The daily exchange. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1858-1861, 1861-08-20
REPORTING BY SnuNn

0 nv" Az vi s"''"toJTdpAJ Is thus described
oY an English weekly journal. II is a French in
'eh'loh' ouch thing, in the advanced state of
science, mcy be possi5le-we doubt it, however.
Among all the marvels of mechanical inoapui,,-
Whlch are being daily brought to perfection nona
are more interesting than those which aim Mt tho
accomplishment of some task apparently renuirinn
lhtelect, In addition to mere mechanical dexteritv
ior It's execution. 1t is difficult to conceive A me-
chanicaI operation whch requires greater evar
else OF IN eilec than that of verbatim reportnp NV
means OF shorthand. Yet even this art seems
likely, before long, to be supplanted For several
years French savan, NJ. l.. Scott has been en-
gagged in experiments on the iixation of sound unn
prepared tablet, in the same wav as photogranhv
n1eS luminous images; and has met with copsdara.
ble success in. this art. which he has nar,ad
Fhonautography. Atthe last sitting of the French
Academy OF Science, short communication was
naue Dy the dlsc0Verer, 10 consequence of the pub
lcatIon of some experiments in the same 6irerti,n
made by other gentlemen
This communication was devoted chiefly to a de-
scriPtion OF certain illustrations laid before the
members, and would be unintelligible to the gene
raj reader without the diagrams and a knowIedHa
oI what had previously been ACCOMPLISHED nv Mr.
scott The subject, however, being of Immense
importance, and likely now to attract rreat attnn
ton, and having ourselves watched It's dtveIopmont
Tor s"79f ~ ."-@y --Ni' as havipr mad many
p'rtunites of inspecting the phonogrsnhic re,ra pp
sentatlons of sound autOgraphically recorded hv
Mr.. ScOtts instrument, a short sccount of u,b b,t
has already been done by this ph ysicst will perhgps
be considered of interest.
The problem which first required solution was
the artlhclat construction Of an ear, 0y means of
tubes and diaphragms, SO as to initiate as nearly
as possloie, the human ear in its power of collect.
ing SOUNDS OF every degree of intensity and trans
mlIuhg them to delicate membrane placed at the
extremity. After numerous essays an apparatus
was constructed which possessed the above ouaIi
hcatinns; the mem brane seen to vibrate visblv
and In different manner, with each audible sou1d
or hntr and II pen or style were fastened to this
m ma ito INT -y.r,tf
beautiful and complicated curves and circles amer
tanning to the elements OF sound
Inc next difficulty consisted in finding a sensi-
tive surface upon which this style could mark the
imprint ot its movements; for the vibrations of the
aerial pen were so delicate that if any appreciable
iorce were required to effect the transcrptiop the
resistance would at once stop all movement. This
difficulty was at last overc0ms by employing
STRIP OF thin paper, upon which deposited
nun OF lamp black obtained from the smoke of
burning bodies. This sensitive surface is carried
along by clock-work agency in front of the What
Ing style, SO that the successive movements of the
latter shall not impinge the other when the rc
suit IS series of lines written on the paper com
posed OF the most complicated systems Of curves
ana forming natural autograph of the producin 2
sounds. r.
PRINTING THE TONES OF THE VOICE
VI course 1t will be understood that the above is
intended more as brief outline of the principle of
Mir Scotts instrument than as an exact sscription
OF It's individual details In reality especially in
'S "he recently iBdue, IL Is ar more complicated
than would be imagined from this brief sketch but
the phonogTaphs produced By it are marvellousIv
perfect. Every separate source of sound has an
individuality OF its own. The sounds of different
musical instruments, for instance, are easily dis
thguisheQ from Cne another and from the human
voice This latter, moreover, gives different
traces, according to its character-the sweet soft
voice OF female, especially when singing beiuu
characterized by great beauty and harmony in the
curves impressed on the paper; in thos. produced
by the EGrsher voice of man, the curves are larger
aad more rugged looking; whilst IN A shrek or q
shout or in the harsh discordant sounds of instru
ments, the waves are irregular UNEQUAL and broken
up INTO secondary vibrations of all degrees of am.
plitude.
