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ARMY MEDICAL LIBRARY
FOUNDED 1836

WASHINGTON, D.C 
 
 
 
 
VOCAL PHYSIOLOGY.
A PRACTICAL TREATISE.
                 BY

      DOCTOR CHAS. ALEX. GUILMETTE,

Formerly 2'rimo Basso Assoluto of the Imperial Cliapel at Rio de Janeiro of H. I. AT.
      Don Pedro II., Emperor of the Brazils and Rio de Janeiro.
      CONCORD, N. H.:
CHABLB8 C PEARSON.
          1877- 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1877,
              BY CHARLES C. PEARSON,
In the office of the Librarian of Congresa, at Washington. 
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TO  THE  PUBLIC.
  I first conceived the  idea of the publication  of a work on
vocal physiology, in the year 1844, when it was my good for-
tune to meet M. Arnaud, at that time first tenor at the French
Opera, New Orleans, the first person from whom I obtained
thorough practical instruction in lyrical declamation.   As the
result of that instruction,  I  felt myself competent to pursue
the subject unaided, and commenced the  examination of the
most noted writers on vocal physiology.  I read them care-
fully ; rejected such fallacies as I found inconsistent with mod-
ern anatomy and  physiology;  applied what I had  gleaned
from  all sources to myself and others, until I  had  deduced
what I believed to be the  fundamental  principles of the  sub-
ject.
  In  i860, while  delivering  a course of lectures at  Cooper
Institute,  New York, my exercises on respiration attracted
the attention of Rev.  Edward Winthrop,  because  of their
originality ; and at his request permission was given him  to
publish them in  catechismal  form.   Two  thousand copies
were sold within thirty days of the date of publication.
  It was my intention to  have supplemented this work with
the present treatise within a year; but pi'ofessional duties, and
later, impaired  health,  have prevented rapid progress.  Dur-
ing all this time I have pursued these investigations, candidly
385183 
TO THE PUBLIC.
testing my own theory and those of others, desiring to remove
all excrescences and arrive at the simple facts, unalloyed.
  Recently, I have been earnestly requested by friends inter-
ested in the subject, and urged by evident public requirement,
to prepare this work.  It has been written at such intervals of
leisure as I chanced to obtain from arduous professional labor,
and has not been  subjected to that careful  criticism and revi-
sion which such  a  work  imperatively demands.   It was not
given to the press until  late, and  its publication has  neces-
sarily been hurried, in order that it might be  issued before a
certain date.   I am, also,  aware that  foreign idioms crept un-
consciously into the work, which, with more ample  time,
would  have been revised  by the author.  But,  such as it is, I
present it to the  public, bespeaking for  it generous criticism
in these particulars.  Should it meet with favor, I shall en-
deavor, in  future  editions, to make it more complete in many
respects,  and less open to  criticism in purely  technical details.
                         CHARLES A. GU1LMETTE.
  Concord,  N. H.,  January 29, 1877. 
         INTRODUCTION
                   BY THH

REV. EDWARD  WINTHROP, A.M.
   THE  IMPORTANCE OF  THE  RHETORICAL  ART.
   Among  the illustrious  men of Europe who
have  written, during the  nineteenth  cen-
tury, on  the mechanism and diseases of the
human  voice,  are   Colombat   De  L'Isere,
founder of the Orthophonic Institute at Paris,
and  Francois  Bennati,  Physician  of   the
Italian Theatre in that city.*  Each of these

  * Bennati was born at Mantua, in 1788, and died at Paris
on the 10th of March, 1634. See  the Nbuvelle Biographic
Generate. Paris, 1855.  Tome Cinquieme, p. 367, Art. Ben-
nati.
  For biographical sketches  of Colombat Be L'Isere see  the
New American Cyclopaedia, published by D. Appleton & Co., 
4                  INTRODUCTION.

great men  gained a prize for the labor of his
brain, and  each was eminently successful  in
the practice of his profession.  Bennati, him-
self a  vocalist  as  well  as  a physiologist,
restored  the  voice  to its  healthy  functions
in  many  instances  of  aphonia,  and  other
maladies;* and  Colombat De  L'Isere  from
November, 1827, to April,  1840, out of six
hundred  and eighty-three cases of all sorts of
defects of  speech, gave  permanent  relief in
five hundred  and twenty-four.f

New-York,  1859.  Vol. 5, p. 485:  also Pierer's  Universal
Lexikon, (a work in the German language,) Altenburg, 1810.
Vol. 4, p. 171.  Art. Colombat De L'Isere.
  These books containing the notices of Colombat and Bennati,
as above, will be found in the New-York Mercantile Library.
There is another notice of Colombat De L'Isere in the Conver-
mtions-Lexikon (German) Leipsic, 1852.  Vol. 4, p. 296.
  * See Bennati's " Becherches Sur Zes Maladies qui affeclent
les organes de la voix humainey Pp. 59-112. Paris, 1832.
  f See  the tabular statement annexed to the second volume
of Colombat De L'Isere's  great  work: " Traite de tons lea
vices de la parole., et en particulier du hegaiement, ou Becherches 
INTRODUCTION.
5
   In England  there have been various works
 on the  vocal  organs, and their treatment,
 both in health and disease.  It will be  suffi-
 cient  to  enumerate   Gardiner's  Music  of
 Nature,  Vandenhoff's  Elocution,  Bishop  on
 the Impediments of Speech, Urling on Vocal
 Gymnastics, Hunt on Stammering, and  on
 the Philosophy of the Voice, etc., Charles W.
 Smith's  pamphlet on " Reading, Speaking,
 and Action," Dr.  Mackness on " Dysplionia
 Clericorwn"*  and the chapters  on  Clergy-
 men's sore throat, in Dr.  Fen wick  on "the
 causes and prevention of diseases."
   In  our own country we have had Hush, and
 Russell, and Barber, and Bronson, and Corn-
 stock, and  Sargent,  and  Mandeville,  and
 others, in whose works, as in those published
 theoriques et pratiques  sur  IJ Orthophonies  Troisieme
 Edition. Paris, 1840.
  The  author of the above work received from the Royal
Academy of Sciences, a prize of five thousand francs.
  * Clergymen's Difficulty of Voice. 
6
INTRODUCTION.
in England and France, will be found much
valuable information respecting the human
voice.
  But  after all that  has been done, the field
is not  yet  exhausted.   Vocal diseases  seem
of late to have rapidly increased ;  and both
in public  and private life many  are  those
whose  comfort  and  usefulness  have  been
more  or less  impaired by  these  insidious
maladies.
   In the city of  New-York,  Dr.  Charles
Alexander Guilmette has gained an enviable
celebrity, not  only  by his great theoretical
knowledge  of  the  voice,  but  also by  the
application of that knowledge to the develop-
ment of the respiratory and  vocal mechan-
isms.   Second  to none  as  a professional
singer, and  remarkably skillful in  the treat-
ment  of vocal  diseases,  he has  already
succeeded  in awakening,  to  a considerable
extent, the  attention  of the public to  the
physiological cultivation of organic elocution. 
INTRODUCTION.
7
     Having, while an inmate of Dr. Guilmette's
  family  for more  than six months,  enjoyed
  unusual opportunities  for becoming acquaint-
  ed with  his  progressive  method   for  the
  education  of the  human voice, I have here
  attempted, with his sanction,  to unfold  it.
     This  great system has been brought  to the
  test of  actual experiment in  the  training of
  his own voice, and in the advantage received
  by those who have availed themselves of his
  instructions.   It  needs  no recommendation
  from me.   It stands on its own  merits.  The
  diligent student has only to practise faithfully,
  judiciously, and  perseveringly,  the   respira-
  tory and vocal  exercises here set forth, and,
  perhaps to his own surprise and  that  of his
  friends, he will soon have, in the invigoration
"^ of his  health and the improvement  of his
  voice, demonstrative evidence  of its truth.
     I have taken  some  pains to  examine the
  best English, American, and  French writers
  on  the  human  voice,  and I hazard little by 
/
8               INTRODUCTION.
the assertion that there will  not be found in
any  of  them, within the same  compass, as
great an amount of useful, practical inform-
ation, in regard to the scientific training of
the respiratory  and  vocal   organs,  as  Dr.
Guilmette imparts orally to his pupils in that
course of lessons on vocal physiology which
is embodied in the present work.
   And is not the subject one of the very high-
est importance?   The  sad deficiencies  of a
large proportion  even  of  educated  men, in
respect  to vocal culture, is a matter of daily
observation.   The same training, essentially,
is necessary to make a good elocutionist, as
to make  a  good singer; and  yet  years  are
devoted  to music  under the  best  and most
celebrated professors,  while  the occasional
reading  or recitation of a piece of prose or
poetry,  at  school  or  college, is  too often
practically regarded as sufficient to make an
accomplished orator.
   Not so thought  the  great  masters of the 
INTRODUCTION.
9
rhetorical art  at  Athens and  Rome.   Day
after day, and year  after year they devoted
themselves to  its  most assiduous cultivation.
We'learn from Quintilian  a fact  which he
relates  on  the  authority  ofv Cicero,   that
" Cains  Gracchus, in deploring his brother's
death, excited  the tears of the whole  Roman
people."*  In the third  book " de oratore"
Cicero  records the  words of Gracchus,  and
says that such was the effect of his delivery
" in the  eyes, the voice, the  gesture, that his.
enemies  could not  refrain  from  tears"—
41 occulis,  voce, gestu, inimici ut  lacrimas
tenere non possent."f
   When  ^Eschines,  after  his unsuccessful
prosecution,  nominally  of  Ctesiphon,  but
really  of  Demosthenes,  was  banished  to

  * " Eadem [by the same, that is, actione, by action, delivery,~\
C. Gracchum, in  deflenda fratris nece, totius populi Romani
lacrimas concitasse."  Quintiliani Institutionis  Oratoriae Lib.
xi. Cap. iii. § 8.
  f De Oratore Lib. iii. Cap. lvi. § 214. 
10
INTRODUCTION.
Rhodes,  he  read  to  his  pupils  the  great
oration of his eloquent antagonist;  and when
his  audience  expressed   their  unqualified
admiration, what would you have thought of
it, said  he,  had you heard him deliver it
himself ?
  Accordingly, notwithstanding  the  indefati-
gable pains  which the  orators of  antiquity
were  accustomed  to  take with  the subject
matter of  their discourses,  in the  selection
and arrangement both of the topics and  the
words, they regarded deliver/ as of  supreme
and paramount importance.   This was what
they meant by " action;1 when they assigned
to it the first, second, and  third place in elo-
quence.  For, when Cicero,  following  in  the
track  of Demosthenes, took  this view  of  the
subject, he employed the Latin word " actio"
[action] to signify  not  merely  gesture, but
precisely what we mean by " delivery:'   He
says,  in  his  treatise  entitled  "Orator" and
addressed to Marcus Brutus,—" For action is, 
                  INTRODUCTION.                H

as it were, a certain eloquence of the body, since
it consists of voice and motion."—"Est enim
actio (action, that  is, delivery) quasi  corporis
quosdam eloquentia quum constet e voce atque
motu"*   In the third book of his work "de
Oratore" he says—"But  as to the effective-
ness  and  excellence  of  action,  the  voice
doubtless has the chief rank."—" Ad actionis
autem usum  atque  laudem,  maximam sine
dubio  partem VOX obtinet."f   In this he  is
followed by Quintilian, who says—" By most
persons  pronunciation, (that is, delivery)  is
called action"—" pronuntiatio, a  plerisque,
actio  dicitur"—and, after citing the  opinion
of  Cicero,  he  adds—" one may use  either
term indiscriminately" — " utraque  appella-
tione indifferenter uti licet."J
  Thus we see that Demosthenes and Cicero
and Quintilian, all regarded action, or delivery
                                 i
  * M. Tullii Ciceronis ad M. Bruturn Orator. Cap. xvii. § 55.
  f Ciceronis de Oratore Lib. iii. Cap. Ix. § 224.
  I Quintil. Institutionis Orat. Lib. xi. Cap. iii. § 1. 
12               INTRODUCTION.
—including in  this term  the voice, the look,
the gesture, " oculis, voce, gestu,"* in  short,
the complete and perfect transcript of thought
and passion—as the chief constituent of  elo-
quence.  This is, unquestionably, the practi-
cal common sense view which has been un-
consciously taken by the  great mass  of man-
kind in all ages of the world.
   But with all  our  modern  discoveries in
science—our steamboats, our locomotives, our
electric telegraphs, and our chemistry of the
sunbeam—we  are probably (at least, as  it
respects effective public speaking,) far behind
the ancients in the cultivation of the human
voice.  And yet there never was a  finer field
in the world for the successful  employment
of eloquence than in these United States  of
America.   In  the primary assemblies of the
people, in  the halls  of  legislation, in  our
schools, colleges and lyceums, at the bar and
in the pulpit, other  things being equal, elo-
      * Ciceronis de Oratore Lib. iii. Cap. lvi. § 214. 
INTRODUCTION.
13
quence is emphatically the grand road to the
highest honors and the most extensive useful-
ness.
   But alas! how often do we find men of  the
greatest attainments in literature and sci-
ence, either wholly or partially disabled by
vocal disease; for God's government, in  the
physical as well as  in the moral world, is a
government of law, and  he who transgresses
must abide the penalty.
   The clergy—a class of men who occupy the
most useful and the most exalted of all pro-
fessions, who  have a higher office than any
earthly prince or  potentate  can give them,
that of ambassadors for Christ, and  who, in
many respects, are the leaders of public  opin-
ion—are by no means exempt from this defi-
ciency.
   The experience of twenty-three  years in
the ministry of the gospel—during the earlier
part of which, I was a Professor  in  one of
the Theological Seminaries of the  Protestant 
14
INTRODUCTION.
Episcopal Church—and the opportunities for
observation in the East and in the West, at
the  North  and  at  the  South,  have  only
strengthened my convictions that the whole
science of elocution is far from receiving, in
the course of a 'liberal  education, the  high
place to which it is justly entitled.
  Our young  men, after devoting years  of
hard study to Latin  and  Greek, and mathe-
matics, and other branches of polite learning,
complete their preparatory  professional  stu-
dies, and enter on the great  business of their
lives—perhaps  in the public preaching of the
gospel—with little or  no acquaintance with
vocal  physiology; and unless they  have been
previously  trained to  use  their respiratory
and vocal organs in a healthy and  natural
manner, and have strengthened them by this
practical  discipline,  the  amount  of labor
which those organs are required to perform is
ruinous to the mechanism of the human voice.
  The result is, in a multitude  of  cases,  that 
INTRODUCTION.
l.;>
men who  might be exceedingly useful in the
active duties of the ministry—to say nothing
of our temples of science, our courts of. justice,-
and all the arenas of popular debate—break
down prematurely with pharyngitis or  some
other variety of vocal disability,  partial or
total, drop into an  untimely grave, or  lose
years of their valuable lives  in seeking the
restoration of health.
  With the finest  of all themes  on which to
expatiate—the attributes and government of
God and the  corresponding relations of man
—no  class of public readers and speakers
ought to  be  so eloquent as the clergy; and
yet how often  are they justly subject to the
reproach  of the tragedian, that  the minister
of Christ  delivers  truth  as if it were fiction,
while the actor proclaims fiction as if it  were
truth.  The  one preaches  his  audience  to
sleep; the other charms  and electrifies them
by the melody of his intonations, and the in-
tensity with which he identities  himself  with 
 16               INTRODUCTION.
 the  character,  the  circumstances,  and  the
 passion he is representing.
   It  has sometimes been objected  to  the
 study of elocution, that it is  fitted to make
 artificial readers  and   speakers.   As  well
 might one object to the study of navigation,
 as  fitted to  make  artificial  sailors ;  or  of
 music to make artificial singers; or of gram-
 mar and rhetoric  to  make artificial  compo-
 sers.  Nature without  instruction too often/
 degenerates.   We see  this in  the slovenly
 walk and the  stooping  attitude of  those who
 have not been properly trained.  The reverse
 we witness in the erect  carriage and the firm
 step of the disciplined soldier.  Nor must  it
 be inferred from this that the orator is obli-
ged,  during  the  progress of his discourse, to
chain down the soaring energies of his genius,
by reverting  in his mind to the  rules and
technicalities either of  grammar, or rhetoric,
or parliamentary action.  That was a part of
his preliminary  training: it has become in- 
                INTRODUCTION.               17

woven, as  it were, with  the  very texture of
his soul: and, while  pouring forth the flood
of thought  and feeling, he no more stops to
think of  etymology, and syntax, and prosody,
and inflection, and emphasis, and intonation,
than the  accomplished musician, whose  fin-
gers move like lightning over the keys of the
piano, stops to think of his elementary solfege
amid the applauses  of his charmed and de-
lighted hearers.
   The orator, like the musician, has previous-
ly had the requisite  discipline.  He surren-
ders to the thought that is stirring up the in-
nermost  depths of his own  spirit; he  gives
involuntarily  the  practical  embodiment  to
that thought in every look  and  motion; his
voice instinctively assumes  the requisite in-
tonation  and inflection; and, while retaining
his own self-possession and the command of
his audience, he first binds them with a spell,
and then carries them, where he will, by the
irresistible prowess of a cultivated elocution. 
l8               INTRODUCTION.
  It was thus  that Demosthenes, when the
destinies of his country were  trembling in
the balance, waked up  the mighty heart of
the fierce democracy  of Athens, and over-
whelmed his  antagonists by " arguments red
hot with passion."  The vast multitude were
moved, as the forest by  the rushing tornado,
and  with  one  voice they  exclaimed: " Let
us march against Philip."
  But to return to the work now presented to
the public: its  object is to give some useful
hints to all classes of men—and more  especi-
ally to the clergy—as it  regards the develop-
ment and physiological use of the respiratory
and vocal organs.
  Dr. Guilmette's progressive system, for the
scientific education of that  part of the human
mechanism, is founded upon nature;  and the
revelations of  nature are  but  the voice of
God echoing back the declarations   of his
word.
  We  are  told  on  high authority that" the 
                  INTRODUCTION.               1 g
^ blood is the life," (Deut. 12 : 23,) but what is
  it that gives life to the blood ?  The air that
  we breathe ;  and accordingly one of the first
  things  that God did, after creating the  body
  of man, was  to put breath  into it.  In  the
  language of  the sacred oracles:  " The  Lord
f  God  formed  man of the dust of  the ground,
j  and  breathed  into his nostrils the breath of
|  life ; and man  became a living soul."   (Gen.
  2 :7.)
    Now  one  of the  leading principles,  to
  which  great  prominence  is  given  in  Dr.
  Guilmette's  system,  is  that  voice proper  is
  breath  converted into  sound; and that  the
  diaphragm, the principal muscle of respiration,
  is the grand  agent to propel the vocal  pul-
  monic stream.
    Hence, other things being  equal, the  more
 / breath one has, and  the more diaphragmatic
  strength, so much the more power of voice.
    The agency of the diaphragm in respiration
  was  strikingly illustrated at  the Bellevue 
20
INTRODUCTION.
Hospital, in the practice of  an eminent New-
York  physician, Professor  Fordyce  Bark-
er, M.D.
   It was  in the case  of a woman, who died
from  difficulty  of  breathing.  Dr.  Barker,
after careful investigation, had affirmed that
the diaphragm was  completely  blocked  up
against the lungs, and had no space to per-
form  its  appropriate  functions.*   The post
mortem  examination  showed the accuracy of
his diagnosis.
   But  although the diaphragm is the princi-
pal muscle of  respiration, the  abdominal,
dorsal,  pectoral,  and  costal  muscles,  are
auxiliaries;   and  in  the  opinion  of  Dr.
Guilmette,  if  one  of  the  attendants  had
alternately pressed and  relaxed  the ribs of
the patient, there might have been kept in

  * This obstruction to the  diaphragm occurred during the
last stages of gestation, and was caused by extreme distension
of one of the chief organs of the abdominal viscera.
• 
INTRODUCTION.
21
the  body breath enough to prolong  its  life
until relief could  be afforded  by a  surgical
operation.   The physician left the room, for a
moment, to get the requisite instrument;  but
when he returned, the woman was dead.*
   Of the vocal cord theory, which has been so
extensively prevalent, we find the following
important  account in Colombat  De L'Isere's
valuable treatise on the diseases and hygiene
of the organs of the voice.
v  " In 1742 Ferrein decided that the larynx
was  an  instrument with strings,  and com-
pared  it  to a  violin.    This   opinion  made
  * On the 30th of May, 1860,1 addressed a note to Professor
Barker, enclosing the above statement of the case at the Belle-
vue Hospital,  and the next morning received the following
answer, containing his voucher  for the accuracy of that state-
ment, and his kind permission for its publication:
  Dear Sib : I have only time to say that I believe the state-
ment of facts to be correct, and I have no objection to ita
being published. Very truly yours,
                             FoBDYCE BABKEB.
  Rev. Edwabd Winthbop. 
22
INTRODUCTION.
much  noise  at the time,  and   received  an
almost general assent, which it was certainly
very far  from deserving.   This  learned  man
compared  the ligaments of the  glottis to the
strings of a violin, and gave  them the name
of  vocal  cords.    The   current  of   air  was
the  bow;  the  thyroid  cartilages, the pointa
of support;  the   arytenoid,  the  pegs;  and
finally the  muscles which are   inserted  in
them, the powers  designed to stretch  or relax
the cords."*

  * "En 1742, Ferrein voulut que le larynx fut un instrument
a cordes, et le compara a un violon.  Cette opinion fit aloro
beaucoup de bruit, et recut un assentiment presque general,
qu'elle etait certainement bien  loin  de raeriter.   Ce savant
comparait les ligamens de la glotte aux cordes d'un violon, et
leur donna le nom de cordes vocales.  Le courant  d'air etait
I'archet; les cartilages thyroi'des, les points d'appui; les ary-
thenoi'des, les chevilles; et enfin les muscles qui s'y inserent
les puissances destinees a tendre ou a relacher les cordes."
  Maladies de la voix, par Colombat De L'Isere.  Paris, 1834.
8vo, pp. 50, 51.
  J. F. W. Lane, M.D.,  has translated the greater part of this
work into English. The first edition of his translation, (A.D. 
INTRODUCTION.
23
  With the great  Colombat De L'Isere,  Dr.
Guilmette discards  the  theory  that  voice
proper  is  produced  by the  so-called  vocal
cords.   This  theory may be  disproved  by
actual experiment: for  one may bring into
full play all the vocal muscles, and direct the
pulmonic  stream  with  the  utmost  force
possible against the vocal ligaments, and yet
at the  same  time so entirely suspend  the
voice proper,  that, from the  lowest to  the
highest  intonation, nothing shall be heard
but  a whisper, whether percussive  or pro-
longed.  This, most assuredly, would not be
bo,  if  the larynx  were  an  instrument with
musical  strings,  and the  vocal  ligaments,
when  swept  by  the current of air,  were
analogous to the cords of a violin.
  The theory is also extremely pernicious,
for  it  has a tendency to bring on  physical
1845,) was published by Otis, Broaders & Co.  Boston, 1 vol.
18rao.  The  second edition, (A.D. 1857,) was by Redding &
Co., No. 8 State street, Boston, 18mo. 
24
INTRODUCTION.
i disease by concentrating  the mind on  the
I throat, instead of fixing it on the diaphragm as
\ the grand propelling agent
   According to Dr. Guilmette's philosophy of
 the  voice, the  breath,  rendered  vocal,  is
 expelled from  its reservoirs,  the lungs,  by
 the diaphragm and auxiliary muscles.   It
 then  traverses the  entire  isthmus of  the
 throat, namely, the bronchi and  the trachea,
 and  after  passing the  laryngeal  chamber
 is  accumulated in the concavity of the epi-
 glottis or valve of the  larynx  proper.  This
 pulmonic stream—which, from its  first  point
 of departure, that is, from its very starting-
 point in the lungs, has been  made vocal by
 the mucous membranes  under the influence
 of those nerves from which  they derive their
 mobility and sensibility—is next radiated by
 the epi-glottis  to the  posterior  wall of  the
 pharynx;   proceeds  to the soft  veil  of  the
 palate; and, finally, passes over the entire
 surface of the chamber of the  mouth, and 
INTRODUCTION.
25
 issues through the lips, if the latter be open,
 or if they be closed, the  column is driven
 into the nasal cavities,  till it finds its exit,
 after reverberating, more or less, over every
^ sinus of the face and skull.
    Agreeably to this philosophy, while one is
 speaking  or singing, there should be  com-
 paratively but little muscular  action of the
 throat, no more  than is  absolutely necessary
 for intonation, that is, for  the  production of
 acute or grave sounds ; the trunk should  be
 erect; the shoulders  thrown back; the  neck
 straight and  uncompressed, and if  turned
 either  to  the  right  or left, the  body  also
 should be turned  at  the  same  time, and  in
 the same  direction, so as to  avoid stricture
 of the vocal tube; the anterior wall  of the
 chest should be elevated; the ribs expanded ;
 the lungs well supplied with  air; the upper
 and  lower  jaw sufficiently separated  from
 each other,  in order to  prevent the sound
 from becoming nasal;  the vowels carefully 
  26               INTRODUCTION.

  moulded ; the  consonants  distinctly  articu-
  lated ;  free  play given  to the  diaphragm;
  and the apex of the vocal stream so directed
  as to skim gently over the soft palate, strike
  I with its force  against  the hard  roof of the
  j mouth, and  reverberate  to the very orifice of
  j the lips.
    Thus  we return  to  nature: and the throat
  receives no more injury, in its strictly physio-
  logical  or  healthy use,  than the pipe  of  a
X bellows from a  steady column of air.
    Let these principles  of vocalization be
  thoroughly carried out, and the general  laws
  of  hygiene  at  the  same time  faithfully
  observed, and  we  shall  hear less of  sore
  throats,  inflamed  lungs, diseased  stomachs,
  paralyzed nerves, and disabled voices.  Pub-
  lic speaking will  be an  agreeable exercise to
  those who are  properly  trained,  and  will
  conduce to their vigorous health.
                     EDWARD WINTHROP.
  June 2nd, 1860. 
LECTURE  FIRST.
      RESPIRATION,
             AS PERTAINING TO
VOICE  AND  HEALTH.
                PART FIRST.
  When we consider what  numberless  interests
depend for their promotion  upon the  instrume*-
tality of the human voice, how sacred, how exalted
becomes this  faculty, how important every  truth
that concerns its health and promotion!
  Every one, doubtless, has at some time or other
been  made  sensible  how  much of soul-stirring
power can  be communicated by the tones of the
human voice alone, whether employed in the ser-
vice of speech or of song.  The infant  readily ap-
propriates the  animus of the tone, ere it can  com-
prehend the  meaning of the words uttered by the
mother.  The  lower  animals may be repulsed, or
won, or otherwise governed, by an adroit modifica- 
2                 RESPIRATION.
tion of the tones of the voice.   And if we ascend,*
and borrow from the sanctuary of reciprocal human
affection, we can appeal to the experience of many
to bear witness that it is not so much in the words,
however intense their meaning, as in the tone in>
which they are conveyed, that the heart's utterings
are truthfully  recognized.  How important, then,
that an instrument, capable of being the eloquent ex-
ponent of our deepest and  most uncommunicable
emotions,  should be understood by us, in all  that
relates to its formation and health, even to its most
refined and skillful culture.   That the acquirement
of such knowledge is a moral duty, would seem.
evident from the fact that the  Creator has so inti-
mately connected the mechanism of the voice with
the most vital  portions of our animal structure, as
even to render pleasurable existence, in a measure,
dependent upon the degree  of protection  we afford
this distinguishing faculty.
  It had been equally easy with Him, the All-wise,
to  have  produced  this wonderful  phenomenon,
the human voice, by some  peculiar motion of our
external members—of our arms, our ears, or our
fingers—that so we might  have escaped the  mor-
tal  penalty that now  attends an undue neglect or 
RESPIRATION.
3
abuse  of our vocal  organs.  In  constituting  the
most  vital functions  its producers, we may rec-
ognize the teaching,  that the human voice—thus.
proceeding from the very seat of life—is designed
to be life-giving in its  exercise, and that it is to
cease from its beneficent office only with life itself t
   The  plan  of the  present  address  will be to
show,—
   ist.   The  urgent necessity now existing  of a
more accurate and  practical acquaintance with the
philosophy of  the  voice, and  of vocal  hygiene;
and,—
   2d.   To expose  some important popular errors
regarding these two points.

