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+Project Gutenberg's The Mechanism of the Human Voice, by Emil Behnke
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Mechanism of the Human Voice
+
+Author: Emil Behnke
+
+Contributor: Mrs. Emil Behnke
+
+Release Date: January 8, 2010 [EBook #30889]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MECHANISM OF THE HUMAN VOICE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
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+
+
+THE MECHANISM
+OF THE
+HUMAN VOICE.
+
+(CURWEN'S EDITION, 5263.)
+
+BY
+
+EMIL BEHNKE,
+
+_Late Lecturer on Vocal Physiology at the Tonic Sol-fa College,
+Teacher of Voice Production._
+
+EDITED, WITH A NEW CHAPTER ON "VOICE FAILURE,"
+
+BY MRS. EMIL BEHNKE.
+
+FIFTEENTH EDITION.
+
+LONDON:
+J. CURWEN & SONS LTD., 24 BERNERS STREET, W.
+
+Price 1s. 6d.; CLOTH 2s. 6d.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE NINTH EDITION.
+
+PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
+
+PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
+
+PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+PLATES.
+
+INDEX.
+
+FOOTNOTES.
+
+
+          TO
+     MY DEAR WIFE
+      THIS ESSAY
+          IS
+    AFFECTIONATELY
+      DEDICATED
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE NINTH EDITION.
+
+
+A ninth edition of this book having been called for, I take the
+opportunity to return my sincere thanks for the many kind expressions
+concerning its usefulness which have reached me since the lamented death
+of its author, my dear husband.
+
+In carrying on his work, both my daughter and myself have felt the
+benefit of the clear and concise instructions the book contains.
+
+We have also proved with our pupils the absolute truth and value of the
+BEHNKE SYSTEM OF VOICE TRAINING, by means of which we have obtained
+results most gratifying to ourselves, and surprising to the pupils,
+whether speakers or singers.
+
+I hope that the new chapter on "Voice Failure," which I have added by
+Mr. Curwen's desire, may be of some use in preventing breakdown of
+voice, from which so many students suffer.
+
+K. BEHNKE.
+
+18, EARL'S COURT SQUARE, S.W.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION.
+
+
+A THIRD edition of this little book has now become necessary, and I must
+again express my gratitude for the continued commendations bestowed upon
+my work both in the press and in private letters.
+
+In response to many solicitations, I have added to this edition a few
+hints on teaching, deduced from physiological facts, which may prove
+useful by stimulating the advance of thought in a new direction.
+
+These hints are extracts from a series of articles on "Science and
+Singing" which I had the pleasure of writing in the _Edinburgh St.
+Cecilia Magazine_; and I am indebted to the Editor, Mr. A. C. Miller,
+for kindly permitting me to reproduce them here.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
+
+
+The favourable reception and rapid sale of a large first edition has
+stimulated me to revise this little book, and without alteration of my
+original scheme of practical utility, to somewhat enlarge on one or two
+points which appeared to demand further elucidation.
+
+In this, as in the former edition, I have received great assistance from
+my friend Mr. Lennox Browne, the eminent throat surgeon, who, by ever
+patiently discussing with me debatable points, and by giving me access
+to cases, interesting from a physiological point of view, both at the
+Central Throat and Ear Hospital, Gray's Inn Road, and in his extensive
+private practice, has afforded me opportunities of increasing my
+knowledge and experience which would not have arisen otherwise. I feel
+it a pleasure as well as a duty publicly to acknowledge my indebtedness
+to him, which I have, many times before, expressed in private.
+
+My best thanks are also due to Mr. J. Spencer Curwen, for the help he
+has rendered me in many ways.
+
+And finally, it would indeed be ungrateful on my part, if I did not
+place on record the obligation under which I consider myself to my
+reviewers for the uniformly favourable notice they have so kindly taken
+of my first effort, and for several useful hints of which I have duly
+taken advantage.
+
+One objection has been made which strikes at the very root of the plan
+upon which I have proceeded in my little volume, and to which,
+therefore, I beg leave to say a few words in reply. A learned writer in
+the _Athenæum_ finds fault with me for making use of popular instead of
+scientific terms, which, he says, may be the cause to the reader of
+great confusion if he refers to other works, and he adds that "Back
+Ring-Pyramid Muscle" is almost as hard a mouthful as "Crico-Arytenoideus
+posticus." I have asked several non-scientific friends of good general
+education to read this sentence to me, and they succeeded very well with
+"Back Ring-Pyramid Muscle," while they utterly collapsed when coming to
+"Crico-Arytenoideus posticus."
+
+This is, however, in my humble opinion, of minor importance. The great
+point is, that my terms--which by the way are not inventions, but simply
+translations--convey a meaning to the general reader, and the originals
+do not. This is a fact which I dared not ignore, because my essay is
+intended for the people and not for men of science. As I have taken care
+also, for the sake of those who might wish to consult other and more
+learned books than mine, to give the terms generally used by
+physiologists by the side of my translations, I do not think there is
+anything that could ever confuse my readers.
+
+I conscientiously believe that these are good and weighty reasons for
+the plan I adopted in the first edition, and trust my reviewers, as well
+as my readers, will accept them as a sufficient justification of the
+same practice in the present volume.
+
+E. B.
+
+_February, 1881._
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
+
+
+The number of books bearing more or less directly on the Theory of Voice
+Production which have been published during the last few years is very
+large, and shows clearly the extraordinary interest taken in this
+subject, not only by professional singers and speakers, but also by the
+general public. If I am now about to add another contribution to this
+already extensive literature, it is simply because amongst all the many
+excellent works on the Human Voice there is not one which brings before
+the reader the whole subject from beginning to end. The student who
+really wishes to get a clear understanding of the matter is obliged to
+wade through a variety of scientific books, and to pick up here and
+there, by means of very hard reading, such little scraps of information
+as, with much labour and waste of time, he can extract from books which
+were, in most instances, never written for the purpose for which he
+consults them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+To supply this generally-admitted want I have written these pages, in
+which I have endeavoured, to the best of my ability, to place before the
+reader in a simple and comprehensive form the Physiology of the Human
+Voice. I have, as far as possible, discarded all scientific terms, and
+it has been my aim to treat my subject in so simple and direct a manner
+as really to enlighten my readers instead of bewildering them. A
+treatise like this can, under no circumstances, be light reading; and I
+ask those who are truly anxious for information to give me patient
+study, accompanied by careful reference to the diagrams. For students
+who enter upon a perusal of these pages in such a spirit, this essay is
+specially intended; and if I have succeeded in making plain to such as
+these a really complicated subject, then my highest ambition will be
+satisfied.
+
+E. B.
+
+_April, 1880._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+                                                                      PAGES
+
+Introduction                                                            1-7
+
+The vocal organ as a musical instrument                                8-61
+
+Differences of the voice-box, or larynx, in children, women, and men  62-68
+
+Movements of the voice-box, or larynx, which can be seen or felt      69-72
+
+The laryngoscope, and how to use it                                   73-79
+
+The teachings of the laryngoscope                                    80-105
+
+Appendix--Hints on teaching                                         106-125
+
+Appendix To The Ninth Edition--Voice Failure                             126
+
+Appendix To The Tenth Edition--Does Diaphragmatic
+Breathing Apply Equally To Women As To Men?                             141
+
+Index                                                                   143
+
+Index To "Voice Failure                                                 146
+
+Footnotes.
+
+
+
+
+PLATES.
+
+
+                                                     PAGES
+
+   I. General view of vocal organ            _facing title_
+
+  II. The Lungs                                         10
+
+ III. The Chest                                         11
+
+  IV. Chest capacity--Methods of breathing              16
+
+   V. Side view of the Larynx                           32
+
+  VI. Front view of the Larynx                          33
+
+ VII. Larynx, Side view showing interior                37
+
+VIII. Larynx, Side view, muscles, &c.                   42
+
+  IX. Larynx, Side view, interior of left half          43
+
+   X. The Glottis in three states                       46
+
+  XI. Larynx, Section viewed from above                 48
+
+ XII. Larynx, Section viewed from behind                51
+
+      Sketch of Laryngoscope designed by Dr. Foulis     78
+
+XIII. Laryngoscopic Image--Breathing                    84
+
+ XIV.       "         "    Upper thick register         84
+
+  XV.       "         "    Upper thin register          85
+
+ XVI.       "         "    Small register               85
+
+      Diagram of compass of the registers               93
+
+
+
+
+INTRODUCTION.
+
+
+We are living in an age which is singularly poor in fine voices, both
+male and female, and with regard to the tenors of the present time there
+is this additional misfortune, that, as a rule, their voices do not
+last, but are often worn out in a very few years; in many instances
+while their owners are still under training, and before they have had an
+opportunity of making their appearance in public. If we remember that
+there was a time when most beautiful and highly cultivated voices were
+so plentiful that even in comparatively small towns there were to be
+found Opera Companies consisting of excellent singers, we may well ask
+ourselves how this remarkable change for the worse has come about.
+People have attempted to account for it in various ways. Up to the
+middle of the last century women were forbidden by Ecclesiastical Law to
+take part in Church music. The voices of boys being available only for a
+very short time, means were taken to prevent their voices from breaking,
+and thus a class of male soprani and contralti was created, who made
+their first appearance in Rome in the beginning of the 17th century, and
+to these singers the education of the female voices was soon almost
+exclusively entrusted. In the middle of the last century, however, when
+women were permitted to participate in Church music, there was no longer
+any occasion to procure artificial female voices, and these singers
+gradually died out, though there were still some of them living and
+teaching in the beginning of the present century. According to Rossini,
+who certainly was eminently qualified to give an opinion on the subject,
+the decline of vocal art in these latter years is mainly due to the
+disappearance of this class of singers, and if it be true that
+henceforth the training of female voices was undertaken by tenors, who,
+being of course unable to give a true pattern to their pupils, treated
+the female organ according to their own very different registers, then
+it can easily be understood that many voices must have been ruined by
+the process, and the scarcity of distinguished female singers would thus
+be satisfactorily accounted for. But I fail to see in what way the
+disappearance of male soprani and contralti could possibly have affected
+tenors and basses.
+
+Again, it is asserted that the way in which modern composers write vocal
+music is the cause of the evil. Certain it is that in the compositions
+of the old Italian masters the voice is studied, and nothing introduced
+which is hurtful or disadvantageous. Awkward intervals are avoided, no
+fatigue is caused, and everything is eminently _singable_; but the music
+is not always expressive of the sense of the words, which were clearly
+considered to be of minor importance. With our modern (and especially
+with the German) composers, it is just the opposite, their chief aim
+being thoroughly to enter, not only into the spirit of their text, but
+even into the slightest shade, the minutest detail of it, so as to make
+the music, as it were, a translation of their words into a higher kind
+of language. What, on the other hand, is possible or impossible for the
+voice is, since the time of Beethoven, but rarely considered; many
+composers, even the most distinguished ones, having evidently little
+knowledge of the most beautiful of instruments, for which they are
+nevertheless continually writing.
+
+When one of the greatest living masters introduced the harp into his
+works, he wrote for it just as though it were a piano--_i.e._, as though
+it were to be played upon with the thumb and four fingers. But it so
+happens that on that instrument the fourth finger is never used.
+Consequently, when it came to the point harpists could not play that
+gentleman's compositions: they had first to re-write them. Here the
+composer, of course, was found out immediately, and he or any other man
+would have the same fate if he attempted to write for an instrument the
+properties of which he did not fully understand. But with the human
+voice the case is different. Every musician believes himself to be
+competent to write for it, though he may possibly be wholly unacquainted
+with its many peculiarities. It is to be feared, therefore, that modern
+composers must be held largely responsible for the sad state of affairs
+concerning vocal art at the present time, and well might they learn a
+lesson from Mozart, who, in spite of his genius, first carefully studied
+the human voice, and then wrote for it.
+
+Another explanation of the decline of singing is this, that the gradual
+and very considerable rise of pitch during the last 150 years is at the
+bottom of all the mischief, as the vocal organ is unable to bear the
+strain to which it is subjected. With regard to tenors, however, the
+great evil is, that with very few exceptions, such as the celebrated
+Frenchman, Roger, they disregard, or at any rate did disregard for a
+considerable period, the falsetto register, singing everything, however
+high, in chest voice. I am afraid it cannot be said even that they have
+been beguiled into this serious mistake by the imperceptible rise of
+pitch just mentioned, but the truth is that they have committed this
+fatal blunder knowingly and wilfully, because they saw that it would
+pay. In support of this statement I will quote a few lines from the
+publication called "The Opera and the Art of Singing," by
+Glogg-ner-Castelli:
+
+     "In the field of singing a new man arose, who, in spite of great
+     personal attributes, worked destructively for the future, and whose
+     influence upon the later manner of singing is seldom truly
+     recognized. I mean the singer Duprez. Hissed off at first in Paris,
+     he turned to Italy, where he stayed several years, and then
+     returned to the French capital. When he came to use his magnificent
+     vocal resources, as he did in the Fourth Act of _Tell_, where he
+     brought out the high C in the chest voice with all the might of his
+     colossal organ, it was all over with the fame of all his
+     predecessors. Nourrit, till then the favourite of the Parisians, a
+     distinguished tenor singer, recognized the rival's power. His day
+     was over, and in despair over his lost and irrecoverable glory, he
+     flung himself from an upper window upon the pavement, and so made
+     an end of his life. Duprez may justly be considered one of the
+     greatest dramatic singers of our time, and the main features of his
+     method soon spread themselves all over Europe. After hearing of
+     Duprez, and how the chest register could be cultivated even into
+     the highest regions of the voice, the public were no longer
+     contented with the use of the falsetto. Soon it became impossible
+     to be engaged as an "heroic tenor" without at least possessing the
+     high B[b] in the chest tone. The singers found it a more thankful
+     task to humour the taste of the public than to pay extra regard to
+     the intentions of the composer; for often Meyerbeer himself
+     indicates, by a _pp_, his design that the falsetto and not the
+     chest tone should be employed. That every tenor singer, whether
+     such high pressure suited his natural compass or not, strove to
+     screw his voice up and 'make effect' was very natural; for art goes
+     after bread, and a high C with the chest voice often realizes an
+     income of thousands to its fortunate possessor. Roger has made a
+     laudable exception; his beautiful use of the falsetto certainly
+     produces a more agreeable effect than the forced chest tones so
+     unnatural to the organ of many a singer. How widespread is this
+     mistaken notion, that the use of the falsetto is entirely contrary
+     to art, we hear frequently enough in the expressions of individuals
+     when some unlucky tenor happens to get caught on one of these
+     tabooed falsetto tones. Thus the school founded by Duprez,
+     important in itself, has called into life a manner of singing, the
+     ruinous consequences of which we can see daily."
+
+But whatever may be the true reason or reasons, the fact that we have
+very few singers of eminence as compared with former ages, and that
+vocal art in general has gone down, is undisputed, and men have set
+themselves to remedy the evil by trying to ascertain the actual process
+by which the voice is produced, thinking that if they could but find
+this out there would be a true scientific basis upon which to found a
+way of teaching singing--or as I should rather say, of training
+voices--which would be sure and unerring.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The experiments of the great physiologist Johannes Müller are well
+known, and they have been followed up by others. But they were made upon
+dissected larynges, and as various teachers of singing started the most
+conflicting theories as to how the process shown by Müller was carried
+on in the living subject, and treated the voices of their pupils
+accordingly, these investigations have perhaps on the whole done more
+harm than good. Science was made responsible for the blunders of those
+who attempted to be guided by it. And thus it has happened that when at
+a later period further trials were made, but this time upon the living
+subject, and in the act of singing, they were received with indifference
+and distrust. Only very lately teachers of vocal music have begun to
+find out that here are facts put before them which cannot be gainsaid,
+and that if these investigations do nothing else, they at any rate make
+them acquainted with the exact nature of the vocal organ, and what it
+will bear and what it will not bear.
+
+
+
+
+THE VOCAL ORGAN AS A MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.
+
+
+"Physiologists," says Dr. Witkowski,[A] "are quite at issue when they
+endeavour to determine what kind of instrument the vocal organ
+resembles; indeed, Galien compares it to a flute, Magendie to a hautboy,
+Despiney to a trombone, Diday to a hunting-horn, Savart to a
+bird-catcher's call, Biot to an organ-pipe, Malgaigne to the little
+instrument used by the exhibitors of Punch, and Ferrein to a spinet or
+harpsichord. The last-named compared the lips of the glottis to the
+strings of a violin; hence was given the name _Vocal Cords_, which they
+have since retained. The current of air was the bow, the exertion of the
+chest and lungs the hand which carried the bow, the thyroid cartilages
+the _points d'appui_, the arytenoids the pegs, and lastly, the muscles
+inserted in them the power which tensed or relaxed the cords."
+
+It must be admitted that the human voice bears more resemblance to a
+reed instrument than to any other; but when the comparison is pushed to
+its legitimate consequences it is found to break down. We cannot resist
+the conclusion that the vocal organ is infinitely superior to any
+instrument made by human hands. Its mechanism is so wonderful as to
+excite the profoundest admiration, and the more we continue to study it
+the more we marvel at the wisdom of the Divine Maker who planned it. I
+shall, therefore, speak of it simply as a wind instrument composed of--
+
+     1.--THE BELLOWS.
+
+     Represented by the LUNGS. Pl. I (Frontispiece), L.
+
+     2.--THE WINDPIPE. Pl. I, w.
+
+     3.--THE VOICEBOX OR LARYNX. Pl. I, v.
+
+     4.--THE RESONATOR.
+
+     Represented by (_a_) THE UPPER PART OF THE THROAT, or PHARYNX, pl.
+     I, P; (_b_) THE MOUTH, pl. I, M; (_c_) THE NOSE, pl. I, N.
+
+[Illustration: PLATE II.
+
+THE LUNGS
+
+R. RIGHT LUNG. L. LEFT LUNG.
+
+W. WINDPIPE (TRACHEA).
+
+V. VOICEBOX (LARNYX).
+
+The top part of the left Lung is represented as partly cut away in order
+to show the ramifications of the Bronchial Tubes.]
+
+[Illustration: PLATE III.
+
+THE CHEST.
+
+B B. BREAST BONE.
+
+C C. COLLAR BONES.
+
+1 TO 11. RIBS. (The twelfth not visible.)
+
+M (curved dotted line). MIDRIFF (DIAPHRAGM).
+
+L L. LUNGS. H. HEART.
+
+W. WINDPIPE (TRACHEA).
+]
+
+The Lungs are enclosed in the chest, which they fit exactly, and of
+which they occupy by far the largest portion, leaving but a small space
+for the heart. They consist of two halves (pl. II, R, L), each roughly
+resembling the upper part of a sugar-loaf somewhat flattened and
+hollowed out at the bottom. The left shows two and the right three
+distinct flaps or lobes. They are only connected by means of the
+windpipe (pl. II, W) and its branches.
+
+=The Chest= (pl. III) is an air-tight chamber, which is narrower above
+than below. It is formed by the spine at the back, twelve ribs (pl. III,
+1 to 11, the twelfth not visible on the drawing), with their inner and
+outer muscles on either side, the breast-bone (pl. III, B B) in front,
+the root of the neck at the top, and the midriff or diaphragm (pl. I, M)
+at the bottom.
+
+=The Midriff= (pl. III, M) is a muscular and movable partition by which
+the lungs are separated from the abdomen. It is arched upwards like an
+inverted basin, but when its muscular fibres contract it flattens and
+descends, thus increasing the capacity of the chest at the expense of
+that of the abdomen.
+
+=The Function of the Lungs= is, as everybody knows, respiration, which may
+be considered from a mechanical or a chemical point of view. In this
+little work we are only concerned with the mechanical part of the
+subject. If we examine the lungs of a calf, which are very similar to
+those of a human being, we find that they are soft and elastic to the
+touch, giving out when pressed a peculiar whizzing sound. We may
+increase their volume by blowing into them through the windpipe, so as
+to make them double their original size, and then tie up the windpipe.
+On re-opening the windpipe the air escapes, and the lungs are gradually
+reduced to their former bulk. Now, by drawing a deep breath we produce
+the same result in ourselves as by blowing into the lungs of the calf;
+by holding the breath we produce the same result as by tying up the
+windpipe--that is to say, we keep the lungs in a state of expansion; and
+by releasing the breath we are, as it were, untying the windpipe,
+leaving the lungs to dwindle down gradually to their former size.
+
+There is one very material point, however, in which the analogy ceases.
+It is this: we keep the air in the inflated calf's lungs by tying up the
+windpipe, and the corresponding act in ourselves would be to hold our
+breath by muscular contraction of the outlet in the throat. This is
+precisely what we do in straining, and in lifting heavy weights, &c.;
+but it should _never_ be done in breathing for vocal purposes. Here it
+must, on the contrary, be our endeavour to train, to the highest
+possible degree, the powerful muscles of the chest and of the abdomen,
+instead of throwing the labour intended for them upon the comparatively
+weak and delicate muscles governing the outlet of the windpipe.
+
+To make the way in which respiration is carried on clearer still, I
+quote the following interesting and lucid account from Huxley's
+"Elementary Physiology," fourth edition, p. 104. He compares the
+breathing apparatus to "a sort of bellows without a valve," in which
+the chest and the lungs represent the body of the bellows, while the
+windpipe is the pipe; "and the effect of the respiratory movement is
+just the same as that of the approximation and separation of the handles
+of the bellows, which drive out and draw in the air through the pipe.
+There is, however, one difference between the bellows and the
+respiratory apparatus, of great importance in the theory of respiration,
+though frequently overlooked, and that is, that the sides of the bellows
+can be brought close together so as to force out all, or nearly all, the
+air which they contain, while the walls of the chest, when approximated
+as much as possible, still enclose a very considerable cavity; so that
+even after the most violent expiratory effort, a very large quantity of
+air is left in the lungs."
+
+=Respiration=, consequently, consists of two acts--namely, inspiration and
+expiration. Inspiration may be produced in three different ways--(1) By
+pushing the chest forward and flattening the midriff, so as to compel
+the lungs to _descend_ and to increase in volume in order to fill the
+empty space created by this movement; (2) by extending the ribs
+_sideways_; and (3) by _drawing up_ the upper parts of the
+chest--namely, the collar bones (pl. III, C C) and the shoulder blades.
+In scientific works the first is called diaphragmatic or abdominal,[B]
+the second lateral or costal, and the third clavicular or scapular
+breathing. As, however, these terms convey no meaning to the general
+reader, I prefer to speak of--(1) Midriff Breathing; (2) Rib Breathing;
+(3) Collar-bone Breathing. In taking a full, deep inspiration, midriff
+breathing and rib breathing take place almost together and assist each
+other--that is to say, the midriff contracts and flattens, and
+immediately afterwards the ribs extend sideways; with this difference,
+however, that in men the action of the midriff takes a larger share in
+the work than the ribs, while in woman, on the contrary, the movement of
+the ribs is greater than that of the midriff.
+
+     By way of illustrating this curious difference of breathing in men
+     and women, the following anecdote, which has the recommendation of
+     being strictly true, may perhaps amuse the reader. Some time ago a
+     troupe of "Female Minstrels," calling themselves, I believe, "The
+     American Amazons," made a tour through this country. Their faces
+     were blackened in the orthodox fashion, and they were in male
+     attire, wearing tight-fitting garments of a peculiar kind. Two
+     friends, both medical men, went to hear them (or perhaps to see
+     them, I am not sure which), when Mr. A remarked that two of the
+     performers were men. Mr. B did not see it, even when the
+     individuals were pointed out to him, and asked his friend for the
+     reasons for his opinion. "Why," said Mr. A, "I see it by their
+     abdominal breathing!" And sure enough Mr. B now saw it too, and
+     there was no mistake about it; for in the two suspected
+     individuals the abdomen was evidently moving in respiration, while
+     in all the others no movement was perceptible excepting that of
+     their chests.
+
+[Illustration: PLATE IV.
+
+DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING THE VARYING CAPACITY OF THE CHEST, ACCORDING TO
+THE METHOD IN WHICH THE LUNG IS INFLATED.
+
+From Mr. Lennox Browne's "Medical Hints on the Production and
+Management of the Singing Voice," by permission of Messrs Chappell
+and Co.
+
+The front outline A of the shaded figure represents the chest after
+full expiration; the black continuous line A gives the increase in
+size of the chest, and the descent of the diaphragm, indicated by
+the curved transverse lines, in full abdominal respiration. The
+dotted line C shows the retraction of the diaphragm and of the
+abdominal muscles in forced clavicular inspiration. The varying
+thickness of the line B indicates the fact of healthy breathing in
+a man being more abdominal than in woman. The outlines of forced
+inspiration in both sexes are remarkably similar.
+]
+
+The combined forms of midriff and rib breathing are the right method of
+inspiration, while collar-bone breathing is absolutely wrong, and should
+never be made use of. The reasons of this are not far to seek. The lower
+part of each lung is large and broad, while the upper part is
+cone-shaped, and very much smaller. It is self-evident, therefore, that
+by downward and sideways expansion (enlarging the _lower_ part of the
+lungs) you will inhale a much greater quantity of air than by drawing up
+the collar-bones. This consideration alone should suffice to prove the
+utter falseness of collar-bone breathing. Collar-bone breathing has also
+the additional disadvantage of causing much fatigue, because all the
+parts surrounding the upper region of the lungs are hard and unyielding,
+so that a great amount of resistance has to be overcome (the "_lutte
+vocale_" of French authors), while the very opposite is the case with
+the lower part of the lungs.
