The intervening Years.

Following the same train of reasoning let us see where this will lead us.

The next thing we hear from Keely is this passage.

"While yet a young man, Keely learned carpentry and used his income to pursue his experiments in sound vibrations. About 1866 while he was pursuing a line of experimentation in sonic vibrations, he discovered a hitherto unknown energy. He was subjecting water to sonic vibrations and had an explosion which wrecked his apparatus. Six years of intensive experiments passed before he was able to produce this energy at will. He found that 42,800 vibrations per second would vaporise water instantly into energy. He named this energy 'Etheric Force' and the process of changing the substance of water into etheric force Dissociation".

In 1862 Koenig had invented the manometric flame which allowed researchers for the first time to observe sound visually. Keely would have had one when he did his experimenting. Being intensely interested in the subject he would have read about it. It is not a complex instrument and he would have found it easy to make one or have one made for him cheaply.

It is important here to explain what a manometric flame is, how it works and why Keely had to be in possession of one.

Manometric Flame Apparatus

Inside a resonant cavity is a membrane made out of thin rubber that divides the cavity into two equal sections.
Through one half a stream of gas is passed leading to a small burner at the top, the other half has an opening through which sound can enter.

The introduction of sound waves causes the membrane to vibrate.

These vibrations are transferred to the stream of gas by the membrane the result being that the height of the flame varies with different compression and decompression cycles.

The flame is observed through a rotating mirror or prism, which acts as a stroboscope allowing the operator to 'freeze' the motion of the flame simply by matching the speed of rotation to the cycle under observation.

Just the thing for Keely. I cannot find anything in his writings that mentions a manometric flame though I know that he was in possession of a revolving prism, he mentions it in connection with one of his devices in his writing.

Next Chapter:
EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE DISCOVERY OF THE DISSOCIATION OF WATER.

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Hans von Lieven, copyright 2007