tiles


Note:  Do not rely on this information. It is very old.

Jewsharp

Jew's-harp, or Jew's Trump, one of the simplest of musical instruments. It consists of a steel tongue between two parallel bars, to which it is fastened at one end; at the other is a piece at right angles, so that it can easily be struck with the performer's finger. Various sounds can be produced by the performer altering the shape of the resonator furnished by his mouth and throat. The most celebrated performer was a man named Eulenstein, who played on sixteen Jew's-harps tuned to different keys. He performed in London in 1828, and died 1890.