68 NATURAL HISTORY. 



bells ; of glass, as in the filliping of a drinking glass ; 

 of air, as in men s voices whilst they sing, in pipes, 

 whistles, organs, stringed instruments, &c. and of 

 water, as in the nightingale pipes of regals, or 

 organs, and other hydraulics ; which the ancients 

 had, and Nero did so much esteem, but are now lost. 

 And if any man think, that the string of the bow 

 and the string of the viol are neither of them equal 

 bodies, and yet produce tones, he is in an error. 

 For the sound is not created between the bow or 

 &quot; plectrum&quot; and the string ; but between the string 

 and the air ; no more than it is between the finger 

 or quill, and the string in other instruments. So 

 there are, in effect, but three percussions that create 

 tones ; percussions of metals, comprehending glass 

 and the like, percussions of air, and percussions of 

 water. 



103. The diapason or eighth in music is the 

 sweetest concord, in so much as it is in effect an 

 unison ; as we see in lutes that are strung in the 

 base strings with two strings, one an eighth above 

 another ; which make but as one sound. And every 

 eighth note in ascent, as from eight to fifteen, from 

 fifteen to twenty-two, and so in &quot; infinitum,&quot; are but 

 scales of diapason. The cause is dark, and hath not 

 been rendred by any ; and therefore would be better 

 contemplated. It seemeth that air, which is the sub 

 ject of sounds, in sounds that are not tones, which 

 are all unequal, as hath been said, admitteth much 

 variety ; as we see in the voices of living creatures, 

 and likewise in the voices of several men, for we are 



