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MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. 



In treating of this subject we are limited to musical instruments of clay and of 

 metal, none made of bone, gourd, wood, etc., if ever in existence, having been preserved 

 to us. Rattles, drums, bells and whistles are included in the list. In addition to 

 these specialized instruments, the ancient potters were fond of dropping pellets 

 into everything hollow that might serve to give forth a rattling sound. The legs 

 of practically all tripods were thus treated, as were many plastic life forms that 

 adorn the shoulders of vases. By the application of the same principle to the gold 

 ornaments discussed in another chapter, the bell with free clapper instead of the 

 rattle proper was evolved. 



Rattles. — All objects of clay employed primarily as rattles take the form of the 

 gourd, which, when dried, makes a complete rattle, the prototype of those made 

 of clay. One example (fig. 273) belonging to the 

 lost color ware is chosen for illustration. It is 

 a typical specimen with its globular body and 

 rather long straight neck or handle, similar in shape 

 to the rattles held in the right hand of a number 

 of gold figurines (see PI. XLVIII, fig. e). The 

 upper part of the handle is a hollow cylinder open 

 at the end ; its base is solid, with the exception 

 of a transverse perforation that serves as a means 

 of suspension. In the upper part of the body, at 

 a given level, are four slits that communicate with 

 the hollow interior. The latter does not connect 

 in any way with the hollow of the handle or its 

 transverse perforation. This specimen comes from 

 Divala. Another specimen, unfortunately broken, is 

 particularly graceful in form, and has four cruciform 

 slits in the peripheral zone. The scar left by the 

 removal of the handle shows that there was no 

 communication through the handle between the 

 interior and the outside. The dozen or more oval 

 pellets of clay inside are worn smooth by use. 



Drums. — This type of percussion instrument has 

 no representative in the collection, unless it is 



the specimen figured in Plate XXV (fig. /). A number of the whistles however 

 have drum-shaped bodies, which fact goes to prove that, among the ancient 

 Chiriquians, the drum was a familiar object. 



Wind-instruments. — Under this head may be grouped by far the largest number 

 of Chiriquian musical instruments of clay. According to Pinart, 1 the musical in- 

 struments of the present natives (Guaymis) of the region are limited chiefly to the 

 bone flute and the marine conch-shell. To these he adds the drum made by 

 hollowing out the trunk of a tree and covering one end with skin. Pinart, who 

 believes the Guaymis to be the descendants of the builders of the ancient huacals, 



Fig. 273. — Gourd-shaped rattle, 

 color ware. V 3 



1 Alphonse Pinart. Les indiens de l'Etat de Panama. Rev. d'ethnog., VI, 33, 117, 1887. 

 Memoirs Conn. Acad., Vol. III. 22 



