TO WHAT EXTENT WAS THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH A

MODIFICATION OF A PRE-EXISTING TECHNOLOGY?

HOW, AND HOW FAR WERE SCIENTIFIC AND
TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN ELECTRICITY
IMPORTANT IN THE INVENTION OF ELECTRIC
TELEGRAPHS IN THE 1830S AND BEYOND?

THE PRE-ELECTRIC LANDSCAPE.

The first attempts at electrically operated telegraph systems in the early
1800s were met with limited success practically, and almost none
economically.1 There already existed in much of Western Europe a tradition of
non-electric signalling by distance. 2 Chappes optical telegraph in France, and
Pophams semaphore system in England were two examples of such
technologies.3 These technologies, as with most others, had emerged as a
result of the needs of military communication. The support of Napoleon was
vital in cementing the optical telegraph in France, and semaphore systems in
England were expanded to match.4 As messages could already be sent over
long distances relatively quickly (weather permitting), the shortcomings of
the numerous prototypes of electrical telegraphs by Watson, Franklin and Du
Lac in the 1740s all the way up to those of Ronalds, Cooke, Schilling and
others in the early 1800s seemed unnecessary contrivances by many. 5 The
British Admiralty board famously turned down Ronalds innovative design for

1 K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton Abbott,

1973); and also I. W. Morus, When Physics Became King, (Oxford, 2005); and also T.
Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the
Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999); and also K. G. Beauchamp,
History of Telegraphy, (London, 2001).

2 R. Wenzelhuemer, Connecting the Nineteenth-Century World: The

Telegraph and Globalization [sic], (Cambridge, 2012).
3 T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and
the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999); and also Ibid; pp.
8-14.
4 K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton
Abbott, 1973).
5Ibid, pp. 16.; and also T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story
of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London,
1999).

an electric telegraph in 1816, it was considered unreliable, unworkable and

unnecessary.6
There was also opposition to the use of electric telegraphs from the public.
There were many suspicions that the electric telegraph was in some way
connected to witchcraft or magic, contributing towards a lack of support for
the electric telegraph in its years of conception. 7 For centuries rumours had
abounded concerning sets of magnetic needles which would rotate in relation
to each other on a dial of letters, as opposed to their orientation respective
to the magnetic poles, in real time (in essence renaissance quantum
entanglement communicators). Electric telegraphs seemed to promise a very
similar result, and were linked in the minds of many people, including
politicians and potential investors, with magic shows and quackery. 8 In
addition to this, there was very little commercial interest. The cost of
producing the necessary equipment, especially cabling, was significant, and
the returns from most projects were as close to nil as to be meaningless. 9 It
therefore appeared that without developments in the field of electrical
science, the electrical telegraph would remain little more than a whimsical
boondoggle. The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries were a time
of considerable electrical experimentation.10 Many electrical experimenters
from the time worked on electrical telegraphs during their career at one point
or another. At this time there were numerous scientific discoveries
surrounding the nature and technology of electricity, as well as a great many
inventions and instruments to help exploit or explore the (at the time)
mysterious force.

6 K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton

Abbott, 1973); and also Ibid, pp. 24.
7 K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton
Abbott, 1973); and also Ibid, pp. 52-3.
8 Ibid, 4-6, 46.
9 I. W. Morus, When Physics Became King, (Oxford, 2005); and also Ibid, pp.
38, 42, 45-6 etc.; and also K. G. Beauchamp, History of Telegraphy, (London,
2001).
10 I. W. Morus, When Physics Became King, (Oxford, 2005); and also R.
Wenzelhuemer, Connecting the Nineteenth-Century World: The Telegraph
and Globalization [sic], (Cambridge, 2012); and also K. L. Kieve, Electric
Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton Abbott, 1973).

TO

WHAT

EXTENT

WAS

THE

ELECTRIC

TELEGRAPH

MODIFICATION OF A PRE-EXISTING TECHNOLOGY?

