POST HORN

brass musical instrument of cylindrical bore, used by guards of mail coaches in the 18th and early 19th centuries. At the end of the 18th century, post horns were crescent-shaped, coiled, or straight. The notes they sounded were at most six (harmonics 2 to 7). The post horn gave rise to the cornet in the 19th century, when valves were applied to it. The coach horn, which was like a straight post horn, though longer, was made of copper and was of conical bore. It was used on the London-Oxford mail coach until 1914.