   With such an array of living  evidences of the-
first proposition as surround us, I have  but tc*
appeal  to  observation  in its support.  Even the
pulpits of our cities and larger towns, where the
science of vocal  physiology  should be  best un-
derstood, contribute  more   than their  share of
testimony  to the  alarming  ignorance that pre-
vails  concerning this most important  subject.  If
—as is the  fact—the voice,  like the muscles of
the  limbs, accumulates strength  and capacity by 
q.                RESPIRATION.
 repeated  rightful  exercises, why  is it  that among
 the clergy, who enjoy such  enlarged facilities  for
this exercise, so many,  especially of the younger
 members, are vocally considered, according to St.
■Paul,  "in speech contemptible,"—and, as a matter
of course, in  health puny?   Why do  so  many
totally break down under what is termed the "la-
bor"  of  their public ministrations; that "labor"
 which, if rightfully  performed, would rather  be
a luxury to  them,  and, withal, recuperative  in
 its reaction?  Many errors in  their individual mode
of life, affecting the  health of the vocal apparatus,
 might be recited, as  lending a probable secondary
 agency in bringing about these results; but I pre-
 fer to  answer the question by eiting the great radi-
cal first  cause, namely, that it is because there are
 no " Professors of Vocal Physiology" connected
 with the  educational institutions of  our country.
There are no  truly philosophic  and well-digested
treatises  upon  the natural mechanism and govern-
ing laws  of the vocal organism extant, or adapted
;as hand-books  for the general student.  True, there
 arc Professors  of Elocution, competent to show us
 how,  in  uttering any given  sentiment,  the  voice
 may be  best  invested.   But elocutionary  skill 
RESPIRATION.
5:
 alone does not supply the want in question; for, if
 we have no voice to invest, this department of art
 but serves to render our vocal deficiencies the more
 apparent.  We  have  also,  for  musical  students,.
 books that are termed "Vocal Instructors;" but as
 these are founded mainly upon traditional precepts,
 and upon  an imitative process, rather than upon
 any well-defined physiological or anatomical knowl-
 edge, the benefits to be derived from them are con-
 fined principally  to such  as possess  naturally well—
 developed  voices.  It  is to be presumed that most.
 theological students  acquire,  in  the course  of
 their primary education, a tolerable knowledge of
 animal physiology;  yet it is a part of my purpose
 to  demonstrate  that even  this  may consist with
 misapprehension, amounting, in some  instances, to-
 fatal  ignorance of the laws that govern  the vocal;.
 phenomena.   This I hope to render apparent when.
 treating of the second proposition of this address.
   In final reference to  the vocal disabilities of cler-
 gymen, I would   remark that  whatever may  be
 their presumed or assumed  knowledge of the sub-
ject, the fact yet  remains to be  accounted for, that
 so  many of them continue to  be  afflicted with. 
<5
RESPIRATION.
weakness of the vocal organs, sore throat, general
debility, and partial or total loss of voice.
  A glance among other public speakers discovers
the same endemic also strangely prevailing.  How
many  learned  men  there  are at the present day,
who, by their eminent virtues and natural and ac-
quired attainments, are peculiarly fitted  to become
leaders of public opinion,  and "stirrers up  of the
people," on  public occasions, to  wise  policy  and
noble deeds, yet for lack of "sufficient voice to fill
the house,"  or "the space," are compelled, on such
occasions, to reserve their influence for the benefit
of a limited circle.  I have myself repeatedly wit-
nessed the painful efforts of some such  gentlemen
at important public meetings; and I have observed,
on these occasions, that the mass of the people were
disposed to be governed by the sentiments of him
who  possessed the strongest and most  melodious
voice,  and  who spoke, consequently, with most
^ase and efficiency.  It is  natural to mankind, es-
pecially the  more unreflecting portion of  them, to
be more easily swayed by popular eloquence than
by sound reasoning.  Now, if much that passes for
-eloquence at the present day could be chemically
.analyzed, I  venture to affirm  that four fifths of  its 
                  RESPIRATION.                7
constituents  would  be found to be pure, strong,
flexible, vocal sound.
   But we are not dependent  alone  upon the ranks
of public speakers  for evidence  of the ignorance
that generally prevails regarding the  laws of the
health of the voice.  We have but to enquire  of
our next-door neighbor, and, if not himself a victim
to vocal disability, he will cite some person in the
immediate circle of his friends who  belongs to that
class of sufferers;  and  he  will probably relate
a  marvellous circumstance  connected  with   this
friend's case, to  the effect that even  after a doctor
had burnt up  the mucous  lining of  his throat with
nitrate of silver, and had taken out both tonsils and
a  portion of his uvula, he  still complained of not
being whole and  vocally  sound!   Ungrateful pa-
tient!   We verily believe that were  he crippled by
"swelled joints," and we  should  kindly undertake
his cure by cutting off both  his legs, and perhaps
an arm or two, he would, even after such thorough
extirpation of his complaint, continue to  imagine
himself crippled—so obtuse are some people!
   Indeed, there  is hardly occasion for searching for
such cases:  they present themselves spontaneously
on every side.   I think  I  may safely assert,  that 
8
RESPIRATION.
few  are  to be  found who cannot recall  to  mind
some individual acquaintance who  has been inca-
pacitated for many important duties by reason  of
some disease of the throat or lungs, that is gradu-
ally destroying  his vital energies, and is rendering
his life more and more a weariness and a burden.
  I have frequently heard  the universality  of throat
and lung diseases in this country charged upon the
climate—"its constant and extreme changes," &c.
For my own part, I consider this charge an  igno-
rant and most ungrateful  libel upon as fine and in-
vigorating an atmosphere as  Divine Beneficence
has anywhere prepared for the sustenance of man.
Where upon the globe will  you find, physically
speaking, a more magnificent and  robust  race  of
men than were the North American  Indians  in '
their  palmy days?   No;—let  us  not sin against
physical  law, and  charge  our delinquencies  upon
God's providence!  He has created the sun to vital-
ize all things.   Let not him who, through his own
indiscretions, has weakened his eyes, curse God's
glorious  sunlight because  it is the occasion to him
of visual pain!
  It is rather to our  inversion of certain  physical
laws, or, more radically speaking, to our ignorance 
RESPIRATION.                 9
of such laws, that the prevalence of these ills is to
be attributed.  And this introduces me to the sec-
ond purpose of my address.
               PART  SECOND.

An expose of certain popular errors  concerning
  the Seat  of Voice,  or Vocal Phonation ;  and
  the laws that govern the Health  of the Voicey
  as well as its development.

  Whatever of  progressive  discovery  has  been
made in other departments of medical science, it is
quite certain, that that of Vocal Pathology remains
unillumed  by  any  well-defined  and established
theory.   I attribute the reserve of medical  author-
ities on this important  subject to an original  mis-
conception  of  the anatomical machinery of  the
voice,  and its proper functioning for  the  produc-
tion of vocal phenomena.   Any error on this point 
IO               RESPIRATION.
will of course generate confusion and uncertainty
in all methods of vocal treatment  or  development.
  It has also been offered in apology for the uncer-
tainty that  shrouds  this question, that " Physicians
are not Vocalists, and Vocal Teachers are not Phy-
sicians."   How much  this divorce of the two arts '
may contribute to a continuance of the evil, it may
not become me, perhaps, to assert; but one thing is
obvious to  the medical student,  and that is, that
there is not an instance on record of any physiol-
ogist having practiced upon himself the full devel-
opment of  the machinery that constitutes  his vocal
instrument;—and yet, it  was not until  after pro-
longed and most thorough experiments of this na-
ture, that the writer was enabled to obtain a de-
monstrative solution of the most  simple questions
regarding Vocal Hygiene.
  In  my  position  as  medical counsel to  several
opera companies, in this country and  in Europe,
I have  been  afforded ample  evidence both  of
the fallacy,  and, also, of the mischievous tendency,
of  many of the  popular notions  regarding vocal
education and treatment, springing from the base-
less sources to which I have  alluded.
  The theory which generally  prevails regarding 
RESPIRATION.
II
the vocal mechanism is, that it is embraced  in  the
lungs  and  the  larynx.   Some, more  observant
and studious,  have  admitted the  diaphragm also
into this co-partnership.   So  that  the  complete
popular idea of the production of the voice is this:
The lungs act  as the bellows, which  are  moved by
the diaphragm, and force the air through the glottis,
or  aperture of the larynx, or upper portion  of  the
windpipe.  The air  striking against the edges of
this aperture,—which  edges, in support of this
theory, have been denominated " vocal  cords,"—
the air, by  thus striking the  edges of the glottife,
-causes those ligamentous "vocal cords" to vibrate,
and hence   the  production  of vocal  tone,—the
gravity or acuteness  of the sound  being governed
by the degree of tension we give to the so-called
" vocal cords."
   Now  this theory  appears  very  plausible, and
even philosophic, until the test of stern experiment
discovers its fallaciousness and  absurdity.   When
we remember  that the conditions  essential  to  the
sonorous vibrations  of a cord  are liberty of mo-
tion,  connection with  a  sonorous body, dryness,
tension, elasticity, arbitrary length, and consistence,
and that  none of these conditions exist  in the  so- 
12
RESPIRATION.
called  " vocal cords,"  we must  characterize this
theory as absurd; but actual experiment has proven
that the highest quality of sound that can be  pro-
duced by thus pressing the  air through the glottis
is a whistling, similar to that produced by the  lips.
To confirm this assertion, I will now  call into ex-
ercise these limited portions of the  vocal machin-
ery,—that is to say, the  lungs, the diaphragm, and
the glottis,—and we shall  see what  character of
sound can be produced  by  their  agency alone.  I
shall give these members the utmost play they are
capable of exercising,—at least, in my person; and
you will perceive  by the  powerful column of air
expired, and by the various intonations it assumes,
that I offer no impediment to the operations  of the
diaphragm and lungs, or to the expansive and con-
tractile  powers assumed  for the  so-called " vocal
cords."   [Experiment.—Here the lecturer  exe-
cuted several popular airs in a whispered tone ;
in other words, voice proper was entirely suspend-
ed.  The philosophy of this phenomenon is, that
the entire vocal and respiratory organs may be
brought into play powerfully ;  and if the mem-
branes of the inner  tubulated vocal parts be not
contracted or tightened, physiologically, on the 
RESPIRATION.
13
principle of a drum-head, we can have no voice
proper.  Hence, the seat of phonation is mucous *
membrane; and what sheepskin is to a drum, so
membrane is to the vocal instrument.]
  You  see  by this experiment that if we had  no
more organ of voice than this theory,—popular
even with medical men,—vouchsafes us, we should
be  in a bad plight.  The evil resulting from this
deep-rooted notion of the philosophy  of  the voice
is manifold  in  its  development, and of fatal ten-
dency;  for, as the organs of the human body can
only be fully, and,  I  may  add, safely expanded by
certain  exercises based on  physiological principles,
or,  in  technical phrase,  upon the natural func-
tioning  of the parts, it follows, that if we attempt
to exact  of these  organs  or  parts, services  in a
manner or character  contrary to  those  which  by
nature they are designed to render, we weaken and
destroy rather than expand these same parts, by
every such false exercise of them.
   To apply this axiom to the  subject in  hand.  A
generally received opinion teaches us that the voice
has its  seat or formative  source  in the larynx, or s
upper  part of  the windpipe.   Consequently, when
we speak or sing, the mind, in its supervisory ac- 
 I4                RESPIRATION.
 tion, associates the effort  with the muscular ener-
. gies of the  throat, and is  therefore  continually
 exacting of  those  muscles what they are  totally
 unfitted by nature to  produce, viz., vocal tune.
 Here,  then, all  unconsciously to us, but none the
 less real nevertheless, is an unnatural action excited
 of one of the most frail and sensitive portions of
 our animal  structure,—parts  which, through their
 mucous tissue or covering, sustain sympathetic re-
 lationship to the immediate organs of life  and to
 the nervous system generally.   Of course, if this
 unnatural  action be oft repeated, long  sustained, or
 intensified  on  any given  occasion, inflammation,
 or rupture, follows  as a consequence.
   The  speaker  or  singer  becomes  sensible  or
 hoarseness and  nervous exhaustion.   Inability  to
 increase the power of his voice or to use it  for any
 length of time, with dryness and soreness  of the
 throat, together  with  what  is  termed  catarrh,
 swelling of  the glands of  the throat, dyspepsia,
 bronchitis, and finally consumption, are all  natural
 consequences of this same and now almost univer-
 sal unnatural action.
    But other evils  spring  from  this ignorance re-
 garding the physiology  of the voice; evils quite.: 
                   RESPIRATION.                I $
as momentous, from the deteriorating influence they
also  exert  upon  general  health  and  longevity.
These  evils consist in a consequent  neglect  of a
proper education  of the respiratory organs;  or, in
common  parlance, the breathing machinery, upon
which the true  theory of the vocal phenomena  is
based.
   Before commenting upon this interesting depart-
ment of my subject, it will be necessary for me to
enumerate  the several organs which careful inves-
tigation has discovered participate  in, and are es-
sential to, the production of the human voice.  The
precise agency which each of these  organs lends in
contributing to the grand result,  constitutes an ap-
propriate and  interesting inquiry to the student in
vocal physiology.   It  will not be expected that I
should enter upon it here.  The organs constituting
and  belonging  to the vocal  instrument are,  the
lungs  the muscles of respiration,  the chest,  the
trachea and bronchi, the larynx, the  pharynx, the
veil  of the palate, the uvula, the tonsils, the epi-
glottis,  the palatine  arch, the nasal  cavities,  the
maxillary sinuses, the tongue, the cheeks, the lips,
and, finally and most important, that delicate tissue
or mucous lining which covers all these organs. 
 l£                RESPIRATION.
  To resume the subject of the respiratory mech-
 anism.  It may  sound strange to your ears when
 I declare that among the  rudimental  sciences  that
 should be taught in every family and school is the
 science of  breathing.  Were but  even the rudi-
 ments of this science more generally understood, a
.multitude of  diseases that are now afflicting and
 disabling  such numbers  of our countrymen  and
 women would eventually  disappear.   Instead of
 the pale faces, the lean  persons, and the husky or
 feeble voices that now greet  us on every side, the
 community would once  more assume  the robust
 forms, the  ruddy complexions, the clear, ringing
 tones of by-gone days—ere the sanction of  cus-
 tom and the seductions  of luxury  had  practically
 subverted the respiratory laws.
  When  we thoroughly  understand  how good
 blood and its  healthy circulation in the body are
 dependent upon the proper respiration of pure  air,
 we shall be more careful  to maintain that respira-
 tion under all circumstances, at any sacrifice of mo-
 mentary ease or  pleasure.  Although,  as we are
 aware, the substance or basis of the blood  is elab-
 orated in the stomach and intestines originally from
 the  food,  yet it  does not seem practically to be 
                  RESPIRATION.               17
borne in mind that it is from the air with which it
is brought in contact in the lungs  that its  fitness /""
and adaptation for the support  of life are derived.
If the blood should  return from the lungs into  the
general circulation in the same  state in which it
entered the lungs,;—that is, if there were no air in
the lungs to come in contact with the blood,—death
would be the consequence. The eminent physician,
Bichat, demonstrated this well-attested fact by an
experiment upon a couple of dogs.   He connected
the jugular vein (the vessel that returns the  blood A"
from the head on  its passage back to the lungs)  of
one dog with  the  carotid artery (the  vessel which
sends the arterial  or perfected blood to  the  brain)
of  another by  means of a tube, and allowed the
venous or unperfected blood to flow into  it.  The
result was, that the dog in whose brain the venous
blood  was  made to circulate  became  insensible,
and would shortly have died.   On allowing the ar-
terial blood again to circulate, the dog was restored.
  In a word, venous  blood is  unfit to sustain  life
because it has lost properties of  nutrition which it
originally acquired from the air.  Hence we find
it on its way back to the lungs  for .re-vitalization
by the air; and hence, if air be excluded from the 
 18               RESPIRATION.
 lungs, as  in  cases of hanging or drowning, death'
 follows. If this exclusion of the air be but partial,—
 as when people suffer their lungs to  become ^con-
 tracted from  neglect of proper culture, or from the
 use of a vitiated  atmosphere,—then death will  be
 lingering, leaving its traces of impoverished blood
 in the pallor  and  blueness of  the skin, in general
 debility, in an ulcerated  throat and  lungs, and  in
 other manifestations of decay.
  As the blood, so to speak, is a magazine of ele-
 ments which are  destined, through the process  of
the secretions, to repair the  continual waste  of
every part of the body, it follows that if there is a
deficiency of any one of these elements of procre-
ation  in the  blood, the repairs of the body cannot
go forward  for want of material.   The  resisting
and recuperative  forces of animal life are  dimin-
ished, and dissolution, more or less speedy, is the
natural  consequence.
  "In 1851,  Dr.  Cartwright, of New Orleans,  in
the presence  of eminent physicians  and  other sci-
entific persons, resuscitated an alligator which had
been  killed  by tying the trachea.  After  an hour,
when neither fire  nor the dissecting knife produced
signs  of pain, Dr. Dowler  laid bare the lungs and 
                  RESPIRATION.               19

the heart.  Then a hole was cut in the trachea, be-
low the ligature, and  a blow-pipe was introduced,
which Professor  Forshey worked  with violence.
At length a  faint quivering of moving blood was
seen in the diaphanous veins of the lungs.   The in-
flation process being continued, the blood next be-
gan to run in streams from the lungs  into the qui-
escent heart.  The heart began first to quiver, then
to  pulsate, and, signs  of  life elsewhere appearing,
the animal began to move; and soon, strong men
could not hold him.   Again they bound him to the
table, and  kept the  trachea tied until life was ap-
parently extinct, when, again  inflating his  lungs,
he so thoroughly revived  that he became danger-
ous, snapping at everything, and breaking his cords.
For the third time the trachea was ligatured.  The
animal expired, and was resuscitated."
   Dr. Ely, of New Orleans, was one  who had op-
posed and written against the theory of "circula-
tion dependent upon respiration "—an all-important
discovery  made  by  the  distinguished  authoress,
Emma Willard.   " In the meantime  his infant son
had  cholera, and expired.   His medical friends
had left him, and crape was tied to the handle of
the front door.  Standing by the side of his lifeless 
20                RESPIRATION.
babe, Dr. Ely said to himself, ' If this theory should
be true, I might yet save my child;' and, profiting
by the example of Dr. Cartwright, in restoring the
dead  alligator, he restored his child to  life.  Re-
mitting his efforts too soon, again the infant ceased
to breathe.  And again,  and yet the third time, the
father restored him—when the resuscitation proved
complete; and months  after, the child was living
and in perfect health.  Dr. Ely then  came prompt-
ly forward, and, like a nobly  honest  man, reported
the case as  convincing  evidence  of  a  truth which
he had  formerly  opposed."—See Theory of Circu-
lation by Respiration.   Synopsis of its Princi-
ples and History.  By Emma Willard.
  Were these and kindred facts regarding the phi-
losophy  of respiration  generally  understood, me-
thinks we could  hardly  expect to find, as we now
do, so many individuals, in  every class of society,
who are utterly reckless of  the  condition of their
respiratory organs,—not only neglecting  all sys-
tematic culture, or expansion of their  respiratory
mechanism, but  even impeding, by preposterous
habits,  what little  of healthy natural  action their
vocal and breathing apparatus may be capable of!
Thus we find clergymen,  and other  professional 
RESPIRATION.
21
gentlemen, pursuing their studies in close, ill-ven-
tilated apartments, and in cramped positions of the
chest; and, instead of resorting to the most natural
method for arresting the destruction that is  being
wrought in  them by these imprudences, we find
them in some instances racking their enfeebled
limbs by a violent use of the " dumb bells," as if
such a process could meet the claims of weakened
lungs and vitiated blood!  The natural aliment of
the lungs is pure  air,  of which they  can hardly
have  enough.   They are capable of gradual en-
largement and expansion; but this expansion can
only be directly wrought by deep,  healthy inspira-
tions  of air, conducted  upon physiological princi-
ples,—a mode of inspiration that differs very ma-
terially from that ordinary operation which we term
" breathing."
  All the mere enlargement of chest which can be
obtained by any muscular stretching can never im-
prove the size or the health of  the  lungs, which,
like the withered kernel within  a sound  nut-shell,
may  be totally  diseased and shrivelled, notwith-
standing this outward appearance of size and vigor.
A  large chest does  not necessarily  imply large
lungs; so that he who  in this  manner attempts to 
22                RESPIRATION.
extract blood from dumb-bells will  find, when fa-
tally too late, the means inadequate to the  end.   I
do not mean to deny that certain benefit may be de-
rived from a judicious use of the dumb-bells, but
only to  assert that mere muscular exercise alone is
incapable of supplying that  specific aid which  a
system, impoverished and  debilitated through neg-
lect of the proper employment of the respiratory
organs, imperatively demands.
   And  if such recklessness regarding the health of
the respiratory organs is exhibited  by those who
are reputedly learned, we must not be surprised to
see ignorance of the subject pervading the  commu-
nity generally.  Thus we find females remaining a
great part of their lives housed, and  a large portion
of each year in heated apartments, seated in low
and stuffed chairs, their chests and lungs restricted
and cramped by the weight of the superincumbent
shoulders, as they sit nearly doubled up over their
needle-work or books..  Can we wonder, after in-
telligently considering such  habits, why it is, that
whereas in England and other countries in  which
' ladies  take vigorous out-door  exercise,—and by
such exercise  I do not mean merely what is dain-
tily termed "fashionable promenades,"—woman is 
RESPIRATION.
23
in her prime at forty; yet in this country, with the
advantages of a superior climate, she wilts and suc-
cumbs almost at the expiration of the teens ?  And
what are the counteractants we employ for the las-
situde and  nervous  irritability experienced  from
thus  obstructing the  full play of the respiratory
mechanism, and depriving our lungs of a sufficien-
cy of fresh air?  A languid stroll down Broadway,
perhaps, if the weather is precisely accommodating;
if not, we wait until evening,  and then we suffer
ourselves to be packed  in  a  close carriage or om-
nibus, and rolled to  a crowded theatre or concert-
room, where the air is  even more vitiated than in
our  own apartments.   Or, it may be, we  extem-
porize  a  ball or a  concert  in  our own drawing-
rooms.   In  either of these latter cases, the poor,
weakened, and, it may be, already diseased lungs,
heart, and other viscera, are subjected to a species
of violent exercise for which they have never been
suitably trained, and which they are  not in a con-
dition to sustain or undergo.
   Another destructive  agency which we daily take
to our embraces, is the  unnatural labor and excite-
ments,  by abstinence  and surfeits, to  which  we
subject our  digestive   organs,  which  organs, it 
24                RESPIRATION.
should be remembered,  are equally dependent  for
their vigor upon proper habits of respiration.  We
eat, or, more  literally speaking,  bolt, our food at
irregular and unseasonable intervals.
  In all these means of physical recreation to which
we  resort, not the slightest  intelligence touching
our needs and  infirmities,  is  apparent.  We  lay
blindly about us for some relief that will satisfy  the
vague cravings of an impoverished animal nature;
and unfortunately, seize only that which is calcula-
ted to promote, rather than diminish, the difficulty.
Is it not evident then, that the public mind requires
to be  systematically enlightened  on  a matter of
such absorbing consequence as this ?
  In citing  the daily habits of a  large  proportion
of the female members of our communities, I  have,
doubtless,  recalled   to  your  minds  similar fatal
habits  practised by multitudes of the  opposite sex,
who are engaged in mercantile  and commercial
pursuits.  Nor  is the evil  restricted even  here.
The poor children,—who from their tender  years
are necessarily  dependent for guidance upon  the
maturer wisdom of  their parents  or teachers—are
crowded together in apartments that in many cases 
                  RESPIRATION.               25

