﻿PREHISTORIC 
  TELEPHONE 
  DAYS 
  

  

  231 
  

  

  ^M^*» 
  

  

  Gilbert 
  Grosvenor 
  

  

  THE 
  ROYAL 
  HIGH 
  SCHOOL 
  IN 
  EDINBURGH 
  WHICH 
  ALEXANDER 
  GRAHAM 
  BELL 
  

  

  ATTENDED 
  AS 
  A 
  BOY 
  

  

  Philological 
  Society 
  of 
  London 
  ; 
  Dr. 
  Mur- 
  

   ray, 
  afterwards 
  Sir 
  James 
  Murray, 
  the 
  

   editor 
  of 
  the 
  great 
  Oxford 
  Dictionary; 
  

   Prince 
  Lucien 
  Bonaparte, 
  student 
  of 
  Scot- 
  

   tish 
  dialects 
  ; 
  and 
  Sir 
  Charles 
  Wheatstone, 
  

   who 
  is 
  often 
  credited, 
  in 
  England, 
  with 
  

   the 
  invention 
  of 
  the 
  electric 
  telegraph. 
  

  

  When 
  quite 
  a 
  lad 
  I 
  came 
  into 
  personal 
  

   contact 
  with 
  these 
  and 
  many 
  other 
  promi- 
  

   nent 
  men. 
  Ellis, 
  Sweet, 
  Furnival, 
  and 
  

   Murray 
  I 
  came 
  to 
  know 
  very 
  well 
  ; 
  but 
  

   most 
  of 
  the 
  others 
  I 
  merely 
  met 
  casually 
  

   during 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  interviews 
  with 
  my 
  

   father. 
  

  

  SIR 
  JAMES 
  MURRAY 
  

  

  With 
  Dr. 
  Murray 
  especially 
  I 
  became 
  

   well 
  acquainted. 
  He 
  was 
  a 
  profound 
  

   student 
  of 
  phonetics 
  and 
  quite 
  familiar 
  

   with 
  the 
  Melville 
  Bell 
  Symbols, 
  and 
  he 
  

   made 
  my 
  father's 
  classification 
  of 
  speech 
  

  

  sounds 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  his 
  method 
  of 
  noting 
  

   pronunciation 
  in 
  the 
  Oxford 
  Dictionary, 
  

   the 
  "permanent 
  standard," 
  to 
  which 
  the 
  

   characters 
  employed 
  in 
  the 
  dictionary 
  

   should 
  be 
  referred 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  fix 
  their 
  

   pronunciation. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Murray 
  was 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  kindest 
  and 
  

   gentlest 
  men 
  I 
  ever 
  met. 
  He 
  early 
  won 
  

   my 
  deepest 
  respect 
  and 
  esteem 
  and 
  even 
  

   affection, 
  and 
  I 
  gratefully 
  acknowledge 
  

   the 
  kindly 
  influence 
  he 
  exerted 
  over 
  me 
  

   as 
  a 
  young 
  man. 
  In 
  process 
  of 
  time 
  we 
  

   became 
  quite 
  intimate, 
  and 
  he 
  did 
  me 
  the 
  

   honor 
  of 
  selecting 
  me 
  to 
  be 
  best 
  man 
  at 
  

   his 
  wedding. 
  

  

  ALEXANDER 
  J. 
  ELLIS 
  

  

  To 
  Alexander 
  J. 
  Ellis 
  I 
  owed 
  my 
  first 
  

   knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  researches 
  of 
  Helm- 
  

   holtz. 
  

  

  