“I really, my dear Sir, cannot see any good reason for giving this preference, in point of antiquity, to wind instruments,” said Mr. Seymour. “The lyre, or harp, is, surely, as ancient as any instrument on record. The mythologist ascribes the idea of producing sound by the vibration of a string, to Apollo; which is said by Censorinus to have suggested itself to him, on his hearing the twang of the bow of his sister Diana. With respect to instruments of percussion, it may be reasonably supposed that the sonorous ringing of hollow bodies, when struck, must have very soon suggested their invention to mankind; but I really consider any research into a question of such obscurity as uninteresting as it must be hopeless; let us rather devote our attention to the philosophy of these instruments. I have stated that they may be referred to three principal classes; but I must at the same time observe that, in some cases, the vibrations of solid bodies are made to co-operate with those of a given portion of air; for example, trumpets and various horns may be said to be mixed wind instruments, since their sound is produced by the joint vibrations of the air and a solid body; and in certain stringed instruments, as in the violin, the immediate effect of the strings is increased by means of a sounding-board, which appears to be agitated by their motion, and to act more powerfully on the air than the strings could have done alone.”
“I apprehend that this mixture must obtain more or less in all instruments,” said the vicar.
“Not at all. The flute, flageolet, humming-top, and the cavity of the mouth in whistling, may be considered as simple wind instruments, in which the quality of the sound is alone determined by the vibrations of the air. I have already explained the manner in which the oscillations of a string excite aërial undulations, and thus produce sound; and you have seen that the nature of these sounds is determined by the length and thickness of such strings: the theory equally applies to wind instruments, in which case, a column of air corresponds with the string, the volume and length of which determines the sound. In the harp, the strings are constructed of different lengths and dimensions; and so, in the Syrinx, or Pan’s pipes, is the volume of air adjusted to the respective notes by the size and length of the reeds; but, in the violin, the lengths of the strings are altered at pleasure by pressing them down on the finger-board; and, in like manner, the effective length of the flute is changed by the opening or shutting the holes made at proper distances in them; the opening of a hole at any part being the same in effect as if the pipe were cut off a little beyond it.”
Mr. Seymour and the vicar then entered into a long discussion, with which it is not our intention to swell our history, or to exhaust the patience of the reader; we shall, however, with his permission, collect from the mass some of the more interesting facts, and present them in as condensed a form as may be consistent with perspicuity. In speaking of the Jew’s harp, a little instrument with which every school-boy is well acquainted, the vicar stated that its origin was lost in the long lapse of time; but that it was in very common use throughout Europe, and more especially in the Netherlands and the Tyrol, where it was the delight of the peasants and their families. He also said that it was known in Asia, and that the Greeks of Smyrna called it, in imitation of its sound, biambo. The name by which it is now known, he observed, was evidently derived from the Jews, who were formerly the great venders of it, and of other toys throughout Europe, although he stated that his friend Mr. Prybabel was of opinion that it was a corruption of jaw’s harp. Mr. Seymour described its construction, and the theory of its action.
It is composed of two parts, the body and the tongue: the former has some resemblance to the handle of a certain kind of corkscrew; the latter consists of a little strip of steel, joined to the upper part of the body, and bent at its extremity, so that the fingers may touch it more readily. This tongue, or elastic plate, produces, in itself, only a sound which serves as a drone, although it appears to act like the motion of the bow of a violin in exciting other sounds, by breaking the current of air from the mouth, the acuteness or gravity of which will be determined by the pressure of the lips, and the magnitude of the cavity of the mouth. To understand, however, this part of its operation, it is necessary that the reader should become acquainted with the nature and effects of what have been termed Resonances, and Reciprocated Vibrations of Columns of Air. This property of sounding bodies, which to the ignorant must appear as an inexplicable species of sympathy, will be more fully explained in a note[(48)]; at present we shall merely give one or two examples of its effects. A singer has been known to break into pieces a large tumbler glass by the power of his voice; and a violin suspended against a wall may be heard to yield the same notes as those produced by a performer on a similar instrument in the same room. To produce such an effect, however, one condition is indispensable, that the body to be put in vibration must be in unison, or agreeing in pitch, with the one communicating the sound. Hence the necessity of so adapting the capacity of the mouth in playing the Jew’s harp, as to make the column of air which it contains to reciprocate the sound of its tongue. The subject was agreeably concluded by some anecdotes which were related by Miss Villers, in proof of the astonishing powers of this little instrument when directed by the skill of a master. For the sake of those who may be curious upon this subject we have introduced an account of two great performers, in an additional note[(49)]. In speaking of the flute, Mr. Twaddleton took occasion to observe, that its name was derived from fluta,[[57]] a lamprey, or small Sicilian eel, which has seven holes on each side; an etymology which will probably be as new to our readers as it was to ourselves. The children also received their share of instruction and amusement upon this occasion. Tom, for the first time, became acquainted with the use of the pea in the whistle, which, he was told, was to agitate and break the current of air, and thus to produce a succession of quick vibrations upon which the acuteness of its sound depended. Louisa exhibited her whiz-gig, which, for the information of the unlearned reader, we may state to consist of a hollow disc of wood, having an opening in its side, like that in the humming-top; by the alternate coiling and uncoiling of the cord upon which it is strung it receives a circular motion, the rapidity of which produces, by means of its opening, an aërial vibration that gives a loud ringing sound.
“I should very much like to hear your opinion of that Egyptian wonder, the statue of Memnon,” said the vicar.
“Its history,” answered Mr. Seymour, “is involved in considerable doubt and difficulty. Authors of credit agree in stating that it certainly saluted the rising sun with a musical sound; but doubts are still entertained as to the cause which produced it, whether it was the effect of mechanism, or a juggle of the Egyptian priests. An English traveller, Sir A. Smith, informs us that he visited the statue, and actually heard the sounds at six o’clock in the morning; but he believes that they proceeded, not from the figure, but from the pedestal, and he considers that they may arise from the impulse of the air upon the stones of which it is constructed. Others have supposed that the heat of the sun’s rays, concentrated by a mirror, may have acted upon plates of metal so as to produce the effect. It is not my intention to argue this point; but I will show you an experiment, by which you will, I think, be convinced that a statue might easily be constructed like the Memnon to yield musical sounds by the application of heat, whether derived from the solar rays, or from any other source.”
Mr. Seymour produced a piece of apparatus, of which we here present the reader with a sketch. It consists of an oblong block of copper, one surface of which is flat, the other formed by two planes meeting at an obtuse angle, and having a groove at the point of junction A. To this block a handle is affixed.