The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1913-06-05
MUSICAL SOUNDS ARE
BUT NATURAL PHENOMENA
Carrot P. serviss In st. Louis Star.

Carrot p. Serviss In st. Louis Star.
II have been reading" say a cor
respondent, "of the sounds of drums
and trumpets rising out Of a sea peach
on the coast Of Cornwall, when it is
walked on. Is this a fact, or bait for
gulls?"
I have heard Of that wonderful beach
myself, in some scientific journal, and l
believe thar what is told Of it is mainly
fact, because similar phenomena are
world, n their cause has been dis
closed. These strange sounds, as weird
as the notes Of an aeolian harp, are
sometimes heard on steep hillsides
where slides Of loose sand, set in mo-
ton by the wind, or by the jar Of a
effect has been compared to a chorus
of high-strung voices, suddenly break
ing on the ear, with prolonged reson-
ance.
More frequently, however, they are
audible on sandy beaches, and occa-
sionally they are SO loud, and the mu-
steal tones are SO harmonious and
beautiful, that the hearer feels his
nerves tingle at the suggestion OF his
Imagination that invisible musicians
are playing in the air about him.
Mystery is Increased.
The n of mystery is heightened
by the fact hat the Ginning sounds do
not at first appear to come from the
ground, but to be born out Of the sur
rounding atmosphere. When they are
loud and multiply in tone it requires
but little aid from the fancy to recog-
niZe in them the various instruments
Of an orchestra, played in perfect time,
but with an expression that seems more
ethereal than human.
Such phenomena are due to musical
sands" n they have been scientifical-
ly investigated end eyplainn6 Nh
doubt they are responsible for many of
the old superStitions about fairies, and
about aerial tongues which Syllable
mems names
All sands are not musical. Music is
regulated noise, and in order that NOV
ing sand shall produce harmonious
notes as its particles slide over n an
other it is necessary that the particles
shall be smoothly rounded, equal in size
and composed Of a sonorous substance,
like flint or quartz.
Mr.. Cecil Carus-Wilson, in England,
has devoted special attention to the
phenomena of musical sands, and has
even been able to produce them arti-
ficially. He has found that a coarse
sand, composed of irregular, angular
particles, produces only a hoarse, graf
ing sound when in motion, but If the
sand is Of even grain, hard, more or less
spherical, and polished by long friction
under the action of water, it's motion
may give rise to the most startling
limitations OF instrumental sounds, al
though the tones always possess a
wierd beauty which is all their
own. A mixture of dirt in the sand
invariably destroys its sonorous prop
critics.
The theory of the action of musical
sands is simple; In grinding together
they set up s%onorous waves in he air,
similar to What may be produced by
rubbing the wettad finger around the
edge of a glass partly filled with water.
Reaction Of Vibrating Glass.
In hat case the reaction of the Vi
brating glass may be usually OBJ
served in the quiyering rings formed
on the surface of the water. Varia-
tions in the size Of the sands account
Sor the different tones produced.
There are many famous deposits of
such sands known in various parts Of
the world. Those OF the peninsula of
Sinai are particularly celebrated. on
account, perhaps, of the sacred recoI-
Lotions with which that strange re-