Abstract
I BELIEVE the echo observed by W. J. M. is of a different nature from mine and more analogous to one described by Oppel (Pogg. Ann. xciv. 357, 530). Each bar of the railing, when struck by the aërial pulse, diverts a small portion, which is scattered in all directions, much as if the bar were itself the source of sound. These derived pulses reach the ear of the observer at approximately equal intervals, and accordingly blend into a musical note, whose pitch, however, may not be quite constant. Oppel discusses the effect of different positions of the original source and the observer with respect to the grating, on which alone the pitch and its variations depend. It is evident that an echo formed in this way is in no sense selective.
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RAYLEIGH Harmonic Echoes. Nature 8, 528 (1873). https://doi.org/10.1038/008528c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/008528c0
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