, 1877-12-29

speaking tuDo, ana near tR0 sermon delivered
at the other end of the s. The voice,
however would not ramify to the desired
extent. The electric current will .ramify to at
least a considerable extent. The very idea
of such a use being made of it, improbable and
even ridiculous as it is, suggests it's convenience
for many ordinary and secular purposes. The
objection to a telegraphic system ramifying
itself into every parish and every good house
In the kingdom has, hitherto, been the fact that
in very few households is there one who could
read or work the instrument. That objection
is now likely in time to be entirely removed.
Everybody who has an ear can hear a Tele-
phone, aud everyone who has a tongue can
speak into one. All that is wanted is q much.
required improvement in our listening and
speaking powers, with, of course, some consi-
derable improvements 10 the Telephone, But
the last point. however necessary. is simply a
case of supply and demand. Ifwanted, the
Telephone will be brought to the same
pitch of perfection as telescopes, watches,
sewing m~achiocs, photography, lucifer matches.
locomotives, breechloaders, heavy ordnance.
and many other things that within living
recollection were either very clumsy affairs
or not even yet invented. A time Is coming
when everybody. We pre- sumo, will car:
ry his own Il telephone about with
him. Wherever he goes he will be able to
S'VP IubO q tcIVSIdpu OlllC0, 1DpIy his own
wire to the public wire, and hold a private
C 'nvsrsation with a wife, or a son, or a Gus.
toner, or a political friend, at the end, with
out the Intervention of a public servant He
will pay by the minute. The wire, it is stated.
must be a quiet one, for it is apt to pick up
stray sounds. On the other hand, it is now an.
nounced that a remedy has been found for
this, AMI that a W ire thus encountered can be
Cleared of strar &c utterances before it comes to
che Telephone. Perhaps the use of underground
wires, now on other accounts much insisted
on, may be found h more ~effectual remedy.
The discovery has come happily just at the
time when there had arisen a dreary feeling
that We had arrived at the end of original dis.
~coveries, and had nothing to do but work out
our old ones. l. is true We have been pene-
trating continents, sounding the deep sea,
hunting matter down to molecules, finding
perfume in filth, dyes in dirt, and food In
refuse. 1t is also true that the annual cata.
logue of new facts in Science has been stated
TO amount to a thick, closely printed volume.
But these are not ma tiers that concern every-
body, at least directly. They do not revolu.
tionize the world. What the Telephone
promises Is hardly shor t of this. There il 20
reason why a man should not hold CONVEX
sation with a son at the Aniipodes,
distinguis his voce, hear his Breathing, and,
if the instrument be- applied as a stethoscope.
he6r his hearts throb. Nsxt to sering-
nay, rather than seeing-what would parp0ts
give to hear the very voice, he familiar laugh.
the f~avourite song, of the child long separated
by a solid mass 5000 miles in diameter ? The
telescope is only a prolongation of the eye,
and the Telephone is only a second ear. For
some time there has been a prophetic idea that
a speech ought to be able to report itself. There
is now no difficulty in the mattel, except til At the
Telephone will be only too true, aud will serve
the orator and the public only too we'll. Will
tho Telephone be able to Convey the singing of
our birds to the less vocal tropical regions, the
breaking of the surge, or any other of Natures
sweet or wild utterances? Will it bring to
our Metropolis the dreadful sounds Of the bonn
bardment or the ba tile field !? But what next 7
There is hardly anything concoivable that may
not be hoped for, if not, indie d, expected We
have only to look back the length Of an ordina-
~ lifetime and consider how much the world
has advanced in that period to form q fair est.
mate of what is IN store for our successors. The
world has not exhausted It self; mind has not
ex Exhausted itself; mind has not done all its work.
Nature teems with fresh wonders time has moro
child rem We to come, When shall We store and
distribute the manifold tbounties Of Nature
running to waste . When shall we counte ract
the uncertainty Of the elementsi When shall
we penetrate the mystery Of the, windsi Shall
uo 80. covo. The whole earth with f~crtilikv, and