And some people actually claim cats haven't historically been maligned
A cat piano or Katzenklavier (German) is a musical instrument with polyphonic aftertouch described by Athanasius Kircher. It consists of a line of cats fixed in place with their tails stretched out underneath a keyboard. Tails would be placed under the keys, causing the cats to cry out in pain when a key was pressed. The cats would be arranged according to the natural tone of their voices.
from G. Schott, Magia Naturalis
via en.wikipedia.org
hat tip: @gschamberg on Twitter - his original tweet is here
Stuff like this makes me want to put old German quack doctors in a box and beat them. Unbelievable.
There's so much historical weirdness about cats. It's hard to imagine why when you look at stuff like this.
