ORPHEUS AT THE ZOO. 
THE CHOICE OF INSTRUMENTS. 
“ Last came Joy’s ecstatic trial ; 
He with viny crown advancing, 
First to the lively pipe his hand addrest ; 
But soon he saw the brisk awakening viol, 
Whose sweet entrancing voice he loved the best.” 
In a formfer trial of the effects of sweet sounds on 
animals’ ears at the Zoo, our Orpheus was so far in 
character that he played but one instrument ; and 
though the violin did duty for the classic lute, the 
audience was in many cases as responsive as in the 
groves of Thessaly, when music still was young. Our 
object so attained, curiosity went no further, though 
if a matter-of-fact and scientific age demands “ results ” 
as a natural sequence to experiments, however playful, 
we would sum up the conclusions then reached as 
follows : — All animals, except the cobras and the 
wolves, showed pleasure and curiosity when listening 
to soft and melancholy music ; and all exhibited ex- 
treme dislike of loud, harsh, discordant sounds. Minor 
keys in all cases seemed most appreciated, and in 
