20 THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE INCAS. 



to the plaN'er), so the proper location and diameter of the holes to 

 produce the notes of our scale of even quality are fixed, not by a 

 simple law, as the frets on the guitar are located, but by laborious 

 experimenting to get a standard instrument which is then reproduced 

 with Chinese fidelity." ' 



The question arises. Were the intervals produced on these 

 flutes satisfactory to the Indian? That the first attempt was 

 not so in very many cases, we know from the indisputable evi- 

 dence of his work. Fig. 4 of Plate V shows the under side of a 

 flute. It will be seen that the original thumb hole has been 

 closed (by a stopper made of gourd) and another perforated 

 above it. No. 7 has had four of the six original holes plugged 

 and others bored near them, — only traces of the gourd ]ilugs 

 remaining. No. 17 shows plainly the plug in the original hole, 

 and the vent which was afterward made above it. No. 19 

 shows two sets of holes. Of the plugs, only traces remain ; but 

 the one in the under side (thumb hole) is still in as perfect con- 

 dition as those to be seen in figs. 17 and 21. In No. 20 they 

 have entirely disappeared. The scales of the twenty-six flutes 

 shown on Plate V are given on pages 18 and 19. They have 

 been carefully determined in conformity with the international 

 pitch: vibration -number a' = 435. 



Many of the tones produced from these instruments only 

 approximate, in pitch, to some one of the notes of our familiar 

 twelve-tone piano scale. In manv instances the variation 

 amounts to nearly a quarter of a tone. Considering the age and 

 condition of these flutes, it is safe to say that in some cases the 

 scales given here are incomplete, and this applies particularly 

 to those made of cane. 



No. 14 of this set appears much longer than it really is, — 

 the bird figures being carved on a prolongation of one side of the 

 bone, below the tube. 



Nos. 4, II and 12, represented on Plate IV, may be classed 

 with the flutes. No. 12 is made from a shell (Fasciolan'a prin- 

 cess, Sowh.). It has two vents : one perforated through the top 

 of the spire, the other in its side. No. 4 is an imitation of a 

 shell in terra cotta. It is decorated with a human face and 

 ' Conlril). to the Hist, of Music;il Scales, Rcji. U. S. Nat. Mus., njoo, \\ 426. 



