The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1890-01-30
A hound psouaaIoN ON BOUND,
Tho phiioaophY Of Sound Discussed IN
Very Undertaking Manner

Tho phlioaophy OF Sound Discussed In a
Very Entertaining Manner.
I'D. NFws DEMOORAT;-ln q recent
number OF the NEWa DEMOoNAT, We
allowed a0me OF tho ineunhialenelea OF
the text books on the subject OF sound
We brought 10 ule notice Of youf read
efa that the books Gay that SOUND ih an
impression on the organs OF hearing
and that there In no sound In nature
outAide of the ear. And that they say
further aud In direct contradiction 10
this, that sound tfayela through diifef'
ent aubatancea NJ different but given
rates, 30 that even tho distance OF the
thunder cloud can bH reek0ned by null
tlplying the difference OF time ia soc
onda between seeing the flash OF light
ming and hearing tho thunder clap by
ll20, that being the number OF feet
sound travels through alr In one SEQ
Ond.
The fact Of the matter 10 that they
teach two things about sound that can
not bo reoonclled or made 10 agree,
What they say III the ilrat place seems
10 US 10 show confusion OF terms and
ideas that seema strange, TO say the
least,
They really have mistaken hearing
for sound. III they would say there II
no hearing In nature outside OF the ear,
and that hearing is tho result OF the im'
preston made on the ear by sound, "
wOule be settling tho matter In u clear
and logical light,
ltwOuld bo Just ~ reasonable 10 say
OF odor Gas they do OF aound) that II ~
an impression on the organs OF smell
Ing, and that there 10 no 0d0r In ma
ture, outside Of the noae
There 10 Just ~ much difference be-
tween the ear, hearing and sound, ha
there 10 between the nose, smelling and
odor. The nose Ia an organ, smelling
IL an not, and odor 10 asubatance. SO
sound is n substance, the ear IN AN or
gan, and hearing an act, Hearing IL
the act Of receiving sound Impressions,
made on the ear,
Until recently all authorities on sound
agreed that R0und ia an act or motion
Of matter, and they taught that these
waves Travelled through air, wood or
other substances, Just 40 waves travel
on the surface OF water, We want 20
0lll attention TO this absurdity In this
article, IN i0w words.
A book on natHral philosophy at
hand says sound travels nv tho rate Of
If 200 feet per second through iron,
The authorities give us u rule Tor find
Ing the length OF tGeir sound waves. IL
lBthis.
Divide the distance travelled In one
second by the number OF vibrations IN
tho same length of time; the result will
DO the length of the wave, Sound n
note Of ~ vibrations 20 the second In
iron, and we have, according TO this
rule, waves 200 feet long,
In water waves we have q certain re.
lation between the heiphth of the wave
above the bottom OF the furrow and the
width of the wave. This width would
be called length In a0Ond waves, The
crest or top OF the wave 10 about Que.
tenth the width. so then, II we have
an Ocear billOw 700 feet long, 10 Ia 20
feet high, aud an IRON wave 200 feet
long and 20 feet high, for they travel
JUST the same,
Sound n 10 VlDrAlnr lnVO lle Gnu OF
wire, and II rolls or IN wave 40 feet
high, at the enormous velocity of 1890
feet per second
Isn't 10 wonderful that everybody is
not "shell cracked" by these terrible
iron waves all around usp No, the
most astonishing part OF the whole
business Is, that anybody rs "shell
cracked" enough, aloug this line, TO 70.
ceiye and hang TO, as science, such de-
plorable nonsense.
Yours respectfully,
j. M. SAussER,
0snaburg, Jan. 20, O0,