PHONOGRAPH. 



709 



its uneven lines would tear the foil, thus destroy- tions it could be readily removed and another 

 ing the record ; and great difficulty was experi- adjusted in its place. 



enced in replacing an engraved sheet, in such a The wax surface of a cylinder was so durable 

 way as to bring the lines exactly in their former that a recorded communication could be renro 

 position. Hence, although 

 the phonograph was en- 

 thusiastically received and 

 created a wide-spread curi- 

 osity and wonder, it was 

 found to be of so little 

 practical value that it was 

 soon relegated to the realm 

 of scientific toys. 



In 1880 J. 'S. Taintor, 

 working along the lines 

 followed by Mr. Edison, 

 produced a talking ma- 

 chine, which was called the 

 graphophone, or phono- 

 grapli-yrap/iophone. This 

 invention did not differ 

 from the original phono- 

 graph in principle, but im- 

 proved upon it in many 

 essential particulars. Fin- 

 ished, it rested on a table, 

 wiih power supplied by a 

 treadle, like a sewing ma- 

 chine (Fig. 3). 



Fitted to the shaft by 

 means of clamps was a 

 cylinder composed of a 

 preparation of wax. This 

 substance received the vi- 

 brations instead of the tin- 

 foil. A recording dia- 

 phragm, having a sharp 

 steel point attached, was composed of aluminum, duced hundreds of times without impairing its 



FIG. 4. THE MODERN PHONOGRAPH. 



A, phonograph box, containing motor; B, battery; C, cylinders; D, diaphragm; 

 E, speaking-tube; F, funnel; G, governor; H, reproducing-tube; 1, chip-brush 

 for cylinders. 



and a repeating diaphragm of mica carried a 

 smooth steel point through the engraved line, 

 giving back the sounds without injuring the im- 

 pression. The cylinders were only six inches 

 long and an inch and a half in diameter, and 



distinctness. Dictation addressed to the instru- 

 ment was spoken through a trumpet, such as is 

 sometimes used by the deaf; and in order to hear 

 it give back its communication, a rubber tube, 

 supplied with glass or vulcanite tips for the ears, 

 was attached to the diaphragm. 



A sensitive governor provided that the ma- 

 chine should be driven at a uniform rate of speed, 

 thus preventing sounds from being returned in 

 a false key. 



In 1887 Mr. Edison resumed experiments with 

 the phonograph, and after about two years of 

 patient effort brought the invention to a high 

 state of perfection. Completed, it, rests on a 

 polished mahogany box not quite a foot wide 

 and less than two feet long (Fig. 4). Within 

 this box is an electric motor, by which the cylin- 

 der is revolved at a uniform rate of speed. A 

 glass diaphragm is used both for receiving and 

 reproducing sounds, and sharp and smooth points 

 of sapphire record and read the vibrations. By 

 means of a large funnel, varying in size and 

 form for specific purposes, tunes played by or- 

 chestras or addresses delivered by public speak- 

 ers can be recorded and given out so as to be 

 heard in a large room : or this funnel can be 

 removed and the sounds carried to the ear by 

 means of a rubber tube attached to the dia- 

 phragm as with the phonograph-graphophone. 



By this latter method typewriters take dicta- 

 tion from the phonograph without its voice being 



could easily be sent through the mails. As soon heard by other persons present. The whole in- 

 as one was'covered with its spiral lines of vibra- strument is of great delicacy and repeats 



FIG. 3. THE PHONOGRAPH-GRAPHOPHONE. 

 A, cylinders ; B. recording diaphragm with speaking- 

 tube attached. 



