Mr. Seymour and the vicar then entered into a long discussion, with which it is not our intention to swell our history, or to exhaust the patience of the reader; we shall, however, with his permission, collect from the mass some of the more interesting facts, and present them in as condensed a form as may be consistent with perspicuity. In speaking of the _Jew’s harp_, a little instrument with which every school-boy is well acquainted, the vicar stated that its origin was lost in the long lapse of time; but that it was in very common use throughout Europe, and more especially in the Netherlands and the Tyrol, where it was the delight of the peasants and their families. He also said that it was known in Asia, and that the Greeks of Smyrna called it, in imitation of its sound, _biambo_. The name by which it is now known, he observed, was evidently derived from the Jews, who were formerly the great venders of it, and of other toys throughout Europe, although he stated that his friend Mr. Prybabel was of opinion that it was a corruption of _jaw’s_ harp. Mr. Seymour described its construction, and the theory of its action. [Illustration: Jew’s harp.] It is composed of two parts, the _body_ and the _tongue_: the former has some resemblance to the handle of a certain kind of corkscrew; the latter consists of a little strip of steel, joined to the upper part of the body, and bent at its extremity, so that the fingers may touch it more readily. This tongue, or elastic plate, produces, in itself, only a sound which serves as a drone, although it appears to act like the motion of the bow of a violin in exciting other sounds, by breaking the current of air from the mouth, the acuteness or gravity of which will be determined by the pressure of the lips, and the magnitude of the cavity of the mouth. To understand, however, this part of its operation, it is necessary that the reader should become acquainted with the nature and effects of what have been termed _Resonances, and Reciprocated Vibrations of Columns of Air_. This property of sounding bodies, which to the ignorant must appear as an inexplicable species of sympathy, will be more fully explained in a note(48); at present we shall merely give one or two examples of its effects. A singer has been known to break into pieces a large tumbler glass by the power of his voice; and a violin suspended against a wall may be heard to yield the same notes as those produced by a performer on a similar instrument in the same room. To produce such an effect, however, one condition is indispensable, that the body to be put in vibration must be in unison, or agreeing in pitch, with the one communicating the sound. Hence the necessity of so adapting the capacity of the mouth in playing the Jew’s harp, as to make the column of air which it contains to reciprocate the sound of its tongue. The subject was agreeably concluded by some anecdotes which were related by