THE FALSETTO VOICE. 211 



elevated, the palatine arches undergo contraction, the dorsum of the 

 tongue ascends towards the palate, and the air escapes between the 

 contracted palatal arches, the resonance of the nasal cavities alone 

 being communicated to it. Another variety of voice, called the veiled 

 tone, is produced by lowering the larynx, so that this is covered by 

 the entire pharynx, whilst the base of the tongue is approximated to 

 the palate, and the voice resounds in the upper part of the pharynx, 

 beneath the skull. The resonance of the voice is also influenced by 

 the relative capacity and elasticity of the thoracic walls, all parts of 

 which, especially, however, the sternum, act as resonant organs, as 

 well as the pharynx, mouth, nasal cavities, and even the cranial sinuses 

 and bones. 



In both sexes, but especially in the male, two series of notes, dif- 

 fering both in pitch and quality, can be produced, viz., the notes of 

 the natural voice, called the chest or true notes, and the head or 

 falsetto notes. The former are fuller, stronger, and more resonant; 

 the falsetto notes, on the other hand, are softer, less clear, have some- 

 what of a humming sound, and resemble slightly the harmonic notes 

 of strings. The lower notes of the voice are chest notes ; the higher 

 notes are falsetto; the middle notes of the scale can be produced alike 

 by the chest or head voice. The transition from the chest to the head 

 notes takes place, in some voices, imperceptibly ; in others, the change 

 is well marked. 



Various theories have been put forward to explain the .manner in 

 which the falsetto voice is produced. By Miiller, the real cause of 

 the difference between the chest and falsetto notes was thought to be 

 that, for the production of the former, the whole breadth of the vocal 

 cords vibrated ; whereas, for that of the latter, only their thin inner 

 margins, or borders, are thrown into action. Another theory was, 

 that the falsetto notes are produced, whilst the glottis is partially 

 closed, by the vibrations of only one-half of the length of the vocal 

 cords. (Mayo and Magendie.) The falsetto notes have also been 

 supposed to be produced by the vibration of the cords in segments, 

 separated by nodal points, so that harmonics of the fundamental notes 

 are formed. (Gr. Weber.) It has been thought by some that the vocal 

 cords do not take any part in the formation of the falsetto notes, but 

 that these are produced by the vibration of the air itself, in its pas- 

 sage through the glottis, acting like the blow-hole o-f a flute. (Petre- 

 quin and Diday.) Lastly, it has been suggested that the falsetto notes 

 may be formed by the division, into harmonic lengths, of the column 

 of air in the trachea, which thus reciprocates the tone produced by 

 the vocal cords ; for, besides vibrating by reciprocation with a sound- 

 ing body, the vibrations of which are isochronous with its own, a 

 column of air may also vibrate by reciprocation, the number of its 

 vibrations then forming a multiple of those of the sounding body, 

 (Wheatstone.) But these more or less theoretical views are set aside 

 by the direct observations of Garcia, who states that, during the pro- 

 duction of the falsetto notes, the glottis is longer and wider, and that 

 the edges only of the vocal cords are approximated, and offer little 

 resistance to the air, whilst, in the natural voice, a certain depth of the 