+
+Mr. Lennox Browne, who was, I believe, the first to direct the attention
+of English readers to this matter, says,[C] "Clavicular [collar-bone]
+breathing is a method of respiration totally vicious, and to be avoided.
+By it the whole lower part of the chest is flattened and drawn in,
+instead of being distended; consequently the lower or larger part of the
+lungs is not inflated. It is a method never exercised by nature in a
+state of health, but only when, from disease, either the abdominal or
+chest muscles cannot act; and it is the method least efficacious in
+filling, as it is the one calculated to most fatigue the chest; for it
+compresses the vessels and nerves of the throat, and this leads to
+engorgement and spasmodic action of the muscles."
+
+We may well pause here and give another moment to the consideration of
+this most important subject. The lungs, as we have seen, are the bellows
+of our vocal organ; they supply the air which is the motive power on
+which the voice depends. Without air no tone can be produced. Nay, more,
+life itself must cease without it. Breathing goes on regularly while the
+voice is silent; but in speaking and singing both inspiration and
+expiration have to be regulated according to the nature of the phrases
+to be spoken or sung. If the speaker does not know how to take breath
+and how to control the expiration, his delivery will of necessity be
+jerky and uncertain. But in the singer it is even more important that he
+should be able to fill his lungs well, and, having done this, to have
+absolute command over his expiration; because while the speaker can
+arrange his sentences, his speed, and his breathing-places very much at
+his own pleasure, the singer is bound by the music before him. It must,
+therefore, be his aim to cultivate a proper method of breathing with the
+object of first getting, with the least possible fatigue, the largest
+possible amount of air in the most scrupulously careful manner, so as to
+prevent even the smallest fraction of it from being wasted. Yet how
+seldom is breathing systematically practised as an indispensable
+preliminary to the production of tone! I have no hesitation in saying
+that the subject is, in many instances, dismissed with a few general
+observations. Pupils, of course, take breath somehow, and teachers are
+glad to leave this uninteresting part of the business, and to proceed to
+the cultivation of the voice.
+
+It may be as well to add that what has been said so far about right and
+wrong methods of breathing is not by any means mere theory, but that any
+one can convince himself of the truth of the rules laid down by making a
+few experiments with the spirometer, an instrument for measuring the
+breathing power of the chest by indicating on a dial the exact number of
+cubic inches of air expelled from the lungs. This breathing power will
+be found to vary according to the way in which the inspiration has been
+accomplished. In my own case, for instance, the spirometer should
+register, according to the table of comparative height and breathing
+power compiled by John Hutchinson, 230 cubic inches. Having suffered
+from severe attacks of bleeding from the lungs, my maximum with midriff
+and rib breathing is only 220, but with collar-bone breathing I barely
+reach 180!
+
+During the Summer Session of the Tonic Sol-fa College I carefully tested
+the breathing capacity of ten students, and found that there was an
+average excess of midriff and rib breathing over collar-bone breathing
+to the extent of 25 cubic inches: the least amount of their increased
+power was 12 cubic inches, and the greatest was 45! I imagine that these
+figures are more eloquent than any words, and I think it superfluous to
+make any further comment on them.
+
+I am strongly of opinion that breathing exercises, especially in the
+case of intending public singers, should always be carried on with a
+spirometer,[D] because that instrument enables us with the greatest
+accuracy to check results which otherwise can only be guessed at.
+
+If this suggestion were acted upon we should certainly no longer be
+distressed by that intolerable and never-ceasing tremolo which now so
+frequently mars many, in other respects, fine voices. It is a curious,
+and at first sight unaccountable, circumstance that this great fault is
+specially noticeable amongst French singers. But at the Conservatoire de
+Musique in Paris students are deliberately taught the wrong method of
+inspiration; for, as we gather from the "Méthode de Chant du
+Conservatoire de Musique," they are told to "flatten [or draw in] the
+abdomen" and to "bulge out the chest." Thus the mystery is at once
+cleared up, because the tremolo arises almost invariably from a weakness
+of the muscles of the midriff or diaphragm, to which attention has
+already been called in these pages. Owing to the abdomen being drawn in,
+the midriff never properly contracts; the muscles are not sufficiently
+exercised, and consequently have not power enough to resist the pressure
+that is brought to bear upon them in singing. They tremble, and this
+trembling being communicated to the lungs, which are resting upon them,
+the stream of air they give forth, loses its evenness and continuity,
+with the result I have just stated. It will be seen from the above
+explanation that this tremolo, one of the greatest vices besetting
+modern singing, and which has hitherto been held by many to be
+incurable, may be got rid of completely, though perhaps not very
+quickly, by the simple remedy of lung gymnastics on the right principle.
+The tremolo may certainly also arise from weakness of some muscles in
+the voicebox or larynx, by which the tension of the vocal ligaments is
+diminished and increased in rapid alternation. But this is a case for a
+medical man, which does not fall within my province to discuss, though I
+am justified in saying, on the authority of Mr. Lennox Browne,[E] that
+even in many of these cases the effect is clearly attributable to
+faulty breathing, since there is seldom any local disease of the larynx;
+while exercise on a right method of breathing will cure the spasmodic
+action of the laryngeal muscles with but little or no medical treatment.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I need scarcely add that there is yet another kind of tremolo, which,
+being absolutely under the control of the performer, is one of the chief
+ornaments of song, and to which the observations just made in no way
+apply.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In addition to the involuntary tremolo there are a number of other
+afflictions, "Clergymen's sore throat" amongst them, which are admitted
+by eminent medical authorities to be due to collar-bone breathing, and
+which may be entirely cured by proper lung gymnastics, or, in other
+words, by breathing exercises on the right principle; that is to say, by
+calling into play the muscles of the abdomen and of the lower part of
+the chest. This is a subject which is little understood by singers and
+public speakers, many of whom would be amazed at the sometimes most
+wonderful results produced by such simple means. I will therefore quote
+a case in point which came under my notice quite recently, and which
+will give the reader an idea of the importance of proper breathing:
+
+Mr. X, a tall thin young man, engaged in evangelistic work, suffered
+from a "weakness of voice," which he found a great hindrance to his
+success. He therefore consulted Mr. Lennox Browne, who at once told him
+that he had no disease of any kind, and sent him to me for a course of
+breathing exercises. I found that Mr. X chiefly spoke in a child's
+voice, over which, moreover, he had very little control; and when I
+requested him to take a deep inspiration, he drew in his abdomen, bulged
+out his chest, and raised his collar-bones. The spirometer only
+registered 200 cubic inches instead of 260, which, according to
+Hutchinson's table, was his mean.
+
+My course was, therefore, plain. I made him stand in an easy natural
+position, neither allowing him to bulge out his chest, nor to draw in
+the abdomen, and then instructed him how to acquire some control over
+his midriff and the lower muscles of the chest. It may be observed here,
+in passing, that we can, in a state of health, contract and relax these
+muscles at will, just as easily as we can bend a finger, and that this
+power, when lost through disuse, can be regained with little difficulty.
+In Mr. X's case this process was particularly speedy, with the result of
+increasing his breathing power in two lessons by 60 cubic inches. In one
+additional week I could dismiss him with a full sonorous man's voice, in
+place of the uncertain child's squeak with which he came to me. It is no
+exaggeration to say that this young man left me with a _new_ voice, and
+if people had heard him when he first came to me, behind a screen, and
+again after the last lesson, they would certainly not have believed that
+they were listening to the same person. What Mr. X and his friends think
+of his case may be seen from the following letter which he wrote me on
+July 6th, 1880:--"Now that a week has passed since the last lesson I had
+from you, I write to bear testimony to the wonderful benefit to my voice
+obtained through the very short course I took. My friends are quite
+astonished at the marked difference, and I beg you will accept my most
+sincere thanks," &c.
+
+Many similar cases might be mentioned, but the one just quoted is
+sufficient, and I will sum the matter up with a few remarks which Mr.
+Lennox Browne made as chairman at my lecture at the Aldersgate Street
+Literary Institution, on October 9th, 1880. He then said that, in his
+medical experience, he found that persons who suffered from their voices
+generally owed their ailments to bad habits of using the voice, and not
+to any defect in the larynx or resonance chamber. In several cases
+lately he had sent such patients to Herr Behnke, who had given them
+lessons in correct breathing, and who had thereby, and without any
+medicine, galvanism, or other aid, restored their voices in a remarkably
+short time.
+
+From what has been said above about midriff and rib breathing _versus_
+collar-bone breathing, the folly of tight-lacing, or, indeed, of in any
+way interfering with the freedom of the waist, will be at once apparent.
+We pride ourselves upon our civilization; we make a boast of living in
+the age of science; physiology is now taught, or at least talked of, in
+almost every school; the laws of health are proclaimed in lectures and
+lessons innumerable all over the country, and we laugh at barbarous
+customs of other nations, such, for instance, as that of Chinese women
+preventing the growth of their feet by forcing them into boots of only
+half their proper size. And yet our ladies wear instruments of torture
+called corsets, altering the shape of their bodies, and positively
+driving the lower ribs _into the lungs_! Now which folly is the
+greater--that of doubling up the toes, or of crippling the body in its
+most vital parts? Let ladies answer the question, and let them further
+most solemnly consider that the girls of to-day are the mothers of
+to-morrow, and that upon the measure of their own health and strength
+depends the well-being of coming generations.
+
+It is only fair to add, that if the practice of interfering with the
+freedom of the waist is reprehensible in the case of ladies, it is, in
+one sense, still more so in the case of the male sex, because, as has
+been shown before, men depend more for their breathing upon the action
+of the abdominal muscle than women. They should, therefore, neither wear
+tight-fitting vests, nor suspend their pantaloons by means of
+waistbands, belts, or buckles. Loose garments and braces are the proper
+thing, though the latter are commonly, but erroneously, considered to be
+injurious. _Abdominal_ belts may be worn with advantage by persons of
+either sex requiring their support; but these are very different from
+stays or waist-bands. I find that an enterprising firm is advertising
+corsets for gentlemen (!), and a woodcut may be seen in some papers
+representing a young Adonis laced up in regular ladies' fashion, so
+that, if it were not for his luxurious moustache, one would certainly
+take the drawing to be meant for a woman. It is almost impossible to
+imagine that a man could ever make such a fool of himself; on the other
+hand, it is clear that these advertisements would not continue to appear
+if they did not bring customers. But these poor creatures do not deserve
+to be called men, and I am sincerely sorry for them.
+
+With regard to the question whether inspiration should take place
+through the mouth or through the nostrils, I must enter my most decided
+protest against making it a practice to inhale through the mouth. There
+are, of course, occasions when this is unavoidable, as, for instance,
+where the singer has rapidly to take what is called a "half breath." But
+complete inflation, or, "full breath," is not the work of a moment; it
+takes time, and must be done gradually, steadily, and without the
+slightest interruption. This should _always_ be done through the
+nostrils. The mouth was never intended for breathing, while the nose is
+specially and admirably adapted for this purpose. Not only can the lungs
+be well and quickly filled through this channel, but it is so cunningly
+devised that it acts at the same time as a "respirator," both purifying
+and warming the air before it touches the more delicate parts of the
+vocal organ. On the other hand, when inhaled through the mouth, the air
+carries with it, sometimes right into the voicebox, dust and other
+impurities, and its temperature is not materially altered. The
+consequence is that the throat and voicebox, when heated by singing or
+talking, or by hot rooms, are often exposed to cold, raw, and foggy
+winter air, and serious derangements of the respiratory organs are the
+natural consequence. If, moreover, this pernicious habit of breathing be
+once contracted, we shall soon also sleep with open mouths, thus
+parching our throats, and sowing the seeds of many a serious disorder.
+
+On this point I quote a few lines from Dr. Louis Elsberg,[F] professor
+of laryngology in the University of New York: "The natural mode of quiet
+breathing is through the nose; mouth-breathing is an acquirement. A
+new-born infant would choke to death if you closed its nose; it does not
+immediately know how to get air into the lungs through the mouth until
+after, by depressing the tongue, you have once made a passage for it."
+
+George Catlin, the celebrated traveller among American Indians, became
+so thoroughly convinced that the difference between the healthy
+condition and physical perfection of these people in their primitive
+state, especially their sound teeth and good lungs, and the deplorable
+mortality, the numerous diseases and deformities in _civilized_
+communities, is mainly due to the habit, common among the latter, of
+breathing through the mouth, especially during sleep, that he wrote a
+book entitled "Malrespiration and its Effects upon the Enjoyment and
+Life of Man." In this book he says, "If I were to endeavour to bequeath
+to posterity the most important motto which human language can convey,
+it should be in three words, 'Shut your mouth.' In the social
+transactions of life this might have its beneficial results as the most
+friendly cautionary advice, or be received as the grossest of insults;
+but where I would print and engrave it, in every nursery and on every
+bedpost in the universe, its meaning could not be mistaken, and obeyed,
+its importance would soon be realized."
+
+He also says, "It is one of the misfortunes of civilization that it has
+too many amusing and exciting things for the mouth to say, and too many
+delicious things for it to taste, to allow of its being closed during
+the day. The mouth therefore has too little reserve for the protection
+of its natural purity of expression, and too much exposure for the
+protection of its garniture; but, _do keep your mouth shut_ when you
+_read_, when you _write_, when you _listen_, when you _are in pain_,
+when you are _walking_, when you are _running_, when you are _riding_,
+and _by all means when you are angry_! There is _no person_ but who will
+find and acknowledge _improvement_ in _health_ and _enjoyment_ from even
+a temporary attention to this advice."
+
+Again he says, "There is a proverb, as old and unchangeable as their
+hills, amongst North American Indians, 'My son, if thou wouldst be wise,
+open first thy eyes; thy ears next, and last of all thy mouth, that thy
+words may be words of wisdom, and give no advantage to thine adversary.'
+This might be adopted with good effect in _civilized_ life; he who would
+_strictly adhere_ to it would be sure to reap its benefits in his
+_waking_ hours, and would _soon find_ the habit running into his hours
+of _rest_, into which he would _calmly_ enter; dismissing the nervous
+anxieties of the day, as he firmly closed his teeth and his lips, only
+to be opened _after_ his eyes and his ears in the morning, the rest of
+_such_ sleep would bear him daily and hourly proof of its value."
+
+Catlin regards the habit of sleeping with the mouth open the most
+pernicious of _all bad habits_. The horrors of nightmare and snoring
+are, according to him, but the _least_ of its evil effects. He thinks
+"for the greater portion of the thousands and tens of thousands of
+persons suffering with weakness of lungs, with bronchitis, asthma,
+indigestion, and other affections of the digestive and respiratory
+organs," the correction of this habit is a _panacea_ for their ills!
+
+He insists that "_mothers_ should be looked to as the first and
+principal _correctors_ of this most destructive of human habits; ... and
+the united and simultaneous efforts of the civilized world should be
+exerted in the overthrow of a monster so destructive to the good looks
+and life of man. Every physician should advise his patients, and every
+boarding-school in existence and every hospital should have its surgeon
+or matron, and every regiment its officer, to make their nightly and
+hourly 'rounds,' to force a _stop_ to so unnatural, disgusting, and
+dangerous a habit! Under the working of such a system, mothers guarding
+and helping the helpless, schoolmasters their scholars, hospital
+surgeons their patients, generals their soldiers, and the rest of the
+world protecting themselves, a few years would show the glorious results
+in the bills of mortality, and the next generation would be a
+_regeneration_ of the human race."
+
+=The Windpipe= (pl. I, W).--Having examined the bellows of our vocal
+organ, we next notice the windpipe, by means of which the air is carried
+into and out of the lungs. It is an elastic tube kept open by 18 or 20
+rings which do not quite meet at the back. It enters the lungs by means
+of two smaller tubes, which in their turn branch out very much like the
+roots of a tree, until their ramifications end in the microscopic cells
+of the lungs. The windpipe is capable of being slightly elongated or
+shortened, and narrowed or widened, and its interior is covered with a
+mucous membrane, which, as its name implies, is continually kept in a
+moist state.
+
+=The Voicebox, or Larynx= (pl. V) may be described as resembling a funnel,
+the upper part of which has been bent into a triangular shape. Its front
+corner (pl. V, 1) may be both seen and felt in the throat, and the
+general position of the voicebox is thereby at once indicated. The
+framework of the voicebox consists of five parts. 1st. The Ring
+cartilage (pl. V, 2) is so named on account of its general resemblance
+to a signet ring. It is narrow in front, and has the part corresponding
+to the seal behind; the upper border (pl. V, 8, 4) rises very
+considerably towards the back, where it is about an inch high. 2nd.
+Riding upon this, as it were, with its hollow part towards the back,
+is the Shield cartilage (pl. V, 5), which consists of two plates united
+in front at an angle which forms the prominence referred to just now as
+that corner of the triangular funnel (pl. V, 1) which may be both seen
+and felt in the throat, and which is commonly called the Adam's Apple.
+It protects the interior and more delicate parts of the voice apparatus,
+from which circumstance it derives its name of shield cartilage. The
+plates of the shield have each at the back two horns, the upper and the
+lower. With the upper horns (pl. VI, 1, 2) the shield cartilage is
+attached by means of bands (pl. VI, 6, 7) to the corresponding
+projections (pl. VI, 4, 5) of the tongue-bone (pl. VI, 3), which has the
+shape of a horseshoe. With the lower horns (pl. V, 8), of which on our
+diagram we can only see one, it moves upon the ring cartilage as upon a
+hinge (pl. V, 9).
+
+[Illustration: PLATE V.
+
+SIDE VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX.
+
+   1. FRONT CORNER OF THE VOICEBOX (LARYNX).
+
+   2. RING (CRICOID) CARTILAGE.
+
+3, 4. UPPER BORDER OF THE RING.
+
+   5. SHIELD (THYROID) CARTILAGE.
+
+6, 7. UPPER HORNS OF THE SHIELD.
+
+   8. RIGHT LOWER HORN OF THE SHIELD.
+
+   9. POINT WHERE THE SHIELD MOVES UPON THE RING.
+
+  10. RING-SHIELD (CRICO-THYROID) APERTURE COVERED BY MEMBRANE.
+
+  11. LID (EPIGLOTTIS).
+
+  12. WINDPIPE (TRACHEA).
+
+]
+
+[Illustration: PLATE VI.
+
+FRONT VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX.
+
+  1, 2. UPPER HORNS OF THE SHIELD.
+
+     3. TONGUE (HYOID) BONE.
+
+  4, 5. HORNS OF THE TONGUE-BONE.
+
+  6, 7. BANDS UNITING THE SHIELD WITH THE TONGUE-BONE.
+
+  8, 9. LID.
+
+10, 11. PLATES OF THE SHIELD.
+
+    12. RING.
+
+    13. ELASTIC BAND UNITING THE SHIELD WITH THE RING.
+
+    14. WINDPIPE.
+
+]
+
+This is a very particular point, and I beg the reader particularly to
+notice that if the shield cartilage (pl. V, 5) were gradually drawn
+downwards and forwards, the space which we now see between the shield
+and the ring (pl. V, 10) would get smaller and smaller, until at last it
+quite disappeared; and the distance between the front of the shield (pl.
+V, 1) and the highest part of the back of the ring (pl. V, 4) would be
+increased.
+
+     I may observe here that authorities differ as to whether the shield
+     moves upon the ring, or the ring upon the shield, and that some
+     maintain the one is drawn down while the other is tipped upward. It
+     is sufficient for our purpose, however, that a movement as upon a
+     hinge takes place, whereby, as explained just now, the distance
+     between the front of the shield and the highest part of the back of
+     the ring is increased.
+
+3rd. =The Lid= (pl. V, 11) is an elastic cartilage which serves to close
+the voicebox in the act of swallowing, in order to protect it against
+any intruding foreign substances. The food we take has to pass over it,
+and it sometimes happens, when the lid has not been pulled down tight
+enough, that a particle of food enters the voicebox, in which case we
+say it has "gone the wrong way," and there is then no peace until the
+intruder has been got rid of, generally by a violent fit of coughing.
+
+     The lid, it is true, is not the only means of protection which the
+     voicebox possesses. Professor C. J. Eberth, for instance, mentions
+     (Archiv für pathol: Anatomie, vol. lxiii., p. 135, Berlin, 1868)
+     the case of a woman who, upon dissection, was found to be entirely
+     without the free upper part of the lid, which could alone cover the
+     voicebox. She had never experienced any difficulty in swallowing,
+     and it is therefore clear that with her the closing of some of the
+     parts immediately below was sufficient to prevent the food from
+     getting into the voicebox. But "the exception proves the rule," and
+     in spite of this and other similar cases, the fact remains that the
+     lid is obviously the first and most natural protector of the
+     voicebox.
+
+4th and 5th. We have thus far become acquainted with three cartilages
+out of the five. Let us now remove one plate of the shield, as though
+cutting it off with a knife (pl. VII, 1 and 2), in order that we may
+look inside and see the remaining two cartilages which have hitherto
+been hidden by it. These are--
+
+=The Pyramids= (pl. VII, 1 and 2), so called because of their shape. Their
+bases are triangular and hollowed out; their sides taper upwards and
+terminate in points which are bent slightly backwards, and they have
+each two projections, one pointing forwards (pl. VII, 3) and the other
+outwards and backwards (pl. VII, 4). It will be convenient to have a
+special name for the projections pointing outwards and backwards, which
+we will therefore call the Levers.
+
+The Pyramids are attached with their hollow bases to the borders of the
+ring (pl. VII, 5), and they are capable of executing rotary movements
+with surprising freedom and rapidity. Their inner sides may be made to
+run parallel or to diverge. In addition to this they can be drawn
+towards each other, or away from each other, so that their summits may
+either be widely separated or brought close together.
+
+=The Vocal Ligaments= are two ledges of elastic tissue covered with a very
+delicate membrane. Each one of them is connected along its whole length,
+on one side, with the shield cartilage. The vocal ligaments are attached
+by their hinder ends to those little projections of the pyramids which
+point forwards (pl. VII, 3, 3), and by their front ends to the centre of
+the shield (pl. VII, 6), where the two plates meet under a more or
+less acute angle.
+
+[Illustration: PLATE VII.
+
+SIDE VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX, SHOWING THE INTERIOR OF IT, THE
+RIGHT PLATE BEING REMOVED.
+
+1, 2. PYRAMIDS (ARYTENOID CARTILAGES).
+
+3, 3. FRONT PROJECTIONS OF THE PYRAMIDS.
+
+4. LEVER OF THE RIGHT PYRAMID.
+
+5. UPPER BORDER OF THE RING.
+
+6, 3, 3. VOCAL LIGAMENTS.
+
+7. LID.
+
+8. SHIELD.
+
+9. LEFT UPPER HORN OF THE SHIELD.
+
+10. RING.
+
+11. WINDPIPE.
+]
+
+     These vocal ligaments are generally called the vocal cords, but
+     this term is misleading, as it implies strings like those, for
+     instance, of the violin, which are attached only at either end and
+     are free at every other point. This, however, as we have just seen,
+     is not the case, the "Cords" being free only along their inner
+     edges. The name "Vocal Bands," which German physiologists have
+     substituted for "Vocal Cords," does not mend the matter, as it is
+     open to exactly the same objections. The term "Vocal Lips," also
+     used by some writers, is, in my judgment, the most unfortunate of
+     all, because it conveys a totally wrong idea of these parts, as
+     will be seen from a description in another chapter of their
+     movements in the act of singing. I have, therefore, sought for a
+     word which, as a proper description of the thing it is to
+     designate, shall always call a correct image to the reader's mind,
+     and as I cannot find a better one than "Ligament," I have adopted
+     it. I shall consequently in these pages always speak of the
+     tone-producing element as the "Vocal Ligaments."
+
+The vocal ligaments, having met, are struck by the air blown against
+them from below, and being elastic they yield, allowing themselves to be
+forced upwards. A little air is thereby set free, and the pressure from
+below diminished, in consequence of which the vocal ligaments resume
+their former position, and even move a little more downwards. The
+renewed pressure of the air once more overcomes the resistance of the
+vocal ligaments, which again recede as soon as another escape of air has
+taken place, and this process is repeated in rapid and regular
+succession. In this manner, and in this manner alone, is vocal tone
+produced, whether it be called chest, falsetto, head, or by any other
+name.
+
+     There are still some writers who teach a different doctrine. For
+     instance, Miss Sabilla Novello, in her "Voice and Vocal Art,"
+     embodied in the "Collegiate Vocal Tutor," published by Novello,
+     Ewer, and Co., says on p. 9, that "The head voice results from the
+     upper [_i.e._, the false] vocal cords" (these we shall see
+     presently), and on page 13, that the falsetto tones "are created
+     principally by the action of the trachea [windpipe] and not by that
+     of the vocal ligaments." Another writer, Mr. Rumney Illingworth, in
+     a paper "On the Larynx and its Physiology," read before the Royal
+     Medical Society of Edinburgh, on March 3rd, 1879, and communicated
+     to "The Students' Journal and Hospital Gazette" (Vol. IV., No. 91,
+     p. 151), says that "The falsetto voice is produced by the laryngeal
+     sacculi [the pockets of the voicebox, which will be described
+     further on] acting in the same way as a hazel-nut can be made to
+     act as a whistle, when the kernel has been extracted through a
+     small hole in the shell; or as part of the cavity of the mouth acts
+     in whistling." I shall refer to these theories again as the
+     opportunity for their proper discussion arises; for the present I
+     will quote a few authorities on the subject.
+
+     Dr. CARPENTER, in his "Human Physiology," eighth edition, page 914,
+     says, "The true theory of the voice may now be considered as well
+     established in regard to this essential particular that the sound
+     is the result of the vibrations of the vocal cords," &c.
