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Tlic Tclc-Gastrograph.

(From the Melbourne Age, June 34. J

THERE seems to be absolutely no limit to the services which man will be able to exact from electricity. And of all the U6es to which it has been put we question if there is one whose prac- tical value will bo so great to humanity as that which was brought to a successful ¡BBUO last night in a series of interesting experiments be- fore some of the leading men of our city. The credit of inventing the tele-gastrograph ia solely and entirely duo to a gentleman who has beeu for some years connected with the literary de- partment of this paper. As letters patent have not yet beeu granted for the invention, wo must content ourselves on the present occasion with giving a general description of this latest and most wonderful addition to the list of nine- teenth century wonders, aud with giving a full report of tho marvollous manner in which it performed its functions.. When the subject waB first broached it was treated with a sort of amused contempt. It seemed so utterly impos- sible that it could realise the expectations formed of it that people absolutely refused to consider it seriously ; and the mero men- tion of the uauio of the tele-gastrograph was sufficient to call up a smile on the faco of the unthinking. But nil this is uow at an end. Doubt is no longer possible. The machine has come triumphant out of a searching enquiry, and it has proved itself to bo one of the most useful and valuable instrumenta that the ingenuity of min has yot created. It fairly promises to revolutionise tho whole scheme of modom domestic economy ¡ and while warmly congratulating the inventor on his suc- cess, wo still moro warmly congratulate the public, who will bo tho principal gainers by it.

The tele-gastrograph is a machino by which, through the aid of olectric current«, the flavor of any food or liquor can bo transmitted by wiro to any distance, and the sonsation of eating or drinking conveyed by morely plauing tho end of the wire between the tooth. The inventor never pretended that any actual nourishment was con- voyed by his process. He morely claimed that the sensation of partaking of rich viands and costly wines could be imparted to people a hundred miles away from the operator-written on their palates, in fact ; and that the number who could receive this seusatiou from a small quantity of food, and the length of time that it could be mado to last, were practically un- limited ; and after the experimenta of last night all doubt as to the correctness of his calculations is at an end. The private trials of bia machine on a small scale within the last few weeks satis- fied all who witnessed them ; but at tho request of the inventor public notice was withheld till ho had perfected hia arrangements so aa to give tho world an opportunity of judging for itself.

It.was nrrauged that at 8 o'clock yesterday ovoning the experiments were tocommouce. The machino was worked at the Victoria Club, and a number of well-known gentlemen kindly gave their services to assist the operator. Messrs. Ellery and S. W. M'Gowau took charge of the electric battery. Mr. Butters, Mr. Sayors, the well-known professor of cookery, Mr. Hay, of the Athenaeum Club, and Mr. Phipps, of Clement's Café, undertook to see that the soups and food were properly cooked and woro kept hot. Dr. Bleasdale and Sir Redmond Barry looked after the wines, and Judge Cope and Mr. Gatehouse after the beer and . spirits ; while Mr. George Kirk, Mr. Reginald Bright, and Captain Standish were in readiness to supervise the ar- rangements for sending a sensation of cigar smoke along the wire after the dinner waa disposed of. There were five points of observation fixed upon, viz.:-The Age office, Government Houso, the Minister of Education's offico at tho top of Collins-street, and the post-offices in Qoelong and Castlemaine. At each of these places a number of persons were assembled to watch tho proceedings and take part in them. Sir Qeorgo Bowen, with Major Pitt and Captain Bull in attendance, and six other gontlemen, con- ducted tho esperiinonta at Government Houso ; Mr. W. C. Smith, with Messrs. Brown and Gil- christ, watched at tho Education Offico ; Mr. Berry, Mr. Ince, the Mayor of tho city, and throo of the principal residen ta wero in charge at Goo- long ; and Professor Pearson, Mr. Reid (tho chemist), Mr. Green, of tho Telegraph Depart- ment, und Mr. Leech (barrister-at-law) observed at Cnstlemaiuo, At the offico of this paper there wero, besides the staff, ten persons present by invitation, among whom wo may mention Messrs. Munro, Longmore, and O'Hea, M.L.A.'s, Mr. Marcus Clarke, Mrs. Harding« Britten, and tho Dean of Melbourne. Tele- phonic communication was established with every station, and at a few minutes past 8 o'clock every gentleman was at bia post. At the urgent request of tho inventor, all the observers had refrained from having din- ner, but before operations commenced they par- took, according to directions, of brown bread and butter, with two or threo glaasea of cold water. Precisely at a quarter-past 8, and when it was ascertained by a preliminary trial that tho wires wero in working order, a bottle of tho best sherry, flavored with half a wineglassful of orango bitters, was poured into tho receiver of the machine, and the electro-magnetic battery was turned on by Messrs. Ellery and M'Gowau. This was hardly fair to tho inventor. Ho had directed that no moro should be placed in tho re- ceiver for each Bcnsation than au ordiuury diner was in the habit of consuming at a meal ; but Dr. Bleasdale, unused to! the control of the tele-gas- trograph, considered that ODO wineglààSÎL:! «nulrl be quito inadequate to supply the wants of the numerous obsorveis, and he therefore gavo six- teen times more than he should have done. Tho evil effect of this mistake waa speedily apparent. The observera at the different stations having taken the wiroa between their teeth, and tho bat- tery being turned full on, the alcoholic essence of the large quantity of sherry placed in thoreceiver was sent along the wires in full force to the five points of observation, and tho thirty-six persons in gaatrographic connection with tho machine received the impression of having each consumed an entire bottle of sherry and bitters. Some of the observers stood this very well, and showed little signs of having received too heavy a sensa- tion ; but others, especially soino gontlemen who are prominently connected with the causo of total abstinence, were very strongly affected, and in responso to an urgent appeal by tele- phone from the editor of this paper, the battery by which the wine waa discharged was turned off. From first to last, five minutea had elapsed from the time when the sherry was put into the receiver till our message caused the supply to be discontinued. In that brief space five-sixthB of the bottle was dissipated, and some of the observers were temporarily disabled from taking notes. Every sign of incipient intoxica- tion waa produced. There was the wine flush apparent on the cheek ; the voice, altered of course through the necessity of holding the wire between the teeth, became thick and husky, and two gentlemen-who were observing in this office looked and behaved more like persons who had dined than teetotallers usually do at that hour of the evening. Instantaneously, however, upon the electric current being stopped, the ill effects ceased, and even Mr. Munro, who had been most violently affected, became as aober as a Judge. (The pleasurable sensation of having lately partaken of wine remained, but that, and an exhilaration of spirits that lasted throughout the experiment, was the only result of Dr. Bleasdale's ill-judged zeal.

