An interesting account of the pioneer work in wireless telegraphy
is given in Tuesday's Times. According to the writer; in point of time the real pioneer was the late Professor D. E. Hughes, who as far back as 1879 with a sparking coil and a telephone connected to the microphone sent audible signals through space for upwards of five hundred yards. These experiments, however, were not published to the world, and the title of an independent originator of wireless tele- graphy is claimed for Sir Oliver Lodge on the strength of his experiments, based on the discoveries of Hertz, with an induc- tion coil and " coherers " in 1894. Signalling by this method was carried on during these experiments at a distance of more than half-a-mile, and is capable of being carried on over a space of forty-five miles and more. We may note that the article, which in no way tends to depreciate the subsequent achievements of Signor Marconi, makes no mention of the successful experiments on the same lines conducted by Sir William Preece early in the "nineties."
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