are intolerable, for want of certain cheap appli-
ances to promote suitable ventilation.
  Without discussing the wisdom of a  custom that
taxes the  brain of a child with mental effort,—for'
two  or more consecutive  hours,—unrelieved by
those intervals of active motion  in the open  air,
and which nature teaches us  are  essential at this
period of life to future  physical and mental health,
—I content  myself at  this time by simply noting
the fact, that although the wasted forms, the pallor
and  languor that characterize school  children,—
especially  the   female  portion   of  them,—have
moved our modern philosophy to some  grateful
modifications of the mode and formulas of juvenile
education; yet, the grand cause of these alarming
symptoms remain  undiscovered!   That  cause  I
have  no hesitation in assigning to a lack of suitable
education of the respiratory organs.
   We  all  know that children require to be in-
structed  in  the  proper  use of every bodily  and
intellectual faculty; and is  it not  surprising, that
possible deficiency in the art of breathing should
never enter into the imaginations even  of professed
physiologists?  We require the aid of  art and con-
stant effort to keep us from relapsing into uncouth 
26
RESPIRATION.
bodily habits, which are most under our observa-
tion and control.  Not one in ten of our race can
walk gracefully, until  carefully  instructed.   It is
bnly art and constant effort that keeps us from  talk-
ing through our  noses, druling at our mouths, or
peeping through our uncombed and animative  hair.
   Is it to be expected then, that submitted, as  they
constantly are, to  opposing influences, the respira-
tory organs  will  accomplish their  full vocation
without proper attention on  our  part?   And  cer-
tainly, we  are not likely to bestow such attention
so long as we are kept in ignorance of the organi-
zation  and  true  functioning of  these  complex
organs!
   In the  earlier days, when men and women  car-
ried themselves physically as well as morally up-
right,—when  rugged  exercise  in the  open  air
impelled a freer, deeper and more natural respira-
tion, ere the air of sitting and sleeping apartments
and counting-rooms was deprived of vitality by the
insatiable repacity of anthracite-coal-fires and  red-
hot stoves, and was not filled with an  impalpable,
invisible, yet irritating dust arising therefrom,  nor
the insidious poison from gas-pipe leakage,—when
people went to bed  at reasonable hours  and arose 
                  RESPIRATION.               27
at the same,—before toil  was made a  task, and
amusement a toil,—when they ate regularly, and
at seasonable hours, of wholesome and substantial
food, and regaled themselves in their homes with a
sincere, reverential, loving,  filial  and social inter-
course—then—what  then?   Why,  then people
lived all  their days !—Do not  smile  as  if this
were an impotent conclusion to bring  this example
to.  If you would acknowledge its force, contrast
it with the fruits of present social  life; when peo-
ple die all their days!   You will doubtless obtain
a clearer conception of the importance of this sub-
ject of respiratory education, by considering for a
few moments the offices and operations of some of
the organs which I have named as constituting  the
vocal mechanism.
   The lungs, as you  are aware, are composed of
minute  ramifications of blood-vessels,  air-cells, ]
and  nerves.  They are  suspended, as it were, in j
the chest, by the trachea or windpipe, and are also '
attached to the heart by  the  pulmonary vessels. |
The pulmonary artery carries the  venous blood— i
which we have already proven to  be  unfit to sus-  ■
tain life—from  the heart  through  them, to subject
it to the action of the air  in their cellular struc- 
 28               RESPIRA1JON.
 ture.  After this action  or arterialization has been
 accomplished, the blood is returned to the left  au-
 ricle of the heart, and by that into systemic circu-
 lation.  The air is supplied through the windpipe
 and  the  two  bronchi into which  the windpipe
 branches, and is diffused throughout the lungs by
 minute and innumerable ramifications of the  bron-
 chial tubes.
   The  air acts upon the blood in the lungs through
 a wonderfully thin membrane, which is estimated
 to be not more than from 1-70 to the 12-100 part
 of an inch in thickness!  If we tie up  tightly in  a
 bladder, a  quantity  of  venous  blood,—which is
 dark purple in color,—we s^all find that in a short
 time that portion of the fluid  which is  nearest the
 surface of  the bladder,  has  undergone a  change.
 The air  has passed through  the  bladder and has
' converted the  venous into red  or arterial blood.
 This is precisely the change that is  wrought, only
 instantaneously wrought, by reason of the thinness
 of  the membrane,  and the  ramification of  the
 vessels in the lungs.   Connected with this result is
 another,  equally worthy  of  note.   It is this:  that
j whereas, the air has rendered the blood fit to  sus-
 tain life,  it has by that operation deprived  itself of 
                   RESPIRATION.                 29

 its life giving properties, and is  no longer  fit for
I respiration.
    Fresh supplies of air then, in order  to  the  pro-
 duction of pure  blood, is an essential object  of the
 respiratory apparatus.   It is  estimated that  an pr-
 dinary laboring man consumes between 3 and 4,000 r
 gallons of air per day.  If this quantity is essential
 to  vigorous  life in one instance, it |is  also in all;
 although the lungs  and heart of a coal-heaver are
 much larger and healthier than those  of  a  person
 of sedentary or  inactive habits;  because his  em-
 ployment requires  him to bring  into play  every
 muscle which is capable of  assisting  the respira-
 tory mechanism, he consequently takes in a larger
 quantity of air.   He enjoys vigorous health.
    The  unfortunate sedentary  individual,  on the
 contrary, by a cramped or indolent positioning of
 certain  parts  of the   body,  limits the  respiratory
 mechanism  to a very  contracted and feeble  action,
 barely sufficient for  existence—certainly not cal-
 culated  very greatly to prolong it.   Hence there is
 pressing need  on his  part  that  he should  educate
 his  respiratory  muscles by  proper daily training,/
 until they habitually contribute their  full capacity
 of air to the lungs. 
  30                RESPIRATION.
    The provisions which the  Creator has made  to
  compel, in some degree, the  inflation  of the lungs
  with  air,  are as  simple as  they are marvelous.
  The cavity of the  chest in which the lungs, so  to
 , speak, hang suspended, is, as is  popularly termed,
 ! "air  tight;" in other  words, no  air  is permitted
 I within it.   In the process of  inspiration, or  draw-
  ing in the air, this cavity  is more or less enlarged
  as the laws of inspiration are more or less correctly
  obeyed—by elevating the ribs, which are provided
  with  elastic muscles for  this purpose, and  by de-
~H pressing the diaphragm.  Now, then, as " nature
  abhors a  vacuum,"  this  enlarged cavity must in-
  stantly be filled.  Consequently, if the windpipe  of
  the individual remains open  and unobstructed,  as
  we will suppose by a halter or any other unnatural
  impediment, the air rushes through  it into  the air
  tubes and vesicles of the lungs, and blows them
  up as we' might blow a bladder.
    The air having performed its appropriate  service
  in the lungs, and become unfitted for further  use,
  must be expelled in order to admit a fresh  supply.
  This  important reaction  is accomplished,  first by
  relaxing the tension  of the muscles  by which the
  ribs had been previously raised, and next, at the 
RESPIRATION.
31
  same instant, by contracting  the  muscles of  the
  abdomen;  through   which  contraction  the  dia-
  phragm is pushed upwards, and thus, the  decom-
  posed air in the lungs is expelled.   This counter-
  action is called expiration.
    Ordinary inspiration involves only a slight con-
  traction of the diaphragm and  enlargement  of  the
  chest;  but  healthy  deep inspiration  requires  the
 \ employment of  additional muscles.   The  deeper
 ! the inspiration, the greater is  the  descent  of the
^ heart  as  well  as  the lungs—consequently the
  healthier  is  the  functioning of the heart.  It is
|  proper to remark that the same  affluence of  be-
  nevolence and consummate forethought that  char-
  acterizes all the works of the Creator, is also  pres-
  sent in this important mechanism; for, when respi-
  ration  is  in danger by the arrested play of one
  group of muscles, others are ready to assume their
  action and office immediately.
    One fact  connected with  respiratory motion is
  particularly worthy of note;  that whereas the mo-
  tions of the heart and  intestines  are  entirely in-
  voluntary—hardly producing a  consciousness with-
  in us of their existence—those of  respiration, on
  the  contrary, are  accompanied  by a sensation, if not 
32                RESPIRATION.
also an act of volition.   As  if to remind us  that
this  portion  of the  vital machinery,  which is, in
fact, the mainspring  of the  whole, is  entrusted  tp
our own hands;  in order that  we may  enjoy just as
much of animal life  and vigor as  we  choose;  and
have nobody  to blame  but ourselves, if we do  not
attain to our  full capacity for  happiness, usefulness
and longevity, in this  much-abused  stage  of our
existence.
  I trust that by this  general sketch  of the office
and  operations of the respiratory organs, I have
convinced you of the truth of one of  my principal
propositions: that ignorance  regarding the physi-
ology of the voice  has  led  to  momentous evils
arising from  a consequent neglect of  the  due  cul-
tivation of our respiratory capacity.  Now in order
to apply these remarks to the practical benefit of
my hearers,  allow me to suggest a  few  homely
rules for your daily government.
  When you arise in the morning, throw open the
casement  of your sleeping apartment, and regale
yourself with a glorious repast of the  fresh morn-
ing air.  Sip  it in gradually and quietly, until every
little air vesicle in the  lungs is awakened from  in-
anition  by the  unexpected presence  of the  rare 
                    RESPIRATION.                33
  luxury.  Take your time, and  do not be stingy in
  the number of your doses.   Repeat this life-giving
 j exercise every night before retiring, and  at regular
 j prescribed intervals during the day.
     Avoid, as much  as  posssible, over-heated, con-
  fined, and  impure  atmospheres.  When  you sew,
  or write, or read, let your hands be nearly horizon-
 / tal with your chin, in order to avoid the deadly in-  j
 Hfluences of a  drooping chest.  Ever preserve  an  |
  erect position of the body,—with  the  chest thrown
  forward and the shoulders back,—whether you  sit
  or stand, or even stoop.  Do not  impede the free
  action of the ribs by tight-lacing or dressing.  Use
  systematic exercise, daily, in the  open air.   Read
  some work on  human  physiology and the natural
  functions of the body;  which you may study even-
 f ings, if your eyes are not weak, until half-past ten;
"^ never later, for then you take your lung-bath and
  retire.   Should  you systematically  retire  earlier
  than this, you would not be a loser by such a" habit,
  in any sense.   Nothing exhausts  the  nervous en-
  ergy more  rapidly than  late hours, and  midnight
  excitements.  Be regular in  your meals, at  inter-
A vals not exceeding five hours of  abstinence.  Let
  your food be of the substantial, rather than of the
           3 
34               RESPIRATION.
wishy-washy, whipt-syllabub class.   It should  be
easy for your digestion, and be  taken  warm.
  When you read aloud, or speak, or sing, see that
you  do  not  employ  any  muscular  effort* of the
throat in the exercise, under the mistaken idea that
power of voice, or even voice itself, is produced by
such wear and tear of  those organs.  If you  have
already injured your voice  by this false method, be
careful  how you dose, or how  you maim or  burn
those delicate parts, under the vain expectation that
you  can recover  your  voice  by such  unnatural
processes.
  See that your children are duly instructed in the
proper use of their  respiratory organs.  Let active
play in the open air alternate at short intervals with
their  studies;  and  in  all respects  inculcate  upon
them the same proper rules which you observe for
the maintenance of a vigorous physical life.
  Let these few simple rules  be practiced  upon
daily by ourselves, and by our  children, and we
should  soon hear no more of  dyspepsia, of palpi-
tation of the  heart, of weakness  of the lungs, and
of sore throats; but society, relieved  of the fumes
from  distempered stomachs, and the  dark imagin-
ings,  evil  surmisings,  envyings, broodings,  fore- 
                  RESPIRATION.                35
                                             i
bodings, irritability, and other concomitants of dis-
ordered  nerves and  impoverished  blood, would
wear upon its  unclouded  brow  the  sunshine of
tranquil happiness and an unfeigned sympathy.
  With our present unstrung animal organizations
restored to tune and concert-pitch,  we should be-
come more in  harmony with the  bright, lovely,
and  loving universe of God; the  higher emotions
of our nature, that so oft become chill and torpid
in a low degree of animal vigor, warm under an
excess  of  animal spirits, and flow in streams of
generous sympathy.
  If we would elevate the tone of public morals
in a  community,  we  should  regard  as  a means
adapted to the  end, the promotion  of the physical
health  and comfort of that community.  Christ
prepared the wTay  for the  inculcation of  His divine
precepts, by feeding the multitude and "healing
all  manner of  their diseases."  We  may talk as
we will of the achievements of genius and the ex-
ecutive  force of talents, and, after  all, the fact re-
mains, that those  who have  achieved and accom-
plished the most in their different spheres  of action
in this world, have been those who  have possessed 
/
 36                RESPIRATION.
   1
 the  greatest amount  of  animal vigor, or  physical
 endurance.
   Of what avail, for executive purposes, is genius
 to its enfeebled and emaciated possessor?
   I  confidently  assert, that just in proportion as
 the tide of animal  health ebbs  and flows in an in-
 dividual, does that individual lose or regain the
 full  use of his  intellectual faculties;  so  that we
 utter neither  truism nor pun when we  say, that a
 man in feeble health is not a whole man.   He may
 be  half, or two-thirds, as  the  case may be; but it
 is quite certain that he is  not fully  up to  par value,
 in any sense of the word.
  Vigorous health then predisposes individuals and
 communities to generous action.  It opens up  all
 the fountains  of sympathy;  quickens  the higher
 sensibilities and perceptions,  and  enables men to
 weigh more fairly the claims of  philanthropy, of
justice  and religion.  Sustained by that  flow of
 natural spirits that  arises  from a due observance of
 the laws of health, we experience  less craving for
 artificial stimulus  or childish amusements.  Our
 vigorous intellects  demand something  wherewith
 to exercise their reasoning  faculties.   Thinking
 deeply, patiently, and  logically, upon a given  sub- 
                  RESPIRATION.               37
ject, no longer becomes an irksome duty to be del-
egated to newspaper .writers, or yielded to the first
declaimer who gains access to our  ears.  In the
exercise of free and  independent  thought, we are
emancipated from the meshes of selfish politicians,
and the  doctrines of  false teachers; and we stand
.erect amid the sunlight of God's truth, surveying
the grandeur of our  destiny and the awfulness of
our responsibilities.
   I do not magnify  the  blessed results  of sound
physical health.  They flow from that law of com-
pleteness and benevolence that governs every ope-
ration of the  Divine  will.  Just as surely as ob-
servance of the moral law tends to spiritual happi-
ness  and perfection,  does  the  observance of the
laws  of animal health lead to physical happiness
and perfection; and we have just the same right to
violate the one code as the other—seeing that both
proceed from the same Lawgiver.
   Let us then, as we  venerate the authority of the
Great Parent, henceforth endeavor that  His benev-
olent purposes in our animal organization  shall  be
no longer impeded by criminal ignorance, indo-
lence, or neglect on our part. 
 
LECTURE  SECOND.
                     THE

 Respiratory and Vocal  Mechanisms.


  Voice  is  breath  made  vocal  or phonetic.  In
other words, voice is breath converted into sound.
Therefore,  other things  being  equal, the  more
hreath  one has, the more voice, and  the less
breath, the  less voice.
  The  reservoirs in which the breath is contained
are called the  lungs, and are suspended within the
right and left  cavities of the  thorax, or chest, by
the windpipe, which is bifurcated  inferiorly, its
two branches being named bronchi.
  The substance of  the lungs  is very  soft and
elastic, and  thus they are capable of great dilata-
tion and  compression.
  The air-cells in the entire chambers of the lungs
amount  almost to  the  incredible number of six
hundred  millions,  the aggregate surface of which 
  40   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
^ is equal to about twenty times the exterior surface
  of the human body.
    The number of the air-cells cannot be increased,
  any more than  the  number of the eyes; but  their
^ size  may be very much  increased.   In  most per-
  sons, a vast multitude of these cells remains unde-
  veloped.
    Exercise in the open air is most assuredly bene-
  fical  to  the  lungs, for it expands them; while, on
  the other hand, the  confinement of a  person to his
  bed for three or four days, will shrink them of half
 j their volume.
 I   A person with a very small and contracted  chest
  cannot have large  lungs; for while  the chest re-
  mains thus, the lungs have not room  for their full
  development;  therefore it does not follow that
  every person with  a large  chest can  have  large
  lungs.   The  thorax,  or chest,  is the  respiratory
  chamber or apartment in which the lungs are con-
  tained.  It is the  house in which they live, and
  move, and  have their being.  Now,  an apartment
  may be large, and  yet  its occupants  small.  A
  house  may be  large, while its  tenants are dwarfs
  and pygmies.  Or,  to change the figure, the exte-
  rior  shell of a nut  may  be large, and firm, and. 
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   41
strong, while, at  the same time, the kernel within
is shrunk and withered.   So in regard to the lungs.
  Those  who  rely exclusively on dumb-bells  for
the development  of the lungs will  find themselves
miserably  disappointed.  They may  thus  increase
the circumference of the respiratory chamber, but
if they  would develop  the  lungs to the  utmost,
they  must  breathe artistically  and  system-
atically.
  In a  sitting position, one loses  from  ten to fif-
teen cubic inches  of lung capacity;  in a  recum-
bent supine condition, (that is, lying on one's back,)
from twenty to thirty-five inches;  in  a recumbent
prone position, from forty to fifty inches; and when
the body is doubled  up, as  when  one doubles or
folds  a sheet of  paper, the lungs  loose about one-
half their  capacity.   Erect  position,  therefore,  is
everything  for the  full  and healthy play of the
lungs.
  The reception of pure atmospheric air  into the
lungs vitalizes the blood, and fits it to subserve va-
rious purposes in the animal economy.  The vital-
ity of the  external tissues, however, is dependent,
not immediately and  directly on the  lungs, but on
the air which is  taken up by the capillaries.  No 
  42   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
  matter how large a man's lungs might be, if his
  skin were varnished he would  suffer very much,
  and  soon  die.  If we  were  constituted like  the
  feathered songsters, who  breathe  through every
^ plume, we should have a voice equal to that of fifty
  stentors.
    If you want  to  retain a healthy  voice, never
A keep  the neck tightly and closely covered.  Let
  the air circulate freely around it, in order that the
  skin may become as hard  as  possible; for such is
  the natural effect of exposing  even  delicate tissues
  to the air,  as might be  illustrated by numerous
  cases in surgery.
    The passage through which the air has its in-
  gress and egress is a tube which may be divided into
  three parts.  First, we have the larynx, or human
  whistle;   next, the trachea, of windpipe proper,
  composed chiefly of cartilagenous rings,  situated
  one above the other, and which are incomplete be-
  hind, their ends being connected  by a membrane
  which  forms  the  posterior  part of  that portion
  of the tube; and  thirdly, the two branches  into
  which  the windpipe divides itself from the lower
  extremity, and  which  are called  bronchi,  and
  composed of fine cartilage. 
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   43

  The larynx is attached  at  its upper extremity to
the hyoid bone, and connects itself with the tongue,
and is consequently effected more or less by the
movements of that organ.  The  cartilages proper
of the larynx, as given by anatomists generally, are
four in number: the thyroid, cricoid,  and two ary-
tenoid.  There  are  other minor cartilages termed
corniculated, from  the Latin corniculum, which
means a  little  horn.   The  office of the cornicu-
lated cartilages has not been satisfactorily discussed
or  explained by either ancient or modern physi-
ologists.
   I positively assert, from experience and obser-
vation, that the office of the cornua (horns) situ-
ated upon the upper surface of the hyoid bone, (a
bone which lies at the base of the tongue, and im-
mediately above the walls of the  larynx proper,)
is to serve as a martingale to the contractile func-.'
tioning of the tongue; and that the office of the cor-
nua on the upper surface of the arytenoid cartilages
is to aid and regulate  these same cartilages in the
lengthening,  shortening,  and fixing  of  the thyro-
arytenoid  ligament, or vocal cords.  These cornua
secure the tongue more  strongly to that bone, and
prevents the fibres of the base of the tongue  from 
44   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
too great a contraction laterally, while we are con-
tracting the apex of the tongue for the articulation
of consonants.  Were it not for this  arrangement,
we should incur the danger of closing the laryngeal
orifice  more  than it ought  to be,  and thereby pro-
ducing a constricted sound, as frequently  happens
in  persons of acute  voices, notwithstanding  this
provision of nature, because of their  directing the
mind to the upper part of the larynx,  and contract-
ing it when there is no necessity.  The sound from
this contraction constitutes what is  commonly called
"the throat tone"—coarse in texture.
  The  names  thyroid, cricoid, and arytenoid, are
derived from the Greek language.   The  word thy-
roid signifies  having the  shape  of a shield;  the
word cricoid, having the shape of a ring;  and the
word arytenoid, having the shape of a pitcher, a
ewer,  funnel  or ladle.   These cartilages  of the
larynx  were  evidently thus named from their sup-
posed resemblance to such objects.
  The  thyroid cartilage is situated at  the  anterior
part of the larynx, and is the largest  of all the
cartilages of that organ.  In fact, it  forms almost
the entire  front  wall of the larynx, and that pro- 
       RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   45

 jection  in  the  neck which  is  vulgarly  called
 "Adam's apple."
    The cricoid cartilage is situated at the lower part
 of the larynx.  Being in the  shape of a ring, as its
. name indicates, it is united by its upper edge to the
 inferior borders of the thyroid  and arytenoid carti-
j'lages.  Its lower edge is attached to the first ring
I of the trachea.
    The two  arytenoid   cartilages   are  united by
 their anterior edges to the posterior  borders  of the
 thyroid,  and  are situated  behind the thyroid and
 above the posterior part of the cricoid.
    The larynx is lined  with  a delicate substance
 called the mucous  membrane, the  continuation of
 which is the lining  also of many other vital  organs
 of the human body. ( Vide chapter on the mucous
 membrane.)
    The larynx is moved by certain organs  called
-, the  vocal muscles,  of which it is unnecessary here
 to speak  particularly,  but which  are  described,
 with more or less minuteness, in the leading works
 on anatomy.
    The glottis  is  a small  oblong fissure  situated at
 the upper part of the larynx.  Its superior  and in- 
46    RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.

ferior lips  have been styled the  chorda vocales—
vocal cords.
  The vocal cords proper are the inferior, or lower
ones;  are  more  appropriately  styled  the  thyro-
arytenoid ligaments, and derive their  appellative
from the organs to which they  are attached.  These
ligaments  are  attached  anteriorly to the  thyroid
cartilage, and posteriorly to  the superior edges of
the arytenoid cartilages.
  The superior,, vocal cords  are formed  by a mem-
branous  fold of the larynx,  and of the epi-glottis
on either side of its base.
  This  laryngo-epi-glottidean  fold always  exists,
more or less, when the vocal  organs are in a passive
state;  but  in  persons  whose  voices  have been
thoroughly educated, this membranous  fold, when
the current of air is driven through the larynx with
great  force, becomes a  mere extension  of the epi-
glottis, increasing  its  length.
  The ventricles of the larynx are two  small cavi-
ties, or  chambers, forming recesses, as  it were, in
the opposite walls of the larynx, and  situated  be-
tween the upper and lower vocal cords.
  The office or use  of the  thyro-ary'tenoid lio-a-
ments, or lower vocal cords,  hold the larynx firm- 
      RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   47

ly in whatever position it may assume favorable
to the production of acute or grave sounds.  The
larynx takes the proper position, and  then these
vocal ligaments accommodate  themselves to that
position, and hold the larynx in it.
   The common theory and prevalent opinion in re-
gard to the vocal office of these ligaments, or cords,
has been that  they  give vocality to  the breath—
that is,  convert  it into  sound.  These ligaments
were supposed to perform the office of musical
strings, like the cords  of a  violin;  and  certain
muscles  were regarded  as the tuning power  by
which they were stretched or relaxed at will.
   This theory—certainly in England  and in the
United States of America—has been quite popular,
has been received without  much examination, and
has found favor with many physicians.   You can
take up scarcely an English or  American work  on
the  human  voice without finding it  gratuitously
assumed.   The  theory  was first promulgated  in
1742 by  Ferrein, an  eminent French anatomist and
surgeon, but has fallen into considerable  disrepute
in France, the country where it originated, and if
we may rely on  the  authority  of  Colombat De
L'Isere, we should infer that such was the fact; for 
48   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
he says that " physiologists and especially modern
naturalists have had  reason to reject the theory of
Ferrein, and to cease  to  regard the larynx as an
instrument with strings."
  This common vocal cord theory  has been  most
unquestionably  disproved.   In the  presence  of
leading medical men in the city of  New York, and
before a  large audience, I  have brought into  full
play all  of my vocal  muscles, and  directed  the
pulmonic stream  with the utmost force possible
against  the vocal ligaments,  functioning them to
their utmost ability, and yet, during this exercise,
I have so entirely  suspended the voice proper, that
nothing  has  been  heard  but  a whisper from the
lowest to the highest notes, pertaining to the laryn-
geal  register.   If the  mucous membranes  with
their attendant nerves, are in  a perfectly healthy
state, we  have a  clear, resonant voice.   If  these
membranes be inflamed or relaxed,  the voice is
immediately  affected.    Hence what  follows on
disproving the vocal cord theory ?   The vocal cord
theory being  disproved, there  seems strong reason
to believe that the mucous membranes,  under  the
influence of  those nerves from which they derive
their mobility and sensibility, give out phonos, 
         RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   49

   or sound.   Now  where does  this vocality  com-
   mence ?   In all probability, from the very first point
   where the  pulmonic stream  proceeds  from the
   lungs, and continues and is increased according to
   the membranous  surface which is physiologically
   contracted,  till that stream  makes its final  exit at
   the lips.   The writer  respectfully  claims this, not
   only as original with him, but a discovery of his
   own.
      The epi-glottis is  a  fibro-cartilaginous valve—
   in shape almost like a leaf of parsley—is placed at
   the superior part  of the larynx, and fixed to the
   upper border  of the thyroid cartilage,  behind the
   base  of  the tongue.   It is sometimes regarded as
   one  of the cartilages of the larynx.  It is,  how-
   ever, a park of the larynx  only in the  same sense
   in which the cover that is fastened to the top of a
    silver cup is  a part  of that utensil.   The  Greek
   preposition  epi means upon, and hence  the  name
 \ ^/-glottis signifies upon the glottis.  It is situated
   immediately above the  superior laryngeal  orifice
   formed by  the laryngo-epiglottidean fold already
   noticed.
      Except when we are engaged in the act of swal-
X lowing, the epi-glottis always remains raised, so as
            4
-;^"*F-D1C 
  50   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
  to leave the  larynx open  for respiration.  It serves
\  as  a valve which, by closing the upper orifice of
\ the larynx during deglutition, prevents the introduc-
i  tion of articles of food and drink into the air pas-
|  sages.  It also  acts, by its concave surface,  as a
I  reflector to radiate the sounds which issue from the
  glottis.  If there  be  no epi-glottis, the vocal col-
  umn ascends in a  straight line until  it meets the
  dome of the  pharynx, and is thence driven behind
  the soft palate into the nasal chambers.
    The epi-glottis, however, is not absolutely indis-
  pensable  to  deglutition, for even when this  organ
  has been entirely destroyed by disease,  the larynx,
  as nature often  does in other  emergencies, accom-
  modates herself to the circumstances.
    Next in order among the other  principal vocal
  organs,  are  the pharynx, or  back part of the
  mouth, the veil of the palate, the uvula, the ton-
  sils,  the  palatine arch,  the nasal cavities, the
  maxillary sinuses, the lips, the  jaws, the tongue,
  the teeth, the cheeks,  the  buccal chamber, and the
  diaphragm.
    The  pharynx, or back  part  of the  mouth, is a
  large muscular bag, or pouch, having  seven fora-
  mina, (i.  e., orifices,  openings, or holes,) viz: the 
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   5 I