Half-a-dozen exceedingly fine Sydney oysters were next exposed to the action of the battery, each having squeezed upon it a few drops of lemon juice. The effect of this was very fine, and proves that the tele-gastrograph is peculiarly well qualified to transmit the flavors of the moat delicate food«. Intentionally, menus bad not been forwarded to the various posts of observa- tion, as the inventor wished to have a perfectly unbiassed opinion from the gentlemen who took part in the experiment. A scientific objector had endeavored, in anticipation, to account for the sensations by declaring that they were pro- duced by the action of imagination. As ho put it, "the stomachs of the observers, it must ho remembered, are to bo first filled with bread and butter, potatoes, &c, washed down with a copious supply of cold water. They then have wires placed in their mouths, and are told to prepare themselves for a sensation of fish, soup, wine, or what not. Now I consider that the mere fact of their con- senting to take part in the experiment is prima facie evidence,that they were prepared to believe that the sensations would be imparted. The story is well authenticated that a man who was

told he was to be bled to death waB blindfolded, j s placed on a table, and Blightly pricked with a.| I knife. The people about him spoke of the way, -

tho blood flowed, whispered to each other that his color was fading, tint his pulso was grow lug weaker, iud that minuto by miuuto he was dying beforo their eye» Worked on by his imagina- tions ho did actually d10, though from begin- ning to end ho did not lose twenty drops of blood Just m tho same way those people will belies e tint thoy aro taking what- ever tho bill of fare tells them is at tho timo put into tho receiver, and that, in my opinion, is tho Bolo c\[ lauatiou of tho pheno- mena that have been or will bo produced But the fallacy of this argument, on which a great deil of stress was laid was shown through tho whole course of list nights proceedings Seve- ral of those who felt tho t fleets of the wine most -notably Dean Micutney, Messrs Munro, LoiUjUi jrc, Muains, and Mis Blltten-would not have had a sensation of the kind if they knew what was comiug And so with the oysters The general impression imoug the ubicn ei 3 w as that soup would have been the ni vt thing sup plied, and it carno as rvthei a sin prise when tho delicious sensations of slowly swallowing the fieshest and plumpest oysters eame upon thom His Excellency sent a message him self by telephono con^atulntiiig the unentor on tho m irked success tb it had up to this timo attended tho experiments , and P10 fessor Peaisou and Mr Beriy simultaneously mfoimed lum from Cistlemame and Geelong, thit they could almost smoll the sea BO fiesh wero the oysters A glass of chablis closed this part of the performauec, after which thoro was au interval of about five miuutes, that was em ployed by the observers m comparing notes on wh it they had folt

