Communication by telephone has been successfully estab- lished between London
and Paris, and on Wednesday M. Roche, the French Minister of Commerce, addressed to Mr. Raikes, the Poatmaster-General, a whole speech of congratula- tion, which was heard as distinctly by Mr. Raikes in his office as any other clear but low utterance. So perfect, indeed, is the reproduction of sound, that one gentleman admitted to the official opening in London, recognised the voice of a friend in Paris to whom he had not spoken for sixteen years. The instrument will be at the public disposal in a fortnight, when it is believed that rapid speakers will be able to communicate at one-fifth of the present expense for tele- grams,—a matter of grave importance to the morning Press. It remains now only to perfect the system till men can speak between Valentia and New York, an advance which seems to depend upon some great improvement in the makrophone or sound-multiplier. The message must go even now, but the reproduction of sound at those great distances is not audible. The incident widens one's perception of the so to speak physical powers which may belong to higher organisations than ours. There is absolutely no evidence, but ether exists everywhere, time emptiness being unthinkable, and created beings may therefore exist with a power of hearing not only from planet to planet, but system to system.
