INDEX TO NOTES ON ORGANS.

The

Box

Of

Whistles.

CHAPTER I.
INTRODUCTORY.

The Box of Whistles! what a quaint title! Yes, but a good one, I think, for this book, as the old organ of Father Smith’s in St. Paul’s, “The Box of Whistles,” as Sir Christopher Wren contemptuously called it, was the first organ I ever saw, and which gave me my bent in the liking of things pertaining to the organ. Well do I recollect standing, a very small boy, under the Dome of St. Paul’s, on a dark winter’s afternoon, looking at Grinling Gibbons’ noble case, hearing some grand out-going voluntary, and trying to see the angels put their trumpets to their mouths, when the reeds were drawn, which I could never catch them doing. Now the organ is perhaps the only instrument which gives equal gratification to three separate classes of individuals, who are often very different in other respects, the Musician, the Mechanician, and the Architect. The Musician likes it for its tone and power, giving sounds which no other instrument can give, and imitating the tones of almost every other instrument. The Mechanician likes it as a complicated machine; and the different modes of its action, and the varied ways of supplying it with wind, are sources of pleasure and amusement to him. The Architect admires its noble look, as it stands towering high in Cathedral, Church, or Concert Room, its case covered with carved work, and its pipes bright with gilding, be its style Gothic or Renaissance. Remember that an organ is built, other musical instruments are made. The Musician very likely cares not for its look, so long as the tone pleases him, and possibly knows little, and cares less, how the sound is produced. The Mechanician is pleased to know how and why certain tones and effects are obtained, caring perhaps very little for real music, and as for the case, he never gives it a thought. The Architect may have but small knowledge of music; as for the mechanical part of the instrument, it is not in the least in his line; but he does feel the impress of its grandeur, and admires the complex design of a large and well-built organ case. I am no player, but I much like the sound of an organ, and to hear good music played on it.

Of mechanics I have some knowledge, but it is in general difficult to get a sight of the internal works of an organ. They are well described in Hopkins’s work, “The Organ,” 1870, and the “Encyclopédie Roret,” 1849, which, in its valuable reprint of Dom Bedos, “L’Art du Facteur des Orgues,” gives excellent details and good engravings. To me it seems a pity that this work has not been translated into English, and brought down to the present time, as technical terms in a foreign language are difficult even to good linguists. To the organ builder, it is a more useful work than that of Mr. Hopkins, as the French book is for the practical man, while the English work is for the general reader. I am not an architect, but in my leisure hours architecture and drawing have been my amusements. For some years I have sketched and taken notes of the different organs which I have had the good fortune to see either at home or abroad, and I now venture to publish (a small quota to general knowledge) my notes and drawings of organs, the collecting of which has been my recreation for many an hour. I think that the ground on which I now venture has not as yet been occupied by any one.

Mr. Hopkins gives but general information about organ cases, and no engravings. The “Encyclopédie Roret” gives more particulars, and also furnishes a few engravings, and the English edition of “Seidel’s Treatise on the Organ” is very cursory on this subject. Further information can be gleaned from the Rev. F. H. Sutton’s “Short Account of Organs Built in England,” &c., 1847, which gives small woodcuts of the typical cases of the old English builders, and at the end of the work, five designs of the late Mr. Pugin are given, which are worth studying; and from “Some Account of the Mediæval Organ Case,” &c., 1866, and “Church Organs,” 1872, by the Rev. F. H. Sutton, both of which are very good for reference. Mr. Faulkner’s “Designs for Organs,” 1838, is now rather out of date, but C. K. K. Bishop’s “Notes on Church Organs” gives nice suggestive plates. If the very fine and exhaustive work on “Foreign Gothic Organs,” mentioned by the Rev. Mr. Sutton in his “Mediæval Organ Case,” 1866, should ever see light, it would be first-class, as it would contain drawings and details of the best Gothic organs, which are rare, and of which it is difficult to obtain drawings or descriptions. There are many small works which give drawings, &c., to which I do not more particularly refer, out of which useful information may be gleaned.

