336 Dr. Felix Scmon [March 13, 



register they were also longest while the highest note was being 

 sung. By comparing the photographs representing these notes it can 

 be seen that the vocal cords were as long, if not the longest, while 

 the highest note of the lower register was being sung. In this 

 subject the vocal cords increase in length in each register, but they 

 had as great a length in the lower as, in either register above, if not 

 greater. It is generally thought that the pitch is raised by the vocal 

 cords increasing progressively in tension and length. In regard to 

 length this is true in some cases, while in others it is only true as 

 aj)plied to a register, not to the whole voice." 



In the second case, photographs of which were shown by Dr. 

 French at Berlin, but of which he unfortunately could not send me 

 copies, because the photographs of the larynx of this subject, though 

 clear and strong enough for satisfactory exhibition upon the screen, 

 were too weak for a direct reproduction by the photo-engraving 

 jjrocess, the action of the larynx was in many respects the reverse of 

 that just examined. In it the cartilaginous glottis did not appear to 

 begin to open until the highest notes were reached. In the lower 

 register the chink of the glottis decreased instead of increasing in 

 size as the voice ascended. At the lower break the vocal cords were 

 increased instead of decreased in length, and the chink of the glottis 

 increased instead of decreasing. Again, the vocal cords attained 

 their greatest length at the highest note in the voice of this subject, 

 which corresponded to about the highest note of the middle register, 

 whilst in the larynx before examined the chink of the glottis increased 

 in size, and the vocal cords increased in length, as the voice ascended 

 in each register. I should the more have liked to show the photo- 

 graphs illustrating this condition, inasmuch as the subject was also a 

 contralto singer, and as the demonstration would have materially 

 aided in strengthening the position that the action of the glottis in 

 singing, even in voices belonging to the same class, varies very 

 considerably. 



The next series of photograj)hs, I am selecting from Dr. French's 

 collection, illustrates the action of the glottis in singing, of a well- 

 trained soprano singer, who possesses the extraordinary range of four 

 octaves, the voice being of excellent quality. The first pair of 

 photographs represent one of the lowest and the highest notes of the 

 lower register of this singer's voice. As the voice mounts the scale 

 the vocal cords increase in length and the cartilaginous portion of 

 the glottis increases in size ; the arytenoid cartilages recede from the 

 anterior wall of the larynx. In the neighbourhood of C sharp a 

 change in the quality of the voice was heard. Dr. French lays 

 jmrticular stress upon the fact that the change could be heard in the 

 ncighhourlwod of C sharp, for the note at which the break occurred 

 varied considerably in this subject. In some of the runs it occurred 

 at C sharp ; in others at D or E. Not knowing exactly where it 

 would occur, it was difficult to get a satisfactory idea of the nature 

 of the change in the laryugoscoi)ic mirror. lie therefore took 



