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NDUSTRIAL AUTOMATED SYSTEMS: INSTRUMENTATION AND
MOTION CONTROL, will provide readers with state-of-the art coverage of
the full spectrum of industrial maintenance and control, from
servomechanisms to instrumentation. They will learn about components,
circuits, instruments, control techniques, calibration, tuning and
programming associated with industrial automated systems. INDUSTRIAL
AUTOMATED SYSTEMS: INSTRUMENTATION AND MOTION CONTROL,
focuses on operation, rather than mathematical design concepts. It is
formatted into sections so that it can be used to learn a variety of subjects,
such as electrical motors, sensors, variable speed drives, programmable
logic controllers, servomechanisms, and various instrumentation and
process. This book also offers readers a broader coverage of industrial
maintenance and automation information than other books and provides
them with an extensive collection of supplements, including a lab manual
and two hundred animated multimedia lessons on CD.

1. Contents
2. Lab.Source Contents
3. Preface
4. Section 1: Industrial Control Overview
5. Ch 1: Introduction to Industrial Control Systems
6. Introduction
7. 1-1 Industrial Control Classifications
8. 1-2 Elements of Open- and Closed-Loop Systems
9. 1-3 Feedback Control
10. 1-4 Practical Feedback Application
11. 1-5 Dynamic Response of a Closed-Loop System
12. 1-6 Feed-Forward Control
13. Problems
14. Ch 2: Interfacing Devices
15. Introduction
16. 2-1 Fundamental Operational Amplifiers
17. 2-2 Signal Processors
18. 2-3 Comparator Devices
19. 2-4 Optoelectronic Interface Devices
20. 2-5 Digital-to-Analog Converters
21. 2-6 Analog-to-Digital Converters
22. 2-7 Timing Devices
23. Problems
24. Ch 3: Thyristors
25. Introduction
26. 3-1 Silicon-Controlled Rectifiers
27. 3-2 Unijunction Transistors
28. 3-3 Diac
29. 3-4 Triac
30. 3-5 IGBTs
31. Problems
32. Section 2: The Controller
33. Ch 4: The Controller Operation
34. Introduction
35. 4-1 Control Modes
36. 4-2 On-Off Control
37. 4-3 Proportional Control
38. 4-4 Proportional-Integral Control
39. 4-5 Proportional-Integral-Derivative Control
40. 4-6 Time-Proportioning Control
41. 4-7 Time-Proportioning Circuit
42. Problems
43. Section 3: Electric Motors
44. Ch 5: DC Motors
45. Introduction
46. 5-1 Principles of Operation
47. 5-2 Rotary Motion
48. 5-3 Practical DC Motors
49. 5-4 Control of Field Flux
50. 5-5 Counterelectromotive Force
51. 5-6 Armature Reaction
52. 5-7 Motor Selection
53. 5-8 Interrelationships
54. 5-9 Basic Motor Construction
55. 5-10 Motor Classifications
56. 5-11 Coil Terminal Identification
57. Problems
58. Ch 6: AC Motors
59. Introduction
60. 6-1 Fundamental Operation
61. 6-2 Stator Construction and Operation
62. 6-3 Types of AC Motors
63. 6-4 Single-Phase Induction Motors
64. 6-5 Resistance-Start Induction-Run Motor
65. 6-6 Capacitor-Start Induction-Run Motor
66. 6-7 Shaded-Pole Motor
67. 6-8 Troubleshooting Split-Phase AC Motors
68. 6-9 Universal Motors
69. 6-10 Three-Phase Motors
70. 6-11 Induction Motor
71. 6-12 Wound-Rotor Motor
72. 6-13 Synchronous Motor
73. 6-14 Motor Nameplate
74. Problems
75. Ch 7: Servo Motors
76. Introduction
77. 7-1 DC Servo Motors
78. 7-2 Wound Armature PM Motor
79. 7-3 Moving Coil Motor
80. 7-4 Brushless DC Motors
81. 7-5 Stepper Motors
82. 7-6 Permanent Magnet Stepper Motor
83. 7-7 Variable Reluctance Stepper Motor
84. 7-8 AC Servo Motors
85. Problems
86. Section 4: Variable-Speed Drives
87. Ch 8: DC Drives
88. Introduction
89. 8-1 DC Drive Fundamentals
90. 8-2 Variable-Voltage DC Drive
91. 8-3 Motor Braking
92. Problems
93. Ch 9: AC Drives
94. Introduction
95. 9-1 AC Drive Fundamentals
96. 9-2 AC Drive System
97. 9-3 Drive Controller Internal Circuitry
98. 9-4 Circuit Operation of the AC Drive
99. 9-5 Flux Vector Control
100. 9-6 PWM Control Methods
101. 9-7 Control Panel Inputs and Drive Functions
102. 9-8 Inverter Self-Protection Function
103. 9-9 Motor Braking
104. 9-10 Four-Quadrant Operation of AC Motors
105. 9-11 AC Drive Selection
106. 9-12 Motors Driven by AC Drives
107. Problems
108. Section 5: Process Control and Instrumentation
109. Ch 10: Pressure Systems
110. Introduction
111. 10-1 Pressure Laws
112. 10-2 Properties of a Liquid
113. 10-3 Properties of a Gas
114. 10-4 Pressure Measurement Scales
115. 10-5 Pressure Measurement Instruments
116. 10-6 Nonelectrical Pressure Sensors
117. 10-7 Electronic Pressure Sensors
118. 10-8 Pressure Control Systems
119. Problems
120. Ch 11: Temperature Control
121. Introduction
122. 11-1 Fundamentals of Temperature
123. 11-2 Thermal Control Systems
124. 11-3 Thermodynamic Transfer
125. 11-4 Thermal Energy Source
126. 11-5 Temperature Measurements
127. 11-6 Temperature-Indicating Devices
128. 11-7 Electronic Sensors
129. Problems
130. Ch 12: Flow Control
131. Introduction
132. 12-1 Systems Concepts
133. 12-2 Flow Units of Measurement
134. 12-3 Solid Flow Measurement
135. 12-4 Fluid Flow Measurement
136. 12-5 Electronic Sensors
137. 12-6 Flowmeter Placement
138. 12-7 Selecting a Flowmeter
139. Problems
140. Ch 13: Level-Control Systems
141. Introduction
142. 13-1 A Level-Control System
143. 13-2 Methods of Measurement
144. 13-3 Level-Measurement Methods
145. 13-4 Electronic Sensors
146. 13-5 Selecting a Level Sensor
147. Problems
148. Ch 14: Analytical Instrumentation
149. Introduction
150. 14-1 pH Measurement and Control
151. 14-2 Conductivity
152. 14-3 Combustion Analyzers and Control
153. 14-4 Humidity
154. 14-5 Sampling Measurement System
155. Problems
156. Ch 15: Industrial Process Techniques and Instrumentation
157. Introduction
158. 15-1 Batch Processes
159. 15-2 Continuous Processes
