St. Mary's beacon., 1861-08-30
REPORTING BY SOUND.

lhe new art OI EhOHuMtyT"1,Hy ~ mus
described by an English weekly journal
1t is French invention. Such thing.
in the advanced state of science may BE-
possIble-we doubt it. however:
Among all the marvels of mechanical
ingenuity which are being daily brought
To perfection none are more interesting
than those which aim nj the accomplish
mcnt Of some task apparently requiring
intellect. in addition to mere mechanical
dexterity. for its execution. II is difficult
to conceive mechanical operation which,
requires u greater exercise Of intellect than
that Of verbatim reporting by means Of
short-hand. Yet even this art se.,us like
ly. before long. to be supplanted. For
several years French savnn, NJ l. Scott,
has been engaged in experiments OH the
fxation Of seund upon prepared tablet.
in the same way as photography fixes
luminous images; aud has met with COT
siderable success in this new art, which
he has named Ph"nautography. At the
last sitting Of the French Academy of
Science, short communication was made
BY the discoverer, in consequence of the
publication Of sOme experiments in the
same direction made by other gentlemen.
This communication was devoted
chiefly to description of certain illustra-
tion. laid bsfure the members, aud would
be unintelligible to the general reader
without the diagram and knowledge of
what hsd previously been accomplished
hy Mr.. Scott. The subject. however.
being Of immense Importance. aud likely
NOW to attract great attention, aud having
ourselves watched its development for
several years. rs well as having had many
opportunities of inspecting the phono-
graphic representations of sound auto
graphically recorded by Mr.. Scott's in
strument. a short account Of what has al
ready been done BY this physicist will per-
hapx be considered If interest.
The problem which first required solu-
ton was the artificial construction Ut oil
car. by means of tubes and diaphragms,
SO ~ to initiate. rs nearly as possible, the
human car in It's power Of collecting
sounds of every degree of intensity. and
transmitting them to q delicate membrane
placed at the extremity. After numerous
essays an apparatus was constructed which
posscssed the above qualifications; the
membrane Was seen to vibrate yisibly, aud
in . different manner, with each audible
s"und Or note; aud If pen or style were
fastened to this membrane It's poiut would
trace the wonderfully beautiful and cum
pIicated curves and circles apper,aining to
the elements Of sound.
The next difficulty consisted in finding
ssnsitiye surfAce upon which this style
could mark the imprint Of its movements;
for the vibrations. Of the aerial pen were SO
delisate that IL any appreciable force were
required to effect the Transcription, the
resistance would ut occe stop oil move
aasnt. This dif6oulty MAS at last over
como b employing strip OF thin paper.
npos which, xas depssitsd a elm Of lamp
black obtained from the smoke Of burning
hodies. This sensitive surface 10 carried
along BY clock-work agency, in front Of
the vibrating style. 90 that the successive
movements Of The latter shall not impinge
Oh the othss. when the result is series Of
lines written Oh the paper. composed Of
the most complicated systems Of curves.
md forming . natural autograph Of the
prodpctng svuuds.
PRJsriNG riiE TONES or THE VOICE.
Of course il will be understood that the
above u Intended more as brief outline
Of the principle Of. Mr. SCOTS instrument
th.ps - ~ exact description Of its indi-
vidual details. In reality. especially in
the one recently made. it !. fsr more COM
plicated than would be imsgined from this
brief sketeh; but the monographs pro-
daosdn By il are ussrsrllously perfect
Ese,y separate source of sound has an in-
divlluality Of its own. The SQUADS Of
'l6erent mnsical INSTRUMENTS. for instance.
are easily distinguished from one another
aud frolp the human voice. This latter.
moreover. gives difareut traces. according
TO its character --thc sweet. soft voice of q
fenasle, espceiAlly xhea singing. being
sLarsciesistd Is great b au,y and harmo-
by in the curves Impressed on the paper;
~ those produs ID by the harsher voice Of
man, the curves src larger aud a.ore