130 ON THE SOUND PRODUCED BY HIDROGEN GAS, 



of flame is produced, which is let pal's into a tube of eitiier 

 glut's metal, earth, or any other fubflance ; when the follow- 

 ing phenomena are obferved. 

 produces clear If the tube be not too large, the flame becomes (mailer as 

 founds. j t j s deprefTed, an( j w hen it is much reduced, the tube emits 



very clear founds. 



But if the tube be too narrow, the flame will be extin- 

 guifhed, and in proportion as the tube is larger, the found 

 diminifhes ; fo that there is a certain limit at which it totally 

 ceafes, which alio happens when the tube is too long. 



The founds may be varied at pleafure, by either uling tubes 

 of different figures and dimenfions, or made of various fub- 

 flances. 

 This experiment Thefe experiments have been made in Italy. Citizen 

 made in Italy j Brugnatelli had defcribed them in his Annals of Chemiftry ; 

 and he has repeated them with Citizen Volta in the cabinet 

 of the Polytechnic School, in the pre fence of feveral per- 

 fons. 



Letter from Dr. Higgins. 

 To Mr. NICHOLSON. 

 Dear Sir, 

 but was made 25 IT was in the year 1777, that I firfl exhibited the experi- 

 Hilgins ^ ihent you mention, and produced feveral fweet tones, ac- 

 cording to the width, length, and thicknefs of the glafs jar or 

 fealed tube, held by the bottom, inverted to fome depth over 

 the flame of hidrogen gas. This experiment was afterwards 

 fhewn by fome of my pupils, to amufe their friends, and par- 

 ticularly by my coufin, Mr. Higgins, who now teaches in 

 Dublin ; who exhibited it at Sir Jofeph Banks's, and, if I am 

 iu>t mifinformed, at Oxford, where he ferved the profefibr as 

 operator. * 

 Hiftoryofthe Thefe tones firft occurred unexpectedly, whihr I was 

 making this eafy and popular experiment, to (hew the water 

 formed during the flow combuftion of the (lender ftream of 

 hidrogen gas in the air of the jar. And as I always had a 



• I remember the experiment at Mr. Kirwan's, in 1784, which 

 led me to requeft the information here given. 



great 