+
+     Professor MARSHALL, in his "Outlines of Physiology," page 255,
+     says: "Experiments on living animals show that the vocal cords are
+     alone the essential organs for the production of voice, for so long
+     as these remain untouched, although all the other parts in the
+     interior of the larynx be destroyed, the animal is able to emit
+     vocal sounds.... The existence of an opening in the larynx of a
+     living animal, or of man, _above_ the glottis [glottis means the
+     vibrating element of the voicebox] in no way prevents the formation
+     of vocal sound; such an opening if situated in the trachea
+     [windpipe] causes total loss of voice, but by simply closing it,
+     vocal sounds can again be produced. Such openings, in man, are met
+     with, either as the results of accidents, of suicidal attempts, or
+     of operations performed on the larynx or trachea for the relief of
+     disease."
+
+     Dr. TOBOLD, Professor in the University of Berlin, in his
+     "Laryngoscopie and Kehlkopf Krankheiten" (Laryngoscopy and Diseases
+     of the Larynx), p. 131, says, "Soft palate, lid, pockets, and
+     pocket-bands are not directly active in the production of either
+     chest or falsetto tones; they only modify the tone produced in the
+     glottis."
+
+     Dr. LUSCHKA, Professor in the University of Tubingen, in his great
+     work "Der Kehlkopf des Menschen" (The Human Larynx), says in the
+     introduction: "Only the vocal cords, with the slit they form, have
+     specifically functional signification, in a narrower sense, of a
+     voice apparatus, as the parts of the larynx which lie under and
+     over them have no material and deciding influence on the production
+     of sound."
+
+     I will bring my quotations to a close with the following, which
+     seeks to prove the contrary. Dr. C. B. GARRETT ("The Human Voice,"
+     J. and J. Churchill, London, 1875, p. 17) says, "It is recorded
+     that the larynx of a blackbird was removed by severing the windpipe
+     just below it; that the poor 'thing continued to _sing_, though in
+     a feebler tone.' This proves that notes can be formed _behind the
+     instrument_ and before the air reaches it." This argument, however,
+     is of no value, because it so happens that birds have two larynges,
+     one at the bottom and the other at the top of the windpipe. Dr.
+     Garrett seems not to have been aware of this fact.
+
+The vocal ligaments in the adult male are, in a state of rest, about
+three-quarters of an inch long, and in the female about half an inch. I
+pointed out before that the vocal ligaments are attached in front to the
+shield (pl. VII, 6) and behind to the pyramids (pl. VII, 3, 3). Let it
+now be borne in mind--1st, That the pyramids, in their turn, are
+fastened to the upper border of the ring cartilage; and 2nd, That by
+drawing the shield downwards and forwards upon the ring, the distance
+between the upper border of the ring (pl. VII, 5) and the front of the
+shield (pl. VII, 6) is increased, and it will be easily seen that this
+movement must of necessity have the effect of stretching the vocal
+ligaments.
+
+This drawing of the shield downwards and forwards upon the ring is
+brought about by a pair of muscles ascending on either side, in the
+shape of a fan, from the ring to the shield cartilage (pl. VIII, 1, 2).
+These muscles we name the "Ring-Shield Muscles." In opposition to them
+there is another pair inside the shield, running parallel with the vocal
+ligaments (pl. IX, 1, 2, 3). They are attached (like the vocal
+ligaments) in front to the shield cartilage and behind to the pyramids.
+These muscles we will call the "Shield-Pyramid Muscles." They counteract
+the ring-shield muscles, and having overcome their resistance, pull the
+shield cartilage up again, thereby, of course, relaxing the vocal
+ligaments. The ring-shield muscles, therefore, _stretch_ the vocal
+ligaments and the shield-pyramid muscles _relax_ them. The
+shield-pyramid muscles have an additional function--that of pressing
+together the vocal ligaments, under certain circumstances, thereby
+narrowing the opening between them. They have therefore been, in these
+later days, called the Sphincter[G] muscle of the glottis. They have
+also been called the Vocal Muscles, since they play so important a part
+in the formation of all vocal tone that a paralysis of them causes total
+loss of voice.
+
+[Illustration: PLATE VIII.
+
+SIDE VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX.
+
+1, 2. RING-SHIELD MUSCLE (CRICO-THYROIDEUS).
+
+3. LID.
+
+4. SHIELD.
+
+5, 6. UPPER HORNS OF THE SHIELD.
+
+7. RING.
+
+8. WINDPIPE.
+]
+
+[Illustration: PLATE IX.
+
+SIDE VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX, SHOWING THE INTERIOR OF THE LEFT
+HALF.
+
+1, 2, 3. SHIELD-PYRAMID MUSCLE (THYRO-ARYTENOIDEUS).
+
+4, 5. RING-PYRAMID MUSCLE (CRICO-ARYTENOIDEUS).
+
+6. SHIELD.
+
+7. LEFT UPPER HORN.
+
+8. PYRAMID.
+
+9. RING.
+
+10. WINDPIPE.
+]
+
+     It may be observed here that it is impossible to imitate, in the
+     dead subject, the contraction of the vocal muscles. All
+     conclusions, therefore, drawn from experiments upon exsected
+     larynges, with regard to tone-production in living man are
+     necessarily quite untrustworthy, and cannot for one moment be
+     admitted as evidence against observations made upon singers with
+     the laryngoscope.
+
+These two pairs of muscles, then, namely the ring-shield muscles (pl.
+VIII, 1, 2) and the shield-pyramid muscles (pl. IX, 1, 2, 3) by
+stretching, slackening, and compressing the vocal ligaments, mainly
+govern the pitch of the tones produced by their vibrations. The
+ring-shield muscles receive some assistance in stretching the vocal
+ligaments from another quarter, of which we shall speak later on.
+
+We have now had a look at the vocal ligaments, and we have seen by what
+means they are put on the stretch. As, however, in a state of repose
+these ligaments diverge behind, they must be brought parallel to each
+other before they are ready for the production of sound. Let us,
+therefore, in order to explain how this is done, imagine that we have
+cut off that part of the pyramids which is standing out above the vocal
+ligaments (pl. VII), and let us now have a look at these parts from
+above. You see the ligaments (pl. XA, 1, 2), a section of the pyramids
+(pl. XA, 3, 4), and uniting these an elastic band (pl. XA, 5). The space
+between these parts is commonly called the Glottis, but as this
+appellation belongs more properly to the vocal ligaments, it is
+manifestly wrong to give the same name to the _space_ which they
+inclose. This space should be distinguished as the "_Chink_ of the
+Glottis" or the "Vocal Chink."
+
+     I have been blamed for making this distinction in the face of
+     almost universal usage. But I can point to the great anatomist
+     Professor Luschka as having set the example, and while it is true
+     that in most physiological works "Glottis" is used for the _slit_
+     between the vocal ligaments, yet the appellations "Rima glottidis"
+     and "Aperture of the glottis" are also employed for the same thing.
+     Medical men, moreover, speak of "Spasm of the glottis," and singing
+     masters of the "Shock of the glottis," which terms are clearly
+     quite meaningless when applied to a space.
+
+Dr. Garrett says, on page 12 of the book quoted before, that "The upper
+portion of the larynx above the false vocal cords is termed the
+glottis." He might as well say, "The upper portion of the face above the
+nose is termed the mouth." I really should not notice so astounding a
+statement were it not made by one signing himself an M.D., and published
+by so eminent a firm of Medical publishers as Messrs. J. and A.
+Churchill.
+
+[Illustration: PLATE X.
+
+A. GLOTTIS IN REPOSE.
+
+B. GLOTTIS IN RESPIRATION.
+
+C. GLOTTIS IN THE PRODUCTION OF SOUND.
+
+A. 1, 2. VOCAL LIGAMENTS.
+
+3, 4. SECTION OF THE PYRAMIDS.
+
+5. ELASTIC BAND.
+
+6, 7. LEVERS OF THE PYRAMIDS.
+]
+
+On plate XI you see all parts in a state of rest. To the levers of the
+pyramids (pl. XI, 1, 2) a pair of muscles is attached, the bases of
+which are fixed upon the back of the ring cartilage below (pl. XI, 3, 6,
+3). The action of these "Back Ring-Pyramid Muscles" (pl. XI, 4, 1 and 5,
+2) is to contract as soon as we take breath, thereby drawing together
+the pyramids _behind_ and separating them _in front_, at the same time
+stretching the elastic band behind (pl. X, A, 5). By this movement the
+chink of the glottis is thrown _wide open_ into the shape depicted on
+pl. X, B. During expiration these relax, the elastic band contracts, and
+the vocal chink resumes the shape as on pl. XI. These movements go on
+from the beginning of our lives to the end, whether we are asleep or
+awake, with more or less vigour, according as we take a slight or a deep
+inspiration. The back ring-pyramid muscles (pl. XI, 4, 1 and 5, 2), have
+consequently the all-important function of keeping open the gate through
+which the air we breathe enters the lungs. They have, therefore, been
+poetically called the "Guardians of the Portal of Life." By their action
+of pulling the pyramids backwards, they also assist the ring-shield
+muscles (pl. VIII, 1, 2) in stretching the vocal ligaments.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In opposition to these "Opening Muscles" there is another pair rising
+from the side borders of the ring (pl. XI, 3, 3) which are fastened to
+the front part of the levers of the pyramids (pl. XI, 1, 2), serving to
+draw together their front projections to which the vocal ligaments are
+attached, and which are thereby brought parallel with each other.
+
+[Illustration: PLATE XI.
+
+
+VIEW OF A SECTION OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX, FROM ABOVE.
+
+1, 2. SECTION OF THE PYRAMIDS WITH VOCAL LIGAMENTS AND ELASTIC BAND.
+
+3, 6, 3. RING.
+
+7. PYRAMID MUSCLE (ARYTENOIDEUS TRANSVERSUS).
+
+8, 9, 10. SHIELD.
+
+11. BANDS BY MEANS OF WHICH THE PYRAMIDS ARE ATTACHED TO THE RING.
+
+4 & 5. BACK RING-PYRAMID MUSCLES (POSTERIOR CRICO-ARYTENOIDEI).
+
+1, 3 & 2, 3. SIDE RING-PYRAMID MUSCLES (LATERAL CRICO-ARYTENOIDEI).
+
+NOTE.--The shield-pyramid muscles (Thyro-Arytenoidei) which run parallel
+with the vocal ligaments are, for the sake of clearness, omitted from
+this diagram.]
+
+These "Side Ring-Pyramid Muscles" (pl. XI, 3, 1 and 3, 2; see also pl.
+IX, 5, 4) are assisted by a single muscle uniting the pyramids behind
+the elastic band which we have already noticed. This muscle we will call
+the "Pyramid Muscle" (pl. XI, 7). By the united action of the muscles
+which have just been described the vocal chink is thrown in the shape
+shown on pl. X, C, and the vocal ligaments are now in a proper position
+for the production of tone.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Before proceeding any farther it will be well if we once more glance at
+the muscles with which we have become acquainted, so that we may be
+quite sure about their functions.
+
+
+MUSCLES:
+
+I. GOVERNING THE SHAPE OF THE VOCAL CHINK.
+
+The Back Ring-Pyramid}                  OPENING
+Muscles              }           THE VOCAL CHINK.
+
+THESE ARE OPPOSED BY--
+
+The Side Ring-Pyramid   }
+Muscles, and the Pyramid}               CLOSING
+Muscles, assisted by the}        THE VOCAL CHINK.
+Shield-Pyramid Muscles  }
+
+
+II. GOVERNING THE PITCH OF THE TONES.
+
+The Ring-Shield Muscles,          }        STRETCHING
+assisted by the Back Ring-Pyramid }
+Muscles                           } THE VOCAL LIGAMENTS.
+
+THESE ARE OPPOSED BY--
+
+The Shield-Pyramid  }        SLACKENING
+Muscles             } THE VOCAL LIGAMENTS.
+
+=The Pocket Ligaments= (called "False Vocal Cords," pl. XII, 1 and 2) are
+a pair of horizontal projections running above and parallel with the
+vocal ligaments (pl. XII, 3 and 4). The pocket ligaments are, like the
+vocal ligaments, attached in front to the shield and behind to the
+pyramids. They may be described as two ledge-shaped pads mainly formed
+of glands. They are very sensitive and movable, and ready on the
+smallest incitement to meet with great rapidity in order to protect the
+vocal ligaments from any harm. They must, therefore, be chiefly regarded
+as safeguards of the vocal apparatus, though it is probable that by
+breaking the stream of air passing through the chink of the glottis,
+they also exercise considerable influence upon the _quality_ of the tone
+emitted. It may be affirmed, however, without the slightest hesitation,
+that they have absolutely nothing to do with the _production_ of tone.
+We shall see these glandular ledges again during our observations upon
+the living subject, and I shall therefore say no more about them at
+present.
+
+[Illustration: PLATE XII.
+
+VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX, WHICH HAS BEEN CUT OPEN FROM BEHIND.
+
+1, 2. POCKET LIGAMENTS (FALSE VOCAL CORDS).
+
+3, 4. VOCAL LIGAMENTS (VOCAL CORDS).
+
+5, 6. SHIELD (THYROID) CARTILAGE.
+
+7, 8. CARTILAGES OF SANTORINI.
+
+9. LID (EPIGLOTTIS).
+
+14, 10 & 15, 11. FOLDS OF MUCOUS MEMBRANE (ARYTENO-EPIGLOTTIC FOLDS).
+
+12, 13. WEDGES (CUNEIFORM CARTILAGES).
+
+14, 15. CARTILAGES OF WRISBERG.
+
+16, 17. PYRAMID MUSCLE (ARYTENOIDEUS TRANSVERSUS).
+
+18, 19. RING (CRICOID) CARTILAGE.
+
+20, 21. TONGUE (HYOID) BONE.
+]
+
+The space between the pocket ligaments and the vocal ligaments (pl. XII,
+1, 2, 3, 4) is the entrance to two pouches or pockets which extend
+outwards and upwards. The dimensions of these pockets vary very much in
+different individuals. As a rule their height does not exceed two-fifths
+of an inch, so that their terminations do not reach the upper borders of
+the shield cartilage (pl. XII, 5 and 6). But there are instances in
+which the pockets are nearly three-quarters of an inch high, and where
+such is the case they, as a necessary consequence, reach beyond the
+shield. Sometimes they are so high as nearly to touch the root of the
+tongue. Their outer walls are chiefly formed of loose fatty cellular
+tissue, and the pockets are almost entirely surrounded by a large number
+of small glands.
+
+     Now these are the "Laryngeal sacculi" which, according to Mr.
+     Illingworth, produce the falsetto voice by "acting in the same way
+     as a hazel-nut can be made to act as a whistle, when the kernel has
+     been extracted through a small hole in the shell," &c. I think,
+     however, that the reader will, from the description given above,
+     agree with me that the acoustic properties of the pockets of the
+     voicebox cannot be very great, and that, at all events, there is a
+     vast difference between their construction and that of a hazel-nut,
+     either with or without the kernel. Then there is this additional
+     difficulty, that even if one could whistle upon the pockets in the
+     manner suggested, there are two of them, covered, let it be
+     remembered, with a multitude of glands, continually producing
+     moisture, and liable to enlarge or to diminish. How, I should like
+     to know, could two such cavities be so tuned as under any
+     circumstances to produce exactly the same tones? Would not rather
+     frightful discords be the inevitable result? And again, what
+     provision is there in the pockets for the gradations of pitch? But
+     quite apart from these considerations, this and other similar
+     theories are completely disproved by the fact that every tone which
+     the human voice is capable of producing can be produced by
+     _inspiration as well as by expiration_. The tones sung by
+     inspiration are, as might be expected, wholly devoid of beauty,
+     because the vocal apparatus is, as it were, put upside down, and
+     the position of bellows and resonator reversed. But that does not
+     alter the question. The fact remains, and clearly proves that the
+     pockets have no more to do with the falsetto than with the chest
+     voice, because in inspiration the air strikes the vocal ligaments
+     _after it has passed_ the pockets, and yet the result is, beauty of
+     tone apart, exactly the same.
+
+The function of the pockets, in my opinion, is this: They are the means
+of isolating the vocal ligaments, thus enabling them to vibrate freely
+and without hindrance. They also allow the sound-waves to expand
+sideways, thereby materially adding to their resonance. Lastly, they
+with their many little glands produce and supply the vocal ligaments
+with that moisture without which, according to the investigations of J.
+Müller,[H] the production of tone cannot be carried on.
+
+Above the pocket ligaments there is a kind of tube which is formed by
+the upper part of the pyramids (surmounted by two little bodies called
+the cartilages of Santorini, pl. XII, 7, 8) behind; the lid or
+epiglottis (pl. XII, 9) in front, and sideways by two folds of mucous
+membrane running up from the pyramids to the lid (pl. XII, 14, 10 and
+15, 11). These folds are in many cases supported by two small
+cartilages, which we will call the Wedges (pl. XII, 12, 13). These,
+according to Madame Emma Seiler, are the chief factors in the formation
+of the highest register of the female voice. In some physiological works
+they are treated as of very little consequence, and in others they are
+not mentioned at all.
+
+These wedges are two thin strips of cartilage running in front of the
+pyramids (pl. XII, 12 and 13) where they are embedded in a number of
+glands. Their upper ends terminate in the cartilages of Wrisberg (pl.
+XII, 14, 15), and their lower ends gradually dwindle away in the
+direction of the vocal ligaments.
+
+     Madame Seiler says that they "reach to the middle of the vocal
+     chords, by which they are enveloped."[I] She comments in the same
+     book on the fact that German anatomists have been reluctant to
+     admit the existence of these cartilages; and she adds on page 61,
+     "It was, therefore, a great satisfaction to me to find them
+     described under the name of the cuneiform cartilages in Wilson's
+     'Human Anatomy.'" It must be confessed, however, that Wilson's
+     description of them is totally different from Madame Seiler's. He
+     says, "The cuneiform cartilages are two small cylinders of yellow
+     fibro-cartilage, about seven lines in length and enlarged at each
+     extremity. _By the lower end or base_ the cartilage is attached _to
+     the middle of the external surface_ of the arytenoid (the pyramid),
+     and by its upper extremity forms a prominence in the border of the
+     aryteno-epiglottidean fold of membrane"[J] (_i.e._, the fold
+     running up to the lid). According to Seiler, therefore, the wedges
+     reach from the pyramids to the middle of the vocal ligaments, but
+     according to Wilson their bases are attached to the middle of the
+     outer surface of the pyramids, so that they cannot even touch the
+     vocal ligaments. As Madame Seiler assigns very important functions
+     to these wedges in the formation of the highest register of the
+     female voice, and as she quotes Wilson in a manner that must lead
+     the reader to suppose he gave a similar description to hers of
+     these cartilages, I have thought it right to give Wilson's
+     statement in full.
+
+     But there is a description of these cartilages by Dr. Witkowski
+     which corresponds very closely with Madame Seiler's. Speaking of
+     some of the glands of the voicebox, he says in the work mentioned
+     before, on p. 12--"They are arranged in the form of an L, whose
+     vertical branch goes along the arytenoid cartilages (the pyramids),
+     _the horizontal branch following the direction of the vocal cords_.
+     _There is often found situated in the midst of this group of glands
+     the cuneiform cartilage of Wrisberg_, sometimes reduced to a mere
+     cartilaginous granule."
+
+     Dr. Elsberg also describes them on p. 37 of the treatise before
+     mentioned as "elongated nodules" in the hinder portion of the vocal
+     ligaments, and says they are found "more often in the female than
+     in the male sex." He calls them the "posterior vocal nodules," and
+     gives on p. 36 a diagram which shows them most clearly and
+     unmistakably. This point would therefore seem to be settled.
+
+=The Resonator.=--We now come to the last part of our instrument, namely,
+the resonator, which is formed of (1) the pockets of the larynx; (2) the
+tube above the pocket ligaments; (3) the upper part of the throat; (4)
+the mouth; and (5) the nose. Before giving a description of the
+resonator, it will be necessary to make a few introductory remarks on
+certain laws of the philosophy of sound, which have been so clearly
+demonstrated that they admit of no contradiction.
+
+=Tone=, as we have seen, is the result of rapid periodic vibrations.
+
+The =Loudness= of tone depends upon the _amplitude_ of the vibrations.
+This is easily shown by drawing a bow over the string of a violin: while
+the vibrations of the string are largest, the tone produced is loudest,
+and as the vibrations get smaller, so the tone becomes fainter.
+
+The =Pitch= of tone depends upon the _number_ of vibrations in a given
+period of time. The greater the number of vibrations the higher the
+pitch, and _vice versâ_.
+
+The =Quality= of tone depends on the _form_ of the vibrations, "which also
+determines the occurrence of upper partial tones."[K]
+
+Now, to make the sound of any tone-producing element more intense, and
+to give it some special quality, is the work of the resonator. If we
+simply fix a fiddle string at either end, and, after giving it a certain
+amount of tension, draw a bow across it, we shall certainly produce a
+tone, but a very poor and faint one. Put the same string with the same
+amount of tension upon a cheap violin, and the tone will be intensified,
+and its quality changed, though that quality may be of a very unpleasant
+kind. Repeat the experiment upon an Amati or a Straduarius, and not only
+will the tone be more powerful still, but it will also have a full,
+round, and beautiful quality. Something, it is true, depends upon the
+string and upon the bowing, but we are here supposing the same string
+and the same player, our object being to show how the _resonator_,
+which, in this case, is the body of the violin, intensifies the tone of
+the string, and affects its quality.
+
+Illustrations exemplifying the same thing might be multiplied to any
+extent, but the one I have just given will suffice. As with the string,
+so with the vocal ligaments. Cut a larynx out of a dead body, put it in
+proper position on the top of a bellows, and force the air through it,
+and you will produce tone, but faint and poor tone. Now add a resonator
+to the larynx, and the tone of the vocal ligaments will be intensified,
+and its quality altered according to the kind of resonator you make use
+of.
+
+It is clear, therefore, that the human voice does not only depend upon
+the vibrations of the vocal ligaments, and the corresponding vibrations
+of the air passing between them, but also upon the resonator as defined
+on p. 9. According to the natural formation of our resonator, and
+according to the infinite variety of shapes which every one has it in
+his power to give to it, our voices will be, always supposing the
+conditions of the vocal ligaments to be the same, either full, round,
+sonorous, and _beautiful_, or they will be poor, cutting, muffled,
+guttural, nasal, and _ugly_.
+
+As we have, or may easily acquire, absolute command over the resonator,
+or, at least, over the greatest part of it, it is a comfort to know that
+so very much depends upon it, and I trust my readers will now, with some
+amount of pleasure, look with me at this part of the vocal apparatus.
+
+The 1st and 2nd divisions of the resonator--namely, the pockets of the
+larynx and the tube above the pocket ligaments--have been fully
+described on pp. 52, 53, and no more need be said on the subject here.
+
+The upper part of the throat, called in scientific works the "Pharynx"
+(pl. I, P), is a cavity, the largest part of which may be seen through
+the arch at the back of the open mouth. Its hinder wall is formed by the
+spinal column, and it extends upwards as far as the Eustachian tubes
+(pl. I, E) which communicate with the middle part of the ear. Here it
+joins--
+
+The =Cavities of the Nose= (pl. I, N), which have for their base the hard
+and soft palate (pl. I, H and S), and which are divided by a bone
+partition.
+
+The only part of the =Mouth= which requires a particular description is
+the soft palate. This is a movable partition by means of which either
+the mouth or the nose can be completely separated from the throat. If
+the nose is to be shut off from the throat the soft palate is _raised_,
+and pressed against the back of the pharynx. If the mouth is to be shut
+off the soft palate is _lowered_, and rests closely upon the back of the
+tongue. This partition plays a most important part in vocalization. In
+the formation of all pure vowel sounds it is _raised_, thereby closing
+the nasal cavities, and it has been found that the closure is loosest
+for "ah" (as in "father") and tightest for "e" (as in "bee"), the
+intermediate vowels being "a" (as in "name"), "oh" and "oo" (as in
+"food"). This has been clearly shown by Czermak in the following manner.
+Lying down on his back, he had the nasal cavities filled with tepid
+water. He then uttered the various vowel sounds, and ascertained from
+the quantity of water required to force open the closure formed by the
+soft palate the degree of tightness for each vowel. He afterwards
+constructed a very ingenious little apparatus, by means of which, in one
+of his lectures, he demonstrated this fact to his audience. It will be
+easily understood from the above explanation that, if the closure of
+the nasal cavities is sufficiently imperfect to allow any considerable
+amount of air to pass through the nose, the result will be a nasal tone.
+
+     I am aware that the very opposite is taught by some. There are
+     those who maintain that nasal tone arises from the air _not_ being
+     able to get through the nose. I am even informed that in some parts
+     of England where nasal tone seems to be a general affliction, it is
+     the practice of teachers of singing to cause their pupils to bathe
+     their noses in hot water in order to relax the muscles which are
+     supposed by their contraction to produce nasal tone. I would,
+     however, in support of my statement, draw attention to the
+     following indisputable facts:--(1) It is quite possible to
+     completely close the nostrils, and yet to produce pure vocal tone.
