“Neither can the inquiries he made nor the information or advice he received from men of science in the course of his researches impair his right to the character of an inventor. No invention can possibly be made, consisting of a combination of different elements of power, without a thorough knowledge of the properties of each of them, and the mode in which they operate on each other. And it can make no difference in this respect, whether he derives his information from books, or from conversation with men skilled in the science. If it were otherwise, no patent in which a combination of different elements is used would ever be obtained, for no man ever made such an invention without having first obtained this information, unless it was discovered by some fortunate accident. And it is evident that such an invention as the electro-magnetic telegraph could never have been brought into action without it; for a very high degree of scientific knowledge and the nicest skill in the mechanic arts are combined in it, and were both necessary to bring it into successful operation. The fact that Morse sought and obtained the necessary information and counsel from the best sources, and acted upon it, neither impairs his rights as an inventor nor detracts from his merits.”--_O’Reilly vs. Morse, 5 Howard_. The combination constituting Morse’s invention comprised a main wire circuit to transmit the current through its whole length whenever closed; a main galvanic battery to supply the current; operating keys to break and close the main circuit; office circuits; a circuit of conductors and batteries at each office to record the message there; receiving spring lever magnets to close an office circuit when a current passes through the main circuit; adjusting screws to vary the force of the main current; marking apparatus, consisting of pointed pieces of wire, to indent dots and lines upon paper; clockwork to move the paper indented; and magnet sounders to develop the power of the pointer and of the armatures to produce audible distinguishable sounds. It was soon learned by operators how to distinguish the signs or letters sent by the length of the “click” of the armature, and by thus reading by sound the reading of the signs on paper was dispensed with, and the device became an electric-magnetic acoustic telegraph. What is known as the Morse system has been improved, but its fundamental principles remain, and their world-wide use constitute still the daily evidence of the immense value of the invention to mankind. Before the 1844 reduction to practice, Morse had originated and laid the first submarine telegraph. This was in New York harbour in 1842. In a letter to the Secretary of the United States Treasury, August 10, 1843, he also suggested the project of an Atlantic telegraph.