646 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



pipe-organs in effect. Quality of tone, together witli power and 

 great variety, are now possible, whereas the harmoniums, melo- 

 deons, and seraphines known in 18G0 were simple instruments 

 with one set of reeds and no stops worthy of the name, being 

 only fit for domestic hymn-singing. Notwithstanding, the organ 

 has ceased to be popular at present, nearly all the firms named 

 having added the production of pianos to their business. The 

 latter instrument has been growing into popular favor, to the dis- 

 advantage of the former, and if present indications are reliable 

 the production of organs will be an insignificant branch of indus- 

 try in the future ; yet some look forward to the re-establishment 

 of the organ in popular favor. 



Many attempts have been made to combine reeds with strings 

 in the piano, the first being made by Prof. Wheatstone, in Lon- 

 don, in 1834. Obed Coleman, a native of New Bedford, Mass., in- 

 vented a system for uniting both in a square piano, which he 

 named the ^olian attachment. This was adopted by a Boston 

 manufacturer in 1844, but was abandoned after a few years. 

 Other attempts have been made, with like results. 



Organs combining the features pf the pipe and reed have been 

 also made, the Peloubet system being regarded as the most suc- 

 cessful. Lyon & Healy, of Chicago, manufacture the " Peloubet 

 reed-pipe organs" at present, their trade extending to Europe 

 largely. Another form of organ somewhat approximate is the 

 Vocalian. The physical basis of sound production in this instru- 

 ment resembles that of the human voice, according to its invent- 

 or. Dr. Hamilton, a Scottish gentleman, who produced it after 

 many years of study and experiment. The instrument conse- 

 quently attracted much attention when introduced here in 1882. 

 It comes very close to the pipe-organ in quality, and is an excel- 

 lent substitute. Mason & Risch, of Worcester, Mass., manufact- 

 ure these instruments. 



Mechanical instruments called organettes are also produced in 

 large numbers for export and domestic purposes. In these, sheets 

 of perforated paper run over the reeds, the perforations admitting 

 free play for the air, thus producing the desired effect. They are 

 of American invention. Organs employing somewhat similar 

 methods for the mechanical production of music by pneumatic ac- 

 tion have come into use recently, but, while capable of yielding 

 pleasing effects, they are decried by musicians, upon the ground 

 that the individuality of an artistic musical performance can not 

 be duplicated apart from human instrumentality. This is, how- 

 ever, only a matter of opinion. While the majority of organ man- 

 ufacturers are scattered throughout various States — unlike the 

 piano art industry, which is mostly concentrated in New York and 

 Boston— Chicago is the largest producing center in the country. 



