﻿364 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



With the felt-lined resonators in combinations of twos and threes, 

 it is possible to imitate all the vowels and their variations. The 

 problem at present consists in replacing the rubber glottis by some- 

 thing which changes its form of vibration for different vowels, but 

 which can be accurately tuned and does not alter with time. When 

 this can be done, a complete organ can be built that will sing the 

 vowels, or a vowel register can be added to a regular organ. Eight 

 vowels would be enough for most purposes ; for a single octave with 

 chromatic intervals, 124 vowel pipes would be needed. A vowel 

 register of this size could be effectively used in church music. 



