Kircher saith, he took one of these Trumpets of fifteen Palms length, along with him to the Mons Eustachianus, where he convocated 2200 Persons to Prayers, by means of the unusual Sound, at two, three, four, and five Italian Miles Distance.
With these Bellowing Trumpets, I shall join some Bellowing-Caves for the Reader’s Diversion. Ol. Magnus describes a Cave in Finland, near Viburg, called Smellen, into which, if a Dog, or other Living Creature be cast, it sends forth so dreadful a Sound, that knocks down every one near it. For which Reason they have guarded the Cave with high Walls, to prevent the Mischiefs of its Noise. Vid. Ol. Magn. Histor. l. 11. c. 4. Such another Peter Martyr saith is in Hispaniola, which, with a small Weight cast into it, endangers Deafness at five Miles Distance. And in Switzerland, Kircher saith, in the Cucumer-Mountain is a Pit that sends out both a dreadful Noise and a great Wind therewith; and that there is a Well in his Country 3000 Palms deep, whose Sound is equal to that of a great Gun. Vid. Kirch. Phonurg.
Ol. Magnus speaking of the vast high Mountains of a Northern Province, call’d Angermannia saith, Ubi bases eorum in profundissimo gurgite stantes, casu aliquo, vel proposito Nautæ accesserint, tantum horrorem ex altâ fluctuum collisione percipiunt, ut nisi præcipiti remigio, aut valido vento evaserint, solo pavore ferè exanimes fiant, multoque dierum curriculo, ob capitis turbationem, pristinæ mentis, & sanitatis compotes vix evadant. Habent bases illorum montium in fluctuum ingressu & regressu tortuosas rimas, sive scissuras, satis stupendo naturæ opificio fabricatas, in quibus longâ varagine formidabilis ille Sonitus quasi subterraneum tonitru generatur. Ol. Magn. l. 2. c. 4. See also [Chap. 12.]
Neither doth this succeed only in forced Rarefactions and Condensations of the Air, but in such also as are natural; as is evident from David Frœdlichius in Varenius, upon the highest Eminencies of Carpathus, near Kesmarckt in Hungary. The Story of Frœdlichius is this, Ego Mense Junii 1615. tum adolescens, sublimitatem horum montium, cum duobus comitibus Scholaribus, experiri volens, ubi, cùm in primæ rupis vertice, magno labore, me summum terminum assecutum esse putarem, demum sese obtulit alia multo altior cautes, ubi pervasta eaque vacillantia saxa (quorum unum, si loco à viatore dimovetur——aliquot centena——rapit, & quidem tanto cum fragore, ut illi metuendum sit nè totus Mons corruat, eumque obruat) enixus essem, iterum alia sublimior prodiit, &c. donec summo vitæ periculo ad supremum cacumen penetraverim. Ex declivioribus montibus cùm in subjectas valles,——nil nisi obscuram noctem, aut cœruleum quid, instar profundi aeris, quod vulgò sudum cœlum appellatur, observare potui, mihique videbar, si de monte caderem, non in terram, sed recte in solum me prolapsurum. Nimiá enim declivitate, species visibiles extenuatæ & hebetatæ fuerunt. Cum verò altiorem montem peterem, quasi intra nebulas densissimas hærebam——Et cùm non procul à summo vertice essem de sublimi quiescens prospexi & animadverti iis in locis, ubi mihi antea videbar intra nebulas hæsisse, compactas atque albas sese movere nubes, supra quas, per aliquot milliaria, & ultra terminos Sepusi commodus mihi prospectus patuit. Alias tamen etiam nubes altiores, alias item humiliores, necnon quasdam æqualiter à terrâ distantes vidi. Atque hinc tria intellexi, 1. Me tum transivisse principium media Aeris regionis. 2. Distantiam nubium à terrâ, non esse æqualem.——3. Distantiam nubium——non 72 Mill. Ger. ut quidam——sed tantum dimidiatum Mill. Ger. In summum montis verticem cùm pervenissem, adeò tranquillum & subtilem aërem ibi offendi, ut nè pili quidem motum sentirem, cùm tamen in depressioribus ventum vehementem expertus sim: unde collegi summum cacumen istius montis Carpathici ad Mill. Germ. à radicibus suis imis exsurgere, & ad supremam usque aëris regionem, ad quam Venti non ascendunt, pertingere. Explosi in eâ summitate Sclopetum: quod non majorem sonitum primò præ se tulit, quàm si ligillum vel bacillum confregissem; post intervallum autem temporis murmur prolixum invaluit, inferioresque montis partes, convalles & sylvas opplevit. Descendendo per nives annosas intra convalles, cùm iterum Sclopetum exonerarem, major & horribilior fragor, quàm ex tormento capacissimo inde exoriebatur: hinc verebar nè totus mons concussus mecum corrueret: duravitque hic sonus per semiquadrantem horæ usque dum abstrusissmas cavernas penetrâsset, ad quas aër undiq; multiplicatus resiliit.——In his celsis montibus, plerumq; ningit grandinatve mediâ astate, quoties nempe in subjectâ & vicinâ planitie pluit, utì hoc ipsum expertus sum. Nives diversorum annorum ex colore & cortice duriore dignosci possunt. Varen. Georg. Gen. l. 1. c. 19. Prop. ult.
