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SPEECH, MUSIC, AND HEARING 253
mental. Through the analytical investigations of sound by this method the ideal musical tone for any voice or instrument can be accurately defined and reproduced.
Sound travels only 1,089 feet a second in air at 32 degrees F., the speed increasing a little more than one foot a second for every degree of rise in temperature. We see distant lightning long before we hear the peal of thunder, because light travels so much faster than sound (186,000 miles a second). Sound grows fainter with distance. We can easily understand why this is so: as the sound waves move out from the centre, the original impetus given them is spread out thinner and thinner. A locomotive whistle rises to a shrill shriek as it approaches and dies away to a low, mournful wail as the train departs, even though the whistle is emitting vibrations at the same rate all the time.
The distance of sound is judged by the feebleness of its impulse on the ear. We can readily judge direction in sound, as to whence a voice proceeds — before or behind — or to the right or left of us — or above — or below us — but if we were to stand blindfold opposite a row of persons at a distance of, say, ten feet we would not be able to say which person emitted a given sound.
The influence of familiarity is well exemplified in sound. We can more clearly hear a language we understand than we can a foreign language. It is comparatively easy to catch an utterance in a familiar language, even when very faintly spoken, and in the same manner a familiar voice is more easily discernible than the voice of a stranger. The better acquainted the mental system is with an impression of sound, the more easily is it heard. Thus, a familiar sound or musical composition is immediately recognized, even though heard or played very lightly, whereas an unfamiliar sound or musical composition cannot make the same impression.