especially physiological part, treats of the excitation of the nerve itself, in correspondence

with different sensations; and the third, and more essentially psychological, section
endeavours to lay down the laws by which the ideas of definite external objects, or percepts,
result from these sensations. The physical and mathematical basis of auditory sensation
forms the subject of a later very interesting work, which is, however, intelligible only to
mathematicians, while the physiological factors in audition, along with the psychological and
aesthetic considera- tions, are submitted to a remarkable, and, for the most part, easily
intelligible analysis in the work itself.

Part I, which treats of the composition of vibrations, the theory of over-tones, and that of
timbre or quality of sound, presents, along with Part II, which deals with interference in
harmony, combinational tones and beats, consonance and dissonance, an admirable and
masterly treatise, popular in the best sense, with a penetrating analysis, and an exposition,
illustrated by a wealth of new experiments, of the results already published by Helmholtz in
his separate papers. He gives a precise account of the theory and construction of his
harmonium with naturally just intonation, and shows how the siren of Cagniard-Latour,
perfected by Dove, had now de- veloped into his polyphonic siren. The first two parts of this
unique work accordingly deal with such phenomena as are mechanically determined by the
construction of the ear, and are therefore independent of volition, so that it is possible to
determine the exact laws by which they are governed. Part III, which is eminently original,
magnificently planned, and admirably carried out, deals with the relationship of musical
tones, and with scales and tonality, and enters the region of aesthetics in order to establish
the elementary rules of musical composition.

'The relations between the physiology of audition and the theory of music,' he said on a later
occasion, 'are particularly clear and striking, because the elementary forms of musical
composition depend far more essentially on the nature and individuality of our sensations
than is the case with the other arts, in which the kind of material utilized and the objects to
be represented have a much greater influence.' Starting from the conviction acquired in the
course of his