Astronomy and General Physics Considered with Reference to Natural Theology

by William Whewell

There are several remarkable circumstances in the way in which air answers its purpose as the vehicle of sound, of which we will now point out a few.

2. The loudness of sound is such as is convenient for common purposes. The organs of speech can, in the present constitution of the air, produce, without fatigue, such a tone of voice as can be heard with distinctness and with comfort. That any great alteration in this element might be incommodious, we may judge from the difficulties to which persons are subject who are dull of hearing, and from the disagreeable effects of a voice much louder than usual, or so low as to be indistinct. Sounds produced by the human organs, with other kinds of air, are very different from those in our common air. If a man inhale a quantity of hydrogen gas, and then speak, his voice is scarcely audible.

The loudness of sounds become smaller in proportion as they come from a greater distance. This enables us to judge of the distance of objects, in some degree at least, by the sounds which proceed from them. Moreover, it is found that we can judge of the position of objects by the ear: and this judgment seems to be formed by comparing the loudness of the impression of the same sound on the two ears and two sides of the head.[14]

The loudness of sounds appears to depend on the extent of vibration of the particles of air, and this is determined by the vibrations of the sounding body.

3. The pitch, or the differences of acute and grave, in sounds, form another important property, and one which fits them for a great part of their purposes. By the succession of different notes, we have all the results of melody and harmony in musical sound; and of intonation and modulation of the voice, of accent, cadence, emphasis, expression, passion, in speech. The song of birds, which is one of their principal modes of communication, depends chiefly for its distinctions and its significance upon the combinations of acute and grave.

These differences are produced by the different rapidity of vibration of the particles of air. The gravest sound has about eighty vibrations in a second, the most acute about one thousand. Between these limits each sound has a musical character, and from the different relations of the number of vibrations in a second arise all the differences of musical intervals, concords and discords.

4. The quality of sounds is another of their differences. This is the name given to the difference of notes of the same pitch, that is the same note as to acute and grave, when produced by different instruments. If a flute and a violin be in unison, the notes are still quite different sounds. It is this kind of difference which distinguishes the voice of one man from that of another: and it is manifestly therefore one of great consequence; since it connects the voice with the particular person, and is almost necessary in order that language may be a medium of intercourse between men.

5. The articulate character of sounds is for us one of the most important arrangements which exist in the world; for it is by this that they become the interpreters of thought, will and feeling, the means by which a person can convey his wants, his instructions, his promises, his kindness, to others; by which one man can regulate the actions and influence the convictions and judgments of another. It is in virtue of the possibility of shaping air into words, that the imperceptible vibrations which a man produces in the atmosphere, become some of his most important actions; the foundations of the highest moral and social relations; and the condition and instrument of all the advancement and improvement of which he is susceptible.

It appears that the differences of articulate sound arise from the different form of the cavity through which the sound is made to proceed immediately after being produced. In the human voice the sound is produced in the larynx, and modified by the cavity of the mouth, and the various organs which surround this cavity. The laws by which articulate sounds are thus produced have not yet been fully developed, but appear to be in the progress of being so.

The properties of sounds which have been mentioned, differences of loudness, of pitch, of quality, and articulation, appear to be all requisite in order that sound shall answer its purposes in the economy of animal and of human life. And how was the air made capable of conveying these four differences, at the same time that the organs were made capable of producing them? Surely by a most refined and skilful adaptation, applied with a most comprehensive design.