Voice of speech and of song. Explanation of emphasis.

as heard in old vanishes in oo as heard in ooze; and ou as heard in our vanishes also in oo. The vanishing sounds are of course rather obscure and feeble. The first sound he calls the "radical movement of the voice," and the subsequent diminishing sound its "vanishing movement." The rise of the voice during the vanishing movement is not always through the interval of a tone, but it may be only a semitone, or it may be even through the interval of an octave. In singing the movement is very different. We pass "quickly and faintly through the radical movement to dwell with greater time and fullness on a note or level line of sound at the extreme place of the vanish." Both in song and speech there is also a downward as well as an upward movement on the scale. The gliding of the voice on the scale, and its gradual vanish cannot be imitated on instruments. They may be imitated to some extent however on the violin if the finger moves along the string while the bow is drawn. The difference between the voice of speech and song is thus represented by Dr. Rush:

VOICE OF SPEECH.

OF SONG.

2 3

4

At 1 is represented the vanish on the interval of a tone; at 2 on that of a third; at 3 on that of a fifth, and at 4 on that of an octave.

404. I will notice very briefly the use of the vanishing movement in speech. In simple narrative the vanish never rises above the interval of a tone, as at 1. Whenever it rises higher it is either for emphasis or interrogation. The vanish on the interval of a fifth, as at 3, is the most common mode of interrogation. That of the octave, 4, is used when the question is asked with great vehemence, or is accompanied with sneering, mirth, contempt, or raillery. Thus when the Jew in the Merchant of Venice asks,

there is a rise

cur and dog.

Hath a dog money? Is it possible

A cur can lend ten thousand ducats?

through the interval of an octave on the words You observe that the rise is on the words which are emphasized. Thus we can make four entirely different

Use of the semitone in speech. Difference in capability of singing.

sentences of the question, do you ride to town to day? according as we make the rise on you, or ride, or town, or day. By the use of this rising vanish we can make a question of the most positive assertion, even of the blunt negative, no.

405. The vanish on the interval of a semitone gives the voice a plaintive character, and it is therefore used for the expression of love, grief, supplication, &c. It is sometimes used so much as to give a general character of plaintiveness to one's whole conversation. As a very clear and striking illustration of the power of the semitone we will take the cry of fire. Divide the word into two syllables, fi-yer, and ascend the scale thus:

The two places of the semitones, indicated by the braces, will give the cry of fire as we commonly hear it. Sometimes we hear it cried in sport upon one note, and the sound is discordant and ludicrous. So also, the two words, "O dear," sound like a mere mockery of grief, if uttered on one note, or any other interval than the semitone.

406. Every one learns to talk, but there are many who do not learn to sing. Now as the same notes are used in the two cases, what is the reason of the difference? The reason is not in an absolute inability to appreciate the variations of note in sound, for these are practically appreciated in the use of the vanishing rise in conversation. There are two reasons for the difference. One is this. As the transitions of the voice from one part of the scale to another are much more varied in song than in speech, and are made by leaps instead of slides, song requires greater skill than speech does in the action of the muscles. Another reason is, that speech is a necessity, and song is not. We learn to speak therefore as a matter of course, but singing is a mere accomplishment. If it were learned as universally as speaking is, there would be nearly as much good singing as good speaking. We can realize the truth of this assertion, when we observe the results of very early training in singing. And we should realize it still more if singing were universally considered, as it should be, as an essential part of

Ventriloquism. Difference between a sound and a noise.

the education of children. And I may remark in this connection, that all have some measure of musical talent, though in some it is exceedingly small in amount. The difference in this respect in different persons is the same as the difference in regard to any other talent, as that of drawing for example. Skill is acquired in the same way in both cases, and its degree depends to the same extent, and in the same manner upon natural endowment.

407. Some persons possess extraordinary powers in the use of the vocal organs. I refer to ventriloquism. This is a purely imitative art, and is not to be attributed to any peculiar formation of the parts in the individual who possesses the power. The ventriloquist must have the faculty of appreciating with great accuracy the almost infinite variety of tones, articulations, and inflections of the voice, and must be able to imitate them with but little motion of those parts of the articulating apparatus which appear in view. He at the same time inakes skillful use of those circumstances, which will favor the false impressions in the minds of his audience, in relation to the locality of the source of the sounds. This is the simple explanation of this wonderful power.

