Système D'Arsonval telephone receiver
Date: circa 1880
Inventory Number: 8028
Classification: Telephone
Subject:
Manufacturer: Branville & Cie ? (c 1880)
Maker: Jacques-Arsène d'Arsonval (1851 - 1940)
Owner: Jefferson Physical Laboratory, Harvard University (founded 1884)
Cultural Region:
Place of Origin:
Dimensions:
without cord: 8.6 × 8 × 6.6 cm (3 3/8 × 3 1/8 × 2 5/8 in.)
Description:
A metal D'Arsonval telephone receiver with a flat, circular front and a beveled back. A loop handle, which is a magnet, spirals from the center of the back of the case and attaches at the side. The handle arrangement was designed to bring both poles of the magnet as near as possible to the iron diaphragm centered below the circular opening in the face of the receiver. The spiral shape of the magnet was selected to create an optimal magnetic field and to subject all parts of the wire to maxium induction.
On the side of the case, opposite the loop attachment point, a length of green, cloth-covered electrical wire extends from a circular opening in the case. A few inches from the end, the wire splits into two, each one tipped by a metal electrical pin plug. A black donut-shaped disk is embedded between the two wires at a point before they separate.
Inscribed around the side of the case, "Sme D'ARSONVAL Bte S.G.D.G. / DE BRANVILLE & Cie"; stamped on back of case, "1057"
On the side of the case, opposite the loop attachment point, a length of green, cloth-covered electrical wire extends from a circular opening in the case. A few inches from the end, the wire splits into two, each one tipped by a metal electrical pin plug. A black donut-shaped disk is embedded between the two wires at a point before they separate.
Inscribed around the side of the case, "Sme D'ARSONVAL Bte S.G.D.G. / DE BRANVILLE & Cie"; stamped on back of case, "1057"
Signedon perimeter: Sme D'ARSONVAL Bte S.G.D.G. / DE BRANVILLE & Cie
Inscribedinscribed around the side of the case: Sme D'ARSONVAL Bte S.G.D.G. / DE BRANVILLE & Cie;
stamped on back of case: 1057
stamped on back of case: 1057
FunctionConversion of sound into electrical signal for input to telephone, conversion of electrical signal from telephone into sound
ProvenanceJefferson Laboratory, Physics Department, Harvard University
Published ReferencesThis instrument is described in:
Thomas G. Hedberg, "Catalogue: Telephones, Phonographs and Related Instruments in The Collection of Historical Scientific Instruments at Harvard University." William Andrewes, Project Director (unpublished manuscript, President and Fellows of Harvard College and Thomas G. Hedberg, 1989. Fifth Draft), pp. 62-63.
See also:
William Henry Preece and Julius Maier, The Telephone (London: Whittaker & Co., 1889), pp.52-54.