The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-11-02
THE DUMB MAY T.
An Inventor Claims That He Has Made . Dis
covery which VIII Produce Speech.

From the Philadelphia Times.
WASHINGTON, Oct. 30.-Now that machines
have been made to repeat articulate speech, as
the photograph and the gramophone, the next
wonder which has been announced as q scientific
discovery by an eminent inventor Is that by
means of q simple machine tho dumb can DO
made to speak and the organs Of our churches
and concert halls deliver orations, songs, and
operas as II they were Intelligent human beings.
It L. not o reproduction Of something which has
como from the mouth of q human being-it is
applying to q person a part Of an organ and COM
bining tho properties of the two in such q way
that tho organ is governed entirely by the in
teligence of o man. yet, though he says nothing,
from tho instrument will como the sound as II he
were speaking, only in volume and tone the
sound being that given 6y the instrument.
In other words, the miracle OF the Bible will
be performed in a simple way by science, and
lust as the eyes of the blind have been opened by
the ~oculist'S knife In cutting cataract or the
deaf made to hear by means Of the dentaphone,
so now there comes into the use OF man an in.
vention which will supply the wanting sounds
and enable him to converse with articulated
speech. And the huge power OF the organ or
the siren on the shore can be converted into
little, yet render the most attractive music for
opera or church. .
Mr.. Berliner's first conception OF the idea Of
making an instrument produce speech of IT.
self, instead OF reproducing that OF persons, was
due to the fact, 30 he AYERS. that the lnode Of
VUCAlZAIlOD III III lima DOuy Cuh 10 lulnb
entirely counterfeited by mechanism, and that
it occurred to him that 1T would bo a useful
t tidn So to t SSPPl{ yh ,ae e pF,nssRisS e Oh aS% OF c SGseaiss,
could DO obviated by machinery. That he has
produced by machinery such speech. IN other
asserto Is true. and shat the experiments, while
yet in their infancy, show conclusively that the
eGmpl nat at Of his Is 4 tRp hTman Is so 6Ss " matter Of
The method employed by Mr.. Berliner in his
experiment was extremely simple. Regarding
that the lungs of a person act as a pair of boil
lows, that the windpipe is the organ through
which the air Is pumped si,o and III that 1.-THE the vocal esa
formed by the movement OF the tongue. teeth,
and lips combined: Now, the sound Of a tone
that given up by the human windpipe before the
words have been articulated by tho mouth.
Hence. Mr.. Borliner reasoned. II this pipe sound
Just back in tho throat, and articulated prop
erly by the right motions of the lips, tongue,
and teeth, tho organ could be made to talk.
With a bit of rubber tubing, which was
placed with ono end in a pair Of bellows and the
by simply giving to the mouth the motions it
would use in uttering certain words the cor.
rect sound was, produced on tho volume Of air
would have been made by tho mouth In speak.
ing with air from the windpipe. Though not q
dumbly went through the pantomime motions
used In articulation, there were words spoken by
the vibrations Just as II they!wered done In the or
binary way-only, of course, Us there was no uso
mitch. tho sound was all In tho same key.
The use In church choIrs would BIO a great
feature OF tho service. Mr.. Berliner suggests
each one articulating from u different tube, rep.
resenting different pitches or different voices,
thus ali the varying shades OF music could be
cheoply produced at a third OF tho present ex-
'But the chief benefit to humanity will be the
use to which the dumb can put this new inyen-
ton. The dumb are able TO move the lips in
cannot utter a sound. Now, II the sound be
brought into the back of the mouth, forced out,
and properly articulated by tho teeth, lips, and
sneech. With a simple and cheap apparatus
this effect can be obtained. OF course, it will
rect motions TO give to the mouth in order 70
produce tho right words but that win come
typewriter OF TO ride the bicycle.