Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1915-10-31
E7HE construction OF musical in
struments dates with the earli-
est inventions suggested by hui

E7HE construction Of musical in
struments dates with the earlf-
est inventions suggested by hu-
x man ingenuity. Man in his
earliest condition had an appreciation
Of the rhythmic character of music
The men who lived in caves and ap-
parentIy had no more notion of civili-
zasion than the wild beasts Witfs-which
they disputed the possession thereof,
who knew only how to use stone i'm
plements. were capable of making ar
tistic designs representing almost the
entire fauna of their district. and
which. properly manipulated, emitted
sounds which. to their unframed minds,
were musical ones
No person would be justified in this
assumption about prehistoric man and
his invention of rhythmic sound with
out proof. but this proof can be found
at the National Museum. In a large
case are exhibited odd and grotesque
looking objects, which upon examina-
ton prove to be collection of mu-
steal instruments, relics of prehistoric
man who fiourished upon this continent
centuries ago. If tried, they will still
give forth notes as clear as they did a
thousand years ago.
Music occupied prominent place
among the prehistoric aborigines for it
is mentioned by many Of the early
writer's that in connection with war,
religious ceremonies and festivities of
various kinds many musical instru-
ments were in use. The objects ex-
hibited aythe museum include whistles,
1agolets, pan pipes, whistling vases and
ratties of stone, bone. reed and pottery
from the United States. Mexico, Central
and South America. They were derived
largely FROM burial places, where they
had been placed as the property of the
dead, or offerings to the gods
The more simple forms of these in
struments give but one note, and many
have served merely as calls or signals.
The pottery instruments from Mexico.
Central and South America, modelled in
however, more highly developed and
show in some degree the progress
which the aborigines had made in the
art of music.
The whistling mechanism in all of the
pottery instruments corresponds to that
of the modern fageolet or ocarina. In
one or two instances the notes given
conform to our major scale. but the
instruments from the same locality
which produce the same notes indi-
Gates that their construction, at least
unsteady. was not based on any es-
tablished common scale. With most of
them the intervals and scale appear to
be purely accidental. .
The pottery rattles from Mexico are
mostly globular in form, perforated
cised line decoration. Those from
Panama are gourd- shaped. and the ma
jority are painted and decotated in the
same manner as the WhistIee and other
hollow is furnished with Gsmall clay
pellets, and the sounds produced are
weak. The lip and neck ornaments of
many earthen vessels are rattles, and
time in ceremonies the vessels at the
same time containing food, drink or
other offerings.
There are a number of pottery whis-
Ting bottles from ancient burial places
in Peru. Many of these are double,
with an interior connection at the
point of contact, while those which are
not double have two projections. one
being the neck proper and the other
terminating in the figure of a bird .or
animal which contains the whistling
device The latter is constructed on
the same principle as are the Mexican
and Central American fiageolets.
= x
An instrument from Nicoya, Costa
Rica, is made in the form of a human
head, with painted decorations in brown
and red on a yellow ground The
mouthpiece is attached to the head
Dress 1t contains but four soundholes,
but seven notes can be produced from
it. It's exceptionally wide range is due
to the fact that one of the four holes
10 than he-Others 10 result
being two additional notes that would
not be obtainable II the holes were all
the same size.
One instrument, which is in excellent
condition, and which gives forth q
sound closely resembling the plaintive
warbling of bird. is small ocarina,