Aeolian (e-o'le-an) Harp, a stringed musical instrument played upon by the wind. Aeolus was the Grecian god of the winds, hence the name. A regular Aeolian harp is made by stretching eight to fifteen catgut strings or fine wires of equal length over a thin, fibrous wooden sounding box. The strings pass over low bridges at each end. The box should be adapted to the width of a window. It may be placed on a window sill with the sash raised sufficiently to allow the wind to play on the strings. The wind causes the strings to vibrate as wholes and in sections, producing sweetly mingled harmonies that swell and fall with the passing breeze, like a far off orchestra. Boys make what is to them a very satisfactory substitute for an Aeolian harp by stretching threads across long narrow apertures through which the wind blows. See HARP.