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Hawke's Bay Times, Volume II, Issue 34, 20 February 1862, Page 3

Englishmen are made to feel the consequences of the ■wav in America in a very unexpected manner. It appears thcreis a regular system of American espionage established in Liverpool. Merchants ■who hare commercial relations with the South are dogged about in that town in the most determined and preservering manner. There steps are followed, their houses are watched, their friends and acquaintances are,marked out for suspicion. Things have gone so far that persons have been arrested in New York at the moment of their landing there on no other ground than that before leaving England they were In communication with merchants in Liverpool who have fallen under the surveillance of these American spies. Reeoe.tin& by Maciuneuy.— lt is not easy to conceive a mechanical operation which requires a greater exercise of intellect than that of verbatim reporting by means of, short hand. Yet even this art seems likely before long to be supplanted. For several: years a French savon, Mr L. Scott, has been engaged in experiments on the fixation of sound upon a prepared tablet, in the same way as photography fixes luminous images, and has met with considerable success in this new art, which ho has named “ Phonautography.” At a recent

sitting of the French Acdomy of Sciences, a short communication on the subject was made by the discoverer, a brief outline of which will perhaps be considered of interest. The problem which first required solution was the artificial construction of an ear, by means of tubes and diaphragms, so as to imitate as nearly as possible the human ear, in its power of collecting sounds of every degree of intensity and transmitting them to a delicate membrane placed at the extremity. After numerous essays an apparatus was constructed which possessed the above qualifications ; the membrane was seen to vibrate visibly, and in a different banner, with each audible sound or note ; and if a pen or style were fastened to this membrane its point would trace the wonderfully beautiful and complicated curves and circles appertaining to the elements of sound. The next difficulty consisted in finding a sensitive surface upon which this style could mark the imprint of its movements, for the vibrations of the asrial pen were so delicate that, if any appreciable force were required to effect the transcription, the resistance would at once stop aU movement. This difficulty was at last overcome by employing a strip of thin paper upon which was deposited a film of lamp black obtained fmm the smoke of burning bodies. The phonograhs produced by M. Scott’s instrument are marvellously correct ; every separate source of so end has an individuality of its on n. An oration, delivered with varying rapidity, and with the pitch of the voice greatly modulated in different parts has a very striking appearance in its phonograph. Rapidly-spoken parts have the curves crowded together, whilst in others they are widely separated. The loud tones of the voice are show n by the written waves rising to perhaps half an inch or more in height ; the modulations of the voice are thus shown very beautifully by the varying height of what may be called the letters of sound. The problem of the graphic fixation of sound may thus be considered as accomplished ; hut now a new difficulty arises, that of translating these over varying curves back again into ordinary language. If each word or syllable or even compound sound of which our spoken language is built up were invariably represented by the same system of curves, the work of transcription would be comparatively easy. This however is far from being the case. Not only does the impression vary with the tone of the voice, the rapidity or loudness of utterance, hut it has been found that the same words uttered by one person are written down by the instrument very differently from the wpy they are when spoken by another ; just as the handwriting of one person differs from another. This, however, isadilfieu'ty whichw :, i he overcome by practice, and perhaps, improved instrumental arrangements. The fact of being able to make spoken sounds record themselves permanently on paper is of iise’f most singular and astonishing ; but ,T it is ever developed, ?s the inventor says it shortly wpi be, to sufficient perfection to enable it to take down speeches which may he written off veroc'-m, it is difficult to imagine the Impoi tance of the discovery whether it be in respect to the urimpcrchable accuracy of the process, the entire absence of trouble and expense in reporting any articulate sounds, or the greater saving the tune and the exhausting labors of parliamentary rcpoi ters.

A Novel A cent is Wapfjre. —The New Orleans battering-ram relies for its means of offence and defence upon the plentiful administration of hot water, which is thrown through hose attached to boi'ers on the enemy’s vessels. The vessel is the length of an ordinary steamboat, the roof being arched in shape, covered with railroad iron, so as to prevent balls from penetrating, and balls in striking will immediately glance off without having any effect, let the position of the gun be what it may. At the bow of the boat is a ponderous cutter made of the best steel, the object of which is to cut a vessel in two. This wid require a very great power, which the projectors thnik they have attained in the way of two powerful engines. The vessel attacked by this ram if it survives bisection, is to be disabled by boding water, which will drive the men from the deck, and spoil the charges ini reduced into the cannon. This is not, however, an entirely novel idea. Some years ago a similar means of defence incidentally, and made without special appliances was signally effective. A small .British war-steamer, cruising in the China seas, was attacted by a whole lleet of the pirates who infest those waters in such great numbers, and, notwithstanding the best defence that could be made with guns and small arras, they were commencing to board in swarms, when the engineer, without orders, brought up ' a hose from the boiler to the deck, where, by a little well-directed squirting in a very few seconds they were all driven overboard into their boats or into the sea ; and many who escaped scalding were drowned. —j European paper. Storm Signals. —The storm signals consist of a staff and two canvas shapes, one of which is the form of a cylinder, and the other that of a cone. A cone hoisted denotes a gale from the north, and when inverted, a southerly gale. The drum gives notice of stormy winds from different quarters, a cone and drum give warning of dangerous winds the probable direction of which is signified by the cone being above or below the drum. It is intended, as soon as the necessary arrangements can be made that these signals shall be shown on lighthouses and on prominent coast-guard stations. The hoisting of storm signals Aviil be governed by telegraphic instructions from Admiral Fitzroy. When lighthouses can be communicated with by telegraph for storm signal purposes, arrangements will he made for homeward-hound ships to receive from lighthouse keepers orders from consignees and owners, and thus avoid unneesessary delay and pilot and harbor dues. Those who arc great men in a little circle, and little men in a great one show their learning to (ho ignorant, and (heir ignorance to the learn-