Page:The story of the flute (IA storyofflute1914fitz).djvu/280



Flutes of curious materialsWalking-stick flutesOrnamented flutesBöhm's crutchWard's TerminatorVarious other inventionsThe Giorgi fluteAutomaton playersDulon, the blind flautistRebsomen, the one-armed flautistHallet, the youthful prodigyHow to silence a flautist.

have been made out of some very extraordinary materials. The ancient Greeks and Egyptians often used the bones of animals and birds ("Sebi," "Tibia," and "Schwegel" all mean "leg-bone"), as certain savage nations do to-day. Animals' horns were also used, and there is in the Ashmolean Museum a remarkable specimen of such a flute found in an early Egyptian tomb, having some of the holes pierced in the solid end of the horn, apparently merely for ornament. Marble and jade has been used by the Greeks and by the Chinese. The Portuguese make flutes of terra-cotta and baked clay. A porcelain flute, said to have once belonged to Charles II., is still in existence; and flutes made of Dresden china are to be seen in the Museum of the Paris Conservatoire. Rossini possessed a flute-à-bec made of tortoise-shell, inlaid with gold. Ivory flutes