AS A VEHICLE OF SOUND. 
225 
off of the syren-sound. As far as the first combe the sound was fairly heard ; he lost it in 
descending into the hollow, and recovered it in ascending the opposite slope. It accom- 
panied him, being of variable strength and sometimes unheard, as far as the Coastguard 
Station. Mr. Edwards heard no guns. It is within the mark to say that the gun to-day 
was heard to leeward five times, and might have been heard fifteen times, as far as to 
windward. 
In windy weather the shortness of its sound is a serious drawback to the use of the 
gun as a signal. In the case of the horn and syren, time is given for the attention to 
be fixed upon the sound ; and a single puff, while cutting out a portion of the blast, 
does not obliterate it wholly. Such a puff, however, may be fatal to the momentary 
gun-sound. 
The latter, moreover, is less distinguishable from the sound of the wind in the ears 
than is the sound of the syren. This action was well illustrated on October 22. We 
halted near the Cornhill Coastguard Station, and the wind blowing from W.S.W. being 
very noisy, I sheltered myself behind a bank and listened. The horn and the syren 
were about equal in power, neither of them being strong. The 3 p.m. gun was fired : 
the smoke was seen, but no sound was heard. We then sheltered ourselves behind 
the washhouse of the station, where the horn and the syren, which had been audible 
behind the bank, rose not only to great distinctness but to great power. The horn 
was sometimes particularly strong; the syren had the air of being more distant, 
which may in part arise from the admixture of its really distant echoes with the direct 
sound. 
A gun fired while we were in the shelter of the washhouse produced a loud report ; 
it was the first time during the day that the coastguardsman who was present had heard 
the gun. Accompanied by Mr. Edwards I returned to the shelter of the bank, where 
the report had previously escaped me. Corresponding to the known time of firing, I 
heard a faint thud ; he heard nothing. The syren and horns were powerful at the 
time. 
But the ears only required to be defended to render the gun effective. The 3.30 
report was loud to Mr. Douglass and Mr. Edwards, who stood in shelter of the wash- 
house, whereas it was unheard by me who stood out in the wind. On changing places 
with Mr. Douglass, Mr. Edwards and I heard a loud report of the next gun; to Mr. 
Douglass it was barely audible. Mr. Edwards now went outside, , while Mr. Douglass 
and I remained in shelter. We heard the 3.50 gun distinctly though not loudly; by 
Mr. Edwards it was unheard. These experiments illustrate the serious effect which 
local noises may have upon a signal-sound, particularly that of a gun. 
At 4 p.m., near the edge of the combe beyond the coastguard station, we lay down in 
shelter of a furze bush. Here we heard the sounds of syren and horns distinctly but 
faintly ; the gun was not heard. This position was 450 yards beyond the coastguard 
station. We then walked from the coastguard station through the fields towards the signal- 
station ; both syren and horns sounded clear and loud. At 4.10 p.m. a gun was fired, but 
MDCCCLXXIV. 2 G 
