Source: Outlines of Experiments and Inquiries respecting Sound
and￼ Light, from Philosophical Transactions Royal Society of
London (London: 1800) Original text  Young’s temperament is
usually considered to be an example of a circulating or “Well”
temperament. In the modern literature, it is always forced into
the mold of rational circulating logic by describing it as
having four fifths tempered by -1/6 of the Pythagorean comma
(C-G, G-D, D-A and A-E) and four fifths tempered by -1/12th
Pythagorean comma (B-F#, F#-C#, Bb-F and F-C). This ubiquitous
modern misrepresentation of its structure is caused by a failure
to consult the original source. Young’s original instructions as
well as the monocord dimensions he gives prove that this
rationalization is incorrect, and is an unfortunate perversion
of the historical record which hides the true origins of Young’s
logic and methodology: the tradition of mollified meantones.
While it would appear that Young was behind his continental
colleagues by 50 to 100 years, it