A D V E N T U R E S   in   C Y B E R S O U N D

In November 1796, Francisco Salvá of Barcelona presented a paper at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Barcelona about his electric telegraph experiments between Madrid and Aranjuez and in 1804 used an electric telegraph, powered by Volta's battery, to send messages up to 1km.

His system was based on the principles outlined by a man known only as 'C M', author of the first known proposal for an electric telegraph, made in a letter to the Scots' Magazine in Edinburgh in 1753. CM's system used 26 wires, each representing a letter of the alphabet, which could carry an electric charge and attract a piece of paper, bearing the appropriate letter, to a tiny electrified ball at the receiving end.

Salva's system also used 26 wires but a letter was indicated by a stream of bubbles emanating from one of the wires, immersed in acidulated water when an electrical current flowed.

Source: http://www.cequel.co.uk/acclarke/shc.html

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