SINGULAR DISCOVERY.

Patea Mail, Volume IV, Issue 320, 11 May 1878, Page 4

SINGULAR DISCOVERY.

]NIr. H. A. Seveun, formerly of the Thames ami Auckland, and who is now lecturing in Australia, has written a letter to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, in which ho claims the merit of having made an important discovery, which may he put In practice by very simple means. The following is Mr. Severn’s letter:—“Sir,—Your being ever ready to publish in your paper facts that may bo useful, or in any way calculated to advance science, and thus improve the conditions under which we live, causes me to send yon the details of a singular discovery lhavc just made, if it may be so termed, viz., enabling deaf persons to hear by means of the simple tin-pot, parchment, and string telephone. To say much on the construction of this simple instrument is unnecessary. It may bo made thus : —Take any ordinary tin-pot, say three inches in diameter : open the closed end, and tie over it a piece of parchment as tightly as possible, pass a fine string through the centre, and make a knot inside ; connect two such tins by a long string, from 1 to 500 yards in length ; keep the string off the ground, let it hang or be stretched from the one tin to the other. It only remains for us to speak in one of these tins, when our friends may hoar us speaking, &c., by placing the ear near the far-away tin. This hearing' of the human voice under such circumstances, and with so simple an apparatus, is very wonderful. My object at present is to point out how this very simple instrument may be turned to groat serves—viz., to enable those deprived ox the sense of hearing to hear. My experiments led me to make the human head the receiving or hearing instrument. Proceed thus :—Pat aside the tin at the hearing end, or cause a loop to be made in the string some 3 feet long ; put this loop over the forehead of the listener ; cause him to place the palms of his hands flat and hard against the oars—let the loop pass over the hands and now the listener will hear the smallest whisper, lot him bo deaf or not. This fact may appear extraordinary; it is nevertheless true, that a deaf person may thus be made to hear the voice, music, &c. This matter opens up another field for thinking minds : the fact that the organ of hearing may be closed, and hearing of a most delicate nature made kn®wn to the brain, independently of the ear—that deaf persons may thus be made to hear !—I am, &c., H. A. Severn.”

Tli a Pall Mall Gazette, of 15th February, thus refers to matters familiar to us, and some of the statements in which, were contradicted at the time, whilst otlieis will be found slightly mixed:—“ Victoria is, unfortunately, not the only Colony which is in political hot water at the present time. That erratic politician, Sir George Grey, seems to be doing his utmost to throw the whole affairs of the Colony into confusion. After a long period of retirement from public life, he returned not longsince upon the scene as a party-leader where formerly he had been Governor. From that time to tins he has succeeded in stirring up strife all round him.

The Auckland Herald says : —The first parcel of wheat grown by the Katikati (Vesoy Stewart) settlers, was brought to Auckland by Mr H. M. Shepherd, and consisted of 100 sacks. It was pronounced by millers to bo a good sound sample, and Avas readily sold at 6s per bushel. On the 28th of April, His Lordship Bishop Redwood consecrated the Roman Catholic Church at Pahautanui. The Church cost £2OO, Avill accommodate 100 persons.

A Gazette of April 12th contains notification of Australian International Exhibition, which it is intended shall be held at Sydney, Ncav South Wales, in August, 1879. The programme contains twelve pages of closely printed matter. The exhibition will bo divided into two classes — agricultural and non-agricultural. Exhibition buildings Avill be specially erected, in the Prince Alfred Park. All goods for exhibition will be admitted duty free. The advertised estimate of Revenue and Expenditure, as required by Section 107 of “ The Counties Act, 1876,” of Vincent County (South Island) shows under the heading “sums available,” fixed deposit at bank £IO,OOO, credit balance £1563 7s 2d, subsidy on rates £3286 8s 2d, and other items, making up, Avith a shilling rate yielding. £2450 15s 6cl, the respectable tfital of £34,038 12s 4d for expenditure during the current year. ' The Walrarapa Register says—The district will, in ail probability, lose a most valuable settler in Mr Loavcs, avlio lias purchased a most valuable property at NukumaiTi, in the Waitotara district, about 20 miles north of Wanganui, from Mr J. M. Thompson. It consists of about 1700 acres, the price paid being £l2 per acre. When we say that it is one of the very choicest spots among the many in that neighbourhood, avo are certainly quite within the bounds of truth, and Mr Lowes will find that the price, high as it may seem to ns, is very reasonable. Mr Loavcs is one of those energetic colonists who does not like to see capital lying idle, and accordingly, Ibis district has always found him amongst ihe-foremost in every enterprise. The settlers of Wanganui will certainly find him a most valuable acquisition, although they are Avell-known for their spirit and enterprise.