Speaking Trumpet

Speaking Trumpet is an instrument which forms, as it were, a sounding-board for the voice, and enables speech to be heard at a far greater distance than would otherwise be the case. It consists of a cone cut near its apex to form a convenient opening into which to speak. The other end is curved slightly outwards. The compressions and expansions of the air in the trumpet are protected from the effects of violent wind outside; the whole of the air just outside the opening is set in motion by the waves of sound. Without the trumpet the initial waves would have been destroyed in a storm, or at any rate much weakened before they had traversed a distance equal to the length of the trumpet. It is of great use at sea in enabling orders to be heard across the ship in boisterous weather.