What the Word "Boat" Looks Like in Air Waves 



iOO Cycles per second 



i^ v 200 Cvc^ci Dfr second /OOO Cyc/ei per second -^o" ''i* btginning and iharp ending o/ 



^^ \ ^ y < ' the consonant -f' 



The middle curves above represent extra 



tones in the man's voice and shmi' them 



htlping the mcin or outside curve 



The cuive sho-j-n below, unlike the 

 upper one. has no definite shape 



In the curve abiny, the extra tones o'e 



mtxed 'u-ith the main tone, hindering any 



analysis or study 



-o 



>i- 



-T- 



The protuberance from the man's mouth in the upper picture is not an unnatural excresence. 

 He is merely pronouncing the word "boat" and molding air waves in the manner shown 



This slwws detail of the word 

 "botU" as pronounced by the 

 man shown in the illustration at 

 lop of pai^e 67. "Boat" spelled 

 phonetically, or as it sounds, 

 is of course "h-o-t." Hence the 

 curves for "(>," "o," and "t," 

 are all that need concern us 

 here and the "a" can be left out 

 of consideration. 



These curves look complicated 

 but are really simple and 

 demonstrate most interesting 

 points. In fact, they show us 

 how we realty speak, how we 



really mold air waves in pro- 

 nouncing a given word. The 

 upper set of curves are in the 

 natural alphabet, as can be 

 verified by comparing their shape 

 with "b," "o," and "t" as given 

 on page 68. The lower curve is 

 the kind the old-time physics 

 teacher would throw on a dark- 

 ened screen as representing 

 sound vibrations for such a word 

 as "boat." It does represent 

 such sound vibrations but they 

 are in the crude, or unanalyzed 

 state. The upper drawing shows 



the real multitude of curves 

 whose jarring together, or "fight- 

 ing," one might call it, caused 

 the lower curve to be jagged and 

 full of humps as it is. Mr. 

 Flowers is the first to evolve this 

 method of making clear the real 

 nature of speech. Note how the 

 machine shown o« page 67 

 actually traces "b-o-t" on paper 

 in natural characters, which 

 ordinarily exist as ephemeral 

 sound wai'es in front of a 

 speaker, and which are difficult 

 to capture and study. 



mouth also aided in this. B\- dealing 

 with whispers, however, the inventor at 

 once eliminated all complications arising 

 from the use of \'ocal cords and accom- 

 panying resonant vibrations. He could 

 actually determine how it was that one's 

 lips, teeth and tongue shaped letter- 

 sounds and words into air wa\'es. 



As the figures on Page 66 explain, his 

 apparatus was so sensitive that all sorts 

 of whispered sounds could be recorded. 

 The lower figure shows three sample 

 records secured with the machine. Hun- 



dreds of others were obtained. It was 

 found that each letter of the alphabet 

 had a natural wave form of its own. 

 This was the same no matter who the 

 speaker was. In fact, it was found that 

 these were the wave patterns, which, 

 transmitted by the air, strike the ear 

 and cause the brain to recognize a given 

 letter as such. In other words, the 

 letter patterns secured on photograph 

 paper represented the actual wave 

 shapes which everybody must use in 

 conveying intelligence by means of 



69 



