Illus. 298.—Dulcimer, 1820-1830.
The heads of the hammers were covered with hard and soft leather to give a loud or soft tone. The instrument in the illustration was probably made from 1820 to 1830, during which time the dulcimer was quite popular, especially in the country, where the piano was too costly a luxury.
Illus. 299.—Harmonica, or
Musical Glasses, about 1820.
Music-books were published for the dulcimer, and it retained some popularity in country villages until ousted by the melodeon.
Illustration [299] shows a set of musical glasses called a harmonica. The fine ladies in “The Vicar of Wakefield” would talk of nothing but “pictures, taste, Shakespeare, and the musical glasses.” This was in 1761, and the musical glasses were fashionable before that, for Gluck in 1746 played “a concerto on twenty-six drinking glasses, tuned with spring water.” Franklin invented an instrument for the musical glasses, which he called the Armonica, for which famous composers wrote music, and in which the glasses were arranged upon a rod which turned with a crank, while below was a trough of water which moistened the glasses as they dipped into it.
Illus. 300.—Music-stand,
1805.
There is a Franklin Armonica in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in the Brown collection. In Watson’s “Annals” is a description of a visit to Franklin in Paris. It says: “He conducted me across the room to an instrument of his own invention which he called the ‘Armonica.’ The music was produced by a peculiar combination of hemispherical glasses. He played upon it and performed some Scotch pastorales with great effect. The exhibition was truly striking.”
The box in Illustration [299] holds twenty-four glasses, which, when used, are filled with water, and are tuned by the amount in each glass. The finger is dipped in the water and rubbed on the edge of the glass, producing a sound of penetrating tone. The stand and box in this illustration are of mahogany, and make an ornamental piece of furniture.