U.S. Supreme Court The Telephone Cases, 126 U.S. 1 (1888) The Telephone Cases Nos. 10, 381, 382, 709, 770,
771 Argued January 24-28, 31, February
1-4, 7-8, 1887 Decided March 19,
1888 126 U.S.
1 APPEAL FROM THE CIRCUIT COURT OF
THE UNITED STATES FOR THE DISTRICT OF
MASSACHUSETTS Syllabus It appears from the proof in these causes that Alexander Graham
Bell was the first discoverer of the art or process of transferring
to, or impressing upon, a continuous current of electricity in a
closed circuit, by gradually changing its intensity, the vibrations
of air produced by the human voice in articulate speech in a way to
cause the speech to be carried to and received by a listener at a
distance on the line of the current, and this discovery was
patentable under the patent laws of the United States.

															In order to procure a patent for a process, the inventor must
describe his invention with sufficient clearness and precision to
enable those skilled in the matter to understand what his process
is, and must point out some practicable way of putting it into
operation; but he is not required to bring the art to the highest
degree of perfection.

															Bell's fifth claim under his patent of March 7, 1876, No.
174,465, is not confined to the magneto instrument, or to such
modes of creating electrical undulations as could be produced by
that form of apparatus.

															Bell's fifth claim under his patent of March 7, 1876, also
covered his invention of an apparatus to make useful his discovery
of an art or process for electrical transmission of speech, and
this invention was patentable under the laws of the United
States.

															The discovery and invention patented to Bell by his patent of
March 7, 1876, were not described in the publication made by
Charles Bourseul in Paris in 1854, nor in the publication in
Germany in 1861-1863 respecting the experiments and inventions of
Philipp Reis, nor in the publication in Germany in 1862 of what are
known as the Reis-Legat experiments, and they were not anticipated
by the experiments of Dr. Van der Weyde in New York in 1869, nor by
the invention of J. W. McDonough of Chicago in 1876, nor by the
invention patented in the United States to C. F. Varley of London,
June 2, 1868, nor by the invention patented to said Varley in
England, October 8, 1870.

															For reasons stated in its opinion, the Court holds that the
alleged invention of the telephone by Daniel Drawbaugh prior to
Bell's discovery and invention patented to him March 7, 1876, is
not made out.

															For reasons stated in its opinion, the Court holds that the
charge of a fraudulent Page 126 U. S. 3 interpolation in Bell's specification after the filing of it in
the Patent Office, between February 14 and February 19, 1876, is
not sustained, and that not a shadow of suspicion can rest on
anyone growing out of the misprint of the specification in the Dowd case.

															The authority conferred by the special act of Massachusetts "to
incorporate the American Bell Telephone Company" authorized the
corporation organized under § 3, Mass.Stat. 1870, c. 224, to select
its corporate name, and made the statutory certificate provided for
by § 11 of that act conclusive proof of its corporate
existence.

															Section 4887 of the Revised Statutes does not invalidate an
American patent which bears a different date from that of a foreign
patent for the same invention, but only limits its term to the term
of the foreign patent.

															Letters patent No. 186,787, dated January 30, 1877, granted to
Alexander Graham Bell for an improvement in electric telephony, is
a valid patent, and the fifth claim under it was not anticipated by
the magnet described by Schellen.

															In equity. The bills were filed in circuit courts of the United
States by the American Bell Telephone Company and others, as owners
of two patents known as the Bell telephone Patents, to enjoin the
several defendants against infringements of those patents.

															The two patents thus alleged to have come into the ownership of
the complainants and to have been infringed were:

															1. No. 174,465, dated March 7, 1876, granted to Alexander Graham
Bell for new and useful improvements in telegraphy, and

															2. No. 186,787, dated January 30, 1877, granted to the same
inventor for new and useful improvements in electric telephony.

															The following are copies of the drawings and specifications of
these two patents: Page 126 U. S. 4 image:a Page 126 U. S. 5 image:b Page 126 U. S. 6 " UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" " ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS" " I MPROVEMENT IN TELEGRAPHY"

															" Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.
174,465," " dated March 7, 1876; application filed February 14,
1876" " To all whom it mad concern: "

															"Be it known that I, ALEXANDER, GRAHAM BELL of Salem,
Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful improvements in
telegraphy, of which the following is a specification:"

															"In Letters Patent granted to me April 6, 1875, No. 161,739, I
have described a method of, and apparatus for, transmitting two or
more telegraphic signals simultaneously along a single wire by the
employment of transmitting instruments, each of which occasions a
succession of electrical impulses differing in rate from the
others, and of receiving instruments, each tuned to a pitch at
which it will be put in vibration to produce its fundamental note
by one only of the transmitting instruments, and of vibratory
circuit breakers operating to convert the vibratory movement of the
receiving instrument into a permanent make or break (as the case
may be) of a local circuit, in which is placed a Morse sounder,
register, or other telegraphic apparatus. I have also therein
described a form of autograph-telegraph based upon the action of
the above-mentioned instruments."

															"In illustration of my method of multiple telegraphy, I have
shown in the patent aforesaid, as one form of transmitting
instrument, an electromagnet having a steel spring armature which
is kept in vibration by the action of a local battery. This
armature, in vibrating, makes and breaks the plain circuit,
producing an intermittent current upon the line wire. I have found,
however, that upon this plan, the limit to the number of signals
that can be sent simultaneously over the same wire is very speedily
reached, for when a number of transmitting instruments having
different rates of vibration are simultaneously Page 126 U. S. 7 making and breaking the same circuit, the effect upon the main
line is practically equivalent to one continuous current."

															"In a pending application for letters patent filed in the United
States Patent Office February 25, 1875, I have described two ways
of producing the intermittent current -- the one by actual make and
break of contact, the other by alternately increasing and
diminishing the intensity of the current without actually breaking
the circuit. The current produced by the latter method I shall
term, for distinction sake, a 'pulsatory current.'"

															"My present invention consists in the employment of a vibratory
or undulatory current of electricity in contradistinction to a
merely intermittent or pulsatory current, and of a method of, and
apparatus for, producing electrical undulations upon the line
wire."

															"The distinction between an undulatory and a pulsatory current
will be understood by considering that electrical pulsations are
caused by sudden or instantaneous changes of intensity, and that
electrical undulations result from gradual changes of intensity
exactly analogous to the changes in the density of air occasioned
by simple pendulous vibrations. The electrical movement, like the
aerial motion, can be represented by a sinusoidal curve or by the
resultant of several sinusoidal curves."

															"Intermittent or pulsatory and undulatory currents may be of two
kinds, accordingly as the successive impulses have all the same
polarity or are alternately positive and negative."

															"The advantages I claim to derive from the use of an undulatory
current in place of a merely intermittent one are first that a very
much larger number of signals can be transmitted simultaneously on
the same circuit; second, that a closed circuit and single main
battery may be used; third, that communication in both directions
is established without the necessity of special induction coils;
fourth, that cable dispatches may be transmitted more rapidly than
by means of an intermittent current or by the methods at present in
use, for, as it is unnecessary to discharge the cable before a new
signal can be made, Page 126 U. S. 8 the lagging of cable signals is prevented; fifth, and that as
the circuit is never broken a spark arrester becomes
unnecessary."

															"It has long been known that when a permanent magnet is caused
to approach the pole of an electromagnet, a current of electricity
is induced in the coils of the latter, and that when it is made to
recede, a current of opposite polarity to the first appears upon
the wire. When, therefore, a permanent magnet is caused to vibrate
in front of the pole of an electromagnet, an undulatory current of
electricity is induced in the coils of the electromagnet, the
undulations of which correspond in rapidity of succession to the
vibrations of the magnet in polarity to the direction of its motion
and in intensity to the amplitude of its vibration."

															"That the difference between an undulatory and an intermittent
current may be more clearly understood, I shall describe the
condition of the electrical current when the attempt is made to
transmit two musical notes simultaneously, first upon the one plan
and then upon the other. Let the interval between the two sounds be
a major third; then their rates of vibration are in the ratio of 4
to 5. Now when the intermittent current is used, the circuit is
made and broken four times by one transmitting instrument in the
same time that five makes and breaks are caused by the other. A and
B, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, represent the intermittent currents produced,
four impulses of B being made in the same time as five impulses of
A. c c c &c., show where and for how long time the
circuit is made, and d d d &c., indicate the duration
of the breaks of the circuit. The line A and B shows the total
effect upon the current when the transmitting instruments for A and
B are caused simultaneously to make and break the same circuit. The
resultant effect depends very much upon the duration of the make
relatively to the break. In Fig. 1, the ratio is as 1 to 4; in Fig.
2, as 1 to 2, and in Fig. 3 the makes and breaks are of equal
duration. The combined effect, A and B, Fig. 3, is very nearly
equivalent to a continuous current."

															"When many transmitting instruments of different rates of
vibration are simultaneously making and breaking the same Page 126 U. S. 9 circuit the current upon the main line becomes for all practical
purposes continuous."

															"Next, consider the effect when an undulatory current is
employed. Electrical undulations, induced by the vibration of a
body capable of inductive action, can be represented graphically
without error by the same sinusoidal curve which expresses the
vibration of the inducing body itself and the effect of its
vibration upon the air, for, as above stated, the rate of
oscillation in the electrical current corresponds to the rate of
vibration of the including body -- that is, to the pitch of the
sound produced. The intensity of the current varies with the
amplitude of the vibration -- that is, with the loudness of the
sound, and the polarity of the current corresponds to the direction
of the vibrating body -- that is, to the condensations and
rarefactions of air produced by the vibration. Hence, the
sinusoidal curve A or B, Fig. 4, represents graphically the
electrical undulations induced in a circuit by the vibration of a
body capable of inductive action."

															The horizontal line a d e f &c. represents the zero
of current. The elevations b b b &c. indicate impulses
of positive electricity. The depressions c c c &c.
show impulses of negative electricity. The vertical distance b
d or c f of and portion of the curve from the zero
line expresses the intensity of the positive or negative impulse at
the part observed, and the horizontal distance a a indicates the duration of the electrical oscillation. The
vibrations represented by the sinusoidal curves B and A, Fig. 4,
are in the ratio aforesaid, of 4 to 5 -- that is, four oscillations
of B are made in the same time as five oscillations of A.

															"The combined effect of A and B, when induced simultaneously on
the same circuit, is expressed by the curve A + B, Fig. 4, which is
the algebraical sum of the sinusoidal curves A and B. This curve A
+ B also indicates the actual motion of the air when the two
musical notes considered are sounded simultaneously. Thus, when
electrical undulations of different rates are simultaneously
induced in the same circuit, an effect is produced exactly
analogous to that occasioned in the air by the vibration of the
inducing bodies. Hence, the coexistence Page 126 U. S. 10 upon a telegraphic circuit of electrical vibrations of different
pitch is manifested not by the obliteration of the vibratory
character of the current, but by peculiarities in the shapes of the
electrical undulations, or in other words, by peculiarities in the
shapes of the curves which represent those undulations."

															"There are many ways of producing undulatory currents of
electricity, dependent for effect upon the vibrations or motions of
bodies capable of inductive action. A few of the methods that may
be employed I shall here specify. When a wire through which a
continuous current of electricity is passing is caused to vibrate
in the neighborhood of another wire, an undulatory current of
electricity is induced in the latter. When a cylinder, upon which
are arranged bar magnets is made to rotate in front of the pole of
an electromagnet, an undulatory current of electricity is induced
in the coils of the electromagnet."

															"Undulations are caused in a continuous voltaic current by the
vibration or motion of bodies capable of inductive action, or by
the vibration of the conducting wire itself in the neighborhood of
such bodies. Electrical undulations may also be caused by
alternately increasing and diminishing the resistance of the
circuit, or by alternately increasing and diminishing the power of
the battery. The internal resistance of a battery is diminished by
bringing the voltaic elements nearer together, and increased by
placing them farther apart. The reciprocal vibration of the
elements of a battery therefore occasions an undulatory action in
the voltaic current. The external resistance may also be varied.
For instance, let mercury or some other liquid form part of a
voltaic circuit, then the more deeply the conducting wire is
immersed in the mercury or other liquid, the less resistance does
the liquid offer to the passage of the current. Hence the vibration
of the conducting wire in mercury or other liquid included in the
circuit occasions undulations in the current. The vertical
vibrations of the elements of a battery in the liquid in which they
are immersed produces an undulatory action in the current by
alternately increasing and diminishing the power of the
battery."

															"In illustration of the method of creating electrical
undulations, Page 126 U. S. 11 I shall show and describe one form of apparatus for producing
the effect. I prefer to employ for this purpose an electromagnet,
A, Fig. 5, having a coil upon only one of its legs b . A
steel spring armature c is firmly clamped by one extremity
to the uncovered leg d of the magnet, and its free end is
allowed to project above the pole of the covered leg. The armature c can be set in vibration in a variety of ways, one of
which is by wind, and, in vibrating, it produces a musical note of
a certain definite pitch."

															"When the instrument A is placed in a voltaic circuit g b e
f g , the armature c becomes magnetic, and the
polarity of its free end is opposed to that of the magnet
underneath. So long as the armature c remains at rest, no
effect is produced upon the voltaic current, but the moment it is
set in vibration to produce its musical note, a powerful inductive
action takes place, and electrical undulations traverse the circuit g b e f g . The vibratory current passing through the coil
of the electromagnet f causes vibration in its armature h when the armature c h of the two instruments A
I are normally in unison with one another; but the armature h is unaffected by the passage of the undulatory current
when the pitches of the two instruments are different."

															"A number of instruments may be placed upon a telegraphic
circuit, as in Fig. 6. When the armature of any one of the
instruments is set in vibration, all the other instruments upon the
circuit which are in unison with it respond, but those which have
normally a different rate of vibration remain silent. Thus, if A,
Fig. 6, is set in vibration, the armatures of A1 and A2 will
vibrate also, but all the others on the circuit will remain still.
So if Bl is caused to emit its musical note, the instruments B B2
respond. They continue sounding so long as the mechanical vibration
of Bl is continued, but become silent with the cessation of its
motion. The duration of the sound may be used to indicate the dot
or dash of the Morse alphabet, and thus a telegraphic dispatch may
be indicated by alternately interrupting and renewing the sound.
When two or more instruments of different pitch are simultaneously
caused to vibrate, all the instruments of corresponding pitches
upon the Page 126 U. S. 12 circuit are set in vibration, each responding to that one only
of the transmitting instruments with which it is in unison. Thus,
the signals of A, Fig. 6, are repeated by A1 and A2, but by no
other instrument upon the circuit; the signals of B2 by B and B1,
and the signals of C1 by C and C2 -- whether A, B2, and C1 are
successively or simultaneously caused to vibrate. Hence, by these
instruments two or more telegraphic signals or messages may be sent
simultaneously over the same circuit without interfering with one
another."

															"I desire here to remark that there are many other uses to which
these instruments may be put, such as the simultaneous transmission
of musical notes, differing in loudness as well as in pitch, and
the telegraphic transmission of noises or sounds of any kind."

															"When the armature c , Fig. 5, is set in vibration, the
armature h responds not only in pitch but in loudness.
Thus, when c vibrates with little amplitude, a very soft
musical note proceeds from h , and when c vibrates
forcibly, the amplitude of the vibration of h is
considerably increased, and the resulting sound becomes louder. So
if A and B, Fig. 6, are sounded simultaneously (A loudly and B
softly) the instruments A1 and A2 repeat loudly the signals of A,
and B1 B2 repeat softly those of B."

															"One of the ways in which the armature c , Fig. 5, may
be set in vibration has been stated above to be by wind. Another
mode is shown in Fig. 7, whereby motion can be imparted to the
armature by the human voice or by means of a musical
instrument."

															"The armature c , Fig. 7, is fastened loosely by one
extremity to the uncovered leg d of the electromagnet b , and its other extremity is attached to the center of a
stretched membrane a . A cone A is used to converge sound
vibrations upon the membrane. When a sound is uttered in the cone,
the membrane a is set in vibration, the armature c is forced to partake of the motion, and thus electrical
undulations are created upon the circuit E b e f g . These
undulations are similar in form to the air vibrations caused by the
sound -- that is, they are represented graphically by similar
curves. The undulatory Page 126 U. S. 13 current passing through the electromagnet f influences
its armature h to copy the motion of the armature c . A
similar sound to that uttered into A is then heard to proceed from
L."

															"In this specification, the three words 'oscillation,'
'vibration,' and 'undulation,' are used synonymously, and in
contradistinction to the terms 'intermittent' and 'pulsatory.' By
the term 'body capable of inductive action,' I mean a body which,
when in motion, produces dynamical electricity. I include in the
category of bodies capable of inductive action brass, copper, and
other metals, as well as iron and steel."

															"Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to
secure by letters patent is as follows:"

															"1. A system of telegraphy in which the receiver is set in
vibration by the employment of undulatory currents of electricity,
substantially as set forth."

															"2. The combination, substantially as set forth, of a permanent
magnet or other body capable of inductive action, with a closed
circuit, so that the vibration of the one shall occasion electrical
undulations in the other or in itself, and this I claim whether the
permanent magnet be set in vibration in the neighborhood of the
conducting wire forming the circuit or whether the conducting wire
be set in vibration in the neighborhood of the permanent magnet, or
whether the conducting wire and the permanent magnet both
simultaneously be set in vibration in each other's
neighborhood."

															"3. The method of producing undulations in a continuous voltaic
current by the vibration or motion of bodies capable of inductive
action, or by the vibration or motion of the conducting wire
itself, in the neighborhood of such bodies, as set forth."

															"4. The method of producing undulations in a continuous voltaic
circuit by gradually increasing and diminishing the resistance of
the circuit, or by gradually increasing and diminishing the power
of the battery, as set forth."

															"5. The method of and apparatus for transmitting vocal or other
sounds telegraphically, as herein described, by causing electrical
undulations similar in form to the vibrations of the Page 126 U. S. 14 air accompanying the said vocal or other sounds, substantially
as set forth."

															"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name this 20th
day of January, A.D. 1876."

															"ALEX. GRAHAM BELL"

															"Witnesses:"

															"THOMAS E. BARRY"

															"P. D. RICHARDS" Page 126 U. S. 15 image:c Page 126 U. S. 16 image:d Page 126 U. S. 17 " UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" " ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS" " Specification forming part of Letters Patent No.
186,787," " dated January 30, 1877; application filed January 15,
1877" " To all whom it may concern: "

															"Be it known that I, ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL, of Boston,
Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in
Electric Telephony, of which the following is a specification:"

															"In Letters Patent granted to me the 6th day of April, 1875, No.
161,739, and in an application for Letters Patent of the United
States now pending, I have described a method of and apparatus for
producing musical tones by the action of a rapidly interrupted
electrical current whereby a number of telegraphic signals can be
sent simultaneously along a single circuit."

															"In another application for Letters Patent now pending in the
United States Patent Office, I have described a method of and
apparatus for inducing an intermittent current of electricity upon
a line wire whereby musical tones can be produced and a number of
telegraphic signals be sent simultaneously over the same circuit,
in either or in both directions, and in letters patent granted to
me March 7, 1876, No. 174,465, I have shown and described a method
of an apparatus for producing musical tones by the action of
undulatory currents of electricity, whereby a number of telegraphic
signals can be sent simultaneously over the same circuit, in either
or in both directions, and a single battery be used for the whole
circuit."

															"In the applications and patents above referred to, signals are
transmitted simultaneously along a single wire by the employment of
transmitting instruments, each of which occasions a succession of
electrical impulses differing in rate from the others and are
received without confusion by means of receiving Page 126 U. S. 18 instruments, each tuned to a pitch at which it will be put in
vibration to produce its fundamental note by one only of the
transmitting instruments. A separate instrument is therefore
employed for every pitch, each instrument being capable of
transmitting or receiving but a single note, and thus as many
separate instruments are required as there are messages or musical
notes to be transmitted."

															"My invention has for its object first the transmission
simultaneously of two or more musical notes or telegraphic signals
along a single wire in either or both directions, and with a single
battery for the whole circuit, without the use of as many
instruments as there are musical notes or telegraphic signals to be
transmitted; second, the electrical transmission by the same means
of articulate speech and sound of every kind, whether musical or
not; third, the electrical transmission of musical tones,
articulate speech, or sounds of every kind, without the necessity
of using a voltaic battery."

															"In my Patent No. 174,465, dated March 7, 1876, I have shown as
one form of transmitting instrument a stretched membrane to which
the armature of an electromagnet is attached, whereby motion can be
imparted to the armature by the human voice, or by means of a
musical instrument, or by sounds produced in any way."

															"In accordance with my present invention, I substitute for the
membrane and armature shown in the transmitting and receiving
instruments alluded to above a plate of iron or steel capable of
being thrown into vibration by sounds made in its
neighborhood."

															"The nature of my invention and the manner in which the same is
or may be carried into effect will be understood by reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which --"

															"Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of my electric
telephone. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same, and Fig. 3 is
a plan view of the apparatus. Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating the
arrangement upon circuit."

															"Similar letters in the drawings represent corresponding
portions of the apparatus."

															"A in said drawings represents a plate of iron or steel, Page 126 U. S. 19 which is fastened at B and C to the cover or sounding box D. E
represents a speaking tube, by which sounds may be conveyed to or
from the plate A. F is a bar of soft iron. G is a coil of insulated
copper wire, placed around the extremity of the end H of the bar F.
I is an adjusting screw whereby the distance of the end H from the
plate A may be regulated."

															"The electric telephones J, K, L, and M are placed at different
stations upon a line, and are arranged upon circuit with a battery,
N, as shown in diagram, Fig. 4."

															"I have shown the apparatus in one of its simplest forms, it
being well understood that the same may be varied in arrangement,
combination, general construction, and form, as well as material of
which the several parts are composed."

															"The operation and use of this instrument are as follows:"

															"I would premise by saying that this instrument is and may be
used both as a transmitter and as a receiver -- that is to say, the
sender of the message will use an instrument in every particular
identical in construction and operation with that employed by the
receiver, so that the same instrument can be used alternately as a
receiver and a transmitter."

															"In order to transmit a telegraphic message by means of these
instruments, it is only necessary for the operator at a telephone
(say J) to make a musical sound in any way in the neighborhood of
the plate A -- for convenience of operation, through the speaking
tube E -- and to let the duration of the sound signify the dot or
dash of the Morse alphabet, and for the operator who receives his
message (say at M) to listen to his telephone, preferably through
the speaking tube E. When two or more musical signals are being
transmitted over the same circuit, all the telephones reproduce the
signals for all the messages, but as the signals for each message
differ in pitch from those for the other messages, it is easy for
an operator to fix his attention upon one message and ignore the
other."

															"When a large number of dispatches are being simultaneously
transmitted, it will be advisable for the operator to listen to his
telephone through a resonator, which will reinforce to his ear the
signals which he desires to observe. In this way, he is enabled to
direct his attention to the signals for Page 126 U. S. 20 any given message without being distracted or disturbed by the
signals for any other messages that may be passing over the line at
the time."

															"The musical signals, if preferred, can be automatically
received by means of a resonator, one end of which is closed by a
membrane which vibrates only when the note with which the resonator
is in unison is emitted by the receiving telephone. The vibrations
of the membrane may be made to operate a circuit breaker which will
actuate a Morse sounder or a telegraphic recording or registering
apparatus."

															"One form of vibratory circuit breaker which may be used for
this purpose I have described in Letters Patent No. 178,399, June
6, 1876. Hence, by this plan, the simultaneous transmission of a
number of telegraphic messages over a single circuit in the same or
in both directions with a single main battery for the whole circuit
and a single telephone at each station is rendered practicable.
This is of great advantage in this, that for the conveyance of
several messages or signals or sounds over a single wire
simultaneously, it is no longer necessary to have separate
instruments correspondingly tuned for each given sound, which plan
requires nice adjustment of the corresponding instruments, while
the present improvement admits of a single instrument at each
station, or, if for convenience several are employed, they all are
alike in construction, and need not be adjusted or tuned to
particular pitches."

															"Whatever sound is made in the neighborhood of any telephone --
say at J, Fig. 4 -- is echoed in facsimile by the telephones of all
the other stations upon the circuit; hence, this plan is also
adapted for the use of the transmitting intelligibly the exact
sounds of articulate speech. To convey an articulate message, it is
only necessary for an operator to speak in the neighborhood of his
telephone, preferably through the tube E, and for another operator
at a distant station upon the same circuit to listen to the
telephone at that station. If two persons speak simultaneously in
the neighborhood of the same or different telephones, the
utterances of the two speakers are reproduced simultaneously by all
the other telephones on the Page 126 U. S. 21 same circuit; hence, by this plan, a number of vocal messages
may be transmitted simultaneously on the same circuit in either or
both directions. All the effects noted above may be produced by the
same instruments without a battery by rendering the central bar F H
permanently magnetic. Another form of telephone, for use without a
battery, is shown in Fig. 5, in which O is a compound permanent
magnet, to the poles of which are affixed poll-pieces of soft iron,
P Q, surrounded by helices of insulated wire, R S."

															"Fig. 6 illustrates the arrangement upon circuits of similar
instruments to that shown in Fig. 5."

															"In lieu of the plate A in above figures, iron or steel reeds of
definite pitch may be placed in front of the electromagnet O, and,
in connection with a series of such instruments of different
pitches, an arrangement upon circuit may be employed similar to
that shown in my Patent No. 174,465, and illustrated in "

															"This invention is not limited to the use of iron or steel, but
includes within its scope any material capable of inductive
action."

															"The essential feature of the invention consists in the armature
of the receiving instrument being vibrated by the varying
attraction of the electromagnet so as to vibrate the air in the
vicinity thereof in the same manner as the air is vibrated at the
other end by the production of the sound. It is therefore by no
means necessary or essential that the transmitting instrument
should be of the same construction as the receiving instrument. Any
instrument receiving and transmitting the impression of agitated
air may be used as the transmitter, although, for convenience and
for reciprocal communication, I prefer to use like instruments at
either end of an electrical wire. I have heretofore described and
exhibited such other means of transmitting sound, as will be seen
by reference to the proceedings of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, Volume XII."

															"For convenience, I prefer to apply to each instrument a
call-bell. This may be arranged so as to ring first when the Page 126 U. S. 22 main circuit is opened; second, when the bar F comes into
contact with the plate A. The first is done to call attention; the
second indicates when it is necessary to readjust the magnet, for
it is important that the distance of the magnet from the plate
should be as little as possible, without, however, being in
contact. I have also found that the electrical undulations produced
upon the main line by the vibration of the plate A are intensified
by placing the coil G at the end of the bar F nearest the plate A,
and not extend it beyond the middle, or thereabout."

															"Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to
secure by letters patent is:"

															"1. The union upon and by means of an electric circuit of two or
more instruments, constructed for operation substantially as herein
shown and described, so that if motion of any kind or form be
produced in any way in the armature of any one of the said
instruments, the armatures of all the other instruments upon the
same circuit will be moved in like manner and form, and if such
motion be produced in the former by sound, like sound will be
produced by the motion of the latter."

															"2. In a system of electric telegraphy or telephony consisting
of transmitting and receiving instruments united upon an electric
circuit, the production, in the armature of each receiving
instrument, of any given motion by subjecting said armature to an
attraction varying in intensity, however such variation may be
produced in the magnet, and hence I claim the production of any
given sound or sounds from the armature of the receiving instrument
by subjecting said armature to an attraction varying in intensity,
in such manner as to throw the armature into that form of vibration
that characterizes the given sound or sounds."

															"3. The combination, with an electromagnet, of a plate of iron
or steel or other material capable of inductive action which can be
thrown into vibration by the movement of surrounding air or by the
attraction of a magnet."

															"4. In combination with a plate and electromagnet, as before
claimed, the means herein described, or their mechanical
equivalents, of adjusting the relative position of the two Page 126 U. S. 23 so that, without touching, they may be set as closely together
as possible."

															"5. The formation, in an electric telephone such as herein shown
and described, of a magnet with a coil upon the end or ends of the
magnet nearest the plate."

															"6. The combination, with an electric telephone such as
described, of a sounding box substantially as herein shown and set
forth."

															"7. In combination with an electric telephone as herein
described, the employment of a speaking or hearing tube for
conveying sounds to or from the telephone substantially as set
forth."

															"8. In a system of electric telephony, the combination of a
permanent magnet with a plate of iron or steel or other material
capable of inductive action, with coils upon the end or ends of
said magnet nearest the plate, substantially as set forth."

															"In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name this 13th
day of January, A.D. 1877."

															"A. GRAHAM BELL"

															"Witnesses:"

															"HENRY R. ELLIOTT"

															"SWELL A. DICK"

															The complainants alleged infringement of claim five of the first
patent by all the defendants below, and infringement of claims
three, five, six, seven and eight of the second patent, or of some
of them, by some of the defendants below.

															The respondents all contested the validity of both of Bell's
patents. They also contested the scope of claim five of the first
patent. The question of infringement turned upon the scope of this
claim, as none of the defendants used instruments which were
identical with the forms shown in the drawings of that patent.
Dolbear's instrument differed from those of the other appellants,
and his contention as to the scope of this claim varied from that
of the others, as will appear more fully in the report of the
arguments infra. Page 126 U. S. 24 All the respondents denied that Bell was the original and first
inventor of the things patented, as the patents were construed by
the complainants' counsel, and by the courts below, and all
maintained that if the construction given below to the fifth claim
of the first patent was correct, it covered matters not
patentable.

															Dolbear, the Molecular Company, the Overland Company, and the
Clay Commercial Company, in their respective answers, set out long
lists of printed publications and patents [ Footnote 1 ] prior to Page 126 U. S. 25 the issue of Bell's patents, and averred that the inventions
patented to him in his first patent had been substantially Page 126 U. S. 26 described in these publications and patents, and they also set
up a number of like publications and patents as anticipating his
second patent. Page 126 U. S. 27 In the arguments in this Court, those known as the Bourseul and
Reis publications were chiefly relied upon, either to defeat Page 126 U. S. 28 the first patent or to limit its scope. The counsel for the
People's Company referred to these, though not set up in their Page 126 U. S. 29 answer, it having been agreed that the court should treat all
the evidence in all the cases as applicable to each one of
them. Page 126 U. S. 30 The Bourseul publication (there were several in the records)
chiefly cited in argument was the original communication from M.
Charles Bourseul printed in Volume XXIV of "l'Illustration," Paris,
August 26, 1854, of which the following is a translation:

															"The electric telegraph is based on the following principle: an
electric current, passing through a metallic wire, circulates
through a coil around a piece of soft iron which it converts into a
magnet. The moment the current stops, the piece of iron ceases to
be a magnet. This magnet, which takes the Page 126 U. S. 31 name of electromagnet, can thus in turn attract and then release
a movable plate ( plaque motile ) which by its to-and-fro
movement produces the conventional signals employed in telegraphy.
Sometimes this movement is directly utilized and is made to produce
dots or dashes on a strip of paper which is drawn along by
clockwork. The conventional signals are thus formed by a
combination of those dots and dashes. This is the American
telegraph, which bears the name of Morse, its inventor. Sometimes
this to-and-fro movement is converted into a movement of rotation.
In that way we have either the dial telegraph used on railroads or
the telegraph used in the government system, which by means of two
line wires and two indicating needles reproduce all the signals of
the aerial telegraph or semaphore which was formerly used. Suppose
now that we arrange upon a movable horizontal circle letters,
figures, signs of punctuation &c. One can understand that the
principle we have stated can be used to choose at a distance such
and such a character, and to determine its movement, and
consequently to print it on a sheet of paper appropriately placed
for this purpose. This is the printing telegraph."

															"We have gone still further. By the employment of the same
principle, and by means of a mechanism rather complicated, it has
been possible to reach a result which at first would seem to be
almost a miracle. Handwriting itself is produced at a distance, and
not only handwriting, but any line or any curve, so that, being in
Paris, you can draw a profile by ordinary means there, and the same
profile draws itself at the same time at Frankfort. Attempts of
this sort have succeeded. The apparatus has been exhibited at the
London Exhibition. Some details, however, remain to be perfected.
It would seem impossible to go beyond this in the region of the
marvelous. Let us try, nevertheless, to go a few steps further. I
have asked myself, for example, if the spoken word itself could not
be transmitted by electricity -- in a word, if what was spoken in
Vienna may not be heard in Paris? The thing is practicable in this
way:"

															"We know that sounds are made by vibrations, and are made
sensible to the ear by the same vibrations, which are Page 126 U. S. 32 reproduced by the intervening medium. But the intensity of the
vibrations diminishes very rapidly with the distance, so that even
with the aid of speaking tubes and trumpets, it is impossible to
exceed somewhat narrow limits. Suppose that a man speaks near a
movable disk sufficiently flexible to lose none of the vibrations
of the voice; that this disk alternately makes and breaks the
connection with a battery; you may have at a distance another disk
which will simultaneously execute the same vibrations."

															"It is true that the intensity of the sounds produced will be
variable at the point of departure at which the disk vibrates by
means of the voice, and constant at the point of arrival, where it
vibrates by means of electricity, but it has been shown that this
does not change the sounds. It is, moreover, evident that the
sounds will be reproduced at the same pitch."

															"The present state of acoustic science does not permit us to
declare a priori if this will be precisely the case with
syllables uttered by the human voice. The mode in which these
syllables are produced has not yet been sufficiently investigated.
It is true that we know that some are uttered by the teeth, others
by the lips, &c., but that is all."

															"However this may be, observe that the syllables can only
reproduce upon the sense of hearing the vibrations of the
intervening medium. Reproduce precisely these vibrations, and you
will reproduce precisely these syllables."

															"It is at all events impossible, in the present condition of
science, to prove the impossibility of transmitting sound by
electricity. Everything tends to show, on the contrary, that there
is such a possibility. When the application of electromagnetism to
the transmission of messages was first discussed, a man of great
scientific attainments treated the idea as Utopian, and yet there
is now direct communication between London and Vienna by means of a
simple wire. Men declared it to be impossible, but it is done."

															"It need not be said that numerous applications of the highest
importance will immediately arise from the transmission of speech
by electricity. Anyone who is not deaf and dumb may use this mode
of transmission, which would Page 126 U. S. 33 require no apparatus except an electric battery, two vibrating
disks and a wire. In many cases -- as for example in large
establishments, orders might be transmitted in this way, although
transmission in this way will not be used while it is necessary to
transmit letter by letter and to make use of telegraphs which
require use and apprenticeship. However this may be, it is certain
that in a more or less distant future, speech will be transmitted
by electricity. I have made some experiments in this direction.
They are delicate and demand time and patience, but the
approximations obtained promise a favorable result."

