Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1986 From inspecteur to ingénieur: telegraphy and the genesis of electrical engineering in France, 1845-1881 Andrew J. Butrica Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons Recommended Citation Butrica, Andrew J., "From inspecteur to ingénieur: telegraphy and the genesis of electrical engineering in France, 1845-1881 " (1986). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 7982. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/7982 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a manuscript sent to us for publication and microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to pho­ tograph and reproduce this manuscript, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. Pages in any manuscript may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1. Manuscripts may not always be complete. When it is not possible to obtain missing pages, a note appears to indicate this. 2. When copyrighted materials are removed from the manuscript, a note ap­ pears to indicate this. 3. Oversize materials (maps, drawings, and charts) are photographed by sec­ tioning the original, beginning at the upper left hand comer and continu­ ing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each oversize page is also filmed as one exposure and is available, for an additional charge, as a standard 35mm slide or in black and white paper format.• 4. Most photographs reproduce acceptably on positive microfilm or micro­ fiche but lack clarity on xerographic copies made from the microfilm. For an additional charge, all photographs are available in black and white standard 35mm slide format.* "For more information about black and white slides or enlarged paper reproductions. please contact the Dissertations Customer Services Department. IMversity Mkaxpnis Iiiternatianal 8615029 Bùtrica, Andrew J. FROM INSPECTEUR TO INGENIEUR: TELEGRAPHY AND THE GENESIS OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING IN FRANCE, 1845-1881 lowa Sîate University PH.D. 1986 University Microfilms IntGrnStiOnSl SOO N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 Copyright 1986 by Butrica, Andrew J. All Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this materisd has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V . 1. Glossy photographs or pages 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print 3. Photographs with dark background 4. Illustrations are poor copy ^ 5. Pages with black marks, not original copy 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides of page 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages 8. Print exceeds margin requirements 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print 11. Page(s) lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. Page(s) seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows. 13. Two pages numbered . Text follows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages 15. Dissertation contains pages with print at a slant, filmed as received 16. Other University Microfilms international From inspecteur to ingénieur; Telegraphy and the genesis of electrical engineering in France, 1845^1881 by Andrew J. Butrica A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department: History Major: History of Technolog? and Science Members of the Committee: Signature was redacted for privacy. ''I'^^ha^e of "S^^^or Work Signature was redacted for privacy. Signature was redacted for privacy. For th^ Major Department Signature was redacted for privacy. rth^jGWdSbtite College Iowa State Dniversi|t Ames, Iowa 1986 Copyright 0 Andrew J. Butrica, 1986. All rights reserved. 11 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER ONE 10 The Mixed Network, 1845-1855 CHAPTER TWO 43 The Electrical Telegraph Network, 1854-1860 CHAPTER THREE 77 The Beginnings of High-Speed Telegraphy, 1860-1880 CHAPTER FOUR 126 From Telegraph Instruction to the Ecole supérieure de Télégraphie CHAPTER FIVE 158 Telegraph Industry and Education CHAPTER SIX 196 Telegraphy and Institutions for the Advancement of Science, Technology, and Industry CHAPTER SEVEN 230 The Application of Electrical Theory to Telegraphy CHAPTER EIGHT 263 From inspecteur to ingénieur CONCLUSION 301 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 312 Archival Materials 312 Journals and Serial Publications 316 Works on French Telegraphy 318 Supplementary Works 324 Ill LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Chappe Semaphore 16 Figure 2. Foy-Breguet Telegraph 18 Figure 3. Foy-Breguet and Chappe Signal Alphabets 19 Figure 4. Comparison of Foy-Breguet and Chappe Transmitting Devices .... 20 Figure 5. Dial Telegraph Transmitter 57 Figure 6. Dial Telegraph Receiver 57 Figure 7. Morse Telegraph Transmitter 63 Figure 8. Morse Telegraph "A Molette" 64 Figure 9. Hughes Telegraph 81 Figure 10. Diagram of Hughes Telegraph Mechanism 81 Figure 11. An Autographic "Telegram" 85 Figure 12. The Caselli Fantelegraph 86 Figure 13. Scanning Mechanism of Caselli Facsimile Telegraph 85 Figure 14. Rouvier's Multiple Telegraph .... 89 Figure 15. Meyer's Autographic Telegraph .... 91 Figure 16. Meyer's Multiple Telegraph 94 Figure 17. Distributor for Meyer Multiple Telegraph 95 Figure 18. Receiving Apparatus for Meyer Multiple Telegraph 98 Figure 19. Table Showing Baudot Code and Fingering Order 100 Figure 20. Baudot Manipulator, First Version . 100 Figure 21. Baudot Manipulator, 1882 Model . 101 iv Figure 22. Diagram of Baudot Transmitting Distributor 103 Figure 23. Schema of Baudot Receiver Showing Distributor and Polarized Relays . 104 Figure 24. Baudot Combiner Showing Typewheel . 106 Figure 25. Schema of Baudot Combiner Cylinder Contacts ... 107 Figure 26. Wheatstone Automatic Perforator and Example of Punched Tape . 110 Figure 27. Schematic of Wheatstone Automatic Transmitter Ill Figure 28. Wheatstone Automatic Receiving Instrument Ill Figure 29. Stearns' Differential Duplex .... 114 Figure 30. Stearns' Duplex, Wheatstone Bridge Method 114 Figure 31. Examples of Nonverbal Communication . 253 V ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Without financial support, this thesis would not have been written. National Science Foundation for doctoral dissertation grant no. SES 8407363 helped finance a research trip to France. The IEEE History Fellowship, 1984-85, provided me the opportunity to carry out additional research in France and time to work on a draft of the thesis. A loan obtained through the Guaranteed Student Loan program also supported my trip to France. The generosity of the Program in the History of Technology and Science, the Department of History at Iowa State University, and the Thomas A. Edison Papers project also supported me financially during various phases of research and writing. I also wish to express my appreciation for those libraries and archives whose collections proved useful: the Firestone Library of Princeton University, the Library of Congress, the Library of the City of New York, Columbia University Library, and the United Engineers' Library in the United States and the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Archives Nationales, the Bibliothèque historique de la Ville de Paris, the Bibliothèque de la Musée de la Poste, the Bibliothèque de la Ministère des PTT, the Bibliothèque du Conservatoire national des arts et métiers, the Institut national pour la Propriété industrielle, the Archives de l'Académie des vi Sciences, the Musée des PTT d'Alsace, and the Centre National d'Etudes des Télécommunications, Collection historique in France. A substantial portion of the research, however, was done at the Parks Library, Iowa State University. In addition to its rich collection of nineteenth-century technical books and journals, the library boasts a helpful and friendly staff. In particular, I want to thank the employees of the Interlibrary Loan Department for their competence, courtesy, and understanding. Certain individuals here and overseas deserve special recognition for their assistance in facilitating my research. Mme. Astride Muhl, Musée des PTT d'Alsace, Riquewihr, furnished the names of key individuals and thus opened doors that otherwise might have been closed. Mme. Nicole Tallec, Centre national d'Etudes des Télécommunications, Collection historique, permitted me access to the center's resources that include the collected laws and regulations of the Telegraph Administration and an extensive assemblage of photographs dealing with the history of telecommunications. M. Paul Charbon, president of the Société des Amis de l'histoire des PTT d'Alsace, Strasbourg, provided important counsel and an introduction to M. Claude A. J. Breguet. In turn, the aimiable M. Breguet, grandson of Antoine Breguet, furnished valuable family papers, including a childhood diary written by Louis Breguet. Mme. Verderosa of the