IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SIGNALLING." -A communication from abroad by
Pierre Henri Stanislas Count d'Escayrac de Lauture, of 29, Boulevart
*Sealed the 11th November 1862, and dated the 24th September 1862.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Clark at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and Declaration, on the
24th September 1862, pursuant to the 9th Section of the Patent Law
Amendment Act, 1852:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession for an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
SIGNALLING," and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my execu-
tors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same,
and have made solemn declaration that it has been communicated to me from
abroad by Pierre Henri Stanislas Count d'Escayrac de Lauture, of 29,
Boulevart St. Martin, Paris.
NOW KNOW YE, .that I, the said William Clark, do hereby declare that
the following Complete Specification under my hand and seal fully describes
and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, in and by the following statement :—
This Invention relates to a universal system of signalling, the alphabetical
transcription of words. being replaced by the adoption of suitable signals,
whereby to effect the complete separation of words from their grammatical
elements, such as prepositions, adverbs, or other parts of speech. The sign or

page_text: signal for every word, such as a verb or substantive, and so on, is always the
same, whatever may be the character of the word in the sentence, this
character being indicated by a separate sign or signal, which points out the
case, gender, number, tense, or the mood, and forms the verbs, adjectives, and
adverbs by being added to a substantive. The use of such grammatical signs
or signals is reduced to a minimum ; one single expression is substituted for
several synonymous words, the simplest ideas alone being classed under
signals; as for the complex ones, they are figured or represented by means of
two or more signals, themselves representing simple ideas. The word
barracks may be indicated by two signals "house and soldier." The
grammatical indications and the words are represented by one elementary
signal, or one of Morse's characters, or it may be inscribed in one or more
tables, each square of which is represented by two signals or characters, one
of which points out the column, and the other the line upon which it is to be
met with in the table. The grammatical indications and some plain words
may occupy part of the table, whilst various vocabularies corresponding to
dispatches of various natures, will in turn occupy the remainder thereof, the
nature of the vocabulary being pointed out by a determinative signal pre-
ceding the dispatch itself; thus there should be vocabularies of political news,
and orders such as concern war or trade; the grammatical vocabulary
should be partly, at least, suitable for all kinds of messages.
The annexed Drawing will render the application of such system well
understood. More detailed vocabularies will require several tables, each of
which will be furnished with a key, which shall precede all its signals. The
words are to be classed, not in alphabetical order, but from the nature and
association of the ideas they are intended to represent. The tables being
translated into all languages, any despatch may be immediately reduced to
any language desired. The above method is applicable not only to electric
telegraph messages, but also to naval and military telegraphy and to written
correspondence.
The Invention will be readily understood by reference to table A, Sheet 2.
The table supposes the use of twenty-six simple signals, as in Hughes' system,
or of the twenty-six letters of Morse's alphabet; each of these signals is taken
alone as a grammatical signification; while by taking two, one marking the
line and the other the column of a table, they give all the grammatical
signals and common words inscribed in part of the table, and all the words of
any special vocabulary (of which the use has been first determined by a
signal) inscribed on the other part of the table. The 1st line may be
reserved for the signals indicative of the nature of the vocabulary employed.

page_text: Sheet 1 of the annexed represents a table for nautical telegraphy."
In conformity with the principles of this improved analytical universal system
of signalling each word is invariable, verbs in all languages are conjugated
by the aid of grammatical signs and signals, which may be added to those of
the verb or other part of speech. In this table each square is divided into
one hundred parts, each containing a grammatical sign or a word. Each
word is signalled by the key to its table, which is either a pennant or a flag,
and by one flag, (if a number, an alphabetical letter, or one of the most
common grammatical determinatives,) and by the key and two flags (if one of
the grammatical determinatives or of the words inscribed in one of the square
tables). The ten tables which have for keys the ten flags, contain nautical
nomenclature divided under ten heads, such as rigging, working ships, hydro-
graphy, and other subjects. Secrecy may be obtained by changing the order
of the flags. This table may be folded in four like a chart. The signals for
the names of the officers, places, and vessels more in connection with the
peculiar mission of the ship to whom the table belongs, may be inscribed on
the back of the table. The suitable place for inscribing geographical signals, or
translating the names of places, is found in the charts near the names them-
selves. The flags used are those in ordinary use, and known by numerals.
The first flag, under pennant 2, may signify a bay, cape, or port; under
pennant 8 may indicate the nationality of a ship; the second or third flag
may mark the rank of the vessel.
In order to render the use of these tables clear, the following are trans-
lations of two dispatches made by means of the tables represented in
Sheet 1 :
1st, I ordered you to hoist the fore top gallant studding sail, and
not done it.
2nd, I have on board 28 seamen from the brig
Straits of
send them on shore.
These two dispatches are translated as follows:-
you have
wrecked in the
The 1st by
order
52 820 47
preterite you
924
101
190
47
51
912 49
to hoist fore top gallant studding mail
you
not
perform
It
The 2nd by

page_text: The tables represented at Sheet 2, Nos. 1, 2, & 3, are specimens of accessory
ideas and grammatical signs, letters, or numbers; No. 4 is a vocabulary.
There are four primary signals (on the Bavarian system
which
are here represented by 1, 2, 3, 4; each grammatical sign and each word is
signalled by its situation in the table. The four signals represent the four
divisions of the square successively, as seen in Sheet 2, Fig. 1, 2, 8, 4.
The table, Fig. 1, contains 16 signs rendered by two signals.
The table, Fig. 2, contains 64 signs, rendered by 3 signals.
"
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
"
256
1024
"
4
"
"
5
"
In order to render the use of these tables well understood, for example, the
words represented by A, would be signalled by 1, 1, 1, 1, 2. The first one
indicates that the words are found in the first square. The second one
indicates that the words are found in the first division made in the first
square, and so on.
The Figure 2 indicates that the words occupy the second
division in the last subdivision of the large square. The words represented
by the letter B are translated in the same manner, thus―
R., R
1
Witness,
W. G. E. SWINNOCK,
53, Chancery Lane, W.C.
W. CLARK. (L.S.)