HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 9 



bell with a cast handle, like a dinner bell; the tongue is rough finished 

 and left blackened. A "wind bell" from Korea is of cast brass 

 (151616, pi. 5c). From the clapper is suspended a fish cast from 

 brass almost as thin as paper. Such a bell is hung from the eaves 

 at each of the four corners of a temple. 



An interesting war bell of wrought iron from West Africa is 

 174751 (pi. 5;). The curious bell with a curved handle (95221, pi. 

 5k) is from the French Congo, and was collected by Carl Steckleman. 



Concerning the use of the bell in India, Capt. Meadows Taylor 

 says: 



No ceremony of sacrifice or oblation "is performed without the preliminary 

 tinkling of the bell, which is repeated at certain intervals during the ritual. 



. . There can be no doubt that the practice of using it is as ancient as 

 Hinduism itself, and the rituals, liturgies, and works of ceremonial observance 

 define the use to be made of it. By Mohammedans the use of a bell in any 

 form that I am aware of is unknown. 



No. 92722 (pi. 5A) is from India and has a bell-shaped body with 

 a cast handle. On top of the handle is the figure of a kneeling winged 

 god. The bell is of hammered bell metal, the outside turned and 

 polished, the inside is rough as it came from the mold. A Chinese 

 priest's bell at the end of a rod (94863) has no clapper and was 

 probably sounded by striking against some object, 



The use of pottery in making bells is shown by 214482 (pi. 5e), 

 which is made of red earthenware, decorated with three stripes of 

 white. It has a ball of pottery suspended as a clapper, and came from 



Italy. 



A curious little Shinto bell from Japan is 96634 (pi. 5^), made 

 of hammered and polished brass. Inclosed are two small fragments 

 of brass that serve as a clapper. Somewhat larger is a dog bell, 

 used when hunting (174750). This is made of a heart-shaped 

 nutshell decorated with four lines of white clay. The apex is pierced 

 for a cord and an opening is cut in the lower end. It was collected 

 in Bongola, West Africa, and obtained from Hon. Dorsey Mohun, 

 of the United States Department of State. 



Attention is directed to the large suspended bell (4329, pi. 5b), 

 which was collected by Commodore M. C. Perry on his expedition 

 to Japan in 1852-1854, and presented by him to the museum. It is 

 of cast bell metal with cylindrical body and conoidal top. The 

 four squares each contain 12 raised knobs, which are supposed to 

 represent the snails that crawled on the head of Buddha and pre- 

 vented a sunstroke. From the apex of the bell project two dragon's 

 heads, united by the double trident-shaped " precious jewel," form- 

 ing a loop by which the bell is suspended. This type of bell was 

 struck over the circular boss near the mouth with a swinging beam 

 of wood. 