What I wish to put before my readers in this book, is a short description of the different classes of organ cases, with my remarks and notes of various instruments, illustrated by lithographs and chromo-lithographs, from my own sketches. Having now explained my intention, I have to beg those who read this, my first work, not to be very severe on my errors and shortcomings.

CHAPTER II.
THE ORGAN CASE. (Buffet, French; Orgel Gehause, German; Kist o’ Whistles, Scotticè). Division into Four Classes.—Subdivisions of ditto.

Organ cases may broadly be divided into four classes. Firstly, those which stand at the end of the nave or transept of a Church, or the end of a Concert Room. Secondly, organs which are pendent from the side of the nave or choir of a large Church. Thirdly, organs which stand on Choir Screens; and Fourthly, organs standing on the ground. Of these classes many sub-divisions may be made. Of the organs in these four classes, those in No. 1 are in general the most imposing, those in No. 2 the most picturesque, those in No. 3 the best for sound, and those in No. 4 require some skill to make them rival their compeers. Class 1 may be sub-divided into—

A. Those which fill the entire end, or nearly so, of the building in which they stand;

B. Those which have a window, or “Rose” over them; and,

C. Divided Organs, and those with exceptionally designed cases.

A. This sub-class (a very ordinary one in England and Holland) has the finest cases in the world, for I suppose that the grandest and most elaborate case in Europe is that in St. Jan’s Church, Hertogenbosch (Bois-le-Duc), rich in sculptured oak, and bright with burnished tin pipes and gilding. Externally, although it has not got so many stops, it is as large as its well-known neighbour at Haarlem, which has till lately been considered the type of a “Great Organ.” Haarlem has a noble case, with excellent pipe-work within, but its effect is injured by paint. The organ in the Hof Kirche, Lucerne, also has quaint oak carving in its thirty-two feet front, and for pretty cases, that at St. Jacques, Liége, by some considered the best of its kind, and the Organs in St. Lawrence, Jewry, and St. Stephen’s, Walbrook, the last looking somewhat like a miniature of that at Troyes, may be cited as good examples.

B. A sub-class to which very many of the large French organs may be referred. In general, these are more picturesque than those in Sub-class A, not that the absolute design is so, but that the architectural effect of the window above the case makes a most effective combination. In France, the usual window is a Rose, a form I think the best for the termination of a nave or transept, and when this is filled with stained glass, as is often the case, the effect is all that can be desired. The organs in Amiens, Rheims, Troyes, and Rouen Cathedrals, and also in Rouen in the Churches of St. Ouen and St. Maclou, are first-class examples. This sub-class is rare in England, few of our churches being sufficiently lofty to allow an organ to stand in such a position.

Sub-class C. is employed to show the west window. Fair examples are to be seen at St. Gudule, Bruxelles, and in Gray’s Inn Chapel. Among the exceptional cases, that in the Cathedral Church of St. Vitus at Prague, is one of the most curious, being cut up into four divisions, and scattered about the west galleries; and for an ugly style of exceptional case, there is one in a church in Ghent, about as ugly as can well be wished.

Class II. This class, as I have mentioned before, is highly picturesque, but is not very common. Good examples are to be seen in Strasburg and Chartres Cathedrals, and in the Minster at Freiburg, in Bresgau, all pendent in the nave; and there is a grand modern example hanging in the north side of the Choir at Ely. Organs which may be placed in this class are not uncommonly built against the east wall of the Transept in large Belgian churches: one in the cathedral church of St. Bavon, Ghent, is a good example. There must be some difficulty in building a large instrument in this position, and a lofty church is required to contain it.

