Excerpt from Description of the American Electro Magnetic Telegraph: Now in Operation Between the Cities of Washington and Baltimore; Illustrated by Fourteen Wood Engravings The galvanic battery, the generator of that subtle fluid, which performs so important a part in the operation of the Electro Magnetic Telegraph, is as various in its form and arrangement, as the variety of purposes to which it is applied. They all, however, involve the same principle. It is not our design here to describe the various modes of constructing it, but to confine our remarks more immediately to that used for the Telegraph. The effects produced by the galvanic fluid upon the metallic bodies, iron and steel, exciting in them the power of attraction or magnetism, its decomposing effects upon liquids, resolving them into their simple elements, its effects upon the animal system, in producing a spasmodic and sudden irritation, are generally well known. But of the character of the fluid itself, its own essence or substance, we know nothing. In some of its phenomena, it resembles the electricity of the heavens; both find a conductor in the metals; both exhibit a spark, and both are capable of producing shocks, or when applied, cause the animal system to be sensible to them. Again, in other of its phenomena it is totally unlike it. The galvanic fluid is essentially necessary in producing the electro magnet; while the electricity of the heavens, or as it is generally termed, machine electricity, has no such power for practical purposes. The former is more dense, so to speak, and more easily confined to its conductors, while the latter becomes dissipated and lost in the atmosphere long before it has reached the opposite extremity of a long conductor. The former is continuous in its supply; while the latter is at irregular intervals. The former always needs a continuous conductor; while the latter will pass from one metallic conductor to another without that connection. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.