asophagus, or tube  through which we swallow
food,  the larynx, the  buccal cavity, or  chamber
between the cheeks, the two nasal chambers, and
the two eustachian tubes communicating with
the drum of the ear.
  It is  a portion of the superior part of the vocal
instrument, and receives the column of air  after  it
has passed through  the larynx  and been radiated
by the epi-glottis.
  The  veil  of the  palate, or, as  it is  frequently
called, the soft palate, is a movable, soft, and broad
curtain  attached to  the posterior  extremity of the
palatine arch,  and separating the anterior portion of
the mouth from the pharynx.  In  other words, the
soft palate is a continuation of the arched roof of
the mouth, and is composed of two folds  of mem-
branous tissue.  It is consequently an extension of
the sounding board,  or  reverberating surface.
  In grave voices, that  is, in voices  having a bass
register, it is situated closer to  the  posterior wall
of the pharynx than in  acute voices.  The reason
of this  is, that in the grave voices, the larynx being
situated lower in the neck, the vocal  radii, after
having  been accumulated by the concavity of the
epi-glottis, would (even if the lips and jaws were 
 52   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
 well opened) pass into the nasal chambers, unless
 the soft palate were further in advance in the mouth.
 But the fact that such is its situation, its edges hug-
 ging closely the posterior wall of the pharynx, pre-
 vents the escape of the voice into  the  nasal  cavi-
 ties, and drives it forward  into the buccal chamber.
 An artificial palate may be  constructed and  fitted
 in the mouth, when a person has  been born  desti-
 tute of this important organ.
   A case occurred  in April, i860, in the practice
 of Dr. N. W. Kingsley, an accomplished dentist in
 the city  of New York.   A lady from one of the
 Southern states, who had been born without a soft
 palate,  had placed herself  under his  care.   The
 case was a very remarkable  one, inasmuch as  the
 hard palate or arched roof of the mouth was  cleft
 through to the anterior process of the  upper jaw;
 in other words, to that part of the jaw  where  the
 front teeth  are  inserted—no  soft  palate existing,
 and the fissure so wide as to  prevent  the uniting of
its edges by the surgical operation termed staphyl- ''
oraphy.   In  consequence of this mal-formation,
 not only was the voice prevented from passing into
the chamber of  the mouth because  of  the  entire
absence of the soft palate,  but the patient was fre- 
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.    53

quently annoyed by the passage of food and liquid
into the chambers of the nose.  The eminent  den-
tist who had charge of  the  case, easily conceived
the idea that the fissure might be closed by means
of an artificial palate, but the great  difficulty was
to make a soft palate that would attach itself close-
ly to the soft  parts of  the  anterior  walls of  the
throat, and perform its  functions  so  as to prevent
not  only the  passage of  the  voice  into the nasal
chambers, but also the regurgitation of food.
  After consulting with me  concerning the action
of the soft parts of the  throat, during deglutition
and the production of voice, and after having re-
ceived the assurance that an artificial velum might
be made continuous.with the hard palate, he  con-
structed one  so delicate in its form  and substance
that the adjacent organs were easily educated to bear
the presence of  this foreign body.  It was made of
vulcanized India-rubber; it  fitted admirably in the
chamber of the mouth, and firmly retained its  po-
sition.   The lady  could take it out and re-adjust it
at her own pleasure.
  This case was particularly interesting in its rela-
tions to vocal  physiology, as  it furnished a  practical
illustration of the  fact that, in the absence of  the 
54   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
soft palate, the voice is necessarily driven  up  into
the nasal chambers, and hurried onward till it finds
its exit at the nostrils.
  An extraordinary case connected with the struc-
ture and action of the  soft palate, occurred in my
practice during the winter of i860.   A well-known
professional singer in the city of New York,  aged
about twenty-four,  in  possession  of  a  beautiful
voice, capable of executing melodies written  for a
soprano, extending as far as C in alt,  came for con-
sultation.   This  young man's  voice,  though  of
great  compass,  was at that  time purely  pharyn-
geal;  that  is,  it was what is called the falsetto,
or, as Colombat De  L'Isere  more  correctly styles
it, the faucette voice.
  On examining his  vocal organs, I found that they
all presented the appearance of marked health and
freshness, particularly the  soft parts of the throat.
The organs were  all situated as  they should be,
with this exception:  that the position of the larynx
was even higher than in the ordinary soprani, and
its anterior conformation was not that which usually
pertains to a voice of such remarkable acuteness.
  This  led  me  to  examine more closely the po-
sition and action of the principal stays that held up 
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.    55

the larynx in the throat, namely, the anterior  pil-
lars of the soft palate.   I  found their traction  on
the larynx  to be very great, consequent on their
unusual shortness, thickness, and hardness.
   From this state of things, I became satisfied that
a slight transverse incision into the anterior pillars
of the soft palate, on a line with  the base of the
tongue  would relieve  the  larynx, although but a
little, yet sufficiently to enable it to work favorably
to the production of a register of intonations per-
taining to   itself.    After  convincing  my young
friend of  the simplicity of the operation,  as  well
as its safety, I obtained his consent to perform it.
This was done, and  was attended with very little
hemorrhage.  The only disagreeable feeling which
the patient experienced  after the operation—to use
his own  language—was a  sensation  like that of
something in his throat, which he wished  to swal-
low, but could not.   He was requested to  use his
voice  as  little as  possible, and not to attempt to
sing for at least two  months.  The result was, that
at  the end  of six  weeks he  visited me again in
great glee, announcing the  fact that his voice was
changing.  This was indeed the case.   The char-
acter of the  voice then resembled very much that 
56   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
which  we find  in  youths arriving  at the  age of
adolescence.    We  strongly insisted on his re-
maining quiet for some time longer.   A year passed
away,  and he became in possession of a voice
which  are not only beautiful in its texture, but a
true tenore contraltino.
  The  uvula is  an appendix, or prolongation, of
the soft palate, hanging down in the shape of an
inverted cone.  Its excision should never be resort-
ed  to,  except in extreme disease,  and  when  all
other means have failed to reduce it.
  The  tonsils are two almond-shaped glands, situ-
ated between the pillars of the  soft palate, two of
these pillars being  attached  to  the  right  and left
sides of the latero-posterior  wall  of the  pharynx,
and the anterior pillars run downward and forward
to the sides and base of the tongue.   The tonsils se-
crete a viscid mucus, which  mixes  with  the food
during mastication, and is  necessary to the healthy
lubrication of the adjacent organs.
  The  palatine arch is the hard roof of the mouth,
and with the  cavities of the nose and the maxillary
sinuses, forms part of the reverberating surface.
  The  maxillary sinuses  are those  cavities  in the 
      RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.-   57

 anterior part of the head which are formed by the
 jaw, and whose office has just been mentioned.
   The office of the  lips, jaws, tongue, teeth, and
 cheeks will be answered more particularly in a
 future  chapter, when we treat of the  molding of
 the vowels and the articulation of the  consonants.
 It  is sufficient, at  present, to say that they modify
 the voice proper as it issues from the buccal cham-
 ber.   This chamber, or cavity, is bounded laterally
 by the cheeks, and hence its name, (from the Latin
 word  bucca,  which  means  cheek,)  superiorly by
 the roof of the mouth, posteriorly by the back wall
' of the pharynx, and anteriorly by the lips.
   The conformation  of the buccal chamber is one
 of  the  grand  characteristics  which distinguishes
 the physical organization of man from  that of the
 lower  orders  of the creation.  According to  my
 theory, the imperfection of its anterior part in
 brutes is  what precludes them from the faculty
 of speech, i.e.  in a mechanical point of view.
   The principal muscles  of  respiration,  and the
 grand  agent  in   propelling the vocal  pulmonic
L stream, is  the  diaphragm, which is the flooring of
 the lungs  and  the  ceiling of  the abdomen.  The
 concave base of each lung rests upon it during tran- 
58   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
quil breathing; and the inferior surface  of the dia-  j
phragm lies over  almost  the entire surface of the
liver, which rests sluggishly on the stomach proper.
It thus divides the organs of the chest from those
of the  abdomen, and is in continual motion from
the moment we come into the world until we make
our final exit.
  The structure and shape of the diaphragm is ten-
dinous  in the centre, thin,  almost  circular,  un-
equally convex upward, and fleshy at its circum-
ference.   It is attached to the ensiform or xiphoid jr^"
cartilage, which terminates  the  sternum, or breast
bone, beneath, and derives its appellation from  its
resemblance ip a sword—the terms ensiform and
xiphoid having the same meaning, the one  being
of Latin and th eother of Greek origin.  It is  at-
tached also "to the six last ribs, to the aponeurosis
stretched from the last rib  to  the transverse proc-
ess of the first lumbar vetebra,  and, lastly, to  the
bodies  of the  three or four first lumbar vetebra."
  Aponeurosis.—The ancients  called every white
part neuron, (nerve) and regarded the aponeurosis
as a nervous  expansion.   The  aponeuroses  are
white shining membranes, very resisting, and com-
posed of fibres enterlaced.  Some  are  continuous 
       respiratory and vocal mechanisms.   59
  with the muscular fibres, and differ only from ten-
  dons by their flat form.
    The term process, when used in anatomy, de-
r  notes the eminence of a bone—also,  any part which
■A seems prolonged beyond other organs  with  which
  it is in connection.   This  is agreeable to its  ety-
  mology, for the term process  is evidently equiva-
  lent to that which proceeds from.
\    The diaphragm  Ascends   during  inspiration,
!  and, after reaching the lowest point, if  the inspira-
i  tion be continued, it finally flattens  itself and  pro-
  jects in  an outward direction.  The  diaphragm
  during expiration, (if the  previous  inspiration has
  been a protracted one,) first recedes or retires in-
  wardly, and then ascends; thus recovering its nat-
  ural form of an irregular arch.
    To illustrate  the  movements of  the diaphragm,
  take a glass jar, or  receiver, open  at  the bottom,
  and  having an orifice  at  the top,  through  which
  passes a glass tube connected with  a membranous
  sac (a bladder, for example,) suspended  in the re-
  ceiver.   Let the construction  of the  receiver be
  such that no air can come in from the sides, or
  from the top, except through  the  opening  at the
  superior  extremity  of the glass tube.   This tube 
60   respiratory and vocal mechanisms.

represents the windpipe; the membranous sac rep-
resents  the  lungs;  and the glass jar, or receiver,
the walls of the chest.  Immerse the  lower part of
the jar in a basin of water.  The water will repre-
sent the diaphragm.   On raising the jar a  little,
which is the  same as causing the water (the dia-
phragm,)  to descend, the  pressure  from  below
being removed, the air from  above rushes through
the glass tube  attached to the neck of the mem-
branous sac, and fills and distends the latter.
  On the contrary,  when we lower  the jar, which
is equivalent to causing the water (the diaphragm)
to  ascend, then  the pressure of the  water  on the
external surface of the sac shrivels it up, and thus
squeezes out the air, which escapes  through the
glass tube.   The rushing in of the air through the
tube (when by raising the jar the pressure of the
water against the sac  is removed, there being thus
a space, or vacuum, between the water and the sac,)
corresponds with the  act of inspiration, in which
the diaphragm descends.   The  escape  of  the  air
through the tube, as we have just illustrated, cor-
responds with the  act of expiration when the dia-
phragm rises.
  In performing this experiment, the jar should be 
       respiratory and vocal mechanisms.   61
  raised very gradually, so as to fill the sac to its
  utmost capacity.  If we raise the jar suddenly, then
  the sac will be but imperfectly filled.  So, during
  inspiration, the air should be sucked in very gradu-
  ally, in order to dilate the lungs as much as possi-
  ble.   Sudden, violent,  and  spasmodic efforts will
  fill them but very imperfectly and  partially.
    An instrument has been invented by me to show
  the quantity of air which each individual  can take
i  into his lungs  by diaphragmatic action, and which
"^is called an Inspirometer. A glass, receiver, on
  the exterior surface of which is marked  a gradu-
  ated scale of figures, is  partially immersed  in water.
  This receiver is open at the bottom so as to admit
  the water, and  has  a  gutta-percha tube connected
  with it at the top.  The individual gradually sucks
  in the air through  the  tube, and during this act of
  one inspiration the water ascends.  When he has
  finished, it is prevented from descending by turning
  a valve near the top of the instrument.  The num-
  ber on the graduated scale  corresponding with the
  upper and level surface of the  column of water in
  the receiver before commencing to breathe through
  the tube, subtracted from that to which the water
  has risen, shows the number of cubic inches of air 
62       RESPIRATORY and vocal mechanisms.
which have been taken into  the lungs during one
inspiration.   Thus, if the column of water stood at
the number 200, and the individual, during a sin-
gle protracted inspiration, had raised that column
to the spot marked 360, then  the difference be-
tween the two, namely,  160, would show the re-
sult.  In  other words, the power of his diaphragm
is shown, in this case,  by the fact that during a sin-
gle inspiration he has taken 160 cubic inches of air
into his lungs.
  The Guilmette Inspirometer differs most materi-
ally from all spirometers, particularly that  inven-
ted by the celebrated  Dr. Hutchinson  of London.
  The object of Hutchinson's Spirometer  was  to
show the  size of one's lungs by measuring the quan-
tity of air sent forth during  expiration, but the in-
spirometer measured the  quantity taken in during
inspiration.
  The spirometer is not a fair test of diaphragmatic
power; because, during the ascent  of the  dia-
phragm in expiration, it may be very much aided
by the auxiliary muscles; whereas, during  its 'de-
scent in inspiration, it receives very little, if any,
such assistance.
  The  auxiliary muscles  of respiration are the 
j           respiratory and vocal mechanisms.       6t,
  abdominal,  dorsal, pectoral  and  lateral  muscles.
  By their means the lungs can obtain a certain amount
  of breath.  Even when nothing else  can  be done,
  the  spine comes to our aid,  and by bending the
  body, and  thus  curving the spine, we get a  suf-
  ficiency of breath to sustain life.
    The physiology of the  diaphragm, hitherto ac-
  cepted in popular treatises on  the human voice,
  has  not received the attention which it really de-
  serves.  Although all physiologists attach, in their
  elaborate  writings, much  importance to  the  dia-
  phragm, yet they neglect the fact that the physio-
  logical use of the voice depends  mainly upon the
  highest educational functioning of this muscle,
  and that if we have in our midst much disphonia
  clericorum, (clergymen's vocal  difficulty,) as well
  as dysphonia cantorum, (singers' vocal difficulty,)
  it is because of a prevailing ignorance respecting
  the  indispensable  necessity of a healthy, vigorous,
  and regular action of this  organ, for  the  most  ef-
  ficient style of speaking and singing.
    The meaning of the  term physiological, as ap-
  plied to the use of any organ, signifies  that which
  is natural  and  healthy—a distinction from that 
64       RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
which is  unnatural  and unhealthy, and  which  is
therefore called pathological.
  The natural  phenomena  dependent on the dia-
phragm are those of sighing, yawning,  coughing,
sneezing,  laughing, sobbing, crying, hiccoughing,
singing, speaking, etc.  In fact, not  only the func-
tions of the throat and chest, but also those of the
abdomen, are mainly dependent on this organ; and,
when properly educated, it is the  chief agent in
producing all the dynamic effects pertaining to the
voice.
  The question has been  asked:  Can one of the
lungs be severed  without the destruction of human
life ?  Our answer is, that one of the lungs may be
severed, and the party may breathe and live.  The
wound may cicatrize and be healed; but the effect
of severing the diaphragm would, yea, must, result
in the death of the individual, because the respi-
ratory chamber ceases to be air-tight, and respira-
tion cannot be properly performed.
  The strength of the diaphragm  depends,  in a
great measure, on the temperament.   Hence the
man of bilious  temperament, even  with compara-
tively small lungs, may be  able, by means of pow-
erful diaphragmatic descent, to take  into his air re- 
           RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.       65
  ceivers a larger quantity of breath than the man of
  nervous temperament, though the latter might have
  larger lungs and more ample thoracic, or  chest ca-
  pacity.  The reason of  this is that  in  the bilious
  temperament the tissues of the body are coarser
  and stronger, and the powers of endurance greater.
  People of nervous  temperament have less endur-
  ance, and  therefore require a  greater amount of
  physical education.  The sanguine-nervous bilious
  temperament is the best for public  speakers  and
  singers.  Those who have a strong infusion of the
  nervous in their temperament are the orators that
  electrify the world.
    Remember that the vocal element is the breath—
  the  lungs  its   reservoirs — the  throat,  the  tube
|  through which  the pulmonic  stream is to pass—
i  and  the diaphragm, the  grand propelling agent.
  In public  speaking  or singing,  therefore,  there
i  should be  no perceptible effort in the throat, and
I  until the diaphragm be  thoroughly educated  to  do
\  its work involuntarily and spontaneously, we must
|  concentrate the  mind on  this very important mus-
I  cle of respiration, instead of fixing it, as many do,
  on the abdomen.
    The force of the  column of air, if we desire to
          5 
66       RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
use a large quantity of voice, should strike  against
the hard roof of the  mouth, and the  head of the
column be directed forward to the lips, in order to
get all the reverberating surface possible.  It should
also skim gently over  the surface of the soft palate,
to avoid paralyzing that membranous and delicate
organ.  In other words, there should  be no more
contraction of the  soft parts of the throat  during
the emission  of voice than  is necessary to their
physiological  functioning for intonation.  Now, as
the mind  is  the   engineer  that presides over  the
respiratory arid vocal  mechanisms, you must  ac-
complish  the  object by confining the  attention  of
that engineer entirely to the organ which,  at any
given  moment, is  being  particularly  educated.
Learn one thing at a time, and learn it well. You
will thus master the whole  subject, for  the  aggre-
gate is made up  of the individual units.  If we
fail in the first attempt, "try, try again!" with the
full determination  to succeed, and,  the  heart thor-
oughly engaged in the work, we  can  do  almost
anything, if we only think  we can,  and then, with
a calm  reliance on the aid of Divine  Providence,
make  the effort  with all our  might.
           ^' Possunt quia posse videntur." 
         RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.       67

  The eagle who turns  his blazing eye to the sun
builds his nest on the highest cliff of the mountain-
top.   The man who is  always  creeping along the
mountain's base will never reach its towering sum-
mit,  or be rewarded with the most  extensive view
of the rich and glowing landscape.
  In  the practical study of vocal  physiology, as  in
other departments  of learning, set your  standard
high.  If you do not accomplish all that you wish,
you will accomplish much more than if your stand-
ard is low.   A calm and just estimate of your own
powers, accompanied  by corresponding aspirations
and  exertions, until  they are crowned with ulti-
mate success,  is not necessarily pride,  in the bad
sense of that term; for pride, in that import of the
word, is not a well-regulated self-esteem, but that
false  and excessive estimate of one's own abilities
and claims, which shows, in this respect, an ill-bal-
anced mind, and often  embodies a disposition  to
exalt one's  self at the  expense of the rights, com-
forts, conveniences, and feelings of others.
  In  making efforts for the attainment of any great
and important  object, you may often fail.  But do
not be discouraged.—"Failures  are, with  heroic /
minds, the stepping-stones to success." 
 68   respiratory and vocal mechanisms.
   But to resume the thread of our discourse, there
 should be no more muscular effort in the throat fur-
jther than simply to regulate the pitch, or intonation
 Iof the voice in respect to its being high or low, ex-
 cept occasionally, when we wish to make a grand
 " tour de force" and bring  all  our powers into ac-
 tion for the  purpose  of swelling the volume of
 sound.   After  such forcible muscular contraction,
 there should, if possible, be a long  pause, in order *
 that by  complete relaxation the organs may have
 time to recover themselves fully.
   The position most  favorable for respiration is
 when the body is erect, the  chest elevated, and the
 neck  straight.   Do not  let the hands hang down
 while you are thus employed.-  There  is consider-
 able weight  in the shoulders, arms,  and  hands;
 and if the hands hang  down, the chest  is depress-
 ed.  A good  position  for the  hands when  at rest
is  to keep  them gently and  gracefully closed in
front, in  the region of the diaphragm.   The eleva-
tion of the chest can thus be kept up, and the hands
be moved in gesture either to the right or the left.
  In inspiration, the lungs and heart are lengthened
downward; the clavicle,  or collar-bone, the ster-
num, or breast-bone, and  all the annexed ribs, are 
*
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   69
raised;  the upper ribs converge, the lower diverge, I j
the upper cartilages form  a right  angle with the /
sternum, and the lower cartilages of opposite sides, (
from the seventh downward, move further asunder/
so as to widen the space between them just below
the xiphoid cartilage—the effect being to  shorten 1
the neck, compress the abdominal  viscera,  and
raise, widen, and deepen the chest.
  During  expiration, the position of the  ribs and'
cartilages  is reversed; the  sternum  and  ribs de-
scend; the upper ribs diverge, the lower converge;
and thus the movement of these organs is the op-
posite of  that which takes place during inspiration.!
The last act of expiration, or the one which immedi-
ately precedes death, is usually more extensive and
forced than that which takes place during ordinary
tranquil breathing.
  The physical exercises which may be performed
with advantage, in order to strengthen,  develop,
and get control of the respiratory mechanism, are,
to stand up, and take the proper position; heels to-
gether; body erect; neck straight; draw in the pit
of the stomach; and, before commencing to breathe
artistically, elevate the chest so as  to give all pos-
sible play to the  diaphragm,"  place the tips of the 
70   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
fingers on that very important  muscle, and get  the
entire  control of its movements by directing to it
the attention of the mind, which  is the  grand en-
gineer.   Having made  these preparations, breathe
a few times in  the ordinary tranquil way, as pre-
liminary to  the deep, artistic breathing which is to
follow.   Then make the orifice of the lips as small
as you can; draw in the air as slowly and with as
little effort as possible, with no more force than is
necessary to produce the gentle trembling of a rush-
light; and  when the lungs  are full—which  you
can ascertain by the protrusion or swelling out of
the diaphragm,—stop breathing, and for  a  few sec-
onds retain the breath thus accumulated.  Then
breathe out the  air as slowly as you can,  and dur-
ing expiration let the chest go down very gradually
indeed.
  Repeat this artistic breathing a few times, in  or-
der that every cell in the lungs may be  filled with
air.  Begin these exercises at  first with  great cau-
tion, as the  blacksmith  begins  his work with a  lit-
tle tap of his hammer on the anvil  before  he gives
the ponderous blow.  After having filled the lungs
to  their utmost  capacity,  pronounce  aloud  the
words one,  two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, 
        RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   71

  nine, ten, and take a short breath between each of
  them.  In the act of pronouncing them, blow forth
  a stream of air through the vocal tube, remember-
  ing  that voice  proper  is  simply breath converted
  into  sound.  Begin the  utterance of each of these
  words very gently and  softly, and then  gradually
  swell out and  prolong  the  sound.   After  having
  practiced on the words separately, it will be useful
  occasionally to pronounce them all in one breath.
     The' object of the foregoing exercises is  to get
^ command over  the breath  in the  utterance  of
  words.
K    We should  never speak during zV^piration, but
^ invariably during expiration.
     To attempt speaking during inspiration will pro-
  duce stammering.
     This fact suggests, in  regard to the  philosophi-
  cal cure of stammering by means of vocal exercise,
  that one who has a tendency to stammering,  or any
  such impediment, should be  careful, before com-
  mencing to speak, to see that his lungs are supplied
  with a sufficient quantity of air, and then utter his
  words while the pulmonic stream is going forth—
  thus overwhelming the spasm with  the breath col-
  umn.  The vocalization, or  utterance, should  be 
  72   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.

  simultaneous with  expiration,  and, though  the
  lungs have  been well filled with air,  the  breath
^ should all be converted into  sound; for  it  is the
  substance and element of the  sound, and  therefore
  both in speaking  and in  singing, should go forth
  from its reservoirs  neither faster nor slower than the
  sound itself.  This perfect control over the column
  of breath  can be  accomplished only by the  scien-
  tific education of the diaphragm.
    It is thus  that  I  am able,  while  the pulmonic
  stream is  issuing  from my lungs, (when in good
  training, and after  a full inspiration,) to prolong a
v^, pure vocal intonation for more than  a minute and
  a half.  This seemingly incredible  feat  has been
  frequently performed by me, and  can be vouched
  for by Drs. Ogden Doremus and  Fordyce Barker.
  two of the most  distinguished Professors   in the
  city of New York.
    Again:  one who has a tendency to stammering
  should likewise avoid too much labial contraction,
  particularly in  the articulation of those consonants
  where the lips  come together, for  it will only in-
  crease the difficulty.  His  vocal  exercises  should
  be chiefly on the moulding of the vowels, a topic
  which will be fully discussed anon.  In some cases, 
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   73

