BELL, ALEXANDER GRA II A AL ( 1 S47—). An American inventor and scientist, distinguished for his invention of the telephone. Ile was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, the son of Alexander Melville Bell, who was the inventor of 'visible speech.' He received his education in Edinburgh and at London University, and in 1870, with his father, removed to Canada. He was greatly interested in him father's system of instruction of the deaf and dumb. and in 1872 he became professor of vocal physiology in Boston Univer sity. Soon thereafter he began experiments which led to the invention of the speaking tele phone (q.v.), and for this, on February 14. 1876, he received a patent. Though his claims were opposed by other inventors, his rights to the invention were sustained by the United States Supreme Court, and he is now considered entitled to the credit of being the first to construct the in strument in a practical shape. In an imperfect form the telephone was exhibited at the Centen nial Exposition of 1876. and was carefully stud ied by scientists from abroad. Further experi ments led to the improvement of the apparatus, and a company was organized for its de•elop ment. From this company. which has enjoyed
an almost absolute monopoly of the telephone business in the United States, Professor Bell has received large royalties and dividends. lie was also the inventor of the photophone. used for the transmission and reproduction of sounds by waves of light, and of the graphophone. an in strument which mechanically reproduces human speech. He has been active in scientific investi gation. He has always maintained his interest in the instruction of deaf-mutes, and has carried on and published important researches in this field, many of which have been published by the Volta Bureau, of which lie was the founder. He was elected a member of the National Acade my of Sciences in 1SS3, and in ISS1 he received the Volta Prize from the French Government. He has served as president of the American Association to Promote Teaching of Speech to the Deaf, as president of the National Geograph ic Society. and as a regent of the Smithsonian Institution.