THE LATEST AND GREATEST SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

Inangahua Times, Volume V, Issue 63, 31 July 1878, Page 2

THE LATEST AND GREATEST SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY.

(London Telegraph.) Tho microphone ■— tho last of thoso nmnzing discoveries in, that subtlo rogjon whoro electricity, nvignotisni) motion and sound. oxoauio their invisible interchanges — has sprung forth to stnrtlo and be eflt tho world in much the samo curious way. A pnper read recently boforo tho Royal Society nnnounces tho invention by Pro* fossor H'ughes of this nstonishing instrument or nppiiralu.s which opens to our eais a universe of sounds hitherto inaudi* blc— just ns tho microscopo rovoalcd n world of minulo lifo and structure bitherto unknown bef'oro. Lilco Mr Edin, Profossor Hughes wns ono day otn ploy ing tho •telophono for various oooousticoxperiments. Ho wished to investigate tho effect of sonorous vibrations upon tho electrical behaviour of conductors led to. this idea by tho way in which selenium is known, to. l>Co.;mo- olootricnlly effected by light, and also by tho researches of Sir William Thompson upon tho oloclrionl eonduct of struinca wires. Tho Professor had a strotohed wire on his telephonies encuit, and though ho talked pud plucked nt it, no eftccl followed until it broko. At that moment tho tolephonouttcrrcd a sort of ' sah,' which wns very curious, Ho placed tho broken ends together undor a< weifiht, and obtained again faint sounds, which wero improved' whon tho wires woro connected by iron nails, or n steel watoh chain— tlio raoro t)icocs and moro divcrso tho substance from tho conductor seemingly tho bolter. Exporiraonting still further with his broken circuit, especially in tho d'rootion of this whispor from Soienco about • Moro piooos,' ho found mctallio powdoror (iuo ruotal filings won* dorfully augment tho power of transmit* tia« sounds;, whilo shot iu,n bright condition, platinum, oarhon, and inoroury also gavo good results, particularly tho last. Following up this oluo, Professor Hughes hit upon a plan of suspending finely divided moroury in a sliok ofohnp* ooal, by heating tho latter and plunging it into quicksilver, whereupon the charcoal becomes infiltrated wiili tho moroury in minutest but 'continuous particles. In* sorting a ' transmitter' of this sort m his circuit, nn absolutoly nmnaing aonsitiyo* nosn to sound, as well as powor of convoy* ing it with the utmost fidelity wns displayed by the apparatus. A touch of tho fingor on the vibrating plato was condnotod to the spoaking end in volumsof vibration like the nuitf-.j of a forest ; tho stroking ot o. fan-el's hiiir brudh on a oard was md^riiiied ii.to the fiouml ot a loud whispor, Llic bcutiu^ ci & nuhc, or Iho lickiug of a.

