a wind-instrument of great antiquity, the older varieties of which are described by Pére Mersenne in his Harmonie Universelle, Paris, 1636. The Flute-b-bec (disused for more than a century) was of various dimensions. The largest was a bass-flute, with a compass from F in the bass-clef, below the first line, up to D below the first line of the treble clef. The next, a tenor-flute, extended from B flat on the second line of the bass clef up to G on the second line of the treble clef; and each of these large flutes was sounded through a bent tube, like the S of a bassoon. The alto-flute reached from F on the fourth line of the bass clef up to D on the fourth line of the treble clef. The treble-flute extended from F in the first space of the treble clef up to F two octaves above. These two had beaks, like the bill of a cock. But all these flutes gave way, early in the last century, to the German flute, which, however, was then very imperfect in its intonation, having only one finger-key. By the addition of various finger-keys, for semitones, the German flute has been much improved in the present century. Like the fife, it is blown by an oval side-hole. It consists of four separable tubes, and has a compass of nearly three octaves, from the lowest C in the treble clef upwards. Smaller flutes of this kind are called third, fourth, and octave flutes. The octave flute is the peccolo, used in modern orchestras and in military music. See Music. (G. v. G.)