Books › On the Function of the Sound-Post and on the Proportional Thickness of the Strings of the Violin, 1883 › scan 7
Scan 7
On the Function of the Sound-Post and on the Proportional Thickness of the Strings of the Violin, 1883
17 lines. Read by computer on 18 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1It will be seen that the 1st string is thicker, and the 3rd thinner, and the 4th much lighter than the theoretical values. Therefore the tension of the 1st string would be greater, and that of the 3rd and 4th strings less than they should be in relation to that of the 2nd string. The greater flexural rigidity of the 4th string will have a small effect in the direction of making the vibrations quicker, and therefore of making the tension required less.
3By means of a mechanical contrivance I found the weights necessary to deflect the strings to the same amount when the violin was in tune. The results agreed with the tensions which the sizes of the strings showed they would require to give fifths.
5A violin strung with strings of the theoretical size was very unsatisfactory in tone.
7The explanation of this departure of the sizes of the strings which long experience has shown to be practically most suitable, from the values they should have from theory, lies probably in the circumstance that the height of the bridge is different for the different strings. It is obvious, where the bridge is high, there is a greater downward pressure. By this modification of the sizes of the strings there is not the greater pressure on the 4th string side of the bridge, which would otherwise be the case. On the contrary, the pressure is less, which may assist the setting of the belly into vibration. There is also the circumstance that the strings which go over a high part of the bridge stand farther from the finger-board, and have therefore to be pressed through a greater distance, which would require more force than is required for the other strings, if the tension were not less.
9II. "Note on the Atomic Weight of Glucinum or Beryllium."
10By J. EMERSON REYNOLDS, M.D., F.R.S. Received May 8, 1883.
12In the course of a paper by Professor Humpidge on the above subject, recently read before the Society,* the author seeks to decide between the atomic weight 9·2 for beryllium, resulting from my comparison of the atomic heat of the element with that of silver and aluminium,† and the value 13·8, arrived at by MM. Nilson and Pettersson by determination of specific heat.‡ The difference between the two possible atomic weights is so small, and the difficulties met with in
14* Read April 12, 1883.
15† "Chemical News," vol. xxxv, p. 124, and vol. xlii, p. 273. A slight modification of the method of comparison adopted is described in detail in the writer's "Experimental Chemistry" (Longmans), Part I, p. 59.
16‡ "Proc. Roy. Soc.," vol. 31, p. 37.
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