Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
281
Heroes of the Telegraph
·
John Munro
211
It
is
reported
that
on
another
trial
the
light
from
the
star
Arcturus,
when
focussed
on
the
vulcanite,
was
capable
of
deflecting
the
needle
of
the
galvanometer.
When
gelatine
is
substituted
for
vulcanite,
the
humidity
of
the
atmosphere
can
also
be
measured
in
the
same
way.
Edison's
crowning
discovery
at
Menlo
Park
was
the
celebrated
'phonograph,'
or
talking
machine.
It
was
first
announced
by
one
of
his
assistants
in
the
pages
of
the
SCIENTIFIC
AMERICAN
for
1878.
The
startling
news
created
a
general
feeling
of
astonishment,
mingled
with
incredulity
or
faith.
People
had
indeed
heard
of
the
talking
heads
of
antiquity,
and
seen
the
articulating
machines
of
De
Kempelen
and
Faber,
with
their
artificial
vocal
organs
and
complicated
levers,
manipulated
by
an
operator.
But
the
phonograph
was
automatic,
and
returned
the
words
which
had
been
spoken
into
it
by
a
purely
mechanical
mimicry.
It
captured
and
imprisoned
the
sounds
as
the
photograph
retained
the
images
of
light.
The
colours
of
Nature
were
lost
in
the
photograph,
but
the
phonograph
was
said
to
preserve
the
qualities
even
of
the
human
voice.
Yet
this
wonderful
appliance
had
neither
tongue
nor
teeth,
larynx
nor
pharynx.
It
appeared
as
simple
as
a
coffee-mill.
A
vibrating
diaphragm
to
collect
the
sounds,
and
a
stylus
to
impress
them
on
a
sheet
of
tinfoil,
were
its
essential
parts.
Looking
on
the
record
of
the
sound,
one
could
see
only
the
scoring
of
the
stylus
on
the
yielding
surface
of
the
metal,
like
the
track
of
an
Alpine
traveller
across
the
virgin
snow.
These
puzzling
scratches
were
the
foot-prints
of
the
voice.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
