Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1878-04-10
The monograph and ErophOne.

The Photograph and ErophOne.
Perhaps the most wonderful of all the
more recent inventions are the plans of Mr..
Edison for receiving recording and trans
hitting sound. This man of intense energy
and industry is an Ohio man, and is but
thirty years of age. But though compare
lively young man, the activity and untl-
ing zeal of his brain is attested by the fact
that he has already taken out one hundred
and fltyseven patents on his inventions
In his employ there are twenty-five men wh'
do nothing but simply materialze his idea,
1t is said that he is worth one hundred and
fifty thousand dollars, and has an annual in
come of about the same amount. In add
ton to these facts he is said to be "aAoat il
politics." an atheist in religion, and does not
believe in guess-work in anything.
Now for the photograph. The following
description is taken largely from an article
in the Popular Science Montly for April.
There are two different kinds of talking
machines" One was invented by Professor
Faber, of Vienna, which is the most per
feet specimen of its kind, aud the other and
only one of its kind, by Mr.. Edison Faber's
invention worked at the source of articulate
sounds, and built up an artificial organ of
speech, whose parts, as nearly as possible,
perform the functions of the natural organs
in our vocal apparatus. Professor Faber
has reproduced the mechanical causes of the
vibrations making voice and speech, the
movements of our vocal organs Mr. Edison,
on the contrary, solved the problem by OBJ
tanning the mechanical effects OF these vi
brations-the movement which the drum
skin of the ear has when it is acted on by
the vibrations caused by sounds. Faber has
produced an artificial set of vocal organs
Edison an artificial ear, which is also capa
BILE of transmitting what it receives. The
photograph is extremely simple, consisting
of a brass cylinder, covered with tin-foi
and disc, vibrating plate or drum, which,
when agtated by vibrations of the air re-
cords the sound on the tin-foil, by means of
a sharp point, which makes impressions on
the cylinder. When this motion of the
cylinder is reversed, the sound is repeated
by the instrument itself. Thus a speech,
song, concert, or anything else could be
taken down on the machine to-day and re-
produced any time at will. Lecturers, sing
ers, concert managers, etc, will have to de-
wise some means against the reproduction
of their efforts, or, once rendered, they be-
come the most public kind of public property.
Another method of ansmitting sound is
by means of another invention, or rather
another application of the same idea called
the erophone. In this machine the vi
brating plate of the photograph is the key
of the mystery. This disc, which in the
other instrument moves a sharp point over
a revolving cylinder, in the erophone oper-
ates as a valve to shut off and open the flow
of steam through pipe leading from the
boiler of a locomotive to peculiarly a.
ranged horn or Whistle. BY this contrivanc,
the steam, Instead of producing long, con
tinuous toot, is made to pronounce words OF
sentences. Scientific men and interviewers
who have examined this instrument say
there is no doubt that if placed on loco
motive it will raise its voice TO wonderful
degree, and announce in giant tones, that
can be heard for miles, 9 | am the engine
Marmaduke, aud will stop at Boonton sta
ton ," or, we suppose, 81 am the engine
L. F Perkins, and will stop at Montpelier
Junction.
1t is reported that Edison intends to start
a bizarre publication office in New York as
soon as the greatest outcome of his genius
the monograph, is perfected. Music, nov
els, orchestral performances by brass and
string bands, instrumental and vocal solos
and part songs are among the publications
that are promised by this new Wizard of
the North" All sounds that delight the ear
are to be caught, electrotyped and put upon
the market. The music of whole orches-
ira, according to the dazzling scheme, is to
be concentrated and registered by means of
a large hood or funnel while an ordinary
fifty-cent novel is to be placed upon circu-
lar plate six inches in diameter Edison,
seeing the end of his stupendous invention
from the beginning, talks about the future
triumphs of the photograph in a way well
calculated to daze the mind of the listener
This, for instance, is the way he goes on
"You can have a monograph in your par
lor with an album of selected Photographic
matter lying beside it, You can take q
sheet from the album, place it on the pho
, nograph, start the clock-work and have a
symphony performed. Then, by changing
the sheet, you can listen to chapter or two
Y from a favorite novel, and this may be fol
e lowed by song, duet, or quartette. A
: the close the young people may indulge in
5 waltz, in which all may join, for no one neet
, be asked to play the dance music" VIII
/. ever heard the like of that 7 Where is TIN
r fancy that will match these facts II ma,
5 be, as some claim, that the former time
If were better than ours, but certain it is tina
n ours are decidedly the more interesting o
s the two
. We have thus tried TO give our reader
Il some idea Of two of the most wonderful @
IS modern discoveries, more wonderful eve
Ia than the celebrated telephone, which onl
a, transmits sound II we have failed, perhaI
y we will try again, when the inventions hay
been more fully tested,