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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:06:41 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-14 19:06:41 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/48486-0.txt b/48486-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c53537 --- /dev/null +++ b/48486-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6469 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48486 *** + +=Duality of Man's Nature= + + I.--DUALITY OF VOICE + + + + + DUALITY OF + VOICE + + AN OUTLINE OF ORIGINAL + RESEARCH + + + BY + + EMIL SUTRO + + AUTHOR OF "THE BASIC LAW OF VOCAL + UTTERANCE." + + G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS + NEW YORK AND LONDON + The Knickerbocker Press + 1899 + + COPYRIGHT, 1899 + BY + EMIL SUTRO + + Entered at Stationers' Hall, London. + + The Knickerbocker Press, New York + + "There is nothing in our composition either purely material or + purely spiritual."--MONTAIGNE. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I.--INTRODUCTION 1 + + Comments of a Distant Reviewer 15 + + Fragments 22 + + Basic Law of Vocal Utterance 37 + + The Voice of the Œsophagus and its Vocal Cords 41 + + II.--THE HUMAN VOICE 44 + + Introspection 50 + + Making Parts Rigid 56 + + Extirpation 59 + + Movements of the Tongue 61 + + Simple Sounds 66 + + Posterior Surfaces 68 + + Inspiration--Expiration 77 + + Diaphragms 80 + + III.--IMPRESSION--EXPRESSION 83 + + The Phonograph 88 + + Stuttering--Stammering 92 + + Cathode of a Vocal Sound 103 + + IV.--OUR MOTHER TONGUE 110 + + National Traits of Character 112 + + The American Nation 120 + + Centripetal and Centrifugal 124 + + Rotation of Centripetal and Centrifugal Action 130 + + V.--NATIONALITY AND RACE DISTINCTIONS 137 + + Idiomatic Expression 141 + + Origin of Anglo-Saxon Race and Idiom. + + Origin of German Race and Idiom. + + Relationship Supposed to Exist as between the + German and English Nations 148 + + Language and Motion 151 + + Difference in their Mode of Breathing as between + Anglo-Saxons and Germans 159 + + Rise and Fall, or Rhythm 160 + + Stress 174 + + VI.--PHYSIOLOGY OF VOICE IN RELATION TO WORDS 178 + + Significance of the Term "School" of Singing 187 + + Breathing 198 + + Song, Singers, and Physiology 210 + + INDEX 223 + +[Illustration] + + DUALITY OF VOICE + +[Illustration] + + DUALITY OF VOICE + + AN OUTLINE OF ORIGINAL RESEARCH + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +By the time this book will appear, nearly six years will have elapsed +since I discovered the voice of the œsophagus, and almost five since I +published a preliminary account of this discovery in a book entitled +_The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance_.[1] This discovery, though the most +comprehensive and far-reaching of any that has ever been made, not +only in regard to the voice, but in regard to the better comprehension +of our nature and our entire human existence, has remained as unknown +to the world as if it had never been made. Yet some day, when its +importance is recognized, it will take rank in the annals of the +history of the human race as second to no other discovery that has +influenced and shaped human thought in the proper recognition of the +origin and the nature of man, spiritual as well as physical, his +abilities and his limits, and his relative position, influence, and +destiny in the economy of the universe. + +[1] Edgar S. Werner. New York, 1894. + +I have spent so many years of arduous labor on these investigations, +and have become so thoroughly convinced of their truth, that I have +ventured to make these assertions without the slightest compunction, +or fear of final contradiction. Although the facts involved in these +matters entitle me to these declarations, I would not have overstepped +the bounds of modesty in so far as to make them had not my first +experience forced upon me the conviction that the path of modesty in +matters of this kind is not the one to success. I was so impressed with +the exalted position of science, and so apprehensive of my own powers, +that in my former publication I as much as apologized for my temerity +in telling the scientific world things of which it did not have any +previous knowledge. These last four years, however, have so enlarged my +views and given me such a firm grasp and insight, that I no longer fear +any man's judgment. I would, on the contrary, heartily welcome honest +and competent criticism, being convinced that the same would not and +could not but strengthen my position. + +As a matter of personal gratification, I am indifferent to success; but +I think the time has come when these matters should not continue to +remain with me alone, but should become the property of all, not for +my sake, nor simply for that of science, but for the sake of truth, +and the benefit of mankind. Had my previous statements been given +the consideration they deserved, other persons, in all probability, +would have made _some_ of the many discoveries, at least, that it +has now been my privilege to make single-handed. Still, the field is +inexhaustible; that which I have discovered being but an index hand to +that which is still to be discovered. Having no reason to doubt but +that I am a properly organized member of the human family, I consider +myself entitled to speak of my personal experience as in like manner +applicable to every other member of that family. + +Having found it expedient to frequently address the reader in a +"direct" manner, using the personal pronoun "you" in so doing, I must +ask his pardon for this liberty. In thus addressing him, I trust we +shall be in better rapport; all I shall have to say thus becoming, +in a manner, a confession as from author to reader. While I confide +in him and make him participate in these vital discoveries, I want +him to confide in me, in so far as to take it for granted that all I +shall say is truthfully meant, and that it has been arrived at, not +superficially, but only after the most searching and long-continued +investigations. We will thus become partners in a research as great +as any that has ever agitated man's mind, or filled his soul with +things of great moment. Having penetrated into matters which have +heretofore been considered as occult, or inaccessible to man, my mode +of proceeding will be found interesting as a guide to others wanting to +pursue similar investigations. + +In the beginning, it was all brought about by my simple desire, being +a German, to speak the English language in the precise manner in which +native-born persons speak it. For this purpose, I unwittingly pursued +the same course which has been pursued by many others under similar +circumstances; namely, that of introspection. Having been indefatigable +in this course (which others must not have been), after pursuing the +same for some time I was startled by unforeseen discoveries. They were +phenomenal, and far beyond any previous design, hope, or expectation. +After this, my original endeavor to speak the English language +idiomatically correct became a matter of secondary importance. My +eyes once opened, I _continued_ to persevere in this course, and thus +succeeded in penetrating deeper and deeper into matters heretofore +deemed inaccessible to man. + +Having pursued investigations by means of introspection now for a +number of years, it has become an easy habit with me, and I can +recognize and pursue processes by which results are obtained through +_inner_ motive powers, almost as plainly as such by which results are +obtained through visible and tangible means. The facts thus observed +and recognized as truths have become so numerous as to be almost +overwhelming, in number no less than in importance; so much so, that +I scarcely know where to turn or where to commence, to be able to +communicate them all to others in due form and sequence. These facts +are not temporary, but are constant; in so far as they can be conjured +up at any time and under any circumstances, and are always of the +_same_ nature. They are of an entirely reasonable, practical, and, for +the most part, mechanical nature; and are explanatory of the exercise +of our faculties and functions, spiritually as well as materially. That +these observations mirror actual proceedings going on within us for the +production of vocal utterance, of breathing, motion, and locomotion, +and the exercise of various other faculties and functions, it will be +my endeavor, by actual demonstration, to prove through this and future +publications. + +For the purpose of enabling others to pursue a similar course of +studies, I shall take especial pains to point out my course of +proceeding as plainly as I can--such course with me having been +entirely rational, positive, and direct, and without in any sense +disturbing my ordinary mode of existence. The course pursued in +physiologico-psychological studies, in fact, does not differ greatly +from that pursued in the study of purely psychological subjects, which +is also carried on by means of introspection, though it is of a more +positive nature. + +When the following was first written (it is nearly two years ago now), +I intended, at an early date, to publish a short treatise on the +subject of the voice only. Since then, however, the same has assumed +greater and greater proportions, embracing many other subjects. Still +I have deemed it best not to change this introduction in consequence +thereof. + +Though not quite ready for another publication (the subject is so great +and my knowledge so inadequate), I do not know that I should have +_ever_ been _quite_ ready, but for several incidents, all happening +about the same time, which have induced me to break the silence I +have observed since the publication of my book, _The Basic Law of +Vocal Utterance_. These incidents, though in themselves apparently +insignificant, have impressed me with the belief that I owe it to +the public and myself to say something in explanation of what I have +already said, and to add thereto (partly, at least) what has since been +ascertained. + +In the November, 1896, number of _Werner's Magazine_, I noticed the +following: + + "A good example of the inadequacy of expressional terms in + discussing vocal topics is shown by Mme. Clara Brinkerhoff + and Mr. Emil Sutro. Mme. Brinkerhoff has been a contributor + to this magazine, and has addressed musical bodies, for many + years. Mr. Sutro is author of the book, _The Basic Law of Vocal + Utterance_. Both of them maintain that the voice is something + more or other than an expiratory current of air set into + vibration by purely physical agencies. Mme. Brinkerhoff thinks + that the voice is the utterance of the soul, and that the soul + has its seat in the solar plexus. Mr. Sutro scoffs at the + theory that the voice is only out-coming air vibrated at or by + the cords situated in the larynx. He thinks that the ligaments + under the tongue also serve as vocal cords, and that speech + is the product of vibrating ingoing air as well as vibrating + out-coming air. Just what they think the voice is neither of + these persons makes clear to others. Their failure to express + their thoughts, however, should not be taken as proof that they + have not caught glimpses of truths of the greatest importance. + Still, our impression is that their concepts are too vague + to be put into intelligible language even if the expressional + terms at hand were adequate. But, all things considered, the + fact still remains that discussion will continue to be largely + useless so long as one person does not know what the other + person is talking about." + +In addition to all this, the proceedings of various societies in New +York alone, judging by their reports also contained in the November, +1896, number of _Werner's Magazine_, which is of unusual interest +throughout, show how great is the interest which, at the present time, +centres around this matter of the voice. In place of saying the "truth" +in matters of the voice, as contained in my book, it would, perhaps, +be more correct to have said, "the first ray of light that has ever +penetrated the gloom and the mystery surrounding the nature of the +voice." In _Werner's Magazine_ it is stated: + + "If Mr. Emil Sutro's book, _The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance_, + be right, then other writers on vocal science are wrong. His + statements are startling and revolutionary. He claims to have + discovered a new vocal cord and to be able to prove that speech + sounds are the product of inspiration as well as expiration. + The significance of this is apparent when it is realized that + all vocal authorities, heretofore, have taught that voice + is vocalized expiration, and that speech is this vocalized + expiration articulated into words. + + "The author draws a sharp distinction between the air taken + for life-purposes and the air taken for speech-purposes. He + says that vital breathing can and should go on independent of + artistic breathing, and that the two processes need not and + should not disturb nor conflict with one another. He combats + the theory that the lungs are a reservoir of air, which in the + vocal act is pressed against the vocal cords of the larynx, + thereby producing tone, which is resonated and modified by the + parts above the glottis. He maintains that it is a physical + impossibility to give sufficient force and rapidity to the + lung air to put muscular and cartilaginous tissue into tonal + vibration,--that this force and this rapidity can come only + from the internal atmospheric pressure, and that, therefore, + preparatory lung inhalation for voice-purposes obstructs rather + than aids the vocal act. He gives a new explanation of the + formation of speech sounds, and offers various novel theories. + + "Many readers will hesitate to accept his views, yet as long as + vocal science is still in a formative condition and involved in + so much chaos and uncertainty, any attempt at a solution should + receive careful consideration." + +I have cited this able review in full, written by one whose life has +been one act of devotion to the solution of these questions, as it will +at once introduce the reader into the drift of my investigations as far +as they had advanced up to that time. + +I have continued to steadily devote myself to the further prosecution +of my investigations, never publishing anything, scarcely ever speaking +on this subject to any one. The subject appeared to me so great and so +far above my ability to master it that I, at first, looked around for +assistance among those I deemed most likely to be able to render it. +But no one had any assistance to offer, no one scarcely seemed even to +comprehend what I was after. Thus, at last, almost in despair, I made +up my mind that I must undertake this task single-handed; and I have +been at it, scarcely without interruption, ever since. + +Meanwhile, the play of "Much Ado about Nothing," or "The Farce about +the Larynx," continued to go on bravely all over the world. I have +watched it with a sense of pity, rather than amusement. It appeared +to me, more than anything else, like a game of blind man's buff, +in which _all_ the participants were blindfolded; my own horizon, +meanwhile, being illumined by roseate tints representing continuous new +discoveries, like a May morn before the rising of the sun. + +The voice has been treated as a separate mechanical issue, while it is +the outcome of a series of both physical and spiritual issues. While +the old school is reproducing, in its minutest details, the _dead_ +branch of a tree, I am portraying, in its majestic proportions, the +broad expanse of a _living_ oak. + +These anatomical details may interest scientists; they are valueless +to the singer, as he has no control over the movements of the larynx. +He need but "attack" his note in the right way, and all these muscles, +sinews, cartilaginous tissues, etc., will fall into line, involuntarily +and unsolicited. + +Now that I am offering innumerable _proofs_ in corroboration of my +assertions, I want scientists to take these matters _seriously_, and +not to look upon this book, also, as some may possibly have felt +inclined to do in regard to my previous publication, as a "scientific +curiosity" merely. There are no greater problems before the world +to-day than are treated here. + +During all these years of unrequited labor, which extend far beyond +the day on which I made my memorable discovery, my personal affairs +meanwhile constantly suffering, with but one notable exception _no_ +hand was held out to me in succor. In view of this fact (and it is the +experience of many who, in the privacy of their souls, are struggling +after the light), I want to ask this question: With all the noble +institutions for _learning_, why are there none to assist those who +are attempting to solve questions _to be taught_ for the benefit and +advancement of mankind? True, there are scholarships and fellowships +for students, but they are not available to persons advanced in years +who have duties to perform and families to support. When successful in +the end, their reward--if there is any--often comes too late to be of +any practical value. + +Such would be the case with me should any material acknowledgment come +to me now, having of late attained to the leisure I had so much longed +for, thanks to my previous labor and a brave son's devotion and valued +aid and assistance. No man, however, will ever know how long I have +been kept under the ban of purely materialistic endeavors, while these +higher things were occupying my mind and clamoring for recognition. A +sum equal to that representing a single day's expenditure for _falsely_ +teaching matters connected with the voice, alone, the world over, not +to speak of other matters of still greater importance, would have +sufficed for a number of years, if not for a lifetime, to place me +in a position to devote myself exclusively to the exposition of the +correct principles underlying these important subjects. As it has +been with me, no doubt it is and always has been with many others in +different fields of research. + +Since the publication of my previous book, I have had four years of +continuous experience, during which the statements therein made have +been strengthened and enlarged, so that I am now ready to support +them with an endless array of proof. That book, however, was the +beginning of what some day will be regarded as a greater movement in +the right direction than any previous one, for attaining an insight +into nature's occult work in creating, developing, and sustaining the +living organism, and the exercise of its faculties and functions, more +especially _man's_ faculties and functions. The subject, however, is +of so subtle a nature that it cannot be treated like a mathematical +problem or a chemical analysis; still, I shall do the best I can with +such means as are at my command. + +Recently an acquaintance who is interested in vocal culture asked me +how I was getting along, and I answered, telling him something like +what I have said in the preceding. He replied: + +"That is the trouble with you Germans. This is a live world, a +practical world; we want facts, results--something we can turn to +account and make use of." + +This impatience (and who can blame those who are suffering, or those +who, being young and talented, want to be led into the right path) +throws the door wide open to all kinds of charlatanism--charlatanism +which is honest and charlatanism which is dishonest, the former, being +more readily trusted, often working the greater harm. The best teaching +for the present, in default of a science, is that which is based simply +on experience; the pseudo-science now being taught being worse than no +science at all. + +While the exercise of speech is next to universal with all men, no one +has any idea of _how_ it is exercised; the wisest being as much in the +dark as the least informed. + +This is what so eminent a man as Oliver Wendell Holmes had to say on +the subject in one of his lectures, delivered not many years before his +death: + + "Talking has been clearly explained and successfully imitated + by artificial contrivances. We know that the moist membranous + edges of a narrow crevice (the glottis) vibrate as the reed + of a clarionet vibrates, and thus produce the human _bleat_. + We narrow or widen, or check or stop the flow of this sound + by the lips, the tongue, the teeth, and thus _articulate_, or + break into joints, the even current of sound. The sound varies + with the degree and kind of interruption, as the 'babble' of + the brook with the shape and size of its impediments--pebbles, + or rocks, or dams. To whisper, is to articulate without + _bleating_, or vocalizing; to _coo_, as babies do, is to + _bleat_, or vocalize, without articulating. Machines are easily + made that bleat not unlike human beings. A bit of India-rubber + tube tied around a piece of glass tube, is one of the + simplest voice-uttering contrivances. To make a machine that + articulates, is not so easy." [The Italics are Dr. Holmes's.] + +It is not the _humorist_ Holmes, however, who has said this, as one +would suppose that it was, but it is the writer, scientist, and +thinker, who was in dead earnest when he gave unto the world this +"definition of the gift of speech." + +Any comment on my part would but weaken the sense of the ludicrous +this "explanation" of so great a subject, even from a mere mechanical +standpoint, must arouse in the reader. Yet Dr. Holmes's "explanation" +is not any more preposterous than that of many other scientists of the +present day. + +Teachers have said that, not being a teacher, I could not know anything +about the voice. As if _they_ had the sole patent right to the voice, +and others held their voices but from them, in fee! I, however, took +the liberty of looking into my own voice and trying to find out whence +it came and what it was made of. It is not much of a voice, to be sure; +yet it has the common attributes of all voices. Besides, I should +like to know who, in truth, _is_ a teacher. He who over a narrow path +follows the footsteps of others, or he who strikes out boldly for the +root and the truth of a matter, and, disregarding precedents, goes down +to the very bowels of the earth, if need be, to bring it to the surface? + +The knowledge of even the best of us is not much more than some froth +on the surface of the well of truth. Yet that froth is all these timid +souls have dared to examine. They have not had the courage to dive +down deep into its fathomless flood. Many a truth has been taught by +those who had been considered innocent of any knowledge thereof. I +am one of these "innocents," and, on the whole, am not sorry for not +having been imbued more with the knowledge, or supposed knowledge, of +the present day. + +We are so much the slaves of habit that we become reconciled to any +condition, almost, no matter how undesirable or absurd it may be. Thus +biological science has been going along in a rut for centuries, but +little having been ascertained of vital importance; nor could this +have been otherwise, considering the modes of investigation. I was +not surrounded by so many trees that I could not see the woods. My +perspective was as clear as a bird's, that soars above and beyond the +smoke of the city and the dust in the eyes of the heirs of generation +upon generation of anatomical and physiological research, burying +beneath its lumber the clear insight of the soul. Thus, ignorance with +me may indeed have been bliss. Yet I do not want to place myself in +a position as deprecating science, having the highest appreciation +for all its endeavors. I deprecate science only in so far as, dealing +with matter, it attempts to draw inspiration therefrom as to spiritual +issues; and the voice certainly is a spiritual issue. + +The following appears in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_, under the +heading of "Animal Magnetism": + +"Mr. Heidenhain, after stating that in conformity with the manner +in which one muscle is affected, others become similarly affected, +proceeds to say: 'Probably the reflex excitement would extend still +farther, but I naturally consider it out of the question to try +whether the muscles of respiration would become affected. It is easily +understood that such experiments require the greatest caution and may +be very seldom carried out.'" + +Valiant Mr. Heidenhain, brave explorer on a new and "dangerous" field +of research. This is the _Ultima Thule_ which any of these bold +adventurers have endeavored to reach. _My work began where theirs came +to an end._ Though I have not reached the "North Pole," I have gone far +beyond anyone else. + + +COMMENTS OF A DISTANT REVIEWER + +This entire subject is of so subtle a nature that I must warn the +reader to be patient in its study and careful of his judgment. Should +the present work, however, also fail to elicit the attention of +my fellowmen, some thinker, perhaps, of a future generation, upon +discovering a copy of this book on the dusty shelves of an antiquarian, +while looking over its time-stained leaves and after struggling with +its vernacular, may be struck with some remark coinciding with ideas +arrived at by himself and other scientists of that day, and while +commenting upon his "find," may possibly deliver himself thus: + +"As the nineteenth century of the Christian era was drawing to a +close, a citizen of the (then) youthful country of the United States +of North America published a book which contained disclosures far in +advance of his time and generation--truths, in fact, concerning life +and the exercise of our faculties and functions, which, if properly +understood, might have eventually led to even the solution of the very +mystery of the soul. Though science at that remote period had made +marvellous strides forward, its endeavors were mostly of a utilitarian +character, or consisted of efforts to explain phenomena from a strictly +materialistic standpoint. The author of this book, however, by dint +of a combination of extraordinary circumstances, which induced him to +search for causes of phenomena within, in place of outside of himself, +had succeeded in breaking through the barriers which had, theretofore, +separated phenomena which were called 'natural' from those which, by +the majority of mankind, were still supposed to be 'supernatural,' or, +at least, unexplainable, unknowable, beyond the ken of man. + +"He was thus enabled to penetrate more deeply than any one ever had +before into the knowledge of the mysterious forces which engender and +sustain organic life. Had he been properly understood, the compass of +human knowledge would have been greatly enhanced, and the race itself +liberated from the narrow limits to which it had been confined by the +scientists almost as much as by the theologians (by the doctors of the +body almost as much as by those of the soul) of his day. Some writers +of that period delighted in depicting a state of affairs several +centuries ahead of their time. The changes which were supposed to have +taken place, however, had reference to material developments only, and +did not contemplate any advancement of a purely spiritual nature. + +"Though the founder of the Christian religion, and other men of a +high order of intellectual and moral insight, had laid down rules +for 'deportment' which to a great extent still govern the world; in +regard to a spiritual insight, the dearth, the waste, the discord, the +distraction, the unrest, the 'Weltschmerz' (as the Germans called it), +the despair of science, which knew but and dealt but with the baser +part of our existence, unable to penetrate into the higher, was then at +its height. The 'miracle' had ceased to exercise its influence over the +intellectual classes, and knowledge had not taken its place. + +"This writer, however, through his discoveries, had opened up the +way--made a beginning--to a penetration of science into the realms of +the spirit; and a substitution of faith based on _facts_ for one based +on tradition and fancy only. Religion and science, having been factors +of a different, almost antagonistic, order, thus at that early period +already might have become reconciled and united through _knowledge_; as +to some extent, though by different means, they have become since. + +"In thus gaining more knowledge, more light regarding the motive +powers which govern our existence, the shackles which had overwhelmed +the soul would have long since fallen to the ground, and a _truly_ +brotherly spirit would have prevailed among all classes and peoples +in place of much of the prejudice, the insincerity, the overbearance, +the animosity, the cruelty, and the insanity even of the believers in +(or inheritors of) one spiritual theory (often misnamed religion) as +against those of another. + +"The world's thought, just previous to that time, had made great +strides forward through the recognition of the laws of _evolution_, +which culminated in one master mind, through great elaboration and +by citing numerous examples, assigning cogent and necessary reasons +therefor. The world should have been ripe, therefore, for this _greater +movement_ which it was now called upon to face; a movement which went +beyond the mere recognition of phenomena and penetrated into _a priori_ +causes. Strange to say, it either could not or would not understand; +being still bound by fetters which held it in a vise-like embrace of +previously conceived ideas as to the impossibility of penetrating into +matters of this nature, and which prevented it from even _testing_ the +numerous proofs offered by this writer as to the correctness of his +assertions. His investigations, if properly understood, would have +brought spirituality _home_ to us; they would have made it accessible +to us. It would have ceased to be a phantom, and would have become a +reality, a friend on whom we could count, in place of a mysterious and +incomprehensible stranger. + +"Beginning with discovering the dual nature of the voice, the writer +of this book opened up the way to the comprehension of the mystery of +man's dual nature in _all_ its relations. He made the discovery that +the œsophagus is of equal importance with the trachea in carrying on +the process of respiration and in exercising the faculty of vocal +expression; that for these purposes œsophagus and trachea are to an +equal degree directly amenable to the influence of the atmospheric +air; that the dual nature of organic beings in general, and of man +in particular, is represented by the hemispheres of the thorax and +the abdomen; that the former in its entirety represents spiritual +and the latter in its entirety material issues; that the trachea and +its branches on the one hand, and the alimentary canal on the other, +respectively represent these issues more directly; that the fusing +and blending of these issues has for its result the phenomenon called +life; that the severance of these issues has for its result the +phenomenon called death; that there are thus positive limits, place, +and surroundings assigned to material and immaterial issues within the +sphere of our bodily existence, and that combined they pervade our +entire system; that all phenomena of life, especially all phenomena +of a spiritual nature, and among these more ostensibly those of vocal +utterance, owe their origin to these issues momentarily joining hands; +that in so doing there is a transitory fusion, which for an endless +number of purposes is brought about in an endless number of ways. + +"He discovered further that the larynx, previously supposed to be the +_only_ instrument for the production of sounds, has its counterpart +in the 'replica' (the 'larynx' of the œsophagus), located beneath +the tongue and represented by the frænum linguæ and surrounding +cartilaginous tissues; that no vocal sound can be produced except +by the coöperation of the larynx with the replica. He discovered +the circulation of, and the origin of vocal sounds, and many other +important issues. + +"Through his discoveries, if properly recognized, _all_ the sciences +dealing with life would have been placed upon a new and far more +reasonable and comprehensible basis than they had rested upon before. + +"These discoveries would have tended to undermine the basis of every +materialistic school of philosophy, and to place those with spiritual +and ideal propensities upon higher and firmer ground. Had they been +properly appreciated and further expanded by others it would have +eventually become possible to develop _all_ our faculties to the full +extent of their ability, and to correct faults, errors, and defects +caused by wrong education or heredity, through the application of laws +at the very root of our existence; laws which were then, and in fact to +a great extent are to this day unknown. + +"It may, in fact, be said without exaggeration that his discoveries, +which were all made within a period not exceeding five years, +outweighed in importance all other discoveries combined relating to +physiologico-psychical issues made previous to his time." + +I can see many a reader smile after perusing the foregoing, and perhaps +saying: + +"Here is a Jules Verne of a new type come to deal with a novel subject." + +Yet the time will come when the reader will cease to smile, and look +upon these matters _seriously_. I do not mean, however, to throw down +a gauntlet to science on these momentous questions in _a vaunting +and reckless spirit_; but come as a petitioner rather, asking it to +investigate. + +My time and generation are but like a flash from the orb of eternity, +but the laws I have discovered are as eternal as that orb itself. With +all the scientific investigations now going on, there has not even an +approach been made which might have led up to them; nay, not a hint +or a hypothesis, even, leading toward the same. Science, in fact, had +nothing to do with them; the first man might have made them almost as +well as the latest. They are all grappling with matter, while I have +grasped the spirit that is in, yet above, all living matter. + +In making these discoveries I have bent a sail upon the crafts +of physiology and psychology, which have been aimlessly, almost +hopelessly, drifting on the shallow waters of the examination of +isolated material phenomena. This sail will enable them to reach the +broad expanse of the ocean, where they will be able to make soundings +in its deepest waters. + +Professor Huxley declared that during his fifty years of experience as +a student and teacher not one thing really _new_ had ever come under +his observation. Had he lived to become acquainted with these facts I +feel confident he would have declared them to be new. + +The venerable Professor Virchow, the other day, in an address before +the International Congress of Physicians at Moscow, made use, in +substance, of these words: "The cell is immortal--there must have +been a previous cell for its generation. On this fact as a basis +(ascertained by the aid of the microscope) the science of the coming +century may securely rest." + +And he set this down as the greatest achievement of science in respect +to the recognition of the phenomena of life. Yet there is nothing +more fallible than the microscope in ascertaining facts regarding +the knowledge of life. It may to some extent reveal the essence of +_matter_, but it is not given to it to assist in recognizing the +principles which govern life and the _spirit_ of life. + + +FRAGMENTS + +This book, in a sense, is a personal narrative, and necessarily must +be so, giving an account, as it does, of observations in experiments +upon myself. In making these experiments I have endeavored to treat +myself impersonally, as a subject, so to say, placed at my disposal +for experimental purposes; my ego having been the object as well as +the subject of my investigations. In occasionally speaking of the +results thus obtained in a eulogistic manner, this should not be looked +upon as self-praise, therefore, but rather as an impersonal mode of +describing what has come under some one's observation--this "some one" +being myself. I want to place the matters I have observed before the +reader in the right light, and do not hesitate to say or fear to say +just what I think to be the truth. If I were to wait for others to say +these things the reader who does not comprehend their latitude as I +do might have to wait a long time before he could grasp the subject +in its entire importance. I want to say this much as an apology and a +vindication for frequent indulgences in apparent self-eulogism. + +I have another motive for making such remarks; viz., the desire of +rousing the scientific world from its apathy regarding these matters. +These laudatory remarks may wound its pride, and possibly arouse its +ire,--more especially in view of their coming from a layman,--and +thus induce it to study these matters, if but for the purpose and +with the view of controverting them. I would hail such an endeavor +with pleasure, not having the slightest fear of its ability to +successfully controvert any of the vital facts I have ascertained, and +whose correctness I expect to prove by a great array of facts with +accompanying proofs. + +When I first began to make these studies, I made numerous notes as new +features happened to present themselves to my mind. I have encountered +no inconsiderable difficulty in sifting this material so as to present +my experiences in as connected and consecutive a manner as possible. +In this, however, I have only partially succeeded; nor have I been +able to altogether avoid repetitions. For these shortcomings I must +plead a want of time. For some time past, however, my experiences have +accumulated so rapidly that I have ceased to take any notes whatever, +trusting to my memory that these mental notes may be recalled at the +proper time. No doubt some things, even of importance, have thus been +lost sight of. Still, while pursuing similar studies, they may in the +course of time turn up in some one else's mind. + +In looking over some of my notes I have found things which I have +deemed worthy of preservation. I let some of these follow in a +promiscuous manner. This, it must be admitted, is not in accordance +with scientific usage. But I am not a scientist, simply an amateur; +and take advantage of the privileges this fact gives me. If I were to +conform to strict scientific rules and "etiquette," years might elapse +before I could get these matters into proper shape. It will always +remain a mystery to me, however, why these things should have come to +me at all--so unworthy, so unadapted to their proper exposition. In +order to do them justice, they should have come to one complete master +of his time, young, strong, possessed of a wide range of knowledge and +a deep insight. + +I will now let follow some of the matters I have spoken of: + +My personality and my work must go together, until others relieve me +of the latter by making it _their_ work to the same extent that I have +made it mine. You cannot separate the fiddle from the fiddler, neither +having any significance apart from each other, except by the fiddler +perpetuating that which the fiddle produces--the composition,--by +writing it down, thus transmitting it to others. This I am trying to do +by this book. + +No doubt some of the things which have come under my observation in +some form or other are already known to science, and are, therefore, a +corroboration, or an explanation, only, of things already known. With +me, nevertheless, _all_ is original; and I may therefore justly claim +that if any of these matters have been discovered before, I, at least, +have _re-discovered_ them. + +If I were an institution possessing a guaranty of continued existence I +might value the present lightly, knowing a future would come when these +matters will be fully understood. Being a creature of the present, +however, which may be turned into the past--especially at my time of +life--at almost any moment, these matters should become known at the +earliest opportunity; some of them being of so subtle a nature that +they may require personal explanation and illustration. They have been +hidden from us in the past; should they fail to be made known now, _the +same opportunity may not arise again for centuries_. + + * * * * * + +I do not claim any special sagacity over others for having made these +discoveries, and disbelieve altogether in miraculous interposition. Yet +I do not want to be prejudiced in any direction. + +We are surrounded by the mysterious and the miraculous; and that which +is called "natural" as a rule is far more mysterious than that which is +called "miraculous." + +"Truth is stranger than fiction"; which is undoubtedly true. We can +imagine that only of which we have at least _some_ knowledge, but there +are realms of truth beyond us of which we have _no_ knowledge. Besides, +these revelations are of so extraordinary a nature that I cannot +altogether close my eyes to the fact that I _may have been led on to +them_ by agencies beyond my personal power of volition. I will cite but +one reason why such an idea might be justly entertained by me. + +That which originally led me on to these investigations, as already +mentioned, was the simple desire to speak the English language just as +native-born persons speak it. Although I eventually became aware of the +fact that this was next to impossible, yet I persisted in this endeavor +to such an extent that I spent far more time on it than it would have +deserved had I been _convinced_ that I would be finally successful. +Again and again I said to myself, "This is a foolish, absurd, unworthy +undertaking for a person of intelligence"; the next minute I was at +it again, trying to utter this sound or pronounce that word in the +"correct English fashion." + +I want to ask, What was it that impelled me to thus persist, almost +against my wish, will, and better insight? When, after many years +of this almost wanton endeavor, I discovered the dual nature of the +voice, I could not help but think that an influence beyond myself had +been exercised to impel me to persist in these efforts, which were +then crowned with a success of a different order, and far beyond any +previous expectation. _I then found what I had been after unknown +to myself._ To simply say I was "infatuated" would not explain this +strange adherence to what for a long while looked like a vain and +hopeless undertaking. + +I am aware that for me to say, as I have just now said, "I cannot +altogether close my eyes to the fact that I may have been led on by +agencies beyond my personal power of volition," may expose me to +ridicule in the eyes of some persons; besides being a contradiction to +my other convictions. Yet I say so deliberately and am quite willing to +abide by the consequences. It is a case of the duality of our nature, +which impels me to take a naturalistic or biogenetic view of things in +one direction, yet forces me to take a spiritualistic or abiogenetic +view of them in another direction. I do not comprehend those who under +_all circumstances_ are capable of pursuing either the one direction or +the other. + + * * * * * + +I might say I have been on a prospecting tour to a _new_ country, where +I found the outcroppings of numerous veins of precious ore. These veins +are _true fissure veins_, penetrating, as they do, into the very bowels +of the earth; and it will take centuries to exhaust them in all their +_dips, spurs, and angles_. + + * * * * * + +It will be a matter of surprise that a layman, one not of the tribe +which make science the pursuit of their lives, should have penetrated +into these mysteries. It must not be lost sight of, however, that +science, as a rule, deals with things visible and tangible, while the +voice is a sensation which, regarding its origin in the ego, cannot be +observed outside of the ego. One may by close observation trace the +origin of one's voice to its innermost channels, and thus learn much +about the subtlest characteristics of its nature, a proceeding to which +it would not be possible to subject any one else's voice. The same +conditions prevail in regard to other sensations which have also come +under my, at least, partial observation. + + * * * * * + +Science, as a rule, has been satisfied with the observation of results, +of phenomena, without attempting to penetrate into causes, which seemed +to be unalterably hidden from its gaze. Special features, however, of +the voice have been ably and successfully observed and described by +many eminent persons. To these I have not given any attention, partly +because they were beyond my sphere, and partly (not being a musician) +because they were beyond my power of observation. + + * * * * * + +In looking for the voice, anatomy in its minute examinations of the +larynx has but opened up a grave for us to gaze into. And what have we +beheld? A skeleton of the voice's body--of its soul not a trace. This +skeleton, to boot, is but a _portion_ of the mechanism of the voice; +of its other parts, equally important, science has not even known that +they were in existence. Like a palæontologist or an archæologist, I +have dug up these other parts or fragments from all around; some were +found close at hand, others quite a distance off. I have skilfully put +them together, and have thus constructed a fairly _complete_ torso, or +framework of the voice. I say "torso," though I may justly claim more +than that, having again infused the soul into it which had fled from +it; and, see, it has become a _living thing_. + +That the wonderful apparatus contained in the throat is for a purpose +there cannot, of course, be any doubt. It is but partly for the +purpose attributed to it, however, and, until we better comprehend +this part-purpose, especially in view of the fact _that we have no +control over its mechanism_, it will be best, as far as singers and +elocutionists are concerned, to surrender it to and leave it with the +anatomists. + +To the ultimate aim of science--the knowledge of life--I have +contributed matters of a nature deemed beyond the province of the +knowledge of man. Was it ever intended that they should be known? On +more than one occasion I have been puzzled to know whether to go on +with these investigations; whether I had a _right_ to go on with them. +Still, I was sustained by the fact that I had been _led on to them_. +For what other purpose could this have been done but for that of +making the results thereof known? They could serve no good purpose in +remaining locked up _within myself_. + +It is my belief that the ordinary course of events is never interfered +with; but that _great_ events may be inaugurated by unseen agencies and +guided by unseen hands. The responsibility which has devolved upon me, +incompetent and unprepared as I am, is almost too great; still, I must +try to discharge it to the best of my ability. + + * * * * * + +I have no personal motive of either fame or fortune. At one time I +would have been pleased with such results; now it is too late. If not +in my day, some day, I trust, some one will read and comprehend; some +one will not mind the trouble of investigation. It is not likely that I +shall _forever_ remain the only "seeing one." + +It would have been better if I had not published a line for at least +ten years. It would have taken that long to say what I want to say, +_properly_. My time is too uncertain, however, to run such a risk. My +friends are falling to the right and left by the roadside. I must be up +and doing; must make a beginning at least. + +We must be satisfied with reaching matters approximately, and argue by +analogy to some extent; and also hope that others will take them up and +push them along a little farther than we have been able to do. Perhaps +in the course of time a perfect insight may be arrived at. + + * * * * * + +The community of man is a necessity; a separate existence, an anomaly. +We are dependent and interdependent upon one another. Man cannot +escape his fellow-man. In the remotest desert his spirit is still in +communication with him. If it were not so, who would not at times want +to flee all, escape from all? + +I have but one fear--inability, for some reason or other, to finish +my work. I feel like the heroine of a celebrated German novelist, +travelling about with a trunk filled with gold, which she distributed +among the _deserving poor_ as fast as she came across them. Meanwhile +she was in constant fear lest her life should ebb out before all was +distributed, and its precious contents _lost_ to those for whom they +were intended. If there were any way of imparting this knowledge +other than by writing it down, I would gladly resort to it. But how +can I reach the few who are capable of and willing to take up these +questions, except by communicating them to the many? These "few" will +be found in all parts of the world, for these truths apply to _all_ +men, independent of sex, race, or country. + + * * * * * + +My cry is not for recognition. My personality might be blotted out, +like that of millions of others, without its being noticed, yet, by +virtue of this trust which has been reposed in me, what a loss it would +be! My cry is for investigation and the coöperation of others, so that +this work may be carried on independent of myself. Meantime, I cannot +transfer this task to others. I must first explain all that it is in my +power to explain. I can then shift it from my shoulders onto theirs. +They must be educated up to it before they can take hold of it as I +have taken hold of it. + + * * * * * + +When I first announced my discoveries, I gave all I possessed, +supposing others would see as I saw and comprehend as I did; having +no doubt but that the world would at once acknowledge their truths +and accept their precepts. I have since found that the world can get +along very comfortably with a vast amount of want of knowledge. I +therefore made up my mind not to be quite so rash again in making it my +beneficiary, not till I was better prepared for the purpose; this other +book of mine having been finished rather hastily in the erroneous +belief that this knowledge was at once and imperatively needed. + +Since publishing this previous book I have also found, which I did +not know at that time, that my very mode of investigation (by means +of introspection) was new; that no one had ever looked into matters +of this kind in the manner I had; besides, it seems strange that in +this age of keen investigation of the most trivial matters, no one +should have deemed it worth his while to look into these more important +subjects. + +Regarding the anatomical investigations of the larynx, and anatomical, +coupled with physiological, investigations generally, let me ask a +question: Supposing a palace with a million apartments, each one in +succession more luxuriously furnished than its predecessor, would they +avail anything to its _sole_ inhabitant, if that inhabitant were blind? + +We have obtained a fair conception of the wonderful palace, the human +body, its numberless apartments and their luxurious furnishings, but +do not comprehend their meaning, except in a remote and unsatisfactory +mechanical sense. _We_ are the blind that inhabit it. Most of these +apartments will remain meaningless to our understanding until we +ascertain what use the sovereign, the soul, which reigns therein, is +making of them, not only mechanically, but _spiritually_ as well. For +the soul lives in them all, though it is supposed that it lives only in +its throne-room of the brain and that it never descends from the throne +set up in the same. + +Just here biologists have blundered, trying to get hold of _psyche_ by +pursuing matter bereft of life; or investigating life in other beings +instead of that inherent in themselves. The vivisection of all the +frogs in the world will not give us the first knowledge of the frog's +soul; certainly not of _our_ soul. The knowledge of the anatomical +construction of the larynx has brought us no nearer the knowledge of +the mystery of the voice than that of the brain has brought us to that +of the soul. We must understand the process by which the mechanism of +the brain is set in _motion_ before we can begin to understand our +mode of thinking. We must comprehend the manner in which a musical +instrument is to be used before we can begin to draw music from the +same. And so must we understand the spirit which moves the mechanism of +the voice (of which so far we have known but a single factor), if we +want to understand our mode of using it. + +Does any one seriously think that by photographing vocal sounds, +or passing a mirror down his throat and watching the movements of +the vocal cords, he will observe anything that will lead him to an +intimate knowledge of nature's subtle process by which vocal sounds are +produced? As well look at the face of a clock and see its hands move, +and then say you have arrived at a knowledge of the hidden intricate +mechanism of the works of the clock. The mechanism of the instrument of +the voice is a thousand times more intricate than that of a clock. It +lives, it breathes, it moves, it expands and contracts, it rises and +falls, it gathers, it gives--now here, now there. + +Starting from the supposition that life is too subtle, too intangible +a thing to have its innermost operations disclosed by the clumsy work +of our hands or the dull vision of our eyes, though increased in +power a thousandfold, I matched the subtle work of my voice with the +subtler of my brain, and thus, undisturbed by any extraneous agency +whatever, watched the process by which, first, simple mechanical, then +articulated sounds, and finally sounds linked together into speech, are +produced. In so doing I traced sounds through the labyrinth of numerous +avenues to their original sources--_the organism of all our faculties, +instead of being confined to their end organs, being widespread over +our entire system_. + + * * * * * + +Physiologists as a rule are satisfied with the _observation and +exposition_ of phenomena. I have endeavored to _explain_ phenomena. I +have gone "behind the returns," as politicians say. I have lifted the +mysterious veil, and have obtained glimpses at the process of life. In +this manner the voice of the œsophagus was first discovered, which, +in logical sequence, has carried me from one discovery to another. +Once in the confidence of nature, it freely opened up to me its heart. +Comprehending one thing led me on to the comprehension of others. + +There is no study which is as fascinating as that pursued by +introspection. It is self-compensating in the highest degree; all +facts thereby evolved being the logical sequence of others previously +ascertained. Or, if not always in sequence, they all fit into the same +system; everything that has been ascertained being a stone which was +waiting to be placed in a certain niche to fulfil a certain purpose +in the construction of a harmonious edifice. There was no waste, no +material entirely lost; nor will there be at any future time. If +similar studies will be pursued by those specially fitted for the +purpose, the time may not be far distant when there will not be an +atom of our material existence whose meaning and purpose will not be +understood. The laws which I claim to have discovered will assist in +this accomplishment, as they are of so broad a nature that they may be +said to form the substructure to forces and conditions which are at the +very root of our existence. I do not pretend to say that in this little +book they have been properly treated, nor that I possess the ability, +under the best of circumstances, to thus treat them. I have but stated +what has come under my observation, and have stated it in as simple and +direct a manner as my instinct and my ability have taught me to state +it. + +I have been up on Mount Washington to see the sun rise. It was a +beautiful picture; still, there were clouds in the way which here and +there obscured my vision, as was to be expected from the unwonted +height to which I had risen, and the distant horizon. + + * * * * * + +I am not writing for a class, but for the multitude to which I belong, +and of which, in its aspirations, its hopes, its sincerity, and its +ignorance regarding _specific_ knowledge, I form a part. Hence my +thoughts are its thoughts and my language its language. There will be +no difficulty, therefore, for _all_ to understand me and to profit by +my experience. + +My observations result in the triumph of the sensation, the feeling +(common to all), over the exact sciences (known to but few). Science, +for the most part, is satisfied with dissecting or analyzing. My +endeavor has been to construct; to form the whole out of parts instead +of reducing the whole into parts. My guide has been instinct coupled +with common-sense,--that rarest of all the senses in spite of its name. +How far it has guided me aright, it will be the province of science to +judge. + +I may be asked why, in treating upon so "simple" a subject as the human +voice (my only endeavor in the beginning), I want to move heaven and +earth, and press them into my service. My answer is, Wherever I touched +the subject of the voice, I found it to be in correlation with all +other subjects. + +My great desire now is, that I may be granted the time and retain the +ability to write out all I have ascertained; while my greatest wonder +is, that these things should have waited for me at all to be made +known; why they should not have been discovered centuries ago. My eyes +once opened, I found them lying about within the easy reach of my arm +and the mere assistance of my pick and shovel, like precious ore in +a newly discovered mining country. I had but to open the lid of the +mysterious casket which had been intrusted to me, and all these great +truths escaped from the same; not to disappear, however, as they did +in the fable, but to remain with me and to be made known through me to +the world. + + * * * * * + +The best part of my life has been spent in this, my adopted country. +Though I experience no difficulty in expressing myself in the English +language, still it is not my native tongue, and I sometimes feel as if +I might have said some things better if I had said them in German. + + * * * * * + +Looking at the many volumes written on the subject of the larynx alone, +and considering that during all this time its associate, the replica, +without whose assistance _not one_ vocal sound can ever be uttered, has +remained unknown, though in plain sight and "in everybody's mouth," one +cannot help but think of Goethe's lines: + + "Ein Kerl der speculirt + Ist wie ein Thier, auf duerrer Haide + Von einem boesen Geist im Kreis herum gefuehrt, + Und ringsumher liegt schoene gruene Waide." + + ("A theorist is like unto a beast + On barren soil by evil sprite led round and round + Within a narrow circle, though beyond there is a feast + Of pasture green on fertile ground.") + + +"THE BASIC LAW OF VOCAL UTTERANCE" + +My earlier work, entitled as above, was written under peculiar +circumstances. After discovering the fact that sounds proceed from +beneath as well as from above the tongue, light streamed in upon +me on so many subjects I had previously attempted to solve that I +was almost dazed thereby. I thought it my duty to make these matters +known, and attempted to describe them as they appeared to me. They +were all perfectly clear to me, and even to-day there is scarcely a +thing I then said that does not wholly stand its ground. Still, to-day, +viewing things from an advanced point of view, much of that which was +then expressed pragmatically, almost in a single sentence, and which +then appeared to be sufficient, I am convinced requires considerable +elaboration and elucidation. + +Take, for instance, this dictum: "The manner in which we breathe for +speech is by raising and lowering the tongue," etc. This is perfectly +correct, and positive proof will be advanced hereafter as to its being +so. + +I thought these matters would be readily understood, not knowing at +that time that between the manner in which I had reached conclusions +and the one in which conclusions had been reached by others who had +also made a study of these matters, there was a vast difference. +Unknown to myself I had lived a life of my own. I had given myself +up to these matters in a manner no one ever had before; having been +everlastingly at it, holding on with a tenacity that knew no restraint. +In this manner I wrung facts from nature that may have never been +intended to be revealed. + +There was something Faust-like in it all, and I sometimes shudder at +my own temerity. Still, I had no such thought when I so persistently +continued trying to fathom the mystery of vocal sounds. Viewing it +in its proper light it was a narrow and every-day undertaking. I was +fairly staggered, therefore, when I reached such unlooked-for results. + +The reader, however, may ask, and I feel it incumbent upon me, as well, +to tell him, What was the nature of these results? Wherein consisted +these discoveries? They covered a large field and whole range of +knowledge. They had reference more particularly to vocal sounds. These, +in fact, had almost exclusively occupied my mind for many years. These +apparently simple factors, vocal sounds, I have since ascertained are +the outcome of laws, forces, and agencies, and combinations of all +these, which largely make up the sum and substance of our spiritual +existence. The direct nature of vocal sounds, therefore, cannot be well +treated upon till some understanding has been arrived at of the nature +of the elements out of which they are composed. I was rash enough to +attempt to explain them, especially the consonant sounds, in this +little book of mine, from a standpoint I had then arrived at. Others +have tried to explain them from a much narrower standpoint still. From +that standpoint I offered explanations as to our mode of speaking, +breathing, as to defective speech, etc. Although this was an advanced +standpoint, and well worthy the consideration of scientists, it was a +standpoint far beneath the one I have arrived at since. + +In attempting to scale a mountain I had reached a point from which I +could overlook the valley immediately beneath my feet. I have since +gone up much higher. Yet there are towering heights still above me +which I shall never be able to reach. From this it will be seen how +difficult it would be for me to state in a few paragraphs what I had +actually ascertained. That book, however, will increase in value +in the course of time, not only for the knowledge it contains, but +historically, so to say, as the beginning of an evolution which, it +seems to me, will eventually embrace all sciences in regard to man; +when treated, as they will be, from a standpoint of inner as against +one of outer consciousness, from the standpoint of the soul and the +heart, as in the inadequacy of our expressions I have to call them, as +against that of the head and the senses. + +I have since arrived at a plan according to which these matters will +be treated in a more systematic manner. In _this_ volume, besides +many novel subjects, I have been enlarging upon and elucidating many +superficially mentioned in my book, _The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance_. +Still, the matters treated upon even in _this_ book cover so much +ground, and had to be condensed to such an extent, that many of these +also will require further enlargement and elucidation. This will be +attempted to be done in future publications. Meantime I trust these +matters will be taken in hand by others, who by their writings will +relieve me of some of this additional labor. Take it all in all, there +is so much of this work that I feel as if I had swallowed the ocean and +was now called upon to give an account of its contents. + + +THE VOICE OF THE ŒSOPHAGUS AND ITS VOCAL CORDS + +Among the discoveries mentioned in my former publication one stands +out most prominent, and it is the basis of all my other discoveries; +namely, "that the voice is of a dual nature." I had ascertained that +sounds circulate around the radix of the tongue; that they, or rather +the air wave which carries them, enters either at the upper surface of +the tip of the tongue and recedes back, to come out again from beneath +its lower surface, or vice versa. I had also ascertained that the +former process is the English, the latter the German, for breathing and +vocal expression. + +I was convinced that this signified a circulation of vocal sounds; and +though I had finally also reached this conclusion and intimated it, +namely, "that we breathe and speak through the œsophagus," I did not +express it in so many words, as I meant to leave this expression for a +future publication. I was at first under the impression that both waves +belonged to the trachea, the one that was ingoing as well as the one +which was outgoing. + +Meantime I had discovered the "larynx or voice-box to the œsophagus," +but considered this at first also as belonging to the trachea. I +thought inspiration and ingoing sounds belonged to the vocal cords of +the trachea, expiration and outgoing sounds to this "new" vocal cord +located beneath the tongue. To study these first attempts, by which +I was trying to find my way, and which culminated in these wonderful +discoveries, I presume would be of interest to the student. I can here +mention only the main points. + +I have found beyond a doubt, and my future statements will more fully +establish this fact, that the frænum linguæ and the parts of the mucous +membrane surrounding the same are relatively of the same nature in +regard to the voice of the œsophagus that the vocal cords and other +parts of the larynx are in relation to that of the trachea. + +In contradistinction to the larynx, I named these entire surroundings +the "replica," as, in conjunction with the tip of the tongue resting +upon the same, they conform to the shape of the oral cavity, of which +in their general appearance they are almost a counterpart. In a +similar manner I named the special part thereof, which "regulates" the +intonation, the "vocal lip," in contradistinction to the vocal cords of +the larynx, which perform the same service for the voice of the trachea. + +After making such positive assertions regarding the replica as I did in +my previous publication--now more than four years ago--I was more than +surprised that no one should have deemed it worth his while to look +into the value of these assertions. If any one had, he could not have +helped but acknowledge their correctness. It is but necessary to utter +any vocal sound whatsoever, either vowel or consonant, and while doing +so watch the vocal lip and the frænum, to become at once convinced that +their motions are of precisely the same order as those of the larynx +and the vocal cords. + +So many have spent year after year upon the difficult and "fruitless" +endeavor to study the motions of the larynx; while here is an +opportunity plainly before every one's eyes to study, without effort, +the most interesting phenomena in voice production. We must be obliged +to seek for a thing high and low before we deem it worthy of our +attention. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE HUMAN VOICE + + +What is the voice--a spirit, or "an expiratory current of air set into +vibration by purely physical agencies"? It does not seem to me to be +either, but something which is of the nature of both: our dual nature, +embodied in the sounds of speech; our body and soul joining hands to +produce the miracle of the voice. Regarding the materialistic view +quoted above, which is held by most of the investigators, who make the +larynx their _point d'appui_, I think that if there is anything in our +composition or emanating therefrom that is _not_ produced by "_purely_ +physical agencies," it is the voice. + +In my opinion there is nothing purer, more "spiritual," in the world +than a beautiful voice. Did you ever _see_ a spirit? Perhaps not. But +you have often _heard_ one. You hear them daily, hourly, constantly; +other spirits as well as your own--the spirits represented by the +voice; the soul incorporated in the sounds of speech. When you +converse, it is soul to soul; when you hear an anthem sung, it is the +soul of the singer to the soul of the universe. The soul reveals itself +most prominently through the voice when there is anguish in it, or joy; +tears or laughter; love or hate. + +An attempt to get at the truth in matters of the voice is an attempt at +getting at the truth in matters of life. If you will tell me _all_ that +a vocal sound is, I will tell you what your soul is. + +To examine into the anatomical construction of the larynx, to watch +it physiologically and learn to understand the motions of the vocal +cords in their relation to vocal sounds, is not much more than looking +at the dial of a clock (a simile already used, but worth repeating). +The movements of the hands will give you _no_ cue to the construction +of the intricate works hidden behind the face of the clock. Nor will +the careful examination and observation of the "dials" which serve the +voice of the œsophagus in the same manner as those of the larynx serve +the voice of the trachea, measurably increase the knowledge of vocal +phenomena. I do believe, however, that, inasmuch as the movements of +the replica, the frænum, and the vocal lip fit into and complement +those of the larynx and its vocal cords, and vice versa, lessons of +great benefit to the knowledge and the improvement of vocal utterance +may be learned, _after_ we have once begun to understand what these +movements imply. + +That we cannot now derive any benefit from the observation of these +motions is due to the fact that they are _reflex_, _involuntary_, +_uncontrolled_ and _uncontrollable_ by the will. Or, as Mme. D'Arona +expresses it: + +"They are not the _cause_ of the perfect tone, but are simply acted +upon by the cause." + +After having become acquainted with the cause of these motions, and +having learned to control it in the interest of pure and perfect tone, +the movements of the larynx and the replica will become of value to +us as "indicators" of the correct or incorrect exercise of the cause +which they reflect. In "recording" the original movements they will +show us what is right or wrong in the latter, and will thus offer us +an opportunity for correcting them. Up to the present they have been +simply barometers, which, no matter how closely we may observe them, +offer us no opportunity for changing "the state of the weather" which +they indicate. After thoroughly comprehending the _causes_, however, +which move them, we may shape the course of the latter in conformity +with our will. Or, vice versa, we may shape our will, which, after all, +is the _first cause_, so as to correct that which they indicate to be +wrong in our tone production. + +Now, what is that which the will acts upon, and thus becomes the +original source, the first cause, so to say, of tone production? My +answer will be a surprise, for, as far as I know, no one has ever as +much as thought, even, of looking in this direction for the seat of the +voice. + +The original source of tone production has its location in _various +vessels of the viscera_: in the lungs, the kidneys, and the bladder, +for the most part, though many other vessels, if not all, participate, +and are more or less involved in its production. Besides these vessels, +the heart and the solar plexus, as central organs of the vascular +and nervous systems, together with the brain as the central seat of +thought and the will, perform parts of the highest importance in tone +production and vocal utterance. In the lungs, the bladder, and the +kidneys, together with their coadjutors, the bronchi and ureters, _the +tone originates_. Here we can control, and unconsciously do control, it. + +I shall adduce indubitable proof as to the correctness of these +assertions. More than that, I shall _locate_ sounds in these various +vessels. As a tone proceeds from a given string located in a given part +of a musical instrument, and cannot proceed from or be produced on any +other string, a given tone of the human voice proceeds from a given +vessel, and cannot proceed from or be produced in any other vessel. + +I shall furthermore show that the various shades of a tone proceed from +various parts of such vessel. Yet, while tones are produced in special +parts, the instrument of the voice being of a sympathetic nature, +_all_ parts of the _viscera_ participate therein, by, in a manner, +_leaning_ towards a vessel in which a tone is produced, thus assisting +in giving it utterance. If a sound is produced in one of the vessels +of the abdomen, those of the thorax, though not directly participating +therein, give it aid and comfort by their passivity, thus throwing the +entire strength of the voice-producing forces into this one spot. If a +sound is produced in the thorax, the vessels of the abdomen aid it in +a similar manner. This is more particularly the case when a sound of a +superior order is to be produced, which is thus _reinforced_ by this +aid. + +In matters of the voice, as in many others, truth is stranger than +fiction. + +Dr. Rush has said: + +"Some day, when the real instrument of the voice will be discovered, +it will be found to be of an order far different in its nature and +construction from that which it has ever been supposed to be." + +The greatest mechanical wonder, however, is that the voice, and that +which is apparently one and the same sound, should under different +circumstances emanate from sources so entirely different in their +construction as the vocal cords to the trachea and those to the +œsophagus, the viscera of the kidneys, the bladder and the lungs, etc. +This fact also accounts for the mystery which, like an impenetrable +veil, has hung over the features of the voice. Who has ever thought of +looking for the spirit of the voice to reveal itself from _beneath_ the +tongue? Who has ever thought that the œsophagus was a breathing-tube +of a similar functional order as the trachea? Who has thought that the +viscera of the abdomen were playing as important a part in breathing as +the lungs? Who has thought that the hemisphere of the abdomen was as +directly amenable to the influence of the air as that of the thorax? +Who has, in fine, thought that the viscera of the abdomen together with +those of the thorax were primarily instrumental in producing the voice +and vocal utterance? + +It may not be pleasant to know, and it may not quite conform with our +æsthetic taste, that the "voice divine" should have its origin in such +vessels as the kidneys and the bladder; but I have no quarrel with +the Creator, and can but wonder, as I have never ceased to wonder from +step to step in all these investigations, at the marvellous resources +of nature. There is one great lesson conveyed through this, namely,--- +that the body is _divine_ in its _every aspect_; parts which have been +supposed to serve ends only of a comparatively low order participating +in the highest spiritual functions. + +This knowledge is the sanctification of the "flesh," so constantly and +unjustifiably rejected and reviled as against that of the spirit. I +am not dealing with theories, but am stating facts which will be as +positively proven as any other scientific facts ever have been proven. +These proofs will not be all forthcoming in this book, however, there +being other subjects of equal, if not greater, importance that I have +to deal with before I can reach them; these subjects being of such a +nature that they must be explained before those immediately connected +with voice production can be properly dealt with. + +I have been reproached with attempting too much; with dealing with too +many subjects at one and the same time; that I ought to complete one +theme and then take hold of another. Just so; but this cannot be done. +I must first deal with general principles. Our entire system being of +a homogeneous nature, I cannot deal with separate issues until these +principles have been dealt with and understood in their entirety. +Besides, I cannot hope to ever _complete_ any one thing. I shall be +well satisfied if I shall be able to simply touch upon every subject +that has come under my observation, lightly, suggesting things, and +leaving it to others to enter more thoroughly into the same. + + +INTROSPECTION + +With our mortal eyes turned outwardly we cannot see spiritual things, +nor the motive power of life, nor the material form the spirit assumes +in moving the mechanism of the body. For there _is_ a material way +in which it is thus moved, as there necessarily must be, and I have +obtained glimpses thereat by turning my eyes inwardly--by looking into +myself with the _inner_ surface of my eyes. + +Yet through all these centuries people have been using that portion +of their eyes which is intended for external vision only, in a vain +endeavor to arrive at spiritual-material facts. Thus the larynx, as +the supposed seat of the voice, has been subjected to scrutiny based +upon laws derived from phenomena which owe their origin to physical +causes only. During this vain endeavor the larynx has been subjected +to torture and maltreatment worse than that inflicted upon a mediæval +witch. + +But its tormentors have derived no solace from this treatment, not even +that of a confession of imaginary sins. Why not? Simply because it had +not anything to confess, being a reflex, an indirect, and not a free +and original agent. Through torture (by means of the laryngoscope), the +destroyer of harmony, we cannot arrive at laws based upon harmony. + +Is not all physiological research more or less of this order? The +"higher law" of science may demand its victims, even as did the "higher +law" of the church. I do not wish to say, however, that the sacrifice +of animals on the altar of science is as useless as that of human +beings used to be on that of religion. Vivisection, however, while it +may, and no doubt sometimes does, help to recognize the physical cause +of disorder, will never be of any value in arriving at spiritual causes +and the recognition of the inner motive power of life, nor to any great +extent at that of the exercise of our faculties and functions. For this +knowledge we require a different mode of proceeding. To penetrate into +the realm of the spiritual-material world (and all phenomena of life +are of that nature) we must not look externally but internally, not +into other beings but into ourselves. That is the only place where we +can hope to find it in action and arrive at the causes of such action. + +As our being cannot enter into the inner life of another being and +identify itself with the same or become a part thereof, or remain apart +and become a spectator of the same or substitute therefor (not even for +that of the simplest and lowest living vegetable or animal organism), +we would have to despair of our ability of ever being able to arrive +at the laws governing life, if we were not able to look into our own +lives by substituting for our observations our inner for our outer +consciousness. + +The word "Introspection" has heretofore meant reflection upon purely +spiritual phenomena only; I have proven by my personal example that we +can observe physiologico-psychological phenomena with considerable +accuracy--very little of this kind of work, as far as I can learn, +ever having been done before. The nearest approach at amalgamation, +probably, is that which is brought about by means of hypnotism. In this +instance the two factors, the positive and the negative, the operator +and the person operated upon, do not fuse, however, and become one, +but remain entities, each in his own right. Or, to speak still more to +the point, while the positive, that is the spiritual, factor of the +operator may, and no doubt does, join hands with the negative, that is +the material, of his subject, by which the operator becomes one with +the latter, there is still but an _influence_, and not an insight. +Besides, this condition is as yet too obscurely known to be made use of +as a practical means of observation. + +After all this, the question will still be asked, "What must we _do_ to +look into ourselves?" + +I will admit that I have not stated what others should do, but in +explaining what I have done I mean to explain what general course +others will have to pursue. By taking into consideration what I have +said, and adding thereto what I shall still have to say, a general idea +may be formed of what the reader must do to place himself in a position +to make original observations by means of introspection. No two cases +being just alike, from the fact that heredity, the mental capacity, +physical condition, education, temperament, nationality, etc., with +no two persons are just alike, it is not well possible to point out a +course quite suitable to all. I might as well attempt to arrive at a +law by the observance of which _all_ persons would be enabled to write +poetry. + +Still, needing assistance in this vast undertaking, I am particularly +anxious to make this matter clear, as the results of these observations +are of vital interest to all, and I am but one weak, ignorant mortal +creature, with but a small fraction of a life left to me in which to +state that which it would at least take a full lifetime to properly +and fully explain. I am overburdened with an insight which is being +increased daily, even against my will, and which I shall never be able +to fully communicate to others. Let the flood-gates of truth once be +opened and come in upon you as they have upon me, and you will be +overwhelmed by the mass of their detail no less than by the vigor of +their mass. My great want, therefore, for the purpose of more fully +arriving at these facts and obtaining ever higher results is assistance +and coöperation. I wish it to be distinctly understood, however, that I +do not mean this in a personal sense--far from it; but in the interest +and the promotion of science, as everybody wanting to make original +observations must pursue these studies for himself and by himself. + +Why such a course has not been heretofore pursued by others I am at +a loss to understand, except from the fact that it takes an unusual +amount of perseverance to reach the first results. Though _all_ persons +may not be able to personally obtain satisfactory results, _all_ may be +_benefited_ by the results obtained by those qualified to successfully +carry on a course of observations by means of introspection. The +world at large will always have to be satisfied with being simply the +beneficiary of scientific research; more especially of research in +matters spiritual or psychical. From facts thus obtained rules may +be deduced, which, translated into "physical forms," may become the +property of all. In this manner numerous observations I have made have +already assumed a practical shape; but I have not as yet been able to +devote the necessary time to them to produce a system which may be used +for general instruction. + +Meanwhile I do sincerely hope that others will take hold of these +matters in all seriousness, and assist me in arriving at these +practical physical forms, which I trust, in fact _know_ beyond the +shadow of a doubt, will be fruitful of the most beneficent results +in the teaching of the deaf, of singing and elocution, of pure vocal +utterance in speaking; in curing stammering and other chronic faulty or +deficient utterance; besides numerous other matters of equal importance +not in immediate connection with vocal utterance. + +That these matters must be and are of the greatest importance to the +medical student goes without saying. It is to be hoped that they may +lead to a more rational treatment of our frail and often ailing bodies. +I say "bodies" because this is the common phrase. Yet how false this +is, every true physician is but too conscious of. Our ailments cannot +be successfully treated from a mere physical standpoint. The question +of life is not a mechanical one; it is spiritual beyond anything else, +the spirit being the motive power giving life to the otherwise inert +physical body. Yet the only endeavor of the physician has always been +to cure the "machine," to set its mechanism right again when it is out +of order, simply because he has not been able to get at the spiritual +motive power which propels it. + +I have been trying to get at this motive power, and to some extent +have been successful in so doing. Besides, the _body_ never suffers. +Its ailments make the soul suffer; while the ailments of the soul have +a comparatively less injurious effect upon the body. The body is the +habitation of the soul. The soul dwells in its _every_ part. As long +as this habitation is habitable the soul continues to dwell therein. +When it becomes uninhabitable the soul departs, never to return. Hence +a body, never so frail and ailing, will continue to live as long as a +vital part is not affected, that is, a part the soul _requires_ for its +habitation and cannot do without. Close such part to the indwelling +of the soul, prevent material and spiritual factors from joining +hands therein, and the spirit departs. Once departed it can never +be made to return. Hence a body in the full vigor of health, after +having been immersed in water sufficiently long to have any one vital +avenue positively closed against the indwelling of the soul, cannot be +resuscitated. As long as the soul clings to it, however, with never so +feeble a grasp, it may come to life again, in the same manner that a +flame nearly extinguished may be fanned to life again. + +For me to _fully_ describe my mode of proceeding in arriving at these +matters would be equal to an attempt at crowding into a few paragraphs +_all_ I have gone through within something like forty years, more or +less, of observation. + + +MAKING PARTS RIGID + +I have already stated that I was originally led into making these +investigations through my simple desire of getting rid of my _German_ +mode of expression in speaking the English language. Being determined +to find out where the trouble was which prevented me from producing +pure English sounds while I experienced no difficulty in producing +pure German sounds, I pursued vocal sounds, through numerous phases, +to their original sources. The endeavor to arrive at the true nature +of vocal sounds through autology and by means of "introspection" has, +no doubt, been made by thousands before me. The reason they were not +more successful must be attributed to the simple fact that such persons +have been lacking in perseverance. It is one of the most misleading +endeavors one can pursue. + +In the beginning I came to what I considered a _positive_ result +perhaps for the hundredth time, but to think I was on the wrong +track the one hundred and first time. I would then, perhaps, finally +determine that the first result arrived at, after all, was the correct +one. In this manner I have in the course of time arrived at positive +conclusions, which have been the basis of all my investigations, and +are undoubtedly correct, as they have yielded up one result after +another and have never proven false. For this, relatively speaking, +"perfect insight" I have waited, before saying anything more at all, +since my previous (preliminary) publication. To these conclusions I owe +my present trust and confidence, and the "boldness and temerity," as +some may say, in making such "startling declarations" in the face of +the accumulated wisdom of the science of this and of past ages. Yet I +am tired unto death of prevarication and of time-serving, and will say +what I consider to be the truth, no matter what may be the consequence. + +Any one singing a false note or mispronouncing a foreign word or sound, +yet knowing what the right note, word, or sound is and should be, can +do the same thing, and by perseverance finally find what he has been +looking for and pronounce such note, word, or sound in its entire +purity. This will put him on the track to the production of _all_ pure +notes or sounds. To accomplish this, he must persistently watch one +result after another. + +My mode of proceeding has been largely in making parts _rigid_, and +then observing the consequences. In pursuing this course for some time, +you will finally attain such a mastery therein that you will be able +to make almost any vessel, muscle, sinew, membrane, tissue, etc., or +any _part_ thereof, rigid. This is done for the purpose of neutralizing +parts which partake in the production of sounds, and will enable you to +closely watch cause and effect in your natural, as well as artistic, +course of breathing and sound production. _Having two languages at my +command, I was startled to find that cause and effect in both were +totally different from each other._ This gave me the original cue to +all my observations. + +In place of sounds, others may pursue odor, taste, feeling, +motion, hearing, etc., to their original sources, and make similar +observations. In so doing they will find that _all phenomena, the +products of our faculties, abilities, or gifts, originally proceed from +the same or similar sources; that there is a homogeneity of proceeding, +mainly consisting in various modes of breathing, in the production of +them all; the end organs of our senses or gifts finally determining +definite special results_. + +For vocal utterance, we draw our inspiration for various results to +be attained, from the air, and breathe in a different mode for every +special performance. These modes of breathing, though the same for all +persons in a general sense and leading through the same channels, in a +more restricted sense are different for every nationality. + +There is no "danger" connected with these pursuits, in spite of Mr. +Heidenhain's fears; which fact is due to the duality of the nature of +each and all our various faculties, there being a safety-valve always +at the other end in the shape of the negative factor. The only danger I +have discovered was in connection with the "streams of life," which do +not permit tampering with without penalty. As these exist independent +of our ordinary mode of breathing, they are not apt to be interfered +with by any neophyte in the pursuits now under consideration. Of these +powerful streams, of which no notice has ever been taken by any one, +though ceaselessly streaming into and out of our system while life +lasts, I shall take occasion to speak later on. + + +EXTIRPATION + +To make a part "rigid" is equal to the "extirpation" of such part. +While it is in a state of rigidity, it ceases to take part in any +action whatsoever; it is inert and the same as if it had ceased to +exist. What advantage, then, let me ask, is there in extirpating parts +in animals, when we can, by making parts rigid, directly extirpate such +parts in ourselves? We can in this manner suppress the action of any +muscle, or the participation of any vessel, or part of such vessel, in +any act, by the simple exercise of our volition. I find no difficulty +in thus "extirpating" any such part from myself for the time being, +and then observing the consequences. I can take hold of the innermost +part of myself, so to say, and take it _out of myself_. In regard to +vocal utterance, these consequences are positive and direct. That +these operations must be very _carefully_ conducted in connection with +_vital_ parts goes without saying. The action of muscles participating +in the production of vocal utterance, however, or in the act of +breathing, except the muscles of the heart, can be suppressed without +danger. I am thus in a position to modify extirpation of parts to any +extent, almost, I desire. I can add to and detract therefrom at will, +and can shift the act of extirpation from the anterior part of a vessel +to its posterior, or from its superior to its inferior, or vice versa, +now making one side rigid, then the other, now one end, and then the +other; or take hold of its centre and leave the other parts free, +or suppress its circumference and leave the centre free. There is +scarcely a limit to the action of my will in handling my subject. All +this while, my feelings, my intelligence, my mind, take in every phase +of these proceedings, and enable me to give a correct account of the +results I have been observing. + +This discovery--for a discovery it must be, as I can find no account of +any similar proceeding ever having been carried on--should, and I hope +will, put an end to vivisection, when it is resorted to for the purpose +of learning anything whatever in respect to the action and the process +of life. By this proceeding I have more or less successfully observed +the acts of breathing, of vocal utterance, motion and locomotion, +hearing, seeing, and thinking. + +I beg leave to here insert without comment the following clipping from +the press: + + The following extracts are from a lecture on "Vivisection in + Relation to Medical Science," delivered by Edward Berdoe, M. + R. C. S., etc., at Cambridge. Lovers of animals may be glad to + know how the medical fraternity amuse themselves: + + "You may open the abdomens of living cats, guinea-pigs, and + rabbits, and apply irritating chemicals to their exposed + intestines, causing what you are pleased to term 'peculiar + rhythmic movements' and 'circus movements,' but what the + unlearned would call violent spasms and convulsions, as was + done by Dr. Batten and Mr. Bokenham, at St. Bartholomew's + Hospital, last year. You may dissect out the kidneys of living + dogs and cats which you have first paralyzed by curare--the + 'hellish oorali' of Lord Tennyson's poem, so called because + the animal's sufferings are intensified by its use, and it is + unable to move a limb, or to bite, scratch, howl, or otherwise + interfere with the operator's comfort. You may do this, as + was done by Dr. John Rose Bradford, at University College, + London. You may infect ninety cats with cholera poison, and + bake numbers of them alive, as did Dr. Lander Brunton. You may + inoculate the eyes of rabbits and guinea-pigs with the material + of tubercle, fix glass balls filled with croton oil--a horribly + irritating drug--and stitch them into the muscles of the backs + of rabbits, then crush them amongst their tissues, as did + Dr. Watson Cheyne, at King's College, London. You may slice, + plough, burn, and pick away the brains of monkeys and dogs, as + did Dr. Ferrier. You may slowly starve to death animals whose + vagi nerves have been cut and stimulated by electricity, as + was done by Dr. Gaskell, of this University, in 1878. You may + cut out the spleens and livers from living rabbits, pigeons, + and ducks, as was done by Dr. William Hunter, of St. John's + College, Cambridge, in 1888, or do a thousand other acts which + in a coster-monger or a farm laborer would be termed and dealt + with as acts of atrocious cruelty, punishable by imprisonment. + But you have not learned the cure for a single malady which + afflicts the human body." + + +THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TONGUE + +There is another mode of proceeding by which satisfactory results can +be obtained, and which was the only one I resorted to in the beginning +and for many years afterwards; namely, the watching of the movements of +the tongue. + +The muscle of the tongue, for vocal utterance, is the most important in +our organization. It appears to me, in fact, as if in its tip there +were a concentration of all the threads which control our existence; +and that it is, therefore, representative of an epitome of our entire +being. As all sciences, in a general, though in some instances +perhaps somewhat remote, sense, centre in the science of life, so +do the controlling elements in our composition centre in the tip of +the tongue. If it were possible to analyze it spiritually as well as +physically, we would obtain a compendium of knowledge far in advance of +any there is in existence in the world at the present time. Still, it +must be admitted that this would, to some extent, depend upon _whose_ +tongue's tip was submitted to such analyzation. The fact of the tip of +the tongue being removed by surgical operation without serious effect +upon the mental condition of the individual does not greatly affect my +assertion. In that case the concentration must have taken place at the +tongue's new tip or end. + +The tongue's tip, with as infallible correctness as the magnetic needle +points towards the north pole, indicates the exact spot whence sounds +come, or should come, to appear on the surface in a clear and undefiled +manner. The tongue's tip, for English vowel sounds, does not touch +any part of the oral cavity. It is constantly changing its position, +however, and for every vowel sound, or shade of a vowel sound, points +in the direction of or _approaches_ the spot whence a sound comes, +or should come. To ascertain such spot with exactitude, it is but +necessary to _extend_ the tongue's tip until it reaches the wall of the +oral cavity during or, still better, immediately after the utterance +of a vocal sound. Upon reaching that spot the tongue may continue in +the same position of contact and the sound can still be uttered with +entire purity. Change this point of contact, however, but in the least, +and such sound will at once cease to come to the surface. Yet, while +_apparently_ a sound comes from the direction in which the tip of the +tongue points, this is not really the case. In pointing in a given +direction, the tongue opens up the channels of the œsophagus and the +trachea in a special manner for the proper emission of a given sound, +beneath as well as above, and to the left as well as to the right of +its radix. In changing the tongue's position but in the least, these +channels will open in a different direction, which may then be the +proper medium for the emission of another sound, but not for the one +under consideration. + +The general mode in which the radix of the tongue turns upon its axis +is the direct and fundamental cause productive of the various languages +of the world; such general mode necessitating special movements of +the tongue for the production of the sounds of any special language. +Regarding the proper emission of consonant sounds every one knows that +the same depends upon the particular spot of contact of the tongue's +tip with parts of the oral cavity. As a matter of fact, such point +of contact also opens, the same as with vowel sounds, the tubes of +the trachea and œsophagus at the tongue's radix in the proper manner +for the emission of a given stream of air for the production of such +consonant sounds. + +Every imaginable opprobrious epithet has been by singers bestowed upon +the tongue. "This obstreperous muscle which is always in the way," says +one. "This troublesome member will persist in going up when you want +it to remain down"; "intractable," "contrary," "obstinate," "wilful," +"ungovernable," "stubborn." All these expressions have been used by +writers on the voice in connection with the tongue, simply because it +would not yield to unreasonable and unnatural demands made upon it; the +tongue, being a free agent, persisting in its natural rights--as much +so as any independent democratic citizen persists in his. + +My observations having been made in connection with a foreign language, +I had a better opportunity for watching my tongue's movements than I +would have had had I attempted to watch them in connection with my +native tongue; the movements of the tongue in connection with the +latter being so rapid and involuntary that it becomes exceedingly +difficult to make any observations at all. It was like having this +foreign (English) tongue exist independently alongside of my own, my +intelligence watching it, and guiding it, now here, now there, until it +would touch the right spot for the right English sound. Knowing what +the right sound was and should be, I never stopped until the same came +to the surface. + +In trying to find my way in this foreign (English) territory of the +oral cavity, I might compare my English tongue to the stick in the +hands of a blind man, who uses it in place of his eyes to ascertain his +whereabouts, so as to enable him to proceed on his way in the right +direction. With my "stick" I felt in every direction, till I found I +could steer clear of obstacles straight into the channel of the sound I +had been seeking. From my German post of observation I was thus enabled +to watch the movements of my English tongue in its efforts to find +itself "at home" in this foreign territory, while I was at the same +time guiding it from one point therein to another. + +I want to call especial attention to and reiterate the fact that +the exact point whence a sound proceeds, or seems to proceed, can, +by extending the tongue's tip, be quite as well (if not better) +ascertained, _after_ the utterance of a sound, as _during_ such +utterance; that is _immediately_ after the tongue has ceased to vibrate +for such sound. + +The difference in the movements of the tongue for various languages +is one of the most interesting observations to be made in connection +with these studies. The German language being the exact opposite, the +antipode, to the English, after comprehending the movements of the +tongue for the latter, its own movements, that is, the movements of the +tongue for German sounds, were not difficult for me to ascertain. + +It is an anomaly to apply the works of German writers on the voice to +the study of the English language, or to that of any other than the +German language; or to apply books written from an English standpoint +to the study of any language except the English--the movements of the +tongue, and, in sympathy therewith, of countless other muscles, being +different for every language. + +Whatever the movements of the tongue are for the _spoken_ language, +they are of an inverse order for _song_. I anticipate in making the +following statement, namely, that while speech is of an order which +is rapid, direct, anterior, exterior, spontaneous, impulsive, and +material, song is of an order which is slow, indirect, posterior, +interior, premeditated, contemplative, and spiritual. I will also +add this: that, _while speech is of the oral cavity, song is of the +pharynx_. In making these remarks and others _in anticipation_, I do +so intentionally and for a purpose; not so much in expectation that +they will be at once and fully understood, as with a view of setting +others thinking on these subjects until I can reach them in due course +of time; or, if I should _never_ be able to reach them, that the +principle, at least, underlying the same, which if the opportunity +had been granted me would have been fully sustained, shall not be +lost. The reader will notice that I am hurrying over the ground +as rapidly as I consistently can, even from my--under the best of +circumstances--superficial standpoint, leaving wide gaps to be filled +in by others in the course of time. + + +SIMPLE SOUNDS + +Speaking of sounds in making experiments in connection with the +movements of the tongue, it is of the first importance that these +sounds should be _simple_ and not _vocal_ or compound. They must be +sounds of the same order as we utter in whispering, or such sounds as +we are apt to use when learning to speak a foreign tongue. They are +the inharmonious sounds of the deaf, and those which distinguish the +speech of a foreigner from that of the native-born. + +The recognition of these sounds as the _negative parts of speech_ has +been one of my main accomplishments, and has been of the greatest +assistance to me in my investigations. + +Things _complete_ tell no tales. We must decompose them, reduce them +to their elements, if we want to arrive at the truth in matters of +science. I have succeeded in doing with things spiritual--vocal +sounds--what the chemist is doing with things material. In things +complete, as they are shaped by the hand of nature, the elements of +which they are composed are mingled in such a dexterous manner, are so +happily blended, that they adjust, counterpoise, and complement one +another, and thus live with and in one another. + +These new forms have been created by the elements of which they are +composed, abandoning their separate original forms and now appearing in +a new form, as integral parts of an _harmonious_ entity. These elements +have not only abandoned their form, however, but in most instances have +also changed their character; which in their original composition may +have been of a _discordant_, violent, and even dangerous nature. Take +but the atmospheric air and its elements for an example. + +A similar state of affairs exists in connection with the phenomena +of the material-spiritual world. While vocal sounds, when properly +produced, stand for all that is harmonious and pleasing, their +component parts, their positive and negative elements, by themselves, +offer features of a contrary nature. They also offer us, the same as +elements do to the chemist while making experiments, the opportunity +for making an endless number of combinations. Unless you know what +_simple_ sounds--_i. e._, negative parts of vocal sounds--are, and +know how to produce them, you will scarcely be able to make one class +of experiments which I shall offer in great abundance to sustain my +arguments. + +When I shall reach the subject of vocal sounds proper, I shall +more fully explain their exact nature. I will simply say this at +present: A simple sound is the product of that hemisphere only to +which it properly belongs. A vocal sound is aided and assisted by a +complementary sound from the other hemisphere. The more perfect such +aid, the more perfect will be its tone. Simple vowel sounds are short, +abrupt, the same as consonant sounds when produced all by themselves +and without the aid of a vowel sound uttered in conjunction with them. + + +POSTERIOR SURFACES + +In saying, as I have, that introspection is carried on by looking into +ourselves with the _inner surface of our eyes_, I meant to say, in the +first instance, that we must exclude all exterior vision, and then +attempt to locate and follow up the course of events going on within +us. While in this state we are strictly reduced to our personal and +individual existence. In thus "watching," the function of our eyes, +instead of being used for external material observation, is reversed; +their function now being to observe internally and spiritually. + +In connection with sounds, you will not only "in your mind's eye" _see_ +the places where they originate, and _feel_ the course they are taking, +but you will actually, functionally (in the mode of spiritually seeing +and feeling), "see" and "feel" them. This vision and this feeling is +far from being perfect, however,--not being accustomed to thus seeing +and feeling,--but it may, when continuously exercised, become so in +the course of time. While in this state, besides seeing the places +interiorly, you may also see them exteriorly, by reflection as it +were, and in a reverse order, "as in a looking-glass," in which case +it is still an interior vision reflected exteriorly. As a matter of +fact, I not only believe, but positively _know_, that _every exterior +functional surface has a corresponding posterior one_. + +Whenever a thing is brought _home_ to us, either through our organs +of seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, or tasting, the outer surface +of such respective organ constitutes the positive factor for such +action, while its inner surface constitutes the negative factor +thereof. Whenever the outer world is excluded, however, as during +thought, introspection, and in our sleep, the inner surface of any of +these organs becomes the positive, and the outer surface the negative, +factor. In thus saying, "I see with the inner surface of my eyes," I do +not mean this figuratively only, but literally, functionally, as well; +as I could not see these places and locate them internally nor could +I see any subject or object with "my mind's eye," if the faculty of +seeing were not actually given to the posterior surface of the eye. + +This will become clear when you consider that you will altogether +fail to see internally when you attempt to use the _anterior_ +surface of your eye for the purpose of _internal_ vision. Thus, the +phenomena of vision which accompany thought or dreams, during sleep +as well as in our waking moments, are not merely spiritual, but, in +the sense of internal functional vision, are also material, so to +say. _All_ thought, in fact, is more or less of this same nature. We +use the posterior surfaces of our organs of sense more frequently, +in consequence, than we do their corresponding anterior surfaces. +Physiologists will say there is no such a thing as an inner surface +of the eye capable of seeing. This does not alter the fact that I +actually, functionally, see with the posterior surface of my eyes, and +that everybody else does the same thing. + +I shall, in connection with vocal utterance, have occasion to call +attention to numerous divisions of as positive a character as a wall +of living tissue, of which there is not a trace to be seen by external +vision; these divisions being channels, constantly used in one and +the same direction, some for ingoing, others for outgoing streams of +air and sounds. Of these channels, also, being invisible to the outer +surface of the eye, science has never taken any notice. These invisible +agencies are connecting links, mediating between cause and result, in +connection with material-spiritual or spiritual-material phenomena of +whatsoever nature brought to our consciousness. Hence the inability +of science, in its ignorance of these agencies, to reconcile the one +with the other by the aid of such material only as has been heretofore +at its disposal. We may _see_ proceedings going on which are mediating +between cause and effect, by the assistance of the inner surface of +our eyes. They disappear altogether, as well as any other "vision," +upon an attempt being made at seeing them with the external surface of +our eyes. Yet we may see inwardly with our eyes open, as we do when +absent-minded, etc. + +If we could invent a microscope by the aid of which we could look into +ourselves in a _spiritual_ sense, that is, through posterior surfaces, +_all_ the secret springs of our nature might be revealed to us. This +ability to become cognizant of physiologico-psychological processes +by the aid of the inner surfaces of our organs of sense, reveals +a peculiar functional exercise of their faculties. In matters of +memory they are not intended to aid in conveying to our consciousness +impressions made at the _present_, but those made at a previous time. +These impressions having been made on the soft tablets of our brain, +either during our individual existence or that of our progenitors, and +transmitted to us by dint of heredity, are brought to our consciousness +by the aid of these inner surfaces, _phonographically_. They are +awakened by association; and that organ of sense by the aid of whose +anterior surface they were first received and _recorded_, now reawakens +them by the aid of its posterior surface. Visions, consequently, are +reflections made on the inner surface of the eyes, from impressions +previously made upon the brain, in a similar manner to that by which +sounds come forth from a phonograph. They could not assume shape if +they were not thus reflected. It is owing to the nature of these +reflections that they are more fleeting and evanescent than those made +by the objects themselves upon the external surface of the eyes. + +The anterior and posterior surfaces of all organs, by whose aid we +exercise our faculties, which surfaces represent their poles and dual +factors, the positive and the negative, the material and the spiritual, +change places in conformity with whether an object is impressed upon +them exteriorly or interiorly, in the present or the past, directly or +indirectly, physically or spiritually. Things which are brought to our +consciousness from the exterior world and in a direct manner--through +our senses--may be said to be of a _material_ nature; while those which +come to us indirectly--through our inner consciousness--may be said +to be of _spiritual_ origin. The clearness of our visions naturally +depends upon the clearness of the impression still remaining upon +the tablets of the brain. The more stirring the event in the first +instance, the deeper and more lasting, of course, the impression. All +this, however, does not throw any light upon the process of abstract +thought; nor am I in a position to aid in so doing. Yet it appears +to me to be a sister proceeding; and that a nearer approach to an +explanation of those more material phenomena may finally assist in +arriving at an explanation of the causes of these more recondite and +apparently purely spiritual phenomena. + +The correctness of the preceding remarks will become more apparent +when we substitute for the faculty of seeing, that of hearing. We +hear the voice of another person through the _anterior_ part of our +ear, _entering_, as it does, from _without_. We hear our own voice +through the _posterior_ part of our ear, _going out_, as it does, +from _within_. No matter how low we may speak, we can always hear our +own voice, though inaudible to others; and we can still distinctly +hear it at such time, even when we fail to hear a low, though in fact +relatively much louder, tone proceeding from the voice of another +person. A ventriloquist, on the other hand, with whom these relations +are reversed, hears his own voice reflected from without, inwardly, +while, if he continues in the same condition while listening to another +person's voice, he will hear the latter from within, outwardly. + +For the purpose of testing the correctness of these observations, +please pay attention to the following: In listening to the sounds of +another person's speech, you will have no difficulty in noticing that +they stream into your ear from without, inwardly. Now, substitute for +this other person's voice the sounds of your own voice, _and continue +to listen to the same in precisely the same manner in which you did +to those of this other person_; that is, let them flow into your ear +from without, inwardly. The result will be _that you will not only not +hear the sounds of your own voice, but that these sounds themselves +will become paralyzed, that you will not be able to produce any sound +whatever_. + +The cause is obvious. You attempt to listen to negative sounds with +the side of your ear still tuned negatively; while, ordinarily, when +we cease to listen and commence to speak, _all_ poles are reversed. +Spoken sounds are positive in relation to the speaker, but negative +in relation to the person listening to the same. In consequence, the +producer hears them with the negative (inner) part of his ear, the +receiver, or listener, hears them with the positive (exterior) part of +his ear. + +I copy the following from an article in the _Philadelphia Sunday Press_: + + "A curious fact in regard to the effect of explosions upon the + drumhead, is that this tissue, though generally blown in, is + sometimes blown out. Just what causes the latter result has not + yet been fully explained." + +In this instance, I presume, the person's ear was tuned to listen +interiorly, and the effect of the explosion, which, in relation to him, +was of a negative nature, took effect on the positive, the posterior, +side of his ear. This person was not in expectancy of the explosion, +but it came on unawares, of a sudden, while he was in a state of +contemplation. + +In connection with the eye, our inner consciousness acts as a "rein" +upon the outer, drawing back in case of danger, checking our progress +when suddenly coming upon a precipice, and _regulating our steps_ to +circumvent it, but without coming to a stop, when seeing an obstacle +in our way from a distance. The "rein" in such an instance reverses +the poles of the eyes--the positive becomes negative and the negative +positive; that is to say, in our usual mode of seeing, while walking, +the exterior surface of the eye is positive, the interior negative; +but when there is danger ahead and we are warned to be cautious, the +exterior becomes