+     (2) Persons who are either partly or entirely without the soft
+     palate can _under no circumstances_ utter a single sound without
+     the most pronounced nasal quality. It seems to me that these facts
+     sufficiently speak for themselves; but if any of my readers are not
+     convinced by them, let them try this experiment: Take a thin mirror
+     and hold it flat against the upper lip, with the glass upwards. Now
+     sing a pure vocal tone, and the mirror will remain perfectly
+     bright. Sing, on the contrary, with nasal quality, and the mirror
+     will at once be completely dimmed. This shows conclusively that
+     nasal sound is produced by singing _through_ the nose, and this
+     cannot be done without lowering the soft palate. Teachers of
+     singing know well enough that guttural tone is caused by the
+     obstinate arching up of the tongue, and if they understand their
+     business they eventually succeed in teaching a pupil labouring
+     under this disadvantage to get perfect control over his tongue. But
+     nobody thinks of the soft palate, though that can be brought under
+     subjection just as well as the tongue. Let singing masters see to
+     it, and young ladies will no longer be laughed at for having to
+     put their noses into hot water before charming their friends with
+     a song.
+
+It now only remains to be added that the interior of the windpipe and of
+the voicebox, as well as that of the throat, the mouth, and the nose, is
+lined with a thin mucous membrane of a pinkish colour. This concludes my
+description of the Vocal Organ as a musical instrument.
+
+
+
+
+DIFFERENCES OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX, IN CHILDREN, WOMEN, AND MEN.
+
+
+The voicebox of a newly-born baby is about one-third the size of that of
+a grown woman. It is therefore rather large in proportion to other parts
+of the body, with the exception of the head, which comparatively is
+larger still. The horizontal outline of the shield cartilage is a very
+gentle curve, and the upper horns are short, in consequence of which the
+voicebox is close to the tongue. The wedges, according to Merkel, are
+strongly developed; the vocal ligaments are short and thick, and the
+pockets deep. Up to the third year the voicebox grows very considerably,
+but no particular alterations take place from that time to the period of
+puberty, which generally occurs at the age of 14 or 15, rather earlier
+in girls than in boys. This period of change lasts from six to twelve
+months, or sometimes even two or three years. During this time the vocal
+organs undergo a marked change. In boys, the angle at which the two
+plates of the shield meet becomes more and more acute, and the length of
+the vocal ligaments increases only in the proportion of five to ten. In
+girls, on the other hand, the horizontal outline of the shield does not
+lose its evenness, and the length of the vocal ligaments increases only
+in the proportion of five to seven. The cartilages would seem,
+especially in boys, to grow more rapidly than the muscles, so that the
+slowly-growing muscles do not, at first, control the newly-developed
+cartilages. This accounts for the unmanageable state of the voice at
+this period. The changes which take place in the female voicebox are
+very imperceptible, so that they do not materially affect the character
+of the voice. In the male voicebox, on the contrary, the alterations are
+very marked, and the result is that the high voice of the boy is changed
+into the tenor or the bass of the man. While, therefore, before the
+period of puberty the voicebox is materially the same in both sexes,
+there are, afterwards, considerable differences noticeable, not only
+with regard to size, but also with regard to shape. This seems, indeed,
+sufficiently obvious, and any one can see it by simply comparing the
+outside of the throat of a man with that of a woman.
+
+     Nevertheless we are told by Mr. Lunn[L] that "Anatomy teaches us
+     that there is no difference between the male and female larynx save
+     in size;" and by Dr. Garrett (on page 13 of the book quoted before)
+     that "The male larynx does not differ anatomically in the least
+     from that of the female, except in size."
+
+     My readers may judge for themselves whether these statements are
+     borne out by facts or not.
+
+It must further be observed that the whole upper part of the shield in
+the female voicebox is less developed than in the male. The upper horns
+are short, so that the voicebox is more closely attached to the
+tongue-bone, and its position in the throat is altogether higher in
+woman than in man. To show more clearly still the difference in the
+proportions of the male and the female voicebox, I give below some
+average measurements (taken from Luschka's great work on the Larynx)
+which I have, for the convenience of English readers, reduced, as nearly
+as possible, from centimetres and millimetres to inches.
+
+                                         MALE.            FEMALE.
+
+    Height of the voicebox in  }        2-4/5in.         1-9/10in.
+    front, with the lid raised }       (7 cent.)        (4.8 cent.)
+
+    Greatest width between the    }     1-3/5in.         1-2/5in.
+    plates of the shield cartilage}    (4 cent.)        (3.5 cent.)
+
+    Depth between the lower         }
+    border of the shield cartilage, }   1-1/5in.          1 in.
+    and the opposite point          }  (3 cent.)       (2.4 cent.)
+    of the ring cartilage.          }
+
+    Length of the vocal chink ...         1 in.          3/5 in.
+                                        (25 mm.)        (15 mm.)
+
+According to this eminent anatomist, therefore, the differences between
+male and female larynges are as follows: In height, 9/10; in width, 1/5;
+in depth, 1/5; in the length of the vocal chink, 2/5 of an inch. As it
+is plain that if there were "no difference between the male and the
+female larynx save in size," all their proportions would be alike, I
+think I may safely assume that I have proved my point, which is a rather
+important one, as the reader will see when the registers in the male and
+female voice come up for discussion.
+
+We will now consider the question how the various classes of
+voice--_i.e._, Sopranos, Contraltos, Tenors, and Basses--are to be
+accounted for by corresponding differences in the voicebox. We know that
+tone is produced by the vibrations of the vocal ligaments. It is clear,
+therefore, that a voice will be high or low according to the number of
+vibrations which the ligaments are capable of producing, or in other
+words, according to their dimensions and their tension. This difference
+is easily seen by comparing the voicebox of a soprano with that of a
+bass, because there the proportions are so manifestly smaller in the one
+than in the other. There are similar distinctions between soprano and
+contralto on the one hand, and between tenor and bass on the other, but
+they are not so striking. Neither can they, for various reasons, be
+demonstrated with the laryngoscope; but they exist nevertheless.
+
+It is true that the vocal ligaments of a soprano are sometimes longer
+than those of a contralto, just as the ligaments of a tenor are
+occasionally longer than those of a bass. But I maintain that the longer
+ligaments of sopranos and tenors are correspondingly thinner, and that
+their tension is greater, owing to the ring-shield or stretching muscles
+being more powerful than their opponents--the shield-pyramid muscles.
+Where this is the case the ligaments are more slanting than they would
+be otherwise, and the consequence of this is that less power of blast is
+required to make them speak. With this mechanism the higher registers
+are very readily united with the lower ones, and the voices so produced
+are of a light and flexible kind. Where, on the contrary, the vocal
+ligaments of contraltos and basses are comparatively short, they are
+also thick in proportion, and the shield-pyramid muscles are more
+powerful than the opposing ring-shield muscles, so that there is less
+tension. I shall be asked how I can prove this tension theory, and my
+reply is this: The diameter of the vocal ligaments depends in a large
+measure on the magnitude of the shield-pyramid muscles. If, therefore,
+the ligaments are exceptionally thick, the muscles just named must of
+necessity be very powerful, and can easily resist the pulling of the
+ring-shield muscles. If, on the contrary, the ligaments are
+exceptionally thin, it is equally certain that the shield-pyramid
+muscles are weak in proportion, and then the stretching muscles can
+easily overcome their resistance.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I may add that I came to the above conclusions about the various classes
+of voices years ago, when commencing the study of this subject. Not only
+have I never since seen any reason to alter my views--although I have
+not failed to notice and carefully examine the theories of others
+denying my doctrine--but I am more than ever convinced that my
+explanations are correct. I have now the gratification of seeing my
+theory confirmed by so great an authority as Dr. Merkel, of Leipzig, who
+most elaborately explains the subject in his latest work on the larynx,
+to which I have already alluded in these pages.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Besides the factors enumerated above, there are, no doubt, others which
+are also of consequence in determining the particular kind of voice to
+be produced by this vocal apparatus or by that; as, for instance, the
+windpipe, or the resonator, or both. The capacity of the chest--nay, the
+structure of the whole body, may have a more or less direct influence
+upon it. But there are absolutely no statistics to proceed upon, and in
+the absence of these it is vain to indulge in any speculations on the
+subject.
+
+
+
+
+MOVEMENTS OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX, WHICH CAN BE SEEN OR FELT.
+
+
+The voicebox in a man is situated almost exactly in the middle of the
+throat; in woman its position is, for reasons partly explained on page
+64, considerably higher. It moves downwards in inspiration, and upwards
+in expiration; and the more vigorously we breathe, the more marked are
+these movements. In the act of swallowing the voicebox rises quickly,
+and in yawning it goes down so completely that the whole windpipe may
+vanish into the chest, and even the part of the ring cartilage may
+disappear.
+
+When singing in what is called chest-voice the voicebox rises gradually
+with each higher tone. Changing the mode of tone production, and
+singing--say an octave higher--in falsetto, the voicebox makes quite a
+leap upwards, and then again rises gradually with each higher tone,
+just as in chest-voice, but in a lesser degree. The voicebox, however,
+does not stand so high for the lowest falsetto as for the highest chest
+tones.
+
+     It is possible, of course, to limit these movements to a minimum,
+     but a teacher who insists upon his pupils keeping their voice-boxes
+     perfectly still commits a serious mistake, because it is always
+     injurious to do violence to nature. It is one thing to keep the
+     voicebox steady, thereby facilitating the working of some of those
+     muscles which act immediately upon the vocal ligaments; it is quite
+     another thing, as will be seen below, to attempt to prevent
+     movements which have to serve a great purpose.
+
+In _whispering_, the voicebox occupies a different position in the
+throat for each vowel. I invite the reader to try the following curious
+experiment. Let him take the larynx gently between the thumb and the
+first finger, and then _whisper_ OO (as in "food,") OH, AH, A (as in
+"name,") and E (as in "bee"). He will find that the voicebox rises with
+every succeeding vowel until at last it has completely slipped away from
+between the finger and thumb. Each one of these _whispered_ vowels has,
+as first ascertained by Helmholtz, its exact pitch, whether uttered by a
+little child or by an old man, and the effect of the rising of the
+voicebox is to shorten the resonator, whereby the raising of the pitch
+is produced.
+
+I stated on page 41 that the vocal ligaments were capable of being
+stretched by the ring-shield muscles, and that the pitch of the tones
+produced by their vibrations depended mainly on their tension. As we
+are now taking note of such movements of the voicebox as may be either
+seen or felt in the throat, we will take the opportunity of trying
+whether my statement can be verified. Let the reader, therefore, do as
+follows:--(1) Place the finger on the shield cartilage, and press it
+vigorously backward. (2) Sing loudly any high tone that is well within
+your compass. Hold this tone steadily, and _be quite sure you do not
+alter its pitch_. (3) Now suddenly remove your finger, continuing to
+sing as before. What is the result? Your tone is raised by a third, or
+even more, according to the amount of pressure you exercised on the
+shield. And how did this result come about? In this way: By pressing the
+shield backwards you elongated the ring-shield muscles, thereby
+counteracting their stretching influence, and at the same time
+slackening the vocal ligaments. The tone you sang while doing this was,
+we will say C'. By releasing the shield you enabled the ring-shield
+muscles to contract again, thereby putting the vocal ligaments on the
+stretch as they were at first. That changed your C' to E', or higher
+still. Have I proved my assertion?
+
+Now one more test, if you please. I pointed out to you on page 34 an
+opening between the shield and the ring. You will see it on plate V, No.
+10. Please sing a low tone; place your finger gently on the shield, and
+move it downwards. You will soon discover a little hollow which
+corresponds with the opening I just mentioned, and into which you can
+easily put part of the tip of your finger. Now sing up the scale, and
+take care to keep the tip of your finger in the hollow. Remember that in
+singing up the scale your voicebox will rise, which movement you must
+follow, or you will lose the place. If you do this carefully, you will
+find that the hollow gets smaller and smaller by degrees until at last
+it closes entirely, and you can no longer find a trace of it. Now sing
+down again, keeping your finger on the same spot. You will soon notice
+the hollow again, and it will continue to get larger and larger until
+you arrive at the bottom of your scale.
+
+This, of course, is but another way of showing the mechanism by which
+the pitch of your tones is raised or lowered, and we have proved the
+same thing by our preceding experiment. But I asked you to try this
+chiefly because it will enable you to put a check upon my statements
+with regard to the registers of the voice, a subject which I propose to
+discuss in another chapter.
+
+
+
+
+THE LARYNGOSCOPE, AND HOW TO USE IT.
+
+
+The Laryngoscope in its simplest form is a thin circular mirror, about
+three-quarters of an inch in diameter, set in a metal frame, and
+fastened at an angle of 120° to a piece of wire from three to four
+inches long, which is put into a small wooden handle not much thicker
+than a pencil, and about the same length as the wire. By help of the
+laryngoscope we can either see our own larynx or that of another person.
+The easiest experiment is upon the larynx of some one else. In this
+case, the person to be operated upon sits facing the sun, the head
+slightly bent backwards, and the mouth wide open. If he has not
+sufficient control over his tongue to prevent it from arching up, he
+must gently hold its protruding tip with a pocket handkerchief between
+his thumb and forefinger. The mirror is now slightly warmed to prevent
+its becoming dimmed by the moisture of the breath, and then, holding it
+like a pen, the operator introduces it into the throat so that it
+touches the uvula. This must be done lightly yet firmly, care being
+taken not to bring the mirror into contact with the base of the tongue.
+The rays of the sun falling upon the mirror are reflected downwards into
+the voicebox, the image of which is clearly visible in the mirror. In
+making observations upon oneself, a second mirror in the shape of an
+ordinary hand looking-glass is necessary to reproduce the image in the
+small mirror. This is the way in which the renowned professor of
+singing, Senor Manuel Garcia, made those famous "Observations on the
+Human Voice," communicated to the Royal Society by Dr. Sharpey, on May
+the 24th, 1855. Similar attempts had been made before; for instance, in
+1827 by Babington, in 1838 by Baumès, in 1840 by Liston, and in 1844 by
+Warden and Avery. But they had all ended in failure, an occasional
+glimpse of some parts of the voicebox being the only result obtained.
+Garcia, however, brilliantly succeeded where all his predecessors had
+failed, and was the first not only to see the vocal ligaments, but to
+see them in the act of singing, and to see them so clearly as to be able
+to give an account of their minutest movements. The instrument has since
+been greatly improved, and the process of investigation has become a
+science. Medical men all over the world have laid hold of it, and
+suffering humanity is daily benefited by it. But Garcia is the man who
+produced the first results, and to him, therefore, is due the credit of
+being practically the inventor of the laryngoscope.
+
+It is almost incredible, but it is true, that this splendid invention
+was received coldly and with distrust in this country, and had it not
+been for Dr. Johann N. Czermak, Professor of Physiology at the
+University of Pesth, the matter would, in all probability, have been
+forgotten. But this gentleman recognized the value of Garcia's
+invention, and he at once went enthusiastically to work, and pushed on
+vigorously in the way which Garcia had opened for him. He constructed an
+apparatus which enabled him, by making use of artificial light, to work
+without interruption and without waiting for the sun to shine. He then
+made his first attempts on himself in order to become acquainted with
+the conditions which have to be fulfilled by the observer as well as by
+the person to be operated upon. In this way he soon became a master of
+the new process, which he immediately brought under the notice of the
+profession by giving lectures and demonstrations in the chief towns of
+Europe.
+
+More than twenty years have passed since then, and the laryngoscope has,
+during that time, been made excellent use of, not only for the
+alleviation of suffering, and the cure of disease, but also for its
+original purpose--_i.e._, the exploration of the mechanism of the human
+voice.
+
+My own connection with the matter has arisen through my desire to sift
+contradictory statements made by various observers. Having read many
+English, German, and French books on the subject, I was in position to
+pick up a hint here, and to get some good advice there, and the
+consequence was that I was able to pursue a course which made me
+familiar with the use of the laryngoscope in a very short time. As my
+experience may be useful to others, I will briefly relate how I
+proceeded.
+
+I made my first attempts upon a skull, to which I attached a
+plaster-of-Paris model of the voicebox, the whole being fastened to an
+iron stand. The instrument I used was a concave reflector on a spectacle
+frame. The reflector had a hole in the centre, and was capable of being
+moved in various directions. The next thing was the little mirror
+described on page 73, and lastly, a gas lamp on the principle of the
+well-known "Queen's" reading lamps, which can be raised or lowered at
+pleasure. I placed the skull to the left of the lamp, and looking with
+my right eye through the hole in the centre of the reflector, practised
+throwing the light swiftly and with certainty into the upper part of the
+throat. I then introduced the little spy mirror, and tried to see and to
+recognize the various parts of the voicebox, which, let it be
+remembered, present a somewhat different appearance in the looking-glass
+from what they do if seen without it. Then I got a friend to mark my
+artificial voicebox, unknown to me, in various ways, and endeavoured
+quickly to discover what he had done. In this way I soon acquired a
+considerable amount of skill in handling the instrument, and also became
+thoroughly familiar with the image of the voicebox in the mirror.[M]
+Having thus to a large extent mastered the mechanical part of my work, I
+proceeded to make observations upon myself. I placed to the left of the
+lamp an ordinary bedroom looking-glass, in which now appeared my own
+face instead of the skull which hitherto occupied this place. I opened
+my mouth, and by the help of the reflector directed the light into the
+image of it in the looking-glass. I then continued in every way as I
+had done with the skull, with this difference, however, that I had
+first, as pointed out before, to warm the little spy mirror in order to
+prevent its becoming dimmed in the throat.
+
+An instrument has since been designed by the late Dr. G. D. Foulis, of
+Glasgow, which for simplicity, general excellence, and cheapness, far
+surpasses the above contrivance, and which I strongly recommend to
+intending students of laryngoscopy. It consists of a plain stand on
+which is placed a glass globe filled with water, the whole being
+surmounted by a small square mirror. The rays from a lamp or candle,
+placed behind the globe, are concentrated into the open mouth of the
+observer, who is seated in front of it, enabling him, by the use of an
+ordinary throat mirror, to inspect the movements of his own vocal
+ligaments.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+This apparatus, as shown in the annexed drawing, including a throat
+mirror, and safely packed for transmission, may be had from Messrs. W.
+B. Hilliard & Sons, 65, Renfield Street, Glasgow, for the very small sum
+of 7s. 6d.
+
+Let not the reader who tries laryngoscopic investigations be discouraged
+if, at first, violent retching is the result. It does not so much arise
+from sensitiveness of the parts touched, as from awkwardness in
+introducing the mirror. If he perseveres he will soon be rewarded by a
+view of the pearly white vocal ligaments, and a little repeated practice
+upon himself will enable him also to operate upon others without causing
+them discomfort.
+
+I close this chapter by again reminding amateur laryngoscopists that in
+the vast majority of cases where the touch of the mirror causes retching
+and gagging, it is due less to the sensitiveness of the person operated
+upon than to the want of skill on the part of the operator. He should in
+that case renew his experiments upon himself, and continue them until he
+has fully mastered the use of the instrument, as it is not fair to make
+others suffer for his own clumsiness.
+
+
+
+
+THE TEACHINGS OF THE LARYNGOSCOPE.
+
+
+On introducing the mirror into the throat we first see the back part of
+the tongue, which has a very uneven surface, and which is, as a rule,
+covered with greyish phlegm. We next notice a hollow space between the
+tongue and the lid, which is divided by an elastic band forming a little
+bridge between the two. Next comes the upper free part of the lid, the
+shape of which greatly varies in different individuals. It hangs over
+the voicebox, which it almost completely hides from view; but during the
+production of a high tone on the vowel A, as in "sad," it takes an
+almost perpendicular position. When the lid is so raised (pl. XIV, L) we
+can see right down to the bottom of it, where we observe that it bulges
+out a little. Extending from either side of the lid to the pyramids are
+two folds of mucous membrane, in the hinder part of either of which are
+to be observed two little elevations representing the cartilages of
+Santorini (pl. XIV, S S), and the upper points of the wedges, called
+the cartilages of Wrisberg (pl. XIV, W W). Looking down the kind of tube
+which is formed by the parts just enumerated, we next notice two
+horizontal projections running from front to back, which are the pocket
+ligaments (pl. XIV, P P). Everything we have seen so far is of a pinkish
+colour. Below the pocket ligaments, right at the bottom of the tube
+described above, we see the main object of our investigation, namely,
+the vocal ligaments (pl. XIV, V V). These, being almost of a pearly
+white, form a strong contrast to all their surroundings, and it is quite
+impossible to mistake them.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In quiet breathing the vocal chink is of a triangular shape, of which,
+however, we can only see the hinder part, the front part being hidden by
+the lid (pl. XIII). In exaggerated efforts at breathing this space gets
+considerably larger, so that, with a well-directed light, we can see
+into the windpipe, of which the rings are plainly noticeable. It is even
+possible to see the lowest part of the windpipe, where it is divided
+into the two branches entering the lungs.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+For the purpose of studying the movements of the vocal ligaments in the
+act of singing, the vowel A, as in "sad" will be found the most
+favourable, because the formation of the mouth, and the position of the
+tongue which it necessitates, enable us to get a complete view of the
+interior of the voicebox, which during the emission of other vowel
+sounds is more or less hidden.
+
+     Mr. Lunn objects that all investigations with the laryngoscope are
+     valueless on account of the supposed necessity of holding the tip
+     of the protruding tongue. He says, in a letter to the "Orchestra"
+     (January, 1880): "One of our most promising singers told me he
+     could not rightly produce his voice when under laryngoscopic
+     investigation. It is a moral impossibility for all!" (A physical
+     impossibility would be more to the purpose.) "Let the reader pull
+     his tongue out with a napkin as far as he can, and sing, and he
+     will get some notion of the tone producible." There is no
+     foundation for this objection, because if a singer has his tongue
+     under proper control there is not the slightest occasion to put it
+     out and to hold it. As to pulling it out as far as one can, that
+     should not be done under any circumstances, and no man having the
+     slightest knowledge of laryngoscopy would suggest such a ridiculous
+     proceeding. In my own case the vocal ligaments can be seen from one
+     end to the other while I keep my tongue in its natural position,
+     and I am willing to demonstrate this fact to any one who has any
+     doubt in the matter.
+
+As soon as we produce a tone, the pyramids, and with them the vocal
+ligaments, meet, so as to touch each other more or less closely, while
+there still remains a large space between the pocket ligaments above.
+Every time we take breath, the pyramids with the vocal ligaments recede,
+to meet again as before, every time we strike a new tone. The vocal
+ligaments, thrown into vibrations by the stream of air passing between
+them, cut, as it were, this stream of air into regular waves, and thus
+(as more fully explained on p. 38) tone is produced.
+
+We notice here that this tone-production may be originated in three
+different ways:--(1) The vocal ligaments may meet _after_ the air has
+commenced to pass between them. Of this an aspirate is the result. (2)
+The vocal ligaments may meet _before_ the air has commenced to pass
+between them. This causes a check or a click at the beginning of the
+tone. (3) The vocal ligaments may meet just at the very moment when the
+air passes between them. In this case the tone is properly struck. There
+is nothing to make it indefinite as in case No. 1, and nothing to impede
+it as in case No. 2. Production as in case No. 3 causes the tone to
+travel much farther than production as in cases Nos. I and 2, and it is
+this way of striking a tone which is known under the name of "Coup de
+Glotte" or "Shock of the Glottis."
+
+     "But it is not a shock of the glottis at all," says Mr. Lunn, on
+     page 68 of the book quoted before. "It is an audible result arising
+     from the false cords [pocket ligaments] releasing condensed air
+     imprisoned below them, which air in its release explodes." I beg
+     leave to observe that condensed imprisoned air thus released could
+     produce a puff, but not a musical tone. The matter is, moreover,
+     capable of being demonstrated to the eye. The process takes place
+     as described above, and I am ready at any moment to show that the
+     pocket ligaments _never_ meet in singing. There can, therefore, be
+     no possibility of condensed air being imprisoned below them, and we
+     need not enter into any further argument on the subject.
+
+[Illustration: PLATE XIII.
+
+LARYNGOSCOPIC IMAGE. BREATHING.
+
+T. TONGUE.
+
+L. LID.
+
+V. V. VOCAL LIGAMENTS.
+
+W. W. CARTILAGES OF WRISBERG.
+
+S. S. CARTILAGES OF SANTORINI.
+
+]
+
+[Illustration: PLATE XIV.
+
+LARYNGOSCOPIC IMAGE. UPPER THICK.
+
+T. T. TONGUE.
+
+L. LID.
+
+P. P. POCKET LIGAMENTS.
+
+V. V. VOCAL LIGAMENTS.
+
+W. W. CARTILAGES OF WRISBERG.
+
+S. S. CARTILAGES OF SANTORINI.
+]
+
+[Illustration: PLATE XV.
+
+LARYNGOSCOPIC IMAGE. UPPER THIN.
+
+T. T. TONGUE.
+
+L. LID.
+
+P. P. POCKET LIGAMENTS.
+
+V. V. VOCAL LIGAMENTS.
+
+W. W. CARTILAGES OF WRISBERG.
+
+S. S. CARTILAGES OF SANTORINI.
+]
+
+[Illustration: PLATE XVI.
+
+LARYNGOSCOPIC IMAGE. SMALL.
+
+T. T. TONGUE.
+
+L. LID.
+
+P. P. POCKET LIGAMENTS.
+
+V. V. VOCAL LIGAMENTS.
+
+W. W. CARTILAGES OF WRISBERG.
+
+S. S. CARTILAGES OF SANTORINI.
