The first type of instrument described below usually has been designated in modern books about musical instruments and in catalogs of instrument collections as a spinet, the term virginal being applied to the rectangular instruments having the keyboard along the long side. Since both of these types have basically the same arrangement of keyboard, wrest plank, hitch pins, strings and jacks, and since both types were known as virginals in 17th-century England, it is logical to reserve the term spinet for another kind of instrument, namely the one with the wrest plank and tuning pins in front over the keyboard, and with the strings stretched diagonally. Such instruments were popular in England in the late 17th and early 18th centuries and were known in English as spinets during the period of their popularity. By using the term polygonal virginal we can distinguish, when necessary, the five-sided Italian model from the rectangular instruments usually produced in northern Europe. Some rectangular virginals were made in Italy; one Flemish polygonal virginal, made by the elder Hans Ruckers in 1591, survives. Long instruments, resembling the grand piano in shape, are called harpsichords. Of course it is understood that both types of virginals as well as the spinet and the harpsichord were keyed chordophones employing the plucking action of jacks and plectra. [Illustration: Figure 2.--POLYGONAL VIRGINAL IN OUTER CASE.] Throughout this paper the different octaves are indicated according to the following system: [Illustration: Music] [Illustration: Figure 3.--POLYGONAL VIRGINAL REMOVED FROM OUTER CASE.] The Typical Italian Polygonal Virginal To give a clear idea of the construction of the Italian polygonal virginal, a detailed description of one particular example is presented here. This virginal is included in the Hugo Worch collection at the U.S. National Museum. The maker's name is not known, but the instrument is believed to have been built around 1600. As is true of the great majority of Italian virginals and harpsichords of the 16th and 17th centuries, the instrument proper is removable from its outer case. The outer case (fig. 2), of sturdier construction than the virginal which it was designed to protect, is made of wood about 1/2" thick and is decorated with paintings of female figures and garlands. The original legs are missing. Our main interest is in the virginal proper (fig. 3), the construction of which is comparable in some ways to that of the violin. The very thin sides of the virginal are held together at the corners by blocks, and the soundboard is supported by a lining.