The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1893-07-08
THE AeoL,AN HARP.
The Original Crude Affair Ha. Been Much


improved.
The Eolian harp is a musical instru-
ment which is set in action by the
wind. 1t is not very we'll known. but
is very curious, and is supposed to have
been invented by Father Kircher, the
Jesuit servant who lived in the seven-
teenth century and invented many in-s
genious machines. But the fact of the
spontaneous resonance of certain musi-
cal instruments when exposed to cur!
rent of air had struck the observers of
nature in times Of remotest antiquity
One of the Talmuds says that the harp
Of David sounded when the north wind
blew on it. and it has been suggested
that he had an Eolian. as we under,
stand it. The sounding of his harp BY
n gust of wind would be nothing ex-
traordinary if it stood near his north
window, which was probably open for
air and chosen for GOODNESS and shade
in the climate Of Judea.
Kircher's harp had fifteen strings Of
catgut and the force of the wind was
DETECTED on to it by various shutters
or screens. In latter times this was inn
proved upon by Messrs Frost and Kast-
ner, but was similar to the preceding
form in principle and construction.
The Aolian harps in the old castle Of
Baden Baden, and those in the four
turrets of Strnsburg cathedral are cele-
brated. They are all made of strings
stretched over a sounding box, and re-
qulre tuning to keep them in harmony.
They are also large and cumbrous, and
have limited number of strings,
which make, the music more or less
monotonous, and they are dependent
on the wind from one direction only.
The changes of temperature and damp
ness of the atmosphere make them con-
stantly out of tune, and, indeed, often
cause the strings to break.
These difficulties and drawbacks have
hitherto prevented the Eolian harp
from being so well known and popular
MS such an interesting and curious i'm
strument deserves to be; but the latest
development OF this harp. named the
Eolia, invented in 1891 by G.. Crosland.
Taylor, f. r. g. S., Helsby, near War
rington, Is step in the right direc-
ton.
The music is produced by sensitive
metallic rods instead of strings, so that
it never requires tuning, and as there
are eighty separate notes there is q
great variety of sound, says the Lon
don Queen. 1t is intended to hang on
the boGgh of a tree land may be left
there without damage from the
wcather.) 1t turns round before tho
wind and is, therefore, exposed to
every point of the compass, and the
music passes into an organ pipe by
which it is greatly enriched and inn
proved.
The principal of an Eolian harp may
be familiarly shown on large scale by
the action of telegraph wires stretched
from one pole to another. On a windy
day these will be found TO emit musi-
cal tones, rising and falling in proporii
ton to the strength of the wind and the
tension of the wires.
Hector Berlioz, in his "Voyage Musi-
Gale en- Italie," has given the following
curious effects that an Eolian harp
has produced upon his lively and i'm.
passioned imagination: "On one of
those gloomy days that sadden the end
of the year, listcn while reading Ossian
to the fantastic harmony of an Eolian
harp swinging at the top of a tree de-
prived of verdure, and defy you not
to experience profound feeling Of
sadness and of abandon and a vague
and infinite desire for another exist
ence. Chateaubriand, in lies
Natchez," compares its sound to the
''magic concerts that the celestial
vaults resound." Beside inspiring
writers of both prose and poetry, the
Eolian harp possesses remarkable
properties which act upon the nervous
system and cause very different inn
pressions. according to the tempera-
ment of those who listen to its accords.