C O N 



178 



CON 



Coflso* 

 nance. 



ing and gay character of this concord will be experien- 

 ced by the hearer ; and who will be able to notice the 

 angry and waspish effect of the succeeding beats as the 

 string is shortened, but which will soon give place to a 

 fluttering and jar as before. 



When little more than $4jh& of the string's length con- 

 tinues to sound, the fluttering and rapid beats will again 

 be heard, and the beats decreasing, will entirely cease 

 at the point marking the minor fourth (4th,) which will 

 be noticed as a soft and agreeable concord. To this, 

 first slow and then rapid beats will succeed, and rapid 

 flutterings, and a jarring noise, nearly as before, until 

 near ^fths of the string, when the flutter will commence 

 again, and decrease, until they are the slowest, and ca- 

 pable of being counted, at the place of the major fourth 

 (IV) ; after which, as the bridge advanced, they increa- 

 sed again in quickness, and an indistinct and jarring 

 noise succeeds, which will soon again become a flutter 

 that will decrease in quickness, and about one-third 

 more of them in a second will be capable of being 

 counted ; then at the major fourth, when the minor 

 fifth (5th) is reached, at |-§ths of the string ; these 

 flutters will then increase again, and be succeeded by 

 a jarring noise as before. 



The flutterings will be heard to commence again as 

 the bridge advances, and pass into a gentle and not un- 

 pleasant undulation, and beats that will cease at |ds of 

 the string, or the major fifth (V), with all the cheering 

 sweetness that characterizes this concord, or union of 

 the sound of the two strings, which will now be found to 

 blend so perfectly, that neither of them can be separate- 

 ly distinguished; after which the slow and rapid beats 

 and flutterings and jar will succeed, as before. 



Some time before the bridge reaches the mark for 

 •§ths of the string, the flutter and beats will begin again, 

 and decrease, and cease at the minor sixth (6th) just at 

 |ths of the string, which will prove a consonance, only 

 pleasant in a slight degree, and of a mournful character. 

 Beatings will then again commence, as the bridge is 

 moved on, and increase to the jarring and dissonance 

 so often before mentioned, which will however again 

 give place to a flutter, when something more than j-ths 

 of the string is sounding, and the beats will sound, and 

 at length vanish at fths or the major sixth (VI ;) the 

 character of which it will not, perhaps, appear easy to 

 define, otherwise, than as greatly inferior to the Vth 

 in sweetness and to the 1 1 Id in gaiety, but possessing, 

 in some degree, both these qualities. 



Still advancing the bridge, when near to ^ths, and 

 to ^ths of the string, perceptible changes to flutters 

 will be perceived, at the minor sevenths (7 and 7')> an d 

 ■others more discernible when T Vths of the string is pas- 

 sed by the bridge, and the major seventh (VII,) re- 

 sults from the sounding of the two strings. The dis- 

 oordant jar and noise will succeed, until within some 

 distance of the half of the string, when the violent flut- 

 ters, and rapid and slower beats, will succeed, decrease, 

 and cease entirely, at the true octave or •§• (VIII ;) the 

 treble string being then not at all distinguishable from 

 the bass one, if the strings were at first nicely adjusted 

 to each other, as to loudness, and the wheel has con- 

 tinued to act uniformly on each, during the motion of 

 the bridge. 



If the bridge be still further advanced, slow and then 

 rapid beats, and flutters, and jars, will succeed &c. as 

 from the unison, as the various notes of the scale are 

 again repeated an octave higher than before. 



This interesting experiment, often repeated on the 

 best contrived and constructed apparatus that can be 



got, will prove very instructing, as to the nature of Consonant* 

 consonances in general, (?) II 



CONSONANTS. See Grammap. Coiatanua. 



CONSTANCE, or Constanz, the name of a town ~"*~~ 

 in the Grand Duchy of Baden, beautifully situated on 

 the Rhine, at the south west extremity of the lake of 

 the same name. The chief buildings and objects of cu- 

 riosity at Constance, are the cathedral, the gates of 

 which, and its principal altar, are deserving of notice ; 

 the convent of the Dominicans, which has been con- 

 verted into a linen and cotton manufactory ; the ci- 

 devant college of the Jesuits, which is a beautiful build- 

 ing, and the public magazine, with the hall in which 

 the famous council of Constance was' held, from 1414 

 to 1418; and the two chairs in which Pope John XXIII. 

 and the Emperor Sigismund sat when they attended 

 the council. The house where John Huss was seized 

 is still shewn, and upon the walls is his head carved in 

 stone. It has an inscription under it in German, but 

 the head is almost wholly defaced. The dungeon is 

 also shewn in the convent of the Dominicans, in which 

 John Huss was confined, and the very stone to which 

 he was chained. It is about eight feet long, six broad, 

 and seven feet high. The bridge across the Rhine, the 

 fort of Peterhausen on the opposite bank, the Fauxbourg 

 of Paradise, and the place where they raised the pile 

 on which Huss and Jerome of Prague were burnt, are 

 the only other objects worthy of attention. 



This town, which was once of some commercial im- 

 portance, was neglected by the house of Austria, and 

 fell into decay. In 1776, when it was visited by Mr 

 Coxe, the streets were overgrown with grass, and the 

 town had the appearance of being totally deserted ; but 

 after the Emperor Joseph had granted to the Genoese 

 emigrants (June 30th 1785) a number of privileges for 

 settling in Constance, the town increased in importance; 

 and, in 1787, when Mr Coxe again visited it, the new 

 settlers consisted of 70 families or 350 persons, of whom 

 54 were watch-makers. Population 3000. E. Long. 

 9° 8' 15", N. Lat. 47° 36' 10". See Coxe's Switzer- 

 land, vol. i. p. 19. ; and Reichard's Itineraire de Poche 

 de Allemafrne et de la Suiise. (w) 



CONSTANCE, Lake of, is the name of a large lake 

 which separates Switzerland from the kingdon of Ba- 

 varia. It is generally divided into three parts. The 

 Superior or the upper lake is called the Boden See ; the 

 middle part the Bodmer See ; and the lower part the 

 Zeller See. 



The principal branch of the lake, called the Superior 

 Lake, stretches from Constance towards Bregentz, and 

 is about 35 miles long, and 15 miles in its greatest 

 breadth. It is said to be 350 fathoms deep near Mers- 

 bourg. Its depth is increased in winter by the melt- 

 ing of the snows. It is surrounded by gently rising 

 hills, with towns, villages, and monasteries, scattered 

 at their base. At the eastern extremity of the lake is 

 a considerable island, on which stands the town of Lin- 

 dau, which was once a free imperial city, but was 

 transferred, at the formation of the Rhenish confedera- 

 cy, to the king of Bavaria, who has fortified it and pro- 

 vided it with artillery stores. 



The middle or northern branch contains the small 

 island of Meinau, which is about a mile in circumfe- 

 rence, and belonged to the knights of the Teutonic or- 

 der. The house of the commander is beautifully situ- 

 ated, and commands a fine prospect of the lake. The 

 beautiful island of Reichenau is situated in the Zeller 

 See. See Coxe's Switzerland, vol. i. p 4 16, 21. (a-) 



CONSTANTLY. See Cape of Good H©pe; 



