Phonautograph

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Phonautograph \Pho*nau"to*graph\, n. [Phono- + Gr. a'yto`s self
     + -graph.] (Physics)
     An instrument by means of which a sound can be made to
     produce a visible trace or record of itself. It consists
     essentially of a resonant vessel, usually of paraboloidal
     form, closed at one end by a flexible membrane. A stylus


     attached to some point of the membrane records the movements
     of the latter, as it vibrates, upon a moving cylinder or
     plate.
     [1913 Webster]