THE YOICE. 233 



the resonance of the air contained within those cavities. 

 The walls of the chest and the trachea take part in the 

 resonance of the voice, the air within them vibrating at 

 the same time with the parts above them. This may be 

 tested by touching the throat or breast-bone, when a 

 strong vocal effort is made. The teeth and the lips also 

 are important, as is shown by the unnatural tones emitted 

 by a person who has lost the former, or by one who is 

 affected with the deformity known as "hare-lip." The 

 tongue is useful, but not indispensable to speech ; the case 

 of a woman is reported, from whom nearly the whole 

 tongue had been torn out, but who could, nevertheless, 

 sneak distinctly and even sing. 



'/ 12. The varieties of voice are said to be four in num- 

 ber ; two, the bass and tenor, belonging to the male sex ; 

 and two, the contralto or alto, and soprano, peculiar to the 

 female. The baritone voice is the name given to a variety 

 intervening between the bass and tenor. In man, the 

 voice is strong and grave; in woman, soft and high. In 

 infancy and early youth, the voice is the same in both 

 sexes, being of the soprano variety : that of boys is both 

 clear and loud, and being susceptible of considerable train- 

 ing, is highly prized in the choral services of the church 

 and cathedral. At about fourteen years of age the voice is 

 said to change ; that is, it becomes hoarse and unsteady by 

 reason of the rapid growth of the larynx. In the case of 

 the girl, the change is not very marked, except that the 

 voice becomes stronger and has a wider compass ; but in 

 the boy, the larynx nearly doubles its size in a single year, 

 the vocal cords grow thicker, longer, and coarser, and the 

 voice becomes masculine in character. During the prog- 

 ress of this change, the use of the voice in singing is inju 

 dicious. 



13. The ordinary range of each of the four varieties of 



1 2. Varieties of voice ? The baritone ? The voice in early youth ? 



1 3 j The rouge of the voice ? Result of careful training of the vocal organs ? 



