398 



THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



To such nouns the word male or femelle is added when it is 

 necessary to mention the gender : un eldphant femelle ; une 

 girafe m&le. 



EXCEPTIONS TO THE RULES 



(1.) Many nouns ending in e do not 

 (see Rule 1) : 



Masculine. 



Un Eusse, a Russian. 

 Un artiste, an artist. 

 Un camarade, a comrade. 

 Un e'leve, a pupil. 

 Un compatriote, a compatriot. 

 Un esclave, a slave. 

 Un pupille, a ward. 

 Un pensionnaire, a boarder. 

 Un malade, a sick man. 

 Un locataire, a tenant. 



GIVEN ABOVE. 



change in the feminine 



Feminine. 

 Une Eusse. 

 Une artiste. 

 Une camarade. 

 Une e'leve. 

 Une compatriote. 

 Une esclave. 

 Une pupille. 

 Une peusionnaire. 

 Une malade. 

 Une locataire. 



(2.) However, the following which end in e or in e, add sse in 

 the feminine : 



Masculine. 

 Abb<5, abbot. 

 A lie, ass. 

 Chanoine, canon. 

 Comte, earl, count. 

 Druide, druid. 

 Hote, host, guest. 

 Maitre, master. 

 Negre, negro. 

 Pretre, priest. 

 Prince, prince. 

 Prophete, prophet. 

 Suisse, a Swiss. 

 Tigre, tiger. 

 Traitre, traitor. 



Feminine. 

 Abbesse. 

 Anesse. 

 Chanoiuesse. 

 Comtesse. 

 Druidesse. 

 Ho tease. 

 Maitresse. 

 Ne'gresse. 

 Pretresse. 

 Princesse. 

 Prophdtesse. 

 Suissesse. 

 Tigresse. 

 Traitresse. 



and poete, poet, which has a feminine, poetesse, that is rarely 

 used (see Rules 10, 11). 



(3.) Paysan, peasant, and chat, cat, form their feminine by 

 doubling the last consonant and adding e : Faysanne, chatte 

 (see Rule 2). 



(4.) The following, although derived from present participles, 

 form their feminine by changing cur into rice and eresse (see 

 Rule 5) : 



.Masculine. Feminine. 



Eie'cuteur, executor. Exe'cutrice. 



Inspecteur, inspector. Inspectrice. 



Inventeur, tnnentor. Inventrice. 



Perse'cuteur, persecutor. Pers^cutrice. 



Eucliauteur, enchanter. Enohauteressc. 



Pe'cheur, sinner. Pecheresse. 



Vengeur, awenger. Vengeresse. 



N.S. The /our /allowing are laio terms .- 



Bailleur, lessor. Bailleresse. 



D^fendeur, defendant. D(5fenderesse. 



Demandeur, plaintiff. Demauderesse. 



Vendeur, nendor. Venderesse. 



(5.) Chasseur, hunter, has another feminine, chasseresse, 

 which is only used in poetry ; and chantenr, singer, has also a 

 second feminine, cantatrice, which is applied to eminent pro- 

 fessional singers (see Rule 5). 



(6.) The feminine of bailli, bailiff, which was formerly spelt 

 baillif, is accordingly baillive (see Rule 6). 



(7.) The nouns bigot, bigot ; cagot, hypocrite ; devot, devotee ; 

 idiot, idiot, form their feminine regularly, i.e., by adding e : 

 Bigote, cagote, devote, idiote (see Rule 7). 



LESSONS IN MUSIC. XX. 



OEGANS OP THE HUMAN VOICE PITCH QUALITY 

 STBENGTH FOECE, ETC. 



WE propose to collect together in this lesson a large amount of 

 information on the subjects of the different kinds of voices, 

 singing in " parts," and good enunciation. We must refer our 

 readers for fuller information on these topics to Miiller's "Phy- 

 siology;" Power's " Human Physiology ;" Dr. Bristowe's Essay 

 on the " Throat, Voice, and Speech," in the " Book of Health;" 



Sir Charles Bell's article on the voice in the "Philosophical 

 Transactions " for the year 1832; and works on the Human 

 Voice, by Dr. Rush, Dr. Lennox Browne, and others. 



