Letter, 'Note on General Duane's soundless zones' from John Tyndall to [George Gabriel] Stokes

Description

Tyndall writes: 'In reference to one of the powerful fog-whistles established on the coast of Maine, General Duane remarks as follows :—“The most perplexing difficulties, however, arise from the fact that the signal often appears to be surrounded by a belt varying in radius from 1 to 1½ mile from which the sound appears to be entirely absent. Thus, in moving directly from a station the sound is audible for the distance of a mile, is then lost for about the same distance, after which it is again distinctly heard for a long time. This action is common to all ear signals, and has been at times observed at all the stations, at one of which the signal is situated on a bare rock 20 miles from the mainland, with no surrounding objects to affect the sound."' He presents his observations on 'the disappearance of the sound' and asks whether this is worth publication in the Proceedings of the Royal Society.

Annotations in pencil and ink.

Subject: Physics / Sound

Received 21 March 1882.

Written by Tyndall at the Royal Institution [London].

A version of this letter was published in volume 34 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'Note on General Duane’s soundless zones'.

Reference number

PP/2/2

Earliest possible date

21 March 1882

Physical description

Ink and graphite pencil on paper

Page extent

2 pages

Format

Manuscript