An Ancient Telephone

Edison may read with interest that in 1783 M. Linquet de la Bastille issued a prospectas, pnblished in the "Correepoudence Secrete," London, 1788 (volume 14, page 302), of "a singular machine orexperience of the propagation of eouud and the voice through tubes prolonged to a great distance. " If it succeeded, he aunounced, people would be able to maintain with their sweethearts and friends at a distance of gome hundreds of leagues a conversation which would "become somewhat public on the way, but by suppressing the ñames no one would be in the secret of the interlocutors. " But it is not recorded that the scheme was put into practice. In a paper published in L'Illustration for 1854 by M. Charles Bourseul he says: "Let us imagine that a person speaks near to a mobile píate sumciently flexible not to lose any of the vibrations produced by his voice, and that this plate interrupts and establishes accordingly commuuication with a battery. Then we might have at a distance another plate which would give at the same time the satoe vibrations. An electric battery, two vibrating platea and a wire would be sufflcient. " In apportioning the honors of telephonic discovery M. Bourseul at least would seem entitled to a share.