One of the Earliest Appearances in Print of One of the World's Most Famous Series of Dots (1838)

JF Ptak Science Books  Post 2790   Part of the "History of Dots" series

I was looking in Journal of the Franklin Institute (1838) for what I thought was an important report by Charles Goodyear on his "vulcanization" process, where he is finally able to present the results of his experiments on saving rubber from itself for commercial use. But I was wrong--the report was a step in the correct direct, the finalization occurring the next year (and not a moment too soon for the very highly economically challenged Goodyear). Anyway, I poked around the index (which is a half-miserable affair) grazing for something else interesting when I saw the entries for "telegraph", with subdivisions for "electric" and "electromagnetic". Now, both of these types of telegraphs had been around for a score or three of years, but just for the play of it I checked out the "electromagnetic telegraph" on page 106.  And there he was: Samuel Morse. And Alfred Vail. And their electromagnetic recording telegraph--all of which appeared in the paper called "Report on Prof. Morse's Electro-Magnetic Telegraph".¹

This was a significant report. As it turns out Morse makes the first public demonstration of his and Alfred Vail's recording electromagentic telegraph on January 6 1838 at Speedwell Ironworks near Morristown, New Jersey, just weeks before this JFI appearance.  On this success, Morse went south to Philadelphia and demonstrated his invention to the Franklin Institute on February 8, 1838 (summarized in the present report), appearing two weeks later on February 21 1838 midway between Phila and home in Washington D.C., demonstrating the apparatus to President Van Buren and members of the Congressional Committee on Commerce^2,3.

This may well be the one of the two earliest journal appearances of the successful demonstration of the Morse/Vail electromagnetic recording telegraph, and is perhaps the very first appearance of the "dot" end of the Morse Code.

The demonstration in January and February 1838 used the Vail register (accentuated in italics in the JFI report) and did away with the Morse pendulum apparatus for recording the message--this was evidently a great improvement.

The narrative identifies two systems of signals ("...one representing numbers, the other letters") that were displayed in the demonstration. The first "representing numbers" were a series of dots. This is perhaps the first publication in a journal of the dot method of transcribed signals of a recording electromagnetic telegraph. The dots are pictured "...   ..   ....." on page 107, representing the number "325" or as explained could also mean the word represented by the number "325" in Morse's code book ("indicate...a word in a dictionary, prepared for this purpose..."). The second, "alphabetical signals are made up by a combination of dots and lines of different lengths"), an example of which is not shown. 

I have only been able top locate a symbolic system of the code in published journal reports (and a newspaper article) showing a "V" system, as in the American Journal of Science and the Arts (vol 33 #1, 1838), which prints an image of the register, and shows a "specimen of telegraphic writing" using this "V": so, "V   VV   VVV" governed by spaces of long and short intervals,  would stand for 1,2,3 or 123, or to some word designated "123" in a code book. (I should point out that this article is about half the length of the JFI article.) 

What is surprising is to see what Morse himself had to say on this issue. Here are his notes on the system of notation, from the SFB Morse papers at the Library of Congress, Manuscripts Division, bound volume 28 November 1835-18 April 1838, page 154 ("Drawings to Accompany Copy of Caveat of Oct 6 1837"). The penciled note states "this is old mode of sign and is the only specimen ever published. See the Mechanics Magazine".  It was also evidently published in the American Journal of Science and Arts at about the same time. There is no reference to the JFI report or the "dots" (or "1st Mode").  It may simply be the case that at the time of his writing this that Morse was simply unaware of the JFI report, as the three appearances were all published at about the same time (within weeks of one another). 

The famous "first" telegraph "What Hath..."¹  transmission (at least seven years after the true "first") was made of a series of raised symbols corresponding to Morse's dictionary. 

I'm no expert in this field, but I haven't been able to turn out any earlier use of the dots than this report. 

Notes:

1. The full quote, suggested by a young girl, was from Numbers xxiii, 23:

"22...Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel: according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!

24 Behold, the people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift up himself as a young lion: he shall not lie down until he eat of the prey, and drink the blood of the slain."

       2.  Reports of the Capitol demonstration were published in the American Journal of Science and Arts, vol 33, pg. 168, and then in the Mechanics' Magazine (London) for 10 February 1838.

       3.  There was also an earlier attempt made at Morse's New York (City) University on 2 September 1837, though this appears to have been unsuccessful.