160. 15-3 Instrumentation
161. 15-4 Measurement Devices (Sensors)
162. 15-5 Feedback Loop Interface Instruments
163. 15-6 Controllers
164. 15-7 Monitoring Instruments
165. 15-8 Manipulation Devices (The Final Control Element)
166. Problems
167. Ch 16: Instrumentation Symbology
168. Introduction
169. 16-1 General Instrument Symbols
170. 16-2 Tag Numbers
171. 16-3 Line Symbols
172. 16-4 Valve and Actuator Symbols
173. 16-5 Reading a Single Loop
174. 16-6 Information Block
175. Problems
176. Ch 17: Process-Control Methods
177. Introduction
178. 17-1 Open-Loop Control
179. 17-2 Closed-Loop Control
180. 17-3 Single-Variable Control Loop
181. 17-4 Selecting a Controller
182. 17-5 On-Off Control
183. 17-6 Continuous Control
184. 17-7 Advanced Control Techniques
185. Problems
186. Ch 18: Instrument Calibration and Controller Tuning
187. Introduction
188. 18-1 Instrument Calibration
189. 18-2 Reasons for Performing Calibrations
190. 18-3 Calibration Preparation
191. 18-4 Standard Calibration Procedure
192. 18-5 Five-Point Calibration Procedure
193. 18-6 Process Calibrators
194. 18-7 Tuning the Controller
195. 18-8 Trial-and-Error Tuning Method
196. 18-9 Ziegler-Nichols Continuous-Cycling Method
197. 18-10 Ziegler-Nichols Reaction-Curve Tuning Method
198. 18-11 Controller Autotuning
199. Problems
200. Section 6: Detection Sensors
201. Ch 19: Industrial Detection Sensors and Interfacing
202. Introduction
203. 19-1 Limit Switches
204. 19-2 Proximity Detectors
205. 19-3 Inductive Proximity Switches
206. 19-4 Capacitive Proximity Switches
207. 19-5 Hall-Effect Sensor
208. 19-6 Photoelectric Sensors
209. 19-7 Methods of Detection
210. 19-8 Photoelectric Sensor Adjustable Controls
211. 19-9 Photoelectric Package Styles
212. 19-10 Operating Specifications
213. 19-11 Ultrasonic Sensors
214. 19-12 Sensor Interfacing
215. Problems
216. Ch 20: Industrial Wireless Technologies
217. Introduction
218. 20-1 Wireless Architecture
219. 20-2 Wireless Signals
220. 20-3 Wireless Topologies
221. 20-4 Self-Organizing Networks
222. 20-5 Wireless Technologies
223. 20-6 Radio Frequencies
224. 20-7 Characteristics of the Radio Path
225. 20-8 Power Management of Field Devices
226. 20-9 Security
227. 20-10 Wireless Standards
228. Problems
229. Section 7: Programmable Controllers
230. Ch 21: Introduction to Programmable Controllers
231. Introduction to PLC Functions
232. 21-1 Industrial Motor Control Circuits
233. 21-2 Relay Ladder Logic Circuits
234. 21-3 Building a Ladder Diagram
235. 21-4 Motor Starter Control Circuits
236. Introduction to PLC Components
237. 21-5 Rack Assembly
238. 21-6 Power Supply
239. 21-7 PLC Programming Units
240. 21-8 Input/Output Sections
241. 21-9 Processor Unit
242. 21-10 Addressing
243. 21-11 Relationship of Data File Addresses to I/O Modules
244. Problems
245. Ch 22: Fundamental PLC Programming
246. Introduction
247. 22-1 PLC Program Execution
248. 22-2 Ladder Diagram Programming Language
249. 22-3 Ladder Diagram Programming
250. 22-4 Relay Logic Instructions
251. 22-5 Timer Instructions
252. 22-6 Counter Instructions
253. 22-7 Data-Manipulation Instructions
254. 22-8 Arithmetic Operations
255. 22-9 Writing a Program
256. Problems
257. Ch 23: Advanced Programming, PLC Interfacing, and Troubleshooting
258. Introduction
259. 23-1 Jump Commands
260. 23-2 Data Manipulation
261. Programmable Controller Interfacing
262. 23-3 Discrete Input/Output Modules
263. 23-4 Troubleshooting I/O Interfaces
264. 23-5 Analog Input and Output Signals
265. 23-6 Special-Purpose Modules
266. 23-7 Troubleshooting Programmable Controllers
267. Problems
268. Section 8: Motion Control
269. Ch 24: Elements of Motion Control
270. Introduction
271. 24-1 Open-Loop and Closed-Loop Servo Systems
272. 24-2 Motion-Control Parameters
273. 24-3 Motion-Control Elements
274. 24-4 Terminology
275. 24-5 Operator Interface Block
276. 24-6 Controller Block
277. 24-7 Amplifier Block
278. 24-8 Actuator Block
279. 24-9 Feedback Transducer Block
280. Problems
281. Ch 25: Motion-Control Feedback Devices
282. Introduction
283. 25-1 Angular Velocity Feedback Devices
284. 25-2 Angular Displacement Feedback Devices
285. 25-3 Linear Displacement Feedback Devices
286. Problems
287. Ch 26: Fundamentals of Servomechanisms
288. Introduction
289. 26-1 Closed-Loop Velocity Servo
290. 26-2 Bang-Bang Position Servo
291. 26-3 Proportional Position Servomechanisms
292. 26-4 Digital Position Control
293. 26-5 Characteristics of a Servomechanism
294. 26-6 Designing a Position Servo
295. 26-7 Digital Controller
296. 26-8 Tuning a Servomechanism
297. 26-9 Master-Slave Servosystem
298. Problems
299. Section 9: Industrial Networking
300. Ch 27: Industrial Networking
301. 27-1 Introduction
302. 27-2 Hierarchy of Industrial Networks
303. 27-3 Network Topologies
304. 27-4 Data Flow Management
305. 27-5 Transmission Hardware
306. 27-6 Network Backbones
307. 27-7 Network Communication Standards
308. 27-8 Fieldbus Networks
309. Problems
310. Answers to Odd-Numbered Problems
311. Glossary
312. Index
Other documents randomly have
different content
 In the year 1852 two statements were made, one by Captain
Steele, 9th Lancers, the other by one of the officers of the ship
Barham (India merchantman), to the effect that an animal of a
serpentine appearance had been seen about 500 yards from that
ship (in longitude 40° E. and 37° 16´ S., that is, east of the south-
eastern corner of Africa). “We saw him,” said the former, “about 16
or 20 feet out of the water, and he spouted a long way from his
head”—that is, I suppose, he spouted to some distance, not, as the
words really imply, at a part of his neck far removed from the head.
