Page:Young - Outlines of experiments and inquiries respecting sound and light (1800).djvu/40

 tinguished during any part of the continuance of the sound. This demonstrates, that the secondary notes do not depend upon any interference of the vibrations of the air with each other, nor upon any sympathetic agitation of auditory fibres, nor upon any effect of reflected sound upon the chord, but merely upon its initial figure and motion. If it were supposed that the chord, when inflected into right lines, resolved itself necessarily into a number of secondary vibrations, according to some curves which, when properly combined, would approximate to the figure given, the supposition would indeed in some respects correspond with the phænomenon related; as the coefficients of all the curves supposed to end at the angle of inflection would vanish. But, whether we trace the constituent curves of such a figure through the various stages of their vibrations, or whether we follow the more compendious method of to the same purpose, the figures resulting from this series of vibrations are in fact so simple, that it seems inconceivable how the ear should deduce the complicated idea of a number of heterogeneous vibrations, from a motion of the particles of air which must be extremely regular, and almost uniform; an uniformity which, when proper precautions are taken, is not contradicted by examining the motion of the chord with the assistance of a powerful magnifier. This difficulty occurred very strongly to ; and even suspects some fallacy in the experiment, and that a musical ear judges from previous association. But, besides that these sounds are discoverable to an ear destitute of such associations, and, when the sound is produced by two strings in imperfect unison, may be verified by counting the number of their beats, the experiment already related is an undeniable proof that no fallacy