Class III. may likewise be subdivided into two divisions: A. Single Cases, often with a Choir Organ in front; and B. Divided Cases. Of the former sub-class, the old organ in St. Paul’s was in every way a fine example. The old organ in Durham Cathedral was the best of Father Smith’s usual design, all his cases having a strong family likeness, that at St Paul’s being almost the only exception. The case on the Grand Screen in York Minster, although perhaps not in the best taste, is effective; and of the latter sub-class, the organ in St. Jacques, Antwerp, is excellent, and is worth the study of any one who may have to erect a divided “Screen Organ.” The much-divided organ case in Westminster Abbey I am Goth enough to call bad.

Class IV. The divisions of this class are numerous, and often occur in modern churches. A. those standing on the floor against the wall of the nave or chancel. St Mary’s, Nottingham, has a first-class modern specimen, an amplification of the organ case in Strasburg Cathedral. B. Those standing in the nave, aisle, or some corner. A good example of an old case in the first position, is in St. Clement’s, East Cheap; and the organ in All Hallows, Lombard Street, is a good specimen of one in the second position. Both these instruments, not so many years ago, stood in galleries at the west end of their respective churches. C. Those in Organ Chambers, examples of which, I am sorry to say, are common in new and restored Churches. D. Those in Organ Chapels, which are rather better for effect than those in Sub-class C. St. George’s, Doncaster, is an example of an organ of the largest size in this position. E. Those standing free under the arches of the Choir of a Cathedral or large church. In the Cathedral at Hereford is a large modern organ in this position. F. Organs with Divided cases. St. Paul’s and Durham Cathedral have good examples of this form, which I fancy is modern and peculiar to England.

In Italy and Spain, there are often two Great organs, one on each side of the Choir or Nave, which arrangement, conjointly with a double Choir of Singers, is capable of the grandest effects of antiphonal music. As good examples in Italy, may be mentioned the organs in Milan Cathedral on each side of the Choir, and those in Como Cathedral on each side of the Nave. Those in Milan are externally alike, and those in Como differ in appearance. In Spain, two organs are usual in Cathedrals and large churches, and the two organs in Seville Cathedral have magnificent cases.

ClassI.—A. Filling the entire end of the building.
B. With a window or rose over.
C. Divided and exceptional cases.
„II.—No subdivision.
„III.—A. Single cases, or with choir in front.
B. Divided cases.
„IV.—A. Against wall of nave or choir.
B. Standing in a corner, or in aisle of nave.
C. In organ chambers.
D. In organ chapels.
E. Under arches of choir.
F. Divided instruments.

CHAPTER III.
WHAT A GOOD CASE SHOULD BE.

Style not necessarily Gothic.—Renaissance Style.—Tin Pipes now seldom used.—An Organ Case need not correspond with the Style of Architecture of the Building.—English Cases during the last hundred years.—An Organ Case should be good.—Unequal Number of Towers.—Ponts.—Oak and other Woods.—Culs-de-Lampe.—Ornaments.—Arrangement of Pipes.—Arrangement of Towers.

