so possess a tone which is a combination of that produced by silver
and copper strings. Here again, however, great discrimination is
needed, viz., before putting on the fourth string. The instrument must
be understood. There are Violins which will take none but fourths of
copper, there are others that would be simply crippled by their
adoption. It cannot be too much impressed upon the mind of the player
that the Violin requires deep and patient study with regard to every
point connected with its regulation. So varied are these instruments
in construction and constitution, that before their powers can be
successfully developed they must be humoured, and treated as the child
of a skilful educator, who watches to gain an insight into the
character of his charge, and then adopts the best means for its
advancement according to the circumstances ascertained.

The strain and pressure of the strings upon a Violin being an
interesting subject of inquiry, I give the annexed particulars (_see_
Table below) from experiments made in conjunction with a friend
interested in the subject, and possessed of the necessary knowledge to
arrive at accurate results.

* * * * *

The Violin being held in a frame in a nearly upright position, so that
the string hung just clear of the nut to avoid friction, the note was
obtained by pressing the string to the nut.

When the Violin was laid in a horizontal position, and the string
passed over a small pulley, an additional weight of two or three
pounds was required to overcome the friction on the nut and that of
the pulley. Therefore it is probable that the difference in the
results obtained by other experiments may have arisen from the
different methods employed. But with a dead weight hung on the end of
each string there could be no error.

TENSION OF VIOLIN STRINGS.
_Ascertained by Hanging a Dead Weight on the End of the String_.

+-------+--------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | |Tension in | | | |
| | |lbs. Weight,| | | |
| | |hung on the | | Downward | Downward |
| | |end of the | | Pressure | Pressure |
| | |String to | Downward | on the | on the |
|Number | |bring it to | Pressure | Treble Foot| Bass Foot |
|of the | |Concert | on the