Fortunately for musical antiquarians the collection of rare instruments in the Conservatoire de Musique at Paris has been preserved uninjured during the recent disasters in that city. Among the instruments may be noticed, a small and beautiful musette with drones of ivory and gold, which belonged to Louis XIII.; a German regal, or portable organ, sixteenth century; a pochette by Stradiuarius; a _courtaud_, an early kind of bassoon, dating from the fifteenth century; several bass-flutes, and other rare old wind instruments; BoÔeldieu's pianoforte; GrÈtry's clavichord; a "Trumpet of Honour," which was made by order of Napoleon I., and which has the name of "T. Harper" engraven on its silver rim. M. Victor Schoelcher has presented to the Conservatoire de Musique about twenty rather primitive instruments of uncivilised nations obtained by him during his travels in Western Africa and South America, among which may be noted several Negro contrivances of the harp and guitar kind. An interesting catalogue of the instruments in the MusÈe du Conservatoire National de Musique has recently been published by Gustave Chouquet, the curator of the museum. It comprises 630 instruments, or portions of instruments, each fiddle-bow, mute, etc., being separately numbered. On the whole, the Paris collection, though large, is far less valuable than that of the South Kensington Museum. One of the most valuable private collections ever formed of ancient musical instruments was that of M. Louis Clapisson in Paris. During a course of more than twenty years M. Louis Clapisson succeeded in procuring a considerable number of scarce and highly decorated specimens of instruments of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The collection has been dispersed since the death of its owner; a large portion of it is now incorporated with the collection of the Conservatoire de Musique at Paris, and some of its most valuable specimens were secured for the South Kensington Museum. It was, however, so unique that the following short survey of its contents will probably be welcome to the archÊological musician.