Before I proceed any further with this Chapter, I may as well mention that I fear I may a little shock some persons with my views of what is a good organ case. I have long ceased to think that nothing but Gothic is correct, and feel pleasure in looking at any style of architecture (excepting the modern ultra-Gothic, and even this affords me a certain amount of amusement). I have, when the Gothic fit was upon me, passed many a fine organ with a mere glance, at which I should now look with delight. When I see some of our modern Norman and Gothic cases, I wonder what the men of the date which these make-believe cases pretend to be would think of them. I suspect that they would look at them with amazement. The illuminations in manuscripts do not give us much help, and the drawings which they hand down to us are those of very small instruments. Some few cases in the later period of Gothic are in existence at Perpignan, Strasburg, Gonesse, New Radnor, and in some few places in Germany, but with the exception of the one at Strasburg, I have not been so fortunate as to get a sight of any. With the advent of the Renaissance Style, organs began to increase in size, so that larger and more architectural cases were requisite, and we do not even now excel in design and workmanship many of the old Flemish, Dutch, and French organs. Carved oak is now an expensive luxury, and pipes of tin, with their silver-like lustre, are things of the past. The price of tin, and the cheap contract system, have a good deal to do with this state of things; and town atmosphere seems to tarnish tin work in a very short time: about Manchester it cannot be used, and at Rouen I have seen bright pipe-work, which had been up but a few years, look as tarnished as if it had been up for fifty years at least. I like an organ to have a really good case; it is a large and necessary piece of furniture in both church and concert-room; and I can see no reason why it should not be in keeping with the building in which it stands. By this I do not intend that its architectural style should be the same, but that there should be a certain agreement together, and a fitness one for the other. Viollet le Duc, I think, was wise in retaining the old Renaissance case of the organ in Notre Dame (Paris), when the whole of its contents were taken away, and an entirely new organ erected in it. No man in France could have better designed a Gothic case, but he preferred leaving the old work, which well suited its position. In general all fittings of a later date than the building in which they stand, if they are really good of their kind, should be respected. Much new work, intended to be quite in keeping with the building, and following precedent, is but little more than guesswork. In an old Norman church, it would be I think foolish to erect a Norman case: we have nothing to guide us as to what an organ was like in outward appearance at that date, but we do know that it was a rather rudely made affair, from “Theophilus’s Treatise on Organ Building;” and we are equally at sea for any precedent for an early Gothic organ. Late cases are here and there to be seen, and many of them are handsome, but it was the builders of the Renaissance Period who first erected those structures of carved wood, for the abode of the noblest of instruments. For many years good cases continued to be built; they never quite ceased erecting them in France and Belgium; but I have nothing to say in favour of our English cases for the last hundred years. We do better now, but I look upon caseless organs, with their rows of painted pipes, as something horrid. A good piano always has a good case; we do not dream of buying, or the vendor of selling, a first-class instrument in a paltry one; and why a really well-built and good-toned organ is put into a plain deal varnished case, like a common cheap schoolroom piano, is a puzzle to me. Father Smith appears to have had a pattern case, which is excellent in outline, and suitable to all his organs, large or small, except his chamber instruments, and Harris also rarely departed from his one design, a very pretty one. The old French builders appeared to have followed a few general rules, viz., that an organ should have an unequal number of towers, say three, five, or seven; and if, as was usual, the Choir case stood in front, it should have a smaller number of towers, say the Great case had five, the Choir had three; that if the centre tower of the Great was the tallest, the centre tower of the Choir should be the least, and vice versâ; and very good rules these are. It was also their practice to form the mouths of the pipes in the towers, different to those in the flats, and the pipes in the towers stood on square blocks of wood (ponts), whilst the pipes in the flats stood on plinths. These little niceties add much to the appearance of an organ. Renatus Harris used to finish his pipes in the French manner. I prefer oak to any wood for case work. Polished ebonised wood with ormolu mouldings (as at the Foundling) looks well, and good cabinet work has been done in mahogany. Walnut and rosewood may do for chamber instruments, but would have rather a harmonium look about them. If I were building a drawing-room organ, I should certainly use oak, with plenty of carving and no varnish; wax polish would perhaps be advisable to tone down the new look, but with very fine sharp work the wood should be left as it comes fresh from the carver’s hands. In a cheap instrument plain deal with good varnish looks better than painted wood, with or without stencilled patterns, and where the large wood pipes are shown, they are best plain. The upper part of the case being wider than the base (a very common arrangement in old French instruments), is an improvement to its outline. Another French usage, to support the large outer towers on giants, is good, especially for their large cases; and “the culs-de-lampe,” or consoles of the towers, are improved by sculptured heads, paniers of flowers, or intricate open-work. I do not object to what I have heard called a “covey” of plump cherubim. With respect to the mouldings, a little departure from strict rules does not hurt, and it is best not to err on the side of shallowness: bold projections and deep curves look well, and circular towers should project rather more than half their diameter; the cornices should certainly project boldly—recollect they are wood, and rules for stone cornices need not be closely adhered to, but they must not overhang each other (Chevaucher is the French term), as that does not look well. Statues on the summits of the towers I like to see, although of course they are a useless expense; and there is a wide choice as to what they should be. Angels with trumpets or harps are excellent. King David with his harp, St. Cecilia with her organ, are very usual. Winged angels with lutes are not uncommon on Flemish organs: the patron saint of the church is correct. Pope Gregory, as the founder of the Catholic chant; St. Ambrose, the writer of the “Te Deum;” Guido D’Arezzo, the inventor of the gamut, and several others may be mentioned as fit subjects for statuary work. Crowns and mitres for Church and State are good terminals for an English organ, and the arms of the reigning sovereign can well be introduced in the carving: for a good example, see the old organ in St. Paul’s. The shades (claires voies) of an organ should be well carved, and in some designs the introduction of winged angel heads is very suitable: in general they should be left plain; gilding clashes with bright tin, and offers no contrast with gilt pipes. In the north of Europe the tops of the pipes are concealed by the shades, but in Italy they are free, and it is an open question which mode is the best. Either of these arrangements is better than the tops of the pipes shewing above the case with fanciful crowns on them. The northern mode saves a little in height, which sometimes is an advantage. Carved open-work or wings at the sides of the organ, though useless, are often picturesque; occasionally they hide large wood pipes posted outside the case, which are, in general, additions to the original contents, and then they are useful.

