Scan 96
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1884
11 lines. Read by computer on 28 September 2026. Printed page 46. See the scan on archive.org.
1Italy the seat of manufacture, the more inferior the string.
3From the foregoing references we find that strings, although called "catgut," are not made from the intestines of that domestic animal. Whether they were originally so made, and hence derive their name, it is impossible to learn. Marston, the old dramatist says—
5"How the musicians
6Hover with nimble sticks o'er squeaking Crowds,* Tickling the dried guts of a mewing cat."
8We may be sure, however, that had the raw material been drawn from that source up to the present time there would have been no need to check the supply of the feline race by destroying nine kittens out of ten; on the contrary, the rearing of cats would indeed have been a lucrative occupation. A time-honoured error is thus commemorated in a word, the origin of which must be ascribed to want of thought. If the number of cats requisite for the string manufacture be considered for a moment, it is easy to see that Shylock's "harmless necessary" domestics are under no contribution in this matter. Strings are made from the intestines of the sheep and goat, chiefly of the former. The best qualities are made from the intestines of the lamb, the strength of which is very great if compared with those of a sheep more than a year old. This being so, the chief manufacture of
10* The old English name for a Fiddle.
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