Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1879-10-09
The Audiphone.
Az INVENTION FOR HEARING WITHOUT
YOUR EARS.

An INVENTION FOR HEARING WITHOUT
YOUR EARS.
Hitherto all devices invented In America
for aiding defective hearing have been mod
itcatinns of the ear-trumper. Now turns
up an Inventor who not only dscaris all
ear-trumpets. etc, but the ear itself. He
Is a Chicago man. and had been deaf some
years. whea he happened ono day to hold
watch between his teeth, and noticed that
he could distinctly hear It's ticking, though
when he held il to his ear no sound was
audible. This ,et him 10 thinking that pos
sibiy he might be able 10 invent some de
vice by which the sounds Of the human
voice could be transmitted to the auditory
nerve. through the medium ni the teeth.
just a. the ticking Of the watch had been.
II" began by taking strips 0t wood. say
eight By nine inches each way. ard by
holding The upper end or the strip against
his tecth-lhc strip bcin. so placed that
the voice OF the person to whom he was
speaking should strike upon II, and The Vi
bration% impaired 10 II oy the voice might
be gtyca 10 his teeth, aud thus pass to the
auditory nerve. He found that he was able
to hear. but tina, the wood was too rcsou-
ts.~ .,.~-,. ~ - 80. .t.-- - ,
50 that the hrarer hears "A sound, and moth
Tag more. These experiments with wOcd
were very thorough, extending over hun
dred different kinds in as many different
WAYS Then lie resorts 10 metal. trying
tin. silver steel aud brass, but with equally
unsatis sfaciory results. He got the sound,
but Il was too hollow lie tried compost
tinns OF paper, ana everything else inagiu-
alton could suggest. until about a year ago
he hit upon vulcanlzed rubber, and found
thar that article-whlch had not the re,o-
k,H. Ft...r Ft,U D. g.aln
he had ,ried-was the most satisfactory.
The experiments a. 10 the best shape and
manner OF use being made, he secured let
ters patent Tor what he call. the audiphonc,
The instrument looks like a gOOd-sIZrd
fan. Though made oi several sizes, the
ones first manufactured are nine aud
one-half by nine lnches-simply sheet Of
yulcaniZed rubber, about La of au inch in
thickness. set firmly on a handle of the
same material. In the upper rim of this
sheet are pierced some holes, through
which passes silkeu cord. This goes
down on the inner side OF the sheet to the
handle, through Slot 10 which 1t passes.
Bv pulling this cord the sheet j. bent over
al any angle which the user NAV desire
Each person has To ascertain Tor himself
what Kind OF il curve OF the rubber sheet
will enable him to hear best. Generally II
Is vel eul-OIAf aOpoL tGtl VI N'tt''
degrees-though, apparently, the deafer
the person the greater the curve must BE-.
W hen used, the person holding II Simply
touches the upper edge OF the fan or a.ir-
phone az ilnst the teeth OF the upper Jlw.
The voice OF the speaker strikes upon thus
tense sheet OF rubber and communicates
TO il vibrations. which are In turn impaired
TO the teeth. and then pass 10 the auditory
Eervc. With this operation the outer ear
has nothing whatever TO do. The delicate
machinery through which sound passing
from without makes an Impression upon
the auditory nerve is not used at all. The
outer ear may be stopped up entirely, so
far as II is possible to do II, and yet one
hear. distinctly the moment that the audi
phone l.. applied 10 the teeth. II Is neces-
sary TO use the teeth OF the upper law. for
the reason that they are more nearly IN
contact with the auditory nerve; nor does
II make very much difference whether The
teeth are ones own or artificial, so long as
those artificial teeth are tightly fitted, Tor
when that IL the case the vibration IS i'm
parted about as well as when they are nat
ural teeth