- Peruvian bone pipe
M. de Castelnau in his “Expédition dans l’Amérique” gives among the illustrations of objects discovered in ancient Peruvian tombs a flute made of a human bone. It has four finger-holes at its upper surface and appears to have been blown into at one end. Two bone-flutes, in appearance similar to the engraving given by M. de Castelnau, which have been disinterred at Truxillo are deposited in the British museum. They are about six inches in length, and each is provided with five finger-holes. One of these has all the holes at its upper side, and one of the holes is considerably smaller than the rest. The specimen shown is ornamented with some simple designs in black. - Peruvian huayra-puhura
The British museum possesses a huayra-puhura consisting of fourteen reed pipes of a brownish colour, tied together in two rows by means of thread, so as to form a double set of seven reeds. Both sets are almost exactly of the same dimensions and are placed side by side. The shortest of these reeds measure three inches, and the longest six and a half. In one set they are open at the bottom, and in the other they are closed. Consequently, octaves are produced. The reader is probably aware that the closing of a pipe at the end raises its pitch an octave. Thus, in our organ, the so-called stopped diapason, a set of closed pipes, requires tubes of only half the length of those which constitute the open diapason, although both these stops produce tones in the same pitch; the only difference between them being the quality of sound, which in the former is less bright than in the latter. - South American Juruparis
The engraving represents a kind of trumpet made of wood, and nearly seven feet in length, which Gumilla found among the Indians in the vicinity of the Orinoco. It somewhat resembles the juruparis, a mysterious instrument of the Indians on the Rio Haupés, a tributary of the Rio Negro, south America. The juruparis is regarded as an object of great veneration. Women are never permitted to see it. So stringent is this law that any woman obtaining a sight of it is put to death—usually by poison. No youths are allowed to see it until they have been subjected to a series of initiatory fastings and scourgings. The juruparis is usually kept hidden in the bed of some stream, deep in the forest; and no one dares to drink out of that sanctified stream, or to bathe in its water. At feasts the juruparis is brought out during the night, and is blown outside the houses of entertainment. The inner portion of the instrument consists of a tube made of slips of the Paxiaba palm (Triartea exorrhiza). When the Indians are about to use the instrument they nearly close the upper end of the tube with clay, and also tie above the oblong square hole (shown in the engraving) a portion of the leaf of the Uaruma, one of the arrow-root family. Round the tube are wrapped long strips of the tough bark of the Jébaru (Parivoa grandiflora). This covering descends in folds below the tube. The length of the instrument is from four to five feet. The illustration, which exhibits the juruparis with its cover and without it, has been taken from a specimen in the museum at Kew gardens. The mysteries connected with this trumpet are evidently founded 69on an old tradition from prehistoric Indian ancestors. Jurupari means “demon”; and with several Indian tribes on the Amazon customs and ceremonies still prevail in honour of Jurupari. - Orinoco Indian trumpet
Trumpets are often mentioned by writers who have recorded the manners and customs of the Indians at the time of the discovery of America. There are, however, scarcely any illustrations to be relied on of these instruments transmitted to us. The Conch was frequently used as a trumpet for conveying signals in war. - Indian trumpets
The botuto, which Gumilla saw used by some tribes near the river Orinoco (of which we engrave two examples), was evidently an ancient Indian contrivance, but appears to have fallen almost into oblivion during the last two centuries. It was made of baked clay and was commonly from three to four feet long: but some trumpets of this kind were of enormous size. The botuto with two bellies was usually made thicker than that with three bellies and emitted a deeper sound, which is described as having been really terrific. These trumpets were used on occasions of mourning and funeral dances. Alexander von Humboldt saw the botuto among some Indian tribes near the river Orinoco. - Aztec drums
