Although music in the complex harmonic form known to us is only a few
centuries old, simple rhythmic melodies were sung, or played on
various instruments, by all the ancient civilized nations, and are
sung or played to-day by African and Australian savages who have never
come into contact with civilization. And what is more, the remarkable
influence which music has in arousing human emotions has been
appreciated at all times.

Tourists relate that in some of the inland countries of Africa,
scarcely any work is done by the natives except to the sound of music;
and Cruikshank, speaking of the coast negroes, says it is laughable to
observe the effect of their rude music on all classes, old and young,
men, women, and children. "However employed, whether passing quietly
through the street, carrying water from the pond, or assisting in some
grave procession, no sooner do they hear the rapid beats of a distant
drum, than they begin to caper and dance spontaneously. The bricklayer
will throw down his trowel for a minute, the carpenter leave his
bench, the corn grinder her milling stone, and the porter his load, to
keep time to the inspiriting sound."

Dr. Tschudi, in his fascinating work on Peru, describes two of the
musical instruments used by the Indians, and their emotional function.
One is the Pututo, "a large conch on which they perform mournful
music, as the accompaniment of their funeral dances." The other is
called Jaina, and is a rude kind of clarionet made from a reed. "Its
tone," says Tschudi, "is indescribable in its melancholy, and it
produces an extraordinary impression on the natives. If a group of
Indians are rioting and drinking, or engaged in furious conflicts with
each other, and the sound of the Jaina is suddenly heard, the tumult