No doubt he often supplied the germinal ideas, while his assistants only
carried them out. But occasionally the suggestion was nothing more than
this: 'I want something that will do so-and-so. I believe it will be
a good thing, and can be done.' The assistant was on his mettle, and
either failed or triumphed. The results of the experiments and
researches were all chronicled in a book, for the new facts, if not then
required, might become serviceable at a future time. If a rare material
was wanted, it was procured at any cost.
With such facilities, an invention is rapidly matured. Sometimes the
idea was conceived in the morning, and a working model was constructed
by the evening. One day, we are told, a discovery was made at 4 P.M.,
and Edison telegraphed it to his patent agent, who immediately drew up
the specification, and at nine o'clock next morning cabled it to London.
Before the inventor was out of bed, he received an intimation that his
patent had been already deposited in the British Patent Office. Of
course, the difference of time was in his favour.
When Edison arrived at the laboratory in the morning, he read his
letters, and then overlooked his employees, witnessing their results and
offering his suggestions; but it often happened that he became totally
engrossed with one experiment or invention.
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