Catgut Catgut Catgut is a type of cord that is prepared from the natural fibre found in the walls of animal intestines. Catgut makers usually use sheep or goat intestines, but occasionally use the intestines of cattle, hogs, horses, mules, or donkeys. Despite the name, catgut manufacturers do not use cat intestines. The word "catgut" may have been an abbreviation of the word "cattlegut". Alternatively, it may derive by folk etymology from "kitgut" or "kitstring"—the word "kit", meaning fiddle, having at some point been confused with the word "kit" for a young cat; The word kit, being derived from fiddle in
Claviharp Claviharp The claviharp is a 19th-century musical instrument that combined a harp with a keyboard. J. C. Dietz invented the instrument in 1813 CE. His grandfather was one of the first upright piano manufacturers. Struck by what he saw as difficulties and defects of the harp, in 1810, he built an "instrument à cordes pincées à clavier", which connected a keyboard to the harp strings. He made the instrument to address limitations of the harp—susceptibility of catgut strings to atmospheric change, inconsistency of sound as finger motion varies, limited diatonic scale (without pedals), and lack of dampers. The claviharp's keyboard