The Penn's Grove record., 1895-10-11
BY A PRIEST
The Eolian Harp First Made Two Han.
dred Years A~go-Curious Enecta

The Eoiian Harp FtrBt mhue Two hum
dred Years Ago-Curious Enectas
The Eolian harp Is q musical in
strument which is set in action by
the wind. 1t is not very well known,
but is very curious, and Is supposed to
have been invented by Father
Kircher, the Jesuit sayant who lived
In the seventeenth century, and In
vented many ingenious machines.
But the fact of the spontaneous re-
sonance of certain musical instru-
ments when exposed to q current of
air had struck the observers of nature
in times of remotest antiquity. One
of the Ialmuds says that the harp
of David sounded when the north
wind blew on it, and it has been sug-
gested that he had an Holian, as we
understand it, The sounding Of this
harp by a gust of wind would, accord
ing to the London Queen, be nothing
extraordinary II 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
cat-gut, and the force Of the wind was
DETECTED to it by various shutters or
screens. In later times this was i'm
proved upon by Messrs. Frost and
K~astner, but was similar to the pre-
ceding form In principle and con-
structlon. The Eolian harps In the
old castle Of Baden Baden, and those
in the four turrets Of Strasburg cathe-
dral, are celebrated. These are all
made of strings stretched over a
sounding box and require tuning to-
keep them in harmony, They are
also large and cumbrous, and have a
limited number of strings, which
makes the music more or less monot-
onous, and they are dependent on the
wind from one direction only. The
changes of temperature and damp
ness Of the atmosphere make them
constantly out of tune, and, indeed,
often cause the strings to break.
These difficulties and drawbacks have
hitherto prevented the .Eoilan harp
from becoming so we'll known and
popular as such an interesting and
curious instrument deserves to be,
but the latest deyelopement of this
harp, named the Holia, invented in
1891, by G. Crosland Taylor, +. R
G. s, Helsby, near Warrington, is a
step in the right direction. The
music is produced by sensitive metal
lie reeds instead of strings, 81 that ii
never requires tuning, and as there
are eighty separate notes there is
great variety OF sound.
1t is intended to hang on the bough
of a tree (and may he left there with.
out damage from the weather); 1t
turns round before the wind, and is
therefore exposed to every point OF
the compass. and the music passes
into an organ pipe, by which 1t is
greatly enriched and improved. The-
principle Of an Eolian harp may be
familiarly shown on a large scale by
the action of telegraph wires stretched
from one pole to another. On a
windy day these will be found to
emit musical tones, rising and falling
in proportion to the strength Of the
wind and tension of the wires.
Hector Berlioz, In his "Voyage
Musicale en- Italie," has given the
following curious effects that an 40
liam harp had produced upon his
lively and impassioned imagination:
ION one OF those gloomy days that
sadden the end of the year listen,
while reading Ossian to the fantastic
harmony Of an Eolian harp swinging
at the top of a tree deprived Of e
dure, and I defy you not to expert
ence a profound feeling of sadness and
of abandon, and a vague and infinite
desire for another existence. T"
Chateaubriand, In "Les Natchez, "
compares its sounds to the ''magic
concerts that the celestial vaults re-
sound" Besides inspiring writers Of
both prose and poetry, the Eolian
harp possesses remarkable properties
which act upon the nervous system
and cause very different Impressions
according to the temperament Of
those who listen to its accords. An
English physician. Dr.. :. M. Cox,
asserts that lunatics have sometimes
been instantly Gained by the sweet
and varied music of an EoIian harp.
Other observers declare that EoliaD
sounds will produce sleep.