Evening star., 1949-12-30
Hearing Machine Built
To Replace Ears of Deaf
Apparatus Will Bring to FINGERS
Sound-Wave Bands of Speech
Bv Thomas r. Henry

NEW YORK, Dec. 30.-A hearing ma
chine" to replace ears was described to the
American Association for the Advancement
of Science here last night in the annual
Willard Gibbs lecture by Dr.. Norbert Wiener
of the Massachusetts, Institute of Technology.
When they temporarily suspended work
last summer, DR.. Wiener and his associate,
DR.. Leon Levine, had made notable progress
in constructing an apparatus which substi-
tutes either electrical vibrations or direct
electrical stimulation for sound waves and
fingers for ears. Some totally deaf persons,
it Is well known, are able to recognize speech
by vibrations, but this is a rare accomplish
ment acquired subconsciously only after
years of deafness.
Reduced to System.
The Massachusetts, Tech scientists have
reduced 1t all to system. Speech has been
reduced to definite sound-wave bands, each
standing for a certain syllable. The sound
"ah' for example, would produce char
acteristic and unnlistakable vibration against
the finger tips The principle is not unlike
that of the telephone in which different
sounds produce characteristic electrical i'm
pulses which are translated back into sound
again at the end of the line.
The present development, Dr. Wiener said.
has progressed only far enough to give good
promise that the device will be practical.
Its mastery, however, always will require
considerable intelligence and patience OF
deaf persons, as well as long training.
It is made possible, he explained, because
speech is readily reducible to a relatively
few elements Which cover any ordinary con-
versation.
The present design calls for wearing the
apparatus on the hand under glove. A
major problem is to make it less cumbersome
and simpler in operation.
New and deadly diseases are threatening
Americas forests.
A malady similar to the Dutch elm disease
is killing black and red oaks by thousands.
Once established, it spreads rapidly and the
only way to stop an epidemic thus far >dis-
covered is to kill by poison the healthy trees
adjacent to a diseased specimen.
A widespread new canker disease of New
England's sugar naples was described to
the A. A. A. S. by DR.. w. w. Scott of
the University of Vermont. The fungus
gains entrance at the spot where trees are
tapped in the spring and causes the wood
to rot for several feet on each side of the
tap wound.
The beauty of elm shaded college campus
and village streets, seriously threatened by
the Dutch elm disease during the past dec
ade, may be saved by resistant elms brought
from Holland where they have survived the
ravages of the killer for centuries. This was
reported by T. w. Bretz and R. U. Swingle
of the Agriculture Department. 1t has been
found possible to increase the supply by
means of cuttings.
Meanwhile, an even more serious elm
scourge has arisen, they said. It is virus
disease which already has killed hundreds Of
thousands of trees in New England New
York and Pennsylvania. Once it becomes
established in an area, it spreads rapidly and
kills practically every tree in its path.
But a newly discovered fungus disease Of
the turpentine pine of Virginia is proving
a boon and trees are deliberately inoculated
with it. The flow of turpentine from the
tap is prolonged, so that less chipping is
necessary.
Whales are remote relatives of COWS and
pigs. Although the great sea mammals
diverged from the family line at least
100, ,000,0 years ago. blood analysis re-
veals the secret Of their ancestry, Drs. Alan
Boyden and Douglas Gemeroy Of Rutgers
University told the A. A. A. S.
They compared the blood sera of whales
with those of Is other orders of mammals.
obtained from more than 40 cooperating
institutions all over the world. and they
found no similarity with such diverse crea.
lures as the armadillo, bat, elephant, op-
posum or seal. On the other hand, there
was resemblance which could be explained
only by common ancestry with cows. sheep.
deer and pigs.
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