369 
March 8, 1875. 
Professor STOKES in the Chair. 
The following communications were made by Mr W. T. 
KINGSLEY, 
(1) On the cause of the “wolf” in the Violoncello. 
Mr Kinesey said that the “wolf” occurs somewhere about 
the low E or E flat, and was attributed to the finger-board 
having the same pitch, so that the finger-board becomes as it 
were a portion of the string stopped down on it and vibrates 
with it: if this is the true cause, the “wolf” cannot be got rid 
of, but may be placed at such a pitch between EH and E flat as 
to occur on a note rarely used ; also by thickening the neck of 
the finger-board, the extent of discursion in the vibration may 
be made less. 
The Master OF St CATHARINE’S COLLEGE remarked that a 
different explanation of the phenomenon was given by M. 
Savart, which was to this effect. The old Italian makers con- 
structed the violoncello of such dimensions that the mass of air 
included within the instrument resonates to a note making 
85°33 vibrations in a second, a number which then represented. 
the lowest F on the C string, but which now, owing to the rise 
of pitch since the beginning of the 18th century, nearly repre- 
sents the note E immediately below it. Savart’s theory was 
that notes half a tone above or below this EH will cause beats 
between the vibrations of the string and those of the mass of 
included air. It seemed quite possible that the mass of air 
contained in the instrument should be capable of controlling the 
vibrations of the whole instrument, but not that the vibrations 
of the finger-board alone (as Mr Kingsley suggested) could do 
this. For the sound, technically called the “ wolf,” is an actual 
