"The page which you see here is an exact record of my voice, but just as no two fingerprints are alike in this world, no two voices are alike either. Each has certain characteristics produced by certain overtones in the voices of the various individuals. The pronunciation of individuals varies, so does the intonation, so does the speed of talking, so does the timbre of the voice, and a hundred other differences that to an expert are observable immediately. "Suppose, then, during my life I have recorded a great many documents similar to this one. The waves traced on this piece of paper have certain characteristics, which are entirely individual. Here are two sheets of paper, both containing the Lord's Prayer, but spoken by two different individuals in my office. Both of these individuals have voices that are very nearly alike, yet, you can see how great a difference there is between the lines. On one sheet the lines are much heavier and swing in quite an apparently different manner. "By reference to authentic documents of this character, it will be impossible to falsify any record by having some one else make such a spoken record. A will, or any other important document, will, in the future, be made by this machine and will do away with many court cases and much business squabble, and much shirking of responsibility. "Furthermore, by my method it is possible with the same machine to make as many as twenty-five copies at one time, while the original is being made. This is done by a chemical process in the machine itself, the copies being simply thin chemical papers which are being developed at the same time as the voice-writing is being made. "Reading these pages is not as difficult as you might think. It would be necessary, however, to know the _phonolphabet_. The phonolphabet is not very much different from the alphabet that you now know. Every syllable and every consonant used by you makes a certain impression in my machine, and while it may vary, as explained before, still it remains roughly the same, exactly as handwriting by different persons may vary, but still you can read because the characteristics are the same. The same is true of my machine. By studying the characters of the phonolphabet, it is possible, within a few weeks, to learn how to read a phonetic letter, with the same ease that you read a handwritten or typewritten letter. "I expect that in the schools of the future children will be taught the phonolphabet so that every one will be able to read phonetic records. "Another feature of my invention is that if you do not wish to read the letter you can listen to it." Saying so, Ralph inserted the letter into an odd-shaped cabinet, which had a slot at the top. Two grippers slowly began to draw the paper into the inside of the machine. Ralph turned two knobs and pushed a button, and within a few seconds his own voice was heard with unmistakable clarity repeating what he had said fifteen minutes before.