Co On the Musical Mode sr> 



confiderit as placed in a circular form, cr in a right line with the firft found' 

 repeated, are much (horter than the five other intervals 1 ; ■ and on thefe two 

 phenomena the modes of the Hindus (who feem ignorant of our complicated 

 harmony) are principally, confim cted. The longer intervals we ihall call' 

 tones, and the fhorter (in compliance with cufbom) f emit ones, without men- 

 tioning their exact ratios j and it is evident, that, as the places of the femi- 

 tones admit /even variations relative to one fundamental found, there are as 

 many modes, which may be called primary; but we mult not confound therra 

 with our modern modes, which. refult from the fyitem of accards now efta- 

 blifhed m. Europe: they may rather.be compared with thofe of the Roman 

 Church, where fome valuable remnants of old Grecian muuck are preferved- 

 in the fweet, majeftick, fimple, and affecting (trains of the Plain Song, Now, 

 lince each of ' the tones ■ may be divided* we find twelve femitones in the 

 whole feries j and, fince each femitone may in its turn become the leader of 

 a feries formed after the model of every primary mode, we have /even 

 times twelve, or eighty-four, modes in all, of which feventy-feven may be named 

 fecondary, and we mall fee accordingly thitthe Perjians and the Hindus (at 

 leaftin their moft popular fyflem) have exactly eighty-four modes, though 

 diftinguifhed by different appellations and arranged in different clafTes : but, 

 Unce many of them are unpleafing to the ear, others difficult in execution 5 

 and few fufficiently marked by a character of fentiment and expreffion 9 

 which the higher mufick always requires, the genius of the Indians has 

 enabled them to retain the number of modes, which nature feems to have 

 indicated, and to give each of them a; character of its own by, a happy 

 and beautiful contrivance. Why any one feries of founds,, the ratios of 

 which are afcertained by obfervation and expreffible by figures, fhould 

 have a peculiar effect on the organ of hearing, and, by the auditory nerves, 

 en the mind, will then only be, known by mortals, when, they ihall know 9> 



