﻿LIKE 
  THE 
  SYRINX 
  OF 
  THE 
  ANCIENTS. 
  127 
  

  

  What 
  the 
  Yogel 
  was 
  has 
  been 
  disputed 
  ; 
  but 
  Parkhurst 
  explains 
  it 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  

   wind 
  instrument 
  of 
  several 
  pipes. 
  The 
  -vj/aXnig/o* 
  of 
  the 
  Septuagint 
  is, 
  by 
  several 
  

   commentators, 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  wind 
  instrument, 
  or 
  " 
  sort 
  of 
  flute 
  used 
  in 
  churches 
  ;" 
  

   not 
  the 
  modern 
  psaltery, 
  which 
  is 
  a 
  trapezoidal 
  flat 
  box, 
  with 
  13 
  pairs 
  of 
  strings 
  

   mounted 
  on 
  two 
  bridges, 
  and 
  played 
  with 
  two 
  crooked 
  sticks. 
  

  

  The 
  invention 
  of 
  the 
  modern 
  organ 
  is 
  a 
  subject 
  of 
  dispute 
  ; 
  for 
  few 
  critics 
  

   will 
  receive 
  S 
  ta 
  Cecilia 
  as 
  the 
  inventor 
  of 
  that 
  noble 
  instrument, 
  although 
  Raf- 
  

   faello 
  has 
  introduced 
  the 
  syrinx 
  in 
  his 
  grand 
  picture 
  of 
  that 
  saint 
  in 
  allusion 
  to 
  

   this 
  fable. 
  It 
  is 
  of 
  considerable 
  antiquity, 
  however, 
  and 
  it 
  will 
  be 
  sufficient 
  here 
  

   to 
  remark, 
  that 
  the 
  organ 
  itself 
  is 
  only 
  an 
  adaptation 
  of 
  the 
  more 
  ancient 
  syrinx 
  

   to 
  keys, 
  and 
  an 
  artificial 
  blast 
  of 
  air 
  ; 
  and 
  its 
  pipes 
  are 
  tuned 
  on 
  the 
  principle 
  of 
  

   its 
  venerable 
  prototype. 
  

  

  The 
  ancients 
  seem, 
  however, 
  to 
  have 
  possessed 
  an 
  instrument 
  somewhat 
  in 
  

   principle 
  resembling 
  the 
  modern 
  organ, 
  in 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  it 
  consisted 
  of 
  several 
  pipes 
  

   attached 
  to 
  a 
  box, 
  which 
  contained 
  compressed 
  air. 
  In 
  the 
  instrument 
  briefly 
  

   and 
  obscurely 
  noticed 
  by 
  Vitruvius, 
  who 
  lived 
  about 
  the 
  commencement 
  or 
  a 
  little 
  

   before 
  the 
  Christian 
  era. 
  the 
  air 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  compressed 
  by 
  forcing 
  water 
  

   into 
  a 
  brazen 
  box, 
  that 
  communicated 
  with 
  the 
  pipes. 
  The 
  instrument 
  was 
  termed 
  

   by 
  the 
  inventor, 
  Cetesebius 
  of 
  Alexandria, 
  vdguuXig 
  ; 
  and 
  is 
  attempted 
  to 
  be 
  figured 
  

   from 
  the 
  description 
  in 
  the 
  Italian 
  translation 
  of 
  Vitruvius 
  by 
  Barbato, 
  Patriarch 
  

   of 
  Aquileia. 
  

  

  I 
  am 
  indebted 
  to 
  my 
  friend 
  Mr 
  W. 
  Cadell 
  for 
  the 
  notice 
  of 
  a 
  coin 
  of 
  Nero, 
  

   in 
  the 
  British 
  Museum, 
  on 
  which 
  an 
  'o§yam, 
  or 
  perhaps 
  ufyavXis, 
  is 
  figured. 
  It 
  seems 
  

   to 
  be 
  the 
  instrument 
  alluded 
  to 
  by 
  Suetonius, 
  in 
  the 
  life 
  of 
  Nero 
  — 
  " 
  reliquam 
  

   diei 
  partem 
  per 
  organa 
  hydraulica, 
  novi 
  et 
  ignoti 
  generis 
  circumduxit." 
  There 
  

   is 
  a 
  dissertation 
  on 
  the 
  Hydraulis 
  in 
  the 
  Gottingen 
  Transactions. 
  

  

  The 
  organ 
  or 
  psaltery 
  of 
  the 
  book 
  of 
  Genesis, 
  I 
  believe, 
  then, 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  

   the 
  syrinx 
  ; 
  an 
  instrument 
  with 
  which 
  we 
  may 
  reasonably 
  suppose 
  Moses 
  to 
  have 
  

   been 
  familiar, 
  as 
  ancient 
  authors 
  generally 
  agree 
  in 
  ascribing 
  the 
  invention 
  of 
  

   the 
  eupyfZ, 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  single 
  flute, 
  pomvXog, 
  to 
  the 
  Egyptians. 
  

  

  Both 
  flute 
  and 
  syrinx 
  are 
  mentioned 
  by 
  Homer 
  as 
  known 
  to 
  the 
  Trojans 
  — 
  

  

  so 
  that, 
  without 
  doubt, 
  the 
  syrinx 
  is 
  an 
  instrument 
  of 
  very 
  great 
  antiquity 
  ; 
  and 
  

   we 
  know 
  that 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  most 
  widely 
  diffused 
  among 
  ancient 
  nations. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  Arabs 
  it 
  is 
  in 
  use 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  day. 
  In 
  Kcempfer's 
  History 
  of 
  

   Japan, 
  two 
  forms 
  of 
  a 
  syrinx 
  of 
  twelve 
  unequal 
  reeds, 
  used 
  by 
  that 
  people, 
  as 
  

   also 
  some 
  singular 
  Japanese 
  flutes, 
  are 
  figured 
  in 
  Tab. 
  xxxi., 
  A. 
  E. 
  G. 
  J. 
  

  

  From 
  time 
  immemorial, 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  in 
  use 
  among 
  the 
  inhabitants 
  of 
  the 
  

   Alps 
  ; 
  and 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  performers 
  on 
  the 
  organetto, 
  who 
  perambulate 
  Europe, 
  

   bring 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  Italian 
  cantons 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  Lake 
  of 
  Como. 
  

  

  