Scan 86
The violin: its famous makers and their imitators, 1909
12 lines. Read by computer on 1 October 2026. Printed page 48. See the scan on archive.org.
1of climate. In Italy an important part of the manufacture is carried on in the open air, and the beautiful climate is made to effect that which has to be done artificially in other countries. Hence the Italian superiority. Southern Germany adopts, to some extent, similar means in making strings; France, to a less degree; while England is obliged to rely solely on artificial processes. It therefore amounts to this—the further from Italy 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,"
7Tickling the dried guts of a mewing cat."
9We 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
111 The old English name for a Fiddle.
The computer misreads some letters and numbers. Where a name matters to you, read the scan.