CURIOSITIES OF THE VOICE. 415 



tremities. As the sound rises, the vocal lips approach each other, and seem 

 to divide the orifice into two parts ; then as the highest notes are sounded, 

 there is but a slit the width of a line. The vocal lips change like the glot- 

 tis ; they stretch out, harden, thicken, and vibrate more and more as the 

 voice rises. "Women, who have a smaller larynx, and shorter vocal lips can 

 sing higher notes than men, with a tone less powerful, but sweeter, more 

 uniform, and melodious. 



The ordinary limits of the voice comprehend about two octaves of the 

 musical scale ; it can easily be increased to two and a half; but some reach 

 the very exceptional range of three, and three and a half. Thus, at the 

 commencement of this century, Catalani astonished every one who heard 

 her, as a sort of prodigy. Suppleness and intensity may be acquired by 

 practice, as has been proved in the case of many singers : the voice of 

 Marie Garcia was harsh, but it became at last the delicious one of Madame 

 Malibran. In general, the natural gift is manifested without culture; the 

 child endowed with this great charm warbles like a bird for amusement ; a 

 lover of art j)asses by, listens with surprise, and promises glory and fortune 

 to the rival of the lark. Thus the famous Eubini won his triumphs. Oc- 

 casionally the singer has in a moment lost all power, and an enchanting- 

 voice will disajDpear never to return ; such a misfortune befell Cornelia 

 Falcon. 



Those who have watched the formation of vowels and consonants, can 

 describe very precisely the positions which the lijDS, tongue, and palate 

 take in articulation. Yet almost identical sounds can be produced with dif- 

 ferent positions. As we all know, the teeth are a great help to pronuncia- 

 tion, but a person who has lost all his teeth can modify the play of the lips 

 and tongue and express himself intelligibly. Actors imitate the voice of 

 public characters so as to make the illusion complete. The ventriloquist 

 can make his voice issue as if from a cavern. AVhen misfortune has de- 

 prived a man of the whole or part of his tongue, he can still hold a conver- 

 sation, though the sounds are never particularly agreeable. All this shows 

 that there is nothing absolute in the actions which form words, though in 

 general the same organs play similar parts. Those who were born deaf 

 have ceased to be dumb by interpreting the movements of the mouth with 

 wonderful certainty ; they guess the words of the speaker instead of hear- 

 ing them, and so learn to speak by imitation, their speaking, however, be- 

 ing seldom well modulated. There are now several institutions where the 

 poor creatures who have been deprived of one of their senses can acquire a 

 means of communicating with their companions without the tedious inter- 

 vention of writing. The master indicates to the child how he must open 

 his mouth, place his tongue and lips ; he then draws the pupil's hand over 

 his own larynx, so that he may feel the movement. Those who, like the 

 w^riter, have seen this reading from the lips, will be struck with the sur- 

 prising delicacy of the impression made on the eye which has been thus 

 ■cultivated. 