As regards instruments of percussion, a kind of drum deserves special notice on account of the ingenuity evinced in its construction. The Mexicans called it teponaztli. They generally made it of a single block of very hard wood, somewhat oblong square in shape, which they hollowed, leaving at each end a solid piece about three or four inches in thickness, and at its upper side a kind of sound-board about a quarter of an inch in thickness. In this sound-board, if it may be called so, they made three incisions; namely, two running parallel some distance lengthwise of the drum, and a third running across from one of these to the other just in the centre. By this means they obtained two vibrating tongues of wood which, when beaten with a stick, produced sounds as clearly defined as are those of our kettle drums. By making one of the tongues thinner than the other they ensured two different sounds, the pitch of which they were enabled to regulate by shaving off more or less of the wood. The bottom of the drum they cut almost entirely open. The teponaztli was generally carved with various fanciful and ingenious designs. It was beaten with two drumsticks covered at the end with an elastic gum, called ule, which was obtained from the milky juice extracted from the ule-tree. Some of these drums were small enough to be carried on a string or strap suspended round the neck of the player; others, again, measured upwards of five feet in length, and their sound was so powerful that it could be heard at a distance of three miles. In some rare instances a specimen of the teponaztli is still preserved by the Indians in Mexico, especially among tribes who have been comparatively but little affected by intercourse with their European aggressors. - Aztec cluster of bells
It is noteworthy that these yotl are found figured in the picture-writings representing the various objects which the Aztecs used to pay as tribute to their sovereigns. The collection of Mexican antiquities in the British museum contains a cluster of yotl-bells. Being nearly round, they closely resemble the Schellen which the Germans are in the habit of affixing to their horses, particularly in the winter when they are driving their noiseless sledges. - Psalterium
a very simple stringed instrument of a triangular shape, and a somewhat similar one of a square shape were designated by the name of psalterium - Citole
A small psalterium with strings placed over a sound-board was apparently the prototype of the citole; a kind of dulcimer which was played with the fingers. The names were not only often vaguely applied by the mediæval writers but they changed also 89in almost every century. The psalterium, or psalterion (Italian salterio, English psaltery), of the fourteenth century and later had the trapezium shape of the dulcimer. - Anglo-saxon harp
The Anglo-saxons frequently accompanied their vocal effusions with a harp, more or less triangular in shape,—an instrument which may be considered rather as constituting the transition of the lyre into the harp. The representation of king David playing the harp is from an Anglo-saxon manuscript of the beginning of the eleventh century, in the British museum. The harp was especially popular in central and northern Europe, and was the favourite instrument of the German and Celtic bards and of the Scandinavian skalds. - Harp, ninth century
In the illustration from the manuscript of the monastery of St. Blasius twelve strings and two sound holes are given to it. A harp similar in form and size, but without the front pillar, was known to the ancient Egyptians. - Ancient Irish harp
Perhaps the addition [of the front pillar] was also non-existent in the earliest specimens appertaining to European nations; and a sculptured figure of a small harp constructed like the ancient eastern harp has been discovered in the old church of Ullard in the county of Kilkenny. Of this curious relic, which is said to date from a period anterior to the year 800, a fac-simile taken from Bunting’s “Ancient Music of Ireland” is given. As Bunting 90was the first who drew attention to this sculpture his account of it may interest the reader. “The drawing” he says “is taken from one of the ornamental compartments of a sculptured cross, at the old church of Ullard. From the style of the workmanship, as well as from the worn condition of the cross, it seems older than the similar monument at Monasterboice which is known to have been set up before the year 830. - German rotte
One of the most interesting stringed instruments of the middle ages is the rotta (German, rotte; English, rote). It was sounded by twanging the strings, and also by the application of the bow. The first method was, of course, the elder one. There can hardly be a doubt that when the bow came into use it was applied to certain popular instruments which previously had been treated like the cithara or the psalterium. - Rotta
A representation of David playing on the rotta, from a psalter of the seventh century in the British museum (Cott. Vesp. A. I). According to tradition, this psalter is one of the manuscripts which were sent by pope Gregory to St. Augustine. In the rotta the ancient Asiatic lyre is easily to be recognized. - Irish Rotta
