Silver Plating. 67 painting~ with its gradations of light and shadow, its blending and contrasting of tints, seems to bring nature herself before us. So beautiful melody heard alone will give suggestions and hints of its capabilities of expression ; but with the composer's harmony it brings before us his whole thought, with every shade of expression enhanced by the tints of the harmony. We are now far beyond nature, which has no hint or suggestion of musical harmony. It is man's own kingdom. He created it after centuries of work, and has possessed it for little more than two centuries. The fourth and highest law in music is form. As we advance, the mystery that surrounds the art deepens instead of clearing up. Who can say by what process of reason or instinct we have arrived at what we recognize as the highest form in mttsic--the sonata? Why have we decided that the theme that is suitable for sonata treatment will not do for rondo treatment, and the reverse ? Or, why is the sonata a higher, nobler form than the rondo? Form is an extension or development of rhythm. We have first the rhythm of the bar, then of the phrase, then of the theme, and lastly of the alternation and recurrence of the various themes. It might be compared to the revolution of satellites round their planets, of plat, eta, round their suns, and of suns round their unknown, unsearchable cen-tre--the ideal of the composer.
I have now stated all that is definitely ascertainable concerrdng tim, laws of the being of this art. It seems very little; but when we remember that it is the unaided creation of man, we have a truerappreciation of the difficulties that he has had to overcome since he first attempted by rude drums and cymbals to divide time rhythmically, or by pipes and strings to make weak attempts at melody, or by barbarot~s successions of fourths and fifths e~ayed to combine sounds: into harmony. From these rude beginnings has grown this most perfect of the arts. And it would seem in our day that its forms and means, of expression have been all elaborated to their greatest possible. perfection, and that no advance can be made until a new scale and a new harmony--~f which we cannot even conceive or see any indications-be evolved.
Silver Plating.--In plating German silver H. Krupp, of Vienna, first deposits a galvanic coating of nickel, next a coating of copper and finally a coating of silver.--Dingler's Journal.
C.