Cartonium

Cartonium [Fr. carton, cardboard], mechanical free-reed instr. invented by Joseph-Antoine Testé of Nantes and patented July 16, 1861, and again in 1864. The free reeds worked on the suction principle, and thus the cartonium is one of the earliest *American organs. A surviving specimen in the Brussels Conservatoire museum is in form of a small harmonium with the reeds disposed on rectangular boxes containing an air reservoir. A strip of perforated cardboard moved between 2 rubber-coated rollers…