Tour the Smithsonian After its First Fifty Years

As rattles are the play things of children so are they in vogue among savages (who represent a childish condition), in all parts of the world. One case is wholly devoted to rattles, principally of the savage races of America, who shake them in the festival dances, and consider them an indispensable part of the equipment of their sorcerer priests or shamans. You may see rattles made of gourds, with or without handles variously shaped and ornamented, the ornamentation having usually some real significance in the eyes of its makers; of wood, raw hide, basket- work, a turtle's shell or other material which would serve the purpose, and were best available, hard seeds being used in most cases as the rattlers One kind used by the forest- Indians along the Orinoco (e.g. No. 4,369), contains a peculiar kind of stone which, on being violently agitated at night,emits sparks of fire illuminating the apertures in the gourds. The most elaborate wooden rattles are those carved by the inge nious natives of the coasts and islands of British America and Alaska. A different order of rattles consists of resonant objects jarring together, such as hoofs, teeth, dried pods, shells, etc. The watchman's rattle of old days, now often imitated in toys, was conceived of by our redmen, for from the Southwest appears a collection of notched sticks, along the rough side of which the shoulder blade of some animal like a wolf or antelope is drawn back and forth rapidly.

A step above these primitive rattles, in the same line, are the little drum- like rattles of the Buddhist priests, and the sleighbell- like "jingles" and castanets of the Hindoo dancers; the clappers or "bones" familiar in minstrel shows; and cymbals. All these play a very important part in both music and religious ceremonies in the far East. The drums explain themselves well or are fully labeled. The most primitive, perhaps, is the great trough of resonant wood (lali) used in the Fiji and Tonga islands. The next rudest in this collection are those of our American Indians, rawhide or tanned skins stretched over hoops and painted symbolically; the sound they give is dull and mournful, and they are used principally in the incantations of the medicine- men. Some of the Eskimo examples are made of whale's intestines, and beaten with sticks of ivory or bone. These point in shape toward the many patterned tamborines of the Oriental nations, which have been preserved as the characteristic instrument of the Gypsies, who originated in India. In the other way progress toward our modern drums, elegant examples of which are shown, can be traced through the rude wooden cylinders, covered with iguana skin, made by the natives of Costa Rica, and matched by the palmtrunk drums of the Malays. Then came the more advanced barrel-drums, in wood and metal, of the Hindus, Siamese and Chinese, some of which have the leather heads nailed on, and others various methods of tightening and loosening the head.

An instrument of percussion, which must go in this class, though it looks like a horn, yet is never blown, excites quite as much wonder among the public of India (though its origin is classic there) as in the minds of strangers. It is called the nyas faranga, and is placed against the throat of the performer, so that the small end rests upon the vocal cords, and being breathed upon strongly will produce a clear reedy note. It can also be made to produce sound when placed upon the cheeks or nostrils, and airs or songs may be hummed out. Its ancient name is upanga, and it is extensively employed by the Hindoo music class of the Northwestern provinces. Nothing like it is known in any other part of the world.

In a third direction the resonance of Certain woods and metals has given rise to a series of musical instruments, which, beginning in the hardwood log or trough by which the rudest savages summon one another, has progressed through the forms of graduated pieces of wood or metal struck in unison, anat and xylophone, and to the kyes-wain, dulcimer, lute, music-box and piano.

The rudest form of this series of instruments is probably that represented by the African marimba or balaso; but essentially similar forms are found among the aborigines of Central America, and among the people of Malaya. A light frame about a yard long supports from fifteen to twenty five sonorous strips of hard wood (in the East, bamboo) which are trimmed into a regular gradation of size and thickness, and thus emit a regularly graded series of tones when struck. These are fastened across the frame in such a manner as not to jar - and under each one is a perforated gourd, of suitably varying size, which acts as a sounding board. Some ot these instruments are intended to stand upon the ground, others to be slung from the performer's neck. They are beaten with light drum- sticks around the end of which is a ball of crude rubber, elastic pitch, or a winding of leather or twine. The sound is pleasant; and our xylophone is only a perfection of the idea.* "Though its materials are of no value," says Capt. Henry Yule, concerning the Burmese variety, " a good old pattala is prized by its owner like a good old Cremona, and he can rarely be induced to part with it." The substitution of metal cymbals for wooden strips, and arranged for convenience in a circular frame within which the performer sits upon the ground, constitutes the kyee-wain, one of the principal instruments of an orchestra in farther India. Within the hollow of each metal disk is suspended a hemisphere of stone, and the sticks have leather heads.

The transition is simply from the striking of a plate of ringing metal to striking a vibratory wire; and metal wires of different size and degrees of tension were early arranged as musical instruments, both to be struck by some sort of hammer and to be set vibrating by a touch of the fingers. The former method concerns us first. It gave rise to the dulcimer, spinet and piano, the history of which instrument is easily accessible to any one who can get into a library. Its structure can easily be studied by the splendid specimen of an upright piano, the "works " of which are exposed, which was the gift of Steinway & Sons, New York.

Stringed instruments other than those whose strings are struck with hammers, fall into the two classes, typified respectively by the guitar and the fiddle, in the former of which the sound is evoked by moving the strings with the fingers, and in the latter through the medium of a bow.

