The New York herald., 1851-11-06

thought TO letters, It's hret record-And from Stters
to printing which frst diAused letters, widely,
though slowly, among men-and from printing to
the telegraph, the electric register Of thought,
spreading its fbres of sympathy the intell
world, and making it throb simultaneously every
where, as with the pulsations Of one heart; who
viii say that cash transition between these grsa.
epochs that signalize the moral and intellectual
progress Of mankind, should not DO marked by q
memorial as stately as the first clipping Of cat,
pa,i, Or the coIPoanSing Of new variety o. Ssna
should not be dealt with as liberay or at least Is
Justly, by the State?
2. The second general subject of Mr. Morse
patent Of $40 includes many particulars; a.. .,
them interesting and valuable in connection with
the claim We have just been considering: Ianen
together, they give practical form TO his Leading
invention, and guard it form the impusation OF
being amere abstract notionLa principle resHng ~
be new; as his alphabet, (claim 81 his combined
series, (claim ~ by which the electric current
from one battery, before entirely expendng itself
in its ensthened circuit is made to set another bat
terry in action, from which another circuit traverses
to q battery still beyond-and so Onwards; his
adaptation Of clockwork to the recording cylinder,
(claim 2 and others, are only new as they are
elements Of a novel combination. There is no
proof before us that any Of the devices which Mr..
Morse has claimed in this patent, whether as nde-
pendent inventions or parts OF combination, are
not really lis far he has claimed them. 1t is
unnecessary to discuss them in detail, for they are
all Substantially protected as appliances of the art
which is the great subject of his patent,
II. The second patent of Mr.. Morse is for what
has been termed his Local Circuit. 10 understand
the questions which arise upon this, i. is necessary
to refer back 10 the apparatus which ne had pa
tented before, and 70 explain in geRerai terms is
principle and nodes Of operation. | shall attempt
TO do this in popular language wishoa. stopping TO
consider very carefully the varying niceties ofscen-
tfc nomenclature.
II is well known that current of galvanic eleo-
tIiciiy, while passing along wire that has been
wOuld spiraly 70 and bar OF soft iron, communal
Gates 10 the iron certain degree OF magnetic vr.
tue ard that the iron loses this magnetic character
again as The electricity ceases to pass along
the wire that surrounds it. |. is also well known
that the electric fuid may be passed along wire
of great length, and yet retain when al the farthes
end of the wire, sufficient degree Of energy to
impart this occasional magnetism to the iron, and
to make IL capable for the time, OF attracting any
small body Of iron that may be near IT, IL such a
small body Of iron be made to form the extremity
Of nicely balanced lever, it is plain that while the
extremity Of the lever is attracted towards the
temporary magnet, the other extremity will be
moved in the opposite direction; and if to Ibis
other extremity We ahx pencil or stylus, this will
press upon whatever surface may be interposed in
the way of its motion, and may either mark the
surface, or, if it be of yielding nature, linden. it,
Ii is plain, also. that when the bar of soft iron
ceases to be magnetic, in consequence of the eec-
tric fluid ceasing to pass around it, the lever will
take its original position, and the Syas ceases to
press upon the resisting surface.
II, now, We suppose that surface to De moved uni
fomly below the stylus il is obvious tha. the sur
face will be marke 1 with straight line aud that
this marked lire viii be interrupted during any in
PERMISSION Of the electric current, so as TO form
broken series Of fstraght lines, the electric cur
rent passes and ntermits in rapid alienation, Sc
stylus, the lines and dots, constitute the alphabet
Of Mr.. Morse a certain succession Of either, or q
certain combination Of the two, being arbitrarily
chosen TO indicate particular letter.
0eO faQ
continuously whenever the two extremes or poles
of the battery are connected with a suitable con-
ducting medium, such as a metallic wire, water, or
the earth itself, along which conductor, as 1t is
called the electric auid may pass between enc pole
Of the battery and the other, thus performing what
is termed an electric circuit.
Let US now extend a continuous wire from one Of
the poles of the galVanc battery to distant point
taking care tha. it shall net be intermediately in
contact with the earth or with any other good con-
ductor of electricity and let US, at distant point
pass the wire IN spiral coil round bar OF soft
iron, and thence lead it back again to the other
pole Of the battery, avail ourselves Of the earth
Itself as part Of the circuit. Ii is obvious, from
what we have said before, that the electric iud,
passing from the battery along the wire, around
the occasional magnate, and back to the battery.
and II en- at appropriate intervals Of time interrupt
ed in its circuit, will cause the stylus 20 make It's
trace Of lines or dots, or in other words It's alpha
betical record, at the distant station
1t only remains, then, to devise mode Of inter-
electricity and closing the circuit, in the
language Of the experts. This is done by dividing
the wire near the battery, and then arranging a
simple finger key, which, when struck or pressed
upon by the finger, brings short metallic c)nduc-
tor into intimate contact with the two ends Of the
divided wre and thus restores the continuity OF the
circuit while the pressure continues on the key
This may serve as rude explanation OF Mr.
Morses Electro Magnetic Telegraph in its simplest
form.
n was found howsver at an early neriod that
though the electric current was still appreciable
after II had passed over great length OF wre YET
in travering the very long circuits that were re-
quired to include distant telegraphic stations 1t
ceased TO impart sufficient degree Of energy to
the temporary magnet to work the stylus effective
ly. To meet this difficulty, Mr.. Morse resorted to
the simple device Of employ ing series OF batteries
distributed over his line Of teegraphic communica-
tions with many shorter circuits, each operating,
by means Of a magnet at its extremity, to control
the movements of small lever that Opened or
closed the circuit Of the battery beyond. The last
battery gave efficiency to the recording apparatus
series Of Mr.. Morse's frst patent.
IL Is easy to see that the intermediate magnets OF
the combined series, besides opening and closing
the circuits might be also made to act as recording
magnets, by merely adapting to them the stylus
With its sppendages; and that there would thus be
ss many stations Of telegraphic communication as
there were batteries and minor circuits But there
still remained this objection TO the combined Sc
rlet-tHat IL COuiu OHiy WOihcu III ohe uheSHehf
and that ii was necessary, therefore, TO have two
complete lines Of wires. with their batteries and
msgnets in order to establish recproc sting com
munication.
To dispense with this duplication Of M achinery
and expense was the object Of MIR. Morse in the
invention which is the subject Of his second patent
Ii had been found that the magnetism excited by
the electric coil capable, at this end OF an al
most indefinitely exterded circuit, Of giving motion
to deicstely adjusted lever, but that this was the
apparent limit OF its dynamic power single
wire might be employed then, without intervening
magnets, by connecting IL at the extremities with
electro magnets, Of great sensbility Of mechanism,
and employing the force Of those magnets merely
to open short local circuits from which local cur
cuits the degree Of magnetic energy adequate TO
the purposes Of the recording apparatus could be
derived.
Rut the electric current, after passing over long
wire, does no. exert a uniform dynamic energy.
However carefully insulated al frtt, the wire be-
Genes after a time more or less exposed to atmos.
pherc action and the fluid is more or less dss paed
In The pcgtc which n is suppOrted