It appears that the electric telegraph was predominantly a brand new
invention. It was a device which sought to reproduce and improve upon the
work of another technology; optical telegraphy and semaphore, but was not
a modification of it. The established method of conveying messages by
distance, having chains of observation posts within each others line of sight,
was fundamentally different from the principles of the electric telegraph,
which sought to convey information from one place to another by sending
electrical currents along metal wires.
There was significant variation in the types of electric telegraphs which
people were trying to build at the time. Some were electrochemical, some
electrostatic and some of the later ones were electromagnetic in operation.
Electrochemical telegraphs normally operated by passing a current at the
receiving end through an electrolytic liquid, causing bubbles to form as
gasses are produced.11 Electrostatic telegraphs formed the majority of early
telegraph systems; receipt of a signal was indicated by charged pith balls, or
other lightweight materials, which would move in the presence of an
electrical current.12 Electrostatic telegraph systems could also be used to
activate bells or other indicators. 13 Electromagnetic telegraphs used the
passage of a current through the wires to create an electromagnetic field,
causing the movement of magnetised objects (most commonly needles) at
the far end.

These systems, whilst different in many ways, relied upon a

principle that did not exist in any previous technology, electricity. 14

It is true however that the work of several innovators in electrical telegraphy
modified either their own earlier work in the field or that of others. The
11 Ibid, pp. 14; and also T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable
Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers,
(London, 1999); and also R. Wenzelhuemer, Connecting the NineteenthCentury World: The Telegraph and Globalization [sic], (Cambridge, 2012).
12 Ibid, pp. 68; and also R. W. Burns, Communications: An International
History of the Formative Years, (London, 2004).
13 Ibid, pp. 19; and also K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and
Economic History, (Newton Abbott, 1973).
14 Ibid, pp. 13.

Russian

diplomat

and

inventor

Pawel

Schillings

electrical

telegraph

prototypes were based on his experiments concerning the remote detonation

of mines.15 That process worked by the transmission of electrical currents
along wires, and his telegraph model was based on the same process and
apparatus. In this way then, Schillings electrical telegraph, which was
electro-magnetic

in

operation,

was

modification

of

pre-existing

technology.16 However that pre-existing technology, his method for remotely

detonating waterborne mines, was not widely adopted, and remained an
experimental technology.
Similarly in England, Cooke and Wheatstones joint project to build an electric
telegraph was based in no small part on Wheatstones experiments in earlier
years revolving around determining the speed of electricity (which,
incidentally, found electricity to move faster than light). 17 These experiments
had required substantial lengths of cable, which were integrated into the
later design, as well as being used to test Cookes original prototype. 18 Even
Wheatstones experimental apparatus was based on yet earlier research he
had conducted on the transmission of sound through cable. 19 Some
experimenters and early developers of electrical telegraphy could therefore
be said to be modifying their earlier technologies to help create telegraph
apparatus.
It could also be argued that the methods of communication could be
modified technologies. Chappe and others devised codes and languages
allowing the limited number of signals sent via telegraph or semaphore or
other visual distance communication methods to represent a much larger
selection of letters, numbers, words or phrases. 20 Even as far back as 1455,
the Scottish Parliament was codifying the meanings of different numbers of
15 Ibid, pp. 17; and also K. G. Beauchamp, History of Telegraphy, (London,
2001).
16 K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton
Abbott, 1973).
17 Ibid, pp. 20.
18 T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph
and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999).
19 K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton
Abbott, 1973).
20 T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph
and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999); and also K.
G. Beauchamp, History of Telegraphy, (London, 2001).

burning bales of hay.21 Subsequently with the electric telegraph, Morse,

Cooke, Wheatstone and countless others devised their own language of
telegraphy, converting the signals to understandable concepts. 22 Assuming
that language is a form of technology, this can be said to be a clear
modification of existing technologies to make electrical telegraphy possible.
However, most electrical telegraphs created in the late eighteenth and early
nineteenth centuries were not the product of modified technologies, and
were in fact entirely new ventures. Early electric telegraphs relied on the preexistence of many technologies; wire pulling, metal smithing and working,
electrostatic generation, and many others, but they couldnt normally be said
to be modifications of those technologies. The telegraph is an example of a
series of existing scientific and technological principles being used to create
a brand new technology.

