Cornu
A wind instrument, anciently made of horn, but afterwards of brass (Varr.
L.
L. v. 117). According to Athenaeus, it was an invention of the Etruscans. Like the
tuba, it differed from the
tibia in being a larger
and more powerful instrument, and from the
tuba itself in being curved
nearly in the shape of a C, with a crosspiece to steady the instrument for the convenience of
the performer. In Greek it is called
στρογγύλη σάλπιγξ. It
had no stopples or plugs to adjust the scale to any particular mode; the entire series of
notes was produced without keys or holes, by the modification of the breath and of the lips at
the mouthpiece. Probably, from the description given of it in the poets, it was, like our own
horn, an octave lower than the trumpet. The
classicum, which originally
meant a signal, rather than the musical instrument which gave the signal, was usually sounded
with the cornu.
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Cornua. (Bartholini.)
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Cornu also signifies the end of the sailyards (see
Navis), a part of the helmet in which the crest was fixed (see
Galea), the end of the stick on which books were rolled
(see
Liber), a part of a bow, a part of the lyre, and
the wing of an army. See
Exercitus.