The CHIEF INSTRUMENT of voice is the larynx, which we may 

 feel with the hand outside, as a little lump, in the upper part 

 of our throats, moving with almost every utterance of voice. It 

 is a small box placed at the top of the trachea or windpipe. Its 

 walls are of cartilage or gristle. Its upper opening is protected 

 by a little valve, called the epiglottis, which falls back upon it 

 in every act of swallowing. At the lower opening are two elastic 

 membranes, one depending from each side, which can be stretched 

 to any degree of tension required, and can be made to meet each 

 other (closing the lower opening) through their whole length, 01 

 through any part of it. Various muscles, attached to the walls 

 of the larnyx, in obedience to nervous action and the mind's 

 will, regulate these movements. 



These elastic membranes, sometimes called the vocal chords, 

 are the source of voice. During ordinary breathing they rest, 

 relaxed, against the walls of the larynx, but in the production 

 of voice they are brought into such a position as to vibrate 

 freely in the air, as it ascends from the lungs (much like the 

 tongue of any reed-instrument), and this vibration makes the 

 breath vocal. 



The voice of one individual differs from that of others in 

 PITCH, in quality or TIMBRE, as the French call it, and in 

 power or STRENGTH. 



The PITCH of a sound depends on the degree of tension given 

 to the vocal membranes, and on the length of the parts which 

 are left free to vibrate just as in the harp, violin, and guitar. 

 In females and boys, whose voices are naturally higher than 

 those of men, the larynx is placed higher in the throat, and is 

 also smaller, so as to make the vibrating membranes shorter. 

 When a boy's voice " breaks," the larynx gradually takes a lower 

 place in the throat, and also enlarges in size, so that the voice 

 necessarily becomes about an octave deeper. Miiller states that 

 the vocal membrane in the male is half as long again as in the 

 female as three to two. To produce a given note (say D below 

 the treble staff), the male voice, especially if a bass, would 

 require strong tension of the vocal membranes, but the female 

 voice would produce the same note with very little tension, 

 because its vocal membranes are shorter. 



The TIMBRE, or quality of a note (which is so different in 

 individuals), is much affected by the form of the air-passages 

 above the larynx. Thus we are sometimes able to imitate the 

 voice of another person, not only in reference to its peculiari- 

 ties of pitch and inflection by movements of the larynx, but 

 even in its " timbre " by certain conformations of the mouth. It 

 is this difference of shape in the resonating tube which makes 

 the difference between well-known bass instruments of the same 

 length, and yielding sounds of the same pitch, as between the 

 thick euphonium and the thin baritone, and between the thick 

 sax-horn and the thin trumpet. The discoveries of Professor 

 Helmholtz have thrown much light on this subject of timbre or 

 quality of tone. By altering the shape of the mouth you can 

 produce the sombre and clear resonances of which Garcia 

 speaks. 



The general STRENGTH of a voice appears to depend upon the 

 vibrating power of the vocal membranes, the size of the organ, 

 and the capacity of the chest. We know how easily a slight in- 

 flammation, or other affection of the mucous membrane lining 

 the larynx, weakens the voice. The voices of old persons are 

 made tremulous by the loss of nervous and muscular power. 



The special FORCE or loudness given to an accented note maj 

 be occasioned, Miiller thinks, by relaxing the tension of the 

 vocal membranes while we increase the force of the air-current. 

 Sir Charles Bell speaks of the back of the mouth and the veil of 

 the palate (the soft palate) as playing a most important part in 

 giving the delicate impulses of accent. 



Correct tune requires a mental effort. " Man," says Miiller, 

 " like the singing bird, learns unconsciously the different internal 

 changes in the state of the larynx, and the different muscular 

 actions necessary for each note. Sounds accidentally uttered, 

 and the muscular actions which accompany them, become asso- 

 ciated in the sensorium, and afterwards readily excite each other 

 when a melody is to be imitated." Correct tune, therefore, 

 depends upon the skill with which the sound is perceived and 

 its " idea " retained, and upon the accuracy with which the mind 

 can command and combine the various muscular movements 