THE
IMPORTANCE
OF
SCIENTIFIC
AND
TECHNICAL
DEVELOPMENTS IN ELECTRICITY TO THE INVENTION AND
IMPROVEMENT OF THE ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH

The electric telegraph could not have been invented were it not for several
crucial developments in the technology and understanding of electricity.
Experimentation concerning the generation and nature of electricity had
been conducted to one level or another for some considerable time before
the first experiments with telegraphy, at least as far back as Gilberts study
of the relationship between electricity and magnetism in 1600, and perhaps
considerably further back than that. 23

Among the first of the vital

developments was perhaps the invention of the Leyden Jar autochthonously

21 Ibid, pp. 3.
22 T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph
and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999); and also K. L.
Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton Abbott,
1973); and also R. Wenzelhuemer, Connecting the Nineteenth-Century
World: The Telegraph and Globalization [sic], (Cambridge, 2012).
23 W. Gilbert; translated by P. Fleury Mottelay, De Magnete, (New York,
1958); and also R. Wenzelhuemer, Connecting the Nineteenth-Century
World: The Telegraph and Globalization [sic], (Cambridge, 2012); and also R.
W. Burns, Communications: An International History of the Formative Years,
(London, 2004).

by both Kleist and Muschenbrock in 1745, allowing the storage and release of
a small electrical charge.24 This allowed some of the earliest experiments on
the passage of current along wires to take place, a key component of the
electric telegraph.25
In the following year a discovery was made by Nollet in France which could
arguably be just as important. Nollet connected a Leyden Jar to a line of
monks, joined together by iron cable. The observed simultaneous shock
proved not only that electrical current can travel long distances (between
them the monks comprised a line over a mile in length), but that electricity
can travel long distances seemingly instantaneously. This notion may have
contributed to the earliest concepts of signalling via electricity, of real-time
communication over incredible distances, leading to the pioneer experiments
of Watson, Franklin, and Du Lac in 1947, 8, and 9 respectively. 26
The earliest work on electrical telegraphy using the static charges of Leyden
Jars was troubled however. The electrical source was difficult to regulate and
hard to insulate. This caused problems both with the reliability of
experiments and trials, and with any electrical telegraphy experiment
involving substantial lengths of wire.27 The invention therefore of the electric
battery (ne Voltaic Pile) by Volta (and, by impetus if nothing else, Galvani)
was

extremely

important

to

the

development

of

electric

telegraph

technology.28 Batteries were important because, unlike Leyden Jars, they

could provide a steady, controllable flow of current at a lower voltage. 29 This
reduced the effect of the resistance of the cable, allowing the electricity to
travel down greater lengths off wire. It also allowed experimenters to more
precisely regulate the flow of electricity in their devices. The invention of the
24 Ibid, pp. 57.
25 Ibid, pp. 57-8; and also K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and
Economic History, (Newton Abbott, 1973).
26 Ibid, pp. 13; and also T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable
Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers,
(London, 1999).
27 K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton
Abbott, 1973).
28 J. Bray, Innovation and the Communications Revolution: From the
Victorian Pioneers to Broadband Internet, (London, 2002).
29 Ibid, pp. 14; and also T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable
Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers,
(London, 1999).

