1 880 .] Scientific Progress of the Past Year . 21 
taCI with the man of practical experience, thereby extending 
the appreciation, .and in many instances even the aCIual 
cultivation, of Science; (2) by the annual publication of a 
very valuable record of the progress made in this important 
branch of applied Science ; (3) by aCting as a kind of inter- 
national tribunal on the merits or demerits of new processes, 
in a manner calculated both to stimulate and to guide further 
undertakings. 
Telegraph Conference . — When Telegraphy began to 
assume an international character, great inconvenience 
arose from want of uniformity in the apparatus used, and in 
the service regulations adopted by different European 
countries. 
Although the construction of the line (whether submarine, 
underground, or suspended) and the details of construction 
of the telegraphic apparatus employed may fairly be left in 
the hands of each country or telegraphic administration, it 
was soon found to be necessary that a certain standard of 
efficiency should be insisted upon. Agreement was moreover 
requisite in regard to the general character of the instru- 
ments to be used in international telegraphy ; for instance, 
whether or not acoustic signals were to be admissible, 
whether an indelible record should be insisted upon, whether 
a type-printer, or an autographic instrument should be 
used, or a recording instrument representing the letters by 
dots and dashes, in which case a uniform code would be a 
matter of necessity. Beside these points there remained the 
subjeCf of the tariff to be charged in each country for transit 
and terminal messages, involving delicate questions, which 
could be settled only by mutual concessions and general 
arrangements. 
These considerations led the French Government, in 1866, 
to invite those European Governments who had already 
taken the administration of the telegraphs in their own hands, 
to meet at Paris, in order to agree if possible on certain 
resolutions, subject to ratification by the respective Govern- 
ments. England was not represented at this first Confer- 
ence, because the telegraphs were not yet a Government 
Department, and it was not thought advisable to invite tele- 
graph companies to take part in the proceedings. 
The result of the first deliberations went beyond the mere 
settlement of pressing questions, and it was decided to hold 
periodical Conferences at the different capitals of ^Europe, 
and to institute a central International 44 Bureau ” (to be 
located at Berne) to see to the proper application of the 
resolutions of the Conferences, and to aCt as an International 
