Books › A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments in the South Kensington museum, preceded by an essay on the history of musical instruments, 1874 › scan 341
Scan 341
A descriptive catalogue of the musical instruments in the South Kensington museum, preceded by an essay on the history of musical instruments, 1874
18 lines. Read by computer on 14 September 2026. Printed page 315. See the scan on archive.org.
1scent. The belly is of parchment. Three catgut strings, beneath which are placed seven thin wire strings.
3(145.)
5SARUNGI. Indian (from Bombay). An instrument of the violin class. Four catgut strings, and beneath them thirteen "sympathetic" strings of thin brass wire.
7The performer on the farungi does not press the catgut strings down upon the finger-board, but touches them at the side with his fingers to produce the tones which he desires. When played upon, the farungi is not held like our violin; the performer places it before his breast in a nearly perpendicular direction.
9(17.)
11SITAR. Five wire strings. Originally the sitar was made with three strings; hence its name. The body is made of a gourd and of cocoa wood. The neck has movable frets, which enable the performer to alter the order of intervals or the musical scale whenever he finds it expedient. In playing, the musician twangs the strings with a little plectrum called mizrab, which is made of a piece of wire curiously twisted, and which he has attached to the forefinger of his right hand. Indian. Modern.
13There are, it is said, among the professional musicians in Hindustan sitar players who enrapture their auditory as much as any fashionable virtuoso in Europe.
15(153.)
17NAGARAH. A drum formed of an earthenware bowl, over which hide is stretched. Indian (from Surat). Diam. at the top, 16 in., H. 6 1/2 in.
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