Eleftoral Academy at Exfort... 105 
that the principal librarian be an academician, the academy 
will have the lefs hefitation to admit Dr. Biefter * among 
its members, as his. knowledge and literary merit have al- 
ready enfured him the fuffrages of the public. 
_ To conclude, though I am difpofed to preferve to the 
academy the enjoyment and adminiftration of its funds and 
revenues, I, however, referve to myfelf the right of deciding 
more particularly on this fubject, after the new ftate of its 
economy for the next year {hall have been prefented to me 
for fignature. In regard to that of the current year, which 
accompanied the letter of the 28th, it is herewith returned. 
| FREDERICK WILLIAM. 
1798. Received April 11th. - 
Eleéoral Academy of the Ufeful Sciences at Exfort. 
IN the fitting of January 2d, 1798, a paper was read by 
F. von Dalberg, On the gamut and mufical fyftem of the an~ 
éient Hindoos. The author took as the grounds of ‘his’ dif- 
fertation a paper of the late Sir William Jones, publifhed in 
the Afiatic Refearches, and combined with it what he had 
learned during his’ refidence in Italy and England,’ partly 
from the converfation of Richard Johnfon, the friend of Sir 
William Jones, and of others; and partly from manufcripts. ' 
He brought as proofs, that the Hindoos were acquainted 
with the art of noting mufic, not only feveral of their mu- 
fical pieces and a figure of their principal inftrument called 
vina, but alfo their mythology, in which their principal 
tones and notes are perfonified as deities, which haye been 
hitherto unknown. M. von Dalberg obtained figures of 
thefe, collected by Johnfon in India, in order that they might 
be engraved. In the writings of the Hindoos every thing 
is perfonified. According to their ideas, mufic, like all the 
other fine arts, came from heaven. They confider mufical 
sones as real beings which marry other tones; and hence 
* Inftalled in the Sitting of April 26. . 
arifes 