however,  the prolonged  vibration of the apex  of
the tongue while rolling or trilling the letter R, is
also very useful to overcome the spasms of the hyo-
glossal  muscle  (that is, the  muscle of the tongue,
connecting it with the hyoid bone).
   No speaker should  deliver  his discourse with a
succession of spasmodic jerks, unless he wishes to
injure his voice, and  diminish the effect which his
speech would otherwise produce  on  the  audience.
Let the voice  be  all  pulmonic,  as distinguished
from what may be called  the  spasmodic and mus-
cular, and let the orator blow forth a steady stream
of air from the very depths of his lungs.   It is the
pulmonic, or  breath  voice,  which  enables us to
give the   proper  effect  to  those dynamic words
which intensify the  poetry of language; and it is
by the physiological use of the diaphragm that we
can impart to that style of voice all  those varieties
of light and  shade that are so impressive in accom-
plished orators and  vocalists.  Here, we may be
asked if the difference between the  pulmonic  and
the muscular tones is the same as the  distinction
between head and chest  tones?  Not at all.  The
latter distinction  belongs to  the  registers  of the
voice, which we shall discuss in  a future  chapter. 
  74   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
  We must carefully discriminate between the modi-
 fications ofthe breath and the simple voice proper,
  or breath  converted  into  sound.   The modifica-
  tions of the column of breath made vocal  are pro-
  duced  by the jaw and other organs.  The use of
"^ the larynx in regulating the pitch and giving variety
  to the  intonations of  the  voice,  will  be noticed
  hereafter.
    Another  caution may here  be given to a public
  speaker:  Never huddle up, bending  and stooping
  over, and crowding the vital organs, just bfeore ad-
  dressing an audience.  Give  every possible advan-
  tage for the healthy physiological use of the voice.
  If in the sitting posture, keep erect, and, without
  attracting the attention of those present, gently suck
  in the  air.  This  will insure  a  good  supply of
 breath before beginning.
    But  to  return  from these digressions, which,
  however, are none the less  practical and  useful,
 the next respiratory  exercise  is for the  develop-
 ment of the chest and lungs.
 |   Take  your  position as  before; heels together,
 | body erect,  chest elevated, diaphragm free; fill  the
 I lungs with air, place one hand on each side of  the
 j chest,  and  swell  out  its walls very gently and 
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   75
slowly, while retaining the  breath  for a few sec-
onds.
  Do this very cautiously; otherwise, as the lungs
are now distended  to  their utmost  capacity, you
might  rupture a blood-vessel.   Be  careful to let
the air pass out very slowly,  and  the walls of the
chest descend very gradually.
  This exercise will give you immediate pulmonic
development.  Do  not  be alarmed, if  at first it
should  make you a little giddy.   The reason of
this is, that  the  conduits to the brain are not yet
equal  to the quantity  of blood which should be
carried to and from that organ.   If you feel giddy,
give the head a slight shake, and wait  a  few mo-
ments till the giddiness passes off.
  The object of the next exercise is to get a proper
action of the  diaphragm.   This muscle,  as  we
have already shown, descends in inspiration, and
when it has reached the lowest point, if the breath-
ing  be continued, it protrudes or swells  out, and
then,  during expiration, it  retires  inwardly  and
ascends.  The body being erect, and the chest ele-
vated, as  in  the  preceding  exercises, place  the
backs  of the fingers towards each  other  and let
their extremities touch the region of the diaphragm. 
 76   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
 In this way command that  great  muscle  of respi-
 ration and  concentrate the  mind  upon  it.   The
 mind, as we have already said, is  the engineer, and
 the engineer must have  his thoughts on the engine
 which he is going to work, that is, the  diaphragm.
 Fill the lungs with air, and cause the diaphragm
 to have its appropriate play.  Move it  in  and out.
 Do this not only  by respiration, but  also by the di-
 rect action  of the  muscle itself,  independently of
 the breathing.
   The next exercise is for the development of the
 ribs.  One part of  the ribs is gristly  or cartilagi-
 nous; the other part is osseous.  If  we  do  not ex-
 ercise the ribs, they become more and more osseus
 and less  and less cartilaginous.   Therefore  culti-
 vate elasticity of the ribs. Let the bones be well lu-
 bricated by constant exercise,  and then they will not
 be easily fractured.  Laboring men  are  thoroughly
 impregnated with fluid.   The work they  have  to
 do is  constantly exercising their  bones  and keeps
 them  from getting dry.  It is  otherwise with  per-
 sons of sedentary habits.  Even  a slight  fall will
 sometimes fracture their limbs.
  The exercise for mobility of the ribs is  to  place
the right thumb  in  the right  arm-pit, and  the left 
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.    77
thumb in the left arm-pit, the fingers resting down-
ward and  obliquely on the chest,  so  that  the  ex-
tremities of the hands  shall  incline  towards  one
another.
  Press in the ribs, squeezing  out  the  air  by  thus
contracting the walls of the chest and  also by  ex-
piration  at the  same  time;   then gradually  and
slowly  fill the lungs  with air.  After doing  this
twice or thrice very  slowly,  repeat  the   exercise
rapidly  several  times, independently of breathing,
that is, without stopping to pay any particular re-
gard to  respiration.    In this  rapid exercise press
in the ribs, and let them recover themselves, draw-
ing back the shoulders vigorously, and causing the
elbows  to approximate towards one another behind.
By  the faithful practice of this exercise get all the
flexibilitv of ribs that you can, for  costal  mobility
is of immense importance with respect to  the phy-
siological use of the voice.
  The last  exercise  which at present claims  our
attention is for  the  development of  the  muscles.
What  lathing  is  to  the  walls  of a  house or an
apartment, the  ribs  are  to the  lungs; and what
plastering is to the walls, the muscles are to  the
chest.   Stand up as  in the preceding exercises,  and 
78   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
take an  erect  position,  the heels  touching  one
another.   As preliminary to the grand exercise for
the muscles, extend the arms at right angles to the
chest or even as high as the mouth, and then draw
them backward and  project  them  forward with
moderation several times.   Then extend the hands
and arms forward to their utmost  length and on a
level with the mouth, palm to palm, and fingers to
fingers, in close contact—the fingers  stretched out,
not  interlaced—pronounce  the  words one,  two,
three, and at the wTord three draw  the  arms forci-
bly back, closing the fist.   In this powerful exer-
cise  take  time, get ready, and  when you are fully
prepared,  contract  with all your might; then relax
immediately.   Next place the hands on the chest,
wait a few moments, and then project the arms for-
cibly forward,  bringing the arms and fingers to-
gether, as in their former  position.   Repeat this
exercise a few times, and stop when you find your-
self perspiring.
  In all  these   exercises  be very gradual  in the
doing of  them.   Educate  the organs.  Let them
have time to become  accustomed to  their work.
It is not so much the quantity of exercise;  quality
is the thing.   Never mind if you  sometimes feel a 
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   79

little sore, particularly about the  ribs.  It  will not
hurt you.   But be careful not to overdo  the mat-
ter.  Do  not attempt  too  much  at  once.   Give
yourself all the needful rest.
  These exercises  should be  practised  until the
respiratory mechanism is fully developed; those for
the ribs and muscles  should be  practised at least
twice a day, but never immediately before  or af-
ter a full  meal.   The  breathing exercises,  six or
eight times every two hours during the day.
  My personal experience in regard to the benefit
of these special respiratory and vocal  exercises, as
affecting my own individual  health  is, that,  in the
year 1803, I weighed 120 pounds.   My maximum
thoracic .capacity,  or circumference  of  the chest
after a  full inspiration, was 37  inches.  The du-
ration of respiratory movement, or length of time
occupied by a single inspiration protracted as much
as possible, was a little over one  minute.   The du-
ration of expiratory movement, accompanied from
beginning to end by vocal sound, was less than one
minute.  In June, i860, my weight was 154 pounds.
My vital capacity volume, 225 cubic'inches;  that
is, I could take in that quantity  of air during one
inspiration, as indicated by the Inspirometer.  My 
  8b    RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.

  maximum thoracic capacity, 43  1-2  inches.  My
  minimum, or smallest circumference of the chest,
  after  expelling  the  air  from the lungs as much as
  possible, ^6 3-4 inches.   Duration of  inspiratory
  movement, 123  seconds.   Duration of  expiratory
  vocal  movement, 95  seconds.   My height, about
  five feet four inches.   To-day, December 1st, 1876,
  my weight is 182  pounds, solid tissue.  My  vital
  capacity   voh'-me has reached the extraordinary
  capacity of 320 cubic inches, thereby  enabling me
  to execute the most  lengthily written  sentences  in
  one breath, in  Handel's great work of The  Mes-
  siah!  vide " Why do the nations" &c.
    I will now recapitulate:  The only  true  physi-
  ological theory respecting the production of voice.
  I cannot,  strictly  speaking, call it  my  own, inas-
  much as "man is but the speaking trumpet of other
  men's  ideas;" nevertheless, by dint of persevering
  efforts in digging out clean material from the  rub-
  bish of ages, I  have  been enabled to present the
  alkaloid of vocal physiology.  Ecce—vox, voix,
,  voce, phonos, voice is  nothing more or less  than
^breath converted into sound.  The air which in-
  spiration has  introduced into the lungs, is  driven
  out from their cavities by expiration, and traverses 
RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   81
  the entire surface of the windpipe, larynx, pharynx
  &c, and it is during expiration, and simulta-
  neously with it, that voice is produced in a physi-
  ological, natural and healthy manner.  Next: the
V diaphragm is the principal muscle of respiration.
  It is to the highest educational  functioning of this
  organ, that we most chiefly look for the ability to
  produce all those varieties of light and shade in
  the human  voice which  form  the perfect trans-
  cript of the passions  and emotions  of the soul.
     Thirdly:   The  commonly received  vocal cord
  theory is false.  Its advocates  maintain  that the
  tfuyro-arytenoid ligaments of the glottis perform
  the office of musical strings!  and that the  current
  of air, in playing upon these ligaments, is like the
  bow  which  sweeps the  cords  of a violin.  This
  theory may  be disproved by auricular experiment.
     Fourthly:  The mucous membranes, or lining
  of the bronchial tubes, trachea or windpipe, lar-
  ynx, pharynx, soft palate, buccal and  nasal cav-
  ities,  &c, under  the  influence  of the nerves of
  mobility and sensibility, produce, physiologically,
  the voice proper.  In other words, the air, driven
  out from the lungs, causes, by its  more or less
  rapid  passage and stimulating  action, the  mucous
           6 
82   RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.
membranes to function or work in strict accordance
with their individual physiological functioning or
working, to phonate, give  out or produce phonos—
sound—voice proper.  The  movements  of the
larynx, and the consequent lengthening or shorten-
ing of  the  vocal  tunnel,  modify the sound in re-
spect to pitch  only, and make it acute (high) or
grave (low) as  the  designs of the individual re-
quire.   Thus the air  which is taken into the lungs
and then, by the expiratory movement driven out
during  vocalization,  is the pulmonic stream  that
constitutes the substance of the human  voice; the
diaphragm, the  chief agent  which  propels  that
stream; the mucous membranes,'the  most exten-
sive of  the membranes of  the body; the great body
phono-tor, the larynx, epi-glottis, pharynx, soft pal-
ate, buccal  chamber, lips, tongue, teeth, &c, the
instruments  which modify it; and, finally, the mind
is the engineer which presides over all this  com-
plicated mechanism,  directing,  controlling,  and
governing it at will.   These principles are of great
use in regard to the preservation of life and health.
  They are, so far as vocal physiology is  concern-
ed, of supreme and paramount importance.   They 
     RESPIRATORY AND VOCAL MECHANISMS.   83

are useful to all, but especially to public speakers
and singers.
  Parents  and  guardians  should take  heed that
those committed to their  charge have a sufficient
supply of pure air  to arterialize  their blood; that
they take enough bodily exercise to strengthen, but
not fatigue and exhaust, their muscles; that their
studies and toils should not overtask the  brain, and
should alternate with cheerful, but innocent, recre-
ations; that they retire  at  seasonable  hours, to in-
vigorate  their  nerves  by the  requisite amount of
quiet sleep;  and that  their respiratory  and vocal
organs be  so  trained and  developed as  to  endure
without  danger all the labor which may devolve
upon them in the various duties  of life.   Thus
would our physical well-being be greatly advanced,
human life would be  very  much prolonged, the
feeble  will  be strengthened, and those  who start
with healthy  constitutions might, with  reasonable
prudence, be  expected, God willing, to live to a
vigorous old age. 
 
LECTURE THIRD.
THE    VOICE.
    The  voice  is an  instrument sui generis,—an
• animate sound, intelligent and articulate, of which
  the air  is the substance, the mucous membrane the
  phonator, and  the mind the motor,  directing its
  varied  expressions and adapting  them to the de-
  mands  of the instant.
    From the remotest  antiquity, its formation and
  health have engaged the attention of physiologists;
  and though much  truth and many plausible  theo-
  ries are bequeathed us through  the  instrumentality
  of their investigations; yet  daily observation and
  experience prove, either that there are hidden laws
  concerning this important  faculty  not as yet re-
  vealed, or that there is an unaccountable amount
  of ignorance  and perversity extant, altogether in-
  consistent with the intelligent enterprise of the age. 
86
THE VOICE.
   Doubtless there are  none among the more deep-
 ly  learned  in  this department of physiology who
 would venture openly to declare that present re-
 search has reached the utmost bounds of discovery,
 or  the  final ramification of the laws of the vocal
 mechanism.  Hence I am encouraged  to present
 for consideration  such  results of my earnest inves-
 tigations  as appear to me to be new truths in this
 department of physical science.
   In order to a  clearer apprehension of the just
 value of these inferences,  it will be necessary to •
 contrast them with parallel  deductions of eminent
 authorities, as brought  down to  the  present day,
 and submit  them to the test, not merely of logi-
 cal, but  practical demonstration.  As preliminary
 to this duty, permit me to call your attention to the
 manner  in which the expired  air traverses the lar-
 ynx.  At first, the air, which inspiration  has intro-
 duced into  the lungs, is driven out from their cavi-
 ties, and  in  its passage sweeps over the entire sur-
. face of the windpipe, larynx  and pharynx, etc., by
 the impulse of expiration and the play of the res-
 piratory muscles.  This is  the first  act  necessary i
 for producing sound.
   Now, some  authors have  labored  to prove that 
THE VOICE.
87
the voice  is produced  during Aspiration.   It  is
difficult  for my mind to regard such an argument
other than an ingenious  bit of pleasantry, although
I admit  there  are some illustrations of this theory
recorded, in the  cases of individuals afflicted with
long-continued paroxysms  of coughing, who have
been known  (as an only alternative) to speak dur-
ing inspiration.   Let me lay down, therefore, as an
important  premise in my  present argument,  that
the formation of the voice is an expiratory phenom-;
enon.   The  next  thing, in  order, that I  desire
should  be taken for  granted, for the present, is,
that the  glottis is not,  as has been generally sup-
posed,  the organ  essentially phonetic.   I  hope,
presently,  to  convince  you  of  the truth of this
important  proposition.  To return to our proposed
citation  of theories  of  eminent authors  upon the
phenomena of the  voice.   I  shall, of course, re-
hearse but those which, in different ages, have been
esteemed the most authentic.
   Aristotle and  Galen  compared the larynx to a
fiute; and regarded the trachea as the body of the
instrument.
   Dodart, in 1700 A. D.,  essentially modified this
previous theory, by  declaring that the voice  is pro- 
88
THE VOICE.
duced upon the principle of the trumpet.  Accord-
ing to his theory,  the  glottis  is the point which
answers to the lips of the musician; the body of
the instrument extends from the glottis to the ex-
ternal orifice  of the vocal canal, or, in other words,
the mouth.
  In 1742, Ferrein  declared that the larynx was an
instrument with  strings, and compared it to a vio-
lin.  He likened the ligaments  of the glottis to the
strings  of a  violin, and  gave them  the name,
"chordes vocales," or "vocal cords."   The current
of air was the bow—the thyroid cartilages the  fixed
points — the  arytenoid  cartilages the  pegs — and,
finally, the muscles  inserted  into them the tuning
power,  by which  the cords  were  stretched  or
relaxed at will.  ( Vide Lecture  II.)   When we
remember that the conditions essential to the sono-
rous vibrations  of  a cord are, liberty of motion,
connection with a sonorous body, dryness, tension,
elacsticity, arbitrary length, and, finally, consis-
tence—and that none of these conditions are to be
met with in the so-called  "vocal cords"—we shall
duly estimate the value of M. Ferrein's theory.
   Bichat  employed his brilliant  genius in an ex-
tended  series of curious experiments, the most of 
                   THE VOICE.                89
which were verified, subsequently to his  death, by
"Magendie."  The results,  however, were not, to
his mind, sufficiently satisfactory to admit of any
positive deductions.  It is to be regretted that he
finally yielded the subject, with the declaration—
"that the gradation of the vocal sounds would, for
a  long time, be an object of research: a problem
so difficult will never, perhaps,  be resolved  in an
indisputable manner."
   The next authority, in our order of succession, is
Prof. Richeraud, whose  opinion is a concrete of
all the foregoing theories; for he maintains that the
larynx is, at the same time, both  a string and  a
wind instrument.
   The profound Buffon, and the  learned Cuvier,
rank the  vocal  organ in the class of  flutes,  and
regard the glottis as the reed of the instrument, the
mouth as the body, and the nostrils as  the  lateral
holes.
   The illustrious Magendie has given to the  lar-
ynx the  name of "human-reed"  and thinks that
this organ should be compared to our reed instru-
ments, such as the haut-boy, the bassoon, etc.
   Savard, who  has  published some remarkable
works upon the  formation of the voice, likens  the 
90                 THE VOICE.
larynx to a  kind of  whistle, a short instrument,
pierced at each end by a small orifice, and used  by
huntsmen to imitate the cry of birds.  He, conse-
quently, infers that the ligaments of the glottis, and
the ventricles that open between them,  take  an
essential part in  the primitive formation  of the
vocal  sounds.    The  air, traversing the  glottis,
strikes upon the superior ligaments; these bind the
superior opening  of the instrument, and  discharge
the same function as the stopper that  apportions
the wind in  an  organ-pipe.  Then,  the air  con-
tained in the  larynx vibrates, and gives out a sound,
which increases  in intensity, because the sonorous
waves that form it are prolonged into the pharynx,
the cavity of the mouth and nasal  fossa.   It is evi-
dent that the author of this system  seeks to account
for the uses of the ventricles of the larynx,  and  for
those of the superior  ligaments, of which no men-
tion is made  in other  theories.
  The deductions of Savard, although well recog-
nized by his admirers, were refuted  by Colombat
de 1' Isere,  who, in his  numerous  autopsies, which
he made for the  study  of  the  larynx, sometimes
found  this  organ destitute  of  ventricles  and of
superior ligaments,  in  individuals,  among whom 
                   THE VOICE.                91
were several who, in life, had a fine vocal timbre.
He says, in his great work on  Orthophony: "One
fact which, I think, goes to prove that the superior
ligaments and the ventricles do not play so impor-
tant a part as that assigned them by M.  Savard, is,
that if they are divided in a dog, or merely cauterized,
to prevent their action, the voice of the animal is not
aletred  or destroyed, unless  the incision or cauter-
ization  be prolonged downwards, past the  inferior
ligaments, that"  [he  adds] "form the true glottis,"
and, according to him, are "the efficient  cause  of
the voice."
   Let us bring  this reasoning of Columbat de  1'
Isere to the test of the reductio ad absurdum proc-
ess.   If I  cut your throat a little bit, it does not
destroy life: hence, throat-cutting does not destroy
life, unless the throats are sufficiently cut.  So,
also, do  I  prove that the sheepskin of a drum  is
not the  efficient cause of its sound; for, if I make
a small incision in the head of a drum,  it does not
destroy its sound, unless the incision be  prolonged.
But,  suppose the  incision  be prolonged — what
then?   Why, the cause  being destroyed, its legiti-
mate  effect  ceases.   Precisely  analogous to this, is
the case in hand.  The animalization of the laryn- 
92
THE VOICE.
geal lining tissue  being destroyed  by the  knife or
cautery, which animalization is derived from arterial
vessels, veins, lymphatics and nerves, no voice can
exist.  Is it too much to say, therefore, of /' herds
argument, that, while it disproves Savard's theory,
it completely demolishes his own?
  Other theories might be added  to  those of the
foregoing; but, inasmuch as  they are  all, more or
less, modifications of  the  same  general idea, the
citing of them would unnecessarily consume  both
time and  patience.  Enough, I  think, have  been
advanced lor our present purpose, which is  to com-
pare  my  own  postulates, or  premises,   on   this
subject, with  those  of the  commonly-received
authorities.
  It will be perceived that  present methods for the
formation and  health  of the voice are radically
founded in what I trust  I have convinced you is a
mistaken idea, viz.:  that the voice  answers to the
construction,  and, consequently, to the  laws, of
certain  musical  instruments, between which, we
have  seen, there  is but a  very  slight  analogy.
Now, I shall presume to  maintain, on the  con-
trary, that the larynx resembles nothing but a lar-
ynx; and  that the living mechanism of the voice 
THE VOICE.
93
 cannot  be treated  of as an  inanimate structure,
 because it is endowed with  the incommunicable
 principle  of vital action,  and is, in all  respects,
 answerable to the laws of vital growth and expan-
 sion.
    This  prepares me to state, succinctly and intelli-
 gibly, the grand result of  my own  researches in
 this important field of investigation.  It is, briefly,
 this, viz.:  that  the mucous  membrane,  or  skin,
 which  covers the inner surface  of  the bronchial
 tubes,—the windpipe,  the larynx,  the pharynx,
 the buccal and  nasal cavities,— is the  phonator,
 or seat of  phonation.   In other words,  the air,
 driven out from the  lungs, under the influence of
j the will causes,  by its more or less rapid  passage,
I the  mucous  membrane  to  phonate — give  out
 voice — in accordance with its  healthful  contrac-
 tion or  expansion.  Meanwhile, the movements of
 the larynx, and the  shortening and lengthening of
 the vocal tunnel, by diminishing or increasing the
 phonetic surface, produce  acute  or grave sounds,
 as the  designs  of the  individuals   may  require;
 precisely on the principle that a  small drum-head
 produces an acute sound, while  a greater  expan-
 sion of sheepskin gives  forth a  deeper or graver 
94                 THE VOICE.
tone.   Allow me to give auricular evidence of the
truth of this  theory, by arresting the physiological
contraction  of the  mucous membrane, during the
production of acute  or grave sounds.  You  will
perceive that the varied intonations whisperal are
produced  simply by enlarging  or diminishing the
size of the  glottis, which is brought about by a
certain, minute  lengthening or shortening of the
vocal cords,  or,  properly speaking,  the  thyro-axy-
tenoid  ligaments.  To illustrate this vocal phenom-
enon,— any one  can do so by positioning the lips
favorably to the  production of a whisperal whistle,
—the  student can  ascend the scale of whisperal
intonations just  as high as the close  approximation
of the  lips will   allow,— the orifice resembling the
glottis, and the thin edges of the  lips answering to
the vocal cords, so-called;  in  other words, the
lower we desire  to go, the  wider mu:t be  the  ori-
fice between the  lips, and  the  higher, or more
acute, the sound, the  smaller must be the  glottis,
or orifice, or  hole, through which the breath has to
traverse.   Yet, these sphincter sounds are limited,
and do not embrace more than one half the entire
compass,  or  registers,  of the  vocal  instrument
when confined to the exclusive functioning of the 
                   THE VOICE.                 95
laryngeal mechanism.  ( Vide chap, on Registers.)
   In  conclusion, and  by way of a resume, permit
me to say that my aim, thus far, has been:
   I. To show, by  general anatomical  demonstra-
tion,  that the   mechanism of  the human  voice
exceeds  the  limits heretofore popularly assigned
to it.
   II.  That, hence, the theories on which the mod-
ern modes of vocal development depend, not being
founded on truth, are philosophically and  essen-
tially defective.
   In  maintaining the first of these  two proposi-
tions, I  have  sought to prove,  by a variety of illus-
trations, my new theory, viz.:  that, for the  proper
development of the lungs, the  attention must  be
directed principally to a suitable  exercise  of  the
diaphragm', that the commonly-received opinion,
that a large chest necessarily implies  large  lungs,
is  a fallacy.
   I have shown that the development of the chest
depends chiefly upon the exercise  of the external
muscles; while the development of the lungs, as I
have just asserted, is effected  mainly by the intelli-
gent use of the diaphragm, elevating the thoracic,
viscera, or organs of the chest, and depressing the 
96                 THE VOICE.
abdominal, in order that space may be afforded for
its own free operation.
  The importance  of the  proper education of the
diaphragm will be apparent when I  assert, what
has never, to my knowledge, been before advanced,
that it is  to the proper control of the diaphragm
that we are indebted  for all those dynamic effects
of light and shade that are  so impressive in the
voices of accomplished orators and vocalists.
  I have, in the progress of my argument, held up
to view the deductions of eminent theorists regard-
ing the efficient cause of vocal  sound, in order that
you may  better appreciate the value of my own
theory: that it  is not the larynx, nor yet the glottis.
The anatomical conformation of the larynx simply
gives,  at its superior portion, under the guidance of
the will, a series,  a succession, a limited  number
of different-sized openings, apertures, or glottises, ly  *
so-called, favorably to the production of acute or
grave  laryngeal sounds, which  gradation consti-
tutes barely  one third  the compass  of the  entire
vocal scale in the majority of educated voices.  A
most indubitable proof of this  assertion is,  that
with persons endowed with high, or  acute, voices,
when  the  larynx is invaded by disease, so  as to 
                   THE VOICE.                97
produce complete aphony, or loss of the laryngeal
register,  the glottis of  the  pharynx  comes  into
play,  entirely independent of  the  movements  of
the larynx, and another will come out, possessing
another quality, soft, rich, mellow, and capable,  in
many  cases, of  reaching  high E in alt,— some
twenty-six  semi-tonic  sounds  higher than the
would-be-made bombastic uplifter of vocal-phonos
(the  larynx)  could  possibly  attain  or  acquire.
That  the mucous membrane  is  the phonator,  or
seat of vox, voix, voz, voce, voice, or by whatever
name you please  to call it.
   In  view  of my arguments, it  is easy to deter-
mine  why such varied diseases of the vocal organs
abound among us  at the  present day; the  fatal
fruits of  degenerate seed.  Is  it the will of God?
Nay,  was   it  His  design,  when He  planned the
vocal mechanism, that it should shrivel to ineffi-
ciency when  employed  in  ministrations  at His
altars, while it justifies His wisdom in the cry of
the chimney-sweep?
   The system of physical development which  I
have framed upon the  basis of my discoveries has,
in every instance where no irremediable obstruc-
tion existed,  proved  curiously  efficient;  accom-
         7 
   98                THE VOICE.
   plishing the desired end within one third of the
   time usually devoted to the formation of the voice,
   and without fatigue of the  organs.
     It has been subjected  to  numerous experiments,
   and has ever been found capable of producing full
   vocal development without the employment of vo-
   cal sound on the part of the student.
\.   It directly promotes the general health, in conse-
   quence of the  right exercise  that  it demands of
   certain vital organs that I have proved to  be  inti-
   mately connected with the  vocal mechanism.
     Moreover, it is susceptible of enlarging, modify-
   ing and improving the voice up to an  extreme old
   age; giving volume and  firmness of tone  at a pe-
   riod to which,  it  is  generally supposed,  nature
   denies those desirable qualities. 
LECTURE FOURTH.
                    THE
MUCOUS  MEMBRANE.
     This membrane is much the most extensive of
   the membranes of the body.  It is similar in tex-
   ture to the skin, and  is considered to be  merely a
   reflection of it.  It  lines all  those  cavities which
   communicate with  the  exterior  integuments,  and
   is continuous with them.  It is soft and velvety in
   its texture, and extremely vascular.  In the human
   subject, it has two divisions, the gastro-pulmonary,
   and  the genito-urinary mucous membrane.  It is,
   however, the  former which requires  our  more
   immediate consideration.
     The gastro-pulmonary mucous  membrane cora-
^ mences at the  edges of the eye-lids, nostrils, and
   lips;  that  part covering the  eyes communicating
   with  the nose by the  lachrymal canal,  through
   which the tears flow.  Behind the soft  palate, the 
 IOO        THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
 mucous membrane from the mouth and nostrils be-
 comes continuous, and from the throat  downwards
 it proceeds in two divisions,— the one to cover the
 air-tubes, the other to line  the alimentary canal.
 This membrane lines  not  only these passages, but
 the small  ducts leading  to  them,  such   as  the
 eustachian tube, leading  from the  throat to the
 internal ears, the biliary ducts, etc.
  It is estimated, and correctly, too, that the inter-
 nal covering of mucous membrane of the  bronchi
 and cells of the  lungs is in extent  equal to  twenty
 times the surface of the whole human body.  The
 mucous  membrane  being identical in structure
 throughout its extent, every part sympathizes more
 or less with  the rest; and when  the irritation of
 any part  is violent, the alarm  extends to the whole
 membrane.  An inflamed eye-lid is often the result
 of irritation of the mucous membrane of the bow-
 els; and  irritation at  the end of the bowel, either
from oscarides or hemorrhoids, may produce dull-
 ness of the eye,  itching of the nostrils, etc.
  "A  remarkable  sympathy,"  says  the  distin-
guished physiologist, Muller,  " is observed to exist
between  the  mucous  membranes;  thus their dis-
eases, particularly the mucous discharges  and the 
THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
IOI
catarrhal  affections,  have  a great  tendency to
spread in them.  By virtue of this sympathy, the
state of one part of these membranes may be ascer-
tained by examining another part;  so that the state
of the mucous membrane of the sides of the tongue
indicates the  condition of  that of the stomach and
intestinal canal." The state of the mucous mem-
brane at the base of the tongue will also indicate
the condition of the mucous membrane of the
laryngeal chamber.
  "All the  mucous membranes have, likewise, an
extraordinary connection   with   the   respiratory
movements;  thus irritation of the mucous mem-
brane of the nose produces sneezing; irritation in
the pharynx, aesophagus, stomach, or intestines, ex-
cites the concurrence of the respiratory movements;
vomiting, or violent irritation in the rectum, blad-
der, or uterus, gives  rise  to a concurrent action of
the respiratory muscles, so as to effect the involun-
tary expulsion of the faeces, urine, or  foetus.  Irri-
tation of the mucous  membrane of the  larynx,
trachea, or lungs, or even  itching, from irritation,
of  the eustachian  tube,  excites coughing."  This
remarkable sympathy between the various parts of
the mucous membrane is  an established fact, and 
 102         THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
 has a most important bearing on the timbre, quality
 and resonance of the voice.   For example: pre-
 suming all things  equal, a vocalist desiring  maxi-
 mum vitality of voice must have a strong, healthy,
 and clean mucous membrane throughout the entire
 body.   The  same may  be  said of  the  common
 skin, or outer covering of the body.
   The mucous membrane,  like the skin, is com- •
 posed of three layers:  First, the epithelium, which
 is the cuticle of the  membrane, and is  continuous
 with the cuticle  at the  margin of the lips.  The
 epithelium,  seen  under  the microscope, presents
 two forms,—the pavement,  or tessilated form, and>V
 the columnor form.  As the columns  are  placed
 perpendicular to the  surface  round the circular
 villi, they appear to have a  radiated  arrangement,
 and their free  extremities are  sometimes fringed
 with minute  hair-like threads, or cilia.  When this
 is the  case, the epithelium  is said to be ciliated,
 and it is in this form that it  lines the air-passages.
 It requires  a powerful microscope  to discern the
 ciliary motion of the  epithelium, but when viewed
 in the field of an instrument of  sufficient power, I
know of no  object more  interesting.  It has been
compared to the undulations on the  surface  of a 
THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
103
fluid with  small  bodies  floating  upon  it,  which,
near the borders of the membrane,  appear as if
driven along in a determinate direction.  As these
motions of the cifia are always  towards the outlets
of the cavities which they line,  it is  believed that
their function is to force the secretions which may
accumulate outwards, and thus effect their removal.
The ciliary motion of the mucous membrane is
supposed to be caused  by the action of some un-
known contractile tissue.  In disease of the mu-
cous  membrane, the epithelium is  undergoing a
constant process of  removal, but  it has the  power
of reproduction to an indefinite extent.
   The  second layer is  the proper mucous,  or
papillary,  which is  also analogous to the papillary
layer  of  the  skin.   It  is the secreting surface
which produces  the epithelium.   Its surface pre-
sents, under the  microscope, diverse appearances,
according  to  the situation in  which  it is  found,
sometimes appearing  as  if formed of  numerous
projecting papilla,  at  others of a fine network of
polygonal cells.
   The remaining layer, the fibrous, or sub-mucous,
analogous to the  corium of the skin, is designed to
give support to the papillary layer. 
 IO4        THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
   In the loose cellular tissue, which connects the
 two latter layers, are situated  the  glands, or folli-
 cles, which are peculiar to the mucous membrane.
 These glands, or follicles, are  of two kinds,— sim-
 ple and compound.  These  glands, or follicles, are
 much more abundant on some parts of the mucous
 membrane of  the air-passages and osophagus than
 on others;  thus the tonsils  are  almost entirely
 composed  of  mucous follicles, united together by
 cellular tissue.  The glands of the uvula are, also,
 both large and  numerous, especially  towards its
 point.   At the  base of the tongue  are two or
 three  clusters  of follicles.  The pharynx is well
 supplied with them, but  they are present  in  the
 mucous  coat  only,  while in the aesophagus  are
 many small lobulated bodies, imbedded in the sub-
 mucous layer, and opening on  the  surface by long
 excretory ducts, which pass obliquely through  the
 mucous  coat  in such  a manner that the food, in
passing down the aesophagus, cannot  find ingress
 into them.  The epiglottis  and larynx are, also,
plentifully  supplied  with  these  glands,  most of
which  are  imbedded in the sub-mucous tissue of
these  organs.   In the  trachea  they  are even  yet
more plentiful. 
            THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.         IO5
  The mucous  secreted from these  organs, when
in a state of health, is transparent and moderate in
quantity;  but, in chronic inflammation, or conges-
tion of the air-passages, the mucous secretion may
become excessive, deficient, or vitiated.
  It must, also,  be borne in mind that all the mu-
cous  membranes are exposed to the influence of
certain sources  of irritation, which have  an effect
upon  their secretions, and there  is little doubt but
that the office of these secretions is partly to guard
the membrane from injury in these  cases.  They
have a natural irritability to healthy and beneficial
influences.  Thus, for  example, the mucous mem-
brane lining  the air-passages  is  naturally fitted to
the healthy stimulus of pure air;  while,  on the
contrary, an impure atmosphere, deficient in oxy-
gen, loaded with noxious vapors, or solid particles
of matter, necessarily irritates the  membrane, and
affects the  secretion from its  surface.  If these
sources of  irritation  are   frequently renewed,  a
chronic disease will probably erfsue; even as the
mucous  membrane lining the  digestive  organs,
being accustomed and fitted to the healthy stimulus
of good and wholesome food, when subjected to
the action of substances indigestible  or too stimu- 
106         THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
lating, becomes irritated, and  manifests abnormal
phenomena, either in  the membrane itself  or in
some remote  but  sympathizing organ,  as  when
cough follows the introduction into the stomach of
indigestible food.
  An excess  in  deficiency of the natural stimuli,
or the operation of noxious  agents, will convert
healthy into  morbid  irritability; and a  natural
stimulus applied  to  an  organ,  already  morbidly
irritable, becomes an irritant.
  The effect  of irritation on  the  mucous  mem-
brane  is  to  exhaust  its  natural sensibility,  and
leave it  in a  state of languor and  feebleness not
easily  removed  by stimulants;  hence,  irritation
often repeated,  or long-continued,  depresses  the
vital power of these organs.  The late  Dr. Cragie,
of  London,  England, enumerates   five   different
sorts of irritation of the mucous  membrane:
  i. Irritation of the mucous tissue proper.
  2. Irritation of the mucous follicles, or crypts.
  3. Irritation of .the  vessels distributed to  the
mucous follicles.
  4. Irritation of the  nervous filaments  accompa-
nying the arteries. 
            THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.'        107
  5. Irritation of the muscular fibers  subjacent to
the mucous tissues in the compound organs.
  The particular forms of irritation which seem to
be  very often,  if not  always,  distinguishable in
actual experience are, the  irritative  state  of the
mucous  tissue, and the irritative state of the sub-
mucous muscular tissue.
  Irritation, continued excitation of a  healthy part,
at last produces  inflammation, .by exhausting  that
nervous influence which gives the capillaries power;
thus they become weakened, allow of over-disten-
sion, and the part is in a state of inflammation or
congestion.
  As soon as inflammation commences, an organic
change takes  place  in the  parts affected, and the
removal of the cause of inflammation would  not,
as in simple irritation, immediately repair the effect,
since time would be required for the vessels  of the
parts affected to regain their normal state; and the
longer these parts have been subjected to the mor-
bid influence, the longer will it be before they can
be restored to their healthy  condition.
  Inflammation, like  irritation, may attack  any
part of  the structure  of the  mucous membrane 
   108         THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
   separately,  but  it  may  be  conveniently  divided
   into three kinds:
     i. Inflammation of the mucous membrane itself.
     2. Inflammation of the mucous follicles.
     3. Inflammation of the subjacent tissues.
     Inflammation of the mucous membrane  itself is
   usually spreading and diffusive;  it may commence
   in a small part of a  mucous membrane, and extend
   itself till it covers the whole  surface.
     Inflammation of  the mucous  follicles,  on  the
   contrary, is circumscribed in  its  action; but it not
   unfrequently happens that,  in inflammation of the
   mucous surface, the follicles  also become  involved
   in the morbid process,  and, in this  case, after the
   inflammation has ceased in the surface, it continues
   in a chronic form in the follicles.  There is always
   a tendency in follicular inflammation  to spread to
   the subjacent tissues.   After inflammation has con-
•   tinued for some time in a mucous membrane, cer-
   tain morbid lesions  take  place in it; one  of these,
   which is very  commonly observable, is a  morbid
   thickening of  the  part  affected, and  its  surface
   often presents a granular appearance, instead of the
   softness and smoothness which are the characteris-
   tics of its healthy condition. 
            THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.         IO9