negative and the interior positive; the activity now +being exercised by the latter, the passivity by the former. The action +of the "rein," however, is not direct, but crosswise; that is to say, +the posterior surface of the left eye is in correspondence with the +anterior of the right, and vice versa, in conformity with the "impulse" +emanating from either the one or the other, while the anterior surface +of the left eye is in correspondence with the posterior of the right, +and vice versa. + +The knowledge of the reversion of the functional exercise of our +organs of sense is of signal importance in connection with motion and +vocal utterance, which always go hand in hand; every utterance being +accompanied by a motion, though not always visible to the eye. In truly +artistic delivery these motions are brought to the highest perfection; +and visibly, though often in great moderation, accompany _every_ +inflection of the voice. + +To be able to see a thing at all, we must be in a relatively proper +position with the object to be seen; we must be on the same plane with +it. We must also have light, not only for the latter, but by reflection +therefrom also for ourselves. In addition we must have the inner light +enabling us to comprehend what we have seen. I contend that for the +study of spiritual-material as well as material-spiritual phenomena, +such light has always been wanting for the thing to be seen, as well as +for the orb to see and consequently for the spirit to comprehend. In +attempting to comprehend, and to explain appearances, physiologically, +we have been looking in our exterior world, where we cannot, in place +of our interior world, where we might be able to see and to observe. We +have been using the outer surface of our eye instead of the inner, with +which to see spiritual things. The thing to be seen and the orb with +which to see were not on the same "plane." It was impossible to perform +the act of _spiritually_ seeing. The proper light once obtained, it +has not only illumined for me the things to be seen, but also my +capacity for seeing and comprehending them. Roentgen has taught us the +method of seeing material things through opaque bodies. I have learned +to recognize spiritual phenomena in opaque bodies, created, as they +are, by a combination of spiritual and material factors. While I have +made use of this gift for a special study--that of vocal utterance--I +incline to think that it may be made use of for the study of not only +all the various material-spiritual phenomena to be observed in the +nature of organic bodies in general and man's in particular, but also +of our relations with the unseen and unknown world and its forces, +in which our essence has its being, whence it comes, and to which it +returns. In minutely explaining my mode of proceeding, it is also my +special desire to rob it of any appearance of "supernaturalness" some +persons might be inclined to invest it with. Though I cannot explain +many things connected with the voice from an entirely naturalistic +standpoint, I think they are all explainable if the proper amount of +study and observation be given to them. This, as a matter of course, +does not, however, include the operations of the mind proper, which are +governed by laws beyond any human understanding. + + +INSPIRATION--EXPIRATION + +The entire mechanism of our being, more especially that of our +faculties and functions, is primarily excited through openings into +which air is inspired, from which air is expired. These openings are +connected with channels and vessels which are passive or negative +during inspiration; active or positive during expiration. Thus the +multiform streams of air introduced into our system communicate with +parts thereof, which, by their construction and intercommunication with +others, are specially adapted for the exercise of any special faculty +or function. Our will directs these streams of air to flow into their +proper channels (and they automatically obey) for the guidance of our +steps in a certain direction, for the production of a given sound, +the recognition of a given sight, the sensation of a peculiar odor, +taste, or feeling, or the excitation of a passion, a compassion, or +any other sensation, feeling, or thought whatsoever. These streams of +air, therefore, are of an order as multiform as the complex web of our +material and spiritual existence, and are introduced through thousands +of different channels and in thousands of different ways. + +To confine our mode of physical and spiritual existence to a single +stream of air introduced into the oral cavity, or the nostrils, and +thence into the lungs, appears to me to be as primitive a proceeding +and as narrow a view as can possibly be taken of one of the greatest +subjects our understanding is called upon to deal with. In place of +that, I have positive proof that the streams of air which flow into +these openings are of the most multiform nature; every sight, odor, +taste, touch, and every sound, and fraction of a sound even, calling +for a special stream of air which no other stream can furnish or +supply. Besides the oral cavity and the nostrils, the eyes, ears, +and every additional opening, down to an almost invisible pore or +capillary vessel, are recipients of special streams intended for +special purposes. _We breathe through the soles of our feet and the +palms of our hands, as well as through the skull of our heads. The +closer we guard our body against the influence of the air, by means of +unnaturally close-woven and air-tight clothing, the less capable we +become of exercising our natural faculties and functions._ + +To this subject I shall devote time and attention at some future +period, more especially in connection with vocal utterance, as it has +everything to do with the production of sounds, which proceed in part +from within, outwardly, and in part from without, inwardly. In so +doing, positive becomes negative and negative positive; inspiration and +expiration equalize each other, and thus a continuous flow of speech +becomes possible, while if the flow were continuously in one and the +same direction it would soon come to an absolute stop. + +It is this that science has done for us: It has clogged up all these +natural avenues to our existence by teaching that we breathe through +the trachea alone, in consequence of the muscle of the diaphragm +forming an air-tight partition between the upper and lower compartments +of our bodies; being ignorant of the fact of that other great tube of +the œsophagus, also opening into the oral cavity, performing the same +functions for the abdomen which the trachea does for the thorax. In +place of all these millions of openings through which we inspire and +expire, science teaches that we breathe through a single tube, into +and out of an _air-tight sack_,--a mechanically impossible proceeding. +By some ill-defined process, air is supposed to find its way into the +thorax and out again after depositing its oxygen in the blood-vessels. +Meanwhile, the balance of our body is left to shift for itself, not the +slightest particle of fresh food ever finding its way into any portion +thereof, except indirectly through the blood-vessels. To my simple +and untaught understanding it appears that if such a state of affairs +really existed--no matter how rapid the circulation of the blood--the +entire hemisphere of the abdomen would be given over to putrefaction in +an exceedingly short space of time. + +Breathing, however, as we do, through the œsophagus, in like measure +with the trachea, and through every other opening in our epidermis in +addition, our body is constantly, uninterruptedly, permeated with fresh +air in its every avenue, vessel, capillary tube, cell, etc., which +sustains us by its life-giving qualities, and takes away with it the +constantly accumulating refuse. + +The muscle of the diaphragm has been the air-tight door to the cell +of the condemned, whose portal has been guarded by ignorance and +every oppression, suppression, fear, superstition, anxiety, bigotry, +narrowness, prejudice, etc., that the human mind is capable of. It has +given us over to self-accusation as a natural and vital element. It +has shut us up into the narrowest limits, and kept us from communing +with the universe and the spirit of the universe. It has excluded from +us the grace, the beauty, the light, the liberty, the eternity of the +_spirit_, and prevented us from recognizing ourselves as integral parts +of the universe and of the causes which sustain it and sustain us. It +has prevented us from communing with them as free agents _in our own +name and by our own right_, without interference or the intercession of +any person or agency whatsoever, in the past or the present. + +Have I placed too great a value on the discovery of the "voice of the +œsophagus"? + +I feel convinced that the further exposition of my observations will +justify me in all I have said. + + +DIAPHRAGMS + +As the trunk has its diaphragm, dividing thorax and abdomen, so do +all dual hemispheres representing a faculty or function have their +diaphragms, performing duties of an analogous nature. _Every_ opening, +in fact, has its diaphragm. Where there is none visible, it is formed +by contraction, whenever needed, and but for the time being. All +these various diaphragms, more particularly the one specially bearing +that name, are of the greatest importance in connection with vocal +utterance,--the sounds of the vessels of the abdomen being produced by +an expansion of the thorax and consequent contraction of the abdomen, +those of the vessels of the thorax by an expansion of the abdomen and a +consequent contraction of the thorax. + +For the purposes of vocal utterance, inspiration into the thorax +produces an expiration from the abdomen by way of the œsophagus, +accompanied by vocal sound, while an inspiration into the abdomen +produces an expiration from the thorax by way of the trachea, +accompanied by vocal sound; the special _mode_ of inspiration +regulating the special sound to be produced. + +This proceeding has reference to outgoing sounds only. For ingoing +sounds the opposite proceeding takes place; an expiration from the +thorax producing an inspiration into the abdomen, and an expiration +from the abdomen an inspiration into the thorax, both accompanied by +sound. Every original inspiration into thorax or abdomen, of course, +must have been preceded by an expiration from these parts, while every +original expiration must have been preceded by an inspiration into the +same. The utterance of every sound, therefore, requires at least three +movements on the part of the respiratory organs. But for the action of +the diaphragm, such sounds could not be produced. + +All these various diaphragms fall or recede for inspiration, rise or +advance for expiration; the function of a diaphragm being exercised +in conformity with the manner in which it is approached. This may be +done by way of the œsophagus or the trachea, _i. e._, from the side +of the hemisphere of the abdomen, or from that of the thorax. The +outward movement of the abdomen during respiration, therefore, is not +caused by a pressure brought to bear on its contents by the diaphragm, +but it advances and recedes in conformity with a direct process of +inspiration and expiration by way of the œsophagus and the trachea; the +œsophagus and trachea sustaining each other and acting reciprocally +and in conjunction. This presumed pressing forward and subsequent +receding of the entrails, in consequence of the descent and ascent of +the diaphragm, presents a spectacle as repugnant as it is impossible +of execution; the extension of the abdomen, more particularly in +connection with special sounds, being so great that no pressure +whatever brought to bear upon the entrails could possibly produce it. + +In place of this theory, now so generally entertained, the simple fact +obtains that the diaphragm descends in consequence of an influx of air +into and subsequent expansion of the thorax, causing a contraction of +the abdomen and an efflux of air from the same; that it ascends in +consequence of an influx of air into and expansion of the abdomen, +causing a contraction of the thorax and an efflux of air from the same. + +[Illustration] + + + + +IMPRESSION AND EXPRESSION + + +All vocal expression is but an echo, the echo of a thought. Thought +_must_ precede vocal expression. It is not possible to produce a vocal +sound, not the simplest, without thought. There is no such thing as a +voice _ipso facto_, no more than there is music in a musical instrument +unless it is called forth by the hand of the player. Try it. Come upon +a sound suddenly, around the corner, as it were, and then express +it. Do not give it a moment's time for its development; that is, do +not give thought time to mould a form for it, but try to utter it in +embryo, so to say, the very moment you think of it, and you will not be +able to do it. You will not produce any sound whatever. + +It is as necessary to form a mould for a sound as it is for any +shaped and moulded material article. Out of this mould it comes +forth in conformity with the form we have given it: harsh, abrupt, +discordant--rhythmical, beautiful, soulful. Such as the thought is, +so will be the expression. In ordinary conversation this proceeding +is automatic and mechanical, in elocution or song more or less +volitional and artistic. That is to say, for ordinary speech it acts +automatically, for artistic utterance it acts designedly. Materially, +the mould is convex, shut, for ingoing; concave, open, for outgoing +sounds. It expands for the former, it contracts for the latter. Vocal +sounds are a product of matter as well as mind; the act itself which +produces them being a connecting link between matter and mind. The +soul calls on the body to aid it in giving form to its desires and +intentions; the body instantly obeys and assumes the form from which +the expected sound or action is to arise. + +No matter how great a soul may be, unless it can give form and +consequent utterance to its greatness, it will be helpless, far more so +than the simplest soul capable of giving expression to its simplicity. +Confined to our own limits, like the congenital deaf, our faculties +become dwarfed and useless. We do not know ourselves, do not know our +own souls. We must expand, go out into the world and take it in, if we +want to grow and give our faculties a chance to develop. + +The greater our horizon, the more we can take in, the more we can +give out. Our soul is scarcely ours when enchained; the greater its +liberty, the more it belongs to us. Hence our just pity for the +congenital deaf, and our desire to assist them in their efforts at +expression. Those among them who are being, or have been, tutored, +receive their impressions through their eyes in the form assumed by +the speaker's mouth; the eye assuming the function of the ear. The +form assumed by their teacher's mouth, however, not being perfect, a +perfect impression cannot be made. Hence the expression of the deaf +is in conformity with the impression they have obtained: mechanical, +material, soulless. The exterior lines of the mouth of the teacher, or +any other speaker's from which the deaf draw their inspiration, are +those of the material side of the medal. Failing to see the reverse +side thereof, namely, the interior of the mouth, which is its spiritual +side, the lines of the latter make no impression upon them. These +fine lines on the interior side of the speaker's mouth, representing +the rhythm, the soul of the voice, not being seen, fail to make that +impression from which alone a soulful expression could arise. + +That an _impression_ may be made through the eye will scarcely require +a defense, in view of the fact that in reading aloud or in singing +from notes the _entire_ impression is made through the eye. The reader +or singer, knowing the _value_ of every sound, is impressed by the +sight of a letter or a note as he would be by the sound itself. Not so +with the congenital deaf, who, being ignorant of such value, cannot +reproduce it. Nor will it be contended, I suppose, that the deaf +knowingly, designedly, or volitionally attempt to imitate the forms +assumed by the teacher's mouth, but it will be admitted that this is +done spontaneously, and that vocal sounds with them arise from this +imperfect mechanism, thus involuntarily reproduced. + +With the congenital deaf, with persons attempting to speak a foreign +language, etc., the material form, as well as the spiritual impetus, +being imperfect, the expression will be in conformity therewith. In +how far and in what manner these investigations may become helpful to +the deaf will be a matter for the not distant future to develop. That +they will eventually become of the greatest aid to them I have every +reason to believe. Those who have made a study of matters of this kind +understand the difficulties surrounding the same. These difficulties +are increased manifold where the ear of the scholar absolutely refuses +to come to his own and his teacher's aid. + +There are forms in which vocal sounds move, well defined and capable of +material representation, which are not fully expressed by the shape of +the teacher's mouth, nor are they thus expressed by impressions taken +by the aid of the camera. Regarding the latter, it is necessary to note +that photographic representations of vocal sounds are the result of +the combined action of the voice of the œsophagus and of that of the +trachea, of material and immaterial factors. Just in how far the latter +are capable of being thus represented must, as yet, remain a matter of +conjecture. + +An attempt at reconciling photographic representations of vocal sounds +with the oscillations of the vocal cords is, at most, a one-sided +proceeding. To arrive at any correct conclusion at all, it would be +necessary to take the vibrations of the "vocal lip" and the frænum into +equal consideration. + +Regarding our capacity for improving the natural physical and psychical +capabilities of the musical instrument of the voice, that depends upon +the manner in which we play upon it. As it yields to the slightest +pressure of the air, either for good or for evil, we must, above all +things, learn how to guide the tip of our tongue in touching its +aërial strings or keys, which are far more sensitive than those of any +instrument ever produced by the hand of man. It takes years to attain a +mastery over the simplest musical instrument; yet it is often expected +that the instrument of the voice should yield to the most careless +efforts made in the most wilful and indiscriminate manner. + +The _thought_ of a sound, after _producing_ an impression, _guides_ +the tongue in _releasing_ such impression. Unless the tongue touches +or moves towards the exact spot which will effect such release, the +expression or the sound will not be forthcoming. That the impression, +as well as its release, should be properly made, it is necessary to +_think_ of the sound which is to be produced, in the most precise and +correct manner. I cannot sufficiently impress upon the reader's mind +the importance this simple lesson conveys. If he will shape his manner +of vocal utterance, especially his mode of singing, in conformity +therewith, he will be able to improve his voice to a far greater +extent than he would by following any or all of the realistic methods +now in vogue. This _thinking_ of the correct sound must be carried on +for the _next_ syllable during the _production_ of the previous one; +and care must be taken not to think of more than one syllable at one +and the same time. Unless this is done, no pure sound will ever be +produced, the impression made by thinking of a second or third syllable +overlapping that for the next following; thus producing a muddle and +a discord. Rhythm being the basis for all perfect vocal utterance, +a rhythmic impression must be made in order to obtain a rhythmic +expression. This cannot be done when the former is not preserved in its +entire purity until it is released. + +All of us, either during our ordinary speech or during our efforts +at artistic expression, are guided by the process just described; +unknowingly, unwittingly, properly or improperly, for good or for evil, +pursuing this same course. I cannot enter upon these matters to any +greater extent at this time, as it will be necessary to first treat of +other matters with which they are intimately connected. + + +THE PHONOGRAPH + +In trying the experiment of coming upon a sound unawares, simply +endeavor to divest yourself of all thought, and then suddenly, without +any preparation whatever, say "a," or "b," or "it," or any word you +wish, and you will not be able to produce such sound or sounds--or, +in fact, any sound whatsoever. Or, you may get some one to, of a +sudden, produce sounds embodied in letters before your eyes; and you +will find you will be unable to utter them instantly. While you cannot +thus produce a vocal sound, or vocal sounds embodied in words, you can +produce _simple_ sounds without preparation. As they belong to but +one hemisphere, and are consequently not the product of a compound +impression, they may be uttered the very moment we think of them. While +they are being uttered, our organs of speech are "shut," far more so +than they are for _vocal_ sounds. + +Consonant sounds cannot be uttered "vocally" without a vowel sound. +When they appear in a syllable their _accompanying_ vowel sound carries +them and permeates them. When they appear singly we add a vowel sound +to them. We say: "ar," "be," "en," "ka," etc.; unless we do so we +cannot pronounce them. Without such accompanying vowel sound they would +be inert. + +"Simple" _consonant_ sounds are unaccompanied, not "leavened," by +a vowel sound. "Simple" _vowel_ sounds, on the other hand, are +unaccompanied by the element which constitutes consonant sounds; while +"vocal" _vowel_ sounds _are_ accompanied thereby. + +The word "surd," used in connection with non-vocal sounds, does not +express the meaning of what I call "simple" sounds, as all sounds may +be either "vocal" or "simple," while "surd" applies only to special +sounds. + +The necessity of making an impression for vocal utterance also prevails +in connection with motion. You cannot lift your right foot or your left +arm, or make any given motion whatever, the very moment you think of +making it. It requires some preparation; though you may lift _part_ +of a limb without preparation. A part of a limb in this sense may +be compared to a _simple_, the entire limb to a _vocal_, sound. The +thought must make an impression by expansion or contraction, which, +when released, will express the desired motion; no matter whether such +motion is made unconsciously or deliberately. It is more difficult to +watch this proceeding in connection with sight; the operations of light +being so rapid that the expression seems to be simultaneous with the +impression. + +Contraction and expansion for motion are of the same order as they are +for vocal utterance. In fact, both are so closely connected that we +cannot utter a sound unless it is accompanied by a motion. In stopping +the motion accompanying a sound, we stop our ability of uttering such +sound. I shall have occasion to call attention to numerous conditions +under which it will be impossible to utter sounds, either separate or +connected, by stopping the motion necessary to produce such sounds. It +is all due to the fact that we are homogeneous beings, _whose powers +are interdependent upon one another_. + +The effect of the teacher's _voice_ upon his or her scholar's +organization is of a _similar_ order to that made by _thought_ upon +the teacher's own organization. That it is not of the _same_ order is +due to the fact that the organization upon which it is made is but +rarely constituted the same, is not as highly organized and developed +or "schooled," as the one from which the voice emanated. The impression +made by the singing-teacher's _voice_ is of the same order as that +made upon the deaf by the _features_ of their instructor which are +representative of his voice. We are living, breathing _phonographs_. +Every impression we receive through any of our senses must be made in +a material manner before it can have its immaterial expression. We +engrave upon living tissue, instead of on rubber or wax. + +I repeat that, to obtain a pure sound, the _thought_ underlying such +sound or sounds must be _purely, clearly defined_. We cannot obtain +a clear impression from a seal whose engraving is blurred, or when +the sealing-wax is not in a proper condition of softness, or when the +hand is not steady which makes the impression. The same conditions +prevail with vocal utterance. Thought makes the impression; the æther, +passing through its narrowed passages at a rate as swift as thought, +creates the sound. The impression is made as _thought_ progresses, the +expression as _sound_ progresses. While the _impression is thoughtful, +the expression is thoughtless_. While we think for a sound during +the impression, we do not think for it during its expression; _but +we think, during the latter, for the next sound_. If this were not +the case, consecutive speech would be a matter of impossibility. The +artist's thought is embodied in the creation of the model for his +statue from which a mould is made. The casting of the statue, equal to +its expression, is mechanical, thoughtless. + +In this connection the brain is of the same order as the tablets of +the phonograph. For ordinary use, however, the lines engraved upon it +are evanescent; they disappear again with the sound or thought which +releases them. Impressions, however, of a deeper nature remain--some +forever. The thought or sounds they represent, the same as the lines +on the tablets of the phonograph, are released but for the time being +and while such thought and sounds (through association) are recalled +to memory. The thought and sounds are evanescent, but the lines which +represent them remain for further use, the same as the lines on the +tablets of the phonograph and the strings of a musical instrument. If +we could read aright the lines which the voice makes on the tablets of +the phonograph or on the negative plates of the photographer, we would +obtain a correct insight into their character. These studies, when +fully developed, may lead to a comprehension of these hieroglyphics, +the same as the Greek translation on the Rosetta stone furnished the +cue to the comprehension of the hieroglyphics of the Egyptian monuments. + + +STUTTERING, STAMMERING + +What is all this I am writing? + +It is an endeavor at giving expression to an impression obtained of +a great subject imperfectly understood. The general ideas underlying +it all are on the lines of truth, but the contours are evanescent, +the lines representing special features ill-defined, while the finer +shadings are almost entirely wanting. It is a stuttering, a stammering, +in matters my mind is too narrow to grasp, incapable of comprehending +in all their bearings, impotent to take in in their ultimate relations. +Still, I am doing what I can with such material as nature has placed +at my disposal. Thought failing to make a clear impression, my pen, I +fear, cannot give a clear expression to it all. + +Regarding the subject of stuttering proper, I must still preface it +with some remarks of a general nature. The influx and efflux of +streams of air into and out of our system, called breathing, is of a +very complicated nature. While we designate the same by the general +terms of inspiration and expiration, these streams are of as multiform +a nature as the ethereal fabrics they are intended to weave, whose weft +they form, and whose warp is of a more material nature. Call these +fabrics what you please--actions, speech, feelings, passions, fancies, +sensations, etc. While these streams form innumerable separate systems, +they are all subject to one and the same law--rhythm. The more perfect +the rhythm the higher the development and consequent performance. + +While we always breathe, or should breathe, in the same rhythmic order +(the octave) for the sustenance of life in general, we unconsciously +breathe in various other measures for an endless number of other +purposes. Our dual nature, and the duality of the manner in which we +breathe, as a rule enable us to go through these various performances +without a disturbance as to the harmonious character of our existence. +It is a great orchestral performance by instruments of various kinds +and orders, each performer playing his own notes, specially adapted +to his particular part and instrument; yet all coming together in one +harmonious _ensemble_. This fact finds expression, clearly defined, in +the various measures in which metre and rhythm are clad for poetry and +song. The introduction into our system of a rhythmic flow of streams of +air for the various purposes of vocal utterance is conditioned upon a +rhythmic flow of thought. + +To perfectly render a poetical conception by words either spoken +or sung, the performer's _mind_ must be in accord with the rhythm +underlying such conception. In that case only will he breathe +and, consequently, speak or sing in the requisite manner for such +production. I should have prefaced all this by saying that, in the same +manner as inspiration and expiration succeed each other in regular +rotation, so do the ordinary measures of long and short (¯˘), or +short and long (˘¯), in simple forms of poetry, succeed each other in +regular rotation; long (¯), or stress, always standing for expiration, +short (˘), or repose, for inspiration. _As a matter of fact, however, +inspiration is of longer duration than expiration._ + +All other forms are artistic, and are produced by a mode of thinking, +and consequent breathing, as variable as the subject may suggest or +demand. For ordinary speech, while the rhythm is not of the same order +as that for poetry, a rhythmic order of some kind must be, and always +is, observed. That the rhythm is not noticeable is due to the fact +that, while inspiration and expiration in prose writing and ordinary +conversation follow each other in regular rotation, they are not always +accompanied by sound. Hence the rhythmic irregularities of speech +exist only in appearance and in the inartistic manner in which speech +is generally, and prose writing often, produced. A person who speaks +and writes his language _well_, speaks and writes it rhythmically, +always. Good style is synonymous with correct rhythmical expression, +superinduced by correct breathing; rhythmic expression depending +entirely upon rhythmic impression, and the latter upon rhythmic +thought, accompanied by rhythmic breathing. + +To write well (that is, a good style), to speak well (as an orator, +actor, or elocutionist), to sing well, it is, above all things, +necessary that the performer's mind should be in a state of conformity +with the situation which is to be described. His flow of thought, and +consequent breathing and mode of expression, will then correspond with +the scope, drift, and circumstance underlying his performance. Unless +this is the case, the latter will be unsatisfactory, unimpressive, +unsympathetic. To prove that for a satisfactory performance this _must_ +be the case, it will but be necessary to call attention to the fact +that under various emotions our mode of breathing undergoes great +changes--as under fear, hate, jealousy, indignation, excitement, love, +enthusiasm, benevolence, languor, apathy, etc. Our breathing under +these different circumstances will, the same as the manner of our +expression, undergo various stages of change as to time and measure, as +well as to rhythm, emphasis and intonation. + +The character and rapidity of the flow of our blood is of the same +order as our manner of breathing. It is, in fact, as I expect to prove +later on, not only of the same order, but of the same origin and +regulated by the same causes. The flow of the blood is not merely of a +material order, but of a spiritual one as well. While it is acted upon +by the mind it reacts upon the mind. + +The thought must be measured and restricted as to time, so as to enable +it to make the proper impression and produce a corresponding expression +_before_ another thought comes along crowding in upon the preceding one +and in so doing _blurring_ the impression made by the latter before it +had been given the time to be expressed. If the necessary time is not +granted for an impression to be made and for the expression thereof +to obliterate the same, the premature flow of another thought, coming +on top of the first, will make a new impression over the previous +one, causing confusion and making a clear expression a matter of +impossibility. Unless our professor, while standing in front of his +blackboard demonstrating before his class, has a sponge in his hand, +and before again writing in the same place wipes out that which he had +written before, the new writing will not be of such a nature that it +can be understood. The slate endures; but the thought and the writing +are always new. Yet, when such writing is of an _impressive_ nature, it +is like that of a palimpsest; though apparently obliterated, its lines +remain, and their meaning can be recalled to memory as often as the +occasion may demand it. + +The "muddle" of which I have spoken is oftentimes so great that no +sound of any kind can ensue, the rhythmic flow of sound-producing +streams having been disturbed and prevented from assuming the necessary +shape for their formation into proper sound-waves by this hasty mode of +thinking. The consequence is a hiatus in the natural flow of speech, +which prevents the thought from materializing in the shape of the word +intended to be spoken. This hiatus the victim of such precipitate mode +of thinking generally attempts to bridge over by spasmodic efforts, +which but serve to aggravate the situation, increasing, as they do, the +disorder in the sound-producing lines. + +Stuttering being caused by a disorder in these lines, the remedy is +to again restore them to order. The disorder having been caused by a +too hasty mode of thinking, superinduced, as a rule, by a desire _not_ +to stutter, or a _fear_ of stuttering, the remedy lies in allaying +this fear. The fear of stuttering, or the anxiety not to stutter, +which obtains while the speaker is producing thought, _itself being +thought_, and coming on top of the thought intended to be uttered, +brings about, or at least aggravates, the very difficulty he was trying +to overcome. Mere thought may wander off and again return to its theme, +unrestrained, and without causing disturbance; but thought which is +to be _vocally_ uttered must strictly adhere to its subject. There +is no impression to be made by the former which must remain until it +is released by vocal sound; impression and expression being almost +simultaneous. In place of making a spasmodic effort, therefore, the +stutterer should endeavor to be calm, and to then calmly _think_ the +word or sentence over again which has become a stumbling-block in his +way. After doing so, he will have no trouble uttering it. + +The fact that stutterers experience no difficulty in singing is a proof +of the correctness of these assertions. While singing, the performer's +streams of life and organs of speech are all _tuned_ to one harmonious +measure. His frame of mind being securely in accord with his theme, +his thought, devoid of fear, flows evenly along with his song. There +is no occasion for haste or trepidation in this instance,--there +cannot be, haste being the opposite to and the enemy of harmony, the +latter meaning a continuous return of the same measure and the same +mode of breathing, the former irregularity and disorder in the mode of +breathing. + +Besides, song, belonging to the pharynx, is spiritual; it is of our +inner nature, and therefore restful and continuous. While speech, which +belongs to the oral cavity, is material; it is of our outer nature, +and therefore subject to every impression, influence, and consequent +change. Elocution, declamation, or recitation, on the other hand, +partake of both our inner and our outer nature. They belong in part to +the pharynx and in part to the oral cavity. + +Experiments may be made by means of making these respective parts rigid +which will establish the correctness of these assertions. + +These experiments can also be made by the application of mechanical +pressure. When pressing your hand or fingers against your throat you +will be unable to speak, though it will not prevent you from singing. +By pressing them against the back of your neck you will be unable to +sing, though you may speak. By pressing them against either side of +your neck you will be unable to recite, though you may both speak +and sing. The slightest pressure, even, will produce these results. +Let me remark, however, that unless the _thought_ of the performance +accompanies it, a mere mechanical pressure will not suffice. + +That _thought_, improperly exercised, is the cause of stuttering or +stammering, obtains from the fact, that the utterance of the singer, +elocutionist or actor, being a matter of memory, and not of original +thought, is _not_ subject to these troubles; though the utterance of +the same persons while speaking, and in so doing, _thinking_, may be +subject thereto. + +Not appreciating its significance, I used to laugh with everybody else +at the anecdote of a stuttering boy in an apothecary shop, who had been +sent down after some article in the cellar. Returning, pale, trembling, +and _stammering_, his master cried out, "Sing, sing!" whereupon he +delivered himself thus: + + "Der spiritus im keller brennt, + Und alles steht in flammen." + ("The spirits, master, are aflame, + And all things are a-burning.") + +In a recent number of _Cosmopolis_, Prof. Max Müller said: + + "Charles Kingsley was a great martyr to stammering, and it was + torture to him to keep conversation waiting until he could put + his thoughts into words. Singularly enough, at church, Kingsley + did not stammer at all in reading or speaking; but on his way + home from church he would say to one with whom he was walking: + 'Oh, let me stammer now; you won't mind it!'" + +While his thoughts were concentrated on his subject, which had probably +been elaborated beforehand and was expressed in rhythmic language, +besides being obliged to speak slowly and deliberately so as to be +heard and understood, he experienced no difficulty. Still, he was under +a restraint. As soon as he was by himself again, he commenced to think +impulsively, as probably was his habit, and gave vent to a torrent of +thoughts, which overleaped each other like waters rushing through a +broken dam. + +There are two main forms in which this trouble manifests itself. The +one is a surfeit, a crowding together of sounds, all of which want to +come to the surface at one and the same time, like a crowd of people +during a panic trying to rush out through the same door, thus causing +a jam. This form, creating a hiatus in vocal utterance, is generally +designated by the term "stammering." That which is called "stuttering," +on the other hand, consisting, as it does, in a repetition of the +same sound, is due to the opposite cause. While the former is due +to too great an effort, this is due to a paucity of effort. The +sound-furnishing element is not under control; it leaks out against +the will, it runs away with you. Hence a repetition of the form once +assumed, in consequence of a lack of nerve force, of a rein to keep it +in check, of a brake preventing it from rushing down-hill with you; +in contradistinction to the act of stammering, in which the brake had +been too forcibly applied, the watch wound up too firmly and beyond its +requirements. + +In the case of stammering the impression has been too quick in shaping +itself into words; in the other it has been too slow in so doing. In +the former case too many moulds have been formed for proper impression; +while in the latter the sound is spoken before the mould has been +properly and _completely_ formed; that part only which had been formed +being uttered and repeated. In the case of stammering there is a +surfeit of impression but a want of sound; in that of stuttering there +is a want of impression but a surfeit of sound. A stammerer is one who +takes in too much, a stutterer one who takes in too little, air for his +hasty way of thinking. + +When this trouble happens with one and the same person--as it sometimes +does--it first assumes one shape and then the other; it turns a +complete somersault in so doing. The balance, the equilibrium, the +point of gravitation, previously overleaped on one side, is again +overleaped, and the person lands on its extreme other side. While a +stammerer he had too much ballast on board, now he has too little. + +A stammerer can return to the point of gravitation by throwing some of +his surplus ballast overboard. _His tongue being tied to his lower jaw, +in which position he is constantly taking in more air than he needs, he +must raise it in order to let the surplus out from beneath the same._ + +A stutterer, whose tongue is running away with him, owing to an +insufficiency of ballast, must take in enough (inspire sufficiently) to +bring him back to his point of gravitation. _His tongue is in a loose +state of elevation, in which position the air is constantly streaming +out (expiring) from beneath the same._ He must _lower_ it to have _his_ +balance restored, as in so doing the air will stream in over and above +the tongue until the equilibrium has been restored. In other words, +the person who is thus agitated must calm himself, he must relax from +an overstrain in either one direction or the other. The diaphragm, +holding the balance of power, will be found to be in as uncontrollable +a condition as the tongue, _with which it always acts in unison_. In +restoring the tongue to a normal condition we restore the diaphragm to +a normal condition. + +The institutions for the cure of stuttering, stammering, and +intermediate stages of the same trouble, attempt to bring about a state +of restoration of the disturbed balance by means arrived at through +experience. The real cause being unknown, the remedies must necessarily +be restricted. If persons thus afflicted will take their own cases in +hand and treat them in conformity with the precepts here laid down, the +chances are in favor of their being cured where no other remedy had +been of any avail. + +As the preceding remarks have been made from the point of view of an +English-speaking person, the standpoint of a German being diametrically +opposite, the same must all be reversed to fit the case of a German, +in so far as locality is concerned. _For stammering, the tongue of a +German is closely wedged in, in the direction of the roof of the mouth; +for stuttering, it is loosely pointing downward._ This is owing to the +fact that a German inspires from under and beneath, and expires from +over and above, his tongue; just the reverse of the manner in which +this is done by an English-speaking person. + +In order to efficiently cure the trouble of stuttering, it is necessary +that the act of breathing and sound-production should be closely +studied with every separate nationality, as these processes differ with +all nationalities; this difference being very pronounced as between +Germans and Anglo-Saxons. For an American to go to Germany, therefore, +to be cured of this trouble, is as false a step as for a German to go +to the United States or England for this purpose. + +While I have in the preceding endeavored to give an account of the +general causes which result in stuttering, I have not touched upon such +special causes as are directly connected with the character and origin +of vocal sounds; the explanation of which must be postponed to a future +period. + + +THE CATHODE OF A VOCAL SOUND + +By an accident, in some respects not unlike the one which drew +Roentgen's attention to the light by whose aid we have learned to look +into and through opaque bodies, I (myself an accident, an appearance +on and soon to be a disappearance from the illuminated surface of the +earth) have discovered eternal laws, by whose aid we shall be able to +comprehend much of what has heretofore been as a closed book to us, +regarding our physical and psychical nature and the exercise of our +faculties and functions. + +During my endeavors to overcome the difficulties which my German tongue +offered to the perfect pronunciation of the English "r" sound, and +during an almost frantic effort on one occasion at so doing, I was +amazed by the fact that while one "r" came to the surface from over and +above the tongue, another made its appearance from under and beneath +the same. The latter was the "r" of the voice of the œsophagus. Of all +this, however, I have spoken at length in my previous publication. + +Though it occurred to me at once like a flash that this was a +revelation of the greatest importance, its real significance was only +made clear to me in the course of time. No matter how I view it, as +time progresses it assumes greater and greater proportions. There is +no event in the history of man which appears to me to be of greater +significance. Through this "accident" I was induced to look closer +and closer into my inner nature, where, to my amazement, I found +that a world, apparently silent and mysterious, and supposed to be +unapproachable, was the abode of numberless physical and psychical +phenomena, clearly defined and definable. + +The "r" which came to the surface from beneath my tongue by way of +the œsophagus was the cathode, the negative end of this sound. The +_product_ of its combination with the _simple_ "r" (which came to the +surface from over and above the tongue by way of the trachea) I had +hitherto produced when attempting to speak English, was the _vocal_ +"r" sound of the English language; the "r" I had hitherto produced +having been the anode--the positive and first part of this sound only. +As Roentgen's cathodic light has illuminated the physical body, so +have cathodic sounds illumined for me the spiritual body of my mundane +existence. I am endeavoring to show my fellowmen this "new light," +whose lustre, also invisible on ordinary occasions, when once seen is +so great that it will never again fade from the memory of the beholder. +As time progresses, it will continue to penetrate ever more deeply into +regions hitherto considered to be impervious to any kind of light; +regions whose phenomena have been called supernatural, or, at least, +beyond the sphere of the knowledge of man. All other anodes or cathodes +of which we have obtained any knowledge belong to physical phenomena +only. The cathode I have discovered belongs to our spiritual life, +being a part of a living vocal sound. + +Think of it! To be able to divide the essence of life and to obtain two +_living_ parts, each endowed with a life of its own! This is a nearer +approach to the knowledge of life than any ever attained before. A +_vocal_ sound is an entity. From entities we cannot learn anything. +They are phenomena complete in themselves. Regarding their innermost +nature, they have always been to us as a closed book. They offer us no +vantage-ground; no opening, no breach, through which we can enter into +the mysterious process of their existence. No matter whether such life +or existence be that of the minutest parasite of a minute vegetable +growth, that growth itself, or the giant of the forest; whether it +be that of a microbe or the microbe of a microbe; whether it be the +essence of a thought, a sigh, a tear, a look, a vocal sound, or of a +human being--their innermost natures are all alike mysterious to us. I +have succeeded in analyzing a vocal sound, and this apparently simple +proceeding has opened up to me endless vistas in endless directions. I +have reduced this entity into its natural elements, and have again put +these together. After resolving it into two lives I have again formed +it into one. I can bring about this analysis as well as this synthesis +at will at any time. + +All know what is meant by vocal sounds, yet few, I repeat, know what +are simple sounds, though constantly used by everybody while whispering +or uttering exclamations, while surprised, alarmed, frightened, etc. My +accomplishment, therefore, is but the _recognition_ of the nature of a +thing constantly before us and brought to our consciousness through our +ear. + +Simple sounds are the anodes, the beginnings of sounds. There is no +life in them, no rhythm, no melody, no light, no grace, no beauty. +These are imparted to them by the fusion of the cathode element of +vocal sounds with this, the anode; the spiritual with the material. +The anode is formed first. It is the passive element, the female, +the patient, the waiting, which must have been before the male, the +impatient, the aggressive. The thing to be fructified must have been +before that which fructifies. + +The anode is quiescent until the cathode comes along, joins it, and +infuses life into it. The creation of a vocal sound is an act of +generation. The cathode, after overwhelming the anode, penetrates it +and diffuses itself throughout it, and thus forms a union whose result +is the production of a vocal sound. Similar unions between anodes and +cathodes are formed a myriad-fold every moment during time's progress, +and result in the creation of an electric spark, or a succession of +sparks, called an electric light, or any other light or fire, or of a +thought, or of the embryo to a new life of any and every description, +etc.; while a discord, a stutter, a _smouldering_ fire, the sight +of a thing too dimly seen to be recognized, a cut or broken limb, a +suspense, a disappointment, a _suppressed_ action or passion, etc., are +anodes not joined by their cathodes. By the juncture of a cathode with +an anode we exercise our faculties, we become conscious of a sight, a +sound, an odor, a taste, etc.; the anode being vested in the thing to +be seen, heard, smelled, or tasted,--the cathode in ourselves. + +_While the anode of a vocal sound may be uttered audibly, the cathode, +by itself, cannot be uttered--the spiritual cannot be materialized +except in conjunction with the material._ The anode, the physical, is +inert until the cathode, the spiritual, has formed a juncture with it, +has been alloyed with it. Every phenomenon of which we become conscious +is the result of a process of this nature. The more perfect the union, +the more perfect the outcome or result, the phenomenon. + +In our ordinary speech this alloy, this union, is of a mutable and +evanescent, in oratory and song it is of a more continuous and lasting, +nature. With persons speaking a foreign tongue, and with the deaf, it +is superficial, imperfect; in many cases, in fact, we hear only anodes, +no union having been effected. The amalgamation, the alloy of the +finer with the coarser, the higher with the lower, the spiritual with +the material, is not at all or but imperfectly performed; the coarser +element prevails and makes its presence felt in every utterance. The +more perfect the union between anodes and cathodes in vocal utterance, +the higher will be the performance, the more perfect the speech, the +more beautiful the song, the more stirring, the more soulful; the +nearer they come to our hearts. + +How do I know all this? I will tell you: By watching the _beginning_ +of a vocal sound; the performance actually going on within us, while +such sound is first being created. This performance is of an inverse +order as between German and English, in so far as the anode for German +vocal sounds is located to the right, the cathode to the left. The +cathode approaches the anode from left to right; while in the creation +of an English vocal sound the anode is to the left, the cathode to the +right, and the latter approaches the former from right to left. The +location where the union _appears_ to take place is in the chest, near +the heart; for German sounds, to the right thereof, for English to the +left. As a matter of fact, however, it is in the heart itself. + +What does the motion in which anode and cathode approach each +other--which is not direct as it at first appears to the observer, but +vastly circuitous--signify? + +The circulation through the vascular system of the elements (of the +æther) creating vocal sounds, or the _circulation of vocal sounds_. The +proofs that this important fact actually obtains will be furnished very +positively and very circumstantially at a later date in connection with +that part of these expositions which treats on vocal sounds. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +OUR MOTHER TONGUE + + +Nature will have its right always. What is this right in regard to +vocal utterance? It is the manner in which we breathe. When we violate +nature's right in our mode of breathing for vocal expression, our +penalty is that such expression will not be what it is intended to be, +what it should be; the idiomatic expression of every language being the +outcome of a special mode of breathing for the same. + +_All_ my observations in the first instance owe their origin to the +fact that I was breathing in a manner directly opposite to the one +in which it was necessary for me to breathe to correctly produce the +idiomatic expression of the English language. It was not until after +this fact had become clear to my mind that I began to extract from my +organs of speech those sounds which appear so abnormally different and +"strange" to the ear of the bewildered foreigner, who finds himself +completely at a loss how to produce them. The better he becomes +acquainted with the language, the more thoroughly he becomes convinced +of the fact that his mode of speaking English is different from that of +the native-born. Nor will a German _ever_ succeed in speaking English +as it should be spoken until he succeeds in _reversing_ his mode of +breathing. He must go straight to the antipodes in sound production; +he must stand on his head, so to say, instead of on his feet. I shall +fully explain what this means later on. + +I venture to make the assertion that no other person besides myself has +ever learned to pronounce a foreign language _idiomatically correct_, +as I have, by means of applying to his mode of speaking rules based +on actual knowledge or scientific principles. In this manner I have +succeeded in learning to speak English with less of the tinge of a +foreign accent adhering to my speech than usually is the case with +foreigners who have commenced to speak it as late in life as I did. I +do not say this vauntingly, for I do not consider this accomplishment +in itself as of a very high order; but I say it to vindicate my claim +that I have discovered the principles on which the production of +language is based, and offer my personal pronunciation of the English +language to which these principles have been applied as a proof that +I have done so. I am still learning, however, for it takes time and +practice and a great deal of patience to dislodge the old habit from +its wonted haunts and to assign its quarters to a foreign guest. My old +familiar dwelling has thus become a lodging for the English language, +though I can return to it at will with my old and dearly beloved mother +tongue and be comfortable therein. + +The foreign guest, however, who came to dwell therein, does not use +my native home, in his mode of entering it or going forth from it, in +the old familiar way, nor does he use the same apartments for the +same purposes. He enters at the back gate while I used to enter at +the front; he leaves it at the front gate while I left at the back. +He opens his shutters to the east, while I used to look out from the +west, etc. Such differences as these in our mode of breathing exist +throughout the entire length and breadth of both languages. The sounds +we have imbibed in our early youth, however, will always be more +familiar and nearer to us and dearer than those of any other language, +no matter how closely the latter may enter into our lives and our being +at a later period. + + +NATIONAL TRAITS OF CHARACTER + +What constitutes a given number of people a nation, besides their +history, their political organization, and the geographical position of +their territory? What makes every member belonging to a nation, whether +he lives within its territory or has emigrated therefrom, a different +being from every member of any other nation? What makes each member of +a nation resemble every other member thereof, not only in regard to +vocal expression but also in regard to general cast of features, build +of body, movements, gesticulations, etc., and in what may be summed up +as national traits of character? + +No one will deny the fact that such differences exist, as between +Germans, Frenchmen, and Englishmen, for instance. This difference is +not racial, as they all belong to the Caucasian race. It can scarcely +be climatic with nations whose territory is adjacent to each other; +nor is it likely to be religious, historical, or political. There is +nothing very decidedly different in the situation and composition of +these various nations and the individuals of which they are composed, +except their _language_. + +I maintain that language is not only the main point of difference, but +that it is the cause and origin of all other main points of difference. +As language is the main gift which distinguishes men from animals, so +it is also the principal distinguishing mark as between one nation +and another. I maintain, and expect to prove, that the language--that +is, any specific language--acquired in childhood becomes an integral +part of a person's organization, as positively so as any of his other +natural faculties; and that he cannot change it, that is, _in an +idiomatically correct manner_, without changing, to some extent, the +drift of his entire organism. As soon as I began to succeed in speaking +the English language as it is spoken in this country, idiomatically +correct, I changed my nature, to some extent, from that of a German to +that of an American; nor is it possible to learn to speak any language +idiomatically correct without undergoing a similar change. Not alone +my mode of vocal expression, but my motions, my habits, nay, my very +_features_, yes, even my way of _thinking_, in some respects, have +been subjected to such a change; modified, of course, by heredity, +previous habits, and the constant reversion of all this by the frequent +recurrence to my native tongue. In using the term "idiomatically +correct" I mean of course that mode of expression which is peculiar to +a language, its general cast, and which is representative of its genius +and spirit. + +To what do I attribute so powerful an influence? + +It is not easy to say this comprehensively in a few words. I will +say this much, however: That, language being the outcome of streams +of the vital fluid passing into and out of our composition in a +systematic manner, each system varying with every other system, our +vital organs are differently affected, in conformity with the manner +and the rotation in which these streams reach these different organs; +in other words, in conformity with the manner in which we breathe for +our language. This influence is not confined to the vocal expression +of a _nation_. It is influential with and extends to the special mode +of vocal expression in separate districts, provinces, localities, and +cities; nay, it extends to families and single members belonging to +such families, each separate member's expression being the product of +his special mode of breathing, and differing in some respects from that +of every other member of the same family; _such difference in the mode +of breathing being the reflection of every individual soul_. + +The bent of the soul in _individual_ cases determines the flow of these +streams, the same as the bent of the _national_ soul determines the +same for the entire nation. Or, which perhaps would be more correct, +the flow of these streams determines the bent of the individual as +well as national soul. The influence being reciprocal, it would be +difficult to state, as it is with all matters of this kind, _which_ +preponderates, _which_ gives the first impulse. It is of the same +order as the old question (never to be solved) aptly expressed in the +homely query, "Which was created first, the hen or the egg?" + +It is interesting to note the manner in which the vital streams +affecting the character of the two peoples in regard to whom I have +had the opportunity for many years of making my observations, the +Anglo-Saxon and the German, take their course. With the former the +point of gravitation is located in the abdomen; with the latter in the +thorax. + +This gives the Anglo-Saxon a circuitous route for his expression in +coming to the surface; his mode of respiration being the following: + +He inspires into the thorax posteriorly, next into the abdomen +anteriorly. He then expires from the abdomen posteriorly, and from the +thorax anteriorly; vocal expression accompanying the last movement. + +A German's mode of respiration is as follows: He inspires into +the abdomen posteriorly, expiring from the abdomen anteriorly; he +then inspires into the thorax anteriorly and expires from the same +posteriorly, the latter movement only being accompanied by sound. You +will notice that in the former case the breath to be expired and to +be accompanied by sound has been held in the thorax until the abdomen +has gone through an inspiration and an expiration; while with Germans, +inspiration into the abdomen as well as into the thorax are succeeded +by expiration from the same, a direct proceeding as against the +indirect of the Anglo-Saxon. Thus the former secures a force reserved +and held and to be drawn upon as it is needed, while the latter +pours forth his vital force in a continuous stream as soon as it is +engendered. + +The point of gravitation determines the mode of breathing and the +production of vocal utterance. With Anglo-Saxons, the point of +gravitation being located in the abdomen, their speech tends from +below, upward; with Germans, the point of gravitation being located +in the thorax, their speech tends from above, downward. The direction +of Anglo-Saxon expression is from the abdomen, where it has its root, +to the thorax; that of the German is from the thorax, where it has +its root, to the abdomen. It will scarcely be necessary for me to say +to the reader, over and over again, "Try this," "Try that"; I wish +it to be understood, once for all, that this recommendation is to be +tacitly implied as accompanying every statement, every proposition, +every assertion I make. Personally I can go through any one and all of +the performances at any time and at a moment's notice. In making these +experiments, speak or sing _after_ breathing in the prescribed manner. +The prescribed manner being the one in which the _impression_ is made +and from which the _expression_ is produced as a matter of course and +of necessity. An Anglo-Saxon will not be able to utter a word spoken +or sung in _his_ language after breathing in the _German_ fashion, nor +will a German be able to do so in _his_ language after breathing in +the _Anglo-Saxon_ manner. Change either manner of breathing but in the +least, and you will not be able to express yourself in either German or +English; but you may thus be able to express yourself in some other +language. It is, of course, understood that we breathe into the abdomen +through the œsophagus, into the thorax through the trachea. + +In trying propositions like the one now under consideration, it may +not be easy for persons who have not previously given any thought to +matters of this kind to successfully try them. You must give yourself +up to these things, must be _at home_ for them only, for a period at +least, until you have become thoroughly engrossed with them. It is not +a study to be superficially attained. You must enter into it with your +whole soul, your entire being. If you do, you will eventually become as +familiar with the principles underlying these matters as you are with +the letters of the alphabet, or the figures representing the numerals, +and be able to apply the same in as easy a manner and for as various +purposes as you do these. + +Their _indirect_ mode of breathing of Anglo-Saxons produces a +deliberate mode of speech; while German breathing, being _direct_, +produces a speech as rapid in its formation as in its utterance. +_Action being the counterpoise of speech, is of the inverse order of +the latter. English speech being slow and deliberate, English action is +rapid and direct; German speech being rapid and direct, German action +is slow and deliberate._ English character, the same as English speech, +is distinguished by patience and forbearance; these, when finally +exhausted, are succeeded by sudden and violent outbreaks. German +character, the same as German speech, is alternately exuberant and +depressed; contented, but also of a disposition to find fault whenever +the occasion may arise. + +Anglo-Saxons, in consequence of their _indirect_ mode of expression, +are in possession of a reserve force always at their command, but only +called upon on special occasions; hence long-continued forbearance, +and then--a blow for liberty. With Germans, in consequence of their +_direct_ mode of expression, their vital force is continuously being +engendered, and as continuously being exhausted. Hence, they are in the +habit of constantly protesting, and as constantly submitting to the +_status quo_. + +The character of Anglo-Saxons, in viewing things from a practical +standpoint, is as far removed from the ideal as it is from the +pessimistic. It is neither exuberant, overstrained, exalted, nor +despondent; but cool, well balanced, and matter-of-fact. It is not like +the German: + + "Himmelhoch jauchzen, zu Tode betruebt." + ("Raised to the sky with delight; + Depressed to the ground with despair.") + +A German is influenced according to whether he can or cannot, while +losing sight of the real, satisfy his craving for the ideal, for +which, in his direct and impulsive nature, he is constantly yearning; +which the Anglo-Saxon, seeing it is beyond his reach, abandons as +impracticable. + +To comprehend the ideal of whatsoever nature, the German, with +endless patience, tries to solve the most complicated problems; after +solving them he is often satisfied with the result in the abstract; +while the practical Anglo-Saxon uses this result for his utilitarian +purposes. The philosophical German patiently unravels a Gordian knot; +the practical Anglo-Saxon, "Alexander-like, cuts it in two with his +sword" ("Wie Alexander haut ihn auseinander"). Germans love education +for its own sake; it makes of them superior beings, giving them +treasures more highly prized than any others, and far more lasting. +Anglo-Saxons, on the other hand, get their education for a purpose, and +with a view to their worldly advancement. While with Germans education +is "Selbstzweck" (its reward consisting in its possession), with +Anglo-Saxons its reward consists in its application. The question so +often agitated in this country, whether a university education may or +may not be of benefit (that is, in furthering his worldly advancement) +to any one not intending to embrace one of the learned professions, +would never arise in Germany; practical value and education being +things apart, the latter taking first rank always and never being +subordinated to the former. + +Schiller says: + + "[Der Edle] _legt_ das Hohe in das Leben, + Doch er sucht es nicht darin." + + ("[Our aim should be] the noble to inculcate into life, + And not to search for it therein.") + +I am inclined to think that the opposite of this is the usual tendency +with Anglo-Saxons. + +Many other causes might be cited, many other results. These, however, +must answer the present purpose, which is, to show that the course +taken by the vital streams in breathing, besides affecting their +speech, affects the _character_ of nations. + +All this might be summed up in saying: The point of gravitation with +Anglo-Saxons being located in the abdomen, which represents the +material side of life, their being is primarily rooted in the material, +and reaches the ideal by way of the material. The German, on the other +hand, having his point of gravitation in the thorax, which represents +the spiritual part of our existence, reaches the material by way of the +ideal, in which _his_ being is primarily rooted. + +I owe the reader an apology for anticipating in using the terms +"streams of life" and "the point of gravitation." These are not words +without a definite meaning, however; on the contrary, they are of the +greatest significance and of a very definite meaning. Still, I must tax +his patience for a proper explanation thereof till I shall be able to +reach them in due course of time. We cannot approach the steep crest of +a hill by a straight line of ascent, but must patiently wind around and +around its circumference to be able to finally reach its summit. + + +THE AMERICAN NATION + +It will require but a single example, familiar to all, to still more +forcibly show that it is _language_ through whose agency national +traits of character and physical development are produced. How do you +suppose that the wonder has been wrought, and is still daily being +worked, of the great mass of humanity reaching these shores from +foreign lands being merged into one homogeneous nation? The remark is +often made that "it is the climate." If it were the climate, or other +conditions specifically belonging to this country, how is it that +foreigners coming here at maturity always remain foreigners, while +their offspring born and bred here become Americans? Even children born +elsewhere, but coming here at an early age, soon become "Americanized," +while their parents remain foreigners always. These children must have +taken a potent draught, not partaken of by their parents, to not only +change their mode of vocal but also of physical expression; nay, the +vital expression of their entire being. That draught is the English +language. Most foreigners respectively married to an American wife or +husband, and rearing a family of American children, remain foreigners +to the end of their lives. + +It often happens that parents of foreign birth cannot comprehend the +character and actions of their own children, who are _so_ different, +being superficial and frivolous, where they are deep and sound; cool +and calculating where they are fire and flame. Yet these children +possess sterling qualities of another kind which their parents do not +possess. + +I call to mind two brothers, sons of German parents, born in this +country. With the eldest-born the German influence was potent. He was +made to speak German at home and at school, and is to-day, though +married to an American, more German in his manner and appearance +than American, while his mode of speaking the English language also +has something "German" in it. His brother, on the other hand, more +particularly reared under native influences, is a thorough American. +There was nothing in this case but the influence of language which +could have caused this difference. Similar examples might be cited +endlessly. + +If language is capable of exercising so powerful an influence it +must be more than a superficial acquirement. It must be woven into +and interwoven with our innermost nature. What is there in the +English language to make a German's broad and massive forehead, high +cheek-bones, full lips, short chin, and round face, in his offspring +sink into narrow forms and long, oval lines? What makes the lower +jaw, which in him was short and round, in these children sink down +and extend outward, while the upper jaw recedes back? What is it that +makes the jovial and happy expression of the German in his children +change into features of an impassive nature, from which they are only +roused when in action?--features of which it has been said that it is +sometimes difficult to know whether they, sphinx-like, cover a happy +or unhappy disposition; a disposition sometimes so self-possessed and +reserved that its owner might almost reply as Alva did, when asked why +he never smiled: "I would not so demean myself before myself as to +smile." Yet when such a face (especially when it is a girl's) _does_ +smile, its passive features are lighted up in a manner so enchanting +that its beauty amply compensates for its previous apathy. + +I do not wish to say, however, that Anglo-Saxons do not _feel_ either +joy or sorrow as keenly as Germans do (though I have my doubts even +on this score); but they do not carry their feelings with them on +the surface. They sink them into that reserve, at once proud and +self-possessed, which does not wish others to take cognizance of their +private affairs. The nature of the Anglo-Saxon is one of _reserve_, +that of the German one of _abandon_ and _laisser-aller_. This is +not due to heredity in the first instance, but to the influence of +language, by which character and habits are formed. + +Dr. Holmes relates that, after a protracted search for his son, who +had been wounded in the battle of Gettysburg, when at last finding the +"Captain" in a transport train, he went up to him, simply saying, "How +are you, Bob?" and he replying, "How are you, Dad?"--stating at the +same time, "Such is the force of our national habit that, especially in +the presence of strangers, we suppress the impulse of our most ardent +feelings," or words to that effect. A similar proceeding under such +circumstances would be considered "unnatural" among Germans. + +Regarding the change of features, as between foreign-born (German) +parents and their English-speaking offspring, by which the latter's +assume a shape which makes the œsophagus predominate over the trachea, +it will be as impossible for these children to speak _idiomatically +correct_ German as it is for their parents, with whom the trachea +predominates over the œsophagus, to speak idiomatically correct +English. When my features assume the proper shape for English speech, I +cannot produce a single correct German sound, and when they assume the +proper shape for German speech, it is as impossible for me to produce a +correct English sound. + +I expect that this statement will be hotly disputed. The measure of +our ordinary mode of listening, however, must not be applied to these +matters. In some rare instances the difference is so slight that it +takes a very acute ear to notice it. + + +CENTRIPETAL AND CENTRIFUGAL + +While speaking our native tongue our muscles move, our sinews tend, +our vessels lean, _our_ blood throbs, and our nerves tingle with the +essence of our language in _its_ direction, and not in the direction +of any other language. We not only speak and sing our language, but we +gesticulate it, we walk it, dance it, write it, think it, smile it, +and sorrow in it. Everything we do is done differently from the same +thing done by a person speaking another language. The movements of the +muscles of a German are centripetal, while those of an Anglo-Saxon +are centrifugal. With a German they close in around the mouth; with +an Anglo-Saxon they depart from the mouth upward and downward. Hence +the broad features of the German _versus_ the elongated ones of the +Anglo-Saxon. Look at the old people. The centrifugal action with an +Anglo-Saxon even in old age still leaves his form erect, his face +serene, scarcely showing a wrinkle, either on his forehead, his +cheeks, or around the eyes and mouth. Apart from his bleached hair, +he frequently retains a quite youthful appearance. The centripetal +action with a German in old age, on the other hand, has a tendency to +bend his form and draw it together, and to shrivel up his skin into +innumerable wrinkles, so that his mouth often resembles the mouth +of a purse drawn close together. This youthful appearance with aged +English-speaking people reflects on their customs and their costume, +which latter retains much of the tidiness of their younger days. +Germans, on the other hand, age soon. This fact is so apparent that +they conform their habits and general appearance to their age. They +feel old, and unhesitatingly submit to their aged condition. They often +appear old when still comparatively young. English-speaking old people, +on the other hand, are never too old not to wish to appear young. For +the terms "Greis" and "Greisin," which imply a weakened and somewhat +helpless condition, there is no corresponding expression in the English +language. + +Observe a gang of laborers carrying a heavy log. If there are Germans +among them, their heads and shoulders will be bent, as well as their +knees, resembling caryatides in Gothic churches. _They carry from +below, upward._ Those who speak English, on the other hand, will walk +with heads erect, straight shoulders, and stiff knees, resembling the +caryatides of the Greek temples. _They carry from above, downward._ + +The German mode of expression is produced by contraction, expansion, +contraction; the English by expansion, contraction, expansion. For +the former, contraction takes place _towards_ the diaphragm, first +upward and then downward; that is, from the feet upward, and then from +the head downward. For the latter, expansion takes place _from_ the +diaphragm, first upward and then downward; that is, from the diaphragm +towards the head, and then from the diaphragm towards the feet. + +Artists must study these things if they want to get a proper insight +into life, and the action of life, characteristic of different nations. +The simple study of anatomy gives them no clue to these matters. +Everything we do is done differently from the same thing being done +by a person speaking another language. The books on physiology do not +make mention of these matters. They treat all nations alike. They tell +an Englishman that in closing his mouth the muscles of the upper lip +by a direct action are first raised and then lowered, while those of +the lower are first lowered and then raised. As a matter of fact, the +natural tendency with English-speaking people is towards having their +mouths open. In closing the same the lower lip is first raised, then +lowered, the upper is first lowered, then raised, and again lowered; +whereupon the lower lip is raised. This gives three movements to each +lip. The natural tendency with Germans is towards keeping their mouths +closed. To _firmly_ close the same they must raise the upper lip, lower +the lower, lower the upper, and then raise the lower. This gives two +movements to each lip. These motions are _indirect_ with Anglo-Saxons, +with Germans they are _direct_. With Anglo-Saxons the lower jaw is the +main instrument; with Germans it is the upper. With Anglo-Saxons the +lower moves up to the upper; while with Germans the upper closes down +on the lower. That Anglo-Saxons move their lower jaw up to the upper, +to them will appear as a matter of course; yet Germans do not do this; +with them the lower jaw is first raised to be in position to be met by +the upper, the latter being lowered from the atlas by motions made by +the entire upper part of the head. + +During speech the head of an Anglo-Saxon remains impassive; there is no +perceptible movement except in connection with his lower jaw. Hence his +stolid immovability in contradistinction with the mobility and vivacity +of a German, whose entire head, often accompanied by his entire body, +appears to take part in his speech. These motions, though fundamental +with these peoples, vary with locality, individual character, +temperament, etc. A German if he keeps his cranium entirely still will +be unable to produce a sound; while an Anglo-Saxon will be unable +to produce a sound if he should move it as Germans do. A German's +power of vocal utterance lies in the flexibility of his cranium; an +Anglo-Saxon's in that of his lower jaw. + +An Anglo-Saxon grinds the teeth of his lower jaw, in anger or in +passion, or while masticating food, or under any other circumstances, +against those of his upper; a German grinds those of his upper jaw +against those of the lower. + +All motions in connection with vocal utterance on the part of an +Anglo-Saxon are of a decidedly larger compass than those of a German; +the latter being confined to the slight motions he is able to make with +his head, while the former frequently draws down his lower jaw to a +very great extent, far more so than a German would be able to draw down +his. + +The "life" with the German is in the upper, with Anglo-Saxons it is +in the lower jaw; the former representing the thorax, the latter the +abdomen. While the thorax, as already mentioned, with Germans is the +predominating vehicle for every performance of life, with Anglo-Saxons +it is the abdomen. + +With Germans the lower jaw is the anvil, the upper the hammer; with +Anglo-Saxons the upper is the anvil, the lower the hammer; the action, +the life, always being with the hammer. + +If you watch an American girl chewing taffy you will find her lower +jaw going way down, then out, and up again. This is characteristic +of the manner in which Anglo-Saxons breathe and speak. The chewing +process, owing to the adhesion of the taffy to the teeth, together with +the greater flexibility of a girl's jaws, brings out these features +more strikingly than under ordinary circumstances. In chewing taffy +the lower jaw (the hammer) meets with some difficulty in making its +movements; it is therefore lowered as much as possible, so as to be +able to more effectually close in with the upper (the anvil). A German +girl's movements under similar conditions are restricted, being largely +confined to the upper jaw, which cannot be raised to any great extent. + +An Anglo-Saxon speaker or singer makes movements similar to such a +chewer of taffy. He draws his lower jaw down and out to make room in +the lower cavity of his mouth for the expression of his main sounds. +These are the product of the abdominal cavity and find their way out +through the œsophagus from _beneath_ the lower surface of the tongue. +Here they pass the replica and the frænum, which impart to them their +rhythmical expression. Any one doubting the correctness of these +statements, by making the replica and the frænum, or either of them, +rigid, will not, if he is an Anglo-Saxon, be able to produce a single +sound; if he is a German, he will still be able to utter his main +sounds coming to the surface through the trachea, over and above his +tongue. An Anglo-Saxon, on the other hand, may still speak when he +makes the vocal cords of the larynx rigid; while a German in that case +will be unable to produce any sound whatsoever. To these matters I have +already called attention in a previous publication, in connection with +the man who was deprived of his larynx by a surgical operation, but not +of his power of speech. + +A similar experiment may be made in regard to breathing. By making the +soft palate, representing the thorax, rigid, you will not be able to +inspire, though you may expire. By making the bottom of the mouth close +to your teeth (_the soft palate of the lower jaw_), representing the +abdomen, rigid, you will not be able to expire, though you may inspire. +With a German the precisely opposite facts prevail. By making the soft +palate rigid, he will stop expiration; by making the bottom of the +mouth close to the teeth rigid, he will stop inspiration. + +During vocal utterance, with Germans every superior muscle first moves +downward, every inferior upward; while with Anglo-Saxons every superior +muscle first moves upward, every inferior downward. This is preparatory +and previous to action. _During_ action the German opens his mouth, the +Anglo-Saxon closes his. Hence the Anglo-Saxon's half-open mouth while +in repose, and his almost stern expression while in action, pleasurable +action even, which has provoked the witty saying that "Englishmen take +to their pleasures sadly." + +The abdomen being the centre of gravity for English speech, and the +lower jaw being in direct communication with the same by way of the +œsophagus, by making the lower jaw rigid you stop the flow of English +sounds. The thorax, on the other hand, being the centre of gravity for +German speech, and the upper jaw being in direct communication with the +same by way of the trachea, in making this jaw rigid you stop the flow +of German sounds. + + +ROTATION OF CENTRIPETAL AND CENTRIFUGAL ACTION + +Speaking of centripetal and centrifugal motion as separate actions, +there must, of course, be a _rotation_ of these actions to produce a +_complete_ action of any kind. We, however, speak of the one which +_prevails_ over the other, as _the_ action under consideration. Thus +when I say a German's mode of eating is centripetal, I say so because +the action of his jaws being direct, it is first centrifugal, then +centripetal, then centrifugal, then again centripetal. When I say an +Anglo-Saxon's mode is centrifugal, I say so because the action of his +jaws being indirect, it is first centripetal, then centrifugal, then +centripetal, then again centrifugal, and finally once more centripetal. +This, with a German, of course, means: Open, close, open, close. +With an Anglo-Saxon it means: Close, open, close, open, close. This, +however, only gives the main features of an act of eating, etc., as +well as uttering sounds; any of these acts, in reality, requiring +_eight_ movements to carry on one _complete_ act. When centrifugal +prevails centripetal follows, and when centripetal prevails centrifugal +follows. It stands to reason that an action which is composed of open, +close, open, close, or close, open, close, open, close, cannot continue +in the same rotation indefinitely, but must be complemented by a motion +of the opposite nature; such complementary action, however, always +being executed inwardly and not outwardly. While the action of the jaws +just now described precedes mastication, the inner action complementary +thereof is accompanied by the act of swallowing. + +Thus with a German there are four movements preceding mastication and +four for swallowing; with an Anglo-Saxon there are five movements for +the former and three for the latter; while the act of mastication +proper with both nations consists of eight movements which are repeated +as often as is necessary for the act of swallowing. + +The respective manner in which knives and forks are handled in eating +by Germans and Anglo-Saxons, as well as the different manner in which +they dance, and the characters they use in writing, might be cited as +results of the different modes in which centripetal and centrifugal +actions prevail with them. The characters Germans use in writing being +centrifugal in their nature and those Anglo-Saxons use centripetal, +this can only be accounted for by assuming that the muscular action +preparatory to the act of writing in both instances is of the opposite +nature. + +In consequence of the centrifugal movements of their jaws and lips, the +teeth, with English-speaking persons, are always on exhibition; while +the centripetal movement prevailing with Germans conceals them. The +consequence is that English-speaking people pay the utmost attention to +the care and perfection of their teeth, while Germans, in the highest +ranks even, frequently neglect them to an almost shameful degree. The +direct outcome of this state of affairs is the great advancement which +the practice of dentistry has made in this country and in England, +while it is one to which, on the continent of Europe, but comparatively +little attention is being paid. + +With English-speaking people, especially the women, whose lips are more +flexible than men's, the teeth of the upper jaw are more frequently +exposed than those of the lower, for this reason: The œsophagus being +the main instrument for English speech, its sounds, in coming to the +surface from beneath the tongue, require the latter to remain in a +semi-raised position most of the time; the upper lip, being in the +way of these sounds coming to the surface, must be raised for the same +reason; in so doing it exposes the upper row of teeth. The lower lip +is lowered for the sounds of the trachea for the same reason that the +upper is raised for those of the œsophagus. Whenever the upper lip is +raised the lower must be immediately lowered, and vice versa. With +Anglo-Saxons the main movement is with the upper, with Germans it is +with the lower lip. Owing to the centripetal action with Germans, these +movements are less pronounced than they are with English-speaking +people. + +The act of smiling being produced in the same order as that of +speaking, the same conditions prevail in relation to the same. + +In speaking English you can "feel" that the upper lip is the main +vehicle; _it has all the life in it_. In speaking German you can "feel" +it is the lower, which for that language possesses the life. If you +make the former rigid you cannot speak English; if you make the latter +rigid you cannot speak German. + +In connection with the movements of the lips it will be noticed that +while the upper jaw and the roof of the mouth are dominated by the +trachea and the thorax, and the lower jaw and the bottom of the mouth +by the œsophagus and the abdomen, the upper lip is dominated by the +sounds of the œsophagus, and the lower by those of the trachea. This, +however, is owing to mechanical reasons only, as explained, and not to +vital causes. + +The foreigner who learns to speak the English language ever so well, +though he may reside here almost a lifetime, if he does not learn +to speak it _idiomatically_ correct, will not be influenced by it to +any great extent in any of the various manners of which I have made +mention, either as regards his features, character, habits, motions, +thoughts, etc.; but, in spite of his "English," he will still be a +foreigner. This foreigner's children, however, provided he does not +influence them to the contrary through pride of his native tongue, and +if reared under native influences, will become thorough Americans. + +There need be no fear, therefore, that immigration might bring to +this country a permanent foreign element. Such elements, when they do +come, are of a passing nature. Their offspring, in passing the crucial +test of the English tongue, sink the foreigner into the all-absorbing +element of the English idiom; and in so doing are merged into and +become an integral part of the people of this country. They may come +of whatever nation, from whatever land; no matter how they may appear, +act, or speak, the English idiom will continue to make them Americans, +in their children at least, in the future as it has in the past. +There is thus in the centrifugal force which dominates the speech of +Anglo-Saxons that which is a safeguard to the homogeneity as well as +the institutions of this nation. + +An Anglo-Saxon cannot be a bondsman; his language forbids it. The +centrifugal force which prevails with him does not permit fetters. The +children of all foreigners born here and speaking the English language +come under its spell. If language did not have this supreme influence, +there is no other influence that would have prevented this country long +ago from having become inhabited in special districts with permanent +groups of people foreign to its aims and institutions, and alien to its +genius, its character, and its customs. In districts where German is +spoken as the principal language, as in some parts of Pennsylvania and +Wisconsin, it is not, with the native-born at least, the pure German +language, but its idiomatic expression is that of the English tongue. + +People say, "It is the climate." We have every climate under the sun; +yet in all that is essential the man from Maine is as thoroughly +American as the one from Texas; the gold-digger in the frozen regions +of the Yukon as the man of the orange-groves of Florida or California; +the American fisherman on the Banks of Newfoundland as those on the +Gulf of Mexico; the man who battles on the plains against the Indians +as he who serves under the banner of the Republic and upholds its glory +in foreign lands and seas. You can tell an American the moment you look +at him. Yet if you ask some of them where their parents were born, you +will hear strange tales of lands and peoples across the sea and far +away. + +Language does not work _every_ wonder, of course. The influence of +heredity perpetuates that of language; but the latter is the primary +influence. Nor can it be denied that _every_ foreigner living here +for some time, whether he has learned to speak English or not, will, +to some extent at least, be influenced by the habits, customs, +institutions, climate, and language of this country. This does not +detract, however, from the force of my argument regarding language +and its influence as the most vital force in shaping a people's +characteristic traits, physically as well as spiritually. + +There has been of late a great deal of talk and enthusiasm even +regarding the desirability of a closer alliance between the two great +English-speaking nations; their natural affinity and kinship. This +affinity, this belonging together, this being of one family and one +stock, is commonly expressed by this term, "English-speaking peoples." +That which I have endeavored to explain at length is thus tacitly +acknowledged to be correct through the use of this term, which implies +that it is _the English tongue_ which makes these peoples one in +sentiment, in feeling, in their aims and purposes, as it makes them +one in their physical appearance, their motions, the exercise of their +faculties and functions, etc. + +[Illustration] + + + + +NATIONALITY AND RACE DISTINCTIONS + + +While the English language makes Americans of all foreigners, it does +not, of course, obliterate race distinctions as long as races continue +to exist as such. Persons of alien races, nevertheless, when born in +this country and reared under native influences, will become "American" +in a truer sense than foreigners belonging to the Caucasian race coming +here at maturity. I dare say Frederick Douglass was truly more of an +American, in all this word implies, than any foreigner who ever came to +live here; and so are all the better classes of native-born negroes, +in a certain sense, more truly American, this indescribable something +which constitutes a nation, than any aliens whosoever. + +A gentleman once told me that, travelling on a steamboat on one of +the New England rivers, he had been inadvertently listening to a +conversation carried on behind him, between what seemed to be two New +England farmers. On rising from his seat, he saw that one of the men +was a Chinaman, dressed like the other and conversing precisely as he +did. + +Seeing an acquaintance, he pointed out the Chinaman and asked if he +knew who he was. + +"That's Jimmy O'Connor; he's from So-and-so." + +"I mean the Chinaman." + +"Yes, the Chinaman; that's him. You know he was picked up at sea, +when still a baby, by a New Bedford whaler, and was brought up in the +captain's family, who adopted him. He's as good a farmer and as true an +American as you can find anywhere." + +These studies are meant to be purely objective, and have no concern +with politics or policies, regarding undesirable immigration, +or issues of a similar nature. But language is nationality, and +nationality language, always, in the first instance; and the purer +a language is spoken, the truer, purer, and better such nationality +will be expressed and represented by those who thus speak it. What an +incentive to aim at the purest and best expression of language, for +any people! But it will be said that language is subject to change. +If it is, so will the people who speak it to some extent change with +it. Such change, however, is in its dress, in words mainly; rarely +and at long intervals, and under very peculiar circumstances only, in +its expression. As a matter of fact, I doubt whether a change of the +_idiomatic expression ever_ takes place. + +The difference existing between the English spoken in the United States +and the mother country might be cited as an example. The idiomatic +expression is precisely the same. But the necessary self-reliance of +the first settlers, the privation, the barter and exchange, the vast +extent of the territory of this country, the greater independence +enjoyed by its people, etc., might be named as reasons for the greater +dash and freedom, together with a possible want of culture, as compared +with the language spoken by educated Englishmen, prevailing in its +utterance. + +The same influences prevail regarding the general appearance, motions, +and characteristic traits of these respective nations. Though closely +allied and connected in a specific, and very nearly allied to each +other in a general sense, there is that which distinguishes the English +of the old world from those of the new, and which can be easily +recognized. + +Being centrifugal, the English idiom, octopus-like, embraces anything +and everything that comes within the radius of its omnivorous capacity, +without, however, losing its original character. It is like a fisherman +who has hung out his net in the ocean, taking in all that comes along; +or like the sea itself, greedy without end. It has no scruples about +roots and construction, but construes everything according to its wants +and adapts it to its uses as it comes along from any quarter. + +These adopted children, these waifs, however, it must not be lost +sight of, before they become integral parts of English speech must +submit to a change of their original idiomatic expression. No matter +who came--Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, or French--the people of the +British Islands, while adopting their _terms_ of expression, remained +true to their original _idiomatic_ expression. As this country absorbs +people from the whole world and makes one homogeneous American nation +of them, so has the English language absorbed, and is still absorbing, +words from every other people's language, and has transformed them into +one homogeneous language of its own. + +Comparative philology, if it wants to accomplish that which would be +most worthy of its efforts, will have to come down to these strong and +basic roots of language. + +The German language, whose idiomatic expression is centripetal, on the +other hand, does not possess the same capacity for adopting foreign +words and adapting them to its idiom. When it does adopt them, as, +for instance, those of French origin, they are pronounced, not in the +German, but, as far as the German people are capable of so doing, in +the French manner. They could not, in fact, be pronounced in the German +manner, the German language being a close corporation, so to say, which +does not admit of any foreign shareholders; while the English language +is a company open to all comers. While it is the endeavor of Germans +to _purify_ their language by expelling as far as possible any foreign +word and element therefrom, Anglo-Saxons are constantly adopting +new words from foreign languages. It would be equal to the labor of +Sisyphus for Anglo-Saxons to endeavor to purify their language from +foreign words, in the same sense that Germans are attempting to purify +theirs. + +It appears to me that the capacity of England for successful +colonization is largely due to the centrifugal force inherent in its +language, while the want of success of Germany for the same purpose is +due to the absence of this force. Anglo-Saxon government tends toward +decentralization, German toward centralization. I say this in spite of +the fact that Germany is still divided into many principalities; the +fact of its adherence to this undesirable condition being a proof of +the correctness of this assertion rather than otherwise--Germans not +being able to readily get out of that in which they are once rooted. In +regard to governing peoples in distant territories or colonies, this +tendency is of importance. English government, being undemonstrative, +is more effective than German, which is demonstrative, meddlesome, +and therefore offensive; the former being material and practical, the +latter immaterial and inclined to be visionary. + +In a word, where are we to find explanations regarding national traits +of character except through inner motive powers, productive of results +individual as well as national? There is no factor which exercises an +influence upon a nation as a unit so wide in extent and of so powerful +a nature as that of language. It is the _only_ motive power, in fact, +which every member of a nation shares with every other member thereof, +but not with any member of any foreign nation. + + +IDIOMATIC EXPRESSION + +Although it is a well known fact that every language has an idiomatic +expression, an intonation of its own, I am not aware of any attempt +ever having been made at definitely stating what such expression, +or intonation, really consists in; and in what respect it differs, +as between one language and another. Yet this fact should be the +most important of all in connection with ethnological studies. It is +necessary to know what a people's idiomatic expression is before we can +begin to make a study of its language, in comparison with that of any +other people, by which we may expect to arrive at conclusions of any +real value in an ethnological sense. + +In comparison with idiomatic expression, the study of the roots of +words and their derivation, it appears to me, is of but secondary +importance; idiomatic expression being the _kernel_ in which the tree +of national expression had its incipiency, its origin. It is the +life which pulsates through its veins, in which it has its stay and +maintenance; the nerves which tingle with its intelligence, its genius, +its soul. Take away this soul, and it ceases to exist. For every +language there must have been a strong impulse making an impression +before there could have been any expression at all. This impulse must +have been of so powerful and continuous a nature as to have left its +impression upon the minds of a sufficiently large number of people to +form the nucleus for the expression of a specific language, and, in so +doing, constituting such people a nation. + +I have already stated that it is _motion_ in the first instance which +superinduces a specific mode of breathing and consequent expression. It +is to motion, then, that we must ascribe the first impulse. Such motion +may have been active as to defense against enemies, wild beasts, or +the elements; or it may have been passive, consisting of the continuous +noise produced by the motion of the sea, tempests, or thunder-storms, +making a great and lasting impression. Then, again, the influence may +have been of a peaceful, balmy, beneficial nature, as with people +living in security, in a mild climate and on fertile lands. The +stronger the expression of these movements, the stronger the impression +they made and the more powerful the expression of the language; the +softer and more harmonious their expression, the softer and the more +rhythmical the expression of the language. These influences made their +first impression by superinducing a mode of breathing in conformity +therewith. + +Thus sounds giving expression to pain, perhaps, in the first instance, +or to sorrow, joy, surprise, etc., were made in conformity with +this, their specific mode of breathing. These outcries, consisting +of syllables, grew into words and sentences, which, being uttered in +conformity and sympathy with their special mode of breathing, created +a specific idiomatic expression. The same process, from its first +inauguration, and with but slight alterations, has been practised and +persisted in by the same people from the beginning to the present +time. With the English people, as already mentioned, no migration, no +invasion, no conqueror, no matter how powerful, has been able to swerve +it from its path. The _most_ these invaders could do was to graft +some of the expressions in which _their_ ideas were clad, some words, +on to this aboriginal stem. This stem was so strong in its primeval +conception that it could bear all these exotic graftings without losing +its character, absorbing all, welcoming all beneath the widespread +roof and homestead of its branches. It proved its superiority over the +idiomatic expression of these foreign tongues by its survival, as the +fittest. + +[Before proceeding further, I want to remark: these studies having been +made from an Anglo-Saxon point of view, it is just possible that a +preponderance of observations may have been made on that side; while, +if they had been made from a German standpoint, the preponderance most +likely would be on that side. This, no doubt, will be the case should I +at any future period be able to write all this, as I intend to, in the +German language.] + +What is this original sap in the English, and what is it in the German +language? + +The aborigines of the British Isles, living apart from their +continental brethren, became possessed of an idiom different and +apart from any other. It was the idiom of the _sea_, by which they +were surrounded; the motion and commotion of the waves, the surf, the +incoming and outgoing tides, their undertow and overflow; the waves +advancing toward the shore, their breaking against it, and their final +retreat from the same. + +The English language is a raft living upon the ocean. You can _hear_ +the waters rushing through it and on to the shore and back again. You +can feel the waves rising up to gigantic heights, and then falling +to and below the level of the sea. You can feel the undertow in its +reserve force, quiet and subdued like the lull before the storm, yet +capable of almost any demonstration. You can feel all this in the +strength and vigor of its diction as expressed in its prose and poetry. +This is not a mere poetical conception, but a truth capable of actual, +practical demonstration. + +While reading poetry or prose, or while singing, fancy seeing in your +mind's eye the ocean with its waters in commotion, either the open sea +or the surf near the shore, and you will _feel every word you utter +mingle with its waves. These pictures will never disturb your fancy, +but will associate with it in perfect harmony._ Now substitute for the +picture of the ocean and its tumult some rural picture, as of a field +of grain or the branches of trees tossed by the wind, or the flow of a +river, or even that of the sea itself when perfectly calm. Keep such +picture before you exactly as you did that of the sea in commotion. +While reading, speaking, or singing English you will not be able to +_hold_ such picture; _it will soon disturb you, and to such an extent +that you must cease thinking of it, or be obliged to stop your reading, +singing, etc._ + +The impression made by the ocean, in fact, is so great that it +dominates the _thought_ and the entire being of English-speaking +people. This is the case to such an extent that if you continue to +persistently _think_ of any other image than the ocean, even without +uttering any sound whatever, it will so greatly perturb you that you +will be unable to continue thinking at all. You may, on the other hand, +continue to think for an indefinite period of the image of the ocean +without experiencing any disturbance whatever. + +While the basic element of the English language is closely affiliated +with the ocean, that of the _German language_ is affiliated with the +_woods, and the blowing of the winds_. In their habitation in the +forest, the wind made so deep an impression on the primeval inhabitants +of Germany that you can feel its _soughing pervade all German diction_. + +If you are a German keep the picture of the woods before you and the +soughing of the wind through the tree-tops, and it will harmonize with +German thought and diction. Substitute a picture of the ocean for it, +or almost any other picture, and you will not be able to vocally utter +German thought, nor will you be able to continue thinking in the German +language at all. + +In place of conjuring up these pictures in your mind's eye you can +substitute _real_ pictures representing these scenes, and while +contemplating them the effect will be the same. + +After pursuing the picture of the ocean for a while, say: "English;" +after pursuing that of the woods, say: "Deutsch;" either will come +quite naturally, but you cannot reverse them. If you attempt it, these +words will not be forthcoming. + +While with English diction there is _a pause and then an emphasis_ as +of the waves coming on and then breaking against the shore, so, with +German diction, there is an _emphasis and then a pause_, as of the +blowing of the wind succeeded by a calm. These, in a word, are the +characteristic elements in the idiomatic expressions of these peoples; +English idiomatic expression being _low succeeded by loud_; German, +_loud succeeded by low_. + +The influence of the ocean with its continuous uproar formulated the +speech and character of the English nation into one of strength and +reality, with its centre of gravity in the abdomen. The peaceful +influence of their habitation in the woods, together with the +impression made by the wind, the singing of birds, etc., formulated the +speech and character of the German nation into one more of ideality, +with its centre of gravity in the thorax. + +The fondness of the English for the sea, their supremacy thereon, etc., +need not be amplified upon: + + "Wherever billows foam + The Briton fights at home, + His hearth is built of water." + +The fondness of the Germans for the woods is equally noted: Der +"dunkle," "zauberische," "geheimnissvolle," "heilige"--Wald (The +"darkly deep," "magical," "mysterious," and "sacred" woods) are but +common expressions. + +There is not a word in the English language of the same significance +as that of "Der Wald." It embraces many ideas, of which the words +"the woods" and "the forest" are not expressive. These, in a literal +translation, find expression in the words "Das Gehoelz" and "Der +Forst," which are of a more realistic nature. + +The English language, on the other hand, is full of expressions +applying to nautical matters and to the sea, for which there are no +adequate expressions in the German language. + +The fondness of the present Emperor of Germany for the sea must be +attributed to the English blood flowing in his veins. While it is his +desire to create a powerful navy, the people of Germany are indifferent +to, and obstruct rather than assist, the accomplishment of this desire. + +Idiomatic expression, the soul of language, has its incipiency in the +_soul_ of a people, and may pervade it for centuries before the _body_ +of the language, the _words_ in which its thoughts are clad, makes its +appearance. It must have taken many centuries more before these words +grouped themselves into sentences and assumed the shape of speech. The +words may change, but the idiomatic expression will always remain the +same. + +So, also, must the soul of man have had existence for an indefinite +period of time before a body was formulated to clothe it in. The +spiritual cell, if I may be permitted to use such an expression, must +have existed before the material; or, in other words, the spiritual +cell must have made its appearance long before the material cell +_commenced_ to make its appearance. + + +RELATIONSHIP SUPPOSED TO EXIST AS BETWEEN THE GERMAN AND ENGLISH NATIONS + +It is a common saying that there is a close relationship existing +between the German and English nations. There is no greater fallacy +than this. I contend that this relationship is of a very distant +order, consisting, as it does, merely in words, or, as I have said, +garments loosely flung around the sturdy, strong, and unalterable stem +of English idiomatic expression. In every other respect there is a +great dissimilarity and antagonism even, existing between these two +peoples. If there is any analogy existing between them at all, it is +one of opposition; one that is based on the idea that extremes meet +(_les extrêmes se touchent_), their poles being diametrically opposed +to each other. + +There is no more relationship existing between (Anglo-Saxon) German and +English than there is between (Norman) French and English; the German, +French, and English languages each possessing their own especial and +unalterable idiomatic expressions. Whatever foreign words either of +them adopt must be subjected to their idiom, or keep floating along as +best they may in their original character. + +The entire aspect of these three nations, the French, English, and +German, points to the fact that there must be a radical difference +in their vital mode of existence. Just what this vital mode consists +in, in respect to the two latter nations, I expect to still further +establish in a future publication. Both languages traverse nearly the +entire range of the vital organs in opposite directions. Hence the +strength and also the weaknesses of these languages, as compared with +other languages which, extending from side to side, have a smaller +compass but a comparatively purer range of sounds. Regarding other +nations and their languages, I trust others, thoroughly familiar with +the same, by applying to their investigations similar principles, will +establish similar facts. + +Owing to its centrifugal tendency, it is necessary for English vocal +utterance to open the mouth much wider than it is for German. Let a +German open his mouth no farther for the enunciation of English than he +is in the habit of opening it while speaking his own language, and he +will not be able to utter a single sound. The same result will obtain +when an Anglo-Saxon attempts to speak German on the same basis that he +is in the habit of speaking his own language. Owing to the centripetal +tendency of the German language, the mouth in speaking German is but +slightly extended. That this respective widening and narrowing of, +not only the mouth but of every other channel employed in bringing +about vocal utterance, must tend to exercise a marked influence on +Anglo-Saxon and German features will be obvious. The consequence is +that the mouth of English-speaking persons in thus being extended has +a broad yet narrow appearance, with rather thin and compressed lips, +while the mouth of Germans in thus being contracted is comparatively +smaller, with full and ripe lips. This feature is in conformity with +all other features which, with Anglo-Saxons, are elongated, with +Germans contracted. + +Experiments regarding centrifugal and centripetal action can be made +to good advantage by resting your head sideways on a pillow. In this +position during vocal utterance you can _feel_ these actions, and, +feeling them, "_measure_" them. This mode of proceeding can be +successfully adopted in many other experiments connected with these +studies. I must warn the reader, however, again and again, that all +this has reference only to languages spoken idiomatically correct. It +has no reference whatever to foreign languages spoken in the usual +mechanical manner. + + +LANGUAGE AND MOTION + +I will now show that motion is the first impulse and primary condition +of speech. I will give but a few examples at present, but expect +to prove most exhaustively later on that motion _must_ precede, or +_apparently at least_, accompany vocal sounds _always_. + +While standing up, straight, throw out your arms horizontally, then +speak English. You will have no difficulty, but you will not be able +to speak German so easily. Next, stand as before, and again throw out +your arms horizontally, then drop them, letting them hang down close +to your body. After doing so you will have no difficulty in speaking +German, but you will not be able to speak English so readily. In +throwing out your arms in the first instance, your mouth will open, +and you will _close_ it in speaking English. In letting them drop, in +the second instance, your mouth will close, and you will _open_ it in +speaking German. Now, stand on the tips of your toes, and you will have +no difficulty in speaking English, but you will not be able to speak +German with ease. Then rest the weight of your body on your