Hörrohr

The engraving illustrates a bulbous chamber connected to a long, tapered horn intended to gather and focus sound. Various points on the instrument are marked with the letters A, B, C, D, G, and H to designate its mechanical components and the path of acoustic waves. The image serves as a scientific illustration of 17th-century experiments in the physics of sound.

Athanasius Kircher's studies in acoustics represented a bridge between Renaissance natural magic and early modern science, where he sought to uncover the 'harmonia mundi' (world harmony). This device was part of his effort to master the 'magical' properties of nature through mechanics, a recurring theme in his polymathic output and his work on the universal resonance of the divine.