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eight to ten plates, folio size, accompanied by a clear, succinct, and accurate description, in octavo, for the extremely moderate price of half-aguinea. The plates are engraved from drawings taken from dissections made on purpose, aad combine the most painful and elaborate fidelity with great beauty and elegance of execution. The importance of such a work is self-evident, while its cheapness brings it within the reach of every one. To the student it must prove an invaluable treasure; to the country practitioner, called upon to perform an operation, an useful remembrancer and guide. Indocti discant et ament meminisse periti.

We have been favoured with a view of the plates of the brain, (not yet published), and we can safely say, that, highly as we think of the specimens already in the hands of

the public, we consider these as greatly superior, if not in accuracy, at least in the delicacy, beauty, and general style of the execution, and that, as mere engravings, independently of all merit in a scientific point of view, they reflect credit on the state of the arts in Scotland, and do infinite honour to the ingenious artist by whom they are executed.

In a word, if we may, without presumption, venture to recommend a work, whose character has already, in some measure, been stamped by the reception it has met with on the part of the profession in general, and from none more cordially than some of its brightest ornaments, we would say, that it is a work which every medical man ought to possess, and which, on examination, will be found to warrant all that we have now said in its favour.

SOME THOUGHTS ON THE ORIGIN, DESIGN, AND PROGRESS OF MUSIC.

THE origin of Music, it is probable, is coeval with that of man. The first parent of the human race, we are to presume, was created with all his organs and faculties in a state of the greatest perfection of which his nature was capable; and although it is impossible now to ascertain the language spoken by Adam, we may conclude that he did not converse with Eve in dumb-shew. It is, at the same time, very natural to conceive, that the first use to which he would apply the organs of sound wherewith he was endowed would be in expressions of gratitude to that Omnipotent and Beneficent Being by whom that gift was bestowed, and from whose hands he received all the various delights and beauties of Nature with which he was surrounded, and of which he found himself pos

sessed.

When we are under the immediate influence of any powerful emotion, whether it be joy or grief, exultation or depression, the human voice involuntarily assumes certain degrees of modulation, very different from its natural tones in common conversation. Our first parent, doubtless, devoted a large portion of his time to the exercise of praise and prayer to his Maker; and it were not surpris

ing, if, at those seasons, the tones of his voice should, to his own perception, assume certain cadences and vibrations, more approximate to melody, and more pleasing to his own ear than usual, without his defining, or perhaps adverting to the cause. The aptitude of receiving pleasing impressions from melodious sounds is inherent in man. Could Adam, then, in blissful Eden, without one discordant thought in his pure bosom, his whole soul attuned to harmony and love, fail to receive such impressions from the mellifluous and varied warblings of the feathered songsters around him, undisturbed and unvitiated by any jarring sound? In the stillness of evening, too, when the choristers of the wood had ceased, the gentle airs of Heaven breathing through the grove in wild and soothing undulations, might seem to him as if the trees of the forest were taking up the song of praise to Him at whose word they rose into being.

Man is, by nature, an imitative animal; it is, therefore, not unreasonable to suppose that Adam might, with his voice, attempt an imitation of some of those sounds, from which he must, no doubt, have derived so much delight; and, pleased with the success of his endeavours, with a

mind so constituted as we may imagine his to have been, and so pregnant with devout thoughts, might it not, with equal probability, have occurred to him to adapt some of the crude melodies, which his fancy may have conceived, to the words of his orisons, and thus, in the overflowings of his pious heart, breathe thern forth as a more acceptable offering to the Deity?

I have thus submitted an hypothesis on the original conception and design of simple melody, which, deducing the argument from the immutable relation between cause and effect, would appear to be not inconsistent with reason.