A slight \ anatiou was mado m tho manner in windi tho soup was ti aiismitteil to tho dillereut posts of observation lhere were five soups pro paiod under the spociil m luageuient of Mi

Sayers, and a different kind was sent to eich pi ico Clear turtle waa sent to tho oflleo of this paper, and it was of a natura to make over j one regret when the supply nu out Itathor an amusing aceideiit happened with that supplied to Government House When it was announced that everything was ready, Ins Excellency and his friends put the wires into their mouths, but no sooner Vt as the soup (clear oxtail) tinned on than as ouo man, and with \ anous exclamations, they withdrew tho w11 es, and so cut oil the connection It turned out that the soup had beeu put into the reeoivor acild ing hot, and the goutlemen cieh received tho sensation of having burned his mouth Nothing can prove moro plamly than this that tho theory of imagination is utterly at fault The soup forwarded to Government Uoiiso was tho only supply that was too hot, and it waa the only place in which any inconvcuionco was experienced It is woithy of note, however, that the unpleasant feeling of scaldiug disap peared as soon 11s tho wiro waa withdrawn, whilo, on tho contrary the pie isurable st usationa impaitod by tho |tulo g latrogrnph to the palate and stomach were felt for BOM tal bonis after A glass of East ludí i shelly buceoeded the soup, and a feeling of a c invivinl and social natuiu be carno apparent at all the posts

It is unnecessary to enter into details of all the courses of tho dinner As it progressed, Mr

Butters, who undortook tho taßk of placing tho vianda in tho receiver, leaving to Mr Si)era tho actual cooking, ind to Mr Hay an 1 Mr l'hippa the carving and passing of tho dishes, grew more expert Ho tested the temperatuio of all tho food with a (ino thermometer leut by Dr Maloney, and took caro that nothing was too hot or too eoid It was very singular t ¡ notice the stato of tho food after it bad boen subjected to tho action of the m ignetio battory foi tho ro quired time To all appearances it was the saino ¡is when put ni A shao of schtiappei or Gipps land porch, tho liver and wing of a chicken, with a little YoikHhiro ham, a cut of venison 01 an ojster pate, was put into the iccti\ cr, and, having remained theie for a ceit.nn time, « is tiken out to make room foi aomotlung else lu cveij caso tho food looked as tempting nftci being subjected to tho acti in of the gastio graphic battery as when first brought in from tho kitchen , but it was found 11 bo utterly devoid of tiste, and simo analytical ex penmen ts conducted on the spot by B11 on Vol Mueller and Messrs C Newbury and W Johnson proved it to bo uttcily valueless for human sus-

tenance

The sp 11 kling wines wero thoso that obtained tho lal gest share of approbation Tvory bubble on overy glass of chninpn^iio ¡loyicd into tho icceivoi was faithfully imprinted on tho p ii iles of tho obsei vere nt ivory one of tho stations, and the only departure from the carefully piepired menu was in responso to urgent appeals foi "moro Champagne' llio aissipition of (ho viands and liquors with their olomentaiy parts, and their distribution dong tho lines, w as pro traded or histeued iccording lo the stiength to winch the batte 1 v wis adjusted A shco of tho bicist of a tin key weighing 4o/ wau distubuted by way of expeiiment 111 foi ty five suonds , while tile flesh «11 a chicken's wing wis ni ide to list foi noarly iiftu 11 minutes- Ona \ory singular result was acudt nt illy obtained in the oflicu of this pipei Mi Lyell, M P, was look nig foi Mi Munro ( n busim ss connected with tho proposed pui chase of tho Hobson s Bay Railw ly Hearing that hi was at the Aye Oflicc, ho sent 111 lus card to the editor, and w is at once admitted no was surprised to seo 1 number < f guntlem n sitting round *i u r00m ^fa mKH m thnr nioutliB, and all apparently enjoying themselves very much At the terinin ition of tho course sweots-an explanation was given, but Mr I yell politely intimated his incredulity lo aitiafy lum we sent a message to tho inventor requesting him as a favor to givo Mr Lyell a speci ii sensa tioj Our request was complied with, but unfortunately Mr Gateh mso and Mr J Edwards wero allowed to attend to the work- ing of the machino lhese gentlemen aro given to practical jukes, and they put into the receiver a quantity sufficient for twenty persons, and, turning tho battory full on, discharged it into Mr Lyell in httlo over a minute Tins conduct was leprehcnsiblo, and might have been dangerous if the recipient bud laid in a substratum of solid food, as tho othei observers had done As it turned out, no further barm was dono than giving Mr Lyell a tem porary sensation of extremo repletion, and tho momentary appearance of having consumed two bottles of champagne and a large quantity of

claret.

