Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1875-07-23
Echoes.

EVERYBODY il IhnlilhT, lTOln constantly
recurring illustrations, with the fact that
light is reflected from an opposing surface
--as, to cite a very common Instance,
when the sunshine strikes the face of
mirror Il rebounds like ball and falls in
another direction. just in the same way
the waves of sound in the air are reflected
or thrown back when they come against
wall or other obstacle, and the sound
propagated by the returning waves Is called
an echo. In order to insure an echo there
must be considerable space between the
point at which the sound is produced and
the rejecting surface. A sharp, quick
sound may create an echo when the reflect
ing surface is distant fifty-fve feet but
articulate sounds require at least double
that distance. The last syllable Of words
loudly spoken i'm front Of reflected sur
face distant 1873 feet will receive an echo
but in order that two or more syllables
may be repeated the distance must he
doubled, trebled and so on. ..
Multiple echoes are produced by oppo-
site rejecting surfaces, between which the
wave sounds bounG back and forth, with. of
course, constantly diminishing force, Civ.
ing the echo the effect of receding in the
distance. In Woodstock Park near Ok
ford, there is an echo that repeats seven
teen syllables by day and twenty by night
Another on the banks of the Lake del Lupo,
above the falls of Terni, repeats fifteen
times. Wrangel describes in his "Siber-
rian Travels a multiple echo thai may be
heard on the great river Lena, about 200
miles from the town of Kirensk. At this
point the river flows through a channel
walled in by precipitous rocks 500 feet in
height. A pistol-shot discharged between
these opposing surfaces is repeated above
100 times, and with such power as to re-
semble the roll of park of artillery The
well-known echo between Coblenz and
Bingen, where the waters of the Nahe
pour into the Rhine, gives seventeen re
peats hlersenne relates that the echo of
Ormesson, in the Valley of Montmorency,
replies fourteen syllables by night and only
seven by day
AT the base of the hill Heiligenberg,
near Heidelberg, an echo may be walked
that exactly initiates thunder. The sound
is so reflected by wooded gorge in front
that the ordinary report of pistol cannot
be heard but in its stead the roll of
thunderbolt fills the ears Among the
bluffs on the Missouri River blast of
powder or the discharge of gun produces
the report of a tremendous peal of thun-
der, leaping from peak to peak of the nu-
merous hills and dying slowly in the dis
tance. Near Aderbach, in Bohemia, there |
is circular valley, surrounded by bare, |
pointed rocks, and in the center dwells an
echo that will repeat sentence of seven
syllables three separate times. But the |
wonder of it is that at short distance from |
this central spot the echo is entirely in
audible. AT Ganeiay, near Rouen, there |
is remarkable echo in a semi-circular |
court. A singer crossing this court hears
but his own voice, while those listening |
hear only the echo, which is single or
multiple, according to their position.
AT the tomb of Cecilia Metella, in the
Roman Campagna, there is an echo that,
according to Boissard, repeats a hexame- |
ter line eight times distinctly and several |
times more imperfectly. At the base OF |
the hill on which the tomb stands SEN
tence creates a multiplied echo. In hall
at Simonetta, near Milan the report of
pistol is repeated from forty to sixty times,
and the sound of the voice twenty-four to |
thirty times. Varying and beautiful |
echoes slumber among the rocks and |
mountains of most countries. Among the |
Alps the horn of the Swiss guide often |
causes the most delightful repetitions.
" Before reaching the summit of the great |
Scheideck," says Prof Tyndall, in "The
Glaciers of the Alps" " Frequently heard |
the wonderful echoes of the Wetterhorn. |
The sonorous waves arrived after one, two, |
three and more reflections, diminishing
gradually in intensity, but increasing in
softness, as if in its wanderings from crag
to crag the sound had undergone kind Of
sitting process, leaving all the grossness
behind, and returning in delightful flute
notes to the ear"
On Echo River, in Mammoth Cave.
sounds are repeated with weird and Won
derful effect. A single call will be caught
up as if by troop ofspirits on the cliffs
above and tossed from one to the other
with merry, mOcking laughs, and halloocs
that multiply, and divide, and swell, and
die in strange, startling cadences, as seem
ingly the tleet-f footed throng trip to and
fro and dance in and out among the hid |
den vaults and recesses that reach away
into the darkness in endless succession
The low-bending arch of rock overhead,
that threatens to bow down upon the little
SKIN conveying passengers across the
river, and smother all in a fearful en-
brace, is calculated to fill the timid with
nervous apprehension, but when the roll
licking guide lifts up his voice and rouses
the echoes to their mischievous play il |
seems in truth as though the whole heavy
roof of the cave, Jared from its founda-
down in one terrible ruin.
Yet these echoes are less elfish in their |
sport than thee resonances that are to be
heard in the deep, rock bound pits that
abound in the cave. Drop stone into |
one of these fathomless hollows, and when |
it finally reaches the water at the bottom |
the faint splash it makes appears at once
to wake the rage of thousand demons
They clash their wet arms together, and
beat in blind fury against the rocky sides |
of their prison, surging into every crevice |
and Granny, in search of an outlet, while |
their deep, hoarse meanings and grumb- |
lings and bellowings mingle together in a |
hideous turmoil, and boil up to the top of |
the pit as if from the mouth of the internal !
regions. 1t is stout heart that can listen |
without a shudder.
Clear and distinct echoes may be given |
off from very irregular surfaces. An old |
rampant, an old tower, tree, a hill, or Il |
wooded gorge, form the best sound-reflect, |
ors. 1t is related of Gay Vernon that he
found great amusement in his youth in |
calling up an echo that haunted the build. |
ing of mill When he returned to the |
spot after several years absence, to his
the echo refused to answer. On |
nothing was found changed |
ouNS I" 5iOuPOl NllCll
shaded it had been cutdown. 1t
was in their shelter that the echo had |
found a home, and with their fall she had !
perished. Clouds afford a good rejecting
surface for terrestrial noises. Who has |
not observed, in certain rare instances,
that the report of cannon has created
reverberatiOn like thunder rolling round
the sky when ordinarily the same sound
in the same place would produce no echo
whatever. The phehomenon may be ex-
planned by the occurrence of clouds at Just
the right altitude overhead TO obstruct and
throw back the wave.sounds.
ly high waves, and by the sails of ships.
II is said that words uttered through a
ipeaking-trumpet will be repeated if they
strike against the convex surface of belly
ing sails. 1t is stated by ArnOtt that once
upon time, in aCOasting vessel off Brazil.