The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1892-08-14
THE RISE AND FAIL OF voIoE
Once No Living Tbiag Had One. and the
Same VIII he True Again.

FROM the San Ndnci.co Chronicle.
There was time in the history OF the 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 primeval forests. or OF
the waves dashing on shores absolutely si-
lent and dead. The animals Of those geo.
celing the development OF the, osssous struct.
nre that now gives form and comeliness to
ss%s The 'oaS TsT' H'' esns
reputation. Ages. it should rather be
I'll" 5sS.s the in hs
throat essential to the tai ing Of food proauSea
seems that frovIdencs as san matter Of supreme
nea pessbs the the
which is placed "p at the eS sides. This i Is one q
the very few exceptions to the rule which APP
2e upper H the throat was an
advanced state Of development the act OF res
S at nss e..
sases are oSstrcted BY bad cold instinct
could be Increased by forcing Slightly the In.
spoH or Of the breath b.
iSt ,ss Is" the 70 3.
hSs hS s hs vo Gn'
early stages q devslopment The sounds q
the voice Of the human being are Ike those
the result OF a vibration OF chords. and
are grave Or acute according to the size q
that the first sounds made by animals were
low down in the musical scale. but as the
sod r.
to inspir ire terror. thoy would naturally. In the
moso Of spsf' hgh Of sbs
become, what we now cali head tones
living on fSo and the Voice III o, thoss
whose habits to be .mnhib9SHs
Voices q animals dsterm nS part tH By ehes
they The psse
81 The lslne rae SnT in forests cHtivatsd
Wild state PROBABLY confined himself to o. tie tie
tity only by barking. Since his domestica.
ton, having ACQUIRED sort Of human senti.
to express fe.ngs that are but imperfectly
UNDERSTOOD; The cat initiates the high so
Pna heaa having s anv long nsss
in his neishng most Of r. the oH Modern ten.
o,rs. The animals Of the, bovine tribe pro-
and exceedingly pnnatural notes. 4 great
the birds. from the shril scream OF those OF q
ra 1h kind down to the parrots. kmong
the Ths snene bpds
l linsry ilexiGl!t}y q Soise and psrteStion q
very remote period Of the worlds history.' o.
Man inherited from his immediate anoe.-
cradle altitude. in which tho lower: tones were
almost unknown. The monkeys chartered to
tones tho natural vocal expression Of IA a weak
s shs hea bs In whose hsn
place. The upper notes OF the roRistsr
were CHARACTERISTIC OF the, first men. as
they IS sti n IRE Of savage tribes and peoples
society, whose voices have never been sub
1sste to dissiplne The voices Of country
aud conversation. at long range are. II not
keyed higher, oftener used in, the upper
oed city wnG to
contained he uses the middle and lower tones
the Hea Gsner sex Sond
oftener bear in mind thu, eulogies Of Shake
which is an excellcn. thing in woman they
would more rarely have occasion to wonder
music OF the Chinese. Japanese. and OF all
wild tribes is keyed high and sung usually in
drums. tomtoms. or some other instruments
Of the kind. Although their songs are far
from Agreeable to tho ear they still think they
tessed. by a considerable number Of persons
In the most refined modern society.
These facts and suggestions contain proba-
bly, the reason for the belief expressed by Q
French writer that the human voice Is grad
unlly descending the scale. High tenors and
sky,scrnpinG sopranos are more and moro
difficult to find. a great misfortune In these
times when the Wagner operas demand such
extraordinary vocal efforts. Tho Chronicle has
already endeayored tn expla in tho awful con-
q ths theory SHred to Its loscf
gradually become .contraltos: the contraI-
tos tenorS. regardless Of sex: the tonors
bGTitoneS. and the baritones bussos Il
would be well il the misfortune ended here.
but this is by no means all. Whom the whole
human race is only able to speak In bass tones
there will continne to he depression OF tho
higher Of these. until one single dead level is
reached. above W Itch the voice will be unable
t. rise. To this unfortunate voice music in all
Its forms will long have been impossible For
2 while conversation. whose Rhostly 500
lcmnity can only be imagined. will be carried
on. and then the vocal organs will cease
entirely to exist