Galton Whistle
name: label: inventor
content: Galton, Francis
label: inventor
content: Galton, Francis
label: maker
content: Edelmann, Max Thomas
notes: label: Description
content: In 1876 an English scientist named Francis Galton introduced a whistle for testing the upper limits of audible sound in different persons. One of Galton's discoveries was the loss of hearing in high frequencies as persons aged. The whistle was often used in later psychological experiments where the subject was asked to indicate the discernment of tones. The whistle's inability to emit a tone of constant pitch was it's main deficit, leading many researchers away from its use, especially as electronic equipment became available.
label: Description
content: The “EDELMANN / Munich” and "2073" inscriptions on this example refer to Max Thomas Edelmann, a German instrument maker who improved the form in 1900.
label: Description
content: Ref: “The Galton Whistle,” <i>Science</i> 12 (1900): 613.
label: Description
content: Physikalisch-mechanischen Institut von Prof. Dr. M. Th. Edelmann & Sohn, <i>Die Edelmannschen Grenzpfeifen (Galtonpfeifen) von D. M. Edelmann</i> (Munich, 1921).
label: Description
content: Galton, Francis, "Inquries into Human Faculty and Its Development: Whistles for Audibility of Shrill Notes (1883), in Dennis, W. <i>Readings in the History of Psychology<i>, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1948: 277
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Arthur K. Yellin
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1986.0213.01
label: catalog number
content: 1986.0213.01
label: accession number
content: 1986.0213
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Galton Wistle
label: Object Name
content: galton whistle
label: Object Name
content: Galton Whistle
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: rubber (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cotton (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: black (overall color)
label: Physical Description
content: white (overall color)
label: Measurements
content: average spatial: 11 cm x 98.5 cm; 4 5/16 in x 38 3/4 in