166 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXIX. No. 735 



claiming that there can be no difference 

 in such a case, due to material. The writer 

 was of this opinion at one time. When 

 visiting the establishment of an eminent 

 London flute maker, in 1900, he was shown 

 several flutes which were tested. One in- 

 strument seemed of such unusual excellence 

 that the remark was made that it was cer- 

 tainly of the finest quality of any that had 

 ever been tried. After the instrument had 

 been returned to its case, the writer en- 

 quired whether it would be possible, at 

 some time in the visit to London, for him 

 to see one of the few gold flutes which had 

 been made, and which were celebrated for 

 quality. The reply was startlingly unex- 

 pected, for the maker said, with evident 

 satisfaction, that the flute just played was 

 of gold! It had been prepared for the 

 Paris Exposition, but was not being ex- 

 hibited, as the English exhibits had been 

 largely withdrawn because of some French 

 caricatures of Queen Victoria. It may be 

 well, also, to add that the flute had been 

 examined in dim artificial light, the color 

 thus escaping notice. However, the inci- 

 dent carried conviction to the writer, as 

 very few tests could have done. 



As further justification for considering 

 this question, several quotations will be 

 given showing the great difference of opin- 

 ion among those who should speak with au- 

 thority. 



Each kind of wind instrument, except 

 the flute, has always been made of its own 

 proper kind of material; there are two 

 large classes, the wood-wind and the brass- 

 wind of the orchestra. Each group has its 

 distinct tone quality, which is generally 

 considered as due to the. method of tone 

 production, while the material is regarded 

 as a matter of mechanical convenience. 

 The flute is classified as a wood-wind in- 

 strument. 



Formerly flutes were usually made of 

 wood, though in 1806 flutes of glass were 



patented by Laurent, of Paris, the advan- 

 tages claimed being, not tone-quality, but 

 freedom from checking, changes of bore, 

 and leakage. Ivory has been used for 

 small flutes, and parts of large flutes, 

 mainly for the sake of appearance. In 

 1847 Theobald Boehm, of Munich, a Eoyal 

 Bavarian court-musician, who had, in 

 1832, invented a new system of fingering 

 and key construction, made elaborate ex- 

 periments on the bore, size of holes, and 

 material. These experiments had an aca- 

 demic relationship, for they were carried 

 out under the guidance of Dr. Carl von 

 Schafhautl, an eminent professor in the 

 University of Munich, who was a life-long 

 personal friend of Boehm. Boehm experi- 

 mented with hundreds of tubes, and our 

 interest lies in the fact that he introduced 

 with great success cylindrical tubes of 

 hard-drawn silver, though wood tubes were 

 also used. There at once arose a contro- 

 versy as to the relative merits of various 

 materials, which still rages. 



Besides being one of the world's greatest 

 artists and a composer of ability, Boehm 

 maintained one of the most celebrated flute 

 manufactories, and made hundreds of 

 flutes of the highest excellence ; instruments 

 made in his lifetime are to-day valued 

 above all others, as the old Italian violins 

 are valued above modern instruments. 

 Near the end of his career, in 1871, he 

 published a book giving the results of his 

 sixty years of experience, in which he 

 says: 



The greater or less hardness and brittleness of 

 the material has a very great effect upon the 

 quality of tone. Upon this point much experience 

 is at hand. Tubes of pewter give the softest, and 

 at the same time the weakest, tones ; those made of 

 very hard and brittle German silver have, on the 

 contrary, the most brilliant, but also the shrillest, 

 tones; the silver flute is preferable because of its 

 great ability for tone modulation and for its un- 

 surpassed brilliancy and sonorousness; compared 

 with these the tones of flutes made of wood, sound 

 literally wooden. 