															"CHARLES BOURSEUL"

															"PARIS, August 18, 1854"

															Of the Reis publications the record contained over sixty
separate papers, from 1861 to 1876, and also a large amount of
expert testimony concerning them. It is not practicable to
reproduce most of this evidence, except as it is referred to by
counsel in the synopses of their arguments. The following are the
translations of some of the principal publications under this head,
which were referred to in argument in this Court. It appeared that
Reis delivered two lectures before the "Physikalischer Vereins" of
Frankfort. The first of the following papers was written by him as
a report of those lectures.

															"JAHRESBERICHT DES PHYSIKALISCHEN VEREINS ZU FRANKFURT AM MAIN,
fuer das Rechnungs Jahr 1860-1861. Published in 1862."

															"[Yearly Report of the Physical Society at Frankfort-a-M.,
1860-61, pp. 57-64.]"

															"On telephony by means of the galvanic current, by Philipp
Reis."

															"The extraordinary results in the field of telegraphy have
probably often raised the question if it might not be possible to
transmit musical tones themselves [ Tonsprache ] to a
distance. Experiments made in this direction could not, Page 126 U. S. 34 however, produce any result at all satisfactory, because the
vibrations of sound-conducting media soon lose their intensity to
"

															"A reproduction of tones [ Tonen ] at certain distances
by means of a galvanic current has probably been thought of, but
the practical solution of this problem has certainly seemed the
most doubtful to the very persons who, from their knowledge and
appliances, were in the best condition to attack it. To a person
having only a superficial knowledge of physics, the problem
presents far less difficulties simply because the most of them are
unperceived. About nine years ago, I also (having an extraordinary
enthusiasm for what was new, and an insufficient knowledge of
physics) had the boldness to attempt the solution, but was soon
forced to desist because the very first experiment convinced me of
the impossibility of its solution."

															"Later, after further study and experience, I came to see that
my first experiment had been a very rough and by no means
conclusive one; I did not, however, follow up the subject
seriously, because I did not feel myself equal to the difficulties
in the way."

															"Youthful impressions, however, are strong, and therefore not
easily effaced. I could never get rid of the thought of that first
experiment and its occasion, notwithstanding all that reason says
to the contrary, and thus, half unwillingly, this project of my
youth was reviewed in hours of leisure; the difficulties and the
means for overcoming them were weighed; but for the present, at
least, no experiment was made."

															"How indeed could a single instrument reproduce the combined
effect of all the organs occupied in human speech? This was always
the cardinal question; finally I got the notion of putting the
question in another way:"

															"How is our ear affected by the totality of vibrations
produced by the organs of speech all simultaneously active? Or,
more generally,"

															"How are we affected by the vibrations of several simultaneously
sounding bodies? " Page 126 U. S. 35 "To answer this question, we must in the first place understand
what must happen in order that we may perceive a single tone."

															"Without our ear, any tone is nothing else than a recurrent
condensation and rarefaction of some body repeated at least seven
or eight times in a second. If this occurs in the same medium in
which we are, the membrane of the ear is at each condensation
forced toward the middle ear, to be moved at the subsequent
rarefaction in the opposite direction. These vibrations produce a
synchronous raising and falling of the hammer upon the anvil
(according to other authorities, an approach or receding of the
earbone particles), and a similar number of tremors in the fluid of
the cochlea, in which the filaments of the auditory nerve are
distributed. The greater the condensation of the sound-conducting
medium at any given moment, the greater is the amplitude of
vibration of the membrane and hammer, and consequently the more
powerful the blow upon the anvil and the vibration of the nerves by
means of the fluid."

															"The office of our organs of hearing is therefore to transmit
with certainty up to the auditory nerve every condensation and
rarefaction occurring in the surrounding medium. But the office of
the auditory nerve is to bring to our consciousness the vibrations
of matter which have occurred in a given time, both as regards
number and amplitude. Here, for the first time, certain
combinations receive a name; here, certain vibrations are tones or noises [ Toene oder
Misstoene ]."

															"What our auditory nerve perceives is then simply the effect of
a force coming within the range of consciousness, and this force
can be represented both as to duration and magnitude graphically by
a curve."

															image:e

															"Let a b represent any given time, and the curve above
the line condensation (+), the curve below the line rarefaction
(-), then any ordinate raised from the end of any abscissa will Page 126 U. S. 36 represent the degree of condensation at the time represented by
its base, in consequence of which the drum of the ear
vibrates."

															"Our ear can under no circumstances appreciate more than can be
represented by these curves, and this indeed is entirely sufficient
to give us a clear perception of any tone [ Ton ] or any
combination of tones."

															"If several tones [ Toene ] are produced at the same
time, the conducting medium is subjected to the influence of
several simultaneous forces, and the two following laws will hold
good: if the forces act all in the same direction, the amplitude is
proportional to the sum of the forces; if the forces act in
opposite directions, the amplitudes are proportional to the
difference of the opposing forces."

															"If, for example, in the case of three tones, we draw the curve
of condensation of each separately, then by a summation of the
ordinates of corresponding abscissas, we can determine new
ordinates and develop a new curve, which might be called the
combination curve. This represents exactly what our ear perceives
of the three simultaneous tones. The fact that the musician can
distinguish the three tones need not surprise us any more than the
fact that anyone acquainted with the theory of colors can in green
discover blue and yellow, but the combination curves in Plate I
show that this difficulty is a slight one, for in these curves all
the relations of the components successively recur. In the case of
chords of more than three notes, the relations are not so readily
seen from the drawing, Plate II, for example. In the case of such
chords, however, the skilled musician also finds difficulty in
recognizing the separate notes."

															"Plate III illustrates discord [ Dissonanz ]. Why
discords impress us unpleasantly I will leave my readers to judge
at this time, though I may perhaps return to the subject
subsequently in another paper."

															"From the preceding it follows:"

															" First. Every tone [ Ton ] and every combination
of tones, on striking our ear, causes vibrations on the drum of the
ear, the succession of which may be represented by a curve. " Page 126 U. S. 37 image:f Page 126 U. S. 38 image:g Page 126 U. S. 39 image:h Page 126 U. S. 40 " Second. The succession of these vibrations alone gives
us a conception (sensation) of the tone, and every alteration
changes the conception (sensation)."

															"As soon, then, as it is possible to produce, anywhere and in
any manner, vibrations whose curves shall be the same as those of
any given tone or combination of tones, we shall receive the same
impression as that tone or combination of tones would have produced
on us."

															"With the above principles as a foundation, I have succeeded in
constructing an apparatus with which I am enabled to reproduce the
tones of various instruments, and even to a certain extent the
human voice. It is very simple, and by means of the figure will be
easily understood from the following explanation:"

															image:i

															"In the cubical block of wood r s t u v w x there is a
conical perforation a , closed at one end by a membrane b (pig's intestine), upon the middle of which there is
cemented a conducting strip of platinum; this is connected with the
binding screw p [ auf deren Mitte ein stromleitendes
Streifchen Platin festgekittet ist. Dieses steht mit der Klemme p
in Verbindung ]. From the binding screw n another thin
strip of metal [ ein duennes Metallstreifchen ] extends
until over the middle of Page 126 U. S. 41 the membrane, and ends here in a platinum wire placed at right
angles to its length and surface."

															"From the binding screw p a conducting wire runs
through the battery to a distant station, being connected with a
coil of silk-covered copper wire, and this again is connected with
a conductor leading back to the binding screw n ."

															"The coil at the distant station is about six inches long, is
composed of six layers of fine wire, and, as a core in its center,
has a knitting needle which projects about two inches at both ends.
By means of the projecting ends, the coil rests upon two bridges of
a resonant case. (All this part can, of course, be replaced by any
other apparatus by means of which the well known 'galvanic tones'
can be produced.)"

															"If now tones or combinations of tones are produced in the
neighborhood of the block, so that sufficiently powerful waves
enter the opening a , then these sounds cause the membrane b to vibrate. At the first condensation, the hammer-like
wire d is pushed back; at the rarefaction, it cannot
follow the retreating membrane, and the current traversing the
strips remains broken [ Strom bleibt so lange unterbrochen
bis, etc.], until the membrane forced by a new condensation
again presses the strip (proceeding from p ) against d . In this way, each sound wave causes a breaking and
closing [ ein Oeffnen und ein Schliessen ] of the current
[ Stromes ]."

															"At each closing [ Schliessen ] of the circuit
[ Kette ], the atoms of the iron wire inside the distant
spiral are moved away from each other (Pouillet Muller, p. 304,
Vol. II, fifth edition); on breaking the circuit [ beim
Unterbrechen des Stromes ], these atoms seek to regain their
position of equilibrium. When this happens, in consequence of the
reciprocal actions of elasticity and inertia, a number of
vibrations are produced, and they give the longitudinal sound of
the rod (see as above). This is the case if the making and breaking
of the current [ Unterbrechungen und Schliessungen des
Stromes ] occur with comparative slowness. If they occur more
rapidly than the oscillations of the iron core, due to its
elasticity, the atoms cannot complete their course. The paths
described become shorter in proportion as the interruptions are
more frequent, but then are just as numerous as these. " Page 126 U. S. 42 "The iron wire no longer gives its longitudinal normal tone, but
a tone whose pitch corresponds to the number of interruptions
[ Unterbrechungen ] (in a given time); this is the same as
saying that the rod reproduces the tone [Ton] impressed upon
the interrupter [ dem Unterbrechungsapparat ]. The
intensity also of this tone is proportional to that of the original
one, for in proportion as this is more intense, the motions of the
membrane are greater; the motions of the hammer, also, and finally
the time during which the circuit remains opened, is greater, and
consequently, up to a certain limit, the motions of the atoms in
the reproducing wire are greater, we perceiving them as greater
vibrations in just the same way as we would have perceived the
original sound wave."

															"As the length of the conducting wire can undoubtedly be made as
great as in direct telegraphy, I have called my instrument
'telephone.'"

															"Now, in reference to the capabilities of the telephone, it may
be stated that I was enabled to render audible to the members of a
large assembly (The Physical Society at Frankfort-a-M.) melodies
which were sung (not very loud) into the apparatus in another house
(three hundred feet away) with closed doors."

															"Other experiments showed that the sounding wire was capable of
reproducing complete chords of three tones of a piano upon which
the telephone was placed, and that it reproduces equally well the
tones of other instruments, accordion, clarinet, horn, organ pipes,
etc., provided that the tones are within the compass F-f."

															"Of course in all experiments sufficient precautions were taken
to insure that there was no direct conduction of sound. This is
very easily done by making a momentary short circuit immediately in
front of the coil by which means its action is temporarily
interrupted."

															"Hitherto it has not been possible to reproduce the tones of
human speech [ Tonsprache des Menschen ] with a distinctness
sufficient for everyone. The consonants are for the most part
reproduced pretty distinctly, but the vowels as yet not in an equal
degree. The cause of this I will attempt to explain. " Page 126 U. S. 43 "According to the experiments of Willis, Helmholtz, and others,
vowel tones can be produced artificially if the vibrations of one
body are from time to time augmented by those of another somewhat
as follows:"

															"An elastic spring is set in vibration by the blow of a tooth on
a toothed wheel; the first vibration is the greatest, and each
subsequent one is smaller than the preceding."

															image:j

															"If, after a few vibrations of this kind, the spring not coming
to rest in the meantime, the tooth wheel imparts a new stroke, the
following vibration will be again a maximum, and so on."

															"The pitch of the tone produced in this way depends upon the
number of vibrations in a given time, but the character of the tone
upon the number of swellings [ Anschwellungen ] in the same
time. Two vowels having the same pitch would differ in about the
way represented by the curve (Figs. 1, 2), while the same tone
without any vowel character would be represented by the curve (Fig.
3)."

															image:k

															"Our organs of speech probably produce the vowels in the same
manner, through the combined action of the upper and lower vocal
cords, or of these latter and the cavity of the mouth. " Page 126 U. S. 44 "My apparatus reproduces the number of vibrations, but with an
intensity much less than that of the original ones, though, as I
have reason to believe, to a certain degree proportional among
themselves. But in the case of these generally small vibrations,
the difference between large and small vibrations is more difficult
to perceive than in the case of the original waves, and the vowel
is therefore more or less indistinct."

															"Whether or not my views as to the curves corresponding to sound
combinations are correct could perhaps be decided by means of the
new phonautograph of Duhamel ('Vierordt Physiologie,' page
254)."

															"It may be that for the practical application of the telephone
much remains to be done; for physics, it has already sufficient
interest from the fact that it opens a new field for research."

															"Friedrichsdorf, near Frankfort-a-M., December, 1861."

															"DIE FORTSCHRITTE DER PHYSIK, Dargestellt von der physikalischen
Gesellschaft zu Berlin, XVII, in J., 1861, pp. 171-173."

															" [Progress in the Natural Sciences. Published by the
Physical Society" " of Berlin. 1861, Vol. XVIL, pp. 171-173.]" "PH. REIS. Telephony by means of the electric current. (Annual Report of the Physical Society of Frankfort on the Main,
1860-1861, pp. 57-64.)"

															"By the name 'Telephone,' the author designates the following
apparatus of his own construction, by means of which and with the
help of the galvanic current he is enabled 'to reproduce at a
distance the tones [ Toenen ] of different instruments, and
even to a certain degree the human voice.'"

															"A wooden cube is bored through from one of the faces to the
opposite one, the cavity taking the shape of a cone; the smaller
opening is closed by means of a membrane [hog's intestine, Schweinsduenndarm ]. On the middle of the membrane and
parallel with it is a thin strip of platinum cemented fast at one
end, whilst the other end is held by a binding post Page 126 U. S. 45 [Klemme] p . From another binding post q extends a similar thin strip of metal as far as over the center of
the membrane, and carries a little platinum wire directed toward
the membrane at right angles to the strip and the surface of the
membrane. From binding post p , a conductor leads through a
battery to a distant coil, which again is connected by another wire
to binding post q ."

															"The coil at the distant station is about six inches long,
consists of six layers of thin wire and encloses as a core a
knitting needle which protrudes about two inches at each end. By
these protruding ends, the coil is supported on two bridges of a
soundboard. If now tones or combinations of tones are produced in
the vicinity of the large opening of the conical cavity so that
sufficiently strong waves enter it, these waves will set the
membrane into vibration; by the outward motion of the membrane, the
platinum strip cemented on it is pressed against the hammer-shaped
wire d and the galvanic current [ Strom ] is closed
[ geschlossen ]; by the inward motion of the membrane, the
current is reopened. The alternate magnetizings and demagnetizings
of the core of the coil resulting therefrom will bring forth, if
the alternation is slow, the longitudinal tone of the core, and if
the alternation [ aufeinanderfolge ] is quicker, a
longitudinal vibration of the same, the period of which corresponds
to the period of the interruptions of the current
[ Unterbrechungen des Stromes ] or of the vibrations of the
membrane, and consequently to the rate or pitch of the tone which
entered the conical cavity. That means, according to the author,
that 'The rod [ Stab ] reproduces the tone which was
impressed upon the interrupting apparatus
[ Unterbrechungsapparat ].' 'The strength of this tone is
also proportionate to the original tone, for,' as the author,
though not very accurately, explains,"

															"the stronger this is, the greater the motion of the little
hammer, the greater finally the time during which the circuit
remains open, and consequently the greater, up to a certain limit,
the motion of the atoms in the reproducing rod, which motions
affect us as greater vibrations, as the original wave itself would
have done."

															"By means of this telephone, the author made audible to the
members of a Page 126 U. S. 46 large meeting of the Physical Society in Frankfort-a-M. melodies
sung not very loud into the apparatus in a house situated about
three hundred feet distant, with closed doors."

															" Other trials showed that the resounding rod is capable of
reproducing full chords [ Dreiklaenge ] of a piano on which
the telephone rests, and that, in short, it reproduces just as well
the tones of other instruments, such as the harmonica, clarinet,
horn, organ pipe &c., provided the tones are within a certain
range, from F to f2 or thereabout."

															" As a matter of course, sufficient care was taken to ascertain
whether direct transmission of the sounds had not a share in the
result. This was ascertained very simply by establishing for a
given time a good shunt circuit directly before the coil, in
consequence of which, of course, the activity of the latter ceased
for that time."

															" It was not possible thus far to reproduce spoken tones
[ Tonsprache des Menschen ] with a distinctness satisfactory
to all; the consonants are for the most part distinctly reproduced,
the vowels not in the same degree."

															"The author attempts to explain this imperfect reproduction of
the vowels by saying that the apparatus reproduces the vibrations
to a certain extent indeed with proportionate but also reduced
strength, and the ear can no longer satisfactorily discern the
relation of the proportionately great vibrations which determine
the pitch [ Tonhoehe ] to the small vibrations on which
vocal quality [ vocal Farbe ] depends."

															" ZEITSCHRIFT DES DEUTSCH-OESTERREICHISCHEN TELEGRAPHEN
VEREINS" " Berlin, 1862. Vol. IX., p. 125" " [Journal of the German-Austrian Telegraph
Association" " V ol. IX., p. 125, 1862]"

															" Concerning the reproduction of sounds by means of galvanic
electricity: by V. Legat, royal Prussian Telegraph Inspector at
Cassel, accompanied by copperplates VIII and IX "

															"It might not be uninteresting to make known in wider circles
the following ideas lately communicated by Mr. Philip Reis Page 126 U. S. 47 to the Society of Physics and to the meetings of the Free German
Institute at Frankfort on the Main concerning the reproduction of
tones [ Toenen ] by means of galvanic electricity, and also
what has been hitherto accomplished toward the realization of this
project in order that the accumulated experiments may serve as a
foundation to build upon, and that the capacity of the electric
current, which by human ingenuity has already been made serviceable
for correspondence, may be developed in this direction also."

															"In this essay, we shall not deal with the electric current as
to its capacity for operating telegraphic apparatus of whatever
construction for the reproduction of visible signs, but of the
application of this current to the production of audible signals,
of tones [ Toenen ]."

															"The air waves, which by acting upon the ear excite in us the
sensation of sound by primarily setting the tympanum of the ear
into the vibratory motion, are, as is well known, transmitted to
the interior parts of the ear and to the auditory nerves there
located by means of a lever apparatus of wonderful delicacy, the
auditory bones (hammer, anvil, stirrup), and the attempt to
reproduce tones therefore depends upon this, to actuate an
artificial imitation of this lever apparatus by means of the
vibrations of a membrane corresponding to the membrane of the
eardrum, and thereby to open and close ( zum Oeffnen v.
Schliessen ) a galvanic circuit, connected with a distant
station by a metallic conductor."

															"Before describing the apparatus to be used, it would be proper
to inquire how our ear apprehends the vibrations of anyone
particular tone, and the combined vibrations of all simultaneous
tones acting upon it, because thereby we may determine the
operations which are to be performed by the transmitting and
receiving apparatus in the solution of the problem."

															"Examining first the processes which take place in order that
the human ear may apprehend any single tone, we find that each tone
is the result of alternate rarefactions and condensations repeated
within a fixed time. If this operation occurs in the same medium in
which the ear is placed, then at Page 126 U. S. 48 each condensation, the membrane is forced toward the cavity of
the drum and toward the opposite side at each rarefaction."

															"These vibrations cause corresponding movements in the auditory
bones, and are thereby transmitted to the auditory nerves."

															"The greater the degree of condensation of the sound-conducting
medium is at a given time, the greater will be the amplitude of
vibration of the membrane and auditory bones, and the greater the
consequent result, and in the opposite case, so much the weaker.
Hence it is evidently the function of the auditory apparatus to
impart with faithfulness to the auditory nerves every condensation
and rarefaction which occurs in the surrounding medium. On the
other hand, the function of transmitting to our consciousness both
the number and amplitude of the resulting vibrations occurring
within a given time devolves upon the auditory nerves."

															"It is here, in our consciousness, that a certain complex
phenomenon receives a specific name; it is here, in our
consciousness, that the transmitted vibrations become tones
[ Toene ]."

															"Accordingly, that which is apprehended by the auditory nerves
is the effect of a force reaching to our consciousness, and which
can be made more easy of comprehension as to duration and strength
by graphical delineation."

															"For example, let the length of the line a-b represent
a definite period of time, the curves above this line the
condensations (+), and the curves below this line the
rarefactions"

															image:l

															"(-); then every ordinate erected at the end of any abscissa
will indicate at the moment of time indicated by this abscissa the
degree of condensation in consequence of which the membrane of the
drum vibrates."

															"The ear is not capable of perceiving more than can be
represented in this way or more than can be represented by similar
curves; this is, however, sufficient to convey to our Page 126 U. S. 49 consciousness any single tone [ Ton ] or any desired
combinations of tones. For if several tones are generated
simultaneously, then the sound-conducting medium is influenced by
several forces, acting at the same time and subject to mechanical
laws."

															"If all the forces act in the same direction, then the amount of
motion is in proportion to the sum of all the forces; if, on the
other hand, the forces act in opposing directions, then the amount
of motion is in proportion to the difference between the opposing
forces."

															"From these principles it follows that the curves representing
the condensations of a number of simultaneously generated tones may
be combined in a single curve of condensation, which will indicate
with precision what our ear apprehends through the reception of
these simultaneously acting tones."

															"The objection generally made to this proposition that a
musician or any person is able to distinguish the simple tones out
of which these composite curves are formed or arise, should not be
allowed to militate against it; as it is also possible for some who
are familiar with the study of colors to distinguish, in green, for
example, the mixture of yellow and blue, in their varied shades,
and the one phenomenon as well as the other is referable to the
fact that in both cases the observer is familiar with the factors
of that product which has been conveyed to his consciousness."

															"By the explanations heretofore given, it is easy to construct
the curves representing the condensations of various tones, chords,
etc., and a few examples are given by way of illustration:"

															"Fig. 1, Plate VIII, represents a composite curve formed of
three tones, in which all the proportions of the components recur
successively."

															"Fig. 2 represents a similar curve formed of more than three
tones; in this case, however, it is no longer possible to represent
the proportions so clearly in the drawing, yet an experienced
musician will be able to discern them even here, although in
practice it might be difficult even for him to recognize the
separate tones in such a chord. " Page 126 U. S. 50 image:m Page 126 U. S. 51 "The advantage of representing the operation of tones upon the
human ear after this manner is that it gives the clearest view
possible of the process; the representation here given also shows
why a discord [ Dissonanz ], Fig. 3, must affect the ear
disagreeably."

															"This apparent digression from the subject under consideration
was necessary to demonstrate that as soon as we are able, in any
place and in any manner, to reproduce vibrations of such curves and
intensities as are equivalent to the curves and intensities of the
vibrations of any particular tone, or of any particular combination
of tones, we shall have the same impressions as were produced upon
us by this original tone, or these original combinations of
tones."

															"The apparatus described hereafter offers the possibility of
producing these vibrations in every manner desired, and by the use
of galvanic electricity, it is possible to evoke at any distance,
vibrations like [ gleiche ] those which have been so
produced, and in this way to reproduce at any place the tones which
have been generated at another place."

															"In Plate IV, Fig. 4, A is the tone transmitter
[ Tonengeber ], and L the tone receiver
[ Tonenpfanger ], and these two instruments are set up at
different stations. I might observe at the outset that the
arrangement of the instruments for sending backwards and forwards
is omitted for greater clearness, and likewise, as the whole thing
is not presented as a completed fact, but only to call to the
notice of a wider circle what has been already ascertained, the
possibility of the working of the apparatus at a distance greater
than the limited direct working allows at present is left out of
consideration, since these points are easily accomplished by
mechanical arrangements, and since the most important facts of the
phenomena treated are not influenced thereby."

															"Let us now turn to the tone transmitter, Fig. 4 A. This on the
one hand is connected by that metallic conductor with the tone
receiver, Fig. 4 B, at a neighboring station; on the other hand, it
is connected by means of the electric battery C with the earth (or
with the metallic return conductor). The tone transmitter, Fig. 4
A, consists of a conical tube a b , about Page 126 U. S. 52 15 centimeters in length, having a front opening of about 10
centimeters and a rear opening of about 4 centimeters."

															"(It appears by practical experiments that neither the material
of this tube nor any increase in its length influenced the accuracy
of the action of the apparatus. An enlargement of the diameter of
the tube impairs the working of the apparatus, and it is desirable
that the inner surface of the tube be as smooth as possible.) The
smaller or rear end of the tube is closed by a collodion membrane o , and upon the center of the circular surface of this
membrane rests one end c of the lever c d , the
supporting point e of which is sustained by a bracket and
is kept in electrical connection with the metallic conductor. The
proper lengths of the respective arms c e and e d of this lever are regulated by the laws of the lever. It is
advisable to make the arm c e longer than the arm e
d in order that the least motion at c may operate
with greatest effect at d . It is also desirable that the
lever itself be made as light as possible, that it may follow the
movements of the membrane. Any inaccuracy in the operation of the
lever c d in this respect will produce false tones at the
receiving station. When in a state of rest, the contact at d
g is closed, and a delicate spring n maintains the lever in
this position."

															"The second part of the apparatus, the standard f ,
consists of a metallic support connected with one pole of the
battery C, the other pole of which is connected to the earth, or to
a metallic return wire leading to the other station."

															"Upon the standard f is arranged a spring g ,
with a contact point corresponding to the contact point d of the lever c d ; the position of g is regulated
by the screw h ."

															"In order not to impair the operation of the apparatus by the
action of the air waves against the rear side of the membrane, it
is desirable to place upon tube a b a disk of about fifty
centimeters in diameter at right angles to the longitudinal axis of
the tube a b ; this disk may be attached to the tube by a
fastening surrounding its outer circumference."

															"The tone receiver, Fig. 4B, consists of an electromagnet in m m, which rests upon a sounding board w w; its
coil is connected respectively with the metallic conductor and the
earth or the metallic return conductor. " Page 126 U. S. 53 image:n Page 126 U. S. 54 "Facing the electromagnet m m is an armature to which
is attached a very long but light and broad lever i ."

															"The lever i with the armature is suspended from the
standard k in the manner of a pendulum, its motion being
regulated by means of the screw l and q ."

															"In order to increase the effect of the apparatus, the tone
receiver may be placed at one of the focal points of an
elliptically arched chamber of suitable size, and the listener may
place his ear at the other focus of this chamber."

															"The operation of the apparatus described is as follows:"

															"When at rest, the galvanic circuit [ Kette ] is closed.
When the air, which is in the tube a b of the apparatus,
Fig. 4A, is alternately condensed and rarefied by speaking into it
(or by singing or introducing the tones of an instrument), a
movement of the membrane closing the smaller opening of the tube is
produced corresponding to such condensation or rarefaction. The
lever c d follows the movements of the membrane, and opens
and closes [ oeffnet und schliesst ] the galvanic circuit
[ Kette ] at d g , so that at each condensation of
the air in the tube, the circuit is opened, and at each rarefaction
the circuit is closed [ ein Oeffnen and ein Schliessen
erfolgt ]."

															"In consequence of this operation, the electromagnet of the
apparatus, Fig. 4B, in accordance with the condensations and
rarefactions of the column of air in the tube a b , Fig.
4B, is correspondingly demagnetized and magnetized
[ demagnetisirt und magnetisirt ], and the armature of the
magnet is set into vibrations like those of the membrane in the
transmitting apparatus. But the beam [ Balken ] i attached to the armature communicates these corresponding
vibrations of the armature to the air surrounding the apparatus
Fig. 4B, which finally transmits the vibrations so produced to the
ear of the listener."

															"We have not here to consider the question of the transmission
[ Fortpflanzung ] of tones by means of the galvanic current,
but only of the conveyance [ Uebertragung ] of generated
sounds to another place, and in this way that at the latter place a
similar cause is produced and a similar effect obtained. It must
not be ignored, however, that while the apparatus described
reproduces the exact number of the original vibrations, Page 126 U. S. 55 but not of the same strength [ die gleiche Starke der
reproducirten Schwingungen noch nicht erreicht nurde ], and
that the achievement of this result is reserved for an improvement
of the apparatus."

															"In consequence of the imperfection of the apparatus at this
time, the minor differences of the original vibrations are
distinguishable with more difficulty -- that is, the vowel sounds
appear more or less indistinct -- inasmuch as each tone depends not
merely upon the number of the vibrations of the medium, but also
upon its condensation and rarefaction."

															"This also explains why chords and melodies were transmitted
with marvelous accuracy in the practical experiments hitherto made,
while single words in reading, speaking &c., were less
distinctly recognizable, although even in these the inflections of
the voice, as in interrogation, exclamation, surprise, calling
&c., were clearly reproduced."

															"There is no doubt that the subject we have been considering,
before it becomes practically valuable for use, will require
considerable improvement; it will especially be necessary to
perfect the mechanism of the apparatus to be employed, but I am
convinced, by repeated practical experiments, that it is of the
greatest theoretic interest to pursue these investigations, and
also that a development of practical value will not elude our
intelligent century."

															" DEUTSCHE INDUSTRIE ZEITUNG, CHEMNITZ, May 29, 1863.
Extract." "A friendly communication was sent us some time ago by Mr. J. F.
Quilting, of Frankfort-a-M, according to which the capacity of the
apparatus to transmit tones to a considerable distance clearly and
with their characteristic timbre ( Klang-farbe ) is fully
established. Mr. Q. writes us that by means of the telegraphic
conductor with which the apparatus of Mr. Ph. Reis was connected,
two remote parts of the city were united, and although it was not
possible with the present construction of the apparatus to transmit
spoken words [ gesprochenen worte ], they succeeded so well
with the tones that were Page 126 U. S. 56 sung that not only were the melodies of songs reproduced
distinctly and perfectly at a tolerably remote station, but known
voices could be recognized."

															"All present capable of judging, Mr. Q, adds, who availed
themselves of the opportunity of witnessing the experiment, agreed
that the possibility is before us of making one's self understood
verbally at any distance in the way shown by Mr. Reis."

															" JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF TELEGRAPH ENGINEERS AND
OF" " ELECTRICIANS for March, 1883, No. 46" " REIS's TELEPHONE" "The following is a copy of an autograph description of Reis'
telephone which has been presented to the library by Mr. Wm. Ladd,
Member:"

															"INSTITUT GARNIER"

															"FRIEDRICHSDORF"

															"Dear Sir:"

															"I am very sorry not to have been in Frankfort when you were
there at Mr. Albert's, by whom I have been informed that you have
purchased one of my newly invented instruments (telephone), though
I will do all in my power to give you the most ample explanations
on the subject. I am sure that personal communication would have
been preferable, specially as I was told that you will show the
apparatus at your next scientific meeting, and thus introduce the
apparatus in your country."

															"Tunes and sounds of any kind are only brought to our conception
by the condensations and rarefactions of air or any other medium in
which we may find ourselves. By every condensation the tympanum of
our ear is pressed inwards, by every rarefaction it is pressed
outward, and thus the tympanum performs oscillations like a
pendulum. The smaller or greater number of the oscillations made in
a second gives us, by help of the small bones in our ear and the
auditory nerve, the idea of a higher or lower tune. " Page 126 U. S. 57 "It was no hard labor either to imagine that any other membrane
beside that of our ear could be brought to make similar
oscillations if spanned in a proper manner and if taken in good
proportions, or to make use of these oscillations for the
interruption of a galvanic current. However, these were the
principles which guided me in my invention; they were sufficient to
induce me to try the reproduction of tunes at any distance. It
would be long to relate all the fruitless attempts I made until I
found out the proportions of the instrument and the necessary
tension of the membrane. The apparatus you have bought is now what
may be found most simple, and works without failing when arranged
carefully in the following manner:"

															image:o

															"The apparatus consists of two separated parts, one for the
singing station, A, and the other for the hearing station, B."

															"The apparatus A is a square box of wood, the cover of which
shows the membrane, c , on the outside, under glass. In the
middle of the latter is fixed a small platina plate to which a
flattened copper wire is soldered, on purpose to conduct the
galvanic current. Within the circle you will further remark two
screws; one of them is terminated by a little pit in which you put
a little drop of quicksilver, the other is pored. The angle, which
you will find lying on the membrane, is to be placed according to
the letters, with the little hole a on the point a , the little platina foot b into the quicksilver
screw, the other platina foot will then come on the platina plate
in the middle of the membrane."

															"The galvanic current coming from the battery (which I compose
generally of three or four good elements) is introduced at the
conducting screw near b , wherefrom it proceeds to the
quicksilver, the movable angle, the platina plate and the
complementary telegraph to the conducting screw s . From
here it goes through the conductor to the other station B, and from
there returns to the battery."

															"The apparatus B, a sonorous box on the cover of which is fixed
the wire spiral with the steel axis, which will be magnetic when
the current goes through the spiral. A second little box is fixed
on the first one, and laid down on the steel Page 126 U. S. 59 axis to increase the intensity of the reproduced sounds. On the
small side of the lower box you will find the corresponding part of
the complementary telegraph."

															"If a person sing at the station A in the tube x , the
vibrations of air will pass into the box and move the membrane
above, thereby the platina foot c of the movable angle
will be lifted up, and thus will open the stream at every
condensation of air in the box. The stream will be reestablished at
every rarefaction. In this manner the steel axis at station B will
be magnetic once for every full vibration, and, as magnetism never
enters nor leaves a metal without disturbing the equilibrium of the
atoms, the steel axis at station B must repeat the vibrations at
station A, and then reproduce the sounds which caused them. Any
sound will be reproduced if strong enough to set the membrane in
motion."

															"The little telegraph which you find on the side of the
apparatus is very useful and agreeable for to give signals between
both of the correspondents. At every opening of the stream, and
next following shutting, the station A will hear a little clap,
produced by the attraction of the steel spring. Another little clap
will be heard at station B in the wire spiral. By multiplying the
claps and producing them in different measures, you will be able as
well as I am to get understood by your correspondent."

															"I am to end, Sir, and I hope that what I said will be
sufficient to have a first try; afterwards, you will get on quite
alone."

															"I am, Sir,"

															"Your most obedient servant,"

															"PH. REIS"

															"FRIEDRICHSDORF, 13-7-63"

															"To Mr. William Ladd" Page 126 U. S. 60 image:p

															"Sir:"

															"Having succeeded two years ago in demonstrating the possibility
of reproducing tones with the aid of the galvanic current and in
manufacturing an apparatus for that purpose, the subject has been
so highly appreciated by the most renowned men of science, and I
have received so many encouragements that I have striven since that
time to improve my originally very imperfect apparatus, in order to
give to others also the facility of experimenting."

															"I am now able to offer an apparatus which satisfies my
expectations, and with which every physicist will succeed in
repeating these interesting experiments regarding the reproduction
of tone ( Ton = reproduction) at distant stations."

															"I believe that it is the wish of many that these instruments
should come into the possession of laboratories; as, however, their
manufacture demands a complete knowledge of the leading principles
and a great experience in this matter, I have resolved to make the
most important parts myself, and to entrust to the mechanician only
the secondary parts and the external outfit. Mr. J. Wilh. Albert,
mechanician at Frankfort Page 126 U. S. 61 on the Main, is commissioned to sell them. I have enabled him to
offer them at the prices of 21 and 14 florins (12 and 8 Prussian
thalers) in two qualities, which differ only in the external
outfit. The instruments can also be had directly from me at the
same price by cash payment. Every apparatus is examined by me
before being shipped, and has attached my name, the serial number
and the date of construction."

