by
means of a carrier, _e_, holding the hopper, _g_, which delivers the
blow to the hammer, _o_, by the thrust of the hopper, which escapes by
forward movement after contact with a projection from the hammer
covered with leather, answering to the notch of the English action.
This escapement is controlled at _x_; a double spring _il_, pushes up
a hinged lever, _ee_, the rise of which is checked at _pp_, and causes
the second or double escapement; a little stirrup at the shoulder of
the hammer, known as the "repetition" pressing down _ee_ at the point,
and by this depression permitting _g_ to go back to its place, and be
ready for a second blow before the key has been materially raised. The
check _p_ in this action is not behind the hammer, but before it,
fixed into the carrier, _e_, which also, as the key is put down,
brings down the under damper. (Hipkins.)]

The instruments were still small, and strung with small wires;
nevertheless, there was a tendency toward increased compass, which, by
the beginning of the nineteenth century, led the Broadwoods, of
London, to attempt a grand piano with six octaves' compass. But they
found that the wrest plank (in which the tuning strings are placed),
was so weakened by the extension that the treble would not stand in
tune. In order to strengthen the instrument, he introduced the iron
tension bar. This, like nearly all of the English improvements of the
piano during the first quarter of the nineteenth century, was in the
direction of greater solidity, and better resisting power to the pull
of the strings.

Upon the artistic side, Sebastian Erard in 1808 patented his grand
action, which, with very slight improvements, still remains the model
of what a piano action should be. Fig. 74 shows this action and its
parts.

[Illustration: Fig. 75.

THE STEINWAY IRON FRAME.

(Showing the disposition of the sounding board, bridges, etc.)]

Between 1808, when the Erard action was perfected, and 1832 or 1834,
when Thalberg and Liszt began to revolutionize the art of piano
playing, the instrument was the subject of a great number of
improvements in every direction. The damper mechanism was perfected
between 1821 and 1827; the stringing had been made heavier, the
hammers proportionately stronger, and the power of tone had become
greater. Thus the instrument had become ready for the great
pianists--Liszt having made his first appearance in Vienna in 1823,
and within seven years after havin