battery allowed longer and more reliable electric telegraphs to be built,

leading to more impressive and practical demonstrations and designs,
contributing towards the eventual patenting and subsequent spread and
development of the electric telegraph from the 1830s onwards. 30
The earliest practical telegraphs, those developed and patented in America
and in England in 1837 by Morse and Cooke/Wheatstone respectively relied
on a newly understood process however. 31 Electromagnetism was publicised
in 1820 by the Dane Oersted (though it may be that it was in fact first
discovered and published by Italian jurist Romagnosi in 1802, but he lacked
the academic reach for his work to be picked up by the wider community) 32.
The understanding that an electrical current through wire can affect magnets
lead to a new group of prototype electrical telegraph systems, principally
working through using the relayed current to move a magnetic needle or
armature.33 This allowed for greater reliability in conveying messages, and
greater simplicity in the design of electric telegraph systems; the pioneering
patented systems being reliant upon knowledge of the principle. 34

Immediately

following

Oersteds

publication

of

his

discoveries

of

electromagnetism, another key technical development was made of great

importance to the electric telegraph. The galvanometer, developed by
Schweigger and Ampre, allowed the detection of electric currents in wires
30 K. G. Beauchamp, History of Telegraphy, (London, 2001).
31 R. Wenzelhuemer, Connecting the Nineteenth-Century World: The
Telegraph and Globalization [sic], (Cambridge, 2012).
32 K. G. Beauchamp, History of Telegraphy, (London, 2001); and also T.
Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the
Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999); and also R. deA.
Martins, Romagnosi and Voltas Pile: Early Difficulties in the Interpretation of
Voltaic Electricity, in F. Bevilacqua and L. Fregonese (eds.), Nuova Voltiana:
Studies on Volta and his Times, (Pavia, 2001); and also J. Bray, Innovation
and the Communications Revolution: From the Victorian Pioneers to
Broadband Internet, (London, 2002); and also R. Wenzelhuemer, Connecting
the Nineteenth-Century World: The Telegraph and Globalization [sic],
(Cambridge, 2012).
33 K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton
Abbott, 1973); and also T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable
Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers,
(London, 1999).
34 K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton
Abbott, 1973).

without the need for bells or pith balls or bubbles. 35 The galvanometer
contributed to the improvement and invention of electric telegraph designs,
including those of Morse, Cooke and Wheatstone, which would go on to form
the basis for widespread electric telegraphy in the second half of the
nineteenth century.

36

A continuing problem, mitigated but not resolved by the use of voltaic piles,
was that of resistance. Over long distances or through complex or poorly
wired equipment, the electrical signals at one end became too weak to
convey information.37 Understanding the nature of resistance only came with
the work of Georg Ohm in 1827. 38 Ohms work itself relied upon the use of
the galvanometer, and an understanding of electromagnetism. 39 Ohm
provided an explanation for the loss of apparent electrical current over
distance, helping experimenters in electrical telegraphy find a possible
solution (though the broader scientific community was scornful of Ohms
work at first).40 By providing a stronger current, or a better conductor,
resistance can be reduced. This led to improved and new designs, such as
Wheatstones switch from iron to copper wire, 41 and Joseph Henrys adoption
of many small batteries with a lower voltage and higher charge rather than
one large, high voltage cell. Whilst these innovations could have been
discovered by chance, Ohms revelations made them practicable and more
commonplace, as well as helping to demystify electricity to a still-suspicious
public.

35 K. G. Beauchamp, History of Telegraphy, (London, 2001); and also Ibid,

pp. 13, 17; and also J. Bray, Innovation and the Communications Revolution:
From the Victorian Pioneers to Broadband Internet, (London, 2002).
36 T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph
and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999); and also K.
G. Beauchamp, History of Telegraphy, (London, 2001).
37 T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph
and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999).
38 J. Bray, Innovation and the Communications Revolution: From the
Victorian Pioneers to Broadband Internet, (London, 2002).
39 G. S. Ohm; translated by W. Francis, The Galvanic Circuit Investigated
Mathematically, (New York, 1969) pp. 80, 86-7.
40 B. Davies, A Web of Naked Fancies?, Physics Education, 15, 1, (1980).
pp. 57-61.
41 K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton
Abbott, 1973); and also T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable
Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers,
(London, 1999).

