Ox Monday afternoon our readers had an opportunity of seeing one of the most wonderful inventions of modern times, in actual operation in Shanghai. The Committee of the conversazione held in connection with' the North-
China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society were very fortunate in being able to secure the help of Mr.
Bishop, and as might be conceived, the Telephone was one of the most attractive objects on view at the Society's rooms. Forty years ago, the first idea or rather the discovery which must be regarded as the germ of the Telephone was made by Professor Page, who noticed that a sound was transmitted along the elec trio wire, caused by the breach of contact of the magnet at the other extremity. Later, several scientific mon followed up the hint with various results. De la Rue, amongst others, made some interesting discoveries as to the transmission of undulations of sound along electrical wires; but the first Telephone was made by Mr. Rice, and this instrament has lately been exhibited by Professor Graham Bell, in London, This early attempt could not transmit words, but simply tones and undulations of sound. The next step apparently held a middle place between the early attempt of Rice and the Telephone of Professor Bell; this was the phonautograph process. This strament gave tracings of the curves of various sounds, and this led to investigations of the current of velocity with a view (we quote the inventor's own words) "to send a current of the same velocity as that of the original pulsation of the air, so as by this means to reproduce the sounds accurately at the further extremity of the wire." There is in all great discoveries, in all great revolutions, one notable day which decides the fate of the invention or the movement, Sometimes, as in the discovery of the safety valve by boy, this crisis is brought ubout by accident. At other times it is the toward of long toil, 1s in the case of Buffon, when, just before his death had a large quantity of fossil bones and shells placed before him, und found them entirely different from the remains of animals then inhabiting the world, At that momen! the mind of the veteran naturalist sprang up the idea of infinite time, peopled -with other creations besides our own. The fature of geology was compressed into that minute, These are not perhaps the best and aptest illustrations that might be chosen, but they are in a certain sense matched by the day when Professor Bell tried the memorable experiment in the Hall of Boston, and spoke to an assistant. at tie other end of the wire. "Do you understand what I say?" he asked. The reply came in distinctly audible toues, "Yes, I stand you perfectly." Ibe rest was comparatively easy. The instrament had to be simplified. The membrane was found to be unnecessary, and an iron plate soon satisfied all require. ments. Then the battery power was reduced. Then it was found that no battery was needed, a, constant magnet supplying a sufficient current for the transmission of the sounds. Repeated experiments followed, by which the best size and thickness for the iron plate was ascertained; and then the question
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.