VOIGTLAND-VGLCANOES. 



839 



dropsy of the chest. It is not a symptom of dis- 

 ease when caused merely by the arrival of the age of 

 puberty, by catarrh, or by dust which has been in- 

 spired. The vox cucuriens, sen rudens, sen pipiens 

 (sounding similar to the crowing of a cock, or the 

 braying of an ass) is pathognomic in the hooping 

 cough and croup, and is also sometimes found in 

 dropsy in the head and small-pox, and is a bad 

 symptom. The raucitas acuta originates partly 

 . from the same causes as the raucitas gravis. With 

 hysterical persons it indicates an approaching fit. 



Voice, in music. A good musical voice depends 

 chiefly upon the soundness and power of the organs 

 of utterance and of hearing, and the necessary 

 musical disposition, and is distinguished by clearness 

 of intonation, ease, strength, duration, equality, 

 harmoniousness and fullness of the sounds ; whilst 

 natural defects or diseases in those organs (for 

 instance, narrowness of the chest, weak lungs) give 

 rise to imperfections in the voice. As weakness of 

 lungs necessarily affects the voice, so frequent sing- 

 ing developes and strengthens the lungs which are 

 strong enough to support it ; and instruction in 

 singing is, therefore, in a medical respect, of great 

 importance. The rarity of consumption in most 

 parts of Germany, compared to other countries, is 

 ascribed by some, in a great measure, to the general 

 instruction and frequent practice in singing. Prac- 

 tice in singing for several generations must un- 

 doubtedly have a decided influence in giving strength 

 to the lungs, which may also be much promoted by 

 gymnastic exercises that expand the chest. A fine 

 voice requires a long, regular and strong breath. 

 Some faults in singing, however, originate from a 

 bad use of a good voice ; as the singing through the 

 nose, teeth, &c. A voice which has by nature the 

 requisite properties, acquires compass and strength, 

 correctness and pliability, by exercise. Thorough 

 methodical practice in singing should not, in most 

 cases, be begun before the ninth or tenth year, 

 though the ear ought to be early exercised. The 

 variety of voices is as great as that of individuals. 

 In respect to depth and height, there are four 

 principal classes of voices: discant, alto, tenor and 

 bass. Discant, or soprano, moreover, is distin- 

 guished from lower, or mezzo soprano, tenor from 

 counter tenor, and between tenor and bass comes 

 the proper baritono. A good bass voice generally 

 extends from F or G, below G gamut, to C or D, 

 above the bass-clef note; the baritono from about 

 G gamut to F, above the bass-clef note; the tenor 

 from C, above G gamut, to G, the treble-clef note, 

 or A above it ; the counter-tenor from E or F, 

 above G gamut, to B or C, above the treble-clef 

 note ; the mezzo soprano from A or B, above the 

 bass-clef note, to E or F, above the treble-clef note ; 

 and the soprano from C, above the bass-clef note, 

 to A, B or C, in alt, and something higher. Fe- 

 male voices are, by nature, treble and alto ; those 

 of boys, even if they have the compass of high tre- 

 ble, are usually alto. When the boy arrives at 

 the age of puberty, the alto changes into tenor or 

 bass. 



Voice is also the name given to a part assigned 

 to a human voice or an instrument in a composition. 



VOIGTLAND (in law Latin, Terra Advocato- 

 ri) ; in a wider sense, all that part of Germany 

 which formerly belonged to the imperial bailiffs (in 

 German, Voiyte, Latin, advocati), the ancestors of 

 the present princes and counts of Retiss. It com- 

 prised the Saxon circle of Voigtland, the bailiwic 

 of Weida and Ziegenriitk, in the grand duchy of 



Saxe- Weimar, territories of the princes and counts 

 of Reuss, the district of Hof, now included in the 

 Bavarian circle of the Upper Maine, and the Saxe- 

 Altenburg bailiwic of Ronneburg. From the 

 eleventh century there were imperial officers, in 

 the above described region, who bore the name of 

 bailiffs (advocati, voigte} of the holy Roman empire, 

 and who managed the affairs of the emperor. In a 

 narrow sense, the term is applied particularly to a 

 circle of Saxony, consisting of a part of the former 

 Voigtland. It has 102,891 inhabitants on 680 

 square miles, and is also called the circle of Neu- 

 stadt. The chief town is Plauen. It contains 

 some mountainous and woody districts, and in some 

 parts is well adapted for pasturage and tillage. 

 The most remarkable peculiarity is the pearl-fishery 

 in the river Elster (see Pearl), which is sometimes 

 very productive, and has yielded some pearls of 

 much beauty. 



VOITURE, VINCENT, a celebrated French wit, 

 was born at Amiens, in 1598. His agreeable man- 

 ners and conversation introduced him to good com- 

 pany ; and he was a visitor at the Hotel de Ram- 

 bouillet, and was also well received at court, and 

 by Gaston, duke of Orleans, who made him his 

 master of the ceremonies. In 1634, he was admit- 

 ted into the French academy, and was subsequently 

 sent on a mission to Spain, where he composed 

 some verses in such pure and natural Spanish, that 

 every body ascribed them to Lope de Vega. He 

 also visited Rome and England, and died in 1648. 

 Voiture was one of the first persons in France dis- 

 tinguished by the title of bel esprit. He wrote 

 verses in French, Spanish and Italian. The former 

 are occasionally easy and sprightly, but have much 

 strained wit and affected sentiment. His letters 

 place him high in the class of epistolary writers, 

 though they often degenerate into affectation, in- 

 sipid pleasantries, and far-fetched allusions. 



VOLATILE OILS. See Essential Oils. 



VOLATILITY, in chemistry; the quality of a 

 substance, to evaporate in a certain degree of heat : 

 it is the opposite to fixidity. It is very probable, 

 that all substances are capable of being volatilized, 

 and that we should be able to dissolve every one of 

 them by fire, but for the want of a sufficient degree 

 of heat. 



VOLCANOES. The volcano and the earth- 

 quake might, perhaps, with no impropriety, have 

 been treated of together, since both are undoubtedly 

 effects of the same subterranean process; but we 

 have preferred to devote to each a separate article, 

 as the phenomena on the earth's surface, to which 

 they give rise, are considerably different. The 

 present article will, however, embrace several 

 particulars relating to earthquakes, which were 

 omitted in the article under that title, on account 

 of their close connexion with the subject of vol- 

 canoes. There are certain regions to which vol- 

 canic eruptions, and the movements of great earth- 

 quakes, are confined: over the whole of vast tracts 

 active volcanic vents are distributed at intervals 

 and most commonly arranged in a linear direction. 

 Throughout the intermediate spaces there is abun- 

 dant evidence that the subterranean fire is contin- 

 ually at work; for the ground is convulsed, from 

 time to time, by earthquakes : gaseous vapours, 

 especially carbonic acid gas, are disengaged plenti- 

 fully from the soil ; springs often issue at a very 

 high temperature, and their waters are very com- 

 monly impregnated with the same mineral matters 

 which are discharged by volcanoes during eruptions. 