We may be pretty well assured, that it was not till a long lapse of years after this era that any artificial means were thought of being resorted to, for producing music or melody, and much longer before mankind discovered the pleasing effect of certain combinations of simple sounds, distinguished afterwards by the name of harmony. For although it might so happen, that, where several voices were singing together, two different but concordant notes should have been accidentally struck together, which, by analogy, we may conceive might affect the ear in a singular and agreeable manner; yet it would, in all probability, pass altogether unheeded, or at least without any attempt being made to investigate the cause of this effect, much less to improve upon it. Besides, when several persons were assembled together, for the purpose of singing praises to God, or on any other occasion, it is more natural to conclude, in this stage of Art's infancy, that each would be previously instructed to join in

unison.

In process of time, however, after the lapse of a few centuries, we find music making some progress as an art. It is in the Mosaic writings that we must look for the earliest records that are extant on the subject. We there find that the use of instruments of music had their origin with Jubal, who was in the eighth degree of descent from Adam, and who lived about five hundred years before the Flood; for he is said to be" the futher of such as handle the harp and organ." We are not thence to infer,

literally, that this was confined to his own immediate descendants, but that he was the father of the art, or, in other words, the original inventor of such instruments. These were, at first, unquestionably, very crude and imperfect, and of the most simple construction; the harp, in all probability, nothing more than a few strings, composed of the same materials as those they would have occa sion to use in constructing their tents, their only habitations; probably the intestines and cartilaginous parts of animals, or even their skins cut into shreds, twisted and prepar ed for the purpose, and fixed with different degrees of tension, on a wooden frame no less simple; for, though Tubal Cain, Jubal's halfbrother," was an instructor of artificers in brass and iron," it is scarcely to be supposed he had arrived at the art of drawing these metals into wire; while the organ might consist of a series of tibiæ, or reeds, of unequal lengths, fastened together, having some resemblance to the pipe of Pan, now used occasionally; for such an idea might have suggested itself to Jubal by the most natural and obvious analogy, on observing the sound caused by the wind blowing diagonally on the open end of a tube.

I have supposed the first attempts at music, or melody, to have had their birth in a spirit of devotion, and consequently that the earliest design and application of it were directed exclusively to that exalted object. In after ages, however, when men began to forget their origin, and give their hearts and minds more to sublunary objects and the pleasures of sense, the design of music became, by degrees, subservient to this change, and the music itself, in consequence, more varied and complicated in its character and style. In the days of the Jewish monarchs, and a thousand years before the Christian era, it seems to have been used in the celebration of victories, in dances, and on all occasions of mirth and rejoicing; and not, improbably, also, on those of grief and lamentation: even centuries earlier, on the memorable and final overthrow of the Egyptians at the Red Sea, we are told that "Miriam the Pro

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wine, are in their feasts; but they regard not the work of the Lord, neither consider the operations of his hands." And there can be little doubt that this custom has continued to prevail, more or less, throughout all succeeding generations, and in all communities, down to the present time.

It is probable, that, during the reign of David, by his encouragement and example, music, and the construction of musical instruments, were brought to a comparative state of improvement, in which they possibly remained, or at least beyond which they made few advances for many successive ages; and this appears to have been in a degree by no means contemptible; for he, more than once, makes mention of "instruments of ten strings," which constitute a scale susceptible of an almost infinite variety of modulations and inflections, and within the compass of which are comprehended most of our finest church melodies.

phetess, the sister of Aaron took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her, with timbrels and with harps," &c. And at a period so remote as seventeen centuries before Christ, Laban reproving Jacob for stealing away from him in a clandestine manner, says, "Wherefore didst thou flee away secretly, and didst not tell me, that I might have sent thee away with mirth and with songs, and with tabret, and with harp?" On the occasion of David's conquest of Goliah, it is related that "The women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tabrets and with joy, and with instruments of music." And some years afterwards, on the recovery of the Ark of the Covenant by the Israelites, to them a cause of the utmost rejoicing, "King David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord, on all manner of instruments, made of firwood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals." The powerful and salutary influence of music on the human mind appears to have been discovered at a very early period. A striking example of this is recorded of Saul: in the perturbed and wretch ed state of his mind, after it was communicated to him, by divine mission, that his kingdom would depart from him, it was recommended to that restless and vacillating Prince "to seek out a man that was a cunning player on the harp." David, then a youth, was chosen for this charitable office; and we are told, that, "when the evil spirit was upon Saul, David took a harp and played with his hand, and Saul was refresh ed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.”.

