MTSICAL EAR. 191 



ligence. Of ail instruments which the musical art em- 

 ploys, the human larynx is indisputably the most perfect. 

 It cannot have escaped your observation, that in men, 

 the larynx is much more prominent, than in women ; 

 indeed, it is rarely conspicuous in females, except in 

 such as have been wasted by disease. You may also 

 have observed that the voice of the adult male is an oc- 

 tave lower, than the voice of females and boys. 



Emily. I have always observed this difference, but 

 never thought of asking the cause of it, purely, I believe, 

 because it, is so common a fact. I suppose that the or- 

 gans are differently formed, are they not ? 



Dr. B. They differ principally in their size being 

 smaller in females than in men ; of course, the voice will 

 be a little higher, reasoning on mechanical principles. The 

 extent or compass of the human voice in well-formed 

 sounds, seldom exceeds ten notes ; but the compass of 

 the male voice may be extended four or five notes by 

 the use of what is called the falsetto, which resembles 

 the treble voice. 



Emily. Voices not only differ in pitch and intensity, 

 but every one has its own peculiar tone which distin- 

 guishes it from all others, so that we remember a per- 

 son's voice as long as we do his countenance. Besides, 

 the voice, generally speaking, is distinguished by other 

 characters, these are strong voices ; soft, harsh, flexi- 

 ble, melodious voices, &ic. Are all these the result of 

 organization ? 



Dr. B. Undoubtedly, the great diversity in pitch, 

 tone and character of the voice, results mainly from di- 

 versity in the structure of the vocal organs, though some 

 change in this respect, may be effected by education. 



Emily. The different degrees of excellence with 

 which people sing, are also, I suppose, to be attributed 

 to the organization af the vocal organs. 



Dr. B. To a certain extent, they are, but not en- 

 tirely. The power of singing, that is, of producing the 

 notes of the musical scale correctly in various combina- 