Another important discovery in the nature of electricity, vital to the future

history of the electrical telegraph, was that of the principle of electrical
induction by Faraday in 1831.42 It led, apart from a greater understanding of
the relationship between electricity, conductors and magnetism, to a very
significant technological innovation. Whilst it would not see widespread
application for some time the induction coil, invented in 1836 by the Irish
priest Nicholas Callan, would come to have great importance to development
of the electrical telegraph.43 The induction coil allowed the production of
electricity at higher voltages than the voltaic pile could achieve, but with the
same level of control. This made it easier for electrical signals to be sent over
long distances, strengthening the case for practical uses for the electric
telegraph.44
A later technical development which greatly helped in the establishment of
long, practical electrical telegraphy chains arose out of a rivalry among
English

telegraph

developers

over

patent

rights.

Edward

Davy

was

attempting to patent his design for an electric telegraph at the same time
that Cooke and Wheatstone were pushing theirs. 45 Whilst he eventually failed
in his attempt, he succeeded in patenting an electrochemical telegraph, and
invented an extremely important device during his attempts to make
increasingly impressive public exhibits of his technology during the patent
dispute.46 Davy called his invention the electrical renewer [sic], and it was, in
essence, an electrical relay. It allowed an electrical signal to pass from one
circuit to another whilst boosting that signal from its own power source. This
42 R. W. Burns, Communications: An International History of the Formative
Years, (London, 2004); and also I. W. Morus, When Physics Became King,
(Oxford, 2005); and also J. Bray, Innovation and the Communications
Revolution: From the Victorian Pioneers to Broadband Internet, (London,
2002).
43 T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph
and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999); and also K.
G. Beauchamp, History of Telegraphy, (London, 2001).
44 T. Standage, Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph
and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999); and also Ibid,
pp. 60, 195.
45 Ibid, pp. 26, 32; and also R. Wenzelhuemer, Connecting the NineteenthCentury World: The Telegraph and Globalization [sic], (Cambridge, 2012);
and also K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History,
(Newton Abbott, 1973).
46 Ibid, pp. 23-4; and also K. G. Beauchamp, History of Telegraphy, (London,
2001).

meant that long electric telegraph circuits could in fact be comprised of

many smaller ones, reducing resistance and the time taken to find and repair
breaks and faults.47 Davys invention would become increasingly useful in the
regional and national electrical telegraph networks to form in the coming
decades.
These

technical,

immeasurably

to

theoretical
the

and

formulation

scientific
of

innovations

understanding

contributed

and

practical

requirements needed for the invention and development of electric

telegraphs. It could not be said that these represent the totality of relevant
and important research and innovation carried out over the decades prior to
the invention of practical electrical telegraphs in the 1830s. However it is
hopefully clear that the electric telegraph relied heavily on several
discoveries and inventions in the field of electricity.

CONCLUSIONS
The invention of the electric telegraph was made possible by many scientific
and technical developments in electricity in the years leading up to the
1930s and beyond. The earliest electrical experiments concerning signals
over distance in the 1740s were considerably different from the broadly
similarly intended experiments of the 1830s. Over that period of time new
understandings of several of the processes involved in sending electricity
through a wire: conduction, resistance, electromagnetism, current, charge
and voltage to name a few, drastically altered the understanding of
experimenters, scientists (including the recently minted Physicists) 48 and the
general public. Improved understanding of the nature of electricity allowed
better inventions and innovations to be made within the field of electrical
telegraphy, which sought to replace the existing proven but flawed system of
long-distance communication.

47 Ibid, pp. 32; and also K. L. Kieve, Electric Telegraph: A Social and
Economic History, (Newton Abbott, 1973).
48 I. W. Morus, When Physics Became King, (Oxford, 2005).

