. VOICE IN MAN AND IN ANIMALS. 515 



first I saw it, was a surprise to me; it has always been thought that no 

 one could possibly falter in his speech who was born near the Garonne. 1 



In performing its great function of establishing all the social rela- 

 tions between man and man, the voice readily calls forth sympathies 

 and antipathies ; its quality reveals better than words the true feel- 

 ings of the heart. A voice that is clear, pure, limpid, conveys the 

 impression of frankness ; one that is hesitating, drawling, betokens 

 dissimulation ; a harsh, grating voice indicates an evil disposition ; 

 while a voice that is sweet, harmonious, affects us as though it were 

 the breathing of a gentle soul. These impressions made by the voice 

 are usually correct, and rightly enough influence the relations of man 

 to man, still we must not trust them too implicitly. No doubt lan- 

 guage may serve to disguise thought, but the vocal instrument itself 

 may also produce false impressions. Besides the effects of Nature, 

 we have the effects of art. An orator wishing to make himself heard, 

 or to produce a sensation, opens his mouth widely, and derives from 

 the resonant cavities all the aid that they can supply ; this is the 

 declamatory style, condensed by good taste. If the mouth be opened 

 very widely, and the breath emitted with force, the voice becomes 

 imperious : such is the tone in which a military officer gives the word 

 of command. Words that are in themselves simple enough, when 

 uttered in a hard, brusque tone, become offensive. When the sounds 

 are uttered softly, with some degree of tremulousness, the words suc- 

 ceeding one another with deliberate slowness and imperceptible low- 

 ering of pitch, the sympathy of the hearer is awakened. Some wom- 

 en, it is asserted, possess a wonderful power of thus rendering their 

 entreaties irresistible. Historians affirm that Cicero's graceful utter- 

 ance added greatly to the persuasive force of his words. The orator 

 who possesses a good voice, and who can at will assume the tones 

 that best agree with the sentiments, emotions, and passions, which he 

 would arouse, will win the hearts of his auditors, whereas the grandest 

 oration delivered by an unpractised speaker would fail to move them. 



Singing requires of the vocal organs functions very different from 

 those required for speaking. Furthermore, a good physical constitu- 

 tion and perfect regularity in the functions of the organism, are of 

 inestimable value to the artist. In the emission of the voice the re- 

 spiratory movements must be performed without strain or effort ; they 

 must be so regulated as to make the inspiration short and easy, and 

 the expiration slow and prolonged. There is a struggle between the 

 organs which retain the breath and those which expel it ; practice, 

 youth, and good health, are the conditions upon which an adjustment 

 must be based. In the highly-gifted artist the larynx holds its ordi- 

 nary position notwithstanding the variations of intensity and pitch of 



1 Memory and the faculty of coordinating words depend upon the brain. It appears, 

 from Broca's researches, that these faculties are destroyed by a lesion of the third fron- 

 tal convolution of the left side. 



