374 



Mr. R. H. M. Bosanquet on the 



of the writers, and seems accepted as fundamental, is represented com- 

 monly as follows, S'rutis being such that 22 of them make an octave : — 



S'rutis. 

 4 

 3 

 2 

 4 

 4 

 3 

 2 



Hindoo names. 

 Sa 



Ei 



Ga 



Ma 



Pa 



Dha 



M 



Sa 



European names. 



c 



D 



E 

 E 

 G 

 A 

 B 

 C 



The above scale is called the Shadja Grama. 



Another form called Madhyama Grama is precisely similar to the above, 

 except that the intervals Pa-Dha and Dha-M are inverted ; so that we 

 have 



rPa G 



Dha 



M 



B 



There is a third principal form, the constitution of which appears un- 

 certain ; but the two above given are suggestive, and are enough to make 

 clear to us the general nature of the arrangement. 



In fact, if we suppose for a moment that the fifths and thirds of this 

 scale are perfect, which is not exactly true, we see that the first form, 

 Shadja Grama, is the form we should give to the scale in just intonation, 

 when we wish to retain the ordinary second of the key, and raise the 

 sixth of the key, so as to form a good fifth with the second (e. g. in the 

 key of c we should raise \ a to a, so as to get the good fifth, d-a). The 

 other form, Madhyama Grama, corresponds to the diatonic scale as ordi- 

 narily given. 



Are the S'rutis all equal in value ? The native writers say nothing 

 about this, but the European ones for the most part suggest that they are 

 not. For instance, an English reviewer recently wrote, "A S'ruti is a 

 quarter tone or a third of a tone according to its position in the scale." 

 This appears to be a misapprehension arising from the modern idea that 

 each interval of a tone in the scale is necessarily the same. But the 

 language in which the different forms of the scale is described distinctly 

 indicates that a note rises or falls when it gains or loses a S'ruti ; con- 

 sequently we may infer that the S'rutis are intended to be equal in a 

 general sort of way, probably without any very great precision. . 



"We shall now show that the fifths and thirds, produced by a division 



