The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1909-08-14

was like that produced by a wet finger
rubbed on the rim Of a wine glass. and
When the sand arrived at the foot os the
mountain it made noise like thunder.
winch shook the rocks on which the
traveller sat and so terrified the camels
that 1t was difficult to hold them. This
description is so similar to that If the
singing sands Of Hawaii that the pres
ence Of hollow grains Of sand would
account for the phenomena of Sanai as
well as for the other. But Schubert
writes: The Diebel Nakus, or Bell
mountain 400 feet high, is composed Of
sandstone powders loosely thrown to-
gether and covered with loose sand.
When disturbed by the foot this sand
rails into the interstices between the
rocks, producing a sound that resem-
bles distant chime Of bells and ter
inmates in a roar" From this it ap-
pears that the falling Of the sand be-
tween the powders is at least a con-
tributory cause of the sound and it may
account for the whole phenomenon, even
If the grains Of sand are solid. Accord
ing to Schubert, the Bedouins believe
that the sounds come from the bells Of
ruined Christian monastery.
Sounds of a very different character
and origin are emitted by certain rocky
cliffs In the Harz mountains and in the
Pyrenees. Two precipitous cliffs in the
Harz, near Schierke, are called "the
Snorers," from the peculiar sounds
which the southwest wind draws from
them The faces Of these cliffs are
marked by deep gullies, which roughly
resemble organ pipes open in front, ard
occasionally the front is practically
closed by a stratum of air held notion
less between the cliff and the trees
which Craze it, while the wind blows
rreeley through the gullies, or organ
pipes, behind. Similar phenomena, due
probably to similar cause. are OBJ
served on~MoUnt Maladetta, in the Py-
renees, where at sunrise certain cliffs
emit platntive sounds, which resemble
those Of harp, and are known locally
as the mathis of the damned"
Singing stones Of third category
are found I'm various parts of the world.
Fraas, Journeying from the Red sea to
the Nile, saw round, thin fragment
an inch in diameter, resembling a
shell, split off, with a peculiar sound,
from flint which lay baking in the
not sun at his feet This observation
Is very remarkable, and perhaps unique
Tor flints split gradually as a rule, but
the violent and noisy rupture of the last
oond under the influence of the suns
rays and in the presence Of an observer
does not seem impossible. Broken
hints are common in the desert Many
persons have heard the noise caused by
similar fractures Of hard rocks and
nave seen the fragments roll down
mountain slopes. Benin writes of the
basait columns of the BamangwatO
hills, in South Africa: In the evening,
after a hot day, it was not unusual to
hear the baSalt crack and fall with a
peculiar ringing sound, from which the
natives inferred that the rock con-
tanned much iron" Here we undOubt-
eddy ind the most frequent cause Of the
singing Of stones and the explanation
OF many of the observed cases. The
Phenomena are most conspicuous in
hard rocks, which ring under the ham
mer, and especially in basalt and gran
lite. They have been observed most
frequently in Egypt Jollois, Deyilliers
and the younger Champollion often
heard ringing, cracking sounds issuing
from the huge granite block of the
great temple of Karnak Similar sounds
have been heard in the temple at Philae
and in the granite qUarries at Assuan.
Interesting in this connection is Hum
boldt's description Of the musical stones
of the OrinOcO. These are granite cluus,
noco with the Rio Meta, which occa-
according to various travellers,
emit at sunrise sounds which resemble
the tones Of an organ. Humboldt. who
did not hear the sounds, explained them
as result of the difference of temper
allure between the cool morning air
and the air contained in the numerous
very deep and narrow assures of the
rock, which still retained much of the
heat absorbed from the suns rays dur
ing the preceding day. Humboldt stat
ed that he often found the surface of
the rock, at night, 20 degrees .Fahren-
heit warmer than the air outside, and
he cOnjectured that these organ tones
which are heard when the ear is placed
on the rock" were caused by the out
ruch of warm air through the narrow
assures which are partially obstructed
by elastic laminae of mica.
The French explorers in Egypt, on the
other hand attribute the sounds which
they heard not to air currents, but to
the sudden displacements occurring
within the stone. JOllois and Devilliers
assume that the superficial layer, heat
ed quickly by the suns rays, separates
from the deeper and colder layers. RO-
ziere speaks of the formation and ex-
tension of cracks between harder and
softer minerals. Cordier assumes sepa-
ration of quartz and other crystals from
the surrounding magma, and finds an
analogy in the sound emitted by ice ex-
posed to sudden changes in tempera-
ture. Herschel compares the phe-
nomena to the cracking of an iron gate
when heated.
All these conceptions and analOgies
are legitimate, but it is very doubtful
whether they are adequate, for we are
not here dealing with sounds which are
heard only when the ear is laid on the
rock" In Karanac and Philae the
sounds have attracted the attention Of
persons who were not listening for
them. Cordier admits that many little
cracks would be required to produce the
sound. To me It appears more likely
that a fragment Of stone becomes de-
tached and falls on a projection beI5S,
This suppOsitiOn accounts for the ring
ing quality of the sound. Possibly,
however, q similar sound might be pro-
1uced by an internal fracture.