Letter to George F. FitzGerald from George James Burch
Title
Letter to George F. FitzGerald from George James Burch
Creator
Date
Identifier
GFF 15/138
Description
Handwritten letter from George James Burch, 21 Norham Rd, Oxford, to George F. Fitzgerald, dated 18 August 1896. Burch is writing of an invention he made and implores for Fitzgerald's opinion. 4pp.
Transcription:
"Dear Prof. Fitzgerald
Accept my thanks for your very friendly suggestion -It had occurred to me some three years ago that the Capillary Electrometer might be used as a recording instrument in telegraphy and I made (privately) some enquiries - I gathered that with cables the speed is limited not so much by the receiver as by the cable itself, and as the apparatus - in it- then condition was not such as could be worked save by a specially trained man, I gave up the idea - Of course it is much more manageable in its present form and if a submarine cable could be made to work up to the speed the capillary electrometer would be capable of very rapid work - Preece says that if possible reversals of the transmitter represent an average word - I do not know whether that means single, or double reversals - Now I have plenty of photographs taken at moderate speeds, in which there are over 720 double reversals per second (one of the Figs in my paper has 650) This would mean 30 words per second, 1800 words per minute if double reversals are meant, 3600 per minute if single reversals suffice This is I believe about 4 times as fast as the automatic transmitter, and is well written the rate of easy working. You will see by a passage towards the conclusion of my paper that I have refrained from patenting any part of it preferring to present my discovery and invention to the scientific public - the same method may be applied to any form of electrometer or galvanometer or other measuring instrument … the motion may be rectilinear or circular … the surface may be flat or developable … etc Whether this dedication of public use covers the [employability ?] of the capillary electrometer as a receiver in telegraphy I hardly know - If you think that it does not, and that an outsider could step in and patent a special use of a method that I have refrained from patenting I confess I should be inclined to wish I had taken steps in the matter myself - Unfortunately I am not in a position to risk money on it, and I do not know enough about telegraphy to judge of its applicability. But if it is a thing I ought to do, I should willingly join with envy one who cared to take it up I should be very glad of your opinion on the subject, and should have written sooner but for feeling overdone with work
Yours Faithfully
George J. Burch"
Transcription:
"Dear Prof. Fitzgerald
Accept my thanks for your very friendly suggestion -It had occurred to me some three years ago that the Capillary Electrometer might be used as a recording instrument in telegraphy and I made (privately) some enquiries - I gathered that with cables the speed is limited not so much by the receiver as by the cable itself, and as the apparatus - in it- then condition was not such as could be worked save by a specially trained man, I gave up the idea - Of course it is much more manageable in its present form and if a submarine cable could be made to work up to the speed the capillary electrometer would be capable of very rapid work - Preece says that if possible reversals of the transmitter represent an average word - I do not know whether that means single, or double reversals - Now I have plenty of photographs taken at moderate speeds, in which there are over 720 double reversals per second (one of the Figs in my paper has 650) This would mean 30 words per second, 1800 words per minute if double reversals are meant, 3600 per minute if single reversals suffice This is I believe about 4 times as fast as the automatic transmitter, and is well written the rate of easy working. You will see by a passage towards the conclusion of my paper that I have refrained from patenting any part of it preferring to present my discovery and invention to the scientific public - the same method may be applied to any form of electrometer or galvanometer or other measuring instrument … the motion may be rectilinear or circular … the surface may be flat or developable … etc Whether this dedication of public use covers the [employability ?] of the capillary electrometer as a receiver in telegraphy I hardly know - If you think that it does not, and that an outsider could step in and patent a special use of a method that I have refrained from patenting I confess I should be inclined to wish I had taken steps in the matter myself - Unfortunately I am not in a position to risk money on it, and I do not know enough about telegraphy to judge of its applicability. But if it is a thing I ought to do, I should willingly join with envy one who cared to take it up I should be very glad of your opinion on the subject, and should have written sooner but for feeling overdone with work
Yours Faithfully
George J. Burch"
Source
RDS Library & Archive GFF collection of letters
Rights
Copyright RDS Library & Archives. Publication, transmission or display is prohibited without formal written approval of the RDS Library & Archives.
Relation
RDS Science Archive
Format
Manuscript
Language
English
Type
Coverage
1870-1901
Collection
Citation
Burch, George James, 1852-1914, “Letter to George F. FitzGerald from George James Burch,” RDS Digital Archive, accessed December 5, 2025, https://digitalarchive.rds.ie/items/show/930.