Februaky 10, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



269 



used. In its manner or operation it resembles 

 the ordinary gramophone. The disk is rotated 

 in the same "way. The records are not reproduced 

 with the loudness of the gramophone; still, they 

 are distinct and free from the scratching and 

 hissing occasioned by the stylus as it passes over 

 the wax surface. The steel disk which receives 

 the message is about five inches in diameter. As 

 the disk rotates, the magnet and coil, which are 

 held in a carrier, are gradually moved toward 

 the center of the disk by a micrometer screw. 

 The speed of rotation is increased as the magnet 

 approaches the center of tlie disk, so that the 

 disk rotates beneath the magnet witli a constant 

 linear velocity of one half a meter per second. 

 The record is easily erased by passing a bar mag- 

 net over the disk. In place of a pair of magnets 

 the two coils, which characterize the earlier ma- 

 chines, a straight magnet is now employed. This 

 magnet is a pointed needle Avhich can be lifted 

 out and I'enewed, the coil being imbedded in an 

 insulating composition and held in a small ebonite 

 cylinder. 



In yet another form a steel piano wire is em- 

 ployed, wound off one wheel to another between 

 two magnet poles by an electric motor contained 

 in the base of the instrument. The speed is about 

 10.04 feet per second. Enough wire is carried on 

 the reels to make a record three quarters' of an 

 hour in length. Should only a part of the record 

 be used at a time, its position can be noted by an 

 indicator finger which rotates at a speed equal 

 to that of the reels. In this machine three pairs 

 of magnets and coils are used, each pair consist- 

 ing of two magnets and coils similar to the 

 straight magnets previously described. The mag- 

 nets are placed horizontally, one on either side of 

 the wire. The sounds are recorded by the middle 

 pair of magnets, the pairs on either side serving 

 for demagnetization or erasure. As the wire 

 winds off the magnet carrier travels back and 

 forth, serving both to hold and guide the wire on 

 and off. 



As to the genuineness of this discovery. 

 Lord Kelvin, Professor Silvanus Thompson, 

 Mr. Alexander Graham Bell, Mr. Marconi and 

 other scientists have borne abundant testi- 

 mony. I understand that the invention is 

 soon to be placed before the public, the instru- 

 ments to be rented to subscribers precisely as 

 the telephone is now supplied-. 



The sole object of the present writing is 

 to call the attention of philanthropists, edu- 

 cators, social economists, and the medical pro- 



fession, to an application of the invention 

 which was probably not dreamed of by Mr. 

 Poulson, the Danish engineer who made the 

 discovery. I have spoken into the machine all 

 sorts of messages in every tone and strength 

 of voice, and at once have heard the same 

 speeches returned to my ears with the same 

 qualities of timbre, pitch and intensity, and 

 without any mechanical additions or unpleas- 

 ant effects. 



All of this being true, of what use the now 

 ludicrously cumbrous, expensive, slow and 

 wearying embossed letters and libraries for 

 the blind — the Braille, New York Point, Line 

 Letter, Moon Type, etc. ? How vastly may be 

 increased the ease of methods of reading to 

 the sick, the infirm, the aged, of instruction 

 of teachers, of the young and others ! A book 

 can be read to the sightless or to the invalid 

 by the machine, while the patient lies in bed. 

 Lectures, concerts, recitations — what one 

 wishes, may be had at will. Skilled readers, 

 or expert elocution teachers could be em- 

 ployed to read into the wires entire libraries, 

 and every taste would thus be easily supplied. 

 Of course the invention could not help those 

 who, in addition to being blind, are deaf. 



Letters may be dictated or spoken upon the 

 thin sheets of steel, and these, after being sent 

 by mail to the distant friend, are placed in 

 the machine and the voice is exactly repro- 

 duced as regards inflection, emphasis, timbre 

 and pitch. The record does not wear out, 

 and may be used again and again, as often 

 and as long probably as one may wish. 



The expense could not possibly be a tithe of 

 that required in the use of the raised or em- 

 bossed systems of book-making for the blind. 

 The saving of the time of the reader or 

 listener would, of course, be immense. I 

 know nothing about the financial methods or 

 plans of the cotnpany which is putting the 

 telegraphone upon the market. I take it the 

 owners of the patent are human and would 

 respond to the double argument that a gift 

 or a sale of the machines at the cost of manu- 

 facturing would undoubtedly in the end prove 

 profitable. Even if it were not so philan- 

 thropy could be relied upon to furnish the 

 deserving blind of civilized countries with the 