“Down his back he had a crest like a cock’s comb, and was going
very slowly through the water, but left a wake of about 50 or 60
feet, as if dragging a long body after him. The captain put the ship
off her course to run down to him, but as we approached him he
went down. His colour was green with light spots. He was seen by
every one on board.” The other witness gives a similar account,
adding that the creature kept moving his head up and down, and
was surrounded by hundreds of birds. “We at first thought it was a
dead whale.... When we were within 100 yards he slowly sank into
the depths of the sea; while we were at dinner he was seen again.”
Mr. Alfred Newton, the well-known naturalist, guarantees his
personal acquaintance with one of the recipients of the letters just
quoted from. But such a guarantee is, of course, no sufficient
guarantee of the authenticity of the narrative. Even if the narrative
be accepted, the case seems a very doubtful one. The birds form a
suspicious element in the story. Why should birds cluster around a
living sea creature? It seems to me probable that the sea-weed
theory, presently to be noticed, gives the best explanation of this
case. Possibly some great aggregation of sea-weed was there, in
which were entangled divers objects desirable to birds and to fishes.
These last may have dragged the mass under water when the ship
approached, being perhaps more or less entangled in it—and it
floated up again afterwards. The spouting may have been simply the
play of water over the part mistaken for the head.
The sea-weed theory of the sea-serpent was broached in
February, 1849, and supported by a narrative not unlike the last.
When the British ship Brazilian was becalmed almost exactly in the
spot where M’Quhæ had seen his monster, Mr. Herriman, the
commander, perceived something right abeam, about half a mile to
the westward, “stretched along the water to the length of about 25
or 30 feet, and perceptibly moving from the ship with a steady,
sinuous motion. The head, which seemed to be lifted several feet
above the waters, had something resembling a mane, running down
to the floating portion, and within about 6 feet of the tail it forked
out into a sort of double fin.” Mr. Herriman, his first mate, Mr. Long,
and several of the passengers, after surveying the object for some
time, came to the unanimous conclusion that it must be the sea-
serpent seen by Captain M’Quhæ. “As the Brazilian was making no
headway, Mr. Herriman, determining to bring all doubts to an issue,
had a boat lowered down, and taking two hands on board, together
with Mr. Boyd, of Peterhead, near Aberdeen, one of the passengers,
who acted as steersman under the direction of the captain, they
approached the monster, Captain Herriman standing on the bow of
the boat, armed with a harpoon to commence the onslaught. The
combat, however, was not attended with the danger which those on
board apprehended; for on coming close to the object it was found
to be nothing more than an immense piece of sea-weed, evidently
detached from a coral reef and drifting with the current, which sets
constantly to the westward in this latitude, and which, together with
the swell left by the subsidence of the gale, gave it the sinuous,
snake-like motion.”
A statement was published by Captain Harrington in the Times
of February, 1858, to the effect that from his ship Castilian, then
distant ten miles from the north-east end of St. Helena, he and his
officers had seen a huge marine animal within 20 yards of the ship;
that it disappeared for about half a minute, and then made its
appearance in the same manner again, showing distinctly its neck
and head about 10 or 12 feet out of the water. “Its head was shaped
like a long nun-buoy,” proceeds Captain Harrington, “and I suppose
the diameter to have been 7 or 8 feet in the largest part, with a kind
of scroll, or tuft, of loose skin encircling it about 2 feet from the top;
the water was discoloured for several hundred feet from its head....
From what we saw from the deck, we conclude that it must have
been over 200 feet long. The boatswain and several of the crew who
26
observed it from the top-gallant forecastle, (query, cross-trees?)
state that it was more than double the length of the ship, in which
case it must have been 500 feet. Be that as it may, I am convinced
that it belonged to the serpent tribe; it was of a dark colour about
the head, and was covered with several white spots.”
This immediately called out a statement from Captain F. Smith,
of the ship Pekin, that on December 28, not far from the place
where the Dædalus had encountered the supposed sea-serpent, he
had seen, at a distance of about half a mile, a creature which was
declared by all hands to be the great sea-serpent, but proved
eventually to be a piece of gigantic sea-weed. “I have no doubt,” he
says, that the great sea-serpent seen from the Dædalus “was a
piece of the same weed.”
It will have been noticed that the sea-weed sea-serpents, seen
by Captain F. Smith and by Captain Herriman, were both at a
distance of half a mile, at which distance one can readily understand
that a piece of sea-weed might be mistaken for a living creature.
This is rather different from the case of the Dædalus sea-serpent,
which passed so near that had it been a man of the captain’s
acquaintance he could have recognized that man’s features with the
naked eye. The case, too, of Captain Harrington’s sea-serpent, seen
within 20 yards of the Castilian, can hardly be compared to those
cases in which sea-weed, more than 800 yards from the ship, was
mistaken for a living animal. An officer of the Dædalus thus disposed
of Captain Smith’s imputation:—“The object seen from the ship was
beyond all question a living animal, moving rapidly through the
water against a cross sea, and within five points of a fresh breeze,
with such velocity that the water was surging against its chest as it
passed along at a rate probably of ten miles per hour. Captain
M’Quhæ’s first impulse was to tack in pursuit, but he reflected that
we could neither lay up for it nor overhaul it in speed. There was
nothing to be done, therefore, but to observe it as accurately as we
could with our glasses as it came up under our lee quarter and
passed away to windward, being at its nearest position not more
than 200 yards from us; the eye, the mouth, the nostril, the colour,
and the form, all being most distinctly visible to us.... My impression
was that it was rather of a lizard than a serpentine character, as its
movement was steady and uniform, as if propelled by fins, not by
any undulatory power.”
