Ernst Chladni at the understanding of electron orbitals. Since at least 1738, a musical instrument called a "Glasspiel" or "verrillon", created by filling beer glasses with varying amounts of water, was popular in Europe. The beer glasses were struck by wooden mallets shaped like spoons to produce "church and other solemn music". Benjamin Franklin was sufficiently impressed by a verrillon performance on a visit to London in 1757 that he created his own instrument, the glass armonica, in 1762. Franklin's armonica inspired several other instruments, including two created by Chladni. In 1791, Chladni invented the musical instrument called the "euphon" (not to
Glass harmonica be German, if not confined to Vienna. One example of alleged effects from playing the glass harmonica was noted by a German musicologist Johann Friedrich Rochlitz in the "Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung": Marianne Davies, who played flute and harpsichord – and was a young woman said to be related to Franklin – became proficient enough at playing the armonica to offer public performances. After touring for many years in duo performances with her celebrated vocalist sister, she was also said to have been afflicted with a melancholia attributed to the plaintive tones of the instrument. Marianne Kirchgessner was an armonica player;