heels, +and you will have no trouble in speaking German, but you cannot speak +English with ease. In standing on the toes the body is extended by +centrifugal, in standing on the heels it is contracted by centripetal +action. Next, extend your neck, and you will have less trouble in +speaking English than in speaking German; then lower your neck, and +you will find no trouble in speaking German, but you will in speaking +English. These experiments might be amplified manifold, but these must +suffice for the present. + +The same features of the opening and closing of the mouth in conformity +with the position you assume, will obtain in all these instances +the same as at first mentioned. It will scarcely be necessary for +me to repeat that all this shows that the motion for English speech +is centrifugal, for German centripetal. Nor will it be necessary to +call attention to the fact that all this tends towards giving Germans +a condensed and broad, Anglo-Saxons a lengthy and narrow bodily +appearance. + +It is, however, a noteworthy fact that with Germans the nearer you +approach the sea, the more centrifugal becomes their action and +personal appearance. The people of Northern Germany, therefore, though +radically differing from them in most other respects, partake more of +the general bodily features of Anglo-Saxon nations than those of the +South of Germany, who are positively opposed to them. + +Upon having ascertained the correctness of these statements by actual +experiment, I want to ask the reader how he expects to reconcile these +facts with the universally adopted theory that the larynx is the +sole instrument productive of vocal utterance. An Anglo-Saxon, when +stretching out his arms horizontally, can readily speak English, while +a German in the same position cannot utter a sound of _his_ language +without difficulty. If the larynx in the case of an Anglo-Saxon, under +these circumstances, produces vocal utterance, why is it not so easy +with a German? + +My explanation is this: + +By extending your limbs, in stretching out your arms, or standing +on your toes, the centrifugal action is instrumental in parting the +jaws and giving the tongue an upward tendency. In so doing, the +œsophagus and replica obtain ascendancy over the trachea and the +larynx. The abdomen (the seat of gravitation for English speech) +and its tributaries thus obtain the mastery over the thorax and its +tributaries. The former being the main vehicle for English speech, +such speech can be produced without molestation. These facts, while +favorable to the production of English vocal utterance, obstruct and +hinder German vocal utterance. + +In lowering the arms or standing on one's heels, thus substituting +centripetal for centrifugal action, the jaws close, the tongue assumes +a downward tendency. The trachea and the larynx, as well as the +thorax (the seat of gravitation for German vocal utterance), obtain +the preponderance, and German may be freely spoken, while English is +obstructed. + +In _raising_ the tongue, a free passage to the œsophagus is obtained, +while that to the trachea is obstructed. In _lowering_ the tongue, a +free passage to the trachea is obtained, while that to the œsophagus +becomes obstructed. It is necessary, however, to understand that, +while English speech is centrifugal and German centripetal, these are +_tendencies_ only and not permanent _conditions_; centrifugal and +centripetal action constantly interchanging and modifying one another. +An uninterrupted tendency in one and the same direction, either +centripetally or centrifugally, would soon come to an end and produce +stagnation, inertia, death. There is no action without a counteraction. +Hence, ingoing vocal sounds are counterbalanced by outgoing; the +same as ingoing thoughts or thoughts produced by external vision are +counterbalanced by outgoing, or thoughts produced by internal vision, +etc. + +In addition to the parts mentioned, there are many other parts of +the body which, subjected to centrifugal or centripetal action, will +produce results of the same order as those already mentioned. In +stretching out your legs (while in a sitting position), you will find +speaking German to be difficult; upon drawing them up, you will have +trouble with English. The same results may be obtained, in connection +with the toes and fingers, in a number of different ways. From all +this, it will be readily seen that all parts of the body are closely +related to each other, the tendency of the muscles in one prominent +part producing the same tendency in all the rest. + +There is one thing which must be mentioned, however. To obtain +centrifugal action, it is necessary to _stretch_ the part under +consideration; the mere extension of a part, without stretching it, +will be fruitless of results in either one direction or another; +so will the mere contraction of any part be fruitless of results, +unless such contraction is complete. You can let your arms hang down +alongside of your body and yet speak English easily; and you can hold +them out horizontally, and yet speak German easily. In either case the +contraction and expansion must be _thorough_ to produce results either +centripetally or centrifugally. + +_All_ persons make similar motions to those mentioned with every sound +they utter, though these motions do not appear on the surface; in fact, +they could not speak if they did not make them. + +I have already mentioned, but want to repeat, that centrifugal action +is the cause of the elongated faces, and especially of the elongation +of the lower jaw of English-speaking persons. It is also the cause of +their semi-parted lips while in repose, showing their teeth, and a +full exhibition thereof while speaking; a fact which has caused much +merriment to continental nations, and has given rise to an endless +number of caricatures of "milord" and "milady" on their travels, etc. +It is also the cause of the perfection of dentistry in this country +and in England, where the teeth are always more or less on exhibition. +In other countries, where they are hidden behind the curtains of the +lips, which are usually closed, except while speaking or laughing, this +necessity does not arise to nearly the same extent. To the centrifugal +force there is also due much of the innate charm and beauty of +English-speaking women. + +From all this one great lesson may be learned: no matter by what +divergent means nature may work its ends, similar results are +obtained, though often arrived at by opposite means and from opposite +directions. Thus life ever presents to us new forms and features, and +ever infuses new interest into what otherwise might become unbearable +in its monotony. A better insight into these facts ought to make +us feel more lenient towards what appear to us as other people's +"idiosyncrasies." It should also have a tendency to prevent us from +attempting to enforce to their full extent laws made in conformity with +our own desires and inclinations but in direct opposition to those of +others (foreigners living among us), whose character and disposition +lead them in diametrically opposite directions. + +Unless otherwise mentioned, I wish the reader to remember that I am +always speaking not only from the standpoint of an American, but _as_ +an American. The fact of my long residence in this country, where I +have spent the best part of my life, in itself would not entitle me to +do this, having shown, as I have endeavored to do, that this is not +sufficient to change a person from one nationality into another. During +my earnest endeavor at fathoming these differences, however, I have +been led into assuming the forms which distinguish the Anglo-Saxon from +the German. Unless I am with Germans and speak the German language, in +my thoughts and otherwise I lead the life of an American. + +That my English speech, however (though my friends in their indulgence +would lead me to believe otherwise), is not as perfect as it might be, +is largely due to the fact of my constantly having recourse to the +German language, and that I am thus as constantly led back into these +other forms of existence which cannot be indulged in without some +detriment and abstraction from either the one or the other. There was +a time, in fact, when the transformation I have spoken of was taking +place (the disturbance being so great) that I could not speak well +either the one language or the other. + +I am well convinced, on the other hand, that through perseverance +_perfection_ in the utterance of both of these languages, for speech +as well as for song, and possibly of some other languages besides, may +be attained in the course of time; nature being so pliable that, when +the required actions are once _fully_ understood and complied with, a +perfect change may be made instantly in passing from one language on +to another. Such changes, in fact, are naturally made by persons who, +in their infancy, have been educated in and taught to speak several +languages at one and the same time; the material during infancy +being so pliable that it can be readily formed into any shape and +transformed into any other. All of the preceding also shows that, for +every separate idiom, the _entire_ instrument must be "tuned" for its +production in a given order, and that only when so tuned can such idiom +be produced in its entire purity. It also shows that, unless so tuned, +the vocal cords of the larynx and replica cease to be instrumental in +the production of sound. + +An instrument tuned for the production of the English language, +consequently, cannot produce German sounds, nor can it produce Romanic, +Slavonic, or the sounds of any other language. Sounds, _apparently_ +the same, of either the singing or speaking voice of various languages +are, therefore, _not_ the same and are certainly not produced in the +same manner. For a German, consequently, or an Italian to attempt to +teach an English-speaking person the art of singing is an anomaly. A +foreigner might, with the same show of reason, attempt to teach persons +of another nationality the correct pronunciation of their own language. +It would be equally false, of course, for an English-speaking person to +attempt to teach a German, Italian, etc., the art of singing, unless he +had first mastered his pupil's idiomatic expression, or the pupil had +mastered that of his teacher. + +Many persons are under the erroneous impression that song and speech +are performances separate and apart from each other, while they are in +reality of precisely the same, though inverse, order. They are of the +same order, for instance, as the back and palm of the hand: the former +representing speech, the latter song; the external and the internal, or +the anterior and the posterior. As the back of the hand, such must and +will be its palm; or, as its palm, such must and will be its back. + +Conversing with a teacher some time since, she scorned such +propositions, saying a person's language had nothing to do with his or +her song; the mode of production of the latter being the _same_ with +ALL nationalities; besides, she had studied the larynx, and knew all +about it. This, of course, settled it, and I had not anything further +to say. + + +DIFFERENCE IN THEIR MODE OF BREATHING AS BETWEEN ANGLO-SAXONS AND +GERMANS + +Anglo-Saxons inspire first into the thorax and then into the abdomen. +Germans inspire first into the abdomen and then into the thorax. The +former expire first from the abdomen and then from the thorax; the +latter expire first from the abdomen and then from the thorax. This, +however, gives but a partial account of the process of breathing, and I +must postpone a more explicit one to a later period. + +To prove the correctness of the above assertion, press your hand +against the left side of your thorax anteriorly, and you will find +it difficult to inhale. If you press your hand against the right +side of your thorax, on the other hand, you will have no difficulty +in inhaling. Next, press your hand against the right side of your +abdomen, and you will not be able to exhale; but if you press your hand +against its left side, you will experience no trouble in exhaling. In +pressing your hands one against the left side of the breast and the +other against the right side of the abdomen, you will have trouble in +breathing. + +Pressures produced in the precisely _opposite_ manner in every respect, +on the part of a German-speaking person, will produce effects of +precisely the _same_ nature. A German, in pressing the right side of +his abdomen, will not be able to inspire freely, but pressing its left +side will not hinder him from doing so. Pressing the left side of his +thorax will impede his expiration, while the pressing of its right +side will not prevent him from doing so. These results will become +more obvious when these pressures are continued for some time. All +the pressures mentioned are to be applied _anteriorly_. Pressures of +the same nature applied _posteriorly_ produce opposite results with +Anglo-Saxons as well as Germans. + +Similar results may be obtained by producing pressures on the median +line of either thorax or abdomen, front as well as back. Such will also +be the case when pressures are produced on either side from the armpits +downward or from the hips upward. More satisfactory results, however, +than those obtained through mechanical pressure can be obtained by +making the respective parts rigid. It will scarcely be necessary for me +to mention all these various causes and consequent results in detail, +as any one interested in these matters can work them out for himself +from that which I have said. + + +RISE AND FALL, OR RHYTHM + +The thorax is productive of the falling, the abdomen of the rising +voice, the former being the representative of the _impression_ for +sounds, the latter of their expression. + +_An Anglo-Saxon's voice, inspiring, as he does, into the thorax, and +expiring from the abdomen, will first fall and then rise. A German's +voice, on the contrary, inspiring, as he does, into the abdomen, and +expiring from the thorax, will first rise and then fall._ + +This is the fundamental cause of the difference between the idiomatic +expression of these two peoples, and primarily also of the difference +existing between their national traits physically as well as mentally. + +Every original word in either of these languages will illustrate these +facts: + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Vater, Mutter, Bruder, Schwester. + +Take the same words in English, and the accent will be reversed: + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + Father, Mother, Brother, Sister + +When these and similar words were adopted into the English language, +it was done at the expense of their original idiomatic expression. +I am speaking of the music, the rise and fall, the rhythm pervading +a language, not of time or measure, nor of the intonation, nor of +emphasis. + +I make four distinctions, and expect to prove that they are the basis +of every artistic expression of either speech or song. First, measure +or time. Second, the rise and fall of the voice, equal to its rhythm. +Third, intonation, which pertains to words in accordance with their +meaning. Fourth, emphasis, which has reference to the feelings. + +That the human voice is capable of at one and the same time expressing +four moods so different from each other, shows that there are +various factors (all of a different nature) simultaneously at work +producing these different results. To correctly indicate these four +characteristics, it would be necessary to mark each syllable in a +fourfold manner. I shall confine myself to the rhythm and the metre, +and shall mark the former above the line by using the signs for accent +(´`), and the latter below the line by using those for metre (¯˘). + +Right here is the main stumbling-block with persons of either +nationality in speaking the language of the other. They will in +so doing invariably retain the idiomatic expression of their own +vernacular. + +The _proper_ way to illustrate the rhythm would be as follows: + + ´`´` ´` ´` ´` + Vater, Mutter, gut. + + `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ + Father, Mother, good. + +There is always a rise of the voice before its fall in German, and a +fall before its rise in English _for each and every syllable_. When +a language is well spoken, this complete intonation is always heard. +If this needs illustration, which it should not, being so obvious, +the poetry of both peoples offers proofs in great abundance. It is a +notable fact that, with German verse, the voice for the end syllable +always sinks, with English it rises; the former is generally short, +the latter long; but even where the word ends with a long syllable in +German the voice falls at the end, and where one ends with a short +syllable in English the voice rises at the end. + +To anxiously count every syllable in poetry is contrary to the spirit +of a language. There are slight touches here and there which simply +serve as connecting links, and which, in marking the rhythmic flow of +sounds, should not be included as belonging to the metre. Most of these +are prefixes or affixes, pauses for repose or relaxation, consisting +in scarcely noticeable inspirations or expirations, which are necessary +to strengthen the voice for the actual metre. The various intonations +are generally expressed by the use of the signs for long and short +only. As the latter, properly speaking, only represent time or measure, +the voice is left to express as best it may and without any guidance +whatsoever every other factor composing a language. All I want to do +now is to show by the signs for the accent the difference between the +English and German rhythmic movement: + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Auf der duftverlornen Grenze + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Jener Berge tanzen hold + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Abendwolken ihre Taenze + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Leicht geschuerzt im Strahlengold. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + LENAU. + + ´ ` ´` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Auf ihrem Grab da steht eine Linde + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` + Drin pfeifen die Voegel im Abendwinde; + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´` ´ ` ´` ´ ` + Die Winde die wehen so lind und so schaurig, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` + Die Voegel die singen so suess und so traurig. + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + HEINE. + +The beginning of every line in this verse might remain unmarked as not +belonging to the rhythmic expression proper, and being expressive +mainly of an inspiration preceding the expiration which it foreshadows. +The beauty of Heine's verse is largely due to the fact that he does +not anxiously count time, but lets his voice rise and fall where it is +most effective. It will be noticed that there is a greater movement, as +expressed by the signs of the rhythm, in Heine's verse than there is in +Lenau's, hence the inexpressible charm of his diction. Here is another +great poet, or poetess rather, the greatest Germany has produced, also +fearless of prescribed forms, but full of charm and power: + + ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´` ´` ´` + O schaurig ists uebers Moor zu gehn, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` + Wenn es wimmelt vom Haiderauche, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´` ´` ´` ´` ´ ` ´ ` + Sich wie Phantome die Duenste drehn + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` + Und die Ranke haekelt am Strauche. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + DROSTE-HUELSHOFF. + +In these last two citations, the dactylus (¯ ˘ ˘) is the prevailing +measure, which but strengthens my assertion that in German diction +there is a fall after a rise; the former being here more distinctly +expressed than in the simple trochaic measure. The fall, the +relaxation, being greater, the rise, the vigor in the expression, +thereby gains additional strength. What is the consequence of this +falling off or gliding down in German diction so well expressed in +Lenau's + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + "Auf der duftverlornen Grenze"? + +It is not a positive line of demarcation, but one which is lost, as it +were, "in the soft ether of the evening sky." + +Hence the high tide succeeded by the low, the aspiration followed by +resignation, the night after the day, death after life, repose after +the strife--all this expresses the genius of the German language; and +is also expressive of German life and character--its dreaminess, its +longing, its desire for the ideal, never to be attained; the abstract, +the abstruse; its yearning, its altruism, its transcendentalism, its +_Weltschmerz_ (the sadness pervading all nature). It is also expressive +of its _Begeisterung_ (an enthusiasm which upon the slightest +provocation takes a man almost off his feet). All these are traits of +the German national character. + +There is no spiritual bond among all these millions that could possibly +produce such sentiments and feelings as its result, differing, as they +do, from the feelings of any other nation or people, but that of a +language common to all. + +To prove that the trochaic measure is the one ordained by nature for +German expression, it is but necessary to glance at the characteristic +words of the preceding verses: + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Wimmelt, Haide, gehen, wehen, drehen, Ranke, haekelt, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Grenze, jener, Berge, Abend, Wolken, Taenze, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + strahlen, ihren, eine, Linde, pfeifen, Voegel, Winde, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + schaurig, singen, traurig. + +The same rhythm, though not so obviously expressed, obtains with the +words of one syllable: + + ´` ´` ´` ´` ´ ` ´` ´` + Auf, der, Duft, hold, leicht, im, Gold, + + ´` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´` + Grab, steht, lind, suess, ueber's, Moor. + +Now compare with this the strength and vigor of English diction, which +runs in the precisely opposite direction: + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + The stag at eve had drunk his fill, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + Where danced the moon on Monan's rill; + ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ `´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + And deep his midnight lair had made, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + In lone Glenartney's hazel shade. + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + SCOTT. + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ `´ `´ + The day is done, and the darkness + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + `´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ + Falls from the wings of night, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + As a feather is wafted downward + ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + `´ ` `´ ` ´ ` ´ + From an eagle in his flight. + ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ + + LONGFELLOW. + + ` ` ´ ` `´ `´ `´ ` `´ + Oh east is east, and west is west, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + And never the two shall meet, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + Till earth and sky stand presently, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` `´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + At God's great judgment seat. + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + ` ´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + But there is neither east nor west, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + Border, nor breed, nor birth, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ `´ `´ ` ´ ` ´ + When two strong men stand face to face, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ + Though they come from the ends of the earth. + ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ + + KIPLING. + +It is either the iambic (˘¯) or the anapest (˘˘¯). Of course, these +vary to some extent in conformity with the reader's intonation, but the +spirit of the language is always from weakness to strength, in place of +from strength to weakness, as with the German. It is always the waves +approaching the shore and then _breaking_ against it, as against the +wind _coming up suddenly_ and then dying away. This is the reason why +a serenade or lullaby in English can never be rendered with the same +effect as in German, the English voice rising at the end instead of +falling. + +Wherever a verse commences with a stress, it must be considered that +a fall of the voice or an inspiration has preceded it; this, though +unaccompanied by sound, being really the case. I have thus marked the +beginning of Longfellow's beautiful lines: + + ` ´ `´ ` ´ + Falls----as----from. + +Mr. Lunn, in his _Philosophy of Voice_, has the following: + +"How many Englishmen _dare_ utter loudly a word beginning with a +vowel? If attempted, either it would not be done, or, in spite of the +speaker, owing to the weakness of the muscles which draw the cords +together [_sic_], an aspirate would precede the vowel." + +This is right, as far as his observation is concerned, but he does +not seem to know that this very weakness he complains of is really +the strength of the English language, the lull before the storm, the +concentration before the explosion; and that "thus the idiosyncrasy +of our people's speech" is _not_ "deadness, weakness, and general +feebleness," but, on the contrary, a strength and a virility not +surpassed by any other tongue. This finds illustration in Kipling's + + `´ `´ `´ `´ + Oh east is east, etc. + +It is but necessary to comprehend the laws which underlie this apparent +weakness to turn it to its best account, and to obtain from it the +highest results, both for speech and song. As for the "weakness of the +muscles which draw the cords together," it will scarcely be necessary +for me to make a specific refutation; the premises upon which such +assumption is founded being quite untenable, there being quite as much +vigor in the _muscles_ and _cords_ of an Anglo-Saxon as in those of any +other nation. Nor, I suppose, will it be necessary to strengthen my +assertions by once more quoting the separate words and thus pointing +out the iambic, the rise after the fall (˘¯), or the anapest (˘˘¯), the +twofold repose and gathering of strength for the final emphasis. + +The English language in its Saxon words mainly consists of +monosyllables. These, however, as stated, must be looked upon as words +of two syllables, a suppressed intonation always preceding their vowel +sounds. The majority of such words, as a matter of fact, originally +consisted of two syllables, of which the last was dropped when they +were adopted by the English. This last syllable, representing the fall +of the voice thus disappearing, left the first, which represented +its rise, standing unsupported by itself. As the rise of the voice, +however, cannot be expressed without the accompaniment of its fall, the +latter always _tacitly_ accompanies the same, and is expressed in an +undertone, _preceding_ the rise. + +Almost every verb of this class will give evidence of this fact: + + ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ + Gehen--go, sehen--see, hoeren--hear, + + ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ + sprechen--speak, kochen--cook, tanzen--dance, + + ´ ` ´ + fallen--fall, etc. + +Hence, in conformity with the above, these words in the English +language should be properly marked thus: + + `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ + Go, see, hear, speak, cook, dance, etc. + +which gives the real intonation thereof. + +This applies to all words commencing with a vowel, and explains what +Mr. Lunn has designated as a "weakness of the English language": + + `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ + Art, arm, or, all, eagle, each, old, etc. + +Without this half-suppressed fall of the voice, there would be no +beauty, no charm, no soul in the English language; in fact, it could +not exist. Words of two syllables, however, always have the fall of the +voice on the first, its rise on the second, syllable, even where the +preponderance of _time_ belongs to the first syllable, as in the words + + ` ´ ` ´ + Danced, hazel, etc. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + +The reader will find these statements sustained by almost every word he +may examine into, which will show that the characteristic expression +of English diction is that of the iambic measure, which passes from +weakness to strength; while that of German diction, as already stated, +is that of the trochaic measure, which passes from strength to weakness. + +Having shown that German _sentiment_ is in accord with the idiomatic +expression of the German language, I will now show that _English_ +sentiment also conforms to _its_ idiomatic expression. I must beg +the reader, however, not to be over-critical. I am not attempting to +furnish comparative sketches of the national character of these peoples +in a literary sense, but am entering into these matters for the sole +purpose of sustaining the results of my physiological investigations. +Nor should these attempts be applied to individual cases, there being +exceptions to all rules, but to the national character _in general_. +If a person in making investigations of this kind had to constantly +fear that he might be treading on some one's sensitive toes, he could +never make any headway at all. I am, in fact, perfectly willing to +apologize beforehand for any such mishap possibly taking place, as I +wish to be perfectly impartial and without bias. I have said this much +partly for the reason also that in consequence of some remark, on one +occasion, made in my former publication in favor of the English _vs._ +the Germans, one critic honored me with the epithet "renegade." + +The rising voice succeeding the falling is not a soft and gradual +receding, but, on the contrary, it is more like an explosion, a +trumpet-blast; the inspiration which had been "stored" being suddenly +released. There is no such "storing" in connection with German +diction; inspiration and expiration succeeding each other on the +spot. With English diction this change may be compared to the break +of day after the night; the fray after the repose; resurrection after +death; a conflagration and a rebuilding at once on the spot, not +only individually, but by an entire community (Boston and Chicago); +an outburst after due deliberation; no sentimentality, but a firm +resolve for the right; patient submission to a point, then a strike +for liberty; the slow accumulation of a fortune and the spontaneous +spending thereof; a hot political campaign and a victory or defeat; +in either case acquiescence; no vain mourning after the fact; a +butterfly of wealth, idleness, and fashion, then perhaps ruin; yet not +despair, but a brave conformity to altered circumstances; an energy in +the pursuit of business or of war which does not flag until utterly +exhausted or success is achieved and a victory is won. All this is due +to the reserve force in the character of English-speaking people, +which comes to their rescue when circumstances demand it. A world +positive and direct, full of energy, restlessness, and activity. A +world of, and for, _this_ world; whose world to come, even, must have a +positive and well-defined character and surroundings: + + "Where the walls are made of jasper and the streets are paved + with gold." + +To what is all this due but to this _bond of language_ uniting these +millions, and embracing every foreign element, in its children at +least? The theme is inexhaustible, but I am limited as to time; yet +additional remarks on the same subject will be forthcoming during the +further pursuance of these studies. + +For song, it appears to me, the words, besides being marked by notes, +should also be marked as to rhythm, as this would assist singers in +giving them the proper intonation; notes indicating metre, but not +rhythm. + +Metre and rhythm are produced by two distinctly different processes; +metre, or time, being the outcome of a mode of breathing subject to the +will, while rhythm is the outcome of an involuntary mode of breathing +for a characteristic quality inherent in a nation's language as its +idiomatic expression. + +Ordinarily, both metre and rhythm are expressed by the same signs (˘¯); +this is very misleading. + +To express time, or metre, I use the signs for short and long (˘¯). To +express rhythm, or the fall and rise of the voice, I use the signs for +what is usually called the accent (´`). If we were to _meas__ure_ the +exact time, however, consumed in the utterance of syllables, we would +find that the falling voice, which is the product of inspiration and +belongs to the thorax, requires more time than the rising voice, which +is the product of expiration and belongs to the abdomen. + +In marking verse, however, the sign for long (¯) generally accompanies +the short syllable of the rising, and the sign for short (˘) the, as a +matter of fact, long syllable of the falling voice. It takes longer to +fill a bottle than to pour out its contents; to prepare a dish than to +eat it; to walk upstairs than to jump from a window. It takes longer to +_prepare_ for an utterance than to utter it. It takes longer to inspire +than to expire. + +In view of the vast foreign element constituting a part of this nation, +it would be a matter of interest to know at what period the foreigner +ceases to exist as such and the "American" begins; or, in other words, +to understand when the evolution takes place which transforms the +foreigner into the American. From my point of view it is, above all, +a question of language. The political aspect of the case is scarcely +to be considered. An unnaturalized Englishman, consequently, after +thoroughly "Americanizing" his language, becomes more of an American +(no matter whether he himself thinks so or not) than an Irishman who, +though naturalized, never ceases to use his native brogue. + +These questions, of course, are many-sided. When I speak of +nationality, however, I have the _best_ specimens of a nation as +representatives thereof in view always. A man with a foreign accent +does not have the same standing or influence in municipal, state, and +national councils as one who speaks a pure English; there is always a +_feeling_ against him, no matter how able or patriotic he may be, of +some foreign influence as a substratum in his composition. + + +STRESS + +I have already stated that the thorax is the seat of the falling, +the abdomen that of the rising, voice. This can be tested by a +simple experiment, the result of which will be as startling as it is +phenomenal. _By simply pressing the stomach, or making the same rigid, +you will find that the fact of your doing so will prevent you from +uttering any sound belonging to the rising voice, or the stress laid +upon a word._ + +Take, for instance, the following: + + "Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light," + +and you will find that, upon pressing the stomach, or making the same +rigid, you will not be able to utter the words "say," "see," "dawn's," +and "light." This will become more obvious in uttering these words +slowly than in doing so rapidly. You will have no difficulty, on the +other hand, in uttering the rest of the words, viz.: "Oh," "can you," +"by the," "early." + +Upon releasing the stomach and bringing a pressure to bear upon the +chest, on the other hand, you will have no difficulty in uttering the +first words mentioned, those of the rising, while you will be unable +to utter the last, those of the falling voice. This rule holds good for +all peoples and all languages. + +There is this difference, however, as between English and German +speech, that, for the former, the falling voice (identical with that of +the thorax) _precedes_ the rising (identical with that of the abdomen); +while for the latter the reverse is the case;--Anglo-Saxons inspiring +into the chest and then into the stomach; Germans into the stomach and +then into the chest. Germans will have greater difficulty in making +this experiment than Anglo-Saxons, as words of the falling voice, as +a rule and in all languages, precede those of the rising. Germans, +consequently, must _think_ of the word of the rising voice, which, as +a matter of fact, succeeds the words of the falling, before they can +utter the latter. This difficulty is enhanced by the fact that while +the rising voice is generally confined to a single word, the falling +voice generally embraces several. + +Hence the frequency of the use of the anapest (˘˘¯) and the dactylus +(¯˘˘), and the relative rarity of the use of the bacchius (˘¯¯) and +the antibacchius (¯¯˘); short always representing the falling voice, +which embraces more than one word, while long represents the rising +voice, which usually embraces but one single word; the definition +requiring more words than the thing to be defined. Hence, _for German +diction, the "thought" of the word of the rising voice must precede the +"utterance" of the words of the falling; while for English diction, +the "thoughts" of the words of the falling voice must precede the +"utterance" of the word of the rising._ + +A German may try and say the following: + + "In einem _Thal_ bei armen _Hirten_, + Erschien mit jedem jungen _Jahr_," + +in such a manner as _not to think_ of the words which are italicized +before uttering those which immediately precede them, and he will find +that he will be unable to pronounce the latter. + +An Anglo-Saxon may try and say the following: + + "And the star-spangled banner in triumph _doth wave_ + O'er the land of the free and the home _of the brave_," + +and he will find that in saying "in triumph doth wave," he must think +of the words "doth wave" before he will be able to utter the word +"triumph." Again, in saying "the home of the brave" he must think of +the words "of the brave" before he will be able to utter the word +"home." + +A German, consequently, must _think_ of the principal word before he +can utter those which qualify it; an Anglo-Saxon must think of the +latter before he can utter the former. + +In place of using mechanical pressure, the same results can be obtained +by making the respective parts rigid. Regarding this matter of _making +parts rigid_, I want to make the following explanation, illustrating +the physiological process going on in so doing. + +While a part is rendered inactive, placed _hors de combat_, so to say, +by the application of mechanical pressure, the same result can also +be obtained by making such part rigid. To accomplish this, it is but +necessary to positively _think_ of such part, to associate your mind +with it, which is equal to an act of expiration when it relates to the +abdomen, and inspiration when it relates to the thorax. By positively +_thinking_ of the abdomen, which is equal to an expiration therefrom, +you will be unable to utter the stress or _rise_ of the voice, which is +the product of an expiration from the stomach; by positively thinking +of the thorax, which is equal to an inspiration into the same, you will +be unable to utter the _fall_ of the voice, which is the product of an +inspiration into the chest. The reason is obvious: _We cannot utter +sound in the same direction in which we breathe; sound and respiration +always following opposite directions._ + +For the purpose of making satisfactory experiments in this respect, +as, in fact, in every other respect in connection with these +investigations, it is necessary that inspiration or expiration, as the +case may be, should be _continuous_, that is, that either the one or +the other should be persisted in until a result is obtained; namely, +until an apparent increase or decrease in the size of the part of the +body under consideration, or an inflation or depletion of the same, +will be perceptible. Though it may be difficult at first, a person will +soon learn to distinguish between an increase or a swelling of a part, +which means inspiration into the same, and a decrease or a shrinking or +diminution thereof, which means expiration from the same. + +[Illustration] + + + + +PHYSIOLOGY OF THE VOICE IN RELATION TO WORDS + + +In the further pursuance of the questions heretofore under +consideration, I shall now enter upon a theme of a still more subtle +nature. The question of metre, rhythm, accent, etc., is one which is +involved in much mystery; nor can I find that many persons entertain +precisely the same ideas as being expressed by these terms. + +_Accepting as a fundamental principle the fact that our various +spiritual conditions are based upon our ability to extract the +necessary inspiration therefor from the air, which bears the same +relation to our spiritual existence that the earth does to that of +our body (in furnishing it with such elements as it requires for its +maintenance), I contend that we breathe for speech in as many different +modes as there are parts or elements in its composition._ This +proposition does not necessarily conflict with the fact that we also +draw elements from the air, as analytical chemistry has proven, which +serve for the construction of matter; such elements, however, instead +of being strictly material, as they have every appearance of being, +are, in reality, the spiritual complements of the matter they help to +form; matter and spirit going hand in hand in our entire composition. + +In reading poetry, or giving expression to the same in song (I repeat), +we do so in a fourfold manner: + +First: as to metre or time (the "measure" of time). + +Second: as to the rhythm or the music pervading the voice, produced by +its rise and fall, also called cadence, or the idiomatic expression of +a language. + +Third: as to accent. + +Fourth: as to emphasis. + +The _metre_ is produced by an artistic mode of breathing (in addition +to our ordinary and permanent mode), marked by regular repetitions of +a given order of inspirations and expirations which can be "measured" +as to the time consumed in their enunciation, and are therefore, not +incorrectly, called "feet." + +The metre is a product or outcome of the _will_, a force which presides +over material-spiritual issues. It changes with our inclinations +and moods, and is expressive thereof. We can pass from one metre to +another at will, as the occasion may require. It is the _material_ +part of speech, as we can measure it and account for it as to time +in space, supposing time to be incorporated. The metre expressive of +joy, for instance, being quick, that of sorrow slow; the former, if +incorporated, would take up less space than the latter, in the same +proportion as it consumes less time in being uttered. + +The _rhythm_ is that characteristic quality which distinguishes one +language from another, the basis upon which it is built and around +which all its elementary words cluster; its fundamental principle, +its idiomatic expression, the music pervading its every syllable; the +inflection, the rise and fall, the cadence of the voice; the spirit of +a language, which is permanent and unchangeable. + +The rhythm is an outcome of the _mind_; an influence which presides +over _spiritual-material_ issues. As _harmony is the first law of +nature_, so is that harmony which pervades our native tongue the law +upon which our individual and national characteristic expressions and +actions are based. We exercise it intuitively. It is innate in, and +unalterably connected with, our native tongue. It cannot be eliminated +therefrom, or put into it by a foreigner, except when acquired in +childhood, or by the study of such principles as I have attempted to +lay down in this book. It is inborn in every language as its spirit, +and is as enduring as that language itself. It is not subject to change +by the dictates of the will. + +The _accent_ represents that element which distinguishes between the +character and meaning of words, and has no reference to parts thereof +or their relation to other words; the same word being pronounced in as +many different ways and with as many different _accents_ as it denotes +different senses or meanings; while _different words, embodying the +same idea, are uttered with precisely the same accent_. + +The accent or intonation is an outcome of the _soul_; an influence +which dominates over our spiritual nature and over _spiritual issues_. +"The rose by any other name would smell as sweet." It is equally true +that any other name given to the rose would be pronounced by the same +indefinable intonation as its present name, with that same embodiment +of the mystery of the soul signifying the flower called "a rose." +The _word_ "rose," which is the same, or nearly the same, in so many +different languages, though possessing the same _spiritual_ elements in +them all, varies as to measure and rhythm in every one of them. + +If the influence of the soul, embodying an idea in a word, through the +intonation we give it, were not the same for _all_ languages, it would +not be possible to translate poetry, and retain, to some extent at +least, that which is commonly called "the rhythm" of the original; nor +would it be possible to sing a song in another language, and retain, +even approximately, the spiritual elements of the original. We would +not be impressed with it, would not be _thrilled_ by it. + +_The intonation of a word, expressive of the soul in the embodiment +of an idea, is a bond which unites all humanity_; not alone the human +souls of any special day and generation, but of all days and all +generations. But for the fact that the Greek soul is in us to-day, +that the native intonation of _their_ words is native with us and with +_all_ mankind, their _dead_ tongue would be _absolutely_ dead for us. +We could find no meaning in it, no beauty, no spirit, no soul. Think +of the melody pervading the soul of Homer and emanating from _his_ +lyre still living and finding an echo in _our_ souls! Think of the +harmony pervading the soul of Schiller or Tennyson continuing to live, +and pervading the souls of the latest generations! Nor could Luther's +famous translation of the Bible or its beautiful English version ever +have been produced, and after production have made the same impression +on the mind, or been read with the same expression of the voice, as the +words of this same Bible made upon the minds, and were expressed by the +voice, of its original composers, but for the fact _that words of the +same meaning_, _in every language_ (aside from metre and rhythm), _are +pronounced precisely the same_. It is this universal comprehension of +their beauty which gives immortality to the strains of great singers, +whether they appear in their original form or are translated (that is, +if well translated) into foreign languages, or are set to music and +sung either in the one or the other. + +If the performances of creating original compositions and their +translations were of a mere mechanical order, or were explainable from +a mechanical standpoint, no such soul effects could ever be produced. +The word, as such, is a _mechanical_ contrivance; but its intonation +is of the soul, being an emanation of the idea it represents. If our +ears were so schooled that by _their "intonation" we could comprehend +the meaning of words_, we could understand every language upon simply +hearing it spoken. + +The people of all nations, through their eyesight, form the same +conception of an object; the same being impressed upon all minds in the +same manner. When a picture thus impressed upon the mind (brain) is +reproduced by, or is translated into, vocal utterance, it continues +to remain the same with all people. This does not refer to impressions +made by material objects alone, but extends to immaterial subjects as +well. Hence, knowing the meaning of a word in one language, we can at +once conjure up the idea it represents in all languages. + +The sight, however, not only impresses our minds through the eye with +a given picture, but, as there is a correlation existing between all +our faculties, it also impresses the voice with a given inflection, +expressive of such impression upon the mind, and of no other +impression; any given sight or mental conception of any kind always +producing an inflection of the voice corresponding therewith. The vocal +expression of an idea might thus be called an _audible_ "photographic" +reproduction of the impression made by the original object upon the +eyesight, and, respectively, upon the brain, or it might be called a +phonographic reproduction thereof, supposing that the picture of an +object could be impressed upon the wax and could thus become audible. +How such a reproduction may be made from an _immaterial_ subject +would be more difficult to comprehend. Of the fact, however, that +an impression from abstract subjects _is_ made, and that an audible +expression of such impression is produced through the voice, and that +this is the case with all people alike, I expect to furnish positive +proof in a future publication. The fact of our not being accustomed +to distinguish in this manner between various expressions through +inflections of the voice is no proof that they do not exist. + +The soul impresses every word with a seal of its own, characteristic +of the idea it embodies, there being as many accents or inflections of +the voice as there are _separate ideas_, or, rather, _groups of ideas_. +I beg leave to copy the following from the _Saturday Evening Post_ of +April 8, 1899: + + "Mr. Kipling recently told an interviewer: 'We write, it + is true, in letters of the alphabet; but, psychologically + regarded, every printed page is a picture book; every word, + concrete or abstract, is a picture. The picture itself may + never come to the reader's consciousness, but deep down below, + in the unconscious realms, the picture works and influences + us.'" + +The accent is not subject to the will any more than the rhythm. The +will can do _this_, however: it can give greater weight, force, and +expression, and a wider scope, to the correlated forces of metre, +rhythm, and accent, through the + +_Emphasis_ which it infuses into them. Through the emphasis, inlet +upon inlet is opened, an additional stream of fresh air is infused +into them, flooding the spiritual system. Valve upon valve is then +opened to let it out. Hence, emphasis is not an "element" of speech +proper, but an amplification, an addition to existing elements, rather, +impregnating them with the life of the heart, the feelings, the +emotions. + +In distinguishing in this manner, as I have in the above, between +the will, the mind, and the soul, I consider them parts of a great +spiritual system intimately connected with corresponding parts of our +physical system, but lay no claim as to the correctness of the _terms_ +I have used. On the contrary, I feel that they are inadequate, and, at +most, a makeshift for more fitting expressions. There is a dearth of +expressional terms, and I am doing the best I can with such as are at +my disposal. + +In the same sense, also, I distinguish between material-spiritual, +spiritual-material, and spiritual issues; and consider them the +outcome, respectively, of the will, the mind, and the soul. + +I wish it were in my power to at once fully explain, as far as I am +able to offer any explanation at all, how it is _mechanically_ possible +to express these four elements of metre, rhythm, accent, and emphasis +(so widely differing from each other) at one and the same time, by four +different modes of breathing, carried on simultaneously, in addition +to our regular mode of breathing. The _perfection_ of elocution and of +singing is to carry on all these various processes simultaneously in as +perfect a manner as the subject and the occasion may demand. + +I can explain the preceding, in part at least, as follows: + +Verse is generally marked by the signs of long and short. While they +denote time or metre in the first instance, they are also used to mark +what is called "rhythm." Yet, while metre and rhythm are _apparently_ +of the same order, they are, as a matter of fact, invariably of an +inverse order. + +We cannot produce two distinctly different expressions while breathing +in one and the same direction. While we breathe for metre in one +direction, we breathe for rhythm in the opposite direction. + +Regarding that mode of breathing expressive of the soul, and pertaining +to words in conformity with their _meaning_, and which, in the absence +of any more significant word, I have called the "accent," it is of an +altogether different order and does not conflict with these other modes +of breathing. + +Having stated that rhythm and accent are involuntary productions, and +that metre alone is subject to the will, we must look to the metre, +measure, or time for our guide in our artistic vocal performances. To +this, emphasis must be added, as being likewise subject to the will. + +As every language has its own time, or tempo, and cannot be properly +produced except in conformity therewith, it appears to me that it +should be the first aim of vocal science _to ascertain the exact nature +of such tempo_ for every separate language. _When the correct time is +kept, all other component parts of speech fall into line correctly +and involuntarily._ Just what the proportionate tempo is for English +as against German vocal utterance, I am unable to say, but it is much +quicker for the latter than it is for the former. + +There is a duality existing between metre and rhythm: the former is +voluntary, the latter involuntary. Thus, also, is there a duality +between emphasis and accent, of which the former is voluntary, +the latter involuntary. Every voluntary factor, not only in vocal +utterance, but every voluntary factor in any artistic performance of +whatsoever nature, being sustained by an involuntary counter-factor; +the same as voluntary and involuntary muscles complement and sustain +each other. + +Not only every artistic performance, but I dare say _every_ act or +action of any kind, is of a dual nature. Every separate duality, again, +being sustained by a counter-duality, every performance is sustained by +four different factors. + +When an act is of a material nature and belongs to the hemisphere of +the abdomen, it is sustained by four counter-factors belonging to +the thorax. When it is of an immaterial nature and belongs to the +hemisphere of the thorax, it is sustained by four counter-factors +having their seat in the abdomen. Thus every act or action consists of +eight movements, or an _octave_ of movements. + + +SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WORD "SCHOOL" IN CONNECTION WITH THE ART OF SINGING + +Having established the fact that the rhythmic movements for English +and German vocal expression are directly opposed to each other, +the one being represented by the iambic, the other by the trochaic +measure, there is still a wide field open for investigation as to +the idiomatic expression of other languages. This it should not be +difficult to determine; personally, I cannot devote the necessary time +to this subject even as far as I might be able to do so in connection +with other languages of which I have some knowledge. The differences +in other tongues, of course, must be embodied in either of the two +measures named, as these embrace all others. Whatever may constitute +a nation's idiomatic expression must spring from a variation of either +of these. While the precedence is given to the abdomen in some and to +the thorax in others, the point of gravitation, which according to its +location calls for the special manner in which we inspire into and +expire from either the one or the other, establishes such variation in +the idiomatic expression of _all_ tongues. + +All that is said about an Italian, a German, or any other "school" +(with the exception, perhaps, of what may constitute the difference +between what is called "the _old_ and the _new_ Italian school," and +which covers issues of a nature foreign to these investigations) has +its proper significance right here: There is no "school" in the sense +in which this word is ordinarily used. There are nations and there are +languages belonging to such nations. Each nation's language is that +nation's "school," and no one nation can go to school with any other +nation. + +Peasants and the mass of the people generally in Italy, France, +Germany, etc., do not visit academies to study vocal art, yet their +mode of expression is precisely the same as that of the best vocal +artists of these respective countries. I do not mean to say, of course, +that the raw material their voices is made up of is as rarefied and +artistically trained, but that the composition, the fundamental element +thereof, is of precisely the same order as that of their most finished +artists. This raw material, on the other hand, in every instance, +varies from that of people belonging to every other nation. + +The best thing, therefore, to be done, to bring such vocal material as +nature has endowed one with up to its greatest perfection, is to have +it "schooled" by artists belonging to one's own nation. There may be a +time coming, and the same may not be far distant, when methods may be +taught by which one may become acquainted with the spirit, and learn +the exact mode of the technical expression, of other nations besides +one's own. It will then become possible to comprehend these foreign +methods and to profit by comprehending them. As long as the principles +upon which they are based, however, are not understood, any attempt at +singing according to the same will be futile as an accomplishment or an +art, and _hurtful_ to the voice of the person making the attempt. + +_Such person will only injure his or her own natural mode of +expression, without acquiring the foreign mode_. + +The idea of learning a certain mode of expression, the Italian, for +instance, for singing, and applying it to _all_ tongues, is futile and +contrary to all reason. We might, with as much show of reason, say that +by learning to pronounce one foreign tongue we may apply that knowledge +to the pronunciation of every other foreign tongue. + +The true state of affairs, and the only one to follow, is, and always +will be, this: First, and above all, learn to use your own tongue +thoroughly, for _all_ purposes of vocal expression. Then learn the use +of other tongues for vocal expression in those other tongues only. You +cannot apply the technical mode of Italian expression to English vocal +utterance any more than you can apply the technical mode of English +expression to Italian vocal utterance. An attempt at so doing is quite +as preposterous in the one case as it is in the other. + +Besides, for the purpose of singing in his own tongue, an Anglo-Saxon +does not and should not want to acquire any other mode, as he is by +nature in possession of one of the _best_ modes of expression. There +is none intrinsically purer, none possessed of more vigor or power of +expression. There are those with greater softness combined with purity, +but lacking strength, as the Italian; and those with more soulfulness +combined with strength, but lacking purity, as the German. This +native element of purity allied to strength in the Anglo-Saxon, more +especially in the English-American, mode of expression is primarily +the cause of the high position in the artistic world of the American +singer. I ascribe the superiority of the "American" mode of expression +over the "English," when untrammelled as in song, in part to the +greater personal liberty, the greater want of conventionality, the vast +extent of our territory, and our almost constantly clear and unclouded +sky; all these being conditions that assist the free exercise of one's +natural endowments. To reach the best results in the art of singing, +the body as well as the soul must be, as far as possible, untrammelled +in any direction. While the idiomatic expression of the English +language here and abroad is the same, the social restraint and the +conservatism of the English as a nation act against the best outcome +of their gift of song, which demands for its best expression freedom +from conventionality or any other constraint. + +Each nation is at its best in its own tongue. Our orators are equal to +any there are in the world. They do not speak according to the Italian, +the German, or any other school. If they did, they would utterly fail +and make themselves ridiculous. Why do people, then, want to "speak" +in this more expansive and soulful manner, called "singing," in these +foreign modes? I know the answer will be that singing and speaking are +things quite apart, having no affinity in their mode of production. I +shall show, as I have already partly shown, that they are of precisely +the _same order_, though different phases of that order; that they +cannot be separated; in so far as the elements which belong to speech +also belong to song, and those which belong to song also belong to +speech; but that they are used in an inverse order in the former as +well as in the latter. + +Listen to a person breathing just before falling asleep, in a slow, +rhythmical order; material objects retire into the background and +assume a semi-spiritual shape. This is a similar condition to the +one we are in and in which we breathe during the production of song. +[By the by, sleep can be induced by thinking of a song, that is, by +mentally singing it]. No two nations, however, breathe just alike in +that condition, any more than they do during their waking moments; +the mode of breathing during sleep being a reversion always of the +one which obtains during our waking moments. Our mode of breathing, +however, _always_ determines our mode of vocal utterance. We can +reverse our voice, as we do in whispering, but it is always the same +voice, as a garment is the same when we turn it inside out. + +Do you know, by the way, that the English whispering voice is the +German speaking, and the German whispering the English speaking voice? +Try it, and you will find it so. Go on whispering; that is, continue +to use your voice in the _same_ mechanical manner, but instead of for +whispering, use it for speaking aloud, and you will have the exact mode +of the other tongue. An Anglo-Saxon, in so doing, will be able to speak +German aloud, but not English; a German will be able to speak English, +but not German. + +Thinking and speaking are of one and the same order. Thought makes the +impression of which speech is the expression. If this were not the +case, it would not be possible to pass from thinking to speaking or +from speaking to thinking at once, and without an effort. To produce +English speech, we must think English in a material way, that is, +anteriorly, and in so doing produce an instrument from which English +material or speech sounds emanate. To produce English song, we must +think English in a spiritual way, that is, posteriorly, and in so +doing produce an instrument from which English spiritual or song +sounds emanate. We cannot think English in either of these two ways +and produce German or Italian sounds for speech or song; nor can we +produce the latter sounds in any other manner than by _thinking_, +either materially or spiritually, in these languages, and in the proper +idiomatic manner inherent therein. + +How can an English-speaking person, physically and spiritually formed +for English expression, and for no other expression, produce proper +Italian sounds? She will think Italian in an English way; and, while +singing Italian words, produce them with an English expression. That is +not singing Italian, however, but English. Is it likely that she will +succeed in acquiring the Italian mode of expression while her teacher +himself is ignorant of just what that mode consists in, and in what +it differs from the native mode of vocal expression of his scholar? +You might as well attempt to produce on a violin the sounds of a +violoncello or some other instrument. + +To illustrate the power of the natural voice, it will but be necessary +to call attention to what occurs in almost any concert wherein one of +America's own daughters, now "_prima donna assoluta_," is the main +performer. She sings a grand aria, the work of an Italian master, +highly artistically and perfectly rendered. Musicians are delighted; +the public applauds. She reënters, and now the _donna_, changed to a +simple American, sings one of England's or America's own songs. The +audience, which before had been languidly listening, at the first +notes of this song is stirred, electrified, and now listens intently. +When she ceases to sing, there is a storm of applause, as to almost +shake the house. Where the artistic sense alone had been engaged +before, the hearts and the souls of her hearers have now been touched. +Yet I have seen the eccentric Von Buelow deliberately take out his +handkerchief after such a demonstration and wipe the "desecration" of +the "ditty" from the keys of the piano which had accompanied the song, +before he deigned to dignify it with one of his "classic" renderings. +No doubt he had much contempt for it all: the song, the singer, and +the public. The treasures of that "ditty," however, were of an order +similar to those hidden within the breast of every one composing that +audience. The pearls, floating through the room from the lips of one +of its own daughters, had, with a sympathetic touch, stirred it to +its very depths, while the foreign "aria" had left it comparatively +cold. Supposing an _Italian_ singer were to sing an English "aria" in +the English language to an Italian audience, and, after that, were +to produce one of her own simple Italian songs, would not the effect +be the same? Would Italians, in fact, care to listen to her English +interpretation, no matter how artistically rendered? + +It is an entirely different thing, however, for German or Italian +singers to come here and sing their own songs in their own native +tongue. Though foreign, the production is genuine. They sing what +belongs to them, that in which they live, breathe; they sing their own +soul. Such a performance we can comprehend and appreciate, even as we +view a foreigner with interest, and honor him for that which is great +and good in him, and for which he is distinguished. We can soon _feel_ +what is genuine and also that which is not; the former being nature's +own production, the latter imitated, forced--unnatural. Italians do not +sing English or German songs; why should Germans and English-speaking +people sing Italian and French songs, to the exclusion, very often, of +their own? + +It was but recently that I heard a German choral society sing German +songs to a delighted American audience. Then came something weird, +strange; it was German, yet the words were not German. Looking at the +programme, it turned out to be the famous plantation song, "'Way down +upon the Suwannee River." The audience looked bewildered; there was +no applause, though, judging by the attitude of the singers, they had +expected to make this the grand hit of the evening. + +The last performance of the great festival of the United German singers +in Philadelphia, in 1897, was the production of the "Star-Spangled +Banner." Everything in the appearance of the singers showed that this +finale was to be the crowning act of the entire festival. All the +singers, male and female, participated, and "Old Glory" was waved in +the air during the performance. But, as I had feared, it was a complete +failure. Instead of the vast audience spontaneously rising to its feet +and being carried away by enthusiasm, it remained cold and indifferent, +and there was no applause commensurate with what it would have been had +the performers sung the words with the true ring in them and the true +English accent. The same thing would happen if the "Marseillaise" were +sung in France, or the "Wacht am Rhein" in Germany, by foreign singing +societies, no matter how excellently schooled, and how artistically +rendered. + +A similar experience was had by Madame Brinkerhoff, who relates the +same in _The Vocalist_ of December, 1896, as follows: + + "To show how language is imbedded in the _timbre_ of the voice, + I will relate an incident of last season. On the first night + of the representation of the 'Scarlet Letter,' by Damrosch, + sung by German singers, I was not surprised or in the least + displeased at hearing this beautiful opera sung with the German + _timbre_ of voice; but after listening to a whole act, I heard + no German words; I listened in vain for the shaping of their + consonants and vowels, although I heard the German sounds or + _timbres_. So I asked the lady seated next to me what language + the people on the stage were singing. 'German,' she replied. I + said: 'But I hear no German words. Will you kindly listen and + tell me when you hear German words?' She listened and replied, + 'No, I do not hear German words, but I thought before it was + German.' She asked me if it was English. We could not decide it + until the lights were turned on, and looked at the programme, + which read, 'sung in English.' + + "This summer I asked a distinguished singer and teacher of + Philadelphia in what language the 'Scarlet Letter' was sung in + that city. She replied, 'Oh, German, of course.' 'Did you hear + it?' I asked. 'Yes, and I enjoyed it very much, and it was sung + in German,' she replied. 'It said in English on the programme,' + I said. 'Well, if I was fooled, a great many more were + fooled--beside myself, all our party thought so too. What are + you going to do about it?' Gounod says: 'I did not like Italian + singing; their tones were attacked so differently from the + French method of singing that it was unpleasant at first, but I + went again and again, for I could not stay away. I enjoyed it + so much.'" + +This is what Frau Johanna Gadski had to say in an interview printed in +_Werner's Magazine_: + + "I have never had any lessons in acting. The director of the + Choral Opera told me at the outset that it was better to act + by feeling when singing than by instruction. If one studies + only acting and singing, one is not always natural. That is the + reason why one who does not speak German does not understand + the German people and their spirit, is not a German, and + cannot sing the Wagner rôles. One must have the German spirit. + Sometimes you write here in your papers that German singers + cannot sing. I think they sing German rôles very well. One must + sing, act, and, above everything, feel at the same time, and + then one can speak to the heart of the listener." + +Singing in a foreign tongue is, and must be, and always will be (until +these things are more thoroughly understood), to a large extent, simply +mechanical. Until then, the soul-stirring depth (_der Zauber_) of the +native composition will always be wanting. The Anglo-Saxon race has +been altogether too dependent upon European continental nations for +its examples, its support, and its development in _all_ branches of +art. This has been more particularly the case in regard to music and +song. Though German music, for obvious reasons, which give Germans +the preponderance on this field of art, ranks first among nations, +still there should be among English-speaking nations a greater native +development thereof in harmony with the national expression. + +_Song_, above all, must be national; it must be in harmony with the +_genius_ of a nation to attain its highest development. It is too +closely allied to a nation's speech to be separated therefrom without +doing violence to both its music and its meaning. The music and the +words _must go together_; their union is as indispensable as it is +indissoluble. While we have excellent vocal material in this country, +it lacks the proper food for its nourishment. There is no want of +poetic compositions. No nation has their superior, or has them in +greater abundance. We have the words and the singers; but there is a +woful lack of a higher class of compositions for singing. The latter +are not at all commensurate with the abundance and the superiority of +the talent that is awaiting their appearance. + +With compositions on a par with its vocal talent, this nation might +rank first among nations in the art of singing. It must stand on its +own footing. It must sing its own songs and must be taught by its +own teachers. This dictum may provoke indignation in "foreign" vocal +teachers. Though I regret the possible consequences to them, this +cannot be helped. Science is synonymous with knowledge, and knowledge +with truth, and "the truth must be told if the heavens should fall." + + +BREATHING + +All of the preceding, in a manner, may be said to be a preliminary +argument for the great truth I claim to have discovered, namely, that +_in the sphere of the trunk of our body the material part of our nature +is represented by the hemisphere of the abdomen, its immaterial part by +that of the thorax; that in the sphere of the head a similar division +obtains, in conformity with which it is also divided into hemispheres +representing material and immaterial issues; and that every faculty, +and the exercise thereof, have their being in a dual action, in close +succession, emanating from these hemispheres._ + +The first proposition to be proven was that we breathe through the +œsophagus, conjointly with the trachea. If all I have said in the +preceding has not already convinced the reader of the truth of this +statement, I trust the following experiments will thoroughly convince +him thereof. These experiments will also furnish additional proof of +the fact that English and German modes of respiration are of an inverse +order. + +Not the slightest fear need be entertained as to the result of these +experiments. I have made the same, and others of a similar nature, over +and over again, without being in the least discomfited thereby; and I +may add that to the fact of having been entirely divested of fear, I +largely owe my success in all these undertakings. + +If you are an Anglo-Saxon, and make the muscles of your throat rigid, +thereby stopping inspiration through the trachea into the thorax, you +will soon experience a decided movement of the abdomen, in conformity +with which it will first expand anteriorly, then posteriorly, and again +anteriorly. There will now be a pause, after which the abdomen will +be first expanded posteriorly, then anteriorly, and again posteriorly. +This is as far as you can go; you will be compelled to release your +hold on your throat after these six movements; the thorax meanwhile +remaining passive. + +Upon next making the muscles of the back of your neck rigid, equal to +those of the œsophagus, the latter being thereby closed to respiration, +you will soon experience a decided movement of the thorax, by which +it will be first expanded posteriorly, then anteriorly, and again +posteriorly. There will now be a pause, after which the thorax will be +first expanded anteriorly, then posteriorly, and again anteriorly. + +These twelve movements constitute one act of respiration during which +inspiration and expiration for thorax and abdomen equalize each other. +The first three movements of the abdomen, consisting of an inspiration, +an expiration, and an inspiration, constitute what is commonly called +an inspiration; the second three movements of the abdomen, consisting +of an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, constitute what +is commonly called an expiration. Of the six movements of the thorax +succeeding these, the first three, consisting of an inspiration, an +expiration, and an inspiration, are equal to an inspiration; the last +three, consisting of an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, +are equal to an expiration. We thus have four complete respirations, +two of which, equal to an inspiration and an expiration, belong to the +abdomen; and two, likewise equal to an inspiration and an expiration, +belong to the thorax. + +Inasmuch as each of these four respirations is composed of three +separate movements, one complete respiration consists of twelve +separate movements of the respiratory organs. This relates to our +ordinary mode of breathing. For vocal utterance, more especially the +utterance of a vocal sound, these four respirations are first made +for the impression, and are then, in an inverse order, repeated for +the expression. This gives us eight movements, or an _octave_ of +movements, for each vocal sound; these eight movements, as a matter of +fact, consisting of twenty-four separate movements of the respiratory +organs. These movements, which in our experiment were of relatively +long duration, during our ordinary mode of breathing follow upon one +another very rapidly; thorax and abdomen, which during our experiment +were restrained, ordinarily and when unrestrained, acting and reacting +upon one another in quick succession. + +The preceding experiment gives us the following result: + + ABDOMEN + + Movement 1. Anterior, inspiration.} + " 2. Posterior, expiration.} _Inspiration._ + " 3. Anterior, inspiration.} + " 4. Posterior, expiration.} + " 5. Anterior, inspiration.} _Expiration._ + " 6. Posterior, expiration.} + + THORAX + + Movement 1. Posterior, inspiration.} + " 2. Anterior, expiration. } _Inspiration._ + " 3. Posterior, inspiration.} + " 4. Anterior, expiration. } + " 5. Posterior, inspiration.} _Expiration._ + " 6. Anterior, expiration. } + +All of the preceding has reference to the Anglo-Saxon mode of breathing. + +Germans, under the same circumstances, will make movements of an +inverse order. + +The first movement of the abdomen will be posterior, the next +anterior, the third posterior, which will be succeeded by anterior, +posterior, and anterior ones; while the movements of the thorax +will be anterior, posterior, and anterior, succeeded by posterior, +anterior, and posterior ones. This shows that _with Germans, expiration +antecedes inspiration_, while _with Anglo-Saxons, inspiration antecedes +expiration_. + +In our experiment, with Anglo-Saxons, _inspiration_ took place in +the abdomen by two movements anteriorly to one posteriorly, and in +the thorax by two movements posteriorly to one anteriorly; while +_expiration_ took place by two movements of the abdomen posteriorly to +one anteriorly, and in the thorax by two movements anteriorly to one +posteriorly, as per this schedule: + + ANGLO-SAXON Abdomen + 1. Inspiration, Ant., post., ant. + 2. Expiration, Post., ant., post. + + ANGLO-SAXON Thorax + 3. Inspiration, Post., ant., post. + 4. Expiration, Ant., post., ant. + +In the case of a German, it would have been more proper, for our +experiment, to have _first_ closed the muscles to the œsophagus, and +then those to the trachea, as Germans first breathe into the œsophagus +and then into the thorax. Had this been done, the result would have +been inverse to that of our experiment, as follows: The first movement +of the thorax would have been one of inspiration, the same as the first +movement of the abdomen; and the second movement of the thorax would +have been one of expiration, the same as the second movement of the +abdomen, thus: + + GERMAN Thorax + 1. Inspiration, Ant., post., ant. + 2. Expiration, Post., ant., post. + + Abdomen + 3. Inspiration, Post., ant., post. + 4. Expiration, Ant., post., ant. + +_This shows that the movements of the abdomen are the reverse of those +of the thorax_: + +With _Anglo-Saxons_, in such a manner that, while for the abdomen +_inspiration_ takes place anteriorly, it takes place for the thorax +posteriorly; and that, while for the abdomen _expiration_ takes place +posteriorly, it takes place for the thorax anteriorly; + +With _Germans_, in such a manner that, while for the thorax +_inspiration_ takes place anteriorly, it takes place for the abdomen +posteriorly; and that, while for the thorax _expiration_ takes place +posteriorly, it takes place for the abdomen anteriorly. + +These various modes of breathing find an illustration in the following: + +Anglo-Saxons, while carrying a burden (for which purpose it is +necessary to hold the breath or to economize the same as much +as possible), inspire into the abdomen anteriorly and the chest +posteriorly, and in so doing expand the same accordingly; while +Germans, under the same circumstances, breathe into and expand the +abdomen posteriorly and the chest anteriorly. The action of the former +tending away from the diaphragm, that of the latter tending towards it, +exercise an influence on the spinal column which causes Anglo-Saxons +while carrying a burden to assume an erect, Germans a stooping +position. This has already been illustrated by calling attention to the +difference between the position of the Greek and Gothic caryatides, +the former representing the Anglo-Saxon, the latter the German mode of +breathing. The order for German soldiers, "Brust heraus, Bauch herein"! +("Breast out, belly in"), for Anglo-Saxons should be, "Breast in, belly +out"! The former gives German soldiers that stiff appearance, tending +towards the diaphragm, of which Heine has said: + + "Als haetten sie verschluckt den Stock, + Womit man sie einst gepruegelt." + + ("As if the stick they'd swallowed + With which they once were walloped.") + +The fact that inspiration always consists in an inspiration, an +expiration, and an inspiration, while expiration consists in an +expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, is one of the most +interesting observations I have made in connection with these studies. + +These facts may be generalized in saying: There is no action connected +with life which consists of a single movement in any one single +direction; every action, of whatsoever nature, if it is outgoing, +consisting of an outgoing, ingoing, and outgoing movement; if it is +ingoing, of an ingoing, outgoing, and ingoing movement; every superior +movement consisting of a superior, an inferior, and a superior; every +inferior, of an inferior, a superior, and an inferior one; every left +movement, of one to the left, to the right, and to the left; every +right movement, of one to the right, to the left, and to the right; the +last movement _only_ being visible and accompanying action. + +While our experiment is representative of the general principles +underlying our mode of breathing, the act of breathing, proper, is +subject to many variations. During their waking moments, or for +conversation, with Anglo-Saxons respiration takes place by thorax and +abdomen changing off, alternately, while with Germans they succeed one +another in the same manner as they did in our experiment, commencing, +however, with the thorax instead of with the abdomen, and with +expiration instead of with inspiration, as follows: + + ANGLO-SAXON + 1. Insp. Thorax--post., ant., post. + 2. " Abd.--ant., post., ant. + 3. Exp. Abd.--post., ant., post. + 4. " Thorax--ant., post., ant. + + GERMAN. + 1. Exp. Thorax--post., ant., post. + 2. Insp. " --ant., post., ant. + 3. Exp. Abd.--ant., post., ant. + 4. Insp. " --post., ant., post. + +This shows an indirect movement for Anglo-Saxon, a direct movement for +German respiration. Hence, English enunciation is necessarily slow, +German relatively quick. It also shows that the reserve force with +Anglo-Saxons is held before it is expended; with Germans it is expended +almost as fast as it is engendered. + +As there is an apparent discrepancy between the last schedule and the +previous one showing Anglo-Saxon mode of inspiration, I want to remind +the reader that our "experiment" was made mainly to set forth the +fact that we breathe through the œsophagus conjointly with breathing +through the trachea; but it was not intended to show our regular mode +of breathing. + +Though Germans and Anglo-Saxons breathe in opposite directions, still +there is an affinity between them in so far as they breathe _along the +same plane_. Peoples who speak any of the Latin tongues, on the other +hand, breathe along a different plane, and so do Slavonic, Mongolian, +and other races. Anglo-Saxons and Germans, therefore, though opposed +to one another in one sense, are affiliated in another; and both may +be, therefore, as they often are, said to belong to the Teutonic +race, together with other peoples along the borders of the North and +Baltic Seas. In a similar manner, no doubt, other races possess their +similitudes and dissimilarities. + +It should scarcely require any further proof on my part after this +and all I have previously said to show that, if any of the peoples +now speaking Latin tongues were in place thereof to speak English or +German, they would, in the course of time, cease to be Frenchmen, +Spaniards, or Italians, as the case might be, and would become +Anglo-Saxons or Germans; or that, if any of the Slavonic races or +peoples would do the same, the same result would eventually ensue; and +also that, if Anglo-Saxon or German peoples were to speak Latin or +Slavonic tongues in place of their own, they would eventually cease to +be Anglo-Saxons or Germans, and would become the people whose tongue +they were speaking; always provided, of course, that such tongues were +to be spoken _idiomatically_ correctly. Should any one still doubt +that language is the mainspring formulating peoples and nations in all +that essentially belongs to them and distinguishes them as such, I +confidently believe that that which I shall still further have to say +on this subject will eventually convince even the most obdurate of the +correctness of these assertions. + +The preceding schedules both for English-and German-speaking peoples +show their mode of breathing during their waking moments and for +the purpose of conversation. During sleep and for the demands of +the singing voice, however, thorax and abdomen interchange with +one another in so harmonious a manner that their inspirations and +expirations appear as one respective inspiration and expiration. + +The following schedules will show the relation of metre and rhythm to +breathing. + +Inspiration being of longer duration than expiration, I have in the +following signified the former by the sign for long (¯), the latter +by that for short (˘); while for the rise of the voice I have used +the sign for acute (´), and for its fall that for grave (`); for +comparison, see schedule on page 202. + + ANGLO-SAXON Abdomen Thorax + 1. Inspiration, `´` 3. Inspiration, `´` + ¯˘¯ ¯˘¯ + 2. Expiration, ´`´ 4. Expiration, ´`´ + ˘¯˘ ˘¯˘ + +An experiment may be made by an Anglo-Saxon adopting the German mode of +breathing and then attempting to speak English, or by a German adopting +the Anglo-Saxon mode of breathing and then attempting to speak German, +which neither will succeed in doing. + +In making the experiments just now under consideration, it will _not_ +be necessary, after closing the muscles of the trachea or the œsophagus +for the first six movements, to continue doing so, as the next six +movements will ensue involuntarily. There may be several repetitions of +these twelve movements involuntarily or automatically following after +that; any special mode of breathing once assumed being apt to continue +indefinitely until another mode is inaugurated. + +The same experiments may also be made by making _abdomen and thorax_ +alternately _rigid_, or producing a state of rigidity through +mechanical pressure, in place of producing it with the muscles of +the œsophagus and the trachea. As this may appear simpler and "less +dangerous," there should be nothing to hinder any one from making these +experiments. The movements will not be as _pronounced_, however, in +the latter instance as they are in producing a _direct_ closure of the +trachea and the œsophagus. + +There is a fourth mode of producing the same results, namely, through +the simple act of _continuously_ "thinking" of any particular part. +We may thus bring about a closure of the muscles of the trachea or +œsophagus, of thorax or abdomen, etc.; thought, which _precedes_ motion +for vocal utterance, _always_, as cause to effect, being the final +arbiter in all matters of respiration, unless the latter is of an +involuntary and simply functional character. While the act of breathing +for life pursues its even tenor, breathing for vocal utterance, though +of the same _order_, is subject to innumerable changes in conformity +with the sound, syllable, or word intended to be produced. + +I am aware that there may be _apparent_ incongruities in some of the +preceding, and I presume there always will be. We can see things +only from our limited standpoint. I have undertaken to solve matters +supposed to be superhuman, or "of God," and hence _perfect_ in their +way, in a human, and therefore imperfect, manner. Our limitations +naturally extending to our power of observation, the duality of +our nature in matters of this kind does not permit us--I might say, +forbids us--arriving at _final_ conclusions. We can go as far as our +understanding permits us to go--beyond that, we may at most indulge in +speculation. I have limited myself to my limits, to what I could prove, +and have but rarely indulged in what I could not--in speculation. + + NOTE.--Since the above was written Dr. G. E. Brewer, who in + conjunction with Dr. F. C. Ard, last month (March, 1899), + in New York, successfully performed the very rare operation + of laryngectomy, has told me that his patient had already + (after a month) commenced to speak again, though as yet only + in a monotonous whispering voice. She is doing so in spite of + the fact that every vestige of her larynx, which had been in + a diseased state, and which the doctor showed me, had been + removed. When I told the doctor this mysterious "new" voice + was that of the œsophagus and had always existed with his + patient, as it exists with every one else, and had always been + heard in conjunction with that of the trachea, he was greatly + astonished, though naturally incredulous, but said he would + investigate. + + +SONG, SINGERS, AND PHYSIOLOGY + +We are incomprehensible and mysterious beings. We do not know whence we +come nor whither we go; we do not know what agencies guide and sustain +us--our end is a tragic one. While the soles of our feet closely +adhere to the ground, our heads are in touch with the most distant +stars. We exercise faculties to perfection whose origin and mode of +operation are unalterably hidden from our knowledge. We possess gifts +and talents which raise us above the plane of our ordinary existence +and inspire us with the belief that we are related to the divinity, are +part of the divinity. It has ever been man's aim to penetrate this +darkness, to learn to comprehend _himself_. The vocation of the singer +is one to which this knowledge is indispensable. In the fulness of his +organization endowed by nature with a divine gift, the singer's aim and +desire is to retain and perfect this gift. + +The birds sing their same individual song throughout their career. Man, +however, sings the song of his soul; a song as endless and as varied as +his thoughts. Song with him is not a gift alone, but its exercise is a +study, an art. He must sing _knowingly_; he must ascertain the source +of his song and the reason why certain causes produce certain results. +Hence the necessity for a science of the voice. + +The knowledge of the exercise of our faculties is dependent on the +knowledge of life and on that of the spirit, without whose aid no +transaction of life of any kind ever takes place. Despairing of his +ability to penetrate into the realms of the spirit, aspiring man has +ever resorted to that which was next at his command--matter. Hence +the effort throughout all of man's history to reach the soul by way +of the body. But body and mind, in alliance, have ever succeeded in +frustrating these efforts; in keeping the secret of their duality and +mutuality intact from the gaze of man. Yet singers are determined to +find out _something_ in relation to the _voice_ at least. Finding that +we cannot penetrate into the relation existing between mind and matter, +the effort is renewed in the most persistent manner to explain the life +and the spirit, whose essence and outcome is the voice, by examining +into the relation of matter to matter. + +Our professor, having discarded the assistance of life and the spirit, +dabbles in matter pure and undefiled. This process our young students +are invited to attend. They carry their youth and their talent, their +high hopes and aspirations, into the dissecting-room, where the +spirit of the voice is supposed to reveal itself among the ghastliest +spectacles. If a person of ordinary good sense, but not acquainted +with these subjects, were to attend a lecture on the physiology of the +voice and then attend a singing-lesson based upon the knowledge thus +attained, he would be apt to remark: "Can this performance possibly +be meant to be in good faith? Is not this man taking advantage of the +credulity of this woman, who is giving him her hard-earned money, but +to find before long that she has been beggared, not only in purse, but +in voice and spirit as well; that she has not been benefited in any +sense, but sadly robbed and betrayed?" + +The persistency with which the modern scientist attempts to hammer a +voice out of the larynx and surrounding material tissues and other +physical agencies is a cardinal sin against the holy "spirit." When he +uses this supposed knowledge for coining it into money at the expense +of trusting and aspiring singers, he commits a malpractice, for which +some day he will have to go to the penitentiary of his own conscience; +that is, if he is in possession of any. "Vocal bands, mucous membranes, +tissues, ligaments, muscles, hollow spaces, air-pressure,"--these are +the factors productive of the voice divine; matter, nought but matter; +not a spark of the divine afflatus, not a spark even of life. + +Journals devoted to the voice are full of these things. I will quote +but a single instance. At the Music Teachers' National Convention, held +in New York, in June, 1898, a sensation was created by Dr. Frank E. +Miller (see _Werner's Magazine_ for August, 1898, page 490) saying: + + "In other words, I wish to say that the action of the cavities + or hollow spaces is anterior and prior to the action of the + vocal bands in production of tone and tone-quality in our + organs of speech. _With this novel fact I announce an original + discovery._" + +It is such _stuff_ as this that these people feed upon and believe +in as revelations of great moment. Yet Dr. Miller and his coadjutors +might sit before these cavities or hollow spaces till the end of time, +looking, observing, probing, measuring, weighing, and determining their +relation to the vocal bands and vice versa, and not a vestige of the +spirit of the voice would ever make its appearance. The last conundrum +of this kind, and it has special reference to my discoveries, is as +follows: "May not the disturbance of speech known as stammering or +stuttering be mainly a condition caused by the putting out of gear of +one air-chamber in its relationship to other air-chambers, whereby +the air-pressures during the speech-act are at war with one another, +resulting in the well-known manifestations?" (_Werner's Magazine_ for +September, 1898, page 59). Air-chambers and air-pressures again. I +protest against being made _particeps criminis_ in any such proceeding. + +When we go back to the earliest recorded times and find traces of an +attempt at expression by means of crude signs or figures impressed +upon the clay, we can see more of the potentiality of a science (or +a civilization) arising therefrom than we can from the teachings of +the laryngoscopists, who claim that the voice can be evolved from the +relations of various forms of matter to one another, without even a +trace of the spirit accompanying them. + +Not many years since audiences of intelligent persons were invited to +watch a dark tent in which two men were so closely tied together (as it +was supposed) that they could not possibly move a limb. From this tent +noises would arise as of the dragging of chains along the floor, bells +ringing, etc., interposed now and then by a chair being flung through +the air. All this was done by the "spirits." This was a proceeding not +unlike the one now going on in the materialistic school in connection +with the spirit of the voice. There is no more likelihood of the latter +arising from the dark tent of the matter they are investigating than of +a real spirit appearing in that other tent. The performance, besides, +is not as amusing, no chairs being flung, etc. The audience is looking +on gravely expectant, but all remains forever monotonously, solemnly, +ominously, and cadaverously silent and resultless. + +The _living_ grain of corn a blind hen after much scratching succeeds +in digging out from beneath a barn-yard floor bears a closer +resemblance to life, and hence to the voice, than the relations a +professor of physiology scratches together out of the various parts +which he supposes make up the instrument of the voice. These attempts +are so contrary to reason and common sense that in any other science +their originators would be laughed to scorn for their pains. + +The other great issue with physiologists in connection with the +voice is that of breathing. Clavicular breathing, costal breathing, +diaphragmatic breathing, etc.--these are some of the terms in common +use, and the "modes" of breathing commonly practised. Each of these +modes is supposed to be practised separately and at the will of the +performer. They are praised and recommended or condemned according +to the special view of the practitioner. Systems are based on these +special modes and schools arise therefrom. What one "school" practises +is condemned by another. And how could it be otherwise, _all_ being +wrong? + +Being homogeneous entities, whose wholesome existence is based upon a +harmonious coöperation of all parts, we cannot practise breathing from +a special part without every other part more or less participating. +The act of breathing being our most vital performance, every other +part would suffer if it were confined to any special part. Our entire +system, therefore, must participate therein; the hemisphere of the +abdomen no less than that of the thorax; both hemispheres coöperating +with each other and with other streams introduced into our system +through the pores and every other opening in the body. For a moment, +and for an especial expression, one part may prevail over another; but +the true artist will always breathe in such a manner that after such an +effort all parts will again harmonize and balance one another. He will +have such control over his breathing powers that he can at any time +throw the balance of power into one direction; but he will never let +any one direction _continue_ to prevail over any other. + +Every theory heretofore advanced in respect to our mode of breathing, +being based upon false premises, is wrong in the abstract, and +impossible of practical execution. + +If I have expressed myself strongly, it is because I feel strongly +the injury which has been wrought by this so-called "science" of the +laryngoscopists. It has in thousands of instances hindered the natural +development of the voice, and has in many other directions done +incalculable harm; while it has in _no_ direction ever done any good. +It has oppressed the intellect, depressed the spirit, and suppressed +the soul of singers. Let me add but this: What would be the use of the +most scientifically constructed stove, filled with the most appropriate +fuel, if the flame were wanting to set fire to this fuel? Supposing the +laryngoscopists to comprehend the intricate construction of the stove +(the body), the highly sensitive and complicated apparatus of the fuel +(the instrument of the voice)--both of which, however, they are greatly +in the dark about--the flame would still be wanting to set fire to this +fuel and fill the stove with the holy glow of song. This flame (the +life, the spirit) they do not even pretend to be able to furnish. They +only give us the stove and the fuel, which remain forever dark, cold, +lifeless, inert. + +To set myself up in judgment regarding these important issues, or to +place my judgment over that of so many eminent persons in the past +as well as the present, may appear to be a presumptuous, rash, bold, +and almost unwarranted undertaking. It is not my fault, however, that +there should be such utter confusion existing in these matters; that +no one should have ever succeeded in reducing this chaos to any kind +of order; that I am the heir, so to say, to this condition of affairs; +the trustee to this inheritance, who is to make use of it to the best +advantage of all that are interested. + +Nor is it my fault that, not by dint of superior endowments, or any +other qualities of a superior order, but simply through the discovery +of the dual nature of the voice, I should have obtained an insight +into, a mastery over, these matters never before enjoyed by any man. +Yet there seems to be a disposition on the part of some persons to +throw blame on me for these facts; in place of furthering, to suppress, +this knowledge; in place of probing and investigating, to assume that +it is simply the outcome of a somewhat more than lively imagination. +It appears to me that this is partly done in the interest of the vast +literature on these subjects now in existence, which will become +obsolete and valueless as soon as the _truth_ in matters of the voice +has been established. + +I dare say this simple fact, "We breathe and speak through the +œsophagus in conjunction with breathing and speaking through the +trachea," for _real_ knowledge, is worth all of the entire literature +on the voice, as a science, now in existence. + +The science of the voice, as I understand and am trying to explain and +establish it, is one not so much of mechanical issues, though they +have their share in it, as one in which the spirit, this heretofore +unapproachable issue, performs the greatest and most vital part. It is +a question of life, and every issue and every agency governing life are +involved in it. How vast a science this science of the voice therefore +is, can be better imagined than at once fully comprehended. I am far +from being able to present it in all its aspects, but shall endeavor, +as I have already partly done, to continue to give a general outline of +it. + +It will take time and patience for any one to acquire this knowledge, +but the reward will be more than commensurate. To superficially obtain +it from others is not sufficient; one must learn to know it of one's +own knowledge. It is an academic study, embracing many sciences. A +person must enter into it with his whole being if he wants to get hold +of the spirit thereof and be truly benefited thereby. He must identify +himself with this knowledge, must become part and parcel thereof, or it +must become part and parcel of him. When this is done, true teachers +of the voice will arise, for here is a chance for greatness to assert +itself. It will be death to all hackneyed knowledge and charlatanism. + +When the true knowledge of the production of speech and song for +_every_ language has been established, when we have a real science +of the voice, the teacher comprehending these issues in their entire +latitude will be able to teach how to interpret Mozart, Schubert, and +Wagner, Rossini and Verdi, Gounod, and every other master in the tongue +and the spirit in which he has produced his works. + +The genius for execution in the art of singing is with the Anglo-Saxon +race, but not for composition, for original conception. It may come, +but it is not with it now. + +The desire of the singer naturally is to embrace the highest in her +or his repertoire. At present it is Wagner. But how can Wagner be +rendered without a comprehension of his genius as expressed through +his language? The genius of the master and the genius of the language +he wrote and composed in cannot be separated. They are soul and body +of one and the same entity. Without the comprehension of the genius of +the German language, of its idiomatic expression, it is not possible +to reproduce what Wagner meant to express by his work. To sing German +with an English tongue is an anomaly; it is still English in the real +sense of the word, and not German. It is an unnatural proceeding, and +therefore injurious to the vocal organs of the singer. + +No one would expect a foreigner, for the delectation of a native-born +audience, to recite before it poetry in the latter's language, or a +native-born person to recite before it in a foreign tongue. In either +case such a person would fail. Why, then, song, this sister art and +accomplishment? + +All these are questions which, though ever so reluctantly, artists +will have to face. It complicates their art, but it will also, when +understood, make it comparatively easy. Americans will then sing the +works of foreign masters with the same perfect ease that they do +those of their native composers, and so will persons of every other +nationality. + +Who will be able to teach a foreign language so well as the natives +of each respective country? provided such persons have learned to +comprehend the difference between the mode of production of their +speech and that of their scholars. In that case only will a German +be able to teach an Anglo-Saxon his (the German) language for either +speech or song. It will be the same with every other nationality. + +The teachers, as a class, are with me. They feel that the efforts +of the physiologists to aid them in their vocation are wrong and +misleading. They have no faith in the revelation of matter. They know +matter is inert, powerless for any purpose without the indwelling +of the spirit; that the spirit reigns over and controls _every_ +manifestation of life; and that the voice in singing is one of the +highest manifestations thereof. They know that song comes from the +heart and the soul, while it uses the body for its instrument. + +I have been told I must build up before tearing down; before destroying +the old I must put something better in its place. I think it a +praiseworthy undertaking, in itself, to destroy the false and the +harmful. Besides, we cannot erect a new building before the old one has +been removed. + +As for this _new_ science, I am doing what I can to put it into +shape, to give a visible and tangible form to it as it has developed +in my mind. The world has been able to do without it so long, those +interested in these matters must have a little patience. + +I specially appeal to the _young_ to devote themselves to these studies +and to thus become the precursors in the application of principles +which are destined to revolutionize the vocal science of the world; the +old being often too old to get out of lifelong practices, no matter how +erroneous. I appeal in like manner to the students of medicine, and to +those of every other branch of science, whose aim is the knowledge of +man in any of, and all, his relations. + +[Illustration] + + + + +INDEX + + + Abdomen, 174, 198, 208 + + Abstract thought, 72 + + Accent, 178, 180 + + Æther, 91 + + Anapest, 167, 175 + + Anglo-Saxon race, 136 + + Animal magnetism, 14 + + Anode, 106 + + Antibacchius, 175 + + Atlas, 127 + + Autology, 56 + + + Bacchius, 175 + + _Basic Law of Vocal Utterance_, 1, 6, 7 + + Bladder, 46 + + Blood, 65 + + Brain, 46 + + Breathing, 8, 93, 95, 159, 198, 214 + + Brinkerhoff, Mme. Clara, 6, 195 + + Bronchi, 8 + + + Caryatides, 104 + + Cathode, 106 + + Centrifugal, 124, 130, 152 + + Centripetal, 124, 130, 152 + + Charlatanism, 12 + + Circulation of sound, 109 + + Climate, 135 + + Clothing, 78 + + Colonization, 140 + + Congenital deaf, 84 + + Consonants, 89 + + + Dactylus, 164, 175 + + Dentistry, 132 + + Diaphragm, 80, 102, 203 + + Dissecting room, 211 + + Douglass, Frederick, 137 + + Drumhead, 74 + + Duality, 18 + + + Emphasis, 161, 179 + + English-speaking peoples, 136 + + Evolution, 18 + + Expansion, 90 + + Expiration, 80, 200 + + Extirpation, 59 + + + Foreigners, 134, 173, 194 + + Frænum linguæ, 42 + + + Gadski, Johanna, 196 + + Generation, 107 + + German writers, 65 + + Gounod, 195 + + Gravitation, 107 + + + Heidenhain, Mr., 14 + + Heine, 164, 204 + + Hemispheres, 88 + + Holmes, Dr. O. W., 12, 123 + + Huxley, 21 + + Hypnotism, 52 + + + Iambic measure, 167 + + Idiomatic expression, 110, 113, 123, 143, 148 + + Idiom of the sea, 144; + of the forest, 146 + + Immigration, 134 + + Inspiration, 177, 200 + + Intonation, 161 + + Introspection, 4, 56, 68 + + + Kidneys, 46 + + + Laryngoscope, 50 + + Laryngoscopists, 215 + + Larynx, 9 + + Lungs, 46 + + Lunn, Mr., 167 + + + Matter, 211, 218 + + Medicine, 220 + + Metre, 161, 172, 178 + + Miller, Dr., 212 + + Mind, 184 + + Motion, 89, 142, 151 + + Müller, Prof. Max, 99 + + + Octave, 93 + + Œsophagus, 198, 208 + + + Palimpsest, 96 + + Phonograph, 71, 88, 90 + + Point of gravitation, 101 + + Posterior surfaces, 68 + + + "R" sound, 104 + + Race distinctions, 137 + + Reinforcement, 47 + + Religion, 17 + + Replica, 19, 42, 129 + + Rhythm, 68, 93, 160, 172, 178 + + Rigidity, 57, 59, 176, 208 + + Roentgen, Professor, 105 + + Rush, Dr., 48 + + + Saxon words, 168 + + School of singing, 187 + + Science of the voice, 210 + + Sight, 183 + + Simple sounds, 66, 68, 88, 106 + + Singers, 210 + + Singing, 57, 158 + + Soft palate, 129 + + Soul, 184 + + Speech and song, 158 + + Spirit, 54, 211, 220 + + Spirits, 44 + + Spiritual cell, 148 + + Stammering, 97 + + Stuttering, 97 + + Surd, 89 + + + Teachers, 13, 218, 219 + + Teeth, 132 + + Teutonic race, 206 + + Thorax, 174, 198, 208 + + Thought, 192 + + Timbre, 195 + + Tongue, 61, 101 + + Trachea, 198, 208 + + Trochaic measure, 165 + + Tuning, 157 + + + Ureters, 47 + + + Ventriloquism, 73 + + Virchow, Professor, 21 + + Viscera, 46 + + Vivisection, 51 + + Vocal science, 220 + + Vocal sounds, 67, 89 + + Voice of the œsophagus, 1; + falling, 175; + rising, 175; + whispering, 191 + + Von Buelow, 193 + + + _Werner's Magazine_, 6, 7, 196, 212, 213 + + Will, 179, 184 + + + + + + Transcriber's Notes: + + + Simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were + silently corrected. + + Anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed. + + Italics markup is enclosed in _underscores_. + + Bold and underlined markup is enclosed in =equals=. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Duality of Voice, by Emil Sutro + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48486 *** diff --git a/48486-h/48486-h.htm b/48486-h/48486-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cb6e395 --- /dev/null +++ b/48486-h/48486-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8802 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=UTF-8" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Duality of Voice, by Emil Sutro. + </title> + <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; 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text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i9 {display: block; margin-left: 4.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48486 ***</div> + +<div class="tnotes covernote"> + <p>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> +</div> + +<p class="xxlarge u">Duality of Man's Nature</p> + +<p class="ph2">I.—DUALITY OF VOICE</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> +<div class="titlepage bbox"> +<div class="bbox"> + + + + +<h1>DUALITY OF +VOICE<br /> + +<span class="xlarge">AN OUTLINE OF ORIGINAL +RESEARCH</span></h1> + + +<p>BY</p> + +<p class="xlarge">EMIL SUTRO</p> + +<p class="small">AUTHOR OF "THE BASIC LAW OF VOCAL +UTTERANCE."</p> +</div> +<div class="bbox"> +<span class="large">G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS<br /></span> +NEW YORK AND LONDON<br /> +The Knickerbocker Press<br /> +1899 +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1899 +BY +EMIL SUTRO</p> + +<p class="center">Entered at Stationers' Hall, London.</p> + +<p class="center">The Knickerbocker Press, New York +</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"There is nothing in our composition either purely +material or purely spiritual."—<span class="smcap">Montaigne.</span></p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a><br /><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/deco_pv.jpg" width="700" height="164" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS"> + <tr> + <th class="tdl">CHAPTER</th> + <th>PAGE</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>I.—INTRODUCTION</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Comments of a Distant Reviewer</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Fragments</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Basic Law of Vocal Utterance</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">The Voice of the Œsophagus and its Vocal Cords</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>II.—THE HUMAN VOICE</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Introspection</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Making Parts Rigid</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Extirpation</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Movements of the Tongue</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Simple Sounds</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Posterior Surfaces</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Inspiration—Expiration</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Diaphragms</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>III.—IMPRESSION—EXPRESSION</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">The Phonograph</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Stuttering—Stammering</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Cathode of a Vocal Sound</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>IV.—OUR MOTHER TONGUE</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">National Traits of Character</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">The American Nation</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Centripetal and Centrifugal</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Rotation of Centripetal and Centrifugal Action </td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_130">130</a> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>V.—NATIONALITY AND RACE DISTINCTIONS</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Idiomatic Expression</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp6">Origin of Anglo-Saxon Race and Idiom.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp6">Origin of German Race and Idiom.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Relationship Supposed to Exist as between the German and English Nations</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Language and Motion</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Difference in their Mode of Breathing as between Anglo-Saxons and Germans</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Rise and Fall, or Rhythm</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Stress</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VI.—PHYSIOLOGY OF VOICE IN RELATION TO WORDS</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Significance of the Term "School" of Singing</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Breathing</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Song, Singers, and Physiology</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>INDEX</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_223">223</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/deco_pvi.jpg" width="700" height="348" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></div> + +<p class="ph1">DUALITY OF VOICE +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a><br /><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig011-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="174" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="ph1">DUALITY OF VOICE</p> + +<p class="ph2">AN OUTLINE OF ORIGINAL RESEARCH +</p> +<div class="chapter"></div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + + +<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> + + +<p>By the time this book will appear, nearly six +years will have elapsed since I discovered the +voice of the œsophagus, and almost five since I +published a preliminary account of this discovery +in a book entitled <cite>The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +This discovery, though the most comprehensive +and far-reaching of any that has ever been +made, not only in regard to the voice, but in regard +to the better comprehension of our nature and our +entire human existence, has remained as unknown +to the world as if it had never been made. Yet +some day, when its importance is recognized, it +will take rank in the annals of the history of the +human race as second to no other discovery that has +influenced and shaped human thought in the proper +recognition of the origin and the nature of man, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>spiritual as well as physical, his abilities and his +limits, and his relative position, influence, and +destiny in the economy of the universe.