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281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
216
Ignorance
of
the
true
nature
of
sound
had
prevented
the
introduction
of
such
an
instrument.
But
modern
science,
and
in
particular
the
invention
of
the
telephone
with
its
vibrating
plate,
had
paved
the
way
for
it.
The
time
was
ripe,
and
Edison
was
the
first
to
do
it.
In
spite
of
the
unbridled
fancies
of
the
poets
and
the
hints
of
ingenious
writers,
the
announcement
that
a
means
of
hoarding
speech
had
been
devised
burst
like
a
thunderclap
upon
the
world.
[In
seeing
his
mother's
picture
Byron
wished
that
he
might
hear
her
voice.
Tennyson
exclaims,
'Oh
for
the
touch
of
a
vanished
hand,
and
the
sound
of
a
voice
that
is
still!'
Shelley,
in
the
WITCH
OF
ATLAS,
wrote:
'The
deep
recesses
of
her
odorous
dwelling
Were
stored
with
magic
treasures--sounds
of
air,
Which
had
the
power
all
spirits
of
compelling,
Folded
in
cells
of
crystal
silence
there;
Such
as
we
hear
in
youth,
and
think
the
feeling
Will
never
die--yet
ere
we
are
aware,
The
feeling
and
the
sound
are
fled
and
gone,
And
the
regret
they
leave
remains
alone.'
Again,
in
his
SPIRIT
OF
SOLITUDE,
we
find:
'The
fire
of
those
soft
orbs
has
ceased
to
burn,
And
silence
too
enamoured
of
that
voice
Locks
its
mute
music
in
her
rugged
cell,']
The
phonograph
lay
under
the
very
eyes
of
Science,
and
yet
she
did
not
see
it.
The
logograph
had
traced
all
the
curves
of
speech
with
ink
on
paper;
and
it
only
remained
to
impress
them
on
a
solid
surface
in
such
a
manner
as
to
regulate
the
vibrations
of
an
artificial
tympanum
or
drum.
Yet
no
professor
of
acoustics
thought
of
this,
and
it
was
left
to
Edison,
a
telegraphic
inventor,
to
show
them
what
was
lying
at
their
feet.
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