For effect, the wood-work should not fill the entire breadth of the space in which the organ stands, but shew itself as a case, and not as a screen to hide the internal arrangements. The case at Lucerne, good as the work is, fails in this particular: it is a screen at the west end of the church, to hide the organ, not a case for it. English organs often err in the reverse manner, and look like square boxes. A broader and shallower form is preferable, but English feeling is, I am afraid, in favour of the square form. The case at Haarlem has been quoted as spoiling the tone of the instrument, and on the other hand, a French writer on the organ, C. M. Philbert, states, “Un artiste habitant Paris nous disait, ces jours derniers, qu’en payant le prix fixé pour les auditions particulières de l’orgue de Haarlem, on ne payait pas trop cher, ne fût-ce que le seul plaisir d’en admirer la magnificence extérieure.” I tried at Haarlem to detect if the tone were smothered by the case, but could not in the least perceive any such defect. The quality is very mellow, which is very pleasing to the ear, and is without the harshness which now-a-days is called boldness of tone. Towers boldly projecting, either half circular or pointed, are an improvement to the design of a case. Flat towers, which in general are flush with the flats, or only project slightly, although used in some few cases, do not give that play of light and shade which is so effective in a design. Where shutters, curtains, or blinds, are used, projecting towers are in the way; but in Holland are to be seen small cases with shutters, which follow all the ins-and-outs of cases much broken in plan. They must be difficult to make and to keep from warping, and when large must be troublesome to open or close. Opinions are divided as to the usefulness of these appendages to an organ, no doubt they are often most picturesque.

CHAPTER IV.
THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE PIPES.

Number of the Pipes.—Not all of the Same Height.—Two Tiers of Pipes.—Oval and Circular Openings.—Pipes arranged in Perspective.—Carved Panels.—Inverted Pipes.—Double Pipes.—Projecting Mouths.—Fancy Mouldings on Pipes.—Pipes, gilt—diapered—painted—tin—bronzed.—Tubes of Reed Stops projecting horizontally.—Tuba at York.

