The invention of Mr. C. Cuttriss, Fig. 4, obviates all this trouble by the use of magnetism, and the instillment works just as perfectly be the weather damp or dry. The siphon, X, is made slightly thicker toward the point ; this is caused by a small particle of iron wire, No. 30 or 32, about or of an inch in length, fastened to it by a little shellac varnish. The netic recording table, B, opposite the point of the siphon, over which the paper slip passes. is made partly of iron, and to the back of it is the electromagnet, C. The principal part of the invention is the adjustable vibrator at the right of the illustration. The glass tube, Lc and armature, J. which are supported by the steel rod, I', are vibrated by an electromagnet, Continuous vibration is maintained by means of the battery, Q, and the contact points, F. The upright mercury reservoir, Iv, has a regulating screw, 0, the lower end of which is made to act as a plunger ; a small india-rubber tube connects the mercury reservoir with the glass tube, F. so that by raising or depressing the plunger the mercury can be forced and main tained at any required height in the glass tube, and by this means its rate of vibration can be changed as may he required. When a siphon is attached to the strained wire, X, and it has become filled with ink from the ink reservoir, the poinger is manipulated until the siphon attains its maximum arc of vibration. A perfectly steady dotted line is then obtained, and will continue without any other regulation so long as it, remains filled with ink.
Transoitssiot of liqrse Chorocters on rables.—Ir. Patrick B. Delany has perfected an invention by which long cables may be operated by any Morse operator, and by which the received characters are not only greatly improved, but the rapidity with which they may be transmitted greatly increased. When the key is pressed down, a current of one polar
ity is sent. If it is immediately lifted up, a current of opposite polarity is sent, lasting for the short time between the downward and upward movement, forming a (lot. If the key be held down, a dash is formed, not by the passage of a long impulse, hut because the opposite polarity which terminates each signal is deferred until the key is lifted up. One current is the beginning of all signals, the other is the ending ; the time between the beginning and the end determines whether the signal is a dot or a dash. There are no dashes sent into the line, but all currents are of equal duration and alternating in polarity.
On the 9th and 16th of September, 1888, Mr. Delany's transmitter was tried over the Anglo-American cable from Duxbury, 3lass., to St. Pierre, and the results obtained more than confirmed expectations. The cable is 818 miles in length, 8,30 ohms resistance, and 256 mierofarads capacity. We reproduce in Fig. 5 the record received at St. Pierre at differ ent rates of speed, varying from 13 to 34 words per minute, with accurate timing and five letters to a word. During the same test, Mr. Delany transmitted twenty words per minute, every letter of which was received per fectly at St. Pierre. on a Morse sounder. This is by far the longest cable circuit ever work ed by sound, and the speed of twenty words per minute on such a circuit is a great stride in cable telegraphy. Mr. Delany believes that he can increase the speed to thirty words per minute, and has strong hopes of working the main Atlantic eatales by sound at no very distant day.