															"FRIEDRICHSDORF b. HOMBURG v. d. HOEHE,"

															"August, 1863."

															"PHIL. REIS"

															" Teacher at L. F. Garnier's Boys' Institute "

															"[In manuscript on the foregoing is the following]:"

															"Descriptions of the above are to be found in Mueller-Pouillet's
Lehrbuch der Physik, Braunschweig, Yieweg & Son; Pisko, die
Neueren Apparate der Akustik, Wein, Gerold's Son, 1865."

															image:q Page 126 U. S. 62 "The apparatus consists of two parts, as may be seen in the
woodcuts above, the telephone proper A, and the reproducing
apparatus C. These two parts are to be placed at such a distance
from each other that singing or the sound of a musical instrument
can be heard in no other manner except through the apparatus from
one station to another."

															"Both parts are connected with each other and with the battery
B, the same as in an ordinary telegraph. The battery must be
sufficient to produce at station A the attraction of the armature
of the electromagnet placed at one side (three or four six-inch
Bunsen cells are sufficient for several hundred feet of
distance)."

															"The galvanic current then goes from B to the binding post d , from there through the copper strip, to the plating
disk in the center of the membrane, then through the foot c of the angle toward the binding post B, in the small
hollow of which a drop of quicksilver is inserted. From here
the current goes through the small telegraph apparatus e
f , then to the key of the station C and through the coil
surrounding i back to B."

															"If now sufficiently strong tones are produced before the
mouthpieces, their vibrations will put in motion the membrane and
the angular little hammer [ winkelfoermige Haemmerchen ]
which lies on it; for every full vibration, the circuit is once
opened and again closed [ einmal geofnet and wieder
geschlossen ], and thereby are produced at station C in the
core of the coil, just the same number of vibrations
[ ebensoviele schwingungen hervor-gebracht ] which are there
perceived as tones or as combinations of tones [ accords ].
By placing the cover tightly over the axis of the coil, the tones
at C are greatly strengthened. Besides the human voice
[ menschlichen stimme ] there can be reproduced (according
to my experience) just as well the tones [ toene ] of good
organ pipes from F to C and those of the piano; to that end the box a must be placed on the sounding board of the piano; out
of thirteen chords, a skilled experimenter could make out ten
clearly. The telegraph apparatus placed on one side is evidently
unnecessary for the reproduction of tones, but it is a very useful
addition for convenient experimenting. With its aid, it is Page 126 U. S. 63 possible to easily and surely make one's self intelligible
[ sich verstandingen ] with the person at the other
station."

															"This may be done somewhat in the following simple manner:"

															"After the apparatus has been put up completely, one satisfies
one's self of the continuity of the connection and the strength of
the battery by opening and closing the circuit whereby at A is
heard a striking of the armature and at C a very perceptible
ticking of the coil."

															"By a quick succession of makes and breaks at A, C is asked
whether he is ready for experimenting, whereupon C answers in the
same manner."

															"By agreement between the two stations, simple signals can be
given by opening and closing the circuit 1, 2, 3 or 4 times, e.g., one stroke, sing; two strokes, speak, etc."

															"I telegraph words by numbering the letters of the alphabet and
communicating their numbers."

															"1 stroke A"

															"2 strokes B"

															"3 strokes C"

															"4 strokes D"

															"5 strokes E"

															"etc."

															"Z would consequently be indicated by 25 strokes."

															"But these numbers of strokes would take too much time and not
be sure in counting. Therefore I put a dactyl for every 5 strokes,
hence"

															"U U for E"

															"U U and 1 stroke for F, etc."

															"Z: - UU - UU - UU - UU - UU, which is quicker and more easily
executed and better understood."

															"Still better is it to indicate the letters by numbers which are
in inverse proportion to the frequency of their occurrence."

															"9 August, 1863, Friedrichsdorf, near Homburg v. d. Hoehe."

															"PHIL. REIS"

															" Teacher at L. F. Garnier's Boys' Institute " Page 126 U. S. 64 " GARTENLAUBE REIS IMPROVED APPARATUS" " (The "Gartenlaube," No. 51, December,
1863) " " THE MUSICAL TELEGRAPH" "The surprising results in telegraphing have often excited the
question whether it may not be possible to communicate the language
of sound itself to a distance. The trials made in this direction
had, till now, produced no satisfactory results because the
vibrations of sound-conducting bodies soon diminish so much in
force that they are no more perceptible for our senses."

															"People, perhaps, had already thought of a reproduction of sound
at certain distances with the aid of the electric current, but
those who have been the best fitted to attack the question by their
knowledge and resources were the ones who doubted the most of a
practical solution of that question. Those who are but
superficially acquainted with natural science do not see the many
difficulties this problem offers, if they are at all acquainted
with it. Thus, about eleven years ago, a young man, Mr. Philipp
Reis, at present teacher of natural science at the Gamier Institute
for Boys at Friedrichsdorf, near Homburg, had the hardihood to work
at the solution of this problem. But soon he was obliged to desist
from it because his very first effort seemed to convince him of the
impossibility of a solution. Later, however, after further studies
and many experiments, he saw that his first effort was but a
rudimentary one, and by no means convincing. However, he did not
recommence to attack the question seriously for some time, not
feeling himself strong enough to vanquish the obstacles on his
road, although he never banished his early idea entirely from his
thoughts."

															"How can a single instrument reproduce simultaneously 'the
combined effects of all the organs active in human speech?' This
seemed to him the chief question. Later he put this question more
methodically: 'How does our ear perceive the composite vibrations
of all the organs of speech acting at the Page 126 U. S. 65 same time?' or, expressed more generally, 'How do we perceive
the vibrations of several bodies sounding simultaneously?' If we
throw a stone into quiet water, there are produced on the surface
uniform waves which progress symmetrically outward; the further
they go, the weaker they become, till they finally disappear."

															"It is quite similar with that which we call sound and tone. A
body made to vibrate through any impulse affects the surrounding
air and causes waves in it which follow each other at the same rate
as the vibrations of the body. As those rings on the water consist
in swellings and depressions, so also the vibrations of the air
consist of alternate condensations and rarefactions. If they reach
our ear, every condensation presses the tympanum toward the
interior of the cavity and puts in motion the adjacent group of
small bones which communicates the motion to the liquid of the
cochlea, in which the auditory nerves terminate. The latter are
excited and produce the sensation of sound. "

															"Now if the waves of vibration follow regularly and with a
certain swiftness (sixteen in the second at least), we shall have
the sensation of a musical tone . The latter is the higher the quicker the condensations follow each other and
the louder the stronger or higher the waves rise, as it
were."

															"Our ear cannot perceive anything except condensations and
rarefactions, wave crests and wave hollows. And nevertheless we
receive the most varied auditory impressions, we distinguish the
sound of the voices, we hear at the same time in quite different
directions and can distinguish the different sources -- nay, in a
complete large orchestra, each of the numerous instruments is
specially noticed by its peculiar sound, so that we decompose at
every moment the total impression into its several parts according
to the height and depth, strength and weakness, or according to the
timbre (or quality) [ Klangfarbe ]."

															"Referring to our simile, this is about the same as if we throw
two or more stones at different places into a calm pond. The wave
lines cross each other, strengthen each other at some points,
weaken each other at others, and the surface has a ruffled, Page 126 U. S. 66 hillocked aspect. But nevertheless, our eye can detect the
different systems of rings and can trace them back to their several
causes. If we succeed in transmitting with the galvanic current the
oscillations of a sounding body to a distance, so that there
another body is put to equally rapid and, in respect to each other,
equally strong oscillations, the problem of 'telephoning' is
solved."

															"For then exactly the same phenomena of waves are called forth
on the distant points as the ear receives at the place of origin;
therefore they also must make the same impression. The ear will
distinguish at the distant points not only the single tones,
according to their varying height and depth, but also to the
proportionate force of the vibrations, and not only single
melodies, but the performance of a whole orchestra -- yes, even
speech must be heard at the same time in places very distant from
each other. Mr. Reis was the first one to prove by experiments the
possibility of solving this problem. He has succeeded in
constructing an apparatus to which he gives the name Telephone, and which enables one to reproduce tones with
the aid of electricity at any given distance. Already, in October,
1861, he made rather successful experiments with a very simple,
rudely made apparatus before a numerous audience at Frankfort. On
July 4th of the present year, he presented an essentially improved
apparatus at an assembly of the 'Physical Union' which transmitted
by closed doors and windows a melody sung moderately loud, to a
distance of about three hundred feet, so that it could be heard
plainly. "

															"In order to give an opportunity to larger circles, especially
to scientific men, to convince themselves of the efficiency of this
essentially improved apparatus, Professor Banger of Frankfort-a-M.
made lately (at an assembly of German physicists and doctors in
Stettin, in the sectional meetings for natural sciences) several
experiments which certainly would have been crowned with still more
success if the hall in which the session was held had been located
in a less noisy part of the city and filled with a less numerous
audience."

															"Although, for the present, we are not so far along as to Page 126 U. S. 67 be able to converse with a friend at a distance of several
hundred miles, so much at least is certain, that with the aid of
the telephone songs of all kinds, melodies, especially in the
middle registers, can be reproduced most clearly at unlimited
distances. These wonderful results are obtained with the following
simple apparatus, which we show here in one-fourth of its
size:"

															image:r

															"A small box A (the telephone proper), a kind of hollow cube,
has a mouthpiece S on the front side, and a somewhat smaller
opening on the upper side of the box. The latter is closed with a
fine membrane (skin from the intestines of a hog) tightly
stretched. A narrow strip of plating m , connected with the
screw post d , touches directly the membrane on its center;
a slender plating point k , attached to the angle a
b , touches the strip of plating which rests on the membrane.
If one sings into the mouthpiece S (by filling the same entirely
with the mouth), the thin membrane vibrates and the attached
plating strip receives likewise a vibrating motion so that it is
alternately pressed against and leaves the plating point k ."

															"From the binding post d which communicates with the
plating strip resting on the membrane, a conducting wire is
connected with one of the holes of a galvanic battery B (about
three to four six-inch Bunsen elements), and then the
electricity Page 126 U. S. 68 is led through a wire attached to the second pole of the battery
to the distant station C; there at i it passes through a
coil l l formed of copper wire covered with silk thread,
then back again to screw f , and there to the plating point k . At every vibration of the membrane, an interruption of
the electric current [ unterbrechung des electrischen
Stromes ] takes place by the plating point parting from the
plating strip."

															"Within the wire coil at station C is a thin iron wire (a strong
knitting needle) which is about ten inches long, and which with its
two ends projecting out of the coil for about two inches, each
rests on two bridges of a sounding box. This is the reproducing apparatus."

															"At every interruption of the current [ Unterbrechung des
Stromes ] in the coil, the iron rod is made to vibrate. If the
motions follow with a certain rapidity, they produce a tone which
is rendered audible by the sounding box. As the rate of the
interruptions depends on the pitch of the tone that has been sung
into the mouthpiece, the same tone is sounded with the same pitch
from the sounding box. The length of the circuit has no influence
upon this. It is true the electric current loses force the farther
it goes, but there is no reason why relays should not be employed,
the same as in telegraphing, and with their aid any number of
reproducing apparatuses be set into simultaneous vibrations. Mr.
Reis has endeavored to give to his improved apparatus a form which
should also be pleasing to the eye, so that it might fill worthily
its place in any physical laboratory. He has applied, moreover, to
the side of the telephone, as well as to the reproducing apparatus,
a small telegraph arrangement, which is a very good addition for
convenient experimenting. (It is indicated in the drawing by the
letters e f h g .) By alternately opening and closing the
circuit with the key e or h, the most varied
signals may be given after mutual agreement -- for instance, if one
is ready for singing; if everything has been understood; whether
one should stop singing or commence anew &c."

															"Mr. Reis himself manufactures the principal parts of the
telephone, for which no small amount of physical knowledge and
experience is necessary. The mechanician, Wilhelm Albert, Page 126 U. S. 69 at Frankfort, is charged with manufacturing the less important
parts and the external outfit, as well as with the sale of the
instrument at a low price."

															" ANNALEN DER CHYMIE UND PHARMACIE, Leipzig, 1864-1865,
III" " Supplementband, p. 134" " [Foot-note of an article by H. Buff entitled" " "On the Tones generated in Iron Rods by the Electric
Current"]" " ARTICLE ITSELF COMMENCES ON P. 129" "This tone, appearing only as a secondary phenomenon, has been
utilized with success by Dr. Reis of Friedrichsdorf in the
instrument which he invented and named 'the telephone,' for
transmitting tones telegraphically by means of the periodic impact
of the sound waves of the same against an elastic skin."

															"The arrangement is such that the skin, which vibrates in equal
periods with a source of sound acting upon it, serves as a means
for interrupting the electric current, which at a distance
circulates around an iron wire, the ends of which are clamped upon
a resonating plate."

															"Unfortunately, by this otherwise ingenious arrangement the
pitch only of musical tones within several octaves, but not the
quality [ Wohllaut ] of the same, could so far be
transmitted through wire circuits."

															" HANDBUCH DER ANGEWANDTEN ELEKTRICITAETSLEHRE" " von Karl Kuhn, 1860, pp. 101-721" " [Manual of applied Electricity]" "The experiments made by Reis in Frankfurt-a-M. on the 26th
October, 1861, have proved, however, that when the breaks of the
current [ Stromunterbrechungen ] follow each other almost
continuously and very quickly in a coil provided with a thin iron
core, the iron wire can enter into longitudinal vibrations, and in
this way be enabled to reproduce sounds of different pitch. An
exact reproduction of the sounds does not take place, however, but
only an imitation; for this reason it cannot be questioned here of
transverse vibrations [ transversal Page 126 U. S. 70 Schwingungen ]. A phenomenon [ Erscheinung ] has
otherwise been heard of, which belongs to the aforementioned class,
in which the intensity and the timbre [ Klang ] of the sound
accompanying it (the phenomenon) depend, among other things, on the
strength of the current [ Stromstaerke ] and on the number
of breaks of the same, and in which, as it seems, the pitch of the
tones also can vary under different circumstances. We can, however,
hardly imagine by what arrangements it could be feasible to coax
tones of any given height or depth out of an iron or metal tube
split on one side, while it (the tube) is affected by the alternate
currents of an induction apparatus the coil ( Rolle ) of
which surrounds it. Yet the possibility cannot be controverted that
the principle of Neef's circuit breaker [ Unterbrecher ]
might contribute to the solution of the problem in question. It has
been employed for local purposes either with or without
modifications in the study and investigation of acoustic phenomena.
Thus, Petrina has used the principle of Neef's circuit breaker
[ Unterbrecher ] for his electric harmonica in this way,
that instead of the Neef hammer, a little rod was chosen, the
transverse vibrations of which rendered the tone. 'There are four
little rods of various lengths side by side, the motions of which
are checked by means of levers managed by finger keys.' That
principle was used previously by Dove, in a modified manner, to set
strained strings and elastic springs into acoustic vibrations of
constant amplitude by means of an electric magnet, and in this way
to be enabled to investigate constant tones. It appears from
Legat's published communications that"

															"the ideas submitted by Ph. Reis of Friedrichsdorf in the
Physical Society and in the meeting of the German Hochstift in
Frankfurt-a-M. about the reproduction of sounds by means of
electricity"

															"referred to arrangements of a similar kind. Legat mentions in
his paper all that has been done thus far toward the realization of
that project, and we borrow from it that part only which throws
some light on the construction of a telegraphic apparatus with
which it is said to be possible to produce vibrations and make
sounds in any desired manner and through which the employment of
electricity is said to make it feasible to Page 126 U. S. 71 bring forth at any given distance vibrations similar to the
first produced ones, and in this way to reproduce at a certain
place tones originally produced at another place."

															"This apparatus is composed of a transmitter and of a receiver.
The transmitter consists in a conical tube a b about 15
cm. long, 10 cm. at the front, 4 cm. at the back opening; the
choice of the material as well as a greater length is indifferent;
a greater width, on the contrary, is disadvantageous; the surface
of the interior must be as smooth as possible. The narrower back
opening is closed by a membrane of collodion o , and on the
middle of the circular surface formed by this membrane rests one
end c of lever c d , the fulcrum of which is held
by a support and remains connected with the metallic circuit. This
lever, one arm c e of which must be considerably longer
than e d , should be as light as possible so as to follow
easily the motions of the membrane, as an uncertain obedience
[ folgen ] on part of lever c d would produce
imperfect tones at the receiving station. In the state of rest, the
contact d g is shut and a weak spring n holds the
lever fast at rest. On the metallic support f , which is
connected with one of the poles of the battery is a spring g , with a contact which touches the contact of lever c
d at f and the position of which is regulated by
screw h ; over tube a b a disk must be placed
which encircles the outer circumference of the tube closely, so
that the efficacy of the apparatus may not be impaired through the
effect of the air waves coming round and striking against the rear
end. This disk at right angles with longitudinal axis of the tube
measures about fifty(?) cm. in diameter. The receiver (page 126 U. S. 53 ) consists of an
electromagnet m m , which rests on a sounding board, and
the coil of which is in connection with the metallic conductors and
with the ground. Opposite the electromagnet is an armature
connected with a lever as long as possible, but light and broad,
which latter, with the armature, is fastened pendulum-like on the
support k . Its motions are regulated through screw l or"

															spring o .

															"In order to increase the efficacy of the apparatus, Page 126 U. S. 72 this receiver can be placed in one focus of an ellipsoidal
enclosing box of suitable size, while the ear of the hearer is
placed at the other focus."

															"The working of the two apparatus (the mode of connection of
which is visible in the woodcuts), the transmitter being placed at
one station and the receiver at the other, is as follows: by
speaking, singing, or the intromission of instrumental sounds into
tube a b , in consequence of the condensation and
rarefaction of the column of air, a motion of the membrane c corresponding to these changes is brought about. Lever c d follows the motions of the membrane and opens or
closes the circuit according as a condensation or a rarefaction of
the air inside takes place. As a consequence, the electromagnet in m m (Fig. 505) is correspondingly demagnetized or
magnetized, and the armature affixed to it (as well as the armature
lever) is set into similar vibrations as the membrane of the
transmitter. Through lever i connected with the armature,
similar vibrations are communicated to the surrounding air and (the
increasing effect of the sounding board helping) the tones so
produced finally reach the ear of the listener. In respect to the
operations of this apparatus, the author remarks that the receiver
does reproduce the exact number of the original vibrations, but
that a reproduction of the original intensity has not yet been
attained. For that reason, it is added, small differences in the
vibrations are appreciated with difficulty, and in the practical
experiments made thus far, it was possible to transmit with
astonishing faithfulness chords, airs, etc., whilst in reading,
speaking, etc., single words were more indistinctly heard. The
apparatus just described is said to have been one of the
constructions which Reis has used himself in his experiments. The
underlying principles might give hopes of a farther improvement of
the apparatus, but the telephone which, according to later reports,
Reis has finally decided upon has the disposition (represented on
page 126 U. S. 73 ), although the
principle on which it is founded does not stand quite in harmony
with the above-mentioned investigations of Wertheim, for
instance."

															"The telephone proper, A, consists of a hollow wooden box
provided with a short sound funnel S, and the upper side of Page 126 U. S. 73 which is open in the center and covered over tightly with a
delicate membrane. On the middle of the latter, a thin platinum
disk is fastened, from which on one side a platinum strip
establishes circuit connection with the contact of the key at e , from which place the metallic connection is effected
with one end of the coil of a small electromagnet provided with a
spring armature, whilst the other end is in contact with screw f . The reproducing apparatus C set up at the receiving
station consists simply of a coil about six inches long formed
by"

															image:s

															"winding six layers of copper wire; in the axis of the coil, a
thin iron wire ten inches long (a knitting needle), protruding out
of each end of the coil about two inches, is so disposed that with
its bridge-like supports it rests on a sounding board. By means of
screw i and of the key at h g , the coil is thrown
into the circuit and the connection of both apparatuses is effected
in the manner mentioned, a battery being placed at B, the course of
the current is easily followed out. It can flow from B through d c and c b to e and f , and
from here to the receiving station, and at i return to the
battery, or it can start in the opposite direction according as d or i forms the starting point of the current.
The circuit can be broken at will at each of the two stations by
pressing the key lever, and a connection can be established thus in
either direction, but the Page 126 U. S. 74 discontinuous currents which are to produce the sounding of the
iron wire at C are obtained in this way: by singing or the blowing
of instruments toward the sound funnel S, the membrane at A is made
to vibrate; if this can be brought about, it will happen, as was
demonstrated by the experiments, that the iron wire of the receiver
assumes isochronal vibrations, and whenever this is the case, it
reproduces the same tones which set the membrane to vibrating at
the transmitting stations."

															"My own experiments have demonstrated that every melody starting
from c and embracing the entire extent of an average male
voice, when sung into the telephone, can be reproduced by the
receiver at C. The timbre [ Klang ] or quality of the sounds
thus reproduced is not pleasant -- they are almost like the sounds
of toy trumpets, at times also like the buzz of a fly caught in a
spider's web and the like, yet the experiments of Reis are
certainly interesting enough to challenge attention."

															"A reproduction of the words spoken into the telephone with or
without variation of pitch was audible at the receiver only in a
corresponding noise [ entsprechendes Geraeusch ], while a
discriminate perception of single vocal sounds, syllable or words
could not be had. According to communications made on this subject
by Reis, he has succeeded in reproducing the tones of organ pipes
not covered, and those of a piano; in this latter case, the
transmitter was placed on the sounding board of the piano."

															"ELECTRICITY, BY ROBERT M. FERGUSON. William and Robert
Chambers, London and Edinburgh, 1567."

															"The telephone. This is an instrument for telegraphing notes of
the same pitch. Any noise producing a single vibration of the air,
when repeated regularly a certain number of tunes in the second
(not less than thirty-two), produces, as is well known, a musical
sound. In Art. 115, we found that when a rod of iron was placed in
a coil of insulated wire and magnetized by a current being sent
through the coil, it gave out a distinct tick when it was
demagnetized by the stoppage Page 126 U. S. 75 of the current. A person when singing any note causes the air to
vibrate so many times per second, the number varying with the pitch
of the note he sings, the higher the note, the greater being the
number of vibrations. If we then by any means can get these
vibrations to break a closed circuit in which the coil just
mentioned is included, the note sung at one station can be
reproduced at least so far as pitch is concerned at another. Reis'
telephone (invented 1861) accomplishes this in the following
way:"

															"A A (Fig. 141) is a hollow wooden box with two round holes in
it, one on the top, the other in front. The hole at the top is
closed by a piece of bladder S, tightly stretched on a circular
frame; a mouthpiece M is attached to the front opening."

															image:t

															"When a person sings in at the mouthpiece, the whole force of
his voice is concentrated on the tight membrane, which in
consequence vibrates with the voice. A thin strip of platinum is
glued to the membrane and connected with the binding screw a , in which a wire from the battery B is fixed. A tripod e f g rests on the skin. The feet e and f lie in metal cups on the circular frame over which the
skin is stretched. One of these, f , rests in a cup
containing mercury, and is connected with the binding screw b . The third foot g , consisting of a platinum
point, lies on the circular end of the strip of platinum just
mentioned. This point, being placed on the center of the
oscillating membrane, acts like a hopper, and hops up and down with
it. It is easy to understand how, for every vibration of the
membrane, the hopper will be thrown Page 126 U. S. 76 up for the instant from connection with its support, and how the
close circuit is thus broken at every vibration. The receiving
apparatus R consists of a coil of wire placed in circuit, enclosing
an iron wire, both being fixed on a sounding box. The connections
of the various parts of the circuit are easily learned from the
figure. Suppose a person to sing a note at the mouthpiece which
produces three hundred vibrations a second, the circuit is broken
by the bladder three hundred times, and the iron wire ticking at
this rate gives out a note of the same pitch. The note is weak, and
in quality resembles the sound of a toy trumpet. Dr. Wright uses a
receiving apparatus of the following kind: the line current is made
to pass through the primary coil of a small induction coil. In the
secondary circuit he places two sheets of paper, silvered on one
side, back to back, so as to act as a condenser. Each current that
comes from the sending apparatus produces a current in the
secondary circuit which charges and discharges the condenser, each
discharge being accompanied by a sound like the sharp tap of a
small hammer. The musical notes are rendered by these electric
discharges, and are loud enough to be heard in a large hall."

															All contended that the inventions were not novel, and set up
prior inventions and discoveries by other persons and other
patentees. Of the many persons named in the answers by whom the
inventions covered by the first patent were averred to have been
invented, known, or used prior to Bell's invention, in the
arguments in this Court, the following were chiefly relied upon.
(1) The Philipp Reis invention, already described; (2) The
invention of Elisha Gray of Chicago; (3) The invention of Daniel
Drawbaugh of Eberlys Mills in Pennsylvania; (4) the inventions
patented to C. F. Varley in the United States, June 2, 1868, and in
Great Britain, October 8, 1870; (5) the invention of J. W.
McDonough of Chicago, for which he applied for a patent in 1876;
and (6) the machine constructed in New York in 1869-1870 by Dr. Van
der Weyde. Page 126 U. S. 77 The invention of Gray was set forth in a caveat filed in the
Patent Office February 14, 1876. The following is a copy of that
caveat, and of the office marks and proceedings therein:

															image:u Page 126 U. S. 78 " To all whom it may concern: "

															"Be it known that I, Elisha Gray of Chicago, in the County of
Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new art of transmitting
vocal sounds telegraphically, of which the following is a
specification:"

															"It is the object of my invention to transmit the tones of the
human voice through a telegraphic circuit, and reproduce them at
the receiving end of the line, so that actual conversations can be
carried on by persons at long distances apart."

															"I have invented and patented methods of transmitting musical
impressions or sounds telegraphically, and my present invention is
based upon the modification of the principle of said invention,
which is set forth and described in letters patent of the United
States, granted to me July 27, 1875, respectively numbered 166,095
and 166,096, and also in an application for letters patent of the
United States filed by me February 23, 1875."

															"To attain the objects of my invention, I devised an instrument
capable of vibrating responsively to all the tones of the human
voice, and by which they are rendered audible."

															"In the accompanying drawings, I have shown an apparatus
embodying my improvements in the best way now known to me, but I
contemplate various other applications, and also changes in the
details of construction of the apparatus, some of which would
obviously suggest themselves to a skillful electrician or a person
versed in the science of acoustics on seeing this application."

															"Figure 1 represents a vertical central section through the
transmitting instrument."

															"Fig. 2. A similar section through the receiver, and"

															"Fig. 3. A diagram representing the whole apparatus."

															"My present belief is that the most effective method of
providing an apparatus capable of responding to the various tones
of the human voice is a tympanum, drum, or diaphragm stretched
across one end of the chamber, carrying an apparatus for producing
fluctuations in the potential of the electric current, and
consequently varying in its power."

															"In the drawings, the person transmitting sounds is shown Page 126 U. S. 79 as talking into a box or chamber, A, across the outer end of
which is stretched a diaphragm, a , of some thin substance
such as parchment or gold beater's skin, capable of responding to
all the vibrations of the human voice, whether simple or complex.
Attached to this diaphragm is a light metal rod A' or other
suitable conductor of electricity which extends into a vessel B
made of glass or other insulating material, having its lower end
closed by a plug, which may be of metal, or through which passes a
conductor b , forming part of the circuit. This vessel is
filled with some liquid possessing high resistance, such, for
instance, as water, so that the vibrations of the plunger or rod
A', which does not quite touch the conductor b , will cause
variations in resistance and consequently in the potential of the
current passing through the rod A'."

															"Owing to this construction, the resistance varies constantly in
response to the vibrations of the diaphragm, which, although
irregular not only in their amplitude but in rapidity, are
nevertheless transmitted, and can consequently be transmitted
through a single rod, which could not be done with a positive make
and break of the circuit employed or where contact points are
used."

															"I contemplate, however, the use of a series of diaphragms in a
common vocalizing chamber, each diaphragm carrying an independent
rod and responding to a vibration of different rapidity and
intensity, in which case contact points mounted on other diaphragms
may be employed."

															"The vibrations thus imparted are transmitted through an
electric circuit to the receiving station, in which circuit is
included an electromagnet of ordinary construction, acting upon a
diaphragm to which is attached a piece of soft iron, and which
diaphragm is stretched across a receiving vocalizing chamber c , somewhat similar to the corresponding vocalizing
chamber A."

															"The diaphragm at the receiving end of the line is thus thrown
into vibration corresponding with those at the transmitting end,
and audible sounds or words are produced."

															"The obvious practical application of my improvement will be to
enable persons at a distance to converse with each other Page 126 U. S. 80 through a telegraphic circuit just as they now do in each
other's presence or through a speaking tube."

															"I claim as my invention the art of transmitting vocal sounds or
conversations telegraphically through an electric circuit."

															"ELISHA GRAY"

															"Witnesses:"

															"WM. J. PEYTON"

															"WM. D. BALDWIN"

															"STATE OF"

															"COUNTY OF ss."

															"District of Columbia"

															"ELISHA GRAY, the within named petitioner, being duly sworn,
doth depose and say that he verily believes himself to be the
original and first inventor of the Art of Transmitting Vocal Sounds
described in the foregoing specification; that he does not know or
believe that the same was ever before known or used, and that he is
a citizen of the United States."

															"ELISHA GRAY"

															"Subscribed and sworn"

															"to before me this 14th day of"

															"February, A.D. 1876"

															"[SEAL] JOHN T. ARMS"

															"Notary Public"

															" To the Commissioner of Patents: "

															"The petition of Elisha Gray of Chicago, in the County of Cook
in the State of Illinois, respectfully represents that he has made
certain improvements in the Art of Transmitting Vocal Sounds
telegraphically, and that he is now engaged in making experiments
for the purpose of perfecting the same preparatory to applying for
letters patent therefor."

															"He therefore prays that the subjoined description of his
invention may be filed as a caveat in the confidential archives of
the Patent Office."

															"ELISHA GRAY" Page 126 U. S. 81 "Copy sent DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR"

															"Feb. 19 U.S. PATENT OFFICE"

															"S.R.A. WASHINGTON, D.C. Feb'y 19, 1876"

															"SIR -- You are hereby notified that application has been made
to this office for letters patent for Telephonic Telegraph &c.,
with which the invention described in your caveat, filed on the
14th day of February, 1876, apparently interferes, and that said
application has been deposited in the confidential archives of the
office under provision of Section 4902 of the Revised Statutes of
the United States, which section reads as follows"

															" SECTION 4902. Any citizen of the United States who makes any
new invention or discovery and desires further time to mature the
same may, on payment of the fees required by law, file in the
Patent Office a caveat setting forth the design thereof and of its
distinguishing characteristics and praying protection of his right
until he shall have matured his invention. Such caveat shall be
filed in the confidential archives of the office and preserved in
secrecy, and shall be operative for the term of one year from the
filing thereof, and if application is made within the year by any
other person for a patent with which such caveat would in any
manner interfere, the Commissioner shall deposit the description,
specification, drawings and model of such application in like
manner in the confidential archives of the office and give notice
thereof by mail to the person by whom the caveat was filed. If such
person desires to avail himself of his caveat, he shall file his
description, specification, drawings, and model within three months
from the time of placing the notice in the post office in
Washington, with the usual time required for transmitting it to the
caveator added thereto, which time shall be endorsed on the notice.
An alien shall have the privilege herein granted if he has resided
in the United States one year next preceding the filing of his
caveat and has made oath of his intention to become a citizen."

															" If you would avail yourself of your caveat, it will be
necessary for you to file a complete application within three Page 126 U. S. 82 months from date, three days additional, however, being allowed
for the transmission of this notice to your place of
residence."

															"Very respectfully,"

															"R. H. DUELL"

															"Commissioner"

															"ELISHA GRAY"

															"Care W. D. Baldwin"

															"Present"

															"EXAMINER's ROOM No. 118"

															"U.S. PATENT OFFICE"

															"WASHINGTON, D.C. Feb. 19, 1876"

															"E. GRAY"

															"Care W. D. Baldwin"

															"In relation to the foregoing notice in relation to your caveat,
it may be well to add that the matters in the App'n referred to
seem to conflict with your caveat in these particulars, viz.:"

															"1st. The receiver set into vibration by undulatory
currents."

															"2d. The method of producing the undulations by varying the
resistance of the circuit."

															"3d. The method of transmitting vocal sounds telegraphically by
causing these undulatory currents &c."

															"Z. F. WILBUR"

															"Examiner"

															"Copy sent EXAMINER's ROOM No. 118"

															"Feb. 25 U.S. PATENT OFFICE"

															"S.R.A. WASHINGTON, D.C. Feb. 25, 1876"

															"E. GRAY,"

															"Care W. D. Baldwin, Present:"

															"Caveat for Art of Transmitting Vocal Sounds Telegraphically.
" Page 126 U. S. 83 "Feb. 14, 1876"

															"The notice to complete, having been given under a
misapprehension of the rights of the parties, is hereby
withdrawn."

															"Z. F. WILBUR"

															"Examiner"

															" $10 Mail" " MEMORANDUM OF FEE PAID AT U.S. PATENT OFFICE" " Paper will be filed today" " I nventor,"

															" E. GRAY" " CAVEAT" " I nvention,"

															" Transmitting Vocal Sounds Telegraphically" " Date of Payment, Feby. 14, 1876" " Fee, $10" " Solicitor, Wm. D. Baldwin" " Patent Office, Feb. 14, 1876" " U.S.A." " (Official Stamp)" " 1876" " No. CAVEAT Wilbur, 48" " ELISHA GRAY" " Of Chicago, County of Cook, State of Illinois" "Art of Transmitting Vocal Sounds Telegraphically"

															"Rec'd, Feb. 14, 1876"

															"Petition, ' ' '"

															"Affidavit, ' ' '"

															"Specification, ' ' '"

															"Drawing within, ' ' '" Page 126 U. S. 84 "Model, ' ' '"

															"Cert. dep. ' ' '"

															"1 cash, $10, Feb. 14, 1876"

															"Circular, ' ' '"

															"2. ' ' '"

															"3. ' ' '"

															"W. D. BALDIN"

															"Present"

															"1. Letter to Caveator, Feby. 19, 1876. (Notice to
complete)"

															"2. Letter, Feby. 25, 1876"

															Simmons

															vs.