</p> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Edgar S. Werner. New York, 1894.</p></div> + +<p>I have spent so many years of arduous labor on +these investigations, and have become so thoroughly +convinced of their truth, that I have ventured +to make these assertions without the slightest +compunction, or fear of final contradiction. Although +the facts involved in these matters entitle +me to these declarations, I would not have overstepped +the bounds of modesty in so far as to make +them had not my first experience forced upon me +the conviction that the path of modesty in matters +of this kind is not the one to success. I was so impressed +with the exalted position of science, and so +apprehensive of my own powers, that in my former +publication I as much as apologized for my temerity +in telling the scientific world things of which it did +not have any previous knowledge. These last four +years, however, have so enlarged my views and +given me such a firm grasp and insight, that I no +longer fear any man's judgment. I would, on the +contrary, heartily welcome honest and competent +criticism, being convinced that the same would not +and could not but strengthen my position.</p> + +<p>As a matter of personal gratification, I am indifferent +to success; but I think the time has come +when these matters should not continue to remain +with me alone, but should become the property of +all, not for my sake, nor simply for that of science, +but for the sake of truth, and the benefit of mankind. +Had my previous statements been given the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +consideration they deserved, other persons, in all +probability, would have made <em>some</em> of the many discoveries, +at least, that it has now been my privilege +to make single-handed. Still, the field is inexhaustible; +that which I have discovered being but +an index hand to that which is still to be discovered. +Having no reason to doubt but that I am a properly +organized member of the human family, I consider +myself entitled to speak of my personal experience +as in like manner applicable to every other member +of that family.</p> + +<p>Having found it expedient to frequently address +the reader in a "direct" manner, using the personal +pronoun "you" in so doing, I must ask his pardon +for this liberty. In thus addressing him, I trust we +shall be in better rapport; all I shall have to say +thus becoming, in a manner, a confession as from +author to reader. While I confide in him and +make him participate in these vital discoveries, I +want him to confide in me, in so far as to take it +for granted that all I shall say is truthfully meant, +and that it has been arrived at, not superficially, +but only after the most searching and long-continued +investigations. We will thus become partners +in a research as great as any that has ever +agitated man's mind, or filled his soul with things +of great moment. Having penetrated into matters +which have heretofore been considered as occult, or +inaccessible to man, my mode of proceeding will +be found interesting as a guide to others wanting +to pursue similar investigations.</p> + +<p>In the beginning, it was all brought about by my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +simple desire, being a German, to speak the English +language in the precise manner in which native-born +persons speak it. For this purpose, I unwittingly +pursued the same course which has been pursued +by many others under similar circumstances; namely, +that of introspection. Having been indefatigable in +this course (which others must not have been), after +pursuing the same for some time I was startled +by unforeseen discoveries. They were phenomenal, +and far beyond any previous design, hope, or expectation. +After this, my original endeavor to +speak the English language idiomatically correct +became a matter of secondary importance. My +eyes once opened, I <em>continued</em> to persevere in this +course, and thus succeeded in penetrating deeper +and deeper into matters heretofore deemed inaccessible +to man.</p> + +<p>Having pursued investigations by means of introspection +now for a number of years, it has become +an easy habit with me, and I can recognize and +pursue processes by which results are obtained +through <em>inner</em> motive powers, almost as plainly as +such by which results are obtained through visible +and tangible means. The facts thus observed and +recognized as truths have become so numerous as to +be almost overwhelming, in number no less than in +importance; so much so, that I scarcely know where +to turn or where to commence, to be able to communicate +them all to others in due form and sequence. +These facts are not temporary, but are +constant; in so far as they can be conjured up at +any time and under any circumstances, and are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +always of the <em>same</em> nature. They are of an entirely +reasonable, practical, and, for the most part, mechanical +nature; and are explanatory of the exercise +of our faculties and functions, spiritually as well as +materially. That these observations mirror actual +proceedings going on within us for the production +of vocal utterance, of breathing, motion, and locomotion, +and the exercise of various other faculties and +functions, it will be my endeavor, by actual demonstration, +to prove through this and future publications.</p> + +<p>For the purpose of enabling others to pursue a +similar course of studies, I shall take especial pains +to point out my course of proceeding as plainly as I +can—such course with me having been entirely rational, +positive, and direct, and without in any sense +disturbing my ordinary mode of existence. The +course pursued in physiologico-psychological studies, +in fact, does not differ greatly from that pursued +in the study of purely psychological subjects, which +is also carried on by means of introspection, though +it is of a more positive nature.</p> + +<p>When the following was first written (it is nearly +two years ago now), I intended, at an early date, to +publish a short treatise on the subject of the voice +only. Since then, however, the same has assumed +greater and greater proportions, embracing many +other subjects. Still I have deemed it best not to +change this introduction in consequence thereof.</p> + +<p>Though not quite ready for another publication +(the subject is so great and my knowledge so inadequate), +I do not know that I should have <em>ever</em> been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +<em>quite</em> ready, but for several incidents, all happening +about the same time, which have induced me to +break the silence I have observed since the publication +of my book, <cite>The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance</cite>. +These incidents, though in themselves apparently +insignificant, have impressed me with the belief that +I owe it to the public and myself to say something +in explanation of what I have already said, and to +add thereto (partly, at least) what has since been +ascertained.</p> + +<p>In the November, 1896, number of <cite>Werner's +Magazine</cite>, I noticed the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"A good example of the inadequacy of expressional +terms in discussing vocal topics is shown by Mme. Clara +Brinkerhoff and Mr. Emil Sutro. Mme. Brinkerhoff has +been a contributor to this magazine, and has addressed +musical bodies, for many years. Mr. Sutro is author of +the book, <cite>The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance</cite>. Both of +them maintain that the voice is something more or other +than an expiratory current of air set into vibration by +purely physical agencies. Mme. Brinkerhoff thinks that +the voice is the utterance of the soul, and that the soul +has its seat in the solar plexus. Mr. Sutro scoffs at the +theory that the voice is only out-coming air vibrated at +or by the cords situated in the larynx. He thinks that +the ligaments under the tongue also serve as vocal cords, +and that speech is the product of vibrating ingoing air +as well as vibrating out-coming air. Just what they +think the voice is neither of these persons makes clear to +others. Their failure to express their thoughts, however, +should not be taken as proof that they have not caught +glimpses of truths of the greatest importance. Still, our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +impression is that their concepts are too vague to be put +into intelligible language even if the expressional terms +at hand were adequate. But, all things considered, the +fact still remains that discussion will continue to be +largely useless so long as one person does not know what +the other person is talking about."</p></div> + +<p>In addition to all this, the proceedings of various +societies in New York alone, judging by their reports +also contained in the November, 1896, number +of <cite>Werner's Magazine</cite>, which is of unusual +interest throughout, show how great is the interest +which, at the present time, centres around this matter +of the voice. In place of saying the "truth" in +matters of the voice, as contained in my book, it +would, perhaps, be more correct to have said, "the +first ray of light that has ever penetrated the gloom +and the mystery surrounding the nature of the +voice." In <cite>Werner's Magazine</cite> it is stated:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"If Mr. Emil Sutro's book, <cite>The Basic Law of Vocal +Utterance</cite>, be right, then other writers on vocal science +are wrong. His statements are startling and revolutionary. +He claims to have discovered a new vocal cord +and to be able to prove that speech sounds are the product +of inspiration as well as expiration. The significance +of this is apparent when it is realized that all vocal +authorities, heretofore, have taught that voice is vocalized +expiration, and that speech is this vocalized expiration +articulated into words.</p> + +<p>"The author draws a sharp distinction between the air +taken for life-purposes and the air taken for speech-purposes. +He says that vital breathing can and should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +go on independent of artistic breathing, and that the two +processes need not and should not disturb nor conflict +with one another. He combats the theory that the lungs +are a reservoir of air, which in the vocal act is pressed +against the vocal cords of the larynx, thereby producing +tone, which is resonated and modified by the parts above +the glottis. He maintains that it is a physical impossibility +to give sufficient force and rapidity to the lung air +to put muscular and cartilaginous tissue into tonal +vibration,—that this force and this rapidity can come +only from the internal atmospheric pressure, and that, +therefore, preparatory lung inhalation for voice-purposes +obstructs rather than aids the vocal act. He gives a new +explanation of the formation of speech sounds, and offers +various novel theories.</p> + +<p>"Many readers will hesitate to accept his views, yet as +long as vocal science is still in a formative condition and +involved in so much chaos and uncertainty, any attempt +at a solution should receive careful consideration."</p></div> + +<p>I have cited this able review in full, written by +one whose life has been one act of devotion to the +solution of these questions, as it will at once introduce +the reader into the drift of my investigations +as far as they had advanced up to that time.</p> + +<p>I have continued to steadily devote myself to the +further prosecution of my investigations, never publishing +anything, scarcely ever speaking on this subject +to any one. The subject appeared to me so great +and so far above my ability to master it that I, at +first, looked around for assistance among those I +deemed most likely to be able to render it. But no +one had any assistance to offer, no one scarcely seemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +even to comprehend what I was after. Thus, at last, +almost in despair, I made up my mind that I must +undertake this task single-handed; and I have been +at it, scarcely without interruption, ever since.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the play of "Much Ado about Nothing," +or "The Farce about the Larynx," continued +to go on bravely all over the world. I have +watched it with a sense of pity, rather than amusement. +It appeared to me, more than anything else, +like a game of blind man's buff, in which <em>all</em> the +participants were blindfolded; my own horizon, +meanwhile, being illumined by roseate tints representing +continuous new discoveries, like a May +morn before the rising of the sun.</p> + +<p>The voice has been treated as a separate mechanical +issue, while it is the outcome of a series of both +physical and spiritual issues. While the old school +is reproducing, in its minutest details, the <em>dead</em> +branch of a tree, I am portraying, in its majestic +proportions, the broad expanse of a <em>living</em> oak.</p> + +<p>These anatomical details may interest scientists; +they are valueless to the singer, as he has no control +over the movements of the larynx. He need but +"attack" his note in the right way, and all these +muscles, sinews, cartilaginous tissues, etc., will fall +into line, involuntarily and unsolicited.</p> + +<p>Now that I am offering innumerable <em>proofs</em> in corroboration +of my assertions, I want scientists to +take these matters <em>seriously</em>, and not to look upon +this book, also, as some may possibly have felt inclined +to do in regard to my previous publication, +as a "scientific curiosity" merely. There are no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +greater problems before the world to-day than are +treated here.</p> + +<p>During all these years of unrequited labor, which +extend far beyond the day on which I made my +memorable discovery, my personal affairs meanwhile +constantly suffering, with but one notable exception +<em>no</em> hand was held out to me in succor. In view of +this fact (and it is the experience of many who, in +the privacy of their souls, are struggling after the +light), I want to ask this question: With all the +noble institutions for <em>learning</em>, why are there none +to assist those who are attempting to solve questions +<em>to be taught</em> for the benefit and advancement +of mankind? True, there are scholarships and fellowships +for students, but they are not available to +persons advanced in years who have duties to perform +and families to support. When successful in +the end, their reward—if there is any—often comes +too late to be of any practical value.</p> + +<p>Such would be the case with me should any material +acknowledgment come to me now, having of +late attained to the leisure I had so much longed for, +thanks to my previous labor and a brave son's devotion +and valued aid and assistance. No man, +however, will ever know how long I have been kept +under the ban of purely materialistic endeavors, +while these higher things were occupying my mind +and clamoring for recognition. A sum equal to +that representing a single day's expenditure for +<em>falsely</em> teaching matters connected with the voice, +alone, the world over, not to speak of other matters +of still greater importance, would have sufficed for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +number of years, if not for a lifetime, to place me in +a position to devote myself exclusively to the exposition +of the correct principles underlying these +important subjects. As it has been with me, no +doubt it is and always has been with many others +in different fields of research.</p> + +<p>Since the publication of my previous book, I +have had four years of continuous experience, during +which the statements therein made have been +strengthened and enlarged, so that I am now ready +to support them with an endless array of proof. +That book, however, was the beginning of what +some day will be regarded as a greater movement in +the right direction than any previous one, for attaining +an insight into nature's occult work in creating, +developing, and sustaining the living organism, and +the exercise of its faculties and functions, more +especially <em>man's</em> faculties and functions. The subject, +however, is of so subtle a nature that it cannot +be treated like a mathematical problem or a chemical +analysis; still, I shall do the best I can with such +means as are at my command.</p> + +<p>Recently an acquaintance who is interested in +vocal culture asked me how I was getting along, and +I answered, telling him something like what I have +said in the preceding. He replied:</p> + +<p>"That is the trouble with you Germans. This is +a live world, a practical world; we want facts, results—something +we can turn to account and make use +of."</p> + +<p>This impatience (and who can blame those who are +suffering, or those who, being young and talented,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +want to be led into the right path) throws the +door wide open to all kinds of charlatanism—charlatanism +which is honest and charlatanism which is +dishonest, the former, being more readily trusted, +often working the greater harm. The best teaching +for the present, in default of a science, is that +which is based simply on experience; the pseudo-science +now being taught being worse than no science +at all.</p> + +<p>While the exercise of speech is next to universal +with all men, no one has any idea of <em>how</em> it is exercised; +the wisest being as much in the dark as the +least informed.</p> + +<p>This is what so eminent a man as Oliver Wendell +Holmes had to say on the subject in one of his lectures, +delivered not many years before his death:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"Talking has been clearly explained and successfully +imitated by artificial contrivances. We know that the +moist membranous edges of a narrow crevice (the +glottis) vibrate as the reed of a clarionet vibrates, and +thus produce the human <em>bleat</em>. We narrow or widen, or +check or stop the flow of this sound by the lips, the +tongue, the teeth, and thus <em>articulate</em>, or break into joints, +the even current of sound. The sound varies with the +degree and kind of interruption, as the 'babble' of the +brook with the shape and size of its impediments—pebbles, +or rocks, or dams. To whisper, is to articulate +without <em>bleating</em>, or vocalizing; to <em>coo</em>, as babies do, is to +<em>bleat</em>, or vocalize, without articulating. Machines are +easily made that bleat not unlike human beings. A bit +of India-rubber tube tied around a piece of glass tube, is +one of the simplest voice-uttering contrivances. To<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +make a machine that articulates, is not so easy." [The +Italics are Dr. Holmes's.]</p></div> + +<p>It is not the <em>humorist</em> Holmes, however, who has +said this, as one would suppose that it was, but it +is the writer, scientist, and thinker, who was in dead +earnest when he gave unto the world this "definition +of the gift of speech."</p> + +<p>Any comment on my part would but weaken the +sense of the ludicrous this "explanation" of so +great a subject, even from a mere mechanical standpoint, +must arouse in the reader. Yet Dr. Holmes's +"explanation" is not any more preposterous than +that of many other scientists of the present day.</p> + +<p>Teachers have said that, not being a teacher, I +could not know anything about the voice. As if +<em>they</em> had the sole patent right to the voice, and +others held their voices but from them, in fee! I, +however, took the liberty of looking into my own +voice and trying to find out whence it came and +what it was made of. It is not much of a voice, to +be sure; yet it has the common attributes of all +voices. Besides, I should like to know who, in +truth, <em>is</em> a teacher. He who over a narrow path +follows the footsteps of others, or he who strikes +out boldly for the root and the truth of a matter, +and, disregarding precedents, goes down to the very +bowels of the earth, if need be, to bring it to the +surface?</p> + +<p>The knowledge of even the best of us is not much +more than some froth on the surface of the well of +truth. Yet that froth is all these timid souls have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +dared to examine. They have not had the courage +to dive down deep into its fathomless flood. Many +a truth has been taught by those who had been considered +innocent of any knowledge thereof. I am +one of these "innocents," and, on the whole, am +not sorry for not having been imbued more with the +knowledge, or supposed knowledge, of the present +day.</p> + +<p>We are so much the slaves of habit that we become +reconciled to any condition, almost, no matter +how undesirable or absurd it may be. Thus biological +science has been going along in a rut for +centuries, but little having been ascertained of vital +importance; nor could this have been otherwise, +considering the modes of investigation. I was not +surrounded by so many trees that I could not see +the woods. My perspective was as clear as a bird's, +that soars above and beyond the smoke of the city +and the dust in the eyes of the heirs of generation +upon generation of anatomical and physiological +research, burying beneath its lumber the clear insight +of the soul. Thus, ignorance with me may +indeed have been bliss. Yet I do not want to +place myself in a position as deprecating science, +having the highest appreciation for all its endeavors. +I deprecate science only in so far as, dealing with +matter, it attempts to draw inspiration therefrom +as to spiritual issues; and the voice certainly is a +spiritual issue.</p> + +<p>The following appears in the <cite>Encyclopædia Britannica</cite>, +under the heading of "Animal Magnetism":</p> + +<p>"Mr. Heidenhain, after stating that in conformity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +with the manner in which one muscle is affected, +others become similarly affected, proceeds to say: +'Probably the reflex excitement would extend still +farther, but I naturally consider it out of the question +to try whether the muscles of respiration would +become affected. It is easily understood that such +experiments require the greatest caution and may +be very seldom carried out.'"</p> + +<p>Valiant Mr. Heidenhain, brave explorer on a new +and "dangerous" field of research. This is the +<em>Ultima Thule</em> which any of these bold adventurers +have endeavored to reach. <em>My work began where +theirs came to an end.</em> Though I have not reached +the "North Pole," I have gone far beyond anyone +else.</p> + + +<h3>COMMENTS OF A DISTANT REVIEWER</h3> + +<p>This entire subject is of so subtle a nature that I +must warn the reader to be patient in its study and +careful of his judgment. Should the present work, +however, also fail to elicit the attention of my fellowmen, +some thinker, perhaps, of a future generation, +upon discovering a copy of this book on the dusty +shelves of an antiquarian, while looking over its +time-stained leaves and after struggling with its vernacular, +may be struck with some remark coinciding +with ideas arrived at by himself and other scientists +of that day, and while commenting upon his "find," +may possibly deliver himself thus:</p> + +<p>"As the nineteenth century of the Christian era +was drawing to a close, a citizen of the (then) youthful +country of the United States of North America<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +published a book which contained disclosures far +in advance of his time and generation—truths, in +fact, concerning life and the exercise of our faculties +and functions, which, if properly understood, might +have eventually led to even the solution of the very +mystery of the soul. Though science at that remote +period had made marvellous strides forward, its endeavors +were mostly of a utilitarian character, or +consisted of efforts to explain phenomena from a +strictly materialistic standpoint. The author of this +book, however, by dint of a combination of extraordinary +circumstances, which induced him to search +for causes of phenomena within, in place of outside +of himself, had succeeded in breaking through the +barriers which had, theretofore, separated phenomena +which were called 'natural' from those which, +by the majority of mankind, were still supposed to +be 'supernatural,' or, at least, unexplainable, unknowable, +beyond the ken of man.</p> + +<p>"He was thus enabled to penetrate more deeply +than any one ever had before into the knowledge of +the mysterious forces which engender and sustain +organic life. Had he been properly understood, the +compass of human knowledge would have been +greatly enhanced, and the race itself liberated from +the narrow limits to which it had been confined by +the scientists almost as much as by the theologians +(by the doctors of the body almost as much as by +those of the soul) of his day. Some writers of that +period delighted in depicting a state of affairs several +centuries ahead of their time. The changes which +were supposed to have taken place, however, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +reference to material developments only, and did +not contemplate any advancement of a purely spiritual +nature.</p> + +<p>"Though the founder of the Christian religion, +and other men of a high order of intellectual and +moral insight, had laid down rules for 'deportment' +which to a great extent still govern the world; in +regard to a spiritual insight, the dearth, the waste, +the discord, the distraction, the unrest, the 'Weltschmerz' +(as the Germans called it), the despair of +science, which knew but and dealt but with the +baser part of our existence, unable to penetrate into +the higher, was then at its height. The 'miracle' +had ceased to exercise its influence over the intellectual +classes, and knowledge had not taken its place.</p> + +<p>"This writer, however, through his discoveries, +had opened up the way—made a beginning—to a +penetration of science into the realms of the spirit; +and a substitution of faith based on <em>facts</em> for one +based on tradition and fancy only. Religion and +science, having been factors of a different, almost +antagonistic, order, thus at that early period already +might have become reconciled and united through +<em>knowledge</em>; as to some extent, though by different +means, they have become since.</p> + +<p>"In thus gaining more knowledge, more light regarding +the motive powers which govern our existence, +the shackles which had overwhelmed the soul +would have long since fallen to the ground, and a +<em>truly</em> brotherly spirit would have prevailed among +all classes and peoples in place of much of the prejudice, +the insincerity, the overbearance, the ani<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>mosity, +the cruelty, and the insanity even of the +believers in (or inheritors of) one spiritual theory +(often misnamed religion) as against those of another.</p> + +<p>"The world's thought, just previous to that time, +had made great strides forward through the recognition +of the laws of <em>evolution</em>, which culminated in +one master mind, through great elaboration and by +citing numerous examples, assigning cogent and +necessary reasons therefor. The world should have +been ripe, therefore, for this <em>greater movement</em> which +it was now called upon to face; a movement which +went beyond the mere recognition of phenomena +and penetrated into <em>a priori</em> causes. Strange to say, +it either could not or would not understand; being +still bound by fetters which held it in a vise-like +embrace of previously conceived ideas as to the impossibility +of penetrating into matters of this nature, +and which prevented it from even <em>testing</em> the numerous +proofs offered by this writer as to the correctness +of his assertions. His investigations, if properly +understood, would have brought spirituality <em>home</em> to +us; they would have made it accessible to us. It +would have ceased to be a phantom, and would have +become a reality, a friend on whom we could count, +in place of a mysterious and incomprehensible +stranger.</p> + +<p>"Beginning with discovering the dual nature of +the voice, the writer of this book opened up the way +to the comprehension of the mystery of man's dual +nature in <em>all</em> its relations. He made the discovery +that the œsophagus is of equal importance with the +trachea in carrying on the process of respiration and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +in exercising the faculty of vocal expression; that +for these purposes œsophagus and trachea are to an +equal degree directly amenable to the influence of +the atmospheric air; that the dual nature of organic +beings in general, and of man in particular, is represented +by the hemispheres of the thorax and the +abdomen; that the former in its entirety represents +spiritual and the latter in its entirety material issues; +that the trachea and its branches on the one hand, +and the alimentary canal on the other, respectively +represent these issues more directly; that the fusing +and blending of these issues has for its result the +phenomenon called life; that the severance of these +issues has for its result the phenomenon called death; +that there are thus positive limits, place, and surroundings +assigned to material and immaterial issues +within the sphere of our bodily existence, and that +combined they pervade our entire system; that all +phenomena of life, especially all phenomena of a +spiritual nature, and among these more ostensibly +those of vocal utterance, owe their origin to these +issues momentarily joining hands; that in so doing +there is a transitory fusion, which for an endless +number of purposes is brought about in an endless +number of ways.</p> + +<p>"He discovered further that the larynx, previously +supposed to be the <em>only</em> instrument for the production +of sounds, has its counterpart in the +'replica' (the 'larynx' of the œsophagus), located +beneath the tongue and represented by the frænum +linguæ and surrounding cartilaginous tissues; that +no vocal sound can be produced except by the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>coöperation +of the larynx with the replica. He discovered +the circulation of, and the origin of vocal +sounds, and many other important issues.</p> + +<p>"Through his discoveries, if properly recognized, +<em>all</em> the sciences dealing with life would have been +placed upon a new and far more reasonable and +comprehensible basis than they had rested upon +before.</p> + +<p>"These discoveries would have tended to undermine +the basis of every materialistic school of philosophy, +and to place those with spiritual and ideal +propensities upon higher and firmer ground. Had +they been properly appreciated and further expanded +by others it would have eventually become +possible to develop <em>all</em> our faculties to the +full extent of their ability, and to correct faults, +errors, and defects caused by wrong education or +heredity, through the application of laws at the +very root of our existence; laws which were then, +and in fact to a great extent are to this day unknown.</p> + +<p>"It may, in fact, be said without exaggeration +that his discoveries, which were all made within a +period not exceeding five years, outweighed in importance +all other discoveries combined relating to +physiologico-psychical issues made previous to his +time."</p> + +<p>I can see many a reader smile after perusing the +foregoing, and perhaps saying:</p> + +<p>"Here is a Jules Verne of a new type come +to deal with a novel subject."</p> + +<p>Yet the time will come when the reader will cease +to smile, and look upon these matters <em>seriously</em>. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +do not mean, however, to throw down a gauntlet to +science on these momentous questions in <em>a vaunting +and reckless spirit</em>; but come as a petitioner rather, +asking it to investigate.</p> + +<p>My time and generation are but like a flash from +the orb of eternity, but the laws I have discovered +are as eternal as that orb itself. With all the scientific +investigations now going on, there has not even +an approach been made which might have led up to +them; nay, not a hint or a hypothesis, even, leading +toward the same. Science, in fact, had nothing to +do with them; the first man might have made them +almost as well as the latest. They are all grappling +with matter, while I have grasped the spirit that is +in, yet above, all living matter.</p> + +<p>In making these discoveries I have bent a sail +upon the crafts of physiology and psychology, which +have been aimlessly, almost hopelessly, drifting on +the shallow waters of the examination of isolated +material phenomena. This sail will enable them to +reach the broad expanse of the ocean, where they +will be able to make soundings in its deepest waters.</p> + +<p>Professor Huxley declared that during his fifty +years of experience as a student and teacher not one +thing really <em>new</em> had ever come under his observation. +Had he lived to become acquainted with these +facts I feel confident he would have declared them +to be new.</p> + +<p>The venerable Professor Virchow, the other day, +in an address before the International Congress of +Physicians at Moscow, made use, in substance, of +these words: "The cell is immortal—there must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +have been a previous cell for its generation. On +this fact as a basis (ascertained by the aid of the +microscope) the science of the coming century may +securely rest."</p> + +<p>And he set this down as the greatest achievement +of science in respect to the recognition of the phenomena +of life. Yet there is nothing more fallible +than the microscope in ascertaining facts regarding +the knowledge of life. It may to some extent reveal +the essence of <em>matter</em>, but it is not given to it +to assist in recognizing the principles which govern +life and the <em>spirit</em> of life.</p> + + +<h3>FRAGMENTS</h3> + +<p>This book, in a sense, is a personal narrative, and +necessarily must be so, giving an account, as it +does, of observations in experiments upon myself. +In making these experiments I have endeavored to +treat myself impersonally, as a subject, so to say, +placed at my disposal for experimental purposes; +my ego having been the object as well as the subject +of my investigations. In occasionally speaking of +the results thus obtained in a eulogistic manner, this +should not be looked upon as self-praise, therefore, +but rather as an impersonal mode of describing what +has come under some one's observation—this "some +one" being myself. I want to place the matters I +have observed before the reader in the right light, +and do not hesitate to say or fear to say just what I +think to be the truth. If I were to wait for others +to say these things the reader who does not comprehend +their latitude as I do might have to wait a long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +time before he could grasp the subject in its entire +importance. I want to say this much as an apology +and a vindication for frequent indulgences in apparent +self-eulogism.</p> + +<p>I have another motive for making such remarks; +viz., the desire of rousing the scientific world from +its apathy regarding these matters. These laudatory +remarks may wound its pride, and possibly arouse +its ire,—more especially in view of their coming from +a layman,—and thus induce it to study these matters, +if but for the purpose and with the view of +controverting them. I would hail such an endeavor +with pleasure, not having the slightest fear of its +ability to successfully controvert any of the vital +facts I have ascertained, and whose correctness I expect +to prove by a great array of facts with accompanying +proofs.</p> + +<p>When I first began to make these studies, I made +numerous notes as new features happened to present +themselves to my mind. I have encountered no inconsiderable +difficulty in sifting this material so as +to present my experiences in as connected and consecutive +a manner as possible. In this, however, I +have only partially succeeded; nor have I been able +to altogether avoid repetitions. For these shortcomings +I must plead a want of time. For some +time past, however, my experiences have accumulated +so rapidly that I have ceased to take any notes +whatever, trusting to my memory that these mental +notes may be recalled at the proper time. No doubt +some things, even of importance, have thus been +lost sight of. Still, while pursuing similar studies,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +they may in the course of time turn up in some one +else's mind.</p> + +<p>In looking over some of my notes I have found +things which I have deemed worthy of preservation. +I let some of these follow in a promiscuous manner. +This, it must be admitted, is not in accordance with +scientific usage. But I am not a scientist, simply +an amateur; and take advantage of the privileges +this fact gives me. If I were to conform to strict +scientific rules and "etiquette," years might elapse +before I could get these matters into proper shape. +It will always remain a mystery to me, however, +why these things should have come to me at all—so +unworthy, so unadapted to their proper exposition. +In order to do them justice, they should have come +to one complete master of his time, young, strong, +possessed of a wide range of knowledge and a deep +insight.</p> + +<p>I will now let follow some of the matters I have +spoken of:</p> + +<p>My personality and my work must go together, +until others relieve me of the latter by making it +<em>their</em> work to the same extent that I have made it +mine. You cannot separate the fiddle from the +fiddler, neither having any significance apart from +each other, except by the fiddler perpetuating that +which the fiddle produces—the composition,—by +writing it down, thus transmitting it to others. +This I am trying to do by this book.</p> + +<p>No doubt some of the things which have come +under my observation in some form or other are +already known to science, and are, therefore, a cor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>roboration, +or an explanation, only, of things already +known. With me, nevertheless, <em>all</em> is original; and +I may therefore justly claim that if any of these +matters have been discovered before, I, at least, have +<em>re-discovered</em> them.</p> + +<p>If I were an institution possessing a guaranty of +continued existence I might value the present lightly, +knowing a future would come when these matters will +be fully understood. Being a creature of the present, +however, which may be turned into the past—especially +at my time of life—at almost any moment, +these matters should become known at the earliest +opportunity; some of them being of so subtle a +nature that they may require personal explanation +and illustration. They have been hidden from us in +the past; should they fail to be made known now, +<em>the same opportunity may not arise again for centuries</em>.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>I do not claim any special sagacity over others for +having made these discoveries, and disbelieve altogether +in miraculous interposition. Yet I do not +want to be prejudiced in any direction.</p> + +<p>We are surrounded by the mysterious and the +miraculous; and that which is called "natural" as +a rule is far more mysterious than that which is +called "miraculous."</p> + +<p>"Truth is stranger than fiction"; which is undoubtedly +true. We can imagine that only of which +we have at least <em>some</em> knowledge, but there are realms +of truth beyond us of which we have <em>no</em> knowledge. +Besides, these revelations are of so extraordinary a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +nature that I cannot altogether close my eyes to the +fact that I <em>may have been led on to them</em> by agencies +beyond my personal power of volition. I will cite +but one reason why such an idea might be justly +entertained by me.</p> + +<p>That which originally led me on to these investigations, +as already mentioned, was the simple desire +to speak the English language just as native-born +persons speak it. Although I eventually became +aware of the fact that this was next to impossible, +yet I persisted in this endeavor to such an extent +that I spent far more time on it than it would have +deserved had I been <em>convinced</em> that I would be finally +successful. Again and again I said to myself, "This +is a foolish, absurd, unworthy undertaking for a +person of intelligence"; the next minute I was at +it again, trying to utter this sound or pronounce +that word in the "correct English fashion."</p> + +<p>I want to ask, What was it that impelled me to +thus persist, almost against my wish, will, and better +insight? When, after many years of this almost +wanton endeavor, I discovered the dual nature of +the voice, I could not help but think that an influence +beyond myself had been exercised to impel me +to persist in these efforts, which were then crowned +with a success of a different order, and far beyond +any previous expectation. <em>I then found what I had +been after unknown to myself.</em> To simply say I was +"infatuated" would not explain this strange adherence +to what for a long while looked like a vain +and hopeless undertaking.</p> + +<p>I am aware that for me to say, as I have just now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +said, "I cannot altogether close my eyes to the fact +that I may have been led on by agencies beyond my +personal power of volition," may expose me to ridicule +in the eyes of some persons; besides being a +contradiction to my other convictions. Yet I say so +deliberately and am quite willing to abide by the +consequences. It is a case of the duality of our +nature, which impels me to take a naturalistic or +biogenetic view of things in one direction, yet forces +me to take a spiritualistic or abiogenetic view of +them in another direction. I do not comprehend +those who under <em>all circumstances</em> are capable of +pursuing either the one direction or the other.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>I might say I have been on a prospecting tour to a +<em>new</em> country, where I found the outcroppings of +numerous veins of precious ore. These veins are +<em>true fissure veins</em>, penetrating, as they do, into the +very bowels of the earth; and it will take centuries +to exhaust them in all their <em>dips, spurs, and angles</em>.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>It will be a matter of surprise that a layman, one +not of the tribe which make science the pursuit of +their lives, should have penetrated into these mysteries. +It must not be lost sight of, however, that +science, as a rule, deals with things visible and +tangible, while the voice is a sensation which, regarding +its origin in the ego, cannot be observed +outside of the ego. One may by close observation +trace the origin of one's voice to its innermost channels, +and thus learn much about the subtlest characteristics +of its nature, a proceeding to which it would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +not be possible to subject any one else's voice. +The same conditions prevail in regard to other sensations +which have also come under my, at least, +partial observation.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Science, as a rule, has been satisfied with the observation +of results, of phenomena, without attempting +to penetrate into causes, which seemed to be +unalterably hidden from its gaze. Special features, +however, of the voice have been ably and successfully +observed and described by many eminent persons. +To these I have not given any attention, +partly because they were beyond my sphere, and +partly (not being a musician) because they were beyond +my power of observation.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>In looking for the voice, anatomy in its minute +examinations of the larynx has but opened up a +grave for us to gaze into. And what have we beheld? +A skeleton of the voice's body—of its soul +not a trace. This skeleton, to boot, is but a <em>portion</em> +of the mechanism of the voice; of its other parts, +equally important, science has not even known that +they were in existence. Like a palæontologist or +an archæologist, I have dug up these other parts or +fragments from all around; some were found close +at hand, others quite a distance off. I have skilfully +put them together, and have thus constructed a +fairly <em>complete</em> torso, or framework of the voice. I +say "torso," though I may justly claim more than +that, having again infused the soul into it which had +fled from it; and, see, it has become a <em>living thing</em>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<p>That the wonderful apparatus contained in the +throat is for a purpose there cannot, of course, be +any doubt. It is but partly for the purpose attributed +to it, however, and, until we better comprehend +this part-purpose, especially in view of the fact +<em>that we have no control over its mechanism</em>, it will be +best, as far as singers and elocutionists are concerned, +to surrender it to and leave it with the anatomists.</p> + +<p>To the ultimate aim of science—the knowledge of +life—I have contributed matters of a nature deemed +beyond the province of the knowledge of man. +Was it ever intended that they should be known? +On more than one occasion I have been puzzled to +know whether to go on with these investigations; +whether I had a <em>right</em> to go on with them. Still, I +was sustained by the fact that I had been <em>led on to +them</em>. For what other purpose could this have been +done but for that of making the results thereof +known? They could serve no good purpose in +remaining locked up <em>within myself</em>.</p> + +<p>It is my belief that the ordinary course of events +is never interfered with; but that <em>great</em> events may +be inaugurated by unseen agencies and guided by +unseen hands. The responsibility which has devolved +upon me, incompetent and unprepared as I +am, is almost too great; still, I must try to discharge +it to the best of my ability.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>I have no personal motive of either fame or fortune. +At one time I would have been pleased with +such results; now it is too late. If not in my day, +some day, I trust, some one will read and compre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>hend; +some one will not mind the trouble of investigation. +It is not likely that I shall <em>forever</em> remain +the only "seeing one."</p> + +<p>It would have been better if I had not published +a line for at least ten years. It would have taken +that long to say what I want to say, <em>properly</em>. My +time is too uncertain, however, to run such a risk. +My friends are falling to the right and left by the +roadside. I must be up and doing; must make a +beginning at least.</p> + +<p>We must be satisfied with reaching matters approximately, +and argue by analogy to some extent; +and also hope that others will take them up and +push them along a little farther than we have been +able to do. Perhaps in the course of time a perfect +insight may be arrived at.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The community of man is a necessity; a separate +existence, an anomaly. We are dependent and interdependent +upon one another. Man cannot escape +his fellow-man. In the remotest desert his +spirit is still in communication with him. If it were +not so, who would not at times want to flee all, +escape from all?</p> + +<p>I have but one fear—inability, for some reason or +other, to finish my work. I feel like the heroine of +a celebrated German novelist, travelling about with +a trunk filled with gold, which she distributed among +the <em>deserving poor</em> as fast as she came across them. +Meanwhile she was in constant fear lest her life +should ebb out before all was distributed, and its +precious contents <em>lost</em> to those for whom they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +intended. If there were any way of imparting this +knowledge other than by writing it down, I would +gladly resort to it. But how can I reach the few +who are capable of and willing to take up these +questions, except by communicating them to the +many? These "few" will be found in all parts of +the world, for these truths apply to <em>all</em> men, independent +of sex, race, or country.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>My cry is not for recognition. My personality +might be blotted out, like that of millions of others, +without its being noticed, yet, by virtue of this trust +which has been reposed in me, what a loss it would +be! My cry is for investigation and the coöperation +of others, so that this work may be carried on independent +of myself. Meantime, I cannot transfer +this task to others. I must first explain all that it +is in my power to explain. I can then shift it from +my shoulders onto theirs. They must be educated +up to it before they can take hold of it as I have +taken hold of it.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>When I first announced my discoveries, I gave all +I possessed, supposing others would see as I saw +and comprehend as I did; having no doubt but that +the world would at once acknowledge their truths and +accept their precepts. I have since found that the +world can get along very comfortably with a vast +amount of want of knowledge. I therefore made +up my mind not to be quite so rash again in making +it my beneficiary, not till I was better prepared for +the purpose; this other book of mine having been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +finished rather hastily in the erroneous belief that +this knowledge was at once and imperatively needed.</p> + +<p>Since publishing this previous book I have also +found, which I did not know at that time, that my +very mode of investigation (by means of introspection) +was new; that no one had ever looked into +matters of this kind in the manner I had; besides, +it seems strange that in this age of keen investigation +of the most trivial matters, no one should +have deemed it worth his while to look into these +more important subjects.</p> + +<p>Regarding the anatomical investigations of the +larynx, and anatomical, coupled with physiological, +investigations generally, let me ask a question: Supposing +a palace with a million apartments, each one +in succession more luxuriously furnished than its +predecessor, would they avail anything to its <em>sole</em> +inhabitant, if that inhabitant were blind?</p> + +<p>We have obtained a fair conception of the wonderful +palace, the human body, its numberless apartments +and their luxurious furnishings, but do not +comprehend their meaning, except in a remote and +unsatisfactory mechanical sense. <em>We</em> are the blind +that inhabit it. Most of these apartments will remain +meaningless to our understanding until we +ascertain what use the sovereign, the soul, which +reigns therein, is making of them, not only mechanically, +but <em>spiritually</em> as well. For the soul lives in +them all, though it is supposed that it lives only +in its throne-room of the brain and that it never +descends from the throne set up in the same.</p> + +<p>Just here biologists have blundered, trying to get<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +hold of <em>psyche</em> by pursuing matter bereft of life; or +investigating life in other beings instead of that +inherent in themselves. The vivisection of all the +frogs in the world will not give us the first knowledge +of the frog's soul; certainly not of <em>our</em> soul. +The knowledge of the anatomical construction of +the larynx has brought us no nearer the knowledge +of the mystery of the voice than that of the brain +has brought us to that of the soul. We must understand +the process by which the mechanism of the +brain is set in <em>motion</em> before we can begin to understand +our mode of thinking. We must comprehend +the manner in which a musical instrument is to be +used before we can begin to draw music from the +same. And so must we understand the spirit which +moves the mechanism of the voice (of which so far +we have known but a single factor), if we want to +understand our mode of using it.</p> + +<p>Does any one seriously think that by photographing +vocal sounds, or passing a mirror down his throat +and watching the movements of the vocal cords, +he will observe anything that will lead him to an intimate +knowledge of nature's subtle process by which +vocal sounds are produced? As well look at the +face of a clock and see its hands move, and then say +you have arrived at a knowledge of the hidden intricate +mechanism of the works of the clock. The +mechanism of the instrument of the voice is a thousand +times more intricate than that of a clock. It +lives, it breathes, it moves, it expands and contracts, +it rises and falls, it gathers, it gives—now here, now +there.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>Starting from the supposition that life is too subtle, +too intangible a thing to have its innermost operations +disclosed by the clumsy work of our hands or +the dull vision of our eyes, though increased in +power a thousandfold, I matched the subtle work +of my voice with the subtler of my brain, and thus, +undisturbed by any extraneous agency whatever, +watched the process by which, first, simple mechanical, +then articulated sounds, and finally sounds +linked together into speech, are produced. In so +doing I traced sounds through the labyrinth of +numerous avenues to their original sources—<em>the +organism of all our faculties, instead of being confined +to their end organs, being widespread over our entire +system</em>.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Physiologists as a rule are satisfied with the +<em>observation and exposition</em> of phenomena. I have +endeavored to <em>explain</em> phenomena. I have gone +"behind the returns," as politicians say. I have +lifted the mysterious veil, and have obtained glimpses +at the process of life. In this manner the voice of +the œsophagus was first discovered, which, in logical +sequence, has carried me from one discovery to +another. Once in the confidence of nature, it freely +opened up to me its heart. Comprehending one +thing led me on to the comprehension of others.</p> + +<p>There is no study which is as fascinating as that +pursued by introspection. It is self-compensating +in the highest degree; all facts thereby evolved being +the logical sequence of others previously ascertained. +Or, if not always in sequence, they all fit into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +same system; everything that has been ascertained +being a stone which was waiting to be placed in a +certain niche to fulfil a certain purpose in the construction +of a harmonious edifice. There was no +waste, no material entirely lost; nor will there be at +any future time. If similar studies will be pursued +by those specially fitted for the purpose, the time +may not be far distant when there will not be an +atom of our material existence whose meaning and +purpose will not be understood. The laws which I +claim to have discovered will assist in this accomplishment, +as they are of so broad a nature that +they may be said to form the substructure to forces +and conditions which are at the very root of our +existence. I do not pretend to say that in this +little book they have been properly treated, nor +that I possess the ability, under the best of circumstances, +to thus treat them. I have but stated what +has come under my observation, and have stated it +in as simple and direct a manner as my instinct and +my ability have taught me to state it.</p> + +<p>I have been up on Mount Washington to see the +sun rise. It was a beautiful picture; still, there +were clouds in the way which here and there obscured +my vision, as was to be expected from the +unwonted height to which I had risen, and the distant +horizon.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>I am not writing for a class, but for the multitude +to which I belong, and of which, in its aspirations, +its hopes, its sincerity, and its ignorance regarding +<em>specific</em> knowledge, I form a part. Hence my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +thoughts are its thoughts and my language its +language. There will be no difficulty, therefore, +for <em>all</em> to understand me and to profit by my +experience.</p> + +<p>My observations result in the triumph of the sensation, +the feeling (common to all), over the exact +sciences (known to but few). Science, for the most +part, is satisfied with dissecting or analyzing. My +endeavor has been to construct; to form the whole +out of parts instead of reducing the whole into parts. +My guide has been instinct coupled with common-sense,—that +rarest of all the senses in spite of its +name. How far it has guided me aright, it will be +the province of science to judge.</p> + +<p>I may be asked why, in treating upon so "simple" +a subject as the human voice (my only endeavor in +the beginning), I want to move heaven and earth, +and press them into my service. My answer is, +Wherever I touched the subject of the voice, I +found it to be in correlation with all other subjects.</p> + +<p>My great desire now is, that I may be granted the +time and retain the ability to write out all I have +ascertained; while my greatest wonder is, that these +things should have waited for me at all to be made +known; why they should not have been discovered +centuries ago. My eyes once opened, I found them +lying about within the easy reach of my arm and the +mere assistance of my pick and shovel, like precious +ore in a newly discovered mining country. I had +but to open the lid of the mysterious casket which +had been intrusted to me, and all these great +truths escaped from the same; not to disappear,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +however, as they did in the fable, but to remain +with me and to be made known through me to the +world.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The best part of my life has been spent in this, +my adopted country. Though I experience no +difficulty in expressing myself in the English language, +still it is not my native tongue, and I sometimes +feel as if I might have said some things better +if I had said them in German.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Looking at the many volumes written on the subject +of the larynx alone, and considering that during +all this time its associate, the replica, without whose +assistance <em>not one</em> vocal sound can ever be uttered, +has remained unknown, though in plain sight and +"in everybody's mouth," one cannot help but think +of Goethe's lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ein Kerl der speculirt<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ist wie ein Thier, auf duerrer Haide<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Von einem boesen Geist im Kreis herum gefuehrt,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Und ringsumher liegt schoene gruene Waide."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">("A theorist is like unto a beast<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On barren soil by evil sprite led round and round<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Within a narrow circle, though beyond there is a feast<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of pasture green on fertile ground.")<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<h3>"THE BASIC LAW OF VOCAL UTTERANCE"</h3> + +<p>My earlier work, entitled as above, was written +under peculiar circumstances. After discovering +the fact that sounds proceed from beneath as well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +as from above the tongue, light streamed in upon +me on so many subjects I had previously attempted +to solve that I was almost dazed thereby. I +thought it my duty to make these matters known, +and attempted to describe them as they appeared to +me. They were all perfectly clear to me, and even +to-day there is scarcely a thing I then said that +does not wholly stand its ground. Still, to-day, +viewing things from an advanced point of view, +much of that which was then expressed pragmatically, +almost in a single sentence, and which then +appeared to be sufficient, I am convinced requires +considerable elaboration and elucidation.</p> + +<p>Take, for instance, this dictum: "The manner in +which we breathe for speech is by raising and lowering +the tongue," etc. This is perfectly correct, and +positive proof will be advanced hereafter as to its +being so.</p> + +<p>I thought these matters would be readily understood, +not knowing at that time that between the +manner in which I had reached conclusions and the +one in which conclusions had been reached by others +who had also made a study of these matters, there +was a vast difference. Unknown to myself I had +lived a life of my own. I had given myself up to +these matters in a manner no one ever had before; +having been everlastingly at it, holding on with a +tenacity that knew no restraint. In this manner I +wrung facts from nature that may have never been +intended to be revealed.</p> + +<p>There was something Faust-like in it all, and I +sometimes shudder at my own temerity. Still,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +I had no such thought when I so persistently continued +trying to fathom the mystery of vocal sounds. +Viewing it in its proper light it was a narrow and +every-day undertaking. I was fairly staggered, therefore, +when I reached such unlooked-for results.</p> + +<p>The reader, however, may ask, and I feel it incumbent +upon me, as well, to tell him, What was the +nature of these results? Wherein consisted these +discoveries? They covered a large field and whole +range of knowledge. They had reference more particularly +to vocal sounds. These, in fact, had almost +exclusively occupied my mind for many years. These +apparently simple factors, vocal sounds, I have since +ascertained are the outcome of laws, forces, and +agencies, and combinations of all these, which largely +make up the sum and substance of our spiritual existence. +The direct nature of vocal sounds, therefore, +cannot be well treated upon till some understanding +has been arrived at of the nature of the elements out +of which they are composed. I was rash enough to +attempt to explain them, especially the consonant +sounds, in this little book of mine, from a standpoint +I had then arrived at. Others have tried to explain +them from a much narrower standpoint still. From +that standpoint I offered explanations as to our mode +of speaking, breathing, as to defective speech, etc. +Although this was an advanced standpoint, and +well worthy the consideration of scientists, it was a +standpoint far beneath the one I have arrived at +since.</p> + +<p>In attempting to scale a mountain I had reached +a point from which I could overlook the valley im<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>mediately +beneath my feet. I have since gone up +much higher. Yet there are towering heights still +above me which I shall never be able to reach. +From this it will be seen how difficult it would be +for me to state in a few paragraphs what I had actually +ascertained. That book, however, will increase +in value in the course of time, not only for the +knowledge it contains, but historically, so to say, as +the beginning of an evolution which, it seems to me, +will eventually embrace all sciences in regard to +man; when treated, as they will be, from a standpoint +of inner as against one of outer consciousness, +from the standpoint of the soul and the heart, +as in the inadequacy of our expressions I have to +call them, as against that of the head and the +senses.</p> + +<p>I have since arrived at a plan according to which +these matters will be treated in a more systematic +manner. In <em>this</em> volume, besides many novel subjects, +I have been enlarging upon and elucidating +many superficially mentioned in my book, <cite>The Basic +Law of Vocal Utterance</cite>. Still, the matters treated +upon even in <em>this</em> book cover so much ground, and +had to be condensed to such an extent, that many of +these also will require further enlargement and elucidation. +This will be attempted to be done in future +publications. Meantime I trust these matters will +be taken in hand by others, who by their writings +will relieve me of some of this additional labor. +Take it all in all, there is so much of this work that +I feel as if I had swallowed the ocean and was now +called upon to give an account of its contents.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>THE VOICE OF THE ŒSOPHAGUS AND ITS VOCAL +CORDS</h3> + +<p>Among the discoveries mentioned in my former +publication one stands out most prominent, and it +is the basis of all my other discoveries; namely, +"that the voice is of a dual nature." I had ascertained +that sounds circulate around the radix of the +tongue; that they, or rather the air wave which +carries them, enters either at the upper surface of +the tip of the tongue and recedes back, to come out +again from beneath its lower surface, or vice versa. +I had also ascertained that the former process is the +English, the latter the German, for breathing and +vocal expression.</p> + +<p>I was convinced that this signified a circulation of +vocal sounds; and though I had finally also reached +this conclusion and intimated it, namely, "that we +breathe and speak through the œsophagus," I did +not express it in so many words, as I meant to leave +this expression for a future publication. I was at +first under the impression that both waves belonged +to the trachea, the one that was ingoing as well as +the one which was outgoing.</p> + +<p>Meantime I had discovered the "larynx or voice-box +to the œsophagus," but considered this at first +also as belonging to the trachea. I thought inspiration +and ingoing sounds belonged to the vocal cords +of the trachea, expiration and outgoing sounds to +this "new" vocal cord located beneath the tongue. +To study these first attempts, by which I was trying +to find my way, and which culminated in these wonderful +discoveries, I presume would be of interest to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +the student. I can here mention only the main +points.</p> + +<p>I have found beyond a doubt, and my future +statements will more fully establish this fact, that +the frænum linguæ and the parts of the mucous +membrane surrounding the same are relatively of +the same nature in regard to the voice of the œsophagus +that the vocal cords and other parts of the +larynx are in relation to that of the trachea.</p> + +<p>In contradistinction to the larynx, I named these +entire surroundings the "replica," as, in conjunction +with the tip of the tongue resting upon the +same, they conform to the shape of the oral cavity, +of which in their general appearance they are almost +a counterpart. In a similar manner I named the +special part thereof, which "regulates" the intonation, +the "vocal lip," in contradistinction to the +vocal cords of the larynx, which perform the same +service for the voice of the trachea.</p> + +<p>After making such positive assertions regarding +the replica as I did in my previous publication—now +more than four years ago—I was more than surprised +that no one should have deemed it worth his while +to look into the value of these assertions. If any +one had, he could not have helped but acknowledge +their correctness. It is but necessary to utter any +vocal sound whatsoever, either vowel or consonant, +and while doing so watch the vocal lip and the frænum, +to become at once convinced that their motions +are of precisely the same order as those of the larynx +and the vocal cords.</p> + +<p>So many have spent year after year upon the diffi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>cult +and "fruitless" endeavor to study the motions +of the larynx; while here is an opportunity plainly +before every one's eyes to study, without effort, the +most interesting phenomena in voice production. +We must be obliged to seek for a thing high and low +before we deem it worthy of our attention.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 686px;"> +<img src="images/fig053-300dpi.jpg" width="686" height="386" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig054-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="168" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>THE HUMAN VOICE</h2> + + +<p>What is the voice—a spirit, or "an expiratory +current of air set into vibration by purely +physical agencies"? It does not seem to me to be +either, but something which is of the nature of both: +our dual nature, embodied in the sounds of speech; +our body and soul joining hands to produce the miracle +of the voice. Regarding the materialistic view +quoted above, which is held by most of the investigators, +who make the larynx their <em>point d'appui</em>, I +think that if there is anything in our composition +or emanating therefrom that is <em>not</em> produced by +"<em>purely</em> physical agencies," it is the voice.</p> + +<p>In my opinion there is nothing purer, more +"spiritual," in the world than a beautiful voice. +Did you ever <em>see</em> a spirit? Perhaps not. But you +have often <em>heard</em> one. You hear them daily, +hourly, constantly; other spirits as well as your +own—the spirits represented by the voice; the +soul incorporated in the sounds of speech. When +you converse, it is soul to soul; when you hear an +anthem sung, it is the soul of the singer to the soul +of the universe. The soul reveals itself most prominently +through the voice when there is anguish in +it, or joy; tears or laughter; love or hate.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<p>An attempt to get at the truth in matters of the +voice is an attempt at getting at the truth in matters +of life. If you will tell me <em>all</em> that a vocal sound +is, I will tell you what your soul is.</p> + +<p>To examine into the anatomical construction of +the larynx, to watch it physiologically and learn to +understand the motions of the vocal cords in their +relation to vocal sounds, is not much more than looking +at the dial of a clock (a simile already used, but +worth repeating). The movements of the hands will +give you <em>no</em> cue to the construction of the intricate +works hidden behind the face of the clock. Nor +will the careful examination and observation of the +"dials" which serve the voice of the œsophagus in +the same manner as those of the larynx serve the +voice of the trachea, measurably increase the knowledge +of vocal phenomena. I do believe, however, +that, inasmuch as the movements of the replica, the +frænum, and the vocal lip fit into and complement +those of the larynx and its vocal cords, and vice +versa, lessons of great benefit to the knowledge and +the improvement of vocal utterance may be learned, +<em>after</em> we have once begun to understand what these +movements imply.</p> + +<p>That we cannot now derive any benefit from the +observation of these motions is due to the fact that +they are <em>reflex</em>, <em>involuntary</em>, <em>uncontrolled</em> and <em>uncontrollable</em> +by the will. Or, as Mme. D'Arona +expresses it:</p> + +<p>"They are not the <em>cause</em> of the perfect tone, but +are simply acted upon by the cause."</p> + +<p>After having become acquainted with the cause of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +these motions, and having learned to control it in +the interest of pure and perfect tone, the movements +of the larynx and the replica will become of value +to us as "indicators" of the correct or incorrect +exercise of the cause which they reflect. In "recording" +the original movements they will show us +what is right or wrong in the latter, and will thus +offer us an opportunity for correcting them. Up to +the present they have been simply barometers, +which, no matter how closely we may observe them, +offer us no opportunity for changing "the state of +the weather" which they indicate. After thoroughly +comprehending the <em>causes</em>, however, which +move them, we may shape the course of the latter +in conformity with our will. Or, vice versa, we +may shape our will, which, after all, is the <em>first +cause</em>, so as to correct that which they indicate to +be wrong in our tone production.</p> + +<p>Now, what is that which the will acts upon, and +thus becomes the original source, the first cause, so +to say, of tone production? My answer will be a +surprise, for, as far as I know, no one has ever as +much as thought, even, of looking in this direction +for the seat of the voice.</p> + +<p>The original source of tone production has its +location in <em>various vessels of the viscera</em>: in the +lungs, the kidneys, and the bladder, for the most +part, though many other vessels, if not all, participate, +and are more or less involved in its production. +Besides these vessels, the heart and the +solar plexus, as central organs of the vascular and +nervous systems, together with the brain as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +central seat of thought and the will, perform parts +of the highest importance in tone production and +vocal utterance. In the lungs, the bladder, and the +kidneys, together with their coadjutors, the bronchi +and ureters, <em>the tone originates</em>. Here we can control, +and unconsciously do control, it.</p> + +<p>I shall adduce indubitable proof as to the correctness +of these assertions. More than that, I shall <em>locate</em> +sounds in these various vessels. As a tone proceeds +from a given string located in a given part of a +musical instrument, and cannot proceed from or be +produced on any other string, a given tone of the +human voice proceeds from a given vessel, and +cannot proceed from or be produced in any other +vessel.</p> + +<p>I shall furthermore show that the various shades +of a tone proceed from various parts of such vessel. +Yet, while tones are produced in special parts, the +instrument of the voice being of a sympathetic +nature, <em>all</em> parts of the <em>viscera</em> participate therein, +by, in a manner, <em>leaning</em> towards a vessel in which +a tone is produced, thus assisting in giving it utterance. +If a sound is produced in one of the vessels +of the abdomen, those of the thorax, though not +directly participating therein, give it aid and comfort +by their passivity, thus throwing the entire +strength of the voice-producing forces into this one +spot. If a sound is produced in the thorax, the +vessels of the abdomen aid it in a similar manner. +This is more particularly the case when a sound of +a superior order is to be produced, which is thus +<em>reinforced</em> by this aid.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<p>In matters of the voice, as in many others, truth +is stranger than fiction.</p> + +<p>Dr. Rush has said:</p> + +<p>"Some day, when the real instrument of the +voice will be discovered, it will be found to be of an +order far different in its nature and construction from +that which it has ever been supposed to be."</p> + +<p>The greatest mechanical wonder, however, is that +the voice, and that which is apparently one and the +same sound, should under different circumstances +emanate from sources so entirely different in their +construction as the vocal cords to the trachea and +those to the œsophagus, the viscera of the kidneys, +the bladder and the lungs, etc. This fact +also accounts for the mystery which, like an impenetrable +veil, has hung over the features of the +voice. Who has ever thought of looking for the +spirit of the voice to reveal itself from <em>beneath</em> the +tongue? Who has ever thought that the œsophagus +was a breathing-tube of a similar functional order as +the trachea? Who has thought that the viscera of +the abdomen were playing as important a part in +breathing as the lungs? Who has thought that the +hemisphere of the abdomen was as directly amenable +to the influence of the air as that of the thorax? +Who has, in fine, thought that the viscera of the +abdomen together with those of the thorax were +primarily instrumental in producing the voice and +vocal utterance?</p> + +<p>It may not be pleasant to know, and it may not +quite conform with our æsthetic taste, that the "voice +divine" should have its origin in such vessels as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +kidneys and the bladder; but I have no quarrel with +the Creator, and can but wonder, as I have never +ceased to wonder from step to step in all these investigations, +at the marvellous resources of nature. +There is one great lesson conveyed through this, +namely,—- that the body is <em>divine</em> in its <em>every aspect</em>; +parts which have been supposed to serve ends only +of a comparatively low order participating in the +highest spiritual functions.</p> + +<p>This knowledge is the sanctification of the "flesh," +so constantly and unjustifiably rejected and reviled +as against that of the spirit. I am not dealing with +theories, but am stating facts which will be as positively +proven as any other scientific facts ever have +been proven. These proofs will not be all forthcoming +in this book, however, there being other +subjects of equal, if not greater, importance that I +have to deal with before I can reach them; these +subjects being of such a nature that they must be +explained before those immediately connected with +voice production can be properly dealt with.</p> + +<p>I have been reproached with attempting too much; +with dealing with too many subjects at one and the +same time; that I ought to complete one theme and +then take hold of another. Just so; but this cannot +be done. I must first deal with general principles. +Our entire system being of a homogeneous nature, +I cannot deal with separate issues until these principles +have been dealt with and understood in their +entirety. Besides, I cannot hope to ever <em>complete</em> +any one thing. I shall be well satisfied if I shall be +able to simply touch upon every subject that has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +come under my observation, lightly, suggesting +things, and leaving it to others to enter more thoroughly +into the same.</p> + + +<h3>INTROSPECTION</h3> + +<p>With our mortal eyes turned outwardly we cannot +see spiritual things, nor the motive power of life, +nor the material form the spirit assumes in moving +the mechanism of the body. For there <em>is</em> a +material way in which it is thus moved, as there +necessarily must be, and I have obtained glimpses +thereat by turning my eyes inwardly—by looking +into myself with the <em>inner</em> surface of my eyes.</p> + +<p>Yet through all these centuries people have been +using that portion of their eyes which is intended +for external vision only, in a vain endeavor to arrive +at spiritual-material facts. Thus the larynx, as the +supposed seat of the voice, has been subjected to +scrutiny based upon laws derived from phenomena +which owe their origin to physical causes only. +During this vain endeavor the larynx has been subjected +to torture and maltreatment worse than that +inflicted upon a mediæval witch.</p> + +<p>But its tormentors have derived no solace from +this treatment, not even that of a confession of imaginary +sins. Why not? Simply because it had +not anything to confess, being a reflex, an indirect, +and not a free and original agent. Through torture +(by means of the laryngoscope), the destroyer +of harmony, we cannot arrive at laws based upon +harmony.</p> + +<p>Is not all physiological research more or less of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +this order? The "higher law" of science may demand +its victims, even as did the "higher law" of +the church. I do not wish to say, however, that the +sacrifice of animals on the altar of science is as useless +as that of human beings used to be on that of +religion. Vivisection, however, while it may, and +no doubt sometimes does, help to recognize the +physical cause of disorder, will never be of any value +in arriving at spiritual causes and the recognition of +the inner motive power of life, nor to any great extent +at that of the exercise of our faculties and functions. +For this knowledge we require a different +mode of proceeding. To penetrate into the realm +of the spiritual-material world (and all phenomena of +life are of that nature) we must not look externally +but internally, not into other beings but into ourselves. +That is the only place where we can hope +to find it in action and arrive at the causes of such +action.</p> + +<p>As our being cannot enter into the inner life of +another being and identify itself with the same or +become a part thereof, or remain apart and become a +spectator of the same or substitute therefor (not even +for that of the simplest and lowest living vegetable +or animal organism), we would have to despair of +our ability of ever being able to arrive at the laws +governing life, if we were not able to look into our +own lives by substituting for our observations our +inner for our outer consciousness.</p> + +<p>The word "Introspection" has heretofore meant +reflection upon purely spiritual phenomena only; I +have proven by my personal example that we can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +observe physiologico-psychological phenomena with +considerable accuracy—very little of this kind of +work, as far as I can learn, ever having been done +before. The nearest approach at amalgamation, +probably, is that which is brought about by means +of hypnotism. In this instance the two factors, the +positive and the negative, the operator and the person +operated upon, do not fuse, however, and become +one, but remain entities, each in his own right. Or, +to speak still more to the point, while the positive, +that is the spiritual, factor of the operator may, and +no doubt does, join hands with the negative, that is +the material, of his subject, by which the operator +becomes one with the latter, there is still but an +<em>influence</em>, and not an insight. Besides, this condition +is as yet too obscurely known to be made use of as a +practical means of observation.</p> + +<p>After all this, the question will still be asked, +"What must we <em>do</em> to look into ourselves?"</p> + +<p>I will admit that I have not stated what others +should do, but in explaining what I have done I +mean to explain what general course others will +have to pursue. By taking into consideration what +I have said, and adding thereto what I shall still +have to say, a general idea may be formed of what +the reader must do to place himself in a position to +make original observations by means of introspection. +No two cases being just alike, from the fact +that heredity, the mental capacity, physical condition, +education, temperament, nationality, etc., with +no two persons are just alike, it is not well possible +to point out a course quite suitable to all. I might as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +well attempt to arrive at a law by the observance of +which <em>all</em> persons would be enabled to write poetry.</p> + +<p>Still, needing assistance in this vast undertaking, +I am particularly anxious to make this matter clear, +as the results of these observations are of vital interest +to all, and I am but one weak, ignorant mortal +creature, with but a small fraction of a life +left to me in which to state that which it would +at least take a full lifetime to properly and fully explain. +I am overburdened with an insight which is +being increased daily, even against my will, and +which I shall never be able to fully communicate to +others. Let the flood-gates of truth once be opened +and come in upon you as they have upon me, and +you will be overwhelmed by the mass of their detail +no less than by the vigor of their mass. My great +want, therefore, for the purpose of more fully arriving +at these facts and obtaining ever higher results +is assistance and coöperation. I wish it to be distinctly +understood, however, that I do not mean this +in a personal sense—far from it; but in the interest +and the promotion of science, as everybody wanting +to make original observations must pursue these +studies for himself and by himself.</p> + +<p>Why such a course has not been heretofore pursued +by others I am at a loss to understand, except +from the fact that it takes an unusual amount of +perseverance to reach the first results. Though <em>all</em> +persons may not be able to personally obtain satisfactory +results, <em>all</em> may be <em>benefited</em> by the results +obtained by those qualified to successfully carry on +a course of observations by means of introspection.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +The world at large will always have to be satisfied +with being simply the beneficiary of scientific research; +more especially of research in matters spiritual +or psychical. From facts thus obtained rules +may be deduced, which, translated into "physical +forms," may become the property of all. In this +manner numerous observations I have made have +already assumed a practical shape; but I have not +as yet been able to devote the necessary time to +them to produce a system which may be used for +general instruction.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile I do sincerely hope that others will take +hold of these matters in all seriousness, and assist +me in arriving at these practical physical forms, which +I trust, in fact <em>know</em> beyond the shadow of a doubt, +will be fruitful of the most beneficent results in the +teaching of the deaf, of singing and elocution, of pure +vocal utterance in speaking; in curing stammering +and other chronic faulty or deficient utterance; besides +numerous other matters of equal importance +not in immediate connection with vocal utterance.</p> + +<p>That these matters must be and are of the greatest +importance to the medical student goes without +saying. It is to be hoped that they may lead to +a more rational treatment of our frail and often +ailing bodies. I say "bodies" because this is the +common phrase. Yet how false this is, every true +physician is but too conscious of. Our ailments +cannot be successfully treated from a mere physical +standpoint. The question of life is not a mechanical +one; it is spiritual beyond anything else, the +spirit being the motive power giving life to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +otherwise inert physical body. Yet the only endeavor +of the physician has always been to cure +the "machine," to set its mechanism right again +when it is out of order, simply because he has not +been able to get at the spiritual motive power which +propels it.</p> + +<p>I have been trying to get at this motive power, +and to some extent have been successful in so doing. +Besides, the <em>body</em> never suffers. Its ailments make +the soul suffer; while the ailments of the soul have +a comparatively less injurious effect upon the body. +The body is the habitation of the soul. The soul +dwells in its <em>every</em> part. As long as this habitation +is habitable the soul continues to dwell therein. +When it becomes uninhabitable the soul departs, +never to return. Hence a body, never so frail and +ailing, will continue to live as long as a vital part is +not affected, that is, a part the soul <em>requires</em> for its +habitation and cannot do without. Close such part +to the indwelling of the soul, prevent material and +spiritual factors from joining hands therein, and the +spirit departs. Once departed it can never be made +to return. Hence a body in the full vigor of health, +after having been immersed in water sufficiently +long to have any one vital avenue positively closed +against the indwelling of the soul, cannot be resuscitated. +As long as the soul clings to it, however, +with never so feeble a grasp, it may come to life +again, in the same manner that a flame nearly extinguished +may be fanned to life again.</p> + +<p>For me to <em>fully</em> describe my mode of proceeding +in arriving at these matters would be equal to an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +attempt at crowding into a few paragraphs <em>all</em> I +have gone through within something like forty +years, more or less, of observation.</p> + + +<h3>MAKING PARTS RIGID</h3> + +<p>I have already stated that I was originally led into +making these investigations through my simple desire +of getting rid of my <em>German</em> mode of expression +in speaking the English language. Being determined +to find out where the trouble was which prevented +me from producing pure English sounds +while I experienced no difficulty in producing pure +German sounds, I pursued vocal sounds, through +numerous phases, to their original sources. The +endeavor to arrive at the true nature of vocal sounds +through autology and by means of "introspection" +has, no doubt, been made by thousands before me. +The reason they were not more successful must be +attributed to the simple fact that such persons have +been lacking in perseverance. It is one of the most +misleading endeavors one can pursue.</p> + +<p>In the beginning I came to what I considered a +<em>positive</em> result perhaps for the hundredth time, but +to think I was on the wrong track the one hundred +and first time. I would then, perhaps, finally determine +that the first result arrived at, after all, was the +correct one. In this manner I have in the course +of time arrived at positive conclusions, which have +been the basis of all my investigations, and are undoubtedly +correct, as they have yielded up one result +after another and have never proven false. For this, +relatively speaking, "perfect insight" I have waited,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +before saying anything more at all, since my previous +(preliminary) publication. To these conclusions I +owe my present trust and confidence, and the "boldness +and temerity," as some may say, in making such +"startling declarations" in the face of the accumulated +wisdom of the science of this and of past ages. +Yet I am tired unto death of prevarication and of +time-serving, and will say what I consider to be the +truth, no matter what may be the consequence.</p> + +<p>Any one singing a false note or mispronouncing +a foreign word or sound, yet knowing what the +right note, word, or sound is and should be, can do +the same thing, and by perseverance finally find +what he has been looking for and pronounce such +note, word, or sound in its entire purity. This will +put him on the track to the production of <em>all</em> pure +notes or sounds. To accomplish this, he must +persistently watch one result after another.</p> + +<p>My mode of proceeding has been largely in making +parts <em>rigid</em>, and then observing the consequences. +In pursuing this course for some time, you will finally +attain such a mastery therein that you will be able +to make almost any vessel, muscle, sinew, membrane, +tissue, etc., or any <em>part</em> thereof, rigid. This +is done for the purpose of neutralizing parts which +partake in the production of sounds, and will enable +you to closely watch cause and effect in your natural, +as well as artistic, course of breathing and sound +production. <em>Having two languages at my command, +I was startled to find that cause and effect in both were +totally different from each other.</em> This gave me the +original cue to all my observations.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<p>In place of sounds, others may pursue odor, taste, +feeling, motion, hearing, etc., to their original +sources, and make similar observations. In so +doing they will find that <em>all phenomena, the products +of our faculties, abilities, or gifts, originally proceed +from the same or similar sources; that there is a +homogeneity of proceeding, mainly consisting in various +modes of breathing, in the production of them all; the +end organs of our senses or gifts finally determining +definite special results</em>.</p> + +<p>For vocal utterance, we draw our inspiration for +various results to be attained, from the air, and +breathe in a different mode for every special performance. +These modes of breathing, though the +same for all persons in a general sense and leading +through the same channels, in a more restricted +sense are different for every nationality.</p> + +<p>There is no "danger" connected with these pursuits, +in spite of Mr. Heidenhain's fears; which fact is +due to the duality of the nature of each and all our +various faculties, there being a safety-valve always at +the other end in the shape of the negative factor. +The only danger I have discovered was in connection +with the "streams of life," which do not permit +tampering with without penalty. As these +exist independent of our ordinary mode of breathing, +they are not apt to be interfered with by any +neophyte in the pursuits now under consideration. +Of these powerful streams, of which no notice has +ever been taken by any one, though ceaselessly +streaming into and out of our system while life +lasts, I shall take occasion to speak later on.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>EXTIRPATION</h3> + +<p>To make a part "rigid" is equal to the "extirpation" +of such part. While it is in a state of rigidity, +it ceases to take part in any action whatsoever; +it is inert and the same as if it had ceased to exist. +What advantage, then, let me ask, is there in extirpating +parts in animals, when we can, by making +parts rigid, directly extirpate such parts in ourselves? +We can in this manner suppress the action of any +muscle, or the participation of any vessel, or part of +such vessel, in any act, by the simple exercise of our +volition. I find no difficulty in thus "extirpating" +any such part from myself for the time being, and +then observing the consequences. I can take hold +of the innermost part of myself, so to say, and take +it <em>out of myself</em>. In regard to vocal utterance, these +consequences are positive and direct. That these +operations must be very <em>carefully</em> conducted in connection +with <em>vital</em> parts goes without saying. The +action of muscles participating in the production of +vocal utterance, however, or in the act of breathing, +except the muscles of the heart, can be suppressed +without danger. I am thus in a position to modify +extirpation of parts to any extent, almost, I desire. +I can add to and detract therefrom at will, and can +shift the act of extirpation from the anterior part of +a vessel to its posterior, or from its superior to its +inferior, or vice versa, now making one side rigid, +then the other, now one end, and then the other; or +take hold of its centre and leave the other parts free, +or suppress its circumference and leave the centre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +free. There is scarcely a limit to the action of my +will in handling my subject. All this while, my +feelings, my intelligence, my mind, take in every +phase of these proceedings, and enable me to give +a correct account of the results I have been observing.</p> + +<p>This discovery—for a discovery it must be, as I +can find no account of any similar proceeding ever +having been carried on—should, and I hope will, +put an end to vivisection, when it is resorted to for +the purpose of learning anything whatever in respect +to the action and the process of life. By this proceeding +I have more or less successfully observed +the acts of breathing, of vocal utterance, motion +and locomotion, hearing, seeing, and thinking.</p> + +<p>I beg leave to here insert without comment the +following clipping from the press:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>The following extracts are from a lecture on "Vivisection +in Relation to Medical Science," delivered by +Edward Berdoe, M. R. C. S., etc., at Cambridge. Lovers +of animals may be glad to know how the medical fraternity +amuse themselves:</p> + +<p>"You may open the abdomens of living cats, guinea-pigs, +and rabbits, and apply irritating chemicals to their +exposed intestines, causing what you are pleased to term +'peculiar rhythmic movements' and 'circus movements,' +but what the unlearned would call violent spasms and +convulsions, as was done by Dr. Batten and Mr. Bokenham, +at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, last year. You may +dissect out the kidneys of living dogs and cats which +you have first paralyzed by curare—the 'hellish oorali' +of Lord Tennyson's poem, so called because the animal's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +sufferings are intensified by its use, and it is unable to +move a limb, or to bite, scratch, howl, or otherwise interfere +with the operator's comfort. You may do this, as +was done by Dr. John Rose Bradford, at University College, +London. You may infect ninety cats with cholera +poison, and bake numbers of them alive, as did Dr. +Lander Brunton. You may inoculate the eyes of rabbits +and guinea-pigs with the material of tubercle, fix glass +balls filled with croton oil—a horribly irritating drug—and +stitch them into the muscles of the backs of rabbits, +then crush them amongst their tissues, as did Dr. Watson +Cheyne, at King's College, London. You may slice, +plough, burn, and pick away the brains of monkeys and +dogs, as did Dr. Ferrier. You may slowly starve to death +animals whose vagi nerves have been cut and stimulated +by electricity, as was done by Dr. Gaskell, of this University, +in 1878. You may cut out the spleens and livers +from living rabbits, pigeons, and ducks, as was done by +Dr. William Hunter, of St. John's College, Cambridge, +in 1888, or do a thousand other acts which in a coster-monger +or a farm laborer would be termed and dealt +with as acts of atrocious cruelty, punishable by imprisonment. +But you have not learned the cure for a single +malady which afflicts the human body."</p></div> + + +<h3>THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TONGUE</h3> + +<p>There is another mode of proceeding by which +satisfactory results can be obtained, and which was +the only one I resorted to in the beginning and for +many years afterwards; namely, the watching of the +movements of the tongue.</p> + +<p>The muscle of the tongue, for vocal utterance, is +the most important in our organization. It appears<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +to me, in fact, as if in its tip there were a concentration +of all the threads which control our existence; and +that it is, therefore, representative of an epitome of +our entire being. As all sciences, in a general, though +in some instances perhaps somewhat remote, sense, +centre in the science of life, so do the controlling +elements in our composition centre in the tip of the +tongue. If it were possible to analyze it spiritually +as well as physically, we would obtain a compendium +of knowledge far in advance of any there is in existence +in the world at the present time. Still, it must +be admitted that this would, to some extent, depend +upon <em>whose</em> tongue's tip was submitted to such +analyzation. The fact of the tip of the tongue +being removed by surgical operation without serious +effect upon the mental condition of the individual +does not greatly affect my assertion. In that case +the concentration must have taken place at the +tongue's new tip or end.</p> + +<p>The tongue's tip, with as infallible correctness as +the magnetic needle points towards the north pole, +indicates the exact spot whence sounds come, or +should come, to appear on the surface in a clear and +undefiled manner. The tongue's tip, for English +vowel sounds, does not touch any part of the oral +cavity. It is constantly changing its position, however, +and for every vowel sound, or shade of a vowel +sound, points in the direction of or <em>approaches</em> the spot +whence a sound comes, or should come. To ascertain +such spot with exactitude, it is but necessary to +<em>extend</em> the tongue's tip until it reaches the wall of +the oral cavity during or, still better, immediately<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +after the utterance of a vocal sound. Upon reaching +that spot the tongue may continue in the same +position of contact and the sound can still be uttered +with entire purity. Change this point of contact, +however, but in the least, and such sound will at +once cease to come to the surface. Yet, while <em>apparently</em> +a sound comes from the direction in which +the tip of the tongue points, this is not really the +case. In pointing in a given direction, the tongue +opens up the channels of the œsophagus and the +trachea in a special manner for the proper emission of +a given sound, beneath as well as above, and to the +left as well as to the right of its radix. In changing +the tongue's position but in the least, these channels +will open in a different direction, which may then +be the proper medium for the emission of another +sound, but not for the one under consideration.</p> + +<p>The general mode in which the radix of the tongue +turns upon its axis is the direct and fundamental +cause productive of the various languages of the +world; such general mode necessitating special movements +of the tongue for the production of the sounds +of any special language. Regarding the proper emission +of consonant sounds every one knows that the +same depends upon the particular spot of contact of +the tongue's tip with parts of the oral cavity. As +a matter of fact, such point of contact also opens, +the same as with vowel sounds, the tubes of the +trachea and œsophagus at the tongue's radix in the +proper manner for the emission of a given stream of +air for the production of such consonant sounds.</p> + +<p>Every imaginable opprobrious epithet has been by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +singers bestowed upon the tongue. "This obstreperous +muscle which is always in the way," says one. +"This troublesome member will persist in going up +when you want it to remain down"; "intractable," +"contrary," "obstinate," "wilful," "ungovernable," +"stubborn." All these expressions have +been used by writers on the voice in connection with +the tongue, simply because it would not yield to +unreasonable and unnatural demands made upon it; +the tongue, being a free agent, persisting in its +natural rights—as much so as any independent democratic +citizen persists in his.</p> + +<p>My observations having been made in connection +with a foreign language, I had a better opportunity +for watching my tongue's movements than I would +have had had I attempted to watch them in connection +with my native tongue; the movements of the +tongue in connection with the latter being so rapid +and involuntary that it becomes exceedingly difficult +to make any observations at all. It was like having +this foreign (English) tongue exist independently +alongside of my own, my intelligence watching it, +and guiding it, now here, now there, until it would +touch the right spot for the right English sound. +Knowing what the right sound was and should be, +I never stopped until the same came to the surface.</p> + +<p>In trying to find my way in this foreign (English) +territory of the oral cavity, I might compare my +English tongue to the stick in the hands of a blind +man, who uses it in place of his eyes to ascertain his +whereabouts, so as to enable him to proceed on his +way in the right direction. With my "stick" I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +felt in every direction, till I found I could steer clear +of obstacles straight into the channel of the sound I +had been seeking. From my German post of observation +I was thus enabled to watch the movements +of my English tongue in its efforts to find +itself "at home" in this foreign territory, while I +was at the same time guiding it from one point +therein to another.</p> + +<p>I want to call especial attention to and reiterate +the fact that the exact point whence a sound proceeds, +or seems to proceed, can, by extending the +tongue's tip, be quite as well (if not better) ascertained, +<em>after</em> the utterance of a sound, as <em>during</em> +such utterance; that is <em>immediately</em> after the tongue +has ceased to vibrate for such sound.</p> + +<p>The difference in the movements of the tongue +for various languages is one of the most interesting +observations to be made in connection with these +studies. The German language being the exact +opposite, the antipode, to the English, after comprehending +the movements of the tongue for the +latter, its own movements, that is, the movements +of the tongue for German sounds, were not difficult +for me to ascertain.</p> + +<p>It is an anomaly to apply the works of German +writers on the voice to the study of the English language, +or to that of any other than the German +language; or to apply books written from an English +standpoint to the study of any language except the +English—the movements of the tongue, and, in sympathy +therewith, of countless other muscles, being +different for every language.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + +<p>Whatever the movements of the tongue are for +the <em>spoken</em> language, they are of an inverse order for +<em>song</em>. I anticipate in making the following statement, +namely, that while speech is of an order which +is rapid, direct, anterior, exterior, spontaneous, impulsive, +and material, song is of an order which is +slow, indirect, posterior, interior, premeditated, contemplative, +and spiritual. I will also add this: that, +<em>while speech is of the oral cavity, song is of the +pharynx</em>. In making these remarks and others <em>in +anticipation</em>, I do so intentionally and for a purpose; +not so much in expectation that they will be at +once and fully understood, as with a view of setting +others thinking on these subjects until I can reach +them in due course of time; or, if I should <em>never</em> +be able to reach them, that the principle, at least, +underlying the same, which if the opportunity had +been granted me would have been fully sustained, +shall not be lost. The reader will notice that I am +hurrying over the ground as rapidly as I consistently +can, even from my—under the best of circumstances—superficial +standpoint, leaving wide gaps to be +filled in by others in the course of time.</p> + + +<h3>SIMPLE SOUNDS</h3> + +<p>Speaking of sounds in making experiments in +connection with the movements of the tongue, it is +of the first importance that these sounds should be +<em>simple</em> and not <em>vocal</em> or compound. They must be +sounds of the same order as we utter in whispering, +or such sounds as we are apt to use when learning to +speak a foreign tongue. They are the inharmonious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +sounds of the deaf, and those which distinguish the +speech of a foreigner from that of the native-born.</p> + +<p>The recognition of these sounds as the <em>negative +parts of speech</em> has been one of my main accomplishments, +and has been of the greatest assistance to me +in my investigations.</p> + +<p>Things <em>complete</em> tell no tales. We must decompose +them, reduce them to their elements, if we want +to arrive at the truth in matters of science. I have +succeeded in doing with things spiritual—vocal +sounds—what the chemist is doing with things material. +In things complete, as they are shaped by +the hand of nature, the elements of which they are +composed are mingled in such a dexterous manner, +are so happily blended, that they adjust, counterpoise, +and complement one another, and thus live +with and in one another.</p> + +<p>These new forms have been created by the elements +of which they are composed, abandoning their +separate original forms and now appearing in a new +form, as integral parts of an <em>harmonious</em> entity. +These elements have not only abandoned their form, +however, but in most instances have also changed +their character; which in their original composition +may have been of a <em>discordant</em>, violent, and even dangerous +nature. Take but the atmospheric air and +its elements for an example.</p> + +<p>A similar state of affairs exists in connection with +the phenomena of the material-spiritual world. +While vocal sounds, when properly produced, stand +for all that is harmonious and pleasing, their component +parts, their positive and negative elements,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +by themselves, offer features of a contrary nature. +They also offer us, the same as elements do to the +chemist while making experiments, the opportunity +for making an endless number of combinations. +Unless you know what <em>simple</em> sounds—<em>i. e.</em>, negative +parts of vocal sounds—are, and know how to +produce them, you will scarcely be able to make +one class of experiments which I shall offer in great +abundance to sustain my arguments.</p> + +<p>When I shall reach the subject of vocal sounds +proper, I shall more fully explain their exact nature. +I will simply say this at present: A simple sound +is the product of that hemisphere only to which it +properly belongs. A vocal sound is aided and +assisted by a complementary sound from the other +hemisphere. The more perfect such aid, the more +perfect will be its tone. Simple vowel sounds are +short, abrupt, the same as consonant sounds when +produced all by themselves and without the aid of a +vowel sound uttered in conjunction with them.</p> + + +<h3>POSTERIOR SURFACES</h3> + +<p>In saying, as I have, that introspection is carried +on by looking into ourselves with the <em>inner surface +of our eyes</em>, I meant to say, in the first instance, that +we must exclude all exterior vision, and then attempt +to locate and follow up the course of events +going on within us. While in this state we are +strictly reduced to our personal and individual +existence. In thus "watching," the function of +our eyes, instead of being used for external material<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +observation, is reversed; their function now being to +observe internally and spiritually.</p> + +<p>In connection with sounds, you will not only "in +your mind's eye" <em>see</em> the places where they originate, +and <em>feel</em> the course they are taking, but you +will actually, functionally (in the mode of spiritually +seeing and feeling), "see" and "feel" them. This +vision and this feeling is far from being perfect, +however,—not being accustomed to thus seeing and +feeling,—but it may, when continuously exercised, +become so in the course of time. While in this +state, besides seeing the places interiorly, you may +also see them exteriorly, by reflection as it were, +and in a reverse order, "as in a looking-glass," in +which case it is still an interior vision reflected +exteriorly. As a matter of fact, I not only believe, +but positively <em>know</em>, that <em>every exterior functional +surface has a corresponding posterior one</em>.</p> + +<p>Whenever a thing is brought <em>home</em> to us, either +through our organs of seeing, hearing, feeling, +smelling, or tasting, the outer surface of such respective +organ constitutes the positive factor for +such action, while its inner surface constitutes the +negative factor thereof. Whenever the outer world +is excluded, however, as during thought, introspection, +and in our sleep, the inner surface of any of +these organs becomes the positive, and the outer +surface the negative, factor. In thus saying, "I see +with the inner surface of my eyes," I do not mean +this figuratively only, but literally, functionally, as +well; as I could not see these places and locate them +internally nor could I see any subject or object with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +"my mind's eye," if the faculty of seeing were not +actually given to the posterior surface of the eye.</p> + +<p>This will become clear when you consider that +you will altogether fail to see internally when you +attempt to use the <em>anterior</em> surface of your eye for +the purpose of <em>internal</em> vision. Thus, the phenomena +of vision which accompany thought or dreams, +during sleep as well as in our waking moments, are +not merely spiritual, but, in the sense of internal +functional vision, are also material, so to say. +<em>All</em> thought, in fact, is more or less of this same +nature. We use the posterior surfaces of our organs +of sense more frequently, in consequence, than we +do their corresponding anterior surfaces. Physiologists +will say there is no such a thing as an inner +surface of the eye capable of seeing. This does not +alter the fact that I actually, functionally, see with +the posterior surface of my eyes, and that everybody +else does the same thing.</p> + +<p>I shall, in connection with vocal utterance, have +occasion to call attention to numerous divisions of as +positive a character as a wall of living tissue, of which +there is not a trace to be seen by external vision; these +divisions being channels, constantly used in one and +the same direction, some for ingoing, others for outgoing +streams of air and sounds. Of these channels, +also, being invisible to the outer surface of the eye, +science has never taken any notice. These invisible +agencies are connecting links, mediating between +cause and result, in connection with material-spiritual +or spiritual-material phenomena of whatsoever +nature brought to our consciousness. Hence the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +inability of science, in its ignorance of these agencies, +to reconcile the one with the other by the aid +of such material only as has been heretofore at its +disposal. We may <em>see</em> proceedings going on which +are mediating between cause and effect, by the assistance +of the inner surface of our eyes. They disappear +altogether, as well as any other "vision," upon an attempt +being made at seeing them with the external +surface of our eyes. Yet we may see inwardly with +our eyes open, as we do when absent-minded, etc.</p> + +<p>If we could invent a microscope by the aid of +which we could look into ourselves in a <em>spiritual</em> +sense, that is, through posterior surfaces, <em>all</em> the +secret springs of our nature might be revealed to +us. This ability to become cognizant of physiologico-psychological +processes by the aid of the inner +surfaces of our organs of sense, reveals a peculiar +functional exercise of their faculties. In matters of +memory they are not intended to aid in conveying +to our consciousness impressions made at the <em>present</em>, +but those made at a previous time. These impressions +having been made on the soft tablets of our +brain, either during our individual existence or that +of our progenitors, and transmitted to us by dint of +heredity, are brought to our consciousness by the +aid of these inner surfaces, <em>phonographically</em>. They +are awakened by association; and that organ of sense +by the aid of whose anterior surface they were first +received and <em>recorded</em>, now reawakens them by the aid +of its posterior surface. Visions, consequently, are +reflections made on the inner surface of the eyes, +from impressions previously made upon the brain, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +a similar manner to that by which sounds come forth +from a phonograph. They could not assume shape +if they were not thus reflected. It is owing to the +nature of these reflections that they are more fleeting +and evanescent than those made by the objects +themselves upon the external surface of the eyes.