841 



MUSEUM. 



MUSIC. 



842 



sented in bassi-rilievi : on the front of a sarcophagus of later Roman i this the Muses occur in the following order : commencing on the left 

 date ; and in the beautiful relief known as " Apotheosis of Homer," of of the upper line (below the figure of Zeus) we have Calliope, with 

 the upper portions of which, containing the Muses, we give a cut. In ! her tablets ; Clio ; Thalia ; Euterpe, holding out the double flute ; 



Muses, from a basso-rilievo ill the British Museum.] 



Melpomene, standing on a rock and addressing Zeus ; next her, on the 

 extreme right, is Erato (though some German archaeologists take it to 

 be Thalia, and that just noticed as Thalia to be Erato the lyre is, 

 however, the usual attribute of Erato) ; the first figure on the left in 

 the lower row is Terpsichore ; the next, Urania ; the next, Polyhymnia. 

 The figure more to the right is Apollo Musagetes, in female attire, 

 within the Corycian cave, having a plectrum in his right hand, the lyre 

 in his left, and at his feet the Delphic cortina, or tripod cover, bow, 

 and quiver ; the Pythian by his side is offering a libation in a patera. 



The corruption which, in the course of ages, pervaded mythological 

 symbols, did not spare the Muses, and accordingly we find their 

 chastity denied by several writers. According to Apollodorus, Ovid, 

 and others, Clio had Orpheus by Apollo, Euterpe had Rhocsus by the 

 Strymon, Calliope was the mother of the Sirens by Achelous, &c. 



The favourite haunts of the Muses were, Mount Parnassus in Phocis, 

 Helicon in Bocotia, Pierius, Pindus, and Olympus, in Thessaly, &c. 

 The swan, the nightingale, and the grasshopper were sacred to them. 

 Thi Roman poets called the Muses Caraensc, an Etruscan name for it 

 appears that the Etruscans had also their Muses (Micali) and also 

 Pierides. 



A magnificent festival called Museia (MotWio) was held in honour of 

 the Muses at Thespise in Bccotia, every fifty years. 



(Creutzer, Symbnlik und Myt/toloi,ie ; Petersen, De Musarum Origine, 

 in Munter's Mitcellanea Hafuientia ; Hermannus, De Musis flimalibits ; 

 Miiller, Hamtliuch, der Archanlorjit, 393, and Denkmaler der Alien 

 Kungt. &c., taf. Iviii. lix., 732750; Millin, GaUrie Mytfiolo^ique ; 

 Keightley's ;l///'/r. /</// nf Ancient Greece and Italy.) 



MUSEUM, a place dedicated to the Muses, from the Greek Moiueion 

 ( Vlovaftov) ; hence any place where learning is pursued, or which is set 

 apart as t repository for things that have some immediate relation to 

 the arts, is so termed. The earliest institution we are acquainted with 

 which received thi appellation was the museum founded about 

 B.C. 280, at Alexandria by Ptolemy Philadelphia, for the encourage- 



ment of learning and the support of learned men. The buildings of 

 this institution were afterwards enlarged by the emperor Claudius 

 (Suet., ' Claud.,' 42.) 



MUSEUM OF PRACTICAL GEOLOGY. [SCIENCE AND ABT, 

 DEPARTMENT OF.] 



MUSIC (Muaifue, Fr. ; Musica, Lat.~; MoiKmrij, Gr., from novaa 

 a muse or song) is the artistic union of inarticulate sounds and rhythm, 

 exciting agreeable sensations, and raising mental images and emotions 

 directly or indirectly pleasing. Such is pure unmixed music. When 

 conjoined to poetry, it is an art not of diminished importance, but of a 

 dependent nature, its office then being to enforce the meaning of the 

 words and add a colouring to them. As an adjunct it is a beautiful 

 illustration of language ; combined with the sister art, it becomes a 

 highly ornamented kind of eloquence. 



Music is a kind of language, and as such, says Metastasio, it possesses 

 that advantage over poetry which a universal language has over 

 a particular one ; for this last speaks only to its own age and 

 country; the other speaks to all ages and countries. Music is a 

 language that speaks by imitating, and as such it is understood by 

 those who have successfully studied the art, and likewise by mere 

 amateurs, who, with little if any knowledge of its principles, have 

 learnt the meaning of its expressions by long practice, by frequently 

 hearing and enjoying its performance ; but it can only express passion 

 and sentiment very generally, and commonly fails when it attempts to 

 particularise. This want of absolute decision in what is called 

 musical language is by some writers reckoned among its advantages, 

 because it gives the hearer great latitude in interpreting it, which he 

 usually does in a manner as congenial as possible to his own feelings 

 at the time. 



A musical sound which is a curious compound of other sounds, 

 called harmonics, resulting from a number of vibrations in equal times 

 when produced by a fine voice, a rich-toned violoncello, or a " mellow 

 horn," excites in all who possess a moderate share of nervous sensibility 



