The telegraph manual: a complete history and description of the semaphoric, electric and magnetic telegraphs of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, ancient and modern.

SOEMMIERING S ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 145
served, it will enable the operator to communicate as much, if
not more, than n can be done by the common teleg'raph.
"First Rule. As the hydrogen gas evolved is greater in
quantity than the oxygen, therefore, those letters which the
former gas represents, are more easily distinguished than those
of the latter, and must be so noted. For example, in the
words ale, ad, em, ie, we indicate the letters a, a, e, i, by the
hydrogen; k, d, ni, e, on the other hand, by the oxygen poles.
"Second Rule. To telegraph two letters of the same name,
we must use a unit, unless they are separated by the syllable.
For example, the name anna, may be telegraphed without the
unit, as the syllable an, is first indicated and then na. The
name nanni, on the contrary, cannot be telegraphed without
the use of the unit, because na is first telegraphed, and then
comes nn, which cannot be indicated in the same vessel. It
would, however, be possible to telegraph even three or more
letters at the same time by increasing the number of wires
from 25 to 50, which would very much augment the cost of
construction and the care of attendance.
" Third PRtle. To indicate the conclusion of a word, the
unit 1 must be used. Therefore, it is used with the last single
letter of a word, being made to follow the ending letter. It
must also be prefixed to the letter commencing a word, when
that letter follows a word of two letters only. For example:
Sie lebt must be represented Si, el, le, bt, that is the unit 1,
must be placed after the first e. Er, lebt, on the contrary,
must be represented, Er, 11, eb, tl; that is, the unit 1 is placed before the 1. Instead of using the unit, another signal may
be introduced, the cross, t, to indicate the separation of syllables.
a Suppose now the decomposing table is situated in one city,
and the pin arrangement in another, connected with each other
by 3.5 continuous wires, extended from city to city. Then the
operator, with his voltaic column and pin arrangement at one
station, may communicate intelligence to the observer of the
gas at the decomposing table of the other station.
"The metallic plates with which the extended wires are
connected have conical shaped holes in their ends; and the
pins attached to the two wires of the voltaic column are likewise of a conical shape, so that when they are put in the holes,
there may be a close fit, prevent oxydation, and produce a certain connection. It is well known that slight oxydation of the
parts in contact will interrupt the communication. The pin
arrangement might be so contrived as to use permanent keys,
which for the 35 plates or rods would require 70 pins. The
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