</p> + +<p>The anterior and posterior surfaces of all organs, +by whose aid we exercise our faculties, which surfaces +represent their poles and dual factors, the +positive and the negative, the material and the +spiritual, change places in conformity with whether +an object is impressed upon them exteriorly or +interiorly, in the present or the past, directly or +indirectly, physically or spiritually. Things which +are brought to our consciousness from the exterior +world and in a direct manner—through our +senses—may be said to be of a <em>material</em> nature; +while those which come to us indirectly—through +our inner consciousness—may be said to be of <em>spiritual</em> +origin. The clearness of our visions naturally +depends upon the clearness of the impression still +remaining upon the tablets of the brain. The +more stirring the event in the first instance, the +deeper and more lasting, of course, the impression. +All this, however, does not throw any light upon +the process of abstract thought; nor am I in a position +to aid in so doing. Yet it appears to me to be +a sister proceeding; and that a nearer approach to +an explanation of those more material phenomena +may finally assist in arriving at an explanation of +the causes of these more recondite and apparently +purely spiritual phenomena.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<p>The correctness of the preceding remarks will become +more apparent when we substitute for the +faculty of seeing, that of hearing. We hear the +voice of another person through the <em>anterior</em> part of +our ear, <em>entering</em>, as it does, from <em>without</em>. We hear +our own voice through the <em>posterior</em> part of our ear, +<em>going out</em>, as it does, from <em>within</em>. No matter how +low we may speak, we can always hear our own +voice, though inaudible to others; and we can still +distinctly hear it at such time, even when we fail to +hear a low, though in fact relatively much louder, +tone proceeding from the voice of another person. +A ventriloquist, on the other hand, with whom +these relations are reversed, hears his own voice reflected +from without, inwardly, while, if he continues +in the same condition while listening to +another person's voice, he will hear the latter from +within, outwardly.</p> + +<p>For the purpose of testing the correctness of +these observations, please pay attention to the +following: In listening to the sounds of another +person's speech, you will have no difficulty in noticing +that they stream into your ear from without, +inwardly. Now, substitute for this other person's +voice the sounds of your own voice, <em>and continue to +listen to the same in precisely the same manner in +which you did to those of this other person</em>; that is, +let them flow into your ear from without, inwardly. +The result will be <em>that you will not only not hear the +sounds of your own voice, but that these sounds themselves +will become paralyzed, that you will not be able +to produce any sound whatever</em>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>The cause is obvious. You attempt to listen to +negative sounds with the side of your ear still tuned +negatively; while, ordinarily, when we cease to +listen and commence to speak, <em>all</em> poles are reversed. +Spoken sounds are positive in relation to the speaker, +but negative in relation to the person listening to the +same. In consequence, the producer hears them +with the negative (inner) part of his ear, the receiver, +or listener, hears them with the positive +(exterior) part of his ear.</p> + +<p>I copy the following from an article in the <cite>Philadelphia +Sunday Press</cite>:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"A curious fact in regard to the effect of explosions +upon the drumhead, is that this tissue, though generally +blown in, is sometimes blown out. Just what causes the +latter result has not yet been fully explained."</p></div> + +<p>In this instance, I presume, the person's ear was +tuned to listen interiorly, and the effect of the explosion, +which, in relation to him, was of a negative +nature, took effect on the positive, the posterior, +side of his ear. This person was not in expectancy +of the explosion, but it came on unawares, of a sudden, +while he was in a state of contemplation.</p> + +<p>In connection with the eye, our inner consciousness +acts as a "rein" upon the outer, drawing back +in case of danger, checking our progress when suddenly +coming upon a precipice, and <em>regulating our +steps</em> to circumvent it, but without coming to a stop, +when seeing an obstacle in our way from a distance. +The "rein" in such an instance reverses the poles +of the eyes—the positive becomes negative and the +negative positive; that is to say, in our usual mode<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +of seeing, while walking, the exterior surface of the +eye is positive, the interior negative; but when there +is danger ahead and we are warned to be cautious, +the exterior becomes negative and the interior positive; +the activity now being exercised by the latter, +the passivity by the former. The action of the +"rein," however, is not direct, but crosswise; that +is to say, the posterior surface of the left eye is in +correspondence with the anterior of the right, and +vice versa, in conformity with the "impulse" +emanating from either the one or the other, while +the anterior surface of the left eye is in correspondence +with the posterior of the right, and vice versa.</p> + +<p>The knowledge of the reversion of the functional +exercise of our organs of sense is of signal importance +in connection with motion and vocal utterance, +which always go hand in hand; every utterance being +accompanied by a motion, though not always +visible to the eye. In truly artistic delivery these +motions are brought to the highest perfection; and +visibly, though often in great moderation, accompany +<em>every</em> inflection of the voice.</p> + +<p>To be able to see a thing at all, we must be +in a relatively proper position with the object to be +seen; we must be on the same plane with it. We +must also have light, not only for the latter, but by +reflection therefrom also for ourselves. In addition +we must have the inner light enabling us to comprehend +what we have seen. I contend that for +the study of spiritual-material as well as material-spiritual +phenomena, such light has always been +wanting for the thing to be seen, as well as for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +the orb to see and consequently for the spirit to +comprehend. In attempting to comprehend, and +to explain appearances, physiologically, we have +been looking in our exterior world, where we +cannot, in place of our interior world, where we +might be able to see and to observe. We have +been using the outer surface of our eye instead of +the inner, with which to see spiritual things. The +thing to be seen and the orb with which to see +were not on the same "plane." It was impossible +to perform the act of <em>spiritually</em> seeing. +The proper light once obtained, it has not only +illumined for me the things to be seen, but also +my capacity for seeing and comprehending them. +Roentgen has taught us the method of seeing +material things through opaque bodies. I have +learned to recognize spiritual phenomena in opaque +bodies, created, as they are, by a combination of +spiritual and material factors. While I have made +use of this gift for a special study—that of vocal +utterance—I incline to think that it may be made +use of for the study of not only all the various +material-spiritual phenomena to be observed in the +nature of organic bodies in general and man's in +particular, but also of our relations with the unseen +and unknown world and its forces, in which our +essence has its being, whence it comes, and to which +it returns. In minutely explaining my mode of +proceeding, it is also my special desire to rob it of +any appearance of "supernaturalness" some persons +might be inclined to invest it with. Though +I cannot explain many things connected with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +voice from an entirely naturalistic standpoint, I +think they are all explainable if the proper amount +of study and observation be given to them. This, +as a matter of course, does not, however, include +the operations of the mind proper, which are governed +by laws beyond any human understanding.</p> + + +<h3>INSPIRATION—EXPIRATION</h3> + +<p>The entire mechanism of our being, more especially +that of our faculties and functions, is primarily +excited through openings into which air is inspired, +from which air is expired. These openings are connected +with channels and vessels which are passive +or negative during inspiration; active or positive +during expiration. Thus the multiform streams of +air introduced into our system communicate with +parts thereof, which, by their construction and intercommunication +with others, are specially adapted +for the exercise of any special faculty or function. +Our will directs these streams of air to flow into +their proper channels (and they automatically obey) +for the guidance of our steps in a certain direction, +for the production of a given sound, the recognition +of a given sight, the sensation of a peculiar odor, +taste, or feeling, or the excitation of a passion, +a compassion, or any other sensation, feeling, or +thought whatsoever. These streams of air, therefore, +are of an order as multiform as the complex +web of our material and spiritual existence, and are +introduced through thousands of different channels +and in thousands of different ways.</p> + +<p>To confine our mode of physical and spiritual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +existence to a single stream of air introduced into +the oral cavity, or the nostrils, and thence into the +lungs, appears to me to be as primitive a proceeding +and as narrow a view as can possibly be taken of one +of the greatest subjects our understanding is called +upon to deal with. In place of that, I have positive +proof that the streams of air which flow into these +openings are of the most multiform nature; every +sight, odor, taste, touch, and every sound, and fraction +of a sound even, calling for a special stream of +air which no other stream can furnish or supply. +Besides the oral cavity and the nostrils, the eyes, +ears, and every additional opening, down to an +almost invisible pore or capillary vessel, are recipients +of special streams intended for special purposes. <em>We +breathe through the soles of our feet and the palms +of our hands, as well as through the skull of our heads. +The closer we guard our body against the influence +of the air, by means of unnaturally close-woven and +air-tight clothing, the less capable we become of exercising +our natural faculties and functions.</em></p> + +<p>To this subject I shall devote time and attention +at some future period, more especially in connection +with vocal utterance, as it has everything to +do with the production of sounds, which proceed in +part from within, outwardly, and in part from without, +inwardly. In so doing, positive becomes negative +and negative positive; inspiration and expiration +equalize each other, and thus a continuous flow of +speech becomes possible, while if the flow were +continuously in one and the same direction it would +soon come to an absolute stop.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is this that science has done for us: It has +clogged up all these natural avenues to our existence +by teaching that we breathe through the trachea +alone, in consequence of the muscle of the diaphragm +forming an air-tight partition between the +upper and lower compartments of our bodies; being +ignorant of the fact of that other great tube of the +œsophagus, also opening into the oral cavity, performing +the same functions for the abdomen which +the trachea does for the thorax. In place of all +these millions of openings through which we inspire +and expire, science teaches that we breathe through +a single tube, into and out of an <em>air-tight sack</em>,—a +mechanically impossible proceeding. By some ill-defined +process, air is supposed to find its way into +the thorax and out again after depositing its oxygen +in the blood-vessels. Meanwhile, the balance of our +body is left to shift for itself, not the slightest particle +of fresh food ever finding its way into any portion +thereof, except indirectly through the blood-vessels. +To my simple and untaught understanding it appears +that if such a state of affairs really existed—no matter +how rapid the circulation of the blood—the +entire hemisphere of the abdomen would be given +over to putrefaction in an exceedingly short space +of time.</p> + +<p>Breathing, however, as we do, through the œsophagus, +in like measure with the trachea, and through +every other opening in our epidermis in addition, +our body is constantly, uninterruptedly, permeated +with fresh air in its every avenue, vessel, capillary +tube, cell, etc., which sustains us by its life-giving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +qualities, and takes away with it the constantly accumulating +refuse.</p> + +<p>The muscle of the diaphragm has been the air-tight +door to the cell of the condemned, whose +portal has been guarded by ignorance and every +oppression, suppression, fear, superstition, anxiety, +bigotry, narrowness, prejudice, etc., that the human +mind is capable of. It has given us over to self-accusation +as a natural and vital element. It has +shut us up into the narrowest limits, and kept us +from communing with the universe and the spirit of +the universe. It has excluded from us the grace, +the beauty, the light, the liberty, the eternity of the +<em>spirit</em>, and prevented us from recognizing ourselves +as integral parts of the universe and of the causes +which sustain it and sustain us. It has prevented +us from communing with them as free agents <em>in our +own name and by our own right</em>, without interference +or the intercession of any person or agency whatsoever, +in the past or the present.</p> + +<p>Have I placed too great a value on the discovery +of the "voice of the œsophagus"?</p> + +<p>I feel convinced that the further exposition of my +observations will justify me in all I have said.</p> + + +<h3>DIAPHRAGMS</h3> + +<p>As the trunk has its diaphragm, dividing thorax +and abdomen, so do all dual hemispheres representing +a faculty or function have their diaphragms, +performing duties of an analogous nature. <em>Every</em> +opening, in fact, has its diaphragm. Where there +is none visible, it is formed by contraction, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>ever +needed, and but for the time being. All these +various diaphragms, more particularly the one specially +bearing that name, are of the greatest importance +in connection with vocal utterance,—the sounds +of the vessels of the abdomen being produced by an +expansion of the thorax and consequent contraction +of the abdomen, those of the vessels of the thorax +by an expansion of the abdomen and a consequent +contraction of the thorax.</p> + +<p>For the purposes of vocal utterance, inspiration +into the thorax produces an expiration from the +abdomen by way of the œsophagus, accompanied +by vocal sound, while an inspiration into the abdomen +produces an expiration from the thorax by way +of the trachea, accompanied by vocal sound; the +special <em>mode</em> of inspiration regulating the special +sound to be produced.</p> + +<p>This proceeding has reference to outgoing sounds +only. For ingoing sounds the opposite proceeding +takes place; an expiration from the thorax producing +an inspiration into the abdomen, and an expiration +from the abdomen an inspiration into the +thorax, both accompanied by sound. Every original +inspiration into thorax or abdomen, of course, +must have been preceded by an expiration from +these parts, while every original expiration must +have been preceded by an inspiration into the same. +The utterance of every sound, therefore, requires at +least three movements on the part of the respiratory +organs. But for the action of the diaphragm, such +sounds could not be produced.</p> + +<p>All these various diaphragms fall or recede for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +inspiration, rise or advance for expiration; the +function of a diaphragm being exercised in conformity +with the manner in which it is approached. +This may be done by way of the œsophagus or the +trachea, <em>i. e.</em>, from the side of the hemisphere of +the abdomen, or from that of the thorax. The +outward movement of the abdomen during respiration, +therefore, is not caused by a pressure +brought to bear on its contents by the diaphragm, +but it advances and recedes in conformity with a +direct process of inspiration and expiration by way +of the œsophagus and the trachea; the œsophagus +and trachea sustaining each other and acting reciprocally +and in conjunction. This presumed pressing +forward and subsequent receding of the entrails, in +consequence of the descent and ascent of the diaphragm, +presents a spectacle as repugnant as it +is impossible of execution; the extension of the +abdomen, more particularly in connection with +special sounds, being so great that no pressure +whatever brought to bear upon the entrails could +possibly produce it.</p> + +<p>In place of this theory, now so generally entertained, +the simple fact obtains that the diaphragm +descends in consequence of an influx of air into and +subsequent expansion of the thorax, causing a contraction +of the abdomen and an efflux of air from +the same; that it ascends in consequence of an +influx of air into and expansion of the abdomen, +causing a contraction of the thorax and an efflux of +air from the same.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig093-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="166" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>IMPRESSION AND EXPRESSION</h2> + + +<p>All vocal expression is but an echo, the echo of +a thought. Thought <em>must</em> precede vocal expression. +It is not possible to produce a vocal +sound, not the simplest, without thought. There +is no such thing as a voice <em>ipso facto</em>, no more than +there is music in a musical instrument unless it is +called forth by the hand of the player. Try it. +Come upon a sound suddenly, around the corner, +as it were, and then express it. Do not give it a +moment's time for its development; that is, do not +give thought time to mould a form for it, but try +to utter it in embryo, so to say, the very moment +you think of it, and you will not be able to do it. +You will not produce any sound whatever.</p> + +<p>It is as necessary to form a mould for a sound as +it is for any shaped and moulded material article. +Out of this mould it comes forth in conformity +with the form we have given it: harsh, abrupt, +discordant—rhythmical, beautiful, soulful. Such as +the thought is, so will be the expression. In ordinary +conversation this proceeding is automatic and +mechanical, in elocution or song more or less volitional +and artistic. That is to say, for ordinary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +speech it acts automatically, for artistic utterance +it acts designedly. Materially, the mould is convex, +shut, for ingoing; concave, open, for outgoing +sounds. It expands for the former, it contracts for +the latter. Vocal sounds are a product of matter as +well as mind; the act itself which produces them +being a connecting link between matter and mind. +The soul calls on the body to aid it in giving form to +its desires and intentions; the body instantly obeys +and assumes the form from which the expected sound +or action is to arise.</p> + +<p>No matter how great a soul may be, unless it can +give form and consequent utterance to its greatness, +it will be helpless, far more so than the simplest soul +capable of giving expression to its simplicity. Confined +to our own limits, like the congenital deaf, our +faculties become dwarfed and useless. We do not +know ourselves, do not know our own souls. We +must expand, go out into the world and take it in, +if we want to grow and give our faculties a chance +to develop.</p> + +<p>The greater our horizon, the more we can take in, +the more we can give out. Our soul is scarcely ours +when enchained; the greater its liberty, the more it +belongs to us. Hence our just pity for the congenital +deaf, and our desire to assist them in their efforts +at expression. Those among them who are being, +or have been, tutored, receive their impressions +through their eyes in the form assumed by the +speaker's mouth; the eye assuming the function of +the ear. The form assumed by their teacher's mouth, +however, not being perfect, a perfect impression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +cannot be made. Hence the expression of the deaf +is in conformity with the impression they have obtained: +mechanical, material, soulless. The exterior +lines of the mouth of the teacher, or any other +speaker's from which the deaf draw their inspiration, +are those of the material side of the medal. Failing +to see the reverse side thereof, namely, the interior +of the mouth, which is its spiritual side, the lines of +the latter make no impression upon them. These +fine lines on the interior side of the speaker's mouth, +representing the rhythm, the soul of the voice, not +being seen, fail to make that impression from which +alone a soulful expression could arise.</p> + +<p>That an <em>impression</em> may be made through the eye +will scarcely require a defense, in view of the fact +that in reading aloud or in singing from notes the +<em>entire</em> impression is made through the eye. The +reader or singer, knowing the <em>value</em> of every sound, +is impressed by the sight of a letter or a note as he +would be by the sound itself. Not so with the congenital +deaf, who, being ignorant of such value, cannot +reproduce it. Nor will it be contended, I suppose, +that the deaf knowingly, designedly, or volitionally +attempt to imitate the forms assumed by the teacher's +mouth, but it will be admitted that this is done +spontaneously, and that vocal sounds with them +arise from this imperfect mechanism, thus involuntarily +reproduced.</p> + +<p>With the congenital deaf, with persons attempting +to speak a foreign language, etc., the material +form, as well as the spiritual impetus, being imperfect, +the expression will be in conformity therewith.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +In how far and in what manner these investigations +may become helpful to the deaf will be a matter for +the not distant future to develop. That they will +eventually become of the greatest aid to them I have +every reason to believe. Those who have made a +study of matters of this kind understand the difficulties +surrounding the same. These difficulties are +increased manifold where the ear of the scholar absolutely +refuses to come to his own and his teacher's +aid.</p> + +<p>There are forms in which vocal sounds move, +well defined and capable of material representation, +which are not fully expressed by the shape of the +teacher's mouth, nor are they thus expressed by +impressions taken by the aid of the camera. Regarding +the latter, it is necessary to note that photographic +representations of vocal sounds are the result +of the combined action of the voice of the œsophagus +and of that of the trachea, of material and immaterial +factors. Just in how far the latter are capable +of being thus represented must, as yet, remain a +matter of conjecture.</p> + +<p>An attempt at reconciling photographic representations +of vocal sounds with the oscillations of the +vocal cords is, at most, a one-sided proceeding. To +arrive at any correct conclusion at all, it would be +necessary to take the vibrations of the "vocal lip" +and the frænum into equal consideration.</p> + +<p>Regarding our capacity for improving the natural +physical and psychical capabilities of the musical +instrument of the voice, that depends upon the +manner in which we play upon it. As it yields to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +the slightest pressure of the air, either for good or +for evil, we must, above all things, learn how to +guide the tip of our tongue in touching its aërial +strings or keys, which are far more sensitive than +those of any instrument ever produced by the hand +of man. It takes years to attain a mastery over the +simplest musical instrument; yet it is often expected +that the instrument of the voice should yield to the +most careless efforts made in the most wilful and +indiscriminate manner.</p> + +<p>The <em>thought</em> of a sound, after <em>producing</em> an impression, +<em>guides</em> the tongue in <em>releasing</em> such impression. +Unless the tongue touches or moves towards the +exact spot which will effect such release, the expression +or the sound will not be forthcoming. That the +impression, as well as its release, should be properly +made, it is necessary to <em>think</em> of the sound which +is to be produced, in the most precise and correct +manner. I cannot sufficiently impress upon the +reader's mind the importance this simple lesson +conveys. If he will shape his manner of vocal utterance, +especially his mode of singing, in conformity +therewith, he will be able to improve his voice to a +far greater extent than he would by following any +or all of the realistic methods now in vogue. This +<em>thinking</em> of the correct sound must be carried on for +the <em>next</em> syllable during the <em>production</em> of the previous +one; and care must be taken not to think of +more than one syllable at one and the same time. +Unless this is done, no pure sound will ever be +produced, the impression made by thinking of a +second or third syllable overlapping that for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +next following; thus producing a muddle and a +discord. Rhythm being the basis for all perfect +vocal utterance, a rhythmic impression must be +made in order to obtain a rhythmic expression. +This cannot be done when the former is not preserved +in its entire purity until it is released.</p> + +<p>All of us, either during our ordinary speech or +during our efforts at artistic expression, are guided +by the process just described; unknowingly, unwittingly, +properly or improperly, for good or for +evil, pursuing this same course. I cannot enter +upon these matters to any greater extent at this +time, as it will be necessary to first treat of other +matters with which they are intimately connected.</p> + + +<h3>THE PHONOGRAPH</h3> + +<p>In trying the experiment of coming upon a sound +unawares, simply endeavor to divest yourself of all +thought, and then suddenly, without any preparation +whatever, say "a," or "b," or "it," or any word +you wish, and you will not be able to produce such +sound or sounds—or, in fact, any sound whatsoever. +Or, you may get some one to, of a sudden, produce +sounds embodied in letters before your eyes; and +you will find you will be unable to utter them instantly. +While you cannot thus produce a vocal +sound, or vocal sounds embodied in words, you can +produce <em>simple</em> sounds without preparation. As +they belong to but one hemisphere, and are consequently +not the product of a compound impression, +they may be uttered the very moment we think of +them. While they are being uttered, our organs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +of speech are "shut," far more so than they are for +<em>vocal</em> sounds.</p> + +<p>Consonant sounds cannot be uttered "vocally" +without a vowel sound. When they appear in a +syllable their <em>accompanying</em> vowel sound carries them +and permeates them. When they appear singly we +add a vowel sound to them. We say: "ar," "be," +"en," "ka," etc.; unless we do so we cannot pronounce +them. Without such accompanying vowel +sound they would be inert.</p> + +<p>"Simple" <em>consonant</em> sounds are unaccompanied, +not "leavened," by a vowel sound. "Simple" <em>vowel</em> +sounds, on the other hand, are unaccompanied by +the element which constitutes consonant sounds; +while "vocal" <em>vowel</em> sounds <em>are</em> accompanied +thereby.</p> + +<p>The word "surd," used in connection with non-vocal +sounds, does not express the meaning of what +I call "simple" sounds, as all sounds may be either +"vocal" or "simple," while "surd" applies only +to special sounds.</p> + +<p>The necessity of making an impression for vocal +utterance also prevails in connection with motion. +You cannot lift your right foot or your left arm, or +make any given motion whatever, the very moment +you think of making it. It requires some preparation; +though you may lift <em>part</em> of a limb without +preparation. A part of a limb in this sense may be +compared to a <em>simple</em>, the entire limb to a <em>vocal</em>, +sound. The thought must make an impression by expansion +or contraction, which, when released, will +express the desired motion; no matter whether such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +motion is made unconsciously or deliberately. It is +more difficult to watch this proceeding in connection +with sight; the operations of light being so rapid +that the expression seems to be simultaneous with +the impression.</p> + +<p>Contraction and expansion for motion are of the +same order as they are for vocal utterance. In +fact, both are so closely connected that we cannot +utter a sound unless it is accompanied by a motion. +In stopping the motion accompanying a sound, we +stop our ability of uttering such sound. I shall +have occasion to call attention to numerous conditions +under which it will be impossible to utter +sounds, either separate or connected, by stopping +the motion necessary to produce such sounds. It +is all due to the fact that we are homogeneous +beings, <em>whose powers are interdependent upon one +another</em>.</p> + +<p>The effect of the teacher's <em>voice</em> upon his or her +scholar's organization is of a <em>similar</em> order to that +made by <em>thought</em> upon the teacher's own organization. +That it is not of the <em>same</em> order is due to the +fact that the organization upon which it is made is +but rarely constituted the same, is not as highly +organized and developed or "schooled," as the one +from which the voice emanated. The impression +made by the singing-teacher's <em>voice</em> is of the same +order as that made upon the deaf by the <em>features</em> of +their instructor which are representative of his voice. +We are living, breathing <em>phonographs</em>. Every impression +we receive through any of our senses must +be made in a material manner before it can have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +its immaterial expression. We engrave upon living +tissue, instead of on rubber or wax.</p> + +<p>I repeat that, to obtain a pure sound, the <em>thought</em> +underlying such sound or sounds must be <em>purely, +clearly defined</em>. We cannot obtain a clear impression +from a seal whose engraving is blurred, or when the +sealing-wax is not in a proper condition of softness, +or when the hand is not steady which makes the +impression. The same conditions prevail with vocal +utterance. Thought makes the impression; the +æther, passing through its narrowed passages at a +rate as swift as thought, creates the sound. The +impression is made as <em>thought</em> progresses, the expression +as <em>sound</em> progresses. While the <em>impression +is thoughtful, the expression is thoughtless</em>. While +we think for a sound during the impression, we do +not think for it during its expression; <em>but we think, +during the latter, for the next sound</em>. If this were +not the case, consecutive speech would be a matter +of impossibility. The artist's thought is embodied +in the creation of the model for his statue from +which a mould is made. The casting of the statue, +equal to its expression, is mechanical, thoughtless.</p> + +<p>In this connection the brain is of the same order +as the tablets of the phonograph. For ordinary use, +however, the lines engraved upon it are evanescent; +they disappear again with the sound or thought +which releases them. Impressions, however, of a +deeper nature remain—some forever. The thought +or sounds they represent, the same as the lines on the +tablets of the phonograph, are released but for the +time being and while such thought and sounds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +(through association) are recalled to memory. The +thought and sounds are evanescent, but the lines +which represent them remain for further use, the +same as the lines on the tablets of the phonograph +and the strings of a musical instrument. If we +could read aright the lines which the voice makes +on the tablets of the phonograph or on the negative +plates of the photographer, we would obtain a correct +insight into their character. These studies, +when fully developed, may lead to a comprehension +of these hieroglyphics, the same as the Greek translation +on the Rosetta stone furnished the cue to the +comprehension of the hieroglyphics of the Egyptian +monuments.</p> + + +<h3>STUTTERING, STAMMERING</h3> + +<p>What is all this I am writing?</p> + +<p>It is an endeavor at giving expression to an impression +obtained of a great subject imperfectly +understood. The general ideas underlying it all are +on the lines of truth, but the contours are evanescent, +the lines representing special features ill-defined, +while the finer shadings are almost entirely +wanting. It is a stuttering, a stammering, in matters +my mind is too narrow to grasp, incapable of comprehending +in all their bearings, impotent to take in +in their ultimate relations. Still, I am doing what I +can with such material as nature has placed at my disposal. +Thought failing to make a clear impression, +my pen, I fear, cannot give a clear expression to it all.</p> + +<p>Regarding the subject of stuttering proper, I must +still preface it with some remarks of a general nature.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +The influx and efflux of streams of air into and out +of our system, called breathing, is of a very complicated +nature. While we designate the same by +the general terms of inspiration and expiration, these +streams are of as multiform a nature as the ethereal +fabrics they are intended to weave, whose weft they +form, and whose warp is of a more material nature. +Call these fabrics what you please—actions, speech, +feelings, passions, fancies, sensations, etc. While +these streams form innumerable separate systems, +they are all subject to one and the same law—rhythm. +The more perfect the rhythm the higher the development +and consequent performance.</p> + +<p>While we always breathe, or should breathe, in +the same rhythmic order (the octave) for the sustenance +of life in general, we unconsciously breathe +in various other measures for an endless number of +other purposes. Our dual nature, and the duality of +the manner in which we breathe, as a rule enable +us to go through these various performances without +a disturbance as to the harmonious character of +our existence. It is a great orchestral performance +by instruments of various kinds and orders, each +performer playing his own notes, specially adapted +to his particular part and instrument; yet all coming +together in one harmonious <em>ensemble</em>. This fact +finds expression, clearly defined, in the various +measures in which metre and rhythm are clad for +poetry and song. The introduction into our system +of a rhythmic flow of streams of air for the various +purposes of vocal utterance is conditioned upon a +rhythmic flow of thought.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>To perfectly render a poetical conception by words +either spoken or sung, the performer's <em>mind</em> must be +in accord with the rhythm underlying such conception. +In that case only will he breathe and, consequently, +speak or sing in the requisite manner for +such production. I should have prefaced all this by +saying that, in the same manner as inspiration and +expiration succeed each other in regular rotation, so +do the ordinary measures of long and short (¯˘), +or short and long (˘¯), in simple forms of poetry, +succeed each other in regular rotation; long (¯), +or stress, always standing for expiration, short (˘), +or repose, for inspiration. <em>As a matter of fact, +however, inspiration is of longer duration than expiration.</em></p> + +<p>All other forms are artistic, and are produced by +a mode of thinking, and consequent breathing, as +variable as the subject may suggest or demand. +For ordinary speech, while the rhythm is not of the +same order as that for poetry, a rhythmic order of +some kind must be, and always is, observed. That +the rhythm is not noticeable is due to the fact that, +while inspiration and expiration in prose writing +and ordinary conversation follow each other in +regular rotation, they are not always accompanied +by sound. Hence the rhythmic irregularities +of speech exist only in appearance and in the inartistic +manner in which speech is generally, and +prose writing often, produced. A person who +speaks and writes his language <em>well</em>, speaks and +writes it rhythmically, always. Good style is +synonymous with correct rhythmical expression,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +superinduced by correct breathing; rhythmic expression +depending entirely upon rhythmic impression, +and the latter upon rhythmic thought, +accompanied by rhythmic breathing.</p> + +<p>To write well (that is, a good style), to speak well +(as an orator, actor, or elocutionist), to sing well, it +is, above all things, necessary that the performer's +mind should be in a state of conformity with the +situation which is to be described. His flow of +thought, and consequent breathing and mode of +expression, will then correspond with the scope, +drift, and circumstance underlying his performance. +Unless this is the case, the latter will be unsatisfactory, +unimpressive, unsympathetic. To prove that +for a satisfactory performance this <em>must</em> be the case, +it will but be necessary to call attention to the fact +that under various emotions our mode of breathing +undergoes great changes—as under fear, hate, +jealousy, indignation, excitement, love, enthusiasm, +benevolence, languor, apathy, etc. Our breathing +under these different circumstances will, the +same as the manner of our expression, undergo +various stages of change as to time and measure, as +well as to rhythm, emphasis and intonation.</p> + +<p>The character and rapidity of the flow of our +blood is of the same order as our manner of breathing. +It is, in fact, as I expect to prove later on, +not only of the same order, but of the same origin +and regulated by the same causes. The flow of the +blood is not merely of a material order, but of a +spiritual one as well. While it is acted upon by the +mind it reacts upon the mind.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<p>The thought must be measured and restricted as +to time, so as to enable it to make the proper impression +and produce a corresponding expression +<em>before</em> another thought comes along crowding in +upon the preceding one and in so doing <em>blurring</em> +the impression made by the latter before it had +been given the time to be expressed. If the necessary +time is not granted for an impression to be +made and for the expression thereof to obliterate +the same, the premature flow of another thought, +coming on top of the first, will make a new impression +over the previous one, causing confusion and +making a clear expression a matter of impossibility. +Unless our professor, while standing in front of his +blackboard demonstrating before his class, has a +sponge in his hand, and before again writing in the +same place wipes out that which he had written +before, the new writing will not be of such a nature +that it can be understood. The slate endures; but +the thought and the writing are always new. Yet, +when such writing is of an <em>impressive</em> nature, it is like +that of a palimpsest; though apparently obliterated, +its lines remain, and their meaning can be recalled +to memory as often as the occasion may demand it.</p> + +<p>The "muddle" of which I have spoken is oftentimes +so great that no sound of any kind can ensue, +the rhythmic flow of sound-producing streams having +been disturbed and prevented from assuming +the necessary shape for their formation into proper +sound-waves by this hasty mode of thinking. The +consequence is a hiatus in the natural flow of speech, +which prevents the thought from materializing in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +the shape of the word intended to be spoken. This +hiatus the victim of such precipitate mode of thinking +generally attempts to bridge over by spasmodic +efforts, which but serve to aggravate the situation, +increasing, as they do, the disorder in the sound-producing +lines.</p> + +<p>Stuttering being caused by a disorder in these +lines, the remedy is to again restore them to order. +The disorder having been caused by a too hasty +mode of thinking, superinduced, as a rule, by a desire +<em>not</em> to stutter, or a <em>fear</em> of stuttering, the remedy +lies in allaying this fear. The fear of stuttering, or +the anxiety not to stutter, which obtains while the +speaker is producing thought, <em>itself being thought</em>, +and coming on top of the thought intended to be +uttered, brings about, or at least aggravates, the +very difficulty he was trying to overcome. Mere +thought may wander off and again return to its +theme, unrestrained, and without causing disturbance; +but thought which is to be <em>vocally</em> uttered +must strictly adhere to its subject. There is no impression +to be made by the former which must +remain until it is released by vocal sound; impression +and expression being almost simultaneous. In +place of making a spasmodic effort, therefore, the +stutterer should endeavor to be calm, and to then +calmly <em>think</em> the word or sentence over again which +has become a stumbling-block in his way. After +doing so, he will have no trouble uttering it.</p> + +<p>The fact that stutterers experience no difficulty in +singing is a proof of the correctness of these assertions. +While singing, the performer's streams of life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +and organs of speech are all <em>tuned</em> to one harmonious +measure. His frame of mind being securely in accord +with his theme, his thought, devoid of fear, +flows evenly along with his song. There is no occasion +for haste or trepidation in this instance,—there +cannot be, haste being the opposite to and the +enemy of harmony, the latter meaning a continuous +return of the same measure and the same mode of +breathing, the former irregularity and disorder in +the mode of breathing.</p> + +<p>Besides, song, belonging to the pharynx, is spiritual; +it is of our inner nature, and therefore restful +and continuous. While speech, which belongs to the +oral cavity, is material; it is of our outer nature, +and therefore subject to every impression, influence, +and consequent change. Elocution, declamation, +or recitation, on the other hand, partake of both +our inner and our outer nature. They belong in +part to the pharynx and in part to the oral cavity.</p> + +<p>Experiments may be made by means of making +these respective parts rigid which will establish the +correctness of these assertions.</p> + +<p>These experiments can also be made by the application +of mechanical pressure. When pressing +your hand or fingers against your throat you will be +unable to speak, though it will not prevent you +from singing. By pressing them against the back +of your neck you will be unable to sing, though +you may speak. By pressing them against either +side of your neck you will be unable to recite, +though you may both speak and sing. The slightest +pressure, even, will produce these results. Let<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +me remark, however, that unless the <em>thought</em> of the +performance accompanies it, a mere mechanical pressure +will not suffice.</p> + +<p>That <em>thought</em>, improperly exercised, is the cause of +stuttering or stammering, obtains from the fact, +that the utterance of the singer, elocutionist or +actor, being a matter of memory, and not of original +thought, is <em>not</em> subject to these troubles; though +the utterance of the same persons while speaking, +and in so doing, <em>thinking</em>, may be subject thereto.</p> + +<p>Not appreciating its significance, I used to laugh +with everybody else at the anecdote of a stuttering +boy in an apothecary shop, who had been sent down +after some article in the cellar. Returning, pale, +trembling, and <em>stammering</em>, his master cried out, +"Sing, sing!" whereupon he delivered himself +thus:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Der spiritus im keller brennt,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Und alles steht in flammen."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">("The spirits, master, are aflame,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And all things are a-burning.")<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In a recent number of <cite>Cosmopolis</cite>, Prof. Max +Müller said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"Charles Kingsley was a great martyr to stammering, +and it was torture to him to keep conversation waiting +until he could put his thoughts into words. Singularly +enough, at church, Kingsley did not stammer at all in +reading or speaking; but on his way home from church +he would say to one with whom he was walking: 'Oh, +let me stammer now; you won't mind it!'"</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p>While his thoughts were concentrated on his subject, +which had probably been elaborated beforehand +and was expressed in rhythmic language, +besides being obliged to speak slowly and deliberately +so as to be heard and understood, he experienced +no difficulty. Still, he was under a restraint. +As soon as he was by himself again, he commenced +to think impulsively, as probably was his habit, and +gave vent to a torrent of thoughts, which overleaped +each other like waters rushing through a broken +dam.</p> + +<p>There are two main forms in which this trouble +manifests itself. The one is a surfeit, a crowding +together of sounds, all of which want to come to +the surface at one and the same time, like a crowd +of people during a panic trying to rush out through +the same door, thus causing a jam. This form, +creating a hiatus in vocal utterance, is generally +designated by the term "stammering." That +which is called "stuttering," on the other hand, +consisting, as it does, in a repetition of the same +sound, is due to the opposite cause. While the +former is due to too great an effort, this is due to a +paucity of effort. The sound-furnishing element is +not under control; it leaks out against the will, it +runs away with you. Hence a repetition of the +form once assumed, in consequence of a lack of +nerve force, of a rein to keep it in check, of a brake +preventing it from rushing down-hill with you; in +contradistinction to the act of stammering, in which +the brake had been too forcibly applied, the watch +wound up too firmly and beyond its requirements.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the case of stammering the impression has +been too quick in shaping itself into words; in the +other it has been too slow in so doing. In the +former case too many moulds have been formed for +proper impression; while in the latter the sound is +spoken before the mould has been properly and <em>completely</em> +formed; that part only which had been formed +being uttered and repeated. In the case of stammering +there is a surfeit of impression but a want of +sound; in that of stuttering there is a want of impression +but a surfeit of sound. A stammerer is +one who takes in too much, a stutterer one who +takes in too little, air for his hasty way of thinking.</p> + +<p>When this trouble happens with one and the +same person—as it sometimes does—it first assumes +one shape and then the other; it turns a complete +somersault in so doing. The balance, the equilibrium, +the point of gravitation, previously overleaped +on one side, is again overleaped, and the +person lands on its extreme other side. While a +stammerer he had too much ballast on board, now +he has too little.</p> + +<p>A stammerer can return to the point of gravitation +by throwing some of his surplus ballast overboard. +<em>His tongue being tied to his lower jaw, in which +position he is constantly taking in more air than he +needs, he must raise it in order to let the surplus out +from beneath the same.</em></p> + +<p>A stutterer, whose tongue is running away with +him, owing to an insufficiency of ballast, must take +in enough (inspire sufficiently) to bring him back to +his point of gravitation. <em>His tongue is in a loose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +state of elevation, in which position the air is constantly +streaming out (expiring) from beneath the +same.</em> He must <em>lower</em> it to have <em>his</em> balance restored, +as in so doing the air will stream in over +and above the tongue until the equilibrium has been +restored. In other words, the person who is thus +agitated must calm himself, he must relax from an +overstrain in either one direction or the other. The +diaphragm, holding the balance of power, will be +found to be in as uncontrollable a condition as the +tongue, <em>with which it always acts in unison</em>. In restoring +the tongue to a normal condition we restore +the diaphragm to a normal condition.</p> + +<p>The institutions for the cure of stuttering, stammering, +and intermediate stages of the same trouble, +attempt to bring about a state of restoration of the +disturbed balance by means arrived at through +experience. The real cause being unknown, the +remedies must necessarily be restricted. If persons +thus afflicted will take their own cases in hand and +treat them in conformity with the precepts here laid +down, the chances are in favor of their being cured +where no other remedy had been of any avail.</p> + +<p>As the preceding remarks have been made from +the point of view of an English-speaking person, the +standpoint of a German being diametrically opposite, +the same must all be reversed to fit the case of +a German, in so far as locality is concerned. <em>For +stammering, the tongue of a German is closely wedged +in, in the direction of the roof of the mouth; for stuttering, +it is loosely pointing downward.</em> This is owing +to the fact that a German inspires from under and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +beneath, and expires from over and above, his +tongue; just the reverse of the manner in which +this is done by an English-speaking person.</p> + +<p>In order to efficiently cure the trouble of stuttering, +it is necessary that the act of breathing and +sound-production should be closely studied with +every separate nationality, as these processes differ +with all nationalities; this difference being very pronounced +as between Germans and Anglo-Saxons. +For an American to go to Germany, therefore, to +be cured of this trouble, is as false a step as for a +German to go to the United States or England for +this purpose.</p> + +<p>While I have in the preceding endeavored to give +an account of the general causes which result in +stuttering, I have not touched upon such special +causes as are directly connected with the character +and origin of vocal sounds; the explanation of +which must be postponed to a future period.</p> + + +<h3>THE CATHODE OF A VOCAL SOUND</h3> + +<p>By an accident, in some respects not unlike the +one which drew Roentgen's attention to the light +by whose aid we have learned to look into and +through opaque bodies, I (myself an accident, an +appearance on and soon to be a disappearance from +the illuminated surface of the earth) have discovered +eternal laws, by whose aid we shall be able to comprehend +much of what has heretofore been as a +closed book to us, regarding our physical and psychical +nature and the exercise of our faculties and +functions.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p>During my endeavors to overcome the difficulties +which my German tongue offered to the perfect +pronunciation of the English "r" sound, and during +an almost frantic effort on one occasion at so doing, +I was amazed by the fact that while one "r" came +to the surface from over and above the tongue, +another made its appearance from under and beneath +the same. The latter was the "r" of the +voice of the œsophagus. Of all this, however, I +have spoken at length in my previous publication.</p> + +<p>Though it occurred to me at once like a flash that +this was a revelation of the greatest importance, its +real significance was only made clear to me in the +course of time. No matter how I view it, as time +progresses it assumes greater and greater proportions. +There is no event in the history of man +which appears to me to be of greater significance. +Through this "accident" I was induced to look +closer and closer into my inner nature, where, to +my amazement, I found that a world, apparently +silent and mysterious, and supposed to be unapproachable, +was the abode of numberless physical +and psychical phenomena, clearly defined and +definable.</p> + +<p>The "r" which came to the surface from beneath +my tongue by way of the œsophagus was the cathode, +the negative end of this sound. The <em>product</em> +of its combination with the <em>simple</em> "r" (which came +to the surface from over and above the tongue by +way of the trachea) I had hitherto produced when +attempting to speak English, was the <em>vocal</em> "r" +sound of the English language; the "r" I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +hitherto produced having been the anode—the positive +and first part of this sound only. As Roentgen's +cathodic light has illuminated the physical +body, so have cathodic sounds illumined for me +the spiritual body of my mundane existence. I am +endeavoring to show my fellowmen this "new light," +whose lustre, also invisible on ordinary occasions, +when once seen is so great that it will never again +fade from the memory of the beholder. As time +progresses, it will continue to penetrate ever more +deeply into regions hitherto considered to be impervious +to any kind of light; regions whose phenomena +have been called supernatural, or, at least, +beyond the sphere of the knowledge of man. All +other anodes or cathodes of which we have obtained +any knowledge belong to physical phenomena only. +The cathode I have discovered belongs to our +spiritual life, being a part of a living vocal sound.</p> + +<p>Think of it! To be able to divide the essence of +life and to obtain two <em>living</em> parts, each endowed +with a life of its own! This is a nearer approach to +the knowledge of life than any ever attained before. +A <em>vocal</em> sound is an entity. From entities we cannot +learn anything. They are phenomena complete +in themselves. Regarding their innermost nature, +they have always been to us as a closed book. They +offer us no vantage-ground; no opening, no breach, +through which we can enter into the mysterious +process of their existence. No matter whether such +life or existence be that of the minutest parasite of +a minute vegetable growth, that growth itself, or +the giant of the forest; whether it be that of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +microbe or the microbe of a microbe; whether it be +the essence of a thought, a sigh, a tear, a look, a +vocal sound, or of a human being—their innermost +natures are all alike mysterious to us. I have +succeeded in analyzing a vocal sound, and this apparently +simple proceeding has opened up to me +endless vistas in endless directions. I have reduced +this entity into its natural elements, and have again +put these together. After resolving it into two lives +I have again formed it into one. I can bring about +this analysis as well as this synthesis at will at any +time.</p> + +<p>All know what is meant by vocal sounds, yet few, +I repeat, know what are simple sounds, though constantly +used by everybody while whispering or uttering +exclamations, while surprised, alarmed, frightened, +etc. My accomplishment, therefore, is but +the <em>recognition</em> of the nature of a thing constantly +before us and brought to our consciousness through +our ear.</p> + +<p>Simple sounds are the anodes, the beginnings of +sounds. There is no life in them, no rhythm, no +melody, no light, no grace, no beauty. These are +imparted to them by the fusion of the cathode element +of vocal sounds with this, the anode; the +spiritual with the material. The anode is formed +first. It is the passive element, the female, the +patient, the waiting, which must have been before +the male, the impatient, the aggressive. The thing +to be fructified must have been before that which +fructifies.</p> + +<p>The anode is quiescent until the cathode comes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +along, joins it, and infuses life into it. The creation +of a vocal sound is an act of generation. The +cathode, after overwhelming the anode, penetrates +it and diffuses itself throughout it, and thus forms +a union whose result is the production of a vocal +sound. Similar unions between anodes and cathodes +are formed a myriad-fold every moment during +time's progress, and result in the creation of an +electric spark, or a succession of sparks, called an +electric light, or any other light or fire, or of a +thought, or of the embryo to a new life of any and +every description, etc.; while a discord, a stutter, +a <em>smouldering</em> fire, the sight of a thing too dimly +seen to be recognized, a cut or broken limb, a +suspense, a disappointment, a <em>suppressed</em> action or +passion, etc., are anodes not joined by their cathodes. +By the juncture of a cathode with an anode +we exercise our faculties, we become conscious of a +sight, a sound, an odor, a taste, etc.; the anode +being vested in the thing to be seen, heard, smelled, +or tasted,—the cathode in ourselves.</p> + +<p><em>While the anode of a vocal sound may be uttered +audibly, the cathode, by itself, cannot be uttered—the +spiritual cannot be materialized except in conjunction +with the material.</em> The anode, the physical, is inert +until the cathode, the spiritual, has formed a juncture +with it, has been alloyed with it. Every phenomenon +of which we become conscious is the result +of a process of this nature. The more perfect the +union, the more perfect the outcome or result, the +phenomenon.</p> + +<p>In our ordinary speech this alloy, this union, is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +of a mutable and evanescent, in oratory and song +it is of a more continuous and lasting, nature. +With persons speaking a foreign tongue, and with +the deaf, it is superficial, imperfect; in many cases, +in fact, we hear only anodes, no union having been +effected. The amalgamation, the alloy of the finer +with the coarser, the higher with the lower, the +spiritual with the material, is not at all or but imperfectly +performed; the coarser element prevails +and makes its presence felt in every utterance. The +more perfect the union between anodes and cathodes +in vocal utterance, the higher will be the performance, +the more perfect the speech, the more beautiful +the song, the more stirring, the more soulful; the +nearer they come to our hearts.</p> + +<p>How do I know all this? I will tell you: By +watching the <em>beginning</em> of a vocal sound; the performance +actually going on within us, while such sound +is first being created. This performance is of an inverse +order as between German and English, in so +far as the anode for German vocal sounds is located +to the right, the cathode to the left. The cathode +approaches the anode from left to right; while in +the creation of an English vocal sound the anode is +to the left, the cathode to the right, and the latter +approaches the former from right to left. The location +where the union <em>appears</em> to take place is in the +chest, near the heart; for German sounds, to the +right thereof, for English to the left. As a matter +of fact, however, it is in the heart itself.</p> + +<p>What does the motion in which anode and cathode +approach each other—which is not direct as it at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +first appears to the observer, but vastly circuitous—signify?</p> + +<p>The circulation through the vascular system of the +elements (of the æther) creating vocal sounds, or the +<em>circulation of vocal sounds</em>. The proofs that this important +fact actually obtains will be furnished very +positively and very circumstantially at a later date +in connection with that part of these expositions +which treats on vocal sounds.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 457px;"> +<img src="images/fig119-300dpi.jpg" width="457" height="220" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig120-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="167" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>OUR MOTHER TONGUE</h2> + + +<p>Nature will have its right always. What is +this right in regard to vocal utterance? It is +the manner in which we breathe. When we violate +nature's right in our mode of breathing for vocal +expression, our penalty is that such expression will +not be what it is intended to be, what it should be; +the idiomatic expression of every language being the +outcome of a special mode of breathing for the same.</p> + +<p><em>All</em> my observations in the first instance owe their +origin to the fact that I was breathing in a manner +directly opposite to the one in which it was necessary +for me to breathe to correctly produce the idiomatic +expression of the English language. It was not until +after this fact had become clear to my mind that I +began to extract from my organs of speech those +sounds which appear so abnormally different and +"strange" to the ear of the bewildered foreigner, +who finds himself completely at a loss how to produce +them. The better he becomes acquainted with +the language, the more thoroughly he becomes convinced +of the fact that his mode of speaking English +is different from that of the native-born. Nor will +a German <em>ever</em> succeed in speaking English as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +should be spoken until he succeeds in <em>reversing</em> his +mode of breathing. He must go straight to the +antipodes in sound production; he must stand on +his head, so to say, instead of on his feet. I shall +fully explain what this means later on.</p> + +<p>I venture to make the assertion that no other +person besides myself has ever learned to pronounce +a foreign language <em>idiomatically correct</em>, as I have, +by means of applying to his mode of speaking rules +based on actual knowledge or scientific principles. +In this manner I have succeeded in learning to speak +English with less of the tinge of a foreign accent +adhering to my speech than usually is the case +with foreigners who have commenced to speak it +as late in life as I did. I do not say this vauntingly, +for I do not consider this accomplishment in itself +as of a very high order; but I say it to vindicate my +claim that I have discovered the principles on which +the production of language is based, and offer my +personal pronunciation of the English language to +which these principles have been applied as a proof +that I have done so. I am still learning, however, +for it takes time and practice and a great deal of +patience to dislodge the old habit from its wonted +haunts and to assign its quarters to a foreign guest. +My old familiar dwelling has thus become a lodging +for the English language, though I can return to it +at will with my old and dearly beloved mother +tongue and be comfortable therein.</p> + +<p>The foreign guest, however, who came to dwell +therein, does not use my native home, in his mode +of entering it or going forth from it, in the old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +familiar way, nor does he use the same apartments +for the same purposes. He enters at the back gate +while I used to enter at the front; he leaves it at +the front gate while I left at the back. He opens +his shutters to the east, while I used to look out +from the west, etc. Such differences as these in +our mode of breathing exist throughout the entire +length and breadth of both languages. The sounds +we have imbibed in our early youth, however, will +always be more familiar and nearer to us and dearer +than those of any other language, no matter how +closely the latter may enter into our lives and our +being at a later period.</p> + + +<h3>NATIONAL TRAITS OF CHARACTER</h3> + +<p>What constitutes a given number of people a +nation, besides their history, their political organization, +and the geographical position of their territory? +What makes every member belonging to a nation, +whether he lives within its territory or has emigrated +therefrom, a different being from every member of +any other nation? What makes each member of a +nation resemble every other member thereof, not +only in regard to vocal expression but also in regard +to general cast of features, build of body, movements, +gesticulations, etc., and in what may be +summed up as national traits of character?</p> + +<p>No one will deny the fact that such differences +exist, as between Germans, Frenchmen, and Englishmen, +for instance. This difference is not racial, +as they all belong to the Caucasian race. It can +scarcely be climatic with nations whose territory is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +adjacent to each other; nor is it likely to be religious, +historical, or political. There is nothing +very decidedly different in the situation and composition +of these various nations and the individuals +of which they are composed, except their <em>language</em>.</p> + +<p>I maintain that language is not only the main +point of difference, but that it is the cause and +origin of all other main points of difference. As +language is the main gift which distinguishes men +from animals, so it is also the principal distinguishing +mark as between one nation and another. I +maintain, and expect to prove, that the language—that +is, any specific language—acquired in childhood +becomes an integral part of a person's organization, +as positively so as any of his other natural faculties; +and that he cannot change it, that is, <em>in an idiomatically +correct manner</em>, without changing, to some +extent, the drift of his entire organism. As soon +as I began to succeed in speaking the English +language as it is spoken in this country, idiomatically +correct, I changed my nature, to some extent, +from that of a German to that of an American; nor +is it possible to learn to speak any language idiomatically +correct without undergoing a similar +change. Not alone my mode of vocal expression, +but my motions, my habits, nay, my very <em>features</em>, +yes, even my way of <em>thinking</em>, in some respects, have +been subjected to such a change; modified, of course, +by heredity, previous habits, and the constant reversion +of all this by the frequent recurrence to my +native tongue. In using the term "idiomatically +correct" I mean of course that mode of expression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +which is peculiar to a language, its general cast, and +which is representative of its genius and spirit.</p> + +<p>To what do I attribute so powerful an influence?</p> + +<p>It is not easy to say this comprehensively in a +few words. I will say this much, however: That, +language being the outcome of streams of the vital +fluid passing into and out of our composition in a +systematic manner, each system varying with every +other system, our vital organs are differently affected, +in conformity with the manner and the rotation in +which these streams reach these different organs; +in other words, in conformity with the manner in +which we breathe for our language. This influence +is not confined to the vocal expression of a <em>nation</em>. It +is influential with and extends to the special mode +of vocal expression in separate districts, provinces, +localities, and cities; nay, it extends to families and +single members belonging to such families, each +separate member's expression being the product of +his special mode of breathing, and differing in some +respects from that of every other member of the +same family; <em>such difference in the mode of breathing +being the reflection of every individual soul</em>.</p> + +<p>The bent of the soul in <em>individual</em> cases determines +the flow of these streams, the same as the +bent of the <em>national</em> soul determines the same for +the entire nation. Or, which perhaps would be +more correct, the flow of these streams determines +the bent of the individual as well as national soul. +The influence being reciprocal, it would be difficult +to state, as it is with all matters of this kind, <em>which</em> +preponderates, <em>which</em> gives the first impulse. It is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +of the same order as the old question (never to +be solved) aptly expressed in the homely query, +"Which was created first, the hen or the egg?"</p> + +<p>It is interesting to note the manner in which the +vital streams affecting the character of the two peoples +in regard to whom I have had the opportunity +for many years of making my observations, the +Anglo-Saxon and the German, take their course. +With the former the point of gravitation is located +in the abdomen; with the latter in the thorax.</p> + +<p>This gives the Anglo-Saxon a circuitous route for +his expression in coming to the surface; his mode +of respiration being the following:</p> + +<p>He inspires into the thorax posteriorly, next into +the abdomen anteriorly. He then expires from the +abdomen posteriorly, and from the thorax anteriorly; +vocal expression accompanying the last movement.</p> + +<p>A German's mode of respiration is as follows: He +inspires into the abdomen posteriorly, expiring from +the abdomen anteriorly; he then inspires into the +thorax anteriorly and expires from the same posteriorly, +the latter movement only being accompanied +by sound. You will notice that in the +former case the breath to be expired and to be accompanied +by sound has been held in the thorax +until the abdomen has gone through an inspiration +and an expiration; while with Germans, inspiration +into the abdomen as well as into the thorax are succeeded +by expiration from the same, a direct proceeding +as against the indirect of the Anglo-Saxon. +Thus the former secures a force reserved and held<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +and to be drawn upon as it is needed, while the +latter pours forth his vital force in a continuous +stream as soon as it is engendered.</p> + +<p>The point of gravitation determines the mode of +breathing and the production of vocal utterance. +With Anglo-Saxons, the point of gravitation being +located in the abdomen, their speech tends from +below, upward; with Germans, the point of gravitation +being located in the thorax, their speech tends +from above, downward. The direction of Anglo-Saxon +expression is from the abdomen, where it has +its root, to the thorax; that of the German is from +the thorax, where it has its root, to the abdomen. +It will scarcely be necessary for me to say to the +reader, over and over again, "Try this," "Try +that"; I wish it to be understood, once for all, +that this recommendation is to be tacitly implied as +accompanying every statement, every proposition, +every assertion I make. Personally I can go through +any one and all of the performances at any time and +at a moment's notice. In making these experiments, +speak or sing <em>after</em> breathing in the prescribed manner. +The prescribed manner being the one in which +the <em>impression</em> is made and from which the <em>expression</em> +is produced as a matter of course and of necessity. +An Anglo-Saxon will not be able to utter a +word spoken or sung in <em>his</em> language after breathing +in the <em>German</em> fashion, nor will a German be able to +do so in <em>his</em> language after breathing in the <em>Anglo-Saxon</em> +manner. Change either manner of breathing +but in the least, and you will not be able to express +yourself in either German or English; but you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +may thus be able to express yourself in some other +language. It is, of course, understood that we +breathe into the abdomen through the œsophagus, +into the thorax through the trachea.</p> + +<p>In trying propositions like the one now under +consideration, it may not be easy for persons who +have not previously given any thought to matters +of this kind to successfully try them. You +must give yourself up to these things, must be <em>at +home</em> for them only, for a period at least, until you +have become thoroughly engrossed with them. It +is not a study to be superficially attained. You +must enter into it with your whole soul, your entire +being. If you do, you will eventually become as +familiar with the principles underlying these matters +as you are with the letters of the alphabet, or the +figures representing the numerals, and be able to +apply the same in as easy a manner and for as +various purposes as you do these.</p> + +<p>Their <em>indirect</em> mode of breathing of Anglo-Saxons +produces a deliberate mode of speech; while +German breathing, being <em>direct</em>, produces a speech +as rapid in its formation as in its utterance. <em>Action +being the counterpoise of speech, is of the inverse order +of the latter. English speech being slow and deliberate, +English action is rapid and direct; German speech being +rapid and direct, German action is slow and deliberate.</em> +English character, the same as English speech, +is distinguished by patience and forbearance; these, +when finally exhausted, are succeeded by sudden +and violent outbreaks. German character, the same +as German speech, is alternately exuberant and de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>pressed; +contented, but also of a disposition to find +fault whenever the occasion may arise.</p> + +<p>Anglo-Saxons, in consequence of their <em>indirect</em> +mode of expression, are in possession of a reserve +force always at their command, but only called upon +on special occasions; hence long-continued forbearance, +and then—a blow for liberty. With Germans, +in consequence of their <em>direct</em> mode of expression, +their vital force is continuously being engendered, +and as continuously being exhausted. Hence, they +are in the habit of constantly protesting, and as +constantly submitting to the <em>status quo</em>.</p> + +<p>The character of Anglo-Saxons, in viewing things +from a practical standpoint, is as far removed from +the ideal as it is from the pessimistic. It is neither +exuberant, overstrained, exalted, nor despondent; +but cool, well balanced, and matter-of-fact. It is +not like the German:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Himmelhoch jauchzen, zu Tode betruebt."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">("Raised to the sky with delight;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Depressed to the ground with despair.")<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A German is influenced according to whether he can +or cannot, while losing sight of the real, satisfy his +craving for the ideal, for which, in his direct and impulsive +nature, he is constantly yearning; which the +Anglo-Saxon, seeing it is beyond his reach, abandons +as impracticable.</p> + +<p>To comprehend the ideal of whatsoever nature, +the German, with endless patience, tries to solve the +most complicated problems; after solving them he +is often satisfied with the result in the abstract; while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +the practical Anglo-Saxon uses this result for his +utilitarian purposes. The philosophical German +patiently unravels a Gordian knot; the practical +Anglo-Saxon, "Alexander-like, cuts it in two with +his sword" ("Wie Alexander haut ihn auseinander"). +Germans love education for its own sake; +it makes of them superior beings, giving them treasures +more highly prized than any others, and far +more lasting. Anglo-Saxons, on the other hand, +get their education for a purpose, and with a view +to their worldly advancement. While with Germans +education is "Selbstzweck" (its reward consisting +in its possession), with Anglo-Saxons its +reward consists in its application. The question so +often agitated in this country, whether a university +education may or may not be of benefit (that is, in +furthering his worldly advancement) to any one not +intending to embrace one of the learned professions, +would never arise in Germany; practical value and +education being things apart, the latter taking first +rank always and never being subordinated to the +former.</p> + +<p>Schiller says:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"[Der Edle] <em>legt</em> das Hohe in das Leben,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Doch er sucht es nicht darin."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">("[Our aim should be] the noble to inculcate into life,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And not to search for it therein.")<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I am inclined to think that the opposite of this is +the usual tendency with Anglo-Saxons.</p> + +<p>Many other causes might be cited, many other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +results. These, however, must answer the present +purpose, which is, to show that the course taken by +the vital streams in breathing, besides affecting their +speech, affects the <em>character</em> of nations.</p> + +<p>All this might be summed up in saying: The +point of gravitation with Anglo-Saxons being located +in the abdomen, which represents the material side +of life, their being is primarily rooted in the material, +and reaches the ideal by way of the material. The +German, on the other hand, having his point of +gravitation in the thorax, which represents the +spiritual part of our existence, reaches the material +by way of the ideal, in which <em>his</em> being is primarily +rooted.</p> + +<p>I owe the reader an apology for anticipating in +using the terms "streams of life" and "the point of +gravitation." These are not words without a definite +meaning, however; on the contrary, they are of the +greatest significance and of a very definite meaning. +Still, I must tax his patience for a proper explanation +thereof till I shall be able to reach them in due +course of time. We cannot approach the steep crest +of a hill by a straight line of ascent, but must patiently +wind around and around its circumference to +be able to finally reach its summit.</p> + + +<h3>THE AMERICAN NATION</h3> + +<p>It will require but a single example, familiar to +all, to still more forcibly show that it is <em>language</em> +through whose agency national traits of character +and physical development are produced. How do +you suppose that the wonder has been wrought, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +is still daily being worked, of the great mass of +humanity reaching these shores from foreign lands +being merged into one homogeneous nation? The +remark is often made that "it is the climate." If +it were the climate, or other conditions specifically +belonging to this country, how is it that foreigners +coming here at maturity always remain foreigners, +while their offspring born and bred here become +Americans? Even children born elsewhere, but +coming here at an early age, soon become "Americanized," +while their parents remain foreigners +always. These children must have taken a potent +draught, not partaken of by their parents, to not +only change their mode of vocal but also of physical +expression; nay, the vital expression of their +entire being. That draught is the English language. +Most foreigners respectively married to an +American wife or husband, and rearing a family of +American children, remain foreigners to the end of +their lives.</p> + +<p>It often happens that parents of foreign birth +cannot comprehend the character and actions of +their own children, who are <em>so</em> different, being superficial +and frivolous, where they are deep and sound; +cool and calculating where they are fire and flame. +Yet these children possess sterling qualities of +another kind which their parents do not possess.</p> + +<p>I call to mind two brothers, sons of German +parents, born in this country. With the eldest-born +the German influence was potent. He was +made to speak German at home and at school, and +is to-day, though married to an American, more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +German in his manner and appearance than American, +while his mode of speaking the English language +also has something "German" in it. His +brother, on the other hand, more particularly reared +under native influences, is a thorough American. +There was nothing in this case but the influence of +language which could have caused this difference. +Similar examples might be cited endlessly.</p> + +<p>If language is capable of exercising so powerful an +influence it must be more than a superficial acquirement. +It must be woven into and interwoven with +our innermost nature. What is there in the English +language to make a German's broad and massive +forehead, high cheek-bones, full lips, short chin, and +round face, in his offspring sink into narrow forms +and long, oval lines? What makes the lower jaw, +which in him was short and round, in these children +sink down and extend outward, while the upper jaw +recedes back? What is it that makes the jovial and +happy expression of the German in his children +change into features of an impassive nature, from +which they are only roused when in action?—features +of which it has been said that it is sometimes difficult +to know whether they, sphinx-like, cover a happy +or unhappy disposition; a disposition sometimes so +self-possessed and reserved that its owner might +almost reply as Alva did, when asked why he never +smiled: "I would not so demean myself before myself +as to smile." Yet when such a face (especially +when it is a girl's) <em>does</em> smile, its passive features +are lighted up in a manner so enchanting that its +beauty amply compensates for its previous apathy.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<p>I do not wish to say, however, that Anglo-Saxons +do not <em>feel</em> either joy or sorrow as keenly as Germans +do (though I have my doubts even on this +score); but they do not carry their feelings with +them on the surface. They sink them into that +reserve, at once proud and self-possessed, which does +not wish others to take cognizance of their private +affairs. The nature of the Anglo-Saxon is one +of <em>reserve</em>, that of the German one of <em>abandon</em> and +<em>laisser-aller</em>. This is not due to heredity in the first +instance, but to the influence of language, by which +character and habits are formed.</p> + +<p>Dr. Holmes relates that, after a protracted search +for his son, who had been wounded in the battle of +Gettysburg, when at last finding the "Captain" +in a transport train, he went up to him, simply saying, +"How are you, Bob?" and he replying, "How +are you, Dad?"—stating at the same time, "Such +is the force of our national habit that, especially +in the presence of strangers, we suppress the impulse +of our most ardent feelings," or words to that +effect. A similar proceeding under such circumstances +would be considered "unnatural" among +Germans.</p> + +<p>Regarding the change of features, as between +foreign-born (German) parents and their English-speaking +offspring, by which the latter's assume a +shape which makes the œsophagus predominate +over the trachea, it will be as impossible for these +children to speak <em>idiomatically correct</em> German as it +is for their parents, with whom the trachea predominates +over the œsophagus, to speak idiomatically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +correct English. When my features assume the +proper shape for English speech, I cannot produce +a single correct German sound, and when they assume +the proper shape for German speech, it is as impossible +for me to produce a correct English sound.</p> + +<p>I expect that this statement will be hotly disputed. +The measure of our ordinary mode of listening, +however, must not be applied to these +matters. In some rare instances the difference is +so slight that it takes a very acute ear to notice it.</p> + + +<h3>CENTRIPETAL AND CENTRIFUGAL</h3> + +<p>While speaking our native tongue our muscles +move, our sinews tend, our vessels lean, <em>our</em> blood +throbs, and our nerves tingle with the essence of our +language in <em>its</em> direction, and not in the direction +of any other language. We not only speak and +sing our language, but we gesticulate it, we walk it, +dance it, write it, think it, smile it, and sorrow in +it. Everything we do is done differently from the +same thing done by a person speaking another language. +The movements of the muscles of a German +are centripetal, while those of an Anglo-Saxon are +centrifugal. With a German they close in around +the mouth; with an Anglo-Saxon they depart from +the mouth upward and downward. Hence the +broad features of the German <em>versus</em> the elongated +ones of the Anglo-Saxon. Look at the old people. +The centrifugal action with an Anglo-Saxon even in +old age still leaves his form erect, his face serene, +scarcely showing a wrinkle, either on his forehead, +his cheeks, or around the eyes and mouth. Apart<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +from his bleached hair, he frequently retains a quite +youthful appearance. The centripetal action with +a German in old age, on the other hand, has a tendency +to bend his form and draw it together, and to +shrivel up his skin into innumerable wrinkles, so that +his mouth often resembles the mouth of a purse +drawn close together. This youthful appearance +with aged English-speaking people reflects on their +customs and their costume, which latter retains +much of the tidiness of their younger days. Germans, +on the other hand, age soon. This fact is so +apparent that they conform their habits and general +appearance to their age. They feel old, and unhesitatingly +submit to their aged condition. They +often appear old when still comparatively young. +English-speaking old people, on the other hand, are +never too old not to wish to appear young. For +the terms "Greis" and "Greisin," which imply a +weakened and somewhat helpless condition, there is +no corresponding expression in the English language.</p> + +<p>Observe a gang of laborers carrying a heavy log. +If there are Germans among them, their heads and +shoulders will be bent, as well as their knees, resembling +caryatides in Gothic churches. <em>They carry +from below, upward.</em> Those who speak English, on +the other hand, will walk with heads erect, straight +shoulders, and stiff knees, resembling the caryatides +of the Greek temples. <em>They carry from above, +downward.</em></p> + +<p>The German mode of expression is produced by +contraction, expansion, contraction; the English<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +by expansion, contraction, expansion. For the +former, contraction takes place <em>towards</em> the diaphragm, +first upward and then downward; that is, +from the feet upward, and then from the head +downward. For the latter, expansion takes place +<em>from</em> the diaphragm, first upward and then downward; +that is, from the diaphragm towards the head, +and then from the diaphragm towards the feet.</p> + +<p>Artists must study these things if they want to +get a proper insight into life, and the action of +life, characteristic of different nations. The simple +study of anatomy gives them no clue to these +matters. Everything we do is done differently +from the same thing being done by a person speaking +another language. The books on physiology +do not make mention of these matters. They +treat all nations alike. They tell an Englishman +that in closing his mouth the muscles of the upper +lip by a direct action are first raised and then +lowered, while those of the lower are first lowered +and then raised. As a matter of fact, the natural +tendency with English-speaking people is towards +having their mouths open. In closing the same the +lower lip is first raised, then lowered, the upper is +first lowered, then raised, and again lowered; whereupon +the lower lip is raised. This gives three +movements to each lip. The natural tendency with +Germans is towards keeping their mouths closed. +To <em>firmly</em> close the same they must raise the upper +lip, lower the lower, lower the upper, and then raise +the lower. This gives two movements to each lip. +These motions are <em>indirect</em> with Anglo-Saxons, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +Germans they are <em>direct</em>. With Anglo-Saxons the +lower jaw is the main instrument; with Germans it +is the upper. With Anglo-Saxons the lower moves +up to the upper; while with Germans the upper +closes down on the lower. That Anglo-Saxons +move their lower jaw up to the upper, to them will +appear as a matter of course; yet Germans do not do +this; with them the lower jaw is first raised to be in +position to be met by the upper, the latter being +lowered from the atlas by motions made by the entire +upper part of the head.</p> + +<p>During speech the head of an Anglo-Saxon remains +impassive; there is no perceptible movement +except in connection with his lower jaw. Hence +his stolid immovability in contradistinction with the +mobility and vivacity of a German, whose entire +head, often accompanied by his entire body, appears +to take part in his speech. These motions, +though fundamental with these peoples, vary with +locality, individual character, temperament, etc. A +German if he keeps his cranium entirely still will +be unable to produce a sound; while an Anglo-Saxon +will be unable to produce a sound if he should +move it as Germans do. A German's power of +vocal utterance lies in the flexibility of his cranium; +an Anglo-Saxon's in that of his lower jaw.</p> + +<p>An Anglo-Saxon grinds the teeth of his lower +jaw, in anger or in passion, or while masticating +food, or under any other circumstances, against those +of his upper; a German grinds those of his upper +jaw against those of the lower.</p> + +<p>All motions in connection with vocal utterance on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +the part of an Anglo-Saxon are of a decidedly larger +compass than those of a German; the latter being +confined to the slight motions he is able to make +with his head, while the former frequently draws +down his lower jaw to a very great extent, far more +so than a German would be able to draw down his.</p> + +<p>The "life" with the German is in the upper, with +Anglo-Saxons it is in the lower jaw; the former +representing the thorax, the latter the abdomen. +While the thorax, as already mentioned, with Germans +is the predominating vehicle for every performance +of life, with Anglo-Saxons it is the abdomen.</p> + +<p>With Germans the lower jaw is the anvil, the +upper the hammer; with Anglo-Saxons the upper is +the anvil, the lower the hammer; the action, the +life, always being with the hammer.</p> + +<p>If you watch an American girl chewing taffy you +will find her lower jaw going way down, then out, +and up again. This is characteristic of the manner +in which Anglo-Saxons breathe and speak. The +chewing process, owing to the adhesion of the taffy +to the teeth, together with the greater flexibility of +a girl's jaws, brings out these features more strikingly +than under ordinary circumstances. In chewing +taffy the lower jaw (the hammer) meets with +some difficulty in making its movements; it is +therefore lowered as much as possible, so as to be +able to more effectually close in with the upper (the +anvil). A German girl's movements under similar +conditions are restricted, being largely confined to +the upper jaw, which cannot be raised to any great +extent.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>An Anglo-Saxon speaker or singer makes movements +similar to such a chewer of taffy. He draws +his lower jaw down and out to make room in the +lower cavity of his mouth for the expression of his +main sounds. These are the product of the abdominal +cavity and find their way out through the +œsophagus from <em>beneath</em> the lower surface of the +tongue. Here they pass the replica and the frænum, +which impart to them their rhythmical expression. +Any one doubting the correctness of these +statements, by making the replica and the frænum, +or either of them, rigid, will not, if he is an Anglo-Saxon, +be able to produce a single sound; if he is a +German, he will still be able to utter his main sounds +coming to the surface through the trachea, over and +above his tongue. An Anglo-Saxon, on the other +hand, may still speak when he makes the vocal cords +of the larynx rigid; while a German in that case +will be unable to produce any sound whatsoever. +To these matters I have already called attention in +a previous publication, in connection with the man +who was deprived of his larynx by a surgical operation, +but not of his power of speech.</p> + +<p>A similar experiment may be made in regard to +breathing. By making the soft palate, representing +the thorax, rigid, you will not be able to inspire, +though you may expire. By making the bottom +of the mouth close to your teeth (<em>the soft palate of +the lower jaw</em>), representing the abdomen, rigid, you +will not be able to expire, though you may inspire. +With a German the precisely opposite facts prevail. +By making the soft palate rigid, he will stop expira<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>tion; +by making the bottom of the mouth close to +the teeth rigid, he will stop inspiration.</p> + +<p>During vocal utterance, with Germans every superior +muscle first moves downward, every inferior +upward; while with Anglo-Saxons every superior +muscle first moves upward, every inferior downward. +This is preparatory and previous to action. <em>During</em> +action the German opens his mouth, the Anglo-Saxon +closes his. Hence the Anglo-Saxon's half-open +mouth while in repose, and his almost stern +expression while in action, pleasurable action even, +which has provoked the witty saying that "Englishmen +take to their pleasures sadly."</p> + +<p>The abdomen being the centre of gravity for English +speech, and the lower jaw being in direct communication +with the same by way of the œsophagus, +by making the lower jaw rigid you stop the flow of +English sounds. The thorax, on the other hand, +being the centre of gravity for German speech, and +the upper jaw being in direct communication with +the same by way of the trachea, in making this jaw +rigid you stop the flow of German sounds.</p> + + +<h3>ROTATION OF CENTRIPETAL AND CENTRIFUGAL +ACTION</h3> + +<p>Speaking of centripetal and centrifugal motion as +separate actions, there must, of course, be a <em>rotation</em> +of these actions to produce a <em>complete</em> action of any +kind. We, however, speak of the one which <em>prevails</em> +over the other, as <em>the</em> action under consideration. +Thus when I say a German's mode of eating +is centripetal, I say so because the action of his jaws<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +being direct, it is first centrifugal, then centripetal, +then centrifugal, then again centripetal. When I +say an Anglo-Saxon's mode is centrifugal, I say so +because the action of his jaws being indirect, it is +first centripetal, then centrifugal, then centripetal, +then again centrifugal, and finally once more centripetal. +This, with a German, of course, means: +Open, close, open, close. With an Anglo-Saxon it +means: Close, open, close, open, close. This, however, +only gives the main features of an act of eating, +etc., as well as uttering sounds; any of these acts, +in reality, requiring <em>eight</em> movements to carry on +one <em>complete</em> act. When centrifugal prevails centripetal +follows, and when centripetal prevails centrifugal +follows. It stands to reason that an action +which is composed of open, close, open, close, or +close, open, close, open, close, cannot continue in +the same rotation indefinitely, but must be complemented +by a motion of the opposite nature; such +complementary action, however, always being executed +inwardly and not outwardly. While the +action of the jaws just now described precedes +mastication, the inner action complementary thereof +is accompanied by the act of swallowing.</p> + +<p>Thus with a German there are four movements +preceding mastication and four for swallowing; with +an Anglo-Saxon there are five movements for the +former and three for the latter; while the act of +mastication proper with both nations consists of +eight movements which are repeated as often as is +necessary for the act of swallowing.</p> + +<p>The respective manner in which knives and forks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +are handled in eating by Germans and Anglo-Saxons, +as well as the different manner in which they dance, +and the characters they use in writing, might be +cited as results of the different modes in which centripetal +and centrifugal actions prevail with them. +The characters Germans use in writing being centrifugal +in their nature and those Anglo-Saxons use +centripetal, this can only be accounted for by assuming +that the muscular action preparatory to the act +of writing in both instances is of the opposite nature.</p> + +<p>In consequence of the centrifugal movements of +their jaws and lips, the teeth, with English-speaking +persons, are always on exhibition; while the centripetal +movement prevailing with Germans conceals +them. The consequence is that English-speaking +people pay the utmost attention to the care and +perfection of their teeth, while Germans, in the +highest ranks even, frequently neglect them to an +almost shameful degree. The direct outcome of +this state of affairs is the great advancement which +the practice of dentistry has made in this country +and in England, while it is one to which, on the continent +of Europe, but comparatively little attention +is being paid.</p> + +<p>With English-speaking people, especially the +women, whose lips are more flexible than men's, +the teeth of the upper jaw are more frequently exposed +than those of the lower, for this reason: The +œsophagus being the main instrument for English +speech, its sounds, in coming to the surface from +beneath the tongue, require the latter to remain in +a semi-raised position most of the time; the upper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +lip, being in the way of these sounds coming to the +surface, must be raised for the same reason; in so +doing it exposes the upper row of teeth. The lower +lip is lowered for the sounds of the trachea for the +same reason that the upper is raised for those of the +œsophagus. Whenever the upper lip is raised +the lower must be immediately lowered, and vice +versa. With Anglo-Saxons the main movement is +with the upper, with Germans it is with the lower +lip. Owing to the centripetal action with Germans, +these movements are less pronounced than they are +with English-speaking people.</p> + +<p>The act of smiling being produced in the same +order as that of speaking, the same conditions prevail +in relation to the same.</p> + +<p>In speaking English you can "feel" that the +upper lip is the main vehicle; <em>it has all the life in it</em>. +In speaking German you can "feel" it is the lower, +which for that language possesses the life. If you +make the former rigid you cannot speak English; if +you make the latter rigid you cannot speak German.</p> + +<p>In connection with the movements of the lips it +will be noticed that while the upper jaw and the roof +of the mouth are dominated by the trachea and +the thorax, and the lower jaw and the bottom of the +mouth by the œsophagus and the abdomen, the +upper lip is dominated by the sounds of the œsophagus, +and the lower by those of the trachea. +This, however, is owing to mechanical reasons only, +as explained, and not to vital causes.</p> + +<p>The foreigner who learns to speak the English +language ever so well, though he may reside here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +almost a lifetime, if he does not learn to speak it +<em>idiomatically</em> correct, will not be influenced by it to +any great extent in any of the various manners of +which I have made mention, either as regards his +features, character, habits, motions, thoughts, etc.; +but, in spite of his "English," he will still be a +foreigner. This foreigner's children, however, provided +he does not influence them to the contrary +through pride of his native tongue, and if reared +under native influences, will become thorough +Americans.</p> + +<p>There need be no fear, therefore, that immigration +might bring to this country a permanent foreign +element. Such elements, when they do come, +are of a passing nature. Their offspring, in passing +the crucial test of the English tongue, sink the foreigner +into the all-absorbing element of the English +idiom; and in so doing are merged into and become +an integral part of the people of this country. They +may come of whatever nation, from whatever land; +no matter how they may appear, act, or speak, the +English idiom will continue to make them Americans, +in their children at least, in the future as it +has in the past. There is thus in the centrifugal +force which dominates the speech of Anglo-Saxons +that which is a safeguard to the homogeneity as well +as the institutions of this nation.</p> + +<p>An Anglo-Saxon cannot be a bondsman; his language +forbids it. The centrifugal force which prevails +with him does not permit fetters. The children +of all foreigners born here and speaking the English +language come under its spell. If language did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +have this supreme influence, there is no other influence +that would have prevented this country long +ago from having become inhabited in special districts +with permanent groups of people foreign to its aims +and institutions, and alien to its genius, its character, +and its customs. In districts where German is +spoken as the principal language, as in some parts +of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, it is not, with the +native-born at least, the pure German language, but +its idiomatic expression is that of the English tongue.</p> + +<p>People say, "It is the climate." We have every +climate under the sun; yet in all that is essential +the man from Maine is as thoroughly American as +the one from Texas; the gold-digger in the frozen +regions of the Yukon as the man of the orange-groves +of Florida or California; the American fisherman +on the Banks of Newfoundland as those on the +Gulf of Mexico; the man who battles on the plains +against the Indians as he who serves under the banner +of the Republic and upholds its glory in foreign +lands and seas. You can tell an American the moment +you look at him. Yet if you ask some of them +where their parents were born, you will hear strange +tales of lands and peoples across the sea and far +away.</p> + +<p>Language does not work <em>every</em> wonder, of course. +The influence of heredity perpetuates that of language; +but the latter is the primary influence. Nor +can it be denied that <em>every</em> foreigner living here for +some time, whether he has learned to speak English +or not, will, to some extent at least, be influenced +by the habits, customs, institutions, climate, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +language of this country. This does not detract, +however, from the force of my argument regarding +language and its influence as the most vital force in +shaping a people's characteristic traits, physically as +well as spiritually.</p> + +<p>There has been of late a great deal of talk and enthusiasm +even regarding the desirability of a closer +alliance between the two great English-speaking nations; +their natural affinity and kinship. This affinity, +this belonging together, this being of one family +and one stock, is commonly expressed by this term, +"English-speaking peoples." That which I have +endeavored to explain at length is thus tacitly acknowledged +to be correct through the use of this +term, which implies that it is <em>the English tongue</em> +which makes these peoples one in sentiment, in feeling, +in their aims and purposes, as it makes them +one in their physical appearance, their motions, the +exercise of their faculties and functions, etc.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 599px;"> +<img src="images/fig146-300dpi.jpg" width="599" height="283" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig147-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="164" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>NATIONALITY AND RACE DISTINCTIONS</h2> + + +<p>While the English language makes Americans +of all foreigners, it does not, of course, obliterate +race distinctions as long as races continue to +exist as such. Persons of alien races, nevertheless, +when born in this country and reared under native +influences, will become "American" in a truer sense +than foreigners belonging to the Caucasian race coming +here at maturity. I dare say Frederick Douglass +was truly more of an American, in all this word implies, +than any foreigner who ever came to live here; +and so are all the better classes of native-born negroes, +in a certain sense, more truly American, this indescribable +something which constitutes a nation, than +any aliens whosoever.</p> + +<p>A gentleman once told me that, travelling on a +steamboat on one of the New England rivers, he had +been inadvertently listening to a conversation carried +on behind him, between what seemed to be +two New England farmers. On rising from his +seat, he saw that one of the men was a Chinaman, +dressed like the other and conversing precisely as +he did.</p> + +<p>Seeing an acquaintance, he pointed out the Chinaman +and asked if he knew who he was.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's Jimmy O'Connor; he's from So-and-so."</p> + +<p>"I mean the Chinaman."</p> + +<p>"Yes, the Chinaman; that's him. You know +he was picked up at sea, when still a baby, by a +New Bedford whaler, and was brought up in the +captain's family, who adopted him. He's as good +a farmer and as true an American as you can find +anywhere."</p> + +<p>These studies are meant to be purely objective, +and have no concern with politics or policies, regarding +undesirable immigration, or issues of a similar +nature. But language is nationality, and nationality +language, always, in the first instance; and the purer +a language is spoken, the truer, purer, and better +such nationality will be expressed and represented +by those who thus speak it. What an incentive to +aim at the purest and best expression of language, +for any people! But it will be said that language +is subject to change. If it is, so will the people who +speak it to some extent change with it. Such change, +however, is in its dress, in words mainly; rarely and +at long intervals, and under very peculiar circumstances +only, in its expression. As a matter of fact, +I doubt whether a change of the <em>idiomatic expression +ever</em> takes place.</p> + +<p>The difference existing between the English +spoken in the United States and the mother country +might be cited as an example. The idiomatic expression +is precisely the same. But the necessary +self-reliance of the first settlers, the privation, the +barter and exchange, the vast extent of the territory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +of this country, the greater independence enjoyed +by its people, etc., might be named as reasons for +the greater dash and freedom, together with a possible +want of culture, as compared with the language +spoken by educated Englishmen, prevailing in its +utterance.</p> + +<p>The same influences prevail regarding the general +appearance, motions, and characteristic traits of +these respective nations. Though closely allied and +connected in a specific, and very nearly allied to +each other in a general sense, there is that which +distinguishes the English of the old world from +those of the new, and which can be easily recognized.</p> + +<p>Being centrifugal, the English idiom, octopus-like, +embraces anything and everything that comes +within the radius of its omnivorous capacity, without, +however, losing its original character. It is +like a fisherman who has hung out his net in the +ocean, taking in all that comes along; or like the +sea itself, greedy without end. It has no scruples +about roots and construction, but construes everything +according to its wants and adapts it to its uses +as it comes along from any quarter.</p> + +<p>These adopted children, these waifs, however, it +must not be lost sight of, before they become integral +parts of English speech must submit to a +change of their original idiomatic expression. No +matter who came—Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, +or French—the people of the British Islands, while +adopting their <em>terms</em> of expression, remained true to +their original <em>idiomatic</em> expression. As this country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +absorbs people from the whole world and makes one +homogeneous American nation of them, so has the +English language absorbed, and is still absorbing, +words from every other people's language, and has +transformed them into one homogeneous language +of its own.</p> + +<p>Comparative philology, if it wants to accomplish +that which would be most worthy of its efforts, will +have to come down to these strong and basic roots +of language.</p> + +<p>The German language, whose idiomatic expression +is centripetal, on the other hand, does not possess +the same capacity for adopting foreign words and +adapting them to its idiom. When it does adopt +them, as, for instance, those of French origin, they +are pronounced, not in the German, but, as far as +the German people are capable of so doing, in the +French manner. They could not, in fact, be pronounced +in the German manner, the German language +being a close corporation, so to say, which does +not admit of any foreign shareholders; while the +English language is a company open to all comers. +While it is the endeavor of Germans to <em>purify</em> their +language by expelling as far as possible any foreign +word and element therefrom, Anglo-Saxons are constantly +adopting new words from foreign languages. +It would be equal to the labor of Sisyphus for Anglo-Saxons +to endeavor to purify their language from +foreign words, in the same sense that Germans are +attempting to purify theirs.</p> + +<p>It appears to me that the capacity of England for +successful colonization is largely due to the centrif<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>ugal +force inherent in its language, while the want +of success of Germany for the same purpose is due +to the absence of this force. Anglo-Saxon government +tends toward decentralization, German toward +centralization. I say this in spite of the fact that +Germany is still divided into many principalities; +the fact of its adherence to this undesirable condition +being a proof of the correctness of this assertion +rather than otherwise—Germans not being able to +readily get out of that in which they are once rooted. +In regard to governing peoples in distant territories +or colonies, this tendency is of importance. English +government, being undemonstrative, is more +effective than German, which is demonstrative, +meddlesome, and therefore offensive; the former +being material and practical, the latter immaterial +and inclined to be visionary.</p> + +<p>In a word, where are we to find explanations regarding +national traits of character except through +inner motive powers, productive of results individual +as well as national? There is no factor which +exercises an influence upon a nation as a unit so +wide in extent and of so powerful a nature as that +of language. It is the <em>only</em> motive power, in fact, +which every member of a nation shares with every +other member thereof, but not with any member of +any foreign nation.</p> + + +<h3>IDIOMATIC EXPRESSION</h3> + +<p>Although it is a well known fact that every language +has an idiomatic expression, an intonation of +its own, I am not aware of any attempt ever having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +been made at definitely stating what such expression, +or intonation, really consists in; and in what +respect it differs, as between one language and another. +Yet this fact should be the most important +of all in connection with ethnological studies. It +is necessary to know what a people's idiomatic expression +is before we can begin to make a study of +its language, in comparison with that of any other +people, by which we may expect to arrive at conclusions +of any real value in an ethnological sense.</p> + +<p>In comparison with idiomatic expression, the +study of the roots of words and their derivation, it +appears to me, is of but secondary importance; +idiomatic expression being the <em>kernel</em> in which the +tree of national expression had its incipiency, its +origin. It is the life which pulsates through its +veins, in which it has its stay and maintenance; the +nerves which tingle with its intelligence, its genius, +its soul. Take away this soul, and it ceases to exist. +For every language there must have been a strong +impulse making an impression before there could +have been any expression at all. This impulse must +have been of so powerful and continuous a nature +as to have left its impression upon the minds of a +sufficiently large number of people to form the nucleus +for the expression of a specific language, and, +in so doing, constituting such people a nation.</p> + +<p>I have already stated that it is <em>motion</em> in the first +instance which superinduces a specific mode of +breathing and consequent expression. It is to +motion, then, that we must ascribe the first impulse. +Such motion may have been active as to defense<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +against enemies, wild beasts, or the elements; or it +may have been passive, consisting of the continuous +noise produced by the motion of the sea, tempests, +or thunder-storms, making a great and lasting +impression. Then, again, the influence may have +been of a peaceful, balmy, beneficial nature, as with +people living in security, in a mild climate and on +fertile lands. The stronger the expression of these +movements, the stronger the impression they made +and the more powerful the expression of the language; +the softer and more harmonious their expression, +the softer and the more rhythmical the +expression of the language. These influences made +their first impression by superinducing a mode of +breathing in conformity therewith.