322 THE VOICE 



in the communication of mind with mind. Speech is thus an 

 evidence of the superior endowment of man, and involves the 

 culture of the intellect. An idiot, while he may have complete 

 vocal organs and full power of uttering sounds or cries, is 

 entirely incapable of speech ; and, as a rule, the excellence of 

 the language of any people will be found to be proportional to 

 their development of brain. Man, however, is not the only 

 being that has the power to form articulate sounds, for the 

 parrot and the raven may also be taught to speak by rote ; but 

 man alone attaches meaning to the words and phrases he 

 employs. 



3. Relation to Hearing. Speech is intimately related to the 

 sense of hearing. A child born deaf is, of necessity, dumb 

 also ; not because the organs of speech are imperfect, for he 

 can utter cries and may be taught to speak, and even to con- 

 verse in a rude and harsh kind of language; but because he 

 can form no accurate notion of sound. A person, whose hear- 

 ing is not delicate, or as it is commonly expressed, who "has 

 no ear for music," cannot sing correctly. A person who has 

 impaired hearing commonly talks in an unnaturally loud and 

 monotonous voice. These examples show the necessary rela- 

 tion of intelligence and the sense of hearing with that form of 

 articulate voice which is termed speech. (Head Note 2.) 



2. Certain Peculiarities of the Voice. "Voice is a sound produced 

 in the throat by the passage of the air through the glottis, as it is expelled 

 from the lungs. It is grave and strong in man, soft and higher in women ; 

 it varies according to age. It is alike in both sexes in infancy, but is 

 modified in youth ; then the voice is said to 'change.' In the young 

 woman it descends a note or two and becomes stronger. In the young 

 man the change is much more strongly marked. At the fourteenth or 

 fifteenth year the voice loses its regularity, becomes harsh and unequal ; 

 the high notes cannot be sounded, while the grave ones make their 

 appearance. A year is generally sufficient for this change to be complete, 

 and the voice of the child gives place to that of the man. Exercise of the 

 voice in singing should be very moderate, if not entirely suspended, while 

 this change is going on. Voice is divided into singing and speaking 

 voice. One differs from the other almost as much as noises do from 

 musical sounds. It is the short duration of speaking sounds which dis- 



3. Speech and hearing ? A deaf child ? Person having " no ear for music " ? Impaired 

 hearing ? What do the examples show ? 



