Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 33.djvu/187

Rh strong enough, to overcome all the other noises in the shop, while it is also susceptible of musical modulations. But there is a special art in sounding it. The tongue must be brought up to the hole in the upper blade without stopping it, and the air must be projected simultaneously through both holes, so as to



vibrate in the bent-over part (Fig. 7). After a few efforts, sounds of astonishing power can be produced on this instrument.

Every boy knows how to make a willow whistle; or he may use lilac or any of several other woods when in the sap. Taking a branch about the size of his little finger, he cuts a ring in the bark down to the wood. Then, having moistened the bark in his



mouth, he beats it, holding it on his knee, with the handle of his knife, till it will slide on the stick. Holding the lower part of the branch in his left hand, with his right hand he twists the loosened slip of bark and pulls it off in a single piece, forming a