  It must always be borne in mind that pain is not
felt in proportion to the degree of inflammation or
irritation present in the mucous membrane, but the
existence of these morbid actions  is indicated  by
other symptoms, as, for example, when inflammation
of the bronchial membrane produces cough, or an
increase or diminution of secretion.  The effect of
inflammatory  action  is  to alter the  secretion of
mucous.  This may be either increased in quantity,
or it may become thinner, thicker, irritating, puri-
form, or even bloody.
  By way of recapitulation, and  for the purpose of
impressing strongly upon the mind of  the student
the vital  importance  that  must be attached to  the
obtaining and  preserving of a  healtlry mucous
membrane, let me  repeat, therefore,  that the mu-
cous membrane, commencing at the mouth, at the
junction of the skin with the red tissue of the lips;
it passes inward to line the mouth, and enters into
all the salivary glands, giving off delicate prolonga-
tions  to the  different  nasal  cavities, the cells and
sinuses  in the upper jaw, os frontis, and the  other
bones of the cranium and  face which are subservi-
ent to the senses of hearing and smell.
  In the pharynx,  it becomes continuous with  the 
 HO         THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
 mucous lining of the eustachian tubes, and through
 them enters thev tympanum  as  its investing mem-
 brane, covering the small membranes which invest
 the ear, and also  the external  membrane of the
 drum; finally, this part  of the  membrane spreads
 itself out on  the  surface of  the mastoid  cells, be-
 hind the organ  of hearing.  Passing downward
 from the throat, its track admits of two important
 divisions.   The one entering the glottis runs down
 the trachea  and bronchial  tube, dividing  and sub-
 dividing to  an infinite extent, to  line those innume-
 rable cells,  in which the vital properties of the air
 become imparted to the  blood, as  it flows through
 the  lungs.   The other  division, or  the  intestinal
 mucous membrane, continues down  the  gullet to
 the  stomach,  contributing greatly  to the rugo of
 that organ, and becomes the  seat of  the  secretion
 of the  gastric juice, the  bile, pancreatic fluid, and
 of the  multitude of minor glands with which  the
 intestinal tube is  everywhere  studded.  Finally, it
 terminates at  the anus,  where  it again  becomes
 identified with common integument.
  On considering, the immense extent of  this con-
tinuous mucous surface,  its ramifications  through-
out cells, tubes, canals, reduplications and convo- 
 '           THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.         Ill
 lutions, in an almost infinite variety of arrangement
 and form, the principle of sympathy between one
 organ and another  may be  readily understood, and
 a valuable guide this  principle is, in  enabling the
 orator or vocalist to preserve a healthy voice.
   On  this continent, healthy  voices  are  rare—vi-
 tality seems below par  among nine tenths of speak-
 ers  and  singers.   The physiological reasons are
 given  in Lecture First.
   Thirty years ago, I remember listening with as-
 tonishment and admiration  to the masterly  oratory
 of  Henry Clay.  He made his manly voice ring
 in  the ears  of more  than  fifty thousand  people.
 Every vowel  sound, as it issued  from his  mouth,
 was prolonged in a quasi singing style, such as the
 French orators employ, and the  shape of the vowel
 was carried  as far as  there was  sound to  bear  it
 along.  Henry Clay was not an  intense  speaker,
 yet  his prolonged  parliamentary intonations trav-
 eled like the wind, and that, too, without much
 apparent  driving force.  Every  inch  of his mem-
 brane,—phonator,— seemed resonant,— a mighty
 sounding-board, equal  in point of surface  to the
 sounding-boards of twenty-five  concert  grand
pianos. 
112
THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.
   On several occasions, I have made my own voice
distinctly heard above the din of twelve hundred
voices — seventy  orchestral instruments, together
with the ponderous tones of the great organ, at the
Music Hall, Boston.  The task was, by no  means,
a  difficult one.   My vocal intonations  were pro-
longed  by intensified expiratory  breathing, some
sounds  lasting from twenty to thirty seconds, and
steadily  sustained.   This was an achievement of
art, — a " savoir faire."
   Heavy, belching, throat-toned  voices   neither
penetrate nor carry;  they   may  seem massive
to a listener  close  by, but, at a distance of some
fifty feet, all vocal effects, or embellishments, seem
confused,— in short, the  amount of art employed
by the  vocalist amounts to  nothing,— he,  in the
estimation of  the  audience,  becomes  as  a  dead
letter.
   To make the voice travel,  requires the employ-
ment of  much  scientific skill,  by what may  be
called  "vocal preparation;"  but,  even presuming
that we have mastered the art of speaking or sing-
ing, of what use will it avail us, unless we possess
a perfectly healthy mucous membrane ?  When this
membrane is  in  health, so is  every internal organ 
            THE MUCOUS MEMBRANE.         113
of the body, and so is  the  voice,  for the voice is
vital, like the organs which produce it; and, just
in proportion  as its producers  possess vitality, all
things  being   equal,  so shall  the  voice  possess
vitality,— a strong, healthy body, a strong, healthy
voice, both  of which proceed, in the main, from  a
healthy mucous membrane.
         8
• 
 
VOCAL  REGISTERS.
  Register :—A term applied to the compass, or graduated
notes  ot  a voice.  A  series of notes,  exactly similar in
quality, in the voice, or any instrument.—Moore''s Encyclo-
pedia of Music.
   To  say that all of the intonations pertaining to
the entire compass of one voice are dependent up-
on a particular set of works, mechanism, or ma-
chinery, as you may choose to call it, is  nothing
more or less than a positive avowal, or acknowl-
edgment, of ignorance of the  common  anatomy
and physiology  of those  organs,  or  parts, which
make up the "stupendous whole" of the one great
Divine machine.
   A scale,  or series of  sounds or  intonations,
belonging to and depending (for their  production)
upon the physiological functioning of the sub-por-
tion of  the vocal  machine,  must be called,  or
styled,  the laryngeal register, because its mechan-
ism  is  limited, and only capable of producing a
certain number of sounds, consisting—uperse"— 
Il6            VOCAL REGISTERS.
of not more than one half the entire compass of the
vocal scale.
  I may be asked why I call it the laryngeal  reg-
ister.   My reply is, that the  larynx, lagux,  or
whistle, being the "caput" or head  of the lower
register, deference therefore is given to that appel-
lative of the compound organ,—the  larynx,— and
for no other reason, that I can understand.
  Now,  then, when  the  larynx has attained  its
highest point of ascent, the natural diapason of the
voice is  pushed  to its utmost portee, or  bearing
point, and the vocalist is obliged to have  recourse
to another  species of voice, entirely dependent up-
on another machinery, whose anatomical conforma-
tion  and  physiological functioning  are not  only
diametrically opposite, but entirely different, to that
of the anatomy and  physiology of  the laryngeal
mechanism.
  The point  of departure  of this new series of
sounds, takes place after the last note of the laryn-
geal register, that  is to say,  from the first to the
second, and may be carried from an  octave to  an
octave and one half higher, according  to the  anat-
omical conformation.
   I may be asked, if I admit of a new mechanism 
               VOCAL REGISTERS.            117
for the formation of higher or more acute sounds
when the larynx is elevated to its highest point of
muscular construction, what do you call the organ
which participates or takes part in  the  production
of these  superior, or upper intonations ?
   Permit me  to  say that those intonations, de-
pendent   upon  what  are  vulgarly  called  head
voice  tones,  are   due  exclusively to   a forced
contraction  of the superior part of the vocal ap-
paratus;   for a fuller comprehension  of our  ideas
let us remember, or bear in mind that which takes
place when the larynx and glottis,  so-called, have
attained  their highest point of contraction and eleva-
tion of which they are susceptible, and favorable to
the production  of acute laryngeal sounds.  Elevated
by the contractile  means of the following muscles:
the  thyro-hyoid, genio-hyoid,  mylo-hyoid, stylo-
hyoid,  digastricus, genio-glossal,  hyo-glossal,
and, in fine, the inferior constrictors  of the  phar-
ynx, the vocal  instrument is fixed, or held, and re-
strained  by  the action  of the lateral hyo-thyroid,
the hyo-arytenoid, oblique and transverse, and  the
inferior and  superior thyro-arytenoid muscles;  at
the same time the pharynx  contracts and shortens,
the veil  of the palate spreads itself elevatedly, so 
n8
VOCAL REGISTERS.
 as to close up completely the orifices of the poste-
 rior nerves; the uvula, or  central pendulous por-
 tion of the  soft palate gradually becomes  obliter-
 ated, as the voice ascends,  or in proportion to the
 ascent of the voice;  the tongue  becomes contract-
 ed, and elevated at its base, by the contraction of
 the glosso-staphyline; the anterior and posterior
 pillars  of the palate  approach each other  closely,
 with well-defined edges; the tonsils become tume-
 fied and forced out; the isthmus of the throat is
 shortened; in fine,  no portion of the vocal sound is-
 sues through the nose, but is made to phonate in the
 mouth, which sound has been produced by breath,
 issuing forth in thread-like shape:—the apex of the
 breath strikes a new  glottis, formed by the veil of
 the palate, the base of the tongue, and all the other
 organs contract and approach each  other in a man-
 ner we  have  just indicated; and for this  reason it
 is physiologically impossible for vocalists to mould
 vowels  artistically, however much consonant artic-
 ulation they may possess.
  It is the form  or shape of the vocal tunnel which
 seems  to  show  a change in the laryngeal voice;
this tunnel has two  external orifices, viz., the  nose
and the mouth;  it is shortened superiorly, whereas 
               VOCAL REGISTERS.            II9
in the faucette voice there is but one  orifice, pos-
sessing  a straight  vertical direction, favored  or
accomplished  by the elevation  of the larynx, the
head slightly thrown back.  This action  or move-
ment facilitates all unnecessary contraction of the
organs, and  thereby prevents a vocal sortie, or go-
ing out through the nasal  sinuses.
  In fact, in  the  laryngeal  register the bucco—
pharyngeal chamber—forms two hollow  cones, the
bases of which are turned toward the'glottis; their
apices are separated one from the  other, and situ-
ated anteriorly:—on the other hand, in  the voice
of the  second register,  the mouth and pharynx
form but one cone.
  Take  a tube, ranging  in  point  of  size from  a
number  four  to a number  six  female  catheter;
attach to the outer end a rubber bulb, large enough
for the hand to grasp, which  bulb is  supposed  to
represent an artificial lung; introduce the catheter
straight along  the floor of the nasal chamber until
its apex touches the posterior wall of the pharynx;
exercise a gentle pressure on the bulb, and as soon
as the cold column of air issuing from the bulb
shall  be  felt,  suspend respiration, and put into
movement the organs of speech in  the same man- 
120
VOCAL REGISTERS.
ner as you would do in employing the breath from
the lungs, then  your  speech or articulation  will
issue in grave tones.   By this experiment, you will
distinctly hear all the elements of aphonic speech.
  The above idea I got from a communication  ad-
dressed to the  Academy of Sciences, Paris,  in
1829, by the ingenious physician, Dr. Deleau, in
which  he says:  " Fearing lest I  might have abused
or misused the  faculty of interrupting the action
of the  chest while bringing into  play the organs of
speech, I made an effort to speak audibly with  the
lung voice; the current of air established  through
the nose by means of the artificial lung being at the
same time in full force, at that moment two words
were made heard in a manner so distinct and pure
that those persons present at  the seance were  un-
der the impression they heard two individuals re-
peating the same words and phrases."
  Colombat de L'Isere remarks that the experi-
ment seemed to him so conclusive, he at once  de-
termined to try the same upon  himself, which  he
did; but  in advance of Deleau, for he managed to
produce two distinct notes at the same time,— one
purely laryngeal, and  the other  purely pharyngeal,
an octave apart.  I have performed  the same ex- 
VOCAL REGISTERS.
121
periment, repeatedly, upon myself, in the presence
of my classes in Organic Elocution, with the most
satisfactory results.
  By this experiment, or test, we have  proof con-
clusive that the larynx  has nothing to do,—in fact,
is good for nothing in aphonic speech, or the upper
register, or pharyngeal-diapason.
  For the present, I will here rest further discus-
sion on the registers of the voice, by simply express-
ing a fact, which should be kept or borne in mind,
that all that belongs to, or comes within  the reach
of man is either positive or negative,—thus:
     Positive.                         Negative.
     Health.........   Sickness.
     Strength........Weakness.
     Love.........Anger.
     Light.........Darkness.
     Beauty.........Ugliness.
     Cleanliness.......Dirtiness.
     Soft..........Loud.
etc., etc., and of the human voice,
     Laryngeal........Pharyngeal.
yet we have their  compounds in various combina-
tions; for example, we  can truthfully say:
  I. The Bronchial register proper. 
122
VOCAL REGISTERS.
  2.  The Bronchio-tracheal register.
  3.  The Tracheal register proper.
  4.  The Tracheo-laryngeal register.
  5.  The Laryngeal register proper.
  6.  The Laryngopharyngeal register.
  7.  The Pharyngeal register proper.
  These combinations, I  propose to  discuss  at
length in the next edition of this work.
  In  concluding this  chapter, permit me to relate
the following interesting fact.  In the year 1850, I
became a resident of Rio de Janeiro,  and there re-
ceived  through the hands of  Signor  Francisco
Manuel da Sylva (Maestro di Capella), by impe-
rial order, a commission to serve as  Primo Basso
Assoluto of the Imperial Chapel.   This position I
occupied for nearly four years, exercising and dis-
playing my voice on days of " great  gala," in  the
presence of H. I. M. Dom Pedro  II., Emperor of
the  Brazils; also,  H. I. M. Donna Theresa, Em-
press of the Brazils, together with the nobility of
Rio  de Janeiro, and  certain foreign  ambassadors.
The  Chapel choir  was composed  of male voices
entirely.  The  leading voices were what should be
properly called pharyngeal, and not counter-tenors,
as  English  writers  are  pleased  to  style  them. 
               VOCAL REGISTERS.            123
These singers were old men, who at their prime of
life had been noble bassi.  As the upper tones of
their laryngeal voice  began to weaken, the maes-
tro,  F. M. da Sylva,  put them  on their  A B
C  of  vocal  music,  in  the  pharyngeal  voice,
just as if they had never exercised  a scale in their
lives before.   The result was that in the course of
six months of daily study these same  bassi were
transformed into beautiful treble voices, possessing
a range of nearly two octaves; their tones rich and
full, and their execution equal to that of any flexi-
ble soprano; executing scales  and runs, diatonic-
ally, chromatically;  trills,— in fact, fiorituri of
every description.  This  is no exaggeration, as I
can refer to the Hons. Robert C. Schenck and  Ed-
ward Kent; the former, American Minister, from
Ohio;  the  latter,  Consul,  and formerly Governor
of the State of Maine;  both gentlemen being in
the habit of occupying a seat in the ambassadors'
balcony, to the left of the altar, and immediately
above their Imperial Majesties.  I need not add that
the vocal effects produced in that Chapel have never
been surpassed, nor seldom, if ever, equaled. 
 
RARAGRARHS.
            "Seek, and ye shall findr."

