The Somerset press. [volume] (Somerset, Ohio) 1873-1977, 1881-06-16
Stories OF the Telegraph.

In chapter discussing the duties.
qualifications and acquired dexter;ties
of operators and messengers, the au-
thor of Il recent work entitled "Tele-
graphic Tales relates a curious Incl
dent which deserves to be noted by
physicians and by all students of the
phenomena of epilepsy and trance. 1t
appears that in the winter of 1901
one of the operators in the Western
Union Office at Boston had an epileptic
fit. His medical attendant spoke to
him, chafed him. and made every effort
to arouse him, but in vain. Subse-
quently one of his fellow operators drew
a chair up to the bed. and took the pa
tents hand in his. AS he did so
he noticed feeble pressure of
the fingers, which pressure presently
resolved itself into dots and dashes,
family communicating to the tactile
sense the words, hat doc tor
Say about m-e?'' Asked whether
he could hear what was said to him, the
patient signiied assent by q slight mo-
ton with the tips Of his fingers, and the
result was that his fellow-operator got
from the patient enough dots and DASH
es to describe his feelings to the
physician, who was thus enabled to ap-
ply the necessary remedies. 1t is GER
tain that no other method Of communi-
eating was possible under the circum-
stances, since the sufferer from epilep-
sr, although he could hear, could nei-
ther speak nor move any of his
muscles. except those situated in the
1i@ital eNiremitieS, and those only with
he antue>s requisite in electric COM
municatiou. We concur with the author
in con .lading from this incident that
not only persons in a trance, but those
in a Il ing condition, would be able, if
acqua nted with telegraphic characters,
to maze known their thoughts and feel
ingS long after any other means of COM
munic;I;ion had become impossible.
The extraordinary acutenesS OF the
tactile sense and the precision of the
| sensations which it forwards to the
bra are strikingly demonstrated by
another of these tetegraphic tales. 1t
is well known that what are termed
first elias operators read messages, not
| bv means OF punctureS in strips of pa
| per, which are only meant for tyros,
but br sound that is to say, by the
| clicks OF the instrument noted III con-
| 1ection with the varying lengths of the
intervals between the taps Of course,
! by practice, an operator ear is rem
| dered intensely sensitive, until it can
catch the faintest vibrations or whisper
| ings of Ii S instrument. 1t would not
ne supposed, however, that this method
of reading messages would suit 4 deaf
nan. Nevertheless. IL deaf man can
accommodate himself to these circum-
stances. We are told that an employe
| of the American Telegraph Company in
Washington, although he could not
hear, was rated as Iirst-class operator
dealing with sounds. He could send
and receive dispatches by the sense OF
feeling. lie placed his leg against that
of the instrument table, and read by
the slight Earring communicated, revis,
ing, so to speak, the text of his sensa-
tiOns by keeping his eye fixed ON the
motions of the instrument iIself. We
need not point out the interest which
this TACT has for the advocates of the
theory, according to which all the spe
cilic senses observed in the higher
animals have been evolved by dilleren
tiation from the tactic sense.
One OF the most amusing things il
this volume is the account OF new de
vice alleged to have been hit upon fol
applying electricity To railroad pur