The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-04-28
The PhOnograph and It's Application
Described by Its Inventor.
GREAT POSSIBILITIES.
Fugitive Sounds Captured and I'm
prisoned in Tin Foil Sheets.
TELEGRAPHY REvOLUTlONlZED.

me N0rth American kerteO Tor May N wnch ne
notais tho marvellous results he has obtained from
ais experiments when developing his invention, and
points out tho manner in which tho new instrument
Is 10 simplify, amt many instances render
necessary, tho abors OF the teegrapLsr the writer
speaker and singer He undertakes to show that In
the near future u complete revolution will be
accomplished in the now costly and labori-
work OF bookmakng, and that upper
ishablc records Of the identical ulterancos Of
men be secured ana reproduced NJ often and
In many places simultaneously Is desired IL Is
with the OF setting unnteligent conjecture at
that the inventor OF tho phon ograph gives his
own description Of the instrument to the public He
says-sFrom the very abundance OF copjectural and
prophetic opinions which have been dissc by
the the public Is liable to become confused and
less accurately informed az TO the immediate result
and effects OF the photograph than If the invention
had boon confined certain specific applications
and therefore OF less interest to the masses" And
regard possibilities OF the application OF
the photograph he adds lin the OF an inven-
ton Of The nature and scope OF tho photograph it is
practically impossible to indicate to-day, for
row trihe may extend It almost Indefinitely"
WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED ALREADY.
The success already achieved by Mr. EDISON Is
thus summed up by him In answer to categorical
questions assumed to BIO put regarding the phono-
graph
A vibrating plate disk Is "capable Of receiving
. complex motion which shall correctly represent the
peculiar property OF each aud all the multilarious
vocal aud other sound waves.'
=. Such a complex movement can .be transmitted
from such plate by means Of q single enclosing
point attached thereto effect record upon plastic
material by indentation, with such fidelity give
such indeniaiion tho varied and complex
lorm, and this being the case ths enclosing point.
npon being passed over the record thus made. will
follow It with such fidelity as to retransmit to tho
disk the variety OF movement and thus effect
restoration reproduction OF the other sound
waves without loss Of any properly essential pro-
duclDg upon the the same sensation as II coming
direct from The original source"
With regard to the foregoing Mr.. Edison further
unics that 'by application OF power Tor uniformity
Of movement and by attention 70 many seemingly ua-
Important and MINOR detailssuch the form the
material Of the enclosing point, tho proper dampen-
Ing Of the plate, the character OF the material
,osscd, tho formation OF tho mouthpiece tho
plate &c-hc has '.at various limos during tho past
weeks reproduced these waves with such degree OF
accuracy each and every detail enable his
bistan.s to road without the loss OF word
more columns OF a newspaper article unfamiliar TO
!hcm and which spoken into the apparatus when
they not present The only pcrcsptible loss
found - be In The quality Of the utterance--n non-
10 the practical application OF the apparatus
he makes the curious ana important announcement
that .thc articulation OF somo individuals has been
very perceptiby improved by passage through the
photograph, the original uttcrancc being mutilaied
by mperfeciion Of lip aud mouth formation and these
mutations eliminated or corrected by the mechanism
oi the photograph"
s. A record can ''be removed from the apparatus on
which II was made and replaced upon second with
put mutation or loss OF ELECTIVE powcr TO vIbrate
the second plate F"
chanca detail presenting no greater obstacle than
having proper regard Tor the perfect interchangeable
OF the various working parts vi the apparatus
4...But about fifteen seconds suffice Tor pac-
ing removing the recording sheet A special
veope vii probably pe required for The present the
weight and form OF which, however, Will but slightly
increase the postage"
g. "Repealed experiment. have proved that he In.
dentatlons possess wonderful enduring power, even
when the reproduction has been effected by
parativey rigid plate used for their production It's
proposed however to use moro flexible plate
producing, which, with perfectly smooth stone
point-diamond or saupnirc-wiil render the record
capable OF from hfy 10 hundrsd repctitoEs, enough
Tor ali practical purposes.'
& s'Many experiments have been made with more
or less success the Obtain pes OF
record. This work has been donc by otbors, aud,
though tho writer tEdison) has not IT, no
successfully accom- pIished he can certainly SEQ no
great practca obstacle In the way. This, OF course
permits YOU indennie MULTIPLICATION OF a record and
It's preservation Tor all time"
I. In reply to the inquiry. "what arc the
qu,sl.e force Of wave impingng upon the diaphragm
and tho proximity OF the mouth TO tho diaphragm 10
effect u rccordf" The inventor spys:-e
THESE ssgsns In srss measure the Volume q
10 be made audible TO an audience force is
rsgu:e II s"s ssn. f9 The
been y both eases the .rsns
men An audible rsIoaae,on may however be had
rom ~" 20 snres fee, in loud tome ghe %ppcson o
Of &c ss 'Sa the
boss,ns point Ae are the simple means witch suggest
this Of the devccpmen: much attention. but
e sa ~ ap aSa ,s sectional
within radius Of s three lest sunciently removed not
The actual prac.icai results obtained IRON the
phonograpn may be set down rs follows The cap
With original cnaracteriscs, Of all sound here
toorc designated as 'fugitive" Tho Transmission of
captive sounds IN material form dor purposes COM
municalion understandable goods.n The indefinite
multiplication ana preservation Of sounds, without
regard 10 tho existence Of TIE original source, tho
Cartvation OF sounds with or without tho knowledge
consent ol the source OF their origin. Among tho
more Important prospective applications Of the phone
graph may be mentioned letter wiring and other
forms oi dciation, books, education reader music,
family record and such eIectro.yps applications as
books, musical boxes, toys siocks, advertising amt
signaling apparatus, speeches, Nc.
TaE LkTrLR WRITER pHoSoGRAPH.
.srhe apparatus now beIug perfected IA mechanical
details viii DC the sta ndard The general
principles oil cons trucoD are Hat plnte disk, with
the plate the grooves very closely
to.cbcr 90 as to give tho greA,ost length 10 GA, inch
Of suriacea close calculation gives as the capacity
OF oach sheet VI io, upon when tho record Is had
~ the neighDorhood OF ior,y thousand words"
..Ine practical application OF TINS form OF phono-
a
Toll placed ~ the phonograph, the ciocgwork is
Ia motion aud tho matter dictated into The mouth
r,cco Without other e1ort than When dictatng 10 y
stenograpncr IL IS then removed anu placed In a
suaOIe form OF envelope aud sent through the ordI-
nary channels TO Me correspondents Tor whom de-
signcd. lie placing Il upon his photograph, starts
his cockworK and iistens TO what correspondent
has 10 say"
sooKs, MUSIC, RECORDS, 40
Books may be read Wy the Inclined pro-
fcssonal reader or by such readers especially etn.
pioycd Tor thai purL tho oil book
used tho asylums 6! tho biind, hospitals the SICK
chamber, or even with great prvnt ont by
tue lady or gent, men whose eyes and hands may DO
otherwise employed or, AGAIN, because OF the greater
enjoy ment 20 be had from BOOK when road by an
eocutvnist than wien read oy tho average reader.
The ordinary record sheet, repeating this book from
fifty TO a hundred times " viii, would command a
price that would pay the original rcaoer well Tor
signify increased difficulty IA reading II aloud IN
phouogrnpb.
Gas an eocutonary teacher, or as primary teacher
for children, 1t will certainly be invaluable. BY II df-
ncult may be correctly rendered Tor the pupil
but once, alter wuich he has only apply to his Pho