  "Eric, King of Denmark, surnamed the Good,
when he was returned  into his  kingdom, and held
his  yearly assembly, was greatly pleased with the
industry both of his soldiers and artificers. Among
others of his attendants was a musician, who as-
serted that, by the power of his art, he was able to
excite in men whatsoever affection  he thought
proper,  and  to make the sad cheerful, the cheerful
sad, the angry placid, and  such as  were pleased
discontented, and even drive them  into a raging
madness; and the more he insisted on his abilities,
the  greater was the king's desire to try them.  The
artist now began to repent his having thus magnified
his  talent, foreseeing the danger of making such an
experiment on the king; but the more  desirous he
was to  evade the trial of his  skill, the  more the
king insisted on if.   When the musician perceived
that he could not be excused,  he begged that all
weapons capable  of doing mischief might be re- 
126
PARAGRAPHS.
moved, and took care that some persons should  be
placed out of hearing of the cithara (harp or lyre),
who might be called in to his assistance, and were,
if necessity required  it, to  snatch the instrument
from his hands and break it on his head.  Every-
thing being thus prepared, the  citharist (player on
the harp or lyre) began to  make proof of his  art
on the king, who sat with some few about him in
the open hall.   First, by a grave mode, he threw a
certain melancholy into the  minds of his auditors;
but, changing it into a more cheerful, he converted
their sadness into mirth, that almost inspired them
to dancing; then, varying his modulation on  a sud-
den, he inspired the  king with fury and indigna-
tion, which he continued  to work up in him, till it
was easy to see he was approaching to frenzy. The
sign was then given  for those whjo were in waiting
to enter: they first broke the cithara,  according to
directions, and then seized on the king;  but such was
his strength that he killed some of them with  his
fist; being afterwards overpowered  with  some
beds, his fury became pacified,  and, recovering  his
reason, he  was grievously affliqted  that  he  had
turned his wrath against his friends."—Soto Gram- 
                   PARAGRAPHS.               127
maticus, in  Hist. Den.  Edit. Basil,  lib. xii.,
p. 113.
   "Music  is  designed for nobler  purposes than
merely to please the ear;  she is intended to speak
to the  judgment.   But, unaided by good  poetry,
her spell is partly  broken, and the bright wreath of
her  fame droops  and withers.  Pure composition
unites music and poetry in indissoluble bonds; and
so intimate is their connection, so equal their value,
so indispensable the strictness of their union, that
the rules of sense and propriety render them the
echo of each  other; but, should  we  feel disposed
to show a preference to either, it would be on the
side  of poetry, to  which, in the  strictness  of jus-
tice,  the true  object of composition should render
music,  in some degree, subservient.   It is to a de-
parture  from  this  legitimate purpose of composi-
tion,  that music is  indebted, at  present, for the de-   -
cline of her influence  over the  passions.   Serious
mischief, also, originates with teachers who take
upon themselves the title of masters, or professors
of singing."
        " So modern 'pothecaries taught the art
          By doctor's bills to play the doctor's part;
          Bold in the practice of mistaken rules,
          Prescribe, apply, and call their masters fools."
                              —Pope's Essay on Crib. 
128              PARAGRAPHS.
   The science of singing is often adopted as a pro-
fession  by those who, after a few months' instruc-
tion,  fancy themselves  fully adequate  to  impart
their knowledge, under the form of lessons, to oth-
ers.  Like the stage, singing is frequently embraced
as a profession when  all other resources fail; and
thousands are weak enough to imagine that two of
the most difficult sciences are to be learned almost
in a day.   Can we, therefore, be  surprised that  so
many singers fail to arrive even at mediocrity,
when the very gifts that nature  has bestowed on
them  are perverted  by the bad instruction which
they receive ?
   Every one teaches, says  Tosi.  I do  not mean
the first rudiments only,—that would be an affront
to them.   I am now speaking of those who take
upon them the part of legislator in the most finished
part of singing.   So mischievous a pretension pre-
vails, not only among those who can barely be said
to sing, but among the  meanest instrumental per-
formers, who,  though they never  sung, nor knew
how to sing, pretend not only to teach, but to per-
fect, and find  some who are weak  enough to be
imposed on.
  Musicians among the ancients were poets, phil- 
                  PARAGRAPHS.              129
osophers, and  orators  of  the first  class.   And it
seems,  says  Rousseau, that to  mount to  elevated
expression in oratorical and imitative music, the
human  passions and  the language of nature must
have been made a particular study.  However, the
musicians of our times, bounded, for the most part,
by the practice  of notes and a few passages, will
not, it is hoped, be offended if we should not hold
them  to be great philosophers.
  Boethius would not .honor him with the name of
musician, who, in a servile manner  only, practiced
music mechanically with his fingers or voice, but
the man alone who possessed the science of music
by reason and speculation.
  The task of a professional singer  is much more
difficult  than that of an  actor; and  his  success,
therefore, merits far  greater commendation. The
latter, when arrived at any degree  of eminence, is
not expected to move out of a certain  sphere in  his
professional duties; but the former,  if aspiring be-
yond  mediocrity, is called  upon for  the delineation
of all the passions in the  various  departments  of
the science,  for elocution is quite  as  requisite  in
singing as in acting.
  Ambition is the rock that proves  fatal to many;
         9 
 I30              PARAGRAPHS.
 all aim at being great, without considering whether
 nature  has  endowed  them with  the means; and
 they imagine, if able  to execute  a few cadences,
 that the important task is accomplished.  This  is,
 indeed, attempting to reach the summit before they
 have attained a firm footing on the base;  and, after
 climbing a  few steps,, they sink into the abyss  of
 oblivion, which their  own conceit, or the  folly of
 misjudging  friends, has prepared for them.
   Pure tone  is the mos.t essential requisite  in
 singing; it is the vehicle of every other beauty in
 the science; execution,  elocution, and  expression
 are all subservient to tone, for without its aid they
 would be as nothing.  Quality more than quantity
 of tone should be the chief consideration.   A judi-
 cious  singer, with  even a weak  voice, will fre-
 quently, from nice management, excite more pleas-
ure than another whose  magnificent volume of
 tone leads him to loftier flights.
   In conversation,  we generally  attach the word
 little  to all things  of  endearment;  largeness  of
 figure,  in   fact,  all  that partakes  of greatness,
 whether in  inanimate or animate  nature, gives  us
an idea of power and force.   So  it is, also, with
loudness of  tone; but  it is the soft, sweet,  gentle, 
                  PARAGRAPHS.              131
and  delicate strain  that, claiming our protection,
rivets our attention and  love, and steals our  souls
into  forgetfulness.
   Gravity of sound fills the mind with religious
reflections, and a moderate excitement of pleasure,
that, like friendship, is equable, temperate, and  of
long duration.   Every passion  partaking of vio-
lence,  whether  arising  from joy, grief, or  rage,
must soon  exhaust  itself from  its own intensity.
Grave  and protracted sounds are dignified and sol-
emn, and are particularly effective in sacred music.
Grave  sounds,  swelling into  loudness,  and then
slowly dying on the ear, partake more of the sub-
lime and holy than any other.
   "All music that  paints nothing is only noise;
and were it not for custom, which unnatures every-
thing, it would excite no more pleasure  than  a se-
quel of  harmonious and finely-sounding  words,
without any order or conection."—Pref de L **En-
cyclopedic
   " Those airs alone remain forever engraven on the
memory of the public, that paint images to the mind,
or express the passions, and  are,  for that  reason,
called  the speaking airs, because  more congenial
to nature; which can never be  justly imitated but 
132
PARAGRAPHS.
by a beautiful simplicity, that will always bear away
the palm from the most labored refinement of art."
—Algarotti, ^.49.
   " From the proper  disposition  of single sounds,
results that harmony that adds force to reason, and
gives grace to sublimity; that shackles attention,
and governs passion."—The Rambler, 97.
   In every language,  all the  passions  of the mind
are expressed, and almost  understood,  from the
mere effect of sound, whether joy, grief,  rage,  or
fear.  The necessity, therefore, of cultivating tone,
so as to produce  effect and meaning from mere
sound, is obvious.
   The Abbe Morelet, a man of great erudition in
France  during the last century, in his  ingenious
pamphlet, " On Musical Expression and Imitation,"
published in 1759,  savs:  "That music, executed
by the  same organs  with  which the language is
spoken, and  aiming at the  same sense,  becomes
itself a  language."   This  elegant writer  farther
says, that  "A beautiful and  pathetic air  is the col-
lection  of  a  multitude  of  accents escaped from
souls of sensibility, as the features  of Venus have
existed separately, but never together. The sculp-
tor and  the  musician write these dispersed fea- 
•
                     PARAGRAPHS.              133
   tures, and give us pleasures which truth and nature
   never gave."
     It should be an object to sound a note as softly
A as possible before any of the breath expires, grad-
   ually increasing the sound to  the  fullest  extent of
   the voice, and diminishing it in the same ratio until
   it is scarcely perceptible  to the ear.  To impress
   the idea,  it would be  well to  bear in mind the
   gradual manner in which  the sense  of hearing is
   affected by a  band of fine music  at  a  distance.
   The sound is at first  indistinct,  but  sweet; slowly
   advancing, it is by degrees more powerful, until it
   rises full on the ear; and  reaching  us  closely, its
   effect becomes brilliant.   Having swept by us, the
   brilliancy diminishes; then, gradually dying away,
   its softer tones only are heard;  and finally, the re-
   membrance of its sweetness is all that is left.   We
   then wish for  its renewal with  as much eagerness
   as we desired its approach when the earliest tones
   only were heard.
i    It is not proper to take breath in the middle of a
^ word, whether it be of one or more syllables; nor
   upon any occasion more  frequently than  is abso-
   lutely necessary.
     Breath should be  taken with care at  the  com- 
   134               PARAGRAPHS.
   mencement of a long division of notes, cadence,
   or pause, that the effect of the music may not  be
   destroyed by stopping in the middle  for that pur-
  ' pose.
     As it is beneficial to quit a meal before the appe-
   tite is palled, so are singers recommended to keep
   a reserve of breath, that they may seem  as if they
   had a little to spare after concluding a note or pas-
   sage, and not leave the  unpleasant impression of
   having  arrived at their last gasp; for those who
   are too  lavish in forcing, or throwing  away their
~*^ breath at the commencement of a note, lose  all
   self-command  before  the  termination,  and  the
   voice, instead of  continuing firm, sinks into  the
   querulous tone of extreme old age.
     By intonation, is meant the  art of sounding
^ every note exactly in  tune, with facility and  preci-
   sion.   In this  branch of  the science, the  singer
   must depend solely on the correctness of his own
   ear,  as  instruments, from various causes, are fre-
   quently  out of  tune.  Correct intonation is  indis-
   pensable.  Execution, volume, brilliancy of voice,
   and even the attempt  at expression, will not com-
   pensate  for deficiency in  this requisite.  I say, at-
   tempt at expression;  for  there can be no true ex- 
                  PARAGRAPHS.              135
pression where the singer's intonation  is imperfect,
and, in consequence,  incapable  of expressing the
various sounds necessary to produce effect in de-
scribing the different passions.
  The unpleasant sensations excited by singing out
of tune are not confined to the ear of the scientific
only; all who listen are more or less  affected  by
the discordancy.
  Singing too sharp is generally the  criterion of a
bad  ear.  I  will  admit the inference  to  be  just,
where it is invariably the case;  but novices,  from
want of proper knowledge  of the  distances,  and
how to portion out their breath, may occasionally fall
into  this error for a short time; fright may decid-
edly produce this  defect at the moment, but these
are the  only causes where a palliation for so serious
an offence can be  offered.
  Singing  too  flat proceeds  from many causes,
without the ear being  defective; such as  exhaus-
tion  of  frame, fatigue,  indisposition,  or weakness.
Vocal  performers possessing the greatest knowl-
edge of the  science, and the  utmost accuracy of
ear,  frequently afford us instances  of  this  error,
from such causes.
  They who have not had  the  advantage  of mix- 
136
PARAGRAPHS.
ing with  musical society  are  often  unjustly con-
demned as having imperfect ears, when, in reality,
they are only uncultivated,  from want  of proper
acquaintance with musical  sounds.   We do not
expect a peasant to enter a drawing-room with all
the politeness of a courtier, yet he may possess tal-
ents that require  but few years' study and  observa-
tion to render him as bright an ornament as the
most polished of  the party.  The children of mu-
sicians seldom  require half the trouble  to become
proficient in the science of music that is necessary
with other children, because the  ears of the former
are imperceptibly cultivated  by constantly listening
to the  compositions of the first masters, ably exe-
cuted.   But let these children be placed where the
sound of music seldom, or  never, reaches them, and
I question whether they would not have to combat
with the  same disadvantages  in educating their
ears as the  latter.  The  musical  student should,
therefore, bear in mind that it is  greatly  in his own
power to facilitate the cultivation of  his  intonation,
by constant and assiduous  practice of the  diatonic,
chromatic, and enharmonic scales, by which appli-
cation, joined to  frequently attending concerts, and
other places where the best  music may be per- 
                  PARAGRAPHS.               137
formed, that swelling and  dying of the voice,  and
that accuracy of intonation, can alone be acquired,
which,  in  both  vocal  and  instrumental  music,
evince the skill and taste of the performer.
  Perseverance and industry, as far as the mechan-
ical instruction of the ear is concerned, joined  to a
familiarity with good compositions, are the certain
road to success and pre-eminence.
  Some  years since, it was considered a work of
labor  and  importance to  bring forward  singers
combining all the requisites to  enable them to  pass
victoriously through the ordeal of public  opinion.
They toiled assiduously up the hill of science, pa-
tiently enduring the drudgery ere they presumed to
pluck the flowers which bloomed as the reward of
their  industry;  but,  in  the present  day,  singers
spring up like mushrooms, after a few months' in-
struction, and then, unable to stand the test of  crit-
icism, they sink into oblivion.
  One road is open to all who wish to excel, by
which even an indifferent voice may  be rendered
good.  I mean the serious practice of the plain
scale (that  is,  the diatonic scale in  the  simple
state,  free from shakes or graces of  any  kind,)
together  with  the  chromatic  and  enharmonic 
138
PARAGRAPHS.
scales;  without which application to  the  most
exact nicety, no  singer can possibly arrive at  any
degree of perfection.  It is the firm basis on which
all the progress to future excellence must be estab-
lished.   Grandeur,  power, roundness, sweetness,
and steadiness  of tone, all depend  on this practice.
Execution, and the lighter branches of singing, are
but pleasing  auxiliaries, called in  to afford a little
relief by playful variety; and yet this simple prac-
tice, on which  so much depends, is passed  by with
careless indifference, for the sake of a pretty mel-
ody, which, tickling the ear, induces the singer to
desert the straight and certain path to perfection.
  It is  advisable, before the chromatic or enhar-
monic scales are attempted, that the student should
first make himself proficient in the practice of the
diatonic scale, to sound  therein every  note with
truth, clearness, and decision, as well as with per-
spicuity, and to give that  richness  and liquid soft-
ness to each sound which must ever delight.
  After acquiring that priority of intonation  and
firmness of tone so desirable on holding notes,  and
the art of protracting or  contracting at will  the
duration of each  sound in the ascending  and de-
scending  scale with  equality and steadiness of 
                  PARAGRAPHS.              139
voice, which will  enable the singer to depend on
his own strength, the different distances from one
sound to another may then be  attempted with the
same caution and perseverance.
   The  old  adage, that a house without  a good
foundation must fall to the ground, is not inapplica-
ble to the foundation or building of  the voice; for,
if the  more  substantial  sounds (the lower  tones)
are not carefully  cultivated, there can  be  no de-
pendence on the upper tones;  they will be  uncer-
tain  both in strength and truth of intonation, on
the principle of violin harmonics.
   The  common pitch of tone in which we con-
verse lies within  a very few notes  of the  deepest
or gravest sound in our compass, to  which the fall-
ing inflections often descend;  but  allowing even
for the various modulations so  necessary to  prevent
monotony in speaking, the rising inflections never,
by many notes, ascend to the highest  (most acute)
sound.  Nature, therefore, dictates that, before our
acute tones are  made  of any consideration, that
part  of  voice which is so necessarily essential for
general use, the lower tones, should be  first  culti-
vated.   Let, then, the following method of  form-
ing or building the voice be adopted. 
140
PARAGRAPHS.
  It is  advisable  to commence from  any grave
sound within three or four of the lowest compass,
and to practice that sound until a certain degree of
softness, mellowness,  steadiness, roundness,  full-
ness, and richness can be given to it at will. Make
that sound  the tonic (the key-note) of a diatonic
scale.  The voice may then ascend to the second
and third of the  scale, and be exercised  in the like
manner as on the first, so that the  three  tones are
made equal  in their bearings and qualities.   One
half tone higher  may  afterwards  be  attempted,
which will be the fourth note of the diatonic scale;
and by  the same  means  the voice  may exercise
itself, step by step, until the next four tones, which
complete  the octave,  are gained with the  same
equality of the tone as the preceding four.
  Thus,  having cultivated eight  sounds  (which
may be considered  about  the  middle part of the
voice), and gaining  thereby a substantial basis, or
ground-work, the  student may with safety extend
his compass  either above  or  below, proceeding
slowly,  but  securely,  in his  progress.   But, in
extending the compass, care should be taken to
discover which  way the voice  inclines;  for, as we
would with caution feel our way in a dark and un- 
                  PARAGRAPHS.               141
known road, so, in extending the voice, it is neces-
sary to cultivate those high or low sounds that are
most pleasing  to  the ear, and on which we may
with firm confidence rely for truth of intonation.
  It would be well to bear in mind that the longer
a violin  has been in good  use, the sweeter  and
fuller become its tones;  by proper exercise do the
vocal organs in like  manner improve in mellow-
ness and power.
  If injudicious teachers, by imprudent exertions,
strain youthful voices, then, indeed,  their tones be-
come harsh and discordant, like those of a wind
instrument that is over-blown.  Under such tuition,
it would  be best  that children should not begin,
either early or  late.
  About the age of fifteen or sixteen, and in some
instances  sooner, the voices of both sexes undergo
a material change with the constitution;  when that
of  the female, if properly managed, imbibes the
rich, full tone of womanhood; but if too much ex-
erted while in  an uncertain state of health, it be-
comes harsh and discordant.
  Boys,  before arriving  at manhood (often from
neglect of the  master, as well as from  their own
imprudence in  straining their voices at the time of 
 I42               PARAGRAPHS.
changing or breaking,) entirely lose all  power  of
singing, and it frequently happens  that they never
regain their musical tones, nor the least trace  of
ever having possessed  them.
  A  good  old  master has (no doubt to prevent
injurious practice) recommended that boys should
not sing at all from  the  time  when  their voices
break until the tones are  fixed.   The  change  that
takes place with the constitution in male voices is
very different from that of the female.  The latter
only loses a particular  thinness of sound, common
to very youthful voices,  and gains in its place a
full,  rich body  of tone, which,  from ill-manage-
ment, is often turned into  that harshness before no-
ticed.  But  the male entirely loses his uppec notes,
and gains a  deeper compass of an  octave or more
below.  It is then when the master's ability should
be exerted by transposing his pupil's songs and ex-
ercises, so that his voice shall be, by degrees, low-
ered in pitch, as the acute  tones fall off.   It is his
duty to be on the watch for every change; and, as
the upper notes get defective in the  smallest de-
gree (cracked or uncertain), their  compass should
be lowered by half a tone at a time, until  the voice
has become  fixed.  By such means,  boys would 
                  PARAGRAPHS.              143
never entirely lose their vocal powers,  nor should
we have  to lament  the  great scarcity  of  male
singers.
  That part of the throat where this change  takes
place is, by the Italians (according to Dr. Burney),
called il ponticello, "the little bridge."  The voce
di petto  (laryngeal),  and  the faucette (pharyn-
geal), may  justly sing the  praises  of this  little
bridge, should they go smoothly over it.
  There is a break, more or less,  in the voices  of
both  sexes, but  particularly  in that of the  male,
between the laryngeal and pharyngeal.  It should
here  be an  object with the  singer to  contrive  to
blend or dove-tail the two qualities of tone in such
manner that the transition from one to  the  other
may not be perceptible to the  ear; and,  inasmuch
as there are no two vocal conformations  alike, the
only physiological rule that can  be  laid  down is
simply this:   If the break be very rude, bring  the
pharyngeal  register,  beginning some four or five
notes  above the  break, down  some four or five
notes below the break, and  dove-tail accordingly,
gradually working one set of registral muscles into
the  other, until  they shall  have   acquired full
strength. 
I44               PARAGRAPHS.
  Swelling and dying of the  voice  is the most
important to practice, and one of the easiest requis-
ites  to  acquire, if judiciously treated;  on it  de-
pends the principal art of singing, for its sweetness
enriches and  gives  that  delicious roundness  and
fullness to the tone, so desirable for every branch
of the science.
  The invalid, by daily and cautiously prolonging
the distance of his walk, gains that bodily strength
and  command of breath which at length enable
him to undertake a long journey;  from which  the
singer  may, by comparison,  see  the  necessity of
practicing the cresendo and diminuendo progress-
ively; that is, by daily increasing  the  force of his
voice,  and in like manner by degrees prolonging
the duration of sound  on holding  notes,  to gain
such magnitude of tone and command of breath as
will enable him to increase and decrease the sound
of a note  at pleasure, either in protracted duration
of  "sweetness long drawn out," or to apportion   -
the same degrees in rapid alternation.
  The following quotations cannot fail to  inspire
the student in elocution  with a just  idea  of  the
sublime beauty and enchanting  effect that is  ere- 
PARAGRAPHS.
H5
ated  by the  various swellings  and  dyings of  the
voice.
            ------Soft as evening dews
    Sinks in the heart, and all the soul subdues;
    Sweet as yEolian sounds, that gently rise,
    As blows the fragrant breeze, or languid dies ;
    Now tremulously sweet the zephyr's wing
    Touches with tones of Heav'n the trembling string;
    Now gradual swells, as on the distant shore,
    At crimson eve, the crested billows roar.
                            —Rome, part i., line 344.
         Then rising all at once, was as the sound
         Of thunder heard remote.
                          —Milton, book ii., line 476.
         Rose like an  exhalation, with the sound
         Of dulcet symphonies and voices sweet.
                                  —Book i., line 549.
                       -----r- A shout,
         Loud as from numbers without number, sweet
         As from blest voices, utt'ring joy.
                                 —Book Hi., line 346.
         Ring out, ye crystal spheres,
         Once bless our human ears
    {If ye have power to touch our senses so)
         And let your silver chime
         Move in melodious time,
    And let the bass of Heaven's deep organ blow,
           10 
146
PARAGRAPHS.
     And with your nine-fold harmony
     Make up full consort to the angelic symphony.
                                           — Ode.

   Mountains, and ye that warble as ye flow.
   Melodious murmurs, warbling, tune his praise.
                                        -K195.

     That strain again ; it had a dying fall;
     O, it came o'er my ear like the sweet south,
  ■x That breaks upon a bank of violets,
     Stealing and giving odour.         — Tempest.

Where should this music be ? i' the air or  the earth,
It sounds no more ;—and sure it waits upon
Some God of  the Island.        —Tempest, act i.

At last, a soft  and solemn breathing sound
Rose like a stream of rich distill'd perfumes,
And stole upon the air, that even silence
Was took ere she was 'ware, and wished she might
Deny her nature, and be nevermore
Still, to be so displaced.   I was all  the ear,
And took in strains that might create  a soul
Under  the ribs of death.                 —Comus.

      And ever against eating cares,
      Lap me in soft Lydian airs,
      Married to immortal verse,
      Such as the melting soul may pierce, 
                     PARAGRAPHS.                 147

           In notes with many a winding bout
           Of linked sweetness long drawn out.
                                        —L 'Allegro.

  Pleasant is the voice of song;  it comes on the sound of the
stream along the narrow vale.— Ossian.

  ----Her voice was like the harp ; when the distant sound
comes in the evening, on the soft-rustling breeze of the vale !
— Ossian.

               ------How often from the steep
        Of echoing hill or thicket have we heard
        Celestial voices to the midnight  air,
        Sole, or responsive to each other's note.
                                   —Milton, iv., 680.

        There let the pealing organ blow
        To the full-voic'd choir below,
        In service high, and anthems clear,
        As may with sweetness, through mine ear,
        Dissolve me into ecstasies,
        And bring all Heav'n before mine eyes.
                                       —// Penseroso.

      For mine is the lay that nightly floats,
      And mine are murmuring, dying notes
          That fall as soft as snow on  the sea,
          And melt in the heart as instantly !
      And the  passionate strain that, deeply going,
          Refines the bosom it trembles  through, 
PARAGRAPHS.
  As the musk-wind, over the waters blowing,
      Ruffles the wave, but sweetens it too !
                          —Lalla Rookh,  p. 318.

  ' Tis I that mingle in one  sweet measure,
  The past, the present, and future of pleasure ;     ,
  When memory links  the tone that is gone
      With the blissful tone that's still in the ear;
  And Hope from a heavenly note flies on
      To a note more heavenly still that is near.
                                       —P. 319-

  And when he hears the rude, luxuriant note
  Back to his ear  on softening echoes float,
  Believes it still some answering spirit's tone,
  And thinks it all too  sweet to be his own!
        —Moore's Epistles, Odes, vol. ii.,  p. 140.

How quick expression  darts her glancing fires,
    How deep responding blend those hues and tones,
    Which harmony itself enchanted owns,
All judgment sanctions, and all taste admires.
                         — Gent's Poems,  p. 139.

    ' Twere but the echo of the parting breeze,
    When Zephyr faints upon the lily's breast;
    'Twere but the ceasing of some instrument,
    When the last lingering undulation
    Dies on the doubting ear.            —Smart. 
                     PARAGRAPHS.                 149

               -----The grateful notes prolong,
         Apollo listens, and approves the song.
                             —Homer's Iliad, book i.

               -----And rapid urge the way
         Till dying off the distant sounds decay.
                                           —Homer.

      And her voice was the warble of a bird,
           So soft, so sweet, so ^elicately clear,
      That finer, simpler  music ne'er was heard,
           The sort of sound we echo with a tear,
      Without knowing why—an overpowering tone,
      Whence melody descends as from a throne.
                       —Don yuan, canto ii., p. 194.

      Like to a harp-string stricken by the wind,
      The sound of her lament shall,  rising o'er
      The seraph voice, touch the  Almighty mind.
                      —Prophecy of Dante, canto iii.

    Hark! through the calm and silence of the scene,
    Slow, solemn, sweet,  with many a pause between,
    Celestial music swells along the air.
                 —Montgomery's Greenland, canto i.

And thy voice of music cease, like the murmurs  of the even-
      ing breeze,
That die  away in the silence of night.         —Ossian.

   Execution is  a term used to  signify facility of 
*5°
PARAGRAPHS.
   voice in running  through difficult divisions, and
   other intricate passages, with rapidity.
     Execution  is certainly one  of the  most difficult
   parts of musical science.   Young singers are de-
   sirous of attaining it without  reflecting  whether,
   from the formation  of the  throat,  and various
   physical causes, they may ever be able to accom-
   plish their wishes.   F^v indeed possess the power
   of execution  in  a pre-eminent  degree.   It  is,  in
   part, a gift of nature.   Those who have  ever de-
   lighted,  as  well as astonished us, by their  rapid
   manner  of  running through divisions, must  have
   been naturally endowed with flexible  organs.
     The hinges of a door, which have  continued for
   years undisturbed,  will, when the door is reopened,
   grate harshly on the ear; but  every effort renders
   the harshness more tolerable,  until, from  frequent
   use, they move easily.  Thus it  is with the voice;
A.  on the flexibility  of the uvula, and the  muscles
   connected with it,  depend the perfectibility of both
   the shake and  execution.  But still it must be ac-
   knowledged that acquired execution  never should
   be exercised by the side  of nature otherwise  than
   sparingly, even where necessity requires it; for the
   latter possesses an easy  velocity which can  play- 
                  PARAGRAPHS.              151
fully sport with its subject at will; but, however
gratifying the power of execution  may be  consid-
ered by those who possess it, I  recommend  them
not to be indiscriminately lavish, lest they  cloy by
too great profusion, and,  as  Voltaire  remarks,
"shine  in trills and divisions, at  the  expense  of
poetry and good sense."
  Execution requires a perfect intonation and judi-
cious management.  It is, to  the singer  of true
taste, like the bright coruscations of wit in  conver-
sation, and does not consist in the mere running  of
notes,  without considering the character of the
song.   Ornaments  should  correspond  with the
character or genius of the piece in which they are
introduced.  It is in the performer's power to give
the cadence intellectual variety by running  through
the divisions with velocity, force, and  brilliancy;
now  in a light, pleasing, and playful  manner;  at
other times, majestically imposing, or tenderly pa-
thetic,  according as the true reading of the poetry
requires, that the best effect  should be  produced.
A  bad singer, by the introduction of ornaments,
commits willful suicide in the attempt.
   Execution is capable  of grand and  noble pur-
poses, but it must not be sported with indiscrimi- 
152               PARAGRAPHS.
nately.   Graces  afford pleasure, when  rendered
subservient to the legitimate sense of the poet  and
composer, and are as  necessary to relieve the  ear
from  monotony in music  as is  a variety of  lan-
guage to avoid tautology in writing.   But as in the
latter we would endeavor  to  select  such expres-
sions  as are elegant,  pleasing, and  consistent with
the subject on which we write, so should the sing-
er adapt such cadences as  are within  his uncon-
strained  natural  powers to  the  character of  the
composition, preserving,  as it were, one continual
stream  of melody, that the composer's ideas may
not be destroyed.

