The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-08-21

/
| duced those organs necessary to speech,
! which are called the pharynX, CLOTHS and
| larynx. It seems that providence, as a
! matter OF supreme convenience, made the
same passage serve for eating, speaking and
breathing although another arrangement
was possible. like the respiratory apparatus
Of the grasshopper, which is placed at the
sides. This is one of the very few excep-
tions to the rule which applies in common
| to man and most animals.
When the upper part of the throat was in
an advanced state of development the act
Of respiration began to be accompanied by
certain inartculate sounds, at first re-
sembltng the rough breathing OF person
whose air passages are obstructed by bad
cold. Instinct soon taught the animal that
these noises could be increased by forcing
slightly the inspiration or expiration OF the
breath, or by contracting the muscles OF
the throat and so emitting the voice IN
rapid succession of indefinite sounds. we
have the right 10 suppose that the yelplng
OF sea lions represents very nearly the hu-
man voice 10 its early stages OF develop
ment. The sounds of the voice OF the
human being are, like those OF all
animals and Of all instruments, the
result of q vibration OF chords, and
are grave or acute according 10 the size OF
these chords. There is little reason 70 doubt
that the first sounds made by animals we're
| low down in the musical scale, but as the
voice, guided by instinct, was more and
more used, either for the purpose OF amuse-
ment or to inspire terror, they would natur-
| ally, in the case Of many species in which
there was a more pronounced development
of the Uranium, be made more in the head
toneA This change was more rapid in AMI
mails living on the land, the voice or those
whose habits continued to be amphlolous
remaining much the same. There came in the
nf fiD1s tO he a great variety IN the
voices of animals, determined partly by
their size but generally by the circum-
| stances IN which they were placed. The
| different species Of the feline race living in
forests cultivated tine higher tones. The
| lion adapted his voice to the vast desert
spaces where he roamed and gained a
scanty subsistence. Tho dog 10 his wild
state probably confined himself to the lower
notes OF the scale and expressed his hostility
only by barking. Since his domestication,
having acquired a sort of human sen tIment,
he yelps and whines in the higher tones to
express feelings that are but imperfectly
understood The cat initiates the high
sopranos. The horse, having long neck
and head nearly as long, initiates
in his neighing most of the modern ten
ors. The animals of the bovine tribe pros
duce the voice from low down in the throat,
only occasionally venturing on certain
higher aud exceedingly unnatural notes.
A great variety of tone and compass is
found among the birds, from the shrill
scream of those Of q ravenous kind down TO
the parrots, among which are found the
bassos. barry tones and contraltos Of the race.
The singing birds combine the high and
low tones with extraordinary tlexlbility OF
voice and a perfection Of vocalsm at which
| they arrived probably at a very remote
period of the worlds history.
Man inherited from hts immediate ances-
| tors the apes and monkeys, a voice of con-
siderable altitude, In which the lower tones
we're almost unknown. Tue monkeys chat
tered to their fellows from tree to tree in
shrill head tones, the natural vocal expires
| sion Of a weak and timtd race, in whose
physical formation the head had begun to
hold an important place. The upper notes Of
the register were characteristic of the first
men, as they still are of savage tribes and
peoples, and of the half civilized
members Of modern society, whose
voices have never been sub
| iected to discipline. The voices of country
people accustomed to magnificent distances
and conversation at long range are, IL not
| keyed higher, ottener used in the upper
| ranges than those OF city people. who feel
obliged by the necessities of good breeding
| to moderate their tones. When a man is
self-oontained he uses the middle and lower
tones of his voice; when angry the voice
| mounts gradually TO the head. II the
gentler sex would oftener bear in mind the
sulogies of Shakespeare and Scott Of that
voice gentle and low which is an
excellent thing I'm woman they
would more rarely have occasion to wonder
| why they have ceased to be attractive =.
: The music Of the Chinese, Japanese, and OF
all wild tribes is keyed high aud sung usu-
| ally in falsetto, the lower notes being OBJ
tanned by drums, tomtoms, or some other
instruments of the kind. Although their
songs are far from agreeable to the ear
they still think they can sing, an illusion
shared, il must be confessed, by a consider
able number Of persons in the most refined
modern society.
These facts and suggestions contain prob
ably the reason for the belief expressed by
g French writer that the human voice Ii
gradually descending the scale High tenori
and sky-scrAplng sopranos are more ans
more difficult to find, great misfortune il
these times when the Wagner operas de.
mand such extraordinary vocal efforts. The
Chronicle has already endeavored to ex'
plain the awful consequences of this theory
carried to its logical results. 1t has shown
how the sopranos will gradually become
contrAtos; the contraltos tenors
regardless of sex; the tenori
barytones, and the barytenes bassos Il
would be we'll IL the misfortune ended here
but this Is by no means all. When the
whole human race Ia only able TO speak In
bass tones there will continue to be 8 de.
preston Of the higher of these, until one
single dead level Is reached, above which
the voice will be unable to rise To this
unfortunate voice music in all its form:
will long have been impossible. For a while
aconversation, whose ghostly solemnity ca
only be imagined, will be carried on, and
then the vocal organs will cease entirely &c
exist.
n