But all the evidence heretofore obtained respecting the sea-
serpent, although regarded by many naturalists, Gosse, Newman,
Wilson, and others, as demonstrating the existence of some as yet
unclassified monster of the deep, seems altogether indecisive by
comparison with that which has recently been given by the captain,
mates, and crew of the ship Pauline. In this case, assuredly, we have
not to deal with a mass of sea-weed, the floating trunk of a tree, a
sea-elephant hastening to his home amid the icebergs, or with any
of the other more or less ingenious explanations of observations
previously made. We have either the case of an actual living animal,
monstrous, fierce, and carnivorous, or else the five men who
deposed on oath to the stated facts devised the story between
them, and wilfully perjured themselves for no conceivable purpose—
that, too, not as men have been known to perjure themselves under
the belief that none could know of their infamy, but with the
certainty on the part of each that four others (any one of whom
might one day shame him and the rest by confessing) knew the real
facts of the case.
The story of the Pauline sea-serpent ran simply as follows, as
attested at the Liverpool police-court:—“We, the undersigned,
captain, officers, and crew of the bark Pauline, of London, do
solemnly and sincerely declare, that on July 8, 1875, in latitude 5°
13´ S., longitude 35° W., we observed three large sperm whales,
and one of them was gripped round the body with two turns of what
appeared to be a huge serpent. The head and tail appeared to have
a length beyond the coils of about 30 feet, and its girth 8 or 9 feet.
The serpent whirled its victim round and round for about fifteen
minutes, and then suddenly dragged the whale to the bottom, head
first.—George Drevat, master; Horatio Thompson, chief mate; John
H. Landells, second mate; William Lewarn, steward; Owen Baker,
A.B. Again on the 13th July a similar serpent was seen about 200
yards off, shooting itself along the surface, head and neck being out
of the water several feet. This was seen only by the captain and an
ordinary seaman.—George Drevat. A few moments afterwards it was
seen elevated some 60 feet perpendicularly in the air by the chief
officer and two seamen, whose signatures are affixed.—Horatio
Thompson, Owen Baker, William Lewarn.”
The usual length of the cachalot or sperm whale is about 70
feet, and its girth about 50 feet. If we assign to the unfortunate
whale which was captured on this occasion, a length of only 50 feet,
and a girth of only 35 feet, we should still have for the entire length
of the supposed serpent about 100 feet. This can hardly exceed the
truth, since the three whales are called large sperm whales. With a
length of 100 feet and a girth of about 9 feet, however, a serpent
would have no chance in an attempt to capture a sperm whale 50
feet long and 35 feet in girth, for the simple reason that the whale
would be a good deal heavier than its opponent. In a contest in
open sea, where one animal seeks to capture another bodily, weight
is all-important. We can hardly suppose the whale could be so
compassed by the coils of his enemy as to be rendered powerless; in
fact, the contest lasted fifteen minutes, during the whole of which
time the so-called serpent was whirling its victim round, though
more massive than itself, through the water. On the whole, it seems
reasonable to conclude—in fact, the opinion is almost forced upon us
—that besides the serpentine portion of its bulk, which was revealed
to view, the creature, thus whirling round a large sperm whale, had
a massive concealed body, provided with propelling paddles of
enormous power. These were at work all the time the struggle went
on, enabling the creature to whirl round its enemy easily, whereas a
serpentine form, with two-thirds of its length, at least, coiled close
round another body, would have had no propulsive power left, or
very little, in the remaining 30 feet of its length, including both the
head and tail ends beyond the coils. Such a creature as an
enaliosaurus could no doubt have done what a serpent of twice the
supposed length would have attempted in vain—viz., dragged down
into the depths of the sea the mighty bulk of a cachalot whale.
When all the evidence is carefully weighed, we appear led to the
conclusion that at least one large marine animal exists which has not
as yet been classified among the known species of the present era.
It would appear that this animal has certainly a serpentine neck, and
a head small compared with its body, but large compared with the
diameter of the neck. It is probably an air-breather and warm-
blooded, and certainly carnivorous. Its propulsive power is great and
apparently independent of undulations of its body, wherefore it
presumably has powerful concealed paddles. All these circumstances
correspond with the belief that it is a modern representative of the
long-neck plesiosaurians of the great secondary or mesozoic era, a
member of that strange family of animals whose figure has been
compared to that which would be formed by drawing a serpent
through the body of a sea-turtle.
Against this view sundry objections have been raised, which
must now be briefly considered.
In the first place, Professor Owen pointed out that the sea-
saurians of the secondary period have been replaced in the tertiary
and present seas by the whales and allied races. No whales are
found in the secondary strata, no saurians in the tertiary. “It seems
to me less probable,” he says, “that no part of the carcase of such
reptiles should have ever been discovered in a recent unfossilized
state, than that men should have been deceived by a cursory view of
a partly submerged and rapidly moving animal which might only be
strange to themselves. In other words, I regard the negative
evidence from the utter absence of any of the recent remains of
great sea-serpents, krakens, or enaliosauria, as stronger against
their actual existence, than the positive statements which have
hitherto weighed with the public mind in favour of their existence. A
larger body of evidence from eye-witnesses might be got together in
proof of ghosts than of the sea-serpent.”
To this it has been replied that genera are now known to exist,
as the Chimæra, the long-necked river tortoise, and the iguana,
which are closely related to forms which existed in the secondary
era, while no traces have been found of them in any of the
intermediate or tertiary strata. The chimæra is a case precisely
analogous to the supposed case of the enaliosaurus, for the
chimæra is but rarely seen, like the supposed enaliosaurus, is found
in the same and absent from the same fossiliferous strata. Agassiz is
quoted in the Zoologist, page 2395, as saying that it would be in
precise conformity with analogy that such an animal as the
enaliosaurus should exist in the American seas, as he had found
numerous instances in which the fossil forms of the Old World were
represented by living types in the New. In close conformity with this
opinion is a statement made by Captain the Hon. George Hope, that
when in the British ship Fly, in the Gulf of California, the sea being
perfectly calm and transparent, he saw at the bottom a large marine
animal, with the head and general figure of an alligator, but the neck
much longer, and with four large paddles instead of legs. Here, then,
unless this officer was altogether deceived, which seems quite
unlikely under the circumstances, was a veritable enaliosaurus,
though of a far smaller species, probably, than the creature mistaken
for a sea-serpent.
As for the absence of remains, Mr. Darwin has pointed out that
the fossils we possess are but fragments accidentally preserved by
favouring circumstances in an almost total wreck. We have many
instances of existent creatures, even such as would have a far better
chance of floating after death, and so getting stranded where their
bones might be found, which have left no trace of their existence. A
whale possessing two dorsal fins was said to have been seen by
Smaltz, a Sicilian naturalist; but the statement was rejected, until a
shoal of these whales were seen by two eminent French zoologists,
MM. Quoy and Gaimard. No carcase, skeleton, or bone of this whale
has ever been discovered. For seventeen hours a ship, in which Mr.
