24 BULLETIN 136, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of bone, one of which is carved with four bearded heads. No. 214486 

 is made of the leg bones of an animal, but the great antiquity of the 

 specimen makes it uncertain whether this is a complete flute or por- 

 tions of more than one instrument. 



The history of the flute, or pipe, is distinct from that of the whistle. 

 The flute, under different forms and names, has been in use more than 

 4,000 years. It is interesting to note that wind instruments are never 

 mentioned in connection with the actual worship in the Jewish 

 temple, the three instruments played by the Levites being the cym- 

 bals, harp, and lute. The flute or pipe was a favorite instrument 

 among the ancients and is mentioned in the Bible as employed on 

 festival occasions and on those of mourning. " Beaked flutes " were 

 used by the Assyrians and transverse flutes appear in very isolated 

 instances on Egyptian monuments. 



The first mention of musical instruments in the Bible occurs in 

 Genesis, iv 21, where the Hebrew word " ugab " is translated organ. 

 Later the same word is translated pipe. That instrument is believed 

 to have been a form of the Pandean pipe, which consists of several 

 reeds of graduated lengths bound together in a horizontal line. The 

 open ends of the reeds were placed side by side and their stopped 

 ends were graduated downward from left to right. The sound 

 was produced by blowing across the open end of the reeds, each of 

 which gave out one tone. The double name of this instrument is 

 due to the ancient Greek tradition ascribing its invention to Pan 

 in connection with a legend of the Arcadian water nymph, Syrinx. 

 The Greek instrument usually consisted of seven pipes, though three 

 to nine were sometimes used. The use of the instrument is widely 

 diffused in both ancient and modern times. Concerning its use in 

 Peru, Charles W. Mead writes : " These pipes are as popular with 

 the modern Indians as they were with their ancestors in the days of 

 the Incas." 



Numerous specimens of Pandean pipe (pan pipes) are exhibited, 

 consisting of 3 to 22 reeds, and coining from Java, Japan, Egypt, 

 and the Fiji Archipelago. The specimens illustrated are from Egypt 

 (951S7, 95188, pi. 15, h and i)). A particularly interesting specimen 

 from the Fijians is 23940, made of 11 tubes of cane, the longest of 

 which is 15% inches. The pitch of this instrument was taken by 

 Dr. Erich von Hornbostel with his tonometer and found to extend 

 from A (second line below treble staff) to E flat (fourth space 

 treble stall). A pandean pipe from Egypt (95186) consists of 22 

 tubes of cane ranging from 7V4 to 1*4 inches in length. 



The gradual development of the flute may be traced by exhibited 

 specimens. Attention is first directed to 9385, a straight open tube 

 of cane with four finger holes. This specimen came from the Cocopa 

 Indians of Arizona in 1869. From California we have 19756, which 



