Abstract
THE reference in our Note was to the first commercial telegraph. The history of the invention of the telegraph is well known, but importance must be attached to inventions on the lines on which it developed. A model of the pith-ball telegraph of Francis Ronalds is in the collection of telegraphic apparatus in the Science Museum, South Kensington. It is interesting to remember that perhaps the first practical suggestion of an electrostatic telegraph was given in an anonymous letter to the Scots Magazine (vol. 16, p. 73, 1753). It was suggested that as many insulated wires should be used as there are letters in the alphabet. There is good reason for thinking that the letter was written by Charles Morrison, a surgeon and a native of Greenock.
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The Electric Telegraph. Nature 108, 568 (1921). https://doi.org/10.1038/108568b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/108568b0
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