1865.] Squire on the Quality of Musical Sounds. 599 



adopted by the manufacturers. No theory has led them to this, but 

 by blind experimenting they have arrived at the same practical con- 

 clusion that theory points out. 



Lastly, the thickness and material of the strings have considerable 

 influence on the quality of the soimd, for very stiff strings cannot 

 give such high upper tones as thinner ones, because they are not 

 capable of subdividing themselves into such minute flexible portions. 

 With a very thin wire, such as is used for artificial flower-making, it 

 is possible to obtain the 18th tone if the string is 7 or 8 yards 

 long, but these high tones no longer belong to the major chord, and 

 produce that peculiar wiry tone characteristic of instruments such as 

 the zitter, with very thin wires. The elasticity of gut strings is far 

 less than that of wires of similar thickness, so that the high upper 

 tones disappear at once, and the sound is fuller and rounder. 



The theory of fiddles is not so complete as that of the piano, as 

 the "peculiar action of the bow, which is not well understood, will 

 greatly influence the quality of the sound. The string is drawn by 

 the friction of the bow from its position of equilibrium, and as soon 

 as the tension overcomes the friction it is suddenly released, so that 

 the motion rather resembles that of a tilt hammer, slow in the one 

 direction, but quick in the other. The fundamental is proportionately 

 stronger in these instruments than in those in which the string is 

 struck near the end, as in guitars and pianos, the lower upper tones 

 are weaker, but the higher tones, from the sixth to about the tenth, are 

 much more distinct, and to these are due the peculiar clearness of the 

 sound. The form of the vibration is in the main tolerably indepen- 

 dent of the place where the bow is used, still minute variations arise 

 from this cause. If, for example, the bow is drawn across a portion 

 of the string which corresponds with a node of one of the higher 

 tones, that tone will be wanting, and variations in the quality are 

 partly dependent on this circumstance. So that if the bow is used 

 too near the finger board, the end of which is about one-fifth of the 

 length of the string from the bridge, the fifth or sixth tone will be 

 absent, which ought otherwise to be audible, and the sound will be 

 duller. The usual position of the bow is about one-tenth from the 

 bridge, for piano passages rather farther, for forte rather nearer. If 

 the bow is used very near the bridge, about one-twentieth, it is possible 

 to produce by a gentle and rapid movement only the higher octave, 

 so that a \node is produced in the middle of the string, just as if it 

 had been lightly touched by the finger at that point, and between this 

 point and the usual place every possible mixture of the primary tone 

 and its higher octave may be obtained. 



In the quality of the tone of the violin, much is supposed to 

 depend upon the wood of which it is made, and this is unquestionably 

 true. Still both age and long use of the instrument tend to increase 

 the elasticity of the wood, which is, perhaps, one reason for the 

 preference accorded to the instruments of the old makers. The 

 sound of the violin does not come to us direct from the strings, but 

 from the body of the instrument. The one leg of the bridge rests 

 on a rod of wood joining the upper and lower surface, the other rests 