+]
+
+We now proceed to study the Registers of the human voice. A very Babel
+of confusion exists on this important subject, and we are not only
+perplexed by a multiplicity of terms, but also by the various and often
+contradictory meanings attached to them. Thus people talk of chest,
+medium, mixed, throat, falsetto, and head registers, and these terms
+being utterly unscientific--_i.e._, being based upon sensations and
+fancies instead of physiological facts--no one can give a clear and
+satisfactory definition of any one of them. To bring order into such
+chaos is an almost hopeless undertaking, and the first step in this
+direction is obviously to ask ourselves, What is the meaning of the word
+"Register?" My reply is this: _A register consists of a series of tones
+which are produced by the same mechanism_. Then comes the question, Can
+any such registers be demonstrated in the vocal apparatus; and if so,
+what are the mechanisms by which they are produced? The answer supplied
+by the laryngoscope is, Yes. There are, broadly speaking, three
+registers in the human voice, and the mechanisms are plainly visible, as
+follows:--(1) During the lowest series of tones the vocal ligaments
+vibrate in their entire thickness (pl. XIV). (2) During the next series
+of tones the vocal ligaments vibrate only with their thin inner edges
+(pl. XV). (3) During the highest series of tones a portion of the vocal
+chink is firmly closed, and only a small part of the vocal ligaments
+vibrates (pl. XVI).
+
+In accordance with these physiological facts, Mr. Curwen, in his
+admirable book "The Teacher's Manual," calls the registers _the Thick_,
+_the Thin_, and _the Small_. These names have a scientific basis, and
+their meaning cannot be misunderstood. They are already familiar to
+thousands who study music by Mr. Curwen's method, and I have myself made
+use of them in my lectures at University College and at other places. I
+shall, therefore, also adopt them in this little work, and hope they
+will soon find general acceptance among teachers and learners, as
+thereby a great many misunderstandings will be avoided.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our next business will be to ascertain how these registers are divided
+among various voices, and the result as revealed by the laryngoscope is
+rather startling. It consists in this, that the break between the Thick
+and Thin occurs _in both sexes_ at about [Illustration: musical
+notation] In order to realize the full meaning of this, the reader must
+bear in mind that music for tenors is generally written an octave higher
+than it is sung, so that the tones we are now speaking about would, as a
+rule, in a tenor part be expressed by [Illustration: musical notation].
+My assertion, therefore, amounts to this, that everything below
+[Illustration: musical notation] whether sung by soprano, contralto,
+tenor, or bass, is produced by one mechanism--that is to say, by the
+vocal ligaments vibrating in their entire thickness; and that the series
+of tones above [Illustration: musical notation] whether sung by bass,
+tenor, contralto, or soprano, is again produced by one mechanism
+(although a different one from the last), that is to say, by the vocal
+ligaments vibrating only with their thin inner edges. Then there remains
+the small register, which belongs almost exclusively to sopranos, and
+which represents the series of tones above [Illustration: musical
+notation].
+
+I thus maintain, not only that the great break between the thick and the
+thin occurs (individual differences apart) at the same place in both
+sexes, but that (leaving for the moment sub-divisions out of
+consideration) the male voice has but two registers--_i.e._, the Thick
+and the Thin, while the female voice has three registers--_i.e._, the
+Thick, the Thin, and the Small. From this it follows that the female
+voice is _not_, as supposed by some, simply a reproduction of the male
+an octave higher.
+
+I have spoken of the above results of the investigations with the
+laryngoscope as startling, because the female voicebox is generally
+imagined to be exactly like the male, save in size, and the inference
+that the female voice must be exactly like the male, save in pitch, is,
+therefore, a very natural one. Neither am I surprised that those who
+hold an opposite view to mine are never tired of advancing this
+argument.
+
+     Mr. Lunn says, in the book quoted before, on page 24, "Consequently
+     it may safely be asserted that the vocal cords are subject to the
+     same laws as all sounding bodies, and as the sole difference
+     between the male and the female larynx is one of size alone, the
+     voice from the latter _is_ a reproduction of the former on a higher
+     scale."
+
+I have, however, shown by the measurements of Luschka, on p. 64, that
+the proportions of the female voicebox are materially different from
+those of the male, and I have also pointed out differences in shape
+noticeable to any observer. Now, although I do not pretend that I have
+by these facts and figures sufficiently accounted for the difference in
+the registers of the male and the female voice; yet these facts and
+figures are nevertheless greatly in my favour, and they are certainly a
+sufficient answer to the above argument of those who differ from me.
+
+My case is further strengthened by the testimony of that eminent
+physiologist, Dr. Merkel, who says,[N] "In the male organ there are only
+two materially different registers to be noticed, the chest and the
+falsetto, ... on the other hand, in the female organ there are clearly
+to be distinguished three registers--a low, a medium, and a high." (From
+Dr. Merkel's definitions on pp. 148, 149, and 152, it will be seen that
+low, medium, and high, are but other names here employed for Thick,
+Thin, and Small.) Dr. Merkel, speaking of the chest (thick) register,
+goes on to observe, on p. 148, "It ceases, very curiously, in both sexes
+on one of the first four tones of the one-lined octave (der
+ein-gestrichenen Octave) [Illustration: musical notation] so that it is
+about one octave longer [deeper] in man than in woman."
+
+Let it be observed above all things that I am not propounding a theory,
+but explaining a fact; a fact, moreover, which I have before now
+demonstrated to men holding opposite opinions, thereby convincing them,
+and which I am willing at any moment to demonstrate again. A very
+striking proof that the distribution of the registers is in accordance
+with my explanations may be further found in the circumstance that it is
+often impossible to distinguish a male voice from a female when (other
+things such as power and quality being equal) both sing in the same
+registers. The similarity is, of course, greatest between tenor and
+contralto, and in case of a trial they must confine themselves to the
+compass easily belonging to both; neither should the singers be seen by
+the listeners. I have frequently by these experiments convinced
+sceptics; and it has happened more than once when the female voice was
+slightly more robust than the male, that, to the great amusement of
+those present, the judges emphatically and without the slightest
+hesitation pronounced the lady to be the tenor and the gentleman the
+contralto.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+We have so far only spoken of three registers, the Thick, below
+[Illustration: musical notation]; the Thin, between [Illustration: Music
+and]; and the Small, above [Illustration: musical notation]. The
+distinguishing features of these are so very clear as to make any
+mistake impossible. But now we come to sub-divisions, and with regard to
+these the matter is not so simple. Singers know very well that other
+breaks occur in the human voice besides those hitherto mentioned, and
+the question arises how they are to be accounted for by corresponding
+changes in the vocal organ. The evidence furnished on this point by the
+laryngoscope is, in my opinion, not sufficient, because the alterations
+in the vocal ligaments are so exceedingly minute as to be capable of
+being differently interpreted by different observers. I have
+consequently come to the conclusion that they cannot be accepted as
+indicating changes of mechanism unless corroborated and amplified by
+other signs.
+
+In order to place the whole subject before the reader in a comprehensive
+form, I cannot do better than quote the elaborate description which
+Madame Emma Seiler gives of the registers in "The Human Voice in
+Singing" (Philadelphia, 1875). Madame Seiler, to whom Mr. Lunn is
+pleased to refer, on p. 65 of his treatise, as an "ignorant person,"
+assisted Professor Helmholtz, of Heidelberg, in his essay upon the
+Formation of the Vowel-tones and the Registers of the Female Voice. He
+says he thus had "an opportunity of knowing the delicacy of her musical
+ear, and her ability to master the more difficult and abstract parts of
+the theory of music." The Professor further speaks of her as "a very
+careful, skilled, and learned teacher." Professor Du Bois-Reymond, of
+Berlin, also describes her as "a lady of truly remarkable attainments."
+With such recommendations I make no apology for quoting at length from
+Madame Seiler's writings; and it will be readily understood that
+whenever I differ from her, I do so with some diffidence, and only after
+careful conviction of the accuracy of my own independent observations.
+
+[Illustration]
+
+I shall substitute the terms hitherto used in these pages for others
+employed by Madame Seiler, and I have added a diagram of the
+registers, which may assist the reader in forming a clear idea of the
+subject.
+
+
+THE THICK REGISTER.
+
+"When the vowel A, as in 'man,' was sung, I could, after long-continued
+practice, plainly see how the pyramids quickly rose with their summits
+in their mucous membranous case and approached to mutual contact. In
+like manner the vocal ligaments approached each other so closely that
+scarcely any space between them was observable. The pocket ligaments
+formed the ellipse described by Garcia in the upper part of the
+glottis."
+
+The word "glottis" really signifies the vibrating element in the
+voicebox. I suppose, therefore, that by "the upper part of the glottis"
+Madame Seiler here means the "part above the glottis."
+
+"When, in using the laryngoscope upon myself, I slowly sang the
+ascending scale, this movement of the vocal ligaments and pyramids was
+repeated at every tone. They separated and appeared to retreat, in order
+to close again anew, and to rise somewhat more than before. This
+movement of the pyramids may best be compared to that of a pair of
+scissors. With every higher tone the vocal ligaments seemed more
+stretched, and the vocal chink somewhat shorter. At the same time, when
+I sang the scale upward, beginning with the lowest tones, the vocal
+ligaments seemed to be moved in their whole length and breadth by large,
+loose vibrations, which extended even to all the rest of the interior of
+the voicebox.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"The place at which the pyramids, almost closed together, cease their
+action and leave the formation of the sound to the vocal ligaments
+alone, I found in the thick register of the female voice at C, C[#]
+[Illustration: musical notation], more rarely at B [Illustration:
+musical notation]. In the thick register of the male voice this change
+occurs at A, B[b] [Illustration: musical notation]. With some effort the
+above-mentioned action of the pyramids may be continued several tones
+higher. But such tones, especially in the female voice, have that rough
+and common timbre which we are too often compelled to hear in our female
+singers. The glottis also, in this case, as well as the parts of the
+voicebox near the glottis, betrays the effort very plainly; as the tones
+ascend, the glottis and the surrounding parts grow more and more red.
+_As at this place in the thick register there occurs a visible and
+sensible straining of the organs, so also is it in all the remaining
+transitions, as soon as the attempt is made to extend the action by
+which the lower tones are formed beyond the given limits of the same._
+These transitions, which cannot be extended without effort, coincide
+perfectly with the places where J. Müller had to _stretch_ the ligaments
+of his exsected voicebox so powerfully in order to reach the succeeding
+half-tone. Garcia likewise finds tones thus formed disagreeable and
+imperfect in sound.
+
+"Usually, therefore, at the note C[#] [Illustration: musical notation]
+in the female voice, and A, B[b] [Illustration: musical notation] in the
+male voice, the vocal ligaments alone act in forming the sound, and are
+throughout the register moved by large, loose, full vibrations. But the
+instant the vocal ligaments are deprived of the assistance of the
+pyramids they relax, and appear longer than at the last tone produced by
+that aid. But with every higher tone they appear again to be stretched
+shorter and more powerfully up to F, F[#] [Illustration: musical
+notation] the natural transition from the thick to the thin register, as
+well in the _male_ as in the _female_. The voicebox is perceptibly lower
+in all the tones of the thick register than in quiet breathing."
+
+I confess my inability to understand how the vocal ligaments can get
+_longer_ by relaxing and _shorter_ by stretching. But apart from this I
+assert that there is no relaxing of the vocal ligaments at the break
+between the Lower Thick and the Upper Thick at all. This is clearly
+proved by the ring-shield aperture, which would open immediately if such
+were the case. I also doubt whether the action or inaction of the
+pyramids determines the break between the Lower Thick and the Upper
+Thick, as they are cartilages--_i.e._, pieces of gristle--and cannot,
+therefore, by any vibrations of their own assist in the production of
+tone. The tension of the vocal ligaments increases as we sing up the
+scale until the ring-shield aperture has quite disappeared. But while it
+remains so closed, and without the vocal ligaments being any further
+stretched, we can yet sing higher still. The gradations of tone are now
+no longer formed by the action of the ring-shield muscles (see p. 34),
+but by the shield-pyramid muscles which press the vocal ligaments more
+and more closely together, until at last scarcely any trace of a slit
+remains between them. Another result of this action of the
+shield-pyramid muscles must also be to narrow the space _below_ the
+vocal chink, which, as we know from the experiments of J. Müller, has
+the effect of raising the pitch of tones. I think it very likely,
+therefore, that the change from the lower to the upper thick is really
+brought about by the shield-pyramid muscles coming into play after the
+ring-shield muscles have done their share.
+
+
+THE THIN REGISTER.
+
+"All the tones of the thin register are produced by vibrations only of
+the fine, inner, slender edges of the vocal ligaments. In this action
+the vocal ligaments are not so near together, but allow of a fine linear
+space between them, and the pocket ligaments are pressed further back
+than in the production of the tones of the thick register. The rest of
+the action of the glottis is, however, entirely the same. With the
+beginning of the thin register at F[#] [Illustration: musical notation]
+the whole vocal chink appears again longer, and the vocal ligaments are
+much looser than in the highest tones of the thick register. The united
+action, already described, of the pyramids and the vocal ligaments in
+forming the deeper tones of the thin register, extends to C, C[#]
+[Illustration: musical notation] in the female voice, and in the male
+voice to E[b], E [Illustration: musical notation] commonly written thus,
+E[b], E [Illustration: musical notation] but which only rarely occurs in
+composition, and then is sung by tenors as I have given it; that is, one
+octave lower.
+
+"With the C[#] [Illustration: musical notation] in the female voice, and
+the E[b], E [Illustration: musical notation] in the male voice, the
+pyramids cease again to act, and, as before, in the Upper Thick, leave
+the formation of the sounds to the vocal ligaments alone, which at this
+change appear again longer and looser, but with every higher tone
+tighten up to F, F[#] [Illustration: musical notation] in the female
+voice, and in the male voice to G [Illustration: musical notation] or as
+it is commonly written, [Illustration: musical notation]. In the thin
+register the voicebox preserves its natural position as in quiet
+breathing."
+
+I must say here that I have never had any very clear conception of
+Madame Seiler's meaning when she speaks of the action or inaction of the
+pyramids in the formation of the registers. In the lower thick register
+there is, as a rule, a small triangular space between them which gets
+gradually smaller as the tones ascend, until it is quite closed in the
+upper thick. Dr. Merkel, also, has made the same observation. So far,
+therefore, we are agreed. But even of this I can find no trace in the
+thin register, where I have always noticed that the pyramids are quite
+close together. On this point, my assertion is borne out by Dr. Merkel,
+who insists upon the same thing. I also demur to Madame Seiler's
+statement that in this register again the vocal ligaments relax at the
+beginning of the upper division, and I invite the reader to test the
+matter by reference to the ring-shield aperture. The evidence furnished
+by this experiment is conclusive, because the vocal ligaments cannot
+possibly relax without a corresponding enlargement of the ring-shield
+aperture. A very striking illustration of this occurs during the
+transition from the Upper Thick to the Lower Thin. During the highest
+tones of the Upper Thick, when the tension of the vocal ligaments is
+greatest, the ring-shield aperture, as we have seen before, completely
+closes, while immediately opening very widely during the lowest tones of
+the Lower Thin, when the vocal ligaments are quite relaxed. Nothing of
+the kind takes place during the change either from the Lower Thin to the
+Upper Thin, or from the Lower Thick to the Upper Thick. It appears to me
+that Madame Seiler has rather exaggerated the importance of these minor
+breaks, while she does not make enough of the great break between the
+Upper Thick and the Lower Thin. If there is straining anywhere, it is
+during the attempt to carry the mechanism of the Upper Thick beyond its
+natural limit. In this case the tension of the vocal ligaments, as
+indeed of all surrounding parts, becomes so tremendous that at last the
+whole thing looks as though it were literally going to fly to pieces in
+every direction. Now change into the Lower Thin, and the relief is
+wonderful. Let tenors make a note of this. If they _will_ violate
+Nature, they must pay the penalty!
+
+As regards the transition from the Lower Thin to the Upper Thin, I would
+suggest the following explanation:--The vocal chink is at first, as
+Madame Seiler says, linear, and the gradations of tone are caused by
+simple tension of the vocal ligaments, which is proved by the diminution
+of the ring-shield aperture. While this goes on we are in the Lower
+Thin. Now the laryngoscope reveals another method of still further
+raising the pitch, which consists in a gradual shortening of the vocal
+chink. This is caused by the shield-pyramid muscles pressing together
+the ends of the vocal ligaments, thereby giving the vocal chink a
+slightly elliptic shape. When this mechanism comes into play we are in
+the Upper Thin.
+
+
+THE SMALL REGISTER.
+
+"When in the observation of the thin register I had sung upwards to its
+highest tones, and then sang still higher, I became aware, with the F[#]
+[Illustration: musical notation] of a change in the motions of the
+organ of singing, and the tones thus produced had a different _timbre_
+from those of the Thin. It required long and patient practice before I
+finally succeeded in drawing forward the lid so that I could see the
+glottis in its whole length. Not until then was I able to observe the
+following: With the F[#] [Illustration: musical notation] the vocal
+ligaments suddenly closed firmly together to their middle, with their
+fine edges one over the other. This closing appeared as a fine red line
+extending, from the pyramids at the back, forward to the middle of the
+vocal ligaments, and leaving free only a third part of the whole
+glottis, immediately under the lid, to the front wall of the voicebox.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"The foremost part of the glottis formed an oval orifice, which, with
+every higher tone, seemed to contract more and more, and so became
+smaller and rounder. The fine edges of the vocal ligaments which formed
+this orifice were alone vibrating, and the vibrations seemed at first
+looser, but, with every higher tone, the ligaments were more stretched."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+I have repeatedly had the opportunity of observing the mechanism of the
+small register, and I only differ from Madame Seiler in this, that I did
+not notice that "with every higher tone the ligaments were more
+stretched." It appeared to me, on the contrary, as though the raising of
+the pitch was produced by a contraction of the vocal ligaments. In all
+other respects I entirely agree with the above description. According to
+Madame Seiler the small register is formed by the action of the wedges,
+as described on p. 54.
+
+We have thus become acquainted with the mechanism of the registers of
+the human voice. We have also seen that it is possible to carry these up
+beyond their natural limits, though the process is accompanied by
+visible signs of straining. The practice of teachers, therefore, whose
+aim it is to "extend" voices upwards, and who are very proud, especially
+in tenors, of their "made tones," is strongly to be condemned, and is
+sure to have disastrous results. It is, on the other hand, equally
+possible to carry the registers down several tones below the places
+called the breaks, so that at the limits of each register there are a
+number of tones which may be produced by two different mechanisms. The
+carrying down of a register causes no fatigue, and though its volume is
+weak as compared with the corresponding lower register, it is surprising
+how soon it can, by judicious practice, be made to acquire fulness and
+power.
+
+In order to prevent misunderstandings, it may be well to add that the
+breaks as indicated in the preceding pages are intended only to show
+the average compass in the great majority of voices. As, for instance,
+there are basses who have an exceptional extension of the Lower Thick
+downwards, so there are, undoubtedly, tenors who have an exceptional
+extension of the Upper Thick upwards. It must, therefore, be the voice
+trainer's business very carefully to ascertain the exact limits of the
+registers in every single case. In choral singing, however, where
+individual attention is impossible, the breaks as given above may be
+implicitly relied upon. Not only should the registers never be carried
+above these points, but if the teacher is wise he will insist upon his
+pupils forming the habit of changing the mechanism a tone or two below.
+
+NEVER "EXTEND" LOWER REGISTERS UPWARDS, BUT STRENGTHEN THE UPPER
+REGISTERS, AND CARRY THEM DOWNWARDS, THUS EQUALIZING THE VOICES FROM TOP
+TO BOTTOM, AND ENABLING YOUR PUPILS TO SING WITHOUT STRAINING. That is
+the great lesson taught by the investigations described in these pages.
+I have seen a singer pull himself together, and with a tremendous effort
+shout a high A in the thick register. His neck swelled out, his face
+became blood-red, and altogether the "performance" was of an acrobatic
+rather than of an artistic nature. The general public, of course, loudly
+applauded, but people of taste and refinement shuddered. Such
+exhibitions are, unfortunately, not rare. If this little book should
+contribute, however remotely, to discourage them, it will not have been
+written in vain.
+
+
+
+
+APPENDIX TO THE THIRD EDITION
+
+
+It has been suggested to me that the usefulness of my little book would
+be enlarged if I were to add an appendix containing some application to
+practical work of the physiological laws already explained. This I have
+endeavoured to do in the following chapter, and I trust the simplicity
+of the directions will enable the reader to carry out my instructions,
+to vary them, and to enlarge upon them according to circumstances.
+
+
+HINTS ON TEACHING.
+
+One of the most important lessons taught us by the study of Vocal
+Physiology is the correct method of breathing and of obtaining control
+over the respiratory muscles. I will now give a few exercises for this
+purpose.
+
+Divest yourself of any article of clothing which at all interferes with
+the freedom of the waist. Lie down flat on your back. Place one hand
+lightly on the abdomen and the other upon the lower ribs. Inhale,
+through the nostrils, slowly, deeply, and evenly, without interruption
+or jerking. If this is done properly the abdomen will, gradually and
+without any trembling movement, increase in size, and the lower ribs
+will expand sideways, while the upper part of the chest and the
+collar-bones remain undisturbed. Now hold the breath, _not_ by shutting
+the glottis, but by keeping the midriff down and the chest walls
+extended, and count four mentally, at the rate of sixty per minute. Then
+let the breath go _suddenly_. The result of this will be a flying up of
+the midriff, and a falling down of the ribs; in other words, there will
+be a collapse of the lower part of the body. This collapse may not at
+first be very distinct, as the extension has probably been insufficient;
+but both will become more and more perfect as the result of continued
+practice.
+
+Let it be clearly understood: The _in_spiration is to be slow and deep,
+the _ex_piration sudden and complete. In _in_spiration the abdomen and
+the lower part of the chest expand, and in _ex_piration they collapse.
+
+The time of holding the breath is not, at the outset, to exceed four
+seconds, and the student must never, on any account, fatigue himself
+with these exercises; they may, however, be frequently repeated at
+intervals. It will be found by occasional trials upon the spirometer
+that the breathing capacity increases with these exercises. The process
+of abdominal respiration becomes easy and no longer requires constant
+watchfulness, and the student will soon be able to carry it on, not only
+lying down, but while he is standing or walking, though not at once with
+the same ease. He must now, for a time, be careful to see that he has
+the same physical sensations in breathing which he noticed while making
+his first experiment when lying down; and he must exercise special care
+when running, going upstairs, &c., and, of course, in speaking or
+singing.
+
+The criterion of correct inspiration is, as I have said before, an
+increase of size of the abdomen and of the lower part of the chest.
+Whoever draws in the abdomen and raises the upper part of the chest in
+the act of filling his lungs does wrong.
+
+Meanwhile, in continuing the breathing exercises, the time of holding
+the breath may be increased at the rate of two seconds per week; so that
+the student who, during the first fortnight, limited himself to four
+seconds will, at the end of six weeks, hold his breath during twelve
+seconds. I have, in some instances, with students of mine, gone as far
+as twenty seconds; but I desire very earnestly to warn my readers to be
+cautious and not to go to extremes. Nothing will be gained, but infinite
+harm may ensue by over-doing these lung gymnastics, and persons at all
+inclined to bleeding from the lungs should not undertake the exercises
+at all, except with the sanction of their medical adviser, who will
+limit the practice according to circumstances.
+
+The second breathing exercise is the exact opposite of the first, and
+consists in taking a rapid _in_spiration and making the _ex_piration
+slow, even, uninterrupted and without jerking or trembling. My musical
+readers will at once see the importance of this exercise for the purpose
+of singing sustained tones and florid passages; but it would be quite
+useless to attempt it before No. 1 has been sufficiently practised.
+
+The third and last breathing exercise consists in taking the
+_in_spiration as in No. 1, and the _ex_piration as in No. 2. After the
+two preceding ones have been fully mastered this last is easy enough;
+and the student who has persevered so far will now have overcome one of
+the greatest difficulties of a vocalist, namely, the proper management
+of the breath, an accomplishment which seems to become more and more
+rare in our go-ahead times of electricity.
+
+I feel that my description of these breathing exercises is far from
+complete, and what is worse, that it may lead to misunderstandings, the
+results of which will hereafter be laid to my charge. But writing,
+however lucid and careful, can never take the place of _vivâ voce_
+instruction; and I wish it to be distinctly understood that the
+explanations here given are not by any means intended to supersede the
+aid of a competent and painstaking teacher.
+
+I will take leave of this part of my subject by warning my readers
+against the mistake, which may be caused by a superficial perusal of
+these pages, that it is the chief aim of the above breathing exercises
+to enable the singer or speaker to cram as much air as possible into
+the lungs. I have pointed out some of the evils which are likely to
+arise from exaggerated breathing efforts; yet I wish to say again, most
+emphatically, that it is quite possible to _overcrowd_ the lungs with
+air. This is a matter of every-day occurrence, which is not, however, on
+that account any the less reprehensible; for, as I have already
+mentioned, it is sure to lead, sooner or later, to forcing and
+inequality of voice, and to congestion of the vessels and tissues of the
+throat and of the lungs.
+
+Now we come to the question of the production and cultivation of the
+voice, including the nature and the proper treatment of the registers.
+In this connection I shall endeavour to explain a series of exercises
+based upon physiological facts, which will enable the reader to strike
+out a safe and direct path, avoiding much useless drudgery, and leading
+to eminently satisfactory results. As it is not my object to supply a
+singing manual, but simply to point out the way of treating the voice
+upon scientific principles, I shall not attempt to deal separately with
+the different classes of voices, or to go into minute details; but it
+will rather be my aim to lay down general principles, leaving my readers
+to carry them into practice, and to elaborate them according to
+individual circumstances. It must also be borne in mind that the
+exercises I am going to recommend will here be taken as they suggest
+themselves, while passing in review the various parts which unitedly
+form the mechanism of the human voice. Therefore, in the actual process
+of training a voice, they will have to be taken in a different order
+from that in which they are discussed here, in accordance with the
+general plan of this book.
