424 Fine Arts. 



lightful music is produced. Mr. PltckerIdge, tni 

 Irish gentleman, about the middle of the century, 

 was the first who contrived to play regular tunes on 

 an instrument of this kind. After his death, Mr. 

 Delaval, an ingenious member of the Royal So- 

 ciety in Great-Britain, made a musical instrument 

 on the same principles, but with a better choice 

 and form of glasses. In this stage of the invention. 

 Dr. Franklin undertook to investigate the sub- 

 ject, and considerably improved upon Mr. Dela- 

 val's plan, giving it the name which has bceil 

 mentioned." Since Dr. Franklin, Dr. E. Cul- 

 lEN, of Dublin, has formed an instrument of the 

 same nature, but m.uch more extensive and com- 

 plicated, which he thinks so different as to require 

 a new name. The great excellences of the Har- 

 mo7ika, as an instrument of music, are, that " its 

 tones are incomparably sweet, beyond those of 

 any other; that they may be swelled and softened 

 at pleasure, by stronger or weaker pressures of the 

 finger; that they may be continued to any length; 

 and that the instrument being once well tuned, 

 never again wants tuning." 



The century under consideration has also pro- 

 duced a new species of musical instrument, called 

 X\\Q Euphon, invented in 1790, by Dr. Chladnt, a 

 philosopher of Germany. Like the Harmonica., 

 it is performed with the hand, on glasses j but it 

 differs from that instrument in several respects. 

 The music of the Harmonica is produced by rub- 

 bing the edges of glass vessels, in a circular direc- 

 tion ; whereas the music of the Enplion is effected 

 by rubbing the surface of long glass tubes, in the 

 direction of rio;ht lines. In the number and sweet- 

 ness of its tones, the latter approaches nearly to the 

 excellence of the former; but is much superior in 



u See Franklin's Leticr to Father BeccarlU} on this subject. 



