Glass harmonica Franz Mesmer also played the armonica and used it as an integral part of his Mesmerism. An original Franklin armonica is in the archives at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, having been donated in 1956 by Franklin's descendants after "the children took great delight in breaking the bowls with spoons" during family gatherings. It is only placed on display for special occasions, such as Franklin's birthday. The Franklin Institute is also the home of the Benjamin Franklin National Memorial. A website has attempted to catalog publicly known Franklin-era glass armonicas. The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has an early 19th-century
Paris in the 18th century them in 1714; groups of six, moored two by two, were anchored across from Notre Dame, near the Pont Saint-Michel, and near the rue de l'Hôtel-Colbert. They preferred to be on the right bank, so the sunshine could dry the laundry. In the 18th century only the nobility and wealthy had bathtubs in their homes, at the Marais and Faubourg Saint-Germain, the fashionable districts of the time. Other Parisians either did not bathe at all, bathed with a bucket, or went to one of the public bath houses, which provided hot tubs of water for a fee. They were heavily