“I remember very well indeed the receiver with a steel wire, surrounded by silk-covered copper wire. The first one was placed on an empty cigar-box, arranged thus:--
“The wire was a knitting-needle and the copper wire was spooled on a paper case.
“The spiral was supported by a little block of wood, so as to allow the knitting-needle not to touch it anywhere. Later on a smaller cigar-box was invented as a cover--thus; (Fig. 38)--having two holes cut into it like the _f_-holes in a violin.
“The practice was to place the ear close to the receiver, more particularly so when the transmission of words was attempted.
“The spiral was, during the early experiments, placed on a violin--in fact, a violin which I now possess was sometimes used, as it was of a peculiar shape, which Reis thought would help the power of tone.
“I have already enumerated some of the words which were transmitted, but there were many more; on one occasion a song, known in this country as ‘The Young Recruit’ (Wer will unter die Soldaten) was transmitted, the air and _many_ of the words being clearly intelligible.
“I do not recollect seeing the receiver shewn in the woodcut (Fig. 21), but Reis often said that he would make such a one, although the sketch he made for me then differed in some details from your woodcut. Reis intended to keep me fully informed of all he could achieve, but, immediately after leaving his tuition, I fell ill, and was laid up for a very long time. Shortly afterwards I left for England, and then he died, and I never saw him again. The electromagnet form was certainly strongly in his mind at the time we parted, and he drew many alternative suggestions on paper, which have probably been destroyed; but the electromagnets in all of them were placed upright, sometimes attached to the top of a hollow box, and sometimes to the bottom of a box arranged thus (Figs. 39, 40); but, to my recollection, they never got beyond the stage of drawings, whatever he may have done after he and I parted company.
“In conclusion, I beg to send you herewith a photograph of Philipp Reis (see Fig. 12, p. 23), holding in his hand the instrument I helped him to make, and which photograph he took of himself, exposing the camera by a pneumatic arrangement of his own, and which formed part of a little machine which he concocted for turning over the leaves of music-books.