88 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [188-S. 



half-tone lower than that proclucecl by leaving open the holes, can 

 be obtained. The discovery of the musical powers of this vase 

 is interesting, and I shall repeat the account of it given to rae 

 by Professor Leidy : '' Having been attracted by its artistic form 

 and decoration, [ bought the vase, and some time afterward pro- 

 ceeded to clean the slits or elongated holes in the rim and eyes 

 of the masks, these being filled with earth ; in applying my lips 

 to the slits, so as to blow out particles of dirt which remained 

 therein, I found to my surprise that they emitted musical sounds." 



Mr. E. A. Barber, in a valuable article upon " Indian Music," 

 contributed to the American NaturoXist of March, 1883, page 

 270, mentions a curious wind instrument of turtle-like form, which 

 was procured on the island of Ometepec, by the late Dr. Berendt 

 (during his recent excavations among the ruins and mounds of 

 Central America), which, by certain manipulations, can be made 



to produce a number of airs " This unique relic is the 



first of the kind found among the remains of the old Nahuatl 

 races which evinces any particular advancement in the art of 

 music." 



I must beg leave to diflfer from Mr. Barber in this last assertion, 

 from the fact that in the Poinsett collection there exist Aztec 

 flageolets capable of producing not only the fourth and seventh of 

 the diatonic scale, but also the entire chromatic scale. A descrip- 

 tion of one of these flageolets will first be necessary, before 

 explaining how the above-mentioned scales may be obtained. It 

 measures nine inches in length, and the thickest portion is about 

 three-quarters of an inch in width — being generally in the centre 

 of the flageolet. The neck is considerably flattened, and measures 

 seven-eighths of an inch in width , grad ually contracting at the mouth- 

 hole, and growing more cylindrical in form as it approaches the 

 centre of the instrument. Viewed in profile a graceful curve from 

 above downward joins the neck to the body. At the junction of 

 these two parts may be seen protruding the portion which I have 

 denominated the clay reed (Plate III, A); through this the cur- 

 rent of air passes from the lungs of the performer into the bod}' 

 of the instrument, which is pierced by four finger-holes. ' The 



' After a careful search I am unable to find in the Poinsett collec- 

 tion of Mexican antiquities, any Aztec flageolets posses&in* five finger- 

 holes, as stated by Mr. Barber in the American Naturalist of March, 



