HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 19 



The oriental form of xlyophone has a rectangular box which serves 

 as a resonator for all the vibrating bars. In the collection are 96841, 

 a Japanese xylophone having 16 bars of hard redwood, and 95491 

 (pi. 106), a Burmese instrument with 25 bars of bamboo of gradu- 

 ated sizes. The latter instrument was played at marriages, at the 

 boring of children's ears, and for the entertainment of Burmese 

 kings before retiring. Two Siamese xylophones were presented to 

 the Museum in 1876 by the King of Siam. The treble instrument 

 (27321, pi. 10c) has 22 bars of bamboo. The corresponding bass 

 instrument (27320) is longer and has 17 bars of bamboo, longer 

 and heavier than in the treble instrument. With these is shown a 

 very small instrument of the same type (96581, pi. 10a), collected 

 in Lower Siam by Dr. W. L. Abbott in 1896. The vibrating bars 

 are of iron, and Doctor Abbott writes that sometimes only one such 

 strip of iron is used. 



The marimba may be described as a xylophone with a resonator 

 under each bar. A crude form of this instrument was used in 

 Africa as early as the seventeenth century. Later it was intro- 

 duced into Mexico and Central America, and has its highest devel- 

 opment in Guatemala. The African instrument consisted of a 

 rectangular frame with vibrating bars and gourd resonators which 

 could be placed on the ground or slung from the player's shoulders 

 in such a manner as to hang horizontal^ in front of him. These 

 instruments were often played together, and Livingston, when in 

 Africa, saw a quartette of marimba combined with three drums. 



Two particularly fine examples of the African marimba are ex- 

 hibited. No. 93876 is from Senegambia. The four side rails of the 

 frame are strips of bamboo, and the ends are of dark redwood. 

 Thongs are passed back and forth on this frame, supporting 14 

 sounding bars of hard redwood. Beneath each bar, but not touching 

 it, is a gourd. These vary in size to correspond with the length of the 

 sounding bar. Each gourd has an opening in the top and also a 

 small hole in the side. Over this hole is stretched a piece of the 

 cocoon of some silk-spinning caterpillar. The instrument was carried 

 by a belt over the player's shoulders and struck with two drum- 

 sticks having India rubber heads. A similar instrument from Liberia 

 is 43071 (pi. 11a), a gift from John H. Smyth, who was United 

 States minister to that country in 1880. This marimba has 15 sound- 

 ing bars resting on twisted ropes of rawhide and held in place by 

 smaller rawhide thongs. The spherical gourd resonators vary in 

 diameter from 2y 2 to 6 inches, and as in the preceding instrument, 

 each gourd has an opening upward toward the corresponding bar, 

 and an opening at the side, which is covered with a piece of wild 

 cocoon. 



