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INFLUENCE OF MUSIC.--I recently noticed a paragraph in a Medical
Journal advising persons suffering from Insomnia to try a musical box
in their bed-rooms; and I therefore purchased a rather expensive one,
which plays six tunes, with drum and trumpet accompaniment. Something
seems to have gone wrong with the mechanism, as, after being fully
wound up, it remains obstinately silent for an hour or so, at the
end of which period it suddenly starts off at break-neck speed, and
repeats one of the tunes backwards over and over again. Nothing that
I can do will stop it. Could some musical expert kindly advise in
this case? After a most agitated night, due to the vagaries of the
instrument, I took it into bed with me, hoping to drown the noise; but
the vibration of the drums under the bed-clothes was terrific! I
then placed the machine in my bath, and covered it with water; but it
continued to play with undiminished vigour. It is still playing. Some
Museum, or a Government engaged in sub-marine experiments, might like
to have it; or it might be suited for a Deaf and Dumb Asylum. It will
be sold cheap.