484 VOICE AND SPEECH. 



soprano voices are less marked ; the baritone being intermedi- 

 ate between the bass and tenor, the mezzosoprano between the 

 contralto and soprano. They have also a middle position as 

 to pitch in the scale of the male and female voices. 



The different pitch of the male and the female voice depends 

 on the different length of the vocal cords in the two sexes ; 

 their relative length in men and women being as three to two. 

 The difference of the two voices in tone or " timbre," is owing 

 to the different nature and form of the resounding walls, which 

 in the male larynx are much more extensive, and form a more 

 acute angle anteriorly. The different qualities of the tenor 

 and bass, and of the alto and soprano voices, probably depend 

 on some peculiarities of the ligaments, and the membranous 

 and cartilaginous parietes of the laryngeal cavity, which are 

 not at present understood, but of which we may form some 

 idea, by recollecting that musical instruments made of different 

 materials, e. g., metallic and gut strings, may be tuned to the 

 same note, but that each will give it with a peculiar tone or 

 " timbre." 



The larynx of boys resembles the female larynx ; their vocal 

 cords before puberty have not two-thirds the length which they 

 acquire at that period ; and the angle of their thyroid cartilage 

 is as little prominent as in the female larynx. Boys' voices 

 are alto and soprano, resembling in pitch those of women, but 

 louder, and differing somewhat from them in tone. But, after 

 the larynx has undergone the change produced during the 

 period of development at puberty, the boy's voice becomes bass 

 or tenor. While the change of form is taking place, the voice 

 is said to " crack ;" it becomes imperfect, frequently hoarse and 

 crowing, and is unfitted for singing until the new tones are 

 brought under command by practice. In eunuchs, who have 

 been deprived of the testes before puberty, the voice does not 

 undergo this change. The voice of most old people is deficient 

 in tone, unsteady, and more restricted in extent : the first de- 

 fect is owing to the ossification of the cartilages of the larynx 

 and the altered condition of the vocal cord ; the want of steadi- 

 ness arises from the loss of nervous power and command over 

 the muscles ; the result of which is here, as in other parts, a 

 tremulous motion. These two causes combined render the 

 voices of old people void of tone, unsteady, bleating, and weak. 



In any class of persons arranged, as in an orchestra, accord- 

 ing to the characters of voices, each would possess, with the 

 general characteristics of a bass, or tenor, or any other kind of 

 voice, some peculiar character by which his voice would be 

 recognized from all the rest. The conditions that determine 

 these distinctions are, however, quite unknown. They are 



