Manufacture Of Bells

Only two metáis aro now nscd in large bells - tiu and copper. The Belgfians wlio are roported to excel in musical bells, use 23 to 30 percent of tin ; the English leau to mora tin, 25 to 31 per cent. Tin atabes the bell sound bright, but it also niakes it brittle, and t lic reason why the Ensrlisli eau affoid to put in more of this brittlo element is beoause they niake their bells thickcr as a rulo ; and the reason why they are made thicker is, that instead ot' bcingmerely chimed they aro íWUUg round ona wheel, which brings the haininer with great torce npon the bell ; while the Belgian bells resonato very easily, requiring but a gentle etroke to elicit their íull tono. In a word the Bclgian bell is a musical note, not a gong nor a drum. Sccondly, the thickness and general proportions of the bell are of the utmost importance. Bells vary from 1-15 to 1-12 of the diameter at the thickest part of the sound-bow, and the height iscommonly about twelvo times the thiekness. The thiekness of the bells at different lcvels is all-important. The thiekness near the top is as important as that at the sound-bow, and ihe diameter of the crown as critical as tho diinensions of the riin. The deep, rieh tone of soineof the smaller be)Js uianufaotured in this country is probably due to the wide top diameter, combined with the thinnessin certainportions of tho sidos, huif way down. Tho way in which al tering the thiekness afiects the tone, and even tho pitch, of a bell, is sliown by the fact that a sharp bell can be flattcned by shaving oü' the metal inside above the soundbow ; and beats have been destroyed by scooping the bell elsewliere until they disappear at a certain point, where on continuing to scoop, thoy reappeaved. All this shows how purely tentativo and experimental is at present the art of bell-founding, notwithstanding it is a business that has been going on for ages. The wonderful ancient bells wore constructed on principies which tho masters of the art have lelt us to discover. When we analyzo thoir methods,we may be able to make their bells. So thought tho Germans, when thoy measurod and analyzed ltapluel and Tintoret, and produced tho correct but lifeless banubites of Ary Schoner; so thought the Vuillaumo when he imitatod the very worm-holes in the Amatis ; but for all that the French fiddles aro not Amatis. It may turn out that in the making of rich musical bells, like those of Van iErschodt, there ia sometUing which cannot be taught. Iowa walnut logs are oemg süipped. to Liverpool to supply the uceds of Britieit cabiuct-makers. . _