CHAP, ii.] MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 123 



arc curved on both sides, which is placed between the teeth. The 

 centre rod is then caused to vibrate by the hand ; by opening or 

 contracting the mouth, the sounds which proceed from the little 

 instrument are modified in pitch and strengthened. 1 



Cymbals are used in our bands like the triangle. They consist of 

 two circular bronze plates which the performer holds in each hand 

 by straps, and strikes one against the other with a sliding move- 

 ment. At the centre of each cymbal is a cavity of a hemispherical 

 form ; this helps in the production .of the sound, which is sharper 

 than that given by metal plates. This can be proved by stopping 

 up the two cavities with pieces of paper; the sharp sound is no 

 longer heard. 



The sounds of cymbals have a certain similarity with those of a 



Km. 7fi. Jew's harp. Fin. 77. Cymbals. 



Chinese instrument called a gong, gong-gong, or tam-tam. This is 

 a bronze disc of a diameter varying from 50 centimetres to 1 metre, 

 and surrounded by a projecting border. It is struck on the points 

 near to the circumference with a stick having a pad covered with 

 skin at the end. The repeated beats of the stick produce an ex- 

 tremely complex sound of singular sonorousness, which from time 

 to time bursts out as if by explosion in tones which are sometimes 

 shrill and sometimes deep. The impression caused by this odd 

 instrument is most strange. The Chinese use it during marriages, 

 burials, public or religious fetes, and for visits of mandarins of high 

 rank. 



The Chinese distinguish gongs according to the intensity of their 



1 In the Jew's-harp, in fact, the month is a resonator capable of reinforcing 

 aliquot parts of the reed's fundamental note. 



