ception of Guido d'Arezzo; this was a logical development from the division
of the monochord. Occasionally short octaves are found, as for example in
the clavichord of which Handel is said to have been the owner.

The ivory or white composite material now in use for white keys was
unknown in the ancient instruments of which we are speaking, but the
black keys appear to have been made from the earliest times of ebony,
or some cheaper wood stained a dark color. The white keys, as they are
now called, consisted of some hard wood of lighter color such as boxwood
or bird's-eye maple. Many makers went to extremes in decorating the keys,
using such materials as tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl; costly inlays
were frequently lavished on the keyboards.

The Psaltery.-- We come now to a more particular notice of the keyboard
features of the early stringed instruments; the first of these is the Psaltery,
a familiar term used for various instruments in the translations of the Bible.
The instrument with which we are especially concerned belongs to the
neckless subdivision among the instruments on which the strings are plucked.
The psaltery has bridges at both ends, and the frame of the instrument is
wholly closed, differing widely in these respects from the harp, in plucking
which the performer has the free use of both hands, and from the lyre,
partially closed by the sound box. Originally the psaltery consisted merely
of a plain board with a gourd or resonator attached, and having a number
of strings stretched over the opposite side. Many savage tribes of the
present day have failed to develop the psaltery beyond this point, and it
may be found in many parts of the world, masquerading under an inde-
terminate number of aliases. As the instrument came in the path of advanc-
ing civilization, men soon found that a box-like chest could readily be
substituted for the board, thus combining the resonator and the frame.

The instrument is known to have existed in China thousands of years
before the Christian era. There it is known as the Kin. As developed in
Europe, it is supposed to have come from Asia Minor via Mesopotamia and
Persia, where it was called the Kanûn. It also moved westward into Greece,
and following the progress of Byzantian civilization, was introduced into
Germany and the Scandinavian countries. The expansion of commerce in
the Mediterranean soon brought about its introduction into Italy and Spain.
In medieval times it was called the Cythara barbarica in Europe, and is
described by Virdung ( 1511) and Agricola ( 1528) as being triangular in
shape, and as having a diatonic compass of more than three full octaves.
It is mentioned by Praetorius ( 1618) in quadrangular form, and in an odd
shape known in German as "Pig's head" and in Italian as Stromento da
porco.

The Kanûn of western Asia also made its appearance in Europe during
the Middle Ages. Its strings were of gut, and its name was variously cor-
rupted into Canon, Micanon or Demicanon (a smaller type) and Medicinale.
Various deviations from the standard shape were made by Europeans, and

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