Litchfield, who has long attended to the subject of music, has been so kind as to give me the following remarks: -- "The question, what is the "essence of musical 'expression' involves a number "of obscure points, which, so far as I am aware, are as "yet unsolved enigmas. Up to a certain point, however, any law which is found to hold as to the expression of the emotions by simple sounds must apply to "the more developed mode of expression in song, which "may be taken as the primary type of all music. A "great part of the emotional effect of a song depends "on the character of the action by which the sounds "are produced. In songs, for instance, which express "great vehemence of passion, the effect often chiefly "depends on the forcible utterance of some one or two "characteristic passages which demand great exertion "of vocal force; and it will be frequently noticed that "a song of this character fails of its proper effect when "sung by a voice of sufficient power and range to give "the characteristic passages without much exertion. "This is, no doubt, the secret of the loss of effect so 8 Quoted by Gratiolet, 'De la Physionomie,' 1865, p. 115. [page] 95 "often produced by the transposition of a song from "one key to another. The effect is thus seen to depend "not merely on the actual sounds, but also in part on "the nature of the action which produces the sounds. "Indeed