But our programme enabled us to go further than mere inference. It had been arranged on the day mentioned that up to 3.30 P.M. the siren should perform 2,400 revolutions a minute, generating 480 waves a second. As long as this rate continued, the horn, after the shower, had the advantage. The rate of rotation was then changed to 2,000 a minute, or 400 waves a second, when the siren-sound immediately surpassed that of the horn. A clear connection was thus established between aërial reflection and the length of the sonorous waves.
The 10-inch Canadian whistle being capable of adjustment so as to produce sounds of different pitch, on the 10th of October I ran through a series of its sounds. The shrillest appeared to possess great intensity and penetrative power. The belief is common that a note of this character (which affects so powerfully, and even painfully, an observer close at hand) has also the greatest range. Mr. A. Gordon, in his examination before the Committee on Lighthouses, in 1845, expressed himself thus: “When you get a shrill sound, high in the scale, that sound is carried much further than a lower note in the scale.” I have heard the same opinion expressed by other scientific men.
On the 14th of October the point was submitted to an experimental test. It had been arranged that up to 11.30 A.M. the Canadian whistle, which had been heard with such piercing intensity on the 10th, should sound its shrillest note. At the hour just mentioned we were beside the Varne buoy, 7-3/4 miles from the Foreland. The siren, as we approached the buoy, was heard through the paddle-noises; the horns were also heard, but more feebly than the siren. We paused at the buoy and listened for the 11.30 gun. Its boom was heard by all. Neither before nor during the pause was the shrill-sounding Canadian whistle once heard. At the appointed time it was adjusted to produce its ordinary low-pitched note, which was immediately heard. Further out the low boom of the cannon continued audible after all the other sounds had ceased.
But it was only during the early part of the day that this preference for the longer wave was manifested. At 3 P.M. the case was completely altered, for then the high-pitched siren was heard when all the other sounds were inaudible. On many other days we had illustrations of the varying comparative power of the siren and the gun. On the 9th of October sometimes the one, sometimes the other, was predominant. On the morning of the 13th the siren was clearly heard on Shakespeare’s Cliff, while two guns with their puffs perfectly visible were unheard. On October 16th, 2 miles from the signal-station, the gun at 11 o’clock was inferior to the siren, but both were heard. At 12.30, the distance being 6 miles, the gun was quite unheard, while the siren continued faintly audible. Later on in the day the experiment was twice repeated. The puff of the gun was in each case seen, but nothing was heard. In the last experiment, when the gun was quenched, the siren sent forth a sound so strong as to maintain itself through the paddle-noises. The day was clearly hostile to the passage of the longer sonorous waves.
October 17th began with a preference for the shorter waves. At 11.30 A.M. the mastery of the siren over the gun was pronounced; at 12.30 the gun slightly surpassed the siren; at 1, 2, and 2.30 P.M. the gun also asserted its mastery. This preference for the longer waves was continued on October 18th. On October 20th the day began in favor of the gun, then both became equal, and finally the siren gained the mastery; but the day had become stormy, and a storm is always unfavorable to the momentary gun-sound. The same remark applies to the experiments of October 21st. At 11 A.M., distance 6-1/2 miles, when the siren made itself heard through the noises of wind, sea, and paddles, the gun was fired; but, though listened for with all attention, no sound was heard. Half an hour later the result was the same. On October 24th five observers saw the flash of the gun at a distance of 5 miles, but heard nothing; all of them at this distance heard the siren distinctly; a second experiment on the same day yielded the same result. On the 27th also the siren was triumphant; and on three distinct occasions on the 29th its mastery over the gun was very decided.
Such experiments yield new conceptions as to the scattering of sound in the atmosphere. No sound here employed is a simple sound; in every case the fundamental note is accompanied by others, and the action of the atmosphere on these different groups of waves has its optical analogue in that scattering of the waves of the luminiferous ether which produces the various shades and colors of the sky.
§ 9. Concluding Remarks
A few additional remarks and suggestions will fitly wind up this chapter. It has been proved that in some states of the weather the howitzer firing a 3-lb. charge commands a larger range than the whistles, trumpets, or siren. This was the case, for example, on the particular day, October 17th, when the ranges of all the sounds reached their maximum.
On many other days, however, the inferiority of the gun to the siren was demonstrated in the clearest manner. The gun-puffs were seen with the utmost distinctness at the Foreland, but no sound was heard, the note of the siren at the same time reaching us with distinct and considerable power.
The disadvantages of the gun are these: