Scientific American Supplement, No. 483, April 4, 1885Various
Science
Scientific American Supplement, No. 483, April 4, 1885
Various
Science -- Periodicals
current of air and to bring it with more force against the strings, two
wings are adapted near the thin surfaces opposed to the wind, so that the
current may reach each group of cords on passing through the narrow
aperture between the obliquely inclined wing and the body of the
instrument. The dimensions of the resonant box are as follows: height,
1.28 meters; width, 0.27 meter; and thickness, 0.075 meter. Distance
between the two bridges, or length of the sonorous portion of the cords,
about 1 meter; width of the wings, 0.14 meter. Distance between the
sounding board and the wings, 0.42 meter. Inclination of the wings, 50
degrees.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--ÆOLIAN HARP IN THE OLD CASTLE OF BADEN
BADEN.]
The celebrated Æolian harps of the old castle of Baden Baden are entirely
different, and merit description. One of them (Fig. 3) is formed of a
resonant box, the construction of which differs from that of Æolian harps
with a rectangular box, in that it is prolonged beyond the place occupied
by the strings, and is rounded off behind. In the opposite side there are
two long and narrow apertures. To prevent the apparatus from being
injured by the weather, it is inclosed in a sort of case occupying the
recess of the window in the old ruined castle in which it is exposed.
Behind the harp there is a wire lattice door, the purpose of which seems
to be to protect the instrument against the attempts of robbers or the
indiscreet contact of tourists. We annex to the general view of the
instrument a front and profile plan (Fig. 4). The Æolian harp has often
inspired both writers of prose and poetry. Chateaubriand, in _Les
Natchez_, compares its sounds to the magic concerts that the celestial
vaults resound. Without attributing such effects to the instrument, it
must be admitted that it possesses remarkable properties, which act upon
the nervous system and cause very different impressions, according to the
temperament of those who listen to its accords.
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--PLAN OF THE BADEN BADEN INSTRUMENT.]
Hector Berlioz, in his _Voyage Musicale en Italie_, has given as follows
the curious effects that an Æolian harp produced upon his lively and
impassioned imagination: "On one of those gloomy days that sadden the end
of the year, listen, while reading Ossian, to the fantastic harmony of an
Æolian harp swinging at the top of a tree deprived of verdure, and I defy
you not to experience a profound feeling of sadness and of _abandon_, and
a vague and infinite desire for another existence."
An English physician, Dr. J.M. Cox, in his practical _Observations_ upon
dementia, asserts that unfortunate lunatics have been seen whose
sensitiveness was such that ordinary means of cure had to be given up
with them, but who were instantly calmed by the sweet and varied accords
of an Æolian harp. Other observers narrate that they have heard the
efficacy of Aeolian sounds spoken of in Scotland for producing sleep.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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