe, 

 Henry does not claim to have had any part in rendering Morse's 

 machine effective when near the battery; no, because that wiis the 

 condition of the machine before Morse called in the assistance of 

 Dr. Gale in the winter of 1836-'37; but Henry doe^ claim this: 

 by his discoveries to have given Dr. Gale the principles which Dr. 

 Gale applied to Morse's machine and rendered it effective at a dis- 

 tance; nor does Henry claim Morse's ingenious marking machine — 

 a lever, one of whose ends is attracted by the electro-magnet against 

 an opposing spring, while the other end of the lever makes a mark 

 on a moving surface. Nor does Henry claim any* of the other 

 ingenious mechanical combinations invented by Morse. Henry's 

 claim is the claim of a discoverer not of an inventor ; for he says: 

 " The principles I had developed were applied by Dr. Gale to render 

 Morse's instrument effective at a distance." 



Henry does not claim that his own telegraphic machine (which 

 was undoubtedly an original invention) had been appropriated by 

 Mr. Morse ; certainly not, because it is an entirely different inven- 

 tion. And here let me call your attention to an important fact, viz : 

 Neither Henry nor Morse could lay claim to having originated the 

 idea of causing a voltaic current to produce electro-magnetic actions 

 at a distance ; yet the majority of persons, who have not examined 

 into the history of telegraphy, think that this is the very point at 

 issue between Henry and INIorse. 



Finally, I will take the liberty of remarking that had Henry 

 taken out a patent in which he claimed as his invention an electro- 

 magnet formed of two or more layers of insulated wir'e, Morse's patent 

 would not have been so valuable. Remember, I speak not of the 

 merit of the invention, but of the merit of the patent; for the 

 invention, so far as Morse is concerned, would have remained the 

 same, because one essential part of a Morse telegraph is Henry's 

 intensity magnet, and certainly Morse never invented that. 



