742 



'.GIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 230- 



EVOL miON OF THE EMBOUCHURE IN NORTH 

 AMERICAN INDIAN FLAGEOLETS. 



Instrument No. 76,164 in the U. S. Na- 

 tional Museum, from the Cocopa Indians, is 

 made of cane. The septum of the reed is 

 not removed, but two small holes are burnt 

 into the cavity, one on either side of the 

 septum and the wood between the holes re- 

 moved. By covering the upper hole and 

 the intervening space between the holes 

 with the linger and blowing in the upper 

 end of the reed, a proper direction is given 

 to the breath against the outer edge of the 

 lower hole and a whistling sound is pro- 

 duced. Finger lioles in the section below 

 the septum enable the player to produce a 

 variety of sounds. 



The second step in the development of 

 the embouchure is illustrated by instru- 

 ments Nos. 107,5.3.5 from Tucson, Arizona, 

 and 11,314 from the Apache Indians, in the 

 same Territory. Both have the same style 

 of embouchure as the first named. But a 

 piece of cloth or deerskin tied over the up- 

 per sound hole and the space between the 

 holes takes the place of the finger in di- 

 recting the breath. It may be noticed that 

 in none of the flageolets mentioned has the 

 maker sharpened the edge of the lip or hole 

 against which the wind impinges. 



The third step is marked by instruments 

 with a thin edge on the lip where the sound 

 is made. In No. 8,429, from the Ree In- 

 dians, one section of quill is used to re- 

 place the finger or cloth in directing the 

 breath, and another to form a sharp lip, 

 and they are lashed down tight with 

 sinew. In Nos. 72,884 and 94,005, from 

 the Creek Indians, and in many other ex- 

 amples, the reed is replaced by a piece of 

 soft wood split and hollowed to imitate the 

 interior of the cane flageolet, and the pieces 

 then joined with gum and thongs. In 

 these the ' languid,' or languette, is left in 

 the carving and the sound holes are united 

 by an excavation as in 1 and 2. The air 



channel is formed by excavating a shallow 

 notch in the upper edge of the diaphragm, 

 or ' languid ;' the lip being a thin piece of 

 metal ; the cover is a piece of wood, laid on 

 and fastened with thong. This is usually 

 carved and is a prominent feature in this 

 style of flageolet commonly called ' court- 

 ing flutes.' 



The fourth and last step in this evolution 

 is exemplified by No. 23,724, from the Sioux 

 of Devil's Lake Agency. The air passage 

 between the two sound holes is not cut out 

 of the diaphragm between, but a metal plate 

 extends over and beyond both holes, and 

 there is a rectangular slot cut out of the 

 metal long enough to expose both holes and 

 of the same width as the holes. The carved 

 cap is lashed on top of the metal plate so 

 as to form the air passage, which is bounded 

 by the diaphragm, the edges of the metal 

 and the underside of the wooden cap. 



The Ree specimen, No. 8,429, shows that 

 the Indian flageolet was in use before the 

 knowledge of the Europeans. This speci- 

 men consists of a tube of hard wood. In- 

 stead of making the embouchure like those 

 in European whistles and flageolets, placing 

 a plug with an air channel between it and 

 the wall of the tube just above the sound 

 hole, they have made a long hole or slot 

 in the wall of the tube and plugged the bore, 

 with the gum or wax so placed that the slot 

 is open above and below the plug. This 

 plug, or ' languid,' is not quite even with the 

 outer surface of the tube ; the upper portion 

 of the slot is covered with a split quill, its 

 lower edge being even with the lower face of 

 the plug, or ' languid,' and the shallow space 

 between the edge of the plug within the 

 slot and the quill forms the air channel 

 which directs the wind against the edge of 

 another split quill lashed over the lower 

 part of the slot to within a quarter of an 

 inch or so of the upper quill, thus form- 

 ing a modification of the Indian cane flageo- 

 lets, but not of the European form at all. 



