668 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1920. 



that whenever these instruments were covered with any skin what- 

 ever, they were provided with straps to stretch them and tune them. 

 The pitch for all kinds comprised only three notes, do, re, and si. 



The teponaztli in general were placed on tripods, not only to bring 

 them more easily within reach of the standing musicians, but espe- 

 cially to avoid contact with the earth, which would deaden the sound 

 and prevent it from carrying so far. 



Besides these various kinds of drum, the ancient Mexicans used 

 whistles, many of which had at the mouthpiece three or even four 

 holes, permitting them to give as many different notes. These 

 Avhistles were generally of earthenware and affected different forms. 

 Many of them represented flowers, birds, and sometimes even fish 

 and snakes. Some had inside a small round stone or ball of clay, 

 which produced a rolling when they were blown. A special whistle 

 permitted of the imitation of the song of a bird, which, it is true, 

 should not be compared with the Mexican nightingale, the zentzontli 

 (bird-mocker, or more exactly, the bird of the four hundred voices). 

 This whistle was called quauhtotopotli. 



The ancient Mexicans had also flutes or rather a sort of fife, with 

 three, four, and even five holes, sometimes made of terra cotta, some- 

 times of wood, and quite often of bone. Some have been found made 

 from a humerus. The Museum of Mexico has one of this last kind, 

 which has six holes. This kind of instrument is at present known by 

 the name of chirimia. 



They had also war trumpets, tepuzquiquiztli. These consisted of 

 large shells, one end of which had been cut off to form the mouth- 

 piece. These were also made of terra cotta, imitating the shape of 

 a shell and ending with the head of a tiger or a snake. 



There should be mentioned, besides, the bells of all kinds of metal ; 

 copper, gold, and silver, more or less mixed, and bearing designs in 

 relief, like those which are sometimes found in our time in Chiapas 

 and Yucatan, and which vary in dimensions from the size of a plum 

 to that of a cherry. They made them also of wood. I have collected 

 many of them among the ruins of " La Quemada " ('State of Zacate- 

 cas) ; others, finally, were of terra cotta. They used these bells some- 

 what as the Spaniards use castanets. 



All these instruments still exist among the modern Mexicans, and 

 the Indians use them in their characteristic dances. But other ma- 

 terials are introduced into their manufacture. For example, they 

 have whistles, flutes, and bells not only of terra cotta and of wood 

 but even of tin. 



They have also increased the number of them by perfecting the flute 

 of Pan, and adding little trumpets of terra cotta, which recall our 

 pistons ; and little bells also of terra cotta affecting the form of the 



