while at present it is a simple affair, yet its development to its
high state of perfection has been slow, and its imperfections in the
past have been the cause of much annoyance.

Several important points must be borne in mind in the design of the
hook switch. The spring provided to lift the hook must be sufficiently
strong to accomplish this purpose and yet must not be strong enough to
prevent the weight of the receiver from moving the switch to its other
position. The movement of this spring must be somewhat limited in
order that it will not break when used a great many times, and also it
must be of such material and shape that it will not lose its
elasticity with use. The shape and material of the restoring spring
are, of course, determined to a considerable extent by the length of
the lever arm which acts on the spring, and on the space which is
available for the spring.

The various contacts by which the circuit changes are brought about
upon the movement of the hook-switch lever usually take the form of
springs of German silver or phosphor-bronze, hard rolled so as to have
the necessary resiliency, and these are usually tipped with platinum
at the points of contact so as to assure the necessary character of
surface at the points where the electric circuits are made or broken.
A slight sliding movement between each pair of contacts as they are
brought together is considered desirable, in that it tends to rub off
any dirt that may have accumulated, yet this sliding movement should
not be great, as the surfaces will then cut each other and, therefore,
reduce the life of the switch.

Contact Material. On account of the high cost of platinum, much
experimental work has been done to find a substitute metal suitable