Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century

Diagrammatic Section of Phonograph. Fig. 319g.—The Graphophone. Fig. 319e shows the form of the phonograph as designed by Mr. Edison in 1877. It had a brass cylinder (A) upon which a narrow helical groove was cut, and was mounted upon an axle (B), having a narrow screw-thread corresponding with the groove on the cylinder, and working in the upright (C), so that when the handle was turned the cylinder revolved, and at the same time advanced in the direction of its axis. A heavy fly-wheel (D) was attached, in order that the rate of motion might be nearly uniform. A sheet of tinfoil, or of very thin copper, was wrapped round the brass cylinder, and on this metallic foil rested the steel point attached to the vibrating diaphragm, which was mounted in the ring (F). This point was always adjusted so as to be over the helical groove in the cylinder, and made to touch the tinfoil with a regulated pressure. E 671shows the manner of firmly supporting the diaphragm in such a manner that it could be readily removed from the cylinder when the latter had to be covered afresh with tinfoil, or the cylinder adjusted for reproducing the sounds. The relation of the diaphragm and point to the tinfoil is shown in Fig. 319f, which represents the apparatus in section. The tracing point (t) is not attached directly to the vibrating diaphragm, but to an adjustable spring (s), and interposed between the spring and the thin metallic diaphragm is a little pad, formed of a ring of small india-rubber tubing. When the mouthpiece (M) is spoken into, the sound vibrations reach the diaphragm (g g) through the opening (o), and the movements thus communicated to the point (t) which indents the tinfoil to various depths, and with varying frequency, as the handle is turned, bringing the whole length of the groove in succession to be operated upon. When the instrument is required to reproduce the speech so easily recorded, all that is necessary is to allow the indentations to re-act on the point that made them. The cylinder is re-adjusted to the tracing point at the end at which it began, the cylinder is set in motion, and the traces made on the tinfoil move the point up and down, the vibrating disc (g) following its movements, and thus communicating to the air a system of impulses which are the counterparts in period, force and succession of those that originally entered at o. It was usual to attach a conical mouthpiece to the ring (F) in order to concentrate the reproduced sounds, which might then be heard in all parts of a large room. When, in reproducing the sounds, 672the cylinder was turned with the same velocity as when the words were spoken, the pitch of the voice issuing from the instrument was the same. If it were turned quicker, the pitch was raised; if slower, lowered. The words registered on the tinfoil could be reproduced two or three times, but with decreasing distinctness, as the tracings gradually become obliterated. However, the sheet could be removed from the cylinder, and the speech reproduced at any place at any time afterwards by means of a similar instrument, and a method of stereotyping was proposed for preserving the records. The original phonograph was greatly improved when well regulated clockwork was used for imparting motion instead of the winch. Mr. Edison contrived a modification of the machine, which made it much easier of manipulation, by substituting for the cylinder a flat plate on which a spiral groove was cut. The plate was turned by clockwork, while the vibrating point was made to follow the groove from the centre to the circumference. The phonograph in its original form reproduced speech with peculiarities of its own. The quality was metallic, and reminded one of the intonation of the street Punch. It will easily be understood that the disc itself must necessarily have its own systems of vibration, and these will be further modified by the action of all the other parts. Mr. Edison’s expectations of the capabilities of the instrument 673not being realized, he turned his attention, after several unsuccessful attempts at its improvement, to the electric light and other subjects, at the same time declaring his conviction that the perfection of the instrument would be but a matter of time; in fact, within a very few years afterwards such improvements were made on Mr. Edison’s instrument as went far to justify this prophecy. These were the work of Dr. Chichester Bell and Mr. Tainter, who, after long continued experiments, found in paraffin wax, with a small admixture of some other substances, a better material for receiving the impressions. A cutting style made to act upon this cuts out a fine groove, the bottom of which is not a series of indentations, but a continuous wavy curve, representing every degree of inflection the vibrating diaphragm. In the new form of the instrument, Fig. 319g, which was called the graphophone, to distinguish it from Edison’s, the cylinder does not move forward: it is the diaphragm that advances parallel to the revolving axle. The cylinder is driven by a treadle, like a sewing-machine, and there is an ingenious arrangement by which the speed is controlled so that it can be maintained quite uniform. The movement of cylinder and style can be instantly arrested by touching a button, and as readily re-started. Quite recently Mr. Edison has returned to improving the phonograph by using rather thick, solid cylinders of wax, which are previously prepared for use by the instrument itself paring them down to a truly cylindrical and perfectly uniform surface, the result being a great increase of clearness in the speech and tones of music. Mr. Edison’s new instruments are driven by small electro-motors, and the speed is regulated by a centrifugal governor. It is said that these wax cylinders are capable of giving out the same record for a thousand times without perceptible sign of deterioration; and when