Atlanta Georgian. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1912-1939, 1913-06-08

%ARUSO, the worlds greatest
tenor, is scientifically eligible
at any moment to the same
fate that befell the walls Of Jericho
if science is to be believed at all
and the well-knOwn law of vibrations
is not founded upon fallacies
This extraordinary announcement
follows logically the discovery by DR..
George Lloyd, the distinguished Lon
don physician, that the $3,OOO-a-night
singer has musical bones
The uniquely vibrant quality Of
iCarusO's skeleton makes of him
a human muSic-bOx. and sets him
aside from his fellow men and lays
him open to as unique a danger. Just
as glass may be broken by violin
playing sustainedly the same note
which that glass gives upon being
tapped with the finger, so, too. the
scientists have told CaruSo. he may
be shattered by sound of just the
pitch, quality and number Of vibra-
AltliH a NCNbLu lldt " III AlCNl lAit
dominant note of his resonant bones.
In other words, somewhere in the
infinite world of sounds turks one
sound which cOnceivably can so set
every tiny molecule of Caruso'S skel-
etOn vibrating 50 rapidly that the
bones themselves will disintegrate
and the tenor either drop into
Squid-like mass, or else be torn apart
by what would literally be the atomic
explosion of his framework
This sound may hide anywhere-in
steamers foghorn, in a locomotive
whistle, in the roar of an avalanche
or even in the battered penny trum-
pet of a street urchin,
TO the incredulouS il may be said
at once that this statement is not a
joke in any way. II is a sober, sci
entitic truth.
1t is little difficult to make clear
the scientific basis upon which this.
peril of CarusO stands. And vet il
is simple. Everything in nature vi
brateS. Matter itself is. il is thought,
only peculiar vibration of the ether
And what is called vibration is only
the movement of all the tiny par
ticleS of matter Of which we and
everything that exists is formed.
Naturally. all the particles or atoms
in every division Of matter from
stone to flesh. are governed by law.
If There were no such law. every
thing would fly to bits-just as the
flywheel of a dynamo bursts into
pieces when the speed at which it
revolves becomes so great that it
OvercOmes the cohesive force that
holds all its particles of steel to-
gether.
This law of vibration fixes the rate
of movement of the atoms of each
substance so that they do not exceed
the speed limit and cause disintegra-
ton Of the thing they form. II pro-
duces what is called equilibrium of
forces. And here enters a curious
thing-every vibration produces what
we call a musical sound. Every mu-
steal sound is simply composed of vi
bratiOnS. The highest notes we can
apprehend contain the greatest num-
Der of vibrations to the second; the
lowest notes contain the fewest
Above the highest notes and below
the lowest are vibrations our ears
are not built to hear. but which we
know exist. by their effects
The note which each substance
gives forth through its atomic vibra-
tiOn is called its dominant note And
just as the spinning fly wheel can
be made to burst by increasing its
speed beyond the strength of its ar
ticles to hold themselves together. so
the atomic vibration of everything