Galton Whistle
date: label: date made
content: around 1900
name: label: used at
content: Cornell University
label: maker
content: Edelmann, H.
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” inscription on this example is that of Max Thomas Edelmann, an instrument maker in Munich who improved the form in 1900. The serial number is 468.
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
place: label: place made
content: Germany: Bavaria, Munich
topic: label: Subject
content: Science & Scientific Instruments
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Medicine
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Cornell University Department of Psychology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MG.300427.196
label: catalog number
content: 300427.196
label: accession number
content: 300427
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Whistle
label: Other Terms
content: Whistle; Diagnostic Medicine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: felt (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 3.7 cm x 18.8 cm x 6.7 cm; 1 7/16 in x 7 3/8 in x 2 5/8 in