304- MYTH AND SCIENCE. 



of music, since without it harmony itself is vague and 

 indefinite. Notwithstanding the numerous elements 

 which may be discerned in melody, and the labour im- 

 plied in its analysis, it is the facile and spontaneous 

 creation of man, at any rate in its simplest expression; 

 uneducated people, ignorant of music, are able to 

 invent very tolerable melodies, of which we have 

 instances in popular and national songs, which are 

 generated by the musical fancy of those unconscious 

 of the laws of music. Melody has an independent ex- 

 istence, while harmony serves to accentuate its form, 

 and conduces to its subsequent progress among peo- 

 ples capable of developing it in all its power.* 



Music has a powerful influence upon all the 

 senses, it has at all times been supposed to have 

 a healing power, and in the Middle Ages it was be- 

 lieved to cure epilepsy, madness, convulsions, hysteria, 

 and all forms of nervous affections ; while in our own 

 time it is usefully employed in cerebral diseases, since 

 it has both a stimulating and soothing effect. Women, 

 since they are generally more nervous and sensitive 

 than men, are more especially affected by music. 

 Animals *as well as man are influenced by it, as it 

 has been shown by exact and numerous experiments. 

 Every one knows that many birds can be taught airs, 

 which they sing with taste and lively satisfaction. 

 The major key, with its regular proportions, its full 

 and gradual sounds, arouses in man a sense of life 



* See Beauquier's " Philosophic de la Musique" 



