﻿PREHISTORIC 
  TELEPHONE 
  DAYS 
  

  

  229 
  

  

  bol 
  upon 
  it, 
  and 
  I 
  was 
  

   requested 
  to 
  utter 
  the 
  

   sound 
  represented. 
  

  

  At 
  first 
  I 
  thought 
  it 
  

   was 
  simply 
  the 
  direction 
  

   to 
  pronounce 
  the 
  letter 
  T, 
  

   but 
  soon 
  noted 
  a 
  little 
  

   diacritical 
  mark 
  attached 
  

   to 
  the 
  symbol 
  that 
  had 
  

   the 
  technical 
  meaning 
  of 
  

   "soft 
  palate." 
  

  

  This 
  I 
  translated 
  to 
  

   mean 
  that 
  the 
  point 
  of 
  

   the 
  tongue, 
  instead 
  of 
  be- 
  

   ing 
  applied 
  to 
  the 
  upper 
  

   gum, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  ordinary 
  

   method 
  of 
  forming 
  T. 
  

   was 
  to 
  be 
  coiled 
  back 
  in 
  

   the 
  mouth 
  and 
  placed 
  

   against 
  the 
  soft 
  palate 
  — 
  

   a 
  thing 
  I 
  had 
  never 
  heard 
  

   of 
  or 
  dreamed 
  about 
  be- 
  

   fore. 
  

  

  I 
  followed 
  the 
  direction, 
  

   coiled 
  my 
  tongue 
  back- 
  

   ward, 
  and 
  tried 
  to 
  make 
  a 
  

   T-sound, 
  with 
  the 
  point 
  of 
  the 
  tongue 
  

   against 
  the 
  soft 
  palate. 
  This 
  resulted 
  in 
  

   a 
  sound 
  resembling 
  both 
  K 
  and 
  T, 
  and 
  

   the 
  gentleman 
  who 
  had 
  given 
  the 
  test 
  ex- 
  

   pressed 
  great 
  satisfaction. 
  He 
  informed 
  

   the 
  audience 
  that 
  he 
  was 
  a 
  professor 
  of 
  

   Hindustani, 
  employed 
  by 
  the 
  Indian 
  Civil 
  

   Service 
  to 
  teach 
  young 
  men 
  Sanskrit 
  and 
  

   the 
  languages 
  of 
  India. 
  The 
  sound 
  he 
  had 
  

   given 
  was 
  the 
  "Sanskrit 
  cerebral 
  T." 
  He 
  

   had 
  been 
  very 
  unsuccessful, 
  he 
  said, 
  in 
  

   getting 
  English 
  students 
  to 
  master 
  this 
  

   sound 
  and 
  expressed 
  surprise 
  that 
  Mr. 
  

   Bell's 
  son 
  should 
  have 
  given 
  it 
  correctly 
  

   at 
  the 
  very 
  first 
  trial, 
  without 
  ever 
  having 
  

   heard 
  the 
  sound 
  at 
  all. 
  

  

  Such 
  incidents 
  as 
  these 
  led 
  my 
  father 
  

   to 
  predict 
  that 
  persons 
  who 
  were 
  born 
  

   deaf 
  might, 
  through 
  the 
  use 
  of 
  his 
  sym- 
  

   bols, 
  be 
  taught 
  to 
  use 
  their 
  vocal 
  organs 
  

   and 
  speak, 
  instead 
  of 
  being 
  limited 
  in 
  

   their 
  means 
  of 
  communication 
  to 
  gestures, 
  

   finger-spelling, 
  or 
  writing. 
  

  

  This 
  was 
  first 
  tried 
  in 
  a 
  private 
  school 
  

   for 
  deaf 
  children 
  near 
  London, 
  conducted 
  

   by 
  Miss 
  Susanna 
  Hull, 
  the 
  great 
  pioneer 
  

   of 
  oral 
  teaching 
  in 
  England 
  (who 
  is 
  still 
  

   living). 
  I 
  went 
  to 
  Miss 
  Hull's 
  school 
  to 
  

   assist 
  her 
  in 
  making 
  the 
  experiment, 
  and 
  

   was 
  thus 
  introduced 
  to 
  what 
  proved 
  to 
  be 
  

   my 
  life-work 
  — 
  the 
  teaching 
  of 
  speech 
  to 
  

   the 
  deaf. 
  

  

  THREE 
  GENERATIONS: 
  ALEXANDER 
  GRAHAM 
  BELL 
  ON 
  THE 
  

  

  LEET, 
  ALEXANDER 
  MELVILLE 
  BELL 
  IN 
  THE 
  CENTER, 
  

  

  AND 
  ALEXANDER 
  BELL 
  ON 
  RIGHT 
  

  

  In 
  connection 
  with 
  this 
  work 
  I 
  took 
  up 
  

   the 
  study 
  of 
  the 
  nature 
  of 
  the 
  vibrations 
  

   going 
  on 
  in 
  the 
  air 
  during 
  the 
  utterance 
  

   of 
  speech 
  with 
  the 
  object 
  of 
  developing 
  

   an 
  apparatus 
  that 
  would 
  enable 
  my 
  deaf 
  

   pupils 
  to 
  see 
  and 
  recognize 
  the 
  forms 
  of 
  

   vibration 
  characteristic 
  of 
  the 
  various 
  ele- 
  

   ments 
  of 
  speech. 
  Various 
  instruments 
  

   were 
  devised 
  employing 
  loaded 
  stretched 
  

   membranes, 
  all 
  based 
  upon 
  the 
  well- 
  

   known 
  phonautograph 
  of 
  Leon 
  Scott 
  ; 
  and 
  

   these 
  experiments 
  paved 
  the 
  way 
  for 
  the 
  

   appearance 
  of 
  the 
  first 
  membrane 
  tele- 
  

   phone, 
  the 
  ancestor 
  of 
  all 
  the 
  telephones 
  

   of 
  today. 
  

  

  It 
  will 
  thus 
  be 
  seen 
  that 
  the 
  work 
  of 
  

   my 
  father 
  had 
  a 
  great 
  and 
  important 
  in- 
  

   fluence 
  in 
  fitting 
  me 
  to 
  grapple 
  with 
  the 
  

   problems 
  of 
  the 
  telephone. 
  Nor 
  should 
  

   I 
  neglect 
  to 
  include 
  the 
  influence 
  of 
  the 
  

   important 
  men 
  with 
  whom 
  I 
  was 
  thrown 
  

   into 
  contact 
  through 
  my 
  father's 
  work. 
  

   My 
  father 
  was 
  personally 
  acquainted 
  with 
  

   most 
  of 
  the 
  men 
  who 
  were 
  prominent 
  in 
  

   these 
  lines 
  of 
  enquiry, 
  and 
  of 
  course 
  I, 
  as 
  

   I 
  grew 
  up, 
  came 
  to 
  know 
  them. 
  too. 
  

  

  I 
  recall 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  moment 
  Alex- 
  

   ander 
  J. 
  Ellis, 
  the 
  translator 
  of 
  Helm- 
  

   holtz 
  ; 
  Max 
  Muller, 
  the 
  Sanskrit 
  scholar, 
  

   professor 
  of 
  modern 
  languages 
  at 
  Oxford 
  

   University 
  ; 
  Henry 
  Sweet, 
  the 
  phoneti- 
  

   cian 
  ; 
  Dr. 
  Furnival, 
  the 
  secretary 
  of 
  the 
  

  

  