The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1920-11-14
TESTING VOICES,
GETS DETECTOR
FOR ARTILLERY
French Priest From Study
of Dialects Becomes Mil
itary Expert.
VIBRATIONS TELL SECRET
Instrument Perfected Reveal
! ing Direction and Distance
Of Gun Fire.

Special Gable to THE New YORK HERALD.
Copyright, 1890, by THE New YORK HERALD.
New York Herald Bureau.
Paris, Nov. IL.
Not the least interesting of the
revelations of the great war is the
narrative of how the aged Able Rous-
selot, working in a small, dusty apart
ment near the Pantheon in Paris. dis
covered that the vibrant qualities of
the human voice held a peculiar COM
parison with the vibrations set up by
the firing of a shell from a modern
cannon. From this discovery he de-
veloped laws which military scientists
had been seeking for years to perfect
and by the application OF which the
exact position Of enemy guns could be
determined and a counter fire directed
with deadly accuracy, as the records
of casualties in German artillery
units during the latter part of the war
will testify.
The Able Rousselot, despite his
training for the Catholic priesthood,
did not hesitate to put his new found
information at the disposal of his
country, and France. ever grateful to
her patriotic sons, has rewarded the
scientist priest by pinning on his
clerical robe the Cross of the Legion
Of Honor.
The Abbe's ambition was not at all
10
difficulty of many students in studying
Latin and Greek and decided if some in
innate connection between the French
words and their ancient predecessors
could be found the task of his pupils
would be lightened. This, he decided,
was only to be found in the correlation
of the various patois or dialects with
which France abounds.
Spoken Words and Gun vibrations.
He studied the gradual development of
the modern tongues and came to the de-
cision, hitherto unrecogniZed by etymoo-
Fists, that notifications of the parent
languages proceeded more rapidly in the
valley regions than in upper ATTITUDES,
and pursuing this thesis evolved the as
tonishing principle that the word trans
formation in traversing various dialects
was largely due to the manner in which
the inhabitants contracted their larynxes
for the expression of a syllable and the
force employed in throwing the syllable
into the air-this naturally being di-
rectly due to atmospheric and climatic
changes.
All this seems very distant from the
firing of tons of metal into the lines of
an enemy, and it was partially through
the collaboration of NJ. Delmas. one Of
the leading bassos of the Paris Opera.
that the destructive power of vocal vi
brations first came to the attention Of
the persevering Able.
With only cigar box, series of cork
posts cut from the shoppers of his eve
ming bottle of Bordeaux, a bit of violin
string and an ordinary needle. the Able
devised an instrument TO measure the
vibrations resultant from various da-
lects. The needle was dipped in a solu-
ton Of lampblack and traced on sheet
Of white paper the variations of intensity
of the human voice. 1t was here that NJ.
Delmas offered to assist and at the first
resonant outburst from the singers vocal
organs the homemade but delicate instru-
ment was shattered.
Distance and Direction.
Perfecting his instrument. the Able
found that he could compute the dis
and the question naturally arose:
What would be the result of a series
of vibrations set up from a distant
gum" After ALL decided the Able, the
deflagra tion of the charge could be
compared TO the initial contraction of n
human larynx. the expression of a syl-
liable resembles the departure of the
projectile and the sonorous vibrations
of the spoken word find their analogy
a., Win ffppe hV the
jectile in it's course.
The French Government did not with
hold its assistance and new. finer regis
ters were constructed. The Able
studied especially the vibrations which
struck his ear most forcibly as various
projectiles passed directly over his in
strument. These he termed "shock
vibrations" and the term Will be In
Guided in scientific works for centuries
to come.
by comparing the various sets of
vibration records registered Il was pos
sible during the latter days of the
war. to determine within one minute
from the firing of an enemy gun the
exact position of the hostile battery
and even the approximate position OF
each unit Of the battery" say the Able
what a wonderful proof of the inter-
relation of the sciences and the grand
ness OF nature as a whole Merely to
study the derivation of words, register
vocal vibrations, compare them with
the shells which threatened to devastate
France, and finally to unveil the position
OF an invisible cannon!'
But the Able Rousselot, despite his
white hair and his seventy years. is
anxious to do more for his country and
Incidentally make the world realize the
folly OF war by rendering military
eecracv inpoggibie IIn ia NOW sttidy-
Ing the possibility OF applying his dis
covery TO the detection of submarines
and while the vibrations In ocean depths