A very interesting representation of the Psalmist [King David] with a kind of rotta occurs in a manuscript of the tenth century, in the British museum (Vitellius F. XI.). The manuscript has been much injured by a fire in the year 1731, but Professor Westwood has succeeded, with great care, and with the aid of a magnifying glass, in making out the lines of the figure. As it has been ascertained that the psalter is written in the Irish semi-uncial character it is highly probable that the kind of rotta represents the Irish cionar cruit, which was played by twanging the strings and also by the application of a bow. - Saint Liedwi, Of Scheidam, Holland, A. D. 1396
The First known skating Illustration - Skating outside
Skating outside - Hand Grenade No. 7. and Ball Hand Grenade
Ignition Bombs. Hand Grenade No. 7—Grenade heavy friction pattern. Hand Grenades Nos. 6 and 7 consist of metal cases filled with T.N.T and a composite explosive and are exactly alike, except that No. 7 contains shrapnel bullets or scrap iron, while No. 6 contains only explosive. At the top of each case is a place to fix the friction igniter, which is supplied separately. When these bombs are to be used, detonator fuse and igniter are put in and firmly fixed. Before throwing the becket on, head of igniter should be pulled smartly off. Ball Hand Grenade. The Ball Hand Grenade consists of a cast iron sphere, 3 inches in diameter, filled with ammonal and closed by a screwed steel plug which has attached to it a covered tube to take detonator in the center of grenade. It is also lighted by a Brock lighter. - Hand Grenade No. 1
There are three kinds of bombs: (1) percussion; (2) ignition;, and (3) mechanical. It is not possible to describe every bomb in use under these three headings, but the most typical are selected for description, although it does not follow that they are all in use at the present time, but will give a fairly good idea of what is required. Percussion Bombs. 1. Hand Grenade No. 1. 2. Hand Grenade No. 2, formerly known as Mexican Hand Grenade. 3. Rifle grenade No. 3, formerly known as Hale’s Rifle Grenade. Hand Grenade No. 1 consists of a brass case screwed on to a block of wood, to which is fixed a small cane handle about half way up the case. Outside it is a cast iron ring serrated into 16 parts. The upper end is covered by a moveable cap with a striker pin in the center. On the cap are the words “Remove,” “Travel,” and “Fire” in duplicate. These are marked in red and can be made to correspond with red pointers painted on case. To prepare a bomb, turn cap so that pointer is at “Remove,” take off cap, insert detonator in hole and turn it to the left until the spring on the flange is released and goes into position under the pin; replace cap and turn to “Travel,” which is a safety position. When the bomb is to be thrown, turn cap to “Fire” and then remove safety pin. This bomb explodes on impact, and to insure its falling on the head, streamers are attached. Care should be taken that streamers do not get entangled. The bomb must be thrown well into the air. - Hand Grenade No. 5
Mechanical Bombs. Hand Grenade No. 5, known as Mills’ Hand Grenade. Mills’ Hand Grenade No. 5 weighs about one and one-half pounds and is in constant and steady use at the front, being the best known of all grenades. It consists of an oval cast iron case, containing explosives and serrated to provide numerous missiles on detonation. In the center is a spring striking pin, kept back by a lever or handle, which, in its turn, is held in position by a safety pin. - A hunter using an atlatl
Dogs may have been kept as pets, and may have helped in hunting. Meso-Indians developed many new hunting and fishing techniques. They used fishhooks, traps, and nets for catching fish and other small animals, and they used a new weapon called the atlatl (pronounced at′lat′l) to help kill their most important prey, deer. An atlatl was made from a flattish, two-foot long piece of wood and was used as a spear-thrower. It had a hook, made of bone or antler, attached on one end and a hand grip carved on the other end. A stone, clay, or shell weight was sometimes attached toward the hooked end to increase the force of the throw, or perhaps only for decoration. A spear was rested on the atlatl with the end of the spear shaft inserted into the atlatl hook. The hunter held the atlatl grip and the middle of the spear in the same hand, then he hurled the spear from the atlatl. The atlatl acted as an extension of his arm, giving extra power and accuracy to the throw. - Mammoth Hunt
To pierce the skin of one of the large animals, such as a mastodon or mammoth, the hunters had to be close to the powerful beast. They hurled or jabbed their spears at the animal, and tried to confuse and immobilize their prey. Perhaps several hunters surrounded an isolated animal waving their arms and distracting it while one or two others speared it. If the animal was wounded, the hunters would have tracked it until it became very weak or went to water to drink. Even a mastodon, wounded and exhausted, or mired in the mud of a shallow lake, would have been relatively easy game for a small group of experienced hunters. - Fishing
