Galton Whistle
The Galton whistle, invented by Sir Frances Galton
(1822-1911), was one of the earliest devices used in testing hearing.
It
was used in the first quarter of the 20th century, but was later
abandoned when better instruments were introduced, including the
audiometer.
The Galton whistle can be adjusted to produce very high
frequency sounds between 5000 Hz and 42,000 Hz.
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You adjust the frequency by moving
a slider through a scale of 0 to 16 (right side) with 16 being the lowest frequency, i. e. 5000 Hz.
(Click on the picture on the right to enlarge it to see this detail
better.)
Because it could produce high-frequency sounds, the Galton whistle
was instrumental in discovering presbycusis, the
gradual loss of high frequency hearing due to aging.
The instruments pictured here were made by Hawksley &
Sons, hearing trumpet manufacturers of London, England.
The white unit with the ivory face plate (top 2 pictures) is used by
blowing through a small mouthpiece on the left and adjusting the slider
on the right. It produces a sustained note according to the frequency
set on the slider. |
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The black unit (3rd & 4th pictures) comes with a rubber bulb that
attaches to the left and is puffed to produce short sounds. It is
interesting that you can’t get the same sustained effect with
this unit by blowing into the device that you can with the white unit.
Thus these two Galton whistles serve slightly different purposes in
hearing testing.
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The rubber bulb comes off for storage. |
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A view of the Galton Whistle (blow model) in its original box. Note that
the slider comes out for storage. |
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A view of the Galton Whistle (puff model) in its original box.
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