LE SON DU COR
SIR,—Strix's bewilderment ('Le Son du Cor') is unjustified, for his problem is merely musicological. The serpent of his road sign is not ophidian but is, of course. le serpent d'aglise—the curved wooden bass of the cornett (zink) family of instruments. This, its sound characterised by Berlioz as a frigid and abominable blaring, is still -to be found in rural churches in France and Belgium, where its shape, its red paint and its blatant archaism make it a per- petual source of interest.. The location and cata- loguing of surviving specimens is thus the object of great antiquarian enthusiasm—hence 'chasseur des serpents.' Doubtless one could find convincing historico-ecclesiastical analogies in England.
The serpent is certainly more potent than many other obsolete lip-reed instruments; whereas a fin-de- siecle seven-cylinder trombone can barely limp along at a windy fifteen miles per hour, a Napoleonic seven-keyed serpent takes a formidable lead in an ensemble with tenoroon, corno di caccia, chalumeau and German flute.—Yours faithfully,
The London Hospital Medical College, Turner Street, El
PAUL LEWES
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