Hi:

I think the device in question would be an Edison cylinder dictation machine. This was the original 
intended use for the phonograph. I found this image using Google image search:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d8/Dictation_using_cylinder_phonograph.png

Note the earphones on the table to the right and forward. That could be described as a forked metal 
device.

I'm way out on thin ice with this so some of the Edison experts on this list might shoot this theory 
down!

-- Tom Fine

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andrew Elfenbein" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, October 10, 2009 8:07 AM
Subject: [ARSCLIST] Dracula query


>I am an English professor working on a new edition of Bram Stoker's _Dracula_ (1897), and I have a 
>query about the phonograph on which Dr. Seward keeps his audio diary.  At a critical point in the 
>plot, he shares it with Mina Harker, who writes about the experience:
>
>    He placed me in a comfortable chair, and arranged the phonograph so that I could touch it 
> without getting up, and showed me how     to stop it in case I should want to pause . . . I put 
> the forked metal to my ears and listened.
>
> My query involves the "forked metal":  what is Mina describing?  Can anyone recommend a picture of 
> the device to which she is referring?
> I appreciate any help that the group might be able to provide.
>
> Best,
>
> Andrew Elfenbein
> Department of English
> University of Minnesota--Twin Cities
>