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

THE MAGNETO-ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH. 287
transmitted. The great advantage, however, of this system
is, that it dispenses with the use of voltaic batteries, which are
troublesome and expensive; but it remains a question to be
determined by practical experience, whether this advantage
is sufficient to counterbalance the objections attending the use
of magneto-electricity.
The Magnetic Company have several thousand miles of wires,
on all of which this system is used, and the brothers Bright,
who have been engaged in that company's service for some
six years, concur in the opinion of its superiority over the voltaic telegraphs.
It would be unjust, not to fairly consider the opinions of
such experts as have expressed their admiration or approval
of magneto-electricity for telegraphic purposes. In America,
but few trials have been made on the telegraph lines to use
this species of electricity, but of these trials reference will be
found elsewhere in this book. On the continent of Europe,
there are no lines employing it. In Great Britain, it has only
been successfully used on the Magnetic Company's lines,
as hereinbefore stated. Without further comment, I will give
Fig. 1.