No. 133.] 127 



THE MEJ.O-PEAN. 



Messrs. H. B. Hortun & Co. of Akron, Summit co.. Ohio, ex- 

 hibited a key-board instrument of their invention, under the above 

 name, designed for the parlor. It is smaller than the piano, bvjt 

 resembles it very much in shape. It is a wind, metal-tongued in- 

 strument, constructed upon novel principles, aiming at a combi- 

 nation within itself of .the qualities of the organ, piano and vio- 

 lin. Its tones are far from being unpleasant, many pronounced 

 them sweet, and as an accompaniment to the human voice, it may 

 become popular. It varies in compass from five to five and two- 

 thirds octaves, and the inventors claimed that, "the combina- 

 tion of its improved reeds and sounding board, with its peculiar- 

 ly simple and easy blowing apparatus, gives it the power to pro- 

 duce the prolonged sound of the organ, the quickness and bril- 

 liancy of the piano, and the variety and expression of the violin." 



Success to Akron, which sixty years ago, was the center of a 

 howling wilderness. It now sends forth instruments of sweet and 

 harmonious sounds, in new and beautiful combinations, from the 

 liands of accomplished workmen. It may yet rival the almost 

 time-forgotten cities of the old world, as it certainly marks the 

 rapid progress of civilization and refinement in the new. a. c. 



stillman's improved h.'^rpoon, designed for whaling purposes. 



The instrument consists of two parts; a lance, with a shaft a, 

 of the ordinary length, f^r longer if desirable ; and a strong socket 

 b, about a foot or more in length, which is made to slide freely on 

 the shaft, and fit closely to the head of the lance, in which posi- 

 tion it forms a prolongation of the head. The flukes are fitted 

 into slots in tKe socket, close to its junction with the head of the 

 lance ; they are movable on pivots, and when shut, as in Fig. 2, 

 and as they are designed to be when the harpoon is to be thrown, 

 they lock into the shaft, and hold the socket firm ; but when they 

 are spread, as in Fig 1, the lance is free to slide through the soc- 

 ket. A small line passes through the end of the shaft at c, and, 



