But the thunder is heard
in the sky, and the murmur of a spring or the song of a cricket
arise from the earth. In the human voice, again, it is said, the
low notes seem to resound in the chest, high notes in the head.
All this is unsatisfactory. We cannot explain by such coarse
analogies an impression which is very precise, and more sensible
(this fact has its importance) for an interval of half a tone
than for an interval of an octave. It is probable that the true
explanation is to be found in the still little understood
connection between the elements of our nervous apparatus.
"Nearly all our emotions tend to produce movement. But education
renders us economical of our acts. Most of these movements are
repressed, especially in the adult and civilized man, as harmful,
dangerous, or merely useless. Some are not completed, others are
reduced to a faint incitation which externally is scarcely
perceptible. Enough remain to constitute all that is expressive
in our gestures, physiognomy, and attitudes. Melodic intervals
possess in a high degree this property of provoking impulses of
movement, which, even when repressed, leave behind internal
sensations and motor images.
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