Mokugyo literally "a wooden fish" is said to be the modification of the Hô. It is a peculiarly-shaped roundish solid block of wood with the inside hollowed out, and obtainable in all sizes. It has a fish-scale pattern on its body and where it tapers off into the form of a handle, a pair of eyes is carved. It is beaten with a stick, the top part of which is stuffed and wrapped with leather. The sound thus emitted has a strange hypnotic effect on the hearer. When it accompanies the sutra-reading, for example, before a teishô, it makes the minds of the audience properly receptive for what is to come.