That music among the Jews of old, and no doubt also among other Eastern nations, formed a material appendage to their feasts and revels, is evident, from an observation of Isaiah, who was cotemporary with Hezekiah King of Juda, seven hundred years before the time of our Saviour: in exclaiming against the idolatries of the people of Jerusalem, he says, "The harp, and the viol, and the tabret, and the pipe, and

VOL. XVI.

The pursuits of war must always be extremely adverse to the culture of the fine arts. How much, soever, music may have been found a useful auxiliary or stimulus in the field, at such times it could not be supposed then to make rapid advances in improvement. In the iron ages, when a certain savage ferocity of character was held, in some degree, an accomplishment-when the sole, or at least the primary object of man's ambi tion was to excel in martial exploits, the nurture of music was not to be looked for; it was in the bosom of peace that this delightful art would find a genial soil; there, and there only, would it expand and bloom in glowing luxuriance. For this reason, it may have continued in the same uniform state of disregard and neglect, from the time of the psalmist down to the subversion of the Roman empire; at least if any attempts were made towards its practical improvement as an art, as society became more polished and enlightened, it is not probable that any ideas were entertained of its being reducible to a science, till long after the period I have mentioned.

It must, however, be admitted,

• Sec 1 Chronicles, xv. and 16.

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that the warlike states of Greece and Rome exhibited an exception to the axiom above stated; they seem to have acted upon a more enlarged and enlightened principle; their wars were not, in general, those of extermination, nor prosecuted for fighting's sake; and in the zenith of their power, they aimed less at conquest than they did at securing from foreign inroad what they had already acquired. Hence, though a nation of soldiers, they were not unmindful of the arts of peace. They directed their attention in an especial manner to agriculture, which they considered not only useful, but honourable; some of the fine arts too were cultivated, nay, brought to the highest state of perfection, by these warlike nations those of painting, and particularly sculpture. This may be partly ascribed to the enthusiastic degree of veneration in which they held the many and multifarious deities in their mythology, who, as they vainly imagined, ruled their destinies, and could propitiate or frustrate all their schemes and enterprises; to these, therefore, they naturally paid the highest honours; they accordingly erected and dedica ted to their gods magnificent temples, which they spared neither pains nor cost to adorn with paintings and statuary, symbolical of their respective functions, in the execution of which their best artists would no doubt emulate each other in their endeavours to represent their divinities to the greatest perfection, clothed in all those external attributes of beauty, grace, and symmetry of form, where with their glowing imaginations had endowed them. But the art of music had not the same powerful stimulant to its encouragement, and for this reason it remained comparatively much in the shade, though it does not appear to have been altogether neglected. In the Greek and Roman historians and poets, we find occasional mention made of the flute (tibia) and violin; but the practical use of these instruments would seem, in those days, to have been consider ed somewhat ignoble, and was pro bably confined to persons of subor dinate rank, or perhaps to those among the plebeians who sought a livelihood by that means. We find

that Alcibiades would not submit to be instructed on the flute, assigning as a reason that it was a mean pastime, and altogether unbecoming the character of a gentleman. Themistocles, also, another of the Athenian Generals, appears to have held this branch of education in the same degree of contempt; and Philip of Macedon thought it a ground of reproach to his son Alexander that he could sing a good song. At a subsequent period, however, when Roman glory began to totter to its fall, and aus terity began to give place to a taste for luxury, the practice of music seems to have found its way into the higher circles; for the Emperor Nero is mentioned as having devoted much of his time to it, more, indeed, than was thought consistent with his regal station.

All this time, it is more than probable that the charms of melody, and the pure elementary principles of musical composition, were unfolding themselves, and ripening by gradual and sure, though unobtru sive steps, in the quiet of rural retirement; and it will perhaps be found that it is there alone we are to look for their genuine and unadulterated source.

