HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 45 



cavity and a cupped mouthpiece formed with a hot iron. Tagore 

 says this was the favorite instrument of the god Shiva. 



Another type of simple horn made from the tusks or horns of 

 animals is blown through a mouth hole on the inside of the curve 

 of the natural horn. Notable among these are horns made from 

 elephant's tusks, which were used as war and signal horns. The 

 natural cavity forms the bore of the horn and a mouth hole is cut 

 in the concave side, not far from the tip of the horn. In some speci- 

 mens a small hole has been made from the tip of the horn to the 

 natural cavity. It is said that the pitch of the horn is affected by 

 closing this opening with the thumb. The exterior surface of the 

 horn is worked down to conform to the lines of the cavity except 

 around the mouth hole, where a thick ridge is left. The mouth hole 

 is somewhat elliptical in shape and this ridge, in some instances, 

 resembles a pair of thick lips. 



The largest horn of elephant ivory is 127195 (pi. 19 #), which is 

 44 inches long and about 4 inches in diameter at the opening. The 

 splendid sweep of the curve suggests the size of the elephant that 

 once carried the tusk. This specimen was obtained in 1885 and came 

 from Stanley Falls, on the Congo River, in Africa. No. 127192 is 

 a small horn from the same locality. This has a small hole extend- 

 ing from the tip into the cavity and is decorated with a carved band 

 around the opening. Next to the longest horn in the group is 174795 

 (pi. 19c) from the Lukenia River, in Congo, Africa. This is more 

 than 35 inches long and would have a powerful tone. The tip is 

 fashioned like a spearhead. Four similar horns were obtained 

 from this locality and show slight variations in size and outline 

 (174791, 174792, 174793, 174795). These are particularly beautiful in 

 coloring, with the mellow tints that are seen only in old ivory. 



Two specimens from the French Congo are slightly different in 

 workmanship. No. 95231 (pi. 19/) is octagonal in a portion of its 

 outer surface, and 95232 is carved on the tip with a human face. 

 No. 5412 is of medium size, but is very dark ivory and a particularly 

 handsome specimen. It is ornamented with incised lines and sus- 

 pended by a cord made of human hair. With these are shown four 

 horns from Africa which have rectangular mouth holes on the inside 

 of the curves. No. 4960 has the outside of the horn in its natural 

 condition. Nos. 95228, 95229, and 95230 "are used by travelers, 

 especially by common people traveling in canoes." 



Another form of simple horn is the " conch shell trumpet," widely 

 distributed and associated with war and religious ceremonies. The 

 natural cavit}^ of. the shell forms the base and the mouth hole is 

 usually at the apex, though three of the specimens exhibited have a 

 mouth hole at the same side as the opening of the shell. More than 

 five varieties of shell may be seen in the collection, which comprises 



