SEEING SOUND.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13660, 31 July 1908, Page 3

SEEING SOUND.

" See that noi',"/ was the remark of a, two- vear-old child, on knocking fit- a door, and, of cour.se, everyone laughed. But the child was only anticipating. Seeing and hearing . are two distinct, operations' of the senses, and at. first eight it, would seem-absurd to say that ■anyone could see his: voice—or.-" any.do.dy e.v=a'ii. - '■" But Mr. Brewer Brown has (says >. a London paper), invented an ingenious machine by means of which sound" can be visualised. All 6ound conns from air vibrations, which radiate lrum .ijte oenue of a circle, just as when a stone is thrown into a still'pond, t.lie water vibrates into little wave®. The air waves of sound are, however invisible, and though they can be measured, they cannot be seen. It is well Tinown t.hat a flame is intensely sensitive'to sound, and will be raised and lowered according to the pitch of the sound by which it is affected. By- using a small Ilame and rapidly- relating mirroiK, Mr. Brewer Brown-is able to show a continuous picture of the vibrations caused ' by the human - voice, which vary of. couise according to the note sounded. So that a: singer can at any time see how his voice is .working—whether - it- has the right pitch and timbre. It is very difficult for : a person to hear whether his own voice is. sounding, a correct note,; but by, means of Mr. Brown's machine he can pee * for himself.