Sound and Its Phenomena |
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acoustic aperture apparatus bass bassoon bell bellows birds blow body breath called catgut cause cavity chord clarinet clef column of air compass condensed diatonic scale dilates direct sound distance double fifth double-bass drum duced edge elastic embouchure Eustachian tube feeble feet fifth finger flageolet flat flute force fundamental note glass glottis harmonic harp hautboy hear heard horn human voice increase instru interval keys larynx length lips loud lower membrane ments metal middle ear monochord motion mouth mouth-hole mouth-piece musical instruments noise number of vibrations octave organ orifice pan-pipe piano pianoforte pipe pitch placed polysyllabic echo produced reed reed-pipes render resonance Savart scale semitone sharp shock sonorous sound-rays sound-waves speak Stringed Instruments struck strument surface syllables tain teeth third tion tone tongue tonic treble trombone trumpet tube tuned tuning-fork tympanum unison upper violin violoncello vocal cords vocal ligaments voice walls whistle windpipe
Popular passages
Page 232 - ... and when two facts, naturally unconnected, have been accidentally coincident, it is not singular that this coincidence should have been observed and registered, and that omens of the most absurd kind should be trusted in. In the west of England, half a century ago, a particular hollow noise on the sea-coast was referred to a spirit or goblin called Bucca, and was supposed to foretell a shipwreck...
Page 292 - In the cathedral of Girgenti, in Sicily, the slightest whisper is borne with perfect distinctness from the great western door to the cornice behind the high altar, a distance of 250 feet. By a most unlucky coincidence, the precise focus of divergence at the former station was chosen for the place of the confessional.
Page 232 - Bucca, and was supposed to foretell a shipwreck : the philosopher knows that sound travels much faster than currents in the air, and the sound always foretold the approach of a very heavy storm, which seldom takes place on that wild and rocky coast, without a shipwreck on some part of its extensive shores, surrounded by the Atlantic.
Page 289 - It happened once on board a ship sailing along the coast of Brazil, 100 miles from land, that the persons walking on deck, when passing a particular spot, heard most distinctly the sounds of bells, varying as in human rejoicings. All on board listened and were convinced; but the phenomenon was mysterious and inexplicable.
Page 310 - ... which is 430 feet in circumference. A stone seat runs round the gallery along the front of the wall. On the side directly opposite the door by which visitors enter, several yards of the seat are covered with matting, on which the visitor being seated, the man who shows the gallery whispers, with the mouth near the wall, at the distance of 140 feet from the visitor, who hears his words in a loud voice, seemingly at his ear. The mere shutting of the door produces a sound like a peal of thunder...
Page 40 - ... dependent upon the laws of physics governing the vibrations of tense strings. Sounds differ from each other in three essential particulars: 1st, in pitch, that is, in gravity or acuteness ; 2d, in loudness or intensity ; and 3d, in timbre or quality of tone. The pitch of the sound always depends upon the number of vibrations communicated to the air in a given time. Rapid vibrations produce sharp, shrill sounds ; slower vibrations, those which are more grave. The low C of a piano gives a deep...
Page 289 - Months afterwards it was ascertained, that at the time of observation the bells of the city of St. Salvador, on the Brazilian coast, had been ringing on the occasion of a festival: their...
Page 312 - If two persons placed at distant points speak to one another in the lowest voice, it is distinctly heard. A similar effect is produced in the vestibule of the observatory of Paris, and in the cupola of St. Paul's, London. A tourist has mentioned that in Italy, on the way to Naples, and two days...
Page 308 - I to any simple air played on a bugle. + " There was formerly, according to the authority of Dr. Birch, an harmonic echo no less remarkable, seventeen miles above Glasgow, near a mansion called Rosneath. If a trumpeter played eight or ten notes, the echo would repeat them correctly a third lower. After a short silence another repetition was heard, still lower than the former ; and after a similar pause the same notes were repeated a third time, in a lower key and feebler tone, but nevertheless, with...
Page 309 - The whispering gallery in St. Paul's, London, is a great curiosity. It is 140 yards in circumference, and is just below the dome, which is 430 feet in circumference. A stone seat runs round the gallery along the front of the wall. On the side directly opposite the door by which visitors enter, several yards of the seat are covered with matting, on which the visitor being seated, the man who shows the gallery whispers, with the mouth near the wall, at the distance of 140 feet from the visitor, who...