In 1876, an English scientist named Francis Galton introduced a whistle for testing the upper limits of audible sound in different persons. One of Galton's discoveries was the loss of hearing in high frequencies as persons aged. The whistle was often used in later psychological experiments where the subject was asked to indicate the discernment of tones. The whistle's inability to emit a tone of constant pitch was it's main deficit, leading many researchers away from its use, especially as electronic equipment became available.
The “EDELMANN / MUNICH” inscription on this example is that of Max Thomas Edelmann, an instrument maker in Munich who improved the form in 1900. The serial number is 468.
Ref: “The Galton Whistle,” Science 12 (1900): 613.
Physikalisch-mechanischen Institut von Prof. Dr. M. Th. Edelmann & Sohn, Die Edelmannschen Grenzpfeifen (Galtonpfeifen) von D. M. Edelmann (Munich, 1921).
Galton, Francis, "Inquries into Human Faculty and Its Development: Whistles for Audibility of Shrill Notes (1883), in Dennis, W. Readings in the History of Psychology, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1948: 277
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