The Story being diverting, and containing divers Things remarkable, I have chosen to note the whole of it (altho’ somewhat long) rather than single out the Passages only which relate to the diminishing the Sound of his Pistol, by the Rarity of the Air at that great Ascent into the Atmosphere; and the magnifying the Sound by the Polyphonisms or Repercussions of the Rocks, Caverns, and other Phonocamptick Objects below in the Mount.
But ’tis not the Air alone that is capable of the Impressions of Sound, but the Water also, as is manifest by striking a Bell under Water, the Sound of which may plainly enough be heard, but it is much duller, and not so loud; and it is also a fourth deeper, by the Ear of some great Judges in Musical Notes, who gave me their Judgments in the matter. But Mersenne saith, a Sound made under Water, is of the same Tone or Note, if heard under Water; as are also Sounds made in the Air, when heard under Water. Vid. Mersen. Hydraul.
Having mentioned the hearing of Sounds under Water, there is another Curiosity worth mentioning, that also farther proves Water to be susceptible of the Impressions of Sound, viz. Divers at the bottom of the Sea, can hear the Noises made above, only confusedly. But, on the contrary, those above cannot hear the Divers below. Of which an Experiment was made, that had like to have been fatal: One of the Divers blew an Horn in his Diving-Bell, at the bottom of the Sea; the Sound whereof (in that compressed Air) was so very loud and irksome, that stunned the Diver, and made him so giddy, that he had like to have dropt out of his Bell, and to have been drowned. Vid. Sturmii Colleg. Cur. Vol. 2. Tentam. 1.
[cc] As to the Distance to which Sound may be sent, having some doubt, whether there was any Difference between the Northern and Southern Parts, by the Favour of my learned and illustrious Friend Sir Henry Newton, her Majesty’s late Envoy at Florence: I procured some Experiments to be made for me in Italy. His most Serene Highness the Great Duke, was pleased to order great Guns to be fir’d for this purpose at Florence, and Persons were appointed on purpose to observe them at Leghorne, which they compute is no less than 55 Miles in a strait Line. But notwithstanding the Country between being somewhat hilly and woody, and the Wind also was not favouring, only very calm and still, yet the Sound was plainly enough heard. And they tell me, that the Leghorne Guns are often heard 66 Miles off, at Porto Ferraio; that when the French bombarded Genoa, they heard it near Leghorne, 90 Miles distant: and in the Messina Insurrection, the Guns were heard from thence as far as Augusta and Syracuse, about 100 Italian Miles. These Distances being so considerable, give me Reason to suspect, that Sounds fly as far, or nearly as far in the Southern, as in the Northern Parts of the World, notwithstanding we have a few Instances of Sounds reaching farther Distances. As Dr. Hearn tells us of Guns fired at Stockholm in 1685, that were heard 180 English Miles. And in the Dutch War, 1672, the Guns were heard above 200 Miles. Vid. Phil. Trans. Nᵒ. 113. Also there is this farther Reason of Suspicion, that the Mercury in the Barometer riseth higher without than within the Tropicks, and the more Northerly, still the higher, which may encrease the Strength of Sounds, by [Note (bb).]
[dd] As to the Velocity of Sounds, by Reason the most celebrated Authors differ about it, I made divers nice Experiments my self, with good Instruments; by which I found, 1. That there is some, although a small Difference in the Velocity of Sounds, with or against the Wind: which also is, 2. Augmented or diminished by the Strength or Weakness of the Wind. But that nothing else doth accelerate or retard it, not the Differences of Day or Night, Heat or Cold, Summer or Winter, Cloudy or Clear, Barometer high or low, &c. 3. That all kinds of Sounds have the same Motion, whether they be loud or languid, of Bells, Guns, great or small, or any other sonorous Body. 4. That they fly equal Spaces in equal Times. Fifthly and Lastly, That the Mean of their Flight is at the Rate of a Mile in 9¼ half Seconds, or 1142 Feet in one Second of Time. Vid. Phil. Trans. Ibid.
[ee] Timothy a Musician could excite Alexander the Great to Arms with the Phrygian Sound, and allay his Fury with another Tone, and excite him to Merriment. So Ericus King of Denmark, by a certain Musician, could be driven to such a Fury, as to kill some of his best and most trusty Servants. More of this Power of Musick over the Affections, may be seen in Ath. Kirch. Phonurg. L. 2. §. 1. Also in Is. Vossius de Poematum cantu, & Rythmi viribus.