															158 S.X.

															58

															"Copy Sent DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR"

															"Sept. 20, 1877 U.S. PATENT OFFICE"

															"M.E.S WASHINGTON, D.C. Sept. 20th, 1877"

															"ELISHA GRAY,"

															"Care Baldwin, Hopkins & Peyton, Present"

															"SIR: You are hereby notified that application has been made to
this office for letters patent for Speaking Telegraph, involving
the use of a series of diaphragms in a common vocalizing chamber,
with which the invention described in your caveat, filed on the
14th day of February, 1876, renewed February 14th, 1877, apparently
interferes, and that said application has been deposited in the
confidential archives of the office under provisions of Section
4902 of the Revised Statute of the United States, which section
reads as follows:"

															" SEC. 4902. Any citizen of the United States who makes any new
invention or discovery and desires further time to mature the same
may, on payment of the fees required by law, file in the Patent
Office a caveat setting forth the design Page 126 U. S. 85 thereof, and of its distinguishing characteristics, and praying
protection of his right until he shall have matured his invention.
Such caveat shall be filed in the confidential archives of the
office and preserved in secrecy, and shall be operative for the
term of one year from the filing thereof, and if application is
made within the year by any other person for a patent with which
such caveat would in any manner interfere, the Commissioner shall
deposit the description, specification, drawings and model of such
application in like manner in the confidential archives of the
office, and give notice thereof by mail to the person by whom the
caveat was filed. If such person desires to avail himself of his
caveat, he shall file his description, specification, drawings, and
model within three months from the time of placing the notice in
the post office in Washington, with the usual time required for
transmitting it to the caveator added thereto, which time shall be
endorsed on the notice. An alien shall have the privilege herein
granted, if he has resided in the United States one year next
preceding the filing of his caveat, and has made oath of his
intention to become a citizen."

															"If you would avail yourself of your caveat, it will be
necessary for you to file a complete application within three
months from date, three day § additional, however, being allowed
for the transmission of this notice to your place of
residence."

															"Very respectfully"

															"ELLIS SPEAR"

															"Commissioner of Patents"

															" MEMORANDUM OF FEE PAID AT U.S. PATENT OFFICE" "108"

															" I nventor"

															"$10"

															" ELISHA GRAY" " Renewal of Caveat" " Filed Feb. 14, 1876" " I nvention"

															" Telegraphy" Page 126 U. S. 86 " Date of Payment" " Feb. 14, 1877" " Fee, X10" "WM.D. BALDWIN"

															"Solicitor"

															"Present"

															" Patent Office" " Feb. 14, 1877" " U.S.A." " [Official Stamp]" ---- " 1877" "48"

															"-- WILBUR"

															"23"

															"--"

															"1st. Renewal of Caveat of Feb. 14, 1876"

															"No."

															" ELISHA GRAY" " Of Chicago, County of Cook, Illinois" " Art of Transmitting Vocal Sounds Telegraphically" " Telelogue" "Rec'd, Feb. 14, 1877"

															"Petition, ' ' '"

															"Affidavit, ' ' '"

															"Specification, ' ' '"

															"Drawing, ' ' '"

															"Model, ' ' '"

															"Cert. dep., ' ' '"

															"1. Cash $10, Feb. 14, 1877"

															"2. Circular, ' ' '"

															"3."

															"WM.D. BALDWIN"

															"Present"

															" Notice to Caveator" " Sept. 20, 1877" Page 126 U. S. 87 One contention of all the respondents in regard to the Gray
invention and caveat is stated in the answers of the Overland
People's and Molecular cases in the following language:

															"hat it has long been notorious that for years past,
interferences have been and now are pending undetermined in the
Patent Office between said Bell, Gray, Edison and many others to
determine who is the original and first inventor of the matters
described, shown and claimed in said two patents here in suit and
in each of them respectively, and that it has long been and still
is notoriously understood and believed that the owners of the said
Bell patents, distrusting the ultimate result of said pending
interferences and fearing the decision or decisions of the
Commissioner of Patents declaring said Bell not to be the original
and first inventor of the inventions shown in his said patent or
patents, have entered into an agreement and contract, or agreements
and contracts, with said Gray, Edison, and others, or with their
assignees, in writing, providing for the contingency of a decision
of the Commissioner of Patents adverse to said Bell in said
interferences, and of decisions of the court adverse to said Bell's
claim as the original and first inventor of the matters claimed in
his said patents or either of them, and arranged the terms and
conditions upon which said Bell telephones shall be licensed by
said Gray or by said Edison respectively, or by their respective
assignees in the event that said Gray or said Edison shall be
adjudged the original and first inventor thereof."

															The Overland Company and the People's Company further contended
that certain evidence cited by their counsel, and which is
contained or referred to in the report of the argument of their
counsel infra justified the inference that the Gray caveat
was filed in the Department of the Interior prior to the filing of
Bell's application, specification, and claims of 1876; that
information of this caveat was surreptitiously furnished to Bell's
solicitors; that Bell's specifications and claims as originally
filed varied from his specifications and claims as stated in the
patent in several important respects; that these changes were made
within four days Page 126 U. S. 88 after the filing of Gray's caveat, and that after they had been
made, the altered copy was placed in the files of the Department as
the original. The following copy of these specifications, known as
the Bell George Brown specification, is from the record in the
People's case, and is referred to in argument in this connection,
and other evidence in this respect on which counsel on one side or
the other relied is also referred to in the arguments. The origin
and nature of this specification is fully set forth in the argument
of counsel hereafter

															" BELL'S GEORGE BROWN SPECIFICATION, No. V." " UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" " ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL OF SALEM, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF
AND " " THOMAS SANDERS OF HAVERHILL, AND GARDINER G. HUBBARD
OF " " CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS. [ Footnote 2 ]" "To all whom it may concern, be it known, that I, Alexander
Graham Bell of Salem, Massachusetts, have invented certain new and
useful improvements in Telegraphy, of which the following is a
specification:"

															"In [another application for] letters patent granted to me [in]
April 6th, 1875 (No. 161,739), I have described a method of and
apparatus for transmitting two or more telegraphic signals
simultaneously along a single wire by the employment of
Transmitting Instruments, each of which occasions a succession of
electrical impulses differing in rate from the others, and of
Receiving Instruments each tuned to a pitch at which it will be put
in vibration to produce its fundamental tone by one only of the
Transmitting Instruments, and of Vibratory Circuit Breakers,
operating to convert the vibratory movement of the Receiving
Instrument into a permanent make or break (as the case may be) of a
local circuit in which is placed a Morse Sounder Register, or other
telegraphic apparatus. I Page 126 U. S. 89 have also therein described a form of Autograph Telegraph based
upon the action of the above mentioned instruments."

															"In illustration of my method of Multiple Telegraphy, I have
shown in the [application] [bu]patent[eu] aforesaid, as one form of
Transmitting Instrument an electromagnet having a steel spring
armature which is kept in vibration by the action of a local
battery. This armature in vibrating makes and breaks the main
circuit, producing an intermittent current upon the line wire. I
have found, however, that upon this plan, the limit to the number
of signals that can be sent simultaneously over the same circuit is
very speedily reached, for when a number of Transmitting
Instruments having different rates of vibration are simultaneously
making and breaking the same circuit, the effect upon the main line
is practically equivalent to one continuous current. "

															"My present invention consists in the employment of a vibratory
or undulat[ing][bu]ory[eu] current of electricity in place of a
merely intermittent one, and of a method of, and apparatus for,
producing electrical undulations upon the line wire. The advantages
[claimed for the undulatory current over the] [bu]I claim to derive
from the use of an undulatory current in place of a[eu] merely
intermittent one, are,"

															"1. That a very much larger number of signals can be transmitted
simultaneously over the same circuit."

															"2. That a closed circuit and single main battery may be
employed."

															"3. That communication in both directions is established without
the necessity of using special induction coils."

															"4. And that -- as the circuit is never broken -- a spark
arrester becomes unnecessary."

															"It has long been known that when a permanent magnet is caused
to approach the pole of an electromagnet, a current of electricity
is induced in the coils of the latter, and that when it is made to
recede, a current of opposite polarity to the first appears upon
the wire. When, therefore, a permanent magnet is caused to vibrate
in front of the pole of an electromagnet, Page 126 U. S. 90 an undulatory current of electricity is induced in the coils of
the electromagnet the undulations of which correspond in rate of
succession to the vibrations of the magnet, in polarity to the
direction of its motion, and in intensity to the amplitude of its
vibration. That the difference between an undulatory and an
intermittent current may be more clearly understood, I shall
describe the condition of the electrical current when [bu]the
attempt is made to transmit[eu] two musical notes [of different
pitch are] simultaneously [transmitted along the Same wire]
[bu]first upon the one plan and then upon the other.[eu] Let the
interval between the two sounds be a major third. Then their rates
of vibration are in the ratio of 4:5."

															"Now when the intermittent current is used the circuit is made
and broken four times by [bu]one transmitting[eu] instrument in the
same time that five makes and breaks are caused by the other
[instrument]."

															"A [ Footnote 3 ] and B (Figs.
I, II, and III) represent the intermittent currents produced, four
impulses of A being made in the same time as five impulses of B. c c c & c. show where and for how long time the
circuit is made, and d d d & c. indicate the duration
of the breaks of the circuit."

															"The line A + B shows the total effect upon the current when the
transmitting instruments for A and B are caused [to] simultaneously
to make and break the same circuit. The resultant effect depends
very much upon the duration of the make relatively to the break. In
Fig. I, the rate is as 1:4; in Fig. II, as 1:2; and in Fig. III,
the makes and breaks are of equal duration."

															"The combined effect A + B (Fig. III) is very nearly equivalent
to a continuous current."

															"When many transmitting instruments of different [pitch]
[bu]rates of vibration[eu] are simultaneously making and breaking
the same circuit, the current upon the main line [loses altogether
its intermittent character and] becomes for all practical purposes
continuous. " Page 126 U. S. 91 "[But now] Next consider the effect when an undulatory current
is employed."

															"Electrical undulations induced by the vibration of a body
capable of inductive action can be represented graphically without
error by the same sinusoidal curve which expresses the vibration of
the inducing body itself and the effect of its vibration upon the
air."

															"For, as above stated, the rate of oscillation in the electrical
current corresponds to the rate of vibration of the inducing body
-- that is, to the pitch of the sound produced; the intensity of
the current varies with the amplitude of vibration -- that is, with
the loudness of the sound -- and the polarity of the current
corresponds to the direction of the motion of the vibrating body --
that is, to the condensations and rarefactions of air produced by
the vibration. Hence, the sinusoidal curve A or B [ Footnote 4 ] (Fig. IV) represents graphically
the electrical undulations induced in a circuit by the vibration of
a body capable of inductive action."

															"The horizontal line a d b f represents the zero of
current; the elevations c c c indicate impulses of
positive electricity; the depressions e e e show impulses
of negative electricity; the vertical distance c d or e f of any [point on] [bu]point on[eu] of the curve from
the zero line expresses the intensity of the positive or negative
impulse at the part [bu]observed[eu], and the horizontal distance a a indicates the duration of the electrical
oscillation."

															"The vibrations represented by the sinusoidal curves A and B
(Fig. IV) are in the ratio aforesaid, of 4:5 -- that is, four
oscillations of A are made in the same time as five oscillations of
B."

															"The combined effect of A and B, when induced simultaneously on
the same circuit, is expressed by the curve A + B (Fig. IV), which
is the algebraical sum of the sinusoidal curves A and B. This curve
(A + B) also indicates the actual motion of the air when the two
musical notes considered are sounded simultaneously. " Page 126 U. S. 92 "Thus, when electrical undulations of different rates are
simultaneously induced in the same circuit, an effect is produced
exactly analogous to that occasioned in the air by the vibration of
the inducing bodies."

															"Hence the coexistence [of] [bu]upon[eu] a telegraphic circuit
of electrical vibrations of different pitch is manifested not by
the obliteration of the vibratory character of the current, but by
peculiarities in the shapes of the electrical undulations -- or in
other words, by peculiarities in the shapes of the curves which
represent those undulations."

															"[Undulatory currents of electricity may be produced in many
other ways than that described above, but all the methods depend
for effect upon the vibration or motion of bodies capable of
inductive action.]"

															"There are many [other] ways of producing undulatory currents of
electricity, but all of them depend for effect upon the vibration
or motion of bodies capable of inductive action. A few of the
methods that may be employed I shall here specify. [ Footnote 5 ]"

															"[I shall specify a few of the methods that may be used to
produce the effect.]"

															"When a wire through which a continuous current of electricity
is passing is caused to vibrate in the neighborhood of another
wire, an undulatory current of electricity is induced in the
latter."

															"When a cylinder upon which are arranged bar magnets is made to
rotate in front of the pole of an electromagnet, an undulatory
current is induced in the coils of the electromagnet."

															"Undulations may also be caused in a continuous voltaic current
by the vibration or motion of bodies capable of inductive action,
or by the vibration of the conducting wire itself in the
neighborhood of such bodies."

															"In illustration of the method of creating electrical
undulations, I shall show and describe one form of apparatus for
producing the effect. " Page 126 U. S. 983 "I prefer to employ for this purpose an electromagnet (A, Fig.
5) having a coil upon only one of its legs (6). A steel spring
armature ( c ) is firmly clamped by one extremity to the
uncovered leg ( d ) of the magnet, and its free end is
allowed to project above the pole of the covered leg. The armature
( c ) can be set in vibration in a variety of ways, one of
which is by wind, and in vibrating it yields a musical note of a
certain definite pitch."

															"When the instrument (A) is placed in a voltaic circuit ( g b
e f g ), the armature ( c ) becomes magnetic and the
polarity of its free end is opposed to that of the magnet
underneath. So long as the armature ( c ) remains at rest,
no effect is produced upon the voltaic current, but the moment it
is set in vibration to produce its musical note, a powerful
inductive action takes place, and electrical undulations traverse
the circuit g b e f g . The vibratory current passing
through the coils of the distant electromagnet ( f ) causes
vibration in its armature ( h ) when the armatures c
h of the two instruments (A I) are normally in unison with one
another; but the armature ( h ) is unaffected by the passage
of the undulatory current when the pitches of the two instruments
(A I) are different [from one another]."

															"A number of instruments may be placed upon a telegraphic
circuit (as in Fig. VI). When the armature of any one of the
instruments is set in vibration, all the other instruments on the
circuit which are in unison with it respond, but those which have
normally a different rate of vibration remain silent. Thus, if A
(Fig. VI) is set in vibration, the armatures of A1 and A2 will
vibrate also, but all the others on the circuit remain still. So
also, if B1 is caused to emit its musical note, the instruments B
B2 respond. They continue sounding so long as the mechanical
vibration of B1 is continued, but become silent the moment its
motion stops. The duration of the sound may be made to signify the
dot or dash of the Morse alphabet, and thus a telegraphic dispatch
can be transmitted by alternately interrupting and renewing the
sound."

															"When two or more instruments of different pitch are
simultaneously caused to vibrate, all the instruments of
corresponding Page 126 U. S. 94 pitches upon the circuit are set in vibration, each responding
to that one only of the Transmitting Instruments with which it is
in unison. Thus, the signals of A are repeated by A1 and A2, but by
no other instruments upon the circuit; the signals of B2 by B and
Bl, and the signals of C1 by C and C2, whether A, B2, and C1 are
successively or simultaneously set in vibration."

															"Hence, by these instruments, two or more telegraphic signals or
messages may be sent simultaneously over the same circuit without
interfering with one another."

															"I desire here to remark that there are many other uses to which
these instruments may be put, such as the simultaneous transmission
of musical notes differing in loudness as well as in pitch and the
telegraphic transmission of noises or sounds of any kind."

															"When the armature c (Fig. V.) is mechanically set in
vibration, the armature h responds not only in pitch, but
in loudness. Thus, when c vibrates with little amplitude,
a very soft musical note proceeds from h , and when c vibrates forcibly, the amplitude of vibration of h is considerably increased, and the sound becomes louder.
So if A and B (Fig. VI) are sounded simultaneously (A loudly and B
softly) the instruments A1 A2 repeat loudly the signals of A, and
the instruments B1 B2 repeat gently those of B."

															"One of the ways in which the armature ( c ) Fig. VI may
be set in vibration has been stated above to be by wind. Another
mode is shown [by] [bu]in[eu] Fig. VII, [which] [bu]whereby[eu]
motion can be imparted to the armature by means of the human voice
or by the tones of a musical instrument."

															"The armature c (Fig VII) is fastened loosely by one
extremity to the uncovered pole ( d ) of the electromagnet
( b ), and its other extremity is attached to the center of
a stretched membrane ( a ). A cone A is used to converge
sound vibrations upon the membrane. When a loud sound is uttered in
the cone, the membrane ( a ) is set in vibration, the
armature c is forced to partake of the motion, and thus
electrical undulations are caused upon the circuit E b e f
g . These undulations are similar in form to the air vibrations
caused by the sound -- Page 126 U. S. 95 that is, they [are] [bu]can be[eu] represented graphically by
similar curves. The undulatory current passing through the
electromagnet ( f )influences [the] [bu]its[eu] armature
( h ) to copy the motion[s] of the armature ( c ). A
similar sound to that uttered into A is then heard to proceed from
L."

															"[Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to
secure by letters patent is as follows"

															"1. A system of telegraphy in which the receiver is set in
vibration by the employment of (vibratory or) undulatory currents
of electricity."

															"2. The method of creating an undulatory current of electricity
by the vibration of a permanent magnet or other body capable of
inductive action."

															"3. The method of inducing undulations in a continuous voltaic
current by the vibration or motion of bodies capable of inductive
action."

															"4. The method of and apparatus for transmitting vocal or other
sounds telegraphically by (inducing in a continuous voltaic
circuit) [bu]causing electrical[eu] undulations similar in form to
the vibrations of the air accompanying said vocal or other sounds
the whole for operation substantially as [bu]herein[eu] shown and
described.]"

															"In this specification, the three words 'oscillation,'
'vibration,' and 'undulation' are used synonymously."

															"By the term 'body capable of inductive action,' I mean a body
which, when in motion, produces dynamical electricity. I include in
the category of bodies capable of inductive action brass, copper
and other metals, as well as iron and steel."

															"Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to
secure by letters patent is as follows:"

															"1. A system of telegraphy in which the receiver is set in
vibration by the employment of undulatory currents of
electricity."

															"2. The combination of a permanent magnet or other body capable
of inductive action with a closed circuit, so that the vibration of
the one shall produce electrical undulations in the other or in
itself."

															"Thus ( a ). The permanent magnet or other body
capable Page 126 U. S. 96 of inductive action may be set in vibration in the neighborhood
of the conducting wire forming the circuit."

															"( b ) The conducting wire may be set in vibration in the
neighborhood of the permanent magnet."

															"( c ) The conducting wire and the permanent magnet may
both simultaneously be set in vibration in each other's
neighborhood, and in any or all of these cases electrical
undulations will be produced upon the circuit."

															"3. The method of producing undulations in a continuous voltaic
current by the vibration or motion of bodies capable of inductive
action, or by the vibration or motion of the conducting wire itself
in the neighborhood of such bodies."

															"4. The method of and apparatus for transmitting vocal or other
sounds telegraphically, as herein described, by causing electrical
undulations similar in form to the vibrations of the air accompany
ing the said vocal or other sounds."

															" (ENDORSEMENT)" "These papers were received by me from Professor Alex. G. Bell
in the winter of 1875-6, shortly before I left for England. I can
fix the exact date by reference to my books and papers, but have
not these at hand now."

															"GEO. BROWN"

															"Toronto, 12 Novem., 1878"

															Two of the publications respecting the Van der Weyde experiments
were (1) from The Manufacturer and Builder, published in
New York in May, 1869, and the other from The Scientific
American, published in New York, March 4, 1876. They were as
follows, omitting illustrations. I . From The Manufacturer and Builder, May, 1889 "One of the most remarkable recent inventions connected with
telegraphy is the telephone, an instrument which transmits directly
the pitch of a sound by means of a telegraph wire -- either an air
wire or submarine cable -- so that, for instance, when the operator
at one end of the wire sings or Page 126 U. S. 97 plays on an instrument any tune, as 'Yankee Doodle,' or 'Hail
Columbia,' it will be heard and distinguished plainly at the other
end. This invention may in its present state have no direct
practical application, but be a mere scientific, although highly
interesting, curiosity; but who can say that it does not contain
the germ of a new method of working the telegraph, or some other
useful practical purpose?"

															"The telephone is not the result of an accidental discovery, but
of a thorough study of the laws of electromagnetism and of sound.
It is founded on the fact that the difference in pitch of different
tones is caused by different velocities of vibrations of the
elastic sounding body, which vibrations are transmitted to and by
the air with exactly the same velocity, and from the air may be
communicated to a properly stretched membrane, like a piece of
bladder or very thin sheet of india rubber stretched like a
drumhead, which these also will vibrate with exactly the same
velocity as the air and the original sounding body, be it the human
voice, organ pipe, string or any musical instrument. If, now at the
center of this little drumhead there be attached a small disk of
some metal not easily burned by electric currents -- for instance,
platinum -- while at the same time a platinum point may by means of
a screw be so adjusted as to come very nearly in contact with this
small platinum disk, it is clear that when the membrane is put in
vibration, a succession of contacts between the disk and point will
be produced of which the number in each second will exactly
correspond with the number of vibrations in each second of the
sounding body or the tone produced by it. That part of the
apparatus which serves to send off the tune or melody is
represented in the illustration. It consists simply of a square
wooden box provided at the side with a kind of mouthpiece similar
to that of a speaking tube, and at the top with an opening over
which the membrane just mentioned has been stretched. The small
piece of platinum attached to the center of this little drumhead
is, by means of a very flexible strip of some metal that conducts
well, attached to one pole of the galvanic battery, of which only
one cup is represented in the figure, Page 126 U. S. 98 although for a long wire, several cups will of course be
required. The reason why this connection near the platinum disk is
a flat, thin, and flexible strip is that any rigidity would
interfere with the freedom of vibration of the membrane to which it
is attached. The point coming in contact with this small vibrating
disk is connected with the ground wire, the other pole of the
battery with the air wire or submarine cable. It is clear from this
explanation that at every contact of the platinum point, a wave of
electricity will be sent over the wire, and as many waves in a
second as there are contacts, and as there are as many contacts as
there are vibrations in every second, the number of electric waves
will be always exactly equal to the number of vibrations
corresponding with the pitch of each tone, be it fifty, one
hundred, two hundred, or five hundred in every second."

															"The instrument in which this succession of waves is made
audible at the other end of the telegraph wire is founded on the
fact, first investigated by Professor Henry of the Smithsonian
Institute at Washington, that iron bars, when becoming magnetic by
means of electric currents passing around them, become slightly
elongated, and at the interruption of the current are at once
restored to their original length. It is represented in the cut,
and consists of an elongated wooden box, of which the top is made
of thin pine wood, similar to the sounding board of a stringed
musical instrument, to which are attached two bridges carrying long
pieces of moderately thick and very soft iron wire which for nearly
their whole length are surrounded by a coil similar to the coil of
the electromagnets used in telegraphing. One end of this coil is
attached to the telegraph wire, the other to the ground wire, as
represented in the figure. At every instant that a contact is
established at the station where the sound is produced, and a
current wave thus transmitted, these wires will become magnetic,
and consequently elongated, and they will be shortened again at
every interruption of the current. And as these currents and
interruptions succeed each other with the same velocity as the
sound vibrations, the elongations and shortenings of the magnetized
iron wires will succeed each Page 126 U. S. 99 other with exactly the same velocity, and consequently they will
be thrown into a state of longitudinal vibrations corresponding
with the original musical tone, which vibrations will then be
communicated to the sounding board in exactly the same manner as is
the case with the vibrations of the strings in all stringed
instruments, thus becoming more audible at the receiving
station."

															"It is clear from the foregoing explanations that no quality of
tone can be transmitted. Much less can articulate words be sent,
notwithstanding the enthusiastic prediction of some persons who,
when they first beheld this apparatus in operation, exclaimed that
now we would talk directly through the wire. It is from its nature
able to transmit only pitch and rhythm -- consequently melody and
nothing more. No harmony nor different degrees of strength or other
qualities of tone can be transmitted. The receiving instrument in
fact sings the melodies transmitted, as it were, with its own
voice, resembling the humming of an insect, regardless of the
quality of the tone which produces the original tune at the other
end of the wire."

															This instrument is a German invention, and was first exhibited
in New York at the Polytechnic Association of the American
Institute by Dr. Van der Weyde. The original sounds were produced
at the farther extremity of the large building (the Cooper
Institute) totally out of hearing of the Association, and the
receiving instrument, standing on the table of the lecture room,
produced with its own rather nasal twang the different tunes sung
at the other end of the line -- rather weakly, it is true, because
of the weak battery used, but very distinctly and correctly. II . From The Scientific American, New York, March 4, 1876 "In connection with Mr. Gray's application of the telephone to
the simultaneous transmission of several different telegraphic
messages over one wire at the same time, and his paper read before
the American Electrical Society (published on p. 92, Scientific
American, Supplement for Feb. 5), it may be interesting Page 126 U. S. 100 for the readers of this paper to obtain some information in
regard to the invention of the telephone by Reuss. As mentioned in
the article above referred to, Page and Henry observed that by
rapid magnetization and demagnetization, iron could be put into
vibrations isochronic with the interruptions of the current, and
later Marian experimented extensively in this direction, while
Wertheim made a thorough investigation of the subject, which
induced Reuss, of Friedrichsdorf, near Hamburg, Germany, to apply
this principle to the transmission of musical tones and melodies by
telegraph, and he contrived an apparatus which we represent in the
engravings."

															image:v

															"The telephone of Reuss consists of two parts, the transmitting
and the receiving instrument. Fig. I represents the former, and is
placed at the locality where the music is produced; Fig. II, the
latter, is placed at the station where the music is to be heard,
which may be at a distance of one hundred, two hundred, or more
miles -- in fact, as far as the battery used can carry the current,
while the two instruments are connected with the battery and the
telegraph ware in the usual manner. One pole of the battery is
connected with the ground plate, the other with the screw, marked 2
of Fig. I, and thence over a thin copper strip n , with a
platinum disk o , attached to the center of the membrane
stretched in the large top opening of the hollow and empty box, K,
intended to receive and strengthen the vibrations of the air,
produced by singing before the fennel-shaped short tube attached to
the opening in Page 126 U. S. 101 T. Over the platinum disk c , attached to the elastic
membrane, is a platinum point attached to the arms b c and b K, while a set screw brings this point in slight contact
with the platinum disk mentioned. A part of the box is represented
as broken and removed in order to show the internal construction.
The strip a b c is connected with the end s of
the switch t s , and the screw connection 1 at the lower
right-hand corner, and also through the telegraph wire, to the
instrument Fig. II at the receiving station, which may be situated
at a distance of many miles. Here the current enters by the screw
connection 3, and passes through the spiral g , surrounding
the soft iron wire d d , of the thickness of a knitting
needle, and leaves the apparatus at the screw connection 4, whence
it obtains access to the ground plate and so passes through the
earth back to the battery. The spiral and iron wire d d is
supported on a hollow box B, of thin board, while a cover D, of the
same material is placed on top, all intended to strengthen the
sound produced by the vibrations which the interruption of the
current caused in the iron wire d d so as to make these
vibrations more audible by giving a large vibratory surface, in the
same way that the sounding board of a pianoforte strengthens the
vibrations of the air caused by the strings, and makes a very weak
sound quite powerful."

															"If a flute be played before the opening T, or if a voice be
singing there, the vibration of the air inside the box K causes the
membrane m to vibrate synchronically, and this causes the
platinum disk o to move up and down with corresponding
frequency. At every downward motion, the contact of this disk with
the platinum point under b is broken, and therefore the
current is interrupted as rapidly as the vibrations occur. Let, for
instance, the note C be sounded; this note makes sixty-four full
vibrations in a second, and we have therefore sixty-four
interruptions of the electric current, which interruption will at
once be transmitted through the telegraph lines to the receiving
instrument and put the bar d d into exactly similar
vibrations, making the very same tone C audible, and so on for all
other rates of vibration. It is clear that in this way not only the
rhythm of music can be transmitted (and this can Page 126 U. S. 102 be done by the ordinary telegraph), but the very tones, as well
as the relative durations and the rests between them, can thus be
sent, making a full and complete melody. The switch t s ,
Fig. L, is intended, in connection with a similar one in Fig. II,
to communicate between the stations, with the help of the
electromagnet E, to ascertain if station, Fig. II, is ready to
receive the melodies; then it gives the signal, by manipulating the
switch, which is received by the attraction of the armature A, the
latter arrangement being a simple Morse apparatus attached to the
telephone."

															"Professor Heisler, in his Lehrbuch der technischen
Physik (3d edition, Vienna, 1866), says in regard to this
instrument:"

															"The telephone is still in its infancy; however, by the use of
batteries of proper strength, it already transmits not only single
musical tones, but even the most intricate melodies, sung at one
end of the line, to the other, situated at a great distance, and
makes them perceptible there with all the desirable
distinctness."

															"After reading this account in 1868, I had two such telephones
constructed, and exhibited them at the meeting of the Polytechnic
Club of the American Institute. The original sounds were produced
at the further extremity of the large building (the Cooper
Institute), totally out of hearing of the Association, and the
receiving instrument, standing on the table in the lecture room,
produced (with a peculiar and rather nasal twang) the different
tunes sung into the box K at the other end of the line -- not
powerfully, it is true, but very distinctly and correctly. In the
succeeding summer, I improved the form of the box K so as to
produce a more powerful vibration of the membrane by means of
reflections effected by curving the sides; I also improved the
receiving instrument by introducing several iron wires in the coil,
so as to produce a stronger vibration. I submitted these, with some
other improvements, to the meeting of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science, and on that occasion (now seven years
ago) expressed the opinion that the instrument contained the germ
of a new method of working the electric telegraph, and would
undoubtedly lead to further improvements in this branch of science,
needing only that a competent person give Page 126 U. S. 103 it his undivided attention so as to develop out of it all that
it is evidently capable of producing."

															"Before leaving this subject, I wish to draw special attention
to the fact that the merits of the invention consist chiefly in the
absence of musical instruments, tuning forks, or their equivalents
for producing the tones; any instrument will do -- flute, violin,
human voice &c. If the aerial vibrations are only conducted
into the box, Fig. 1, the apparatus will send the pitch as well as
the duration of the different tones, with the rests between,
therefore not only transmitting perfect rhythm, but a complete
melody, with its long and short notes. The two parts of the
apparatus may even be connected each to a separate pianoforte, and
if this were done in a proper manner, a melody played on the
pianoforte connected with the transmitting instrument, Fig. 1,
would be heard in the pianoforte at a great distance, connected
with the receiving instrument, Fig. 2."

															The following are the drawings and an extract from the
specification in McDonough's application for a patent. Page 126 U. S. 104 image:w Page 126 U. S. 105 "The object of my invention is to provide a means for
transmitting articulate sounds from one place to another through
the medium of electricity, and it consists in the combination with
an electrical battery, circuit wires, armature, magnet, and circuit
breaker, of a transmitting and a receiving membrane or sounding
apparatus so constructed as to vibrate in accord with the
vibrations of articulate sound and so arranged relative to the
magnet and circuit breaker that the vibrations of the transmitting
membrane or apparatus produced by articulate sounds are transmitted
by the electrical current to the receiving membrane or apparatus,
and so as to cause a like vibration of the receiving membrane or
apparatus, and [cause] it to reproduce the articulate sounds
transmitted from and by the transmitting membrane or apparatus. My
invention also consists in the novel construction of the circuit
breaker, as is hereinafter more fully described."

															"In the drawing, A represents the transmitting membrane or
apparatus, composed of vellum or any suitable material that is
sensitive to the vibrations of sound, which is stretched upon a
metal hoop or band a permanently attached to the bed A',
and is so arranged upon the hoop or band as to admit of being
tightened or loosened at will. C C are metal plates attached to the
upper surface of the membrane A at its center, and are insulated
from each other. D is a metal bolt permanently attached at its
lower end to said membrane A, centrally between the plates C C, and
is insulated from them. D' is the circuit breaker, which consists
of an arched-shaped piece of metal loosely secured at its center
upon the bolt D, and is bent upward at each end, and from the
membrane A, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to form depending V-shaped
points adapted to rest upon the respective plates C C. The circuit
breaker D' is so fitted upon the bolt D as to admit of a free and
easy ascending and descending movement, the limit of its ascending
movement being determined by its contact with the nut E on the
bolt, and the descending movement being limited by its contact with
the plates C C. F is the receiving or sounding membrane, which is
also composed of vellum or any suitable material that is sensitive
to the vibration of sound, Page 126 U. S. 106 and is stretched upon a metal hook or band a' , secured
to the side frame G of the receiving or sounding apparatus as shown
in Fig. 1, and is so adjusted as to admit of being loosened or
tightened as may be required."

															"G' is the magnet surrounded by a helix of insulated wire, and
connected to the instrument immediately in front of the membrane F,
and at a point near its center. H is the armature plate permanently
attached to the membrane F, between it and the magnet, as shown in
Fig. 1."

															"To each of the plates C C is connected a wire J, one of which
is connected with the battery K, and the other with the ground wire
L. To each of the poles of the magnet is connected a wire M, one of
which is connected with the battery K and the other with the ground
wire, as shown in Fig. 1."

															"The operation of my said teleloge is as follows: the
transmitting membrane A, being sensitive to the vibrations of
articulate sounds produced thereon, is caused to vibrate in
sympathy therewith, thereby imparting an upward movement to the
circuit breaker at each vibration and disconnecting it from the
plates C C, and alternately breaking and closing the circuit, when
the intermittent current alternately magnetizes and demagnetizes
the magnet G', attracting the armature H, and causes it and the
membrane F to vibrate simultaneously with the vibrations of the
transmitting membrane A and in accord therewith, and so that the
said membrane F reproduces the articulate sounds transmitted from
and by the membrane A."

															"I do not limit myself to the construction and arrangement of
the circuit breaker D' as shown and described, as other means may
be employed -- as for example, only one of the plates C may be
attached to the membrane, and the other made either in the form of
a plate or needle and attached direct to the connecting wire and
adjusted to rest upon the plate so as to break the connection by
the vibrations of the membrane, which will accomplish the same
result. It will be observed that each end of the circuit breaker D'
is bent upward from the membrane, the object being to prevent local
attraction Page 126 U. S. 107 and render its action more sensitive to the lighter vibrations
of the membrane. The articulate sounds may be taken direct from the
magnet, or through any substance or material sufficiently sensitive
to the vibrations of sound to reproduce them by contact with the
magnet."

															"Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and
desire to secure by letters patent is:"

															"1. The combination with the battery, circuit wires, magnet,
armature and circuit breaker, of the transmitting membrane A, and
receiving membrane F, substantially as and for the purpose
specified."

															"2. The combination with the plates C C, of the circuit breaker
D', whereby the circuit is alternately opened and closed by the
vibrations of the membrane A, substantially as specified."

