Acting upon the hint which had been conveyed from various
investigations in the domain of physics, and concentrating upon
the problem all those unmatched powers of intellect which
distinguished him, the great inventor had succeeded in producing
a little implement which one could carry in his hand, but which
was more powerful than any battleship that ever floated. The
details of its mechanism could not be easily explained, without
the use of tedious technicalities and the employment of terms,
diagrams and mathematical statements, all of which would lie
outside the scope of this narrative. But the principle of the
thing was simple enough. It was upon the great scientific
doctrine, which we have since seen so completely and brilliantly
developed, of the law of harmonic vibrations, extending from
atoms and molecules at one end of the series up to worlds and
suns at the other end, that Mr. Edison based his invention.
Every kind of substance has its own vibratory rhythm. That of
iron differs from that of pine wood.