V1VIANITE VOICE. 



837 



books of Aristaeus, a celebrated Grecian mathema- 

 tician, entitled De Locis solidis, which were lost, 

 with the exception of the names of the propositions. 

 This labour he, however, discontinued, in order to 

 restore the lost fifth book of the Conic Sections of 

 Apollonius. This work he published in 1659, in 

 folio, under the title De Maximis et Minimis Geo- 

 wetrica Divinatio in quintum Conicorum Apollonii 

 Pergcei, which was esteemed superior to Apollonius 

 himself. In 1664, he was honoured with a pension 

 from Louis XIV., and, in 1666, the grand duke of 

 Tuscany, who employed him both in public works 

 and in negotiation, gave him the title of his first 

 mathematician. In 1669, he was chosen to fill a 

 chair in the royal academy of sciences of Paris, 

 which honour induced him to finish three books of 

 his Divination of Aristaeus, and address them to the 

 king of France {Divinatio in Aristaum, 1701). He 

 died in 1703, in the eighty-first or eighty-second 

 year of his age. Fontenelle speaks warmly of the 

 integrity and simplicity of manners of Viviani, who 

 composed several mathematical treatises in the 

 Latin and Italian languages, besides those already 

 alluded to, the principal of which is entitled Eno- 

 datio Problematum (1677), comprising the solution 

 of three problems which had been submitted to all 

 the mathematicians of Europe. 



VIVIANITE. See Iron. 



VIZIER is a title of honour with the Turks, be- 

 longing to all the pachas of three tails (i. e. the 

 highest pachas). Besides these, there are at Con- 

 stantinople six viziers, called viziers of the bench 

 (i. e. of the council of state), because they have 

 seats in the divan. Men acquainted with the laws, 

 and such as have already held offices of importance, 

 are chosen for this station ; but they have no deci- 

 sive voice in this council, and cannot give their 

 opinion until the grand vizier asks it. They have 

 small salaries, but are privileged to wear a turban 

 like that of the grand viziers, this being a mark of 

 high distinction with the Turks. They can also 

 affix the name of the sultan to the orders sent into 

 the provinces. The grand vizier {vizier azerri) 

 stands high above these. He is the representative 

 of the sultan, conducts the deliberations of the 

 divan, and decides alone. He receives a seal at the 

 time of his appointment, on which the sultan's name 

 is engraved, and which he must always wear on his 

 bosom. By this seal, he is authorized to rule, with 

 absolute power, in the name of the grand sultan. 



VLIESSINGEN. See Flushing. 



VOCAL MUSIC ; music produced by the human 

 voice alone, or accompanied by instruments. It is 

 contradistinguished from instrumental music, which 

 is produced by instruments alone. The composer 

 of such music must have a thorough knowledge of 

 voices, and their musical effect, their power, and 

 the peculiarities by which the human voice differs 

 so decidedly from instruments. Vocal music has 

 many advantages over instrumental, in the fine 

 blending of the tones, in its endless variety of into- 

 nation and expression, and in the support which it 

 derives from its connexion with words. The differ- 

 ent forms of vocal music are, the air, arietta, cava- 

 tina, and the like ; recitative, duetto, terzetto, 

 quartette, &c. ; the chorus, the song, hymn, &c. : 

 the opera, oratorio, cantata, &c. See Music and 

 Voice. 



VOGLER, GEORGE JOSEPH, a distinguished prac- 

 tical and theoretical musician, was born at Wiirz- 

 burg, in 1749. He studied law, but early showed 

 great talent for playing on the organ, and for com- 



posing. The elector of the Palatinate, Charles 

 Theodore, sent him to Italy, about 1773, to study 

 music. In about three years, he returned to Man- 

 heim, the residence of his princely patron. In the 

 year 1780, and the following years, he travelled 

 in Germany, France, Holland, Sweden, England, 

 Spain, and (as Gerber says) even in Africa and 

 Greece. In 1786, he was appointed chapel-master 

 to the king of Sweden. In 1790, he was in Lon- 

 don, where his performance on the organ was heard 

 with great pleasure. He delivered lectures on mu- 

 sic in Stockholm, and in Prague. In 1807, he was 

 appointed chapel-master to the grand duke of Hesse- 

 Darmstadt, and remained in Darmstadt until his 

 death, in 1814. He invented a new instrument, 

 called orchestrion, in which the tone was determined 

 in quite a new way, by the increase and diminution 

 of the wind ; and the sound was increased by a sus- 

 pended copper vessel. He also invented a mode of 

 simplifying the construction of organs. He wrote 

 various works on music, and likewise composed 

 several pieces for the theatre, symphonies, &c. 



VOICE is the body of sounds produced by the 

 organs of respiration, especially the larynx of men 

 or animals. It can, therefore, only be found in 

 animals in which the system of respiration is deve- 

 loped, and the lungs and larynx actually exist. 

 Many insects intentionally produce a noise by the 

 motion of their wings, which takes the place of a 

 voice, but cannot be called by this name. The 

 fishes, being deprived of lungs, and breathing 

 through gills, are dumb ; but the amphibious ani- 

 mals, which have the lungs and larynx in an imper- 

 fect state, have, therefore, a limited voice. In 

 birds, however, in which the lungs are so predomi- 

 nant, and the larynx is double, and some of which 

 (the singing birds) have lamellae in the bronchiae, 

 capable of vibration, the voice is fitted for the most 

 varied sounds. The mammalia possess but one 

 larynx ; and with them the sound is formed by a 

 strong expiration, whilst the ligaments of the 

 glottis (according to the opinion of Ferrein) vibrate 

 like the strings of an instrument, and produce va- 

 rious sounds, as they are more or less tense ; or 

 (according to the opinion of Dodart and Cuvier) 

 form certain cavities, in which the tones are pro- 

 duced, as in wind instruments ; or, perhaps, operate 

 in both ways at the same time. But the length of 

 the windpipe, which can be increased or shortened, 

 and the magnitude of the lungs in proportion to 

 the width of the glottis, also contribute much at 

 least to the strength of the tone. The voice, 

 however, is more influenced by the epiglottis, by 

 the greater or less length of the canal which extends 

 from the glottis to the opening of the mouth, and 

 by all the voluntary modifications which can be 

 there given to the tone. The influence of the 

 nerves of the voice is also to be remarked ; if the 

 nerve is cut on one side, the voice becomes weaker, 

 and if cut on both sides, ceases entirely. The 

 positive pole of the galvanic battery affecting the 

 nerve produces high, the negative pole deep, hoarse 

 tones. Liscovius, in his Theory of the Voice (in 

 German, Leipsic, 1814), maintains that the voice is 

 produced by the pressure of the breath through the 

 narrow opening of the windpipe, in a similar way 

 as the tones are produced by the mouth in whistl- 

 ing. According to Gottfried Weber (Cacilia, vol. 

 i, p. 92), the organ of voice, as a sounding mem- 

 brane, or lamella, acts like the tongue-work in the 

 organ. The uvula has, of course, considerable 

 influence in producing the tones, and is subject to 



