reflected from his monocle suspended around his neck, he realised that he could dispense with the needle and its mounting altogether. He instead used a small piece of mirrored glass with a small piece of magnetised steel glued on the back. This was suspended by a thread in the magnetic field of the fixed sensing coil. In a hurry to try the idea, Thomson first used a hair from his dog, but later used a silk thread from the dress of his niece Agnes.

The following is adapted from a contemporary account