An oration, delivered with varying rapidity, and
with the pitch OF the voice greatly mndulated in
aiHerent parts, has very striking appearance in
ITS phonograph. Rapidly-spoken parts have the
curves crowded together, whilst in others thew
are widely separated. The loud tones of the voice
are shown by the written waves rising to perhaps
haI' an men or more, IN height, whilst the low
tones are not more than the eighth of an inch hgh
the moduiations of the voice are thus shown yerv
beautifully by the varying height of what NAV be
called the letters of sound
DIFFICULTY IN READING.
Thus, then, the problem of the graphic f. alton
OF sound may be considered as ACCOMPLISHED: but
now a new difficulty arises-that of TRANSMITTING
these ever-varying curves back again into ordinary
language. Ii each word or syllable, or even com
pound sound, OF which our spoken Ianou6oe is
built up, were Invariably represented bv the same
system OF curves, the work of transcription would
be comparatively easy. This, however, is far from
being the case. Not only does the impression vary
with the tone OF the voice. the rapdity or laudness
of utterance, but it has been found that the Same
words uttered by one person are written down by
the instrument very differently from the way they
are when spoken by another; just as the hand
writing of one persoa differs from another. This
however, Is a difficulty which will be overcome by
practice, and perhaps improved instrumental
arrangements; even now hear that Mr.. Scott
Is attaining some facility in reading of these
natural stenogc apis. The difficulties, however
in the way OF fluent prescriptions into written
language are very great, the student in this new
language has so many different forms presented to
him as the equivalent for the same articuated
sound; the traciDgs not being either true synthe.
SIS OF the words or purely conventional sign like
writing, which has, let US remember, no phenom-
email value, but is merely, to use a mathematical
expression function OF the tone, the intensity and
the pitch.
The fact Of being able to make spoken sounds
record themselves permanently or paper, is of it
sell most singular and astonishing; but if it is
developed as the inventor says it shortly will be,
to sulhclent perfection to enable it to take down
speeches which may be written off verbatim, it is
difficult to Imagine the Importance of the discov-
ery whether 1T be in respect to the unimpeachab BILE
accuracy OF the process the entire absence of trou
BILE and expense in reporting any articuate sounds:
or the great saving of the time and the exbaustpg
laoors OF our parliamentary reporters.
The PRlvATEERS AGAIN IN CoURT-Theiy COM
INITIAL for Irtat-On Saturday afternoon, thirty
three OF the thirty-fve priyaeers captured by the
rigate St. Lawrence, had final hearing before
United States Commissioner Heazlett.
After the hearing of evidence, to whf ch the cOun-
sci for the prisoners did not object, the Commits
sioner finally committed them TOR trial on two
charges: One of attacking the st. Lawrence, with
intent to plunder the same; and second, that in
doing this they committed treason. The charge
of attempted robbery will be tried in the United
States District Court, while the charge of treason
will be disposed of by the United States Circuit
Court This will necessitate two distinct trials.
Finn and Sharkee, two of the prisoners, were not
before the Commissioner on the hearing, as they
were ill.,
PRIvATEER OFF HALTFAX.-The British schoon-
er Favorite, Capt. Dexter, from Pctou, arr ived
here yesterday. The captain reports that on his
last passage from here to Pictou, on the 10Th OF
July, when he about sixty miles east of Hall
fax, he chased by privateer schooner of
about 2G0 tons burthen. He made out on her stern
the letters G E o. The captain of the privateer
seeing his British coors, asked some unimportan,
questions and started off towards some vessel,
visible at distance. On arriving at Pictou. Gait
Dexter found that an English brig had been pur
sued by the privateer a day or two after he ga "
: ner. The privateer was yery fast sa;lar D.: