A PRACTICAL JOURNAL OF 
HOME ARTS. 
Vol. V. NEW YORK, JULY, 1882. No. 7. 
Now if the internal capacity of the in- 
strument be too great, the air will be in 
excess, and consequently the tables are 
not able to give it the number of vibra- 
tions in a given time necessary to produce 
the right quality of sound. On the other 
hand, if the capacity of the body of the 
violin be too small, the tables will give 
the air contained too much vibration. 
In the first case, the tone will be hol- 
low and dead, in the latter shrill and 
harsh. The air contained in a good 
violin should, when vibrated by blow- 
ing into one of the sound holes, g^ive 
the note C on the G string of the instru- 
ment. As the amateur will find great 
difficulty in getting by calculation the 
right size, let him choose a good instru- 
ment and follow its proportions with 
accuracy. By comparing different instru- 
ments he will see a great difference in the 
form and manner of construction. Some 
have the tables very much elevated, while 
those of others are Yery flat, but he will 
also, on careful examination, find in all 
good violins, that when the tables have a 
high model the other dimensions are less 
than in those whose tables are less 
when put in motion by the vibration of I elevated. This is for the r-ea&on given 
the back and belly, produces the sound. I above, namely, to regulate the inside 
Practical Hints on the Construction of 
the Yiolin-lII. 
N our last chapter 
we gave a brief 
sketch of tbe 
manner of prepar- 
ing the mold and 
setting up the sides, 
but we omitted a 
very important 
item. The quality 
of the tone of a 
violin depends in a 
great measure on 
the quantity of air 
contained. The 
back and belly of the instrument may be 
most gracefully modeled, and of the 
proper thickness, but if the quantity of 
air contained within, be either deficient 
or in excess, the tone will always remain 
bad. The reason of this is evident. It 
is the air within the instrument which. 
