vol 



VOL 



Cuvier between the dogs and the hyenas, 

 which are immediately followed by the 

 cats. They comprise the civets, properly 

 80 called ; the genets ; the paradoxure ; 

 the mangousles ; the suricates ; and the 

 mangues. 



VrVIANITE. Phosphate of iron; a 

 mineral occurring in variously grouped 

 crystals in Bodenmais in Bavaria, in 

 Cornwall, &c., massive and pulverulent. 



VIVrPAROUS {vivus, alive, pario, 

 to bring forth). A term applied to ani- 

 mals which bring forth their young alive 

 and perfect, as distinguished from ovi- 

 parous animals, which produce their 

 young in the egg. 



VOICE, SCALE OF. The scale of the 

 human voice comprises four octaves, viz. 

 from mi or E in the bass, to mi or E** in 

 the treble clef. Of this scale, the male 

 voice extends from E in the bass to C^ in 

 the treble ; the female, from Fi to E** in 

 the treble 



1. Subordinate scales. There are four 

 scales of vocal music. The scale of the 

 male voice is distinguished into bass and 

 tenor, each containing two octaves, the 

 bass extending from E to F^, the tenor 

 from Ci to C3. Eleven notes are common 

 to the bass and the tenor scales. The 

 scale of the female voice is distinguished 

 into contralto and soprano, each contain- 

 ing two octaves, the contralto ranging 

 from Pi to F3, the soprano from C2 toE^. 

 Twelve notes are common to the tenor 

 and the contralto, eight to the tenor and 

 the soprano scales. The terms alto, con- 

 tralto, and counter-tenor are synony- 

 mous. 



2. The barytone is a scale of the 

 male voice intermediate between the 

 bass and the tenor, and ranging from 

 A to F2. The mezzo-soprano is a scale 

 of the female voice intermediate between 

 the contralto and the soprano, and rang- 

 ing from Ai to A^. 



3. Registers. The compass of the 

 soprano and of some other voices is dis- 

 tinguished into two registers, the natural 

 and the falsetto. The former is termed by 

 the Italians voce di petto, or chest-voice ,* 

 the latter voce di testa, or head-voice. 

 The Italians combine these two registers 

 by a third, called mezzo falso, or middle 

 falsetto. The uppermost notes of the 

 falsetto are sometimes called flautino, or 

 flute register. When the pitch of a voice 

 proceeds lower than the natural register, 

 such a voice is called basso falsetto, or 

 lower falsetto. 



4. Song-note; Speech-note. 1. The 



sro 



song-note is a musical sound of some 

 fixed pitch in the musical scale. The scales 

 comprising the song sounds are described 

 under the articles chromatic, diatonic, 

 and enharmonic scales. 2. The speech- 

 note is of two kinds, the simple and the 

 compound ; the former consists of a 

 single rising or falling of the voice, rang- 

 ing from a semitone to an octave ; the 

 latter consists of a falling and a rising, or 

 of a rising and a falling, combined in 

 various circumflexes. 



VOLATI'LITY {volatilis, from volo, 

 to fly). A property of bodies, by which 

 they are disposed to assume the state of 

 vapour and fly off", on the application of 

 heat. 



VOLCANIC BOMBS. Masses of 

 melted lava sometimes thrown out by 

 volcanoes; these, as they fall, assume 

 rounded forms, like bomb-shells, and are 

 often elongated into the shape of a pear. 



VOLCANIC FOCI. The subterranean 

 centres of action in volcanoes, where the 

 heat is supposed to be in the highest 

 degree of energy. 



VOLCANIC ROCKS. The geological 

 designation of the fourth or most recent 

 class of rocks, which are evidently com- 

 posed of lavas, or masses of melted rocky 

 matter, which have been sent upward by 

 volcanoes. This kind of rock is also 

 called igneous ruck. 



VO'LCANITE. Another name for 

 augite, from its being found among vol- 

 canic rocks ; but it is supposed to have 

 existed prior to the eruption and ejec- 

 tion of the lava. See Augite. 



VOLCANO (Vulcanus, the fabled god 

 of flre). An opening in the earth's sur- 

 face, presenting the general appearance 

 of a vent of subterranean fire, from which 

 smoke, cinders, ashes, and sometimes 

 large fragments of rock, and vast quan- 

 tities of melted rocky matter, are con- 

 tinually discharged. 



Mud volcanoes are so termed from 

 their having eruptions of mud only. The 

 mountain of Maccaluba in Sicily, and 

 some hills at the town of Taman in the 

 Cri Ilea, are distinguished by eruptions 

 of this kind. 



Extinct volcanoes are those mountains 

 which bear evident marks of having at 

 some very distant period been outlets of 

 fire. 



VOLITATRI'CES {volito, to flutter). 

 Gliders ; a term applied by Mac Gillivray 

 to an order of birds, which have a pecu- 

 liarly light and bounding flight, are 

 incapable of walking efficiently or of 



