APPENDIX. 131 



Structure of Melody. Human and Animal Music. — Contin. 



upper-tones, — for example, to the octave above ; the next natural, such as 

 passes to a second note which possesses an upper-tone in common with the 

 first, — e. g., to the fifth above. In such cases, according to Helmholtz, the 

 ear is gratified by a vague sense of similarity in diversity, since the second 

 note, in spite of its difference, retains an element of the first note. Over 

 and above this, the ear appears to derive pleasure from a succession of 

 notes which are near one another in the scale ; that is to say, which form 

 a small interval as to pitch. By means of such steps (our smallest modern 

 interval is a semitone) we are able to measure the several upward and 

 downward movements of a melody. 



" Finally, it is to be observed that one essential of melody, according 

 to our modern notions, is the presence of some ruling tone or key-note, 

 which serves as a starting-point and a resting-place for the melody, and in 

 reference to which the position of all the successive notes of the tune is 

 estimated. 



" If now we take a careful siirvey of animal music we shall find that all 

 these elements of human melody are to some extent represented. Thus 

 we shall see that it makes use of discrete notes of definite pitch, of a wide 

 variety of timbre, of time relations or rhythm, of melodic affinities, and 

 even in a measure of tonality or key. This statement may, no doubt, ap- 

 pear an exaggeration to those of our readers who have never examined 

 and analyzed the music of the woods which has so often delighted their 

 ears. We can only ask them to defer forming an opinion till they have 

 the facts before them. 



" It cannot be said that birds have a very good ear for time. In many 

 songs there is hardly anything deserving of the name of rhythm, so capri- 

 cious and irregular are the sequences. And even in the case of the higher 

 and more elaborate songs it is difficult to reduce the succession of notes 

 to a time-order like that of our bar-system. Perhaps we ought not to be 

 surprised at this, seeing that the pleasure of time involves complex intel- 

 lectual actions. Nevertheless, there is clearly an adumbration of the 

 simpler forms of rhythm in bird-song. Thus it is not uncommon to meet 

 with notes which are held twice and three times as long as others, and so 

 on, — a fact which clearly implies the existence of a nascent sense of durar 

 tion and power of comparison. 



" With respect to the melodic relations of notes, bird-song shows a con- 

 siderable degree of true artistic insight. We find each principle, that of 

 continuous steps and that of harmonic intervals, clearly illustrated. 



