JOHN WKSI.KY .!( JWtflJ,, DAVIS 



"objective study," caught his attention, and led him to perceive 

 that all the imagined illustrations are merely the generalized 

 form of abundant observations. 



Although the actual origin of music has nowhere been ob- 

 served, the "objective study" of the kinds of music found 

 today among primitive people leads inductively to a safe gener- 

 alization, from which the origin of music in the unobserved 

 past may be reasonably inferred. It began and long continued 

 as a vocal chant, in which the rhythm of sound was adapted 

 to the rhythm of motion in the dance. The chant was at first 

 very simple, but in time the drama came to assist in the devel- 

 opment of more varied form. The savage deifies the beast; 

 the stories of animal-gods are dramatized, and the lives that 

 they live are imitated. The eagle "plays among the clouds, 

 rests on the mountain tops, and soars down to circle over the 

 waves of the sea. The humming-bird poises over its blossom 

 cup of nectar like a winged spirit of the rainbow. The deer 

 bounds away through the forest and leaves the hunter lost in 

 amazement. The squirrel climbs the tree and plays about 

 among its branches, and springs from limb to limb and tree to 

 tree, and laughs at the sport. The rattlesnake glides without 

 feet over the rocks, and in his mouth the spirit of death is con- 

 cealed. The trout lives in the water, and flies up the brook as 

 the hawk flies up the mountain. Dolphins play on the waves 

 as children play on the grass. The spider spins a gossamer 

 web; the grub is transferred into a winged beauty; the bee 

 lays away stores of honey ; the butterfly sports in the sunshine 

 like a flower unchained from its stem. The air, the earth, 

 and the waters are peopled with marvelous beings." 



At first the human voice chanted alone; then through long 

 ages of savagery and barbarism the chant and the song that 

 grew from it had, for instrumental accompaniment, only the 

 unmusical noise of time markers or "thumpers" of many 

 kinds : instruments of sweet sound are comparatively modern. 

 They came recently, when increasing knowledge of many 

 things led to a contemplation and an understanding of nature. 

 "The human reason has acquired a knowledge of the universe 

 dnd derived exalted emotions therefrom. The boundless sea 

 now tells its story. From arctic and antarctic lands navies of 



75 



