THE VOICE AND SPEECH. 57 



passion, accompany crying in men, and in the howling and whining of 

 dogs. The third mode of sequence of the vocal sounds is the musical, in 

 which each sound lias a determinate number of vibrations, and the num- 

 bers of the vibrations in the successive sounds have the same relative pro- 

 portions that characterize the notes of the musical scale. 



Compass of the Voice. In different individuals this comprehends 

 one, two, or three octaves. In singers that is, in persons apt for sing- 

 ing it extends to two or three octaves. But the male and female voices 

 commence and end at different points of the musical scale. The lowest 

 note of the female voice is about an octave higher than the lowest of the 

 male voice; the highest note of the female voice about an octave higher 

 than the highest of the male. The compass of the male and female 

 voices taken together, or the entire scale of the human voice, includes 

 about four octaves. The principal difference between the male and female 

 voice is, therefore, in their pitch; but they are also distinguished by their 

 tone, the male voice is not so soft. 



Pitch^nd Timbre. The voice presents other varieties besides that 

 of male and female; there are two kinds of male voice, technically called 

 the bass and tenor, and two kinds of female voice, the contralto and 

 soprano, all differing from each other in tone. The bass voice usually 

 reaches lower than the tenor, and its strength lies in the low notes; while 

 the tenor voice extends higher than the bass. The contralto voice has 

 generally lower notes than the soprano, and is strongest in the lower 

 notes of the female voice; while the soprano voice reaches higher in the 

 scale. But the difference of compass, and of power in different parts of 

 the scale, is not the essential distinction between the different voices; for 

 bass singers can sometimes go very high, and the contralto frequently 

 sings the high notes like soprano singers. The essential difference be- 

 tween the bass and tenor voices, and between the contralto and soprano, 

 consists in their tone or "timbre," which distinguishes them even when 

 they are singing the same note. The qualities of the baritone and mezzo- 

 soprano voices are less marked; the baritone being intermediate, between 

 the bass and tenor, the mezzo-soprano 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 voices 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 



