Echo at Maidenhead

Abstract

THERE is a railway-bridge over the Thames at Maidenhead which is said to be of a wider span than any other in England. While standing beneath this arch, we hear the echo of a sound repeated fourteen or fifteen times with tolerable distinctness. From the first to the fourteenth echo occupies about five seconds. The sounds become, of course, less and less loud, but, at the same time, the pitch of the note is raised, and has at last risen three quarters of a tone as indicated by a delicate instrument which gives quarter-tones. As I have not seen a similar fact noticed in any work on Sound, I shall be glad if any of your readers can give an explanation.