Silex Piano

The "Silex Piano" is a musical instrument of the Lithophone family, which was created by a Mr. M. Baudre, circa 1885.

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According to Cassell's Family Magazine Illustrated [Cassell's Family Magazine Illustrated, 1885, published by "Cassell & Company, Limited: London, Paris, New York and Melbourne".] , 1885;

"It has long been known that certain flint-stones emit a musical note when struck with other flints; and M. Baudre, a French musician, has constructed a piano on this principle. The flints are chosen according to their pitch when struck, and suspended horizontally by their two ends in a row like the keys of a Piano. An elegant metal framework supports the stones, and wires are used to suspend them. A sounding-board is placed a fraction of an inch below the row of stones. Tunes are played by means of two smaller flints held in the hands. The stone which emits the greatest tone weighs 4 1/2lbs.; that which gives the corresponding half-tone weighs 9lbs. This large flint is immediatly followed by one weighing 1oz. A 3oz. stone in the set gives the same as another weighing 6,000 grains; so that it is not alone the size of the stones, but other properties which affect the sounds."

The musical instrument described, seems very much like the Musical Stones of Skiddaw, in theory and arrangement.