[Decandolle assigns an antiquity of fourteen and a half centuries to this remarkable yew. See a valuable article on the "Age of Trees" in our fourth volume, p. 401.]

Replies.

THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH IN 1753.

(Vol. viii., p. 364.)

As no reply has yet been given to the Query of Inquirendo as to who was C. M., who described in the Scots Magazine, vol. xv. p. 73., as long since as 1753, the electric telegraph, and as the article itself is one of great interest in the history of an invention which is justly considered one of the greatest wonders of our own times, I send a transcript of it, by way of satisfying the natural curiosity of many readers who may not have an opportunity of consulting it in the magazine in which it originally appeared, and also because the doing so may stimulate farther inquiry, and lead to the discovery of its ingenious writer, C. M. of Renfrew.

"Renfrew, February 1, 1753.

"Sir,

"It is well known to all who are conversant in electrical experiments, that the electric power may be propagated along a small wire, from one place to another, without being sensibly abated by the length of its progress. Let, then, a set of wires, equal in number to the letters of the alphabet, be extended horizontally between too given places, parallel to one another, and each of them about an inch distant from that next to it. At every twenty yards' end let them be fixed in glass, or jeweller's cement, to some firm body, both to prevent them from touching the earth, or any other non-electric, and from breaking by their own gravity. Let the electric gun-barrel be placed at right angles with the extremities of the wires, and about an inch below them; also let the wires be fixed in a solid piece of glass at six inches from the end; and let that part of them which reaches from the glass to the machine have sufficient spring and stiffness to recover its situation after having been brought in contact with the barrel. Close by the supporting glass let a ball be suspended from every wire, and about a sixth or an eighth of an inch below the ball place the letters of an alphabet, marked on bits of paper, or any other substance that may be light enough to rise to the electrified ball, and at the same time let it be so contrived that each of them may reassume its proper place when dropt. All things constructed as above, and the minute previously fixed, I begin the conversation with my distant friend in this manner:—Having set the electrical machine a-going, as in ordinary experiments, suppose I am to pronounce the word sir; with a piece of glass, or any other electric per se, I strike the wire s, so as to bring it in contact with the barrel, then i, then r, all in the same way; and my correspondent, almost in the same instant, observes these several characters rise in order to the electrified balls at his end of the wires. Thus I spell away as long as I think fit, and my correspondent, for the sake of memory, writes the characters as they rise, and may join or read them afterwards as often as he inclines. Upon a signal given, or from desire, I stop the machine, and taking up the pen, in my turn I write down whatever my friend at the other end strikes out.

"If anybody should think this way tiresome, let him, instead of the balls, suspend a range of bells from the roof, equal in number to the letters of the alphabet, gradually decreasing in size from the bell a to z; and from the horizontal wires let there be another set reaching to the several bells; one, viz., from the horizontal wire a to the bell a, another from the horizontal wire b to the bell b, &c. Then let him who begins the discourse bring the wires in contact with the barrel, as before, and the electric spark, breaking on bells of different size, will inform his correspondent by the sound what wires have been touched. And thus, by some practice, they may come to understand the language of the chimes in whole words, without being put to the trouble of noting down every letter.

"The same thing may be otherwise effected. Let the balls be suspended over the characters, as before, but instead of bringing the ends of the horizontal wires in contact with the barrel, let a second set reach from the electrificator, so as to be in contact with the horizontal ones; and let it be so contrived, at the same time, that any of them may be removed from its corresponding horizontal by the slightest touch, and may bring itself again into contact when left at liberty. This may be done by the help of a small spring and slider, or twenty other methods which the least ingenuity will discover. In this way the characters will always adhere to the balls, excepting when any of the secondaries is removed from contact with its horizontal; and then the letter at the other end of the horizontal will immediately drop from its ball. But I mention this only by way of variety.

"Some may perhaps think that, although the electric fire has not been observed to diminish sensibly in its progress through any length of wire that has been tried hitherto; yet, as that has never exceeded some thirty or forty yards, it may be reasonably supposed, that in a far greater length it would be remarkably diminished, and probably would be entirely strained off in a few miles by the surrounding air. To prevent this objection, and save longer argument, lay over the wires, from one end to the other, with a thin coat of jeweller's cement. This may be done for a trifle of additional expense; and as it is an electric per se, will effectually secure any part of the fire from mixing with the atmosphere.

"I am, &c.,

"C. M."

Surely among the numerous readers of "N. & Q." some one will be found to tell us who C. M. was.

J. Y.