The  interview  between  the  aged  professor  and  the  youthful
inventor  is  described  by  Bell  in  a  letter  to  his  parents  dated
March  18,  1875  : —

We  appointed  noon  next  day  for  the  experiment.  I  set  the
instrument  working,  and  he  sat  at  a  table  for  a  long  time  with  the
empty  coil  of  wire  against  his  ear  listening  to  the  sound.  I  felt
so  much  encouraged  by  his  interest  that  I  determined  to  ask  his
advice  about  the  apparatus  I  have  designed  for  the  transmission
of  the  human  voice  by  telegraph.  I  explained  the  idea,  and  said,
'  What  would  you  advise  me  to  do,  publish  it  and  let  others  work
it  out,  or  attempt  to  solve  the  problem  myself  ?  '  He  said  he  thought
it  was  '  the  germ  of  a  great  invention,'  and  advised  me  to  work  at
it  myself  instead  of  publishing.  I  said  that  I  recognised  the  fact
that  there  were  mechanical  difficulties  in  the  way  that  rendered  the
plan  impracticable  at  the  present  time.  I  added  that  I  felt  that
I  had  not  the  electrical  knowledge  necessary  to  overcome  the
difficulties.  His  laconic  answer  was,  '  GET  IT.'

1  Deposition,  p.  73.
THE  UNDULATORY  CURRENT  41

I  cannot  tell  you  how  much^these  two  woids  have  encouraged  me.
I  live  too  much  in  an  atmosphere  of  discouragement  for  scientific
pursuits.  Good  —  —  is  unfortunately  one  of  the  cui  bono  people,  and
is  too  much  in  the  habit  of  looking  on  the  dark  side  of  things.
Such  a  chimerical  idea  as  telegraphing  vocal  sounds  would  indeed
to  most  minds  seem  scarcely  feasible  enough  to  spend  time  in  working
over.  I  believe,  however,  that  it  is  feasible,  and  that  I  have  got
the  cue  to  the  solution  of  the  problem.1

1  Deposition,  p.  48.
