associated with this maker: “Viva fui in Sylvis: fui dura occisa securi Dum vixi tacui: Morte Dulce cano.”[15] and his particular mark is on the back where the neck joins the ribs. This instrument belonged to the Parisian _luthier_, M. Chardon, before it became the property of Sir George Donaldson, and, while in the hands of its former owner, aided in identifying the famous viola da gamba, by the same maker, now reposing in the Musée Instrumental of the Brussels Conservatoire. This beautifully inlaid specimen--known as the “_basse de la ville de Paris_,” owing to the fifteenth-century plan of the gay city which adorns the back--is slightly longer than Sir George Donaldson’s, though its dimensions are smaller than those finally adopted for the violoncello. It has had an adventurous career, this viol, belonging successively to M. Roquefort, M. Raoul--an enthusiastic Parisian musical amateur, who published several compositions for the violoncello as well as a method for that instrument--and also to the mighty fiddle-maker, J. B. Vuillaume. At the death of the latter it went through many vicissitudes and wandered about Russia, passing through several hands. M. Coutagne describes the beauties of this graceful viola da gamba so accurately and delightfully that we cannot do better than quote his words: “One is at first struck by the richness and variety of the decoration,” says he. “The neck curves forward at the top in the form of a horse’s head of goodly proportions, but the back of this is covered with delicate and complicated carvings representing the head of a woman, a satyr playing a Pan’s pipes, the whole being framed in designs of animals, fruit and musical instruments. The peg-box itself is covered with carved encrustations of a woman playing a lute; a dog attached by a collar, and other ornamentation. [Illustration: VIOLA DA GAMBA BY GASPARD DUIFFOPROUCART.]