Gosse was travelling to Jamaica, was surrounded by a species of
whale never before noticed—30 feet long, black above and white
beneath, with swimming paws white on the upper surface. Here, he
says, was “a whale of large size, occurring in great numbers in the
North Atlantic, which on no other occasion has fallen under scientific
observation. The toothless whale of Havre, a species actually
inhabiting the British Channel, is only known from a single specimen
accidentally stranded on the French coast; and another whale, also
British, is known only from a single specimen cast ashore on the
Elgin roast, and there seen and described by the naturalist Sowerby.
Dr. Andrew Wilson, in an interesting paper, in which he maintains
that sea-serpent tales are not to be treated with derision, but are
worthy of serious consideration, “supported as they are by zoological
science, and in the actual details of the case by evidence as
trustworthy in many cases as that received in our courts of law,”
expresses the opinion that plesiosauri and ichthyosauri have been
unnecessarily disinterred to do duty for the sea-serpents. But he
offers as an alternative only the ribbon-fish; and though some of
these may attain enormous dimensions, yet we have seen that some
of the accounts of the supposed sea-serpent, and especially the
latest narrative by the captain and crew of the Pauline, cannot
possibly be explained by any creature so flat and relatively so feeble
as the ribbon-fish.
On the whole, it appears to me that a very strong case has been
made out for the enaliosaurian, or serpent-turtle, theory of the so-
called sea-serpent.
One of the ribbon-fish mentioned by Dr. Wilson, which was
captured, and measured more than 60 feet in length, might however
fairly take its place among strange sea creatures. I scarcely know
whether to add to the number a monstrous animal like a tadpole, or
even more perhaps like a gigantic skate, 200 feet in length, said to
have been seen in the Malacca Straits by Captain Webster and
Surgeon Anderson, of the ship Nestor. Perhaps, indeed, this
monster, mistaken in the first instance for a shoal, but presently
found to be travelling along at the rate of about ten knots an hour,
better deserves to be called a strange sea creature even than any of
those which have been dealt with in the preceding pages. But the
only account I have yet seen of Captain Webster’s statement, and
Mr. Anderson’s corroboration, appeared in an American newspaper;
and though the story is exceedingly well authenticated if the
newspaper account of the matter is true, it would not be at all a new
feature in American journalism if not only the story itself, but all the
alleged circumstances of its narration, should in the long run prove
to be pure invention.
 ON SOME MARVELS IN
TELEGRAPHY.
Within the last few years Electric Telegraphy has received some
developments which seem wonderful even by comparison with those
other wonders which had before been achieved by this method of
communication. In reality, all the marvels of electric telegraphy are
involved, so to speak, in the great marvel of electricity itself, a
phenomenon as yet utterly beyond the interpretation of physicists,
though not more so than its fellow marvels, light and heat. We may,
indeed, draw a comparison between some of the most wonderful
results which have recently been achieved by the study of heat and
light and those effected in the application of electricity to telegraphy.
It is as startling to those unfamiliar with the characteristics of light,
or rather with certain peculiarities resulting from these
characteristics, to be told that an astronomer can tell whether there
is water in the air of Mars or Venus, or iron vapour in the
atmosphere of Aldebaran or Betelgeux, as it is to those unfamiliar
with the characteristics of electricity, or with the results obtained in
consequence of these characteristics, to be told that a written
message can be copied by telegraph, a map or diagram reproduced,
or, most wonderful of all, a musical air correctly repeated, or a verbal
message made verbally audible. Telegraphic marvels such as these
bear to the original marvel of mere telegraphic communication,
somewhat the same relation which the marvels of spectroscopic
analysis as applied to the celestial orbs bear to that older marvel,
the telescopic scrutiny of those bodies. In each case, also, there lies
at the back of all these marvels a greater marvel yet—electricity in
the one case, light in the other.
 I propose in this essay to sketch the principles on which some of
the more recent wonders of telegraphic communication depend. I do
not intend to describe at any length the actual details or construction
of the various instruments employed. Precisely as the principles of
spectroscopic analysis can be made clear to the general reader
without the examination of the peculiarities of spectroscopic
instruments, so can the methods and principles of telegraphic
communication be understood without examining instrumental
details. In fact, it may be questioned whether general explanations
are not in such cases more useful than more detailed ones, seeing
that these must of necessity be insufficient for a student who
requires to know the subject practically in all its details, while they
deter the general reader by technicalities in which he cannot be
expected to take any interest. If it be asked, whether I myself, who
undertake to explain the principles of certain methods of telegraphic
communication, have examined practically the actual instrumental
working of these methods, I answer frankly that I have not done so.
As some sort of proof, however, that without such practical
familiarity with working details the principles of the construction of
instruments may be thoroughly understood, I may remind the reader
(see p. 96) that the first spectroscopic battery I ever looked through
—one in which the dispersive power before obtained in such
instruments had been practically doubled—was of my own invention,
constructed (with a slight mechanical modification) by Mr. Browning,
and applied at once successfully to the study of the sun by Mr.
Huggins, in whose observatory I saw through this instrument the
solar spectrum extended to a length which, could it all have been
27
seen at once, would have equalled many feet. On the other hand,
it is possible to have a considerable practical experience of scientific
instruments without sound knowledge of the principles of their
construction; insomuch that instances have been known in which
men who have effected important discoveries by the use of some
scientific instrument, have afterwards obtained their first clear
conception of the principles of its construction from a popular
description.
 It may be well to consider, though briefly, some of the methods
of communication which were employed before the electric telegraph
was invented. Some of the methods of electric telegraphy have their
antitypes, so to speak, in methods of telegraphy used ages before
the application of electricity. The earliest employment of telegraphy
was probably in signalling the approach of invading armies by
beacon fires. The use of this method must have been well known in
the time of Jeremiah, since he warns the Benjamites “to set up a
sign of fire in Beth-haccerem,” because “evil appeareth out of the
north and great destruction.” Later, instead of the simple beacon fire,
combinations were used. Thus, by an Act of the Scottish Parliament
in 1455, the blazing of one bale indicated the probable approach of
the English, two bales that they were coming indeed, and four bales
blazing beside each other that they were in great force. The smoke
of beacon fires served as signals by day, but not so effectively,
except under very favourable atmospheric conditions.