+
+The movements of the pyramids with the vocal ligaments attached to them
+are governed by two sets of muscles pulling them either together or away
+from each other. These have been fully described under the names of the
+"Closing Muscles" and the "Opening Muscles;" and the reader will at once
+see the importance of devising a set of exercises which shall call these
+opening and closing muscles into play, thereby making them powerful, and
+bringing them under the control of the will.
+
+This is, fortunately, a very simple matter; for all we have to do is to
+sing a series of short tones, each tone to be followed by a short
+inspiration. We have learnt that every time we strike a tone the vocal
+ligaments are made to approximate; by so doing we therefore exercise the
+closing muscles. Every time we take an inspiration the vocal ligaments
+are separated; by so doing therefore we exercise the opening muscles. It
+is plain from these explanations that, by practising in the manner just
+indicated, we shall gain the same results in five minutes which it
+would take us half an hour to obtain by singing sustained tones after
+the usual method of teaching.
+
+Let me now give as clear a description of the exercise as possible. Find
+the pitch of your speaking voice, which we will say is _F_. Then sing
+the following:--
+
+[Illustration: musical notation
+
+_o_  _o_  _o_  _o_
+_ah_ _ah_ _ah_ _ah_
+_ai_ _ai_ _ai_ _ai_
+
+Strike the tone firmly and clearly, avoiding alike the _check_ of the
+glottis and the _glide_ of the glottis. This is often a matter of great
+difficulty, requiring much patience and perseverance on the part of the
+teacher as well as on that of the student. The _glide_ of the glottis is
+particularly hard to eradicate, and in many instances the case seems to
+be hopeless. Do not, however, despair, but try this: Pronounce
+vigorously the word "Up." Then _whisper_, but still very vigorously and
+distinctly, three times the vowel _u_, as you just had it in the word
+"up." Immediately afterwards _sing_ "Ah." Thus--
+
+    UP!       _u_, _u_, _u_,     Ah.
+(_spoken_)    (_whispered_)    (_sung_)
+
+I recommend this device from extended personal experience, and hope my
+fellow-teachers may find it as useful as I have found it myself. Another
+point of importance in practising the exercise for strengthening the
+opening and the closing muscles is the breathing after every tone; and
+this must be done gently and without effort, the only perception which
+the singer should have of it being a slight movement of the midriff.
+When you can sing the exercise in this manner on _F_, your supposed
+speaking tone, then go up the scale, semitone by semitone, to _B_ or _C_
+above, and down again, semitone by semitone, to _B_ or _C_ below. Of the
+quality of tone I will say nothing here, because that part of the
+subject will be discussed later on in connection with the tongue and the
+soft palate.
+
+The next thing in connection with the physiology of the vocal organ from
+which we can deduct a practical lesson is the action of the muscles
+governing the pitch of the voice. This process is a very complex one,
+and can be made clear only by _vivâ voce_ explanations, with the help of
+good models and moving diagrams, by demonstrations with the
+laryngoscope, and by carefully watching external signs. There is no
+doubt, however, that a set of muscles, described as the "Stretching and
+Slackening Muscles," play the most important part in this matter, and I
+advise the reader to study carefully the chapter on "The Movements of
+the Voicebox," and try the experiments mentioned in it. It will thus be
+seen that the flexibility of the voice depends in a great measure upon
+the control we have over the muscles governing the pitch; that is to
+say, upon the readiness and exactness with which we are able to allow
+them to contract or to relax.
+
+Performers upon various instruments, as for instance the piano and the
+violin, know that certain exercises are indispensable to brilliant
+execution, because they strengthen the muscles of the wrist and of the
+fingers, and make them obedient to the will. It has even been found that
+simple finger gymnastics, exercising separately different sets of
+muscles, and making them independent of each other, are of the greatest
+value, and save long hours of tedious and wearisome practising. In a
+similar manner we may spare ourselves much trouble and gain our end most
+readily by vocal gymnastics, calculated to bring into play the
+stretching and slackening muscles of the larynx. There is no difficulty
+about it. Sing F, the same tone from which we started when exercising
+the opening and the closing muscles, and add to it G. The alteration of
+the pitch is brought about by a contraction of the stretching muscles
+overcoming the resistance of the opposing slackening muscles, thereby
+_tensing_ the vocal ligaments. If you again sing F, the case is
+reversed, and the new alteration in pitch is brought about by a
+contraction of the slackening muscles overcoming the resistance of the
+opposing stretching muscles, thereby _relaxing_ the vocal ligaments.
+
+[Illustration: musical notation
+
+_o_         _o_
+_ah_        _ah_
+_ai_        _ai_
+
+The above is an example. Take great care to render it perfectly. Sing
+every tone clearly and distinctly, but without jerking, at the same time
+_uniting_ all the tones, but without drawling. Do not try how quickly
+you can sing, but rather how distinctly. Commence slowly, and be in no
+hurry to increase the speed. Raise and lower the exercise semitone by
+semitone within the medium part of your voice. A variety of exercises
+founded upon the same principles may be introduced, and will serve to
+increase the flexibility of the voice in a very short time.
+
+Now we come to the "Registers" of the voice. I have defined a register
+as "a series of tones produced by the same mechanism." The five
+registers of which the human voice, taken as a whole, consists, are
+carefully described, and the means by which they are formed minutely
+explained in a former part of this book. These registers, nevertheless,
+continue to be a stumbling-stone to many, and the fact of the existence
+in the throat of different actions for the production of different
+series of tones has led some teachers into the deplorable mistake of
+developing and exaggerating them, instead of, on the contrary, smoothing
+them over and equalizing them. The result is that we often hear singers
+who seem to have two or three different _voices_. They are growling in
+the one, moaning in the second, and shrieking in the third; while it
+should have been their aim so to blend and to unite the registers as to
+make it difficult even for a practised ear to distinguish the one from
+the other. Such singing is outrageous, and I protest against the opinion
+expressed in some quarters that it is the natural outcome of the
+teachings of the laryngoscope.
+
+In developing and strengthening the registers I base my first exercises
+upon the fact that the "Vowel Scale" goes from low to high in this
+order; _oo_, _oh_, _ah_, _ai_, _ee_, so that consequently the highest
+tones will be produced most readily when singing the vowels in the order
+just given.
+
+[Illustration: musical notation
+
+_o_   _ah_   _ai_   _ee_   _ai_    _ah_   _o_
+_oo_  _o_    _ah_   _ai_    _ah_    _o_    _oo_
+
+Sing this exercise quite softly, strike each tone clearly and
+distinctly, and take a _slight_ inspiration after every tone. Be careful
+to take a full inflation only at the beginning, and afterwards to inhale
+_less_ air than has been consumed in every preceding tone, or you will
+after a while overcrowd the lungs, and experience a sensation of being
+choked. This is a thing to be avoided in any case; but under present
+circumstances it should be remembered that the short inspirations are
+not taken for the purpose of re-filling the lungs, but simply to compel
+the "opening and closing muscles" to do their work. By so doing we give
+them six times more exercise than by breathing only once at the
+beginning; and, what is more important still with regard to our
+immediate object, we greatly facilitate the task of the vocal ligaments
+to arrange themselves in different ways according to the registers they
+are to produce.
+
+It is self-evident that the danger of carrying the mechanism of a
+register beyond its proper limit is greater if the vocal ligaments are
+kept together, than it would be if they were made to separate, thereby
+being enabled to close again under different conditions. It will be
+seen, therefore, that the slight inspirations after every tone are an
+essential part of the exercise, and must on no account be omitted. The
+exercise is to be taken at a convenient pitch, and then to be raised
+semitone by semitone in accordance with the requirements of individual
+voices. It may, after some time, be taken right through upon the vowel
+_ah_, and finally _legato_, gradually increasing the speed, to the
+Italian word _scala_, singing the syllable _la_ to the last note.
+
+The change from one register to another should always be made a couple
+of tones below the extreme limit, so that there will be at the juncture
+of every two registers a few "optional" tones which it is possible to
+take with both mechanisms. The singer will be wise, however, to avail
+himself of the power of producing an optional tone with the mechanism of
+the lower register only on rare occasions. To force the register beyond
+its natural limit is, of course, infinitely worse, and should never be
+tolerated. The practice carries its own punishment, as it invariably
+ruins the voice; and tones so produced always betray the effort
+(frequently in a most painful degree), and are consequently never
+beautiful.
+
+It is to be observed that the exercise given above may be varied to any
+extent, so long as it is based upon the principle which has been
+explained. The beneficial results in the development of the voice will
+speedily be noticed, and then sustained tones may be sung through the
+whole compass after the orthodox fashion.
+
+This brings me to the consideration of the "mixed voice," which is
+essential in bridging over the break between the "upper thick" and the
+"lower thin" of the tenor, and which is also frequently made use of by
+baritones and basses in the production of their highest tones.
+
+The "voce mista" is "mixed" in this sense, that it combines the
+_vibrating mechanism_ of the "lower thin" with the _position of the
+larynx_ of the "lower thick;" that is to say, while the vibrations are
+confined to the thin inner edges of the vocal ligaments, the larynx
+itself takes a lower position in the throat than for the "lower thin,"
+and the result is a remarkable increase of volume without any
+corresponding additional effort in the production of tone. A few trials
+before a looking-glass will at once prove the correctness of this
+explanation, and, what is of more practical consequence, will enable the
+student with a little practice to overcome the serious difficulty of
+singing high tones without straining, yet with a fulness capable of
+being increased or diminished at pleasure.
+
+The last thing we have to consider is the "resonator" of the human
+voice, namely, the upper part of the throat, the mouth, and the nose.
+Whether we sing _ah_, _ai_, _ee_, _o_, or _oo_, the original tone
+produced by the vibrations of the vocal ligaments is in either case
+absolutely the same, and it takes the form of one vowel or another,
+solely according to the shape which the "resonator" assumes, and which
+may be described as a mould into which the tone is cast. The quality of
+the voice also--its throatiness, its nasal twang, its shrillness,
+harshness, and ugliness, or its purity, roundness, fulness, and
+beauty--depend mainly upon the nature of the resonator, and upon the
+way in which we work it. It is, therefore, a matter of the highest
+importance to be fully acquainted with this part of the vocal apparatus,
+and I hope my readers will follow me in a brief consideration of it with
+the more pleasure, as we are now speaking of parts which are directly
+under the control of our will, and upon the proper management of which
+so much depends.
+
+There is a most able, most painstaking, and most instructive work upon
+this subject, "Pronunciation for Singers," by Alexander Ellis, Esq.,
+F.R.S., &c., published by J. Curwen and Sons, to which I would call the
+attention of all who desire to make the best use of their voices. To be
+really understood this book requires that the student should
+conscientiously carry out all the experiments Mr. Ellis suggests. But
+any one doing so will, I venture to assert, rise from the study of this
+subject with a deeper conviction of the immense importance of the
+"resonator," and with a clearer perception of the best way of managing
+it than he ever had before. I obtain better and quicker results with my
+pupils since I have learnt the lessons Mr. Ellis teaches, and I have no
+doubt my fellow teachers will derive similar benefit from their study.
+
+One of the few points upon which "doctors" do not differ is that the
+tone, in order to be pure, resonant, and far-reaching, must be allowed
+to come well to the front of the mouth. It should, as the phrase goes,
+be directed against the hard palate just above the front teeth. But this
+is an unfortunate way of putting it, as the tone fills the whole cavity
+of the mouth, and cannot be "directed" like a jet of water upon any
+given point. Nevertheless the idea sought to be conveyed by the
+injunction is good, for it is certainly essential to good quality that
+the tone should be brought well forward in the mouth. This is frequently
+prevented by several circumstances which we will now consider:--
+
+The "soft palate" may be in the way. This is the movable partition
+shaped like an arch with the little pendant called the "uvula" hanging
+down in the centre. It acts like a curtain. If we lower it, it hangs
+upon the back of the tongue, shutting off the mouth from the throat,
+thereby compelling the tone to pass through the nostrils, and thus
+giving it a nasal quality. This nasal quality increases the more the
+passages through which the tone has to travel are impeded; but the first
+and indispensable condition for its existence is the lowering of the
+soft palate. Raise this, and you may completely shut the nostrils and
+yet produce a pure vocal tone. The reason is that, with the soft palate
+_up_, the nose is shut off from the throat, thereby compelling the tone
+to pass through the mouth.
+
+But more, the soft palate is never still for a moment while we are
+singing or speaking, as it assumes a different degree of tension for
+every vowel and also for every pitch of the voice. We see, therefore,
+that this curtain has great influence upon the management of the voice,
+and we should do all we can to get it under our control. In order to
+accomplish this, arrange a mirror so that you get the light reflected
+upon the back of your throat without bending the head, stretching the
+neck, or otherwise assuming an awkward position. I recommend reflected
+instead of direct light, because with the latter it is almost impossible
+to get a perfect sight of the soft palate without making any
+contortions, and these, however slight, are fatal to success. The
+management of the light will, no doubt, offer a little difficulty to
+those not practised in these matters, but once made it is easily
+rearranged, and the gain is great.
+
+The mirror mentioned above is to throw the light into your mouth; you
+will require another one in which to see the image. Now try the
+following: Open your mouth and breath through the nostrils; the soft
+palate will immediately drop upon the tongue. Sing while it is in this
+position, and you will produce nasal tone. Now breathe through the
+mouth, and the soft palate will rise. Raise it higher still, by
+attempting to yawn, till the uvula almost disappears. Sing again with
+the soft palate in this position, and if nothing else interferes you
+will produce pure vocal tone. If you sing up and down the scale you will
+perceive that the soft palate to some extent rises and falls with the
+pitch of your tones. You will also notice that the tension of it
+increases as you approach the the limit of one register, and that it
+diminishes as soon as you change into the next register above. All these
+things, and a great many besides, you will notice if you observe
+carefully, and by a little steady practice you will acquire easy control
+over the movements of your soft palate, the beneficial results of which
+will soon be manifested in the improved quality and the better
+management of your voice.
+
+This leads me to remark that the soft palate should, as a matter of
+course, be in a perfectly healthy condition, or it cannot perform the
+infinite variety of movements required from it. In many cases however,
+it is in a very different state, the arch being congested, the uvula
+elongated, and the tonsils greatly enlarged. People with a soft palate
+like this are handicapped. They might as well try to run a race with a
+heavy weight on their shoulders as to sing or speak with such
+impediments in their throats. They should at once put themselves in the
+hands of a properly qualified medical practitioner, who may probably
+recommend clipping of the uvula or excision of the tonsils. Either
+operation is a slight one, and in suitable cases nothing but good can
+follow from it.
+
+Another obstacle to the forward production of tone is often caused by
+that great movable plug called the tongue. We have it on the highest
+authority that the tongue is an "unruly member." It is sometimes
+difficult to keep it under proper control, and with some people it is
+continually running away altogether. As under ordinary circumstances, so
+in singing. Instead of peacefully assuming the position necessary for
+the production of the various vowels, the tongue rises in rebellion; it
+arches up, stiffens and defies all attempts to keep it in order. The
+tone is consequently more or less impeded and shut in, with the result
+of making it guttural or throaty. Here again singing before the mirror
+as described above will enable the student to master his tongue and to
+improve his voice to a wonderful extent. All voice trainers, as I have
+said before, agree that tone should be allowed to come well forward, and
+the best plan to bring about this desirable end is to sing _oo_, then to
+allow _oo_ to dwindle into _o_, and finally to allow _o_ to dwindle into
+_ah_.
+
+In some cases these _oo-o-ah_ exercises are insufficient because the
+throatiness of tone is partly brought about by a stiffening of the
+throat in general. The _oo-o-ah_ must then be preceded by staccato
+exercises upon the syllable _Koo_, which have the effect not only of
+throwing the tone forward, but also of making the throat supple. Make
+the experiment before a mirror and you will see the reason.
+
+I should have pointed out in the course of this chapter that one of the
+great secrets in the production of fine resonant and far-reaching tone
+consists in using as little air as possible; and I conclude by advising
+all those who want to be heard to open their mouths, a thing which,
+curiously enough, many people in these islands seem to be determined not
+to do.
+
+
+
+
+_APPENDIX TO THE NINTH EDITION_
+
+
+
+
+VOICE FAILURE.
+
+A NEW CHAPTER, WRITTEN FOR THE NINTH EDITION, BY MRS. EMIL BEHNKE.
+
+
+The large and ever increasing number of professional voice users of all
+classes and of all grades who break down in voice is matter for serious
+and earnest consideration. Innumerable students of singing of both
+sexes, in England and abroad, suffer shipwreck of their hopes and
+ambitions in the loss of their voices during the process of training,
+long before the period arrives for professional and public voice use. In
+some of these cases general delicacy of constitution has been the
+principal factor in the failure; in others weakness of throat or lungs
+may have been a cause. But after making ample allowance for such
+physical contributories, we are still face to face with the fact that
+voice failure, accompanied by throat ailments, more or less serious,
+occurs with startling frequency, and no other reason is assigned for it
+than the irresponsible, indefinite one that the voice broke down under
+training. Of the infinitesimal number of successful students--that is to
+say, of those who, having completed their studies, come before the
+public as professional singers--so few escape the common lot that it
+would almost appear as if a fatality attended the following of the
+vocal art; yet from a health point of view, singing is an admirable
+exercise, and abundant medical testimony has been adduced in proof of
+this statement.
+
+There are, of course, other causes of non-success in vocal students
+besides break-down of voice. A fine voice and good musical knowledge are
+but parts of the equipment of the singer; if he have not the soul of an
+artist he will never rise above mediocrity. With musical and artistic
+failures this chapter has nothing to do, but only with preventible
+causes of break-down, such as have come under my personal observation
+from close association with the work of my late husband, and also in my
+own and my daughter's work since his lamented decease.
+
+In the establishment of a rule or law founded upon general truths, a
+number of examples bearing upon the subject under consideration are
+relied on as conclusive evidence, and by their use we are enabled to
+analyse reasons and deduce conclusions.
+
+From the examination of a large number of cases of vocal failure in
+singers and in speakers who have placed themselves under my tuition for
+recovery of voice, I have found that among the most frequent and most
+injurious mistakes are:--
+
+1st. Wrong methods of breathing and of breath management.
+
+2nd. Loud singing and shouting.
+
+3rd. Neglecting to cultivate the resonators.
+
+4th. Forcing: (_a_) the registers; (_b_) the top notes.
+
+
+INCORRECT BREATHING.
+
+As regards methods of breathing, the descriptions and instructions given
+in this volume require no addition, and if carefully followed will prove
+of inestimable advantage both hygienically and vocally. It is, however,
+a fact that, not only in England, but also on the Continent, pupils are
+taught to breathe clavicularly, in opposition to Nature's method, which
+is diaphragmatic--_i.e._, the combined forms of rib and diaphragm
+breathing. The following is a striking example of the evil of clavicular
+breathing.
+
+During last summer an American lady, who had been studying singing in
+Milan for three years, came to me in great distress. She had expected to
+appear in Grand Opera in London, but, alas! her voice broke down, and
+serious throat troubles manifested themselves. She had lost all the
+upper notes of her voice from C in alt. down to D in the stave, and what
+was left of it was thin, reedy, and tremulous, like that of an old woman
+instead of a girl of 24. Her master had insisted on clavicular
+breathing, the result being that when her lung capacity was tested it
+registered only 80 cubic inches instead of 240. In addition to faulty
+breathing, she had been allowed to force up the registers of the voice
+to such an extent as to bring on serious congestion, with varicose veins
+in the vocal ligaments and in the pharynx. After several lessons the
+breathing capacity increased to 200 cubic inches, the voice regained
+some of the upper notes, and lost the "cracked," tremulous sound. In
+time, with great care, the majority of the notes will come back, but
+probably C in alt. will never be reached again, and the general
+deterioration of voice may never be fully overcome.
+
+Numerous similar instances, in men's voices as well as in women's, could
+be adduced, but the foregoing suffices; the results of incorrect
+breathing and of forcing being much the same in all cases, differing
+principally in degree.
+
+In the "Treatise on the Art of Singing" by the late Signor Lamperti,
+occurs the following passage, which fully bears out the necessity for
+diligent acquirement of correct methods of breathing:--"Masters of the
+present day, instead of obliging pupils to make a severe study of the
+art of respiration, as a rule, omit it altogether, and take them through
+the greater part of a modern opera at every lesson, to the certain ruin
+of their voices, and often at the expense of their bodily health. How
+many young singers come to Milan or to Paris with beautiful voices,
+musical talent, and every other natural gift, who, after putting
+themselves under the guidance of a master for two years, study modern
+operas; how many of these unfortunately find at the time of their
+_début_ that their voices, instead of being fresh and improved by
+education, are already worn and tremulous, and that, through the
+ignorance of their master, they have no longer any hope of success in
+their artistic career, which was finished before it was begun." A sad
+but an "ower true" description, applicable to other centres of
+voice-training besides Milan and Paris.
+
+It is scarcely possible to over-estimate the importance of correct
+methods of breathing and of breath management to all voice users,
+whether they are singers or speakers. As breath is the motive power of
+all voice it needs but little consideration to arrive at the conclusion
+that the best method of supply and control of this motor power is of
+vital necessity to those who depend upon their voices for success in
+their vocation, whether it be that of singer, clergyman, lecturer, or
+actor.
+
+Some of the worst descriptions of stammering owe their origin to
+improper breath management, and numbers of such cases which have been
+under my care have been perfectly cured by specially designed breathing
+exercises, adapted to the requirements of each individual case, combined
+with training of the various muscles employed in articulation. As no
+two persons stammer alike there can be no universal panacea for the cure
+of this terrible affliction; it is, therefore, necessary to study the
+peculiar idiosyncrasies of each case before formulating a plan of
+treatment; and this makes it impossible to write rules for self-cure
+suited to every case.
+
+
+LOUD SINGING.
+
+The practice of always singing loudly is greatly to be deprecated,
+leading as it does to undue strain, to coarseness of the voice, and to
+utter inability to modulate it into softness and purity of tone. Anyone
+can shout and bawl, but not every one can sing softly--therefore always
+practise softly until the voice be well formed, when it will be easy to
+increase the volume of sound. Constant shouting causes the muscles of
+the larynx to lose their contractile power, and a condition is brought
+about which is analogous to writer's cramp. Sometimes no voice can be
+produced, while at others it is given forth in a series of
+uncontrollable jerks. Singers deficient in resonance, and who have not
+acquired the best use and control of the various parts of the resonator,
+resort to the objectionable practice of forcing their voices, relying
+upon power of blast and vigour of shout instead of cultivating
+resonance. A loud, big voice, produced with effort, is a manifestation
+of a certain amount of physical power; but such voice-production is not
+singing, it is mere shouting. Tones so produced will ultimately show
+their bad origin by the effect left behind on the misused muscles.
+
+
+CULTIVATION OF THE RESONATORS.
+
+The resonators of the human voice, about which years ago Emil Behnke
+lectured and wrote, are only just beginning to receive the attention
+which their important functions deserve. Over some of the resonating
+cavities we can obtain no voluntary control; but over the whole of the
+mouth, of the buccal cavity, and over part of the pharyngeal we may, by
+education, gain as much influence as over the fingers of the hand, and
+the results obtained by such training are frequently astonishing. A
+student at one of our colleges came to me recently whose first question
+was "Can you teach me how not to sing with a 'squeezed' throat?"
+"Nothing easier," was my reply. On his singing a few notes to me, the
+tone of the voice revealed that owing to want of knowledge of the action
+of the resonators, he was closing his throat in such a manner that the
+voice sounded as if he were singing through the teeth of a comb. Without
+looking in his mouth, I drew on a piece of paper the position in which
+were his soft palate, the pillars of the fauces, the uvula, and the
+tongue, telling him that was the picture he would see on looking at his
+throat while singing. This proved on examination to be the case; and
+great was his wonderment to find that, after a little practice he could
+voluntarily remedy this squeezed position until it gradually disappeared
+altogether, and with it the unpleasant quality of voice which had caused
+him so much trouble.
+
+The inherent quality of tone is reinforced by the co-vibrations of the
+air in the resonance cavities, the greater fulness of the sound being
+caused by the increased quantity of air which is set into vibration. The
+slightest alteration in the shape of these cavities affects the quality
+of vocal tone by altering the direction and size of the air columns.
+
+There is for every tone an air column of a certain size which most
+powerfully reinforces that tone; and every resonance cavity answers to
+some particular note better than to others. Timbre in the voice depends
+largely upon the echoing and re-echoing of these resonance chambers; and
+it needs but little reflection to see that the shape given to the mouth
+in pronouncing speech sounds--more especially vowel sounds, with all
+their various shades--interferes more or less with the purity and
+quality of tone. Hence the necessity in singing for modifying vowel
+pronunciation to suit the various tones and pitches of the voice. Every
+shade of vowel has a certain pitch of its own which is best produced by
+certain positions of the mouth, tongue, and soft palate. It is,
+therefore, necessary, carefully to shape the mouth so that, on notes of
+different pitches, the configuration of the mould may be that which
+gives the best quality of the particular vowel tone. There must be an
+unimpeded passage for the voice from the larnyx to the lips, and this
+cannot be obtained if the same vowel shades are maintained in song as in
+speech. The vowels which require the greatest alteration in position of
+the mouth are A, E, and U; E being quite the most difficult, because,
+contrary to the opinion of some teachers who consider it the best for
+forward production of tone, it keeps the sound farther back in the
+throat than any other vowel, shutting it up and making the sound thin
+and poor. Diligent practice before a mirror is necessary in order to
+acquire the best position of the buccal resonance chamber; its
+attainment will well repay the trouble taken, for not only will the
+voice gain in timbre, in resonance, and in ease, but pronunciation will
+become pure and clear.
