The modern orchestral xylophone developed from xylophones found in Africa and Asia. It came as a folk instrument to countries in Central Europe. It was first used in an orchestra by Humperdinck in his opera "Hansel and Gretel". It was also used by Saint-Saëns in his "Danse macabre" where it is supposed to sound like a skeleton, and in his "Carnival of the Animals" where it is supposed to sound like fossils.