CHAPTER XV.

THE EAR.

In the last chapter I treated of the production of sound by the vocal apparatus. In this chapter I propose to show you how the impression of sound is transmitted to the brain, in order to produce the sensation of hearing.

408. That you may the better understand the arrangement of the apparatus of hearing, I will first notice some of the principles that govern the transmission of sonorous vibrations. Sound may be produced by the vibration of any substance; though some are better fitted to produce it than others, and are therefore called sonorous bodies. When the vibrations which cause sound are equal, a musical sound results; but if they are

Reflection of sound. Speaking tube. Ear trumpet.

unequal, we have a discordant sound, or what we ordinarily call a noise. Sound is transmitted from the point where it originates, in all directions. And its vibrations gradually lessen, just as the ripples lessen which are produced by dropping a stone into the water. The vibrations of sound are reflected by objects against which they strike. For this reason the voice can be heard at a much greater distance if it be transmitted along a wall than when it is uttered in an open space. This may be illustrated on Fig. 147. Let A B represent a wall, and

C the position of the ear. If the bell at D be rung, besides

the vibrations which come to the ear at C in the direct line CD, a vibration striking the wall at F will come to the ear in the line F C, and the same can be said of other points along the wall. An accumulation of vibrations, therefore, comes to the ear at C, which therefore receives a louder sound from the bell than it would if the bell were rung in a perfectly open space. For the same reason a speaker can be heard much more easily within walls than he can be in the open air. The sound is reflected, and, therefore, in some measure concentrated by the walls. In speaking tubes this reflection and concentration are carried to a still greater extent. Sound can in this way be heard at a great distance from its source. M. Biot found that when he spoke in a whisper at one end of a tube, over three thousand feet in length, he was distinctly heard at the other end; so entirely do the walls of the tube prevent the diffusion of the vibration in the air around. Speaking tubes are therefore used to a great extent in large manufactories, where directions need to be given continually to workmen in different parts of the establishment. The flexible tube, now so commonly made use of by deaf persons, furnishes another illustration, The vibrations of the voice received by the trumpet shaped end are transmitted through the tube to the ear.

Difference in the transmission of sound through solid, liquids, and gases.

409. Sound may be transmitted through any substance, whether it be solid, liquid, or gaseous. It cannot be transmitted through a vacuum, for there is nothing there to vibrate. Sound differs in this respect from light, which passes as readily through a vacuum as it does through any transparent substance. The fact that sound cannot be transmitted through a vacuum is often illustrated by an experiment with the air-pump. If a bell be put under the receiver, and be set to ringing, as the air is exhausted by the pump, the sound becomes more and more faint, and at length it is not heard at all. For the same reason, a pistol fired on the summit of a mountain, gives nothing like so loud a report as when it is fired in the valley below. The more solid the medium is for the transmission of sound, the more readily is it transmitted. The scratching of a pin at the end of a long log may be heard by the ear applied to the other end, although it cannot be heard through the air, at even the distance of a few feet. Savages are in the habit of putting the ear to the ground to hear the step of their enemies when they apprehend their approach. A deaf gentleman, resting the bowl of his pipe on his daughter's piano-forte as he smoked, found that he could hear the music with great distinctness; and many deaf persons can hear conversation, by holding a stick between their teeth, while the other end rests against the teeth of the person speaking. A knowledge of the ready transmission of sound through solids suggested the examination of the chest in disease by the ear. If the ear be applied to the chest, the various sounds produced by the air, as it passes through the bronchial tubes into the air cells, can be heard through the solid walls of the chest, and thus the state of the lungs can be discovered. Water is a much better conductor of sonorous vibration than air, though it is not as good an one as a solid substance. The force of the vibration is lessened more gradually in water than in air, and its rate of progress in water is, according to Chladni, 4,900 feet in a second, or between four and five times as great as in air.

410. Sonorous vibration does not pass readily from one medium to another. Thus, although the scratch on the log is heard so easily by the ear at the other end, if the ear be removed a little from the log, it does not hear the sound, because the vibration is so much lessened in passing from the solid wood to the air. It is clear that the more unlike the two substances are, when sound passes from one to the other, the more will the vibration be lessened; for the more unlike they