+
+The vowel "ah" is frequently chosen as the best one for vocalising,
+because in its pronunciation it is easy to put the mouth in a good
+position; and voices are trained on it exclusively, with the result that
+no other vowel, or vowel shade, is perfectly produced. Actual false
+intonation often arises from want of practice in adjusting the cavity of
+the mouth to that shape required for producing the best tone and
+resonance on the different notes; the absence of co-ordination between
+the fundamental tone and the overtones preventing perfect tune.
+
+The absolute truth of the foregoing remarks may easily be proved by
+singing the vowels at either extreme of the "vowel scale of nature,"
+viz., "oo and ee," over the whole compass of the voice, having regard to
+the beauty of tone. Although the singer may be quite unaware of the
+science underlying the fact, it will be found that the quality of the
+voice at the bottom of its range as these vowels are sung is very
+different from that at the top of the range, the alterations taking
+place in almost imperceptible gradations. By reference to the foregoing
+pages of this book it will be seen that the late Emil Behnke attached
+great importance to vowel training, and exemplifications of his methods
+are to be found in "Voice Training Exercises" and "Voice Training
+Studies" written in conjunction with C. W. Pearce, Mus.Doc. The subject
+is also fully explained in "Voice, Song, and Speech," by Lennox Browne,
+F.R.C.S., and Emil Behnke; and the whole matter is most ably discussed
+in "Pronunciation for Singers," by the late Dr. A. J. Ellis, F.R.S.,
+published by Messrs Curwen & Sons.
+
+In thus strongly advocating education of the resonator in the production
+of vowel sounds in singing, let me not be supposed to ignore the
+necessity for also cultivating pronunciation of consonants, which have
+been termed the checks and stops of sound.
+
+Clearness of enunciation and purity of pronunciation, which are great
+aids to the voice, and possess a charm all their own, depend upon both
+vowels and consonants being accurately rendered.
+
+The English are the worst enunciators of all European peoples, and their
+custom is to lay the blame on the language, than which none other is
+deemed by them so unvocal. There is, however, a vast amount of sonority
+and musical charm in our grand and noble language, second only to the
+Italian, when properly spoken.
+
+The cultivation of pure, accurate, and refined pronunciation in speech
+will greatly facilitate good enunciation in singing, and should he
+sedulously acquired; for there are numbers of vocalists who leave us in
+doubt as to whether the words they sing are English, French, Italian, or
+German; while the number of those who mispronounce words in a deplorable
+manner is legion.
+
+
+FORCING THE REGISTERS.
+
+The next factor which has much to do with voice failure is forcing the
+registers beyond their proper point of change. The erroneous belief
+appears to exist that, by carrying up the registers a few notes beyond
+their natural limits, the tones thus produced are fuller and richer. But
+if in training a voice this practice be followed the result will be
+serious injury to the vocal organ.
+
+This is not a theoretical statement; we can easily see with the
+laryngoscope the great amount of congestion of the vocal ligaments
+immediately caused by thus forcing up a register; and not only are these
+affected by the strain put upon them, but the whole interior of the
+throat becomes blood-red, and looks irritated and inflamed. As soon as
+the change to the right register is made the vocal apparatus returns to
+its normal state.
+
+Now we all know the effects of undue strain on muscles in other parts of
+the body, and have felt the pain and weakness arising therefrom; but far
+worse results follow the damage to the throat caused by the strain of
+forcing up the registers, by both speakers and singers. The quality of
+the voice becomes impaired, and actual loss of notes follows. In some
+extreme cases which I have had under my care, there has been entire
+absence of voice both in speaking and in singing, and much suffering has
+been experienced from granular inflammation of the throat brought on by
+this faulty voice use.
+
+Another method of forcing the voice is the almost universal endeavour to
+acquire "top notes" which do not belong to the singer's compass. Because
+of the high notes in some voices exceptionally endowed by nature, it
+seems as though all singers, no matter what their natural range, have
+made it the one object of their training to strive after a vocal
+attainment whose rarity appears to be almost its only justification to
+be considered as an artistic merit. Why should these ever vanishing
+"top notes" be so much craved and striven for? Can it be said that, as
+regards each individual voice, these notes are higher in a scale of
+excellence than the rest? What merit does their acquisition promise as a
+set-off to the deterioration of the voice and its inevitable ultimate
+failure? A high note, _per se_, is not necessarily "a thing of beauty"
+to the listener, while the result of its attainment is often the
+converse of a "joy for ever" to the singer; for in those cases of
+forcing up the voice above its natural compass, violence is done to the
+throat, which in time results in some of the many ailments peculiar to
+singers who use faulty methods. The middle range of the voice becomes
+proportionately weaker and thinner as the cult of the extra "top notes"
+becomes greater, until the anomalous position is reached of a voice with
+two ends and no middle; while these superadded, artificial, high notes
+are wanting in timbre, in purity, in strength, and in ease. It is easily
+demonstrable by the laryngoscope that the forced and strained action of
+the vocal ligaments, and of other laryngeal and throatal muscular
+action, exercises an injurious influence upon the voice. The endeavour
+to sing notes beyond the extreme of the compass, or notes which do not
+naturally lie within any one register--particularly the chest
+register--causes great fatigue of the tensor muscles of the vocal
+ligaments, and serious congestion, extending to the windpipe and pharynx
+has, in many cases, followed this practice.
+
+More time and energy are devoted to the acquirement of what the late
+Emil Behnke called "mere acrobatic skill" than is given to the purely
+artistic side of voice use, and it follows that we get "the survival
+_not_ of the fittest" but rather of those with exceptionally strong
+physical organisations, instead of refined artists.
+
+The deterioration throughout the whole compass of the voice is often
+painfully noticeable during an entire song, but the forcible shouting of
+a full, high-pitched note at its close seems to be intended to
+compensate for all the misery previously endured by the sensitive
+listener.
+
+Now the maintenance of a healthy condition of the vocal muscles depends
+to a great degree upon the right use of those muscles in the formation
+of tone. There should never be any feeling of fatigue, strain, pricking,
+tightness, aching, or of pain in the throat, nor yet of huskiness after
+vocal practice. The method of voice use which produces such results, or
+any one of them, is wrong. Nature is pointing out as forcibly as
+possible the injury which is being done. Her warning should be heeded
+before conditions, getting worse, lead up to the sad ailments from which
+so many suffer, and which are disastrous to both voice and health.
+
+The foregoing facts and illustrations force upon us the conclusion that
+the large majority of throat affections from which both speakers and
+singers suffer might be entirely prevented by correct methods of voice
+use. As prevention is proverbially better than cure, it must be
+infinitely more advantageous to acquire correct methods than to unlearn
+bad ones which exercise a deleterious influence, always recognisable
+even when entire voice failure has not followed their practice.
+
+
+
+
+_APPENDIX TO THE TENTH EDITION_
+
+
+DOES DIAPHRAGMATIC BREATHING APPLY EQUALLY TO WOMEN AS TO MEN?
+
+
+In a kind notice of the first edition of this brochure, which appeared
+in _The Medical Press_, the editor raises the above question. He says:
+"The evils attending faulty methods of voice-production are pointed out
+both from an anatomical and from an artistic point of view,
+diaphragmatic breathing being especially insisted on in opposition to
+mere clavicular breathing. This is undoubtedly correct; but we think the
+advice here embodied would have been even more valuable had the
+authoress mentioned if from her experience she thought it applied in an
+equal extent to both sexes, as it is well known that nature, or we may
+perhaps more correctly say, the art of dress, causes women to breathe in
+a far more 'clavicular manner' than men."
+
+This is a valuable criticism, and as the point indicated is likely to be
+of interest to many persons, I append my reply, which appeared in the
+next number of _The Medical Press_:--
+
+"To the Editor of the _Medical Press and Circular_.
+
+"SIR,--I intended the advice on breathing to apply to both sexes,
+diaphragmatic breathing with perfect control being the foundation of all
+good voice-production, whether in speaking or in singing, in men and
+women alike, while clavicular breathing is a potent factor in
+voice-failure accompanied by throat ailments. From the examination of a
+large number of cases, I find it exceptional for a woman, when dressed,
+to breathe diaphragmatically, but when the garments are unfastened, and
+a few simple directions followed, Nature's mode of breathing commences
+to re-assert itself, feebly at first, but vigorously after a little
+practice. Very many men also breathe clavicularly, to the great
+detriment of their voices, whether in speaking or in singing. I have
+noticed, however that whereas the majority of women _always_ breathe
+clavicularly, comparatively few men adopt this pernicious habit unless
+when using the voice, which is, of course, the worst time for them to
+employ it. As a rule, men re-acquire the natural manner of breathing
+more easily and quickly than women; this may be partly accounted for by
+their greater freedom from constricting garments. After a few weeks'
+training of the respiratory muscles, the lung capacity frequently
+exceeds, in women especially, the average given in Hutchinson's tables.
+
+"Thanking you in anticipation for your courtesy in publishing this
+letter,--I am, sir, yours &c.,
+
+"K. BEHNKE
+
+"18, Earl's Court Square, S.W."
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+
+Artificial female voice, Roman teachers,  2
+
+
+Back ring pyramid muscles,  46, 48
+
+Bands uniting shield and tongue-bone,  34
+
+Belts _v._ braces for men,  25
+
+Breast bone,  11
+
+Breathing, Collar-bone,  17
+  ----, Curing defective,  23
+  ---- during sleep,  28
+  ---- exercises,  106
+  ----, midriff and rib combined,  17
+  ----, Mouth _v._ nostril,  26
+  ---- neglected by teachers,  19
+  ----, View of larynx,  84
+
+Breath, Singers' half-,  26
+
+Browne, Lennox, on breathing,  18, 22
+
+
+Carpenter, Dr., How tone is produced,  39
+
+Cartilages of Santorini,  51, 54, 80
+  ---- of Wrisberg,  51, 54, 81
+
+Catlin on American Indian breathing,  28
+
+Chest described,  12
+  ---- voice used for pay,  4
+
+Chink, Vocal,  45, 81
+
+Clergymen's sore throat,  22
+
+Collar-bones,  11
+
+Composers disregarding voices,  3
+  ----' ignorance of harp,  3
+  ----, Modern, wed music and words,  3
+  ---- to blame for vocal decline,  4
+
+Cords, Vocal, a misleading term,  38
+  ----, ----, False,  60
+  ----, ----, origin of term,  8
+
+Corsets for gentlemen,  26
+
+Curwen's names for registers,  87
+
+Czermak's test in vowel formation,  59
+  ---- use of the laryngoscope,  75
+
+
+Duprez' Chest C,  5
+
+
+Eberth's case, voice-box without lid,  35
+
+Elsberg on nose-breathing,  28
+  ---- on wedges  (posterior nodules),  55
+
+Eustachian tubes,  58
+
+Exercises, Ah, legato, scala,  117
+  ----, Breathing,  106
+  ----, Controlling tongue,  124
+  ----, glottis, check and glide,  112
+  ---- for tone quality,  119, 121
+  ---- in changing registers,  118
+  ----, Mixed-voice,  119
+  ---- on koo,  124
+  ---- on vowels,  116
+  ----, Opening mouth,  125
+  ----, Resonator,  119
+  ----, Soft palate,  121
+  ---- to govern pitch,  115
+  ----, Voice production,  110
+
+Experiment, calf's lungs,  12
+  ----, Czermak on vowels,  59
+  ----, defects in breathing,  23
+  ----, feeling ring-shield aperture, 72, 100
+  ---- in telling male and female registers,  90
+
+Experiments, Marshall on animals, 39
+  ----, Müller on dissected larynges, 7, 96
+  ----, pressing shield to test pitch, 71
+  ----, Spirometer, 20
+  ----, Violin tone, 57
+  ----, whisper and feel voice-box, 70
+  ---- with laryngoscope, 76, 92
+  ---- with mirror, for nasal tone, 60
+
+
+Falsetto register neglected, 4, 6
+
+Female and male minstrels, 15
+  ---- voice spoilt by tenor pattern, 2
+
+Foulis' laryngoscope, 78
+
+French singers subject to tremolo, 20
+
+
+Garcia and the laryngoscope, 74
+  ---- on forced registers, 96
+
+Garrett, error in describing glottis, 45
+  ---- on a blackbird's larynx, 40
+  ---- on differences in larynges, 64
+
+Glogg-ner-Castelli on chest voice, 5
+
+Glottis, Chink of the, 45, 81
+  ----, Defects to avoid, 112
+  ---- in producing sound, 46
+  ---- in repose, 46
+  ---- in respiration, 46
+  ----, Shock of the, 83
+  ----, sphincter muscle, 44
+
+
+Heart, 11
+
+Helmholtz on whispered vowels, 70
+
+Horns, Upper and lower, 34, 37, 42
+
+Human voice, four parts, 9
+  ---- voice, incomparable, 9
+
+Huxley's description of respiration, 14
+
+
+Illingworth, Rumney, on falsetto, 39, 52
+
+Inspiration and expiration, 14
+  ---- of men and women, 15
+  ----, Three ways of, 14
+  ---- through the mouth, 26
+
+Isenschmid's throat apparatus, 77
+
+Italian composers studying voices, 3
+
+
+Lacing, Tight, 25
+
+Laryngo-Phantom, Isenschmid's, 77
+
+Laryngoscope described, 73
+  ----, Errors in using, 79
+  ----, How to use, 73
+  ----, What is seen, 80
+
+Laryngoscopic images, 84, 85
+
+Larynx generally described, 31
+  ---- (see Voice-box)
+
+Levers of the Pyramids, 36
+
+Lid and its function, 32, 35, 80
+
+Ligaments, Pocket, 50, 81
+  ----,  ----, not tone producers, 52
+  ----,  ----, their functions, 53, 83
+  ----, Vocal, described, 36, 81, 94
+  ----,  ----, how produce tone, 32, 81
+  ----,  ----, how stretched, 47
+  ----,  ----, in S.C.T.B. voices, 66
+  ----,  ----, size, movement, 41
+  ----,  ----, Three actions of, 83
+  ----,  ----, View of, 37
+
+Lung gymnastics, 21
+
+Lungs described, 9
+  ----, Experiment with calf's, 12
+  ----, their function, 12
+
+Lunn on "Coup de glotte", 83
+  ---- on differences in larynges, 64, 89
+  ---- on laryngoscopic views, 82
+
+Luschka, and term "vocal chink", 45
+  ----, how tone is produced, 40
+
+Luschka's measurements of larynges, 64
+
+
+Male contralti, 2
+  ---- soprani, 1
+
+Malrespiration, 28
+
+Marshall, experiments on animals, 39
+
+Merkel on male and female larynges, 90
+  ---- on pyramids and registers, 99
+  ---- on tension of ligaments, 67
+
+Merkel's terms for registers, 90
+
+Meyerbeer and the falsetto, 5
+
+Midriff, 11
+  ---- described, 12
+
+Mixed voice, defined, 119
+
+Mouth, its part in singing, 59
+  ----, when to keep it shut, 29
+
+Mozart studied voice before composing, 4
+
+Mucous membrane, 61, 80
+
+Müller's experiments on larynges 7, 96
+
+Muscles, back ring pyramid, 46, 48
+  ---- governing pitch, 113
+  ----, How to strengthen, 113
+  ----, ligament tension theory, 67
+  ----, Pyramid, 49
+
+Muscles, Ring-shield, 41
+  ----, ----,  how change registers, 97
+  ----, Shield-pyramid, 41
+  ----, Shield-pyramid, how change registers, 97
+  ----, Side ring-pyramid, 48
+  ----, Summary of uses of, 49
+
+
+Nasal tone, various theories, 60
+
+Nose cavities, 59
+
+Nostrils best adapted for breathing, 27
+
+Nourrit and Duprez, 5
+
+Novello, Sabilla, how tone is produced, 39
+
+
+Palate, Soft, exercising, 121
+  ----, ----, its movements, 59
+
+Paris Conservatoire method of inspiration, 20
+
+Pharynx, 58
+
+Pitch, Mechanism affecting, 72
+  ----, Rise of, strains voice, 4
+
+Pronunciation for Singers, Ellis's, 120
+
+Pyramids, how act in registers, 99
+  ----, Levers of the, 36, 46
+  ----, side view, 37
+  ----, their shape and motion, 36, 82, 94
+
+
+Register, Mechanism of thick, 94
+  ----, Thick, described, 94
+  ----, Thin,  ", 98
+
+Registers, Compass of the, 93
+  ----, Teachers' Manual on, 87
+  ----, definition, 86
+  ----, described by Mme. Seiler, 94
+  ----, distinguishing sex, 90
+  ----, Evil of straining, 101
+  ----, How ligaments act in, 86
+  ----, how small is formed, 101
+  ----, how upper thick formed, 95, 97
+  ----, Images of, 84, 85
+  ----, Laryngoscope and sub-division of, 91
+  ----, "Mixed voice", 118
+  ----, optional tones, 118
+  ----, places of break, 87, 96
+  ----, Straining of, 95
+  ----, Three female voice, 88
+  ----, to equalise, not expose, 116
+  ----, Two male voice, 138
+  ----, Upper and lower thick, 96
+  ----, ---- ---- ---- thin, 100
+  ----, what laryngoscope teaches, 104
+
+Resonator changes by vowel, 70
+  ----, effect of formation, 58
+  ----, its parts, 9, 56
+
+Respiration described, 13
+
+Ribs, 11
+
+Ring cartilage, 31, 32
+
+Ring-shield muscles, 41, 70
+
+Roger, the French tenor's style, 4, 6
+
+Rossini on decline of vocal art, 2
+
+
+Seiler, description of the registers, 92
+  ----, Madame, on "wedges", 54
+  ---- on action of vocal ligaments, 100
+
+Shield and ring, Motion of, 34, 71
+
+Shield cartilage, 34
+
+Shield plates, 33, 71
+
+Shield-pyramid muscles, 41
+
+Singable music, 3
+
+Singing _v._ speaking, 18
+
+Snoring and keeping mouth open, 30
+
+Sphincter muscle of the glottis, 44
+
+Spirometer tests recommended, 19
+
+
+Teaching, Hints on, 106
+
+Tenors as teachers of female voice, 2
+  ----, Short vocal life of, 1
+  ---- sing octave lower than written, 87
+
+Tobold, how tone is produced, 40
+
+Tone, how produced, 56
+  ----, loudness, 56
+  ----, pitch, 56
+  ----, quality, 56
+  ----, Three ways of producing, 83
+
+Tongue-bone, 34
+  ----, Exercises to control, 124
+
+Tonic Sol-fa College, Experiments, 20
+
+Tremolo, Controlled artistic, 22
+  ----, Involuntary, 21
+  ---- mars fine voices, 20
+  ----, Origin of, 21
+
+
+Violin, Experiments for tone on a, 57
+
+Vocal gymnastics, 114
+
+Voce mista, 118
+
+Voice-box, Attempts to see the,  74
+  ---- compared with instruments, 8
+  ----, differences in size, 62
+  ----, dissecting, 7, 44, 57
+  ----, its parts specified, 31
+  ---- measurements, 64
+  ---- movements, teaching of, 70, 72
+  ----, visible movements, 69
+
+Voice-breaking, Cause of, 63
+
+Voice, Cause of high or low, 65
+  ---- cultivation exercises, 110
+  ----, female, Wrong use of, 95
+
+Voice, period of change in youth, 63
+  ----, quality of, exercises, 119
+  ----, poverty of the age, 1
+  ---- sufferers, Cure of, 24
+
+Vowel scale, Order of the, 116
+  ----, Use of palate in forming,  59
+
+
+Wedges, Action in small register, 103
+  ----, or cuneiform cartilages, 51, 54, 81
+
+Whispering, Voice-box movements in,  70
+
+When to keep the mouth shut,  29
+
+Wilson, Erasmus, on cuneiform cartilages,  54
+
+Windpipe described,  31, 81
+
+Witkowski on "the wedges",  55
+  ---- on views of specialists, 8
+
+Women in church music, 2
+
+Words ignored by composers,  3
+
+
+
+
+INDEX TO "VOICE FAILURE."
+
+
+Breathing, Evils of clavicular, 128
+
+Breathing, Lamperti on, 129
+
+Breathing, Wrong, 127, 128
+
+
+Forcing,  128
+
+Forcing, Acquiring top notes, 137
+
+
+Intonation affected by resonance, 134
+
+
+Laryngoscope, Its lessons, 137, 138
+
+Lung capacity, 128
+
+
+Pronunciation,  136
+
+
+Registers, Forcing, 128, 136
+
+Resonators, Neglect, 128, 132
+
+
+Shouting,  128
+
+Singing, Loud, 128,, 131
+
+Stammering,  130
+
+Symptoms of faulty voice use,  139
+
+
+Throat, Inflammation of, 137
+
+Timbre,  133
+
+Tone, Squeezing,  132
+
+
+Vowels, Shaping mouth for,  134
+
+Vowels, Scale of nature,  135
+
+
+
+
+Opinions of the Press and the Medical and the Musical Professions on the
+Author's Book, Lectures, and Teaching.
+
+
+SIGNOR GARCIA writes to the Author:--
+
+DEAR SIR,--Very many thanks for the copy forwarded to me of your most
+interesting work. It will prove of an inestimable advantage to students,
+being, in my humble estimation, one of the clearest and most practical
+treatises on the subject which contemporary literature has produced.
+Accept also my sincere thanks for the description contained in your work
+of the origin of the laryngoscope, and believe me, dear sir, yours most
+sincerely, M. GARCIA.
+
+
+THE ATHENÆUM.
+
+Interesting, compared with those previously published, as being written
+by a musician and not by a medical man. Hence we are not surprised to
+find purely musical questions discussed here with great ability.
+
+
+NATURE.
+
+The object of this little book is to give singers a plain and
+comprehensible view of the musical instrument on which they perform. The
+author seems to have succeeded in this attempt remarkably well. He has
+evidently had much practical work himself, and has especially set
+himself the task of examining the action of the vocal organs during
+singing by means of the laryngoscope; and his record of his own
+experience in acquiring the use of that beautiful instrument is not only
+interesting, but of much practical value. The last section of the book
+is devoted to the teachings of the laryngoscope as to the action of the
+vocal ligaments in producing voice, with especial reference to the
+so-called registers. "A register consists of a series of tones which are
+produced by the same mechanism," is his definition (p. 86), which is new
+and complete, and he proceeds to explain the different mechanism of each
+kind of register as actually observed on singers. There are some good
+remarks on breathing (pp. 17-22). All information is given throughout in
+clear, intelligible language, and illustrated by fourteen woodcuts....
+The book may be safely recommended to all singers, and others who are
+desirous of knowing how vocal tones are produced.
+
+
+SATURDAY REVIEW.
+
+On the important question of the different registers of the voice and
+their proper use, Mr. Behnke practically breaks new ground. He has
+carefully gone over the whole subject of the production of the voice as
+far as the larynx is concerned, and worked it out anew by a long and
+careful series of experiments and observations with the laryngoscope....
+Mr. Behnke's book is clearly written, and the plates well drawn and
+printed; while the anatomical details are made clear to the general
+reader by the use of English names for the different parts.... It is a
+very valuable book, and ought to be read and thought over by all who
+have the training of young singers, and indeed by all musicians.
+
+
+MEDICAL PRESS AND CIRCULAR.
+
+In clear and untechnical language the author gives an accurate account
+of the construction and mode of action of the human larynx, its
+differences in men, women, and children, and the teachings of the
+laryngoscope, notably with respect to the "registers" of the voice....
+M. Behnke is evidently an accurate observer and a logical reasoner, and
+a study of his work side by side with Witkowski's "Movable Atlas of the
+Throat and Tongue" must be advantageous to any one desiring to make the
+best use of his voice.
+
+
+THE SPECIALIST.
+
+This useful little book is the outcome of the author's large experience
+and careful research. It is written concisely, in clear and untechnical
+language, and frequent references are made to such authorities as
+Huxley, Lennox Browne, Eberth, Carpenter, Marshall, Luschka, &c. That
+Herr Behnke thoroughly understands his subject no one who reads his book
+can doubt, and if those who wish to know the right way to sing and avoid
+the wrong way will carefully study this little manual they will not go
+far wrong. For all who are dependent on the right use of their voices
+for their daily bread, Herr Behnke's book will be most opportune.
+
+
+MUSICAL STANDARD.
+
+An excellent specimen of a familiar way of putting unfamiliar truths.
+
+
+MUSIC TRADES REVIEW.
+
+There are excellent reasons why singers should possess an intimate
+knowledge of the structure and functions of the various organs concerned
+in the production of the voice, and this knowledge they are likely to
+gain more easily and effectually from the present treatise than from any
+other with which we are acquainted. Mr. Emil Behnke writes in a
+singularly clear and lucid manner, and if his book be not exactly light,
+it is very interesting reading. Much of the information conveyed is
+invaluable. We cannot too strongly recommend the present volume to the
+perusal of vocal students.
+
+
+MUSICAL EDUCATION.
+
+After carefully reading the book we are at no loss to understand how it
+is that there is such a demand for it amongst the members of the musical
+public. The style is admirably simple and lucid, and every statement
+made is in accordance with the latest views on the subject held by
+physiologists and anatomists of acknowledged eminence.
+
+
+KEY BOARD.