															"3. The combination of the bolt D and adjusting nut E, of the
circuit breaker D', substantially as and for the purpose
specified."

															There were two Varley patents. The United States patent, dated
June 2, 1868, set forth the object of the invention thus:

															"The objects of my invention are to cut off the disturbance
arising from earth-currents, to obtain a high speed of signaling
through long circuits, and, should the conductor become partially
exposed, to preserve it from being eaten away by electrolytic
action,"

															and made the following claims:

															"Having now described my invention, and the manner in which the
same is or may be carried into effect, what I claim and desire to
secure by letters patent is --"

															"1. In so arranging telegraphic apparatus as to work by the
variation of the increment and decrement of electric potential, and
not by the direct action of the electric current itself, as and for
the purposes set forth."

															"2. The use of an induction coil at the receiving end of the
cable, one of its wires being connected between the cable and the
ground and the other or secondary wire connected with the receiving
instrument, as and for the purposes set forth. " Page 126 U. S. 108 "3. The use of a condenser or condensers between the receiving
end of the cable and the earth, with or without resistance coils
between the cable and the earth, as and for the purposes set
forth."

															"4. The use of a condenser at the sending end of the cable, with
or without resistance coils connecting its two armatures, as and
for the purposes set forth."

															"5. The use of a condenser at each end of the cable, the cable
being connected with the ground through a resistance coil and a
battery, so as to keep the cable always negatively electrified, as
and for the purposes set forth."

															The object of the British patent, dated October 8, 1870, was
said to be

															"the increase of the transmitting power of telegraph circuits by
enabling more than one operator to signal independent messages at
the same time upon one and the same wire to and from independent
stations,"

															and the claims were as follows:

															"Having thus described the nature of my invention and the manner
of performing the same, I would have it understood that I claim the
construction of electric telegraphs in such manner that current
signals and wave signals may be simultaneously transmitted through
the same line wire, and may be rendered sensible at the receiving
station by separate instruments, the one sensitive to currents of
appreciable duration and the other to electric waves or
vibrations."

															"I also claim the construction of electric telegraphs with, at
the transmitting station, an instrument capable of originating in
the line wire a succession of rapid and regular electric waves, and
at the receiving station a strained wire, a tongue, or such like
instrument adjusted to vibrate in unison with the electric waves,
and, being magnetized by them, oscillating to and from the pole or
poles of a magnet in its vicinity."

															"I also claim, in the construction of electric telegraphs, the
dividing a conducting wire into sections by instruments which I
have called 'echocyme,' which allow current signals to pass freely
but stop wave signals, so that, whilst the wire is being used as a
whole for through signals, the sections into which it is divided
may each or all be employed for the transmission of local messages.
" Page 126 U. S. 109 "I also claim the construction of electric telegraphs with, at
the transmitting station, an instrument capable of originating in
the line wire a succession of rapid and regular electric waves, and
at the receiving station a condenser consisting of thin sheets
capable of being agitated by such waves."

															"I also claim the construction of electric telegraphs with, at
the transmitting station, an instrument capable of originating in
the line wire a succession of rapid and regular electric waves, and
at the receiving station an instrument which, on receiving such
waves, delivers a current of electricity to an indicating or
receiving instrument suitable to be worked with ordinary current
signals."

															"I also claim the combination with Dr. Gintl and Frischen's
double speaking apparatus of a hollow helix connected between the
receiving instrument and the line wire, such helix having rods or
pieces of iron inserted into it."

															The People's Telephone Company claimed as assignees of
Drawbaugh's inventions and of his rights, and in their answer made
the following averments respecting them:

															"11. Further answering, this defendant says that Daniel
Drawbaugh, of Eberly's Mills, Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, was
and is the original and first inventor and discoverer of the art of
communicating articulate speech between distant places by voltaic
and magneto electricity, and of the construction and operation of
machines and instruments for carrying such art into practice; that
long prior to the alleged inventions by said Alexander Graham Bell
and long prior to the respective inventions of said Gray and said
Edison, said Daniel Drawbaugh, then and now residing at said
Eberly's Mills, constructed and operated practical working electric
speaking telephones at said Eberly's Mills, and exhibited their
successful operation to a great number of other persons resident in
his vicinity and elsewhere; that the said electric speaking
telephones, so constructed and successfully and practically used by
him as aforesaid, contained all the material and substantial parts
and inventions patented in said patents No. 174,465 and Page 126 U. S. 110 No. 186,787, granted to said Bell, and also contained other
important and valuable inventions in electric and magneto
telephony, and were fully capable of transmitting, and were
actually used for transmitting, articulate vocal sounds and speech
between distant points by means of electric currents; that some of
the original machines and instruments invented, made, used, and
exhibited to many others long prior to the said alleged inventions
of said Bell or either of them are still in existence, and capable
of successful practical use, and are identified by a large number
of persons who personally tested and used and knew of their
practical operation and use in the years 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873,
1874, and both subsequently and prior thereto; that certainly more
than fifty, and probably not less than one hundred persons, or even
more, were cognizant of said Drawbaugh's invention and use of said
telephones, and of his claim to be the original and first inventor
thereof prior to the alleged inventions of said Bell, or either of
them; that said Drawbaugh, for more than ten years prior to the
year 1880, was miserably poor, in debt, with a large and helpless
family dependent upon his daily labor for support, and was, from
such cause alone, utterly unable to patent his said invention, or
caveat it, or manufacture and introduce it upon the market; that
said Drawbaugh never abandoned his said invention nor acknowledged
the claims of any other person or persons thereto, but always
persisted in his claims to it, and intended to patent it as soon as
he could procure the necessary pecuniary means therefor; that said
Drawbaugh never acquiesced in the public use of said Bell, Gray
Edison, Blake, or other telephones, nor in the claims of the
alleged inventors thereof, nor gave his consent to such use, and
that in view of the facts aforesaid, neither said Bell nor any
other person or persons whatever except the said Drawbaugh can now
obtain a valid patent therefor, nor are the patents granted to said
Bell as aforesaid, or either of them, of any validity or value
whatever."

															"12. Further answering, this defendant says that the said Daniel
Drawbaugh, after making, testing, using, and extensively exhibiting
his invention to others and allowing them Page 126 U. S. 111 experimentally to personally test and ascertain its successful
practical operation and utility, as aforesaid, and after the full
and repeated demonstration of its successful working, as aforesaid,
conceived that its range and capacity of usefulness to the public
might be very greatly enlarged; that many improvement of great
value might be made and added to it which, without departing from
its principle, might increase its value to himself and to the
public, and therefore set himself at work to discover and invent
such improvements; that he discovered and invented some of said
additional improvements prior to any alleged invention by the said
Bell, and that, notwithstanding his embarrassed and impoverished
pecuniary condition, and his utter want of proper mechanical tools,
materials, and appliances to conduct such work, he labored with all
reasonable diligence to perfect and adapt his said improvements,
and did finally, in due exercise of such reasonable diligence,
perfect and adapt the same, and that, insofar as the said Bell has
incorporated such improvements in his said two, patents, or either
of them, he, the said Bell, has surreptitiously and unjustly
obtained a patent or patents for that which was in fact first
invented by said Drawbaugh, who was using reasonable diligence in
perfecting and adapting the same, and therefore the patent or
patents of the said Bell therefor is, or are, invalid and
void."

															"13. Further answering, this defendant says that it has, by
purchase, and for a valuable consideration, acquired the right,
title, and interest of said Daniel Drawbaugh in and to all his said
inventions, discoveries, and improvements in electric speaking
telephones, and has full right at law and in equity to make, sell,
and use electric speaking telephones embodying the inventions,
discoveries, and improvements of said Drawbaugh without
interference from or molestation by said Bell or his assigns and
without liability to these complainants therefor."

															"14. Further answering, this defendant says that it has, in good
faith, and relying upon its legal rights aforesaid, caused
applications to be made and filed in the Patent Office for letters
patent upon the inventions of the said Daniel Drawbaugh, Page 126 U. S. 112 with the intention of procuring interference proceedings to be
instituted, in accordance with the statute, against the patents of
said Bell and the pending applications of said Gray, Edison, and
others in order that said Drawbaugh may be adjudged by the
Commissioner of Patents to be, as he rightfully is, the original
and first inventor of the electric speaking telephone, and may be
adjudged entitled to receive a patent or "

															"15. This defendant, further answering, denies all and all
manner of unlawful conspiracy and confederacy with other persons
and parties, as charged in the complainants' bill of complaint,
denies all knowledge of the alleged newspaper publications referred
to in said bill, and calls for due proof of said alleged
publications if the complainants shall be advised that they are of
any materiality to this suit, which this defendant denies, and
denies all the allegations of the complainants' bill as to the said
Drawbaugh invention, and particularly the allegations that said
Drawbaugh's invention was a mere experiment, was incomplete,
imperfect, unfruitful, and that knowledge of it was withheld from
the public except so far as disclosed by said alleged newspaper
publications in said bill mentioned and set forth. And this
defendant charges that the contrary of all said allegations is
true; that this defendant has done no unlawful or inequitable act
in the premises; that it is not responsible for said alleged
newspaper publications; that said Drawbaugh's original invention
was complete, successful, operative, and practically and
successfully operated, and reduced to practice as a 'Speaking
Telephone' on many occasions, in the presence and hearing of many
other persons, and knowledge thereof was freely communicated to the
public by said Drawbaugh, and that said Drawbaugh's improvements,
additional to his said original invention, were complete,
successful, and practical inventions; that all of his said
inventions were fully reduced to practice and communicated to
others; but that said other persons, having knowledge of his legal
and equitable right in and to his said inventions and respecting
and acquiescing in the same, desisted and refrained from making and
using his said inventions, and acquiesced in his right Page 126 U. S. 113 thereto, and never did, so far as this defendant is informed and
believes, any act to impair his said rights or which would prevent
the grant of a good and valid patent or patents to him, the said
Daniel Drawbaugh, or his assigns, for any or all of his said
inventions."

															"16. This defendant, further answering, says that so far and to
such extent as electric speaking telephones were put on sale and
into public use in this country by others than said Drawbaugh prior
to said Drawbaugh's application for a patent thereon as aforesaid,
such specific machines and instruments, so put on sale and into
public use, were not the specific machines and instruments invented
by said Drawbaugh as aforesaid, but were machines and instruments
invented by others subsequently to the original and first invention
of the electric speaking telephone by said Drawbaugh and
subsequently to the invention of his said improvements thereon as
aforesaid, and that, as this defendant is informed and believes,
such machines and instruments were so put on sale and into public
use not from or by reason of any information derived from or
through said Drawbaugh, but by an independent invention or
independent inventions thereof by others subsequently to said
Drawbaugh's original and first invention as aforesaid and while
said Drawbaugh was unable, by reason of his poverty and other
controlling circumstances, as above set forth, to patent his said
inventions, and that such public use and sales were without the
consent, allowance, or acquiescence of said Daniel Drawbaugh."

															"And this defendant, as advised by its counsel, further answers
and says that the alleged invention of the electric speaking
telephone by said Bell subsequently to said Drawbaugh's invention
thereof, as aforesaid, conferred upon said Bell or his assigns no
legal right to a patent or patents thereon, nor did it impair the
legal right of said Drawbaugh to a patent or patents upon his own
prior inventions, and that the alleged public use and sales of such
subsequently invented telephones without said Drawbaugh's consent,
allowance, or acquiescence as aforesaid and by reason of knowledge
and information of their construction and operation, not derived
from or through Page 126 U. S. 114 said Drawbaugh, have in law no effect to forfeit or bar said
Drawbaugh's right to the exclusive use of his own prior invention,
nor to prevent him or his assigns from obtaining a valid patent or
valid patents thereon."

															It was claimed by the People's Company that Drawbaugh's
inventions and the inventions covered by Bell's patents were for
substantially the same thing. The main issues in this respect
argued by counsel were issues of fact -- whether Drawbaugh's
instruments were made prior to Bell's discovery and were
practically operative, and whether the Drawbaugh witnesses to these
points were to be believed. The record contains a great mass of
testimony on these issues. Much of this is referred to in detail by
the counsel on each side and by the court. It is not practicable to
report it further than they have regarded it as material and
presented it in quotations and references.

															There was before the court in the Drawbaugh case a book
containing a series of plates (with references and notes written
upon them), marked respectively from "A" to "Q," both inclusive. It
was claimed on his behalf that these plates represented his
invention at various stages of its development. The claim was made
in the following language by his counsel:

															"The story of Drawbaugh, and of the record, overwhelmingly
corroborated by the witnesses for the defense, is as follows:"

															"Early conception and experiments with the continuous current,
1862, 1866, and 1867."

															"Teacup transmitter and receiver, 1866 and 1867."

															"Tumbler and tin cup and mustard can ('F' and 'B'), 1867 and
1869."

															"Improvement upon 'B' ('C'), 1869, 1870."

															"Further improvement upon 'C' and the more perfect magneto
instrument 'I,' 1870, 1871."

															"Mouthpiece changed to center, and adjusting screw inserted
(Exhibit 'A'), 1874."

															"'D' and 'E' perfectly adjusted and finished magneto
instruments, January and February, 1875."

															"'L,' 'M,' 'G,' and 'O' from February, 1875, to August, 1876.
" Page 126 U. S. 115 "'H,' August, 1876."

															"'J,' 'N,' and 'P,' 1878."

															"With the exception of the old teacup transmitter,
representations of all the instruments are in evidence, in whole or
in part; parts of those produced prior to the instrument 'I' of
1871 being in evidence, and 'I,' with all thereafter produced being
in evidence in their entirety."

															The following are such of these plates, to which the counsel
assigned a date prior to Bell's patent of March 7, 1876, as are
deemed to be necessary for a proper understanding of the arguments
of counsel and of the opinion of the Court upon this point. They
are arranged in the order of the dates in which Drawbaugh was said
to have constructed the instrument which they represent. Page 126 U. S. 116 image:x Page 126 U. S. 117 image:y Page 126 U. S. 118 image:z Page 126 U. S. 119 image:aa Page 126 U. S. 120 image:bb Page 126 U. S. 121 image:cc Page 126 U. S. 122 image:dd Page 126 U. S. 123 image:ee Page 126 U. S. 124 image:ff Page 126 U. S. 125 image:gg Page 126 U. S. 126 image:hh Page 126 U. S. 127 image:ii Page 126 U. S. 128 image:jj Page 126 U. S. 129 image:kk Page 126 U. S. 130 image:ll Page 126 U. S. 131 Dolbear's answer also made the following allegations:

															"12. These defendants have never been concerned in the
manufacture or sale of telephones embracing the inventions or
either of them, or any substantial or material parts of either of
them, described in either of the patents mentioned in the bill of
complaint, but they admit the manufacture and use of telephones
invented by the defendant Dolbear and described in his letters
patent No. 239,742, dated April 5, 1881; No. 240,578, dated April
26, 1881, and aver that they have full right to manufacture, use,
and sell such telephones, and that they are radically different in
all substantial respects from any invention described in either of
the said Bell patents. The transmitter used in the Dolbear
telephone is in all material respects identical with the
Reiss-Wright transmitter. It is a Reiss transmitter in a circuit of
small resistance, having a helix as a part of it, with the
transmitting core in that helix; the line is an open circuit, and
is the first open circuit ever used for any practical purpose, and
it was wholly unknown until Dolbear's discovery that such a line
was capable of any practical use. The receiver is wholly new,
wholly unlike any prior instrument, and operates upon a principle
never before applied in any of the useful arts. The method invented
by Dolbear, and the only method practiced when his apparatus is
used, is precisely the same as the Reiss-Wright method so far as
concerns the use of the energy of the sound waves to vary the
electric current in a circuit of small resistance, and the use of
the current so varied to vary the magnetic energy of the
transmitter core; but is wholly new with Dolbear in all other
respects, for the magnetic variations of the transmitter core must
be converted into electric variations of many times greater
electromotive force than any ever before utilized for any practical
purpose, and must be generated in a line whose resistance is
practically infinite, and must be transformed directly into sound
waves. Dolbear's method is his own discovery and invention, is
radically different from all other methods of transmitting sounds,
except as to its first step, which is the same as that of the
Reiss-Wright method, and is of the highest value and importance,
inasmuch as it remedies Page 126 U. S. 132 fully some very serious faults in the Bell method, which was the
best known before Dolbear's discovery."

															The following are copies of those two patents.

															" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" " AMOS E. DOLBEAR, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS" " APPARATUS FOR TRANSMITTING SOUND BY ELECTRICITY" " Specification forming part of letters patent No.
239,742," " dated April 5, 1881. Application filed October 11, 1880
(Model)." To all whom it may concern: "Be it known that I, AMOS E. DOLBEAR, of Somerville, in the
County of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new
Apparatus for Transmitting Sound by Electricity, of which the
following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,
reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part
hereof, in which --"

															"Figures 1 and 2 are two views of the best form of apparatus for
practicing my invention. Fig. 3 is a cross-section, enlarged, of
the receiver shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a plan of one of the
plates. Fig. 5 is a diagram illustrating the system."

															"My invention consists mainly in a new mode of transmitting
articulate and other sounds by an open circuit."

															"It also consists in new apparatus for this purpose."

															"My receiver is based upon the well known principle that one
terminal of an open circuit will attract the other terminal when
both are charged, and my invention consists mainly in the
arrangement of the enlarged terminal of the secondary coil of an
induction coil so that it will be vibrated toward and from the
other terminal by variations in the electric state of the coil, and
in such a manner as to reproduce sound vibrations of all qualities,
including articulate speech, when the primary circuit of the
induction coil contains a suitable transmitter."

															"Another feature of my invention relates to the system of " Page 126 U. S. 133 image:mm Page 126 U. S. 134 image:nn Page 126 U. S. 135 "connecting two or more receivers and two or more transmitters
for practical use, and it consists in the combination of two
induction coils, two receivers, and two transmitters in a novel
manner, fully described below."

															"The best form of my receiver is that shown in elevation in Fig.
1, and in cross-section in Fig. 3."

															"In Fig. 3, the case of the receiver A is shown as made up of
three pieces -- a back piece r , an ear piece s ,
and an annular connecting piece t , for connecting the
pieces r and s together."

															" a b are thin elastic plates, preferably of iron,
forming terminals of the secondary coil of an induction coil. These
plates are securely fastened about the edges and brought very near
to each other, but not in contact, a thin annulus, d ,
lying between them. This is best effected by forming a thin flange, d , on the interior of the connecting piece t and
placing the terminals a b on opposite sides of this
flange. The ear piece s of the case holds the terminal a in place with the proper tension around the edge to
insure mass vibrations of that terminal. The terminal b is
held in place by the back piece, r , of the case. Each of
the plates a and b is formed with a small tongue, a2 (see Fig. 4), with which the binding screws are
connected, as shown."

															"As the section plane in Fig. 3 will pass through but one of the
binding screws (that for the wire a' ), the receiver is
shown broken away at x in order to show the binding screw
for the wire b' . Both are shown in Fig. 1. One of the
binding screws connects with plate a , the other with plate b . By the use of the tongues, an even pressure around the
whole edge of the plate is possible."

															"The adjustment of the instrument is effected by the screw A',
and this screw, by contact upon the back plate b , prevents
any vibrations of that plate which interfere with the proper
vibrations of the front plate a ."

															"My system requires electricity of a very high electromotive
force, and this is best obtained by means of a secondary coil with
a high resistance, the best results having been obtained from four
or five thousand ohms of No. 36 copper wire."

															"Transmitters such as are in common use will answer wit Page 126 U. S. 136 my receiver; but the best form of transmitter is that shown in
the drawings (which is not here described, as it forms the subject
of an application for a patent filed by me May 31, 1880)."

															"The main advantages of my new system over all others known to
me are that it is not appreciably affected by ordinary induced
currents on the line, it has no magnet to deteriorate, the
adjustment is more simple and is not affected by barometric and
hygrometric variations, and it lacks the fine wire helix of the
common receiver, which is very liable to get out of repair. It is
very efficient also on very long lines."

															"The best system for the practical use of my invention is
illustrated in the diagram, Fig. 5, and the best form of apparatus
is that shown in Figs. 1 and 2. In these figures, A represents the
receivers, B the transmitters, D the batteries, F the induction
coils, and G switches."

															"The transmitter B and battery D are in the circuit with the
primary coil of the induction coil F, and this circuit is
completed, when the transmitter is to be used, by throwing over the
member g of switch G until it makes contact with the
member g1 , thereby completing the battery circuit through
the transmitter and primary coil. The electricity induced in the
secondary coil affects the plates in the distant receiver by means
of that branch of wire m' which extends from one end of
the secondary coil to member g of switch G, members g and g2 of switch G, the line wire l ,
which is a continuation of member g2 of switch G, wire l2 , which is a branch of line wire l , receiver
wires a' b' , wire m2 , members g g3 of
switch G, wire n2 , to earth, thus cutting out the receiver
at the sending station (on the left of the diagram) and the
secondary coil on the right of the diagram."

															"When the sending station is at the right of the diagram, the
switch G at the right will be arranged as is the switch G at the
left, and the receiver at the left is electrified by means of wire l' , receiver wires a' b' (at the left of the
diagram), wire m' , members g g3 of switch G (at
the left of the diagram), wire n' , to earth."

															"The switch G is composed of two springs, g g2 , and
two Page 126 U. S. 137 stops, g1 g3 , arranged as shown, so that when spring g is brought in contact with stop g1 , it will
also be in contact with spring g2 , and when spring g is in contact with stop g3 , it will be out of
contact with both spring g2 and stop g1 . One end
of the secondary coil on the left of the diagram is connected with
spring g on the left of diagram by means of one branch of
wire m1 and with receiver wire b1 on the left of
diagram by means of the other branch of wire m1 , and one
end of the secondary coil on the right of the diagram is connected
with spring g on the right of diagram by means of one
branch of wire m2 , and with receiver wire b 1 on
the right of the diagram by means of the other branch of wire m2 ."

															"I am aware of the apparatus mentioned as used by Dr. Wright in
'Ferguson's Electricity,' published by William and Robert Chambers,
of London and Edinburgh, in 1867, pages 258 and 259, in which two
sheets of paper silvered on one side were placed back to back and
connected with the two ends of an induction coil, the primary
circuit of which contained a Reis transmitter, and I disclaim that
apparatus. My receiver differs from it in that the sounds
transmitted are reproduced by the mass vibrations of one of the
terminals, while in the Wright receiving apparatus the sound
produced was mainly, if not altogether, due to molecular motion,
and not to mass vibrations. Moreover, Wright's sheets of silvered
paper were so arranged that each would damp any mass vibrations of
the other, and in his apparatus any slight mass vibrations, even if
not wholly damped, would be necessarily so irregular as to be
worthless as a means of reproducing sounds. The fact, also, that
the mass vibrations of each sheet damped those of the other sheet
would make all the mass vibrations worthless for this purpose."

															"I am also aware of English Patents No. 4934 of 1877 and No.
2396 of 1878, and disclaim all therein shown."

															"What I claim as my invention is:"

															"1. The receiver above described, consisting of the plates a
b , mounted in case r s t , and separated by the
annulus d , in combination with induction coil F,
substantially as described."

															"2. In combination, two induction coils, the primary of each Page 126 U. S. 138 containing a battery D, and transmitter B, and the secondary
circuits, each containing receiver A, by means of switches G,
consisting of members g g1 g2 g3, whereby the receiver at
the sending station and coil at the receiving station are switched
out of the line, substantially as described."

															"AMOS E. DOLBEAR"

															"Witnesses:"

															"W. A. COPELAND"

															"J. R. SNOW"

															" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE" " AMOS E. DOLBEAR, OF SOMERVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS" " MODE OF TRANSMITTING SOUND BY ELECTRICITY" " Specification forming part of letters patent No. 240,578,
dated April 26," " 1881. Application filed February 24, 1881.
(Model)" To all whom it may concern: "Be it known that I, AMOS E. DOLBEAR, of Somerville, in the
County of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new
Mode of Transmitting Sounds by Electricity, of which the following
is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being
had to the accompanying drawings, making a part hereof."

															"My invention consists mainly in a new mode of transmitting
articulate and other sounds by an open circuit."

															"It also consists in new apparatus for this purpose."

															"My receiver is based upon the discovery that one terminal of an
open circuit will attract and be attracted by a neighboring body
when the terminal is charged."

															"Figure 1 shows two modifications of my receiver in section,
connected in circuit with a transmitter and induction coil. Fig. 2
shows another modification of my receiver."

															"Three forms of my receiver are shown in the drawings. In each,
the casing is formed of three pieces, r being the back
piece, s the ear piece, and t the connecting
piece which connects r and s together. The plate a of receiver I is a thin " Page 126 U. S. 139 image:oo Page 126 U. S. 140 "elastic disk, preferably of iron, the vibrations of which
reproduce the sound which causes the diaphragm of the transmitter T
to vibrate, T representing a transmitter of suitable construction,
the form preferred being that shown in my application for a patent
filed May 31, 1880, the transmitter T and the battery B being in
circuit with the primary coil, as will be clear without further
description."

															"In receiver I, the plate a is one terminal of the
secondary coil F, and any change in the electrical State of coil F
varies the potential of this plate a in receiver I and
causes it to attract plate b , which is mounted close to,
but not in contact with, plate a ; but as plate b in receiver I is so mounted that it cannot vibrate, plate a will vibrate as its potential varies. In receiver I, the
plate b and back piece r and adjusting screw u are all of metal."

															"It will be seen that neither the plate b nor back
piece r nor screw u of receiver I is connected to
the coil F, but that only one terminal of coil F -- viz., plate a -- forms any part of the receiver I. The plate b may be made in one piece with back piece r , but
for purposes of adjustment is best made as shown."

															"The force of the attraction between the charged terminal a and any neighboring body is slight unless the
neighboring body be many times larger than the terminal and itself
capable of being readily electrified, and for this reason, when the
neighboring body is a plate (as it is best made for purpose of
adjustment), it should be electrically connected with a larger
body. Consequently the back piece r of the case of
receiver I is made of metal, and is in metallic contact with plate b . The neighboring body, which is attracted by plate a in receiver I (being, in fact the plate b ,
piece r , and screw u , which are all of metal and
in metallic contact), acts as one body in this receiver I; but, as
will be clear, the back piece r , plate b , and
screw u may be one single piece of metal, and some other
provision be made for the necessary adjustment."

															"In receiver I I, the terminal a is mounted upon back
piece r , so that it cannot vibrate, and must therefore be
insulated. Consequently the back piece r is made of hard
rubber. The Page 126 U. S. 141 plate b , which is the neighboring body in receiver I I,
is connected by the wire b2 with a metal band, r2 , upon back piece r , in order to increase the
attractive force due to the electrification of a greater mass than
plate b , and without interfering with the proper vibration
of plate b , which, in receiver I I, vibrates as the
potential of terminal a varies."

															"It will be clear that either of the plates b may be
grounded, and thereby increase the electrification of these plates;
but it is not necessary to ground either of them, and the
audibility of the sounds reproduced is practically as great when
the back piece of the receiver is held in the hand as when the
plates b are both grounded, and it makes no difference
whatever whether both be grounded or only one. In other words,
receiver I will reproduce articulate and other sounds even if back
piece r be of hard rubber or other nonconductor and plate b be wholly disconnected from coil F, but the sounds
reproduced are faint, although distinct and audible. The sounds
will be louder if the piece r be of metal, as above
described, or if the plate b or metallic piece r be grounded; but the difference is very slight, the sounds being
practically as loud when the metal piece r is used as when
the plate b is grounded. And so of receiver I I the sounds
are distinct and audible when wire b5 and metal band r2 are omitted, but louder when metal band r2 and
wire b2 are used, as shown, or when plate b of
receiver I I is grounded. Moreover, the reproduction of sound by
receiver I does not depend at all upon the grounding of any part of
receiver I I, for receiver I will act with plate b of
receiver I I not grounded precisely as it does when plate b of receiver I I is grounded, and receiver I I will act
when plate b of receiver I is not grounded precisely as it
acts when that plate of receiver I is grounded."

															"In my application filed October 31, 1880, I have described a
receiver in which both the plates a and b are
connected with the coil F, and I therefore disclaim in this
application any receiver having both the plates connected with that
coil, my present invention consisting in a receiver in which only
one terminal of the coil is used, as above explained."

															"Instead of making plate b of metal and connecting it
metallically Page 126 U. S. 142 with back piece r or band r2 , it may be made
of any nonconductor, and in this case the increased loudness is
produced by electrifying plate b before it is put in
place; or, as shown in receiver I I I, where b is a rubber
plate, and b3 is a disk of felt fast to the hard rubber
support b4 , which is turned by the thumb and finger to
electrify rubber plate b by friction."

															"What I claim as my invention is --"

															"In combination, a primary coil in circuit with battery B and
transmitter T, and a secondary coil with its enlarged terminal a
mounted in case r s t , and arranged near plate b ,
plate b being also mounted in case r s t , but not
connected with the secondary coil, all substantially as
described."

															"AMOS E. DOLBEAR"

															"Witnesses:"

															"J. E. MAYNADIER"

															"JOHN R. SNOW"

															The answer of the Molecular Company further contained the
following averment:

															"Defendants admit that the Molecular Telephone Company does
intend and purpose when it shall have hereafter made the necessary
arrangements to manufacture and use electric speaking telephone
instruments of the character, kind and description substantially as
described in said Letters Patent Nos. 228,824 and 228,825, but
defendants allege that said Molecular Telephone Company has lawful
right so to do. Defendants deny that the said instruments so
described in said patents Nos. 228,824 and 228,825, and about to be
used by defendant, the Molecular Telephone Company, are
substantially like those described in either of said Bell patents,
or that said instruments operate by or according to the method set
forth in either of said Bell patents."

															No. 228,824 there referred to was granted to Robert M. Lockwood
and Samuel H. Bartlett, June 15, 1880, for improvements in
transmitters for telephones, and No. 228,825, to the same persons
on the same date for an improvement in telephone receivers. Page 126 U. S. 143 "This company and the Overland Company also relied upon a
description of a magnet used in the Hughes printing telegraph,
printed in a German work by Schellen (of which the following is a
translation), as anticipating the invention covered by claim 5 in
Bell's second patent."

															image:pp

															"The rapidity with which successive signals can be transmitted
depends essentially upon the time rewired to charge and discharge
the line. This time increases with the length and section of the
conductor; moreover, as the discharge always occupies a longer
interval than the charge, it follows that the signals will become
indistinct at the receiving end if they are sent into the line
before the discharge shall have been effected, as in this case the
charge and discharge combine and cause a prolongation of the
signals, causing them, as it were, to run together."

															"It will be readily understood from this that the armature of an
electromagnet or the needle of a galvanometer may be caused to move
even before the current in the line has attained its permanent
condition, and may in like manner return to a position of rest
before the line is completely discharged."

															"The armature of an ordinary electromagnet is necessarily at a
greater distance from its poles at the moment when it is Page 126 U. S. 144 attracted than at the moment when it is released after having
been attracted; consequently, the strength of current which will be
required to attract the armature must be much greater than that
which will permit it to be released or drawn away by the retracting
spring. Therefore, a telegraphic signal which is to be produced by
means of the armature of an electromagnet cannot be completed until
the current has attained the necessary strength to cause it to be
attracted, and has again sufficiently diminished to allow it to be
drawn away by the tension of the spring. The more nearly the values
of these two strengths of current can be made to approximate each
other, the more rapidly successive signals may be received.
Consequently, when the receiving instrument consists of an
electromagnet, the rapidity of signaling depends essentially upon
the distance of the armature from its poles and upon the amount of
play which the latter is permitted to have. The less the distance
through which the armature moves, the more rapidly the signals may
be made to succeed each other. The degree of sensitiveness of an
electromagnetic instrument has but little influence upon the
rapidity with which the signals may be made to succeed each other.
For example, let us suppose that the current in the permanent
condition of the line is equal to 25, but that the armature of the
electromagnet is attracted as soon as the current has gained a
strength of 10, and that it falls off again as soon as, by the
disconnection of the battery, the strength of the current has
diminished to 7. A distinct signal will be obtained in this case
whenever the current increases from 7 to 10 and decreases again to
7. If the apparatus is made less sensitive by increasing the
tension of the spring, then the current must be increased in order
to overcome this tension and attract the armature. If we suppose
that this attraction takes place when the current has attained the
strength of 15, and that the armature is released when the current
is diminished to 12, the margin will be as great, if not greater,
in the latter case, and therefore the less sensitive instrument
will operate at least as rapidly as the other."

															"In the arrangement of the electromagnet which was invented Page 126 U. S. 145 by Hughes, the action is entirely different. In its normal
position of rest, the armature is held nearly in contact with a
permanent magnet, the tension of the retracting spring being
increased to an extent almost sufficient to overcome the attraction
of the latter. When this permanent magnetism is diminished in the
smallest degree by the action of the current, the armature
instantly falls off, and is afterwards replaced in its original
position not by the action of the current, but by means of a
mechanical device, which is set in action by the falling off of the
armature. Therefore the sooner the current attains sufficient
strength to release the armature, the quicker the electromagnet
operates."

															Dr. Van der Weyde was also relied upon as having anticipated
some of the inventions claimed under the second patent.

															The Clay Commercial Company contested the regularity of the
formation of the Corporation complainant (the American Bell
Telephone Company) and further made the following averments
respecting the infringements of the Bell patents charged in the
bill.

															"This respondent denies it to be true, as in said bill alleged,
that it has at the City of Philadelphia or elsewhere since the
first day of February in the year of 1884 or at any other time made
and used, or furnished to others to be used, or sold, or caused to
be sold, electric speaking telephones constructed and adapted for
the transmission of articulate speech by and according to the
method described and claimed in said patent to the said Bell, No.
174,465, and embracing and embodying in one integral organization
the alleged inventions and improvements or material and substantial
parts thereof, described and claimed in said patents to said Bell,
No. 174,465 and No. 186,787 respectively. On the contrary, this
respondent saith that the telephones made, used, and sold by it
have been made and constructed under and in pursuance of certain
letters patent of the United States issued and granted upon due
application and in conformity with law unto one Henry Clay, as the
first and original inventor Page 126 U. S. 146 of said patented improvements respectively, and by him duly
assigned to this respondent, which said letters patent are
respectively of the dates, numbers, and titles, following: to-wit,
May 8, 1883, No. 277,112, for a new and useful improvement in
Telephones; July 3, 1883, No. 280,351, for Switchboard for
Telephones; July 3, 1883, No. 280,451, for Telephone Call Bell;
July 3, 1883, No. 280,580, for Transmitter for Telephones; Nov. 6,
1883, No. 288,017, for Telephonic Transmitter. And the respondent
with, that the devices and methods of operation set forth in these
said several letters patent, and used by the respondent, are not
similar to, but are wholly different from, the devices described
and claimed in the said letters patent of the said Bell, and are
not violations or infringements of said letters patent, and do not
embody or embrace the method, principle, operation, or construction
therein or thereby set forth described and claimed."

