f the fingers has already, to some
slight extent, obviated the evils complained of. But this instrument
is, as yet, only in its rudimentary stage of development. The dumb
notes of the keyboard ought to be capable of emitting sounds by way of
notice to the operator, in order to show when the rules have been
broken. Thus, for instance, the impact caused by putting a key down
should have the effect of driving a small weight upwards in the
direction of a metal bar, the distance of which can be adjusted.
Another bar, at a lower level, is also approached by a second weight,
and the perfect degree of evenness in the touch is indicated by the
fact that the lower bar should be made to emit a faint sound with
every note, but the higher one not at all. The closer the bars the
more difficult is the exercise, and remarkable evenness of touch can
be acquired by a progressive training with such an instrument.

The organ has been wonderfully improved during the nineteenth century.
Yet the decline of its popularity in comparison with the pianoforte
may be accounted for on very rational grounds. While ardent organists
still claim that the organ is the "King of Instruments" the public
generally entertain a feeling that it is a deposed king. It remains
for the organ-builders of the twentieth century to attack the problem
of curing its defects by methods going more directly to the root of
the difficulty than any hitherto attempted.

As contrasted with the pianoforte, the organ is extremely deficient in
that power which the conductor of an orchestra loves to
exercise--facility in accentuating and in subduing at will the work of
each individual performer. For all practical purposes the ten fingers
of a piano-player are the ten players in an orchestra; and, according
to the force with which each finger strikes the note, is the
prominence given to its effects. An air or a _motif_ may be brought
out with emphasis by one set of fingers, while the others are playing
an accompaniment with all sorts of delicate gradations of softness and
emphasis.

By multiplying the manuals, the organ-builder has endeavoured, with a
certain degree of success, to make up for the unfortunate fact that
the performer on his instrument possesses no similar facility in
making it speak louder when he submits the note to extra pressure. One
hand may be playing an air on one manual, while the second is engaged
in the accompaniment on another; and the former may be connec