IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPHS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Wilde, of the City of Manchester, Engineer,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRO-MAGNETIC TELEGRAPHS."
Sealed the 23rd October 1863, and dated the 13th May 1863.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Wilde at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 13th
May 1863.
I, HENRY WILDE, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRO-MAGNETIC
TELEGRAPHS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of improvements in the indicating instrument
described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me on the Eighth
day of April in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
one, and numbered 858.
In the indicator therein described a revolving index is made to point
successively to letters engraved upon a stationary dial.
In the present improvement the dial instead of being stationary is made
to revolve, and before it a magnifying glass or microscope of suitable size is so
placed as to cause only the required letter on the revolving dial to be visible
to the person receiving a message when the dial stops. This magnifying
glass is mounted eccentrically on one extremity of a hollow cylinder of glass,
the other extremity of which is fitted into a brass collar which is screwed
into the front of the globe through which the small dial is seen for the

page_text: purpose of adjusting the focal distance, and also for placing the eye piece
opposite any of the characters on the dial. Instead of employing a mag-
nifying glass of such a size and focal length as to bring one letter only into
the field, a large lens may be used in combination with a diaphragm or screen
which is attached to the eye piece in such a manner as to allow only one
letter to appear. The diaphragm or screen is made to turn along with the
eye piece for the purposes above mentioned.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Henry Wilde in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
12th November 1863.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY
WILDE, of the City of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Ier Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-sixth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Iler heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Henry Wilde, Her special licence that I, the said Henry Wilde, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Henry
Wilde, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times hereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel
Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ELECTRO-
MAGNETIC TELEGRAPHS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Wilde, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe
and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the
date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Henry Wilde, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
My Invention consists of improvements in the indicating instrument
described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me on the Eighth

page_text: day of April in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
one, and numbered 858.
In the indicator therein described a revolving index is made to point
successively to letters engraved upon a stationary dial.
In the present improvement the dial instead of being stationary is made
to revolve, and before it a magnifying glass or microscope of suitable size is
so placed as to cause only the required letter on the revolving dial to be
visible to the person receiving a message when the dial stops.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood I will
proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, reference being had
to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation and Figure 2 a front view of the indicating
instrument described in the Specification of Letters Patent above referred to.
Figure 3 is a section through the magnifying glass drawn to a scale of about
twice the real size. Figure 4 is a front view of the same with the indicating
dial, and Figures 5, 6, and 7 are three views of the lens or magnifying glass.
In Figures 1, 2, and 3, a represents the globe containing the apparatus
for causing the dial to revolve, the dial being fixed to the spindle and
revolving with it, instead of the index finger as described in the Specification
above referred to; c is the lens which is secured in a tube d¹ placed eccen-
trically to the eye piece d, forming the end of the brass collar e which is
screwed into or otherwise attached to the globe a. Within the brass collar e,
part of which is cut out to admit light to the dial, is the hollow glass cylinder
f, for protecting the mechanism of the indicator from dust or injury. The
lens c is a cylindrical piece of glass, one end of which is ground and polished
to the required convexity for the purpose of magnifying the letters on the
dial, and the other extremity of the lens is tapered off as shewn in Figures
3, 4, 6, and 7, so as to leave the end towards the dial of the required size and
shape, for bringing only one letter of the dial at a time into the line of vision,
and the focal distance of the lens from the dial can be adjusted either by
unscrewing the eye piece d, or by regulating the position of the lens c in the
tube d¹.
Instead of employing a lens of the for.n above described an ordinary lens
may be used, in combination with a screen or diaphragm placed before the dial
a short distance from the lens, or the lens may be so small as to allow only
one letter of the dial to be seen at once, but I prefer the arrangement shewn
and described.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim,-

page_text: Firstly, the application of a magnifying glass or microscope forming part
of an electro-magnetic telegraph to a revolving dial, on which the letters of
the alphabet or other characters are shewn for the purpose herein described.
Secondly, the peculiar construction of the lens shewn in Figures 5, 6,
and 7.
And, thirdly, the peculiar construction and general arrangement of the
apparatus for connecting the lens to the indicating instrument as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Wilde have hereto set my hand
and seal, this Tenth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-three.
HENRY WILDE. (L.S.)