tand what
I say?' and we can imagine his delight when Mr. Watson rushed into the
room, under the influence of his excitement, and answered,'Yes.'

A finished instrument was then made, having a transmitter formed of
a double electro-magnet, in front of which a membrane, stretched on a
ring, carried an oblong piece of soft iron cemented to its middle. A
mouthpiece before the diaphragm directed the sounds upon it, and as
it vibrated with them, the soft iron 'armature' induced corresponding
currents in the cells of the electro-magnet. These currents after
traversing the line were passed through the receiver, which consisted
of a tubular electro-magnet, having one end partially closed by a thin
circular disc of soft iron fixed at one point to the end of the tube.
This receiver bore a resemblance to a cylindrical metal box with thick
sides, having a thin iron lid fastened to its mouth by a single screw.
When the undulatory current passed through the coil of this magnet, the
disc, or armature-lid, was put into vibration and the sounds evolved
from it.

The apparatus was exhibited at the Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia,
in 1876, and at the meeting of the British Association in Glasgow,
during the autumn of that year, Sir William Thomson revealed its
existence to the European public. In describing his visit to the
Exhibition, he went on to say: 'In the Canadian department I heard,
"To be or not to be... there's the rub," through an electric wire;
but, scorning monosyllables, the electric articulation rose to higher
flights, and gave me passages taken at random from the New York
newspapers: "s.s. Cox has arrived" (I failed to make out the s.s. Cox);
"The City of New York," "Senator Morton," "The Senate has resolved to
print a thousand extra copies," "The Americans in London have resolved
to celebrate the coming Fourth of July!" All this my own ears heard
spoken to me with unmistakable distinctness by the then circular disc
armature of just such another little electro-magnet as this I hold in my
hand.'

To hear the immortal words of Shakespeare uttered by the small inanimate
voice which had been given to the world must indeed have been a rare
delight to the ardent soul of the great electrician.

The surprise created among the public at large by this unexpected
communication will be readily remembered. Except one or two inventors,
nobody had ever dreamed of a telegraph that could actually speak,
any more than they had ever