January 16, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



63 



November 28, gives suggestion for the present 

 writing. 



The phenomenon of sonorous sands was 

 very thoroughly studied in the years 1882- 

 1889 by Dr. H. Carrington Bolton and Dr. 

 Alexis A. Julien, both of New York City. 

 The very interesting results of their enthu- 

 siastic research were published in several 

 short articles in the Proceedings of the Amer- 

 ican Association for the Advancement of 

 Science and in the Transactions of the New 

 York Academy of Sciences. A brief review 

 of their work may be worth the space. 



The preliminary paper was read at the 

 Minneapolis meeting of the Association, 1883, 

 describing their study of the musical sands at 

 Manchester, Mass., and on the island of Eigg 

 in the Hebrides; with reference to many other 

 localities. This paper is printed in the Pro- 

 ceedings, volume 32, pages 251-252. 



After a year of extensive travel and study 

 of the phenomenon, and with volimainous cor- 

 respondence, a second paper was read at the 

 Philadelphia meeting, 1884, and printed in 

 abstract in volume 33 of the Proceedings, 

 pages 408--il5. In this article the sounds 

 emitted by the sands are indicated by musical 

 notation. Some search of old writings had 

 shown that allusions to the phenomenon were 

 found in the literature of the past one thou- 

 sand years; and that famous localities, like 

 Jebel Nagous, had been visited by many 

 travelers. A brief chronology of the study 

 and writings from the sixteenth century was 

 included. 



In Volume 3 of the New York Academy 

 Transactions, pages Y2-76 and 9Y-99, for 

 1884, Dr. Bolton described the phenomenon 

 on the Baltic coast, and in the sand-hill of 

 Arabia and Afghanistan, especially at Jabel 

 Nakous, or " Mountain of the Bell " on the 

 Gulf of Suez. A paragraph at the close of 

 that article is worth quoting. 



The localities in which sonorous sand is found 

 may be divided into three classes: first, sea- and 

 fresh-water beaches, where all the sand possesses 

 the sound-producing quality permanently, as at 

 Eigg, Manchester, Plattsburg, etc.; secondly, sea- 

 beaches where small tracts of the sand possess 



acoustic properties transiently, as along the At- 

 lantic coast, in New Jersey, North Carolina, and 

 on the Baltic; thirdly, sand-hills in the interior or 

 otherwise, whose steep slopes give rise to acoustic 

 phenomena of great magnitude, as at Kauai, in 

 Nevada, and at Jebel Nakous and Reg Euwan. 



Volume 8 of the Academy Transactions, 

 1888, pages 9-10, prints a letter giving the 

 conclusion of the authors as to the cause of 

 the sounds. And on pages 181-184 is given a 

 very interesting letter of Dr. Bolton, from 

 Egypt, describing his visit to Jabel Nagous. 

 In Volume 9, 1889-1890, pages 21-25, Dr. 

 Bolton gives a fuller account of his visit to 

 Arabia Petraea, and also a summary of the 

 conclusions reached by Dr. Julien and him- 

 self, as follows: 



Dr. Julien and I beHeve that the true cause of 

 sonorousness in the sands of singing beaches and 

 of deserts is connected with thin pellicles or films 

 of air, or of gases thence derived, deposited and 

 condensed upon the surface of the sand-grains dur- 

 ing gradual evaporation after wetting by seas and 

 laies or by rains. By virtue of these films, the 

 sand-grains become separated by elastic cushions 

 of condensed gases, capable of considerable vibra- 

 tion, and whose thickness we have approximately 

 determined. The extent of the vibration and the 

 volume and pitch of the sound thereby produced, 

 after any quick disturbance of the sand, we also 

 find to be largely dependent upon the forms, struc- 

 tures and surfaces of the sand-grains, and espe- 

 cially upon their purity or freedom from fine silt 

 or dust. 



In Volume 8, page 10, of the New York 

 Academy Transactions, is described the open- 

 ing by Dr. Bolton of two packages of sea sand 

 collected at Eockaway Beach four and five 

 years previous, and which gave distinct high 

 notes when quickly rubbed or shaken. 



The present writer has a large bottle of the 

 Eockaway Beach sand, collected with Dr. 

 Bolton on that summer day in 1884, when the 

 beach was singing clearly. The bottle has 

 been closed with a cork stopper, but was 

 opened, for a minute, a few years ago for re- 

 moving a sample. The bidk of the sand has 

 been in the bottle over thirty-five years. This 

 day, December 2, it has been poiired into a 

 stocking, and when quickly compressed has 



