MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS— THE PIANO-FORTE. 485 



splendid record as an inventor, while his most artistic labors have 

 been performed in the region of acoustics, or tone development. 

 He was born in Boston, June 26, 1827, where he received his edu- 

 cation and professional training. He lived in New York for many 

 years, attaining an influential position in social and artistic circles, 

 and died here March 23, 1891. George H. Chickering was born in 

 Boston, April 18, 1830. Trained under his father's eye in all de- 

 partments of the art, he was eminently fitted for the province in 

 which he labored up to the time of his brother's death, while time 

 and experience have amply qualified him for the responsible posi- 

 tion he now occu])ies. 



Vui. 14. — Chickering's Full Solid-cast Iron Frame, a. d. 1840. Also applied to Grands 



Chickering's " circular scale " for squares followed the full 

 metal plate, and this became in later years a direct key to the 

 development of the system of " overstringing" now in general use 

 in this country. Previous to the "circular scale" the hammer 

 heads struck upon an almost straight line throughout, and hav- 

 ing, meanwhile, to conform to a standard law which regulates the 

 part of the string on which the hammer is to strike, piano-makers 

 were restricted from bringing forward further improvements in 

 stringing and case structure. Jonas Chickering, however, helped 

 to remove the barriers wliich impeded progress by running his 

 hammer-heads on a curve. This permitted the introduction of 

 many original features in the general constitution of the instru- 

 ment, leading up to still greater developments. The improve- 

 ment was suggested to Chickering by the perfecting of the 

 plate idea, for, having found the latter to be a most satisfac- 

 tory means of strengthening his cases so as to withstand all extra 

 tension imposed by heavier stringing and an extension of the key- 

 board, he was placed in a position to move forward, and the "cir- 

 cular scale " for squares was the outcome. This system, however, 