</p> + +<p>Thus sounds giving expression to pain, perhaps, +in the first instance, or to sorrow, joy, surprise, +etc., were made in conformity with this, their specific +mode of breathing. These outcries, consisting of +syllables, grew into words and sentences, which, +being uttered in conformity and sympathy with their +special mode of breathing, created a specific idiomatic +expression. The same process, from its first +inauguration, and with but slight alterations, has +been practised and persisted in by the same people +from the beginning to the present time. With the +English people, as already mentioned, no migration, +no invasion, no conqueror, no matter how powerful, +has been able to swerve it from its path. The <em>most</em> +these invaders could do was to graft some of the expressions +in which <em>their</em> ideas were clad, some words, +on to this aboriginal stem. This stem was so strong<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +in its primeval conception that it could bear all these +exotic graftings without losing its character, absorbing +all, welcoming all beneath the widespread roof +and homestead of its branches. It proved its +superiority over the idiomatic expression of these +foreign tongues by its survival, as the fittest.</p> + +<p>[Before proceeding further, I want to remark: +these studies having been made from an Anglo-Saxon +point of view, it is just possible that a preponderance +of observations may have been made on +that side; while, if they had been made from a German +standpoint, the preponderance most likely +would be on that side. This, no doubt, will be the +case should I at any future period be able to write +all this, as I intend to, in the German language.]</p> + +<p>What is this original sap in the English, and +what is it in the German language?</p> + +<p>The aborigines of the British Isles, living apart +from their continental brethren, became possessed of +an idiom different and apart from any other. It was +the idiom of the <em>sea</em>, by which they were surrounded; +the motion and commotion of the waves, the surf, +the incoming and outgoing tides, their undertow +and overflow; the waves advancing toward the +shore, their breaking against it, and their final retreat +from the same.</p> + +<p>The English language is a raft living upon the +ocean. You can <em>hear</em> the waters rushing through it +and on to the shore and back again. You can feel +the waves rising up to gigantic heights, and then +falling to and below the level of the sea. You can +feel the undertow in its reserve force, quiet and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +subdued like the lull before the storm, yet capable +of almost any demonstration. You can feel all this +in the strength and vigor of its diction as expressed +in its prose and poetry. This is not a mere poetical +conception, but a truth capable of actual, practical +demonstration.</p> + +<p>While reading poetry or prose, or while singing, +fancy seeing in your mind's eye the ocean with its +waters in commotion, either the open sea or the surf +near the shore, and you will <em>feel every word you +utter mingle with its waves. These pictures will +never disturb your fancy, but will associate with it +in perfect harmony.</em> Now substitute for the picture +of the ocean and its tumult some rural picture, as +of a field of grain or the branches of trees tossed by +the wind, or the flow of a river, or even that of the +sea itself when perfectly calm. Keep such picture +before you exactly as you did that of the sea in +commotion. While reading, speaking, or singing +English you will not be able to <em>hold</em> such picture; +<em>it will soon disturb you, and to such an extent that +you must cease thinking of it, or be obliged to stop your +reading, singing, etc.</em></p> + +<p>The impression made by the ocean, in fact, is so +great that it dominates the <em>thought</em> and the entire +being of English-speaking people. This is the case +to such an extent that if you continue to persistently +<em>think</em> of any other image than the ocean, even without +uttering any sound whatever, it will so greatly +perturb you that you will be unable to continue +thinking at all. You may, on the other hand, continue +to think for an indefinite period of the image<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +of the ocean without experiencing any disturbance +whatever.</p> + +<p>While the basic element of the English language +is closely affiliated with the ocean, that of the <em>German +language</em> is affiliated with the <em>woods, and the +blowing of the winds</em>. In their habitation in the +forest, the wind made so deep an impression on the +primeval inhabitants of Germany that you can feel +its <em>soughing pervade all German diction</em>.</p> + +<p>If you are a German keep the picture of the +woods before you and the soughing of the wind +through the tree-tops, and it will harmonize with +German thought and diction. Substitute a picture +of the ocean for it, or almost any other picture, and +you will not be able to vocally utter German thought, +nor will you be able to continue thinking in the +German language at all.</p> + +<p>In place of conjuring up these pictures in your +mind's eye you can substitute <em>real</em> pictures representing +these scenes, and while contemplating them +the effect will be the same.</p> + +<p>After pursuing the picture of the ocean for a +while, say: "English;" after pursuing that of the +woods, say: "Deutsch;" either will come quite +naturally, but you cannot reverse them. If you +attempt it, these words will not be forthcoming.</p> + +<p>While with English diction there is <em>a pause and +then an emphasis</em> as of the waves coming on and then +breaking against the shore, so, with German diction, +there is an <em>emphasis and then a pause</em>, as of the blowing +of the wind succeeded by a calm. These, in a +word, are the characteristic elements in the idiomatic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +expressions of these peoples; English idiomatic expression +being <em>low succeeded by loud</em>; German, <em>loud +succeeded by low</em>.</p> + +<p>The influence of the ocean with its continuous +uproar formulated the speech and character of the +English nation into one of strength and reality, with +its centre of gravity in the abdomen. The peaceful +influence of their habitation in the woods, together +with the impression made by the wind, the singing +of birds, etc., formulated the speech and character +of the German nation into one more of ideality, with +its centre of gravity in the thorax.</p> + +<p>The fondness of the English for the sea, their supremacy +thereon, etc., need not be amplified upon:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Wherever billows foam<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Briton fights at home,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His hearth is built of water."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The fondness of the Germans for the woods is +equally noted: Der "dunkle," "zauberische," "geheimnissvolle," +"heilige"—Wald (The "darkly +deep," "magical," "mysterious," and "sacred" +woods) are but common expressions.</p> + +<p>There is not a word in the English language of the +same significance as that of "Der Wald." It embraces +many ideas, of which the words "the woods" +and "the forest" are not expressive. These, in a +literal translation, find expression in the words +"Das Gehoelz" and "Der Forst," which are of a +more realistic nature.</p> + +<p>The English language, on the other hand, is full<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +of expressions applying to nautical matters and to +the sea, for which there are no adequate expressions +in the German language.</p> + +<p>The fondness of the present Emperor of Germany +for the sea must be attributed to the English blood +flowing in his veins. While it is his desire to create +a powerful navy, the people of Germany are indifferent +to, and obstruct rather than assist, the accomplishment +of this desire.</p> + +<p>Idiomatic expression, the soul of language, has its +incipiency in the <em>soul</em> of a people, and may pervade +it for centuries before the <em>body</em> of the language, the +<em>words</em> in which its thoughts are clad, makes its +appearance. It must have taken many centuries +more before these words grouped themselves into +sentences and assumed the shape of speech. The +words may change, but the idiomatic expression +will always remain the same.</p> + +<p>So, also, must the soul of man have had existence +for an indefinite period of time before a body was +formulated to clothe it in. The spiritual cell, if I +may be permitted to use such an expression, must +have existed before the material; or, in other words, +the spiritual cell must have made its appearance +long before the material cell <em>commenced</em> to make its +appearance.</p> + + +<h3>RELATIONSHIP SUPPOSED TO EXIST AS BETWEEN +THE GERMAN AND ENGLISH NATIONS</h3> + +<p>It is a common saying that there is a close relationship +existing between the German and English +nations. There is no greater fallacy than this. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +contend that this relationship is of a very distant +order, consisting, as it does, merely in words, or, as +I have said, garments loosely flung around the +sturdy, strong, and unalterable stem of English +idiomatic expression. In every other respect there +is a great dissimilarity and antagonism even, existing +between these two peoples. If there is any +analogy existing between them at all, it is one of +opposition; one that is based on the idea that extremes +meet (<em>les extrêmes se touchent</em>), their poles +being diametrically opposed to each other.</p> + +<p>There is no more relationship existing between +(Anglo-Saxon) German and English than there is +between (Norman) French and English; the German, +French, and English languages each possessing +their own especial and unalterable idiomatic +expressions. Whatever foreign words either of +them adopt must be subjected to their idiom, or +keep floating along as best they may in their original +character.</p> + +<p>The entire aspect of these three nations, the +French, English, and German, points to the fact that +there must be a radical difference in their vital mode +of existence. Just what this vital mode consists +in, in respect to the two latter nations, I expect to +still further establish in a future publication. Both +languages traverse nearly the entire range of the +vital organs in opposite directions. Hence the +strength and also the weaknesses of these languages, +as compared with other languages which, extending +from side to side, have a smaller compass but a comparatively +purer range of sounds. Regarding other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +nations and their languages, I trust others, thoroughly +familiar with the same, by applying to their investigations +similar principles, will establish similar facts.</p> + +<p>Owing to its centrifugal tendency, it is necessary +for English vocal utterance to open the mouth much +wider than it is for German. Let a German open +his mouth no farther for the enunciation of English +than he is in the habit of opening it while speaking +his own language, and he will not be able to utter a +single sound. The same result will obtain when an +Anglo-Saxon attempts to speak German on the same +basis that he is in the habit of speaking his own +language. Owing to the centripetal tendency of +the German language, the mouth in speaking German +is but slightly extended. That this respective +widening and narrowing of, not only the mouth but +of every other channel employed in bringing about +vocal utterance, must tend to exercise a marked influence +on Anglo-Saxon and German features will +be obvious. The consequence is that the mouth of +English-speaking persons in thus being extended has +a broad yet narrow appearance, with rather thin and +compressed lips, while the mouth of Germans in +thus being contracted is comparatively smaller, with +full and ripe lips. This feature is in conformity +with all other features which, with Anglo-Saxons, +are elongated, with Germans contracted.</p> + +<p>Experiments regarding centrifugal and centripetal +action can be made to good advantage by resting +your head sideways on a pillow. In this position +during vocal utterance you can <em>feel</em> these actions, +and, feeling them, "<em>measure</em>" them. This mode of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +proceeding can be successfully adopted in many +other experiments connected with these studies. I +must warn the reader, however, again and again, +that all this has reference only to languages spoken +idiomatically correct. It has no reference whatever +to foreign languages spoken in the usual mechanical +manner.</p> + + +<h3>LANGUAGE AND MOTION</h3> + +<p>I will now show that motion is the first impulse +and primary condition of speech. I will give but a +few examples at present, but expect to prove most +exhaustively later on that motion <em>must</em> precede, or +<em>apparently at least</em>, accompany vocal sounds <em>always</em>.</p> + +<p>While standing up, straight, throw out your arms +horizontally, then speak English. You will have +no difficulty, but you will not be able to speak German +so easily. Next, stand as before, and again +throw out your arms horizontally, then drop them, +letting them hang down close to your body. After +doing so you will have no difficulty in speaking +German, but you will not be able to speak English +so readily. In throwing out your arms in the first +instance, your mouth will open, and you will <em>close</em> it +in speaking English. In letting them drop, in the +second instance, your mouth will close, and you +will <em>open</em> it in speaking German. Now, stand on +the tips of your toes, and you will have no difficulty +in speaking English, but you will not be able to speak +German with ease. Then rest the weight of your +body on your heels, and you will have no trouble +in speaking German, but you cannot speak English +with ease. In standing on the toes the body is ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>tended +by centrifugal, in standing on the heels it is +contracted by centripetal action. Next, extend +your neck, and you will have less trouble in speaking +English than in speaking German; then lower +your neck, and you will find no trouble in speaking +German, but you will in speaking English. These +experiments might be amplified manifold, but these +must suffice for the present.</p> + +<p>The same features of the opening and closing of +the mouth in conformity with the position you assume, +will obtain in all these instances the same +as at first mentioned. It will scarcely be necessary +for me to repeat that all this shows that the motion +for English speech is centrifugal, for German centripetal. +Nor will it be necessary to call attention to +the fact that all this tends towards giving Germans +a condensed and broad, Anglo-Saxons a lengthy +and narrow bodily appearance.</p> + +<p>It is, however, a noteworthy fact that with Germans +the nearer you approach the sea, the more +centrifugal becomes their action and personal appearance. +The people of Northern Germany, therefore, +though radically differing from them in most +other respects, partake more of the general bodily features +of Anglo-Saxon nations than those of the South +of Germany, who are positively opposed to them.</p> + +<p>Upon having ascertained the correctness of these +statements by actual experiment, I want to ask the +reader how he expects to reconcile these facts with +the universally adopted theory that the larynx is the +sole instrument productive of vocal utterance. An +Anglo-Saxon, when stretching out his arms horizon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>tally, +can readily speak English, while a German in +the same position cannot utter a sound of <em>his</em> language +without difficulty. If the larynx in the case +of an Anglo-Saxon, under these circumstances, +produces vocal utterance, why is it not so easy with +a German?</p> + +<p>My explanation is this:</p> + +<p>By extending your limbs, in stretching out your +arms, or standing on your toes, the centrifugal action +is instrumental in parting the jaws and giving +the tongue an upward tendency. In so doing, +the œsophagus and replica obtain ascendancy over +the trachea and the larynx. The abdomen (the seat +of gravitation for English speech) and its tributaries +thus obtain the mastery over the thorax and its +tributaries. The former being the main vehicle for +English speech, such speech can be produced without +molestation. These facts, while favorable to +the production of English vocal utterance, obstruct +and hinder German vocal utterance.</p> + +<p>In lowering the arms or standing on one's heels, +thus substituting centripetal for centrifugal action, +the jaws close, the tongue assumes a downward +tendency. The trachea and the larynx, as well as +the thorax (the seat of gravitation for German vocal +utterance), obtain the preponderance, and German +may be freely spoken, while English is obstructed.</p> + +<p>In <em>raising</em> the tongue, a free passage to the œsophagus +is obtained, while that to the trachea is obstructed. +In <em>lowering</em> the tongue, a free passage to +the trachea is obtained, while that to the œsophagus +becomes obstructed. It is necessary, however, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +understand that, while English speech is centrifugal +and German centripetal, these are <em>tendencies</em> only and +not permanent <em>conditions</em>; centrifugal and centripetal +action constantly interchanging and modifying one +another. An uninterrupted tendency in one and the +same direction, either centripetally or centrifugally, +would soon come to an end and produce stagnation, +inertia, death. There is no action without a counteraction. +Hence, ingoing vocal sounds are counterbalanced +by outgoing; the same as ingoing thoughts +or thoughts produced by external vision are counterbalanced +by outgoing, or thoughts produced by +internal vision, etc.</p> + +<p>In addition to the parts mentioned, there are +many other parts of the body which, subjected to +centrifugal or centripetal action, will produce results +of the same order as those already mentioned. In +stretching out your legs (while in a sitting position), +you will find speaking German to be difficult; upon +drawing them up, you will have trouble with English. +The same results may be obtained, in connection +with the toes and fingers, in a number of +different ways. From all this, it will be readily seen +that all parts of the body are closely related to each +other, the tendency of the muscles in one prominent +part producing the same tendency in all the rest.</p> + +<p>There is one thing which must be mentioned, +however. To obtain centrifugal action, it is necessary +to <em>stretch</em> the part under consideration; the +mere extension of a part, without stretching it, will +be fruitless of results in either one direction or +another; so will the mere contraction of any part be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +fruitless of results, unless such contraction is complete. +You can let your arms hang down alongside +of your body and yet speak English easily; and +you can hold them out horizontally, and yet speak +German easily. In either case the contraction and +expansion must be <em>thorough</em> to produce results either +centripetally or centrifugally.</p> + +<p><em>All</em> persons make similar motions to those mentioned +with every sound they utter, though these +motions do not appear on the surface; in fact, they +could not speak if they did not make them.</p> + +<p>I have already mentioned, but want to repeat, +that centrifugal action is the cause of the elongated +faces, and especially of the elongation of the lower +jaw of English-speaking persons. It is also the +cause of their semi-parted lips while in repose, showing +their teeth, and a full exhibition thereof while +speaking; a fact which has caused much merriment +to continental nations, and has given rise to an +endless number of caricatures of "milord" and +"milady" on their travels, etc. It is also the +cause of the perfection of dentistry in this country +and in England, where the teeth are always more or +less on exhibition. In other countries, where they +are hidden behind the curtains of the lips, which are +usually closed, except while speaking or laughing, +this necessity does not arise to nearly the same +extent. To the centrifugal force there is also due +much of the innate charm and beauty of English-speaking +women.</p> + +<p>From all this one great lesson may be learned: +no matter by what divergent means nature may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +work its ends, similar results are obtained, though +often arrived at by opposite means and from opposite +directions. Thus life ever presents to us +new forms and features, and ever infuses new interest +into what otherwise might become unbearable +in its monotony. A better insight into these facts +ought to make us feel more lenient towards what +appear to us as other people's "idiosyncrasies." +It should also have a tendency to prevent us from +attempting to enforce to their full extent laws made +in conformity with our own desires and inclinations +but in direct opposition to those of others (foreigners +living among us), whose character and disposition +lead them in diametrically opposite directions.</p> + +<p>Unless otherwise mentioned, I wish the reader to +remember that I am always speaking not only from +the standpoint of an American, but <em>as</em> an American. +The fact of my long residence in this country, where +I have spent the best part of my life, in itself would +not entitle me to do this, having shown, as I have +endeavored to do, that this is not sufficient to change +a person from one nationality into another. During +my earnest endeavor at fathoming these differences, +however, I have been led into assuming the forms +which distinguish the Anglo-Saxon from the German. +Unless I am with Germans and speak the +German language, in my thoughts and otherwise I +lead the life of an American.</p> + +<p>That my English speech, however (though my +friends in their indulgence would lead me to believe +otherwise), is not as perfect as it might be, is largely +due to the fact of my constantly having recourse to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +the German language, and that I am thus as constantly +led back into these other forms of existence +which cannot be indulged in without some detriment +and abstraction from either the one or the other. +There was a time, in fact, when the transformation +I have spoken of was taking place (the disturbance +being so great) that I could not speak well either +the one language or the other.</p> + +<p>I am well convinced, on the other hand, that +through perseverance <em>perfection</em> in the utterance of +both of these languages, for speech as well as for +song, and possibly of some other languages besides, +may be attained in the course of time; nature being +so pliable that, when the required actions are once +<em>fully</em> understood and complied with, a perfect change +may be made instantly in passing from one language +on to another. Such changes, in fact, are naturally +made by persons who, in their infancy, have been +educated in and taught to speak several languages +at one and the same time; the material during infancy +being so pliable that it can be readily formed +into any shape and transformed into any other. All +of the preceding also shows that, for every separate +idiom, the <em>entire</em> instrument must be "tuned" for +its production in a given order, and that only when +so tuned can such idiom be produced in its entire +purity. It also shows that, unless so tuned, the +vocal cords of the larynx and replica cease to be +instrumental in the production of sound.</p> + +<p>An instrument tuned for the production of the +English language, consequently, cannot produce +German sounds, nor can it produce Romanic, Slav<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>onic, +or the sounds of any other language. Sounds, +<em>apparently</em> the same, of either the singing or speaking +voice of various languages are, therefore, <em>not</em> the +same and are certainly not produced in the same +manner. For a German, consequently, or an Italian +to attempt to teach an English-speaking person the +art of singing is an anomaly. A foreigner might, +with the same show of reason, attempt to teach persons +of another nationality the correct pronunciation +of their own language. It would be equally false, +of course, for an English-speaking person to attempt +to teach a German, Italian, etc., the art of singing, +unless he had first mastered his pupil's idiomatic +expression, or the pupil had mastered that of his +teacher.</p> + +<p>Many persons are under the erroneous impression +that song and speech are performances separate and +apart from each other, while they are in reality of +precisely the same, though inverse, order. They +are of the same order, for instance, as the back and +palm of the hand: the former representing speech, +the latter song; the external and the internal, or the +anterior and the posterior. As the back of the +hand, such must and will be its palm; or, as its +palm, such must and will be its back.</p> + +<p>Conversing with a teacher some time since, she +scorned such propositions, saying a person's language +had nothing to do with his or her song; the +mode of production of the latter being the <em>same</em> +with <span class="smcap">ALL</span> nationalities; besides, she had studied the +larynx, and knew all about it. This, of course, +settled it, and I had not anything further to say.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>DIFFERENCE IN THEIR MODE OF BREATHING AS +BETWEEN ANGLO-SAXONS AND GERMANS</h3> + +<p>Anglo-Saxons inspire first into the thorax and +then into the abdomen. Germans inspire first into +the abdomen and then into the thorax. The former +expire first from the abdomen and then from +the thorax; the latter expire first from the abdomen +and then from the thorax. This, however, gives +but a partial account of the process of breathing, +and I must postpone a more explicit one to a later +period.</p> + +<p>To prove the correctness of the above assertion, +press your hand against the left side of your thorax +anteriorly, and you will find it difficult to inhale. +If you press your hand against the right side of +your thorax, on the other hand, you will have no +difficulty in inhaling. Next, press your hand +against the right side of your abdomen, and you +will not be able to exhale; but if you press your +hand against its left side, you will experience no +trouble in exhaling. In pressing your hands one +against the left side of the breast and the other +against the right side of the abdomen, you will have +trouble in breathing.</p> + +<p>Pressures produced in the precisely <em>opposite</em> manner +in every respect, on the part of a German-speaking +person, will produce effects of precisely the <em>same</em> +nature. A German, in pressing the right side of +his abdomen, will not be able to inspire freely, but +pressing its left side will not hinder him from doing +so. Pressing the left side of his thorax will impede +his expiration, while the pressing of its right side<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +will not prevent him from doing so. These results +will become more obvious when these pressures are +continued for some time. All the pressures mentioned +are to be applied <em>anteriorly</em>. Pressures of +the same nature applied <em>posteriorly</em> produce opposite +results with Anglo-Saxons as well as Germans.</p> + +<p>Similar results may be obtained by producing +pressures on the median line of either thorax or +abdomen, front as well as back. Such will also be +the case when pressures are produced on either side +from the armpits downward or from the hips upward. +More satisfactory results, however, than +those obtained through mechanical pressure can be +obtained by making the respective parts rigid. It +will scarcely be necessary for me to mention all +these various causes and consequent results in detail, +as any one interested in these matters can work +them out for himself from that which I have said.</p> + + +<h3>RISE AND FALL, OR RHYTHM</h3> + +<p>The thorax is productive of the falling, the abdomen +of the rising voice, the former being the representative +of the <em>impression</em> for sounds, the latter of +their expression.</p> + +<p><em>An Anglo-Saxon's voice, inspiring, as he does, into +the thorax, and expiring from the abdomen, will first +fall and then rise. A German's voice, on the contrary, +inspiring, as he does, into the abdomen, and +expiring from the thorax, will first rise and then fall.</em></p> + +<p>This is the fundamental cause of the difference +between the idiomatic expression of these two +peoples, and primarily also of the difference existing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +between their national traits physically as well as +mentally.</p> + +<p>Every original word in either of these languages +will illustrate these facts:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Vater, Mutter, Bruder, Schwester. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>Take the same words in English, and the accent +will be reversed:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ +Father, Mother, Brother, Sister +</pre> +</div> +<p>When these and similar words were adopted into +the English language, it was done at the expense of +their original idiomatic expression. I am speaking +of the music, the rise and fall, the rhythm pervading +a language, not of time or measure, nor of the +intonation, nor of emphasis.</p> + +<p>I make four distinctions, and expect to prove that +they are the basis of every artistic expression of +either speech or song. First, measure or time. +Second, the rise and fall of the voice, equal to its +rhythm. Third, intonation, which pertains to +words in accordance with their meaning. Fourth, +emphasis, which has reference to the feelings.</p> + +<p>That the human voice is capable of at one and the +same time expressing four moods so different from +each other, shows that there are various factors +(all of a different nature) simultaneously at work +producing these different results. To correctly indicate +these four characteristics, it would be necessary +to mark each syllable in a fourfold manner. I +shall confine myself to the rhythm and the metre,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +and shall mark the former above the line by using +the signs for accent (´`), and the latter below the +line by using those for metre (¯˘).</p> + +<p>Right here is the main stumbling-block with persons +of either nationality in speaking the language +of the other. They will in so doing invariably retain +the idiomatic expression of their own vernacular.</p> + +<p>The <em>proper</em> way to illustrate the rhythm would be +as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´`´` ´` ´` ´` +Vater, Mutter, gut. + + `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ +Father, Mother, good. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>There is always a rise of the voice before its fall +in German, and a fall before its rise in English <em>for +each and every syllable</em>. When a language is well +spoken, this complete intonation is always heard. +If this needs illustration, which it should not, being +so obvious, the poetry of both peoples offers proofs +in great abundance. It is a notable fact that, with +German verse, the voice for the end syllable always +sinks, with English it rises; the former is generally +short, the latter long; but even where the word +ends with a long syllable in German the voice falls +at the end, and where one ends with a short syllable +in English the voice rises at the end.</p> + +<p>To anxiously count every syllable in poetry is +contrary to the spirit of a language. There are +slight touches here and there which simply serve as +connecting links, and which, in marking the rhythmic +flow of sounds, should not be included as belonging +to the metre. Most of these are prefixes or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +affixes, pauses for repose or relaxation, consisting +in scarcely noticeable inspirations or expirations, +which are necessary to strengthen the voice for the +actual metre. The various intonations are generally +expressed by the use of the signs for long and short +only. As the latter, properly speaking, only represent +time or measure, the voice is left to express as +best it may and without any guidance whatsoever +every other factor composing a language. All I +want to do now is to show by the signs for the accent +the difference between the English and German +rhythmic movement:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Auf der duftverlornen Grenze + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Jener Berge tanzen hold + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Abendwolken ihre Taenze + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Leicht geschuerzt im Strahlengold. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Lenau.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Auf ihrem Grab da steht eine Linde + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` +Drin pfeifen die Voegel im Abendwinde; + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´` ´ ` ´` ´ ` +Die Winde die wehen so lind und so schaurig, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` +Die Voegel die singen so suess und so traurig. + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Heine.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>The beginning of every line in this verse might +remain unmarked as not belonging to the rhythmic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +expression proper, and being expressive mainly of +an inspiration preceding the expiration which it +foreshadows. The beauty of Heine's verse is largely +due to the fact that he does not anxiously count +time, but lets his voice rise and fall where it is most +effective. It will be noticed that there is a greater +movement, as expressed by the signs of the rhythm, +in Heine's verse than there is in Lenau's, hence the +inexpressible charm of his diction. Here is another +great poet, or poetess rather, the greatest Germany +has produced, also fearless of prescribed forms, but +full of charm and power:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´` ´` ´` +O schaurig ists uebers Moor zu gehn, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` +Wenn es wimmelt vom Haiderauche, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´` ´` ´` ´` ´ ` ´ ` +Sich wie Phantome die Duenste drehn + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` +Und die Ranke haekelt am Strauche. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Droste-Huelshoff.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>In these last two citations, the dactylus (¯ ˘ ˘) is +the prevailing measure, which but strengthens my +assertion that in German diction there is a fall after +a rise; the former being here more distinctly expressed +than in the simple trochaic measure. The +fall, the relaxation, being greater, the rise, the vigor +in the expression, thereby gains additional strength. +What is the consequence of this falling off or gliding +down in German diction so well expressed in Lenau's</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +"Auf der duftverlornen Grenze"? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></pre> +</div> + +<p>It is not a positive line of demarcation, but one +which is lost, as it were, "in the soft ether of the +evening sky."</p> + +<p>Hence the high tide succeeded by the low, the +aspiration followed by resignation, the night after +the day, death after life, repose after the strife—all +this expresses the genius of the German language; +and is also expressive of German life and character—its +dreaminess, its longing, its desire for the ideal, +never to be attained; the abstract, the abstruse; its +yearning, its altruism, its transcendentalism, its +<em>Weltschmerz</em> (the sadness pervading all nature). It +is also expressive of its <em>Begeisterung</em> (an enthusiasm +which upon the slightest provocation takes a man +almost off his feet). All these are traits of the +German national character.</p> + +<p>There is no spiritual bond among all these millions +that could possibly produce such sentiments +and feelings as its result, differing, as they do, from +the feelings of any other nation or people, but that +of a language common to all.</p> + +<p>To prove that the trochaic measure is the one +ordained by nature for German expression, it is but +necessary to glance at the characteristic words of +the preceding verses:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Wimmelt, Haide, gehen, wehen, drehen, Ranke, haekelt, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Grenze, jener, Berge, Abend, Wolken, Taenze, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +strahlen, ihren, eine, Linde, pfeifen, Voegel, Winde, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +schaurig, singen, traurig. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></pre> +</div> + +<p>The same rhythm, though not so obviously expressed, +obtains with the words of one syllable:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> +´` ´` ´` ´` ´ ` ´` ´` +Auf, der, Duft, hold, leicht, im, Gold, + + ´` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´` +Grab, steht, lind, suess, ueber's, Moor. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>Now compare with this the strength and vigor of +English diction, which runs in the precisely opposite +direction:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ +The stag at eve had drunk his fill, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ +Where danced the moon on Monan's rill; + ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ `´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ +And deep his midnight lair had made, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ +In lone Glenartney's hazel shade. +˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Scott.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ `´ `´ +The day is done, and the darkness + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + `´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ + Falls from the wings of night, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + +`´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ +As a feather is wafted downward +˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + `´ ` `´ ` ´ ` ´ + From an eagle in his flight. + ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +<pre> +` ` ´ ` `´ `´ `´ ` `´ +Oh east is east, and west is west, +˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + And never the two shall meet, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ +Till earth and sky stand presently, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + At God's great judgment seat. + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ +But there is neither east nor west, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + Border, nor breed, nor birth, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ `´ `´ ` ´ ` ´ +When two strong men stand face to face, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ + Though they come from the ends of the earth. + ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Kipling.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>It is either the iambic (˘¯) or the anapest (˘˘¯). +Of course, these vary to some extent in conformity +with the reader's intonation, but the spirit +of the language is always from weakness to strength, +in place of from strength to weakness, as with the +German. It is always the waves approaching the +shore and then <em>breaking</em> against it, as against the wind +<em>coming up suddenly</em> and then dying away. This is +the reason why a serenade or lullaby in English can +never be rendered with the same effect as in German, +the English voice rising at the end instead of falling.</p> + +<p>Wherever a verse commences with a stress, it +must be considered that a fall of the voice or an inspiration +has preceded it; this, though unaccompanied +by sound, being really the case. I have thus +marked the beginning of Longfellow's beautiful +lines:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ` ´ `´ ` ´ +Falls----as----from. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Lunn, in his <cite>Philosophy of Voice</cite>, has the +following:</p> + +<p>"How many Englishmen <em>dare</em> utter loudly a +word beginning with a vowel? If attempted, either +it would not be done, or, in spite of the speaker,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +owing to the weakness of the muscles which draw +the cords together [<em>sic</em>], an aspirate would precede +the vowel."</p> + +<p>This is right, as far as his observation is concerned, +but he does not seem to know that this very +weakness he complains of is really the strength of +the English language, the lull before the storm, the +concentration before the explosion; and that "thus +the idiosyncrasy of our people's speech" is <em>not</em> +"deadness, weakness, and general feebleness," but, +on the contrary, a strength and a virility not surpassed +by any other tongue. This finds illustration +in Kipling's</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> +`´ `´ `´ `´ +Oh east is east, etc. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>It is but necessary to comprehend the laws which +underlie this apparent weakness to turn it to its best +account, and to obtain from it the highest results, +both for speech and song. As for the "weakness +of the muscles which draw the cords together," it +will scarcely be necessary for me to make a specific +refutation; the premises upon which such assumption +is founded being quite untenable, there being +quite as much vigor in the <em>muscles</em> and <em>cords</em> of an +Anglo-Saxon as in those of any other nation. Nor, +I suppose, will it be necessary to strengthen my +assertions by once more quoting the separate words +and thus pointing out the iambic, the rise after the +fall (˘¯), or the anapest (˘˘¯), the twofold repose +and gathering of strength for the final emphasis.</p> + +<p>The English language in its Saxon words mainly +consists of monosyllables. These, however, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +stated, must be looked upon as words of two syllables, +a suppressed intonation always preceding +their vowel sounds. The majority of such words, +as a matter of fact, originally consisted of two +syllables, of which the last was dropped when they +were adopted by the English. This last syllable, +representing the fall of the voice thus disappearing, +left the first, which represented its rise, standing +unsupported by itself. As the rise of the voice, +however, cannot be expressed without the accompaniment +of its fall, the latter always <em>tacitly</em> accompanies +the same, and is expressed in an undertone, +<em>preceding</em> the rise.</p> + +<p>Almost every verb of this class will give evidence +of this fact:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ +Gehen--go, sehen--see, hoeren--hear, + + ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ +sprechen--speak, kochen--cook, tanzen--dance, + + ´ ` ´ +fallen--fall, etc. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>Hence, in conformity with the above, these words +in the English language should be properly marked +thus:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> +`´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ +Go, see, hear, speak, cook, dance, etc. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>which gives the real intonation thereof.</p> + +<p>This applies to all words commencing with a +vowel, and explains what Mr. Lunn has designated +as a "weakness of the English language":</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ +Art, arm, or, all, eagle, each, old, etc. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></pre> +</div> + +<p>Without this half-suppressed fall of the voice, +there would be no beauty, no charm, no soul in the +English language; in fact, it could not exist. +Words of two syllables, however, always have the +fall of the voice on the first, its rise on the second, +syllable, even where the preponderance of <em>time</em> belongs +to the first syllable, as in the words</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ` ´ ` ´ +Danced, hazel, etc. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ +</pre> +</div> + +<p>The reader will find these statements sustained by +almost every word he may examine into, which will +show that the characteristic expression of English +diction is that of the iambic measure, which passes +from weakness to strength; while that of German +diction, as already stated, is that of the trochaic +measure, which passes from strength to weakness.</p> + +<p>Having shown that German <em>sentiment</em> is in accord +with the idiomatic expression of the German language, +I will now show that <em>English</em> sentiment also +conforms to <em>its</em> idiomatic expression. I must beg +the reader, however, not to be over-critical. I am +not attempting to furnish comparative sketches of +the national character of these peoples in a literary +sense, but am entering into these matters for the +sole purpose of sustaining the results of my physiological +investigations. Nor should these attempts +be applied to individual cases, there being exceptions +to all rules, but to the national character <em>in +general</em>. If a person in making investigations of +this kind had to constantly fear that he might be +treading on some one's sensitive toes, he could never +make any headway at all. I am, in fact, perfectly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +willing to apologize beforehand for any such mishap +possibly taking place, as I wish to be perfectly impartial +and without bias. I have said this much +partly for the reason also that in consequence of +some remark, on one occasion, made in my former +publication in favor of the English <em>vs.</em> the Germans, +one critic honored me with the epithet "renegade."</p> + +<p>The rising voice succeeding the falling is not a +soft and gradual receding, but, on the contrary, it is +more like an explosion, a trumpet-blast; the inspiration +which had been "stored" being suddenly released. +There is no such "storing" in connection +with German diction; inspiration and expiration +succeeding each other on the spot. With English +diction this change may be compared to the break of +day after the night; the fray after the repose; resurrection +after death; a conflagration and a rebuilding +at once on the spot, not only individually, but +by an entire community (Boston and Chicago); an +outburst after due deliberation; no sentimentality, +but a firm resolve for the right; patient submission +to a point, then a strike for liberty; the slow accumulation +of a fortune and the spontaneous spending +thereof; a hot political campaign and a victory +or defeat; in either case acquiescence; no vain +mourning after the fact; a butterfly of wealth, +idleness, and fashion, then perhaps ruin; yet not +despair, but a brave conformity to altered circumstances; +an energy in the pursuit of business or of +war which does not flag until utterly exhausted or +success is achieved and a victory is won. All this is +due to the reserve force in the character of English<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>-speaking +people, which comes to their rescue when +circumstances demand it. A world positive and +direct, full of energy, restlessness, and activity. A +world of, and for, <em>this</em> world; whose world to come, +even, must have a positive and well-defined character +and surroundings:</p> + +<div class="hangindent"> + +<p>"Where the walls are made of jasper and the streets are +paved with gold."</p></div> + +<p>To what is all this due but to this <em>bond of language</em> +uniting these millions, and embracing every foreign +element, in its children at least? The theme is +inexhaustible, but I am limited as to time; yet +additional remarks on the same subject will be forthcoming +during the further pursuance of these studies.</p> + +<p>For song, it appears to me, the words, besides +being marked by notes, should also be marked as to +rhythm, as this would assist singers in giving them +the proper intonation; notes indicating metre, but +not rhythm.</p> + +<p>Metre and rhythm are produced by two distinctly +different processes; metre, or time, being the outcome +of a mode of breathing subject to the will, +while rhythm is the outcome of an involuntary mode +of breathing for a characteristic quality inherent in +a nation's language as its idiomatic expression.</p> + +<p>Ordinarily, both metre and rhythm are expressed +by the same signs (˘¯); this is very misleading.</p> + +<p>To express time, or metre, I use the signs for +short and long (˘¯). To express rhythm, or the +fall and rise of the voice, I use the signs for what is +usually called the accent (´`). If we were to <em>meas</em><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span><em>ure</em> +the exact time, however, consumed in the utterance +of syllables, we would find that the falling voice, +which is the product of inspiration and belongs to +the thorax, requires more time than the rising voice, +which is the product of expiration and belongs to +the abdomen.</p> + +<p>In marking verse, however, the sign for long (¯) +generally accompanies the short syllable of the rising, +and the sign for short (˘) the, as a matter of fact, +long syllable of the falling voice. It takes longer to +fill a bottle than to pour out its contents; to prepare +a dish than to eat it; to walk upstairs than to jump +from a window. It takes longer to <em>prepare</em> for an +utterance than to utter it. It takes longer to inspire +than to expire.</p> + +<p>In view of the vast foreign element constituting a +part of this nation, it would be a matter of interest +to know at what period the foreigner ceases to exist +as such and the "American" begins; or, in other +words, to understand when the evolution takes place +which transforms the foreigner into the American. +From my point of view it is, above all, a question of +language. The political aspect of the case is scarcely +to be considered. An unnaturalized Englishman, +consequently, after thoroughly "Americanizing" his +language, becomes more of an American (no matter +whether he himself thinks so or not) than an Irishman +who, though naturalized, never ceases to use +his native brogue.</p> + +<p>These questions, of course, are many-sided. When +I speak of nationality, however, I have the <em>best</em> specimens +of a nation as representatives thereof in view<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +always. A man with a foreign accent does not have +the same standing or influence in municipal, state, +and national councils as one who speaks a pure English; +there is always a <em>feeling</em> against him, no matter +how able or patriotic he may be, of some foreign +influence as a substratum in his composition.</p> + + +<h3>STRESS</h3> + +<p>I have already stated that the thorax is the seat +of the falling, the abdomen that of the rising, voice. +This can be tested by a simple experiment, the result +of which will be as startling as it is phenomenal. +<em>By simply pressing the stomach, or making the same +rigid, you will find that the fact of your doing so will +prevent you from uttering any sound belonging to the +rising voice, or the stress laid upon a word.</em></p> + +<p>Take, for instance, the following:</p> + +<p class="center">"Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light," +</p> + +<p>and you will find that, upon pressing the stomach, +or making the same rigid, you will not be able to +utter the words "say," "see," "dawn's," and +"light." This will become more obvious in uttering +these words slowly than in doing so rapidly. +You will have no difficulty, on the other hand, in +uttering the rest of the words, viz.: "Oh," "can +you," "by the," "early."</p> + +<p>Upon releasing the stomach and bringing a pressure +to bear upon the chest, on the other hand, you +will have no difficulty in uttering the first words +mentioned, those of the rising, while you will be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +unable to utter the last, those of the falling voice. +This rule holds good for all peoples and all languages.</p> + +<p>There is this difference, however, as between +English and German speech, that, for the former, +the falling voice (identical with that of the thorax) +<em>precedes</em> the rising (identical with that of the abdomen); +while for the latter the reverse is the case;—Anglo-Saxons +inspiring into the chest and then +into the stomach; Germans into the stomach and +then into the chest. Germans will have greater +difficulty in making this experiment than Anglo-Saxons, +as words of the falling voice, as a rule and +in all languages, precede those of the rising. Germans, +consequently, must <em>think</em> of the word of +the rising voice, which, as a matter of fact, succeeds +the words of the falling, before they can utter +the latter. This difficulty is enhanced by the fact +that while the rising voice is generally confined to a +single word, the falling voice generally embraces +several.</p> + +<p>Hence the frequency of the use of the anapest +(˘˘¯) and the dactylus (¯˘˘), and the relative +rarity of the use of the bacchius (˘¯¯) and the antibacchius +(¯¯˘); short always representing the falling +voice, which embraces more than one word, while +long represents the rising voice, which usually embraces +but one single word; the definition requiring +more words than the thing to be defined. Hence, +<em>for German diction, the "thought" of the word of +the rising voice must precede the "utterance" of the +words of the falling; while for English diction, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +"thoughts" of the words of the falling voice must +precede the "utterance" of the word of the rising.</em></p> + +<p>A German may try and say the following:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"In einem <em>Thal</em> bei armen <em>Hirten</em>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Erschien mit jedem jungen <em>Jahr</em>,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>in such a manner as <em>not to think</em> of the words which +are italicized before uttering those which immediately +precede them, and he will find that he will be +unable to pronounce the latter.</p> + +<p>An Anglo-Saxon may try and say the following:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And the star-spangled banner in triumph <em>doth wave</em><br /></span> +<span class="i0">O'er the land of the free and the home <em>of the brave</em>,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and he will find that in saying "in triumph doth +wave," he must think of the words "doth wave" +before he will be able to utter the word "triumph." +Again, in saying "the home of the +brave" he must think of the words "of the brave" +before he will be able to utter the word "home."</p> + +<p>A German, consequently, must <em>think</em> of the principal +word before he can utter those which qualify +it; an Anglo-Saxon must think of the latter before +he can utter the former.</p> + +<p>In place of using mechanical pressure, the same +results can be obtained by making the respective +parts rigid. Regarding this matter of <em>making parts +rigid</em>, I want to make the following explanation, +illustrating the physiological process going on in so +doing.</p> + +<p>While a part is rendered inactive, placed <em>hors de +combat</em>, so to say, by the application of mechanical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +pressure, the same result can also be obtained by +making such part rigid. To accomplish this, it is +but necessary to positively <em>think</em> of such part, to +associate your mind with it, which is equal to an +act of expiration when it relates to the abdomen, +and inspiration when it relates to the thorax. By +positively <em>thinking</em> of the abdomen, which is equal +to an expiration therefrom, you will be unable to +utter the stress or <em>rise</em> of the voice, which is the +product of an expiration from the stomach; by positively +thinking of the thorax, which is equal to an +inspiration into the same, you will be unable to utter +the <em>fall</em> of the voice, which is the product of an inspiration +into the chest. The reason is obvious: +<em>We cannot utter sound in the same direction in which +we breathe; sound and respiration always following +opposite directions.</em></p> + +<p>For the purpose of making satisfactory experiments +in this respect, as, in fact, in every other respect +in connection with these investigations, it is +necessary that inspiration or expiration, as the case +may be, should be <em>continuous</em>, that is, that either the +one or the other should be persisted in until a result +is obtained; namely, until an apparent increase or +decrease in the size of the part of the body under +consideration, or an inflation or depletion of the +same, will be perceptible. Though it may be difficult +at first, a person will soon learn to distinguish between +an increase or a swelling of a part, which +means inspiration into the same, and a decrease or +a shrinking or diminution thereof, which means +expiration from the same.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig188-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="168" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2><a name="PHYSIOLOGY_OF_THE_VOICE_IN_RELATION" id="PHYSIOLOGY_OF_THE_VOICE_IN_RELATION">PHYSIOLOGY OF THE VOICE IN RELATION +TO WORDS</a></h2> + + +<p>In the further pursuance of the questions heretofore +under consideration, I shall now enter upon +a theme of a still more subtle nature. The question +of metre, rhythm, accent, etc., is one which is +involved in much mystery; nor can I find that many +persons entertain precisely the same ideas as being +expressed by these terms.</p> + +<p><em>Accepting as a fundamental principle the fact that +our various spiritual conditions are based upon our +ability to extract the necessary inspiration therefor +from the air, which bears the same relation to our +spiritual existence that the earth does to that of our +body (in furnishing it with such elements as it requires +for its maintenance), I contend that we breathe for +speech in as many different modes as there are parts +or elements in its composition.</em> This proposition does +not necessarily conflict with the fact that we also +draw elements from the air, as analytical chemistry +has proven, which serve for the construction of +matter; such elements, however, instead of being +strictly material, as they have every appearance of +being, are, in reality, the spiritual complements of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +the matter they help to form; matter and spirit +going hand in hand in our entire composition.</p> + +<p>In reading poetry, or giving expression to the +same in song (I repeat), we do so in a fourfold +manner:</p> + +<p>First: as to metre or time (the "measure" of +time).</p> + +<p>Second: as to the rhythm or the music pervading +the voice, produced by its rise and fall, also called +cadence, or the idiomatic expression of a language.</p> + +<p>Third: as to accent.</p> + +<p>Fourth: as to emphasis.</p> + +<p>The <em>metre</em> is produced by an artistic mode of +breathing (in addition to our ordinary and permanent +mode), marked by regular repetitions of a given +order of inspirations and expirations which can be +"measured" as to the time consumed in their +enunciation, and are therefore, not incorrectly, called +"feet."</p> + +<p>The metre is a product or outcome of the <em>will</em>, a +force which presides over material-spiritual issues. +It changes with our inclinations and moods, and is +expressive thereof. We can pass from one metre +to another at will, as the occasion may require. It +is the <em>material</em> part of speech, as we can measure it +and account for it as to time in space, supposing +time to be incorporated. The metre expressive of +joy, for instance, being quick, that of sorrow slow; +the former, if incorporated, would take up less space +than the latter, in the same proportion as it consumes +less time in being uttered.</p> + +<p>The <em>rhythm</em> is that characteristic quality which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +distinguishes one language from another, the basis +upon which it is built and around which all its elementary +words cluster; its fundamental principle, its +idiomatic expression, the music pervading its every +syllable; the inflection, the rise and fall, the cadence +of the voice; the spirit of a language, which is permanent +and unchangeable.</p> + +<p>The rhythm is an outcome of the <em>mind</em>; an influence +which presides over <em>spiritual-material</em> issues. +As <em>harmony is the first law of nature</em>, so is that harmony +which pervades our native tongue the law +upon which our individual and national characteristic +expressions and actions are based. We exercise +it intuitively. It is innate in, and unalterably connected +with, our native tongue. It cannot be eliminated +therefrom, or put into it by a foreigner, except +when acquired in childhood, or by the study of such +principles as I have attempted to lay down in this +book. It is inborn in every language as its spirit, +and is as enduring as that language itself. It is not +subject to change by the dictates of the will.</p> + +<p>The <em>accent</em> represents that element which distinguishes +between the character and meaning of words, +and has no reference to parts thereof or their relation +to other words; the same word being pronounced in +as many different ways and with as many different +<em>accents</em> as it denotes different senses or meanings; +while <em>different words, embodying the same idea, are +uttered with precisely the same accent</em>.</p> + +<p>The accent or intonation is an outcome of the +<em>soul</em>; an influence which dominates over our spiritual +nature and over <em>spiritual issues</em>. "The rose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +by any other name would smell as sweet." It is +equally true that any other name given to the rose +would be pronounced by the same indefinable intonation +as its present name, with that same embodiment +of the mystery of the soul signifying the +flower called "a rose." The <em>word</em> "rose," which +is the same, or nearly the same, in so many different +languages, though possessing the same <em>spiritual</em> elements +in them all, varies as to measure and rhythm +in every one of them.</p> + +<p>If the influence of the soul, embodying an idea in +a word, through the intonation we give it, were not +the same for <em>all</em> languages, it would not be possible +to translate poetry, and retain, to some extent at +least, that which is commonly called "the rhythm" +of the original; nor would it be possible to sing a +song in another language, and retain, even approximately, +the spiritual elements of the original. We +would not be impressed with it, would not be +<em>thrilled</em> by it.</p> + +<p><em>The intonation of a word, expressive of the soul in +the embodiment of an idea, is a bond which unites +all humanity</em>; not alone the human souls of any +special day and generation, but of all days and all +generations. But for the fact that the Greek soul +is in us to-day, that the native intonation of <em>their</em> +words is native with us and with <em>all</em> mankind, their +<em>dead</em> tongue would be <em>absolutely</em> dead for us. We +could find no meaning in it, no beauty, no spirit, no +soul. Think of the melody pervading the soul of +Homer and emanating from <em>his</em> lyre still living and +finding an echo in <em>our</em> souls! Think of the harmony<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +pervading the soul of Schiller or Tennyson continuing +to live, and pervading the souls of the latest +generations! Nor could Luther's famous translation +of the Bible or its beautiful English version +ever have been produced, and after production have +made the same impression on the mind, or been read +with the same expression of the voice, as the words +of this same Bible made upon the minds, and were +expressed by the voice, of its original composers, +but for the fact <em>that words of the same meaning</em>, <em>in +every language</em> (aside from metre and rhythm), <em>are +pronounced precisely the same</em>. It is this universal +comprehension of their beauty which gives immortality +to the strains of great singers, whether they +appear in their original form or are translated (that +is, if well translated) into foreign languages, or are +set to music and sung either in the one or the other.</p> + +<p>If the performances of creating original compositions +and their translations were of a mere mechanical +order, or were explainable from a mechanical +standpoint, no such soul effects could ever be produced. +The word, as such, is a <em>mechanical</em> contrivance; +but its intonation is of the soul, being an +emanation of the idea it represents. If our ears were +so schooled that by <em>their "intonation" we could comprehend +the meaning of words</em>, we could understand +every language upon simply hearing it spoken.</p> + +<p>The people of all nations, through their eyesight, +form the same conception of an object; the same +being impressed upon all minds in the same manner. +When a picture thus impressed upon the mind (brain) +is reproduced by, or is translated into, vocal utter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>ance, +it continues to remain the same with all people. +This does not refer to impressions made by material +objects alone, but extends to immaterial subjects as +well. Hence, knowing the meaning of a word in +one language, we can at once conjure up the idea it +represents in all languages.</p> + +<p>The sight, however, not only impresses our minds +through the eye with a given picture, but, as there +is a correlation existing between all our faculties, it +also impresses the voice with a given inflection, expressive +of such impression upon the mind, and of +no other impression; any given sight or mental conception +of any kind always producing an inflection of +the voice corresponding therewith. The vocal expression +of an idea might thus be called an <em>audible</em> +"photographic" reproduction of the impression +made by the original object upon the eyesight, and, +respectively, upon the brain, or it might be called a +phonographic reproduction thereof, supposing that +the picture of an object could be impressed upon +the wax and could thus become audible. How +such a reproduction may be made from an <em>immaterial</em> +subject would be more difficult to comprehend. +Of the fact, however, that an impression from abstract +subjects <em>is</em> made, and that an audible expression +of such impression is produced through the +voice, and that this is the case with all people alike, +I expect to furnish positive proof in a future publication. +The fact of our not being accustomed to +distinguish in this manner between various expressions +through inflections of the voice is no proof +that they do not exist.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> + +<p>The soul impresses every word with a seal of its +own, characteristic of the idea it embodies, there +being as many accents or inflections of the voice as +there are <em>separate ideas</em>, or, rather, <em>groups of ideas</em>. +I beg leave to copy the following from the <cite>Saturday +Evening Post</cite> of April 8, 1899:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"Mr. Kipling recently told an interviewer: 'We write, +it is true, in letters of the alphabet; but, psychologically +regarded, every printed page is a picture book; every +word, concrete or abstract, is a picture. The picture +itself may never come to the reader's consciousness, but +deep down below, in the unconscious realms, the picture +works and influences us.'"</p></div> + +<p>The accent is not subject to the will any more +than the rhythm. The will can do <em>this</em>, however: +it can give greater weight, force, and expression, +and a wider scope, to the correlated forces of +metre, rhythm, and accent, through the</p> + +<p><em>Emphasis</em> which it infuses into them. Through +the emphasis, inlet upon inlet is opened, an additional +stream of fresh air is infused into them, flooding +the spiritual system. Valve upon valve is then +opened to let it out. Hence, emphasis is not an +"element" of speech proper, but an amplification, +an addition to existing elements, rather, impregnating +them with the life of the heart, the feelings, +the emotions.</p> + +<p>In distinguishing in this manner, as I have in the +above, between the will, the mind, and the soul, I +consider them parts of a great spiritual system intimately +connected with corresponding parts of our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +physical system, but lay no claim as to the correctness +of the <em>terms</em> I have used. On the contrary, I +feel that they are inadequate, and, at most, a makeshift +for more fitting expressions. There is a dearth +of expressional terms, and I am doing the best I can +with such as are at my disposal.</p> + +<p>In the same sense, also, I distinguish between +material-spiritual, spiritual-material, and spiritual +issues; and consider them the outcome, respectively, +of the will, the mind, and the soul.</p> + +<p>I wish it were in my power to at once fully explain, +as far as I am able to offer any explanation +at all, how it is <em>mechanically</em> possible to express these +four elements of metre, rhythm, accent, and emphasis +(so widely differing from each other) at one and +the same time, by four different modes of breathing, +carried on simultaneously, in addition to our +regular mode of breathing. The <em>perfection</em> of +elocution and of singing is to carry on all these +various processes simultaneously in as perfect +a manner as the subject and the occasion may +demand.</p> + +<p>I can explain the preceding, in part at least, as +follows:</p> + +<p>Verse is generally marked by the signs of long +and short. While they denote time or metre in the +first instance, they are also used to mark what is +called "rhythm." Yet, while metre and rhythm +are <em>apparently</em> of the same order, they are, as a +matter of fact, invariably of an inverse order.</p> + +<p>We cannot produce two distinctly different expressions +while breathing in one and the same direction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +While we breathe for metre in one direction, we +breathe for rhythm in the opposite direction.</p> + +<p>Regarding that mode of breathing expressive of +the soul, and pertaining to words in conformity with +their <em>meaning</em>, and which, in the absence of any +more significant word, I have called the "accent," +it is of an altogether different order and does not conflict +with these other modes of breathing.</p> + +<p>Having stated that rhythm and accent are involuntary +productions, and that metre alone is subject +to the will, we must look to the metre, measure, or +time for our guide in our artistic vocal performances. +To this, emphasis must be added, as being +likewise subject to the will.</p> + +<p>As every language has its own time, or tempo, +and cannot be properly produced except in conformity +therewith, it appears to me that it should be +the first aim of vocal science <em>to ascertain the exact +nature of such tempo</em> for every separate language. +<em>When the correct time is kept, all other component +parts of speech fall into line correctly and involuntarily.</em> +Just what the proportionate tempo is for +English as against German vocal utterance, I am +unable to say, but it is much quicker for the latter +than it is for the former.</p> + +<p>There is a duality existing between metre and +rhythm: the former is voluntary, the latter involuntary. +Thus, also, is there a duality between emphasis +and accent, of which the former is voluntary, +the latter involuntary. Every voluntary factor, not +only in vocal utterance, but every voluntary factor +in any artistic performance of whatsoever nature,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +being sustained by an involuntary counter-factor; +the same as voluntary and involuntary muscles complement +and sustain each other.</p> + +<p>Not only every artistic performance, but I dare +say <em>every</em> act or action of any kind, is of a dual nature. +Every separate duality, again, being sustained +by a counter-duality, every performance is sustained +by four different factors.</p> + +<p>When an act is of a material nature and belongs +to the hemisphere of the abdomen, it is sustained +by four counter-factors belonging to the thorax. +When it is of an immaterial nature and belongs to +the hemisphere of the thorax, it is sustained by four +counter-factors having their seat in the abdomen. +Thus every act or action consists of eight movements, +or an <em>octave</em> of movements.</p> + + +<h3>SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WORD "SCHOOL" IN CONNECTION +WITH THE ART OF SINGING</h3> + +<p>Having established the fact that the rhythmic +movements for English and German vocal expression +are directly opposed to each other, the one being +represented by the iambic, the other by the trochaic +measure, there is still a wide field open for investigation +as to the idiomatic expression of other +languages. This it should not be difficult to determine; +personally, I cannot devote the necessary +time to this subject even as far as I might be able to +do so in connection with other languages of which I +have some knowledge. The differences in other +tongues, of course, must be embodied in either of the +two measures named, as these embrace all others.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +Whatever may constitute a nation's idiomatic expression +must spring from a variation of either of +these. While the precedence is given to the abdomen +in some and to the thorax in others, the point +of gravitation, which according to its location calls +for the special manner in which we inspire into and +expire from either the one or the other, establishes +such variation in the idiomatic expression of <em>all</em> +tongues.</p> + +<p>All that is said about an Italian, a German, or +any other "school" (with the exception, perhaps, +of what may constitute the difference between what +is called "the <em>old</em> and the <em>new</em> Italian school," and +which covers issues of a nature foreign to these investigations) +has its proper significance right here: +There is no "school" in the sense in which this word +is ordinarily used. There are nations and there are +languages belonging to such nations. Each nation's +language is that nation's "school," and no one +nation can go to school with any other nation.</p> + +<p>Peasants and the mass of the people generally in +Italy, France, Germany, etc., do not visit academies +to study vocal art, yet their mode of expression is +precisely the same as that of the best vocal artists of +these respective countries. I do not mean to say, +of course, that the raw material their voices is made +up of is as rarefied and artistically trained, but that +the composition, the fundamental element thereof, +is of precisely the same order as that of their most +finished artists. This raw material, on the other +hand, in every instance, varies from that of people +belonging to every other nation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<p>The best thing, therefore, to be done, to bring +such vocal material as nature has endowed one with +up to its greatest perfection, is to have it "schooled" +by artists belonging to one's own nation. There may +be a time coming, and the same may not be far distant, +when methods may be taught by which one +may become acquainted with the spirit, and learn +the exact mode of the technical expression, of other +nations besides one's own. It will then become +possible to comprehend these foreign methods and +to profit by comprehending them. As long as the +principles upon which they are based, however, are +not understood, any attempt at singing according to +the same will be futile as an accomplishment or an +art, and <em>hurtful</em> to the voice of the person making +the attempt.</p> + +<p><em>Such person will only injure his or her own natural +mode of expression, without acquiring the foreign +mode</em>.</p> + +<p>The idea of learning a certain mode of expression, +the Italian, for instance, for singing, and applying +it to <em>all</em> tongues, is futile and contrary to all reason. +We might, with as much show of reason, say that +by learning to pronounce one foreign tongue we +may apply that knowledge to the pronunciation of +every other foreign tongue.</p> + +<p>The true state of affairs, and the only one to +follow, is, and always will be, this: First, and above +all, learn to use your own tongue thoroughly, for +<em>all</em> purposes of vocal expression. Then learn the +use of other tongues for vocal expression in those +other tongues only. You cannot apply the techni<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>cal +mode of Italian expression to English vocal utterance +any more than you can apply the technical +mode of English expression to Italian vocal utterance. +An attempt at so doing is quite as preposterous +in the one case as it is in the other.</p> + +<p>Besides, for the purpose of singing in his own +tongue, an Anglo-Saxon does not and should not +want to acquire any other mode, as he is by nature +in possession of one of the <em>best</em> modes of expression. +There is none intrinsically purer, none possessed of +more vigor or power of expression. There are +those with greater softness combined with purity, +but lacking strength, as the Italian; and those with +more soulfulness combined with strength, but lacking +purity, as the German. This native element +of purity allied to strength in the Anglo-Saxon, +more especially in the English-American, mode of +expression is primarily the cause of the high position +in the artistic world of the American singer. I +ascribe the superiority of the "American" mode of +expression over the "English," when untrammelled +as in song, in part to the greater personal liberty, +the greater want of conventionality, the vast extent +of our territory, and our almost constantly clear and +unclouded sky; all these being conditions that assist +the free exercise of one's natural endowments. +To reach the best results in the art of singing, the +body as well as the soul must be, as far as possible, +untrammelled in any direction. While the idiomatic +expression of the English language here and +abroad is the same, the social restraint and the conservatism +of the English as a nation act against the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +best outcome of their gift of song, which demands +for its best expression freedom from conventionality +or any other constraint.</p> + +<p>Each nation is at its best in its own tongue. +Our orators are equal to any there are in the +world. They do not speak according to the Italian, +the German, or any other school. If they did, they +would utterly fail and make themselves ridiculous. +Why do people, then, want to "speak" in this +more expansive and soulful manner, called "singing," +in these foreign modes? I know the answer +will be that singing and speaking are things quite +apart, having no affinity in their mode of production. +I shall show, as I have already partly shown, +that they are of precisely the <em>same order</em>, though +different phases of that order; that they cannot be +separated; in so far as the elements which belong to +speech also belong to song, and those which belong +to song also belong to speech; but that they are +used in an inverse order in the former as well as in +the latter.</p> + +<p>Listen to a person breathing just before falling +asleep, in a slow, rhythmical order; material objects +retire into the background and assume a semi-spiritual +shape. This is a similar condition to the +one we are in and in which we breathe during the +production of song. [By the by, sleep can be induced +by thinking of a song, that is, by mentally singing +it]. No two nations, however, breathe just alike +in that condition, any more than they do during +their waking moments; the mode of breathing during +sleep being a reversion always of the one which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +obtains during our waking moments. Our mode of +breathing, however, <em>always</em> determines our mode of +vocal utterance. We can reverse our voice, as we +do in whispering, but it is always the same voice, +as a garment is the same when we turn it inside out.</p> + +<p>Do you know, by the way, that the English whispering +voice is the German speaking, and the German +whispering the English speaking voice? Try +it, and you will find it so. Go on whispering; that +is, continue to use your voice in the <em>same</em> mechanical +manner, but instead of for whispering, use it for +speaking aloud, and you will have the exact mode +of the other tongue. An Anglo-Saxon, in so doing, +will be able to speak German aloud, but not English; +a German will be able to speak English, but +not German.</p> + +<p>Thinking and speaking are of one and the same +order. Thought makes the impression of which +speech is the expression. If this were not the case, +it would not be possible to pass from thinking to +speaking or from speaking to thinking at once, and +without an effort. To produce English speech, we +must think English in a material way, that is, anteriorly, +and in so doing produce an instrument +from which English material or speech sounds emanate. +To produce English song, we must think +English in a spiritual way, that is, posteriorly, and +in so doing produce an instrument from which English +spiritual or song sounds emanate. We cannot +think English in either of these two ways and produce +German or Italian sounds for speech or song; +nor can we produce the latter sounds in any other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +manner than by <em>thinking</em>, either materially or spiritually, +in these languages, and in the proper idiomatic +manner inherent therein.</p> + +<p>How can an English-speaking person, physically +and spiritually formed for English expression, and for +no other expression, produce proper Italian sounds? +She will think Italian in an English way; and, while +singing Italian words, produce them with an English +expression. That is not singing Italian, however, +but English. Is it likely that she will succeed in +acquiring the Italian mode of expression while her +teacher himself is ignorant of just what that mode +consists in, and in what it differs from the native +mode of vocal expression of his scholar? You might +as well attempt to produce on a violin the sounds of +a violoncello or some other instrument.</p> + +<p>To illustrate the power of the natural voice, it will +but be necessary to call attention to what occurs in +almost any concert wherein one of America's own +daughters, now "<em>prima donna assoluta</em>," is the main +performer. She sings a grand aria, the work of an +Italian master, highly artistically and perfectly rendered. +Musicians are delighted; the public applauds. +She reënters, and now the <em>donna</em>, changed +to a simple American, sings one of England's or +America's own songs. The audience, which before +had been languidly listening, at the first notes of this +song is stirred, electrified, and now listens intently. +When she ceases to sing, there is a storm of applause, +as to almost shake the house. Where the artistic +sense alone had been engaged before, the hearts and +the souls of her hearers have now been touched.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +Yet I have seen the eccentric Von Buelow deliberately +take out his handkerchief after such a +demonstration and wipe the "desecration" of the +"ditty" from the keys of the piano which had +accompanied the song, before he deigned to dignify +it with one of his "classic" renderings. No doubt +he had much contempt for it all: the song, the +singer, and the public. The treasures of that +"ditty," however, were of an order similar to those +hidden within the breast of every one composing +that audience. The pearls, floating through the +room from the lips of one of its own daughters, +had, with a sympathetic touch, stirred it to its very +depths, while the foreign "aria" had left it comparatively +cold. Supposing an <em>Italian</em> singer were +to sing an English "aria" in the English language +to an Italian audience, and, after that, were to produce +one of her own simple Italian songs, would not +the effect be the same? Would Italians, in fact, +care to listen to her English interpretation, no matter +how artistically rendered?</p> + +<p>It is an entirely different thing, however, for German +or Italian singers to come here and sing their +own songs in their own native tongue. Though +foreign, the production is genuine. They sing what +belongs to them, that in which they live, breathe; +they sing their own soul. Such a performance we +can comprehend and appreciate, even as we view a +foreigner with interest, and honor him for that +which is great and good in him, and for which he is +distinguished. We can soon <em>feel</em> what is genuine +and also that which is not; the former being nature's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +own production, the latter imitated, forced—unnatural. +Italians do not sing English or German +songs; why should Germans and English-speaking +people sing Italian and French songs, to the exclusion, +very often, of their own?</p> + +<p>It was but recently that I heard a German choral +society sing German songs to a delighted American +audience. Then came something weird, strange; it +was German, yet the words were not German. +Looking at the programme, it turned out to be the +famous plantation song, "'Way down upon the +Suwannee River." The audience looked bewildered; +there was no applause, though, judging by the attitude +of the singers, they had expected to make this +the grand hit of the evening.</p> + +<p>The last performance of the great festival of the +United German singers in Philadelphia, in 1897, was +the production of the "Star-Spangled Banner." +Everything in the appearance of the singers showed +that this finale was to be the crowning act of the +entire festival. All the singers, male and female, +participated, and "Old Glory" was waved in the +air during the performance. But, as I had feared, +it was a complete failure. Instead of the vast audience +spontaneously rising to its feet and being +carried away by enthusiasm, it remained cold and +indifferent, and there was no applause commensurate +with what it would have been had the performers +sung the words with the true ring in them and the +true English accent. The same thing would happen +if the "Marseillaise" were sung in France, or +the "Wacht am Rhein" in Germany, by foreign<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +singing societies, no matter how excellently schooled, +and how artistically rendered.</p> + +<p>A similar experience was had by Madame Brinkerhoff, +who relates the same in <cite>The Vocalist</cite> of December, +1896, as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"To show how language is imbedded in the <em>timbre</em> of +the voice, I will relate an incident of last season. On +the first night of the representation of the 'Scarlet Letter,' +by Damrosch, sung by German singers, I was not +surprised or in the least displeased at hearing this beautiful +opera sung with the German <em>timbre</em> of voice; but +after listening to a whole act, I heard no German words; +I listened in vain for the shaping of their consonants and +vowels, although I heard the German sounds or <em>timbres</em>. +So I asked the lady seated next to me what language the +people on the stage were singing. 'German,' she replied. +I said: 'But I hear no German words. Will you kindly +listen and tell me when you hear German words?' She +listened and replied, 'No, I do not hear German words, +but I thought before it was German.' She asked me if +it was English. We could not decide it until the lights +were turned on, and looked at the programme, which +read, 'sung in English.'</p> + +<p>"This summer I asked a distinguished singer and +teacher of Philadelphia in what language the 'Scarlet +Letter' was sung in that city. She replied, 'Oh, German, +of course.' 'Did you hear it?' I asked. 'Yes, +and I enjoyed it very much, and it was sung in German,' +she replied. 'It said in English on the programme,' I +said. 'Well, if I was fooled, a great many more were +fooled—beside myself, all our party thought so too. +What are you going to do about it?' Gounod says: 'I +did not like Italian singing; their tones were attacked so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +differently from the French method of singing that it was +unpleasant at first, but I went again and again, for I could +not stay away. I enjoyed it so much.'"</p></div> + +<p>This is what Frau Johanna Gadski had to say in +an interview printed in <cite>Werner's Magazine</cite>:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"I have never had any lessons in acting. The director +of the Choral Opera told me at the outset that it was better +to act by feeling when singing than by instruction. +If one studies only acting and singing, one is not always +natural. That is the reason why one who does not speak +German does not understand the German people and +their spirit, is not a German, and cannot sing the Wagner +rôles. One must have the German spirit. Sometimes +you write here in your papers that German singers +cannot sing. I think they sing German rôles very well. +One must sing, act, and, above everything, feel at the +same time, and then one can speak to the heart of the +listener."</p></div> + +<p>Singing in a foreign tongue is, and must be, and +always will be (until these things are more thoroughly +understood), to a large extent, simply mechanical. +Until then, the soul-stirring depth (<em>der Zauber</em>) of +the native composition will always be wanting. +The Anglo-Saxon race has been altogether too dependent +upon European continental nations for its +examples, its support, and its development in <em>all</em> +branches of art. This has been more particularly +the case in regard to music and song. Though German +music, for obvious reasons, which give Germans +the preponderance on this field of art, ranks first +among nations, still there should be among Eng<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>lish-speaking +nations a greater native development +thereof in harmony with the national expression.</p> + +<p><em>Song</em>, above all, must be national; it must be in +harmony with the <em>genius</em> of a nation to attain its +highest development. It is too closely allied to a +nation's speech to be separated therefrom without +doing violence to both its music and its meaning. +The music and the words <em>must go together</em>; their +union is as indispensable as it is indissoluble. While +we have excellent vocal material in this country, it +lacks the proper food for its nourishment. There +is no want of poetic compositions. No nation has +their superior, or has them in greater abundance. +We have the words and the singers; but there is a +woful lack of a higher class of compositions for +singing. The latter are not at all commensurate +with the abundance and the superiority of the talent +that is awaiting their appearance.</p> + +<p>With compositions on a par with its vocal talent, +this nation might rank first among nations in the +art of singing. It must stand on its own footing. It +must sing its own songs and must be taught by its +own teachers. This dictum may provoke indignation +in "foreign" vocal teachers. Though I +regret the possible consequences to them, this cannot +be helped. Science is synonymous with knowledge, +and knowledge with truth, and "the truth +must be told if the heavens should fall."</p> + + +<h3>BREATHING</h3> + +<p>All of the preceding, in a manner, may be said to +be a preliminary argument for the great truth I claim<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +to have discovered, namely, that <em>in the sphere of +the trunk of our body the material part of our nature +is represented by the hemisphere of the abdomen, its +immaterial part by that of the thorax; that in the +sphere of the head a similar division obtains, in conformity +with which it is also divided into hemispheres +representing material and immaterial issues; and that +every faculty, and the exercise thereof, have their being +in a dual action, in close succession, emanating +from these hemispheres.</em></p> + +<p>The first proposition to be proven was that we +breathe through the œsophagus, conjointly with +the trachea. If all I have said in the preceding has +not already convinced the reader of the truth of this +statement, I trust the following experiments will +thoroughly convince him thereof. These experiments +will also furnish additional proof of the fact +that English and German modes of respiration are +of an inverse order.</p> + +<p>Not the slightest fear need be entertained as to +the result of these experiments. I have made the +same, and others of a similar nature, over and over +again, without being in the least discomfited thereby; +and I may add that to the fact of having been +entirely divested of fear, I largely owe my success +in all these undertakings.</p> + +<p>If you are an Anglo-Saxon, and make the muscles +of your throat rigid, thereby stopping inspiration +through the trachea into the thorax, you will soon +experience a decided movement of the abdomen, in +conformity with which it will first expand anteriorly, +then posteriorly, and again anteriorly. There will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +now be a pause, after which the abdomen will be +first expanded posteriorly, then anteriorly, and +again posteriorly. This is as far as you can go; you +will be compelled to release your hold on your throat +after these six movements; the thorax meanwhile +remaining passive.</p> + +<p>Upon next making the muscles of the back of +your neck rigid, equal to those of the œsophagus, +the latter being thereby closed to respiration, you +will soon experience a decided movement of the +thorax, by which it will be first expanded posteriorly, +then anteriorly, and again posteriorly. +There will now be a pause, after which the thorax +will be first expanded anteriorly, then posteriorly, +and again anteriorly.</p> + +<p>These twelve movements constitute one act of +respiration during which inspiration and expiration +for thorax and abdomen equalize each other. The +first three movements of the abdomen, consisting of +an inspiration, an expiration, and an inspiration, +constitute what is commonly called an inspiration; +the second three movements of the abdomen, consisting +of an expiration, an inspiration, and an +expiration, constitute what is commonly called an +expiration. Of the six movements of the thorax +succeeding these, the first three, consisting of an +inspiration, an expiration, and an inspiration, are +equal to an inspiration; the last three, consisting of +an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, are +equal to an expiration. We thus have four complete +respirations, two of which, equal to an inspiration +and an expiration, belong to the abdomen; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +two, likewise equal to an inspiration and an expiration, +belong to the thorax.</p> + +<p>Inasmuch as each of these four respirations is +composed of three separate movements, one complete +respiration consists of twelve separate movements +of the respiratory organs. This relates to our +ordinary mode of breathing. For vocal utterance, +more especially the utterance of a vocal sound, these +four respirations are first made for the impression, +and are then, in an inverse order, repeated for the +expression. This gives us eight movements, or an +<em>octave</em> of movements, for each vocal sound; these +eight movements, as a matter of fact, consisting of +twenty-four separate movements of the respiratory +organs. These movements, which in our experiment +were of relatively long duration, during our +ordinary mode of breathing follow upon one another +very rapidly; thorax and abdomen, which during +our experiment were restrained, ordinarily and when +unrestrained, acting and reacting upon one another +in quick succession.</p> + +<p>The preceding experiment gives us the following +result:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="experiment"> + <tr> + <th colspan="0">ABDOMEN</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Movement</td> + <td>1.</td> + <td>Anterior, inspiration.</td> + <td rowspan="3" class="bl bt bb"><em>Inspiration.</em></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>2.</td> + <td>Posterior, expiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>3.</td> + <td>Anterior, inspiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>4.</td> + <td>Posterior, expiration.</td> + <td rowspan="3" class="bl bb"><em>Expiration.</em></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>5.</td> + <td>Anterior, inspiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>6.</td> + <td>Posterior, expiration. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <th colspan="0">THORAX</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Movement</td> + <td>1.</td> + <td>Posterior, inspiration.</td> + <td rowspan="3" class="bl bt bb"><em>Inspiration.</em></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>2.</td> + <td>Anterior, expiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>3.</td> + <td>Posterior, inspiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>4.</td> + <td>Anterior, expiration.</td> + <td rowspan="3" class="bl bb"><em>Expiration.</em></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>5.</td> + <td>Posterior, inspiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>6.</td> + <td>Anterior, expiration.</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>All of the preceding has reference to the Anglo-Saxon +mode of breathing.</p> + +<p>Germans, under the same circumstances, will make +movements of an inverse order.</p> + +<p>The first movement of the abdomen will be posterior, +the next anterior, the third posterior, which +will be succeeded by anterior, posterior, and anterior +ones; while the movements of the thorax will be +anterior, posterior, and anterior, succeeded by posterior, +anterior, and posterior ones. This shows +that <em>with Germans, expiration antecedes inspiration</em>, +while <em>with Anglo-Saxons, inspiration antecedes +expiration</em>.</p> + +<p>In our experiment, with Anglo-Saxons, <em>inspiration</em> +took place in the abdomen by two movements +anteriorly to one posteriorly, and in the thorax by +two movements posteriorly to one anteriorly; while +<em>expiration</em> took place by two movements of the +abdomen posteriorly to one anteriorly, and in the +thorax by two movements anteriorly to one posteriorly, +as per this schedule:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="schedule"> + <tr> + <th><span class="smcap">Anglo-Saxon</span></th> + <th>Abdomen</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1. Inspiration,</td> + <td>Ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>2. Expiration,</td> + <td>Post., ant., post. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <th></th> + <th>Thorax</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>3. Inspiration,</td> + <td>Post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>4. Expiration,</td> + <td>Ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>In the case of a German, it would have been more +proper, for our experiment, to have <em>first</em> closed the +muscles to the œsophagus, and then those to the +trachea, as Germans first breathe into the œsophagus +and then into the thorax. Had this been done, the +result would have been inverse to that of our experiment, +as follows: The first movement of the thorax +would have been one of inspiration, the same as the +first movement of the abdomen; and the second +movement of the thorax would have been one of +expiration, the same as the second movement of the +abdomen, thus:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="movement"> + <tr> + <th><span class="smcap">German</span></th> + <th>Thorax</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1. Inspiration,</td> + <td>Ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>2. Expiration,</td> + <td>Post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <th>Abdomen</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>3. Inspiration,</td> + <td>Post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>4. Expiration,</td> + <td>Ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p><em>This shows that the movements of the abdomen are +the reverse of those of the thorax</em>:</p> + +<p>With <em>Anglo-Saxons</em>, in such a manner that, while +for the abdomen <em>inspiration</em> takes place anteriorly, +it takes place for the thorax posteriorly; and that, +while for the abdomen <em>expiration</em> takes place posteriorly, +it takes place for the thorax anteriorly;</p> + +<p>With <em>Germans</em>, in such a manner that, while for +the thorax <em>inspiration</em> takes place anteriorly, it takes +place for the abdomen posteriorly; and that, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +for the thorax <em>expiration</em> takes place posteriorly, it +takes place for the abdomen anteriorly.</p> + +<p>These various modes of breathing find an illustration +in the following:</p> + +<p>Anglo-Saxons, while carrying a burden (for which +purpose it is necessary to hold the breath or to +economize the same as much as possible), inspire into +the abdomen anteriorly and the chest posteriorly, +and in so doing expand the same accordingly; while +Germans, under the same circumstances, breathe into +and expand the abdomen posteriorly and the chest +anteriorly. The action of the former tending away +from the diaphragm, that of the latter tending +towards it, exercise an influence on the spinal column +which causes Anglo-Saxons while carrying a +burden to assume an erect, Germans a stooping +position. This has already been illustrated by calling +attention to the difference between the position +of the Greek and Gothic caryatides, the former representing +the Anglo-Saxon, the latter the German +mode of breathing. The order for German soldiers, +"Brust heraus, Bauch herein"! ("Breast out, belly +in"), for Anglo-Saxons should be, "Breast in, belly +out"! The former gives German soldiers that stiff +appearance, tending towards the diaphragm, of +which Heine has said:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Als haetten sie verschluckt den Stock,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Womit man sie einst gepruegelt."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">("As if the stick they'd swallowed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With which they once were walloped.")<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The fact that inspiration always consists in an in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>spiration, +an expiration, and an inspiration, while expiration +consists in an expiration, an inspiration, and +an expiration, is one of the most interesting observations +I have made in connection with these studies.</p> + +<p>These facts may be generalized in saying: There +is no action connected with life which consists of +a single movement in any one single direction; +every action, of whatsoever nature, if it is outgoing, +consisting of an outgoing, ingoing, and outgoing +movement; if it is ingoing, of an ingoing, outgoing, +and ingoing movement; every superior movement +consisting of a superior, an inferior, and a superior; +every inferior, of an inferior, a superior, and an inferior +one; every left movement, of one to the left, +to the right, and to the left; every right movement, +of one to the right, to the left, and to the right; the +last movement <em>only</em> being visible and accompanying +action.</p> + +<p>While our experiment is representative of the +general principles underlying our mode of breathing, +the act of breathing, proper, is subject to many +variations. During their waking moments, or for +conversation, with Anglo-Saxons respiration takes +place by thorax and abdomen changing off, alternately, +while with Germans they succeed one +another in the same manner as they did in our +experiment, commencing, however, with the thorax +instead of with the abdomen, and with expiration +instead of with inspiration, as follows:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="breathing"> + <tr> + <td></td> + <th colspan="0"><span class="smcap">Anglo-Saxon</span></th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1.</td> + <td>Insp.</td> + <td>Thorax—post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>2.</td> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>Abd.—ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>3.</td> + <td>Exp.</td> + <td>Abd.—post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>4.</td> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>Thorax—ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <th colspan="0"><span class="smcap">German</span>.</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1.</td> + <td>Exp.</td> + <td>Thorax—post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>2.</td> + <td>Insp.</td> + <td class="tdp2">" —ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>3.</td> + <td>Exp.</td> + <td>Abd.—ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>4.</td> + <td>Insp.</td> + <td class="tdp1">" —post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>This shows an indirect movement for Anglo-Saxon, +a direct movement for German respiration. Hence, +English enunciation is necessarily slow, German +relatively quick. It also shows that the reserve +force with Anglo-Saxons is held before it is expended; +with Germans it is expended almost as fast +as it is engendered.</p> + +<p>As there is an apparent discrepancy between the +last schedule and the previous one showing Anglo-Saxon +mode of inspiration, I want to remind the +reader that our "experiment" was made mainly to +set forth the fact that we breathe through the œsophagus +conjointly with breathing through the +trachea; but it was not intended to show our regular +mode of breathing.</p> + +<p>Though Germans and Anglo-Saxons breathe in +opposite directions, still there is an affinity between +them in so far as they breathe <em>along the same plane</em>. +Peoples who speak any of the Latin tongues, on the +other hand, breathe along a different plane, and so +do Slavonic, Mongolian, and other races. Anglo-Saxons +and Germans, therefore, though opposed to +one another in one sense, are affiliated in another; +and both may be, therefore, as they often are, said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +to belong to the Teutonic race, together with other +peoples along the borders of the North and Baltic +Seas. In a similar manner, no doubt, other races +possess their similitudes and dissimilarities.</p> + +<p>It should scarcely require any further proof on +my part after this and all I have previously said to +show that, if any of the peoples now speaking Latin +tongues were in place thereof to speak English or +German, they would, in the course of time, cease +to be Frenchmen, Spaniards, or Italians, as the case +might be, and would become Anglo-Saxons or Germans; +or that, if any of the Slavonic races or peoples +would do the same, the same result would eventually +ensue; and also that, if Anglo-Saxon or German +peoples were to speak Latin or Slavonic tongues in +place of their own, they would eventually cease to +be Anglo-Saxons or Germans, and would become +the people whose tongue they were speaking; always +provided, of course, that such tongues were to be +spoken <em>idiomatically</em> correctly. Should any one still +doubt that language is the mainspring formulating +peoples and nations in all that essentially belongs +to them and distinguishes them as such, I confidently +believe that that which I shall still further +have to say on this subject will eventually convince +even the most obdurate of the correctness of these +assertions.</p> + +<p>The preceding schedules both for English-and +German-speaking peoples show their mode of +breathing during their waking moments and for the +purpose of conversation. During sleep and for the +demands of the singing voice, however, thorax and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +abdomen interchange with one another in so harmonious +a manner that their inspirations and expirations +appear as one respective inspiration and +expiration.</p> + +<p>The following schedules will show the relation of +metre and rhythm to breathing.</p> + +<p>Inspiration being of longer duration than expiration, +I have in the following signified the former by +the sign for long (¯), the latter by that for short (˘); +while for the rise of the voice I have used the sign +for acute (´), and for its fall that for grave (`); for +comparison, see schedule on page <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="schedule"> + <tr> + <th colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Anglo-Saxon</span> Abdomen</th> + <th colspan="2">Thorax<br /></th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td rowspan="2">1. Inspiration,</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">`´`</td> + <td rowspan="2">3. Inspiration,</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">`´`</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="monospace tdp1">¯˘¯</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">¯˘¯</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td rowspan="2">2. Expiration,</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">´`´</td> + <td rowspan="2">4. Expiration,</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">´`´</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="monospace tdp1">˘¯˘</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">˘¯˘</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>An experiment may be made by an Anglo-Saxon +adopting the German mode of breathing and then +attempting to speak English, or by a German adopting +the Anglo-Saxon mode of breathing and then +attempting to speak German, which neither will +succeed in doing.</p> + +<p>In making the experiments just now under consideration, +it will <em>not</em> be necessary, after closing the +muscles of the trachea or the œsophagus for the first +six movements, to continue doing so, as the next +six movements will ensue involuntarily. There may +be several repetitions of these twelve movements +involuntarily or automatically following after that; +any special mode of breathing once assumed being +apt to continue indefinitely until another mode is +inaugurated.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<p>The same experiments may also be made by making +<em>abdomen and thorax</em> alternately <em>rigid</em>, or producing +a state of rigidity through mechanical pressure, +in place of producing it with the muscles of the +œsophagus and the trachea. As this may appear +simpler and "less dangerous," there should be +nothing to hinder any one from making these experiments. +The movements will not be as <em>pronounced</em>, +however, in the latter instance as they are +in producing a <em>direct</em> closure of the trachea and the +œsophagus.</p> + +<p>There is a fourth mode of producing the same +results, namely, through the simple act of <em>continuously</em> +"thinking" of any particular part. We may +thus bring about a closure of the muscles of the +trachea or œsophagus, of thorax or abdomen, etc.; +thought, which <em>precedes</em> motion for vocal utterance, +<em>always</em>, as cause to effect, being the final arbiter in +all matters of respiration, unless the latter is of an +involuntary and simply functional character. While +the act of breathing for life pursues its even tenor, +breathing for vocal utterance, though of the same +<em>order</em>, is subject to innumerable changes in conformity +with the sound, syllable, or word intended +to be produced.</p> + +<p>I am aware that there may be <em>apparent</em> incongruities +in some of the preceding, and I presume there +always will be. We can see things only from our +limited standpoint. I have undertaken to solve +matters supposed to be superhuman, or "of God," +and hence <em>perfect</em> in their way, in a human, and +therefore imperfect, manner. Our limitations natu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>rally +extending to our power of observation, the +duality of our nature in matters of this kind does +not permit us—I might say, forbids us—arriving at +<em>final</em> conclusions. We can go as far as our understanding +permits us to go—beyond that, we may at +most indulge in speculation. I have limited myself +to my limits, to what I could prove, and have but +rarely indulged in what I could not—in speculation.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Since the above was written Dr. G. E. Brewer, who in +conjunction with Dr. F. C. Ard, last month (March, 1899), in New +York, successfully performed the very rare operation of laryngectomy, +has told me that his patient had already (after a month) commenced +to speak again, though as yet only in a monotonous whispering voice. +She is doing so in spite of the fact that every vestige of her larynx, +which had been in a diseased state, and which the doctor showed me, +had been removed. When I told the doctor this mysterious "new" +voice was that of the œsophagus and had always existed with his +patient, as it exists with every one else, and had always been heard +in conjunction with that of the trachea, he was greatly astonished, +though naturally incredulous, but said he would investigate.</p></div> + + +<h3>SONG, SINGERS, AND PHYSIOLOGY</h3> + +<p>We are incomprehensible and mysterious beings. +We do not know whence we come nor whither we go; +we do not know what agencies guide and sustain us—our +end is a tragic one. While the soles of our feet +closely adhere to the ground, our heads are in touch +with the most distant stars. We exercise faculties +to perfection whose origin and mode of operation are +unalterably hidden from our knowledge. We possess +gifts and talents which raise us above the plane +of our ordinary existence and inspire us with the +belief that we are related to the divinity, are part of +the divinity. It has ever been man's aim to pene<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>trate +this darkness, to learn to comprehend <em>himself</em>. +The vocation of the singer is one to which this knowledge +is indispensable. In the fulness of his organization +endowed by nature with a divine gift, the +singer's aim and desire is to retain and perfect this +gift.</p> + +<p>The birds sing their same individual song throughout +their career. Man, however, sings the song of +his soul; a song as endless and as varied as his +thoughts. Song with him is not a gift alone, but +its exercise is a study, an art. He must sing <em>knowingly</em>; +he must ascertain the source of his song and +the reason why certain causes produce certain results. +Hence the necessity for a science of the +voice.