HISTORY 
87 
Morse, encouraged his son’s taste for art, and Morse occa¬ 
sionally travelled in Europe for the purpose of copying 
pictures. In the course of the autumn of 1832, he was 
returning to America from Havre in the steamboat the Sully , 
and among his fellow-passengers was Dr. Charles F. Jackson 
of Boston, who had been present at Pouillet’s lectures at the 
Sorbonne. 
It will no doubt be recollected that in 1831 Pouillet had 
exhibited in these lectures his great electro-magnet, capable 
of supporting a weight of more than 2,000 lbs. During the 
voyage, which lasted from the 8th of October to the 15th of 
November, Dr. Jackson continually turned the conversation 
upon electricity and electro-magnetism, and suggested the 
possibility of telegraphy by means of electro-magnetic signals. 
He had on board a small electro-magnet, which he had 
bought in Paris at Pixii’s ; and he had also a small galvanic 
battery. 
When Morse reached New York, he resumed the practice of 
art, by which he earned his living, without, however, forgetting 
the conversations he had with his fellow-passengers on board 
the Sully. 
As Morse lias always been designated by the title of 
“ Professor,” it may be well to state here that he was merely 
professor of literature and drawing, by an honorary title 
conferred upon him by the University of New York. 
Towards the end of 1835, Morse made trial of electro¬ 
magnetic signals, but without success. Two years afterwards, 
when he heard of the discoveries that had been made in 
Europe (his brother Sidney was the editor of a leading news¬ 
paper), he consulted with a scientific amateur, and, taking 
advantage of the experiments made at Princetown by Professor 
Henry, he constructed another apparatus, but still without 
any practical result. 
The American Professors Henry and Bache had been in 
London in 1837, and had paid a visit to Wheatstone at King’s 
College on the 11th of April, and they, as well as other 
Americans, knew that Wheatstone was anxious to protect his 
inventions in America by patents. 
Morse had at that time no notion of marking paper with 
signs representing the letters of the alphabet. The signals he 
