“All the strings of the harp are not fit for harmonics—only the last two octaves should be employed for this purpose; they being the sole ones of which the strings are sufficiently long to admit of being divided by touching in the centre and sufficiently tightened for neatly producing harmonics.” The framework of the double-action harp consists of the soundboard opposite which is the vertical pillar. Both support the “neck,” a sort of curved bracket, graceful in shape. The neck contains the “comb,” which holds the mechanism for raising the pitch of the strings. The pillar is hollow and holds, concealed within it, the rods working the mechanism. The pillar and soundboard are also united in the “pedestal,” which is the frame for the pedals. These pedals are levers, which are moved by the feet and move the rods in the pillar. The wood used in a harp is generally sycamore, but the soundboard is pine. Along the centre of the soundboard a strip of beech, or other hard wood, is glued in which are inserted the pegs that hold the lower ends of the strings. The upper ends of the strings are wound round tuning-pins inserted into the wrest plank, which forms the upper part of the neck. The forty-seven strings are of catgut colored for the convenience of the player. The eleven longest are covered with wire, or silk. The uncovered C-strings are colored red and the F-strings, blue. The harp player rests the instrument upon his right shoulder and plays from the treble side. The harp is a very ancient instrument. It was played thousands of years ago in Egypt and Assyria. In fact it was the favorite instrument of the Egyptians and it was often magnificently ornamented. The Egyptian harp had no front pillar, and sometimes it looks in the hands of the player like a boat with a sail of strings. Sometimes it stood six feet high. There were a great many sizes and varieties, as are seen in wall-paintings and other decorations. The big Egyptian harp, with its dull, heavy thudding sounds, was characteristic of Egyptian music, and Verdi has marvellously reproduced this effect in his opera of _Aïda_. All ancient nations seem to have used the harp in some form, or another. And it never seems to have gone out of fashion. Cultured races and primitive peoples alike played the harp. The Greeks had three-cornered harps and the Romans had harps with a curved frame, pegs, and sound-box. The famous lyre was a kind of harp. The ancient Irish harp, called _cruit_, and also _crwth_, which in time became a sort of fiddle-harp and was played with a bow, seems to have been an ancestor of the violin. As early as 200 B.C. the Irish children were taught that “the spirit of song dwelt among the trembling strings of the _cruit_.” The Irish harp was famous. So were the Irish harpers. Bishops and abbots travelled about the country with their harps, and the Irish bard with his harp was a familiar figure as early as the Sixth Century.