HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 33 



to represent the open fanged mouth of a reptile. In the upper end 

 of the tube is inserted a single reed of cane like those used by the 

 Egyptians. On the upper end of the tube is a horn mouthpiece 

 which incloses the reed and prevents the lips from touching it. This 

 was called the " hornpipe " from the horn used at both ends of it, 

 and it was played for a rustic dance which took its name from that 

 of the instrument and was called the hornpipe. An analogous case 

 of the name of a dance being derived from a musical instrument 

 occurs in the word " jig," derived through the French " gigue " from 

 the German " geige " meaning a fiddle. 



From the district of Kirvy in Finland we have a hornpipe (95688) 

 which is crudely made, but has a cow's horn for its bell. 



2. The second division of single reeds is the free reed which was 

 known in China long before the Christian era. The cheng is one of 

 the oldest Chinese instruments that is still in use and may be regarded 

 as the most ancient species of organ with which we are familiar. 

 According to Chinese tradition it was invented in the reign of the 

 Emperor Hoang-ti, 2700 B. C. This instrument consists of small 

 bamboo reeds projecting above an air chamber shaped like a cup. At 

 one side of this cup is a thick spout and in the base of each bamboo, 

 within the cup or air chamber, is a small free reed. The sound is 

 produced by the player sucking the wind through the spout. Each 

 bamboo has a finger hole at its base, and " speaks " when this is closed 

 and the air drawn forcibly downward through the bamboo and the 

 air chamber. The bamboo tubes vary in height above the body from 

 5 to 14 inches. An excellent example of the Chinese instrument is 

 96574 (pi. 17/). The upper ends of the reeds have bone or ivory 

 ferrules and the outer end of the mouthpiece is faced with bone or 

 ivory. It has the usual number of 17 tubes, 4 of which are silent, 

 serving only to strengthen the position of the others. A similar 

 instrument is 94855. A much larger instrument is the " Malay mouth 

 organ" (94931), the cane tubes varying in length above the body 

 from 20 to 35 inches. In the Dyak mouth organ (95903, pi. 17d) 

 the air chamber is a small gourd shell with a slightly curved neck 

 which acts as a mouthpiece. A bundle of six cones are inserted in 

 the upper side of the gourd and the connection is made airtight by 

 packing with wax. The cones rise above the air chamber from 14% 

 to 26 inches. The operation of these is similar to the Chinese cheng ; 

 the present instrument, however, has a device consisting of a long 

 strip of cane by which the pitch of the tone can be changed. An 

 example of the cheng from Korea (95213) has 16 bamboo tubes, 

 the longest of which is 15 inches in length. 



The free reed was first introduced among Europeans at the instance 

 of Professor Kratzebstein, of St. Petersburg, by Kismek, an organ 