As Meso-Indian family `groups` traveled, they met other hunting `groups`, and sometimes camped together. These were important times for social and ceremonial activities. They probably smoked pipes together and shared information about good hunting, fishing, and plant collecting areas. - Cultivating the crops
The men and women had very different daily tasks. Women took care of the young children; planted, tended and harvested the crops; cooked the meals; and made the pottery, baskets, mats and clothing. Men’s work consisted of housebuilding, canoe-making, and clearing land for gardens, along with defense, hunting, woodcutting, and making the tools for these chores. The men also had primary responsibilities for ritual and political activities. - Cutaway view of dwelling
Daily life of ordinary people was much different than that of the elite. As far as we know, the former continued to live as they had during the earlier part of the period. They lived in circular houses in small villages located near their gardens and buried their dead in simple graves with few goods. - Death of a chief
The chief’s house, situated on top of a mound, overlooked the plaza area. The chief used the house as his living quarters as well as a reception area for visitors and subjects. The furnishings of the house included wooden beds covered with matting, and perhaps a wooden stump used as a stool. Reed or cane torches provided light. Servants waited on the chief, always keeping a respectful distance, and quickly meeting all of his needs. No one ever used the chief’s belongings or walked in front of him. The chief was a highly honored and respected person, and his death was a time for great mourning. Ceremonies, dancing, and processions were part of the burial rituals that continued for several days. The chief’s wife, servants, and others who volunteered for the honor, were sedated and ritually strangled as part of the ceremonies. The bodies were placed on special raised tombs covered with branches and mud. After many weeks, the bones were removed and placed in baskets that were stored in the temple. Eventually, the bones were buried in a platform in the temple, or were buried in the mound when it was expanded. The deceased chief’s house was usually burned and might be covered with another layer of earth before the new chief’s house was built. The son of the dead chief’s sister would become the next ruler. - Four-horned turtle bearer
Four-horned Tortoise ( Noteus quadricornis ), at 300-fold magnification. We choose as an example the four-horned turtle bearer ( Noteus quadricornis ) of the family of turtle animals ( Loricata ), characterized by the hard, shield-shaped armor surrounding their compressed body from top to bottom. In our species, it is gracefully carved from the front and fitted with 4 horn-like protrusions. The front part of the body is covered with a soft skin and can be completely retracted under this armor. When swimming and eating, the animal unfolds its radar organ; this consists of two half-saucer-shaped, fleshy lobes, which are retracted by muscles and can be pushed out of the body cavity by squeezing blood; its free edge is set with a series of delicate eyelashes, which randomly vibrates the animal; the whole gear then makes the impression of two wheels on many Rotary animals, which rotate quickly on their axis. - Elegant Flower Polyp ( Floscularia ornata ), at 200-fold enlargement.
Elegant Flower Polyp ( Floscularia ornata ), at 200-fold enlargement. Ornamental Flower Polyp ( Floscularia ornata ) depicted is a representative of a last large family, known as Tube inhabitants ( Tubicolariae), since they are, at least for the most part, surrounded by a shell. The most remarkable phenomenon they offer is the very strong modification of their gear. On five conical protrusions from the head edge one sees bundles of long hair, which do not deserve the name of cilia, because they are stiff and almost immobile. Almost in the funnel of the mouth is the ring of cilia, which supplies food to the animal. This is surrounded by a fine, jelly-like tube, into which it, like the members of related genera, can retract by sliding the foot together. - Bridgeworms - a) Bonellia viridis. B) Phascolosoma vulgare. C) Priapulus caudatus
The place that the Bridgeworms or Starworms ( Gephyrei ) should occupy in the system has been subject to a great difference of opinion. By some zoologists they were counted among the Echinoderms, others among the Worms, either among the Annelids or the Acanthocephalus. Bonellia viridis, recognizable by its two-winged snout, lives in the Mediterranean Sea and on the Canadian coast, hidden between gravel and rock crevices. A green dye penetrates both the muzzle and the other body. This is covered with many warts and can constrict and contract in many ways. The snout is, if possible, suitable for even greater shape changes, since it is large in size of about 8 cm. body length, more than 50 cM. can be extended far and only when contracted[ 637 ]a few cM. is long. The mouth opening is a cervical longitudinal groove at the root of the snout. Occasionally the Bonellia leaves her hiding corner and crawls over the bottom with the help of her snout, the front horns of which act as sutures. The great flexibility of the body allows it to use very narrow crevices for shelter; she is averse to full daylight, likes the twilight of the morning better. The males, which have only recently become known as such, have a completely different appearance than the females, are tiny and resemble Turbellaria. - Balanoglossus clavigerus . (Young specimen, greatly enlarged)
