J48 APPENDIX. VI. 



of those instruments, which contain even the 

 greatest compass. 



I have before said, that our ideas of a voice, 

 or instrument, being perfectly in tune or not, 

 arise from comparing it with the musical inter- 

 vals to which we are most accustomed. 



As the upper and lower parts of every instru- 

 ment, however, are but seldom used, we are not 

 so well acquainted with the intervals in the 

 highest and lowest octaves, as we are with those 

 which are more central; and for this reason 

 the harpsichord-tuners find it more difficult to 

 tune these extreme parts. 



As a bird's pitch, therefore, is higher than 

 that of an instrument, we are consequently at a 

 still greater loss when we attempt to mark their 

 notes in musical characters, which we can so 

 readily apply to such as we can distinguish 

 with precision. 



The third, however, and unsurmountable dif- 

 ficulty is, that the intervals used by birds are 

 commonly so minute, that we cannot judge at 

 all of them from the more gross intervals into 

 which we divide our musical octave. 



It should therefore be recollected, by those 

 who have contended that the Greeks and Ro- 

 mans were acquainted with such more minute 