  Expression.   On the subject  of expression, we
can scarcely  find language  sufficiently nervous to
impress the singer with a just sense of this invalua-
ble and soul-exciting  charm, this mental  polish to
harmony, which, stealing to the inmost recesses of
the heart, fills it with chastened, yet exquisite, sen-
sations of rapture, such as  none  but the sensitive
can feel, and none but the  sensitive impart.  Judi-
cious expression is the very acme of  the  art;  it is
the charm that leads to  the highest  estimation of
the singer, the finishing stroke to the works  of the 
                  PARAGRAPHS.               153
painter, poet, and musician.  This excellence may
be  acquired  by great observation  and persever-
ance, but true expression can only be the result of
natural feeling, the  child of innate  sensibility,  in-
structed by the  Muses  and the  Graces,  without
whose aid the most perfect voice and rapid execu-
tion,  though  they may astonish  for  a time, can
never reach the  heart.  An insipid singer, who has
not sufficient judgment to vary  his expression, may
with propriety be compared to  a marble statue, the
symmetrical proportions of which please the eye,
but, wanting the animation of existence, compel us
to turn after a while,  tired by  its  inanity, to con-
template a less beautiful object in life.
  Expression in music, by her irresistible  tender-
ness,  touches the  soul.  She takes  all  her color-
ings from the sense which the poetry conveys, and
by  that means  gains complete possession of the
heart.  She  leaves  her competitors  to astonish;
and travels  on,  securing the  love  of all  in her
progress.
  She clothes her song  in the characteristic dra-
pery  of grace,  majesty,  and pathos;  not  a single
note will be breathed in vain; she will wisely con-
sider  that ornaments should ever be  subordinate to 
154               paragraphs.
the sense and grand end of the composition, which
is to speak to the  judgment, as well as to the ears,
of her auditors.
  It is well known that an actor of merit will often,
by a certain facial expression, convey a meaning
which the finest flow of language cannot  express.
He will read, also, in such an  effective  tone, with
such peculiar expression, pathos,  and  grace,  as to
produce  sympathy, delight, and surprise in an au-
dience, who  have for  years, perhaps,  listened un-
moved to the same passages when recited by his
competitors.
  If monotonous rules  are laid down for  the ex-
pression of words, and  not ideas, the singer and
speaker of  taste  a*nd judgment must remain fet-
tered by custom, without exerting the power to de-
light by the combination of sense and  sound.
.  Words  of joy  or sorrow  may be expressed  by
violence  or  delicacy of sound; but the latter can
only proceed (or  prove effective) from  those who
possess that innate sensibility of feeling which Art
cannot teach.
       " From vulgar bounds with brave disorder part,
         And snatch a grace beyond the reach of art."
  As joy and sorrow produce  similar effects upon 
                  PARAGRAPHS.              155
the frame, so  will the same strain  of music, with
words of opposite meaning, act  upon the  nerves,
by exciting  pleasurable or melancholy, or positive
and  negative, sensations.  It is  only by contrast-
ing  the  two  that the difference  of effect  can be
judged.

  False expression, an error  into which many
fall, is infinitely worse than  no expression at all.
It renders the most beautiful and pathetic airs ludi-
crous.  We have heard singers, from this  affected
sensibility, labor as if suffering under the effects of
ipecacuanha;  and others  "tear a passion to tatters,
to very rags," without considering  the various ex-
pressions of which one word will admit.  In sing-
ing, we often  meet with  the passion of love, the
passion  of  grief, and  the  passion  of  anger; yet,
surely nothing can differ  more widely than the ex-
pression  that should be  given to  each.   It is not
the  word itself, but the sentence,  which  conveys
the import that should direct the  judgment of the
singer; though it is  a  singular fact  that many who
are  guided by good  sense  in reading  or  reciting,
the instant they begin to sing seem  to lose  all idea
that the  part is of any consideration. 
156                paragraphs.
  Facial expression and gesticulation.
      " The grace of action, the adapted mien,
       Faithful as nature to the varied scene;
       Th' expressive glance, whose subtle movement draws
       Entranced attention, and mute applause;
       Gesture that marks, with force and feeling fraught,
       A sense in silence, and a will in thought."
                 —Sheridan's Monody on Garrick's death.
  It is to be regretted that singers,  both  in  public
and private, attend so little to that  most powerful
letter  of recommendation,—the  countenance; for
many who, in conversation, are agreeable and ani-
mated, no sooner begin to sing than tljey resemble
figures whose mouths, pulled  open at pleasure by
a string, emit sounds, which, though ever so mellif-
luous, lose  their effect by issuing  from such autom-
aton organs.  Others, on the contrary, in their de-
sire to. avoid the charge  of insipidity, so painfully
distort their features that they render themselves
objects of ridicule or pity.  However charmed we
may be by  a good voice, the  eye,  as well  as the
ear, requires to be pleased;  and we  insensibly be-
come fatigued and discontented when the counte-
nance and demeanor do  not in some degree accord
with the  subject to which we may be listening.
       " 'Tis  not enough his verses to complete
        In measure, number, or determin'd feet. 
paragraphs.
157
       To all, proportion'd terms he must dispense,
       And make the sound a picture of the sense;
       The correspondent words exactly frame,
       The look, the features, and the mien the same."
                                         —Pitt.
  An  expressive  countenance is the  index of a
sensible mind.  In public oratory it is esteemed  as
one of the principal steps  towards  success, nor is
it less essential to the  singer than to  the actor; for,
as songs are generally expressive of some passion,
singers should  endeavor to  enter into the subject
with sufficient energy to inspire their  countenances,
and, by thus showing that they feel what they sing,
make others feel also.
  It is not necessary to look the  picture of misery
while uttering sentiments of sorrow,  nor to wear a
broad grin in  the'expression of pleasure; but if the
words and music  (which  should agree)  be of a
cheerful nature, no person-of thd least reflection
would sing with a countenance descriptive  of de-
spair, nor  assume a merry, smiling face if the  sub-
ject were plaintive and sorrowful.  Much depends,
also, on the gesticulation of a singer,  for  we are
apt to attach  more consequence to manner and  ex-
ternal  endowments than they really merit.
   Suavity of  manner and a modest deference, with-
out the  admixture  of a shadow of servility,  are, 
158
PARAGRAPHS.
both to the singer and the actor, the best passports
to the lasting favor of the public; joined to a mod-
erate reliance on  their own powers.  Conceit  and
impudence may, with the inexperienced, for a time
pass current in the room of more  genuine talent.
Politic  manceuvering has frequently carried  the
day, but the lover of justice  and sincerity must
always wish the arrogant pretender to  be disap-
pointed  of  the  incense which his vanity would
lead him to  covet.
  "Real genius,  however conscious  of its  own
strength, rarely vaunts its superiority over inferior
satellites,  and there are  instances in the present
day  of  the  best singers,  though  accustomed to
nightly  performances, never appearing  without a
slight sensation of apprehension."—Nathan.
  There is nothing more common than the habit of
looking wisely up and  down  to the words above
and  below,  and of slapping the breast  whenever
the heart is  mentioned, no doubt to make known
that it is situated  towards the left side, which, in an
anatomical point of view, is not strictly true.
  "The actor of habit  is  a gardener, who  raises
elegant  flowers and  distributes gaudy  parterres,
but  knows  nothing  beyond the  surface  of  the 
                   PARAGRAPHS.               159
 earth.  The actor  of passion is a miner, who digs
 into the depth and darkness of creation, and brings
 to  light its  most  hidden and  valuable  stores."—
 Leigh Hunt Js Theatrical Criticisms.

   Gesticulation.  The movements of  gesticula-
 tion must be either positive or negative.   To illus-
 trate, and  by way  of practice, rotate the forearms,
 hands, and fingers in  a circle towards  the  body,
 for  positive  gesticulation;  confine the action to
 the middle of the  body for ordinary gesticulatory
^expression; below the waist for positive, insignifi-
 cant delineations;  and above the head for superior,
 or grand  positive effects, just as you would do  if
 called upon to describe the letter O.  Then, for the
 purpose of practicing  negative gesticulations, re-
 verse  the  movements  of  the arms,  hands, and
 fingers.
  A  daily  practice  of this exercise  will  give
 grace  to the  movements  of  the  arms,  etc.,  so
that when a positive  idea is about to be conveyed,
the gesticulation will show it, and all stiffness and
exaggeration will be  avoided.
  No marked  gesticulation should  be made unless
some climactric effect is to  be produced;  then it 
l6o               PARAGRAPHS.
   must be used quietly,  and  made to dove-tail with
   the tout  ensemble.  No  one part,  or parts,  func-
   tioning should be allowed to mar the other.  Bear
   in mind,
            " All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
             Whose body Nature is, and God the soul."
                                            —Pope.
     To perfect himself  in facial  expression, the stu-
   dent, by  force of mind, must, in  the first place, ac-
   quire perfect passive immobility of the facial mus-
   cles regardless of what may be said or done during
   this facial expression.
     Secondly,  the student  must, by frequent  prac-*
   tice, exercise the contraction of the facial muscles
   singly.
     Thirdly, the student must extend the  contractile
   functioning of one muscle to that of the adjoining
   muscle, and so on until  the gradual contraction of
   all  such muscular control shall have been  acquired
   for the purpose of producing  those facial  expres-
   sions  peculiar   or  pertaining  to  each  and  every
   passion or emotion of the soul.
     Few students have arrived at this point of per-
   fection in the art;  yet  the  great actor,  Garrick,
^ did it, Del Sarte did  it;  and to-day the author of
   this work has so far educated his facial  muscles as 
PARAGRAPHS.
161
to be able to appear as if crying on one side of his
face while laughing on the other.
   It would be  advisable  for the student  to  ob-
tain a large anatomical picture, exposing the supe-
rior or outer muscles of the face.  Let him place it
alongside of his mirror, while studying and exercis-
ing muscular  contraction,  and refer  frequently to
the mirror  for the  purpose of  satisfying  himself,
that the  required  muscle  or  muscles being  in-
volved in the  facial  expression studied are not  in-
terfered with  by any direct or indirect action of the
immediate  connecting ones.
   The study is  a simple one, interesting,  satisfac-
tory,  and positively calculated to satisfy him that
he is attaining the apogee  of the art of mimicry.
   The  deportment  or study  of the lower  limbs
must be as follows:  let  the  student stand  erect,
heel to heel, the toes diverging at an angle of forty-
five degrees;  when about to  move,  flex the right
knee without moving  the feet;  advance  the right
foot from four to six inches; in this position the
student will find himself enabled to semi-rotate his
body to the right, until he finds  his back where his
face was, previous to  the  exercise; let him  return
to his former position and  practice  this  exercise
         ii 
162
PARAGRAPHS.
backwards and forwards until he can do it without
faltering, after which the  other leg and foot may
be exercised in a similar manner.
  These exercises prepare the  student  to the em-
ployment of his lower limbs and feet  for elegant
and artistic walking.
  Stand erect;  heels together;  toes diverged;  flex
the right knee; advance  the right foot its  entire
length; throw the bod)' forwards,  the  sole  of the
right foot remaining flat on the ground; the right
leg must be straight and firm;  in this  position the
left  knee must be flexed or bent; the ball  of the
left foot touching the ground firmly, while the heel
is elevated, such as we frequently see  in statues or
statuettes; pause a while, and do likewise with the
left limb and foot; in other words,  both limbs  and
feet must be made to function  alike in  this  artistic
walking, until the student shall have acquired the
art of  walking gracefully, regardless of arm  move-
ments, facial expression, or vocal display.
  In conclusion, let him try  his ability  to walk to a
chair,  seat himself,  remain  there  a few moments
without moving his  feet;  rise  up without moving
his feet,  and  walk  away gracefully without more
manceuvering than is absolutely necessary to  per- 
                 "PARAGRAPHS.               163
form the feat.  Above all things, see  that the di-
vergent  angle  of one  foot is  neither greater nor
lesser than the other.

  Passions.  With  regard  to the passions,  they
may be compared to all  the other elements of the
soul, body, or mind; and in point of extreme meas-
urement must be divided into positive, Love, and
negative, Anger.   The positive, Love, must be
depicted, extreme, regardless  of every modifica-
tion, pure, in itself, of itself;  per se, neither flavor-
ing nor savoring of any passional hue whatsoever.
The same may be said of  the  negative  passion,
Anger.
  Let the student select some piece of poetry, em-
bracing some twenty or thirty lines of elegant and
well-impassioned poetic features, defining in a most
marked manner the passions  of Love  and Anger;
let him impersonate the same intensely, yet pas-
sively, internally considered.
  To satisfy himself  he is on the right course, let
him read the  composition in an ordinary parlia-
mentary tone,  employing  the natural diapason of
his common daily-speaking  voice;  then  employ
the affirmative melody, after which the  interroga- 
164
PARAGRAPHS.'
tive, then the negative, and finally the interroga-
tive and negative melodies combined.
  This will give him  an idea of  the  employment
of all affirmative, interrogative, negative, and  in-
terrogative and negative melodies.
  After having  studied this modus operandi of
procedure,  let him describe the  situation of the
recitation as if he were relating it to an individual
friend, a small drawing-room audience, or a  large
assembly of hypercritical  critics,  so that he may
be enabled to  regulate or  apportion the  necessary
amount of volume and intensity  required for the
occasion.
  The chart numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4, at the end of
this work, should be  recited, or gone over by the
student, once every day.
  Chart No. 1  contains permutations of the  com-
mon chord, with its  attendant harmonies.  It em-
braces the  chord of the sub-dominant (1, 4, 6,  8),
which may be  sang  either in the major or  minor
mode; the chord of the dominant seventh (2, 4, 5,
7); the chord of the minor seventh (1, 3,5,7 dim.),
which may be made the  grand  chord  of the  di-
minished seventh, by  throwing up the tonic half a
tone. 
                  PARAGRAPHS.               165
  In these chords  there may be found the existence
of all the intervals  belonging to music: major in-
tervals,  minor intervals, diminished  intervals, aug-
mented  intervals,  inverted  intervals, and, finally,
the two grand  perfect intervals—the  fourth  and
fifth.  Practice them without the aid of any musi-
cal instrument,  save the timely employment of a
simple tuning fork.   In the singing of them,  em-
ploy the natural power of the voice, and, above all
things, see that you neither split the voice in going
from  one interval to  another, nor  make the least
slur.  In other words, do not let the articulation of
one intonation partake of, in the least,  the intona-
tion of the succeeding sound.  The same  instruc-
tions  will apply  to the recital  of the permuted
vowels, with this difference: that the organic vowel
sounds, a and o, pronounced ah and oh, should be
practiced upon a steady intonation, with the mouth  .
widely opened, and  held firm by the introduction
of the points of the three  first fingers, and there
retained, during the  moulding of these two organic
vowel sounds.   Use the same functioning process
for the vowels e and u, pronounced eh and oo, with
the points of two fingers holding the jaws  firmly
apart.   Finally, use  only one  finger for the organic 
166
PARAGRAPHS.
vowel sound  i, pronounced e; and if desirous  of
educating  the  mouth to  a French pronunciation,
add the closed  sound of the  French  u, when you
will  have  the sounds of e, and e closed.   In the
articulation of the latter vowel sound, draw the
lips closely together;  a, o, e, u, i, and e  closed,
gives  us therefore six distinct organic vowel sounds.
  The chart on  consonant articulation  explains it-
self, and so does the chart on vocal quantity.
  For further particulars on vocal quantity, (a most
essential study,) I would respectfully refer the stu-
dent to Gardner's  " Music of  Nature."   ,. 
 
 
DR. GUILMETTE'S  VOCAL  EXERCISES.
CHART  NUMBER ONE.
	1.			2.			3.			4.		
1	3 5	8	1	4 6	8	1	3 5	7b	2	4	5	7
1	3 8	5	1	4 8	6	1	3 7h	5	2	4	7	5
1	5 3	8	1	6 4	8	1	5 3	7b	2	5	4	7
1	5 8	3	1	6 8	4	1	5 7b	3	2	5	7	4
1	8 3	5	1	8 4	6	1	7b 3	5	2	7	4	5
1853   1864   1 7b 5 3   2754

3158   4168   3 1  5 7b   4257
3185   4186   3l7b5   42  7 5
3	5	1	8	4	6	1	8	3	5	1	7b	4	5	2	7
3	5	8	1	4	6	8	1	3	5	7b	1	4	5	7	2
3	8	1	5	4	8	1	6	3	7b	1	5	4	7	2	5
3	8	5	1	4	8	6	1	3	7b	5	1	4	7	5	2
5	1	3	8	6	1	4	8	5	1	3	7h	5	2	4	7
6	1	8	3	6	1	8	4	5	1	7"	3	5	2	7	4
5	3	1	8	6	4	1	8	5	3	1	7b	5	4	2	7
6	3	8	1	6	4	8	1.	5	3	7h	1	5	4	7	2
6	8	1	3	6	8	1	4	5	7b	1	3	5	7	2	4
5	8	3	1	6	8	4	1	5	7b	3	1	5	7	4	2
8135   8146    7b135   7245
8153   8164    7" 153   7254
8315   8416    7" 315   7425
8351   8461    7b351   7452
8513   8614    7b5l3   7524
8531   8641    7b531   7542

           BTA-BAT MA-TEB IK)-LO-BO-SA,
           JUX-TA CRU-CKJI LA-CRI-MO-SA J
           DTJM  TKN-DB-BAT FI-LI-TTS. 
DR.   GUILMETTE'S  VOCAL   EXERCISES.
CHART  NUMBER  TWO.
PERMUTATIONS
FIVE  ORGANIC  VOWEL   SOUNDS,
                         I    E    V    A    O.
     N b.—Let there be a noun and «rm moulding of the sounds which Dr. Guilmette represents by these characteii.
           1x2x3x4x5 = 120 the number of the permutations.
									-----------------------» ^ »—i---------------------- E X E R C 1 S E S.													
	I.					II.					m				IV.					V.		
e	u	a	0	i	u	e	a	0	i	a	e	u	O ]	I 0	e	u	a	e	i	u	a	0
e	u	0	a	i	u	e	0	a	i	a	e	0	u i	0	e	a	u	e	i	u	0	a
e	a	u	0	i	u	a	e	0	i	a	u	e	0	L 0	u	e	a	e	i	a	u	0
e	a	0	u	i	u	a	0	e	i	a	u	0	e	I 0	u	a	e	e	i	a	0	u
e	0	u	a	i	u	0	e	a	i	a	0	e	u	L 0	a	e	u	e	i	0	u	a
e	0	a	u	i	u	0	a	e	i	a	0	u	e	L 0	a	u	e	e	i	0	a	u
 
     o   «  o ,M  * '"        o  ©  o "*  ©  "*
     «j   q  .^  O  .-h  e3        „  0 .«  O .**   ©
^  .h  v<  O  (S  o  o    ^.^.^©©00
     ©   ©  ©  ©  ©  ©
     p   p  0  P  p  p
M
p   p   p  p  p  p
c$   d   c5  rt  rt  rt
     p  ©  p .f*  ©  —«
     ©  p .—  P "*   w
M  .^,  .^  ©  ©  p   p
     ri  cS  cS  c3  eS   cS
     o  o  o  o  o   o
     Oc«0©c5©         O  P  O ""'  P  "*         e5  ©   eS  —  © —
     «   O  ©  O  ©  cj      .p0.^O.^P    ^.  •*-*-  ®
M   ©   ©  cS  cS  O  O    ^.^.wPPOO    H.h-0«««
    .,*  .,4  ._|  »H  ••*  >f4         ©©©©©©         P  P   P   P  P  P
     PPPPP0         C3c3c3<3c303         OOOOOO
 »8  p  e5  •«  p "*
 0  c5  -  * -  *
.m  .^  P  P  c3  e3
 OOOOOO
 ©©©©©©
E
   o  p  O  ©  P  ©
.  p  o  ©  O  ®  p
cS   p   cS  "*  P
©  ©   p  P  O  O
B
p   c3
.^   e8  .m  P
trt  ,M  p  p  eS  c3
              trH ,_,    rS  ©  ©  ©  ©   ©  ©
CSC3C3CJCSC3        OOOOOO
 P   O
lM  <FH  p  p  o  o
 (J   cJ  ej  cS  (3  eJ
 ©   ©  ©  ©  ©  ©
0p0.^p.^         rt   o   rt  -  © -         rtscsopo
        ^O.^P         ©rt'^cj""'®    ,-j   p  ej  ©  «  ©   P
                         M._,..h©©c3c3    P"   ©  ©  p  p  eJ   cJ
                         X                           X
                              OOOOOO        ,rt  .M  .r* .^ «rt  —
                                                            OOOOOO
p   p   p  p  p  p
O  (3   O  ,ri   (5  ,H
0   ©   o  •*«  © "
p  ©   p  ""'  © ""
0  0  .*  O •*  ©    HH  ©  P -  ^  ""   °
£  .„  .m   «S  *  O  O    M .^  .m   O  O  O  O    ^.m.-©©^-
                                   rtc3c3c3e3c3        OOOOOO
                                                                cj  c3  c3  c3   e3   c3
p   p   p   p   p   p

©   o   ©   ©   ©   ©
&   &   &  0  V  & 
DR.  GUILMETTE'S  VOCAL   EXERCISES.
          CHART  NUMBER   THREE.


             CLASSIFICATION  AND  PERMUTATION
      *                      or THB

ORGANIC  LABIAL,  LINGUAL,
                             AND

          LARYNGEAL  ARTICULATIONS,
                I.—Organic Labial Articulations.
Labial Proper,.........    p_____p
Semi-Labial,.........p      p

               II.—Organic  Lingual Articulations.
Apex of the Tongue Straight, -    -   -    T-----T  -  Hard.
Apex of the Tongue Curved,   -   -      L-----L  -  Soft
Dorsum of the Tongue Arched,   -   -   K-----K  -  Hard.
Apex of the Tongue Straight,   -   -      R-----R  .  Hard Vibratory.
Apex of the Tongue Curved, -    -   -    R-----R  .  Soft Vibratory.

              III.—Organic Laryngeal  Articulations.
   B----B        G----G       D----D        V____V
  N. B.—1. The principal Laryngeal Sound represented by the character B
should, for the purpose of enlarging the chamber of the larynx, be practised
forcibly, several times a day, regardless of the grammatical name which de-
signates it as a Consonant.
  2.  Prefix the articulation of each of the above Consonants to  the closed
Organic Vowel I, taking care to keep passive those vocal organs whose imme-
diate functioning is not  required.  Let the  mind be very vigilant over the
active organ and none other, taking care to retain it for  a second or more in
its position, after the articulation shall have been given.
  3.  The same rule should be strictly observed in. the moulding of the Organic
Votcel sounds.  Otherwise, the slurring and drawling of the vocal element will
be the result, and a miserably defined vowel will characterize the performance
of the singer or speaker. 
CHART NUMBER THREE.  (CONTINUED.)
ON  THE  PERMUTATIONS OF THE LABIALS, LINGUALS,  AND
     1.—The Twenty four Permutations of the Linguals T L K R.
    TKLR       TRLK       LTKR       KTLR
    TKRL       TRKL       LTRK       KTRL
EXERCISES
T L K R
TLRK

KRTL
KRLT
BGPF
B G F P
KBPT
KBTP
RKTL
R K L T
G B P F
G B F P
B K P T
BKTP
LKTR
L K R T
F B P G
F B G P
T K P B
T K B P
L R T K
LRKT
F G P B
F G B P
T B P K
T B K P
KLTR
KLRT
B F P G
B F G P
KTPB
K T B P
LARYNGEAL^
RTLK
R TK L

RLTK
RLKT
G F P B
G F B P
BTPK
BTKP
     2.—The Twenty-four Permutations of the Labials P and F, with the Laryngeals B and G.
PFBG       PBFG      PGFB      FPBG      BPFG       GPFB
PFGB       PBGF      PGBF      FPGB      BPGF       GPBF
3.__The Twenty-four Permutations of the Principal Labial P with the Two Principal Linguals T and K
                             and the Principal Laryngeal B.
PTKB       PKTB      PBTK      TPKB      KPTB       BPTK
PTBK       PKBT      PBKT      TPBK      KPBT       BPKT 
DR. GUILMETTE'S VOCAL EXERCISES.
'JU.
 Breathe
 Swarm
 Dream

\n
Damage
Pic -ture
Pik-cher
CHART No. IV.
  ON QUANTITY.
Words on the bar.
   J seven inches.
  ■ij.    •;
7     -n
 All
Charm
Soul
Fierce
Fire
Power
Bet
 It
Pit
    J
 Ef-fi-gy
Chival-ry
Shivalry
"J73
To-ry
Puisne
Pu • ne
Vic - to-ry
Te -  di-um
Te -  je-um
n
Mu-si-cal-ly
Ho-nora-ble
Mis-chie-voua
 I - di- om
 / - je - um



  I-ma-ge-ry
 Ce-re-mo-ny
  Man
  Boy
  Dog

    10 n
     Ei-ther
    Grandeur
    Gran-jer

"m;
 In - fi-nite
 Im - pi-ous
 Ex - tir-pate
 Pit-ty
Minute
Minnet
 "m
 Wor-thi-ly
 Cor - di - al
 Cor -je - al
-n;
Loy - al - ty
 Im-pu-dent
 In -ju - ry
7  m   n
Mis-rep - re - sen - ta- tion
 Ex-com-mu - ni - ca-tion
 J» 4 6 0 4 ■
Impos-si-bility
"; m  jtj  °m m  m
Im - pe-ne-tra-bi-lity  Incomprchensi-bility
'I\t  "
 Ac - quit  De - lay
 E - mit  Gal-lant
 De - pict  Mamma
  Syllables before the bar.
m  -/i  j.  Mi\n
Ap - prove
Be - guile
De - lude
Pa - ci - fie
In - trepid
Fa - na-tio
"HI I
Per-se-vere
Ma-ga-zino
 In-va - lid 
                  ON QUANTITY.

mm   "n\n   vim   vin
 E-pi-demic   Misdemeanor   O-be-di-ent  Dis-dainful
 Pa-ne-gy-ric   Contradiction   0 - be -je - nt  Disgraceful

vm  vim  vm  vim
 Le -thar - gic  Im - me-diately Ju -  dicious I - den-ti-ty
 E - normous  E - me -jit -ly In -  si-pid  Mag - ni-ficent

 « 7  ! *  4  4 4     J  J  | 4  J  4     0  0  j 0 .  J
 A -  bomin - a - ble   In -di - vi -du-al    Machi - nation
 Un -  pardon-a-ble   Hy-po-the - ti-cal    Ma-ke - na-shen

mn  i m_!   *m i m  *m \  rm
 Minis - te - ri -al   Multi - pli-ci - ty   Dispro - portiona-bly
 Im-per-cepti-ble   In-de - fatigable   Un-in -  tel - li-gi-ble

"n  i m  -m i m vm:  n
 Dis-o  - be-di-ent  E - ty-mo - lo - gi-cal  Re-crim-i - na-tion
 Hippo-pot-a-mus Spiri-tu - al - i-ty  Hu-mi-li- a-tion

    0  4 0 10*04        4   0   4 \  4  • 4 4
   En-cyclo - pe-di - a        Re-com-men - da - to-ry

     «  «i   # !  0 • J        4 '  4 ,  4   C  rf
    Qua - li - fi - ca -  tiou      Hie -  ro -  gly - phi-cal

      ^  HI    -       -111    I  J
   •   0   0   4  \ 4 » 4     4 ' 4  4 • *  , 0  4
   lie - con - ci - li  - a - tion   Ra - ti - o - ci - na - tion
  Mai - ad - miu-is -  tra - tion  Ra - si  - o  - si - na - chen
m i—t-—:-t=^i ;  r=t=p=.'=a  s>  p=r=p== j  p — -_jq
 JTw  J .  ; !  J~  J   J   J   J  J ! J. n
 Im - ma - te - ri -  a - li - ty  Va -  le - tu - di - na - ri an.
     {Qabldi jfKa.)       Editor—Rev. Edward  Winthrop. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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