Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1876-04-14
Mysterious Sounds.

Perhaps the most familiar of mysterious
sounds are those produced by the ventrilo-
| quist; familiar, because almost every
country fair is visited by one or other Of
these exhibitors mysterious, because the
real source Of sound does not correspond
with the apparent. 1t lies within the prov
ince of the anatomist or psychologist TO ex-
plain bow it Is that some men can speak as
| If from the stomach instead of the throat,
and without any perceptible movement OF
! tho lips; but the person who can do this,
the ventrloquist, may make himself a
most bewildering deceiver Of those who
listen 10 him. Our power Of determining
the exact direction whence a sound comes
is less than we usually imagine. 1t Is
said that Saville Carey, who could we'll i'm
itate the whistling Of the wind, would
sometimes amuse himself by exercising
| this art in public coffee-h house; some of
the guests at onco rose to see whether the
windows were quite closed, while others
would button up their coats, as If cold. Sir
| David Brewster notices a ventriloquist of
exceptional skill, NJ. ST. Gille, who one
day entered a church where some monks
were lamenting the death of a brother.
| Suddenly they heard a voice, as If from
over their heads, bewaling the condition
OF the departed in purgatory, and reproach-
| ing them for their want of zeal not sus-
pecting the trick, they fell on their faces
and cbanted the Dc ProtundiS. A Com
mittee appointed by the Academic des
Sciences to report on the phenomena of
ventrilOquism went with NJ. st. Gille to
the house of lady, TO whom they au-
nounced that they had come to investigate
case OF aerial ''spirits" somewhere in the
neighborhood. During the interview she
heard what she termed spirit voices"
above her head, underneath the floor, and
in distant parts Of the room, and was With
difficulty convinced that the only spirit
present was the veutrioquistic voice of NJ.
st. Gille. Brewster tells of another mas
ter Of this art, Louis Brabant, valet de
chambre TO Francis l., whose suit was re-
jected by the parents of a beautiful and
well-dowered girl with whom he was in
love. He called on the mother, after the
death Of the father, again to urge his suit |;
and while he was present she heard the
voice OF her deceased husband, expressing
remorse for having rejected Louis Brabant,
and conjuring her to give her immediate
consent TO the betrothal. Frightened and
alarmed, she consented. Brabant, DEEM
ing it desirable 10 behave literally in the
marriage arrangements, but having not
much cash at command, resolved to Try
whether his ventriloquism would be as eff
ficacous with a money-lending banker as
1t had been with the widow. Calling on
the old usurer at Lyons, he managed that
the conversation should turn upon the sub
ject of demons, spectres, and purgatory.
Suddenly was heard the voice of the usur-
er's father, complaining ofthe horrible suf-
ferings he was enduring in purgatory, and
saying that there was no way of obtaining
alienation EXCEPT by the usurer advancing
money 10 the visitor for the sake of ram
soming Christians from the hands of the
Turks. The Insurer was terrified, but too
much in love with his gold TO yield at once.
Brabant went next day and resumed the
conversation, when shortly were heard the
voices of host of dead relations, all tell
ing The same terrible story, and all point
ing out the only way Of obtaining relief
The Insurer could resist no longer; he
placed 10000 crowns in the hands of the
unsupported ventrlloquist, who of course
forgot 10 pay it over for the ransom of
Christians either in Turkey or anywhere
else. When the usurer learned anerward
how he had been duped he died of vexa-
ton. OF all producers OF so-called mystic
rious sounds, DR.. Tyndah's sensitive or
ynWpl Hamn ia al The RurinnQ
Out OF a particular kind of gas, with bur-
ner of peculiar construction, the learned
Professor produces lighted jet of fame
nearly two feet in height, extremely mar
row, aud so exquisitely sensitive TO sounds
that it sings and dances up and down In
response to every thing that is sung or
said, with different degrees of sensibilily
for different vowel sounds. 1.-THE slightest
tap on distant anvil reduces its height to
seven inches. When a bunch of keys is
shaken, the flame is violently agitated and
emits loud roar. The dropping of six
pence into hand already containing coin,
at a distance OF twenty yards, knocks the
fame down. 1t is not possible to walk
across The floor without sgitaiing the flame.
The creaking OF boots sets it in violent
commotIon. The crumpling or tearing of
paper, or the rustic OF silk dress, does the
same. 1t is startled by the pat:er of a rain
drop. 1 hold a watch near the flame !;
nobody hears its ticks; but you all see
its effect upon the fame; at every tick it
falls and roars. The winding up of the
watch also produces tumult. The twitter-
ing Of distant sparrow shrieks in the
fame the note of a cricket would do the
same. A chirrup from distance of thirty
yards causes it TO fall and roar" In refer
ence TO the power of the flame TO respond
to poetry, the Professor says: "The flame
selects from the sounds those TO which it
can respond; it notices some by the slight
est nod, TO others it bows more distinctly,
TO some its obelsance is very profound,
while 10 many sounds II turns an entirely
deaf ear."-Cham6er's Journal.