The Council Bluffs nonpareil. [volume] (Council Bluffs [Iowa]) 1857-1867, 1861-11-02
- COUNCIL BLUFFS
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Il is said dat the pssient ezperimenes Of
q French savans, continued through series
Of years, have resulted in she peoduc<ioa Of
some ingenious mechanism By which sounds
are transferred to paper much in the sane
way tha, light 10 nads 70 paint imaces on
surfaces prepared 70 receive sAeir impress.
In working ous this result, natase has been
pretty closely copied to certain ex.snt.--
Thcs, an ARTIFICIAL ear has been constructed,
with furnishings similar in their properties
70 the various delicate mem6ers OF thai ap.
pendage Of The human head, and having its
tympanum for she collection Of sounds> To
the sensitive members Of this ear ID axed q
style which 10 placed nearly in sousacs with
. movsable slip Of papss. the surface Of
which has been covered with . Elm Of lamp
black. As this paper passss IN front Of ths
styles point, q receives inprsssioss from
essh air vlberatisn and has iuprintsd on Il
series Of lines which are curved il the
most complicated manner Imaginable. A
brief and eonfessedly Inadequate descrip-
tion Of its psrfornauces explain them thus
The sounds OF different musical ins,ru-
meuts, for instance, are essily dlsllagaished
from one smother, and from the human
voice. The latter, moreover, gives differ
ent traces according to its charscter--ths
sweet, soft voice Of female, especially
when singing, being characterized by great
beauty and harmony in the curves impress
ed on the paper; in those produced by the
harsher voice Of a man, the curves are large
and more rugged looking; whilst in shrek
or shout, or in the harsh, discordans
sounds Of Instruments, the waves are irrcg-
ular, unequal, and broken up into secondary
vibrations Of all degrees Of amplitude.
An orstion delivered with varying rapid
itv, and with the pitch Of the voice greatly
modulated in different parts, has very
striking appear snce in its phonoSraph.-
Rapidly spoken parts have the curves crowd.
ed together, whilst in others they are wide-
ly separated. The loud tones Of the voice
are shown by the written waves rising 10
perhaps an half an inch or more in height,
whilst the low tones are not more than the
eighth Of an inch high; the modulations Of
sas voice ara thus shown very beautifully
BY the varying height ai What may be esll:.
the letters Of sound.
II is certainly great fact that art can
produce the image Of sound, or make sound
sensible to sight. But how can such die
covery be utilized? The discoverer is san
guno that this question can be answered
favorably. He insists that these trsceries
in lamp. black are Q veritable language,
which tits in his power to translate, although
the difficulties to progress in this direction
would at FIRST blush seem insurmountable.
All that would appear TO be attained is this:
An expression to ths eye Of the more or less
rapid or violent or tumuituous course Of
the air waves. Thus il might be assumed
that the curved lines on the paper would be
shorter and more frequent a. the utterauce
grew more rapid, and would be higher %
the pitch Of the voice was raised and vtcs
rersd. All this would show nothing beyond
the fact that the speaker was emitting his
words either more or less rapidly, or more
or less violently, or more Or less harshly aud
Hregularly. But how sense can be made
how thoughts and ideas can bc collected,
from characters which seem to represent
only the greater or less quantum Of sound,
is the heart Of the mystery. We know that
light transmits an image when its rays are
conducted so as to fall in a certain way up
on q chemically prepared surface; just a.
the image Of man or any object is reflected
from mirror. So We may now conceive
that air set in motion, made to vibrate, ~
it does when stirred by the impact Of the
voice Vt speaker, will be formed into cur
rents, or waves, which can be made to me-
chanicaily impress their outlines on paper.
But as the image reflected from the glass,
lets Us into no understanding Of the thoughts
OF the man at the time, but notifies Us only
of physical characteristics, 50 1t is difficult
to conceive how We are to collect from these
curved sound lines any meaning beyond that
OF the more or less intensity or regularity
Of the sounds emitted. Can it be that every
spoken word or syllable in every language,
has curve or sign appropriate TO itself
II so, then these autographs are transla-
table, because they form an @rial language
by itself. But it would have copiousness
Of which no language yet invented furnishes
an example. The dictionary that should
assume to contain its vocabics, would be Of
itself library; for, as We are told, "not
only docs the impression vary with the tone
of the voice, the rapidity or ioudness Of ut.
terance, but it has been found that the same
words uttered BY one person are written
down By the instrument very differently from
just Of the handwriting Of one person differs
from another"
But, whatever the principle or method
may be, the apparent impossibility Of ma
king these erisl lines expreas thought has,
we are assured, vanished. Fair progress is
being made 10 the construction OF langu-
age Of signs, which can be as easily read OF
by an expert as the jottings Of the tels.
graphic styls.
The immense advantages Of this discovery
are obvious. The reporter for newspaper
or any other vehicle Of intelligence has,
after acquainsing himself With this language,
simply to hang up bis ear in place where
1t will catch all the sounds Of the orator.
The speaker will generally know this ar
beforehand, and will address
himself chiefly to that auricular machine.
The reporter will not necessarily seek any
accommodation Of desk, pen, ink, paper,
&c. He can be absent, il be pleases, and
indeed have half dozen machines running
in as many different places At one and the
same monsnt. When the art 10 perfected,
speakers will have No room 70 complain Of
inaccurate reports.
now faE ARMY Or TnE POTOMAC n
suPPLIEO WITH BREAD.
The great army bakery, carried on in she
exterior vaults Of the Capitol, 10 an stab
lishment Of considerable interest. Il 10 ~
der tha control Of Lieutenant Thomas Cate.
Twelfth Infantry. United States Army. vho