70 BULLETIN 136, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



a band of arabesques in blue. Another tambourine from China is 

 octagonal and has one snake-skin head and seven pairs of jingles. 



ONION FLUTES 



The collection contains two forms of musical instruments with 

 vibrating membranes which are not sounded by percussion. The 

 first is an " onion flute," receiving its name from the frequent use 

 of an onion skin as a membrane in its construction. The speci- 

 mens exhibited (216020 a and h) are copies of a French instrument 

 which is said to have been in vogue at the beginning of the seven- 

 teenth century. Concerts were given in which four or five of these 

 instruments were played. The instrument is sounded by being sung 

 into like a zobo or kazoo. An onion flute is in three sections, the 

 upper one hollow, shaped like an egg, and perforated with small 

 holes. This fits on a tenon 1 inch in diameter which is covered with 

 onion skin, paper, or bladder. The mouth hole is large and is 

 placed 514 inches below the tissue-covered end of the tube. The 

 instrument has only false finger holes and a slightly flaring bell. 



THROAT HORNS 



The second form of vibrating membrane not a drum is a Benga 

 lese instrument called " throat horn." A pair of these (5407 a and 

 b) were obtained from Doctor Tagore in 1879. These are of ham- 

 mered silver in the shape of an ordinary straight conical horn witli 

 a cupped mouthpiece, but instead of being blown they were held 

 against the vocal cords in the throat or the cheek, producing a reedy 

 note. According to Mahillon there is a thin convex disk of metal 

 that fits in the cupped mouthpiece. This is placed in a piece of 

 cocoon skilfully cut and inserted in such a manner as to vibrate, 

 producing a tone. 



CASKET USED AS A DRUM 



An inverted basket is used as a drum by the Piman and Yuman 

 Tribes of American Indians. The basket thus used is a household 

 article, an excellent example being 217885, collected by Russell. 

 Among the Papago this basket is struck with the palm of the hand 

 except in a certain class of ceremonial songs in which it is rubbed 

 downward with a short flat stick. The usual procedure is to drop 

 the basket on the ground wrong side up in such a manner as to 

 produce an explosive sound. The players then seat themselves 

 around it. If two men are playing they may strike it with both 

 hands, but more frequently there are four players each striking it 

 with his right hand as he sings. The Yuma Indians strike the bas- 

 ket with willow drumsticks or with bundles of arrow weed, each 

 form of accompaniment being used with certain sorts of songs. 



