The Bugle can scarcely be rated among musical instruments, but being found in military bands, we shall notice it. This instrument had its origin in the common shepherd's horn, i. e. that of an ox ; it sounds only the notes of the common chord with any precision, though some times we hear attempts made to diversify its music. It is a very loud instrument, and answers admirably for its usual in tentions ; namely, assembling the detach ments of a corps, communicating signals to rangers, Sm. The bugle varies in size, some being a full yard in length, mea sured along their curve, while others are scarcely a foot in length. The ox-horn is an instrument of very ancient inven tion ; it was originally known among the Hebrews by the name of shawm. The arum horn, now become obsolete, was a small kind of cornet, whose tones were imitated on the organ, by what is gene rally called the cremona stop. We shalt perhaps be correct in tracing all the in struments of the trumpet and horn spe cies to the buccina, of which the antiquity is so remote that its form and intonation have been lost to us. ,l'he ancient writers describe it as a crooked horn; we, how ever, venture to suggest, that the sea conch was the true buccina, and that horns, properly so called, were used as substitutes where the conchs could not be obtained. The conchs sounded by the Ilindoos throughout India, in then religious ceremonies, appear to have been in use from the first institution of that religion, which claims a date far more removed than the time of Adam. The conch is extremely sonorous, throwing its shrill tones often to the distance of a mile or more.
The Serpent, so called from its form, seems to be the link that connects the horn with the flute species ; its mouth piece is indeed very similar to that of the trumpet, but it is made of ivory. This is the deepest bass instrument of all that ha e finger holes, and which, consquent ly have a chromatic compass. But the s ent has some of its lowest notes en tirely dependent on the embouchure, or lip-play of the performer. This instru ment descends two notes lower than the bassoon, and reaches up to F, on the clef line of the bass, with perfect facility and correctness of intonation. Some per formers can, by great practice, advance several notes higher. The serpent is made of very thin wood, covered with buck ram and leather, so as to become very firm ; hence its tone is by no means smooth, the materials vibrating so very forcibly as to roughen the sounds, espe cially among the low notes. It has six finger-holes, each lined with ivory, ebony, Ike. requiring a very firm hand to stop them well. This instrument forms an exact reinforcement to the basses of a military band, to which it is chiefly ap propriated.
The Bassoon, or Fagot*, is the common bass for wind instruments ; its compass extends from double B flat up to B flat in the middle of the treble stave. This great radge is effected by the aid of a double elastic reed, which fits on to a brass serpentine crook, that gradually becoming thicker enters the top of the instrument. The sound is forced through the instrument in the first instance down wards, but re-aacends through a thicket parallel tube, on which are six holes for the. middle fingering: the lower notes are made by a variety of keys and holes, which are managed by both the thumbs, and by the little finger of the right hand. The ample extent of its range gives the bassoon much importance, especially as it is perfectly chromatic throughout ; the great similitude of its tone to a good bass voice renders it a most valuable accom paniment; the softness and the fine ex pression it is capable of producing occd sion our beat dramatic and•lyric com posers to avail themselves of its powers, and to allot to it many of the most pleas ing passages is overtures, &c. The finger
ing of the bas'soon is, however, extremely difficult ; it requires much practice, and a kind of penchant for the instrument, to enable the performer to display its full scope, its delicate flute-like intonations, and to give a brilliancy to the wonderful execution of which it admits. It is a great pity that very few bassoons are per fectly in tune ; those made by Barker, Wood, Millhouse, and Cramer, are gene rally preferred. When the common wood en nozle, or top, is exchanged for a cop per trumpet, or bell-mouth, the sounds are much reinforced, and partake some thing of the intonation of a horn. There have been many varieties of this instru ment, the principal of which are as fol low : The bombardo, or dulcino, which was formerly used as a bass to the haut boy; the bassoonette, which is an octave higher than the bassoon, but exactly simi lar; the courtant, or short bassoon, which was made either for right or left handed performers ; this appears to hate been a very ancient instrument, and probably was the basis of that now iq general use. The most curious of this tribe is the cer velet, now but little knoWn, except by description ; it was very short, scarcely indeed more than half a foot in length, and was blown with a double reed, the same as our bassoon, with which it could compare for depth of tone.
The next instrument of this class is the Vox-humana, so designated from the great resemblance of its tones to those of the human voice. This is a tenor to the hautboy, and is by many called the teno roon; it was forinerly much used in coun try churches, and proved a considerable check, keeping the choristers in the right road, and by its great powers concealed a multiplicity of errors among the rustic marayisee8. Although the vox-humana is remarkably mellow and full-toned, it re quires great practice and judgment to produce its notes in perfection. The compass of this instrument is very little more than two octaves; it has two keys, one of which makes the semi-tone above G in either octave, the other making the low F. It is blown with a double reed fixed on a small round conical staple or tube, which fits into the top of the instru ment. There are six finger holes, though the third finger of the left hand has some times two, very small, instead of one of the ordinary size, for the purpose of mak ing a semi-tone, by covering only one of them ; the same as in the Italian haut hey. The bottom of the vot-humana is in form, of a bell, and has usually two round holes, one on each side, for the purpose of lessening the vibration, and thus softening the tone. We consider the vox-humana, though exactly similar in every respect, excepting the depth of its notes and its greater bulk, to be far supe rior to the hautboy, and regret that so very pleasing an instrument should be laid aside, as it has been within the last twenty years. On the other hand, we con sider the whole of the reed species of wind instruments to be extremely inju rious to the constitution ; few who prac tise them remain long in health, the bas soon and hautboy in particular.