n the female organ there are clearly
to be distinguished three registers--a low, a medium, and a high." (From
Dr. Merkel's definitions on pp. 148, 149, and 152, it will be seen that
low, medium, and high, are but other names here employed for Thick,
Thin, and Small.) Dr. Merkel, speaking of the chest (thick) register,
goes on to observe, on p. 148, "It ceases, very curiously, in both sexes
on one of the first four tones of the one-lined octave (der
ein-gestrichenen Octave) [Illustration: musical notation] so that it is
about one octave longer [deeper] in man than in woman."

Let it be observed above all things that I am not propounding a theory,
but explaining a fact; a fact, moreover, which I have before now
demonstrated to men holding opposite opinions, thereby convincing them,
and which I am willing at any moment to demonstrate again. A very
striking proof that the distribution of the registers is in accordance
with my explanations may be further found in the circumstance that it is
often impossible to distinguish a male voice from a female when (other
things such as power and quality being equal) both sing in the same
registers. The similarity is, of course, greatest between tenor and
contralto, and in case of a trial they must confine themselves to the
compass easily belonging to both; neither should the singers be seen by
the listeners. I have frequently by these experiments convinced
sceptics; and it has happened more than once when the female voice was
slightly more robust than the male, that, to the great amusement of
those present, the judges emphatically and without the slightest
hesitation pronounced the lady to be the tenor and the gentleman the
contralto.

* * * * *

We have so far only spoken of three registers, the Thick, below
[Illustration: musical notation]; the Thin, between [Illustration: Music
and]; and the Small, above [Illustration: musical notation]. The
distinguishing features of these are so very clear as to make any
mistake impossible. But now we come to sub-divisions, and with regard to
these the matter is not so simple. Singers know very well that other
breaks occur in the human voice besides those hitherto mentioned, and
the question arises how they are to be accounted for by corresponding
changes in the vocal organ. The evidence furnished on this point by the
laryngoscope is, in my opinion, not sufficient, because the alterations
in the vocal ligaments ar