Electric Sounds 191
Prefacing his discussion of the multidimensionality of these phenomena, Ø rsted men-
tions a general philosophical argument from Schelling correlating the three dimensions of
space with “ the construction of matter by the attractive and repulsive forces. ” Schelling ’ s
general observation, however, only sets the stage for Ø rsted ’ s own specific argument,
phrased against the background of his sound-electricity figures and ending with a specific
identification of magnetism as “ longitudinal, ” electricity as “ latitudinal, ” and “ depth ” as
chemical. Thus, in 1805 Ø rsted was already thinking about the relation between electricity
and magnetism in terms of perpendicular directions.
The relation between this train of thought and sound phenomena comes forward clearly
in his “ Experiments on Acoustic Figures ” (1810). Ø rsted notes that, when observed
more closely, what had been taken as simple straight lines in Chladni figures are actually
hyperboloidal curves. He connects this with the varying transmission of sound waves
through the plate, as excited by a violin bow, speculating that “ there is nothing to prevent ”
all the other conic sections from forming on very large plates. Ø rsted contrasts this with
the various patterns seen and sounds (more or less dull) heard when one taps different
points along the plate. Thus, he treats the action of the bow as compounding many small
taps into a more continuous excitation. To test this, Ø rsted first records the “ crude ” image
after one stroke of the bow, then again after the pattern has been completed after further
strokes (figure 12.5). This emphasizes the dynamic quality of the sound figures, not merely
their static appearance once they have been formed. Ø rsted was struck by the living,
organic quality of this dynamism, which he takes not simply as transient phenomena
superseded by the completed figure but as clues to the “ life ” recorded by the figures ’
changing forms.
Consistent with his writings on sound since 1804, Ø rsted in this 1810 essay treats elec-
tricity and sound as essentially connected: the motions of the particles on a plate indicate
its electrical configuration. He shares Ritter ’ s idea that convex curvature of the plate would
lead to positive charge, concave to negative.^24 At this point, Ø rsted ’ s thought becomes
sharper, akin to the very pattern he was watching clarify on the plate. The motion of the
powder particles elucidates the inner activity of electricity/sound, moving in undulations
around the plate, in which an initial impulse (say from some point on the edge) spreads
out sideways as it travels, generating further motion perpendicular to its original direction.
Here Ø rsted has gone past the generalities of Schelling to indicate a nascent argument
about how electricity, like the sound it generates and that in turn generates it, may cause
effects that transduce between one and two dimensions. Ø rsted observes various degrees
of harmoniousness generated by different “ dimensionalities ” of tapping: a “ dull thud ” at
one point, a “ clatter ” when a whole side of the plate is struck, a “ proper tone ” when the
whole surface is excited (as by a violin bow), at which point Chladni ’ s striking patterns
emerge. From this, Ø rsted connects music with these visible manifestations: “ the most
perfect and internally harmonious motion of bodies is also the one which, through the ear,
produces the deepest impression on our internal sense of beauty. ”^25 Ø rsted also echoes