Torches held in the hand, waved, depressed, and so forth, were
anciently used in military signalling at night; while in the day-time
boards of various figures in different positions indicated either
different messages or different letters, as might be pre-arranged.
Hooke communicated to the Royal Society in 1684 a paper
describing a method of “communicating one’s mind at great
distances.” The letters were represented by various combinations of
straight lines, which might be agreed upon previously if secrecy
were desired, otherwise the same forms might represent constantly
the same letters. With four straight planks any letter of this alphabet
could be formed as wanted, and being then run out on a framework
(resembling a gallows in Hooke’s picture), could be seen from a
distant station. Two curved beams, combined in various ways,
served for arbitrary signals.
Chappe, in 1793, devised an improvement on this in what was
called the T telegraph. An upright post supported a cross-bar (the
top of the T), at each end of which were the short dependent
beams, making the figure a complete Roman capital T. The
horizontal bar as first used could be worked by ropes within the
telegraph-house, so as to be inclined either to right or left. It thus
had three positions. Each dependent beam could be worked (also
from within the house) so as to turn upwards, horizontally, or
downwards (regarding the top bar of the T as horizontal), thus
having also three positions. It is easily seen that, since each position
of one short beam could be combined with each position of the
other, the two together would present three times three
arrangements, or nine in all; and as these nine could be given with
the cross-bar in any one of its three positions, there were in all
twenty-seven possible positions. M. Chappe used an alphabet of only
sixteen letters, so that all messages could readily be communicated
by this telegraph. For shorter distances, indeed, and in all later uses
of Chappe’s telegraph, the short beams could be used in
intermediate positions, by which 256 different signals could be
formed. Such telegraphs were employed on a line beginning at the
Louvre and proceeding by Montmartre to Lisle, by which
communications were conveyed from the Committee of Public
Welfare to the armies in the Low Countries. Telescopes were used at
each station. Barrère stated, in an address to the Convention on
August 17, 1794, that the news of the recapture of Lisle had been
sent by this line of communication to Paris in one hour after the
French troops had entered that city. Thus the message was
conveyed at the rate of more than 120 miles per hour.
Various other devices were suggested and employed during the
first half of the present century. The semaphores still used in railway
signalling illustrate the general form which most of these methods
assumed. An upright, with two arms, each capable of assuming six
distinct positions (excluding the upright position), would give forty-
eight different signals; thus each would give six signals alone, or
twelve for the pair, and each of the six signals of one combined with
each of the six signals of the other, would give thirty-six signals,
making forty-eight in all. This number suffices to express the letters
of the alphabet (twenty-five only are needed), the Arabic numerals,
and thirteen arbitrary signals.
 The progress of improvement in such methods of signalling
promised to be rapid, before the invention of the electric telegraph,
or rather, before it was shown how the principle of the electric
telegraph could be put practically into operation. We have seen that
they were capable of transmitting messages with considerable
rapidity, more than twice as fast as we could now send a written
message by express train. But they were rough and imperfect. They
were all, also, exposed to one serious defect. In thick weather they
became useless. Sometimes, at the very time when it was most
important that messages should be quickly transmitted, fog
interrupted the signalling. Sir J. Barrow relates that during the
Peninsular War grave anxiety was occasioned for several hours by
the interruption of a message from Plymouth, really intended to
convey news of a victory. The words transmitted were, “Wellington
defeated;” the message of which these words formed the beginning
was: “Wellington defeated the French at,” etc. As Barrow remarks, if
the message had run, “French defeated at,” etc., the interruption of
the message would have been of less consequence.
Although the employment of electricity as a means of
communicating at a distance was suggested before the end of the
last century, in fact, so far back as 1774, the idea has only been
worked out during the last forty-two years. It is curious indeed to
note that until the middle of the present century the word
“telegraph,” which is now always understood as equivalent to electric
telegraph, unless the contrary is expressed, was commonly
28
understood to refer to semaphore signalling, unless the word
“electric” were added.
The general principle underlying all systems of telegraphic
communication by electricity is very commonly misunderstood. The
idea seems to prevail that electricity can be sent out along a wire to
any place where some suitable arrangement has been made to
receive it. In one sense this is correct. But the fact that the
electricity has to make a circuit, returning to the place from which it
is transmitted, seems not generally understood. Yet, unless this is
understood, the principle, even the possibility, of electric
communication is not recognized.
Let us, at the outset, clearly understand the nature of electric
communication.
In a variety of ways, a certain property called electricity can be
excited in all bodies, but more readily in some than in others. This
property presents itself in two forms, which are called positive and
negative electricity, words which we may conveniently use, but
which must not be regarded as representing any real knowledge of
the distinction between these two kinds of electricity. In fact, let it
be remembered throughout, that we do not in the least know what
electricity is; we only know certain of the phenomena which it
produces. Any body which has become charged with electricity,
either positive or negative, will part with its charge to bodies in a
neutral condition, or charged with the opposite electricity (negative
or positive). But the transference is made much more readily to
some substances than to others—so slowly, indeed, to some, that in
ordinary experiments the transference may be regarded as not
taking place at all. Substances of the former kind are called good
conductors of electricity; those which receive the transfer of
electricity less readily are said to be bad conductors; and those
which scarcely receive it at all are called insulating substances. The
reader must not confound the quality I am here speaking of with
readiness to become charged with electricity. On the contrary, the
bodies which most freely receive and transmit electricity are least
readily charged with electricity, while insulating substances are
readily electrified. Glass is an insulator, but if glass is briskly rubbed
with silk it becomes charged (or rather, the part rubbed becomes
charged) with positive electricity, formerly called vitreous electricity
for this reason; and again, if wax or resin, which are both good
insulators, be rubbed with cloth or flannel, the part rubbed becomes
charged with negative, formerly called resinous, electricity.
Electricity, then, positive or negative, however generated, passes
freely along conducting substances, but is stopped by an insulating
body, just as light passes through transparent substances, but is
stopped by an opaque body. Moreover, electricity may be made to
pass to any distance along conducting bodies suitably insulated.
