The code signals are being tapped on Mr. Edison's knee by Dr. Hutchison. This means of communication was used for many years in Naval Consulting Board Meetings, public banquets and the like, by means of which Mr. Edison despite his deafness, was kept perfectly conversant with all that transpired.

On November 15th 1901 Miller Reese Hutchison applied for a patent on his Acousticon, the first electrical hearing aid which he had invented some years before.