the cylinders are required to receive a fresh impression, a former one can easily be pared off. The machines can be arranged so as to sound loud enough to be heard by a large assembly; but the quality of the tones of speech or music is most perfect when conveyed from the receiving chamber in front of the diaphragm to one or both of the auditor’s ears by means of a short elastic tube. Half a dozen persons can thus hear the record on the cylinder with such marvellous distinctness as to be able to recognize the tones of a known voice. The very latest form of the instrument, as it has just left Mr. Edison’s hands, is represented in Fig. 319h. In this one single very small diaphragm serves both for recording and reproducing the sounds. This is made of extremely thin glass, to which is attached a small projection made of celluloid, which acts on a bar that carries the recording point. The configuration of this point is most ingenious and peculiar, for it is, in fact, double, one part being shaped like a gouge, which cuts into the walls of the minute depression traced on the wax cylinder, while a style-shaped part impresses the wax with punctured indentations. The shaping of its forms is a difficult and delicate operation, for they are very small and are cut in sapphire. The reproduced speech given out by this instrument is said to possess the properties of sharpness and clearness in a remarkable degree. The machine is provided also with a sapphire cutting edge, by which an old record may be pared off by the very motion of the cylinder in receiving a new one. This phonograph is put in movement by ingenious mechanical devices, for giving uniform rotation from such motive power as may be supplied by the foot or by water or by clockwork. This improved instrument lays claim to practical utility, and its manufacture will, it is stated, be shortly commenced on a large scale. 674Quite recently there has been established in America a big manufactory of phonographs in the form of a toy, which is sure to become very popular everywhere. Here they turn out daily several hundred real speaking dolls, which contain clockwork actuating a phonographic cylinder impressed with the words of some childish story or simple rhyme, such as “Jack and Jill,” “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” etc. Each doll of course repeats its little tale as often as the clockwork is set going. These toys are adapted to all nationalities; for, besides many English, there are a number of French, German, Italian, etc., girls employed doing nothing all day long but addressing appropriate words to each little automaton’s waxen cylinder. Fig. 319h.—Edison’s Perfected Phonograph. The capabilities of the phonograph suggest some curious applications that may be made of it. For example, the songs of a fine singer may thus, in all their modulations, reach people in distant lands, or be made audible to future generations. Thousands of people in England have heard with their ears, through Mr. Edison’s instruments lately brought over by Col. Gournaud, songs and speeches, and pieces of concerted music, sung, said, or played in America months before. Music can be bottled up, so to speak, without the consent of the originators; and, indeed, it is said that an eminent prima donna has applied for an injunction to restrain certain phonographers from reproducing her vocal triumphs with their instruments. A speech of Mr. Gladstone’s, delivered in England, has been phonographically heard in New York with great applause. There is no reason but what, with a loud speaking phonograph uttering an orator’s very words and tones, while instantaneous photographs of his successive gestures and attitudes are projected on a screen, a true and lively impression of his eloquence might be conveyed centuries after his decease. One is almost led to speculate as to the consequences if these nineteenth century inventions had been antedated by a few thousand years: what stores of knowledge we might now possess! and how pleasant it would be thus To hear each voice we feared to hear no more! Behold each mighty shade revealed to sight, The Bactrian, Samian sage, and all who taught the right! 675 Fig. 320.—The Domestic Aquarium. AQUARIA. Under the date of May 28th, 1665, the curious gossiping diary of Samuel Pepys contains this entry: “Thence to see my Lady Pen, where my wife and I were shown a fine rarity; of fishes kept in a glass of water, that will live so for ever—and finely marked they are, being foreign.” This doubtless refers to the now well-known gold fishes, which about the time alluded to were introduced into Europe from China, where they had probably been for ages reared and kept in captivity, chiefly for the sake of ornament. Perhaps the reader may be disposed to think that, therefore, the aquarium cannot be distinctively a nineteenth century invention, nor at all a modern invention, in principle at least; but merely the “glass of water,” or the globe of gold fish on a larger scale. Such a notion would be quite incorrect, for the principles which are embodied in the modern aquarium were not recognized and applied until quite recently. Aquatic animals kept for a period in vessels in which the water is changed from time to time cannot be considered as properly forming an aquarium. The beauty and value of a well-regulated aquarium depend not merely on the opportunities it affords of studying the habits of the animals; the spectacle it presents has a far wider interest, as illustrating and confirming the conclusions of science regarding certain great principles which govern the whole animal and vegetable life of this terraqueous globe. Perhaps in the whole range of nature nothing is more wonderful than the direct interdependence of animal and vegetable life, and the exact balance between them, which preserves the composition of the atmosphere unchanged. The constituents of the atmosphere have an immediate relation to both forms 676of life. No