															The Overland Company, in its answer, made the following averment
respecting Drawbaugh's invention:

															"Because the said Bell, in obtaining said patent,
surreptitiously and unjustly obtained a patent for that which was
in fact invented by another, to-wit, said Daniel Drawbaugh, who was
using reasonable diligence in adapting and perfecting the
same:"

															and the following denial of infringement of Bell's patents:

															"This defendant on information and relief denies that it has
ever infringed the said two patents numbered 174,465 and number
186,787, here in suit, or either of them, but, further answering,
says that it has become the owner, by assignments from Myron L.
Baxter, of Aurora, Kane County, Illinois, of certain inventions in
transmitting and receiving telephones described and shown in two
several letters patent of the United States, granted to said
Baxter, to-wit, letters patent No. 277,198, dated May 8, 1883, for
transmitting telephone, and letters patent No. 277, 199, granted to
said Baxter May 8, 1883, for receiving telephone, and that it has
on a few occasions within two or three months last past privately,
and merely for experimental and test purposes, operated a few of
said Baxter instruments, but that it has never sold any of said Page 126 U. S. 147 instruments, nor put them on sale, nor put them into use for
gain or profit or for any business purpose, nor for any other
purpose than merely to test their novelty, working capacity, and
value, and to determine whether any and if so what further
improvements could be made upon them and to ascertain to the
satisfaction of its experts and counsel whether the said Baxter
telephones infringe any lawful or valid patent or patents
heretofore granted to others."

															The proofs and record in a case known as the Dowd case,
heard and adjudged in the Circuit Court of the United States for
the District of Massachusetts, and in which the Western Union
Telegraph Company, the American Speaking Telephone Company, and the
Gold and Stock Company were the real parties defendant, and also
the proofs and record in another case known as the Spencer case, heard and adjudged in the same court, were imported into the Overland case. The Spencer case is reported 8 F.
509.

															In the Dolbear case, the final decree was

															"that the letters patent referred to in the complainants' bill,
being letters patent of the United States, granted unto Alexander
Graham Bell, No. 174,465, for improvement in telegraphy, dated
March 7th, 1876, is a good and valid patent, and that the said
Alexander Graham Bell was the original and first inventor of the
improvement described and claimed therein, and that the said
defendants have infringed the fifth claim of said patent and upon
the exclusive rights of the complainants under the same,"

															and a perpetual injunction was ordered. From this decree the
respondents appealed. See 15 F. 438, for the opinion of
MR. JUSTICE GRAY in granting the preliminary injunction, and 17 F.
604, for the opinion of Judge Lowell on final bearing.

															In the Molecular case, 23 Blatchford 253, the final
decree was

															"that the several letters patent upon which this suit is
brought, viz., Letters patent granted to Alexander Graham
Bell for an improvement in telegraphy, dated March 7, 1876, and
numbered No. 174,465, and letters patent granted to said Bell for
an improvement in electric telegraphy numbered No. 186,7.87, and
dated January 30th, 1877, are good and valid in Page 126 U. S. 148 law; that the said Alexander Graham Bell was the original and
first inventor of the inventions described in said several letters
patent Nos. 174,465 and 186,787; that the title thereto, and to the
inventions described and claimed therein, is vested in the
complainants, and that the defendants have infringed the fifth
claim of said letters patent No. 174,465, and the sixth, seventh,
and eight claims of said letters patent No. 186,787, and the
exclusive rights of the complainants under the same."

															The defendants appealed from the whole decree, and the
complainants from it

															"insofar as it fails to adjudge that the fifth claim of letters
patent No. 186,787 is good and valid in law, and that the
defendants have infringed the same, and insofar as it fails to
decree the relief prayed for in the bill of complaint herein under
said fifth claim."

															In the Clay commercial case, it was decreed that the
patents were valid, and that the defendants had

															"infringed the fifth claim of said letters patent, No. 174,465,
and the third, fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth claims of said
letters patent, No. 186,787, and the exclusive rights of the
complainants under the same,"

															and a perpetual injunction was ordered. The defendants appealed
from this decree.

															In the Overland case, the decree was that the patents
were valid;

															"that the said Alexander Graham Bell was the original and first
inventor of the inventions described in said several letters patent
Nos. 174,465 and 186,787; that the title thereto, and to the
inventions described and claimed therein, is vested in
complainants, and that the defendants have infringed the fifth
claim of said letters patent No. 174,465, and the third, fifth,
sixth, seventh and eighth claims of said letters patent No.
186,787, and the exclusive rights of the complainants under the
same,"

															and a perpetual injunction was ordered. The defendants appealed
from this decree.

															In the People's case, 22 Blatchford 531, the decree
was

															"that the several letters patent upon which this suit is
brought, viz., letters patent granted to Alexander Graham
Bell for an improvement in telegraphy, dated March 7, 1876, and
numbered No. 174,465, and letters patent granted to said Bell for
an improvement in electric telegraphy, numbered Page 126 U. S. 149 186,787, and dated January 30, 1877, are good and valid in law;
that the said Alexander Graham Bell was the original and first
inventor of the inventions described in said several letters
patent, No. 174,465 and No. 186,787; that the title thereto and to
the inventions described and claimed therein is vested in the
complainants, and that the defendants have infringed the fifth
claim of said letters patent No. 174,465, and the fifth, sixth, and
eighth claims of said letters patent No. 186,787, and the exclusive
rights of the complainants under the same." Also see 22 F. 309, and 25 F. 725.

															A perpetual injunction was ordered. The defendants appealed from
this decree. Page 126 U. S. 531 MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WAITE delivered the opinion of the Court.

															The important question which meets us at the outset in each of
these cases is as to the scope of the fifth claim of the patent of
March 7, 1876, which is as follows:

															"The method of and apparatus for transmitting vocal or other
sounds telegraphically, as herein described, by causing electrical
undulations, similar in form to the vibrations of the air
accompanying the said vocal or other sounds, substantially as set
forth."

															It is contended that this embraces the art of transferring to or
impressing upon a current of electricity the vibrations of air
produced by the human voice in articulate speech in a way that the
speech will be carried to and received by a listener at a distance
on the line of the current. Articulate speech is not mentioned by
name in the patent. The invention, as described,

															"consists in the employment of a vibratory or undulatory current
of electricity, in contradistinction to a merely intermittent or
pulsatory current, and of a method of and apparatus for producing
electrical undulations upon the line wire."

															A "pulsatory current" is described as one "caused by sudden or
instantaneous changes of intensity," and an "electrical
undulation," as the result of "gradual changes of intensity exactly
analogous to the changes in the density of air occasioned by simple
pendulous vibrations." Among the uses to which this art may be put
is said to be the "telegraphic transmission of noises or sounds of
any kind," and it is also said that the undulatory current, when
created in Page 126 U. S. 532 the way pointed out, will produce through the receiver at the
receiving end of the line "a similar sound to that uttered into"
the transmitter at the transmitting end. One of the means of
imparting the necessary vibrations through the transmitter to
produce the undulations may be the human voice. Articulate speech
is certainly included in this description, for it is an "uttered"
"sound," produced by the "human voice."

															It is contended, however, that "vocal sounds" and "articulate
speech" are not convertible terms either in acoustics or in
telegraphy. It is unnecessary to determine whether this is so or
not. Articulate speech necessarily implies a sound produced by the
human voice, and as the patent on its face is for the art of
changing the intensity of a continuous current of electricity by
the undulations of the air caused by sonorous vibrations, and
speech can only be communicated by such vibrations, the
transmission of speech in this way must be included in the art. The
question is not whether "vocal sounds" and "articulate speech" are
used synonymously as scientific terms, but whether the sound of
articulate speech is one of the "vocal or other sounds" referred to
in this claim of the patent. We have no hesitation in saying that
it is, and that if the patent can be sustained to the full extent
of what is now contended for, it gives to Bell and those who claim
under him the exclusive use of his art for that purpose until the
expiration of the statutory term of his patented rights.

															In this art or, what is the same thing under the patent law,
this process, this way of transmitting speech -- electricity, one
of the forces of nature -- is employed, but electricity, left to
itself, will not do what is wanted. The art consists in controlling
the force as to make it accomplish the purpose. It had long been
believed that if the vibrations of air caused by the voice in
speaking could be reproduced at a distance by means of electricity,
the speech itself would be reproduced and understood. How to do it
was the question.

															Bell discovered that it could be done by gradually changing the
intensity of a continuous electric current so as to make it
correspond exactly to the changes in the density of the air caused
by the sound of the voice. This was his art. He then Page 126 U. S. 533 devised a way in which these changes of intensity could be made
and speech actually transmitted. Thus, his art was put in a
condition for practical use. In doing this, both discovery and
invention, in the popular sense of those terms, were involved --
discovery in finding the art, and invention in devising the means
of making it useful. For such discoveries and such inventions the
law has given the discoverer and inventor the right to a patent, as
discoverer, for the useful art, process, method of doing a thing,
he has found, and as inventor for the means he has devised to make
his discovery one of actual value. Other inventors may compete with
him for the ways of giving effect to the discovery, but the new art
he has found will belong to him and those claiming under him during
the life of his patent. If another discovers a different art or
method of doing the same thing, reduces it to practical use, and
gets a patent for his discovery, the new discovery will be the
property of the new discoverer, and thereafter the two will be
permitted to operate each in his own way, without interference by
the other. The only question between them will be whether the
second discovery is in fact different from the first.

															The patent for the art does not necessarily involve a patent for
the particular means employed for using it. Indeed, the mention of
any means in the specification or descriptive portion of the patent
is only necessary to show that the art can be used, for it is only
useful arts -- arts which may be used to advantage -- that can be
made the subject of a patent. The language of the statue is that
"any person who has invented or discovered any new and useful art,
machine, manufacture, or composition of matter" may obtain a patent
therefor. Rev.Stat. § 4886. Thus, an art -- a process -- which is
useful is as much the subject of a patent as a machine,
manufacture, or composition of matter. Of this there can be no
doubt, and it is abundantly supported by authority. Corning v.
Burden , 15 How. 252, 56 U. S. 267 ; Cochrane v. Deener, 94 U. S. 780 , 94 U. S.
787 -788; Tilghman v. Proctor, 102 U.
S. 707 , 102 U. S. 722 , 102 U. S.
724 -725; Fermentation Co. v. Maus, 122 U.
S. 413 , 122 U. S.
427 -428. What Bell claims is the art of creating changes
of intensity Page 126 U. S. 534 in a continuous current of electricity exactly corresponding to
the changes of density in the air caused by the vibrations which
accompany vocal or other sounds, and of using that electrical
condition thus created for sending and receiving articulate speech
telegraphically. For that, among other things, his patent of 1876
was, in our opinion, issued, and the point to be decided is
whether, as such a patent, it can be sustained.

															In O'Reilly v.
Morse , 15 How. 62, it was decided that a claim in
broad terms (p. 56 U. S. 86 ) for
the use of the motive power of the electric or galvanic current
called "electromagnetism, however developed, for making or printing
intelligible characters, letters, or signs at any distances,"
although "a new application of that power" first made by Morse, was
void, because (p. 56 U. S. 120 ) it
was a claim "for a patent for an effect produced by the use of
electromagnetism, distinct from the process or machinery necessary
to produce it;" but a claim (p. 56 U. S. 85 )
for

															"making use of the motive power of magnetism, when developed by
the action of such current or currents, substantially as set forth
in the foregoing description, . . . as means of operating or giving
motion to machinery, which may be used to imprint signals upon
paper or other suitable material, or to produce sounds in any
desired manner, for the purpose of telegraphic communication at any
distances"

															was sustained. The effect of that decision was therefore that
the use of magnetism as a motive power, without regard to the
particular process with which it was connected in the patent, could
not be claimed, but that its use in that connection could.

															In the present case, the claim is not for the use of a current
of electricity in its natural state as it comes from the battery,
but for putting a continuous current, in a closed circuit, into a
certain specified condition suited to the transmission of vocal and
other sounds, and using it in that condition for that purpose. So
far as at present known, without this peculiar change in its
condition, it will not serve as a medium for the transmission of
speech, but with the change it will. Bell was the first to discover
this fact, and how to put such a current in such a condition, and
what he claims is its use in that condition Page 126 U. S. 535 for that purpose, just as Morse claimed his current in his
condition for his purpose. We see nothing in Morse's case to defeat
Bell's claim; on the contrary, it is in all respects sustained by
that authority. It may be that electricity cannot be used at all
for the transmission of speech except in the way Bell has
discovered, and that therefore, practically, his patent gives him
its exclusive use for that purpose; but that does not make his
claim one for the use of electricity distinct from the particular
process with which it is connected in his patent. It will, if true,
show more clearly the great importance of his discovery, but it
will not invalidate his patent.

															But it is insisted that the claim cannot be sustained because,
when the patent was issued, Bell had not in fact completed his
discovery. While it is conceded that he was acting on the right
principle, and had adopted that true theory, it is claimed that the
discovery lacked that practical development which was necessary to
make it patentable. In the language of counsel,

															"there was still work to be done, and work calling for the
exercise of the utmost ingenuity, and calling for the very highest
degree of practical invention."

															It is quite true that when Bell applied for his patent, he had
never transmitted telegraphically spoken words so that they could
be distinctly heard and understood at the receiving end of his
line; but in his specification he did describe accurately, and with
admirable clearness, his process -- that is to say, the exact
electrical condition that must be created to accomplish his purpose
-- and he also described, with sufficient precision to enable one
of ordinary skill in such matters to make it, a form of apparatus
which, if used in the way pointed out, would produce the required
effect, receive the words, and carry them to and deliver them at
the appointed place. The particular instrument which he had, and
which he used in his experiments, did not, under the circumstances
in which it was tried, reproduce the words spoken so that they
could be clearly understood; but the proof is abundant and of the
most convincing character that other instruments, carefully
constructed and made exactly in accordance with the specification,
without any additions whatever, have operated Page 126 U. S. 536 and will operate successfully. A good mechanic of proper skill
in matters of the kind can take the patent and, by following the
specification strictly, can, without more, construct an apparatus
which, when used in the way pointed out, will do all that it is
claimed the method or process will do. Some witnesses have
testified that they were unable to do it. This shows that they,
with the particular apparatus they had and the skill they employed
in its use, were not successful, not that others, with another
apparatus, perhaps more carefully constructed, or more skillfully
applied, would necessarily fail. As was said in Loom Co. v.
Higgins, 105 U. S. 580 , 105 U. S. 586 ,
"when the question is whether a thing can be done or not, it is
always easy to find persons ready to show how not to do it." If one
succeeds, that is enough, no matter how many others fail. The
opposite results will show that in the one case, the apparatus used
was properly made, carefully adjusted, with a knowledge of what was
required, and skillfully used, and that in the others it was
not.

															The law does not require that a discoverer or inventor, in order
to get a patent for a process, must have succeeded in bringing his
art to the highest degree of perfection; it is enough if he
describes his method with sufficient clearness and precision to
enable those skilled in the matter to understand what the process
is, and if he points out some practicable way of putting it into
operation. This Bell did. He described clearly and distinctly his
process of transmitting speech telegraphically by creating changes
in the intensity of a continuous current or flow of electricity, in
a closed circuit, exactly analogous to the changes of density in
air occasioned by the undulatory motion given to it by the human
voice in speaking. He then pointed out two ways in which this might
be done -- one by the "vibration or motion of bodies capable of
inductive action, or by the vibration of the conducting wire itself
in the neighborhood of such bodies," and the other "by alternately
increasing and diminishing the resistance of the circuit, or by
alternately increasing and diminishing the power of the battery."
He then said he preferred to employ for his purpose "an
electromagnet, . . . having a coil upon only one of Page 126 U. S. 537 its legs," and he described the construction of the particular
apparatus shown in the patent as Fig. 7, in which the
electromagnet, or magneto method, was employed. This was the
apparatus which he himself used without entirely satisfactory
results, but which Prof. Cross, Mr. Watson, Dr. Blake, Prof. Pope,
and others testify has done, and will do, what was claimed for it
and transmit speech successfully, but not so well, indeed, as
another constructed upon the principle of the microphone or the
variable resistance method.

															An effort was made in argument to confine the patent to the
magneto instrument and such modes of creating electrical
undulations as could be produced by that form of apparatus, the
position being that such an apparatus necessarily implied "a closed
circuit, incapable of being opened, and a continuous current,
incapable of being intermittent." But this argument ignores the
fact that the claim is first for the process, and second for the
apparatus. It is to be read (1) as a claim for

															"the method of transmitting vocal or other sounds
telegraphically, as herein described, by causing electrical
undulations similar in form to the vibrations of the air
accompanying the said vocal or other sounds, substantially as set
forth,"

															and (2) as for

															"the apparatus for transmitting vocal or other sounds
telegraphically, as herein described, by causing electrical
undulations, . . . substantially as set forth."

															The method "as herein described" is to cause gradual changes in
the intensity of the electric current used as the medium of
transmission, which shall be exactly analogous to the changes in
the density of the air occasioned by the peculiarities in the
shapes of the undulations produced in speech, in the manner
"substantially as set forth" -- that is to say, "by the vibration
or motion of bodies capable of inductive action, or by the
vibration of the conducting wire itself in the neighborhood of such
bodies," which is the magneto method, or "by alternately increasing
and diminishing the resistance of the circuit, or by alternately
increasing and diminishing the power of the battery," which is the
variable resistance method. This is the process which has been
patented, and it may be operated in either of the ways set forth.
The current must be kept closed to be used successfully, Page 126 U. S. 538 but this does not necessarily imply that it must be so produced
or so operated upon as to be incapable of being opened. If opened,
it will fail to act for the time being, and the process will be
interrupted; but there is nothing in the patent which requires it
to be operated by instruments which are incapable of making the
break.

															The apparatus "as herein described," which is included in the
claim, is undoubtedly one in which an electromagnet is employed,
and constructed "substantially as set forth" in the specification.
One acting on the variable resistance mode is not described further
than to say that the vibration of the conducting wire in mercury or
other liquid included in the circuit occasions undulations in the
current, and no other special directions are given as to the manner
in which it must be constructed. The patent is both for the magneto
and variable resistance methods, and for the particular magneto
apparatus which is described, or its equivalent. There is no patent
for any variable resistance apparatus. It is undoubtedly true that
when Bell got his patent, he thought the magneto method was the
best. Indeed, he said in express terms he preferred it, but that
does not exclude the use of the other if it turns out to be the
most desirable way of using the process under any circumstances.
Both forms of apparatus operate on a closed circuit by gradual
changes of intensity, and not by alternately making and breaking
the circuit or by sudden and instantaneous changes, and they each
require to be so adjusted as to prevent interruptions. If they
break, it is a fault, and the process stops until the connection is
restored.

															It is again said that the claim, if given this broad
construction, is virtually "a claim for speech transmission by
transmitting it, or in other words, for all such doing of a thing
as is provable by doing it." It is true that Bell transmits speech
by transmitting it, and that long before he did so, it was believed
by scientists that it could be done by means of electricity, if the
requisite electrical effect could be produced. Precisely how that
subtle force operates under Bell's treatment, or what form it
takes, no one can tell. All we know is that he found out that by
changing the intensity of a continuous Page 126 U. S. 539 current so as to make it correspond exactly with the changes in
the density of air caused by sonorous vibrations, vocal and other
sounds could be transmitted and heard at a distance. This was the
thing to be done, and Bell discovered the way of doing it. He uses
electricity as a medium for that purpose, just as air is used
within speaking distance. In effect, he prolongs the air vibrations
by the use of electricity. No one before him had found out how to
use electricity with the same effect. To use it with success, it
must be put in a certain condition. What that condition was he was
the first to discover, and with his discovery he astonished the
scientific world. Prof. Henry, one of the most eminent scientists
of the present century, spoke of it as "the greatest marvel
hitherto achieved by the telegraph." The thing done by Bell was
"transmitting audible speech through long telegraphic lines," and
Sir William Thomson, on returning to his home in England in August
or September, 1876, after seeing at the Centennial Exposition in
Philadelphia what Bell had done and could do by his process, spoke
in this way of it to his countrymen:

															"Who can but admire the hardihood of invention which devised
such very slight means to realize the mathematical conception that,
if electricity is to convey all the delicacies of quality which
distinguish articulate speech, the strength of its current must
vary continuously, as nearly as may be, in simple proportion to the
velocity of a particle of air engaged in constituting the
sounds."

															Surely a patent for such a discovery is not to be confined to
the mere means he improvised to prove the reality of his
conception.

															We come now to consider the alleged anticipation of Philipp
Reis. And here it is to be always kept in mind that the question is
not whether the apparatus devised by Reis to give effect to his
theory can be made, with our present knowledge, to transmit speech,
but whether Reis had in his time found out the way of using it
successfully for that purpose -- not as to the character of the
apparatus, but as to the mode of treating the current of
electricity on which the apparatus is to act, so as to make that
current a medium for receiving the vibrations of air created by the
human voice in articulate speech at Page 126 U. S. 540 one place, and in effect delivering them at the ear of a
listener in another place. Bell's patent is not alone for the
particular apparatus he describes, but for the process that
apparatus was designed to bring into use. His patent would be quite
as good if he had actually used Reis' apparatus in developing the
process for which it was granted. That Reis knew what had to be
done in order to transmit speech by electricity is very apparent,
for in his first paper, he said:

															"As soon as it is possible to produce, anywhere and in any
manner, vibrations whose curves shall be the same as those of any
given tone or combination of tones, we shall receive the same
impression as that tone, or combination of tones, would have
produced on us."

															Bourseul also knew it before Reis, for, in a communication
published in a Paris journal in 1854, he said: "Reproduce precisely
these vibrations" -- to-wit, the vibrations made by the human voice
in uttering syllables -- "and you will reproduce precisely these
syllables."

															Reis discovered how to reproduce musical tones, but he did no
more. He could sing through his apparatus, but he could not talk.
From the beginning to the end, he has conceded this. In his first
paper, he said:

															"Hitherto it has not been possible to reproduce the tones of
human speech with a distinctness sufficient for everyone. The
consonants are for the most part reproduced pretty distinctly, but
the vowels, as yet, not in an equal degree. The cause of this I
will attempt to explain. According to the experiments of Willis,
Helmholtz, and others, vowel tones can be produced artificially if
the vibrations of one body are from time to time augmented by those
of another, something as follows: an elastic spring is set in
vibration by the blow of a tooth on a toothed wheel; the first
vibration is the greatest, and each subsequent one is smaller than
the preceding. If, after a few vibrations of this kind (the spring
not coming to a rest in the meantime), the tooth wheel imparts a
new stroke, the following vibration will be again a maximum, and so
on. The pitch of the tone produced in this way depends upon the
number of vibrations in a given time, but the character of the tone
upon the number of swellings in the same time. . . . Our organs of
speech Page 126 U. S. 541 probably produce the vowels in the same manner, through the
combined action of the upper and lower vocal cords, or of these
latter and the cavity of the mouth. My apparatus reproduces the
number of vibrations, but with an intensity much less than that of
the original ones, though, as I have reason to believe, to a
certain degree proportional among themselves. But in the case of
these generally small variations, the difference between large and
small vibrations is more difficult to perceive than in the case of
the original waves, and the vowel is therefore more or less
indistinct."

															And again:

															"I have succeeded in constructing an apparatus with which I am
enabled to reproduce the tones of various instruments, and even to
a certain extent the human voice."

															No one of the many writers whose papers are found in the records
claim more than this for Reis or his discoveries. Although his
first paper was published in 1861, and Bell did not appear as a
worker in the same field of scientific research until nearly
fifteen years afterwards, no advance had been made, by the use of
what he had contrived or of his method, toward the great end to be
accomplished. He caused his instruments to be put on the market for
sale, and both he and those whom he employed for that purpose took
occasion to call attention to them by prospectus, catalogue, and
otherwise, and to describe what they were, and what they would do.
In his own prospectus, which was published in 1865 and attached to
the apparatus, he says:

															"Every apparatus consists . . . of two parts -- the telephone
proper and the receiver. . . . These two parts are placed at such a
distance from each other that singing or toning of a musical
instrument can be heard in no other way from one station to the
other except through the apparatus."

															And

															"Besides the human voice, there can be reproduced (according to
my experience) just as well the tones of good organ pipes from F-c,
and those of the piano."

															Albert, the mechanician employed to make the instruments, in his
catalogue published in 1866, enumerates, among the things he has
for sale, "Telephone of Reis for reproduction of tones by
electricity." In a work on electricity by Robert M. Ferguson,
published by William and Robert Chambers, London Page 126 U. S. 542 and Edinburgh, in 1867, it is said, in speaking of the
telephone:

															"This is an instrument for telegraphing notes of the same pitch.
Any noise producing a single vibration of the air, when repeated
regularly a certain number of times in the second (not less than
thirty-two), produces, as is well known, a musical sound. . . . A
person when singing any note causes the air to vibrate so many
times per second, the number varying with the pitch of the note he
sings; the higher the note, the greater being the number of
vibrations. If we, then, by any means can get these vibrations to
break a closed circuit, . . . the note sung at one station can be
reproduced, at least so far as pitch is concerned, at another.
Reis' telephone (invented 1861) accomplishes this in the following
way,"

															which is then described. But it is needless to quote further
from the evidence on this branch of the case. It is not contended
that Reis had ever succeeded in actually transmitting speech, but
only that his instrument was capable of it if he had known how. He
did not know how, and all his experiments in that direction were
failures. With the help of Bell's later discoveries in 1875, we now
know why he failed.

															As early as 1854, Bourseul, in his communication which has
already been referred to, had said substantially that if the
vibrations of air produced by the human voice in articulate speech
could be reproduced by means of electricity at a distance, the
speech itself would be reproduced and heard there. As a means of
stimulating inquiry to that end, he called attention to the
principle on which the electric telegraph was based, and suggested
an application of that principle to such a purpose. He said:

															"The electric telegraph is based on the following principle: an
electric current, passing through a metallic wire, circulates
through a coil around a piece of soft iron, which it converts into
a magnet. The moment the current stops, the piece of iron ceased to
be a magnet. This magnet, which takes the name of 'Electro-Magnet,'
can thus in turn attract, and then release, a movable plate, which,
by its to and fro movement, produces the conventional signals
employed in telegraphy."

															Then, after referring to the mode in which speech Page 126 U. S. 543 is transmitted by the vibrations of the air, he said:

															"Suppose that man speaks near a movable disk, sufficiently
flexible to lose none of the vibrations of the voice; that this
disk alternately makes and breaks the connection with a battery --
you may have at a distance another disk which will simultaneously
execute the same vibrations."

															That Reis was working all the time, from the beginning to the
end of his experiments, upon the principle of the telegraph as thus
suggested by Bourseul is abundantly proven. Thus, in his first
paper, after describing his cubical block apparatus, he says:

															"If now tones or combinations of tones are produced in the
neighborhood of the block, so that sufficiently powerful waves
enter the opening a , then these sounds cause the membrane b to vibrate. At the first condensation, the hammer-like
wire d is pushed back; at the rarefaction, it cannot
follow the retreating membrane, and the current traversing the
strips remains broken until the membrane, forced by a new
condensation, again presses the strip . . . against d . In
this way, each sound wave causes a breaking and closing of the
current. At each closing of the circuit, the atoms of the iron wire
inside the distant spiral are moved away from each other; on
breaking the circuit, these atoms seek to regain their position of
equilibrium. When this happens, in consequence of the reciprocal
actions of elasticity and inertia, a number of vibrations are
produced, and they give the longitudinal sound of the rod. This is
the case if the making and breaking of the current occur with
comparative slowness. If they occur more rapidly than the
oscillations of the iron core, due to its elasticity, the atoms
cannot complete their course. The paths described become shorter in
proportion as the interruptions are more frequent, but then are
just as numerous as these. The iron wire no longer gives its
longitudinal normal tone, but a tone whose pitch corresponds to the
number of interruptions in a given time. This is the same as saying
that the rod reproduces the tone impressed upon the
interrupter."

															Such was the beginning, and it was maintained persistently to
the end, as well by Reis as by those who availed themselves of what
he was doing. To this the Reis-Legat apparatus Page 126 U. S. 544 forms no exception, for in the paper describing it, Legat
says:

															"The operation of the apparatus described is as follows: when at
rest, the galvanic circuit is closed. When the air which is in the
tube a b of the apparatus is alternately condensed and
rarefied by speaking into it (or by singing or introducing the
tones of an instrument), a movement of the membrane closing the
smaller opening of the tube is produced, corresponding to such
condensation or rarefaction. The lever c d follows the
movements of the membrane, and opens and closes the galvanic
circuit at d g, so that at each condensation of the air in
the tube, the circuit is opened, and at each rarefaction, the
circuit is closed. In consequence of this operation, the
electromagnet of the apparatus, in accordance with the
condensations and rarefactions of the column of air in the tube, .
. . is correspondingly demagnetized and magnetized, and the
armature of the magnet is set into vibrations like those of the
membrane in the transmitting apparatus."

															We have not had our attention called to a single item of
evidence which tends in any way to show that Reis, or anyone who
wrote about him, had it in his mind that anything else than the
intermittent current caused by the opening and closing of the
circuit could be used to do what was wanted. No one seems to have
thought that there could be another way. All recognized the fact
that the "minor differences in the original vibrations" had not
been satisfactorily reproduced, but they attributed it to the
imperfect mechanism of the apparatus used, rather than to any fault
in the principle on which the operation was made to depend.

															It was left for Bell to discover that the failure was due not to
workmanship, but to the principle which was adopted as the basis of
what had to be done. He found that what he called the "intermittent
current" -- one caused by alternately opening and closing the
circuit -- could not be made under any circumstances to reproduce
the delicate forms of the air vibrations caused by the human voice
in articulate speech, but that the true way was to operate on an
unbroken current by increasing and diminishing its intensity. This
he called a "vibratory or undulatory current," not because the
current was supposed to actually take that form, but because it
expressed with Page 126 U. S. 545 sufficient accuracy his idea of a current which was subjected to
gradual changes of intensity, exactly analogous to the changes of
density in the air occasioned by its vibrations. Such was his
discovery, and it was new. Reis never thought of it, and he failed
to transmit speech telegraphically; Bell did, and he succeeded.
Under such circumstances, it is impossible to hold that what Reis
did was an anticipation of the discovery of Bell. To follow Reis is
to fail, but to follow Bell is to succeed. The difference between
the two is just the difference between failure and success. If Reis
had kept on, he might have found out the way to succeed; but he
stopped, and failed. Bell took up his work, and carried it on to a
successful result.

															As to what is shown to have been written and done by Dr. Van der
Weyde, it is only necessary to say that he copied Reis, and it was
not until after Bell's success that he found out how to use a Reis
instrument so as to make it transmit speech. Bell taught him what
to do to accomplish that purpose.

															So as to James W. McDonough. We presume that it will not be
claimed that he is entitled to more than he asked for in his
application for a patent, filed April 10, 1876, and there a
"circuit breaker," so adjusted as to "break the connection by the
vibrations of the membrane," is made one of the elements of his
invention. The Patent Office was clearly right in holding that he
had been anticipated by Reis.

															The patents of Cromwell Fleetwood Varley, of London, England --
granted, one, June 2, 1868, and the other, October 8, 1870 -- were
for "improvements in electric telegraphs." The objects of the
invention covered by the first were

															"to cut off the disturbance arising from earth currents, to
obtain a high speed of signaling through long circuits, and, should
the conductor become partially exposed, to preserve it from being
eaten away by electrolytic action,"

															and the object of the second was the

															"increase of the transmitting power of telegraph circuits by
enabling more than one operator to signal independent messages at
the same time, upon one and the same wire, to and from independent
stations."

															While this patentee in his specification says

															"by my invention, I superpose upon Page 126 U. S. 546 the currents used for working the ordinary telegraphs rapid
undulations or waves which do not practically alter the mechanical
or chemical power of the ordinary signal currents,"

															and that

															"these undulations are made to produce distinct and independent
audible or other signals so long as these undulations are produced,
whether ordinary signal currents be flowing or not,"

															it is apparent that he uses the terms "undulations" and "waves"
in an entirely different sense from Bell, for his patent implies
operation on the principle of the electric telegraph -- that is to
say, by making and breaking the circuit. A Morse key, or something
equivalent, is to be used, and besides, in the descriptive portion
of the patent it is said:

															"When the current is flowing through the coils of the
electromagnet, the horns of the fork k are drawn apart,
and the spring l1 loses its contact; then, as the
attraction of the magnet ceases, the horns of the fork spring back.
This remakes the contact, and so a continual tremor is communicated
to the tuning fork."

															In short, there is nothing in any part of the specification to
indicate that the patentee had in his mind "undulations" resulting
"from gradual changes of intensity exactly analogous to the changes
in the density of air occasioned by simple pendulous vibrations,"
which was Bell's discovery and on which his art rests. Varley's
purpose was to superpose -- that is to say, place -- upon the
ordinary signal current another which, by the action of the make
and break principle of the telegraph, would do the work he
wanted.

															Another alleged anticipation is that of Daniel Drawbaugh.

															Bell got his patent March 7, 1876, and the fortunate accident
which led to his discovery occurred June 2, 1875. Active litigation
to enforce his patented rights was begun by his company on the 12th
of September, 1878, with a suit, in the Circuit Court of the United
States for the District of Massachusetts, against Richard A. Dowd.
This suit was defended by the Western Union Telegraph Company and
vigorously contested. The answer was filed November 4, 1878,
setting up alleged anticipations by Gray, Edison, Dolbear, and
others. The record fills 1,200 printed pages, but before a decision
was reached, the case was compromised and a decree Page 126 U. S. 547 entered by consent. The litigation ended at sometime in the
latter part of the year 1879. The last deposition was taken on the
19th of September in that year.

															The next contested suit was brought in the same court on the
28th of July, 1880, against Albert Spencer and others. An answer
was filed in this case September 6, 1880, and depositions
afterwards taken, some of those in the Dowd suit being
used in this by stipulation. On the 27th of June, 1881, a decision
was announced by Judge Lowell sustaining the patent, upon which a
decree was entered.

															On the 14th of November, 1879, Abner G. Tisdel filed in the
Patent Office an application for a patent for "a new and useful
improvement in speaking telephones," and on the 18th of November,
1879, Frank A. Klemm also filed an application for a patent for "a
new and useful improvement in telephone transmitters." These
inventions were transferred by assignment to Ernest Marx and Frank
A. Klemm, of New York City, Moritz Loth, of Cincinnati, and Simon
Wolf, of Washington. On the 6th of March, 1880, these parties
entered into a mutual agreement to the effect that

															"Each and all of their interests in said improvements and
inventions, and the letters patent to be issued therefor, shall be
merged and consolidated as common stock in a corporate body, under
the laws of either of the States of Ohio, New York, or the general
laws of the United States relating to the formation of
incorporations in the District of Columbia, or of such other states
or territories as may be found necessary hereafter."

