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Scan 257
Old Violins And Their Makers, 1883
4 lines. Read by computer on 27 September 2026. Printed page 243. See the scan on archive.org.
1performers who, among others, played with these metal bows. He made a great many of them, and they were in favour at one time, but have somewhat receded in that regard of late. Their manufacture was suggested by the difficulty of procuring good wood, a difficulty with which François Tourte had also to contend, and which was one of the causes of the very high price which the latter charged for his work. There are three kinds of wood used in the manufacture of bows, Pernambuco wood, Brazil wood, and snake wood. The first of these is the Cæsalpinia echinata, and is very light and firm; it was chiefly employed by Tourte. The second, Cæsalpinia Brasiliensis, yields the Brazil wood, which is also largely used. Two trees yield what is called snakewood; one, the Koochla—from which the substance called nux vomica is obtained—grows extensively on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts, and is called snake-wood, I presume, because of the poisonous nature of its fruit and juices. The other is the Brosimum Aublettii of Demerara, where it is also known as letter-wood. This latter is the kind employed in the manufacture of bows, and it has been used with great effect in the fabrication of furniture.
3Another invention by Vuillaume was that of the fixed nut, a most ingenious contrivance, which permits the full length of the hair to be always available, while at the same time allowing the use of various tensions. This invention was suggested by the presence of two serious faults in the bows of that time, one of which still prevails. The first arose from the difficulty experienced in placing the hair so that it would form a perfectly
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