Zi’ther (Ger., pron, tsif’ter; Engl. nun, sidd’er)

[The Ger, Zither is avery different instr. from the old Engl. cither or cittern; to prevent confusion, it would be well to adopt the Ger. spelling Torthe modern in ste- --1,(Schlog others ive. plucked sither.) ‘The sither, as developed from the primitive peasant in str. of the German Alps, has 32 or more strings stretched over a shallow wooden resonance-box, which is provided with a sound hole, and bears a bridge near the right end and a fretted fingerboard on the side next the player. ‘Above the fingerboard are 5 melody strings stopped by the left hand, tuned the 2 4’s be 535 ETS x steel, the D "bra , the steel silver-covered, and the C bra copper-covered. These § are plucked with a metal or tortoise-shell ring worn on the right thumb and having a projecting spur. The accompaniment. strings, tuned in fourths as follows: pate te testel ees fretted fingerboard, and 4 strings in violin-tuning, the Z and A of steel, the D of bra , and the G of silk silver covered; but’ the bow-zither is held quite differently from the viol, its hegd being furnished with a little foot which rests on the edge of the table before the player, who holds the body in his lap.