160 THE APPLICATIONS OF PHYSICAL FORCES. [BOOK n. 



The performer on the harp places the instrument between the legs, 

 the sounding-box resting at its upper extremity on the right shoulder, 

 the strings and rods thus having a vertical position. He plucks the 

 strings with both hands, the right being more particularly reserved for 

 the upper notes, that is to say, for the shortest strings, the left hand 

 playing the larger strings or bass notes. The compass of the harp is 

 generally from four octaves and a half to five octaves, giving thirty- 

 two or thirty-five strings from the B of the lowest strings (corre- 

 sponding to the first B of the double bass) to A, which is in unison 

 with the A open string of the violin. But in the present day harps 

 have as many as forty-two and even forty-six strings, having as large 



FIG. 111. The Burmese harp. 



a compass as that of pianos with six octaves. The beauty, purity, 

 and brilliancy of the tones of this instrument causes its disuse to be 

 regretted. The harp is now only as a rule found in the hands 

 of strolling musicians, and talented harpists are rare. As the 

 mandoline or guitar are the instruments preferred by southern 

 countries, of Italy or Spain, so the harp is the national instrument of 

 the northern countries, and especially of Ireland and Wales. The 

 Welsh have a national instrument which they call the telyn. It is a 

 harp with the peculiarity of having three rows of strings, the 

 middle row corresponding to the black notes of the piano (sharps and 

 flats). The telyn is played on the left shoulder and with the left 

 hand. The Welsh harp is hence of a much more simple construction 