</p> + +<p>The knowledge of the exercise of our faculties is +dependent on the knowledge of life and on that of the +spirit, without whose aid no transaction of life of any +kind ever takes place. Despairing of his ability to +penetrate into the realms of the spirit, aspiring man +has ever resorted to that which was next at his command—matter. +Hence the effort throughout all of +man's history to reach the soul by way of the body. +But body and mind, in alliance, have ever succeeded +in frustrating these efforts; in keeping the secret of +their duality and mutuality intact from the gaze of +man. Yet singers are determined to find out <em>something</em> +in relation to the <em>voice</em> at least. Finding +that we cannot penetrate into the relation existing +between mind and matter, the effort is renewed +in the most persistent manner to explain the life +and the spirit, whose essence and outcome is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +voice, by examining into the relation of matter to +matter.</p> + +<p>Our professor, having discarded the assistance of +life and the spirit, dabbles in matter pure and undefiled. +This process our young students are invited +to attend. They carry their youth and their talent, +their high hopes and aspirations, into the dissecting-room, +where the spirit of the voice is supposed to +reveal itself among the ghastliest spectacles. If a +person of ordinary good sense, but not acquainted +with these subjects, were to attend a lecture on the +physiology of the voice and then attend a singing-lesson +based upon the knowledge thus attained, he +would be apt to remark: "Can this performance +possibly be meant to be in good faith? Is not +this man taking advantage of the credulity of this +woman, who is giving him her hard-earned money, +but to find before long that she has been beggared, +not only in purse, but in voice and spirit as well; +that she has not been benefited in any sense, but +sadly robbed and betrayed?"</p> + +<p>The persistency with which the modern scientist +attempts to hammer a voice out of the larynx and +surrounding material tissues and other physical +agencies is a cardinal sin against the holy "spirit." +When he uses this supposed knowledge for coining +it into money at the expense of trusting and aspiring +singers, he commits a malpractice, for which +some day he will have to go to the penitentiary of +his own conscience; that is, if he is in possession of +any. "Vocal bands, mucous membranes, tissues, +ligaments, muscles, hollow spaces, air-pressure,"—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>these +are the factors productive of the voice divine; +matter, nought but matter; not a spark of the divine +afflatus, not a spark even of life.</p> + +<p>Journals devoted to the voice are full of these +things. I will quote but a single instance. At the +Music Teachers' National Convention, held in New +York, in June, 1898, a sensation was created by Dr. +Frank E. Miller (see <cite>Werner's Magazine</cite> for August, +1898, page 490) saying:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"In other words, I wish to say that the action of the +cavities or hollow spaces is anterior and prior to the +action of the vocal bands in production of tone and +tone-quality in our organs of speech. <em>With this novel +fact I announce an original discovery.</em>"</p></div> + +<p>It is such <em>stuff</em> as this that these people feed upon +and believe in as revelations of great moment. +Yet Dr. Miller and his coadjutors might sit before +these cavities or hollow spaces till the end of +time, looking, observing, probing, measuring, weighing, +and determining their relation to the vocal bands +and vice versa, and not a vestige of the spirit of the +voice would ever make its appearance. The last +conundrum of this kind, and it has special reference +to my discoveries, is as follows: "May not the disturbance +of speech known as stammering or stuttering +be mainly a condition caused by the putting +out of gear of one air-chamber in its relationship to +other air-chambers, whereby the air-pressures during +the speech-act are at war with one another, resulting +in the well-known manifestations?" (<cite>Werner's Magazine</cite> +for September, 1898, page 59). Air-chambers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +and air-pressures again. I protest against being +made <em>particeps criminis</em> in any such proceeding.</p> + +<p>When we go back to the earliest recorded times +and find traces of an attempt at expression by means +of crude signs or figures impressed upon the clay, +we can see more of the potentiality of a science (or +a civilization) arising therefrom than we can from +the teachings of the laryngoscopists, who claim that +the voice can be evolved from the relations of various +forms of matter to one another, without even a +trace of the spirit accompanying them.</p> + +<p>Not many years since audiences of intelligent persons +were invited to watch a dark tent in which two +men were so closely tied together (as it was supposed) +that they could not possibly move a limb. +From this tent noises would arise as of the dragging +of chains along the floor, bells ringing, etc., interposed +now and then by a chair being flung through +the air. All this was done by the "spirits." This +was a proceeding not unlike the one now going on +in the materialistic school in connection with the +spirit of the voice. There is no more likelihood of +the latter arising from the dark tent of the matter +they are investigating than of a real spirit appearing +in that other tent. The performance, besides, is +not as amusing, no chairs being flung, etc. The +audience is looking on gravely expectant, but all +remains forever monotonously, solemnly, ominously, +and cadaverously silent and resultless.</p> + +<p>The <em>living</em> grain of corn a blind hen after much +scratching succeeds in digging out from beneath a +barn-yard floor bears a closer resemblance to life, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +hence to the voice, than the relations a professor of +physiology scratches together out of the various +parts which he supposes make up the instrument of +the voice. These attempts are so contrary to reason +and common sense that in any other science their +originators would be laughed to scorn for their +pains.</p> + +<p>The other great issue with physiologists in connection +with the voice is that of breathing. Clavicular +breathing, costal breathing, diaphragmatic +breathing, etc.—these are some of the terms in +common use, and the "modes" of breathing commonly +practised. Each of these modes is supposed +to be practised separately and at the will of the +performer. They are praised and recommended or +condemned according to the special view of the +practitioner. Systems are based on these special +modes and schools arise therefrom. What one +"school" practises is condemned by another. And +how could it be otherwise, <em>all</em> being wrong?</p> + +<p>Being homogeneous entities, whose wholesome +existence is based upon a harmonious coöperation of +all parts, we cannot practise breathing from a special +part without every other part more or less participating. +The act of breathing being our most vital performance, +every other part would suffer if it were +confined to any special part. Our entire system, +therefore, must participate therein; the hemisphere +of the abdomen no less than that of the thorax; both +hemispheres coöperating with each other and with +other streams introduced into our system through +the pores and every other opening in the body. For<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +a moment, and for an especial expression, one part +may prevail over another; but the true artist will +always breathe in such a manner that after such an +effort all parts will again harmonize and balance one +another. He will have such control over his breathing +powers that he can at any time throw the balance +of power into one direction; but he will never let +any one direction <em>continue</em> to prevail over any other.</p> + +<p>Every theory heretofore advanced in respect to +our mode of breathing, being based upon false premises, +is wrong in the abstract, and impossible of +practical execution.</p> + +<p>If I have expressed myself strongly, it is because +I feel strongly the injury which has been wrought +by this so-called "science" of the laryngoscopists. +It has in thousands of instances hindered the natural +development of the voice, and has in many other +directions done incalculable harm; while it has in +<em>no</em> direction ever done any good. It has oppressed +the intellect, depressed the spirit, and suppressed the +soul of singers. Let me add but this: What would +be the use of the most scientifically constructed +stove, filled with the most appropriate fuel, if the +flame were wanting to set fire to this fuel? Supposing +the laryngoscopists to comprehend the intricate +construction of the stove (the body), the +highly sensitive and complicated apparatus of the +fuel (the instrument of the voice)—both of which, +however, they are greatly in the dark about—the +flame would still be wanting to set fire to this fuel +and fill the stove with the holy glow of song. This +flame (the life, the spirit) they do not even pretend<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +to be able to furnish. They only give us the stove +and the fuel, which remain forever dark, cold, lifeless, +inert.</p> + +<p>To set myself up in judgment regarding these +important issues, or to place my judgment over +that of so many eminent persons in the past as well +as the present, may appear to be a presumptuous, +rash, bold, and almost unwarranted undertaking. +It is not my fault, however, that there should be +such utter confusion existing in these matters; that +no one should have ever succeeded in reducing this +chaos to any kind of order; that I am the heir, so +to say, to this condition of affairs; the trustee to +this inheritance, who is to make use of it to the best +advantage of all that are interested.</p> + +<p>Nor is it my fault that, not by dint of superior endowments, +or any other qualities of a superior order, +but simply through the discovery of the dual nature +of the voice, I should have obtained an insight +into, a mastery over, these matters never before enjoyed +by any man. Yet there seems to be a disposition +on the part of some persons to throw blame +on me for these facts; in place of furthering, to +suppress, this knowledge; in place of probing and +investigating, to assume that it is simply the outcome +of a somewhat more than lively imagination. +It appears to me that this is partly done in the interest +of the vast literature on these subjects now in +existence, which will become obsolete and valueless +as soon as the <em>truth</em> in matters of the voice has been +established.</p> + +<p>I dare say this simple fact, "We breathe and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +speak through the œsophagus in conjunction with +breathing and speaking through the trachea," for +<em>real</em> knowledge, is worth all of the entire literature +on the voice, as a science, now in existence.</p> + +<p>The science of the voice, as I understand and am +trying to explain and establish it, is one not so +much of mechanical issues, though they have their +share in it, as one in which the spirit, this heretofore +unapproachable issue, performs the greatest and +most vital part. It is a question of life, and every +issue and every agency governing life are involved +in it. How vast a science this science of the voice +therefore is, can be better imagined than at once +fully comprehended. I am far from being able to +present it in all its aspects, but shall endeavor, as I +have already partly done, to continue to give a +general outline of it.</p> + +<p>It will take time and patience for any one to acquire +this knowledge, but the reward will be more than +commensurate. To superficially obtain it from others +is not sufficient; one must learn to know it of one's +own knowledge. It is an academic study, embracing +many sciences. A person must enter into it with +his whole being if he wants to get hold of the spirit +thereof and be truly benefited thereby. He must +identify himself with this knowledge, must become +part and parcel thereof, or it must become part and +parcel of him. When this is done, true teachers of +the voice will arise, for here is a chance for greatness +to assert itself. It will be death to all hackneyed +knowledge and charlatanism.</p> + +<p>When the true knowledge of the production of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +speech and song for <em>every</em> language has been established, +when we have a real science of the voice, the +teacher comprehending these issues in their entire +latitude will be able to teach how to interpret +Mozart, Schubert, and Wagner, Rossini and Verdi, +Gounod, and every other master in the tongue and +the spirit in which he has produced his works.</p> + +<p>The genius for execution in the art of singing is +with the Anglo-Saxon race, but not for composition, +for original conception. It may come, but it is not +with it now.</p> + +<p>The desire of the singer naturally is to embrace +the highest in her or his repertoire. At present it is +Wagner. But how can Wagner be rendered without +a comprehension of his genius as expressed through +his language? The genius of the master and the +genius of the language he wrote and composed in +cannot be separated. They are soul and body of +one and the same entity. Without the comprehension +of the genius of the German language, of its +idiomatic expression, it is not possible to reproduce +what Wagner meant to express by his work. To +sing German with an English tongue is an anomaly; +it is still English in the real sense of the word, and +not German. It is an unnatural proceeding, and +therefore injurious to the vocal organs of the singer.</p> + +<p>No one would expect a foreigner, for the delectation +of a native-born audience, to recite before it +poetry in the latter's language, or a native-born +person to recite before it in a foreign tongue. In +either case such a person would fail. Why, then, +song, this sister art and accomplishment?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<p>All these are questions which, though ever so +reluctantly, artists will have to face. It complicates +their art, but it will also, when understood, make it +comparatively easy. Americans will then sing the +works of foreign masters with the same perfect ease +that they do those of their native composers, and so +will persons of every other nationality.</p> + +<p>Who will be able to teach a foreign language so +well as the natives of each respective country? provided +such persons have learned to comprehend the +difference between the mode of production of their +speech and that of their scholars. In that case only +will a German be able to teach an Anglo-Saxon his +(the German) language for either speech or song. +It will be the same with every other nationality.</p> + +<p>The teachers, as a class, are with me. They feel +that the efforts of the physiologists to aid them in +their vocation are wrong and misleading. They +have no faith in the revelation of matter. They +know matter is inert, powerless for any purpose +without the indwelling of the spirit; that the spirit +reigns over and controls <em>every</em> manifestation of life; +and that the voice in singing is one of the highest +manifestations thereof. They know that song comes +from the heart and the soul, while it uses the body +for its instrument.</p> + +<p>I have been told I must build up before tearing +down; before destroying the old I must put something +better in its place. I think it a praiseworthy +undertaking, in itself, to destroy the false and the +harmful. Besides, we cannot erect a new building +before the old one has been removed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p>As for this <em>new</em> science, I am doing what I can to +put it into shape, to give a visible and tangible form +to it as it has developed in my mind. The world +has been able to do without it so long, those interested +in these matters must have a little patience.</p> + +<p>I specially appeal to the <em>young</em> to devote themselves +to these studies and to thus become the precursors +in the application of principles which are +destined to revolutionize the vocal science of the +world; the old being often too old to get out of +lifelong practices, no matter how erroneous. I appeal +in like manner to the students of medicine, and +to those of every other branch of science, whose aim +is the knowledge of man in any of, and all, his +relations.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a><br /><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig233-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="167" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>INDEX</h2> + + +<p> +Abdomen, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +Abstract thought, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> +<br /> +Accent, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a><br /> +<br /> +Æther, <a href="#Page_91">91</a><br /> +<br /> +Anapest, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> +<br /> +Anglo-Saxon race, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> +<br /> +Animal magnetism, <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br /> +<br /> +Anode, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +<br /> +Antibacchius, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> +<br /> +Atlas, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br /> +<br /> +Autology, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Bacchius, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> +<br /> +<cite>Basic Law of Vocal Utterance</cite>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br /> +<br /> +Bladder, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +Blood, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br /> +<br /> +Brain, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +Breathing, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br /> +<br /> +Brinkerhoff, Mme. Clara, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br /> +<br /> +Bronchi, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Caryatides, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br /> +<br /> +Cathode, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +<br /> +Centrifugal, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> +<br /> +Centripetal, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> +<br /> +Charlatanism, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<br /> +Circulation of sound, <a href="#Page_109">109</a><br /> +<br /> +Climate, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /> +<br /> +Clothing, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br /> +<br /> +Colonization, <a href="#Page_140">140</a><br /> +<br /> +Congenital deaf, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> +<br /> +Consonants, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Dactylus, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> +<br /> +Dentistry, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> +<br /> +Diaphragm, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br /> +<br /> +Dissecting room, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br /> +<br /> +Douglass, Frederick, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Drumhead, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br /> +<br /> +Duality, <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Emphasis, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br /> +<br /> +English-speaking peoples, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> +<br /> +Evolution, <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +<br /> +Expansion, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +<br /> +Expiration, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br /> +<br /> +Extirpation, <a href="#Page_59">59</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Foreigners, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +<br /> +Frænum linguæ, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Gadski, Johanna, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br /> +<br /> +Generation, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br /> +<br /> +German writers, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br /> +<br /> +Gounod, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br /> +<br /> +Gravitation, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Heidenhain, Mr., <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br /> +<br /> +Heine, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br /> +<br /> +Hemispheres, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> +<br /> +Holmes, Dr. O. W., <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> +<br /> +Huxley, <a href="#Page_21">21</a><br /> +<br /> +Hypnotism, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Iambic measure, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> +<br /> +Idiomatic expression, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span><br /> +Idiom of the sea, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the forest, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Immigration, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> +<br /> +Inspiration, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br /> +<br /> +Intonation, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> +<br /> +Introspection, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Kidneys, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Laryngoscope, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /> +<br /> +Laryngoscopists, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +Larynx, <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br /> +<br /> +Lungs, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +Lunn, Mr., <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Matter, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a><br /> +<br /> +Medicine, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br /> +<br /> +Metre, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> +<br /> +Miller, Dr., <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br /> +<br /> +Mind, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +<br /> +Motion, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br /> +<br /> +Müller, Prof. Max, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Octave, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /> +<br /> +Œsophagus, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Palimpsest, <a href="#Page_96">96</a><br /> +<br /> +Phonograph, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +<br /> +Point of gravitation, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br /> +<br /> +Posterior surfaces, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"R" sound, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br /> +<br /> +Race distinctions, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Reinforcement, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> +<br /> +Religion, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br /> +<br /> +Replica, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br /> +<br /> +Rhythm, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> +<br /> +Rigidity, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +Roentgen, Professor, <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br /> +<br /> +Rush, Dr., <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Saxon words, <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> +<br /> +School of singing, <a href="#Page_187">187</a><br /> +<br /> +Science of the voice, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /> +<br /> +Sight, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br /> +<br /> +Simple sounds, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +<br /> +Singers, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /> +<br /> +Singing, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br /> +<br /> +Soft palate, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br /> +<br /> +Soul, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +<br /> +Speech and song, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br /> +<br /> +Spirit, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br /> +<br /> +Spirits, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> +<br /> +Spiritual cell, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> +<br /> +Stammering, <a href="#Page_97">97</a><br /> +<br /> +Stuttering, <a href="#Page_97">97</a><br /> +<br /> +Surd, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Teachers, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br /> +<br /> +Teeth, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> +<br /> +Teutonic race, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br /> +<br /> +Thorax, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +Thought, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br /> +<br /> +Timbre, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br /> +<br /> +Tongue, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br /> +<br /> +Trachea, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +Trochaic measure, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br /> +<br /> +Tuning, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Ureters, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Ventriloquism, <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br /> +<br /> +Virchow, Professor, <a href="#Page_21">21</a><br /> +<br /> +Viscera, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +Vivisection, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> +<br /> +Vocal science, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br /> +<br /> +Vocal sounds, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> +<br /> +Voice of the œsophagus, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">falling, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rising, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">whispering, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Von Buelow, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<cite>Werner's Magazine</cite>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a><br /> +<br /> +Will, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +</p> + +<div class="transnote"> +<div class="chapter"></div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + + +<h2>Transcriber's Notes:</h2> + + +<p>Simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were silently corrected.</p> + +<p>Anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed.</p> + +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 48486 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/48486-h/images/cover.jpg b/48486-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7785faa --- /dev/null +++ b/48486-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/48486-h/images/deco_pv.jpg b/48486-h/images/deco_pv.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..071e709 --- /dev/null +++ b/48486-h/images/deco_pv.jpg diff --git a/48486-h/images/deco_pvi.jpg b/48486-h/images/deco_pvi.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..17c23dd --- /dev/null +++ b/48486-h/images/deco_pvi.jpg diff --git a/48486-h/images/fig011-300dpi.jpg b/48486-h/images/fig011-300dpi.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb22300 --- /dev/null +++ b/48486-h/images/fig011-300dpi.jpg diff --git a/48486-h/images/fig053-300dpi.jpg b/48486-h/images/fig053-300dpi.jpg 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3937724 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #48486 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48486) diff --git a/old/48486-0.txt b/old/48486-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9e42cb3 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/48486-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6862 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Duality of Voice, by Emil Sutro + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: Duality of Voice + +Author: Emil Sutro + +Release Date: March 13, 2015 [EBook #48486] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DUALITY OF VOICE *** + + + + +Produced by Richard Tonsing, Bill Tozier, Barbara Tozier +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +=Duality of Man's Nature= + + I.--DUALITY OF VOICE + + + + + DUALITY OF + VOICE + + AN OUTLINE OF ORIGINAL + RESEARCH + + + BY + + EMIL SUTRO + + AUTHOR OF "THE BASIC LAW OF VOCAL + UTTERANCE." + + G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS + NEW YORK AND LONDON + The Knickerbocker Press + 1899 + + COPYRIGHT, 1899 + BY + EMIL SUTRO + + Entered at Stationers' Hall, London. + + The Knickerbocker Press, New York + + "There is nothing in our composition either purely material or + purely spiritual."--MONTAIGNE. + +[Illustration] + + + + +CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I.--INTRODUCTION 1 + + Comments of a Distant Reviewer 15 + + Fragments 22 + + Basic Law of Vocal Utterance 37 + + The Voice of the Œsophagus and its Vocal Cords 41 + + II.--THE HUMAN VOICE 44 + + Introspection 50 + + Making Parts Rigid 56 + + Extirpation 59 + + Movements of the Tongue 61 + + Simple Sounds 66 + + Posterior Surfaces 68 + + Inspiration--Expiration 77 + + Diaphragms 80 + + III.--IMPRESSION--EXPRESSION 83 + + The Phonograph 88 + + Stuttering--Stammering 92 + + Cathode of a Vocal Sound 103 + + IV.--OUR MOTHER TONGUE 110 + + National Traits of Character 112 + + The American Nation 120 + + Centripetal and Centrifugal 124 + + Rotation of Centripetal and Centrifugal Action 130 + + V.--NATIONALITY AND RACE DISTINCTIONS 137 + + Idiomatic Expression 141 + + Origin of Anglo-Saxon Race and Idiom. + + Origin of German Race and Idiom. + + Relationship Supposed to Exist as between the + German and English Nations 148 + + Language and Motion 151 + + Difference in their Mode of Breathing as between + Anglo-Saxons and Germans 159 + + Rise and Fall, or Rhythm 160 + + Stress 174 + + VI.--PHYSIOLOGY OF VOICE IN RELATION TO WORDS 178 + + Significance of the Term "School" of Singing 187 + + Breathing 198 + + Song, Singers, and Physiology 210 + + INDEX 223 + +[Illustration] + + DUALITY OF VOICE + +[Illustration] + + DUALITY OF VOICE + + AN OUTLINE OF ORIGINAL RESEARCH + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +By the time this book will appear, nearly six years will have elapsed +since I discovered the voice of the œsophagus, and almost five since I +published a preliminary account of this discovery in a book entitled +_The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance_.[1] This discovery, though the most +comprehensive and far-reaching of any that has ever been made, not +only in regard to the voice, but in regard to the better comprehension +of our nature and our entire human existence, has remained as unknown +to the world as if it had never been made. Yet some day, when its +importance is recognized, it will take rank in the annals of the +history of the human race as second to no other discovery that has +influenced and shaped human thought in the proper recognition of the +origin and the nature of man, spiritual as well as physical, his +abilities and his limits, and his relative position, influence, and +destiny in the economy of the universe. + +[1] Edgar S. Werner. New York, 1894. + +I have spent so many years of arduous labor on these investigations, +and have become so thoroughly convinced of their truth, that I have +ventured to make these assertions without the slightest compunction, +or fear of final contradiction. Although the facts involved in these +matters entitle me to these declarations, I would not have overstepped +the bounds of modesty in so far as to make them had not my first +experience forced upon me the conviction that the path of modesty in +matters of this kind is not the one to success. I was so impressed with +the exalted position of science, and so apprehensive of my own powers, +that in my former publication I as much as apologized for my temerity +in telling the scientific world things of which it did not have any +previous knowledge. These last four years, however, have so enlarged my +views and given me such a firm grasp and insight, that I no longer fear +any man's judgment. I would, on the contrary, heartily welcome honest +and competent criticism, being convinced that the same would not and +could not but strengthen my position. + +As a matter of personal gratification, I am indifferent to success; but +I think the time has come when these matters should not continue to +remain with me alone, but should become the property of all, not for +my sake, nor simply for that of science, but for the sake of truth, +and the benefit of mankind. Had my previous statements been given +the consideration they deserved, other persons, in all probability, +would have made _some_ of the many discoveries, at least, that it +has now been my privilege to make single-handed. Still, the field is +inexhaustible; that which I have discovered being but an index hand to +that which is still to be discovered. Having no reason to doubt but +that I am a properly organized member of the human family, I consider +myself entitled to speak of my personal experience as in like manner +applicable to every other member of that family. + +Having found it expedient to frequently address the reader in a +"direct" manner, using the personal pronoun "you" in so doing, I must +ask his pardon for this liberty. In thus addressing him, I trust we +shall be in better rapport; all I shall have to say thus becoming, +in a manner, a confession as from author to reader. While I confide +in him and make him participate in these vital discoveries, I want +him to confide in me, in so far as to take it for granted that all I +shall say is truthfully meant, and that it has been arrived at, not +superficially, but only after the most searching and long-continued +investigations. We will thus become partners in a research as great +as any that has ever agitated man's mind, or filled his soul with +things of great moment. Having penetrated into matters which have +heretofore been considered as occult, or inaccessible to man, my mode +of proceeding will be found interesting as a guide to others wanting to +pursue similar investigations. + +In the beginning, it was all brought about by my simple desire, being +a German, to speak the English language in the precise manner in which +native-born persons speak it. For this purpose, I unwittingly pursued +the same course which has been pursued by many others under similar +circumstances; namely, that of introspection. Having been indefatigable +in this course (which others must not have been), after pursuing the +same for some time I was startled by unforeseen discoveries. They were +phenomenal, and far beyond any previous design, hope, or expectation. +After this, my original endeavor to speak the English language +idiomatically correct became a matter of secondary importance. My +eyes once opened, I _continued_ to persevere in this course, and thus +succeeded in penetrating deeper and deeper into matters heretofore +deemed inaccessible to man. + +Having pursued investigations by means of introspection now for a +number of years, it has become an easy habit with me, and I can +recognize and pursue processes by which results are obtained through +_inner_ motive powers, almost as plainly as such by which results are +obtained through visible and tangible means. The facts thus observed +and recognized as truths have become so numerous as to be almost +overwhelming, in number no less than in importance; so much so, that +I scarcely know where to turn or where to commence, to be able to +communicate them all to others in due form and sequence. These facts +are not temporary, but are constant; in so far as they can be conjured +up at any time and under any circumstances, and are always of the +_same_ nature. They are of an entirely reasonable, practical, and, for +the most part, mechanical nature; and are explanatory of the exercise +of our faculties and functions, spiritually as well as materially. That +these observations mirror actual proceedings going on within us for the +production of vocal utterance, of breathing, motion, and locomotion, +and the exercise of various other faculties and functions, it will be +my endeavor, by actual demonstration, to prove through this and future +publications. + +For the purpose of enabling others to pursue a similar course of +studies, I shall take especial pains to point out my course of +proceeding as plainly as I can--such course with me having been +entirely rational, positive, and direct, and without in any sense +disturbing my ordinary mode of existence. The course pursued in +physiologico-psychological studies, in fact, does not differ greatly +from that pursued in the study of purely psychological subjects, which +is also carried on by means of introspection, though it is of a more +positive nature. + +When the following was first written (it is nearly two years ago now), +I intended, at an early date, to publish a short treatise on the +subject of the voice only. Since then, however, the same has assumed +greater and greater proportions, embracing many other subjects. Still +I have deemed it best not to change this introduction in consequence +thereof. + +Though not quite ready for another publication (the subject is so great +and my knowledge so inadequate), I do not know that I should have +_ever_ been _quite_ ready, but for several incidents, all happening +about the same time, which have induced me to break the silence I +have observed since the publication of my book, _The Basic Law of +Vocal Utterance_. These incidents, though in themselves apparently +insignificant, have impressed me with the belief that I owe it to +the public and myself to say something in explanation of what I have +already said, and to add thereto (partly, at least) what has since been +ascertained. + +In the November, 1896, number of _Werner's Magazine_, I noticed the +following: + + "A good example of the inadequacy of expressional terms in + discussing vocal topics is shown by Mme. Clara Brinkerhoff + and Mr. Emil Sutro. Mme. Brinkerhoff has been a contributor + to this magazine, and has addressed musical bodies, for many + years. Mr. Sutro is author of the book, _The Basic Law of Vocal + Utterance_. Both of them maintain that the voice is something + more or other than an expiratory current of air set into + vibration by purely physical agencies. Mme. Brinkerhoff thinks + that the voice is the utterance of the soul, and that the soul + has its seat in the solar plexus. Mr. Sutro scoffs at the + theory that the voice is only out-coming air vibrated at or by + the cords situated in the larynx. He thinks that the ligaments + under the tongue also serve as vocal cords, and that speech + is the product of vibrating ingoing air as well as vibrating + out-coming air. Just what they think the voice is neither of + these persons makes clear to others. Their failure to express + their thoughts, however, should not be taken as proof that they + have not caught glimpses of truths of the greatest importance. + Still, our impression is that their concepts are too vague + to be put into intelligible language even if the expressional + terms at hand were adequate. But, all things considered, the + fact still remains that discussion will continue to be largely + useless so long as one person does not know what the other + person is talking about." + +In addition to all this, the proceedings of various societies in New +York alone, judging by their reports also contained in the November, +1896, number of _Werner's Magazine_, which is of unusual interest +throughout, show how great is the interest which, at the present time, +centres around this matter of the voice. In place of saying the "truth" +in matters of the voice, as contained in my book, it would, perhaps, +be more correct to have said, "the first ray of light that has ever +penetrated the gloom and the mystery surrounding the nature of the +voice." In _Werner's Magazine_ it is stated: + + "If Mr. Emil Sutro's book, _The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance_, + be right, then other writers on vocal science are wrong. His + statements are startling and revolutionary. He claims to have + discovered a new vocal cord and to be able to prove that speech + sounds are the product of inspiration as well as expiration. + The significance of this is apparent when it is realized that + all vocal authorities, heretofore, have taught that voice + is vocalized expiration, and that speech is this vocalized + expiration articulated into words. + + "The author draws a sharp distinction between the air taken + for life-purposes and the air taken for speech-purposes. He + says that vital breathing can and should go on independent of + artistic breathing, and that the two processes need not and + should not disturb nor conflict with one another. He combats + the theory that the lungs are a reservoir of air, which in the + vocal act is pressed against the vocal cords of the larynx, + thereby producing tone, which is resonated and modified by the + parts above the glottis. He maintains that it is a physical + impossibility to give sufficient force and rapidity to the + lung air to put muscular and cartilaginous tissue into tonal + vibration,--that this force and this rapidity can come only + from the internal atmospheric pressure, and that, therefore, + preparatory lung inhalation for voice-purposes obstructs rather + than aids the vocal act. He gives a new explanation of the + formation of speech sounds, and offers various novel theories. + + "Many readers will hesitate to accept his views, yet as long as + vocal science is still in a formative condition and involved in + so much chaos and uncertainty, any attempt at a solution should + receive careful consideration." + +I have cited this able review in full, written by one whose life has +been one act of devotion to the solution of these questions, as it will +at once introduce the reader into the drift of my investigations as far +as they had advanced up to that time. + +I have continued to steadily devote myself to the further prosecution +of my investigations, never publishing anything, scarcely ever speaking +on this subject to any one. The subject appeared to me so great and so +far above my ability to master it that I, at first, looked around for +assistance among those I deemed most likely to be able to render it. +But no one had any assistance to offer, no one scarcely seemed even to +comprehend what I was after. Thus, at last, almost in despair, I made +up my mind that I must undertake this task single-handed; and I have +been at it, scarcely without interruption, ever since. + +Meanwhile, the play of "Much Ado about Nothing," or "The Farce about +the Larynx," continued to go on bravely all over the world. I have +watched it with a sense of pity, rather than amusement. It appeared +to me, more than anything else, like a game of blind man's buff, +in which _all_ the participants were blindfolded; my own horizon, +meanwhile, being illumined by roseate tints representing continuous new +discoveries, like a May morn before the rising of the sun. + +The voice has been treated as a separate mechanical issue, while it is +the outcome of a series of both physical and spiritual issues. While +the old school is reproducing, in its minutest details, the _dead_ +branch of a tree, I am portraying, in its majestic proportions, the +broad expanse of a _living_ oak. + +These anatomical details may interest scientists; they are valueless +to the singer, as he has no control over the movements of the larynx. +He need but "attack" his note in the right way, and all these muscles, +sinews, cartilaginous tissues, etc., will fall into line, involuntarily +and unsolicited. + +Now that I am offering innumerable _proofs_ in corroboration of my +assertions, I want scientists to take these matters _seriously_, and +not to look upon this book, also, as some may possibly have felt +inclined to do in regard to my previous publication, as a "scientific +curiosity" merely. There are no greater problems before the world +to-day than are treated here. + +During all these years of unrequited labor, which extend far beyond +the day on which I made my memorable discovery, my personal affairs +meanwhile constantly suffering, with but one notable exception _no_ +hand was held out to me in succor. In view of this fact (and it is the +experience of many who, in the privacy of their souls, are struggling +after the light), I want to ask this question: With all the noble +institutions for _learning_, why are there none to assist those who +are attempting to solve questions _to be taught_ for the benefit and +advancement of mankind? True, there are scholarships and fellowships +for students, but they are not available to persons advanced in years +who have duties to perform and families to support. When successful in +the end, their reward--if there is any--often comes too late to be of +any practical value. + +Such would be the case with me should any material acknowledgment come +to me now, having of late attained to the leisure I had so much longed +for, thanks to my previous labor and a brave son's devotion and valued +aid and assistance. No man, however, will ever know how long I have +been kept under the ban of purely materialistic endeavors, while these +higher things were occupying my mind and clamoring for recognition. A +sum equal to that representing a single day's expenditure for _falsely_ +teaching matters connected with the voice, alone, the world over, not +to speak of other matters of still greater importance, would have +sufficed for a number of years, if not for a lifetime, to place me +in a position to devote myself exclusively to the exposition of the +correct principles underlying these important subjects. As it has +been with me, no doubt it is and always has been with many others in +different fields of research. + +Since the publication of my previous book, I have had four years of +continuous experience, during which the statements therein made have +been strengthened and enlarged, so that I am now ready to support +them with an endless array of proof. That book, however, was the +beginning of what some day will be regarded as a greater movement in +the right direction than any previous one, for attaining an insight +into nature's occult work in creating, developing, and sustaining the +living organism, and the exercise of its faculties and functions, more +especially _man's_ faculties and functions. The subject, however, is +of so subtle a nature that it cannot be treated like a mathematical +problem or a chemical analysis; still, I shall do the best I can with +such means as are at my command. + +Recently an acquaintance who is interested in vocal culture asked me +how I was getting along, and I answered, telling him something like +what I have said in the preceding. He replied: + +"That is the trouble with you Germans. This is a live world, a +practical world; we want facts, results--something we can turn to +account and make use of." + +This impatience (and who can blame those who are suffering, or those +who, being young and talented, want to be led into the right path) +throws the door wide open to all kinds of charlatanism--charlatanism +which is honest and charlatanism which is dishonest, the former, being +more readily trusted, often working the greater harm. The best teaching +for the present, in default of a science, is that which is based simply +on experience; the pseudo-science now being taught being worse than no +science at all. + +While the exercise of speech is next to universal with all men, no one +has any idea of _how_ it is exercised; the wisest being as much in the +dark as the least informed. + +This is what so eminent a man as Oliver Wendell Holmes had to say on +the subject in one of his lectures, delivered not many years before his +death: + + "Talking has been clearly explained and successfully imitated + by artificial contrivances. We know that the moist membranous + edges of a narrow crevice (the glottis) vibrate as the reed + of a clarionet vibrates, and thus produce the human _bleat_. + We narrow or widen, or check or stop the flow of this sound + by the lips, the tongue, the teeth, and thus _articulate_, or + break into joints, the even current of sound. The sound varies + with the degree and kind of interruption, as the 'babble' of + the brook with the shape and size of its impediments--pebbles, + or rocks, or dams. To whisper, is to articulate without + _bleating_, or vocalizing; to _coo_, as babies do, is to + _bleat_, or vocalize, without articulating. Machines are easily + made that bleat not unlike human beings. A bit of India-rubber + tube tied around a piece of glass tube, is one of the + simplest voice-uttering contrivances. To make a machine that + articulates, is not so easy." [The Italics are Dr. Holmes's.] + +It is not the _humorist_ Holmes, however, who has said this, as one +would suppose that it was, but it is the writer, scientist, and +thinker, who was in dead earnest when he gave unto the world this +"definition of the gift of speech." + +Any comment on my part would but weaken the sense of the ludicrous +this "explanation" of so great a subject, even from a mere mechanical +standpoint, must arouse in the reader. Yet Dr. Holmes's "explanation" +is not any more preposterous than that of many other scientists of the +present day. + +Teachers have said that, not being a teacher, I could not know anything +about the voice. As if _they_ had the sole patent right to the voice, +and others held their voices but from them, in fee! I, however, took +the liberty of looking into my own voice and trying to find out whence +it came and what it was made of. It is not much of a voice, to be sure; +yet it has the common attributes of all voices. Besides, I should +like to know who, in truth, _is_ a teacher. He who over a narrow path +follows the footsteps of others, or he who strikes out boldly for the +root and the truth of a matter, and, disregarding precedents, goes down +to the very bowels of the earth, if need be, to bring it to the surface? + +The knowledge of even the best of us is not much more than some froth +on the surface of the well of truth. Yet that froth is all these timid +souls have dared to examine. They have not had the courage to dive +down deep into its fathomless flood. Many a truth has been taught by +those who had been considered innocent of any knowledge thereof. I +am one of these "innocents," and, on the whole, am not sorry for not +having been imbued more with the knowledge, or supposed knowledge, of +the present day. + +We are so much the slaves of habit that we become reconciled to any +condition, almost, no matter how undesirable or absurd it may be. Thus +biological science has been going along in a rut for centuries, but +little having been ascertained of vital importance; nor could this +have been otherwise, considering the modes of investigation. I was +not surrounded by so many trees that I could not see the woods. My +perspective was as clear as a bird's, that soars above and beyond the +smoke of the city and the dust in the eyes of the heirs of generation +upon generation of anatomical and physiological research, burying +beneath its lumber the clear insight of the soul. Thus, ignorance with +me may indeed have been bliss. Yet I do not want to place myself in +a position as deprecating science, having the highest appreciation +for all its endeavors. I deprecate science only in so far as, dealing +with matter, it attempts to draw inspiration therefrom as to spiritual +issues; and the voice certainly is a spiritual issue. + +The following appears in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_, under the +heading of "Animal Magnetism": + +"Mr. Heidenhain, after stating that in conformity with the manner +in which one muscle is affected, others become similarly affected, +proceeds to say: 'Probably the reflex excitement would extend still +farther, but I naturally consider it out of the question to try +whether the muscles of respiration would become affected. It is easily +understood that such experiments require the greatest caution and may +be very seldom carried out.'" + +Valiant Mr. Heidenhain, brave explorer on a new and "dangerous" field +of research. This is the _Ultima Thule_ which any of these bold +adventurers have endeavored to reach. _My work began where theirs came +to an end._ Though I have not reached the "North Pole," I have gone far +beyond anyone else. + + +COMMENTS OF A DISTANT REVIEWER + +This entire subject is of so subtle a nature that I must warn the +reader to be patient in its study and careful of his judgment. Should +the present work, however, also fail to elicit the attention of +my fellowmen, some thinker, perhaps, of a future generation, upon +discovering a copy of this book on the dusty shelves of an antiquarian, +while looking over its time-stained leaves and after struggling with +its vernacular, may be struck with some remark coinciding with ideas +arrived at by himself and other scientists of that day, and while +commenting upon his "find," may possibly deliver himself thus: + +"As the nineteenth century of the Christian era was drawing to a +close, a citizen of the (then) youthful country of the United States +of North America published a book which contained disclosures far in +advance of his time and generation--truths, in fact, concerning life +and the exercise of our faculties and functions, which, if properly +understood, might have eventually led to even the solution of the very +mystery of the soul. Though science at that remote period had made +marvellous strides forward, its endeavors were mostly of a utilitarian +character, or consisted of efforts to explain phenomena from a strictly +materialistic standpoint. The author of this book, however, by dint +of a combination of extraordinary circumstances, which induced him to +search for causes of phenomena within, in place of outside of himself, +had succeeded in breaking through the barriers which had, theretofore, +separated phenomena which were called 'natural' from those which, by +the majority of mankind, were still supposed to be 'supernatural,' or, +at least, unexplainable, unknowable, beyond the ken of man. + +"He was thus enabled to penetrate more deeply than any one ever had +before into the knowledge of the mysterious forces which engender and +sustain organic life. Had he been properly understood, the compass of +human knowledge would have been greatly enhanced, and the race itself +liberated from the narrow limits to which it had been confined by the +scientists almost as much as by the theologians (by the doctors of the +body almost as much as by those of the soul) of his day. Some writers +of that period delighted in depicting a state of affairs several +centuries ahead of their time. The changes which were supposed to have +taken place, however, had reference to material developments only, and +did not contemplate any advancement of a purely spiritual nature. + +"Though the founder of the Christian religion, and other men of a +high order of intellectual and moral insight, had laid down rules +for 'deportment' which to a great extent still govern the world; in +regard to a spiritual insight, the dearth, the waste, the discord, the +distraction, the unrest, the 'Weltschmerz' (as the Germans called it), +the despair of science, which knew but and dealt but with the baser +part of our existence, unable to penetrate into the higher, was then at +its height. The 'miracle' had ceased to exercise its influence over the +intellectual classes, and knowledge had not taken its place. + +"This writer, however, through his discoveries, had opened up the +way--made a beginning--to a penetration of science into the realms of +the spirit; and a substitution of faith based on _facts_ for one based +on tradition and fancy only. Religion and science, having been factors +of a different, almost antagonistic, order, thus at that early period +already might have become reconciled and united through _knowledge_; as +to some extent, though by different means, they have become since. + +"In thus gaining more knowledge, more light regarding the motive +powers which govern our existence, the shackles which had overwhelmed +the soul would have long since fallen to the ground, and a _truly_ +brotherly spirit would have prevailed among all classes and peoples +in place of much of the prejudice, the insincerity, the overbearance, +the animosity, the cruelty, and the insanity even of the believers in +(or inheritors of) one spiritual theory (often misnamed religion) as +against those of another. + +"The world's thought, just previous to that time, had made great +strides forward through the recognition of the laws of _evolution_, +which culminated in one master mind, through great elaboration and +by citing numerous examples, assigning cogent and necessary reasons +therefor. The world should have been ripe, therefore, for this _greater +movement_ which it was now called upon to face; a movement which went +beyond the mere recognition of phenomena and penetrated into _a priori_ +causes. Strange to say, it either could not or would not understand; +being still bound by fetters which held it in a vise-like embrace of +previously conceived ideas as to the impossibility of penetrating into +matters of this nature, and which prevented it from even _testing_ the +numerous proofs offered by this writer as to the correctness of his +assertions. His investigations, if properly understood, would have +brought spirituality _home_ to us; they would have made it accessible +to us. It would have ceased to be a phantom, and would have become a +reality, a friend on whom we could count, in place of a mysterious and +incomprehensible stranger. + +"Beginning with discovering the dual nature of the voice, the writer +of this book opened up the way to the comprehension of the mystery of +man's dual nature in _all_ its relations. He made the discovery that +the œsophagus is of equal importance with the trachea in carrying on +the process of respiration and in exercising the faculty of vocal +expression; that for these purposes œsophagus and trachea are to an +equal degree directly amenable to the influence of the atmospheric +air; that the dual nature of organic beings in general, and of man +in particular, is represented by the hemispheres of the thorax and +the abdomen; that the former in its entirety represents spiritual +and the latter in its entirety material issues; that the trachea and +its branches on the one hand, and the alimentary canal on the other, +respectively represent these issues more directly; that the fusing +and blending of these issues has for its result the phenomenon called +life; that the severance of these issues has for its result the +phenomenon called death; that there are thus positive limits, place, +and surroundings assigned to material and immaterial issues within the +sphere of our bodily existence, and that combined they pervade our +entire system; that all phenomena of life, especially all phenomena +of a spiritual nature, and among these more ostensibly those of vocal +utterance, owe their origin to these issues momentarily joining hands; +that in so doing there is a transitory fusion, which for an endless +number of purposes is brought about in an endless number of ways. + +"He discovered further that the larynx, previously supposed to be the +_only_ instrument for the production of sounds, has its counterpart +in the 'replica' (the 'larynx' of the œsophagus), located beneath +the tongue and represented by the frænum linguæ and surrounding +cartilaginous tissues; that no vocal sound can be produced except +by the coöperation of the larynx with the replica. He discovered +the circulation of, and the origin of vocal sounds, and many other +important issues. + +"Through his discoveries, if properly recognized, _all_ the sciences +dealing with life would have been placed upon a new and far more +reasonable and comprehensible basis than they had rested upon before. + +"These discoveries would have tended to undermine the basis of every +materialistic school of philosophy, and to place those with spiritual +and ideal propensities upon higher and firmer ground. Had they been +properly appreciated and further expanded by others it would have +eventually become possible to develop _all_ our faculties to the full +extent of their ability, and to correct faults, errors, and defects +caused by wrong education or heredity, through the application of laws +at the very root of our existence; laws which were then, and in fact to +a great extent are to this day unknown. + +"It may, in fact, be said without exaggeration that his discoveries, +which were all made within a period not exceeding five years, +outweighed in importance all other discoveries combined relating to +physiologico-psychical issues made previous to his time." + +I can see many a reader smile after perusing the foregoing, and perhaps +saying: + +"Here is a Jules Verne of a new type come to deal with a novel subject." + +Yet the time will come when the reader will cease to smile, and look +upon these matters _seriously_. I do not mean, however, to throw down +a gauntlet to science on these momentous questions in _a vaunting +and reckless spirit_; but come as a petitioner rather, asking it to +investigate. + +My time and generation are but like a flash from the orb of eternity, +but the laws I have discovered are as eternal as that orb itself. With +all the scientific investigations now going on, there has not even an +approach been made which might have led up to them; nay, not a hint +or a hypothesis, even, leading toward the same. Science, in fact, had +nothing to do with them; the first man might have made them almost as +well as the latest. They are all grappling with matter, while I have +grasped the spirit that is in, yet above, all living matter. + +In making these discoveries I have bent a sail upon the crafts +of physiology and psychology, which have been aimlessly, almost +hopelessly, drifting on the shallow waters of the examination of +isolated material phenomena. This sail will enable them to reach the +broad expanse of the ocean, where they will be able to make soundings +in its deepest waters. + +Professor Huxley declared that during his fifty years of experience as +a student and teacher not one thing really _new_ had ever come under +his observation. Had he lived to become acquainted with these facts I +feel confident he would have declared them to be new. + +The venerable Professor Virchow, the other day, in an address before +the International Congress of Physicians at Moscow, made use, in +substance, of these words: "The cell is immortal--there must have +been a previous cell for its generation. On this fact as a basis +(ascertained by the aid of the microscope) the science of the coming +century may securely rest." + +And he set this down as the greatest achievement of science in respect +to the recognition of the phenomena of life. Yet there is nothing +more fallible than the microscope in ascertaining facts regarding +the knowledge of life. It may to some extent reveal the essence of +_matter_, but it is not given to it to assist in recognizing the +principles which govern life and the _spirit_ of life. + + +FRAGMENTS + +This book, in a sense, is a personal narrative, and necessarily must +be so, giving an account, as it does, of observations in experiments +upon myself. In making these experiments I have endeavored to treat +myself impersonally, as a subject, so to say, placed at my disposal +for experimental purposes; my ego having been the object as well as +the subject of my investigations. In occasionally speaking of the +results thus obtained in a eulogistic manner, this should not be looked +upon as self-praise, therefore, but rather as an impersonal mode of +describing what has come under some one's observation--this "some one" +being myself. I want to place the matters I have observed before the +reader in the right light, and do not hesitate to say or fear to say +just what I think to be the truth. If I were to wait for others to say +these things the reader who does not comprehend their latitude as I +do might have to wait a long time before he could grasp the subject +in its entire importance. I want to say this much as an apology and a +vindication for frequent indulgences in apparent self-eulogism. + +I have another motive for making such remarks; viz., the desire of +rousing the scientific world from its apathy regarding these matters. +These laudatory remarks may wound its pride, and possibly arouse its +ire,--more especially in view of their coming from a layman,--and +thus induce it to study these matters, if but for the purpose and +with the view of controverting them. I would hail such an endeavor +with pleasure, not having the slightest fear of its ability to +successfully controvert any of the vital facts I have ascertained, and +whose correctness I expect to prove by a great array of facts with +accompanying proofs. + +When I first began to make these studies, I made numerous notes as new +features happened to present themselves to my mind. I have encountered +no inconsiderable difficulty in sifting this material so as to present +my experiences in as connected and consecutive a manner as possible. +In this, however, I have only partially succeeded; nor have I been +able to altogether avoid repetitions. For these shortcomings I must +plead a want of time. For some time past, however, my experiences have +accumulated so rapidly that I have ceased to take any notes whatever, +trusting to my memory that these mental notes may be recalled at the +proper time. No doubt some things, even of importance, have thus been +lost sight of. Still, while pursuing similar studies, they may in the +course of time turn up in some one else's mind. + +In looking over some of my notes I have found things which I have +deemed worthy of preservation. I let some of these follow in a +promiscuous manner. This, it must be admitted, is not in accordance +with scientific usage. But I am not a scientist, simply an amateur; +and take advantage of the privileges this fact gives me. If I were to +conform to strict scientific rules and "etiquette," years might elapse +before I could get these matters into proper shape. It will always +remain a mystery to me, however, why these things should have come to +me at all--so unworthy, so unadapted to their proper exposition. In +order to do them justice, they should have come to one complete master +of his time, young, strong, possessed of a wide range of knowledge and +a deep insight. + +I will now let follow some of the matters I have spoken of: + +My personality and my work must go together, until others relieve me +of the latter by making it _their_ work to the same extent that I have +made it mine. You cannot separate the fiddle from the fiddler, neither +having any significance apart from each other, except by the fiddler +perpetuating that which the fiddle produces--the composition,--by +writing it down, thus transmitting it to others. This I am trying to do +by this book. + +No doubt some of the things which have come under my observation in +some form or other are already known to science, and are, therefore, a +corroboration, or an explanation, only, of things already known. With +me, nevertheless, _all_ is original; and I may therefore justly claim +that if any of these matters have been discovered before, I, at least, +have _re-discovered_ them. + +If I were an institution possessing a guaranty of continued existence I +might value the present lightly, knowing a future would come when these +matters will be fully understood. Being a creature of the present, +however, which may be turned into the past--especially at my time of +life--at almost any moment, these matters should become known at the +earliest opportunity; some of them being of so subtle a nature that +they may require personal explanation and illustration. They have been +hidden from us in the past; should they fail to be made known now, _the +same opportunity may not arise again for centuries_. + + * * * * * + +I do not claim any special sagacity over others for having made these +discoveries, and disbelieve altogether in miraculous interposition. Yet +I do not want to be prejudiced in any direction. + +We are surrounded by the mysterious and the miraculous; and that which +is called "natural" as a rule is far more mysterious than that which is +called "miraculous." + +"Truth is stranger than fiction"; which is undoubtedly true. We can +imagine that only of which we have at least _some_ knowledge, but there +are realms of truth beyond us of which we have _no_ knowledge. Besides, +these revelations are of so extraordinary a nature that I cannot +altogether close my eyes to the fact that I _may have been led on to +them_ by agencies beyond my personal power of volition. I will cite but +one reason why such an idea might be justly entertained by me. + +That which originally led me on to these investigations, as already +mentioned, was the simple desire to speak the English language just as +native-born persons speak it. Although I eventually became aware of the +fact that this was next to impossible, yet I persisted in this endeavor +to such an extent that I spent far more time on it than it would have +deserved had I been _convinced_ that I would be finally successful. +Again and again I said to myself, "This is a foolish, absurd, unworthy +undertaking for a person of intelligence"; the next minute I was at +it again, trying to utter this sound or pronounce that word in the +"correct English fashion." + +I want to ask, What was it that impelled me to thus persist, almost +against my wish, will, and better insight? When, after many years +of this almost wanton endeavor, I discovered the dual nature of the +voice, I could not help but think that an influence beyond myself had +been exercised to impel me to persist in these efforts, which were +then crowned with a success of a different order, and far beyond any +previous expectation. _I then found what I had been after unknown +to myself._ To simply say I was "infatuated" would not explain this +strange adherence to what for a long while looked like a vain and +hopeless undertaking. + +I am aware that for me to say, as I have just now said, "I cannot +altogether close my eyes to the fact that I may have been led on by +agencies beyond my personal power of volition," may expose me to +ridicule in the eyes of some persons; besides being a contradiction to +my other convictions. Yet I say so deliberately and am quite willing to +abide by the consequences. It is a case of the duality of our nature, +which impels me to take a naturalistic or biogenetic view of things in +one direction, yet forces me to take a spiritualistic or abiogenetic +view of them in another direction. I do not comprehend those who under +_all circumstances_ are capable of pursuing either the one direction or +the other. + + * * * * * + +I might say I have been on a prospecting tour to a _new_ country, where +I found the outcroppings of numerous veins of precious ore. These veins +are _true fissure veins_, penetrating, as they do, into the very bowels +of the earth; and it will take centuries to exhaust them in all their +_dips, spurs, and angles_. + + * * * * * + +It will be a matter of surprise that a layman, one not of the tribe +which make science the pursuit of their lives, should have penetrated +into these mysteries. It must not be lost sight of, however, that +science, as a rule, deals with things visible and tangible, while the +voice is a sensation which, regarding its origin in the ego, cannot be +observed outside of the ego. One may by close observation trace the +origin of one's voice to its innermost channels, and thus learn much +about the subtlest characteristics of its nature, a proceeding to which +it would not be possible to subject any one else's voice. The same +conditions prevail in regard to other sensations which have also come +under my, at least, partial observation. + + * * * * * + +Science, as a rule, has been satisfied with the observation of results, +of phenomena, without attempting to penetrate into causes, which seemed +to be unalterably hidden from its gaze. Special features, however, of +the voice have been ably and successfully observed and described by +many eminent persons. To these I have not given any attention, partly +because they were beyond my sphere, and partly (not being a musician) +because they were beyond my power of observation. + + * * * * * + +In looking for the voice, anatomy in its minute examinations of the +larynx has but opened up a grave for us to gaze into. And what have we +beheld? A skeleton of the voice's body--of its soul not a trace. This +skeleton, to boot, is but a _portion_ of the mechanism of the voice; +of its other parts, equally important, science has not even known that +they were in existence. Like a palæontologist or an archæologist, I +have dug up these other parts or fragments from all around; some were +found close at hand, others quite a distance off. I have skilfully put +them together, and have thus constructed a fairly _complete_ torso, or +framework of the voice. I say "torso," though I may justly claim more +than that, having again infused the soul into it which had fled from +it; and, see, it has become a _living thing_. + +That the wonderful apparatus contained in the throat is for a purpose +there cannot, of course, be any doubt. It is but partly for the +purpose attributed to it, however, and, until we better comprehend +this part-purpose, especially in view of the fact _that we have no +control over its mechanism_, it will be best, as far as singers and +elocutionists are concerned, to surrender it to and leave it with the +anatomists. + +To the ultimate aim of science--the knowledge of life--I have +contributed matters of a nature deemed beyond the province of the +knowledge of man. Was it ever intended that they should be known? On +more than one occasion I have been puzzled to know whether to go on +with these investigations; whether I had a _right_ to go on with them. +Still, I was sustained by the fact that I had been _led on to them_. +For what other purpose could this have been done but for that of +making the results thereof known? They could serve no good purpose in +remaining locked up _within myself_. + +It is my belief that the ordinary course of events is never interfered +with; but that _great_ events may be inaugurated by unseen agencies and +guided by unseen hands. The responsibility which has devolved upon me, +incompetent and unprepared as I am, is almost too great; still, I must +try to discharge it to the best of my ability. + + * * * * * + +I have no personal motive of either fame or fortune. At one time I +would have been pleased with such results; now it is too late. If not +in my day, some day, I trust, some one will read and comprehend; some +one will not mind the trouble of investigation. It is not likely that I +shall _forever_ remain the only "seeing one." + +It would have been better if I had not published a line for at least +ten years. It would have taken that long to say what I want to say, +_properly_. My time is too uncertain, however, to run such a risk. My +friends are falling to the right and left by the roadside. I must be up +and doing; must make a beginning at least. + +We must be satisfied with reaching matters approximately, and argue by +analogy to some extent; and also hope that others will take them up and +push them along a little farther than we have been able to do. Perhaps +in the course of time a perfect insight may be arrived at. + + * * * * * + +The community of man is a necessity; a separate existence, an anomaly. +We are dependent and interdependent upon one another. Man cannot +escape his fellow-man. In the remotest desert his spirit is still in +communication with him. If it were not so, who would not at times want +to flee all, escape from all? + +I have but one fear--inability, for some reason or other, to finish +my work. I feel like the heroine of a celebrated German novelist, +travelling about with a trunk filled with gold, which she distributed +among the _deserving poor_ as fast as she came across them. Meanwhile +she was in constant fear lest her life should ebb out before all was +distributed, and its precious contents _lost_ to those for whom they +were intended. If there were any way of imparting this knowledge +other than by writing it down, I would gladly resort to it. But how +can I reach the few who are capable of and willing to take up these +questions, except by communicating them to the many? These "few" will +be found in all parts of the world, for these truths apply to _all_ +men, independent of sex, race, or country. + + * * * * * + +My cry is not for recognition. My personality might be blotted out, +like that of millions of others, without its being noticed, yet, by +virtue of this trust which has been reposed in me, what a loss it would +be! My cry is for investigation and the coöperation of others, so that +this work may be carried on independent of myself. Meantime, I cannot +transfer this task to others. I must first explain all that it is in my +power to explain. I can then shift it from my shoulders onto theirs. +They must be educated up to it before they can take hold of it as I +have taken hold of it. + + * * * * * + +When I first announced my discoveries, I gave all I possessed, +supposing others would see as I saw and comprehend as I did; having +no doubt but that the world would at once acknowledge their truths +and accept their precepts. I have since found that the world can get +along very comfortably with a vast amount of want of knowledge. I +therefore made up my mind not to be quite so rash again in making it my +beneficiary, not till I was better prepared for the purpose; this other +book of mine having been finished rather hastily in the erroneous +belief that this knowledge was at once and imperatively needed. + +Since publishing this previous book I have also found, which I did +not know at that time, that my very mode of investigation (by means +of introspection) was new; that no one had ever looked into matters +of this kind in the manner I had; besides, it seems strange that in +this age of keen investigation of the most trivial matters, no one +should have deemed it worth his while to look into these more important +subjects. + +Regarding the anatomical investigations of the larynx, and anatomical, +coupled with physiological, investigations generally, let me ask a +question: Supposing a palace with a million apartments, each one in +succession more luxuriously furnished than its predecessor, would they +avail anything to its _sole_ inhabitant, if that inhabitant were blind? + +We have obtained a fair conception of the wonderful palace, the human +body, its numberless apartments and their luxurious furnishings, but +do not comprehend their meaning, except in a remote and unsatisfactory +mechanical sense. _We_ are the blind that inhabit it. Most of these +apartments will remain meaningless to our understanding until we +ascertain what use the sovereign, the soul, which reigns therein, is +making of them, not only mechanically, but _spiritually_ as well. For +the soul lives in them all, though it is supposed that it lives only in +its throne-room of the brain and that it never descends from the throne +set up in the same. + +Just here biologists have blundered, trying to get hold of _psyche_ by +pursuing matter bereft of life; or investigating life in other beings +instead of that inherent in themselves. The vivisection of all the +frogs in the world will not give us the first knowledge of the frog's +soul; certainly not of _our_ soul. The knowledge of the anatomical +construction of the larynx has brought us no nearer the knowledge of +the mystery of the voice than that of the brain has brought us to that +of the soul. We must understand the process by which the mechanism of +the brain is set in _motion_ before we can begin to understand our +mode of thinking. We must comprehend the manner in which a musical +instrument is to be used before we can begin to draw music from the +same. And so must we understand the spirit which moves the mechanism of +the voice (of which so far we have known but a single factor), if we +want to understand our mode of using it. + +Does any one seriously think that by photographing vocal sounds, +or passing a mirror down his throat and watching the movements of +the vocal cords, he will observe anything that will lead him to an +intimate knowledge of nature's subtle process by which vocal sounds are +produced? As well look at the face of a clock and see its hands move, +and then say you have arrived at a knowledge of the hidden intricate +mechanism of the works of the clock. The mechanism of the instrument of +the voice is a thousand times more intricate than that of a clock. It +lives, it breathes, it moves, it expands and contracts, it rises and +falls, it gathers, it gives--now here, now there. + +Starting from the supposition that life is too subtle, too intangible +a thing to have its innermost operations disclosed by the clumsy work +of our hands or the dull vision of our eyes, though increased in +power a thousandfold, I matched the subtle work of my voice with the +subtler of my brain, and thus, undisturbed by any extraneous agency +whatever, watched the process by which, first, simple mechanical, then +articulated sounds, and finally sounds linked together into speech, are +produced. In so doing I traced sounds through the labyrinth of numerous +avenues to their original sources--_the organism of all our faculties, +instead of being confined to their end organs, being widespread over +our entire system_. + + * * * * * + +Physiologists as a rule are satisfied with the _observation and +exposition_ of phenomena. I have endeavored to _explain_ phenomena. I +have gone "behind the returns," as politicians say. I have lifted the +mysterious veil, and have obtained glimpses at the process of life. In +this manner the voice of the œsophagus was first discovered, which, +in logical sequence, has carried me from one discovery to another. +Once in the confidence of nature, it freely opened up to me its heart. +Comprehending one thing led me on to the comprehension of others. + +There is no study which is as fascinating as that pursued by +introspection. It is self-compensating in the highest degree; all +facts thereby evolved being the logical sequence of others previously +ascertained. Or, if not always in sequence, they all fit into the same +system; everything that has been ascertained being a stone which was +waiting to be placed in a certain niche to fulfil a certain purpose +in the construction of a harmonious edifice. There was no waste, no +material entirely lost; nor will there be at any future time. If +similar studies will be pursued by those specially fitted for the +purpose, the time may not be far distant when there will not be an +atom of our material existence whose meaning and purpose will not be +understood. The laws which I claim to have discovered will assist in +this accomplishment, as they are of so broad a nature that they may be +said to form the substructure to forces and conditions which are at the +very root of our existence. I do not pretend to say that in this little +book they have been properly treated, nor that I possess the ability, +under the best of circumstances, to thus treat them. I have but stated +what has come under my observation, and have stated it in as simple and +direct a manner as my instinct and my ability have taught me to state +it. + +I have been up on Mount Washington to see the sun rise. It was a +beautiful picture; still, there were clouds in the way which here and +there obscured my vision, as was to be expected from the unwonted +height to which I had risen, and the distant horizon. + + * * * * * + +I am not writing for a class, but for the multitude to which I belong, +and of which, in its aspirations, its hopes, its sincerity, and its +ignorance regarding _specific_ knowledge, I form a part. Hence my +thoughts are its thoughts and my language its language. There will be +no difficulty, therefore, for _all_ to understand me and to profit by +my experience. + +My observations result in the triumph of the sensation, the feeling +(common to all), over the exact sciences (known to but few). Science, +for the most part, is satisfied with dissecting or analyzing. My +endeavor has been to construct; to form the whole out of parts instead +of reducing the whole into parts. My guide has been instinct coupled +with common-sense,--that rarest of all the senses in spite of its name. +How far it has guided me aright, it will be the province of science to +judge. + +I may be asked why, in treating upon so "simple" a subject as the human +voice (my only endeavor in the beginning), I want to move heaven and +earth, and press them into my service. My answer is, Wherever I touched +the subject of the voice, I found it to be in correlation with all +other subjects. + +My great desire now is, that I may be granted the time and retain the +ability to write out all I have ascertained; while my greatest wonder +is, that these things should have waited for me at all to be made +known; why they should not have been discovered centuries ago. My eyes +once opened, I found them lying about within the easy reach of my arm +and the mere assistance of my pick and shovel, like precious ore in +a newly discovered mining country. I had but to open the lid of the +mysterious casket which had been intrusted to me, and all these great +truths escaped from the same; not to disappear, however, as they did +in the fable, but to remain with me and to be made known through me to +the world. + + * * * * * + +The best part of my life has been spent in this, my adopted country. +Though I experience no difficulty in expressing myself in the English +language, still it is not my native tongue, and I sometimes feel as if +I might have said some things better if I had said them in German. + + * * * * * + +Looking at the many volumes written on the subject of the larynx alone, +and considering that during all this time its associate, the replica, +without whose assistance _not one_ vocal sound can ever be uttered, has +remained unknown, though in plain sight and "in everybody's mouth," one +cannot help but think of Goethe's lines: + + "Ein Kerl der speculirt + Ist wie ein Thier, auf duerrer Haide + Von einem boesen Geist im Kreis herum gefuehrt, + Und ringsumher liegt schoene gruene Waide." + + ("A theorist is like unto a beast + On barren soil by evil sprite led round and round + Within a narrow circle, though beyond there is a feast + Of pasture green on fertile ground.") + + +"THE BASIC LAW OF VOCAL UTTERANCE" + +My earlier work, entitled as above, was written under peculiar +circumstances. After discovering the fact that sounds proceed from +beneath as well as from above the tongue, light streamed in upon +me on so many subjects I had previously attempted to solve that I +was almost dazed thereby. I thought it my duty to make these matters +known, and attempted to describe them as they appeared to me. They +were all perfectly clear to me, and even to-day there is scarcely a +thing I then said that does not wholly stand its ground. Still, to-day, +viewing things from an advanced point of view, much of that which was +then expressed pragmatically, almost in a single sentence, and which +then appeared to be sufficient, I am convinced requires considerable +elaboration and elucidation. + +Take, for instance, this dictum: "The manner in which we breathe for +speech is by raising and lowering the tongue," etc. This is perfectly +correct, and positive proof will be advanced hereafter as to its being +so. + +I thought these matters would be readily understood, not knowing at +that time that between the manner in which I had reached conclusions +and the one in which conclusions had been reached by others who had +also made a study of these matters, there was a vast difference. +Unknown to myself I had lived a life of my own. I had given myself +up to these matters in a manner no one ever had before; having been +everlastingly at it, holding on with a tenacity that knew no restraint. +In this manner I wrung facts from nature that may have never been +intended to be revealed. + +There was something Faust-like in it all, and I sometimes shudder at +my own temerity. Still, I had no such thought when I so persistently +continued trying to fathom the mystery of vocal sounds. Viewing it +in its proper light it was a narrow and every-day undertaking. I was +fairly staggered, therefore, when I reached such unlooked-for results. + +The reader, however, may ask, and I feel it incumbent upon me, as well, +to tell him, What was the nature of these results? Wherein consisted +these discoveries? They covered a large field and whole range of +knowledge. They had reference more particularly to vocal sounds. These, +in fact, had almost exclusively occupied my mind for many years. These +apparently simple factors, vocal sounds, I have since ascertained are +the outcome of laws, forces, and agencies, and combinations of all +these, which largely make up the sum and substance of our spiritual +existence. The direct nature of vocal sounds, therefore, cannot be well +treated upon till some understanding has been arrived at of the nature +of the elements out of which they are composed. I was rash enough to +attempt to explain them, especially the consonant sounds, in this +little book of mine, from a standpoint I had then arrived at. Others +have tried to explain them from a much narrower standpoint still. From +that standpoint I offered explanations as to our mode of speaking, +breathing, as to defective speech, etc. Although this was an advanced +standpoint, and well worthy the consideration of scientists, it was a +standpoint far beneath the one I have arrived at since. + +In attempting to scale a mountain I had reached a point from which I +could overlook the valley immediately beneath my feet. I have since +gone up much higher. Yet there are towering heights still above me +which I shall never be able to reach. From this it will be seen how +difficult it would be for me to state in a few paragraphs what I had +actually ascertained. That book, however, will increase in value +in the course of time, not only for the knowledge it contains, but +historically, so to say, as the beginning of an evolution which, it +seems to me, will eventually embrace all sciences in regard to man; +when treated, as they will be, from a standpoint of inner as against +one of outer consciousness, from the standpoint of the soul and the +heart, as in the inadequacy of our expressions I have to call them, as +against that of the head and the senses. + +I have since arrived at a plan according to which these matters will +be treated in a more systematic manner. In _this_ volume, besides +many novel subjects, I have been enlarging upon and elucidating many +superficially mentioned in my book, _The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance_. +Still, the matters treated upon even in _this_ book cover so much +ground, and had to be condensed to such an extent, that many of these +also will require further enlargement and elucidation. This will be +attempted to be done in future publications. Meantime I trust these +matters will be taken in hand by others, who by their writings will +relieve me of some of this additional labor. Take it all in all, there +is so much of this work that I feel as if I had swallowed the ocean and +was now called upon to give an account of its contents. + + +THE VOICE OF THE ŒSOPHAGUS AND ITS VOCAL CORDS + +Among the discoveries mentioned in my former publication one stands +out most prominent, and it is the basis of all my other discoveries; +namely, "that the voice is of a dual nature." I had ascertained that +sounds circulate around the radix of the tongue; that they, or rather +the air wave which carries them, enters either at the upper surface of +the tip of the tongue and recedes back, to come out again from beneath +its lower surface, or vice versa. I had also ascertained that the +former process is the English, the latter the German, for breathing and +vocal expression. + +I was convinced that this signified a circulation of vocal sounds; and +though I had finally also reached this conclusion and intimated it, +namely, "that we breathe and speak through the œsophagus," I did not +express it in so many words, as I meant to leave this expression for a +future publication. I was at first under the impression that both waves +belonged to the trachea, the one that was ingoing as well as the one +which was outgoing. + +Meantime I had discovered the "larynx or voice-box to the œsophagus," +but considered this at first also as belonging to the trachea. I +thought inspiration and ingoing sounds belonged to the vocal cords of +the trachea, expiration and outgoing sounds to this "new" vocal cord +located beneath the tongue. To study these first attempts, by which +I was trying to find my way, and which culminated in these wonderful +discoveries, I presume would be of interest to the student. I can here +mention only the main points. + +I have found beyond a doubt, and my future statements will more fully +establish this fact, that the frænum linguæ and the parts of the mucous +membrane surrounding the same are relatively of the same nature in +regard to the voice of the œsophagus that the vocal cords and other +parts of the larynx are in relation to that of the trachea. + +In contradistinction to the larynx, I named these entire surroundings +the "replica," as, in conjunction with the tip of the tongue resting +upon the same, they conform to the shape of the oral cavity, of which +in their general appearance they are almost a counterpart. In a +similar manner I named the special part thereof, which "regulates" the +intonation, the "vocal lip," in contradistinction to the vocal cords of +the larynx, which perform the same service for the voice of the trachea. + +After making such positive assertions regarding the replica as I did in +my previous publication--now more than four years ago--I was more than +surprised that no one should have deemed it worth his while to look +into the value of these assertions. If any one had, he could not have +helped but acknowledge their correctness. It is but necessary to utter +any vocal sound whatsoever, either vowel or consonant, and while doing +so watch the vocal lip and the frænum, to become at once convinced that +their motions are of precisely the same order as those of the larynx +and the vocal cords. + +So many have spent year after year upon the difficult and "fruitless" +endeavor to study the motions of the larynx; while here is an +opportunity plainly before every one's eyes to study, without effort, +the most interesting phenomena in voice production. We must be obliged +to seek for a thing high and low before we deem it worthy of our +attention. + +[Illustration] + + + + +THE HUMAN VOICE + + +What is the voice--a spirit, or "an expiratory current of air set into +vibration by purely physical agencies"? It does not seem to me to be +either, but something which is of the nature of both: our dual nature, +embodied in the sounds of speech; our body and soul joining hands to +produce the miracle of the voice. Regarding the materialistic view +quoted above, which is held by most of the investigators, who make the +larynx their _point d'appui_, I think that if there is anything in our +composition or emanating therefrom that is _not_ produced by "_purely_ +physical agencies," it is the voice. + +In my opinion there is nothing purer, more "spiritual," in the world +than a beautiful voice. Did you ever _see_ a spirit? Perhaps not. But +you have often _heard_ one. You hear them daily, hourly, constantly; +other spirits as well as your own--the spirits represented by the +voice; the soul incorporated in the sounds of speech. When you +converse, it is soul to soul; when you hear an anthem sung, it is the +soul of the singer to the soul of the universe. The soul reveals itself +most prominently through the voice when there is anguish in it, or joy; +tears or laughter; love or hate. + +An attempt to get at the truth in matters of the voice is an attempt at +getting at the truth in matters of life. If you will tell me _all_ that +a vocal sound is, I will tell you what your soul is. + +To examine into the anatomical construction of the larynx, to watch +it physiologically and learn to understand the motions of the vocal +cords in their relation to vocal sounds, is not much more than looking +at the dial of a clock (a simile already used, but worth repeating). +The movements of the hands will give you _no_ cue to the construction +of the intricate works hidden behind the face of the clock. Nor will +the careful examination and observation of the "dials" which serve the +voice of the œsophagus in the same manner as those of the larynx serve +the voice of the trachea, measurably increase the knowledge of vocal +phenomena. I do believe, however, that, inasmuch as the movements of +the replica, the frænum, and the vocal lip fit into and complement +those of the larynx and its vocal cords, and vice versa, lessons of +great benefit to the knowledge and the improvement of vocal utterance +may be learned, _after_ we have once begun to understand what these +movements imply. + +That we cannot now derive any benefit from the observation of these +motions is due to the fact that they are _reflex_, _involuntary_, +_uncontrolled_ and _uncontrollable_ by the will. Or, as Mme. D'Arona +expresses it: + +"They are not the _cause_ of the perfect tone, but are simply acted +upon by the cause." + +After having become acquainted with the cause of these motions, and +having learned to control it in the interest of pure and perfect tone, +the movements of the larynx and the replica will become of value to +us as "indicators" of the correct or incorrect exercise of the cause +which they reflect. In "recording" the original movements they will +show us what is right or wrong in the latter, and will thus offer us +an opportunity for correcting them. Up to the present they have been +simply barometers, which, no matter how closely we may observe them, +offer us no opportunity for changing "the state of the weather" which +they indicate. After thoroughly comprehending the _causes_, however, +which move them, we may shape the course of the latter in conformity +with our will. Or, vice versa, we may shape our will, which, after all, +is the _first cause_, so as to correct that which they indicate to be +wrong in our tone production. + +Now, what is that which the will acts upon, and thus becomes the +original source, the first cause, so to say, of tone production? My +answer will be a surprise, for, as far as I know, no one has ever as +much as thought, even, of looking in this direction for the seat of the +voice. + +The original source of tone production has its location in _various +vessels of the viscera_: in the lungs, the kidneys, and the bladder, +for the most part, though many other vessels, if not all, participate, +and are more or less involved in its production. Besides these vessels, +the heart and the solar plexus, as central organs of the vascular +and nervous systems, together with the brain as the central seat of +thought and the will, perform parts of the highest importance in tone +production and vocal utterance. In the lungs, the bladder, and the +kidneys, together with their coadjutors, the bronchi and ureters, _the +tone originates_. Here we can control, and unconsciously do control, it. + +I shall adduce indubitable proof as to the correctness of these +assertions. More than that, I shall _locate_ sounds in these various +vessels. As a tone proceeds from a given string located in a given part +of a musical instrument, and cannot proceed from or be produced on any +other string, a given tone of the human voice proceeds from a given +vessel, and cannot proceed from or be produced in any other vessel. + +I shall furthermore show that the various shades of a tone proceed from +various parts of such vessel. Yet, while tones are produced in special +parts, the instrument of the voice being of a sympathetic nature, +_all_ parts of the _viscera_ participate therein, by, in a manner, +_leaning_ towards a vessel in which a tone is produced, thus assisting +in giving it utterance. If a sound is produced in one of the vessels +of the abdomen, those of the thorax, though not directly participating +therein, give it aid and comfort by their passivity, thus throwing the +entire strength of the voice-producing forces into this one spot. If a +sound is produced in the thorax, the vessels of the abdomen aid it in +a similar manner. This is more particularly the case when a sound of a +superior order is to be produced, which is thus _reinforced_ by this +aid. + +In matters of the voice, as in many others, truth is stranger than +fiction. + +Dr. Rush has said: + +"Some day, when the real instrument of the voice will be discovered, +it will be found to be of an order far different in its nature and +construction from that which it has ever been supposed to be." + +The greatest mechanical wonder, however, is that the voice, and that +which is apparently one and the same sound, should under different +circumstances emanate from sources so entirely different in their +construction as the vocal cords to the trachea and those to the +œsophagus, the viscera of the kidneys, the bladder and the lungs, etc. +This fact also accounts for the mystery which, like an impenetrable +veil, has hung over the features of the voice. Who has ever thought of +looking for the spirit of the voice to reveal itself from _beneath_ the +tongue? Who has ever thought that the œsophagus was a breathing-tube +of a similar functional order as the trachea? Who has thought that the +viscera of the abdomen were playing as important a part in breathing as +the lungs? Who has thought that the hemisphere of the abdomen was as +directly amenable to the influence of the air as that of the thorax? +Who has, in fine, thought that the viscera of the abdomen together with +those of the thorax were primarily instrumental in producing the voice +and vocal utterance? + +It may not be pleasant to know, and it may not quite conform with our +æsthetic taste, that the "voice divine" should have its origin in such +vessels as the kidneys and the bladder; but I have no quarrel with +the Creator, and can but wonder, as I have never ceased to wonder from +step to step in all these investigations, at the marvellous resources +of nature. There is one great lesson conveyed through this, namely,--- +that the body is _divine_ in its _every aspect_; parts which have been +supposed to serve ends only of a comparatively low order participating +in the highest spiritual functions. + +This knowledge is the sanctification of the "flesh," so constantly and +unjustifiably rejected and reviled as against that of the spirit. I +am not dealing with theories, but am stating facts which will be as +positively proven as any other scientific facts ever have been proven. +These proofs will not be all forthcoming in this book, however, there +being other subjects of equal, if not greater, importance that I have +to deal with before I can reach them; these subjects being of such a +nature that they must be explained before those immediately connected +with voice production can be properly dealt with. + +I have been reproached with attempting too much; with dealing with too +many subjects at one and the same time; that I ought to complete one +theme and then take hold of another. Just so; but this cannot be done. +I must first deal with general principles. Our entire system being of +a homogeneous nature, I cannot deal with separate issues until these +principles have been dealt with and understood in their entirety. +Besides, I cannot hope to ever _complete_ any one thing. I shall be +well satisfied if I shall be able to simply touch upon every subject +that has come under my observation, lightly, suggesting things, and +leaving it to others to enter more thoroughly into the same. + + +INTROSPECTION + +With our mortal eyes turned outwardly we cannot see spiritual things, +nor the motive power of life, nor the material form the spirit assumes +in moving the mechanism of the body. For there _is_ a material way +in which it is thus moved, as there necessarily must be, and I have +obtained glimpses thereat by turning my eyes inwardly--by looking into +myself with the _inner_ surface of my eyes. + +Yet through all these centuries people have been using that portion +of their eyes which is intended for external vision only, in a vain +endeavor to arrive at spiritual-material facts. Thus the larynx, as +the supposed seat of the voice, has been subjected to scrutiny based +upon laws derived from phenomena which owe their origin to physical +causes only. During this vain endeavor the larynx has been subjected +to torture and maltreatment worse than that inflicted upon a mediæval +witch. + +But its tormentors have derived no solace from this treatment, not even +that of a confession of imaginary sins. Why not? Simply because it had +not anything to confess, being a reflex, an indirect, and not a free +and original agent. Through torture (by means of the laryngoscope), the +destroyer of harmony, we cannot arrive at laws based upon harmony. + +Is not all physiological research more or less of this order? The +"higher law" of science may demand its victims, even as did the "higher +law" of the church. I do not wish to say, however, that the sacrifice +of animals on the altar of science is as useless as that of human +beings used to be on that of religion. Vivisection, however, while it +may, and no doubt sometimes does, help to recognize the physical cause +of disorder, will never be of any value in arriving at spiritual causes +and the recognition of the inner motive power of life, nor to any great +extent at that of the exercise of our faculties and functions. For this +knowledge we require a different mode of proceeding. To penetrate into +the realm of the spiritual-material world (and all phenomena of life +are of that nature) we must not look externally but internally, not +into other beings but into ourselves. That is the only place where we +can hope to find it in action and arrive at the causes of such action. + +As our being cannot enter into the inner life of another being and +identify itself with the same or become a part thereof, or remain apart +and become a spectator of the same or substitute therefor (not even for +that of the simplest and lowest living vegetable or animal organism), +we would have to despair of our ability of ever being able to arrive +at the laws governing life, if we were not able to look into our own +lives by substituting for our observations our inner for our outer +consciousness. + +The word "Introspection" has heretofore meant reflection upon purely +spiritual phenomena only; I have proven by my personal example that we +can observe physiologico-psychological phenomena with considerable +accuracy--very little of this kind of work, as far as I can learn, +ever having been done before. The nearest approach at amalgamation, +probably, is that which is brought about by means of hypnotism. In this +instance the two factors, the positive and the negative, the operator +and the person operated upon, do not fuse, however, and become one, +but remain entities, each in his own right. Or, to speak still more to +the point, while the positive, that is the spiritual, factor of the +operator may, and no doubt does, join hands with the negative, that is +the material, of his subject, by which the operator becomes one with +the latter, there is still but an _influence_, and not an insight. +Besides, this condition is as yet too obscurely known to be made use of +as a practical means of observation. + +After all this, the question will still be asked, "What must we _do_ to +look into ourselves?" + +I will admit that I have not stated what others should do, but in +explaining what I have done I mean to explain what general course +others will have to pursue. By taking into consideration what I have +said, and adding thereto what I shall still have to say, a general idea +may be formed of what the reader must do to place himself in a position +to make original observations by means of introspection. No two cases +being just alike, from the fact that heredity, the mental capacity, +physical condition, education, temperament, nationality, etc., with +no two persons are just alike, it is not well possible to point out a +course quite suitable to all. I might as well attempt to arrive at a +law by the observance of which _all_ persons would be enabled to write +poetry. + +Still, needing assistance in this vast undertaking, I am particularly +anxious to make this matter clear, as the results of these observations +are of vital interest to all, and I am but one weak, ignorant mortal +creature, with but a small fraction of a life left to me in which to +state that which it would at least take a full lifetime to properly +and fully explain. I am overburdened with an insight which is being +increased daily, even against my will, and which I shall never be able +to fully communicate to others. Let the flood-gates of truth once be +opened and come in upon you as they have upon me, and you will be +overwhelmed by the mass of their detail no less than by the vigor of +their mass. My great want, therefore, for the purpose of more fully +arriving at these facts and obtaining ever higher results is assistance +and coöperation. I wish it to be distinctly understood, however, that I +do not mean this in a personal sense--far from it; but in the interest +and the promotion of science, as everybody wanting to make original +observations must pursue these studies for himself and by himself. + +Why such a course has not been heretofore pursued by others I am at +a loss to understand, except from the fact that it takes an unusual +amount of perseverance to reach the first results. Though _all_ persons +may not be able to personally obtain satisfactory results, _all_ may be +_benefited_ by the results obtained by those qualified to successfully +carry on a course of observations by means of introspection. The +world at large will always have to be satisfied with being simply the +beneficiary of scientific research; more especially of research in +matters spiritual or psychical. From facts thus obtained rules may +be deduced, which, translated into "physical forms," may become the +property of all. In this manner numerous observations I have made have +already assumed a practical shape; but I have not as yet been able to +devote the necessary time to them to produce a system which may be used +for general instruction. + +Meanwhile I do sincerely hope that others will take hold of these +matters in all seriousness, and assist me in arriving at these +practical physical forms, which I trust, in fact _know_ beyond the +shadow of a doubt, will be fruitful of the most beneficent results +in the teaching of the deaf, of singing and elocution, of pure vocal +utterance in speaking; in curing stammering and other chronic faulty or +deficient utterance; besides numerous other matters of equal importance +not in immediate connection with vocal utterance. + +That these matters must be and are of the greatest importance to the +medical student goes without saying. It is to be hoped that they may +lead to a more rational treatment of our frail and often ailing bodies. +I say "bodies" because this is the common phrase. Yet how false this +is, every true physician is but too conscious of. Our ailments cannot +be successfully treated from a mere physical standpoint. The question +of life is not a mechanical one; it is spiritual beyond anything else, +the spirit being the motive power giving life to the otherwise inert +physical body. Yet the only endeavor of the physician has always been +to cure the "machine," to set its mechanism right again when it is out +of order, simply because he has not been able to get at the spiritual +motive power which propels it. + +I have been trying to get at this motive power, and to some extent +have been successful in so doing. Besides, the _body_ never suffers. +Its ailments make the soul suffer; while the ailments of the soul have +a comparatively less injurious effect upon the body. The body is the +habitation of the soul. The soul dwells in its _every_ part. As long +as this habitation is habitable the soul continues to dwell therein. +When it becomes uninhabitable the soul departs, never to return. Hence +a body, never so frail and ailing, will continue to live as long as a +vital part is not affected, that is, a part the soul _requires_ for its +habitation and cannot do without. Close such part to the indwelling +of the soul, prevent material and spiritual factors from joining +hands therein, and the spirit departs. Once departed it can never +be made to return. Hence a body in the full vigor of health, after +having been immersed in water sufficiently long to have any one vital +avenue positively closed against the indwelling of the soul, cannot be +resuscitated. As long as the soul clings to it, however, with never so +feeble a grasp, it may come to life again, in the same manner that a +flame nearly extinguished may be fanned to life again. + +For me to _fully_ describe my mode of proceeding in arriving at these +matters would be equal to an attempt at crowding into a few paragraphs +_all_ I have gone through within something like forty years, more or +less, of observation. + + +MAKING PARTS RIGID + +I have already stated that I was originally led into making these +investigations through my simple desire of getting rid of my _German_ +mode of expression in speaking the English language. Being determined +to find out where the trouble was which prevented me from producing +pure English sounds while I experienced no difficulty in producing +pure German sounds, I pursued vocal sounds, through numerous phases, +to their original sources. The endeavor to arrive at the true nature +of vocal sounds through autology and by means of "introspection" has, +no doubt, been made by thousands before me. The reason they were not +more successful must be attributed to the simple fact that such persons +have been lacking in perseverance. It is one of the most misleading +endeavors one can pursue. + +In the beginning I came to what I considered a _positive_ result +perhaps for the hundredth time, but to think I was on the wrong +track the one hundred and first time. I would then, perhaps, finally +determine that the first result arrived at, after all, was the correct +one. In this manner I have in the course of time arrived at positive +conclusions, which have been the basis of all my investigations, and +are undoubtedly correct, as they have yielded up one result after +another and have never proven false. For this, relatively speaking, +"perfect insight" I have waited, before saying anything more at all, +since my previous (preliminary) publication. To these conclusions I owe +my present trust and confidence, and the "boldness and temerity," as +some may say, in making such "startling declarations" in the face of +the accumulated wisdom of the science of this and of past ages. Yet I +am tired unto death of prevarication and of time-serving, and will say +what I consider to be the truth, no matter what may be the consequence. + +Any one singing a false note or mispronouncing a foreign word or sound, +yet knowing what the right note, word, or sound is and should be, can +do the same thing, and by perseverance finally find what he has been +looking for and pronounce such note, word, or sound in its entire +purity. This will put him on the track to the production of _all_ pure +notes or sounds. To accomplish this, he must persistently watch one +result after another. + +My mode of proceeding has been largely in making parts _rigid_, and +then observing the consequences. In pursuing this course for some time, +you will finally attain such a mastery therein that you will be able +to make almost any vessel, muscle, sinew, membrane, tissue, etc., or +any _part_ thereof, rigid. This