THE MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS OF THE INCAS. n 



projection perforated for suspension. When struck with any 

 hard substance, they give out a remarkably clear and resonant 

 sound. One o\ these is shown as fig. 12 of Plate II. It is three 

 an^l seven-eighths inches in diameter. Ewbank, describing Sefior 

 Barboza's collection of Peruvian antiquities, figures three of 

 these objects, two of which he states are of copper and one of 

 bronze. He says: " I took them for mirrors; but they do not 

 seem to have been polished." 1 None of the three in the Mu- 

 seum shows any indication, on either side, of having been polished, 

 and there seems to be no reason to doubt that they were used 

 as gongs or bells. 



( )f the various forms of rattles it is hardly necessary to speak 

 in detail. They consisted of small shells and nuts, seeds of a 

 species of laurel tree, etc., and were often strung 

 together. (See Plate II, fig. 8 and Plate III, figs. 5, Rattle 

 7, 8.) These were attached to the wrists, ankles and 

 other parts of the body in dancing. A common form of 

 rattle was a gourd containing seeds or pebbles. The use of shells 

 as paint cups or palettes was very common, as is attested by 

 numerous specimens, which still contain paint, found in graves ; , 

 but their use as musical instruments in ancient Peru, has not 

 been noticed before. Figs. 5 and 6 of Plate II represent water 

 vessels of terra cotta, decorated with figures striking shells 

 together, as cymbals are played. The "cymbals" are so well 

 modeled that there can be no doubt that they represent Spon- 

 dylus (Spondylns pictorum, Chem.) shells. (See Plate II, fig. 11). 



WIND INSTRUMENTS. 



Long before the conquest the Peruvians had emerged from 

 the first or drum stage, and reached the second, which (\ K. 

 Wead defines as that "having instruments mechan- 

 ically capable of furnishing a scale" 2 — a tremendous ^ 

 stride in the art. The most important instruments of 

 this class are the syrinx or Pan-pipe (huayra puhiirti\ and the 

 flutes of bone and cane. Fig. 7 of Plate IV shows a syrinx 



1 Life in Brazil. Appendix, p. 4> \ 



ntrib. to the Hist, of Musical Seal U S. Nat. Mus., 1900,] 



