instruments; and seeing the possibility that people may use it without
special training, is it in the end destined to destroy the career of
telegraph employés? Those questions merit from us the labour of being
examined with care. We think that that instrument will never be able
to be employed in telegraphic working destined to serve governments
and the public. In effect, supposing the instrument perfect, arrived
at the last limits of perfection, and able to work at all distances
with or without relays, then‒1. To transmit a message with all the
advantages offered by the system, it would be necessary that the sender
should be able to speak himself directly with the receiver, without the
intervention of an employé. Now, all those who know the organisation of
the lines know that this is not possible, that there must necessarily
be intermediary offices of deposit, that the public cannot be admitted
to the offices where messages are transmitted or received, and
consequently the sender must give his message _written_. 2. An employé
once charged with the message, the instrument has already lost one
of its principal advantages, for that employé must read the message,
and pronounce it to his correspondent; but if the message is written
in a foreign language, the impracticability is evident. Lastly, the
telegraph administrations now possess instruments which permit them to
send messages with much greater speed than can be attained in sending
them by the voice. Those reasons alone, and there are many others,
ought then to assure the employés that this new invention will not put
in peril their means of existence.
‘This is not to say that the telephone will not be utilised. On the
contrary, it will probably be much used, but in special cases and for
private use. For example: To put any chief in immediate relation with
his employés in offices or manufactories; for the police of towns for
announcing fires; for service of mines; to replace with advantage
electric bells in many cases; and in a crowd of circumstances not yet
foreseen. Let us wish then good success to this invention, which does
honour to the era of steam and electricity.’
THE INTELLIGENT MOUSE.
The following account of extraordinary sagacity on the part of a mouse
has been sent to us by a contributor, who vouches for the truth of the
statement: ‘At my house, in a trap for catching mice alive, which had
been overlooked for some weeks, was found the nest of a mouse with
several young, all alive with their mother; and some _other mice which
had died of starvation_. The only explanation, I think, which can be
given of so strange an occurrence is that the male mouse, knowing by
instinct the condition of his mate, provided for her wants by bringing
to her the materials for her nest, which she pulled in through close
wires, and supplied her with food, while he allowed all the others‒the
non-related captives‒to starve to death. It seems almost more than
instinct that the male mouse should not have entered the trap, where
there was such attraction for him, as though he knew that on his
liberty depended the lives of the mother and her offspring.’
The writer has also favoured us with the following lines, which he
entitles
THE AFFECTION OF MICE.
Assist me, my Muse, while in verse I would tell
A tale, true as strange, and so mournful as well.
No words can depict it; all feeble my lays;
Such tender devotion strikes one with amaze.
In a trap which was set to catch mice in my house,
I had the misfortune to capture a mouse;
That mouse was a female, and she was with young;
Yet not hers, but her consort’s, the praise must be sung.
He knowing her state‒that she’d soon have a brood,
And would need a warm nest, and must die without food‒
Searched all through the house to find stuff for her bed,
And supplied as he could, the food on which she fed.
The straw, hair, and feathers to meet her desires
He brought to the trap, and she pulled through the wires.
Her couch being formed, soon the offspring appeared‒
A numerous progeny, there to be reared;
While around her on every side there did lie
The bodies of those that of hunger did die‒
And had long been dead, any person could tell
Who had eyes that would see, or a nose that could smell.
He only took care to provide for that one
By affection and instinct he knew was his own.
What wisdom was his! With attraction so strong,
He knew, if the life of his mate he’d prolong,
He must keep himself clear, and have full liberty;
That to enter the trap was for both them to die.
That the trap was neglected for months is quite clear,
From what it contained‒what an odour was there!
’Tis pity I had not the power to save
The creatures, who all found a watery grave.
The servant‒my house from such pests to deliver‒
Remorselessly cast them all into the river.
MORAL.
Unnatural husbands, with minds to discern,
A momentous lesson from mice you may learn,
Which have only instinct their actions to guide;
Be kind to your wives‒for your children provide.
J. H. DAVIS.
13 Conyngham Road, Dublin.
_November 1, 1877._
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and 339 High Street, EDINBURGH.
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