VIOLIN 



favorite, is a cultivated species of wild violet. 

 See PANSY. ' 



Consult Allen-Brown's The Violet Book; Gallo- 

 way's Commercial Violet Culture. 



VI'OLIN, pronounced also, violin', the 

 stringed instrument in universal favor both as 

 a solo instrument and for orchestral work. 

 What may be called the foundation of the or- 

 tra is made up of the "strings" the violin, 

 viola, cello and double bass (see ORCHESTRA). 

 In sweetness and brilliance of tone and in range 

 and power of expression, the violin yields to no 

 other instrument. Like other bow instruments, 

 it has a hollow, wooden chest, consisting of two 

 slightly arched surfaces, the back and the belly, 

 united by sidepieces or ribs; a scroll, or head, in 

 which are placed the pins, or keys, for tighten- 

 ing or loosening the strings; the neck, attached 

 to the chest; the finger board, resting on the 

 neck; and strings, fastened at one end to the 

 belly by a tailpiece and at the other to the 

 tuning pins. The strings passing over the belly 

 are raised up from it by a bridge. 



On the belly are two /-shaped sound holes, 

 opposite each other. The strings, four in num- 

 ber, are of catgut, the lowest being covered 

 with silvered copper wires. The belly is usu- 

 ally made of pine; the back, neck and sides 



THK VIOLIN 



(a) Scroll; (6) keys ; (c) peg box; (d) finger 

 board; (e) sound holes; (/) bridge; (a) tall 

 piece. 



of sycamore; the bridge, of stippled maple, 

 and the finger board and tailpiece of ebony. 

 The sounds are produced by drawing a bow 

 across the strings. The bow consists of a piece 

 of rosewood averaging about twenty-seven 

 inches in length, to \\hich are attached long 

 horsehair threads. These threads can be tight- 

 ened or loosened by means of a screw. By 

 tightening the threads the performer is able to 

 increase the volume of the sound. 



The violin was the immediate successor of 

 tip smallest-sice viols, (see VIOL), a class of 

 bowed instruments having a flat back, sloping 

 shoulders, shaped sounding holes and a short 

 tinner board with frets. The art of violin mak- 

 IIIK n n ! ! its highest degree of perfection in 

 tin- -ixt. -ruth, seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 

 turies, especially in the city of Cremona, Italy. 



VIRCHOW 



Cremona produced several of the world's most 

 famous violin makers, notably Antonio Stradi- 

 varius, Niccolo Amati and Giuseppe Guarneri. 

 Celebrated masters of violin making also ap- 

 peared in Germany and France. This instru- 

 ment has inspired some of the noblest compo- 

 sitions of the great composers. Modern violin 

 players who have won fame include Kubelik, 

 Kreisler, Ysaye, Maud Powell and Mischa El- 

 man. 



Consult Abele's The Violin and Its Story. 



VIOLONCELLO, veolonchel'o, known gen- 

 erally as cello, a large instrument of the violin 

 class, which the performer holds between the 

 knees. In the orchestra it has a place between 

 the violin and the double bass. It was evolved 

 from the bass viol in the early part of the 

 eighteenth century. The cello is an important 

 solo instrument, having a rich singing tone 

 which is even more sympathetic than that of 

 the violin. It has four gut strings, the lower 

 two being covered with silvered copper wire, 

 and its bow is shorter than that of the violin, 

 although the instrument itself is much larger. 

 Beethoven, Schumann, Brahms and Mendels- 

 sohn composed beautiful solos for the cello. 



VI 'PER, a family of venomous snakes con- 

 fined to the tropical and temperate regions of 

 Europe, Asia and Africa. Vipers are distin- 

 guished by a flat, triangular head, plainly dif- 

 ferentiated from the neck, and by a catlike 

 pupil of the eye. In most of the species the top 

 of the head is covered with small scales. The 

 common viper, the only poisonous reptile found 

 in Great Britain, is generally less than two 

 feet long, and is usually colored brownish- 

 yellow, with zigzag markings on its back and 

 black, triangular spots on its sides. Its bite is 

 seldom fatal, but usually causes pain and 

 fever. 



The so-called pit viper, found in America, is 

 distinguished by a deep pit between the eye 

 and the nostrils, which is connected with the 

 l)i-.iin I iy i *ell-<ieveloped n. i\e. This pit is 

 evidently an organ of sense. lik- the eye or 

 ear, but scientists have not yet learned what its 

 service is to the snake. Some observers bel : 

 that it is the organ of a sixth sense, and that 

 in. in m;iv ii'M ; !,;- to understand it because 

 he has no such sense himself. 



Many of the best -known and most dreaded 

 serpents of America belong to the viper family. 

 copperhead, the moccasin and the rnttl. - 

 snake are all pit vipers. 



VIRCHOW, vur'rhnu. (in German, fcer'Ko), 

 RIDOLF (1821-1902), a German scholar, distin- 



