Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XII.djvu/102

94: MUSICAL BOX Chopin was a composer of the greatest sensi- bility. Using the rhythms 'and characteristic- traits of the music of his native country, he treated his themes with a passionate and dra- matic fervor and grace that have made him the poet of the instrument. Rubinstein, Clara Schumann, and Von Billow are also to be ranked as virtuosos of the first order. The pi- anists whom we have named have seemingly thoroughly explored the capacities of the pi- anoforte as it at present exists, both as an instrument of expression and of execution. Every technical difficulty has been presented and every form of sentiment expressed, and in this department of the art at least there would seem to be but slight room for further pro- gress. See Hawkins, " A General History of the Science and Practice of Music" (5 vols. 4to, London, 1776; new ed., 2 vols. 4to, 1853); Burney's " General History of Music from the Earliest Ages to the present Period " (4 vols. 4to, London, l776-'89); Forkel, Allgemeine GescUcJite der Musilc (2 vols., Leipsic, 1788) ; Hullah, " History of Modern Music " (London, 1862) ; Fetis, Histoire generate de la musique depuis les temps les plus anciens jusqu'd nos jours (4 vols., Paris, unfinished) ; Ritter, " His- tory of Music, in the Form of Lectures " (2 vols., Boston, 1871-'4) ; and Chappell, " The History of Music" (4 vols., London, 1874 et seq.}. MUSICAL BOX, a case enclosing mechanism so constructed as to play tunes automatically. The principle of the mechanism is the same as that of the barrel or hand organ, and of the machinery which is used for the chimes of bells in church towers. The use of machines for making mechanical music is almost coeval with the invention of clocks; but musical boxes proper were not introduced much before the latter half of the 18th century. Among the earliest made were small ones to be worn as a charm or seal, pendent from the watch chain ; and from this insignificant beginning has grown the modern musical box, capable of almost every musical effect and of playing from one to more than 100 tunes. The principal parts of the mechanism are the comb, the cylinder, and the fly or regulator. The comb is a steel board with many tongues, arranged like the teeth of a comb. The cylinder, which is usu- ally brass, is fitted with small steel pins or points, representing the notes of the tune to be played. This is moved forward or backr ward by mechanism into a proper position to act on the comb, when it revolves and its pins raise and let fall the teeth, producing musical tones. As the notes must necessarily follow in rapid succession, it is impossible to make one tooth of the comb produce the requisite number without striking on the following pin ; therefore, when needed, there are two, three, or four teeth of the comb of the same tone or pitch placed beside each other, which are struck by pins arranged side by side instead of behind each other, thus permitting the rapid recur- rence of the same note. The time in which MUSK the cylinder makes its revolutions depends upon the train of wheels and pinions leading to the fly. In all the larger music boxes the fly or regulator is adjustable, the wings which im- pinge against the air being capable of limited extension and contraction, thus retarding or accelerating the rate of revolution of the cylin- der. The tones of the tongues are regulated by their length and thickness ; the shorter they are, the quicker are the vibrations and the higher in the scale is the pitch. The vibrations of the long teeth are retarded by masses of lead attached to them, and underneath them are placed little dampers made of spring wire for the purpose of checking the vibrations when too long. Various attachments or accompani- ments, such as bells, drums, and castanets, are often applied to musical boxes, and different effects are produced according to the arrange- ment of the music. In respect to these effects musical boxes are called mandolines, expres- sives, quatuors, organocleides, piccolos, &c. Some have a combination of reeds and pipes, and are called flutes, celestial voices, or harmo- niphones. The musical clocks of the Black Forest, and the musical boxes of Prague and of Ste. Susanne in France, are largely exported. The centres of the manufacture, in its present state of mechanical perfection, are Geneva and Ste. Croix, in the Pays de Vaud, Switzerland. MUSIMON. See SHEEP. MUSK, a concretionary substance of peculiar and most powerful odor, which is secreted in a projecting hairy sac or bag between the um- bilicus and the prepuce of the male of a small Asiatic animal, called the musk deer, and named by Linnaeus moschus moschiferus. The sac is from 2 to 3 in. long, and contains two or three drachms of musk, which when first removed is soft and almost liquid, but afterward hardens and dries into a substance resembling dark-col- ored snuff, coarsely granulated. The hunters cut off, tie up, and dry the sac, or, as it is called in commerce, the pod ; and in this state the arti- cle is transported. In China, where it is chiefly supplied to commerce, the pods are packed for shipment in catty boxes holding from 20 to 25 each. A single pod being worth from $15 to $18, the adulteration of the article is a profita- ble operation ; and the Chinese practise it with great skill, and to such an extent that genuine musk is scarcely known in trade. Dried blood, having the appearance of musk, is introduced into artificial sacs made of the skin of the ani- mal, and a variety of other substances are add- ed, with which enough musk is intermixed to give its strong odor to the mass. Musk of dif- ferent qualities is also mixed together by the Chinese with the intention of passing off the whole as the best. That of Tonquin, which is obtained only from China, is far stronger than that of southern Siberia, which is also carried to China as well as to Russia. The Siberian article is received to some extent through Eu- rope. The pods are larger and more elongated than the Chinese, and the musk is in finer