Thus, it might seem that we have here the problem of distant
communication solved. In fact, the first suggestion of the use of
electricity in telegraphy was based on this property. When a charge
of electricity has been obtained by the use of an ordinary electrical
machine, this charge can be drawn off at a distant point, if a
conducting channel properly insulated connects that point with the
bodies (of whatever nature) which have been charged with
electricity. In 1747, Dr. Watson exhibited electrical effects from the
discharges of Leyden jars (vessels suitably constructed to receive
and retain electricity) at a distance of two miles from the electrical
machine. In 1774, Le Sage proposed that by means of wires the
electricity developed by an electrical machine should be transmitted
by insulated wires to a point where an electroscope, or instrument
for indicating the presence of electricity, should, by its movements,
mark the letters of the alphabet, one wire being provided for each
letter. In 1798 Béthencourt repeated Watson’s experiment,
increasing the distance to twenty-seven miles, the extremities of his
line of communication being at Madrid and Aranjuez. (Guillemin, by
the way, in his “Applications of the Physical Forces,” passes over
Watson’s experiment; in fact, throughout his chapters on the electric
telegraph, the steam-engine, and other subjects, he seems desirous
of conveying as far as possible the impression that all the great
advances of modern science had their origin in Paris and its
neighbourhood.)
From Watson’s time until 1823 attempts were made in this
country and on the Continent to make the electrical machine serve
as the means of telegraphic communication. All the familiar
phenomena of the lecture-room have been suggested as signals.
The motion of pith balls, the electric spark, the perforation of paper
by the spark, the discharge of sparks on a fulminating pane (a glass
sheet on which pieces of tinfoil are suitably arranged, so that sparks
passing from one to another form various figures or devices), and
other phenomena, were proposed and employed experimentally. But
practically these methods were not effectual. The familiar
phenomenon of the electric spark explains the cause of failure. The
spark indicates the passage of electricity across an insulating
medium—dry air—when a good conductor approaches within a
certain distance of the charged body. The greater the charge of
electricity, the greater is the distance over which the electricity will
thus make its escape. Insulation, then, for many miles of wire, and
still more for a complete system of communication such as we now
have, was hopeless, so long as frictional electricity was employed, or
considerable electrical intensity required.
We have now to consider how galvanic electricity, discovered in
1790, was rendered available for telegraphic communication. In the
first place, let us consider what galvanic or voltaic electricity is.
I have said that electricity can be generated in many ways. It
may be said, indeed, that every change in the condition of a
substance, whether from mechanical causes, as, for instance, a
blow, a series of small blows, friction, and so forth, or from change
of temperature, moisture, and the like, or from the action of light, or
from chemical processes, results in the development of more or less
electricity.
When a plate of metal is placed in a vessel containing some acid
(diluted) which acts chemically on the metal, this action generates
negative electricity, which passes away as it is generated. But if a
plate of a different metal, either not chemically affected by the acid
or less affected than the former, be placed in the dilute acid, the two
plates being only partially immersed and not in contact, then, when
a wire is carried from one plate to the other, the excess of positive
electricity in the plate least affected by the acid is conveyed to the
other, or, in effect, discharged; the chemical action, however,
continues, or rather is markedly increased, fresh electricity is
generated, and the excess of positive electricity in the plate least
affected is constantly discharged. Thus, along the wire connecting
the two metals a current of electricity passes from the metal least
affected to the metal most affected; a current of negative electricity
passes in a contrary direction in the dilute acid.
I have spoken here of currents passing along the wire and in the
acid, and shall have occasion hereafter to speak of the plate of metal
least affected as the positive pole, this plate being regarded, in this
case, as a source whence a current of positive electricity flows along
the wire connection to the other plate, which is called the negative
pole. But I must remind the reader that this is only a convenient way
of expressing the fact that the wire assumes a certain condition
when it connects two such plates, and is capable of producing
certain effects. Whether in reality any process is taking place which
can be justly compared to the flow of a current one way or the
other, or whether a negative current flows along the circuit one way,
while the positive current flows the other way, are questions still
unanswered. We need not here enter into them, however. In fact,
very little is known about these points. Nor need we consider here
the various ways in which many pairs of plates such as I have
described can be combined in many vessels of dilute acid to
strengthen the current. Let it simply be noted that such a
combination is called a battery; that when the extreme plates of
opposite kinds are connected by a wire, a current of electricity
passes along the wire from the extreme plate of that metal which is
least affected, forming the positive pole, to the other extreme plate
of that metal which is most affected and forms the negative pole.
The metals commonly employed are zinc and copper, the former
being the one most affected by the action of the dilute acid, usually
sulphuric acid. But it must here be mentioned that the chemical
process, affecting both metals, but one chiefly, would soon render a
battery of the kind described useless; wherefore arrangements are
made in various ways for maintaining the efficiency of the dilute acid
and of the metallic plates, especially the copper: for the action of the
acid on the zinc tends, otherwise, to form on the copper a deposit of
zinc. I need not describe the various arrangements for forming what
are called constant batteries, as Daniell’s, Grove’s, Bunsen’s, and
others. Let it be understood that, instead of a current which would
rapidly grow weaker and weaker, these batteries give a steady
current for a considerable time. Without this, as will presently be
seen, telegraphic communication would be impossible.
We have, then, in a galvanic battery a steady source of
electricity. This electricity is of low intensity, incompetent to produce
the more striking phenomena of frictional electricity. Let us, however,
consider how it would operate at a distance.
The current will pass along any length of conducting substance
properly insulated. Suppose, then, an insulated wire passes from the
positive pole of a battery at a station A to a station B, and thence
back to the negative pole at the station A. Then the current passes
along it, and this can be indicated at B by some action such as
electricity of low intensity can produce. If now the continuity of the
wire be interrupted close by the positive pole at A, the current
ceases and the action is no longer produced. The observer at B
knows then that the continuity of the wire has been interrupted; he
has been, in fact, signalled to that effect.
But, as I have said, the electrical phenomena which can be
produced by the current along a wire connecting the positive and
negative poles of a galvanic battery are not striking. They do not
afford effective signals when the distance traversed is very great and
the battery not exceptionally strong. Thus, at first, galvanic
electricity was not more successful in practice than frictional
electricity.
It was not until the effect of the galvanic current on the
magnetic needle had been discovered that electricity became
practically available in telegraphy.
Oersted discovered in 1820 that a magnetic needle poised
horizontally is deflected when the galvanic current passes above it
(parallel to the needle’s length) or below it. If the current passes
above it, the north end of the needle turns towards the east when
the current travels from north to south, but towards the west when
the current travels from south to north; on the other hand, if the
current passes below the needle, the north end turns towards the
west when the current travels from south to north, and towards the
east when the current travels from north to south. The deflection will
be greater or less according to the power of the current. It would be
very slight indeed in the case of a needle, however delicately poised,
above or below which passed a wire conveying a galvanic current
from a distant station. But the effect can be intensified, as follows:—

Fig. 1.

