(53 



VITRIOL. 



VOICE. 



t&t 



be vitrified on both surfaces, the exterior as well as the interior, ii the 

 effect was produced merely by the flame of a beacon lighted up within 

 the inclosure ? That they were intended for defensive military posts, 

 Dr. Macculloch further contends, is manifest from the whole character 

 of the works both the vitrified walls and the surrounding defences, 

 ail of which, he says, " vary in form and size according to the ground 

 they stand on, and are so contrived, just as a military work would be 

 in the hands of a modern engineer, that they may command all the 

 points of access, and prevent the enemy from advancing anywhere 

 under cover." M-tcculloch further sought to show that the material of ' 

 which the walls are built has evidently been selected with a view to i 

 its capability of being vitrified. But, as Mr. Wilson observes, his 

 statements ' only confirm the fact, already familiar to the chemist and 

 ist, that there are few districts in Scotland where rocks do not 

 occur more or less capable of being vitrified." The materials that i 

 have been commonly used are granite or moorstone, limestone, sand- ! 

 stone, and what is called pudding-stone, all of which have the quality 

 of being more or less easily fusible by fire. Xone of these forts are 

 found south of the Tweed ; they appear indeed to be peculiar to 

 aid. 



VITRIOL. A name formerly given to the sulphates. Thus the 

 terms green, blue, and white vitriol were applied to sulphate of pro- 

 toxide of iron, sulphate of copper, and sulphate of zinc respectively. 

 Sulphuric acid is now sometimes termed ritriol, or vil of vitriol. 



VIT11IOL, WHITU. [ZINC.] 



VIZIR, or VEZIR, is the name of the ministers of the sultan of 

 the Turkish empire, and ig also given as a title of honour to several 

 other high functionaries, civil as well as military. The word is of 

 Arabic origin, and means literally " the bearer of a burden," as vezr 

 designates " the action of bearing or carrying a burden." Some write 

 !<:, or ra:ir; but this is not correct. From tizdr, a substantive 

 which expresses the action of supporting a prince in the administration 

 of bin empire, is formed riidret, tho dignity or function of n vizir, 

 which we generally call viiirat. There are two plurals of vizir : the 

 Turkish plural, f/;i.-/>r, wlik-h is the common; and the Arabic plural. 

 ', which occurs in imperial decrees, as for instance, in " ruzrrd I 

 'i/anii zevi-1 ihtirain," "the illustrious grand vizirs." The post of a 

 prime minister, who directs state attaint when the sovereign either will 

 not or is prevented from doin^ it, is a very ancient institution in the 

 Eaat ; and the lieutenant of a king was called vizir by the Arabs long 

 before this title was adopted by the Turks-Osmanlis. The first Turkish 

 vi/ir was the celebrated 'Ala-ed-din, the aon of Osman, founder of the 

 Turkish empire, who was appointed to the post of prime minister by 

 his brother, Sultan Urkhan, in A.H. 726 (A.D. 1326). Until the reign 

 of Mahmoud IL the grand vizir was almost the sole minister ; but his 

 power was then much circumscribed. He is now only the head of 

 the ministry, and the other ministers have distinct departments and 

 titles, as in European government*. At first there was only one vizir. 

 Hut Timur-Tash (Ironstone), a general of Murad I., having gained a 

 great victory over the Turks-Seljuks of Cararnania in A.H. 788 

 (A.D. 1388), his master gave him the title of vizir, and the then vizir, 

 'AH Pasha, was created "vizir 'azim," that is, the great or illustrious 

 vi/.ir. From this time the number of vizirs was gradually augmented : 

 Mohammed II. had seven; Murad III., six; Murad IV., nine; but 

 it 'in the time of Ahmed III. there were only seven vizirs who were 

 real ministers. The title of vizir is likewise given to the Begler-Beys, 

 or governors, of Kumelia, Anatolia, and Damascus, to tho four high 



judges, the grand equerry, the sirdar, or field-marshal, the chief master 

 of the forests, and to several other high functionaries : and in former 

 times it was given to the silihdar, or armbearer of the sultan, and to 

 the agha of the janissaries, two dignities which are now abolished. 