															This agreement was recorded in the Patent Office March 10,
1880.

															On the 6th of May, 1880, Edgar W. Chellis, a merchant of
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, M. W. Jacobs, a lawyer at the same place,
and Lysander Hill, a lawyer then residing in Washington, in the
District of Columbia, made an arrangement with Daniel Drawbaugh by
which they were to become jointly interested with him in his
alleged telephone inventions, each to have a quarter interest.
Nothing was paid for this, but each of the parties was to have
one-fourth of anything that should be realized from the enterprise.
On the 24th of May, 1880, Simon Wolf, one of the parties interested
in the Page 126 U. S. 548 Klemm and Tisdel inventions, visited Harrisburg on business with
Chellis in reference to telephone matters. On the 18th of May, four
days before this visit, a patent was issued to Wolf and his
associates upon the invention of Tisdel. While Wolf was in
Harrisburg, negotiations were begun with Chellis for a transfer of
the Drawbaugh inventions to the owners of those of Klemm and
Tisdel. These negotiations resulted in a conditional contract of
the 22d of June, by reason of which Chellis, Jacobs, Hill and
Drawbaugh went to Washington and there, on the 21st of July, 1880,
Drawbaugh, claiming to

															"have invented certain new and useful improvements in the
transmission of vocal speech, and the apparatus to be used for such
purpose, for which I am about to make application for letters
patent of the United States,"

															assigned to Klemm, Marx, Wolf, and Loth

															"the full and exclusive right to the said invention, as fully
set forth and described in the specification prepared and executed
by me dated the 21st day of July, 1880, preparatory to obtaining
letters patent of the United States therefor,"

															and he at the same time and by the same instrument authorized
and requested the Commissioner of Patents to issue the patent to
his assignees, "each as assignee of one-fourth part." The
specification referred to in the assignment had not been put in
evidence in any of the cases. In the course of taking the
testimony, it was called for by the Bell Company, but the counsel
for the opposite party refused to produce either the original or a
copy from the Patent Office. The assignment was recorded in the
Patent Office July 22, 1880, and in the official digest of
assignments, the following, notation appears: "About to make
appl'n. Spe'n dated July 21, 1880."

															On the morning of July 22, 1880, the following appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial, a newspaper printed at Cincinnati,
Ohio:

															" TELEPHONE COMBINATION" " Special to Cincinnati Commercial " "WASHINGTON, D.C., July 21. An application for a patent
was filed today that, in consequence of its vastness of
interest, Page 126 U. S. 549 as well as wealth of prospect, renders it a subject of national
interest. A company of leading businessmen has been formed that has
bought up all the telephone patents antedating those now in use,
and known as the Bell, Gray, and Edison patents. The company is
composed of leading businessmen from all parts of the country,
Cincinnati being largely represented and interested. The cash
capital of the company is $5,000,000, with headquarters in New
York, and in about sixty days they will open up the telephone,
which will certainly result in the driving out of all telephones in
the market save the ones they hold, or else the compelling the
Gray, Bell, and Edison lines to pay the new company a munificent
royalty. It appears from the testimony now on file, and in the
possession of the new company, which is conclusive and exhaustive,
that the inventor of the telephone is a poor mechanic, living near
Harrisburg, Pa. named Daniel Drawbaugh. Owing to his poverty, he
was unable to push his patent on the market. The new company have
secured, and are sole possessors of, this invention, antedating
those now in use. They are also owners of four patents for
telephones issued to Mr. Klemm, of New York. A large number of
capitalists were here today to see the filing of the application,
and they assert with a positiveness that is almost convincing that
it will not be long till they have entire charge of the telephones
not only in this country but in the world, and that they will be
able to establish lines by which messages can be transmitted for
almost a song."

															"Mr. Lipman Levy, of the law firm of Moulton, Johnson &
Levy, of Cincinnati, was here today in the interest of the
Cincinnati parties, who, as already stated, are among the most
prominent financial men of our city."

															Afterwards, on the 23d of August, 1880, the following appeared
in the Journal of Commerce, a newspaper printed in the
City of New York:

															"A NEW TELEPHONE COMPANY. A company has recently been formed in
this city with a capital of $5,000,000, for the purpose of
manufacturing telephones. The company is to be known as 'The
People's Telephone Company,' and a number Page 126 U. S. 550 of leading capitalists in this city and Cincinnati are
interested in it. The telephones are to be manufactured under the
patents of Frank A. Klemm and Abner G. Tisdel, and the application
for patents of Daniel Drawbaugh, of Eberly's Mills, Cumberland
County, Pa. filed July 21, 1880. It is claimed by those interested
in the new enterprise that Drawbaugh is really the inventor of the
telephone, and had completed one years before Professor Bell, or
anyone else, had manufactured one. He was, however, in very humble
circumstances, and his neighbors who knew of his experiments looked
upon him as a harmless lunatic. He continued improving his original
telephone, and it is claimed that the one which the new company
proposes to furnish is superior to any now in use. The company has
fitted up a factory in Brooklyn, and in three months will be
prepared to supply 1,000 of the new telephones. As soon as
operations are actively commenced, it is expected that legal
proceedings will be begun against the new company by the Gold and
Stock Telegraph Company, which holds most of the existing patents,
and a long and interesting legal fight is anticipated."

															On the 30th of August, 1880, the People's Telephone Company was
incorporated under the general laws of New York, with an authorized
capital stock of $5,000,000, for "manufacturing, constructing,
owning, furnishing, letting, and selling telephones, and the
apparatus used therewith, under the inventions and patents of Abner
G. Tisdel, Frank A. Klemm, Daniel Drawbaugh, and other inventions
and patents which may hereafter be assigned to said company," and
on the 4th of September, 1880, Klemm, Loth, Marx, and Wolf, in
consideration of $4,999,550, represented by 99,991 shares of stock,
assigned and transferred to that company all their interest in the
Klemm, Tisdel, and Drawbaugh inventions; those of Drawbaugh being
described as

															"the inventions in telephones made by Daniel Drawbaugh of
Eberly's Mills, Cumberland County, in the State of Pennsylvania,
for which application for patents was made on or about the 21st day
of July, 1880, and which was assigned to us on the [twenty-]first
day of July, 1880, as more particularly appears in a deed of Page 126 U. S. 551 assignment recorded in the United States Patent Office in Liber
W. 25, page 85, in the Book of Transfers of Patents."

															For the assignment from Drawbaugh to Klemm, Marx, Loth, and
Wolf, $20,000 was paid in money to Chellis, Jacobs, Hill and
Drawbaugh, and they were also to have a certain amount of the stock
of the proposed corporation when formed. What amount they actually
got, Chellis, who was sworn as a witness in the case, declined to
tell, but he admitted it was large. At this time, and in this way,
the attention of the general public was called for the first time
to the fact that Drawbaugh claimed to have anticipated Bell in the
discovery of the telephone. Bell's success had been proclaimed more
than four years before at the Centennial Exposition in
Philadelphia. In the meantime, inventions in aid of his discovery
had been multiplied. According to the testimony of Park Benjamin,
more than one hundred patents had been issued and indexed under the
word "Telephone." Numerous interferences had been declared and
considered at the Patent Office. Gray, Edison, Dolbear, and others
had either claimed for themselves or others had claimed for them
priority of invention and discovery, and Bell had thus far been
sustained as against them all. Blake had perfected his microphone
apparatus, and Bell's patent had become a great commercial
success.

															The People's Company either began or threatened to begin
operations under its charter, and on the 20th of October, 1880, the
Bell Company brought suit against it in the Circuit Court of the
United States for the Southern District of New York to prevent any
infringement of the Bell patents. In the bill, it was alleged

															"that telephone exchanges now exist in more than two hundred and
seventy-five towns and cities of the United States and in every
state thereof, and exist in substantially every city in the United
States having more than 15,000 inhabitants, and in many smaller
places; . . . that there are now in use more than 100,000 electric
speaking telephones licensed by and paying royalty to the Bell
Company; . . . that the owners of said Bell patents, and those who
now are or heretofore have been licensed by them have devoted
great Page 126 U. S. 552 time and attention and large sums of money to the development of
the telephone and the introduction thereof into extensive use, and
to the proper construction of the most suitable telephone lines and
systems and telephonic appliances, and have constructed many
thousand miles of telephone lines for use with telephones owned
by"

															the Bell Company,

															"and licensed by if for such use, and that nothing which the
defendants, or F. A. Klemm, A.G. Tisdel, and D. Drawbaugh, . . .
have done has contributed in any substantial way to the development
of the telephone, or the introduction thereof into use."

															The bill then avers that Klemm, Marx, Loth, and Wolf, having
become the owners of the Klemm and Tisdel improvements and having
heard that Drawbaugh

															"claimed that he had made some experiments relating to electric
speaking telephones (which experiments, if made, were incomplete,
imperfect, unfruitful, and long before abandoned), entered into an
arrangement with him to set up and claim that he was the first
inventor of the speaking telephone and to make application for a
patent therefor, and thereafter, alleging and pretending that said
Drawbaugh was the original and first inventor of the electric
speaking telephone and that electric speaking telephones had not
before such application been in public use or on sale for more than
two years with the knowledge and consent of Drawbaugh, they did, on
or about the 21st day of July, 1880, induce him to make, and cause
to be filed in the Patent Office of the United States, an
application for a patent to issue to them as assignees of the said
Drawbaugh, as the first and original inventor of the electric
speaking telephone, the said defendants well knowing at the time
that electric speaking telephones had been in public use by"

															the Bell Company and its licensees "for more than two years
before said application." It was then further alleged that if
Drawbaugh had ever made his pretended inventions, they

															"have not been by him or anyone claiming under him introduced
into public use, and that knowledge thereof has been withheld from
your orators and the public except so far as they have been
disclosed within the three months last past by certain newspaper
publications. " Page 126 U. S. 553 To this bill the People's Company filed an answer in December,
1880, or January, 1881. The record does not show the precise date.
In this answer, it was said that Drawbaugh was "the original and
first inventor and discoverer of the art of communicating
articulate speech between distant places by voltaic and magneto
electricity," and that "long prior to the alleged inventions by"
Bell, Gray and Edison, he,

															"then and now residing at Eberly's Mills, constructed and
operated practical working electric speaking telephones at said
Eberly's Mills and exhibited their successful operation to a great
number of other persons resident in his vicinity and
elsewhere;"

															that his telephones, as then constructed and operated,
"contained all the material and substantial parts and inventions
patented" in the patents of Bell, and

															"also other important and valuable inventions in electric and
magneto telephony, and were fully capable of transmitting, and were
actually used for transmitting, articulate vocal sounds and speech
between distant points by means of electric currents; that some of
the original machines and instruments invented, made, used, and
exhibited to many others long prior to the said alleged inventions
of Bell, or either of them, are still in existence and capable of
successful practical use, and are identified by a large number of
persons who personally tested and used them and knew of their
practical operation and use in the years 1870, 1871, 1872, 1873,
1874, and both prior and subsequent thereto; that certainly more
than fifty, and probably not less than one hundred, persons, or
even more, were cognizant of said Drawbaugh's invention and use of
said telephones, and of his claim to be the original and first
inventor thereof prior to the alleged inventions of said Bell or
either of them; that said Drawbaugh, for more than ten years prior
to the year 1880, was miserably poor, in debt, with a large and
helpless family dependent on his daily labor, and was from such
cause alone utterly unable to patent his invention, or caveat it,
or manufacture and introduce it on the market; that said Drawbaugh
never abandoned his said invention nor acknowledged the claims of
any other person or persons thereto, but always persisted in his
claims to it, and intended to patent it as soon Page 126 U. S. 554 as he could procure the necessary means therefor; that said
Drawbaugh never acquiesced in the public use of said Bell, Gray,
Edison, Blake, or other telephones, nor in the claims of the
alleged inventors thereof, nor gave his consent to such use."

															It is then said that Drawbaugh, after finding by experiment that
his invention was capable of successful working,

															"conceived that its range and capacity for usefulness to the
public might be very greatly enlarged; that many improvements of
great value might be made and added to it which, without departing
from its principle, might increase its value to himself and to the
public, and therefore set himself at work to discover and invent
such improvements; that he discovered and invented some of said
additional improvements prior to any alleged invention by Bell, and
that, notwithstanding his embarrassed and impoverished pecuniary
condition and his utter want of proper mechanical tools, materials,
and appliances to conduct such work, he labored with all reasonable
diligence to perfect and adapt his said improvements, and did
finally, in due exercise of such reasonable diligence, perfect and
adapt the same, and that insofar as the said Bell has incorporated
such improvements in his said two patents, or either of them, he
(the said Bell) has surreptitiously and unjustly obtained a patent
or patents for that which was in fact first invented by Drawbaugh,
who was using reasonable diligence in perfecting and adapting the
same, and therefore the patent or patents of the said Bell
therefore is or are invalid and void."

															It is then said that

															"the defendant, in good faith and relying upon its legal rights,
. . . caused applications to be made and filed in the Patent Office
for letters patent on the inventions of the said Daniel Drawbaugh
with the intention of procuring interference proceedings to be
instituted in accordance with the statute against the patents of
said Bell, and the pending applications of said Gray, Edison, and
others, in order that said Drawbaugh may be adjudged by the
Commissioner of Patents to be, as he rightfully is, the original
and first inventor of the electric speaking telephone, and may be
adjudged entitled to receive a patent or patents therefor. " Page 126 U. S. 555 The People's Company began taking depositions on the 19th of
April, 1881, but Drawbaugh himself did not appear as a witness
until December 7, 1881. After that time, others were examined, and
when the proofs were closed, between three and four hundred
witnesses had been produced whose testimony was taken and put into
the record, to establish the priority of Drawbaugh's invention.
This testimony, as is now claimed, shows the story of that
invention to have been as follows:

															"Early conception and experiments with the continuous current,
1862, 1866, and 1867."

															"Teacup transmitter and receiver, 1866 and 1867."

															"Tumbler and tin-cup and mustard can ('F' and 'B'), 1867 and
1869."

															"Improvement on 'B' ('C'), 1869, 1870."

															"Further improvement upon 'C,' and the more perfect magneto
instrument, 'I,' 1870, 1871."

															"Mouthpiece changed to center and adjusting screw inserted
(Exhibit A), 1874."

															"'D' and 'E' perfectly adjusted and finished magneto
instruments, January and February, 1875."

															"'L', 'M', 'G', and 'O' from February, 1875, to August,
1876."

															"'H', August, 1876."

															"'J', 'N', and 'P', 1878."

															This statement of the Drawbaugh claim we have quoted from the
brief of counsel appearing in his behalf, and his success in the
litigation has been placed, as we understand it, both in the answer
and in the argument, on the truth or falsehood of what is thus set
forth.

															The letters "F", "B", etc., in the statement refer to exhibits
in the cause, being certain instruments claimed to have been made
and used by Drawbaugh in the progress of his work and preserved
until now. The original tea-cup instrument was not produced, but
Drawbaugh in his deposition gave what he said was a drawing,
showing how it had been constructed. "F", "B", "C", "I", and "A"
were neither of them in a condition for use when they were put in
evidence, and no one of all the witnesses except Drawbaugh could
tell Page 126 U. S. 556 how they were originally constructed or what the process was by
which sound was transmitted when they were used. All any of the
witnesses could say on that subject was that they had used one or
more of the different instruments at Drawbaugh's shop; had heard
sounds and sometimes spoken words through them, and that Drawbaugh
told them the sound was carried on the wire by electricity. There
was nothing whatever produced in print or in writing on the subject
-- not even a memorandum or a drawing of any kind. And there is
nothing in the testimony to show that Drawbaugh ever told anyone
how his earlier instruments were made or what his process was until
he was called as a witness in December, 1881, and explained it in
his testimony. This was nearly twenty years, according to the
present claim, after he had begun his experiments, nearly seven
after he had made and used "D" and "E", perfectly adjusted and
finished magneto instruments, and more than five after "L", "M",
"G", "O", and "H" had been constructed and kept in his shop. It was
also nearly six years after the date of Bell's patent, more than
five after the success of his discovery had been proclaimed at the
Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, four after his process had
got into public use, three after it had become an established
success, and two after he had brought his first suit for the
establishment of his rights against Dowd, who represented the
Western Union Telegraph Company, to a successful termination.

															Under these circumstances, it becomes important to consider the
conduct of Drawbaugh in reference to his alleged invention during
this twenty years of eventful history, as connected with the
discovery and use of telephones. If his present claim is true, his
experiments began almost as far back as those of Reis, and he had
in his shop at Eberly's Mills, within three miles of Harrisburg,
telephones that were substantially perfect months before Bell, on
the second of June, 1875, got the clue to his subsequent
discoveries. It is conceded that "D" and "E", made, as is claimed,
in February, 1875, are substantially as good magneto instruments as
any Bell had used before December, 1881, and "L", "M", "G", "O",
and "H", all of which it is Page 126 U. S. 557 claimed were constructed by August, 1876, and some in February,
1875 are as good, or nearly as good, microphones as those of Blake,
which were not invented until 1878. This is the theory of
Drawbaugh's defense as it is set forth in the answer and in the
argument, and by it his case must stand or fall. The claim is that
the discovery of the process was complete, and that perfect
telephones had been made and were in a condition for use, a year
and more before Bell got his patent.

															Drawbaugh was, when he gave his deposition, fifty-four years of
age, and had lived all his life at or near Eberly Mills, a small
village near Harrisburg. He was a skillful and ingenious mechanic,
and if he made "D" and "E" and the instruments which came after
them at the time it is said he did, he had good tools and good
materials in 1875 and 1876, and was capable of doing the best of
work. He was also somewhat of an inventor, and had some knowledge
of electricity. According to the testimony, he was an enthusiast on
the subject of his "talking machine", and showed it freely to his
neighbors and people from the country when they visited his shop.
The Centennial Exposition was opened at Philadelphia in May, 1876,
and Drawbaugh visited it on the 17th of October, 1876, remaining
four or five days. Before he went, he had heard, as he says, that
someone besides himself had invented a speaking telephone, which he
had the impression was on exhibition here. If what he now claims is
true, he had then on hand in his shop Exhibits "D", "E", "L", "M",
"G", "O", and "H", all of them good instruments of their kind and
capable of transmitting speech, and some of them but just finished.
Bell's apparatus had been exhibited to the board of judges in June
before, and had attracted marked attention. The matter was much
discussed in the public press, and yet it never seems to have
occurred to Drawbaugh to take any of his telephones with him when
he went, although they were small in size, and some or all of them
could have been carried without serious inconvenience.

															When giving his testimony, he was examined in chief as to that
visit, and this is what he said on the subject of telephones: Page 126 U. S. 558 "Q. 386. Did you attend the Centennial Exhibition at
Philadelphia in the year 1876?"

															"A. Yes, sir, I did."

															"Q. 387. Can you give the date on which you went there?"

															"A. I can by reference to a book. It was October 17, 1876. The
17th was a day on which I dated a letter from Philadelphia, while I
was there on that visit."

															"Q. 388. How long did your visit there last?"

															"A. About four or five days, to the best of my
recollection."

															"Q. 389. Who went with you on that visit?"

															"A. Mr. George Leonard."

															"Q. 390. Was that the only visit to the Centennial Exhibition
that you made?"

															"A. Yes sir, it was."

															"Q. 391. At the time that you went there, or before that time,
had you heard that somebody else besides yourself had invented a
speaking telephone, or a telephone?"

															"A. Yes sir, sometime before that. I don't remember how long,
but not a great while."

															"Q. 392. When you went there, did you suppose it would be on
exhibition there?"

															"A. I don't remember whether I had heard that it was on
exhibition or not, but I got the impression some way that it was on
exhibition."

															"Q. 393. While you were there at the Centennial, did you see any
telephones, or make an effort to see any there?"

															"A. Sir, I made an effort, and seen an instrument called a
'telephone', and supposed it to be the instrument spoken of -- the
one of which I had heard. I was looking and had made some inquiry,
and was directed or came to a portion of the building where I saw
on a counter some man's telephone -- the name I don't remember. At
that time, or several times that I called, there was no one there
to attend to it. I spoke to another party that had something else
on exhibition -- I don't recollect what it was -- just near by, and
I asked him whether there was anyone there to attend or to show the
instruments. I was informed then there was no one there to show
them."

															"Q. 394. If you remember, please state what kind of an
instrument it was that you saw there, and state what information
you were able to obtain there regarding it, and its mode of
operation."

															"A. There was a number of instruments placed Page 126 U. S. 559 onto a raised portion -- something like a shelf -- that is, it
resembled something like pigeonholes, a box open in front, and each
instrument at the back of it had an electromagnet. The number of
instruments I don't remember. I don't remember of counting them. If
I am not mistaken, there may have been a dozen or more, perhaps.
Some were larger than others. I could not give you a much better
description than that. I couldn't get any information about them.
This attendant made some remarks about the instruments, but he
didn't understand them and couldn't explain them. I was several
feet from where the instruments were. They were placed -- it occurs
to me -- on a raised place like a shelf, just about high enough for
a man to speak into; that is the way it looked to me. I did not go
in behind the counter to examine them, although there was an
opening to go in by, because I did not like to make too free, as
there was no one there. "

															"Q. 395. Did you see any circulars lying around there referring
to these instruments, or other advertisements of them?"

															"A. I don't remember about that; it may have been."

															"Q. 396. What was your impression as to the character of the
instruments when you finally left them?"

															"A. I was impressed with the idea that they were instruments to
telegraph by sounds. A certain sound to represent a certain letter
of the alphabet. I am not certain how I got the idea, or whether
any person told me that at the time, but that is the idea that I
had. When I said certain sounds, I meant that sounds of a different
pitch would represent different letters."

															"Q. 397. Do you know whether that was 'Gray's Harmonic
Telegraph' that you saw there or not?"

															"A. It didn't say 'Telegraph;' I am confident it was called
'Telephone.' I didn't see the working parts of the interior, except
the electromagnets. I took the name of the man and his address on a
piece of paper, and put it in my pocket, but I don't know what
became of it. I don't know whether it was 'Gray's Harmonic
Telegraph' or not."

															"Q. 398. Did you see any tuning forks about it?"

															"A. I did not."

															That was all he did during his entire visit to ascertain Page 126 U. S. 560 whether anyone besides himself had actually entered upon this
then new and interesting field of invention and discovery. He spoke
to no one about what he had done himself, and he made no special
effort to find out whether that which was on exhibition was in any
respect like what he had at home. Neither did he when he got home,
so far as the records show, say anything to his neighbors or
visiting friends about what he had seen or heard. He had apparently
lost all interest in "talking machines."

															Not so, however, with his other inventions. The testimony shows
that during the early part of 1876, he was much occupied in
building an electric clock, which he thought of exhibiting at the
Centennial. This he did not do, however, but either just before he
went to Philadelphia or soon after, Rufus E. Shapley, a jeweler of
Mechanicsburg, went by his invitation or on his suggestion to
Eberly's Mills to look at the clock which he had made. Soon
afterwards, the clock was taken to Shapley's store in
Mechanicsburg, and on the 8th of November, 1876, Drawbaugh, by an
instrument in writing, transferred to Shapley a half interest in
the "clock I am getting up, the said R. E. Shapley to pay for
patenting the same." Shapley had then $2,000 in money which
Drawbaugh was anxious to have him invest in that business, and the
clock was taken by him to his shop so that it might be examined
with that end in view, if it should prove to be useful. Sometime
afterwards, it was taken back to Eberly's Mills, where it remained
until April 1, 1878, or thereabouts, when a clock company was
formed, and that clock, or another one substantially like it, was
taken about the country for exhibition. For this, Drawbaugh was
paid $500, with an interest in the profits, and on the 20th of
September, 1878, he applied for a patent for "improvement in earth
batteries for electric clocks", which was issued January 14, 1879,
to the members of the clock company. The enterprise does not seem
to have been productive of any great success. In November or
December, 1878, while this clock was on exhibition at Harrisburg,
Drawbaugh was introduced to Edgar W. Chellis. He had with him at
the time a "wooden model Page 126 U. S. 561 of a faucet" that he wanted Chellis and another man to take each
a third interest in. An arrangement was afterwards made by which
Chellis got a two-thirds interest, he paying for it $250 January 7,
1879. On the 14th of the same month, Drawbaugh filed in the Patent
Office an application for a patent for "improvement in rotary
measuring faucets," Chellis to have a two-thirds interest. After
this application, an interference was declared, March 29, 1879,
between Drawbaugh and David A. Hauck, who had filed a conflicting
application January 17th. In his preliminary statement upon this
interference, Drawbaugh said that he had conceived the idea of his
faucets, and sketched them, late in the fall of 1876; that he made
a working model in the spring of 1877, and actually tested it then,
but the Patent Office model was not completed until about the 1st
of November, 1878. The case was closely contested, but finally
decided in favor of Drawbaugh, January 15, 1880. The patent was
granted to him and Chellis July 6th of the same year. In this
contest, Jacobs and Hill, who afterwards became interested in his
telephone claims, appeared as the counsel of Drawbaugh.

															On the 2d of July, 1879, Drawbaugh filed another application in
the Patent Office for "improvement in water motors," Chellis to
have in this, also, a two-thirds interest. Upon this application a
patent was issued March 16, 1880.

															It is impossible to believe, if Drawbaugh had in his shop, when
he reached home from the Centennial, Exhibits "D", "E", "L", "M",
"G", "O", and "H", or even "D" and "E" alone, that he would have
set himself to work in the first instance at developing his clock
enterprise or perfecting his former conception of a measuring
faucet instead of making some effort to call the attention of his
friends to his great discovery of the telephone, which he was in
danger of losing by the patent which had been issued to another and
which he could not but have known was even then attracting the
greatest attention. And in this connection, it must be kept in mind
that the theory of the defense is, as stated in the answer, that
Drawbaugh had at that time fully perfected his invention, and that
while at first he "conceived that its range and capacity Page 126 U. S. 562 for usefulness to the public might be very greatly enlarged", he
had, before the date of Bell's patent, "notwithstanding his
embarrassed and impoverished pecuniary condition, and his utter
want of proper mechanical tools", finally perfected his work. His
conduct afterwards, therefore, is to be judged not as that of one
who was still in the midst of his experiments and doubtful of the
results, but of one who had arrived at the end and had completed
his success.

															No man of his intelligence, with or without the enthusiasm upon
the subject which it is said he possessed, could have remained
silent under such circumstances. As we have read the testimony, it
is not even pretended that he took any of his instruments outside
of his own village until May, 1878, when, as is claimed, he showed
one to his friend Stees, in Harrisburg, whom he had known for
years, and who was the first to use, and, in fact was then using, a
Bell telephone in that place upon a private line of his own between
his office and his shops. This produced no results, and when
afterwards, in January, 1879, Chellis was told that Drawbaugh had
"a phonograph and a telephone that he had invented", he gave it no
attention, because, to use his own language,

															"I was interested in the faucet and motor business, and wished
to push them, and I did not think we could do much with the
telephone, as Bell had a patent, and I did not know that he could
antedate them."

															And again, when speaking of a conversation he had with
Drawbaugh, he said:

															"I advised him to drop it -- the telephone -- as he could not
antedate Bell. He said he did not know about that; that he had been
working on it a good while. It was his way of expressing himself.
When I would say, 'You can't antedate Bell', he would say, 'I don't
know about that; I have been working at it a good while.'"

															This, it must be remembered, was in 1879, after the telephone
had become a success and after it had been a year or more in use in
Harrisburg, where Chellis lived. It is impossible to believe that
either Chellis or Drawbaugh was ignorant of the approximate time of
Bell's invention, which had been the subject of frequent newspaper
comment from the time of its exhibition at the Centennial. The
subject was often referred Page 126 U. S. 563 to in the Harrisburg and Mechanicsburg papers, and it is not for
a moment to be supposed that all of these various articles escaped
their attention. Under such circumstances, if it were true that
Drawbaugh had made his "D" and "E", as is now claimed, in February,
1875, he certainly would have said so, and would not have contented
himself with so doubting an answer to Chellis' suggestion of his
inability to antedate Bell as that which Chellis now says he
gave.

															Another important fact in this connection is one which is proved
by the testimony of Andrew R. Kiefer, who from 1863 had been
Division Telegraph Operator, having charge of the Middle Division
of the Pennsylvania Railroad and residing in Harrisburg. From 1867
to the winter of 1881-82, he was a member of a partnership firm in
that place which was engaged in

															"the manufacture of burglar alarms, electric hotel annunciators,
and fine electric work for the government -- instruments for the
signal bureau, patent models, etc."

															He had also, since 1876, kept a place for the sale of electrical
supplies. He had known Drawbaugh, certainly since 1876 and probably
before. Drawbaugh met him on different occasions and talked upon
electrical matters. In the course of their acquaintance, Drawbaugh
showed him an electrical fire alarm apparatus and the works of his
electric clock, but the subject of telephones was never alluded to
between them until in the summer of 1881, when this occurred. We
quote from Kiefer's deposition:

															"In the summer of 1881, I took my wife out for a drive and went
over to see his (Drawbaugh's) works, never having seen them and
having promised to come and see him sometime. My wife, not caring
about going through the shop, remained in the carriage, and I went
through alone with Mr. Drawbaugh. He showed me through the shops
and introduced me to Mr. Chellis, and showed me parts of the water
motor and some other things of his getting up. On account of my
wife's being in the carriage alone, I did not stay long. As I
stepped into, or was just in, the carriage, Mr. Drawbaugh said, 'I
forgot to show you my telephone.' I did not get out again to go and
see it, and I drove away without seeing it, expecting to see it
again, but I have never got over to the shop since. " Page 126 U. S. 564 This was after the suit of the Bell Company against the People's
Company was begun, and, of course, after the matter got into the
hands of Chellis and his associates. It is no answer to the
criticism of Drawbaugh's conduct in this particular to say, as was
said in argument, that

															"one reason why he did not speak or apply to every man with whom
he had personal acquaintance was that he was ridiculed by his
neighbors; that his invention was considered a humbug by them, and
of no commercial value."

															Bell's success was proclaimed in the Harrisburg Patriot as early as February 26, 1877, and the days of ridicule were then
past. If Drawbaugh had at that time in his shop the machines which
it is now claimed were all complete as they now are by August,
1876, and most of them before, there cannot be a doubt that he
would have taken them to someplace where they could be tried and
show that they would do what he had all along claimed for them. All
he had to do at any time after he came back from the Centennial was
to take any pair of his little instruments to his friend Zeigler or
his friend Stees at Harrisburg, attach them to a line wire, and
show what he had. They were men who could appreciate his
achievement and help him if it was, as he now says it was, a
success. It would certainly have been easier then, within two years
of the time the first of them were made and within a year of the
date of Bell's patent, to show that he "antedated" Bell, than it
was three years afterwards, when he was brought into the
controversy through the instrumentality of his associates, not, as
must be evident to all, to get a patent for himself, but to defeat
that of Bell. And in this connection it is specially significant
that the application which it is claimed was made for a patent on
the 21st of July, 1880, and the specification of his invention
which was then written out, have been purposely and designedly kept
out of the case, although their production was demanded. They were
written before this suit was begun, and it is impossible to believe
that they would have been withheld, at least upon the call of the
opposite party, if they were in all respects consistent with the
subsequent developments of the case. The excuse given by counsel at
the time, that they Page 126 U. S. 565 were "in the secret archives of the Patent Office", and,

															"if produced and published in this cause, would possibly invite
the filing of contesting applications and result in interference
and additional litigation, besides unnecessarily prolonging the
taking of testimony here and increasing the expenses,"

															we cannot accept as satisfactory, especially as in the answer it
was said that one object of filing the application was to
procure

															"interference proceedings to be instituted against the patents
of Bell, in order that Drawbaugh may be adjudged by the
Commissioner to be, as he rightfully is, the original and first
inventor."

															We have not overlooked the depositions that have been taken in
such large numbers to show that Drawbaugh was successful with "F",
"B", "C", "I", and "A", before "D" and "E" were made. They have
been studied with care, and if they contained all the testimony in
the case, it would be more difficult to reach the conclusion that
Drawbaugh's claim was not sustained. But in our opinion their
effect has been completely overcome by the conduct of Drawbaugh,
about which there is no dispute, from the time of his visit to the
Centennial until he was put forward by the promoters of the
People's Company, nearly four years afterwards, to contest the
claims of Bell. He was silent, so far as the general public were
concerned, when, if he had really done what these witnesses now
think he did, he would most certainly have spoken. There is hardly
a single act of his connected with his present claim, from the time
he heard, before going to Philadelphia, that someone else had
invented a telephone which was on exhibition at the Centennial,
that is not entirely inconsistent with the idea, even then, of a
complete discovery or invention by himself which could be put to
any practical use. It is not pretended that what he did was done in
private. He had influential friends, with ample pecuniary
resources, ready to help him in bringing out his inventions when
they promised success. He easily got aid for his clock and for his
faucet. The news of Bell's invention spread rapidly and at once,
and it took but a few months to demonstrate to the world that he
had achieved a brilliant success. If it were known at Eberly's Page 126 U. S. 566 Mills alone that Drawbaugh had been doing the same thing for
years in his shop there -- and it certainly would have been known
all through the little village if it had actually been done -- no
one can believe that the public would be kept in ignorance of it
until four years afterwards, when a "special" from Washington to
the Cincinnati Commercial announced a "telephone
combination" "to have entire charge of the telephones not only in
this country, but in the world", that could transmit messages "for
almost a song."

															But there is another fact in this case equally striking. As has
already been seen, "F", "B", "C", and "I" were in no condition for
use when they were produced and put in evidence. They were mere
"remains", and no one but Drawbaugh himself could tell how they
were made or how they were to be used. He undertook to reproduce
some of them, especially "F" and "B." This was in the latter part
of 1881, while the testimony was being taken. The Bell Company
proposed that they should be tried to see if they would do what the
witnesses said had been done with the originals, which the
"remains" show must have been exceedingly primitive in their
character. The testimony also shows that when they were originally
used by or in the presence of the witnesses, no particular care was
taken in their adjustment. They were lying around in the shop or
standing upon shelves. Some say that when experiments were made,
they were held in the hand or allowed to stand on the table. Many
testify to satisfactory results, and Drawbaugh himself said in his
deposition:

															"I would have persons in the cellar reading printed matter --
some advertisement or something -- and I could hear the words that
were read, and at other times I would go down into the cellar and
read something, and coming up they would repeat the words to me
that I had read."

