BACKGROUND TO THE MORSE TELEGRAPH

Magnetism and electricity are spontaneous phenomena and have been known since ancient times; magnetism was the first that was known, it is shown in a mineral that is found free in nature: magnetite, a mixture of iron oxides that at the same time attracts it, and that was found for the first time in Asia Minor , Magnesia; and electricity is produced by lightning from storms or when rubbed with pieces of wool or fur, amber (electrike), a fossil resin of the pinus succinifera. William GILBERT (1544-1603), British court physician who in 1600 published a book, De magnete, in which he described the experiments he carried out with a small magnetized sphere (terrella), on which he placed magnetized needles: he came to distinguish between magnetism as a property of matter, and electricity that was generated by friction.