Another practical joke, which was altogether out of placo in a scientific experiment of this nature, was played by the same gentlemen upon the Minister of Education When the dinner was finished, Mr Smith directed the secretary to forward the following telephonic despatch to the

inventor -

Education Office, Melbourne, 28th January, 1878 -S78 I 58,741 -Sir,-The bon the Minis ter of Public Instruction directs me to place on record his gr itcful appreciation of your inven tion, and the pleasure that he has received from the excellent dinner of which he has partaken Tho hon tho Munster would bo glad tjenter into an arrangement with you by which tin use of your machine could be secured by the depart

ment, so that all children attending the Stito schools could bo daily c,ivcn a mc ii, to bo cooked in this office, and forwarded per wiro between the hours of 1 and 2pm Ibis ho considers would help to put an end to truancy, and bo au incentive to children to attend regularly Tho bon tho Minister is also anxious to put an end 1 to tho brutal and degrading practico of flogging ' the rising generation, ind to substitute some

punishment of a scientific natuio that would bo under his own immediate control Pleaso state i£ the sensation of cayenne pepper or hot Wi at I Indian pickles can be transmitted by your

ruachiue If such is the case, the Minister would then at certain times throughout the day administer such punishment himself as he may consider necessary I have the honor to bo, Sir, your most obedient Bervant, G WILSON BliOWN,

Secretary

An immediate auBwer was forwarded, Either cayenne pepper or pickles can be transmitted Let Major Smith take tho wiro and try ' Mr W. C Smith took the wire The inventor was busy at tho time in making arrangements for the transmission of cigar sensations, and the conduct of the experiment was left to Messrs Gatehouse and Ldwards A slight sprinkling of pepper and two or three pickles was what they were told to put into the receiver, but an unworthy disposi- tion to make fun out of the proceedings took possession of these gentlemen, and they emptied about an ounce of cayenne and a whole bottle of the hottest pickles into the machine, and then hurriedly left the club Messrs Brown and Gil- christ report that the Minister sufiered very severely from this ill timed joke, but Borne ices being laid on ho Bpeedily recovered Mr Smith subsequently said he would only administer this

punishment in extreme cases The severest casti gatiou would be mild m companson with it.

In this early stage of the invention It IB almost presumptuous to prognosticate what it will load to Iho business of the hotelkeeper and the restaurateur promises to bo severely injured, if not abohahed A central offico in Melbourne can supply the wholo colony at such

an absurdly low rate tint competition is simply I impossible Tho only drawbacks to the oom ploto success of last night a experimenta wero tho trifling mistakes we have mentioned, and the silly practical jokes on Messrs Lyell and W C Smith But when tho machino is worked on business principles, the likelihood of miatakea occurring will be reduced to a minimum, and practical jokes will cease The advantages of taking food in this manner aro very great To say notlnug of its cheapness, it is far cleaner and ploftsanter than tho old fashioned plan Noue of the ill i fleets that follow over eating will bo felt after a nu al through tho tele gastrograph , whilo wine taken through it cheers but not inebriates A momentary feeling of intoxication certainly was experienced after tho very largo doBe of sheny it the commencement of tho dinner, but that disappeared \\ hen the wire was disconnected, and nothing but the feeling of having hld enough remained So hkowiso with cigars Tho full fin or of the choice cigar consumed in tho re con or waa enjoyed by ovoryouo of tho thirty six observera, whilo there »as neither expectora- tion, a disagreeable odor from tho broath, nor nslica httonug tho room As tho mvoutor said, " You could kiss j our sweotheart after smoking for half an hour, and sho would never know it " Some of the observera who aro anti smokers cujojed tho cigar thoroughly, and felt no ill effocta bom it Dr Fulton, who waa proaeut, waa anxious to try how physio could bo sent along the lines, and suggoatcd put- ting a blue pill nud black draught nito the re- ceiver , but, after communicating with all tho stations, it was found that no gontleman would consent to have the experiment tried upon him The wai meat congratulations poured in upon tho im entor at tho close of tho proceedings, and Sir George Bov>uu stated Ina intention of recom- mending him to her Majesty for some mark of hor favor Messrs I yoll and Munro havo already commonccd negotiafiona with linn for the pur» chaao of his patent by tho Government, and it is stated they have every prospect of bringing

inattors to a successful termination

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