The usual number of pipes in each tower is in England three, in France five, and in Germany seven (in the Tyrol, flat towers with seven pipes are the rule); but to these numbers there are many exceptions. Towers with two stories of pipes are in use in Holland, Belgium, and Germany, but I cannot call to mind any in England or in France. In general the number of pipes in the upper story exceeds that of the lower. A single pipe either forming a compartment, or projecting so as to form a tower, is not a good feature, except when, as in some of the North German organs, a thirty-two feet pipe is used as a tower. In some flat towers, four pipes are inserted instead of five; but an uneven number, I think, is more satisfactory to the eye. It does not look well for all the pipes in a compartment to be of the same height, and it is still worse when all the flats are alike: for this reason the organ in Exeter Hall is ugly, and good as the case is in Rouen Cathedral, it would be much improved if some gradation in the pipe lengths were introduced into its four similar compartments.

In the flats, two tiers of pipes are common in English and Dutch organs, and in Holland more often appear in large cases. Oval and circular openings for pipes are used in England, and more rarely in France: it is an artificial mode of arranging pipe work. There are a few examples of pipes being arranged to form a perspective, which may be looked upon as a fanciful conceit. Panels carved to give the same effect are not quite so outré. In Holland and North Germany, inverted pipes are to be met with: they in general stand on the wood framing, but at Perpignan (France) there is a flat of inverted pipes which hang from the case by their feet. I fancy that in general these are shams, but an inverted pipe would not be liable to be choked with dust. In Dutch fronts occasionally double pipes, or what may be more correctly styled two pipes with their feet joined together, are used: those that I have seen were dummies, as no means of supplying them with wind was to be seen. Projecting mouths are a great finish to large pipes. French builders are often very good at this work; but it may be overdone, as in the new organ in Chester Cathedral, where the mouths are certainly exaggerated. Old French builders sometimes inserted a few pipes with various fancy mouldings about them, brightened with paint. The organ of Gonesse has some, and two are preserved as curiosities in the Museum at Beauvais. Pipes with their surface hammered into facets are rare. At Hertogenbosch, the centre pipes of the towers are so treated, and are also plain gilt; but that in the central tower is parcel gilt. Belgian and Dutch organs often have the mouths of their bright tin pipes gilt, which has a good effect. I have no great liking for diapered (painted or illuminated) pipes, even if it has taken a fortnight to paint each, as has lately been done; it gives the idea that it is necessary to hide bad workmanship, or poor metal. Coronals to the pipes, however elaborate, had best be eschewed, although in caseless organs they give a sort of finish to the pipes. But after all I have said against painted pipes, one cannot help liking the bright appearance of a small case, with well-coloured pipes, even if one doubts how it will look after a few years, when the freshness has departed. Plain gilding perhaps looks well longer than anything else. Tin pipes, when dull, have a very neglected look; and nothing can look worse than bronzed pipes. In Spain, it is the custom to place the Reed Stops so that their tubes project horizontally, or at an angle from the case: this throws out their sound.[A] This arrangement is not common in England, but might be adopted with good effect both for tone and appearance. The Tuba at York, projecting from the west façade of the organ, is most satisfactory in both respects; any arranging of trumpets, like a fan or half-circle at the top of the case, is as well avoided.

[A] At Leeds, the pipes of the solo portion of the Town-hall Organ are entirely placed horizontally, and it is stated that this increases their power from 20 to 30 per cent.

CHAPTER V.
THE CHOIR ORGAN AS A SEPARATE CASE. As a Screen to the Player.—Choir Front in the Lower Part of Case.

Although organs now do not consist merely of a Great and Choir (or Chair) organ, the two cases add much to the look of an instrument, and the Choir case makes an excellent screen to conceal the organist. Old organs of any pretensions are rarely without it, and for church organs, which stand in a gallery, or in any other raised position, it should always make its appearance. For a concert-room organ, or an organ standing on the ground, it is not required. In some German instruments, the Choir case is so small, that one suspects that it is a sham, or at most merely a console to hold the keys. In France, reversed key-boards are coming into fashion; and to hide them, a screen of pipes is a pardonable deception. A German custom of putting the Choir Front into the lower part of the case of the Great Organ, under its pipes, where the key-board is usually placed, has a very uncomfortable look; although we know that Great and Choir pipes are often put into the same case, and there is no reason why, if this is done, the exterior of the case should not show it. Still there is something strange in the appearance.

