Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 2, 2025
Many of them had a small canal extending from one extremity to the other, perfectly cylindrical, and of a size that readily admitted a coarse thread or a piece of fine catgut. Their colour was red or dull white. The natives were acquainted with this structure in crystals.
But when robbed of all these he could generally secrete a piece of elastic, which, when put between his teeth and stretched to its utmost capacity, would yield a delightful twang when played upon with the forefinger. He could also fashion an interesting musical instrument in his desk by means of spools and catgut and bits of broken glass.
"Your master loves the society of the young?" queried Laurence, mending carefully a string of his viol and keeping the end of the catgut in his mouth as he spoke. "He doats on all young people," answered Gilles de Sillé, eagerly, the flicker of a smile running about his mouth like wild-fire over a swamp.
These only add zest to the problem. A true archer must be a craftsman. A bow without a string is dead; therefore, we must set to work to make one. Sinew, catgut, and rawhide strings were used by the early archers, but have been abandoned by the more modern. Animal tissue stretches when it is put under strain or subjected to heat and moisture.
Me and 'Saiah Eld tried that through together, and since then I've never drawn a note out o' catgut." "I could never altogether understand it, uncle," said Reuben. "What could the man's playing have been like?" "What was it like?" returned the older man. "What is theer as it wa'n't like? I couldn't tell thee, lad I couldn't tell thee. It was like a lost soul a-wailing i' the pit.
The fisherman requires as good a catgut as the violinist. The interior of the house cat, it is well known, is exceedingly sensitive; but it may not be so well known that the reason why some cats leave the room in distress when a piano-forte is played is because the two instruments are not in the same key, and the vibrations of the chords of the one are in discord with the catgut of the other.
The poor skipper even pricked up his ears. "Have you got Dick Catgut's fiddle among ye?" This said Dick Catgut was the corporal of marines, and the prime instigator of all the fun amongst the men. "No, no," said several voices, "no fiddle here." The hail passed round among the other boats, "No fiddle."
The results are as follows: Horsehair breaks at 15 pounds. Cotton breaks at 18 pounds. Catgut breaks at 20 pounds. Silk breaks at 22 pounds. Irish linen breaks at 28 pounds. Chinese grass fiber breaks at 32 pounds. This latter, with similar unusual fibers, is not on the market in the form of thread, so is of no practical use to us. We use Irish linen or shoemakers' thread.
A spirit of deviltry and vaudeville possessed me. As their high priests in deadly earnest marched on all fours with faces as rapt and fanatically sober as those of Mecca pilgrims, I drew the bow across the catgut and, lifting my voice, proclaimed myself in ragtime.
Up to this point the controversy had been pleasantly conducted in whispers, and was unnoticed by the bystanders; but M. Bartin's last insinuation had the strange effect of maddening the Signor still more. He lost his self-control, and said, in an audible voice: "You're only a scraper of catgut, anyhow."
Word Of The Day
Others Looking