Dec. 28, 1888.] 



SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



649 



PREPARATION OF MUSICAL INSTRU- 

 MENTS. 



ML'ESPRIT has sent to La Nature descriptions and 

 sketches of musical instruments which may be 

 easily constructed of domestic materials. 



sticks, resting on two chairs. To produce the sound the 

 performer uses two rods or the two sticks of a child's 

 drum. Airs in two parts can be played on this instru- 

 ment, or duets may be executed by two perfoiiners, one 

 on each side. 



The second instrument is a kind of harp. Take a flat 



Musical Instrument Made with Wine Bottles. 



The first of these instruments is composed of glass 

 bottles of any kind, filled with a certain quantity of water, 

 the height of which varies according to the note to be 

 obtained, as it is shown in the accompanying sketch. 



box ; a cigar box will serve, and drive into each side nails, 

 shown in fig. 2. From the nails on opposite sides thin 

 brass wires are stretched. Pass a square ruler under the 

 wires from A to B (fig. 2). On the other side place smal , 



Musical Instrument Made Out of a Cigar-Box. 



After a few trials it will be found practicable to repro- 

 duce all the notes with their octaves, including the flats 

 and sharps, for arranging which a musical ear is, of 

 course, required. The bottles are suspended by their 

 necks with double loops of string, hung over broom- 



cubes, cut from a similar ruler, and find by trial the 

 length of the cords to produce the notes required. As a 

 matter of course, the strings must be stretched tight. To 

 strike them when properly adjusted, a slip of whalebone 

 (C) may be taken, to the end of which is fixed a cork. 



