Did Breguet forget a letter in his telegraph?
Louis Breguet (1804-1883) was trained in watchmaking by his father from an early age. For two generations, the family had owned a renowned and prosperous Paris workshop, where he worked all his life. But from the 1830s onwards, Breguet developed a passion for electricity, and a number of devices that made him a household name in his homeland.
The electric telegraph, invented by the English, began to develop in France in the 40s. Breguet was commissioned to manufacture telegraphs and oversee construction of the first telegraph line, from Paris to Rouen. In 1849, he developed the "step-by-step" dial telegraph for the railroads. This device enabled messages to be sent and received very quickly, in alphabetical form and over long distances. It was a very simple device to use, and would be in use for many years to come.
The manipulator (transmitter) consists of a dial divided into 26 quarters, each corresponding to a letter and a number, with a movable crank fitted with a pin that can enter the notches and then emit a train of electric current pulses on the line. In the 26th square, a cross indicates the resting position: between each letter, the needle must return to this position.
By the mid-1850s, Breguet's inventions had earned the company an excellent international reputation, with telegraphs sold all over Europe, Brazil and Japan!
Louis Breguet went on to invent numerous devices and win the highest awards. He became a member of the Académie des Sciences in 1874. Six years after his death, his name will be inscribed on the Eiffel Tower, among 72 scientists and industrialists who have honored France.
It's amusing to note that the "W" is missing from this telegraph.
An oversight? No, not really.
The letter W has been used since the 17th century to write certain words of Germanic origin and certain proper nouns, but it has not yet entered the dictionary of the Académie française. In fact, it is considered to belong to the alphabet of several northern peoples and not to the French alphabet. In 1964, Le Robert was the first major dictionary to officially declare W as the 23rdletter of the French alphabet. From then on, Breguet's telegraph didn't need the W, which could be replaced by two V's if necessary...
Manipulator & Receiver for Breguet's "step-by-step" dial telegraph
