The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1876-06-09
Mysterious Sounds.

The effect of certain sounds upon TIN
mind is often very curious. We do no
allude to the ordinary phenomena o
speech, singing, and music, where th,
sOund-producing apparatus is tolerabl,
familiar, and its distance from the heare
estimated with a near approach to accu
racy. The effect is only mysterious
when there is any doubt as 20 where tn,
sound comes from, and how it has origi
mated; the imagination then begins, anC
sometimes works itself up to very singu
lar hallucinations. Night, or darkness
without night, has much to do with thi,
matter. When we cannot see the sound
producing agent, conjecture is apt to run
wild; and ghost stories often depend on
no better foundation than this. For in.
stance, certain sounds may frequently be
heard at night, coming from the ali
above, but from an invisible source-a
kind of whistling or prolonged cry, the
! producers of which are known IN GER
tain parts of England as whistlers.
Some legends make il out that these
whistlers are ghosts, some evil spirits,
some Wandering Jews. But the truth
is that the sounds proceed from the birds,
such as wild geese or plOvers, which are
in the habit of flying in flOcks by night,
either for the purpose of reaching distant
feeding-grounds, or during their annual
migrations. The cry which is usually
uttered by the leader during these noe
turnal bird flights has, from ignorance of
its cause, been regarded as weird and
mysterious by superstitiOus folks, who
associated it with impending evil.
Sir David Brewster gives an interest
ing account of a mysterious night-sOund
which would have frightened many per
sons, but which proved innocently harm
less when tested by steady observer.
A gentleman heard a strange sound every
night, soon after getting into bed; his
wife heard it also, but not at the time
when she retired, a little earlier than he.
No probable cause could be assigned;
and the effect upon the imagination be
came rather unpleasant. He found,
some time afterward, that the sound
came from wardrobe which stood near
the head of his bed. He almost always
opened and closed this wardrobe when
undressing; but as the door was Il little
tight, he could not quite close it. The
door, possibly affected by the gradual
changes of temperature, forced itself
open with sort of dull sound which was
over in an instant. From the lady not
being in the habit of using that ward
robe, the mystery became associated with
her husband only. Many a ghOst-stOry
would receive its solution by little atten-
tiOn TO the sounds resulting from the ex-
pansiOn and contraction of woodwork,
such as doors, panels, wainsCOtting, and
articles of furniture. Heard at night,
when all is still, the sudden creakiDg of
furniture in Il room is apt TO be some |
what startling, until one comes to know |
that it is simply due to the weather.
Sound being generally more audible at |
night than in the daytime, is often eX-
asgerated by those who overlook that fact. |
Humboldt specially noted this when |
to the cataracts of the OrinOco, |
and traced it to differences in the hui |
midity of the air. The atmosphere is |
more than usually Opaque, To
sounds as well as to light; DIR. Tyndall |
has recently proved this in n striking
way, in relation to the audibility of fog
signals in different states of the weather.
A little mystery is also due to the fact
that we sometimes know that sound is
being prOdccd by an object visible to us,
and vet we cannot hear it. The chirp of
The sparrow is audible to some persons;
others, who can hear it, cannot hear the
squeak of the bat; and all of us are at
the mercy of a kind of tOne-deafness
analogous in some degree to DIR. Dal-
.on's cOlor-bli6dness). in regard to sounds
lf an acute pitch. A singular case OF
visible but inaudible drumming occurred
Turing the American war of independence.
ERglish and American troops were drawn
I'D on opposite sides of a river the out
posts were mutually visible; and the
English could see an American drum
ner beating his tattoo, although
10 sound could be heard. This
$ attributed TO kind of tone
,pacity which affected the air over the
liver in particular state of temperature
md humidity.
There is, to most of us, much mystery
n sounds when louder than we expected
. find them. A well at Carisbrooke
Castle, Isle of Wight, has water nc the
,o:tom and when even so small an OBJ
ect as pin is dropped into the water,
he sound can be heard above, although
he well is more than two hundred feet
eep. At st. Adams cathedral, 1T used
o be said, tire tick of watch could be
Ieard from end to end of that very long
uilding; whether the recent rcstora-
ions have interlered with this Phenome-
ION, we do not know. Sound can be
eard over water at a greater distance
han over land; DR.. Hutton heard per
on reading at hundred and forty feet
istance on the Thames, whereas he could |
nly hear him seventy feet on the shore.
,ound can be heard over ice, also, more
asily than over land. When lieutenant
Ioster was wintering in the arctic re-
ions. he found he could converse with a
nan a mile and a quarter distant, both
eing on the ice in Bowen harbor. The
uman voice, it is asserted, has been
eard ten miles off at Gibraltar we pre-
ume over the water of the strait. The
gallery at st. PauPs is always
mystery to visitors; whisper becomes
istinctly audible at the opposite side of
he gallery: but not at intermediate po-
itions. The late Sir Charles Wheat
tone once made curious observation on
ound at the colosseum in the Regents
ark (recentIy pulled DOWN. Placing {
imself close To the upper part OF the in
erior wall Ca circle a hundred and thirty (
,et in diameter), he found that a spoken
yord is repeated many times; that an {
appeared like a peal of ]
luphter; and that the tearing of "A piece :
f paper was like the pattering of hail. ,
n the cathedral of Girgenti, Sicily, a
,hisper can be heard the whole length of |
he building, if the whisperer places him {
Elf in the focus OF the semicircular apse :
one end. A story is told that, long |
90. a confessional box was inadvertently 2
laced Just at that spot; that the details (
{ the confession were audible at another :
pot near the entrance to the church (
nd that the authorities were first made
with this awkward fact by
,rment arising out of one particular CON '
,ssion.
So long as the cause of any unusual :
,und is unexplained to the non scientific I
steiner, he is apt, naturally enough, to I
erm that sound mysterious; but the ele
rent Of mystery will disappear when he :
assured that sounds of every descrip- :
ion are due to natural aud unalterable :
coustic principles.-Chambers's Journal. !
IN order TO act intelligently against c
he cotton worm, southern planters are :
dvisod by Professor A. r. Grote to act i
a concert. He further recommends G
hat, whatever agent is employed to de- g
troy the worm, be used against the first t
- +I,at in, lpra litu n ! d,