indicated by Schwenter in his
Delasements Physico-Mathematiques, published in 1636; and he there
pointed out how two individuals could communicate with each other by
means of the magnetic needle. A century later, in 1746, Le Monnier
exhibited a series of experiments in the Royal Gardens at Paris,
showing how electricity could be transmitted through iron wire 950
fathoms in length; and in 1753 we find one Charles Marshall publishing
a remarkable description of the electric telegraph in the Scots
Magazine, under the title of 'An expeditions Method of conveying
Intelligence.' Again, in 1760, we find George Louis Lesage, professor
of mathematics at Geneva, promulgating his invention of an electric
telegraph, which he eventually completed and set to work in 1774. This
instrument was composed of twenty-four metallic wires, separate from
each other and enclosed in a non-conducting substance. Each wire ended
in a stalk mounted with a little ball of elder-wood suspended by a silk
thread. When a stream of electricity, no matter how slight., was sent
through the wire, the elder-ball at the opposite end was repelled, such
movement designating some letter of the alphabet. A few years later we
find Arthur Young, in his Travels in France, describing a similar
machine invented by a M. Lomond of Paris, the action of which he also
describes.[12] In these and similar cases, though the idea was born
and the model of the invention was actually made, it still waited the
advent of the scientific mechanical inventor who should bring it to
perfection, and embody it in a practical working form.

Some of the most valuable inventions have descended to us without the
names of their authors having been preserved. We are the inheritors of
an immense legacy of the results of labour and ingenuity, but we know
not the names of our benefactors. Who invented the watch as a measurer
of time? Who invented the fast and loose pulley? Who invented the
eccentric? Who, asks a mechanical inquirer,[13] "invented the method of
cutting screws with stocks and dies? Whoever he might be, he was
certainly a great benefactor of his species. Yet (adds the writer) his
name is not known, though the invention has been so recent." This is
not, however, the case with most modern inventions, the greater number
of which are more or less disputed. Who was entitled to the merit of
inventing printing has never yet been determined. Weber and Senefelder
both laid claim to