A physharmonica from the first half of
the 19th century in the collection of Organeum in Weener,
Germany.
The
physharmonica is a keyboard instrument fitted with
free reeds, a kind of harmonium much used
in Germany
. It
resembles a small harmonium, but is differentiated from it by
having no stops; being without percussion action, it does not speak
readily or clearly. As in the harmonium, the bellows are worked by
the feet by an alternate movement, which also affords a means of
varying the dynamic force of the tone according as more or less
energetic pedalling increases or decreases the pressure of the wind
supply. The physharmonica was invented in
1818
by
Anton Haeckl, of Vienna; in the
original instrument the bellows were placed right and left
immediately under the shallow wind-chest, and were worked by means
of pedals connected by stout wire.
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