OF SELBORNE. 31 



mouth would at onoe be above or below 

 the object. 



We measured this polysyllabical echo 

 with great exactness, and found the distance 

 to fall very short of Dr. P/o<*s rule for dis- 

 tinct articulation : for the Doctor in his 

 history of Oxfordshtj^e, allows 120 feet for 

 theretumof each syllable distinctly : hence 

 this echo, which gives ten distinct syllables, 

 ought to measure 400 yards, or 120 feet to 

 each syllable ; whereas our distance is only 

 258 yards, or near 75 feet, to each syllable. 

 Thus our measure falls short of the Doctor's, 

 as five to eight : but then it must be ac- 

 knowledged that this candid philosopher 

 was convinced afterwards, that some lati- 

 tude must be admitted of in the distance 

 of echoes according to time and place. 



When experiments of this sort are mak- 

 ing it should always be remembered that 

 weather and the time of day have a vast in- 

 fluence on an echo ; for a dull, heavy, moist 

 air deadens and clogs the sound ; and hot 

 sunshine renders the air thin and weak, 

 and deprives it of all its springiness ; and 