In the guitar class are to be found some of the most ancient instruments of Oriental races. Thus the kin,or "scholar's lute,"and the various "moon" guitars of China begin in fabled times. The visitor should notice the exquisite carvings in miniature, representing mythologic scenes, which adorn some of the larger examples. The kin is also called the lyre of Confucius because that philosopher was fond of it. It is less often heard now than formerly. In India many forms of this instrument, the generic name of which is viva, are in common use. They have from one to ten strings, and the most of them are played upon with the help of a mizvale (a plectrum of metal or bone), as a guard to the finger tips. The fanabgra is one of the most ancient and simplest. It was known to the Assyrians and Egyptians 3,000 years ago. The Egyptians called it nofre, a name which through the Coptic is identical with nebel, a musical instrument of which the Hebrews in Biblical times possessed several forms. This guitar has a very long neck without frets; is strung with four wires- one brass, the rest steel- struck alternately, the instrument reclining on the player's shoulder. Its use is calculated to fill up all the pauses in a song and to keep the singer in the proper key. It is spread throughout Persia, Asiatic Turkey and Egypt as well as in Hindustan. Another favorite form is the "setar " (three wires), played by both professional musicians and amateurs. Of the three wires, the two brass ones are tuned in unison and the steel third wire is a perfect fourth to them. The fingers of the left hand slide over the frets on the finger- board and stop the notes in the same manner as on the guitar, and the wires are struck with the forefinger of the right, armed with a flectrum of curiously twisted wire. The kinnari visa is another well known form, the body of which (in the Museum's specimen) is made of silver, and the neck covered with a fabric of silk and silver. The costliness and elaboration of ornament displayed by the musical instruments of Hindustan are very noticeable. This instrument is a modification of the very ancient kachapa vina, and in the hands of an expert performer is said to be little inferior to a finely toned pianoforte. This superiority is partly due to its extreme sensitiveness, and a good performer is able to avail himself of this delicacy. The body of this instrument was formerly made of an ostrich egg shell. Many other forms exist. One, the "hundred- wired vina" (No. 92,693) or kazoos, is of high antiquity and now in vogue especially among the Arabs and Persians. In Turkey the kanoon is a favorite instrument with the ladies in the Seraglios and in the harems of the wealthy class. Another, the sarode (No. 92,692), is much used in processions, and serves as second to the sarangi,- a fiddle. The ektara (No. 92,705) andgopi- jantra or tootoonee (92,706) are used exclusively by wandering religious mendicants for accompanying their pastoral songs, and begging chants.

The European instruments related to these are the mandolin, of Italy and Spain, and the guitar, excellent examples of which are present; and the list is closed by the banjo- which, now pecuharly American, seems to have originated in western Africa, and been brought to this country by the slaves.

Of European and American violins a large number are shown, through the liberality of J. Howard Foote, of New York. These represent the models of various famous makers, and in some cases their genuine productions. A copy of a "Stradivarius" (No. 72,846) will attract notice.

Antonio Stradivarius lived as a violin- maker at Cremona, Italy, from 1644 to 1737, and attained the highest eminence in his art. "His instruments are distinguished alike by their external beauty and the superiority of their tone. He was the first to finish his instruments neatly on the inside. He generally selected and cut his wood with great care, and studied the proportions of thickness and breadth most conducive to sonority, the form of the outside lines and of the sound holes (in which he attained great elegance), and the lustre and durability of his varnish, and thus produced works that no subsequent maker has been able to rival. Superior specimens command in the market prices varying from $1000 to $3000." -Awn. Encyci.

The class of horns may next be considered. The original, evidently, is simply the real horn of an ox or ram. Such are depicted on the Egyptian and Assyrian monuments, and are in use to-day throughout India. Improvements upon the single horn or perforated shell, tusk or bamboo joint, began early. In the East, copies in metal enveloped various forms, with increased power as a musical instrument. The specimens Nos. 54,052, 54,053, 54,054, and 54,066 will illustrate this for China and Siam. How great an excellence s the idea has reached in the progressive western world is shown by the splendid series of band instruments- bugles, cornets (especially those contributed by J. Howard Foote, of NewYork), clarionets and complicated horns used in the full orchestras. This gentleman, who is a leading dealer in imported musical instruments of a high order of merit, as well as a maker of note, is an enthusiast in his specialty, whose ware too rooms in New York and Chicago are well known to musical people throughout the Country. His exhibit, while forming one of the most attractive features of this department, gives but a suggestion of the superb instruments in which he deals, for many of which he is the sole agent in this country. These include not only all the standard instruments used in military music and orchestration, but many pieces peculiar to the harmony loving people of Spain, Italy and the Orient, which are finding their way into use in America. Old violins of authenticated origin form an other interesting feature of his trade. A further specialty is the celebrated Carpenter Organ.

Into the family of reed instruments fall the whistles, fifes, flutes, flageolets, oboes, jews-harps, and Paris pipes, harmonicas and organs.

A very large series of these is shown. Whistles made of the bones of small birds and small animals, or of wood and ivory, may be counted from a score of Indian tribes. Some of them are punched with finger- holes and so become rude flageolets and oboes. These are almost the only musical instruments, properly speaking, known to the American aborigines, and curiously represent chiefly the tribes of the tropical and arctic regions not those of the temperate zone. From China comes theheang-teih (Nos. 54-56) which is blown through a little double reed stuck upon the brass mouth- piece. The sound is loud and harsh, yet it is used on all occasions of ceremony and festivity. Among the Indian instruments of this class the most interesting is the Quasi (No. 92,7X4) to which many other names are given. It is used exclusively by snake charmers and various tribes of jugglers, acrobats and the like. "A few notes only are played, which seem to have the effect of arousing the snake to be exhibited to action; and as the reptiles raise themselves on their tails, expand their hoods, and wave themselves to and fro, the players become more excited, while the motion of the snake is accelerated by the rapidity of their execution."

Flutes were favorite instruments among the Orientals, especially in connection with religious music, and many forms may be seen in the Museum; The most extraordinary of them all is the Chinese nose- flute, the present specimen of which (No. 2,901) was brought home by Commodore Wilkes, the label of which contains so large an amount of interesting information as to make it needless to say anything here.

A full display is made of modern reed instruments from various makers in Europe, as well as in this country.

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