HANDBOOK OF THE COLLECTION OF MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS 71 



These appliances for striking the drum are not held in the usual 

 manner, one in each hand, but the two sticks or bundles are both held 

 in the same hand, side by side. Specimens of these (235190 and 

 325189) were seen in use and collected by the writer. 



Section 4. STRINGED INSTRUMENTS 



The pleasing sound of a string, stretched and plucked with the 

 fingers or struck with a rod, was among the early discoveries of the 

 human race in the field of esthetics. Next came a knowledge that 

 the resonance of the tone was increased if the string were stretched 

 over something hollow, as a gourd or hollow block of wood. Since 

 one string gave a pleasing sound, why should not two strings give 

 more pleasure, especially if they were different in length and pitch? 

 On these two sensations of pleasure the whole history of stringed 

 instruments is foimded. In the following section, and by means of 

 exhibited instruments, we will follow this interesting history from 

 the musical bow and the one-stringed instrument of oriental and 

 Asiatic countries, through the lyre and lute to the mandolin, guitar, 

 and violin, and through the harp, psaltery, and dulcimer, to the 

 clavicord and harpsichord, and finally to the pianoforte of the 

 present day. Such a marvelous development must of necessity be 

 gradual. An entire generation might pass without producing a 

 single inventive mind that would improve the existing form of 

 stringed instrument. In the next generation it might occur to some 

 one to devise a new way of regulating the tension of the string or 

 increasing the resonance. Such a device, once found to be successful, 

 was handed down as an improvement in the instrument and became 

 a factor in its further development. Such a device, for instance, was 

 the tuning peg set in a rigid bar. Previous to that device the tension 

 of the string was determined by the point at which it was attached 

 to a flexible rod. Another great advance was made by the man who 

 in the remote past substituted animal for vegetable material in 

 strings. Across the years we greet these long-forgotten lovers of 

 music whose individual effort carried their instrument a little farther 

 toward efficiency and excellence of tone production. 



INSTRUMENTS WITH OPEN STRINGS, PICKED 



Probably no musical instrument has a wider distribution than 

 the musical bow. According to Balfour, it is found throughout 

 southern Africa, in India, the Malay Islands, Mexico, and Patagonia, 

 and there are traditions of its use in central Brazil and Japan. 

 Opinions differ as to the explanation of its presence in the Western 

 Hemisphere. 



The musical bow is the simplest stringed instrument, and is 

 briefly described as a flexible stick with a string stretched between 



