THE V I O LIN AND ITS MUSIC, GEORGE HART, "HE VIOLIN: ITS ...

THE VIOL GOTHIC. 17
The fretted Geige serving well for the rendering
of acute sounds, and giving them in quick succession,
the extreme of these qualities would be next sought
for rather than attempting to discover a contrivance
fitted to produce intermediate sounds. To attain
this object, it would appear only necessary to apply
frets and extra strings to the monochord, and render
its form suitable for carrying additional strings.
Judging from the earlier drawings of the Chelys, it
seems to have had a flat bridge, thus causing the
bow to strike all the strings together. As the
knowl,edge of bowed instruments increased, the
disadvantage of this arrangement would naturally
present itself, and the curvature of the bridge be
introduced to correct it. The arching of the bridge
brought about a radical change in the shape of the
body of the instrument, which was the introduction
of the centre curves or middle bouts, without which
the bow could not have command of the outer
strings. These centre curves which were introduced
from necessity, gave rise to others in the earlier
stages of re-formation, for the sake of ornament, and
by these successive steps, the box-like bowed instruments
of early days became the curved and graceful
Viols of the sixteenth century.
Though the primitive German Geige is here
represented as having formed the basis of Viol
development, it is not intended to convey the idea
that its independence was sacrificed to the Viol. On
the contrary, the Geige undoubtedly held its course
c