﻿104 
  Transactions. 
  — 
  Miscellaneous. 
  

  

  First, 
  Mr. 
  Davies 
  writes 
  of 
  " 
  the 
  enharmonic 
  scale 
  of 
  the 
  ancient 
  

   Greeks" 
  (which 
  has 
  long 
  been 
  lost, 
  and 
  which, 
  indeed, 
  has 
  been 
  disputed), 
  

   that 
  "it 
  consisted 
  of 
  a 
  quarter-tone, 
  a 
  quarter-tone 
  and 
  an 
  interval 
  of 
  two 
  

   tones, 
  an 
  interval 
  somewhat 
  greater 
  than 
  our 
  third 
  major 
  ;" 
  and 
  that 
  this 
  

   long-lost 
  ancient 
  scale 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  to 
  exist 
  among 
  the 
  Arabians, 
  the 
  

   Chinese, 
  and 
  the 
  New 
  Zealanders. 
  

  

  " 
  As 
  the 
  highest 
  art 
  is 
  to 
  conceal 
  the 
  art 
  and 
  to 
  imitate 
  nature, 
  that 
  

   mighty 
  nation 
  the 
  Greeks, 
  with 
  an 
  art 
  almost 
  peculiarly 
  their 
  own, 
  having 
  

   observed 
  these 
  expressions 
  of 
  natural 
  sentiment," 
  stated 
  fully 
  in 
  the 
  pre- 
  

   ceding 
  paragraph, 
  " 
  thence 
  deduced 
  certain 
  laws 
  of 
  interval, 
  by 
  which, 
  

   while 
  they 
  kept 
  within 
  the 
  limits 
  of 
  art, 
  they 
  took 
  care 
  not 
  to 
  transgress 
  

   those 
  of 
  nature, 
  but 
  judiciously 
  to 
  adopt, 
  and 
  as 
  nearly 
  as 
  XDOssible 
  to 
  define, 
  

   with 
  mathematical 
  exactness, 
  those 
  intervals 
  which 
  the 
  uncultured 
  only 
  

   approach 
  by 
  the 
  irregular 
  modulation 
  of 
  natural 
  impulses. 
  * 
  * 
  * 
  

   Hence, 
  I 
  conceive 
  the 
  reason 
  of 
  the 
  remnant 
  of 
  that 
  scale 
  being 
  found 
  

   among 
  most 
  of 
  those 
  nations 
  who 
  have 
  been 
  left 
  to 
  the 
  impulses 
  of 
  a 
  ' 
  nature- 
  

   taught 
  ' 
  song 
  rather 
  than 
  been 
  cramped 
  by 
  the 
  trammels 
  of 
  a 
  conventional 
  

   system 
  — 
  the 
  result 
  of 
  education 
  and 
  of 
  civilization." 
  

  

  " 
  Plutarch 
  remarks, 
  that 
  the 
  most 
  beautiful 
  of 
  the 
  musical 
  genera 
  is 
  the 
  

   enharmonic, 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  its 
  grave 
  and 
  solemn 
  character, 
  and 
  that 
  it 
  was 
  

   formerly 
  most 
  in 
  esteem. 
  Aristicles 
  Quintillan 
  tells 
  us 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  most 
  diffi- 
  

   cult 
  of 
  all, 
  and 
  required 
  a 
  most 
  excellent 
  ear. 
  Aristoxeniis 
  observes 
  that 
  it 
  

   was 
  so 
  difficult 
  that 
  no 
  one 
  could 
  sing 
  more 
  than 
  two 
  dieses 
  consecutively, 
  

   and 
  yet 
  the 
  perceptions 
  of 
  a 
  Greek 
  audience 
  were 
  fully 
  awake 
  to, 
  and 
  their 
  

   judgment 
  could 
  aiopreciate, 
  a 
  want 
  of 
  exactness 
  in 
  execution." 
  

  

  " 
  Mr. 
  Lay 
  Tradescant, 
  speaking 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese 
  intervals, 
  says 
  that 
  ' 
  it 
  

   is 
  impossible 
  to 
  obtain 
  the 
  intervals 
  of 
  then- 
  scale 
  on 
  our 
  keyed 
  instruments, 
  

   but 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  perfectly 
  effected 
  on 
  the 
  violin 
  ;' 
  "-'' 
  * 
  * 
  and 
  our 
  own 
  

   ears 
  attest 
  that, 
  universally, 
  in 
  the 
  modulations 
  of 
  the 
  voice 
  of 
  the 
  so-called 
  

   savage 
  tribes, 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  refined 
  and 
  anomalously 
  studied 
  Chinese, 
  there 
  

   are 
  intervals 
  which 
  do 
  not 
  correspond 
  to 
  any 
  notes 
  on 
  our 
  keyed 
  instru- 
  

   ments, 
  and 
  which 
  to 
  an 
  untrained 
  ear 
  appear 
  almost 
  monotonous." 
  

  

  *' 
  Suffice 
  it 
  to 
  say 
  that 
  many 
  Chinese 
  airs, 
  of 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  two, 
  show 
  the 
  

   diesic 
  modulation 
  and 
  the 
  saltus 
  combined 
  ; 
  but 
  the 
  majority 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  

   Zealand 
  airs 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  heard 
  are 
  softer 
  and 
  more 
  ' 
  ligate,' 
  and 
  have 
  a 
  

   great 
  predominance 
  of 
  the 
  diesic 
  element." 
  

  

  " 
  One 
  thing, 
  however, 
  is 
  certain, 
  that, 
  as 
  Aristoxenus 
  tell 
  us, 
  no 
  perfect 
  

   ear 
  could 
  modulate 
  more 
  than 
  two 
  dieses 
  at 
  a 
  time, 
  and 
  then 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  

   * 
  saltus 
  ' 
  or 
  interval 
  of 
  two 
  tones, 
  and 
  as 
  the 
  New 
  Zealand 
  songs 
  frequently 
  

   exhibit 
  more 
  than 
  tivo 
  close 
  intervals 
  together, 
  it 
  is 
  more 
  than 
  probable 
  that 
  

   many 
  of 
  these 
  songs 
  are 
  a 
  chromatici" 
  

  

  