 Sometimes, also, this title is conferred upon governors of Saujaks, as 

 was the case with the famous 'AH Pasha of Janina, after his victories 

 over the French in 1798. The title is now considered as ranking next 

 below that of Mushir, or field-marshal. The insignia of a vizir are a 

 splendid dress of velvet embroidered with gold, pearls, and precious 

 stones, a turban with an ornament of diamonds, and a standard, to the 

 top of which are attached three horsetails, and which is carried before 

 them by an officer : hence the title of pasha of three tails, which is 

 identical with vizir. The dress of the grand vizir is still more mag- 

 nificent than that of the common vizirs, from whom be is distinguished 

 by several privileges: he receives the solemn visits of all the high 

 functionaries, including the common vizirs ; be commands the centre 

 of the army in battle ; and, except the sultan, he is the only person 

 who is saluted with the " alkish," a kind of benediction pronounced by 

 those who appear in the presence of the grand vizir. The words of the 

 " alkish " are, " Allah bnierler were efendiimUze ! " (God give a long 

 life to our master !) 



(Hammer, Dts Osmaninchen fteictus Staatsverfassuag, &c. ; Gtsdichtc 

 det Osmanischtn Rn,-het; Kiefferet Bianchi, Diclionnaire Tu.rk-l f ra,itpii*, 

 sub. voc. ' Vizir ' and ' Alkish.') 



VOICE. The voice (from the Latin o.r) is an audible sound pro- 

 duced in the larynx. The design of the present article is to treat of 

 the sounds of the human voice in its two great functions of Song and 

 Speech. The nomenclature and notation of music [Music] are here 

 adopted, with such an extension, based upon the same principles, as ia 

 necessary for the purpose. 



The infinite varieties of sounds heard in the human voice arc 

 all embraced under the general terms Pitch, Loudness, Quality, and 

 Duration. 



The scale of the human voice, from the lowest note of the bass to 

 the highest note of the soprano, within which limits composers write 



vocal music, is four octaves in extent, namely, from mi, E, 5l 



in the bass cliff to mi, E*, jE= = lu the treble cliff. Thero have 



v' 



been instances, but they are very rare, of voices capable of descending 

 lower, and others of ascending higher than those limits. This scalo 

 of sounds is divided into fore maichitc (male voice), which extends 

 frommt (E) in the bass to do (c 3 ) in the treble cliff; and rocefcmtnilc, 

 or roce bianelia (female voice) which extends from fa (F 1 ) to mi (i; 4 ) in 

 the treble cliff. 



The lower or male voice part of the scale is subdivided into Bass and 

 Tenor, each containing two octaves : the bass extends from mi (K) to 

 fa (F ; ) ; and the tenor extends from da (c ! ) to do (c 1 ). 



The upper or female voice part of the scale Is subdivided into Con- 

 tralto and Soprano, each containing two octaves : the contralto extends 

 from /a (r 1 ) to fa (F S ) ; and tho soprano extends from da (c ; ) to mi 

 (B*). These are the four scales within which musicians compose vocal 

 music for each class of voice. The following diagram exhibits tho 

 scale of the human voice and the relation of its subdivisions : 



CDE V O A n C 1 D 1 E 1 F 1 G 1 A 1 B> C D- K- F 5 G- A.' B 5 C> D' E 3 P 3 s A 3 B 3 C D* E 



Tenor. 



N.B. The terms Alto, Contralto, and Caunttr-trnor arc the tame. 



Intermediate between the bass and tenor is another male voice, 

 extending from la (A) to fa (K ; ), and termed tho Barytone. And 

 between the Contralto and the Soprano is another female voice, 

 rxtvnding from la (A 1 ) to la (A 3 ), and termed the Mezzo-Soprano. The 

 voices of eunuchs and boys are classed with female voices. 



By reference to the diagram it will be seen that the scales of the 



il voices overlap each other in the great compass of the human 



voice ; thus the bass overlaps the tenor eleven notes, so that the tenor 



descends to within five notes aa low as the bass ; while the bass ascends 



to within four notes as high aa the tenor. Eleven notes are common 



li bass and tenor scales, and any music whose variations of pitch 



are within the range of those eleven notes can be sung either by a tenor 



or a bass voice. It appears also by the diagram that a tenor voice 



reaches to within three notes as high as the contralto, and mid-way up 



j the soprano compass ; giving twelve liutes common to the tenor and 

 contralto, and eight notes common to the tenor and soprano scales, 

 which explains the wide range of music which tenor voices can sing. 



The ordinary compass of a voice is about twelve notes. Many 

 singers' voices however extend to two octaves ; some even beyond tw< >, 

 and some have reached three octave*. Catalani'a compass is said to 

 have been three and a half octaves. 



The compass of soprano and some other voices is divided into 

 registers, of which there ore two. namely, the natural and the falsetto. 

 The former is termed in the Italian school rnce di petto, which means 

 \ chest Voice ; and the latter nice di testa, which means head voice. To 

 these the Italians add another, which joins the two registers, and 

 which somewhat partakes of the character of both ; it is named the 

 folio, or middle falsetto. The extreme upper notes of the 