CHAPTER VI.
THE MINOR DETAILS OF AN ORGAN.

Room in the Loft.—Loft should not be used as a Singing Gallery.—Reversed Key-boards.—Black Keys for Naturals, &c.—Rows of Stops, perpendicular, horizontal.—Varied Forms of Pedals.—Music Desk.—Lights.—Looking Glass.—Clock.—Carving between the Pipes.—Fox-tail Stop.—Electric and Pneumatic Actions.

It is a pity that many small things about an organ are not a little more cared for. The cramped room in the loft is uncomfortable for the player; he is often jammed between the two cases, or his back touches the balustrade of the gallery, rendering it a matter of difficulty for any one who may be in the loft with him, to get from one side of the instrument to the other, which is troublesome if the player requires assistance, as is sometimes wanted; and a loft should have comfortable sitting and kneeling accommodation: an organist and those with him in the loft ought to have the means of following the service, and hearing the sermon, with a certain amount of ease. The organ-loft being used as a singing-gallery is to be avoided, except when it is a spacious gallery, and even then the organist should have plenty of elbow room, and be screened off more or less from the singers. A reversed key-board rather complicates the mechanism, and therefore should be avoided, as the supposed advantage of the player being able to see what is being done in the church is problematical, for with his music before him, it is next to impossible for him to do so. The organist at Exeter Hall used to face the conductor, but some years back the key-board was re-arranged in its usual position. The organist’s place between the Great and Choir of Father Smith’s organ at Durham, when it stood on the north side of the Choir, was as good as could be wished. Black keys for naturals, and white (ivory) for the sharps look well: they are sometimes to be seen in old instruments, and should be retained; the contrast between them and more modern key-boards, which have a strong harmonium or American organ look, is in their favour. Every player has his own views as to whether the old perpendicular rows of stop-handles, or the French horizontal rows, are the best, and no one form of pedals, plain, concave, radiating, or both concave and radiating, gives universal satisfaction. A good music-desk should be fixed to every organ: in general they are ricketty things, and will only hold a little octavo hymn-tune book. The lights, be they candles or gas, should be securely fixed, and not liable to be knocked against by the player.

A looking-glass, which should be a part of the organ, and not a shaving-glass hung up with string and nails, should be fixed so that the player can see down the church; and something better than fastening with a pin to the side of the desk a shabby bit of paper with the list of music, &c., might be arranged. In England, Holland, and Normandy, a clock is occasionally part of the organ case, sometimes on the Great, and sometimes on the Choir case, and it is a useful accessory. Sometimes when there is no Choir Organ, it is inserted in the front of the gallery. In Whitehall Chapel a clock hangs from the ceiling under the organ-loft, a puzzle how any one can get at it to wind it up. In some few organs carved wood-work is introduced between the feet of the pipes, so as to fill up the triangular space. The pipes in the towers of St. Lawrence, Jewry, have a sort of tall leaf between them. From a French work I give the following extract: “A la tribune de l’orgue de la Cathédral de Barcelonne, on voit une tête de Maure suspendue par son turban. Lorsque les jeux les plus doux se font entendre, la figure frémit; mais si les sons augmentent de force, ses yeux roulent dans leurs orbites, ses dents s’entre-choquent, et toute la face est en proie à d’horribles convulsions. Le méchanisme qui produisait ces effets a été supprimé.” This must be the delight or horror of small children, and no one would dream of such an addition to a modern church or concert-room organ, neither would the fox-tail stop be inserted, although a person who was fond of “curios” might put them into a chamber instrument. I do not make more than the passing remark on the electric and pneumatic actions, that they are very valuable adjuncts to a large instrument, and afford great facilities in many ways to the player, as they are well explained and illustrated in the last (1870) edition of Hopkins’s “Organ.”