Experi
ment 26.
ment 26.
THat the Air is the medium whereby
ſounds are convey'd to the Ear, has
been for many Ages, and is yet the com
mon Doctrine of the Schools. But this
Received Opinion has been of late op
poſ'd by ſome Philoſophers upon the ac
count of an Experiment made by the
Induſtrious Kircher, and other Learned
Men, who have (as they aſſure us) ob
ſerv'd, That if a Bell, with a Steel Clap
per, be ſo faſten'd to the inſide of a Tube,
that upon the making the Experiment De
Vacuo with that Tube, the Bell remain'd
ſuſpended in the deſerted ſpace at the up
per end of the Tube: And if alſo a vi
gorous Load-ſtone be apply'd on the out
ſide of the Tube to the Bell, it will at
tract the Clapper, which upon the Remo
val of the Load-ſtone falling back, will
ſtrike againſt the oppoſite ſide of the
Bell, and thereby produce a very audible
ſound, whence divers have concluded,
That 'tis not the Air, but ſome more ſub
tle Body that is the medium of ſounds.
But becauſe we conceiv'd that, to invali
date ſuch a conſequence from this ingeni
ous Experiment (though the moſt lucife-
ſounds are convey'd to the Ear, has
been for many Ages, and is yet the com
mon Doctrine of the Schools. But this
Received Opinion has been of late op
poſ'd by ſome Philoſophers upon the ac
count of an Experiment made by the
Induſtrious Kircher, and other Learned
Men, who have (as they aſſure us) ob
ſerv'd, That if a Bell, with a Steel Clap
per, be ſo faſten'd to the inſide of a Tube,
that upon the making the Experiment De
Vacuo with that Tube, the Bell remain'd
ſuſpended in the deſerted ſpace at the up
per end of the Tube: And if alſo a vi
gorous Load-ſtone be apply'd on the out
ſide of the Tube to the Bell, it will at
tract the Clapper, which upon the Remo
val of the Load-ſtone falling back, will
ſtrike againſt the oppoſite ſide of the
Bell, and thereby produce a very audible
ſound, whence divers have concluded,
That 'tis not the Air, but ſome more ſub
tle Body that is the medium of ſounds.
But becauſe we conceiv'd that, to invali
date ſuch a conſequence from this ingeni
ous Experiment (though the moſt lucife-