The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1892-09-29
VOICE OF ANIMALS.
THE SLOW RISE AND FUTURE FALL
OF THE HUMAN SPEECH.


world when even the animals had no voice,
There were no sounds or noises then but
those made by the winds whistling about
mountain tops and bowling through prim-
eval forests, or of the waves dashing on
shores absolutely silent and dead. The an
imals of those geological epochs, being in
the plastic state preceding the develop
ment of the osseous structure that now
gives form and comeliness to the human
body, were just beginning to breathe the
external air with a gentle respiration.
Ages, it should rather be said epochs, were
passed in this manner, in the course of
which the habit of respiration developed
the lungs. Then the use of the throat es-
sential to the taking of food produced
those organs necessary to speech, which
are called the pharynx, CLOTHS and larynx.
1t seems that Providence, as matter of
supreme convenience, made the same pas
sage serve for eating, speaking and breath
ing, 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 inarticulate sounds, at first re-
sembling 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 eXpira-
ton of the breath, or by contracting the
muscles of the throat and so emitting the
voice in Il rapid succession of indefinite
sounds. We have the right tosuppose that
the yelping of sea lions represents very
nearly the human voice in it's early stages
of development The sounds of the voice
of the human being are, like those of all
animals and all instruments, the result of
q vibration of chords, and are grave or
acute according to the size of these chords
This change was more rapid in animals
living on the land, the voice of those whose
habits continued to be amphibious remain
ing much the same. There came in the
course of time to be 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 the higher tones. The
lion adapted his voice to the vast desert
spaces where he roamed and gained a
scanty subsistence. The dog in his wild
state probably confined himself to the
lower notes of the scale and expressed his
hostility only by barking. Since his do
mestication, having acquired sort of hui
man sentiment, he yelps and whines in the
higher tones to express feelings that are
but imperfectly understood. The cat imi
tates the high sopranos. The horse, having
long neck and head nearly as long, i'm
itates in his neighing most of the modern
tenors.
The animals of the bovine tribe produce
the voice from low down in the throat,
only occasionally venturing on certain
higher and exceedingly unnatural notes.
A great variety of tone and compass is
found among the birds, from the shrill
scream of those of ravenous kind down
tN the pGrro(s, among which are found the
h':Ssus, bN"itones and contraltos of the
rice. The singing birds combine the high
AID low tones with extraordinary fexi-
biity of voice and perfection of vocalism
aS which they arrived probably at very
remote period of the worlds history.
Man inheriUed from his immediate an
crstorf, the apes and monkeys, voice of
considerable altitude, in which the lower
lUneS were almost unknown. The mon
keys cnNttered to their fellows from tree
to tree in sLllil head tones, the natural
vocal expression of a weak and timid race,
IN whCse physical formation the head had
begun to hold an important place. The
upper notes Of The register were character
istic 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 subjected to
discipline.
The music of the Chinese, Japanese and
of all wild tribes is keyed high and sung
usually in falsetto, the lower notes being
obtained 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, it must be confessed, by con-
siderable number of persons in the most
refined modern society.
These facts and suggestions contain
probably the reason for the belief ex-
pressed bya French writer that the human
voice is gradually descending the scale.
High tenors and sky scraping sopranos are
more and more difficult to find, great
misfortune in these times when the Wag-
ner operas demand such extraordinary
vocal efforts. The Chronicle has already
endeavored to explain the awful conse-
quences of this theory carried to it's logical
results. 1t has shown how the sopranos
will gradually become contraltos; the con-
traltos tenors, regardless of sex; the tenors
baritones, and the baritones bassos. 1t
would be well if the misfortune ended
here, but this is by no means ALL When
the whole human race is only able to speak
in bass tones there will continue to be
depression 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
forms will long have been impossible. For
awhile a conversation, whose ghostly
solemnity can only be imagined, will be
carried on, and then the vocal organs will
cease entirely to exist.-San francisco
Chronicle.
Couldn't Very Well.