It was something which neither wire nor electricity had been known to do before.

But it was true.
No discovery has ever been less accidental.

It was the last link of a long chain of discoveries.

It was the result of a persistent and deliberate search.

Already, for half a year or longer, Bell had known the correct theory of the telephone; but he had not realized that the feeble undulatory current generated by a magnet was strong enough for the transmission of speech.