In the adult state, this animal reaches a length of 20 cM. It is said to emit light by phosphorescence. The species depicted lives in the Mediterranean Sea at 1 or 2 fathoms. The ovoid anterior section of the elongated, cylindrical, slimy body, the glans , is separated from the subsequent collar by a deep constriction, in which the mouth opening is located. The glans, whose large internal cavity can be filled and emptied with water through two openings, changes its shape and size; it serves, except as a suture when crawling, as a drill when digging passages in the sea bed, in which the body is usually hidden up to the mouth. The alimentary canal, in which, in addition to food, water is also absorbed, is in communion with two longitudinal series of gill pouches , which are located in the anterior or gill part of the trunk on the back. The water, which has been used for breathing, flows out through a series of about 20 fine slits on the ventral side. The widest part of the alimentary canal is in the stomach part of the trunk; it is always filled with sand, the organic components of which serve the animal as food. The tail is grooved annularly; through the terminal vent opening, the sand is ejected, which forms piles next to the opening of the corridor. - Common Earthworm
Like all other Oligochaetes, Earthworms are androgynous. The genitals are usually in the 9th to 15th segments. In this same body division, the Lumbricides red blood-filled closed vasculature, which sometimes partially shimmers through the skin, has particularly wide, beating ringing vessels that connect the two large blood vessels above and below the digestive tract. A little further back, about the middle of the front half of the body, you will notice the girdle during the reproductive period, especially in spring. This organ, necessary for mating, is characterized by skin glands, which secrete a lot of mucus and is formed by swelling of the back and sides of 6 to 10 rings; depending on the species, its color varies from whitish or yellowish to red and brown. The species are also distinguished by the position of the belt; it begins between the 20th and 30th segments. The eggs are laid in a slime layer formed by glands of the belt, which surrounds the body in an annular manner; from this mucous layer, after the Worm has stripped it of itself, a cocoon with a horny wall, containing several eggs, only hatches. - Spiny Hermione ( Hermione hystrix )
One of the most common species in the Mediterranean. These Worms have a very graceful, glistening appearance, after being rinsed from the dirt, which usually covers their bodies in large quantities, by repeated rinsing. However, the beautiful Hermione's thorns are more fearful than those of the Porcupine ( Hystrix), there barbs hold them back in the skin with which they come into contact. Predatory fish do not care much about these weapons. - 1) Sea-pier ( Arenicola piscatorum ) .— 2) Parchmental Bristleworm ( Chaetopterus pergamentaceus ).
Tube dwellers without gills ( Abranchiata ) include the Bristleworms ( Chaetopterus), which differ markedly from all other members of the order and represent a separate family. With them, too, the body consists of three uneven divisions. The head of the species shown here is funnel-shaped, cut at the back and fitted with two probes here. The following 9 segments have elongated, flat foot stubs, which bear a bundle of brown brushes at the top edge. Very remarkable is the shape of the 5 segments of the middle section. The last 3 are missing the top foot stubs; those of the first two form a comb on the middle of the back with 2 feel-like protrusions, which extend far over the front part of the back. The lower stubs on the first segment are broad, curled towards the belly and joined here; on the other 4 segments they have a triangular shape and a sideways direction. The second segment is very swollen and purplish black in color. The posterior body part consists of about 50 members, which shine very wide due to the strongly laterally extended foot stubs. The animal in question was found in deep water on the coast of Normandy and in the Mediterranean Sea. It reaches 22 cm in length. and is surrounded by a 32 cM. long sleeve, made of a multi-layered material, resembling coarse, yellowish parchment. - First Fight of SPRING and LANGAN, on Worcester Race-Course, January 24th, 1824
First Fight of SPRING and LANGAN, on Worcester Race-Course, January 24th, 1824