SINGING 357 



such as the lark, the grey hedge-sparrow, the green-finch and 

 the redbreast. Piping is the name given to singing which 

 consists of clear fluty tones which may be expressed as notes 

 and which well out in beautiful melodies like those of the 

 blackbird, linnet and oriole. Many consider the song of the 

 nightingale the most beautiful thing of which a bird is capable. 

 When, however, we compare it with the glorious and ever- 

 varying song of the field lark, and other varieties of lark, or 

 when we listen to the song of the mocking bird, or the red- 

 backed butcher bird, or the reed-warbler, we cannot hesitate 

 to award the palm among all birds to these singers. 



In men also the love of song is inborn ; this is seen in the 

 children of all nations, who can sing long before they can talk, 

 and try to perform " songs without words " of their own com- 

 position. The songs of the mountain folk consist of these lays 

 without words, which they produce either alone, or accompanied 

 by songs with words, through the actual joy of living. When 

 we come to examine savage races, we find that there is no 

 emotion of any importance, whether sad or pleasurable, to 

 which they do not give expression in extempore song often 

 accompanied by dancing. Herder and Wilhelm v. Humboldt 

 called man a "singing animal". Ludwig Noire, the gifted 

 pupil of Lazarus Grieger, the etymologist, described as 

 peculiar to man " the song which arises from pure delight in 

 his own existence, in which thought is wedded to beautiful 

 sounds, and thus has contributed not a little to the development 

 of language ". Darwin comes to the same conclusion from the 

 biological point of view. As the males of most kinds of 

 quadrumana have more highly developed vocal organs than 

 the females, and since the hylobates (male and female) can 

 produce a whole octave of musical notes, it is not improbable 

 that the predecessors of the human race before being able to 

 express their love in any kind of language, tried to excite each 

 other's passions in musical tones and rhythms. 



In course of time men learnt by experience to increase the 

 aesthetic value of their songs by attention to harmony and 

 rhythm, until finally the laws governing these things were dis- 

 covered by the appointed genius, and it was found that "aes- 

 thetic satisfaction can only be obtained when, on the one hand, 



