Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1878-04-04
THE PHONoGRAPH.
Aho present state of the Invention-Whst Ii
can DO Now and What II May De In the
Future
From the New York Post 22d

Future.
From the New York Post, 22d.
Inc most common mistake regard.
ling mir. Thomas A. Edison's latest
Invention, the photograph, is that
electricity has anything to do with
10, or that the machine is at all costly
or IN any way complicated 10 its
working. A reporter of tho EreninS
Post paid visit yesterday to room
No. 30, in the Tribune building. and
what follows ia an accurate account
Of what he heard aud saw. 1t is very
fortunate for the genial gentleman
who manipulated the photograph
for the amusement and instruction
of the crowd of persons who con.
stantly thronged the room with .
puzzled expression on their faces
that the days when Wizards got
their deserts at the stake have pas.
sed away.
Room No. 80 is large and pleas.
ant apartment, on the fourth floor Of
tho building. Il is well lighted by
two largo windows, and was occu.
pied at the time of the reporters
visit yesterday by some thirty OF
forty gentlemen, drawn thither to
see the most curious invention Of the
age.
On the table near The center of the
room was the far. famed photograph,
which can be briefly described as fol
lows A hollow cylinder of brass,
about nine inches long and five
inches in diameter, is placed horizon-
tally in very much the same way
that a piece of wood or metal is
placed between the chucks of lathe
to be turned brass rod runs
through the center of the cylinder,
and at the end of this rod is little
crank which enables one TO turn the
cylinder around at the rate of speed
desired the rod TO which the hand
is fixed has a ecrew thread cut on
it's surface, SO that whom the cylin.
der is shifted SLOWLY to one side in
such a way that If pencil is held in
stationary position against the cyl
indsr while il is turning it would
trace line like the thread of o
serew. Instead of using pencil q
diminutive drum, with only one
tympanum (the lowe- one), is used !;
firmly attached to the under side of
this tympanum is small steel point
like tie point OF needle. When the
| bottom Of this drnm is made to vi
brate from any cause--a touch, or
even the vibration of the air-this
steel point will vibrate with it, and
in this simple fact is the whole secret
OF the monograph. A thin sheet of
common tin-foil, such as is used TO
wrap tobacco in, is placed around the
brass cylinder, which is Get in mo-
ton ; the little drum is now placed
so that the point of the little needle
just touches the tin foil. The slight
est movement of the tympanum of
the drum will make the needle
scratch the surface Of the tin sheet
as the cylinder moves. Talking into
the open end of the drum gives the
tympanum this needed vibration.
Suppose that sentence eight or ten
words long is spoken into the little
drum, and the line which the needle
makes on the tin sheet is examined,
the line is seen to be made up of
tiny dots which the point of the
needle made; where the pitch of the
voice was high the vibrations of the
drumskln or tympanum were very
rapid, and the dots were very close
together; where the voice was deep
the dots were further apart. Where
the sound was very loud, the vibra-
tons of the tympanum were very
energetic and the point
was pushed far in, ard made very
deep indentations Ii, new, the need
le point is placed st the beginning of
this dotted line and held on the line
while the cylinder turns. exactly the
same kind of vibrations will be i'm
parted to the drum by the needle
passing over the fluctuations as the
drum impaired TO the needle when
the iudentations we're made. If the
fluctuations are very close together
the vibrations of the drum-skin will
be very rapid, and the note heard
will be correspondiugiy high, and
under contrary conditions the note
will be correspondingly low.
The voice of the phonograph in its
present state of perfection is that of
person talking in loud voice in
an adjoining room with the door
closed. Any sound, no matter what
is faithfully reproduced. Laughing,
coughing, whistling, singing, and or
binary epeaking The invention is
yet in its infancy, and what may be
the improvements which will speed
lily and probably follow it is impos-
sible to say. Mr.. Edison has already
succeeded in making the phonograph
sufficiently delicate to record aud re-
produce the words Of q speaker talk
ing in an ordinary way, four feet
from the instrument. The power
with which the sound can be repro
duced depends entirely on the spe-
| SiCS VI o0uAAtuS pcAtN whloh 10 uoou
and on this point moro decided re.
salts will no doubt coon be obtained
At present in large room full Of
persons there is no difficulty in hear
ing the words distinctly from al
parts ofthe room. The amount OF
talking which can be recorded on o
small piece of tin foil is marvellous
Mr. Edison has succeeded in putting
48 600 words on sheet Of tin fol
about ten inches square. So far the
copper sheets have been found to
work most satisfactorily, and it is
probable that diamond points viii
ultimately be used. Mr. Edison is
confident that be will soon be able
to produce the slightest whisper al
wei! as the soreech Of the eteam
whistle
JUST where Mr.. Edison, of the tel
ephone, the photograph and other
modern miracles, whose mastery Of
the details of practical science and
guninS as an inventor are acknowl.
| aIrod hxy aror-kndxy xu;iI cta,, b,e