Alexander Graham Bell, born in Edinburgh in March, 1847, and educated there and in London, followed the ancestral example.

This experience gave Bell an expert knowledge of phonetics that laid the foundation for his life work.

His invention, indeed, is clearly associated with his attempts to make the deaf and dumb talk.

He was driven to America by ill-health, coming first to Canada, and in 1871 he settled in Boston, where he accepted a position in Boston University to introduce his system of teaching deaf-mutes.

He opened a school of "Vocal Physiology," and his success in his chosen field brought him into association with the people who afterward played an important part in the development of the telephone.