THE MORSE ALPHABET. Before going further the details of the alphabet may be given. The only elements which can be combined for making telegraphic signals in the Morse system are the dot, the clash, and the space, and the alphabet is made up of the simplest combinations of these that can he made. The preference of the shortest combinations is given to the letters which are most frequently used. This alphabet or code of signals was Inc to Morse's assistant and col laborator, Alfred Vail, and was based on the frequency with which the different letters occur. This was verified by consulting with printers and examining their type eases. The simplest signal, a dot, was given to `E' and the next simplest, a dash, to 'T,' those letters occurring most frequently in our language. Between the separate signals of every single letter comes the space which is equivalent to a clot except in the case of C, 0, Y, Z, when a lengthened space equivalent to two dots is used.
transmitting keys. The connection at the key is always completed by a supplementary switch, when the key is not being used to send a mes sage, in order that the path may be complete for the reception of any message from the other office.
Owing to the fact that in some of the early telegraphs used in Europe the space could not be employed as part of any of the signals without causing confusion, it was necessary to rearrange the combinations of dots and dashes, so as to form the whole alphabet with the dot and dash without the use of the space. This alphabet is known as the Continental Morse alphabet. It is used throughout Europe and in all submarine telegraphy, having been adopted by an interna tional conference.