Abstract
YOUR correspondent in NATURE of the 30th ult. (p. 415), mentions a sea-beach in Dorsetshire as the only place in the Kingdom, besides the Island of Eigg, where “musical” sand is known to occur. This summer I found the sand in Lunan Bay (Forfarshire) to be distinctly sonorous. The sound occurred on moving the foot across the sand, or moving a walking-stick or the finger. The sound was little inferior to that in Eigg. The attention of a fisherman having been directed to the circumstance, he informed me they were quite aware of the occurrence, and that the sound was frequently much louder than on the day I was there; depending, I presume, on the state of the sand and of the atmosphere. He also mentioned that the sound occurs in the sand of Montrose Bay. I observed that the best result was got where the sand was moderately dry, and that little or no effect was produced with such a greater degree of moisture as gave a good result in Eigg. The form and composition of the sand-grains differ considerably in the two localities. It seems probable that sand of this character occurs in more localities than hitherto supposed.
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K. Sonorous Sands. Nature 38, 515 (1888). https://doi.org/10.1038/038515c0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/038515c0
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