Suppose a b c d e f to be a part of the wire from A to B, passing

above a delicately poised magnetic needle N S, along a b and then
below the needle along c d, and then above again along e f and so
to the station B. Let a current traverse the wire in the direction
shown by the arrows. Then N, the north end of the needle, is
deflected towards the east by the current passing along a b. But it is
also deflected to the east by the current passing along c d; for this
produces a deflection the reverse of that which would be produced
by a current in the same direction above the needle—that is, in
direction b a, and therefore the same as that produced by the
current along a b. The current along e f also, of course, produces a
deflection of the end N towards the east. All three parts, then, a b,
c d, e f, conspire to increase the deflection of the end N towards the
east. If the wire were twisted once again round N S, the deflection
would be further increased; and finally, if the wire be coiled in the
way shown in Fig. 1, but with a great number of coils, the deflection
of the north end towards the east, almost imperceptible without
such coils, will become sufficiently obvious. If the direction of the
current be changed, the end N will be correspondingly deflected
towards the west.
 The needle need not be suspended horizontally. If it hang
vertically, that is, turn freely on a horizontal axis, and the coil be
carried round it as above described, the deflection of the upper end
will be to the right or to the left, according to the direction of the
current. The needle actually seen, moreover, is not the one acted
upon by the current. This needle is inside the coil; the needle seen
turns on the same axis, which projects through the coil.
If, then, the observer at the station B have a magnetic needle
suitably suspended, round which the wire from the battery at A has
been coiled, he can tell by the movement of the needle whether a
current is passing along the wire in one direction or in the other;
while if the needle is at rest he knows that no current is passing.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

Now suppose that P and N, Fig. 2, are the positive and negative
poles of a galvanic battery at A, and that a wire passes from P to the
station B, where it is coiled round a needle suspended vertically at n,
and thence passes to the negative pole N. Let the wire be
interrupted at a b and also at c d. Then no current passes along the
wire, and the needle n remains at rest in a vertical position. Now
suppose the points a b connected by the wire a b, and at the same
moment the points c d connected by the wire c d, then a current
flows along P a b to B, as shown in Fig. 2, circuiting the coil round
the needle n and returning by d c to N. The upper end of the needle
is deflected to the right while this current continues to flow;
returning to rest when the connection is broken at a b and c d. Next,
let c b and a d be simultaneously connected as shown by the cross-
lines in Fig. 3. (It will be understood that a d and b c do not touch
each other where they cross.) The current will now flow from P along
a d to B, circuiting round the needle n in a contrary direction to that
in which it flowed in the former case, returning by b c to N. The
upper end of the needle is deflected then to the left while the
current continues to flow along this course.
I need not here describe the mechanical devices by which the
connection at a b and c d can be instantly changed so that the
current may flow either along a b and d c, as in Fig. 2, circuiting the
needle in one direction, or along a d and b c, as in Fig. 3, circuiting
the needle in the other direction. As I said at the outset, this paper
is not intended to deal with details of construction, only to describe
the general principles of telegraphic communication, and especially
those points which have to be explained in order that recent
inventions may be understood. The reader will see that nothing can
be easier than so to arrange matters that, by turning a handle,
either (1), a b and c d may be connected, or, (2), a d and c b, or,
(3), both lines of communication interrupted. The mechanism for
effecting this is called a commutator.
Two points remain, however, to be explained: First, A must be a
receiving station as well as a transmitting station; secondly, the wire
connecting B with N, in Figs. 2 and 3, can be dispensed with, for it is
found that if at B the wire is carried down to a large metal plate
placed some depth underground, while the wire at c is carried down
to another plate similarly buried underground, the circuit is
completed even better than along such a return wire as is shown in
the figures. The earth either acts the part of a return wire, or else,
by continually carrying off the electricity, allows the current to flow
continuously along the single wire. We may compare the current
carried along the complete wire circuit, to water circulating in a pipe
extending continuously from a reservoir to a distance and back again
to the reservoir. Water sucked up continuously at one end could be
carried through the pipe so long as it was continuously returned to
the reservoir at the other; but it could equally be carried through a
pipe extending from that reservoir to some place where it could
communicate with the open sea—the reservoir itself communicating
with the open sea—an arrangement corresponding to that by which
the return wire is dispensed with, and the current from the wire
received into the earth.
The discovery that the return wire may be dispensed with was
made by Steinheil in 1837.
The actual arrangement, then, is in essentials that represented
in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4.

A and B are the two stations; P N is the battery at A, P´ N´ the

battery at B; P´ P´ are the positive poles, N´ N´, the negative poles.
At n is the needle of station A, at n´ the needle of station B. When
the handle of the commutator is in its mean position—which is
supposed to be the case at station B—the points b´ d´ are
connected with each other, but neither with a´ nor c´; no current,
then, passes from B to A, but station B is in a condition to receive
messages. (If b´ and d´ were not connected, of course no messages
could be received, since the current from A would be stopped at b´—
which does not mean that it would pass round n´ to b´, but that,
the passage being stopped at b´, the current would not flow at all.)
When (the commutator at B being in its mean position, or d´ b´
connected, and communication with c´ and a´ interrupted) the
handle of the commutator at A is turned from its mean position in
one direction, a and b are connected, as are c and d—as shown in
the figure—while the connection between b and d is broken. Thus
the current passes from P by a and b, round the needle n; thence to
station B, round needle n´, and by b´ and d´, to the earth plate G´;
and so along the earth to G, and by d c, to the negative pole N. The
upper end of the needle of both stations is deflected to the right by
the passage of the current in this direction. When the handle of the
commutator at A is turned in the other direction, b and c are
connected, as also a and d; the current from P passes along a d to
the ground plate G, thence to G´, along d´ b´, round the needle n´,
back by the wire to the station A, where, after circuiting the needle n
in the same direction as the needle n´, it travels by b and c to the
negative pole N. The upper end of the needle, at both stations, is
deflected to the left by the passage of the current in this direction.
It is easily seen that, with two wires and one battery, two
needles can be worked at both stations, either one moving alone, or
the other alone, or both together; but for the two to move
differently, two batteries must be used. The systems by which either
the movements of a single needle, or of a pair of needles, may be
made to indicate the various letters of the alphabet, numerals, and
so on, need not here be described. They are of course altogether
arbitrary, except only that the more frequent occurrence of certain
letters, as e, t, a, renders it desirable that these should be