copy made for use in his lectures. In 1835, Schilling demonstrated a five-needle telegraph to the German Physical Society in Frankfurt. By the time Schilling returned to Russia, his telegraph was well known throughout Europe and was frequently discussed in the scientific literature. In September 1836, the British government offered to buy the rights to the telegraph but Schilling declined, wishing to use it to pursue telegraphy in Russia. Planned installation In 1836, Nicholas I created a commission of inquiry to advise on installation of Schilling's telegraph between Kronstadt, an important naval base, and Peterhof Palace. Prince Alexander Menshikov, the Minister of Marine, was appointed president of the commission. An experimental line was set up in the Admiralty building, connecting Menshikov's study with his subordinates' offices. The five-kilometer line was partly overground and partly submerged in the canals, with three interemediate Schweigger multipliers. Menshikov submitted a favourable report and secured the tsar's approval to connect Peterhof with the naval base at Kronstadt, across the Gulf of Finland. The 1836 telegraph proposed by Schilling was very similar to the 1828 experimental set, with minor improvements made during the Far Eastern expedition. It consisted of voltaic piles, wires, multipliers coupled to repeater switches, and alarm bells. Thin copper wires were insulated with silk-reinforced latex and suspended to load-bearing hemp cables. Each multiplier contained several hundred turns of silver of copper wire on a brass spool. The shaft of its pointer was dampened by immersion in mercury. Signal currents were by design bidirectional ("left" or "right" in Schilling's code tables). Later, Schilling's telegraph was often described as a multi-wire device for sending five or six bits in parallel, however, his 1836 proposal clearly describes a double-wire, serial device. Schilling knew that all means of insulating submerged cables were inferior to bare overhead wires, and intended to keep the length of submerged cable as short as possible. He proposed laying a 7.5 kilometer submerged cable from Kronstadt to Oranienbaum, the nearest coastal town, and an 8 kilometer surface overhead line along the coast from Oranienbaum to Peterhof. The Committee chaired by Menshikov ridiculed the idea. There were many objections, most important being the breach of security: the coastal line would be visible to any boat passing through the Gulf. Menshikov pressed for the alternative route, a fully submerged 13-kilometer cable directly to Peterhof. On Menshikov notified Schilling that the tsar had approved a fully