HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 5 



into cold water. Gongs are thus treated after being cast and are 

 then hammered. The marks of the hammer can be seen on the ex- 

 hibited specimens. This process was a secret in Europe until found 

 out some years ago by M. d'Arect, a French chemist, 



A typical Siamese gong is 3992 (pi. le), which was a gift from 

 the King of Siam to President Pierce in 1857. A Chinese priest's 

 song is shown as 94860. The gong is shaped like a tea plate and it 

 is suspended by three short cords in a round frame with a handle. 

 It is struck with two slender bamboo wands having heads of bone. 

 A " gong harmonium " was used by Buddhist priests in funeral cere- 

 monies. The specimen exhibited (94848) consists of an open wooden 

 frame divided by cross-bars into nine squares. In these squares are 

 suspended nine round gongs, each having a different pitch. They are 

 struck with a slender elastic bamboo having a dice-shaped bone head. 

 A "shark's mouth gong" from Japan (96632) was obtained 

 through the courtesy of Mrs. J. Crosby Brown. It is ornamented on 

 the center of one side with a nine-petaled chrysanthemum surrounded 

 by three raised concentric circles. On the opposite side the flower 

 is replaced by the five drums of " Harden," the thunder god. This 

 little gong was hung at the entrance to a shrine and struck by wor- 

 shippers to attract the attention of the god. A peculiar Chinese 

 gong is 94859 (pi. 2e). When in use it is probably held with the 

 opening upward, like a bowl. 



The collection contains several of the flat gongs with upturned 

 edges which are used in Malay countries. An interesting example 

 is 94917, made of hammered bronze, which was collected in 1891 by 

 R. Wildemann, United States Consul at Singapore. A majority of 

 the gongs now used in the Philippine Islands are of Chinese manu- 

 facture, but in former times the flat gongs were beaten from native 

 copper. A Filipino dancer holds the gong in his left hand by a loop 

 of cord and pounds it with a stick. The writer heard this type of 

 gong used by the Igorot at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 

 St. Louis in 1904 and noted that the tone produced by striking the 

 gong near the edge was approximately a major third higher than 

 when it was struck in the middle. These two tones, interspersed with 

 rests, were combined in various rhythms. In an Igorot village the 

 writer saw the flat gong held on the player's knees and struck alter- 

 nately with a stick and with the palm of the hand. 



A notable specimen of this type is 95204 (pi. lc), from Korea. A 

 small pair of Chinese gongs are only 5% inches in diameter (54018). 

 They are of bell metal, unpolished, and were suspended by a cord. 

 An elaborate gong from Calcutta is 92721 (pi. lg), ornamented with 

 designs which are made by scraping through the dark oxide of the 

 surface. This specimen is of hammered bell metal. Two Chinese 

 gongs are 54080 and 54017 and a specimen from Singapore is 94917. 



2999—27 2 