															The proposition of the Bell Company was accepted, and the
reproductions were tried in March, 1882, under the most favorable
circumstances. Three days were occupied in the test, and it is
substantially conceded that it was a failure. Occasionally a sound
was heard, and sometimes a word, but "it would not transmit
sentences." At the time of these experiments, "F", Page 126 U. S. 567 which was the transmitter, was placed on a table and used as
Drawbaugh said it was originally. Two years afterwards, other
reproductions were presented, differently constructed, and used in
a different way, and these would "talk," but they were neither made
nor used in the same way as the originals. To our minds, the result
of the second experiments conclusively showed that the original
instruments could not have done what the witnesses supposed they
did, and that what they saw and heard was produced by some other
means than an electric speaking telephone. We do not doubt that
Drawbaugh may have conceived the idea that speech could be
transmitted to a distance by means of electricity, and that he was
experimenting upon that subject; but to hold that he had discovered
the art of doing it before Bell did would be to construe testimony
without regard to "the ordinary laws that govern human conduct." Atlantic Works v. Brady, 107 U. S. 192 , 107 U. S. 203 .
Without pursuing the subject further, we decide that the Drawbaugh
defense has not been made out.

															Another objection to Bell's patent, put forth in the oral
argument of Mr. Hill and in the printed brief signed by him and in
that signed by Mr. Dixon, is that his application as originally
filed in the Patent Office did not contain his present fourth
claim, or any description of the variable resistance method, and
that all which now appears in the specification on that subject,
including the fourth claim, was surreptitiously interpolated
afterwards.

															Bell's application was filed February 14, 1876, and afterwards,
during the same day, Elisha Gray filed a caveat in which he claimed
as his invention "the art of transmitting vocal sounds or
conversations telegraphically through an electric circuit", and in
his specification described the variable resistance method. The
precise charge now made in the printed brief of Mr. Hill is
that

															"Mr. Bell's attorneys had an underground railroad in operation
between their office and Examiner Wilbur's room in the Patent
Office, by which they were enabled to have unlawful and guilty
knowledge of Gray's papers as soon as they were filed in the Patent
Office,"

															and

															"that an important invention and a claim therefor were Page 126 U. S. 568 bodily interpolated into Bell's specification between February
14, 1876, and February 19, 1876, by Pollok in consequence of the
guilty knowledge which the latter already had of the contents of
Gray's caveat before the declaration of interference with Gray on
February 19th."

															So grave a charge, made in so formal a manner, is entitled to
careful consideration. It involves the professional integrity and
moral character of eminent attorneys, and requires us to find from
the evidence that after Bell swore to his application on the 20th
of January, 1876, and after the application thus sworn to had been
formally filed in the Patent Office, an examiner, who got knowledge
of the Gray caveat put in afterwards, disclosed its contents to
Bell's attorneys; that they were then allowed to withdraw the
application, change it so as to include Gray's variable resistance
method over Bell's signature, and over the jurat, and then restore
it to the files, thus materially altered, as if it were the
original, and all this between February 14 and February 19.

															Although much stress was laid in argument on the fact that what
purported to be a certified copy of the specification of Bell, as
found in the file wrapper and contents printed in the Dowd case, differed materially from the patent, the cause of these
differences has been explained in the most satisfactory manner, and
we entertain no doubt whatever that the specification as now found
in the patent is precisely the same as that on which the order to
issue was made. If any alterations were made, it was all done
before February 19, and the fair copy which is now found on the
files of the office is precisely as it was when the order for the
patent was granted. Not a shadow of suspicion can rest on anyone
growing out of the misprint of the specification in the Dowd
case.

															All that remains, therefore, on which to rest this serious
charge is that in a paper handed by Bell to George Brown, of
Toronto, describing his invention, and which was intended to be
used in England to secure a British patent, what is now claimed to
be an interpolation in the American application is not to be found.
It is but right to say that during the whole course of the
protracted litigation upon the Bell patent, no Page 126 U. S. 569 argument was ever presented based on this discrepancy until the
brief of Mr. Hill was filed in this Court on the 18th of January,
1887, six days before the argument in these appeals was begun. So
far as we are advised, nothing had ever before occurred in the
cases that seemed to make it necessary to prove when the variable
resistance method or the fourth claim was put into the American
application, or why it was left out of the paper handed to Brown.
It seems always to have been assumed until the cases got here that
because it was in the American patent, it was rightfully there.
Certainly there is nothing in the pleadings in any of the cases to
direct attention to the materiality of this fact.

															A comparison of the paper handed Brown with the American
application shows that they differ in more than thirty different
places, besides those which relate to the variable resistance
method and the fourth claim. The differences are generally in forms
of expression, thus indicating that one was written after the
other, and evidently for the purpose of securing greater accuracy.
The paper handed Brown was clearly a rough draft, and not a fair
copy, for the record shows that it bore on its face the evidence of
many erasures and interlineations. Bell says in his testimony that
he began writing his specification in September or October, 1875,
and wrote and rewrote it a number of times, finally adopting that
mode of expression which seemed to him the best to explain his
invention and the relation which one portion bore to another. He
visited Brown in Canada in September, and again in December, 1875.
The arrangement was made between them on the 29th of December, at
this last interview, by which Brown was to interest himself in
getting out British patents. Other inventions besides the telephone
were included in the contract entered into for that purpose.

															Bell returned to Boston on the 1st of January and immediately
set himself to work to complete his specification. He had it done
so that it was taken to Washington by Mr. Hubbard about the 10th of
that month, and delivered to Pollok and Bailey, the attorneys. It
was then examined by the attorneys, found correct, and a fair copy
made, and returned Page 126 U. S. 570 on the 18th to Bell in Boston for his signature and oath. It was
signed and sworn to in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, January 20th,
and immediately returned to the attorneys. Afterwards Pollok met
Bell in New York, and it was again gone over with care by the two
together. No change whatever was made in it at that time, and
Pollok took it back with him to Washington.

															On the 25th of January, 1876, Bell met Brown, who was then on
the way to England, in New York. It is now assumed that the paper
which Brown took to England was handed to him then, and, because
the variable resistance method and the fourth claim were not in
that, it is argued that they could not have been in the American
specification at that time. But no one has said when the paper was
actually handed to Brown. Bell says he cannot tell, but that it
must have been after he made his contract with Brown on the 29th of
December. As the American specification was signed and sworn to
five days before the interview with Brown on the 25th of January,
and the paper of Brown differs from it in so many particulars
besides that now in question, it would seem to be clear that the
paper was a copy of some former draft which Bell had made --
possibly one taken to Canada in December -- and not of that which
was perfected afterwards. As the specification which had been
prepared and sworn to was a fair copy, without erasures or
interlineations, the fact that the paper handed Brown was not a
fair copy would imply that it was not intended to be an exact
transcript of the other. At any rate, the bare fact that the
difference exists under such circumstances is not sufficient to
brand Bell and his attorneys, and the officers of the Patent
Office, with that infamy which the charges made against them imply.
We therefore have no hesitation in rejecting the argument. The
variable resistance method is introduced only as showing another
mode of creating electrical undulations. That Bell had had his mind
upon the effect of such a method is conclusively established by a
letter which he addressed to Mr. Hubbard on the 4th of May, 1875,
and which is found in the Dowd record, introduced into the Overland case by stipulation. Its insertion in his final
draft of his Page 126 U. S. 571 specification is another proof of the care with which his work
had been done.

															In the case of the Clay Commercial Company, objection was made
to the sufficiency of the proof of the incorporation of the
American Bell Telephone Company and of its title to the Bell
patents. Upon the first point, the proof was (1) a special act of
the general court of Massachusetts entitled "An act to incorporate
the American Bell Telephone Company," which authorized certain
persons therein named and their associates to organize themselves
under the provisions of chapter 224 of the Acts of 1870, and the
acts in amendment thereof, for telephone purposes, and (2) a
certificate of the secretary of the commonwealth, in the form
required by § 11 of c. 224, that certain persons, among whom were
the most of those mentioned in the special act, were legally
organized and established as an existing corporation under the name
of the American Bell Telephone Company. This section made such a
certificate "conclusive evidence of the existence of a corporation"
organized under that chapter. The authority granted by the special
act to the persons named to organize as a corporation in this way
gave them the authority to select a corporate name, and also made
the statutory certificate conclusive evidence of their corporate
existence.

															The objections to the proof of title are not in our opinion well
taken. We do not deem it necessary to add to the length of this
opinion by referring particularly to the testimony on that
point.

															This disposes of all the cases so far as the patent of March 7,
1876, is concerned. It remains only to consider the patent of
January 30, 1877, about which but little has been said either in
the oral or printed arguments. Apparently it received but little
attention by counsel or the court in either of the cases below. In
the Dolbear case it was, by consent, excluded from the
decree, and of course is not presented by that record in this
Court. In all the other cases, the patent was sustained, and the
Clay Commercial Company was adjudged to have infringed the third,
fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth claims, the Molecular Company,
the sixth, seventh, and eighth, but not the fifth; the People's
Company, the fifth, sixth, and Page 126 U. S. 572 eighth, and the Overland Company the third, fifth, sixth,
seventh, and eighth. From the decree in favor of the Molecular
Company as to the fifth claim, the Bell Company has appealed.

															In the case of the Clay Commercial Company, it was
alleged in the answer that the substantial and material parts of
the things described and claimed were described and claimed in a
prior British patent taken out by or for Bell, dated December 9,
1876, and that inasmuch as the American patent does not bear the
same date with the foreign patent and is not limited to expire
therewith, it is void. This patent has not been pressed in the
argument here, and in our opinion it has been settled by the
decision of this Court in O'Reilly v.
Morse , 15 How. 62, 56 U. S. 112 ,
and impliedly by that in Siemens v. Sellers, 123 U.
S. 276 (at the present term), that the effect of § 4887
of the Revised Statutes is not to render invalid an American patent
which does not bear the same date as a foreign patent for the same
invention, but only to limit its term. The patent itself is for the
mechanical structure of an electric telephone, to be used to
produce the electrical action on which the first patent rests. The
third claim is for the use in such instruments of a diaphragm, made
of a plate of iron or steel or other material capable of inductive
action; the fifth, of a permanent magnet constructed as described,
with a coil upon the end or ends nearest the plate; the sixth, of a
sounding box, as described; the seventh, of a speaking or hearing
tube, as described, for conveying the sounds, and the eighth, of a
permanent magnet and plate combined. The claim is not for these
several things in and of themselves, but for an electric telephone,
in the construction of which these things, or any of them, are
used; hence the fifth claim is not anticipated by the Schellen
magnet, as was decided in the Molecular case below. The patent is
not for the magnet, but for the telephone of which it forms but
part. To that extent, the decree in that case was erroneous.

															It follows that the decree in each of the cases, so far as it is
in favor of the Bell Company and those claiming under it, must be
affirmed, and that the decree in the Molecular case, Page 126 U. S. 573 so far as it is against that company on the fifth claim of the
patent of January 30, 1877, must be reversed, and a decree directed
to that extent in its favor. It is consequently so ordered. [ Footnote 1 ]

															The following lists are taken from the answer of the Molecular
Company.

															1. Persons by whom the invention patented by Bell's first
patent had been invented and discovered prior to his
invention. Philip Reis, then of Friedrichsdorf, Germany, now dead, at
Friedrichsdorf and Frankfort, Germany.

															Elisha Gray of Highland Park, Ill. at Oberlin and Cleveland,
Ohio; Highland Park and Chicago, Ill.; Milwaukee, Wis., Washington,
D.C. and New York City.

															Thomas A. Edison, of Menlo Park, N.J., at Menlo Park, N.J. and
New York City.

															Daniel Drawbaugh, of and at Eberly's Mills, in the County of
Cumberland and Pennsylvania.

															Amos E. Dolbear, of Somerville, Mass., at Somerville, Mass., and
elsewhere in the United States.

															Alfred G. Holcomb, of Granby, Conn., at New York City, N.Y., and
elsewhere in the United States.

															Philip H. Van der Weyde, of Brooklyn at New York City, N.Y., and
elsewhere in the United States.

															James W. McDonough, of Chicago, Ill., at said Chicago, at New
York City, and elsewhere.

															W. F. Channing, of Providence, R.I., at Providence, R.I.

															Benjamin F. Edwards, now deceased, formerly of Boston, Mass., at
Boston, Mass., Washington, D.C., and New York City, N.Y.

															James Hamblet, Jr., of Brooklyn, N.Y., at Boston, Mass.,
Washington, D.C., and New York City.

															Edward Farran, of Keene, N.H., at Keene, N.H.

															Antonio Mencci, of Clifton, Staten Island, N.Y., at Staten
Island and New York City.

															W. S. Voelker, of Morton, Delaware County, Pa., at Philadelphia,
Pa., Morton, Delaware County, Pa., and other places in the United
States.

															Edward C. Pickering, of Cambridge, Mass., at Boston and
Cambridge, Mass.

															2. Letters patent prior to Bell's first patent, describing
the patented invention. Letters patent granted by the United States to Thomas A. Edison
and George Harrington, dated Aug. 12, 1873, No. 141,777.

															Letters patent of the United States granted to William Thompson,
dated Nov. 17, 1874, No. 156,897.

															Letters patent of the United States granted to Elisha Gray July
27, 1875, No. 166,096.

															Letters patent of the United States granted to Elisha Gray July
27, 1876, No. 166,094.

															Letters patent of the United States granted to Elisha Gray, July
27, 1875, No, 166,095; caveat filed by Elisha Gray in the United
States Patent Office, Feb. 14, 1876.

															Letters patent of the United States granted to Elisha Gray,
April 11, 1876, No. 175,971.

															Letters patent of the United States granted to Elisha Gray Jan.
16, 1877, No. 186,340.

															British letters Patent granted to C. F. Varley, 1870, No.
1044.

															British letters patent granted to J. H. Johnston, July 29, 1874,
No. 2646.

															British letters patent granted to Gorge T. Bousfield, dated May
4, 1876, and numbered 1874.

															French patent granted to Leon Scott, dated March 25, 1817;
certificate of addition to same dated July 29, 1859.

															British letters patent granted to John Henry Johnston, dated
March 16, 1875, No. 974.

															British letters patent granted to Charles Wheatstone, dated Jan.
21, 1840, No. 8345.

															British letters patent granted to David Hughes, dated April 27,
1858, No. 938.

															United States letters patent granted to Elisha Gray, dated Feb.
15, 1876, No. 173,460.

															3. Letters Patent prior Go Bell's second patent, describing
the patented Invention. United States letters patent to Elisha Gray July 27, 1875, No.
166,095; to Elisha Gray, April 11, 1876, No. 175,971; to A.G.
Holcomb, May 16, 1860; to Elisha Gray, July 20, 1875, No. 165,728;
to Elisha Gray Feb. 15, 1876, No. 173,460, and to the same of the
same date, No. 173,618.

															British letters patent to J. H. Johnston, July 29, 1874, No.
2646; to J. H. Johnston, March 16, 1875, No. 974; to George T.
Bousfield, May 4, 1876, No. 1874.

															Canadian letters patent to Elisha Gray July 7, 1875, No.
4749.

															4. Printed Publications prior to Bell's first patent in
which the patent was described. "Electricity and Magnetism" by Jenkins, a book printed and
published in London, England, and in the City of New York, in 1873
at p. 334.

															"Der Electromagnetische Telegraph," by H. Schellen, a printed
book published in Brunswick, Germany, in the year 1867 at pp. 468
and 469.

															"The Electric Telegraph," by R. Sabine, a book printed and
published in London, England, 1867 at pp. 164-167.

															"L'Eco d'Italia," 1860.

															"Lehrbuch der Technischen Physik," by Hassler Pisko, a book
published at Vienna, 1866, Vol. 1, p. 648.

															Also in a printed publication in the German language entitled
"Jahres Bericht des Physikalischen Vereins zu Frankfurt am Main," a
book printed and published in 1862, and particularly at pp.
57-64.

															A printed publication in the German language entitled
"Zeitschrift des Deutsch-Oesterreichischen Telegraphen-Vereins,"
Vol. 9, a book printed and published at Berlin in 1862,
particularly at pp. 125-130.

															A printed publication in the German language entitled "Die
Neueren Apparate der Akustik," von Pr. Prof. Fr. Jos. Pisko,
printed and published in 1865, particularly at pp. 96-103 and pp.
241, 242.

															Yearly report of the Physical Society at Frankfurt-a-M., 1860,
1861 at p. 57, etc.

															A French publication entitled "Petit Traite de Physique," par M.
J. Jamin, Paris, 1870, and particularly at p. 421.

															The "Telegraphic Journal," published in London in 1872, Vol. 1
at p. 4.

															"Electricity," by It. M. Ferguson, a printed book published in
London and Edinburgh in 1867 at pp. 257 and 258.

															"The Telegrapher," published in the City of New York in 1869,
Vol. 5, No. 39 at pp. ___.

															"The Manufacturer and Builder," for May, 1869, a newspaper
published in the City of New York in 1869, Vol. 1 at p. 129.

															"Wonders of Electricity," by J. Baile, published in New York
City in 1872 at pp. 140-143.

															"The Telegraphic Journal," published in London in the year 1875,
Vol. 3 at pp. 286-287 and 258.

															"Dingler's Polytechnic Journal" for 1863, Vol. 163, pp. 23 and
185, a book published at Leipsic in 1863.

															"Cosmos" for 1864, Vol. 24, pp. 349, 352, a printed book
published in Paris in 1864; article by M. St. Edme.

															"Description Reis Telephone, Koenig's Catalogue of Apparatus for
1865," a book printed and published in Paris.

															"Applications de 1'Electricite," by Du Moncel, Vol. 2, p. 255,
etc., a printed book published in Paris in 1854 (Bourseul
Apparatus).

															"L'Annee Scientifique" by Louis Figuier, 1858, Vol. 1, p. 62, a
book printed and published at Paris, France, in 1858.

															"Cosmos," by l'AAbbe Moigno, 1858, eighth year, Vol. 14, No. 11;
article about the "Scott Phonautograph," a book printed and
published in Paris in 1559.

															"Traite Elementaire de Physique,' by M. Ganot; eleventh edition,
1854, p. 224, a book published in Paris in 1854; article, 'Scott
Phonautograph."

															"Comptes Rendus de l'Acadamie des Sciences," Vol. 53, p. 108,
1861.

															"Poggendorf Annalen," 1843, Vol. 59, p. 177, a book printed and
published at Leipsic, 1843.

															"Didaskalia," a journal published in Frankfort-on-the-Main,
Sept. 28, 1554, No. 232, and on May 11, 1852, No. 130, and on May
14, 1862, No. 133.

															"Du Moncel's Expose des Applications de l'Electricite," a book
published in Paris, France, in 1856 (p. 246), and in 1557 (p.
110).

															"Frankfurter Konversationsblatt," a journal published in
Frankfort-on-the-Main, Nov. 29, 1861, and June 30, 1863.

															"Die Fortschritte der Physik," a journal published in Berlin
(pp. 171 et seq. ).

															"Aus der Natur," published in Leipsic, 1862 (Vol. 21, pp.
470-471 to p. 484).

															"Mueller Poillet's Lehrbuch der Physik and Meteorologie,"
published in 1862 in Germany, and in 1863, Vol. 2, p. 352, Fig.
325, and 1868, pp. 386, 388, Figs. 348-350.

															"Friedrichsdorf Zeitung," a journal published in Homburg in
1862, and also that of 1867 and 1868 (pp. 386-389).

															"Jahres Bericht des Physikalischen Vereins" (Vol. 4, pp. 129 to
135), annual report for 1860, 1861, published in 1863, in
Frankfort-on-the-Main.

															"Boettgers Polytechnischen Notizblatt," Nos. 1-24 inclusive, pp.
65, 81-255, published in 1863.

															"Deutsche Klinik," No. 48, pp. 468-469, published in 1863 in
Berlin.

															"Deutsche Industrie Zeitung," published in 1863, in Chemnitz
(pp. 184-208, 239 and 249).

															"Die Gartenlaube," published at Leipsic, 1863 (pp. 807-809).

															"Prospectus of Phillipp Reis," published in 1863 in Frankfort,
and in "Pisko's Die neueren Apparate der Akustik," published in
Vienna, in 1863.

															A further circular or addition to the preceding, published in
Frankfort in 1863.

															The two were published with the circular or prospectus of J.
Wehl Albert, mechanician, in Frankfort, in 1863.

															"Polytechnische Centralblatt," published in 1863, pp. 857,
855.

															Letter of Philipp Reis to W. Ladd, Aug. 13, 1863.

															"Tagesblatt der 39 Versammlung Deutscher Naturfoerscher,"
published in Giessen in September, 1864.

															"Zoellner's Buch der Erfindungen," published in Leipsic and
Berlin in 1865 and in 1872.

															"Karl Kuhn's Handbuch der Angewandten Elektricitaetslehre," pp.
1016-1021, published in 1866.

															"Albert's Catalogue," in 1866 and 1872 and 1873.

															"Kneeland's Annual of Scientific Discovery," in 1866 and
1867.

															"New York Tribune," Jan. 8, 1869.

															"Christian Union," New York, Dec. 25, 1875.

															"Scientific American," New York, March 4, 1876.

															"Scientific American" (Supplement), Feb. 5, 1876.

															"Scientific American" (Supplement), No. 48, 1876.

															"Electricity and Magnetism," by Jenkins, in London, 1876.

															"Journal of the Franklin Institute of the Pennsylvania," Vol.
42, published in Philadelphia in 1869, pp. 419 et seq. "The Manufacturer and Builder," April, 1870.

															"Dublin Medical Press," 1863, Vol. 50, No. 1293, p. 471.

															"Cosmos," 1863, Vol. 23, p. 705.

															"Zeitschrift des Architectur and Ingenieur Vereins," 1866, Vol.
12; p. 147.

															"The Electric Telegraph," by Dr. Lardner, new edition, revised
by E. B. Bright, published in London, England, in 1867 at pp.
164-167.

															"Transactions Royal Scottish Society of Arts," Edinburgh, Vol.
6, 1864, Appendix Q, pp. 184-187.

															"Annual Report of American Association for the Advancement of
Science" for 1869.

															"Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary." 1876, Article
"Telephone".

															5. Printed publications prior to Bell's second patent in
which the patented invention was described. "Der Electromagnetische Telegraph," by Dr. H. Schellen,
published at Brunswick, Germany, in the year 1867 at pp. 411-414,
429-438, 468-469.

															"Zeitschrift des Deutsch-Oesterreichischen Telegraphen-Vereins,"
published at Berlin, Prussia, in the year 1862, Vol. 9, p. 125.

															Yearly report of the Physical Society at Frankfort-a-M.,
1860-1861, p. 67, etc.

															"Die Neuren Apparate der Akustik," von Dr. Prof. Jos. Pisko,
printed and published in 1865.

															"Journal of the German-Austrian Telegraph Association," Vol. 9,
p. 125, 1862, and pp. 94-104.

															"The Electric Telegraph," by R. Sabine, published in London,
England, in 1867 at pp. 136-138.

															"The Telegraphic Journal," published in London in 1872, Vol. 1,
p. 4.

															"Electricity," by R. M. Ferguson, published in London and
Edinburgh in the year 1867 at pp. 257 and 258.

															"The Telegrapher," published in the City of New York in the year
1869, Vol. 5, No. 89 at p. ___.

															"The Manufacturer and Builder," published in the City of New
York in the year 1869, Vol. 1 at p. 129.

															"Wonders of Electricity," by J. Baile, published in the City of
New York in the year 1872, at pp. 140-143.

															"The Telegraphic Journal," published in London in the year 1875,
Vol. 3 at pp. 286-288.

															"L'Eco d'Italia," 1860.

															"Lehrbuch der Technischen Physik," by Dr. Hassler Pieko,
published at Vienna 1836, Vol. 1, 648.

															"The Scientific American" of Oct. 20, 1860, p. 264, a newspaper
published in the City of New York.

															"Didaskalia," a journal published in Frankfort-on-the-Main,
Sept. 28, 1854, No. 232, and on May 11, 1862, No. 130, and on May
14, 1862, No. 133.

															Du Moncel's "Expose des Applications de l'Ectricite," a book
published in Paris, France, in 1856 (p. 246), and in 1857 (p.
110).

															"Frankfurter Konversationsblatt," a journal published in
Frankfort-on-the-Main, Nov. 29, 1861, and June 30, 1863.

															"Die Fortschritte der Physik," a journal published in Berlin
(pp. 17l, 173), and in 1863 (p. 96).

															"Aus der Natur," published in Leipsic, 1862 (Vol. 21, pp. 470,
471-484).

															"Mueller Poillet's Lehrbuch der Physik und Meteorologie,"
published in 1862 in Germany and in 1863, Vol. 2, p. 302, Fig. 325,
and 1868, pp. 386-388, Figs. 348-350.

															"Friedrichsdorf Zeitung," a journal published in Homburg, in
1862, and also that of 1867 and 1868 (pp. 386-389).

															"Jahres Bericht des Physikalisches Vereins" (Vol. 4, pp.
129-135), annual report for 1860-1861, published in 1863, in
Frankfort-on-the-Main.

															"Boettger's Polytechnischen Notizblatt," Nos. 1 to 24 inclusive,
pp. 65, 81, 225, published in 1863.

															"Deutsche Klinik," No. 48, pp. 468-469, published in 1863 in
Berlin.

															"Deutsche Industrie Zeitung," published in 1863, in Chemnitz
(pp. 184-208, 239 and 249).

															"Die Gartenlaube," published at Leipsic, 1863 (pp. 807-809).

															"Prospectus of Phillipp Reis," published in 1863 in Frankfort,
and in Pisko's "Die neueren Apparate der Akustik," published in
Vienna in 1863.

															A further circular or addition to the preceding, published in
Frankfort in 1863.

															The two were published with the circular or prospectus of J.
Wehl Albert, mechanician, in Frankfort in 1863.

															"Polytechnische Centralblatt," published in 1863, pp.
857-858.

															Letter of Phillipp Reis to W. Ladd, Aug. 13, 1863.

															"Tagesblatt der 39 Versammlung Deutscher Naturfoerscher,"
published in Giessen in September, 1884.

															Zollner's "Buch der Erfindungen," published in Leipsic and
Berlin in 1865 and 1872.

															"Karl Kuhns Handbuch der Angewandten Elektricitaetslehre," pp.
1016-1021, published in 1866.

															"Albert's Catalogue," in 1866 and 1872 and 1873.

															"Kneeland's Annual of Scientific Discovery," in 1866 and
1867.

															"New York Tribune," Jan. 8, 1869.

															"Christian Union," New York, Dec. 25, 1875.

															"Scientific American," New York, March 4, 1876.

															"Scientific American" (Supplement), Feb. 5, 1876.

															"Scientific American" (Supplement), No. 48, 1876.

															"Electricity and Magnetism," by Jerkins, in London, 1876.

															"Journal of the Franklin Institute of the State of
Pennsylvania," Vol. 42, published in Philadelphia in 1869, pp. 419 et seq. "The Manufacturer and Builder," April, 1870.

															"Dublin Medical Press," 1863, Vol. 50, No. 1293, p. 471.

															"Cosmos," 1863, Vol. 23, p. 705.

															"Zeitschrift des Architectur und Ingenieur Vereins," 1866, Vol.
12, p. 147.

															"The Electric Telegraph," by Dr. Lardner, new edition, revised
by E. B. Bright, published in London, Eng., in 1867 at pp. 164,
165-167.

															"Transactions Royal Scottish Society of Arts," Edinburgh, Vol.
6, 1864, Appendix Q, pp. 184-187.

															"Annual Report of American Association for the Advancement of
Science" for 1869.

															[ Footnote 2 ]

															Words in square brackets [ ] erased in original.

															[ Footnote 3 ]

															Three sheets of figures accompany the patent in the record. They
are facsimiles of the original ink sketches, evidently intended to
represent the same Figures which form part of the Bell patent of
1876.

															[ Footnote 4 ]

															"A or B" interlined in original.

															[ Footnote 5 ]

															This paragraph (four lines) interlined in original.

															MR. JUSTICE BRADLEY, with whom concurred JUSTICES FIELD and
HARLAN, dissenting.

															MR. JUSTICE FIELD, MR. JUSTICE HARLAN, and myself are not able
to concur with the other members of the Court sitting in these
cases in the result which has been reached by them. Without
expressing an opinion on other issues, the point on which we
dissent relates to the defense made on the alleged invention of
Daniel Drawbaugh, and applies to all the cases in which that
invention is set up. We think that Drawbaugh anticipated the
invention of Mr. Bell, who, at most, is not claimed to have
invented the speaking telephone prior to June 10, 1875. We think
that the evidence on this point is so overwhelming with regard both
to the number and character of the witnesses that it cannot be
overcome. As this is a question of fact, depending upon the weight
of the evidence, and involves no question of law, it does not
require an extended discussion on the part of those who dissent
from the opinion of the majority, which is very ably drawn and
presents the case with great clearness and force. On the point
mentioned, however, we cannot concur in the views expressed.

															The essence of the invention claimed by Mr. Bell is the
transmission of articulate speech to a distance by means of an
electrical current subjected to undulations produced by the air
vibrations of the voice. There are two modes (as yet discovered) by
which these undulations may be thus produced. In one, they are
produced by interposing in the circuit a substance whose electrical
conductivity may be varied by the concussions or vibrations of the
air produced by the voice. This is called the "variable resistance
process" because the electrical current is subjected to the
variable resistance (or conductivity) of the substance thus
interposed. By the other Page 126 U. S. 574 mode, the undulations are produced by the inductive effect of an
armature (or small, flat piece of iron) attached to the membrane
spoken against and placed near to the poles of an electromagnet
situated in the circuit. In both cases, the undulations impart the
vibrations which caused them to another diaphragm at a distance
(called the receiver) by means of an electromagnet in the circuit
placed near to an armature affixed to such diaphragm. These
vibrations, thus reproduced, are detected by the ear, and the
spoken words are heard.

															We are satisfied from a very great preponderance of evidence
that Drawbaugh produced and exhibited in his shop as early as 1869
an electrical instrument by which he transmitted speech, so as to
be distinctly heard and understood, by means of a wire and the
employment of variable resistance to the electrical current. This
variable resistance was produced by causing the electrical current
to pass through pulverized charcoal, carbon, and other substances,
acted upon by the vibrations of the voice in speaking. This was the
whole invention so far as the principle of variable resistance is
concerned.

															We are also satisfied that as early as 187, he reproduced
articulate speech at a distance by means of a current of
electricity subjected by electrical induction to undulations
corresponding to the vibrations of the voice in speaking -- a
process substantially the same as that which is claimed in Mr.
Bell's patent.

															In regard to the instrument in which the principle of variable
resistance was used, more than seventy witnesses were examined who
either testified to having seen it and heard it or established such
facts and circumstances in relation to it as to put its existence
and date beyond a question. With regard to the instrument in which
electrical induction was employed to produce the requisite
undulations, some forty or fifty witnesses were produced, many of
whom saw it and heard speech through it, and others either saw it
or heard it talked about in such a manner as to fix the time when
it was in existence. On the questions of time and result, there is
such a cloud of witnesses in both cases that it seems almost
impossible not to Page 126 U. S. 575 give credence to them. The evidence of some of them may have
been shaken with regard to the time they had in mind, but that of
the great majority was not shaken at all, but corroborated by
circumstances which rendered the proof irrefragable. Many of them,
it is true, were plain country people, but they heard the words
through the instrument, and that is a matter about which they could
not be mistaken. It did not require science nor learning to
understand that. But the witnesses were not confined to this class.
A number of them were people of position in society, official,
professional, and literary -- all, however, like the inventor,
regarding the matter more as one of curiosity than of public
importance.

															As it would serve no useful purpose to repeat the testimony of
these witnesses, we shall refrain from doing so. We will only add
that nearly all the original instruments used by Drawbaugh were
produced on the trial, and identified by the witnesses. Some of
them were broken and in a dilapidated condition, but sufficiently
perfect to be accurately reproduced. Their very form and principle
of construction showed that they were intended for speaking
telephones and nothing else. Drawbaugh certainly had the principle,
and accomplished the result. Perhaps without the aid of Mr. Bell,
the speaking telephone might not have been brought into public use
to this day, but that Drawbaugh produced it there can hardly be a
reasonable doubt.

															We do not question Mr. Bell's merits. He appreciated the
importance of the invention and brought it before the public in
such a manner as to attract to it the attention of the scientific
world. His professional experience and attainments enabled him to
see at a glance that it was one of the great discoveries of the
century. Drawbaugh was a different sort of man. He did not see it
in this halo of light. Had he done so, he would have taken measures
to interest other persons with him in it, and to have brought it
out to public admiration and use. He was only a plain mechanic --
somewhat better instructed than most ordinary mechanics -- a man of
more reading; of better intelligence. But he looked upon what he
had made more as a curiosity than as a matter of financial, Page 126 U. S. 576 scientific, or public importance. This explains why he did not
take more pains to bring it forward to public notice. Another cause
of his delay in bringing his invention to public notice was that he
was ever indulging the hope of producing speech at the receiving
end of the line, loud and distinct enough to be heard across a
room, like the voice of a person speaking in an ordinary tone.

															It is perfectly natural for the world to take the part of the
man who has already achieved eminence. No patriotic Briton could
believe that anybody but Watt could produce an improvement in the
steam engine. This principle of human nature may well explain the
relative feeling toward Bell and Drawbaugh in reference to the
invention of the telephone. It is regarded as incredible that so
great a discovery should have been made by the plain mechanic, and
not by the eminent scientist and inventor. Yet the proof amounts to
demonstration, from the testimony of Mr. Bell himself and his
assistant, Watson, that he never transmitted an intelligible word
through an electrical instrument, nor produced any such instrument
that would transmit an intelligible word, until after his patent
had been issued, while, for years before, Drawbaugh had talked
through his so that words and sentences had again and again been
distinctly heard. We do not wish to say a word depreciatory of Mr.
Bell. He was original, if not first. He preconceived the principle
on which the result must be obtained by that forecast which is
acquired from scientific knowledge, as Leverrier did the place of
the unknown planet; but in this, as in the actual production of the
thing, he was, according to the great preponderance of the
evidence, anticipated by a man of far humbler pretensions. A common
astronomer, by carefully sweeping the sky, might have been first in
discovering the planet Neptune; while no one but a Leverrier, or an
Adams, could have ascertained its existence and position by
calculation. So it was with Bell and Drawbaugh. The latter invented
the telephone without appreciating the importance and completeness
of his invention. Bell subsequently projected it on the basis of
scientific inference, and took out a patent for it. But, as our
laws do not award a patent to one who was not the first to make an
invention, we think that Bell's patent is void by the anticipation
of Drawbaugh.

															MR. JUSTICE GRAY was not present at the argument, and took no
part in the decision of these cases.

															MR. JUSTICE LAMAR, not being a member of the Court when these
cases were argued, took no part in their decision.