Just as a better understanding of some of the principles of electricity helped

its development and its numerous inventions, just so did the development
of new technical knowledge and electrical inventions. The voltaic pile, the
galvanometer, the relay, among others were important in furthering the
experimentation with and practice of electrical telegraphy, as well as
allowing new levels of electrical research and knowledge.
The electric telegraph was conceived in a world where a telegraph already
existed, Chappes visual telegraph was well established in mainland Europe,
the principle was simple and accepted by politicians, soldiers, scientists, and
the broader public. The electric telegraph was in many ways hampered by its
own name. It operated on an entirely different principle to the existing
telegraph, it promised to be faster and more reliable, and was in no way a
modification of existing telegraph technology (save, perhaps, the use of
codes in creating a large corpus of relatable information from a relatively
small base of possible signals, if that could be considered a technology). Nor
was the electric telegraph really a modification of any other technology; later
telegraphs used metal wires, and galvanometers, and needles, and voltaic
piles, (and, much later, generators and induction coils). The electric
telegraph used existing technologies within its construction, but arguably
was not a modification of any of them.
Technological and scientific innovation, however, were not the sole mothers
of invention. The experiments, trial-runs, funding (state and private),
implementation and eventual institutionalisation of electric telegraphy
wouldnt have been possible without changes in public opinion, political
consensus, or military thinking. Part of these changes were themselves
brought about by the publication of scientific discoveries, but broader
sociological

and

contributed

towards

telegraph.

49

political
the

changes

in

Europe

invention

and

and

America

development

of

the

certainly
electric

The growing desire, certainly in Europe, for the public

demonstration of scientific and technological innovations, as well as the

innate need to domesticate technologies, contributed significantly to the

49 E. Cavicchi, Earth Grounds and Heavenly Spires: Lightning Rod Men, Patent
Inventors, and Telegraphers, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 99,
5 (2009), pp. 181-205.

climate that spawned electrical telegraphy. 50 So too did developments within

the scientific community itself, as greater acceptance of the phenomena of
electricity spread, so did electrical research and tolerance of such. The
invention of the electric telegraph therefore rested on several columns;
however the growth of electrical innovation, understanding, and invention
could arguably be the most significant component.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Beauchamp, K. G., History of Telegraphy, (London, 2001).

Bray, J., Innovation and the Communications Revolution: From the Victorian
Pioneers to Broadband Internet, (London, 2002).
Burns, R. W., Communications: An International History of the Formative
Years, (London, 2004).
Cavicchi, E., Earth Grounds and Heavenly Spires: Lightning Rod Men, Patent
Inventors, and Telegraphers, Transactions of the American Philosophical
Society, 99, 5 (2009), pp. 181-205.
Davies, B., A Web of Naked Fancies?, Physics Education, 15, 1, (1980). pp.
57-61.
Gilbert, W.; translated by Fleury Mottelay, P., De Magnete, (New York, 1958).
Kieve, K. L., Electric Telegraph: A Social and Economic History, (Newton
Abbott, 1973).
Martins, R. deA., Romagnosi and Voltas Pile: Early Difficulties in the
Interpretation of Voltaic Electricity, in F. Bevilacqua and L. Fregonese (eds.),
Nuova Voltiana: Studies on Volta and his Times, (Pavia, 2001).
Morus, I. W., When Physics Became King, (Oxford, 2005).
Ohm; G. S., translated by Francis, W., The Galvanic Circuit Investigated
Mathematically, (New York, 1969) pp. 80, 86-7.
Standage, T., Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and
the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers, (London, 1999).
Wenzelhuemer, R., Connecting the Nineteenth-Century World: The Telegraph
and Globalization [sic], (Cambridge, 2012).

50 R. Wenzelhuemer, Connecting the Nineteenth-Century World: The

Telegraph and Globalization [sic], (Cambridge, 2012).