wnlrh won found f.o pans with porfoet I'lonnicss through a resistance reoresontinn a hundred miles of spaoe; and, wlion a flv Inppenod 1.0 wul!< over tlio pinto, tho tramp of its feet w»s most distinctly o.iught lilto that of so mo h"ix*loiW'l liomo trotting, and it was. moreover hoard to trumpet from its raised probosoU liko an elephant in tin Indian jungle. Sounds, in fact, totally inaudible beforo to human ears woro arrostod and reported by tliis simple and accidental expedients of interrupting tho olotrieal circuit with n finolydi'vidcd conducting material. T\u-r; v is ntmo9t no doubt that tho perfected microphono will convoy to m that hidden ripplo of tho sap rising in srotving trees and plants which Humboldt said might bo a continuous melody in tho auditory orgnns of earth's smallest; cronturos. The ' music of tho spheres ' — if we could only find n wuy of localising tho vibrations of ft star> os wo can isolate and examine its light with tho spoctroscopo — would possibly becomo sonsiblo to m ;. nnd Loronao, had ho known of this magical invontion, need not have told Jessica that wo should never catch n noto of that cosmic anthem which ca>«h golden orb ' iiv his motion lilco an angel sings, Still quirinor to tho young eyed chcrubims. 1 To ' hoar tho grass grow* has becomo, by this exquisitely dolicato d'scoverv, no longer an utterly m* concoivnblo exorcise for sharp oar*. Ifc may bo expected to rcplnoe tho elunny methods of the stothoscopo anil sphymogrnph with a most accurate nppliancfl, which will tell tho doctor's onr exactly what tho heart and iho pulse havo to say about his patient's ease. Some application of it, by properly employing a little portablo battery aid circuit, miy probnbly bo hit upon, which will greatly allovinto, or oven wholly remove, tho dis« abilities of tho do if. 13ut moro thin this whilo magnifying nndiblo sound, and reporting to us tones which woro beforo inaudible, this now invention is said to solvo all difficulties as to nrtioulateness 'in telephonic transmission. If convoys speech, or music, or the slightest infloc* tions of acoent, nnd timber, with a perfcot distinctness, and with a power so complcto that it increases indefinitely that which tho telophono has exhibitod with a homogeneous conducting wire. In introducing his admirable discovery vorv modostly to tho Royal Sooioty, tho inventor remarkod, • It is impossiblo to say wh'it may bo tho uppliditions or cfloots of that which I hnvo had tho honour of bringing boforo von ;' and to his great honour Profossor Hughes added, "I do not intend to tnlco out a patent, as Iho facts I hnvo inontionrd. bolonjr moro to tho domain of discovery than of invontion. No doubt invontors will erelong improvo on the form and materials I hnvo employod. I Iwvo already my reward in tho distinction- of submitting my researches to tho lloynl Society.*" This is, indoed, a spirit worthy of such groat sorvices to human knowledge, and 1 Professor Hughes has enhanced the fnmo (firs invention by iho manner in which he gives tho world tho full bonofit oi' tho discovery A 1 though difficult to convoy tho ck« planation of this wonderful po^or of tho- ' microphone* *o magnify sounds does r.ol; se-'in boyond tho reach of simple phras«> olo^y. Thoro are two wtvo-current.s running through tho telephonic ciivuit— oi»o of oloctrioily, tho other of sound vi*» brition— and tho efFeot produced by tho la. tor in modifying tho rorst'.nco aud, conductivity of n oirouit is little or none, so long as tho wive remains- homogeneous, and continuous. If,. however, a portion of this bo, as in tho transmitter,, oom« posed of a sorios of very minulo sub-* divisions, electrical continuity being still presorvod, tho sonorous waves are nolonger neutralised in their effect upon tho olectrio current. The molecules of tho mercury aro thrust togothor or -drawn* apart, becoming alternately longer andi moro resistant, or shorter- and uioro pors moablo, bo that every, briefest ivid smallest sound disturb mce aots an 1 records itself in tho effect pro<lueod upon tho electrical flow, and tho variation < .of those eloctrio currents reproduce tli.) order,, forco and 1 articulation, of tho sounds,. With diagrams this theory of I lie action —which is tho one put forward' by tho g A noomplished inven'or— might h\vobo?iK* rondcrod much m.^ro intollijiii'lo but enough is said to afford "some notion oi tho mnn.ior in whioh the mier.iphnn>ii thought to work. As Us namo implies, it is tho nrigni'erof sound ; but it .lelinos nnd reveals us w oil as carrii'.-* smmd. rid. fliiunot fail tc prove- tin- imiiK^ns/ly. nblo addition to tho telephone, whilo it may bo confi'lon'ly ospoctod 1 that, tho phonograph will be mado nv.-iil.ibli? for recording by its help somo of the unotn pootod things to which wo shall bo ableto hston through this fairy gift of scietioo, It has boon auggefod' for cxamp', thnt molooular moti'U itself, under certain circumstances, may bo convoyed to our ears by this apparatus. Wo miy overhear, for instanco, tho inner vibrations of ii muss of heated metal, or the sound produced by chemical combinations and ro« actions. Stop by step man thus explores tho hidden travels and rosources of that world of N«hiro whioh is at onco his palace aud his prison. Each great secret wreslod from the silent but banoficent Spirit of tho Univorso confors now powors and makes lifo richer and moreoommanJing. Is it then, tho crprioe of that spirit which has impartod those two. splondid socrots of the phonograph and tho microphouo by apparently tho most trivial aceidonts P \ pricked fingor pro^. ducos ono for us ; a broken wiro lod Professor Hughes to discover tho othor. Thoro is no caprico in this mystery. Tho hour comos, tho pationt sooker is on tho right road, und, at Iho moment when ho least expects it, iSaturo uncloses hor hand nnd shows another of those far«roaching treasures of knowlodgo whioh sho keeps for him and his like, tho best benefactors of mankind.