486 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



was never found applicable to the grand or upright, owing to their 

 different construction, though the late C. F. Chickering took out 

 a patent for a "circular scale" for the latter instrument in 1871. 



The term " scale " in the technical vocabulary of the piano- 

 maker means — superficially — the disposition of the strings ; but it 

 really means far more, for the scale draughtsman has to make 

 radical changes in the case, action, structure of the plate, and 

 other lesser features to correspond with any changes made in the 

 arrangement or use of the strings. The Chickering "circular 

 scale "' is regarded as a most important contribution by old i:)iano- 

 makers, though it was never carried beyond the square. 



Loud Brothers, of Philadelphia, had in the mean time brought 

 out and patented many features of moment, which gave impulse 

 to other thinkers, but nothing of consequence comparable with 

 Chickering's achievements. New York makers were not slow to 

 see the advantage of the latter's plates, which were copied in 

 various forms. A few of the more ingenious managed to use 

 plates almost similar to Chickering's, without exposing them- 

 selves to legal proceedings. The "circular scale," being an un- 

 patentable species of innovation, was, however, freely copied. 



The most notable of the makers in New York around the 

 " fifties " were the Nunns family and Bacon & Raven. The for- 

 mer introduced the French square action into this country, and 

 are known to have l)rought forward some minor imjjrovements. 



The next and most important advance in piano construction 

 was overstringing. In the old system of stringing — which is yet 

 in use among English makers — the strings throughout were 

 placed almost parallel, in harp-fashion. In the illustration of a 

 Chickering plate (Fig. 14), this method of string adjustment 7nay 

 be seen. British and French makers yet stick to the old system 

 to some extent, though they have adopted many of the progressive 

 traits of American pianos. Even the eminent house of Broad- 

 wood & Son, London, still use the " flat scaling," as it is called, in 

 preference to overstringing, on the ground that it yields a purer 

 quality of tone. This is only a matter of opinion, however, about 

 which the best makers and experts of Germany and this country 

 differ. One thing, meanwhile, is indisputable — viz., that English 

 pianos lack the power and resonance of American instruments, 

 and would never stand this climate. They are constructed for 

 sweetness and daintiness of tone rather than for volume. Ameri- 

 can pianos, on the other hand, possess a remarkable combination 

 of all those qualities which are in the highest sense related to 

 musical art. 



Overstringing was anticipated about the l)eginningof the cent- 

 ury by the elder Thomas Loud, biit nothing came of his experi- 

 ments. Overstringing — which means simply the crossing of sec- 



