In a violent thunder-storm, when the sound instantly succeeds the flash, the persons who witness the circumstance are in some danger; when the interval is a quarter of a minute, they are secure.
HEARING BY THE TOUCH.
If a deaf person merely place the tips of his finger-nails on the window-shutters or door of a room in which instruments are playing, he may enjoy their concert of harmony.
CONVERSATION FOR THE DEAF.
If two persons stop their ears closely, they may converse with each other by holding a long stick between their teeth, or by resting their teeth against them. The person who speaks may rest the stick against his throat or his breast; or he may rest the stick, which he holds in his teeth, against a glass tumbler or china basin into which the other speaks. The sound may also be heard when a thread is held between the teeth by both persons, so as to be somewhat stretched.
GLASS BROKEN BY THE VOICE.
On vibrating bodies, which present a large surface, the effects of sounds are very surprising. Persons with a clear and powerful voice have been known to break a drinking-glass, by singing the proper fundamental note of their voice close to it. Looking-glasses are also said to have been broken by music, the vibrations of the atoms of the glass being so great as to strain them beyond the limits of their cohesion.
FIGURES PRODUCED BY SOUND.
Stretch a sheet of wet paper over the mouth of a glass tumbler, which has a footstalk, and glue or paste the paper at the edges. When the paper is dry, strew dry sand thinly upon its surface. Place the tumbler on a table, and hold immediately above it, and parallel to the paper, a plate of glass, which you also strew with sand, having previously rubbed the edges smooth with emery powder. Draw a violin bow along any part of the edges, and as the sand upon the glass is made to vibrate, it will form various figures, which will be accurately imitated by the sand upon the paper; or, if a violin or flute be played within a few inches of the paper, they will cause the sand upon its surface to form regular lines and figures.