CIO 



MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS, AUTOMATIC. 



strument, to five and a half inches drum diam- 

 eter and three and a quarter inches width for 

 the largest. An additional length of running 

 time is given by additional springs, boxes hav- 

 ing been made to run as long as four and a 

 half hours at one winding. In order to render 

 bass notes, a leaden weight is fixed to the un- 

 der side of the tooth marked for the required 

 tone. A cursory examination of the notes 

 will show a systematic gauging of size and 

 thickness. The whole is laid out with the ut- 

 most mathematical precision. As a result of 

 the nicety of construction, two notes side by 

 side, and apparently alike in size, construc- 

 tion, and tone, may be octaves each of the 

 other. The latest feature in the development 

 of the capacities of the finished music-box is 

 the duplex arrangement. It consists of a set 

 of double cylinders revolving and playing to- 

 gether. When it is desired to play a selection, 

 as from an opera which is too long to be con- 

 tained on one revolution of a single cylinder, 

 the shifting to a new set of pins could not be 

 accomplished without an awkward pause. To 

 obviate this interruption, one barrel of the du- 

 plex shifts while the other is playing. When 

 this has been accomplished, and the first is 

 fully under way, the second shifts, and the two 

 go on together. By this method music of any 

 length can be enjoyed without any of the dis- 

 pleasing effects of waiting machinery. Vari- 

 ous other additions and modifications have been 

 made as the taste or ambition of the makers 

 has suggested ; and bells, drums, and castanets 

 are made to play their share, according to the 

 style of music desired. In the earlier history 

 of the instrument, it was the custom to have 

 these latter features concealed, but of late 

 years pains seem to be taken to group them 

 in full view. A singular improvement in the 

 pointing of the cylinder gives the effect of a 

 sustained note. It is called the tremolo. The 

 organ, violin, brass instruments, and the human 



voice, are capable of prolonging a musical note 

 indefinitely ; the harp, guitar, piano, etc., can 

 not, and until recently the music-box could 

 not. In order to remedy the matter in the 

 case of the vibrating teeth, a series of points 

 are added to the cylinder, and the requisite 

 teeth are repeated as many times as required. 

 As a result the teeth of the same tone are con- 

 secutively and rapidly struck, the tone sus- 

 tained, and blended with its companion-notes. 

 The instrument containing this improvement is 

 styled the mandoline. In the style known as 

 the forte-piano there are two combs, one be- 

 ing loud, the other soft, to play the forte and 

 piano parts. The organocleide is a deep-toned 

 mandoline. Its tremolo, instead of being used 

 on occasional notes or in the treble alone, as 

 in the mandoline, is used throughout the bass. 

 Of course it requires many teeth, and for six 

 airs will take a cylinder at least seventeen 

 inches long. The organocleide piccolo has in 

 addition a small comb of very high notes, and 

 derives its name from the piccolo-flute. The 

 harp-zither is a recent attachment. It con- 

 sists of paper 

 rolled and held 

 gently against 

 the teeth of the 

 comb, and caus- 

 ing the pecul- 

 iar muffled sound recognized in the harp and 

 zither. Its addition is a matter of taste. A 

 further variety is given by the addition of bel- 

 lows and reeds as in 'the parlor organ, thus 

 approaching nearer to orchestral effects. The 

 more the instrument is added to, the greater 

 must be its size and consequently its expense. 

 There are about thirty styles, some simple and 

 others extremely complex. 



The Repeater Watch made by a Russian peas- 

 ant in the last century was a marvel of con- 

 struction, and is still preserved in the muse- 

 um at St. Petersburg. It is no larger than an 



EITHFK ATTACHMENT. 



MUSIC-BOX WORKS, WITH BELLOWS AND REED ATTACHMENT. 





