quently make use of the superfluous fourth in the minor scale, by which another step of a superfluous second is introduced.

It must be remembered that the Magyars, who settled in Hungary about A.D. 900, form only about one-third of the whole population of that country. Their music differs, however, greatly from that of the Germans and of the Slavonic nations; and as they are the dominant race in Hungary, we may fitly consider the music of the Magyars as the Hungarian national music. In the celebrated Rákótzy March, which holds a place in the heart of the Magyar similar to that of the Marseillaise with the Frenchman, there occurs the following passage, which, it will be seen, is strictly founded upon the scale just referred to.

The beautiful Hungarian song which follows will give the reader some idea of the plaintive and very impressive effect produced by the repeated introduction of the superfluous second.

In the Danubian Principalities and in Turkey we also meet with a remarkable predilection for the superfluous second. In the music of the Wallachians, for instance, passages like the following are very common.

Moreover, in Wallachian music, the step of a superfluous second is not always strictly confined, as in the above example, to the same intervals of the scale,-i.e., from the third to the fourth, and from the sixth to the seventh; but we even meet with it in descending from the second to the tonic, as will be seen in the following concluding bars of a Wallachian dance, taken from Mr. Wachmann's interesting collection of Melodies from Roumania.

Mr. Wachmann, for many years a resident Professor of Music in Bucharest, evidently a cautious and reliable collector, has succeeded in faithfully preserving in his pianoforte arrangements the characteristics as well as the beauties of the Wallachian music. I have therefore not permitted myself any alterations in the above arrangement, although, as it stands, it will appear harsh to an ear unaccustomed to the music of the Wallachians.

It might, perhaps, be conjectured that there must be a close resemblance between the music of the nations just under our notice, on account of the prevalence in common of the superfluous second. This is, however, by no means the case; indeed, one or other peculiarity may sometimes be found adopted by two nations whose popular tunes are in all other respects widely different. Thus, the employment of the minor seventh in place of the major seventh occurs in Wallachian music as well as in Scotch, although there can be scarcely a more decided difference in construction and character than that which actually exists in the music of these two nations.

In G. F. Graham's interesting edition of 'The Songs of Scotland' may be seen several tunes in which the minor seventh instead of the major seventh is used. The editor, in his critical remarks on the songs, notices this peculiarity repeatedly, and maintains that it pre-eminently "agrees with the true old Scottish tonalities." The following Scotch melody with the minor seventh, is, we are told, common also to Ireland.