Democratic Sentinel, Volume 1, Number 41, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 November 1877 — An Experiment for Boys. [ARTICLE]

An Experiment for Boys.

Take two empty oyster cans and a .-tout, smooth suing. Let a hole be made in the bottom of each cun, thro’ which the string, say iii’ty or one h ind.ed feet in length, is passed and secured. Then let the experimenters set up their talking telegraph by choosing their stations as far apart as the tightly stretched string will permit. and while one of the operators holds his ear to one of the cans, and liis companion his mouth to the can of the other end of the line, they will fiml that a conversation cun be carried on so that low tones and e ven a whisper will be distinctly perceptible. What usually most astonishes those who make this experiment for the first time, is that the sound of the voice does not seem to come from the person speaking at the other end of the string, but to issue from the can itself , which is held to the ear of the listener. This at first appears to be a deception, but it is really not so. The ear tells the exact truth. The voice that is heard really comes from the can that is held to the ear of the hearer. Ihe voice of the speaker communicates sound-producing vibrations to the walls of the can with which his voice is In immediate contact. These vibrations are communi cuted to the string, Lut so changed that they no longer affect the ear. A person may stand bv the string while the sound is passing, and yet hear nothing. At the other end of the string, however, these vibrations re produce themselves as sound.

A Bkautifvl Household Pl\nt.— . The Calla Lily, roots of which maybe procured of any florist, is one of our finest plants for house-growing, when | properly treated. The best method we have tried is to procure an earthen i jar—suitably decorated on the out- ; side if desired, by painting or pasting 'on of frieze or flower pictures, or by ! a paper open-work covering. In tiffs ’ place rich mould somejilve or six i inches deep, and in this set the Calla i plant. Now put on the top of this mould a layer of clean, coarse and small pebbles. Then fill the jar with water, an I replace as evaporated, so as to always have the water several inches dt en above the pebbles. Place ! in a warm and sunny window, and the ; plant will throw up large, luxuriant i leaves to be followed by the magnificent bloom. What is still better, the I flower stalks will be sent up in a sucI cession so as to afford a nearly con- | tin nous series of flowers. AfewminI nows introduced into the water will thrive without further care, and as- ; ford a pleasing study.