A pocket sized reed organ blown directly from
the mouth; invented by Charles Wheatstone
1829. The glass harmonica (or armonica) is
based on the principle of playing a wine
glass with a wet finger. Devised by Benjamin
Franklin, it consists of a graded series of
glass bowls mounted on a spindle and resting
in a trough part-filled with water. Rotated
by a foot-pedal, it emits pure tones of
unchanging intensity when touched. Mozart,
Beethoven, and Schubert all wrote pieces for
it.