remarking the motions of the ball that corresponds, writes down the
words that they indicate; from whence it appears that he has formed an
alphabet of motions. As the length of the wire makes no difference in
the effect, a correspondence might be kept up from very far off, for
example with a besieged city, or for objects much more worthy of
attention. Whatever be the use that shall be made of it, the discovery
is an admirable one."

And, in fact, Lemond's telegraph was of the most interesting character,
for it was a single wire one, and we already find here an alphabet based
upon the combination of a few elementary signals.

The apparatus that next succeeds is the electric telegraph that Reveroni
Saint Cyr proposed in 1790, to announce lottery numbers, but as to the
construction of which we have no details. In 1794 Reusser, a German,
made a proposition a little different from the preceding systems, and
which is contained in the _Magazin fuer das Neueste aus der Physik und
Naturgeschichte_, published by Henri Voigt.

"I am at home," says Reusser, "before my electric machine, and I am
dictating to some one on the other side of the street a complete
letter that he is writing himself. On an ordinary table there is fixed
vertically a square board in which is inserted a pane of glass. To this
glass are glued strips of tinfoil cut out in such a way that the spark
shall be visible. Each strip is designated by a letter of the alphabet,
and from each of them starts a long wire. These wires are inclosed in
glass tubes which pass underground and run to the place whither the
dispatch is to be transmitted. The extremities of the wires reach a
similar plate of glass, which is likewise affixed to a table and
carries strips of tinfoil similar to the others. These strips are also