Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-02-19
The Voices OF Animais.


Aquatic animals are mute. A world
OF radiates, mOlluscs and fishes, there
fore, would be silent Insects are about
the only invertebrates capable of pro.
ducing sounds. Their organs are usu.
ally external, while those Of higher AMI.
mails are internal. Insects of rapid
Night generally make the most noise.
Iu some the noise is produced by friction
(slridulation); in others, by the passage
of air through the spiracles (humming).
The buzzing Of flies and bees is caused
in part by the vibrations of the wings;
but it comes mainly from the spiraces
of the thorax.
Snakes and lizards have no vocal cords,
and eau only hiss. Frogs erosk and
erocoJiles roar by the vibration Of the
glottis. The huge tortoise of the Gala
pegos Islands utters hoarse, believing
noise.
The vocal apparatus in birds is situa'
ted at the lower end Of the trachea
where il divides into the two bronchi
1t consists mainly of long drum with
a cross bone, having vertical membrant
attached to its upper edge, Five pairs
os muscles (in the songsters) adjust the
length of the windpipe 10 the pitch o.
'the CLOTHS. The various notes are pro
duced by differences in the blast Of eir
rs well as by changes in the tension o
E be membrane The range of notes il
c, ,mmonly within an octave. Birds o
th same family have similar voice
All the parrots have a harsh utterance
ge,se and ducks quack; crows, magpie,
ano' jays cav; while the warblers dlffel
ia the quality rather than the kind o
note, Some species possess great com
pass of voice. The bell bird can be heart
nearly three miles; and Livingston sale
he coNld distinguish the voices OF tn,
ostrich and lion only by knowing tina
the former roars by day and the lattel
by night.
The vocal organ Of mammals, unlike
that Of birds, is in the upper part OF tht
laryDx. II consists Of four cartilages
of which the largest (ths thyroid pro
duces the prominence in the human
throat known as Adam apple, and two
elastic bands, called vocal cords, just
below the glOttis or upper opening OIL
the windpipe. The various tones are
determined by the tension Of these cords
which is effected by the raising or lower
ing of the thyroid prominence. The
will cannot influence the contraction Of
the vocalizing muscles except in the
very act OF vocslization.
nNlo vaonI rouuJo ,,rod,onJ L. ..o..
mails may be distinguished into the ordi-
nary voice, the cry and the song. The
second ia the sound made BY brutes.
The whale porpoise, armadillo, ant
eater, porcupine and giraffe are gener-
ally silent. The bats voice is probably
the sbrillest sound audible to human ears.
There is little mobilization in brute utter
ance. The opossum purrs, the sloth and
kangaroo moan, the hog grunts or
squeals the tspir whistles, the stag bel
lows and the elephant gives a hoarse,
trumpet sound from its trunk and deep
groan from its throat. All sheep have a
cultural voice. all the cows low, from
the bison to the musk OK all the horses
and donkeys neigh; all the cats miau,
from the domestic animal to the lion; all
the bears growl and all the canine fam
lily (tox, wolf and dog bark, howl and
whine. The bowling monkeys and 60
rillas have larger cavity Or sac in the
throat for resonance, enabling them to
utter powerful voice; and one Of the
gibbons has the remarkable power OF
emitting complete octave of musical
notes. The human voice, taking the
male and female together, has range
of nearly four octaves. Mans power OF
speech, or the utterance Of articulate
sounds, is due to his intellectual devel-
opment rather than to any structural
difference between him and the apes.
Songis produced by the glottis, speech
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