MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, AUTOMATIC. 



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Pius IX declined a personal interview, and 

 the mission failed the first and only time in 

 Montefiore's history. In 1860, he raised a fund 

 of over 12,000 for the relief of Jewish refu- 

 gees from Morocco ; and in the same year, when 

 the Christians of Syria were attacked by the 

 Druses of Mount Lebanon, he headed a sub- 

 scription for their benefit, his committee raising 

 22,000. On Sept. 24, 1862, Montefiore lost his 

 wife, and her Ramsgate mausoleum and the 

 college in her name attest the intensity of his 

 affection. She was a lady of wide culture, 

 charming personal presence, and of rare re- 

 ligious fervor. But Sir Moses's grief was inter- 

 rupted by a new call, a visit to Morocco in 1863, 

 to protect the persecuted Jews. He was kind- 

 ly received by Queen Isabella in Madrid, and se- 

 cured the release of the Jewish prisoners in Tan- 

 giers. At his suggestion, the Sultan issued an 

 edict protecting Jews and Christians. In 1866 

 he visited Palestine, when it was suffering from 

 drought and disease. In 1867 he journeyed to 

 Bucharest in behalf of the Roumanian Jews. 

 In 1872 he visited Russia, and was cordially 

 received by the Emperor Alexander II. In July, 

 1874, he undertook his seventh journey to Pal- 

 estine, to investigate the condition of the Jews, 

 a large testimonial fund for their benefit hav- 

 ing been raised in his name. On Oct. 24, 1883, 

 his entrance upon his hundredth year was cele- 

 brated throughout the world, and the completion 

 of his centennial year was also commemorated 

 in Europe, America, and Australia ; the Chris- 

 tian pulpit and press echoing his warm praise. 

 He died in full possession of his faculties, his 

 last words being " I thank God." Sir Moses was 

 tall and commanding in appearance. His coun- 

 tenance was genial, his manners those of an 

 English gentleman of the olden school. He 

 was strictly conservative in belief and practice, 

 and was never ashamed to be known as Monte- 

 fiore the Jew. He had warm Christian friends, 

 and remembered in his will Christian clergy- 

 men and charities. He was of a very cheerful 

 temperament, and many stories are told of his 

 wit and humor. A full history of his life is in 

 course of preparation by his friend, secretary, 

 and co-worker, Rev. Dr. L. Loewe. 



MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, AUTOMATIC. What 

 we purpose to treat as mechanical or auto- 

 matic music is (1) such music as is rendered 

 without the aid of human manipulation ; (2) 

 that which is produced by merely mechani- 



cal means; (3) that which is produced partly 

 by mechanical means and partly by the action 

 of the forces of nature ; and (4) that which is 

 produced partly by mechanical means and 

 partly by human manipulation. 



The Eoliau Harp. In its earliest and crudest 

 form this doubtless consisted of no more than 



I a reed, a fiber, or a tendon drawn across an 

 aperture. Others were added, until in the 

 later age we have an instrument of rare and 

 wonderful delicacy of sound. The ^Eolian 

 harp, as now constructed, is usually about 

 three feet long, five inches broad, and three 



inches deep. It is generally made of pine- 

 wood, with beech ends, for insertion of tuning 

 and pitch pins. There are also two narrow 

 bridges of hard wood, over which a dozen cat- 

 gut strings are stretched. They are tuned in 

 the most exact harmony possible. There are 

 usually two sound-holes in the sound-board. 

 The instrument is fitted in a window, suffi- 

 ciently open to admit its introduction obliquely 

 to the direction of the wind. The evening 

 time is best. The sounds, as the wind plays 

 over the chords, are pure and so perfectly in ac- 

 cord that no tuning we might accomplish could 

 improve them. We are impressed by them as by 

 a far-distant, softened wail, to be followed, as 

 the wind-pressure increases, by more and more 

 angry notes as we mount to those dissonances 

 in the next higher octave, until the abating 

 force suffers the lower beautiful harmonics to 

 predominate again. 



The Statne of Memnon. Of the fact that the 

 statue of Memnon uttered sounds when the 

 morning sun shone upon it, there can be no 

 doubt. As to the mode, there is great diversity 

 of opinion. The one most generally received 

 ascribes the sound to some peculiar property 

 in the stone itself, of which the Egyptian priests 

 artfully took advantage, though in what way 

 is quite uncertain. A theory advanced was 

 that they might have fabricated, by mechanical 

 art, a kind of speaking head, the springs of 

 which were so arranged as to respond to the 

 warmth of the rising sun. This theory could 

 scarcely be maintained in the face of the fact 

 that Cambyses broke the statue from the head 

 to the middle of the body and found nothing. 

 It was the general belief among the Egyptians, 

 as well as strangers who were attracted from 

 far and near, that before being broken the stat- 

 ue uttered seven vowel sounds or tones, and 

 they added the word mysterious. The sound 

 was said to resemble that given by the break- 

 ing of a harp-string. Another theory was that 

 the stone was struck by a hammer, wielded by 

 human agency. It is worthy of remark that 

 in the lap of the statue is a stone that emits a 

 metallic sound ; also that there is a square space 

 cut in the back part of the stone, in which a 

 person could be hidden from the most scrutin- 

 izing observer in the plain below. It is doubt- 

 ful, however, if any one could impose upon a 

 people for a long series of years, and even ages, 

 by hiding in such a hole and using a hammer. 

 There are always incredulous persons, ready to 

 investigate, and the theory becomes in a de- 

 gree untenable. Another theory was that na- 

 ture and art combined produced the varying 

 sounds, and it is supported by scientific discov- 

 ery in other portions of the world. Alexander 

 von Humboldt speaks of sounds that can be 

 heard proceeding from the rocks on the banks 

 of the Orinoco, in South America, at sunrise. 

 He attributed them to confined air making its 

 escape from crevices or caverns, owing to the 

 increasing difference of internal and external 

 temperature at the falling of the sun's rays 



