The natural speaking notes of a man's voice vary considerably in different places and in different circumstances. A certain accomplished cathedral singer who has studied this question puts the average pitch of preachers' voices at about F sharp in the bass clef. He has heard preachers ascend to top tenor G and A, descending to C (above the bass clef), improbable though it sounds. Others he has observed speaking effectively from B to F (bass clef), with F as the top tone. He himself, with an exceptionally deep voice, has in speaking an average pitch of low G, with inflections upwards to F and downwards to C below the clef. One acknowledged authority gives the ordinary range of the speaking voice of a man as the notes comprised in the bass clef, _i.e._, G to A, B flat to F sharp above the clef being occasionally used. Another authority points out that a good tone is desired for singing within two octaves, whereas, in speaking, an audible tone is desired at pitches generally within one-fifth, and only occasionally extending to an octave. Still another authority says that the part of a bass voice most often brought into requisition will consist of the notes D, E, F, G, and in the case of a tenor voice of G, A, B, C, the dominant note for the bass being E or F, and for the tenor A or B. At the same time it is admitted by one of those authorities that great actors have used with best effect their lowest notes, _i.e._, extending upward from C below the bass clef. Of course, the declamation of the actor as well as that of the clergyman is more favourable to a sustained and singing quality of tone than ordinary speech. The same is true to a certain extent in the case of Parliamentary speaking. In the House of Commons there is a good deal of uniformity in the pitch, which is lower than might be expected. The pitch of three-quarters of the speaking tones heard in the House is within one-third, viz., C to E, and the note most frequently used is D. Descents to A and G, and even lower, are frequent, but seldom do voices rise above the top A of the clef. The acoustic properties of the chamber and perhaps the element of imitation, which, after all, is the genesis of speech itself, may account partly for the prevailing similarity in pitch. A voice often appears to be jumping a scale when in reality it is sticking to one or two dominant notes. Pronounced accentuation gives the appearance of inflection, and by some people the former is regarded as the more important consideration. The singing voice in a monotone song or a recitative exemplifies the value of emphasis as distinct from modulation. [Music: T. P. O'Connor] [Music: W. O'Brien] [Music: J. M. Healy]