Barrel-organ

Barrel-organ, a mechanical organ whose music is produced by a barrel or cylinder, set with pins and staples, which, when driven round by the hand, opens the valves for admitting the wind to the pipes according to the notes of the music. The number of tunes that any one instrument can play is, of course, very limited. Barrel-organs are generally portable, and mostly used by street-musicians; though they were not unknown in English country churches in the latter half of the 19th century. The most perfect barrel-organs are those which are driven by a motive-power, of which the best are made in Vienna. A successor of the hurdy-gurdy, the barrel-organ itself has been largely superseded by the barrel-piano.