BELL. if any definition be required of what is so well known, and in such general use as a bell, it may be an inverted vas 2, which, struck with a clap per, is employed singly as a signal, and when com bined, either in churches or as a musical instrument." The size, weight, and figure of bells are arbitrary; but a large bell is usually one-fifteenth of its diame ter in thickness, and twelve times its thickness in height. The shape of bells is different in different countries, being more cylindrical or conical in one than in another ; and having evidently originated in cymbals or basons, it is probable that from remote ages to the present times, there may have been a gra dual progression from a flat circular plate to a figure nearly approaching a cylinder. The gravity and acuteness of tone are, perhaps, regulated by the same conditions affecting the sound of tubular wind instru ments; for we know that the greater the capacity, the deeper or more grave is the sound. Thus we learn, that a bell of large dimensions in Moscow yields a grand and solemn tone ; and when rung, a deep, hollow murmur, resembling the lowest notes of a vast organ, or the rolling of distant thunder, vibrates all over the city.
The substance of which hells are made, likewise, produces a difference in the tone. Glass is one of the most sonorous bodies, and is formed into bells, though not ad indsationem ; we have heard also of wooden bells in the East ; but throughout Europe they are invariably made of a compound of copper and tin, called bell metal ; to which silver is occasionally added. All metals are more or less sonorous accord ing to figure ; even lead, which in most forms is mute, rings loudly in the segment of a sphere: and so favourable is this shape to sound, that it is main tained, had our ancestors been acquainted with the fact, all our bells, instead of being hollow vases in verted, would have been so many segments of metallic spheres. The vibration of every metallic plate is ana logous to that of a bell, and if sufficiently ductile, may be moulded into one by simple pressure : thus the imperceptible transition from cymbals to bells is at once evident, and easily accounts for that va riety of form to be seen in different countries.
With regard to the tone produced by one kind of metal compared with another, Mersenne, a very in telligent author on the subject, affirms it to be as follows : The figure of the bells with which this experiment was made, approached to that of a large hollow segment of a sphere, being sixteen lines of internal and fifteen lines of external diameter; and being oneline and a quar ter thick in the lip. Each bell resembled another as much as possibly could be effected in the fabrication, and their specific gravity also afforded an approximation towards more accurate results. The figures represent the tones, the greater number being the more acute, and the smaller the more grave. Thus it appears,
that lead is the most grave, and that brass and gold produce an equal tone or unison. Expressing this in musical notes, the tone of a brazen or golden bell forms the sharp seventh above that of a leaden one. It is not evident that the Europeans are acquainted with the most sonorous composition for bells : one known by the Chinese, which we find in their gongs, infinitely surpasses it. The same nation has musical instruments composed of metallic plates extremely sonorous. In ancient history we read, that Charle magne, while expressing his admiration of the tone of a bell made by an eminent artist, was addressed by the artist himself, soliciting a quantity of pure cop per, and requesting that, instead of tin, he should be provided with at least an hundred weight of silver With these materials, he engaged to cast such a bell, that the one which the emperor admired should seem mute in comparison with the other.
Bells, both ancient and modern, have been applied to purposes sacred, superstitious, or profane. They are undoubtedly of very great antiquity, being fre quently mentioned in sacred writ ; and, in particular, Moses ordained the under part of the blue tunic of the high priest, worn at religious ceremonies, to be adorned with pomegranates and gold bells intermixed. Commentators suppose that it was for the purpose of announcing his presence, or that he was entering the sanctuary. Nevertheless, there is much controversy concerning the belle, or tintinnabuli, of old ; and many are induced to suppose, that in general cymbals should be understood. Neither is it agreed what are the names by which the ancients signify bells : but by both ancients and moderns, it appears that they were called Tintinnabulum, Petasus, Codon, Lebes, ./Es, /Eramentum, Squilla, Crotalum, Signum, Cloca, Campana. All these received their names, either from the place where they were invented, or from their shape, or properties; and it seems generally•admitted, that tintinnabulum, among the ancients, signifies a bell similar to those we now use; while campana is a name belonging to the middle ages..
The Greeks were acquainted with bells : At Athens the priest of Proserpine rung a bell to call the peo ple to sacrifice ; and those who went the nightly rounds in camps, rung a little bell at the post of each centinel, to keep him awake. We learn from Strabo also, that in the islands a bell was used to announce the sale of provisions. By the Romans, :bells were employed for various purposes, and those somewhat similar to our own. They warned the ci tizens of Rome that the baths, .which there were great and splendid edifices, were ready for use: as, ac cording to the regulations, they were open only at certain hours. Thus 1\lartial, in signifying that a hand-bell might be an acceptable present, composes these verses in lieu of it.