reach the sounds si, do, y cj ^=. , they finish by touching each 

 3 3 ja ~ 



other throughout their whole extent; but their summits are only 

 solidly fixed one against the other at the notes do$, re", frfo - - " . 



In some organs these summits are a little vacillating when they 

 form the posterior end of the glottis, and the two or three half-tones 

 which are formed show a certain want of purity and strength, which 

 is very well known to singers. From the do$, re, jyb| <t= the 



O O ~"~. j_"~ 



vibrations, having become rounder and purer, are accomplished by 

 the vocal ligaments alone, up to the end of the register. 



The glottis at this moment presents the aspect of a line slightly 

 swelled towards its middle, the length of which diminishes still 

 more as the voice ascends. We also see that the cavity of the larynx 

 has become very small, and that the superior ligaments have con- 

 tracted the extent of the ellipse to less than one-half. 



When instead of veiled and feeble sounds, we make use of full 

 and vibrating ones, the glottis becomes visible only at the sounds 

 and those above them, a limit which depends 



to a certain extent on the dexterity of the singer. For all the rest, 

 the organs act as we have just said, but with a double difference : 

 1. The cavity of the larynx contracts itself more when the voice is 

 intense, than when it is feeble. 2. The superior ligaments are con- 

 tracted so as to reduce the small diameter of the ellipse to a width 

 of two or three lines. But however powerful these contractions 

 may be, neither the cartilages of Wrisberg, nor the superior liga- 

 ments themselves, ever close sufficiently to prevent the passage of 

 the air, or even to render it difficult. This fact, which is verified 

 also with regard to the falsetto and head- registers, suffice? to prove 

 that the superior ligaments do not fill a generative part in the forma- 

 tion of the voice. We may draw the same conclusion by consider- 

 ing the position occupied by the somewhat feeble muscles which 

 correspond to these ligaments ; they cover externally the extremity 

 of the diverging fibres of the thyro-arytenoid muscles, 'and take 

 part especially in the contractions of the cavity of the larynx during 

 the formation of the high notes of the chest- and of the head- 

 registers. 



