CHEST-VOICE. FALSETTO VOICE. 243 



In the chest-voice the larynx descends very low and the 

 vocal cords are horizontal and stretched simultaneously in 

 length and thickness; the superior thyro-arytenoid ligaments 

 project, and partly hide the external border of the vocal 

 cords; the epiglottis is slightly inclined over the opening of 

 the larynx; the transverse diameter of the glottis is very 

 small and linear, and the edges of the vocal cords are very 

 thick and rigid. The larynx rises in proportion as the tone 

 grows higher, the epiglottis straightens again little by little; 

 the plane of the vocal cords inclines; the orifice of the glottis 

 shuts progressively from behind forward, and consequently 

 the vibrating portions diminish in length, while at the same 

 time the tension increases. 



In the falsetto, the larynx is carried upward and backward 

 against the spinal column, the soft palate rises, and its 

 posterior pillars approach each other, the ventricles of the 

 larynx are obliterated, the vocal cords are wholly visible, and 

 their borders are in contact for half their length at least. 

 The glottis is therefore closed behind, and its orifice, very 

 much smaller than it was during the utterance of the chest- 

 notes, diminishes progressively as the notes grow higher. 



In the mixed voice the glottis is open throughout its whole 

 length, and its transverse diameter is greater than for the 

 other registers. 



According to M. Battaille, in the chest-voice the cords 

 vibrate throughout their extent, the opening of the glottis is 

 rectilinear, there is less tension in the walls of the vestibule 

 and glottis, and on the contrary more in the vocal cords, 

 than in the falsetto voice. In the falsetto voice, the arytenoid 

 cartilages embrace each other by a sort of reversion in the 

 two upper thirds of their internal surface, the glottis then 

 being ellipsoid in form and more open behind than in the 

 chest-voice. 



This form of the glottis, which is attributed by the eminent 

 artist to the falsetto voice, is precisely the same that M. 

 Fournie has seen in the mixed voice, which requires less 

 effort. 



M. Battaille is the only author who notes the joining of 

 the arytenoid cartilages by their internal surface: others 



