But, you will afk-^if there be feven whole 
notes, and if there be a femitone between 
every two, why does not the fcale confift 
of 14 femitones ? This is a very natural 
queftion. 
The reafon, why there are but five inter- 
mediate notes* is, that, in this natural fcale, 
there are two places which require none ; 
the two noteSi between which thefe inter- 
vals lie, being only half a tone afunder. 
Why it is fo, I know not; but, you may 
immediately convince yourfelf, that it is a 
law in Nature, which your ear compels you 
to obey. Sing eight fucceflive notes, from the 
loweft to the higheft, or the reverfe, like a 
peal of eight bells when they ring round, as 
they call it, and you will, without knowing 
it, make an interval of but half a tone in 
two different places, namely, between the 
3d and 4th, and between the 7th and 8th 
notes of the fcale: thus i 2 34 5 6 
78. But thefe half-intervals are not ab- 
folutely confined to the places where you 
fee them in this example: the ear will bear 
them in the following pofition, i- s ~23 4- 
56 7-8. In this laft feries, you obferve, 
the half tones lie between the 2d and 3d$ 
5th and 6th. Now, if you dot thefe notes 
with 