+
+The most reasonable, practical, and common-sense work to be found
+anywhere.
+
+
+THE VOICE.
+
+This book is clear and plain, and gives just the information that every
+singer and speaker should have. It is the ablest and most practical
+treatise on the voice we have seen.
+
+
+THE INQUIRER.
+
+Men have set themselves to try and ascertain the actual process by which
+vocal sounds are produced, and thus to form a scientific basis on which
+to found a way of training voices. Herr Behnke, in a singularly clear
+and lucid manner, brings the whole subject before the reader, and, to
+make it readily understood by non-scientific people, gives a translation
+of the Greek terms used by physiologists side by side with the
+originals. We cannot too strongly insist upon the necessity of forming a
+scientific basis for teaching singing, and, indeed, for training the
+voice for public speaking, &c. We congratulate Herr Behnke upon the
+patience and perseverance with which he has pursued his investigations
+with the laryngoscope.
+
+
+MUSIC.
+
+Mr. Emil Behnke has already made himself known to the leading members of
+the musical and medical professions by his learned lectures on "The
+Theory of Voice Production," and has gained the esteem of those
+interested in the subject by the masterly manner in which he deals with
+the matter, as well as his unaffected and, as far as possible,
+untechnical treatment of it. Mr. Behnke has done much to popularize the
+study of the human voice, and his book (which abounds in admirable
+plates) deserves to be widely known.
+
+
+EDUCATIONAL TIMES.
+
+It is but rarely that science figures as the handmaid of art, yet this
+book is a signal instance of it, for it is one of the first attempts, if
+not the very first, at an investigation, on strictly scientific
+principles, of the normal and the abnormal development of the voice,
+both in speaking and singing. Herr Behnke, who is both a musician and a
+physiologist, has brought to bear upon this subject his knowledge as a
+musician, and the results of several years of patient and careful
+scientific experiments. We cannot too highly commend this little work to
+the attention of all those interested in so important a subject.
+
+
+BIRMINGHAM DAILY GAZETTE.
+
+Since Herr Behnke's removal from Birmingham to London he has become an
+accepted authority on the subject of voice production, and we are glad
+to see the results of his studies presented in the useful way in which
+they are in this little volume. Earnest and conscientious students of
+the vocal art need not be reminded that the production of fine tone is
+not the all-in-all of the excellences of singing, but they will
+certainly know better how to employ their gifts after mastering the
+secrets Herr Behnke reveals.
+
+
+
+
+Opinions of Mrs. Emil Behnke's Pupils.
+
+VOICE TRAINING.
+
+
+FROM AN OLD PUPIL.
+
+GRESHAM HOTEL, DUBLIN.
+
+DEAR MRS. BEHNKE,--It is indeed regrettable that Mr. Behnke was not
+spared to reap to a greater extent the reward of his wonderful work.
+You, I know, must have acquired an adequate knowledge of his magnificent
+system of teaching to enable you to continue on the same course, and so
+perpetuate his memory. This is a source of comfort to your many friends.
+
+
+FROM A LADY LECTURER.
+
+EDGBASTON, _May 11th, 1893_.
+
+MY DEAR MRS. BEHNKE,--I feel I must write to tell you how much better I
+am, and how greatly indebted I am to your treatment.... I can take two
+or three meetings a week with ease, thanks to your training, and the
+deeper and fuller tone of my voice has been remarked upon by many.
+
+
+LARNE, IRELAND.
+
+I have no hesitation in saying that, under God, you were the means of
+curing my voice.
+
+
+FROM A CLERGYMAN WHO HAD BROKEN DOWN IN VOICE.
+
+LONDON, _July, 1893_.
+
+My voice gives me no trouble now; it is indeed very much fuller and more
+resonant. I can fill my church without the least effort.
+
+
+FROM A CLERGYMAN WHO HAD SUFFERED FROM "CLERGYMAN'S SORE THROAT."
+
+BRIGHTON, _26th June, 1893_.
+
+DEAR MRS. BEHNKE,--I take this opportunity of thanking you very much for
+what you have done for my voice. I shall try to keep up your exercises,
+and hope to receive more lessons later on in the year.
+
+
+FROM A CLERGYMAN WHO STAMMERED, AND WHOSE VOICE WAS WEAK.
+
+"THE PARSONAGE," _Feb. 7th, 1893_.
+
+DEAR MRS. BEHNKE,--I told the Rev. Mr. S. of the great benefit I had
+derived from your instruction. He proposes to bring the subject of your
+work, and the importance of it to young clergymen, before the Bishop,
+with a view to something being done for ordination candidates.
+
+
+FROM A TEACHER OF SINGING.
+
+SCARBOROUGH, _Jan. 6th, 1894_.
+
+DEAR MRS. BEHNKE,--For some years I have been teaching successfully on
+the lines laid down in your late husband's publications and his own
+"Voice Training Exercises;" and have put into the hands of some of my
+pupils your "Voice Training Primer." One of them has just passed Trinity
+College Senior Singing Examination with honours (84 marks out of 100).
+My own experience is that no exercises I have ever used have so helped
+to produce "forward" and to cure "throaty" tone, and I have long felt I
+owed to Mr. Behnke a debt of gratitude for his works. May I be permitted
+to acknowledge it to you?
+
+
+
+
+STAMMERING.
+
+
+THE TIMES.
+
+Pre-eminent success in the education and treatment of stammering and
+other speech defects.
+
+THE BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL.
+
+DR. F. L. NICHOLLS writes:--"This infirmity is so great a drawback to
+almost every walk in life, and for public speaking so complete a
+hindrance, that a cure is of the utmost importance. It may therefore be
+of interest, and possibly of some use to members of the medical
+profession having a case of this nature in their practice, and desiring
+assistance for its cure, if I mention that I have recently had the most
+satisfactory experience of the cure of such a case. The father, a
+minister, was very anxious for his son to follow in his own footsteps,
+while the lad stuttered so badly it was not to be thought of, unless a
+cure could be effected; and for this purpose he was sent to Mrs. Behnke,
+of Earl's Court Square, London. Mrs. Behnke was chosen from high
+recommendations, and very thoroughly has she proved worthy of them. The
+lad has just returned home, and speaks without the slightest impediment.
+I should state that previously to going under Mrs. Behnke's hands we had
+tried various rules and recommendations without the least success."
+
+"Stammering: its Nature and Treatment." Price 1_s_, of Mrs. Emil
+Behnke.
+
+
+
+
+Causes of Voice Failure.
+
+_By Mrs. EMIL BEHNKE._
+
+=Third Edition, Revised and Enlarged.=
+
+=OPINIONS OF THE PRESS=.
+
+
+THE WEEKLY ECHO.
+
+A very useful pamphlet by a very able teacher. It is published at
+sixpence, but contains many guinea fees' worth of knowledge, and hints
+where to procure more.
+
+
+THE SHREWSBURY CHRONICLE.
+
+Ought to be perused by all who seek distinction as vocalists.
+
+
+BRISTOL TIMES.
+
+A valuable little brochure. It is one of the most concise and practical
+treatises on the subject we have seen, and if only the hints contained
+therein were more generally observed, we should have not only less voice
+failure, but more good singers with strong, resonant, and lasting vocal
+organs. The little book should be in the hands of all singers, students
+especially.
+
+
+HEARTH AND HOME.
+
+Mrs. Behnke's pamphlet should be eagerly read. I advise all those who
+are interested in the preservation of their voices to invest sixpence in
+the purchase of this admirable booklet, as they cannot fail to gain much
+assistance from the excellent matter therein contained.
+
+
+HALIFAX GUARDIAN.
+
+The pamphlet is terse and valuable in the information it affords.
+
+
+THE MEDICAL PRESS.
+
+"Causes of Voice Failure," by Mrs. Emil Behnke, has the merit of being
+practical and of containing truths which must appeal forcibly not only
+to singers, but also to listeners.
+
+
+WARRINGTON GUARDIAN.
+
+"Causes of Voice Failure." This important subject is well treated by
+Mrs. Emil Behnke.
+
+
+THE QUEEN.
+
+Well worth reading for the valuable hints which it contains.
+
+
+THE PRACTICAL TEACHER.
+
+The husband of Mrs. Behnke was the greatest authority in his day upon
+voice-training, and, in recommending his wife's book we need only say
+that her knowledge of this subject is only second to what his was.
+
+
+MUSICAL OPINION.
+
+This is a small, cheap, and useful pamphlet by Mrs. Emil Behnke. The
+quiet, clear, convincing manner in which she writes deserves full
+recognition.
+
+
+SUSSEX DAILY NEWS.
+
+"Causes of Voice Failure," by Mrs. Behnke, is a useful little tract
+which may be confidently recommended to the notice of singers,
+professional and amateur, for the sound advice and cautions against
+common faults of training contained in it.
+
+
+BRISTOL OBSERVER.
+
+Mrs. Emil Behnke has written a little work on "Causes of Voice Failure"
+which deserves to be widely circulated among students of singing. It
+should be carefully read.
+
+
+CAMBRIAN.
+
+Excellent advice is given which must be of great value to those who
+contemplate adopting the vocal profession either from a pecuniary or
+from an artistic standpoint.
+
+
+THE SCHOOLMASTER.
+
+Mrs. Behnke goes to the root of the matter, and her proposals are urged
+clearly. Incidentally she touches on stammering, and we recommend those
+interested in the subject to give her ideas, at any rate, consideration.
+
+
+THE PROFESSIONAL WORLD.
+
+We would recommend it to all interested in the question of voice
+production and voice preservation.
+
+
+LITERARY WORLD.
+
+The writer of this essay is a well-known expert in her subject.
+
+
+TUNBRIDGE WELLS ADVERTISER.
+
+In a concise form Mrs. Behnke gives some valuable hints that singers
+would do well to note and pay attention to.
+
+
+WEST SUSSEX GAZETTE.
+
+Mrs. Behnke was well advised to consent to the publication of this
+valuable chapter added to the ninth edition of her husband's well-known
+work, "Mechanism of the Human Voice," and we are glad to note it has
+already run to a second edition.
+
+
+
+
+THE BEHNKE VOICE-TRAINING METHOD.
+
+=Voice-Training Exercises=
+
+=ALSO=
+
+=Voice-Training Studies=
+
+=BY=
+
+=EMIL BEHNKE and Dr. C. W. PEARCE.=
+
+_In separate books for Soprano, Mezzo-Soprano, Contralto, Tenor,
+Baritone, and Bass._
+
+Price: Paper Covers, 1s. 6d. net cash; Bound in Cloth, 3s. net cash.
+
+
+=Voice-Training Primer=
+
+=By MRS. EMIL BEHNKE=.
+
+Price 2s. net cash; Bound in Cloth, 3s. net cash.
+
+_These works are highly recommended by the musical, medical, and general
+press, and by teachers._
+
+CHAPPELL & Co., Ltd., 50 NEW BOND STREET, LONDON, W. Melbourne and New
+York.
+
+=And may be had of all music-sellers.=
+
+
+
+
+=The Musical Herald.=
+
+_A Journal for the Professor and Amateur._
+
+
+PUBLISHED ON THE 1st OF EACH MONTH. PRICE TWOPENCE.
+
+
+=The Musical Herald= was established in 1851; it is the most widely
+circulated and read of all the musical papers.
+
+=The Musical Herald= gives no music; it is bought because of the
+importance of its articles and news.
+
+=The Musical Herald= is indispensable to the up-to-date Pianoforte
+Teacher, Voice Trainer, Organist, and Choirmaster.
+
+=The Musical Herald= freely replies to questions on musical subjects which
+are of general interest. In this way One Thousand enquiries are answered
+each year. Most of them concern matters that the ordinary text-books and
+manuals do not touch.
+
+=The Musical Herald= gives each month, in reply to questions, lists of
+songs, pianoforte and organ pieces, violin pieces, orchestral pieces,
+choral works, all of which carry its recommendation.
+
+=The Musical Herald= devotes much space to Voice Training matters. It
+gathers up opinions and hints from all quarters, favouring no clique;
+interested only in obtaining good singing.
+
+=The Musical Herald= provides each month a full biography, with portrait,
+of a leading musician, who relates his experiences and their lessons.
+
+=The Musical Herald= is read all over the world. The compact and newsy
+quality of its matter, and its broad outlook command attention
+everywhere.
+
+=The Musical Herald= reports musical doings of importance in France and
+Germany, translating and summarising articles from the European press.
+
+=The Musical Herald= reports papers, speeches and discussions at the
+various musical societies.
+
+=The Musical Herald=, in its Editorials, speaks out plainly, showing
+neither fear nor favour.
+
+=The Musical Herald= has a prize competition each month on some subject
+relating to harmony, composition, musical rudiments, or the literature
+of music. A guinea is given as the first prize.
+
+=The Musical Herald= reports all important Choral Contests, sending its
+representatives to any part of Great Britain or of Europe where events
+of interest are proceeding.
+
+=The Musical Herald= interviews musicians who have things of weight and
+interest to say.
+
+=The Musical Herald= has correspondents in every district of Great and
+Greater Britain who supply the pages of "News from all Parts."
+
+=The Musical Herald= is invaluable to students preparing for music
+examinations, because of the help given by its practical articles and
+answers to enquiries.
+
+
+_Published by_
+
+J. CURWEN & SONS Ltd., 24 BERNERS STREET, LONDON, W.
+
+
+
+
+=History, Biography, Church Music, &c.=
+
+
+=HANDBOOK OF ACOUSTICS.= By T. F. HARRIS, B.Sc., F.C.S. Price 33. 6d.;
+postage 3d. A handbook for musical students. Contains 18 chapters
+profusely illustrated; with numerous questions and an Appendix of
+Examination Papers.
+
+=HISTORY OF ENGLISH MUSIC=. By HENRY DAVEY. A monumental work tracing the
+history and proving the advanced position, past and present, of English
+music. Contains many new and important facts. Price 6s.; postage 4-1/2d.
+
+=HYMN LOVER, THE.= By Rev. W. GARRETT HORDER, Price 5s.; postage 4d.
+Second and revised edition. An account of the rise and progress of
+Hymnody.
+
+=MEMORIALS OF JOHN CURWEN.= By his Son, J. SPENCER CURWEN. Price 2s.;
+postage 3d.
+
+=MUSICAL HAUNTS IN LONDON.= By F. G. EDWARDS. Chapters on Handel, Haydn,
+Mendelssohn, Weber, and many other musicians, with stories and pictures
+of their residences in London. Price 1s.; post. 2d.
+
+=MUSICIANS OF ALL TIMES.= Compiled by DAVID BAPTIE. Second and cheaper
+edition, 1s. 6d.; postage 2d. Concise biography of composers, teachers,
+artists, and all other musical workers, containing 5,000 names.
+
+=STUDENT'S MUSICAL HISTORY.= By H. DAVEY. Price 1s.; postage 1-1/2d.;
+cloth, 1s. 6d.; postage 2-1/2d. The cheapest historical handbook;
+comprehensive, concise, brought up to date.
+
+=STUDIES IN WORSHIP MUSIC.= First Series. By J. S. CURWEN. Price 5s.;
+postage 4d. Contains articles and information on various matters
+relative to Worship Music, arranged in three divisions--Historical,
+Practical, Descriptive. Revised and enlarged.
+
+=STUDIES IN WORSHIP MUSIC.= Second Series. By J. S. CURWEN. Price 2s. 6d.;
+postage 2-1/2d. Continues above work--articles on the Chapel Royal,
+Westminster Abbey Choir, &c.
+
+=SHORT DICTIONARY OF MUSICAL TERMS, A.= By ARNOLD KENNEDY. M.A. Price 1s.
+(postage 1d.); cloth, 1s. 6d. (postage 1-1/2d.). About 2,700 terms.
+Gives the phonetic pronunciation of foreign words. German, French, and
+Italian terms are included.
+
+=UNITED PRAISE.= By F. G. EDWARDS. Price 3s. 6d.; postage 3d. Originally
+advertised as "Common Praise." A practical handbook of Nonconformist
+Church Music.
+
+
+LONDON: J. CURWEN & SONS Ltd., 24 BERNERS STREET, W.
+
+
+
+
+STANDARD WORKS ON MUSIC.
+
+=For full list and particulars, apply for catalogue, gratis and post
+free.=
+
+
+=A B C OF MUSICAL THEORY.= R. DUNSTAN, Mus.D. Cloth, 2/-.
+
+=ART OF BREATHING.= LEO. KOFLER. Price, cloth, 4/-.
+
+=BOY'S VOICE, THE.= J. S. CURWEN. Price 2/6.
+
+=CANDIDATE IN MUSIC, THE.= H. FISHER, Mus.D. Book I, Elements, paper, 1/6;
+cloth, 2/-. Book II, Harmony, paper, 2/-; cloth, 2/6.
+
+=CHORAL AND ORCHESTRAL SOCIETIES.= L. C. VENABLES. Price 2/6.
+
+=CHURCH AND CATHEDRAL CHORISTER'S SINGING METHOD=. HAYDN KEETON, Mus.D.
+Cloth, 3/-; paper, 2/-.
+
+=COMPANION FOR TEACHERS.= J. SPENCER CURWEN. Price 1/-.
+
+=COMPENDIUM OF HARMONY.= GEO. OAKEY, Mus.B. Price 2/-. Examples in Sol-fa
+only.
+
+=CONSTRUCTION, TUNING, AND CARE OF THE PIANOFORTE.= Edited by H. FISHER,
+Mus.D. Price, limp cloth, 1/-.
+
+=CYCLOPÆDIC DICTIONARY OF MUSIC.= R. DUNSTAN, Mus.D. Cloth 7/6 net.
+
+=FIGURED BASS.= GEO. OAKEY, Mus.B. Price, limp cloth, 1/-.
+
+=FIRST STEPS IN HARMONY.= R. DUNSTAN, Mus.D. Cloth, 2/-.
+
+=HANDBELL RINGING.= C. W. FLETCHER. Price 2/6.
+
+=HANDBOOK OF ACOUSTICS.= T. F. HARRIS, B.Sc., F.C.S., Price 3/6.
+
+=HARMONY ANALYSIS.= GEO. OAKEY, Mus.B. Price 3/-. Both notations.
+
+=HISTORY OF ENGLISH MUSIC.= H. DAVEY. Price 6/-.
+
+=HOW TO READ MUSIC.= JOHN CURWEN. 24 chapters, pp. 128, price, cloth, 1/6;
+paper, 1/-.
+
+=HOW TO TEACH THE STAFF NOTATION.= E. MASON, Mus.B. Price 2/-.
+
+=HOW TO TRAIN CHILDREN'S VOICES.= T. MASKELL HARDY. Price 1/-.
+
+=HYMN LOVER, THE.= Rev. W. GARRETT HORDER. Price 5/-.
+
+=MANUAL OF MUSIC, A.= RALPH DUNSTAN, Mus.Doc. Price 2/6.
+
+=MANUAL OF ORCHESTRATION.= HAMILTON CLARKE, Mus.B. With Appendix, 1/6.
+
+=MANUAL OF VOICE PRODUCTION.= H. J. B. DART. Staff, 1/-.
+
+=MECHANISM OF THE HUMAN VOICE.= EMIL BEHNKE. Cloth, 2/6; paper, 1/6.
+
+=MUSICAL HAUNTS IN LONDON.= F. G. EDWARDS. Price 1/-.
+
+=MUSICAL INSPECTION=. By a SCHOOL INSPECTOR. Price 1/6.
+
+=MUSICAL SELF-INSTRUCTOR.= J. SNEDDON, Mus.B. Price 2/6. Both notations.
+
+=MUSICAL THEORY.= JOHN CURWEN. Price 3/6. In Parts--I, II, IV, 4d. each;
+III, 1/4; V, 1/-. Both notations.
+
+=MUSICIANS OF ALL TIMES.= Compiled by W. G. W. GOODWORTH, Mus.B. Price
+2/6.
+
+=MUSICIAN, THE.= RIDLEY PRENTICE. Six Grades, 1/6 each.
+
+=NEW GRADED HARMONY EXERCISES.= GEO. OAKEY, Mus.B. Price 2/-, cloth.
+
+=PSYCHOLOGY FOR MUSIC TEACHERS.= H. FISHER, Mus.D. Cloth, 3/-.
+
+=ORCHESTRA, THE, and how to write for it.= F. CORDER. Price 7/6.
+
+=ORGANS, ORGANISTS, AND CHOIRS.= E. MINSHALL. Price 1/6.
+
+=PIANIST'S MENTOR.= H. FISHER, Mus.D. Price 2/6.
+
+=PLAYING AT SIGHT.= R. T. WHITE, Mus.D. Oxon. Price 1/6.
+
+=PRIMER OF ELOCUTION.= F. HARRISON, M.A. Price 1/6.
+
+=PRONUNCIATION FOR SINGERS.= A. J. ELLIS, F.R.S. Price 3/6.
+
+=SCHOOL MUSIC TEACHER, THE.= J. EVANS and W. G. MCNAUGHT. Price 2/6.
+
+=SHORT DICTIONARY OF MUSICAL TERMS.= A. KENNEDY, M.A. Price 1/-; cloth,
+1/6.
+
+=SINGER'S GUIDE.= J. ADCOCK. Price 1/-.
+
+=SINGING IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.= A. WATKINS. Cloth, 1/-.
+
+=SOLO SINGER.= SINCLAIR DUNN. Price 1/-.
+
+=SPEAKING VOICE.= Mrs. EMIL BEHNKE. Price 4/6.
+
+=SPECIMEN LESSONS ON THE TONIC SOL-FA METHOD.= Edited by J. SPENCER
+CURWEN. Cloth limp, 1/6.
+
+=STANDARD COURSE, THE.= J. CURWEN. Price 3/6.
+
+=STUDENT'S MUSICAL HISTORY.= HENRY DAVEY. Price 1/-; cloth, 1/6.
+
+=STUDIES IN WORSHIP MUSIC.= J. SPENCER CURWEN. 1ST SERIES, 5/-; 2ND
+SERIES, 2/6.
+
+=TEACHER'S MANUAL, THE.= JOHN CURWEN. Price 4/-.
+
+=TEXT-BOOK OF COUNTERPOINT.= GEO. OAKEY, Mus.B. Price 2/-. cloth. Both
+nots.
+
+=TEXT-BOOK OF HARMONY.= GEO. OAKEY, Mus.B. Price 3/-. Both notations.
+
+=TEXT-BOOK OF MUSICAL ELEMENTS.= GEO. OAKEY, Mus.B. Paper 1/-; cloth, 1/6.
+
+=TRAINING COLLEGE MUSIC COURSE.= B. MILLS, Mus.B. Price 3/-.
+
+=UNITED PRAISE=. F. G. EDWARDS. Price 3/6.
+
+=VOICE PRODUCTION IN SINGING AND SPEAKING=. WESLEY MILLS, M.A., F.R.C.S.
+Price 7/6 net (no reduction).
+
+=VOICE TRAINER, THE.= J. A. BIRCH. Both notations, 1/-.
+
+
+=LONDON: J. CURWEN & SONS Ltd., 24 BERNERS STREET, W.=
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[A] "The Mechanism of Voice, Speech, and Taste." Translated and edited
+by Mr. Lennox Browne, F.R.C.S. London: Baillière, Tindall, and Cox.
+
+[B] It having been proved to Mr. Behnke that the use of the term
+"_abdominal_" instead of "_diaphragmatic_" breathing led to
+misconception and misrepresentation of his views on this important
+subject, he discarded the words "abdominal breathing" and used only the
+term "diaphragmatic breathing" in his teaching and writing. Will readers
+kindly bear this in mind?--K. B.
+
+[C] "Medical Hints on the Production and Management of the Singing
+Voice," Fifth Edition, p. 15. London: Chappell and Co.
+
+[D] Only for the purpose of ascertaining the capacity of the lungs
+_before_ commencing the exercises, and the gain acquired after some
+weeks of regular work.
+
+[E] "The Throat and its Diseases," pp. 289, 290. London: Baillière,
+Tindall, and Cox.
+
+[F] "The Throat and its Functions." New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
+
+[G] _Sphincter_ is an anatomical term applied to circular muscles which
+constrict or close certain natural orifices.
+
+[H] "Ueber die Compensation der physischen Kräfte am menschlichen
+Stimmorgan," p. 8. Berlin, 1839.
+
+[I] "Voice in Singing," p. 189. Philadelphia, 1875.
+
+[J] "Anatomist's Vade Mecum." By Erasmus Wilson, F.R.S. London. Eighth
+edition, p. 596.
+
+[K] Helmholtz, "Sensations of Tone:" translated by Alexander J. Ellis,
+F.R.S., &c., p. 37.
+
+[L] "Philosophy of Voice," 2nd edition, p. 19. Baillière, Tindall, and
+Cox.
+
+[M] A "Laryngo-Phantom" has recently been brought out by Dr. Isenschmid
+of Munich, which greatly facilitates this preliminary practice. It
+consists of an imitation of the throat, the larynx, and the mouth, and
+"is intended to familiarize students with as many of the details
+connected with the use of the laryngoscope as it is possible to learn
+before the application of the instrument to the living subject." A
+number of little paintings representing different laryngoscopic
+appearances may be slipped into this Phantom, unknown to the student,
+who has to discover what has been done by the usual process. This
+apparatus can therefore be strongly recommended as affording excellent
+and constant practice. It may be had of Messrs. Krohne & Sesemann, 8,
+Duke Street, Manchester Square, W., price £2 2s.
+
+[N] "Der Kehlkopf," p. 153. Leipzig, 1873. J. J. Weber.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Mechanism of the Human Voice, by Emil Behnke
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