46 - Acoustical Observations. I

Summary

Perception of the Direction of a Source of Sound.

In a paper with the above title, communicated last year to the Musical Association and afterwards published in abstract in Nature [Art. XL.], I brought forward the fact that we are unable to distinguish whether a pure tone (obtained from a tuning-fork and air-resonator) is immediately in front of or immediately behind us—although with other sounds, and notably with the human voice, there is in general no difficulty. In order to make the experiment satisfactorily, it is necessary to provide two similar forks and resonators and to place the observer between them. At a given signal both forks are struck, but one of them only is held over its resonator. If this precaution be neglected, the noise attending the excitation of the fork vitiates the experiment. Subsequently to the reading of my paper, it occurred to me that if the ordinary view as to the functions of the two ears be correct, there must be other ambiguous cases besides those already experimented upon. To the right of the observer, and probably nearly in the line of the ears, there must be one direction in which the ratio of the intensity of sound as heard by the right ear to the intensity as heard by the left ear has a maximum value greater than unity. For sounds coming from directions in front of this the ratio of intensities has a less and less value, approaching unity as its limit when the sound is immediately in front.