446 



NATURE 



[September io, 1891 



paper before the Epidemiological Society last year on the subject. 

 It is published in the Society's Transactions, and in a separate 

 form by Mr. Lewis, of Gower Street. I also read a paper 

 before the International Congress of Hygiene on antiseptic 

 inunction. In this I have related the experience of other 

 medical men in confirmation of my own. One, whose child 

 had scarlet fever, placed his two other children in the same 

 room, and kept them there for eight days, and they did not take 

 the disease. This will be published in the Transactions of the 

 Congress, and any one interested in the disinfection of infectious 

 diseases, may obtain all ihe information they require from those 

 two papers. J- Brendon Curgenven. 



Teddington Hall, S.W., August 17. 



Alum Solution. 



One frequently reads, in accounts of experiments on the 

 physical or chemical action of luminous rays, that a solution of 

 alum has been tised to absorb obscure heat radiations. An 

 instance of this occurs in your description of the investigation by 

 M. D'Arsonval (Nature, vol. xliv. p. 390). I should like to 

 be informed if this practice is based upon actual evidence, or 

 merely upon the supposition that, because alum itself cuts off a 

 larger proportion of heat rays than any other easily available 

 solid, its solution should be more effective than any other liquid. 

 The only figures bearing on the question with which I am 

 acquainted are those of Melloni, and he, as cited by Ganot, 

 states the percentage of heat rays transmitted by alum solution 

 as 12, and that by distilled water as 11. Why, then, not use 

 distilled water ? Harry Napier Draper. 



Dublin, August 27. 



A NEW KEYED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT 

 FOR JUST INTONATION. 



ON E of those subjects which periodically turn up for 

 discussion, and then vanish for an interval of 

 neglect, is the possibility of obtaining just intonation in 

 the performance of music. Those who have studied 

 theory, properly so-called, know very well that the series 

 of musical sounds commonly used, as expressed on the 

 pianoforte, do not give the true harmonic combinations 

 on which the art is based, and many zealous attempts 

 have been made to cure the evil. One of these, showing 

 some novelty and much merit, is now exciting the atten- 

 tion of eminent musicians on the Continent ; it was men- 

 tioned briefly in Nature of April 2 last (p. 521), and it 

 may be interesting to many readers to give some further 

 account of its general features. We may, however, pre- 

 face this with a few words on the state of the question 

 generally. 



Although the equal division of the octave has now 

 taken such a firm hold on modern musicians, it is only 

 within a comparatively recent period that its use has 

 become common. It was well known at an early date, 

 but its defects checked its use until the general introduc- 

 tion of the class of instruments which have culminated 

 in the pianoforte ; the reason of its adoption then being 

 that the want of sustaining power in the clavecin and the 

 harpsichord so diminished the discordant effect as to 

 make the faulty tuning endurable. People then began 

 to get accustomed to it, and it was soon found that the 

 system gave such extraordinary facilities for chromatic 

 music, that the cultivation of this style became enor- 

 mously developed. Hence the chromatic style and the 

 equal temperament have become closely allied, and it is 

 almost a matter of doctrine that the pianoforte division 

 of the octave is a necessary element for the proper per- 

 formance, or proper understanding, of the compositions 

 of modern days. 



For organs, the application of the equal temperament 

 came much later. Down to about the middle of this 

 century they were tuned on a system which gave the 

 most usual keys fairly in tune, at the cost of an occasional 

 harsh chord, which, for church purposes, was considered 



NO. II4I, VOL. 44] 



but a small price to pay for the general smooth and har- 

 monious effect. But when highly skilled players began 

 to increase, they required the organ to be more used for 

 exhibition, and for this purpose the introduction of the 

 equal temperament was deemed desirable. And so, as it 

 thus commanded the two most powerful sources of music, 

 it crept into use also by stringed instruments, orchestras, 

 and voices, and so it has become general. 



The consequence is that, now, practical musicians are 

 in the habit of accepting the equal-tempered intonation 

 as genuine and true music ; and as the study of the prin- 

 ciples of musical structure is by no means highly en- 

 couraged in this country, efforts are seldom made to 

 undeceive them. Students are authoritatively told that 

 questions about just intonation may be interesting to 

 physicists and mathematicians as recondite problems in 

 acoustical science, but that they have no bearing on 

 "practical" music, and that, therefore, musicians need 

 not trouble themselves about them. Some years ago, 

 at a meeting of one of our musical educational establish- 

 ments, it was said, " We do not here make music an 

 affair of vibrations"— a sentiment which was received 

 with loud applause. 



No doubt some enthusiasts have carried the investiga- 

 tions on this subject to a degree of refinement which far 

 outruns practical utility; and one can have little sympathy 

 with those who delight in reviling and despising the duo- 

 decimal scale ; sieeing that it has been the means of 

 materially advancing the art, and that the modern enhar- 

 monic system, founded upon it, has been so thoroughly 

 incorporated into modern music that it is difficult to see 

 how it could be now ignored. 



But, on the other hand, one must, if one is to exercise 

 reason and common-sense in musical matters, be equally 

 at variance with the party who, arrogating to themselves 

 the title of " practical " musicians, force on us the equal 

 temperament to an extent which really means the extinc- 

 tion of true intonation altogether. We now, indeed, 

 never hear it, and in fact only know by imagination what 

 a true " common chord " means. 



The principal objection to this state of things is that 

 the ears of musicians become permanently vitiated, and 

 lose the sense of accurate intonation, or the desire to 

 approach it, which is tantamount to abandoning the 

 most precious feature that modern music possesses — 

 namely, beauty of harmony. A chord of well selected 

 sounds, exactly in tune, is a very charming thing ; but it 

 is a thing unknown to ears of the present day. I can 

 recollect the time when singers and violin-players strove 

 to sing and play in good tune, and the effect of such un- 

 accompanied part-singing, and such violin-playing, was 

 very delightful. But now, music not being made " an 

 affair of vibrations," one is often ashamed of the quality 

 of what one hears ; nobody seems to think purity of har- 

 mony, either with voices or violins or orchestras, to be a 

 matter worth striving after. 



It is surely a reasonable wish that this should be 

 checked, but one must be reasonable in one's expecta- 

 tions. The pianoforte must certainly be let alone, and 

 so must the organ when used for exhibitional purposes, 

 though its cacophony under the present tuning detracts 

 much from the pleasure of hearing such fine playing as is 

 now common. But vocalists and violin-players ought to 

 be encouraged, as of old, to sing and play in tune, and 

 for this purpose what is wanted is an instrument which 

 will keep up and circulate the tradition of what true 

 music means. To attain this, therefore— z>. to construct 

 an instrument which shall enable a player, with moderate 

 ease, to play polyphonic music, of moderately chromatic 

 character, in strict tune— has been the aim of many in- 

 genious musicians and mechanics. 



I need not go into history. Everybody may see at 

 South Kensington the wonderful enharmonic organ, built 

 half a century ago by General Thompson, and may read of 



