A similar sound to that uttered into A is then heard to proceed from I.--(Specification of U. S. Patent, No. 174,465.) _Reis._ =Any sound will be reproduced=, if strong enough to set the membrane in motion.--(Letter to Mr. Ladd, 1863.) [p. 84.] _Bell._ There are many other uses to which these instruments may be put, such as ... the telegraphic transmission of noises or =sounds of any kind=.--(_Ib._) I would have it understood that what I claim is:--... Tenth. In a system of electric telegraph or telephony consisting of transmitting and receiving instruments united upon an electric circuit, I claim the production in the armature of each receiving instrument of any given motion by subjecting said armature to an attraction varying in intensity, however such variation may be produced in the magnet, and hence =I claim the production of any given sound or sounds from the armature of the receiving instrument= by subjecting said armature to an attraction varying in intensity in such manner =as to throw the armature into that form of vibration that characterizes the given sound= or sounds.--(Specification of British Patent, No. 4765, Dec. 9, 1876.) _Reis._ =the armature= belonging to the magnet =will be set into vibrations similar to those of the membrane in the transmitting apparatus=.--(Legat’s Report, 1862.) [p. 77.] One cannot help thinking that some claims to great inventions are just a little “too previous.” If it should still be said that Reis’s method of transmitting speech, whether it did its work by undulatory currents or no, was avowedly _imperfect_, and that therefore such a claim as that quoted above is justified by the subsequent invention of an instrument the articulation of which was more reliable, let us compare what each inventor has said about the imperfections[54] of his own instrument. _Reis._ That which has here been spoken of will still require considerable improvement, and in particular mechanical science must complete the apparatus to be used.--(Legat’s Report, 1862.) [p. 78.] _Bell._ It is a mistake, however, to suppose that the articulation was by any means perfect.... Still the articulation was there, and I recognized the fact that the indistinctness was entirely due to the imperfection of the instrument.--(‘Researches in Telephony,’ Journal of Soc. of Telegr. Engineers, Dec. 1877.)