[CHAPTER XXII.]
The Phonograph.
[Invention of Phonograph by Edison]—[Scott’s Phonautograph]—[Improvements of Bell and Tainter]—[The Graphophone]—[Library of Wax Cylinders]—[The Gramophone].
Following closely upon the discovery of the telephone the phonograph came, literally speaking for itself, and adding another surprise to the wonderful inventions of that prolific period. It was in the latter part of 1877 that Thomas A. Edison showed to a few privileged friends a modest looking little machine. He turned the crank, and to the astonishment of those present it said. “Good morning! How do you do? How do you like the phonograph?” Its voice was a little metallic, it is true, but here was presented an insignificant looking piece of mechanism which was undeniably a talking machine and one with an unlimited vocabulary. So-called talking machines had been made before, of which the Faber machine was a type. These, by an arrangement of bellows to furnish air, and flexible pipes in imitation of the larynx and vocal organs, made laborious and wheezy efforts to imitate the mechanical functions of the throat and tongue in articulate speech, but the method was fundamentally faulty and no success was attained. Edison followed no such leading. His phonograph made no attempt at imitating in construction the complex organization of the human throat, but was as wonderful in its divergence therefrom and in its simplicity as it was in the success of its results. The machine was patented by him Feb. 19, 1878, No. 200,521, and its life principle is simply and clearly defined in the first claim of the patent, as follows:
“The method herein specified of reproducing the human voice, or other sounds, by causing the sound vibrations to be recorded substantially as specified, and obtaining motion from that record as set forth for the reproduction of sound vibrations.”
The invention was a striking and interesting novelty and at once attracted the attention of scientific men as well as the general public. Its first public exhibition was about the latter part of January, 1878, before the Polytechnic Association of the American Institute, at New York. It spoke English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish and Hebrew with equal facility. It imitated the barking of a dog and crowing of a cock, and then catching cold, coughed and sneezed and wheezed until it is said a physician in the audience proposed sending a prescription for it. It was also suggested by an irreverent man that it might take the place of preachers in the rendition of sermons, while another thought that as it reproduced music with equal facility it might take the place of preacher and choir both. In the spring of 1878 it was exhibited at Washington by Edison and his assistant, Mr. Batchelor. Mr. Edison was the guest of Mr. U. H. Painter, and in his parlors it was shown to a party of gentlemen.
From Mr. Painter’s house the machine was taken to the office of the Assistant Secretary of the Interior, thence to the Academy of Sciences, in session at the Smithsonian Institution, and at night it was taken to the White House and exhibited to President and Mrs. Hayes.
