THE GRAMOPHONE — EEDDIE. 



219 



ing the heavy bell portion of the amplifying horn. The success of 

 this invention was immediate and pronounced, and a tapering sound 

 arm is now almost a sine qua non. 



It was only to be expected that as the reproduction of the machine 

 improved the form in which it was presented to the public would 

 be more and more attract- 

 ive, and hence the hand- 

 some cabinets and pedes- 

 tals with which the 

 gramophone is furnished 

 to-day. 



Figure 10 shows some 

 of the various stages 

 through which the ma- 

 chine passed. The in- 

 strument lOc will be rec 

 ognized as the one before 

 which the dog sat and 

 listened to " his master's 

 voice." 



An important item in 

 the reproducing appa- 

 ratus is the needle. In- 

 stead of the same blunt 

 point being used over 

 and over again as form- 

 erly, a new needle is now 

 recommended for each 

 playing of a record. The 

 reason is that the opera- 

 tion of plajang a record 

 wears down the fine point 

 of a needle, so that by the 

 time a record has been 

 played through, the 

 needle point has shoul- « . , ^'"- l^'i' , 



^ Some vanous stages of development of the 



ders worn on it (fig. 11) gramophone. 



with only a central projection left to engage in the sound groove; 

 a point of this shape when much worn can not give a good reproduc- 

 tion. The manufacture of gramophone needles constitutes a small 

 industry in itself, and the number of processes through which the 

 needles go before they are ready for use is surprising. Lengths are 

 cut from the best steel wire, and are pointed by emery wheels, rotating 

 about 1,200 times a minute. The needles are cut off, and again the 

 blunt ends are pointed. Some of the machines in use cut off as many 



