Kuh-horn

Kuh-horn, ALPENHORN, or ALPHORN, a simple musical instrument made of wood or bark with a copped mouthpiece, formerly employed by the mountaineers of Switzerland and other countries to convey signals or alarms in war-time, but now only used by cowherds—hence the name. It is variously made from 3 feet to about 8 feet long, nearly straight, curving at the end, and widening into a bell, and has the peculiarly tender sound produced by the copped mouthpiece in conjunction with the wooden tube. It has the open harmonics of the tube; and its melodies, which among the mountains have a charm all their own, are played on the notes C, G, C, E, G.—A similar instrument, called Lure, is used in Sweden, and kindred ones in the Himalayas and among the Indians in South America.