Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1879-10-03


second. If cannon in view is dis
charged and we see the flash and can
count 10 seconds before We hear the re-
port, it is 1920 feet away. Light and
electricity require no appreciable time
in their passage. The electric impulse
moves thirty thousand miles in a sec
ond, light even faster than that. Thun-
der clouds and precipices may have
their distances determined in this way.
If no watch is at hand, the pulse forms
a reliable time keeper as it is about go
beats per minute or one per second.
| lie further demonstrated that all do
not hear alike. While all may hear
common conversation there is Il great
difference in hearing sharp sounds.
Some cannot hear the shrill voice of a
cricket, while almost all lose many
sharp notes of insects. lie stated that
it had been ascertained that the cat
could hear the sharpest sounds while
the horse could hear very low notes,
their hearing becoming defective in
high sounds. Many horses cannot hear
the sharp notes of fife. Cattle hear
higher notes than horses, but not
SO low ones. The DIR. further showed
how everything had time notes or i'm
pulse; That II wind that came in time
gusts often upraoted trees that would
stand a much harder steadv wind
Troops of soldiers when they cross =
bridge break their ranks al.l cooSo
music, or else the time vibran>ns
would destroy the bridge. A single dog
trotting over bridge Injuries it more
than the heaviest loaded team. When
the iron bridge at Colebrook Dale was
building, fiddler came along and OBJ
served to the workmen that strong as
their bridge was he could fiddle it
down, They told him to fiddle away
lie went into the bridge and after try
ing various notes he struck one that
was in time with the vibrations Of the
bridge, which soon began to shake
violently and he was ordered to desist,
else it was feared the whole structure
would come down. Our voices cause a
vibration in ourselves which can easily
be detected by the telephone, hence
comes the various tones of voices in
different individuals; all speaking in
accord with their natural nerve vibra-
ton. The audiphone for the deaf, a
recent invention, is in accord with this
fact 1t is hard rubber sheet 1-22 of
one edge and hole through the other;
a silken cord passes from the handle
through this hole and by pulling it any
curve desired can be given to the sheet
which should be some 10 inches in di-
ameter. With the handle between the
teeth and the proper curve to answer
to the nerve vibration of the individ-
ua', common conversation can be
heard by most deaf persons. lie then
spoke of Professor Graham Bell, the
patentee of the electric telephone, and
the instructor Of audible speech to the
deaf and dumb in the United States,
of whom many had learned to articu-
late we'll under his instruction. Prof
essor Bell married a mute, and she con-
versed so well at the marriage, making
responses etc, that a stranger would
not have known she was deaf. 1t was
this man that put the foregoing princi-
pies together and invented the tele-
phone; though the Or. showed that
very good telephones could be made
upon the principle of vibrations with
out the use of the professors patent.
The DR.. then illustrated the micro
phone invented by Prof. Houghes of
England, showing the audience how
by use of it and the telephone, sounds
may be much increased; the drop of a
feather heard, as well as the step of q
fly, the grating noise made by the
wheels of a watch, the gushing sound
made by the blood in its way through
Vic dIlCIlCb, tbllNi olllCI WILL
ders.
We have thus given but hint of
what was said by the Doctor in his
hours talk. 1t was fully illustrated by
experiments, and the telephone and
microphone fully shown. The tele-
phone was connected from the hall to
an adjoining house, Miss Eola Morse
and others being stationed therein,
greatly delighted the audience, and
aided the entertainment by singing
songs through the telephone, the sweet
strains being distinctly heard.