244 T HE HUMAN BODY. 



admit that they approach each other at their borders only 

 so as to close the hollow which separates them behind, and 

 to cause the vocal cords simultaneously to face each other 

 through part of their length. 



M. Mandl has kindly communicated to us the result of 

 his numerous observations on this subject; according to his 

 opinion, in producing the chest-voice the arytenoid cartilages 

 are separated behind; in the falsetto, in a normal condition, they 

 approach and join each other on their posterior border, which 

 causes the vocal cords to face each other as M. Fournie 

 also says behind, while they remain separated in front by 

 the slit of the glottis, which has become elliptic and much 

 shorter; in certain persons, however, we observe something 

 analogous to the joining of the arytenoid cartilages which 

 M. Battaille describes, and which belongs to the normal condi- 

 tion of the larynx. In fact, when one of these cartilages is 

 anchylosed at its point of union with the cricoid, and does 

 not move to meet its congener, the latter supplies the defect 

 and covers it by a sort of overlapping. 



Timbres (the distinctive quality of voices). Besides that 

 quality which is peculiar to each individual, the voice may 

 have several others, some of which, as purity, are due to the 

 perfection of the entire vocal apparatus, and others, as the 

 hoarse nasal or guttural quality, arise either from the unskil- 

 fulness of the singer or from some change in the organ. 

 There are two forms, however, remarkable because they may 

 be produced at the will of the artist, these are the muffled 

 voice and the clear voice. Their names indicate their nature. 

 In the muffled, the sound is rounder, more velvety, and re- 

 sembles less the sound of a reed; the pronunciation of the 

 letters is less distinct and sharp, and the noisy vowels, like 

 the a and e, incline 4o the timbre of o and u. In the clear 

 voice the sound is piercing, somewhat noisy, and less agree- 

 able to the ear. This high key is more common among the 

 northern nations of Europe, while the graver one is ordinarily 

 adopted by the singers of the south. 



It is generally admitted that the muffled voice is caused 

 principally by the immobility of the larynx when as low as 

 possible, and in fact the larynx is usually in that position in 



