St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-07-13
YOU CAN SEE SOUNDS.
Pictures Are Made by Music and
Are Accurately Recorded.

Pictures Are Made by MUSIC ana
Are Accurately Recorded.
When our fathers were told that the
sun could be made to turn artist they
told the early photographic to carry
such stories to the marines. Now when
we are told that pictures can be made
by notes Of music we are equally in
credulous. But it is true, and Mr.. Row.
botham, in Cassel's Family Magazine,
tells us all about it, as follows:
A lady, Mrs. Watts Hughes, who
originally intended to devote herself to
the art professionally, through failure
of health renowned public career and
tions into the nature of sound. The eX-
periments are conducted as follows: A
hollow receiver is procured, over the
mouth of which is stretched an elastic
membrane. The surface OF the mem
brane is covered with a Semi-huid
paste, of such consistency that very
light impressions can be easily re-
ceived.
The singer then approaching the APP
paratus sings on to- the surface of the
membrane. exercising the greatest care
that his notes are singularly steady and
perfectly accurate in the information OF
the given sound. At once the musical
note mirrors itself on the paste, and in
the most unexpected forms. The forms
of flowers, as perfect as if they were
drawn, occur among the rest, and, in
deed, contribute the majoritYsof the
figures. Daisies, with every petal eX-
actly shaped. are common; lilies, as
Symmetrically made, are not rare. A
change of note, or of tlmbre, will pro-
duce miniature tree on the paste. By
some slight variation, impossible to estl-
mate, the figure of startish will ap-
pear on the surface of the membrane;
another imperceptible difference of
sound will lay side by side with the star
fish an anemone.
Occasionally the neutrality-suspicious.
ably owing to an unconscious augmen-
tation of force on the part of the singer
will imprint themselves in the form
of shells, beautifully voluted, the
wrinkles in the scroll being so inciSively
indented that when photographed they
appear as if creases in the picture. Sud-
denly deserving these marine forms as
capriciously as it took them up, the
sound will create ferns, suspend
punches of fruit, and otherwise adorn
with similar emblems the surface.
When the sound is producing flowers
on the paste. the singer can at pleasure
increase the number of petals by grad
uallY making the tone ascend.
At each fraction of tone on which
his voice rises new petal is added to
the flower. He can thus by careful
management of his voice increase a
plgmy daisy that lies first imprinted on
the paste to gigantic sunfiower, occu-
plying nearly the whole surface. In the
other fOryn-Q U the ChRlIC-thIS 1d6l-
ton of piece by piece does not appear,
and the scroll once fashioned remains.
The forms thus produced on the paste
are photographed while the membrane
is in sonorous vibration; or water color
impressions are taken, which are trans
ferred to glass Immediately after being
produced. The advantage of the latter
method is that the minute beauty and
delicacy of the forms can be shown TO
perfection by the use of various colorS
for different parts of the same object.