Early Attempts to Transmit Speech Mechanically

The word "telephone," which is derived from the two Greek words tele meaning distant, and phone meaning,sound, is thought^{6, 7} to have been first used by Huth in 1796. This usage was in connection with a plan for relaying the spoken word over a distance by megaphones and ear trumpets. Early attempts at transmitting speech were mechanical rather than electrical; that is, the sound waves were directed by trumpets or through tubes, or the sound impulses were carried through rods or wires between the two communicating points. It is probable that speaking trumpets and ear trumpets date back to the distant past and that these were the first method of increasing the distance of speech transmission. Although references are made⁶ to "monstrous trumpets of the ancient Chinese" these devices were the object of experimentation in comparatively recent years.⁸ Speaking tubes_? which are used today, were discussed⁶ as early as 1589, although they probably date back much farther.

A second method of transmitting speech during this early period consisted of using rods, strings, or wires to conduct the sound impulses between the two points. As early as 1665, Hooke⁶ discussed this subject in some detail. Early mechanical telephones were developed by connecting two distantly located sounding boards by means of some intervening object such as a rod, a wire, or a string.

The string telegraph or lovers' telegraph is the best example of speech transmission by mechanical means. The origin of this instrument is uncertain,⁶ but it probably dates back several hundred years.