8 PROCEEDINGS OP THE AMERICAN ACADEMY 



the experimental room, and the other taken to the basement of an 

 adjoining house. 



Upon singing into the telephone, tlie tones of the voice were re- 

 produced by the instrument in the distant room. When two persons 

 sang simultaneously into the instrument, two notes were emitted simul- 

 taneously by the telephone in the other house. A friend was sent 

 into the adjoining building to note the effect produced by articulate 

 speech. I placed the membrane of the telephone near my mouth, and 

 uttered the sentence, "Do you understand what I say ? " Presently 

 an answer was returned through the instrument in my hand. Articu- 

 late words proceeded from the clock-spring attached to the membrane, 

 and I heard the sentence : " Yes ; I understand you perfectly." 



The articulation was somewhat muffled and indistinct, although in 

 this case it was intelligible. Familiar quotations, such as, "To be, or 

 not to be ; that is the question." " A horse, a horse,*my kingdom for 

 a horse." " What hath God wrought," &c., were generally understood 

 after a few repetitions. The effects were not sufficiently distinct to 

 admit of sustained conversation through the wire. Indeed, as a gen- 

 eral rule, the articulation was unintelligible, excepting when familiar 

 sentences were employed. Occasionally, however, a sentence would 

 come out with such startling distinctness as to render it difficult to 

 believe that the speaker was not close at hand. No sound was audible 

 when the clock-spring was removed from the membrane. 



The elementary sounds of the English language were uttered suc- 

 cessively into one of the telephones and the effects noted at the other. 

 Consonantal sounds, with the exception of L and M, were unrecog- 

 nizable. Vowel-sounds in most cases were distinct. Diphthongal 

 vowels, such as a (in ale), o (in old), i (in isle), oiv (in now), oy (in 

 boy), oor (in poor), oor (in door), ere (in here), ere (in there), were 

 well marked. 



Triphthoogal vowels, such as ire (in fire), our (in flour), ower 

 (in mower), ayer (in player), were also distinct. Of the elementary 

 vowel-sounds, the most distinct were those which had the largest oral 

 apertures. Such were a (in far), aw (in law), a (in man), and e (in 

 men). 



13. Electrical undulations can be produced directly in the voltaic 

 current by vibrating the conducting wire in a liquid of high resistance 

 included in the circuit. 



The stem of a tuning-fork was connected with a wire leading to one 

 of the telephones described in the preceding paragraph. While the 

 tuning-fork was in vibration, the end of one of the prongs was dipped 



