1-158-903 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Chappe's aerial telegraph system, Algeria, mid-19th century, (c1870). Claude Chappe's (1763-1805) optical telegraph station used a system of rope and pulleys operated inside the station which enabled the arms on the post to be moved into different semaphore positions. At the next station in the chain, using a telescope, the operators would read the semaphore message, then pass it to the subsequent station. From Les Merveilles de la Science (The Wonders of Science), by Louis Figuier. (Paris, c1870).