The people of every country with which we are at all acquainted have a

style of music peculiar to themselves, and this bears a character of nationality, or departure from it, exactly proportionate to their aboriginal purity, (if the expression may be permitted,) or to their intermixture with foreigners. Hence, the native music of Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, is purely national, or pecu liar to these countries respectively; and the different style and character of each, though having a consider. able similitude, is easily distinguishable to the musical ear. With the Turks and Moors, also, the music has its very distinct national feature. The same remark may apply to that of Spain and Poland, though in a very inferior degree, the former being blended with the Moresco, and latter with the Italian. France has its national music, but it partakes much of that frivolity of character peculiar to the people whose motto is "Vive la bagatelle." The Negroes of Africa, too, and all the tribes

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of man in the savage state, of whom we have acquired any knowledge or information, have their native music, (if it may be so called,) all of which have a sort of instinctive affinity, as consisting only of a very limited scale of notes, most inharmoniously arranged, and very far removed from melody, with a constant and unvaried repetition of the same wild and uncouth strain. The English have no native music; and it is obvious, upon the grounds already stated, that they can have none, having at so early a period of their authenticated history become incorporated, and at length so entirely amalgama ted with the people of other nations. It may be observable of native melodies, generally, that their character partakes, not only of the genius of the people, but of the nature of the soil from which, perhaps, that genius partly takes its tone. In those countries whose features are much diver sified by hill and dale, the music seems, in some measure, to be graduated by, and to vibrate in concord with the different affections of the mind, which such scenes are calculated to create. In the sequestered recesses and deep solitude of a gloomy and romantic dell, and on the summit of a lofty mountain, the human mind is affected with very different and opposite emotions. The former has a tendency to generate and foster a plaintive and melancholy cast of thought; and even here, objects present themselves which must operate very differently on the feelings. The gentle murmur of the brook, as it glides rippling along, over its pebbled bed, now soothes, calms, and composes; a few paces further, and the contrast is great and sudden; there the noise of the precipitous waterfall bursts upon the ear, and, by its deafening din, surprises, agitates, and distracts. On the summit of the bill, the mind, on the other hand, becomes elastic, and the thoughts chearful, elevated, and sublime, raised, as it were, above sublunary things. Let us suppose an untaught shepherd reposing in one or other of these spots, and that he is beguiling the hours in whistling or singing; it is more than probable that the selection of his strains will instinctively be characterized, in a greater or less

degree, by the nature of the scene before him.

The native music of all countries will be found to have a relative connection with local circumstance as well as scenery, and its character will, accordingly, be influenced by the incidents and feelings from whence it springs, and with them will vary. To exemplify this, there is scarce a river, stream, or brook, in Scotland, that is not celebrated in the old national melodies of that country, as being the favourite early haunts of their authors in the gay and happy spring-time of life. When the scene has changed, and the design is to recal to remembrance those beloved spots now left behind, the airs are of a melancholy, plaintive cast, and the minor key prevails, as being best adapted to the subject and character of the song. For this reason, also, many, if not most of those pastoral strains expressive of unfortunate or ill-requited love, are composed on the same keys, while, on the other hand, sonnets, the production of a fortunate and favoured lover, in praise of his mistress, or of which the object of his wishes, or his own happiness, is the burden, are uniformly of a gay and chearful strain, and are always on the key major.

The name of Italian music has been given very indiscriminately, and not less erroneously, to all the elaborate works of the more modern foreign composers; and an idea hence prevails, except with persons of real, or I should rather say, cultivated taste, that the music of Italy is too abstruse, and difficult to be understood. The fact is, that the genuine native music of that country, taken abstractedly, is, in itself, simple in the melody, and modulated agreeably to the purest rules of musical composition. It is, indeed, more refined, and has, it is true, more varied shades of expression than that of Scotland, and its sister kingdoms, or of any other country; but this naturally arises from the genius and temperament of the people. The Italians have strong and violent passions, and their climate is enervating; which circumstances could scarcely fail to communicate to their music a certain peculiarity of character, alternately diversified by a languid softness, and

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