76 BULLETIN 136, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



of these instruments, some of which are noted in special groups, as 

 the one-stringed koto (96840, pi. 30/) is described with the other 

 koto on page 86. One of the most interesting is the eka-tara of India 

 (92705, pi. 30(f), an instrument used by religious mendicants to ac- 

 company their songs. The bamboo neck of this instrument passes 

 entirely through the gourd body, which has a belly of parchment. 

 The string is tied to the short end of the bamboo, passed over a bridge 

 on the body of the instrument, and tuned by a peg on the longer 

 end of the bamboo. The bridge is a simple arch with a notch at the 

 crown for the string. Two other musical instruments from India 

 have one gut string passed through a membrane which is stretched 

 across the bottom of a hollow block of wood. Thence the string 

 passes upward, and in one specimen (92702) it was held in the hand 

 while in the other (92706) it was attached to a tuning peg in the 

 uncut portion of a bamboo cane which formed the upper part of the 

 instrument. This cane was split and one of its prongs attached to 

 each side of the block of wood, the shape of the whole being some- 

 what like that of a bucket with a long, stiff handle. Mahillon, de- 

 scribing the first-named instrument, says that the end of the string- 

 is usually fastened to a small cocoanut shell. " The player holds the 

 instrument loosely between his arm and side, his hand grasping 

 the cocoanut shell and stretching the string, varying its tension. 

 * * * He strikes the string with a wooden plectrum in his other 

 hand. This is used principally by the singing beggars." The second- 

 named instrument has a wire string and was used by religious 

 mendicants for accompanying pastoral songs. 



The primitive stringed instrument 9-1642 (pi. 30<?) was received at 

 a very early date and its history is unknown. It has one string of 

 twisted fiber and apparently was played with a bow consisting of a 

 slender stick strung with a bundle of natural fiber. With this group 

 is a one-stringed fiddle of the Apache Indians (21536, pi. ZOh). 



The harp is of great antiquity, being the first musical instru- 

 ment mentioned in the Bible (Genesis iv, 21). It was the special 

 instrument of David and later was one of the most important mem- 

 bers of the temple orchestra, but its form in early times is said to 

 have resembled the Greek lyre instead of the triangular harp with 

 which we are familiar. 



It is not difficult to trace the development of the harp from the 

 musical bow. "We have noted the addition of a gourd resonator 

 to the ordinary hunting bow, then the use of a hollowed block of 

 wood as a resonator and the addition of several strings, this stage 

 of development being represented by the African lyre. Next we 

 have the Burmese harps, with strings attached to a curved arm 

 that extends over the sound box. Imagine this curved arm leaving 

 the sound box at a sharp angle (like the top of the modern harp), 



