MUSICAL INSTKUMENTS, AUTOMATIC. 



609 



jjjmiiii''^ i 



MUSICAL DECANTER. 



of steel of which each tooth in the comb was 

 formed, music-boxes became extremely popu- 

 lar. The agreeable surprises they were capable 

 of giving, owing to their being frequently con- 

 cealed from view, 

 added not a little 

 to the entertainment 

 they afforded. In 

 building a music-box 

 the tunes are first 

 selected, and invari- 

 ably transposed to 

 the key of C or G. 

 This is for the pur- 

 pose of avoiding ac- 

 cidentals, and every 

 note that is not to 

 be used is discarded 

 from the comb. By 

 this procedure the 

 comb avoids the 

 chromatic scale, or 

 in fact any scale at 

 all. It contains ex- 

 clusively the notes 

 that belong to a giv- 

 en cylinder and its 

 tunes. Music-boxes were invented about the be- 

 ginning of the present century, most probably 

 in Switzerland, which always has been, as 

 it now is, the chief seat of their production. 

 The house of Moi'se Paillard is the oldest of 

 which any authentic information can be had. It 

 was established in 1814, and its earliest work 

 was wholly by hand. It was the custom for the 

 employe's to take their work to their homes, 

 and when completed it was returned to the 

 master. This insured the extreme of skill and 

 inventive ingenuity. The popularity of the so- 

 called ornament increased, and its manufacture 

 promptly kept pace. Machinery was intro- 

 duced, improvements made, suggestions and 

 devices adopted, patents secured, houses estab- 

 lished, and a trade of many thousand a year 

 entered upon. To the brain of Arn6d6e Pail- 

 lard, of Ste. Croix, in Switzerland, seems to be 

 due the credit of the greatest amount of in- 

 ventive genius in this department of automatic 

 music. As a result of his investigations and 

 studies in applying mechanical devices, the 

 music-box of 1814 would scarcely be identi- 

 fied with the instrument of to-day, so great 

 has been the advancement both in construc- 

 tion and tone. There are at the present writ- 

 ing more than twenty large manufactories 

 scattered throughout and among the rugged 

 hills of the Switzer's mountain home, and 

 hundreds of thousands of instruments are an- 

 nually manufactured and exported. What was 

 first a little toy was destined to a rapid growth. 

 One improvement after another having been 

 added, a music-box can now be found of almost 

 any size or shape, ranging from the child's toy 

 of a single tune to the size of a piano with a 

 series of airs limited only by the length of the 

 As the size of an instrument in- 

 VOL. xxv. 39 A 



TOT MUSIC-BOX. 



creases, so does its capacity for music. The cyl- 

 inders range from one and a half to thirty-seven 

 inches in length. In the larger instruments it is 

 usual to have the steel comb in sections. Where 

 more than one tune is set to 

 a cylinder, the spaces between 

 the rows of teeth are increased, 

 and the second series of pins 

 in the cylinder are inserted in- 

 dependently of the first series. 

 Size increases both volume 

 and richness of tone. A cyl- 

 inder ten inches long can be 

 made to play six, eight, ten, 

 or twelve airs well ; but will, 

 of course, play six or eight airs better and 

 with more sweetness and harmony than if 

 attempting a greater number, for the reason 

 that more points on the cylinder and more 

 teeth in the comb can be utilized for fewer 

 airs. A note ordinarily consists of the single 

 bar standing out like a tooth in a coarse comb. 

 The end of the bar is suddenly brought to a 

 point by curved cuttings on either side, bring- 

 ing the extreme end down to the minimum of 

 surface required by the passing point in the 

 cylinder. Should it be necessary to strike a 



given note a sec- 

 ond time, and re- 

 quired to give the 

 stroke before the 

 vibrations result- 

 ant from the pre- 

 vious stroke had 

 ceased, it is ob- 

 vious that the 

 approaching peg 

 or point would 

 touch the tooth 

 while still in vibration. The result would be 

 a rattling dissonance, which, although short, 

 would be jarring to the sensitive ear and 

 detract from the silvery sweetness of the 

 tone. To obviate this difficulty a delicate 

 spring is adjusted to the under side of each 

 tooth, which, because of its being on the 

 under side and out of the range of vision, is 

 not readily noticeable. It is acted upon by 

 the approaching cylinder - pin, and, gently 

 reaching up, presses against and stops the vi- 

 brations, so that the cylinder-point reaches the 

 tooth in its normal position. These metal 

 dampers can be affixed only to the larger notes. 

 On the smaller ones, even to the extremest, a 

 damper is also used ; but the steel wire being 

 too heavy, a section of a barb from the larger 

 vexillum or membranous web of the wing- 

 feathers of an aged hen are utilized. The 

 springy stiffness of the semi-horny concavo- 

 convex fiber renders them particularly desir- 

 able. They are fitted with glue or cement to 

 the required position, and last as long as steel 

 damper-springs. The motive power of a music- 

 box is a coiled spring, ranging in size from five 

 eighths of an inch drum diameter and three 

 eighths of an inch in width for the smallest in- 



BECTION OP COMB. 