is done for the purpose of neutralizing +parts which partake in the production of sounds, and will enable you to +closely watch cause and effect in your natural, as well as artistic, +course of breathing and sound production. _Having two languages at my +command, I was startled to find that cause and effect in both were +totally different from each other._ This gave me the original cue to +all my observations. + +In place of sounds, others may pursue odor, taste, feeling, +motion, hearing, etc., to their original sources, and make similar +observations. In so doing they will find that _all phenomena, the +products of our faculties, abilities, or gifts, originally proceed from +the same or similar sources; that there is a homogeneity of proceeding, +mainly consisting in various modes of breathing, in the production of +them all; the end organs of our senses or gifts finally determining +definite special results_. + +For vocal utterance, we draw our inspiration for various results to +be attained, from the air, and breathe in a different mode for every +special performance. These modes of breathing, though the same for all +persons in a general sense and leading through the same channels, in a +more restricted sense are different for every nationality. + +There is no "danger" connected with these pursuits, in spite of Mr. +Heidenhain's fears; which fact is due to the duality of the nature of +each and all our various faculties, there being a safety-valve always +at the other end in the shape of the negative factor. The only danger I +have discovered was in connection with the "streams of life," which do +not permit tampering with without penalty. As these exist independent +of our ordinary mode of breathing, they are not apt to be interfered +with by any neophyte in the pursuits now under consideration. Of these +powerful streams, of which no notice has ever been taken by any one, +though ceaselessly streaming into and out of our system while life +lasts, I shall take occasion to speak later on. + + +EXTIRPATION + +To make a part "rigid" is equal to the "extirpation" of such part. +While it is in a state of rigidity, it ceases to take part in any +action whatsoever; it is inert and the same as if it had ceased to +exist. What advantage, then, let me ask, is there in extirpating parts +in animals, when we can, by making parts rigid, directly extirpate such +parts in ourselves? We can in this manner suppress the action of any +muscle, or the participation of any vessel, or part of such vessel, in +any act, by the simple exercise of our volition. I find no difficulty +in thus "extirpating" any such part from myself for the time being, +and then observing the consequences. I can take hold of the innermost +part of myself, so to say, and take it _out of myself_. In regard to +vocal utterance, these consequences are positive and direct. That +these operations must be very _carefully_ conducted in connection with +_vital_ parts goes without saying. The action of muscles participating +in the production of vocal utterance, however, or in the act of +breathing, except the muscles of the heart, can be suppressed without +danger. I am thus in a position to modify extirpation of parts to any +extent, almost, I desire. I can add to and detract therefrom at will, +and can shift the act of extirpation from the anterior part of a vessel +to its posterior, or from its superior to its inferior, or vice versa, +now making one side rigid, then the other, now one end, and then the +other; or take hold of its centre and leave the other parts free, +or suppress its circumference and leave the centre free. There is +scarcely a limit to the action of my will in handling my subject. All +this while, my feelings, my intelligence, my mind, take in every phase +of these proceedings, and enable me to give a correct account of the +results I have been observing. + +This discovery--for a discovery it must be, as I can find no account of +any similar proceeding ever having been carried on--should, and I hope +will, put an end to vivisection, when it is resorted to for the purpose +of learning anything whatever in respect to the action and the process +of life. By this proceeding I have more or less successfully observed +the acts of breathing, of vocal utterance, motion and locomotion, +hearing, seeing, and thinking. + +I beg leave to here insert without comment the following clipping from +the press: + + The following extracts are from a lecture on "Vivisection in + Relation to Medical Science," delivered by Edward Berdoe, M. + R. C. S., etc., at Cambridge. Lovers of animals may be glad to + know how the medical fraternity amuse themselves: + + "You may open the abdomens of living cats, guinea-pigs, and + rabbits, and apply irritating chemicals to their exposed + intestines, causing what you are pleased to term 'peculiar + rhythmic movements' and 'circus movements,' but what the + unlearned would call violent spasms and convulsions, as was + done by Dr. Batten and Mr. Bokenham, at St. Bartholomew's + Hospital, last year. You may dissect out the kidneys of living + dogs and cats which you have first paralyzed by curare--the + 'hellish oorali' of Lord Tennyson's poem, so called because + the animal's sufferings are intensified by its use, and it is + unable to move a limb, or to bite, scratch, howl, or otherwise + interfere with the operator's comfort. You may do this, as + was done by Dr. John Rose Bradford, at University College, + London. You may infect ninety cats with cholera poison, and + bake numbers of them alive, as did Dr. Lander Brunton. You may + inoculate the eyes of rabbits and guinea-pigs with the material + of tubercle, fix glass balls filled with croton oil--a horribly + irritating drug--and stitch them into the muscles of the backs + of rabbits, then crush them amongst their tissues, as did + Dr. Watson Cheyne, at King's College, London. You may slice, + plough, burn, and pick away the brains of monkeys and dogs, as + did Dr. Ferrier. You may slowly starve to death animals whose + vagi nerves have been cut and stimulated by electricity, as + was done by Dr. Gaskell, of this University, in 1878. You may + cut out the spleens and livers from living rabbits, pigeons, + and ducks, as was done by Dr. William Hunter, of St. John's + College, Cambridge, in 1888, or do a thousand other acts which + in a coster-monger or a farm laborer would be termed and dealt + with as acts of atrocious cruelty, punishable by imprisonment. + But you have not learned the cure for a single malady which + afflicts the human body." + + +THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TONGUE + +There is another mode of proceeding by which satisfactory results can +be obtained, and which was the only one I resorted to in the beginning +and for many years afterwards; namely, the watching of the movements of +the tongue. + +The muscle of the tongue, for vocal utterance, is the most important in +our organization. It appears to me, in fact, as if in its tip there +were a concentration of all the threads which control our existence; +and that it is, therefore, representative of an epitome of our entire +being. As all sciences, in a general, though in some instances +perhaps somewhat remote, sense, centre in the science of life, so +do the controlling elements in our composition centre in the tip of +the tongue. If it were possible to analyze it spiritually as well as +physically, we would obtain a compendium of knowledge far in advance of +any there is in existence in the world at the present time. Still, it +must be admitted that this would, to some extent, depend upon _whose_ +tongue's tip was submitted to such analyzation. The fact of the tip of +the tongue being removed by surgical operation without serious effect +upon the mental condition of the individual does not greatly affect my +assertion. In that case the concentration must have taken place at the +tongue's new tip or end. + +The tongue's tip, with as infallible correctness as the magnetic needle +points towards the north pole, indicates the exact spot whence sounds +come, or should come, to appear on the surface in a clear and undefiled +manner. The tongue's tip, for English vowel sounds, does not touch +any part of the oral cavity. It is constantly changing its position, +however, and for every vowel sound, or shade of a vowel sound, points +in the direction of or _approaches_ the spot whence a sound comes, +or should come. To ascertain such spot with exactitude, it is but +necessary to _extend_ the tongue's tip until it reaches the wall of the +oral cavity during or, still better, immediately after the utterance +of a vocal sound. Upon reaching that spot the tongue may continue in +the same position of contact and the sound can still be uttered with +entire purity. Change this point of contact, however, but in the least, +and such sound will at once cease to come to the surface. Yet, while +_apparently_ a sound comes from the direction in which the tip of the +tongue points, this is not really the case. In pointing in a given +direction, the tongue opens up the channels of the œsophagus and the +trachea in a special manner for the proper emission of a given sound, +beneath as well as above, and to the left as well as to the right of +its radix. In changing the tongue's position but in the least, these +channels will open in a different direction, which may then be the +proper medium for the emission of another sound, but not for the one +under consideration. + +The general mode in which the radix of the tongue turns upon its axis +is the direct and fundamental cause productive of the various languages +of the world; such general mode necessitating special movements of +the tongue for the production of the sounds of any special language. +Regarding the proper emission of consonant sounds every one knows that +the same depends upon the particular spot of contact of the tongue's +tip with parts of the oral cavity. As a matter of fact, such point +of contact also opens, the same as with vowel sounds, the tubes of +the trachea and œsophagus at the tongue's radix in the proper manner +for the emission of a given stream of air for the production of such +consonant sounds. + +Every imaginable opprobrious epithet has been by singers bestowed upon +the tongue. "This obstreperous muscle which is always in the way," says +one. "This troublesome member will persist in going up when you want +it to remain down"; "intractable," "contrary," "obstinate," "wilful," +"ungovernable," "stubborn." All these expressions have been used by +writers on the voice in connection with the tongue, simply because it +would not yield to unreasonable and unnatural demands made upon it; the +tongue, being a free agent, persisting in its natural rights--as much +so as any independent democratic citizen persists in his. + +My observations having been made in connection with a foreign language, +I had a better opportunity for watching my tongue's movements than I +would have had had I attempted to watch them in connection with my +native tongue; the movements of the tongue in connection with the +latter being so rapid and involuntary that it becomes exceedingly +difficult to make any observations at all. It was like having this +foreign (English) tongue exist independently alongside of my own, my +intelligence watching it, and guiding it, now here, now there, until it +would touch the right spot for the right English sound. Knowing what +the right sound was and should be, I never stopped until the same came +to the surface. + +In trying to find my way in this foreign (English) territory of the +oral cavity, I might compare my English tongue to the stick in the +hands of a blind man, who uses it in place of his eyes to ascertain his +whereabouts, so as to enable him to proceed on his way in the right +direction. With my "stick" I felt in every direction, till I found I +could steer clear of obstacles straight into the channel of the sound I +had been seeking. From my German post of observation I was thus enabled +to watch the movements of my English tongue in its efforts to find +itself "at home" in this foreign territory, while I was at the same +time guiding it from one point therein to another. + +I want to call especial attention to and reiterate the fact that +the exact point whence a sound proceeds, or seems to proceed, can, +by extending the tongue's tip, be quite as well (if not better) +ascertained, _after_ the utterance of a sound, as _during_ such +utterance; that is _immediately_ after the tongue has ceased to vibrate +for such sound. + +The difference in the movements of the tongue for various languages +is one of the most interesting observations to be made in connection +with these studies. The German language being the exact opposite, the +antipode, to the English, after comprehending the movements of the +tongue for the latter, its own movements, that is, the movements of the +tongue for German sounds, were not difficult for me to ascertain. + +It is an anomaly to apply the works of German writers on the voice to +the study of the English language, or to that of any other than the +German language; or to apply books written from an English standpoint +to the study of any language except the English--the movements of the +tongue, and, in sympathy therewith, of countless other muscles, being +different for every language. + +Whatever the movements of the tongue are for the _spoken_ language, +they are of an inverse order for _song_. I anticipate in making the +following statement, namely, that while speech is of an order which +is rapid, direct, anterior, exterior, spontaneous, impulsive, and +material, song is of an order which is slow, indirect, posterior, +interior, premeditated, contemplative, and spiritual. I will also +add this: that, _while speech is of the oral cavity, song is of the +pharynx_. In making these remarks and others _in anticipation_, I do +so intentionally and for a purpose; not so much in expectation that +they will be at once and fully understood, as with a view of setting +others thinking on these subjects until I can reach them in due course +of time; or, if I should _never_ be able to reach them, that the +principle, at least, underlying the same, which if the opportunity +had been granted me would have been fully sustained, shall not be +lost. The reader will notice that I am hurrying over the ground +as rapidly as I consistently can, even from my--under the best of +circumstances--superficial standpoint, leaving wide gaps to be filled +in by others in the course of time. + + +SIMPLE SOUNDS + +Speaking of sounds in making experiments in connection with the +movements of the tongue, it is of the first importance that these +sounds should be _simple_ and not _vocal_ or compound. They must be +sounds of the same order as we utter in whispering, or such sounds as +we are apt to use when learning to speak a foreign tongue. They are +the inharmonious sounds of the deaf, and those which distinguish the +speech of a foreigner from that of the native-born. + +The recognition of these sounds as the _negative parts of speech_ has +been one of my main accomplishments, and has been of the greatest +assistance to me in my investigations. + +Things _complete_ tell no tales. We must decompose them, reduce them +to their elements, if we want to arrive at the truth in matters of +science. I have succeeded in doing with things spiritual--vocal +sounds--what the chemist is doing with things material. In things +complete, as they are shaped by the hand of nature, the elements of +which they are composed are mingled in such a dexterous manner, are so +happily blended, that they adjust, counterpoise, and complement one +another, and thus live with and in one another. + +These new forms have been created by the elements of which they are +composed, abandoning their separate original forms and now appearing in +a new form, as integral parts of an _harmonious_ entity. These elements +have not only abandoned their form, however, but in most instances have +also changed their character; which in their original composition may +have been of a _discordant_, violent, and even dangerous nature. Take +but the atmospheric air and its elements for an example. + +A similar state of affairs exists in connection with the phenomena +of the material-spiritual world. While vocal sounds, when properly +produced, stand for all that is harmonious and pleasing, their +component parts, their positive and negative elements, by themselves, +offer features of a contrary nature. They also offer us, the same as +elements do to the chemist while making experiments, the opportunity +for making an endless number of combinations. Unless you know what +_simple_ sounds--_i. e._, negative parts of vocal sounds--are, and +know how to produce them, you will scarcely be able to make one class +of experiments which I shall offer in great abundance to sustain my +arguments. + +When I shall reach the subject of vocal sounds proper, I shall +more fully explain their exact nature. I will simply say this at +present: A simple sound is the product of that hemisphere only to +which it properly belongs. A vocal sound is aided and assisted by a +complementary sound from the other hemisphere. The more perfect such +aid, the more perfect will be its tone. Simple vowel sounds are short, +abrupt, the same as consonant sounds when produced all by themselves +and without the aid of a vowel sound uttered in conjunction with them. + + +POSTERIOR SURFACES + +In saying, as I have, that introspection is carried on by looking into +ourselves with the _inner surface of our eyes_, I meant to say, in the +first instance, that we must exclude all exterior vision, and then +attempt to locate and follow up the course of events going on within +us. While in this state we are strictly reduced to our personal and +individual existence. In thus "watching," the function of our eyes, +instead of being used for external material observation, is reversed; +their function now being to observe internally and spiritually. + +In connection with sounds, you will not only "in your mind's eye" _see_ +the places where they originate, and _feel_ the course they are taking, +but you will actually, functionally (in the mode of spiritually seeing +and feeling), "see" and "feel" them. This vision and this feeling is +far from being perfect, however,--not being accustomed to thus seeing +and feeling,--but it may, when continuously exercised, become so in +the course of time. While in this state, besides seeing the places +interiorly, you may also see them exteriorly, by reflection as it +were, and in a reverse order, "as in a looking-glass," in which case +it is still an interior vision reflected exteriorly. As a matter of +fact, I not only believe, but positively _know_, that _every exterior +functional surface has a corresponding posterior one_. + +Whenever a thing is brought _home_ to us, either through our organs +of seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, or tasting, the outer surface +of such respective organ constitutes the positive factor for such +action, while its inner surface constitutes the negative factor +thereof. Whenever the outer world is excluded, however, as during +thought, introspection, and in our sleep, the inner surface of any of +these organs becomes the positive, and the outer surface the negative, +factor. In thus saying, "I see with the inner surface of my eyes," I do +not mean this figuratively only, but literally, functionally, as well; +as I could not see these places and locate them internally nor could +I see any subject or object with "my mind's eye," if the faculty of +seeing were not actually given to the posterior surface of the eye. + +This will become clear when you consider that you will altogether +fail to see internally when you attempt to use the _anterior_ +surface of your eye for the purpose of _internal_ vision. Thus, the +phenomena of vision which accompany thought or dreams, during sleep +as well as in our waking moments, are not merely spiritual, but, in +the sense of internal functional vision, are also material, so to +say. _All_ thought, in fact, is more or less of this same nature. We +use the posterior surfaces of our organs of sense more frequently, +in consequence, than we do their corresponding anterior surfaces. +Physiologists will say there is no such a thing as an inner surface +of the eye capable of seeing. This does not alter the fact that I +actually, functionally, see with the posterior surface of my eyes, and +that everybody else does the same thing. + +I shall, in connection with vocal utterance, have occasion to call +attention to numerous divisions of as positive a character as a wall +of living tissue, of which there is not a trace to be seen by external +vision; these divisions being channels, constantly used in one and +the same direction, some for ingoing, others for outgoing streams of +air and sounds. Of these channels, also, being invisible to the outer +surface of the eye, science has never taken any notice. These invisible +agencies are connecting links, mediating between cause and result, in +connection with material-spiritual or spiritual-material phenomena of +whatsoever nature brought to our consciousness. Hence the inability +of science, in its ignorance of these agencies, to reconcile the one +with the other by the aid of such material only as has been heretofore +at its disposal. We may _see_ proceedings going on which are mediating +between cause and effect, by the assistance of the inner surface of +our eyes. They disappear altogether, as well as any other "vision," +upon an attempt being made at seeing them with the external surface of +our eyes. Yet we may see inwardly with our eyes open, as we do when +absent-minded, etc. + +If we could invent a microscope by the aid of which we could look into +ourselves in a _spiritual_ sense, that is, through posterior surfaces, +_all_ the secret springs of our nature might be revealed to us. This +ability to become cognizant of physiologico-psychological processes +by the aid of the inner surfaces of our organs of sense, reveals +a peculiar functional exercise of their faculties. In matters of +memory they are not intended to aid in conveying to our consciousness +impressions made at the _present_, but those made at a previous time. +These impressions having been made on the soft tablets of our brain, +either during our individual existence or that of our progenitors, and +transmitted to us by dint of heredity, are brought to our consciousness +by the aid of these inner surfaces, _phonographically_. They are +awakened by association; and that organ of sense by the aid of whose +anterior surface they were first received and _recorded_, now reawakens +them by the aid of its posterior surface. Visions, consequently, are +reflections made on the inner surface of the eyes, from impressions +previously made upon the brain, in a similar manner to that by which +sounds come forth from a phonograph. They could not assume shape if +they were not thus reflected. It is owing to the nature of these +reflections that they are more fleeting and evanescent than those made +by the objects themselves upon the external surface of the eyes. + +The anterior and posterior surfaces of all organs, by whose aid we +exercise our faculties, which surfaces represent their poles and dual +factors, the positive and the negative, the material and the spiritual, +change places in conformity with whether an object is impressed upon +them exteriorly or interiorly, in the present or the past, directly or +indirectly, physically or spiritually. Things which are brought to our +consciousness from the exterior world and in a direct manner--through +our senses--may be said to be of a _material_ nature; while those which +come to us indirectly--through our inner consciousness--may be said +to be of _spiritual_ origin. The clearness of our visions naturally +depends upon the clearness of the impression still remaining upon +the tablets of the brain. The more stirring the event in the first +instance, the deeper and more lasting, of course, the impression. All +this, however, does not throw any light upon the process of abstract +thought; nor am I in a position to aid in so doing. Yet it appears +to me to be a sister proceeding; and that a nearer approach to an +explanation of those more material phenomena may finally assist in +arriving at an explanation of the causes of these more recondite and +apparently purely spiritual phenomena. + +The correctness of the preceding remarks will become more apparent +when we substitute for the faculty of seeing, that of hearing. We +hear the voice of another person through the _anterior_ part of our +ear, _entering_, as it does, from _without_. We hear our own voice +through the _posterior_ part of our ear, _going out_, as it does, +from _within_. No matter how low we may speak, we can always hear our +own voice, though inaudible to others; and we can still distinctly +hear it at such time, even when we fail to hear a low, though in fact +relatively much louder, tone proceeding from the voice of another +person. A ventriloquist, on the other hand, with whom these relations +are reversed, hears his own voice reflected from without, inwardly, +while, if he continues in the same condition while listening to another +person's voice, he will hear the latter from within, outwardly. + +For the purpose of testing the correctness of these observations, +please pay attention to the following: In listening to the sounds of +another person's speech, you will have no difficulty in noticing that +they stream into your ear from without, inwardly. Now, substitute for +this other person's voice the sounds of your own voice, _and continue +to listen to the same in precisely the same manner in which you did +to those of this other person_; that is, let them flow into your ear +from without, inwardly. The result will be _that you will not only not +hear the sounds of your own voice, but that these sounds themselves +will become paralyzed, that you will not be able to produce any sound +whatever_. + +The cause is obvious. You attempt to listen to negative sounds with +the side of your ear still tuned negatively; while, ordinarily, when +we cease to listen and commence to speak, _all_ poles are reversed. +Spoken sounds are positive in relation to the speaker, but negative +in relation to the person listening to the same. In consequence, the +producer hears them with the negative (inner) part of his ear, the +receiver, or listener, hears them with the positive (exterior) part of +his ear. + +I copy the following from an article in the _Philadelphia Sunday Press_: + + "A curious fact in regard to the effect of explosions upon the + drumhead, is that this tissue, though generally blown in, is + sometimes blown out. Just what causes the latter result has not + yet been fully explained." + +In this instance, I presume, the person's ear was tuned to listen +interiorly, and the effect of the explosion, which, in relation to him, +was of a negative nature, took effect on the positive, the posterior, +side of his ear. This person was not in expectancy of the explosion, +but it came on unawares, of a sudden, while he was in a state of +contemplation. + +In connection with the eye, our inner consciousness acts as a "rein" +upon the outer, drawing back in case of danger, checking our progress +when suddenly coming upon a precipice, and _regulating our steps_ to +circumvent it, but without coming to a stop, when seeing an obstacle +in our way from a distance. The "rein" in such an instance reverses +the poles of the eyes--the positive becomes negative and the negative +positive; that is to say, in our usual mode of seeing, while walking, +the exterior surface of the eye is positive, the interior negative; +but when there is danger ahead and we are warned to be cautious, the +exterior becomes negative and the interior positive; the activity now +being exercised by the latter, the passivity by the former. The action +of the "rein," however, is not direct, but crosswise; that is to say, +the posterior surface of the left eye is in correspondence with the +anterior of the right, and vice versa, in conformity with the "impulse" +emanating from either the one or the other, while the anterior surface +of the left eye is in correspondence with the posterior of the right, +and vice versa. + +The knowledge of the reversion of the functional exercise of our +organs of sense is of signal importance in connection with motion and +vocal utterance, which always go hand in hand; every utterance being +accompanied by a motion, though not always visible to the eye. In truly +artistic delivery these motions are brought to the highest perfection; +and visibly, though often in great moderation, accompany _every_ +inflection of the voice. + +To be able to see a thing at all, we must be in a relatively proper +position with the object to be seen; we must be on the same plane with +it. We must also have light, not only for the latter, but by reflection +therefrom also for ourselves. In addition we must have the inner light +enabling us to comprehend what we have seen. I contend that for the +study of spiritual-material as well as material-spiritual phenomena, +such light has always been wanting for the thing to be seen, as well as +for the orb to see and consequently for the spirit to comprehend. In +attempting to comprehend, and to explain appearances, physiologically, +we have been looking in our exterior world, where we cannot, in place +of our interior world, where we might be able to see and to observe. We +have been using the outer surface of our eye instead of the inner, with +which to see spiritual things. The thing to be seen and the orb with +which to see were not on the same "plane." It was impossible to perform +the act of _spiritually_ seeing. The proper light once obtained, it +has not only illumined for me the things to be seen, but also my +capacity for seeing and comprehending them. Roentgen has taught us the +method of seeing material things through opaque bodies. I have learned +to recognize spiritual phenomena in opaque bodies, created, as they +are, by a combination of spiritual and material factors. While I have +made use of this gift for a special study--that of vocal utterance--I +incline to think that it may be made use of for the study of not only +all the various material-spiritual phenomena to be observed in the +nature of organic bodies in general and man's in particular, but also +of our relations with the unseen and unknown world and its forces, +in which our essence has its being, whence it comes, and to which it +returns. In minutely explaining my mode of proceeding, it is also my +special desire to rob it of any appearance of "supernaturalness" some +persons might be inclined to invest it with. Though I cannot explain +many things connected with the voice from an entirely naturalistic +standpoint, I think they are all explainable if the proper amount of +study and observation be given to them. This, as a matter of course, +does not, however, include the operations of the mind proper, which are +governed by laws beyond any human understanding. + + +INSPIRATION--EXPIRATION + +The entire mechanism of our being, more especially that of our +faculties and functions, is primarily excited through openings into +which air is inspired, from which air is expired. These openings are +connected with channels and vessels which are passive or negative +during inspiration; active or positive during expiration. Thus the +multiform streams of air introduced into our system communicate with +parts thereof, which, by their construction and intercommunication with +others, are specially adapted for the exercise of any special faculty +or function. Our will directs these streams of air to flow into their +proper channels (and they automatically obey) for the guidance of our +steps in a certain direction, for the production of a given sound, +the recognition of a given sight, the sensation of a peculiar odor, +taste, or feeling, or the excitation of a passion, a compassion, or +any other sensation, feeling, or thought whatsoever. These streams of +air, therefore, are of an order as multiform as the complex web of our +material and spiritual existence, and are introduced through thousands +of different channels and in thousands of different ways. + +To confine our mode of physical and spiritual existence to a single +stream of air introduced into the oral cavity, or the nostrils, and +thence into the lungs, appears to me to be as primitive a proceeding +and as narrow a view as can possibly be taken of one of the greatest +subjects our understanding is called upon to deal with. In place of +that, I have positive proof that the streams of air which flow into +these openings are of the most multiform nature; every sight, odor, +taste, touch, and every sound, and fraction of a sound even, calling +for a special stream of air which no other stream can furnish or +supply. Besides the oral cavity and the nostrils, the eyes, ears, +and every additional opening, down to an almost invisible pore or +capillary vessel, are recipients of special streams intended for +special purposes. _We breathe through the soles of our feet and the +palms of our hands, as well as through the skull of our heads. The +closer we guard our body against the influence of the air, by means of +unnaturally close-woven and air-tight clothing, the less capable we +become of exercising our natural faculties and functions._ + +To this subject I shall devote time and attention at some future +period, more especially in connection with vocal utterance, as it has +everything to do with the production of sounds, which proceed in part +from within, outwardly, and in part from without, inwardly. In so +doing, positive becomes negative and negative positive; inspiration and +expiration equalize each other, and thus a continuous flow of speech +becomes possible, while if the flow were continuously in one and the +same direction it would soon come to an absolute stop. + +It is this that science has done for us: It has clogged up all these +natural avenues to our existence by teaching that we breathe through +the trachea alone, in consequence of the muscle of the diaphragm +forming an air-tight partition between the upper and lower compartments +of our bodies; being ignorant of the fact of that other great tube of +the œsophagus, also opening into the oral cavity, performing the same +functions for the abdomen which the trachea does for the thorax. In +place of all these millions of openings through which we inspire and +expire, science teaches that we breathe through a single tube, into +and out of an _air-tight sack_,--a mechanically impossible proceeding. +By some ill-defined process, air is supposed to find its way into the +thorax and out again after depositing its oxygen in the blood-vessels. +Meanwhile, the balance of our body is left to shift for itself, not the +slightest particle of fresh food ever finding its way into any portion +thereof, except indirectly through the blood-vessels. To my simple +and untaught understanding it appears that if such a state of affairs +really existed--no matter how rapid the circulation of the blood--the +entire hemisphere of the abdomen would be given over to putrefaction in +an exceedingly short space of time. + +Breathing, however, as we do, through the œsophagus, in like measure +with the trachea, and through every other opening in our epidermis in +addition, our body is constantly, uninterruptedly, permeated with fresh +air in its every avenue, vessel, capillary tube, cell, etc., which +sustains us by its life-giving qualities, and takes away with it the +constantly accumulating refuse. + +The muscle of the diaphragm has been the air-tight door to the cell +of the condemned, whose portal has been guarded by ignorance and +every oppression, suppression, fear, superstition, anxiety, bigotry, +narrowness, prejudice, etc., that the human mind is capable of. It has +given us over to self-accusation as a natural and vital element. It +has shut us up into the narrowest limits, and kept us from communing +with the universe and the spirit of the universe. It has excluded from +us the grace, the beauty, the light, the liberty, the eternity of the +_spirit_, and prevented us from recognizing ourselves as integral parts +of the universe and of the causes which sustain it and sustain us. It +has prevented us from communing with them as free agents _in our own +name and by our own right_, without interference or the intercession of +any person or agency whatsoever, in the past or the present. + +Have I placed too great a value on the discovery of the "voice of the +œsophagus"? + +I feel convinced that the further exposition of my observations will +justify me in all I have said. + + +DIAPHRAGMS + +As the trunk has its diaphragm, dividing thorax and abdomen, so do +all dual hemispheres representing a faculty or function have their +diaphragms, performing duties of an analogous nature. _Every_ opening, +in fact, has its diaphragm. Where there is none visible, it is formed +by contraction, whenever needed, and but for the time being. All +these various diaphragms, more particularly the one specially bearing +that name, are of the greatest importance in connection with vocal +utterance,--the sounds of the vessels of the abdomen being produced by +an expansion of the thorax and consequent contraction of the abdomen, +those of the vessels of the thorax by an expansion of the abdomen and a +consequent contraction of the thorax. + +For the purposes of vocal utterance, inspiration into the thorax +produces an expiration from the abdomen by way of the œsophagus, +accompanied by vocal sound, while an inspiration into the abdomen +produces an expiration from the thorax by way of the trachea, +accompanied by vocal sound; the special _mode_ of inspiration +regulating the special sound to be produced. + +This proceeding has reference to outgoing sounds only. For ingoing +sounds the opposite proceeding takes place; an expiration from the +thorax producing an inspiration into the abdomen, and an expiration +from the abdomen an inspiration into the thorax, both accompanied by +sound. Every original inspiration into thorax or abdomen, of course, +must have been preceded by an expiration from these parts, while every +original expiration must have been preceded by an inspiration into the +same. The utterance of every sound, therefore, requires at least three +movements on the part of the respiratory organs. But for the action of +the diaphragm, such sounds could not be produced. + +All these various diaphragms fall or recede for inspiration, rise or +advance for expiration; the function of a diaphragm being exercised +in conformity with the manner in which it is approached. This may be +done by way of the œsophagus or the trachea, _i. e._, from the side +of the hemisphere of the abdomen, or from that of the thorax. The +outward movement of the abdomen during respiration, therefore, is not +caused by a pressure brought to bear on its contents by the diaphragm, +but it advances and recedes in conformity with a direct process of +inspiration and expiration by way of the œsophagus and the trachea; the +œsophagus and trachea sustaining each other and acting reciprocally +and in conjunction. This presumed pressing forward and subsequent +receding of the entrails, in consequence of the descent and ascent of +the diaphragm, presents a spectacle as repugnant as it is impossible +of execution; the extension of the abdomen, more particularly in +connection with special sounds, being so great that no pressure +whatever brought to bear upon the entrails could possibly produce it. + +In place of this theory, now so generally entertained, the simple fact +obtains that the diaphragm descends in consequence of an influx of air +into and subsequent expansion of the thorax, causing a contraction of +the abdomen and an efflux of air from the same; that it ascends in +consequence of an influx of air into and expansion of the abdomen, +causing a contraction of the thorax and an efflux of air from the same. + +[Illustration] + + + + +IMPRESSION AND EXPRESSION + + +All vocal expression is but an echo, the echo of a thought. Thought +_must_ precede vocal expression. It is not possible to produce a vocal +sound, not the simplest, without thought. There is no such thing as a +voice _ipso facto_, no more than there is music in a musical instrument +unless it is called forth by the hand of the player. Try it. Come upon +a sound suddenly, around the corner, as it were, and then express +it. Do not give it a moment's time for its development; that is, do +not give thought time to mould a form for it, but try to utter it in +embryo, so to say, the very moment you think of it, and you will not be +able to do it. You will not produce any sound whatever. + +It is as necessary to form a mould for a sound as it is for any +shaped and moulded material article. Out of this mould it comes +forth in conformity with the form we have given it: harsh, abrupt, +discordant--rhythmical, beautiful, soulful. Such as the thought is, +so will be the expression. In ordinary conversation this proceeding +is automatic and mechanical, in elocution or song more or less +volitional and artistic. That is to say, for ordinary speech it acts +automatically, for artistic utterance it acts designedly. Materially, +the mould is convex, shut, for ingoing; concave, open, for outgoing +sounds. It expands for the former, it contracts for the latter. Vocal +sounds are a product of matter as well as mind; the act itself which +produces them being a connecting link between matter and mind. The +soul calls on the body to aid it in giving form to its desires and +intentions; the body instantly obeys and assumes the form from which +the expected sound or action is to arise. + +No matter how great a soul may be, unless it can give form and +consequent utterance to its greatness, it will be helpless, far more so +than the simplest soul capable of giving expression to its simplicity. +Confined to our own limits, like the congenital deaf, our faculties +become dwarfed and useless. We do not know ourselves, do not know our +own souls. We must expand, go out into the world and take it in, if we +want to grow and give our faculties a chance to develop. + +The greater our horizon, the more we can take in, the more we can +give out. Our soul is scarcely ours when enchained; the greater its +liberty, the more it belongs to us. Hence our just pity for the +congenital deaf, and our desire to assist them in their efforts at +expression. Those among them who are being, or have been, tutored, +receive their impressions through their eyes in the form assumed by +the speaker's mouth; the eye assuming the function of the ear. The +form assumed by their teacher's mouth, however, not being perfect, a +perfect impression cannot be made. Hence the expression of the deaf +is in conformity with the impression they have obtained: mechanical, +material, soulless. The exterior lines of the mouth of the teacher, or +any other speaker's from which the deaf draw their inspiration, are +those of the material side of the medal. Failing to see the reverse +side thereof, namely, the interior of the mouth, which is its spiritual +side, the lines of the latter make no impression upon them. These +fine lines on the interior side of the speaker's mouth, representing +the rhythm, the soul of the voice, not being seen, fail to make that +impression from which alone a soulful expression could arise. + +That an _impression_ may be made through the eye will scarcely require +a defense, in view of the fact that in reading aloud or in singing +from notes the _entire_ impression is made through the eye. The reader +or singer, knowing the _value_ of every sound, is impressed by the +sight of a letter or a note as he would be by the sound itself. Not so +with the congenital deaf, who, being ignorant of such value, cannot +reproduce it. Nor will it be contended, I suppose, that the deaf +knowingly, designedly, or volitionally attempt to imitate the forms +assumed by the teacher's mouth, but it will be admitted that this is +done spontaneously, and that vocal sounds with them arise from this +imperfect mechanism, thus involuntarily reproduced. + +With the congenital deaf, with persons attempting to speak a foreign +language, etc., the material form, as well as the spiritual impetus, +being imperfect, the expression will be in conformity therewith. In +how far and in what manner these investigations may become helpful to +the deaf will be a matter for the not distant future to develop. That +they will eventually become of the greatest aid to them I have every +reason to believe. Those who have made a study of matters of this kind +understand the difficulties surrounding the same. These difficulties +are increased manifold where the ear of the scholar absolutely refuses +to come to his own and his teacher's aid. + +There are forms in which vocal sounds move, well defined and capable of +material representation, which are not fully expressed by the shape of +the teacher's mouth, nor are they thus expressed by impressions taken +by the aid of the camera. Regarding the latter, it is necessary to note +that photographic representations of vocal sounds are the result of +the combined action of the voice of the œsophagus and of that of the +trachea, of material and immaterial factors. Just in how far the latter +are capable of being thus represented must, as yet, remain a matter of +conjecture. + +An attempt at reconciling photographic representations of vocal sounds +with the oscillations of the vocal cords is, at most, a one-sided +proceeding. To arrive at any correct conclusion at all, it would be +necessary to take the vibrations of the "vocal lip" and the frænum into +equal consideration. + +Regarding our capacity for improving the natural physical and psychical +capabilities of the musical instrument of the voice, that depends upon +the manner in which we play upon it. As it yields to the slightest +pressure of the air, either for good or for evil, we must, above all +things, learn how to guide the tip of our tongue in touching its +aërial strings or keys, which are far more sensitive than those of any +instrument ever produced by the hand of man. It takes years to attain a +mastery over the simplest musical instrument; yet it is often expected +that the instrument of the voice should yield to the most careless +efforts made in the most wilful and indiscriminate manner. + +The _thought_ of a sound, after _producing_ an impression, _guides_ +the tongue in _releasing_ such impression. Unless the tongue touches +or moves towards the exact spot which will effect such release, the +expression or the sound will not be forthcoming. That the impression, +as well as its release, should be properly made, it is necessary to +_think_ of the sound which is to be produced, in the most precise and +correct manner. I cannot sufficiently impress upon the reader's mind +the importance this simple lesson conveys. If he will shape his manner +of vocal utterance, especially his mode of singing, in conformity +therewith, he will be able to improve his voice to a far greater +extent than he would by following any or all of the realistic methods +now in vogue. This _thinking_ of the correct sound must be carried on +for the _next_ syllable during the _production_ of the previous one; +and care must be taken not to think of more than one syllable at one +and the same time. Unless this is done, no pure sound will ever be +produced, the impression made by thinking of a second or third syllable +overlapping that for the next following; thus producing a muddle and +a discord. Rhythm being the basis for all perfect vocal utterance, +a rhythmic impression must be made in order to obtain a rhythmic +expression. This cannot be done when the former is not preserved in its +entire purity until it is released. + +All of us, either during our ordinary speech or during our efforts +at artistic expression, are guided by the process just described; +unknowingly, unwittingly, properly or improperly, for good or for evil, +pursuing this same course. I cannot enter upon these matters to any +greater extent at this time, as it will be necessary to first treat of +other matters with which they are intimately connected. + + +THE PHONOGRAPH + +In trying the experiment of coming upon a sound unawares, simply +endeavor to divest yourself of all thought, and then suddenly, without +any preparation whatever, say "a," or "b," or "it," or any word you +wish, and you will not be able to produce such sound or sounds--or, +in fact, any sound whatsoever. Or, you may get some one to, of a +sudden, produce sounds embodied in letters before your eyes; and you +will find you will be unable to utter them instantly. While you cannot +thus produce a vocal sound, or vocal sounds embodied in words, you can +produce _simple_ sounds without preparation. As they belong to but +one hemisphere, and are consequently not the product of a compound +impression, they may be uttered the very moment we think of them. While +they are being uttered, our organs of speech are "shut," far more so +than they are for _vocal_ sounds. + +Consonant sounds cannot be uttered "vocally" without a vowel sound. +When they appear in a syllable their _accompanying_ vowel sound carries +them and permeates them. When they appear singly we add a vowel sound +to them. We say: "ar," "be," "en," "ka," etc.; unless we do so we +cannot pronounce them. Without such accompanying vowel sound they would +be inert. + +"Simple" _consonant_ sounds are unaccompanied, not "leavened," by +a vowel sound. "Simple" _vowel_ sounds, on the other hand, are +unaccompanied by the element which constitutes consonant sounds; while +"vocal" _vowel_ sounds _are_ accompanied thereby. + +The word "surd," used in connection with non-vocal sounds, does not +express the meaning of what I call "simple" sounds, as all sounds may +be either "vocal" or "simple," while "surd" applies only to special +sounds. + +The necessity of making an impression for vocal utterance also prevails +in connection with motion. You cannot lift your right foot or your left +arm, or make any given motion whatever, the very moment you think of +making it. It requires some preparation; though you may lift _part_ +of a limb without preparation. A part of a limb in this sense may +be compared to a _simple_, the entire limb to a _vocal_, sound. The +thought must make an impression by expansion or contraction, which, +when released, will express the desired motion; no matter whether such +motion is made unconsciously or deliberately. It is more difficult to +watch this proceeding in connection with sight; the operations of light +being so rapid that the expression seems to be simultaneous with the +impression. + +Contraction and expansion for motion are of the same order as they are +for vocal utterance. In fact, both are so closely connected that we +cannot utter a sound unless it is accompanied by a motion. In stopping +the motion accompanying a sound, we stop our ability of uttering such +sound. I shall have occasion to call attention to numerous conditions +under which it will be impossible to utter sounds, either separate or +connected, by stopping the motion necessary to produce such sounds. It +is all due to the fact that we are homogeneous beings, _whose powers +are interdependent upon one another_. + +The effect of the teacher's _voice_ upon his or her scholar's +organization is of a _similar_ order to that made by _thought_ upon +the teacher's own organization. That it is not of the _same_ order is +due to the fact that the organization upon which it is made is but +rarely constituted the same, is not as highly organized and developed +or "schooled," as the one from which the voice emanated. The impression +made by the singing-teacher's _voice_ is of the same order as that +made upon the deaf by the _features_ of their instructor which are +representative of his voice. We are living, breathing _phonographs_. +Every impression we receive through any of our senses must be made in +a material manner before it can have its immaterial expression. We +engrave upon living tissue, instead of on rubber or wax. + +I repeat that, to obtain a pure sound, the _thought_ underlying such +sound or sounds must be _purely, clearly defined_. We cannot obtain +a clear impression from a seal whose engraving is blurred, or when +the sealing-wax is not in a proper condition of softness, or when the +hand is not steady which makes the impression. The same conditions +prevail with vocal utterance. Thought makes the impression; the æther, +passing through its narrowed passages at a rate as swift as thought, +creates the sound. The impression is made as _thought_ progresses, the +expression as _sound_ progresses. While the _impression is thoughtful, +the expression is thoughtless_. While we think for a sound during +the impression, we do not think for it during its expression; _but +we think, during the latter, for the next sound_. If this were not +the case, consecutive speech would be a matter of impossibility. The +artist's thought is embodied in the creation of the model for his +statue from which a mould is made. The casting of the statue, equal to +its expression, is mechanical, thoughtless. + +In this connection the brain is of the same order as the tablets of +the phonograph. For ordinary use, however, the lines engraved upon it +are evanescent; they disappear again with the sound or thought which +releases them. Impressions, however, of a deeper nature remain--some +forever. The thought or sounds they represent, the same as the lines +on the tablets of the phonograph, are released but for the time being +and while such thought and sounds (through association) are recalled +to memory. The thought and sounds are evanescent, but the lines which +represent them remain for further use, the same as the lines on the +tablets of the phonograph and the strings of a musical instrument. If +we could read aright the lines which the voice makes on the tablets of +the phonograph or on the negative plates of the photographer, we would +obtain a correct insight into their character. These studies, when +fully developed, may lead to a comprehension of these hieroglyphics, +the same as the Greek translation on the Rosetta stone furnished the +cue to the comprehension of the hieroglyphics of the Egyptian monuments. + + +STUTTERING, STAMMERING + +What is all this I am writing? + +It is an endeavor at giving expression to an impression obtained of +a great subject imperfectly understood. The general ideas underlying +it all are on the lines of truth, but the contours are evanescent, +the lines representing special features ill-defined, while the finer +shadings are almost entirely wanting. It is a stuttering, a stammering, +in matters my mind is too narrow to grasp, incapable of comprehending +in all their bearings, impotent to take in in their ultimate relations. +Still, I am doing what I can with such material as nature has placed +at my disposal. Thought failing to make a clear impression, my pen, I +fear, cannot give a clear expression to it all. + +Regarding the subject of stuttering proper, I must still preface it +with some remarks of a general nature. The influx and efflux of +streams of air into and out of our system, called breathing, is of a +very complicated nature. While we designate the same by the general +terms of inspiration and expiration, these streams are of as multiform +a nature as the ethereal fabrics they are intended to weave, whose weft +they form, and whose warp is of a more material nature. Call these +fabrics what you please--actions, speech, feelings, passions, fancies, +sensations, etc. While these streams form innumerable separate systems, +they are all subject to one and the same law--rhythm. The more perfect +the rhythm the higher the development and consequent performance. + +While we always breathe, or should breathe, in the same rhythmic order +(the octave) for the sustenance of life in general, we unconsciously +breathe in various other measures for an endless number of other +purposes. Our dual nature, and the duality of the manner in which we +breathe, as a rule enable us to go through these various performances +without a disturbance as to the harmonious character of our existence. +It is a great orchestral performance by instruments of various kinds +and orders, each performer playing his own notes, specially adapted +to his particular part and instrument; yet all coming together in one +harmonious _ensemble_. This fact finds expression, clearly defined, in +the various measures in which metre and rhythm are clad for poetry and +song. The introduction into our system of a rhythmic flow of streams of +air for the various purposes of vocal utterance is conditioned upon a +rhythmic flow of thought. + +To perfectly render a poetical conception by words either spoken +or sung, the performer's _mind_ must be in accord with the rhythm +underlying such conception. In that case only will he breathe +and, consequently, speak or sing in the requisite manner for such +production. I should have prefaced all this by saying that, in the same +manner as inspiration and expiration succeed each other in regular +rotation, so do the ordinary measures of long and short (¯˘), or +short and long (˘¯), in simple forms of poetry, succeed each other in +regular rotation; long (¯), or stress, always standing for expiration, +short (˘), or repose, for inspiration. _As a matter of fact, however, +inspiration is of longer duration than expiration._ + +All other forms are artistic, and are produced by a mode of thinking, +and consequent breathing, as variable as the subject may suggest or +demand. For ordinary speech, while the rhythm is not of the same order +as that for poetry, a rhythmic order of some kind must be, and always +is, observed. That the rhythm is not noticeable is due to the fact +that, while inspiration and expiration in prose writing and ordinary +conversation follow each other in regular rotation, they are not always +accompanied by sound. Hence the rhythmic irregularities of speech +exist only in appearance and in the inartistic manner in which speech +is generally, and prose writing often, produced. A person who speaks +and writes his language _well_, speaks and writes it rhythmically, +always. Good style is synonymous with correct rhythmical expression, +superinduced by correct breathing; rhythmic expression depending +entirely upon rhythmic impression, and the latter upon rhythmic +thought, accompanied by rhythmic breathing. + +To write well (that is, a good style), to speak well (as an orator, +actor, or elocutionist), to sing well, it is, above all things, +necessary that the performer's mind should be in a state of conformity +with the situation which is to be described. His flow of thought, and +consequent breathing and mode of expression, will then correspond with +the scope, drift, and circumstance underlying his performance. Unless +this is the case, the latter will be unsatisfactory, unimpressive, +unsympathetic. To prove that for a satisfactory performance this _must_ +be the case, it will but be necessary to call attention to the fact +that under various emotions our mode of breathing undergoes great +changes--as under fear, hate, jealousy, indignation, excitement, love, +enthusiasm, benevolence, languor, apathy, etc. Our breathing under +these different circumstances will, the same as the manner of our +expression, undergo various stages of change as to time and measure, as +well as to rhythm, emphasis and intonation. + +The character and rapidity of the flow of our blood is of the same +order as our manner of breathing. It is, in fact, as I expect to prove +later on, not only of the same order, but of the same origin and +regulated by the same causes. The flow of the blood is not merely of a +material order, but of a spiritual one as well. While it is acted upon +by the mind it reacts upon the mind. + +The thought must be measured and restricted as to time, so as to enable +it to make the proper impression and produce a corresponding expression +_before_ another thought comes along crowding in upon the preceding one +and in so doing _blurring_ the impression made by the latter before it +had been given the time to be expressed. If the necessary time is not +granted for an impression to be made and for the expression thereof +to obliterate the same, the premature flow of another thought, coming +on top of the first, will make a new impression over the previous +one, causing confusion and making a clear expression a matter of +impossibility. Unless our professor, while standing in front of his +blackboard demonstrating before his class, has a sponge in his hand, +and before again writing in the same place wipes out that which he had +written before, the new writing will not be of such a nature that it +can be understood. The slate endures; but the thought and the writing +are always new. Yet, when such writing is of an _impressive_ nature, it +is like that of a palimpsest; though apparently obliterated, its lines +remain, and their meaning can be recalled to memory as often as the +occasion may demand it. + +The "muddle" of which I have spoken is oftentimes so great that no +sound of any kind can ensue, the rhythmic flow of sound-producing +streams having been disturbed and prevented from assuming the necessary +shape for their formation into proper sound-waves by this hasty mode of +thinking. The consequence is a hiatus in the natural flow of speech, +which prevents the thought from materializing in the shape of the word +intended to be spoken. This hiatus the victim of such precipitate mode +of thinking generally attempts to bridge over by spasmodic efforts, +which but serve to aggravate the situation, increasing, as they do, the +disorder in the sound-producing lines. + +Stuttering being caused by a disorder in these lines, the remedy is +to again restore them to order. The disorder having been caused by a +too hasty mode of thinking, superinduced, as a rule, by a desire _not_ +to stutter, or a _fear_ of stuttering, the remedy lies in allaying +this fear. The fear of stuttering, or the anxiety not to stutter, +which obtains while the speaker is producing thought, _itself being +thought_, and coming on top of the thought intended to be uttered, +brings about, or at least aggravates, the very difficulty he was trying +to overcome. Mere thought may wander off and again return to its theme, +unrestrained, and without causing disturbance; but thought which is +to be _vocally_ uttered must strictly adhere to its subject. There +is no impression to be made by the former which must remain until it +is released by vocal sound; impression and expression being almost +simultaneous. In place of making a spasmodic effort, therefore, the +stutterer should endeavor to be calm, and to then calmly _think_ the +word or sentence over again which has become a stumbling-block in his +way. After doing so, he will have no trouble uttering it. + +The fact that stutterers experience no difficulty in singing is a proof +of the correctness of these assertions. While singing, the performer's +streams of life and organs of speech are all _tuned_ to one harmonious +measure. His frame of mind being securely in accord with his theme, +his thought, devoid of fear, flows evenly along with his song. There +is no occasion for haste or trepidation in this instance,--there +cannot be, haste being the opposite to and the enemy of harmony, the +latter meaning a continuous return of the same measure and the same +mode of breathing, the former irregularity and disorder in the mode of +breathing. + +Besides, song, belonging to the pharynx, is spiritual; it is of our +inner nature, and therefore restful and continuous. While speech, which +belongs to the oral cavity, is material; it is of our outer nature, +and therefore subject to every impression, influence, and consequent +change. Elocution, declamation, or recitation, on the other hand, +partake of both our inner and our outer nature. They belong in part to +the pharynx and in part to the oral cavity. + +Experiments may be made by means of making these respective parts rigid +which will establish the correctness of these assertions. + +These experiments can also be made by the application of mechanical +pressure. When pressing your hand or fingers against your throat you +will be unable to speak, though it will not prevent you from singing. +By pressing them against the back of your neck you will be unable to +sing, though you may speak. By pressing them against either side of +your neck you will be unable to recite, though you may both speak +and sing. The slightest pressure, even, will produce these results. +Let me remark, however, that unless the _thought_ of the performance +accompanies it, a mere mechanical pressure will not suffice. + +That _thought_, improperly exercised, is the cause of stuttering or +stammering, obtains from the fact, that the utterance of the singer, +elocutionist or actor, being a matter of memory, and not of original +thought, is _not_ subject to these troubles; though the utterance of +the same persons while speaking, and in so doing, _thinking_, may be +subject thereto. + +Not appreciating its significance, I used to laugh with everybody else +at the anecdote of a stuttering boy in an apothecary shop, who had been +sent down after some article in the cellar. Returning, pale, trembling, +and _stammering_, his master cried out, "Sing, sing!" whereupon he +delivered himself thus: + + "Der spiritus im keller brennt, + Und alles steht in flammen." + ("The spirits, master, are aflame, + And all things are a-burning.") + +In a recent number of _Cosmopolis_, Prof. Max Müller said: + + "Charles Kingsley was a great martyr to stammering, and it was + torture to him to keep conversation waiting until he could put + his thoughts into words. Singularly enough, at church, Kingsley + did not stammer at all in reading or speaking; but on his way + home from church he would say to one with whom he was walking: + 'Oh, let me stammer now; you won't mind it!'" + +While his thoughts were concentrated on his subject, which had probably +been elaborated beforehand and was expressed in rhythmic language, +besides being obliged to speak slowly and deliberately so as to be +heard and understood, he experienced no difficulty. Still, he was under +a restraint. As soon as he was by himself again, he commenced to think +impulsively, as probably was his habit, and gave vent to a torrent of +thoughts, which overleaped each other like waters rushing through a +broken dam. + +There are two main forms in which this trouble manifests itself. The +one is a surfeit, a crowding together of sounds, all of which want to +come to the surface at one and the same time, like a crowd of people +during a panic trying to rush out through the same door, thus causing +a jam. This form, creating a hiatus in vocal utterance, is generally +designated by the term "stammering." That which is called "stuttering," +on the other hand, consisting, as it does, in a repetition of the +same sound, is due to the opposite cause. While the former is due +to too great an effort, this is due to a paucity of effort. The +sound-furnishing element is not under control; it leaks out against +the will, it runs away with you. Hence a repetition of the form once +assumed, in consequence of a lack of nerve force, of a rein to keep it +in check, of a brake preventing it from rushing down-hill with you; +in contradistinction to the act of stammering, in which the brake had +been too forcibly applied, the watch wound up too firmly and beyond its +requirements. + +In the case of stammering the impression has been too quick in shaping +itself into words; in the other it has been too slow in so doing. In +the former case too many moulds have been formed for proper impression; +while in the latter the sound is spoken before the mould has been +properly and _completely_ formed; that part only which had been formed +being uttered and repeated. In the case of stammering there is a +surfeit of impression but a want of sound; in that of stuttering there +is a want of impression but a surfeit of sound. A stammerer is one who +takes in too much, a stutterer one who takes in too little, air for his +hasty way of thinking. + +When this trouble happens with one and the same person--as it sometimes +does--it first assumes one shape and then the other; it turns a +complete somersault in so doing. The balance, the equilibrium, the +point of gravitation, previously overleaped on one side, is again +overleaped, and the person lands on its extreme other side. While a +stammerer he had too much ballast on board, now he has too little. + +A stammerer can return to the point of gravitation by throwing some of +his surplus ballast overboard. _His tongue being tied to his lower jaw, +in which position he is constantly taking in more air than he needs, he +must raise it in order to let the surplus out from beneath the same._ + +A stutterer, whose tongue is running away with him, owing to an +insufficiency of ballast, must take in enough (inspire sufficiently) to +bring him back to his point of gravitation. _His tongue is in a loose +state of elevation, in which position the air is constantly streaming +out (expiring) from beneath the same._ He must _lower_ it to have _his_ +balance restored, as in so doing the air will stream in over and above +the tongue until the equilibrium has been restored. In other words, +the person who is thus agitated must calm himself, he must relax from +an overstrain in either one direction or the other. The diaphragm, +holding the balance of power, will be found to be in as uncontrollable +a condition as the tongue, _with which it always acts in unison_. In +restoring the tongue to a normal condition we restore the diaphragm to +a normal condition. + +The institutions for the cure of stuttering, stammering, and +intermediate stages of the same trouble, attempt to bring about a state +of restoration of the disturbed balance by means arrived at through +experience. The real cause being unknown, the remedies must necessarily +be restricted. If persons thus afflicted will take their own cases in +hand and treat them in conformity with the precepts here laid down, the +chances are in favor of their being cured where no other remedy had +been of any avail. + +As the preceding remarks have been made from the point of view of an +English-speaking person, the standpoint of a German being diametrically +opposite, the same must all be reversed to fit the case of a German, +in so far as locality is concerned. _For stammering, the tongue of a +German is closely wedged in, in the direction of the roof of the mouth; +for stuttering, it is loosely pointing downward._ This is owing to the +fact that a German inspires from under and beneath, and expires from +over and above, his tongue; just the reverse of the manner in which +this is done by an English-speaking person. + +In order to efficiently cure the trouble of stuttering, it is necessary +that the act of breathing and sound-production should be closely +studied with every separate nationality, as these processes differ with +all nationalities; this difference being very pronounced as between +Germans and Anglo-Saxons. For an American to go to Germany, therefore, +to be cured of this trouble, is as false a step as for a German to go +to the United States or England for this purpose. + +While I have in the preceding endeavored to give an account of the +general causes which result in stuttering, I have not touched upon such +special causes as are directly connected with the character and origin +of vocal sounds; the explanation of which must be postponed to a future +period. + + +THE CATHODE OF A VOCAL SOUND + +By an accident, in some respects not unlike the one which drew +Roentgen's attention to the light by whose aid we have learned to look +into and through opaque bodies, I (myself an accident, an appearance +on and soon to be a disappearance from the illuminated surface of the +earth) have discovered eternal laws, by whose aid we shall be able to +comprehend much of what has heretofore been as a closed book to us, +regarding our physical and psychical nature and the exercise of our +faculties and functions. + +During my endeavors to overcome the difficulties which my German tongue +offered to the perfect pronunciation of the English "r" sound, and +during an almost frantic effort on one occasion at so doing, I was +amazed by the fact that while one "r" came to the surface from over and +above the tongue, another made its appearance from under and beneath +the same. The latter was the "r" of the voice of the œsophagus. Of all +this, however, I have spoken at length in my previous publication. + +Though it occurred to me at once like a flash that this was a +revelation of the greatest importance, its real significance was only +made clear to me in the course of time. No matter how I view it, as +time progresses it assumes greater and greater proportions. There is +no event in the history of man which appears to me to be of greater +significance. Through this "accident" I was induced to look closer +and closer into my inner nature, where, to my amazement, I found +that a world, apparently silent and mysterious, and supposed to be +unapproachable, was the abode of numberless physical and psychical +phenomena, clearly defined and definable. + +The "r" which came to the surface from beneath my tongue by way of +the œsophagus was the cathode, the negative end of this sound. The +_product_ of its combination with the _simple_ "r" (which came to the +surface from over and above the tongue by way of the trachea) I had +hitherto produced when attempting to speak English, was the _vocal_ +"r" sound of the English language; the "r" I had hitherto produced +having been the anode--the positive and first part of this sound only. +As Roentgen's cathodic light has illuminated the physical body, so +have cathodic sounds illumined for me the spiritual body of my mundane +existence. I am endeavoring to show my fellowmen this "new light," +whose lustre, also invisible on ordinary occasions, when once seen is +so great that it will never again fade from the memory of the beholder. +As time progresses, it will continue to penetrate ever more deeply into +regions hitherto considered to be impervious to any kind of light; +regions whose phenomena have been called supernatural, or, at least, +beyond the sphere of the knowledge of man. All other anodes or cathodes +of which we have obtained any knowledge belong to physical phenomena +only. The cathode I have discovered belongs to our spiritual life, +being a part of a living vocal sound. + +Think of it! To be able to divide the essence of life and to obtain two +_living_ parts, each endowed with a life of its own! This is a nearer +approach to the knowledge of life than any ever attained before. A +_vocal_ sound is an entity. From entities we cannot learn anything. +They are phenomena complete in themselves. Regarding their innermost +nature, they have always been to us as a closed book. They offer us no +vantage-ground; no opening, no breach, through which we can enter into +the mysterious process of their existence. No matter whether such life +or existence be that of the minutest parasite of a minute vegetable +growth, that growth itself, or the giant of the forest; whether it +be that of a microbe or the microbe of a microbe; whether it be the +essence of a thought, a sigh, a tear, a look, a vocal sound, or of a +human being--their innermost natures are all alike mysterious to us. I +have succeeded in analyzing a vocal sound, and this apparently simple +proceeding has opened up to me endless vistas in endless directions. I +have reduced this entity into its natural elements, and have again put +these together. After resolving it into two lives I have again formed +it into one. I can bring about this analysis as well as this synthesis +at will at any time. + +All know what is meant by vocal sounds, yet few, I repeat, know what +are simple sounds, though constantly used by everybody while whispering +or uttering exclamations, while surprised, alarmed, frightened, etc. My +accomplishment, therefore, is but the _recognition_ of the nature of a +thing constantly before us and brought to our consciousness through our +ear. + +Simple sounds are the anodes, the beginnings of sounds. There is no +life in them, no rhythm, no melody, no light, no grace, no beauty. +These are imparted to them by the fusion of the cathode element of +vocal sounds with this, the anode; the spiritual with the material. +The anode is formed first. It is the passive element, the female, +the patient, the waiting, which must have been before the male, the +impatient, the aggressive. The thing to be fructified must have been +before that which fructifies. + +The anode is quiescent until the cathode comes along, joins it, and +infuses life into it. The creation of a vocal sound is an act of +generation. The cathode, after overwhelming the anode, penetrates it +and diffuses itself throughout it, and thus forms a union whose result +is the production of a vocal sound. Similar unions between anodes and +cathodes are formed a myriad-fold every moment during time's progress, +and result in the creation of an electric spark, or a succession of +sparks, called an electric light, or any other light or fire, or of a +thought, or of the embryo to a new life of any and every description, +etc.; while a discord, a stutter, a _smouldering_ fire, the sight +of a thing too dimly seen to be recognized, a cut or broken limb, a +suspense, a disappointment, a _suppressed_ action or passion, etc., are +anodes not joined by their cathodes. By the juncture of a cathode with +an anode we exercise our faculties, we become conscious of a sight, a +sound, an odor, a taste, etc.; the anode being vested in the thing to +be seen, heard, smelled, or tasted,--the cathode in ourselves. + +_While the anode of a vocal sound may be uttered audibly, the cathode, +by itself, cannot be uttered--the spiritual cannot be materialized +except in conjunction with the material._ The anode, the physical, is +inert until the cathode, the spiritual, has formed a juncture with it, +has been alloyed with it. Every phenomenon of which we become conscious +is the result of a process of this nature. The more perfect the union, +the more perfect the outcome or result, the phenomenon. + +In our ordinary speech this alloy, this union, is of a mutable and +evanescent, in oratory and song it is of a more continuous and lasting, +nature. With persons speaking a foreign tongue, and with the deaf, it +is superficial, imperfect; in many cases, in fact, we hear only anodes, +no union having been effected. The amalgamation, the alloy of the +finer with the coarser, the higher with the lower, the spiritual with +the material, is not at all or but imperfectly performed; the coarser +element prevails and makes its presence felt in every utterance. The +more perfect the union between anodes and cathodes in vocal utterance, +the higher will be the performance, the more perfect the speech, the +more beautiful the song, the more stirring, the more soulful; the +nearer they come to our hearts. + +How do I know all this? I will tell you: By watching the _beginning_ +of a vocal sound; the performance actually going on within us, while +such sound is first being created. This performance is of an inverse +order as between German and English, in so far as the anode for German +vocal sounds is located to the right, the cathode to the left. The +cathode approaches the anode from left to right; while in the creation +of an English vocal sound the anode is to the left, the cathode to the +right, and the latter approaches the former from right to left. The +location where the union _appears_ to take place is in the chest, near +the heart; for German sounds, to the right thereof, for English to the +left. As a matter of fact, however, it is in the heart itself. + +What does the motion in which anode and cathode approach each +other--which is not direct as it at first appears to the observer, but +vastly circuitous--signify? + +The circulation through the vascular system of the elements (of the +æther) creating vocal sounds, or the _circulation of vocal sounds_. The +proofs that this important fact actually obtains will be furnished very +positively and very circumstantially at a later date in connection with +that part of these expositions which treats on vocal sounds. + +[Illustration] + +[Illustration] + + + + +OUR MOTHER TONGUE + + +Nature will have its right always. What is this right in regard to +vocal utterance? It is the manner in which we breathe. When we violate +nature's right in our mode of breathing for vocal expression, our +penalty is that such expression will not be what it is intended to be, +what it should be; the idiomatic expression of every language being the +outcome of a special mode of breathing for the same. + +_All_ my observations in the first instance owe their origin to the +fact that I was breathing in a manner directly opposite to the one +in which it was necessary for me to breathe to correctly produce the +idiomatic expression of the English language. It was not until after +this fact had become clear to my mind that I began to extract from my +organs of speech those sounds which appear so abnormally different and +"strange" to the ear of the bewildered foreigner, who finds himself +completely at a loss how to produce them. The better he becomes +acquainted with the language, the more thoroughly he becomes convinced +of the fact that his mode of speaking English is different from that of +the native-born. Nor will a German _ever_ succeed in speaking English +as it should be spoken until he succeeds in _reversing_ his mode of +breathing. He must go straight to the antipodes in sound production; +he must stand on his head, so to say, instead of on his feet. I shall +fully explain what this means later on. + +I venture to make the assertion that no other person besides myself has +ever learned to pronounce a foreign language _idiomatically correct_, +as I have, by means of applying to his mode of speaking rules based +on actual knowledge or scientific principles. In this manner I have +succeeded in learning to speak English with less of the tinge of a +foreign accent adhering to my speech than usually is the case with +foreigners who have commenced to speak it as late in life as I did. I +do not say this vauntingly, for I do not consider this accomplishment +in itself as of a very high order; but I say it to vindicate my claim +that I have discovered the principles on which the production of +language is based, and offer my personal pronunciation of the English +language to which these principles have been applied as a proof that +I have done so. I am still learning, however, for it takes time and +practice and a great deal of patience to dislodge the old habit from +its wonted haunts and to assign its quarters to a foreign guest. My old +familiar dwelling has thus become a lodging for the English language, +though I can return to it at will with my old and dearly beloved mother +tongue and be comfortable therein. + +The foreign guest, however, who came to dwell therein, does not use +my native home, in his mode of entering it or going forth from it, in +the old familiar way, nor does he use the same apartments for the +same purposes. He enters at the back gate while I used to enter at +the front; he leaves it at the front gate while I left at the back. +He opens his shutters to the east, while I used to look out from the +west, etc. Such differences as these in our mode of breathing exist +throughout the entire length and breadth of both languages. The sounds +we have imbibed in our early youth, however, will always be more +familiar and nearer to us and dearer than those of any other language, +no matter how closely the latter may enter into our lives and our being +at a later period. + + +NATIONAL TRAITS OF CHARACTER + +What constitutes a given number of people a nation, besides their +history, their political organization, and the geographical position of +their territory? What makes every member belonging to a nation, whether +he lives within its territory or has emigrated therefrom, a different +being from every member of any other nation? What makes each member of +a nation resemble every other member thereof, not only in regard to +vocal expression but also in regard to general cast of features, build +of body, movements, gesticulations, etc., and in what may be summed up +as national traits of character? + +No one will deny the fact that such differences exist, as between +Germans, Frenchmen, and Englishmen, for instance. This difference is +not racial, as they all belong to the Caucasian race. It can scarcely +be climatic with nations whose territory is adjacent to each other; +nor is it likely to be religious, historical, or political. There is +nothing very decidedly different in the situation and composition of +these various nations and the individuals of which they are composed, +except their _language_. + +I maintain that language is not only the main point of difference, but +that it is the cause and origin of all other main points of difference. +As language is the main gift which distinguishes men from animals, so +it is also the principal distinguishing mark as between one nation +and another. I maintain, and expect to prove, that the language--that +is, any specific language--acquired in childhood becomes an integral +part of a person's organization, as positively so as any of his other +natural faculties; and that he cannot change it, that is, _in an +idiomatically correct manner_, without changing, to some extent, the +drift of his entire organism. As soon as I began to succeed in speaking +the English language as it is spoken in this country, idiomatically +correct, I changed my nature, to some extent, from that of a German to +that of an American; nor is it possible to learn to speak any language +idiomatically correct without undergoing a similar change. Not alone +my mode of vocal expression, but my motions, my habits, nay, my very +_features_, yes, even my way of _thinking_, in some respects, have +been subjected to such a change; modified, of course, by heredity, +previous habits, and the constant reversion of all this by the frequent +recurrence to my native tongue. In using the term "idiomatically +correct" I mean of course that mode of expression which is peculiar to +a language, its general cast, and which is representative of its genius +and spirit. + +To what do I attribute so powerful an influence? + +It is not easy to say this comprehensively in a few words. I will +say this much, however: That, language being the outcome of streams +of the vital fluid passing into and out of our composition in a +systematic manner, each system varying with every other system, our +vital organs are differently affected, in conformity with the manner +and the rotation in which these streams reach these different organs; +in other words, in conformity with the manner in which we breathe for +our language. This influence is not confined to the vocal expression +of a _nation_. It is influential with and extends to the special mode +of vocal expression in separate districts, provinces, localities, and +cities; nay, it extends to families and single members belonging to +such families, each separate member's expression being the product of +his special mode of breathing, and differing in some respects from that +of every other member of the same family; _such difference in the mode +of breathing being the reflection of every individual soul_. + +The bent of the soul in _individual_ cases determines the flow of these +streams, the same as the bent of the _national_ soul determines the +same for the entire nation. Or, which perhaps would be more correct, +the flow of these streams determines the bent of the individual as +well as national soul. The influence being reciprocal, it would be +difficult to state, as it is with all matters of this kind, _which_ +preponderates, _which_ gives the first impulse. It is of the same +order as the old question (never to be solved) aptly expressed in the +homely query, "Which was created first, the hen or the egg?" + +It is interesting to note the manner in which the vital streams +affecting the character of the two peoples in regard to whom I have +had the opportunity for many years of making my observations, the +Anglo-Saxon and the German, take their course. With the former the +point of gravitation is located in the abdomen; with the latter in the +thorax. + +This gives the Anglo-Saxon a circuitous route for his expression in +coming to the surface; his mode of respiration being the following: + +He inspires into the thorax posteriorly, next into the abdomen +anteriorly. He then expires from the abdomen posteriorly, and from the +thorax anteriorly; vocal expression accompanying the last movement. + +A German's mode of respiration is as follows: He inspires into +the abdomen posteriorly, expiring from the abdomen anteriorly; he +then inspires into the thorax anteriorly and expires from the same +posteriorly, the latter movement only being accompanied by sound. You +will notice that in the former case the breath to be expired and to +be accompanied by sound has been held in the thorax until the abdomen +has gone through an inspiration and an expiration; while with Germans, +inspiration into the abdomen as well as into the thorax are succeeded +by expiration from the same, a direct proceeding as against the +indirect of the Anglo-Saxon. Thus the former secures a force reserved +and held and to be drawn upon as it is needed, while the latter +pours forth his vital force in a continuous stream as soon as it is +engendered. + +The point of gravitation determines the mode of breathing and the +production of vocal utterance. With Anglo-Saxons, the point of +gravitation being located in the abdomen, their speech tends from +below, upward; with Germans, the point of gravitation being located +in the thorax, their speech tends from above, downward. The direction +of Anglo-Saxon expression is from the abdomen, where it has its root, +to the thorax; that of the German is from the thorax, where it has +its root, to the abdomen. It will scarcely be necessary for me to say +to the reader, over and over again, "Try this," "Try that"; I wish +it to be understood, once for all, that this recommendation is to be +tacitly implied as accompanying every statement, every proposition, +every assertion I make. Personally I can go through any one and all of +the performances at any time and at a moment's notice. In making these +experiments, speak or sing _after_ breathing in the prescribed manner. +The prescribed manner being the one in which the _impression_ is made +and from which the _expression_ is produced as a matter of course and +of necessity. An Anglo-Saxon will not be able to utter a word spoken +or sung in _his_ language after breathing in the _German_ fashion, nor +will a German be able to do so in _his_ language after breathing in +the _Anglo-Saxon_ manner. Change either manner of breathing but in the +least, and you will not be able to express yourself in either German or +English; but you may thus be able to express yourself in some other +language. It is, of course, understood that we breathe into the abdomen +through the œsophagus, into the thorax through the trachea. + +In trying propositions like the one now under consideration, it may +not be easy for persons who have not previously given any thought to +matters of this kind to successfully try them. You must give yourself +up to these things, must be _at home_ for them only, for a period at +least, until you have become thoroughly engrossed with them. It is not +a study to be superficially attained. You must enter into it with your +whole soul, your entire being. If you do, you will eventually become as +familiar with the principles underlying these matters as you are with +the letters of the alphabet, or the figures representing the numerals, +and be able to apply the same in as easy a manner and for as various +purposes as you do these. + +Their _indirect_ mode of breathing of Anglo-Saxons produces a +deliberate mode of speech; while German breathing, being _direct_, +produces a speech as rapid in its formation as in its utterance. +_Action being the counterpoise of speech, is of the inverse order of +the latter. English speech being slow and deliberate, English action is +rapid and direct; German speech being rapid and direct, German action +is slow and deliberate._ English character, the same as English speech, +is distinguished by patience and forbearance; these, when finally +exhausted, are succeeded by sudden and violent outbreaks. German +character, the same as German speech, is alternately exuberant and +depressed; contented, but also of a disposition to find fault whenever +the occasion may arise. + +Anglo-Saxons, in consequence of their _indirect_ mode of expression, +are in possession of a reserve force always at their command, but only +called upon on special occasions; hence long-continued forbearance, +and then--a blow for liberty. With Germans, in consequence of their +_direct_ mode of expression, their vital force is continuously being +engendered, and as continuously being exhausted. Hence, they are in the +habit of constantly protesting, and as constantly submitting to the +_status quo_. + +The character of Anglo-Saxons, in viewing things from a practical +standpoint, is as far removed from the ideal as it is from the +pessimistic. It is neither exuberant, overstrained, exalted, nor +despondent; but cool, well balanced, and matter-of-fact. It is not like +the German: + + "Himmelhoch jauchzen, zu Tode betruebt." + ("Raised to the sky with delight; + Depressed to the ground with despair.") + +A German is influenced according to whether he can or cannot, while +losing sight of the real, satisfy his craving for the ideal, for +which, in his direct and impulsive nature, he is constantly yearning; +which the Anglo-Saxon, seeing it is beyond his reach, abandons as +impracticable. + +To comprehend the ideal of whatsoever nature, the German, with +endless patience, tries to solve the most complicated problems; after +solving them he is often satisfied with the result in the abstract; +while the practical Anglo-Saxon uses this result for his utilitarian +purposes. The philosophical German patiently unravels a Gordian knot; +the practical Anglo-Saxon, "Alexander-like, cuts it in two with his +sword" ("Wie Alexander haut ihn auseinander"). Germans love education +for its own sake; it makes of them superior beings, giving them +treasures more highly prized than any others, and far more lasting. +Anglo-Saxons, on the other hand, get their education for a purpose, and +with a view to their worldly advancement. While with Germans education +is "Selbstzweck" (its reward consisting in its possession), with +Anglo-Saxons its reward consists in its application. The question so +often agitated in this country, whether a university education may or +may not be of benefit (that is, in furthering his worldly advancement) +to any one not intending to embrace one of the learned professions, +would never arise in Germany; practical value and education being +things apart, the latter taking first rank always and never being +subordinated to the former. + +Schiller says: + + "[Der Edle] _legt_ das Hohe in das Leben, + Doch er sucht es nicht darin." + + ("[Our aim should be] the noble to inculcate into life, + And not to search for it therein.") + +I am inclined to think that the opposite of this is the usual tendency +with Anglo-Saxons. + +Many other causes might be cited, many other results. These, however, +must answer the present purpose, which is, to show that the course +taken by the vital streams in breathing, besides affecting their +speech, affects the _character_ of nations. + +All this might be summed up in saying: The point of gravitation with +Anglo-Saxons being located in the abdomen, which represents the +material side of life, their being is primarily rooted in the material, +and reaches the ideal by way of the material. The German, on the other +hand, having his point of gravitation in the thorax, which represents +the spiritual part of our existence, reaches the material by way of the +ideal, in which _his_ being is primarily rooted. + +I owe the reader an apology for anticipating in using the terms +"streams of life" and "the point of gravitation." These are not words +without a definite meaning, however; on the contrary, they are of the +greatest significance and of a very definite meaning. Still, I must tax +his patience for a proper explanation thereof till I shall be able to +reach them in due course of time. We cannot approach the steep crest of +a hill by a straight line of ascent, but must patiently wind around and +around its circumference to be able to finally reach its summit. + + +THE AMERICAN NATION + +It will require but a single example, familiar to all, to still more +forcibly show that it is _language_ through whose agency national +traits of character and physical development are produced. How do you +suppose that the wonder has been wrought, and is still daily being +worked, of the great mass of humanity reaching these shores from +foreign lands being merged into one homogeneous nation? The remark is +often made that "it is the climate." If it were the climate, or other +conditions specifically belonging to this country, how is it that +foreigners coming here at maturity always remain foreigners, while +their offspring born and bred here become Americans? Even children born +elsewhere, but coming here at an early age, soon become "Americanized," +while their parents remain foreigners always. These children must have +taken a potent draught, not partaken of by their parents, to not only +change their mode of vocal but also of physical expression; nay, the +vital expression of their entire being. That draught is the English +language. Most foreigners respectively married to an American wife or +husband, and rearing a family of American children, remain foreigners +to the end of their lives. + +It often happens that parents of foreign birth cannot comprehend the +character and actions of their own children, who are _so_ different, +being superficial and frivolous, where they are deep and sound; cool +and calculating where they are fire and flame. Yet these children +possess sterling qualities of another kind which their parents do not +possess. + +I call to mind two brothers, sons of German parents, born in this +country. With the eldest-born the German influence was potent. He was +made to speak German at home and at school, and is to-day, though +married to an American, more German in his manner and appearance +than American, while his mode of speaking the English language also +has something "German" in it. His brother, on the other hand, more +particularly reared under native influences, is a thorough American. +There was nothing in this case but the influence of language which +could have caused this difference. Similar examples might be cited +endlessly. + +If language is capable of exercising so powerful an influence it +must be more than a superficial acquirement. It must be woven into +and interwoven with our innermost nature. What is there in the +English language to make a German's broad and massive forehead, high +cheek-bones, full lips, short chin, and round face, in his offspring +sink into narrow forms and long, oval lines? What makes the lower +jaw, which in him was short and round, in these children sink down +and extend outward, while the upper jaw recedes back? What is it that +makes the jovial and happy expression of the German in his children +change into features of an impassive nature, from which they are only +roused when in action?--features of which it has been said that it is +sometimes difficult to know whether they, sphinx-like, cover a happy +or unhappy disposition; a disposition sometimes so self-possessed and +reserved that its owner might almost reply as Alva did, when asked why +he never smiled: "I would not so demean myself before myself as to +smile." Yet when such a face (especially when it is a girl's) _does_ +smile, its passive features are lighted up in a manner so enchanting +that its beauty amply compensates for its previous apathy. + +I do not wish to say, however, that Anglo-Saxons do not _feel_ either +joy or sorrow as keenly as Germans do (though I have my doubts even +on this score); but they do not carry their feelings with them on +the surface. They sink them into that reserve, at once proud and +self-possessed, which does not wish others to take cognizance of their +private affairs. The nature of the Anglo-Saxon is one of _reserve_, +that of the German one of _abandon_ and _laisser-aller_. This is +not due to heredity in the first instance, but to the influence of +language, by which character and habits are formed. + +Dr. Holmes relates that, after a protracted search for his son, who +had been wounded in the battle of Gettysburg, when at last finding the +"Captain" in a transport train, he went up to him, simply saying, "How +are you, Bob?" and he replying, "How are you, Dad?"--stating at the +same time, "Such is the force of our national habit that, especially in +the presence of strangers, we suppress the impulse of our most ardent +feelings," or words to that effect. A similar proceeding under such +circumstances would be considered "unnatural" among Germans. + +Regarding the change of features, as between foreign-born (German) +parents and their English-speaking offspring, by which the latter's +assume a shape which makes the œsophagus predominate over the trachea, +it will be as impossible for these children to speak _idiomatically +correct_ German as it is for their parents, with whom the trachea +predominates over the œsophagus, to speak idiomatically correct +English. When my features assume the proper shape for English speech, I +cannot produce a single correct German sound, and when they assume the +proper shape for German speech, it is as impossible for me to produce a +correct English sound. + +I expect that this statement will be hotly disputed. The measure of +our ordinary mode of listening, however, must not be applied to these +matters. In some rare instances the difference is so slight that it +takes a very acute ear to notice it. + + +CENTRIPETAL AND CENTRIFUGAL + +While speaking our native tongue our muscles move, our sinews tend, +our vessels lean, _our_ blood throbs, and our nerves tingle with the +essence of our language in _its_ direction, and not in the direction +of any other language. We not only speak and sing our language, but we +gesticulate it, we walk it, dance it, write it, think it, smile it, +and sorrow in it. Everything we do is done differently from the same +thing done by a person speaking another language. The movements of the +muscles of a German are centripetal, while those of an Anglo-Saxon +are centrifugal. With a German they close in around the mouth; with +an Anglo-Saxon they depart from the mouth upward and downward. Hence +the broad features of the German _versus_ the elongated ones of the +Anglo-Saxon. Look at the old people. The centrifugal action with an +Anglo-Saxon even in old age still leaves his form erect, his face +serene, scarcely showing a wrinkle, either on his forehead, his +cheeks, or around the eyes and mouth. Apart from his bleached hair, +he frequently retains a quite youthful appearance. The centripetal +action with a German in old age, on the other hand, has a tendency to +bend his form and draw it together, and to shrivel up his skin into +innumerable wrinkles, so that his mouth often resembles the mouth +of a purse drawn close together. This youthful appearance with aged +English-speaking people reflects on their customs and their costume, +which latter retains much of the tidiness of their younger days. +Germans, on the other hand, age soon. This fact is so apparent that +they conform their habits and general appearance to their age. They +feel old, and unhesitatingly submit to their aged condition. They often +appear old when still comparatively young. English-speaking old people, +on the other hand, are never too old not to wish to appear young. For +the terms "Greis" and "Greisin," which imply a weakened and somewhat +helpless condition, there is no corresponding expression in the English +language. + +Observe a gang of laborers carrying a heavy log. If there are Germans +among them, their heads and shoulders will be bent, as well as their +knees, resembling caryatides in Gothic churches. _They carry from +below, upward._ Those who speak English, on the other hand, will walk +with heads erect, straight shoulders, and stiff knees, resembling the +caryatides of the Greek temples. _They carry from above, downward._ + +The German mode of expression is produced by contraction, expansion, +contraction; the English by expansion, contraction, expansion. For +the former, contraction takes place _towards_ the diaphragm, first +upward and then downward; that is, from the feet upward, and then from +the head downward. For the latter, expansion takes place _from_ the +diaphragm, first upward and then downward; that is, from the diaphragm +towards the head, and then from the diaphragm towards the feet. + +Artists must study these things if they want to get a proper insight +into life, and the action of life, characteristic of different nations. +The simple study of anatomy gives them no clue to these matters. +Everything we do is done differently from the same thing being done +by a person speaking another language. The books on physiology do not +make mention of these matters. They treat all nations alike. They tell +an Englishman that in closing his mouth the muscles of the upper lip +by a direct action are first raised and then lowered, while those of +the lower are first lowered and then raised. As a matter of fact, the +natural tendency with English-speaking people is towards having their +mouths open. In closing the same the lower lip is first raised, then +lowered, the upper is first lowered, then raised, and again lowered; +whereupon the lower lip is raised. This gives three movements to each +lip. The natural tendency with Germans is towards keeping their mouths +closed. To _firmly_ close the same they must raise the upper lip, lower +the lower, lower the upper, and then raise the lower. This gives two +movements to each lip. These motions are _indirect_ with Anglo-Saxons, +with Germans they are _direct_. With Anglo-Saxons the lower jaw is the +main instrument; with Germans it is the upper. With Anglo-Saxons the +lower moves up to the upper; while with Germans the upper closes down +on the lower. That Anglo-Saxons move their lower jaw up to the upper, +to them will appear as a matter of course; yet Germans do not do this; +with them the lower jaw is first raised to be in position to be met by +the upper, the latter being lowered from the atlas by motions made by +the entire upper part of the head. + +During speech the head of an Anglo-Saxon remains impassive; there is no +perceptible movement except in connection with his lower jaw. Hence his +stolid immovability in contradistinction with the mobility and vivacity +of a German, whose entire head, often accompanied by his entire body, +appears to take part in his speech. These motions, though fundamental +with these peoples, vary with locality, individual character, +temperament, etc. A German if he keeps his cranium entirely still will +be unable to produce a sound; while an Anglo-Saxon will be unable +to produce a sound if he should move it as Germans do. A German's +power of vocal utterance lies in the flexibility of his cranium; an +Anglo-Saxon's in that of his lower jaw. + +An Anglo-Saxon grinds the teeth of his lower jaw, in anger or in +passion, or while masticating food, or under any other circumstances, +against those of his upper; a German grinds those of his upper jaw +against those of the lower. + +All motions in connection with vocal utterance on the part of an +Anglo-Saxon are of a decidedly larger compass than those of a German; +the latter being confined to the slight motions he is able to make with +his head, while the former frequently draws down his lower jaw to a +very great extent, far more so than a German would be able to draw down +his. + +The "life" with the German is in the upper, with Anglo-Saxons it is +in the lower jaw; the former representing the thorax, the latter the +abdomen. While the thorax, as already mentioned, with Germans is the +predominating vehicle for every performance of life, with Anglo-Saxons +it is the abdomen. + +With Germans the lower jaw is the anvil, the upper the hammer; with +Anglo-Saxons the upper is the anvil, the lower the hammer; the action, +the life, always being with the hammer. + +If you watch an American girl chewing taffy you will find her lower +jaw going way down, then out, and up again. This is characteristic +of the manner in which Anglo-Saxons breathe and speak. The chewing +process, owing to the adhesion of the taffy to the teeth, together with +the greater flexibility of a girl's jaws, brings out these features +more strikingly than under ordinary circumstances. In chewing taffy +the lower jaw (the hammer) meets with some difficulty in making its +movements; it is therefore lowered as much as possible, so as to be +able to more effectually close in with the upper (the anvil). A German +girl's movements under similar conditions are restricted, being largely +confined to the upper jaw, which cannot be raised to any great extent. + +An Anglo-Saxon speaker or singer makes movements similar to such a +chewer of taffy. He draws his lower jaw down and out to make room in +the lower cavity of his mouth for the expression of his main sounds. +These are the product of the abdominal cavity and find their way out +through the œsophagus from _beneath_ the lower surface of the tongue. +Here they pass the replica and the frænum, which impart to them their +rhythmical expression. Any one doubting the correctness of these +statements, by making the replica and the frænum, or either of them, +rigid, will not, if he is an Anglo-Saxon, be able to produce a single +sound; if he is a German, he will still be able to utter his main +sounds coming to the surface through the trachea, over and above his +tongue. An Anglo-Saxon, on the other hand, may still speak when he +makes the vocal cords of the larynx rigid; while a German in that case +will be unable to produce any sound whatsoever. To these matters I have +already called attention in a previous publication, in connection with +the man who was deprived of his larynx by a surgical operation, but not +of his power of speech. + +A similar experiment may be made in regard to breathing. By making the +soft palate, representing the thorax, rigid, you will not be able to +inspire, though you may expire. By making the bottom of the mouth close +to your teeth (_the soft palate of the lower jaw_), representing the +abdomen, rigid, you will not be able to expire, though you may inspire. +With a German the precisely opposite facts prevail. By making the soft +palate rigid, he will stop expiration; by making the bottom of the +mouth close to the teeth rigid, he will stop inspiration. + +During vocal utterance, with Germans every superior muscle first moves +downward, every inferior upward; while with Anglo-Saxons every superior +muscle first moves upward, every inferior downward. This is preparatory +and previous to action. _During_ action the German opens his mouth, the +Anglo-Saxon closes his. Hence the Anglo-Saxon's half-open mouth while +in repose, and his almost stern expression while in action, pleasurable +action even, which has provoked the witty saying that "Englishmen take +to their pleasures sadly." + +The abdomen being the centre of gravity for English speech, and the +lower jaw being in direct communication with the same by way of the +œsophagus, by making the lower jaw rigid you stop the flow of English +sounds. The thorax, on the other hand, being the centre of gravity for +German speech, and the upper jaw being in direct communication with the +same by way of the trachea, in making this jaw rigid you stop the flow +of German sounds. + + +ROTATION OF CENTRIPETAL AND CENTRIFUGAL ACTION + +Speaking of centripetal and centrifugal motion as separate actions, +there must, of course, be a _rotation_ of these actions to produce a +_complete_ action of any kind. We, however, speak of the one which +_prevails_ over the other, as _the_ action under consideration. Thus +when I say a German's mode of eating is centripetal, I say so because +the action of his jaws being direct, it is first centrifugal, then +centripetal, then centrifugal, then again centripetal. When I say an +Anglo-Saxon's mode is centrifugal, I say so because the action of his +jaws being indirect, it is first centripetal, then centrifugal, then +centripetal, then again centrifugal, and finally once more centripetal. +This, with a German, of course, means: Open, close, open, close. +With an Anglo-Saxon it means: Close, open, close, open, close. This, +however, only gives the main features of an act of eating, etc., as +well as uttering sounds; any of these acts, in reality, requiring +_eight_ movements to carry on one _complete_ act. When centrifugal +prevails centripetal follows, and when centripetal prevails centrifugal +follows. It stands to reason that an action which is composed of open, +close, open, close, or close, open, close, open, close, cannot continue +in the same rotation indefinitely, but must be complemented by a motion +of the opposite nature; such complementary action, however, always +being executed inwardly and not outwardly. While the action of the jaws +just now described precedes mastication, the inner action complementary +thereof is accompanied by the act of swallowing. + +Thus with a German there are four movements preceding mastication and +four for swallowing; with an Anglo-Saxon there are five movements for +the former and three for the latter; while the act of mastication +proper with both nations consists of eight movements which are repeated +as often as is necessary for the act of swallowing. + +The respective manner in which knives and forks are handled in eating +by Germans and Anglo-Saxons, as well as the different manner in which +they dance, and the characters they use in writing, might be cited as +results of the different modes in which centripetal and centrifugal +actions prevail with them. The characters Germans use in writing being +centrifugal in their nature and those Anglo-Saxons use centripetal, +this can only be accounted for by assuming that the muscular action +preparatory to the act of writing in both instances is of the opposite +nature. + +In consequence of the centrifugal movements of their jaws and lips, the +teeth, with English-speaking persons, are always on exhibition; while +the centripetal movement prevailing with Germans conceals them. The +consequence is that English-speaking people pay the utmost attention to +the care and perfection of their teeth, while Germans, in the highest +ranks even, frequently neglect them to an almost shameful degree. The +direct outcome of this state of affairs is the great advancement which +the practice of dentistry has made in this country and in England, +while it is one to which, on the continent of Europe, but comparatively +little attention is being paid. + +With English-speaking people, especially the women, whose lips are more +flexible than men's, the teeth of the upper jaw are more frequently +exposed than those of the lower, for this reason: The œsophagus being +the main instrument for English speech, its sounds, in coming to the +surface from beneath the tongue, require the latter to remain in a +semi-raised position most of the time; the upper lip, being in the +way of these sounds coming to the surface, must be raised for the same +reason; in so doing it exposes the upper row of teeth. The lower lip +is lowered for the sounds of the trachea for the same reason that the +upper is raised for those of the œsophagus. Whenever the upper lip is +raised the lower must be immediately lowered, and vice versa. With +Anglo-Saxons the main movement is with the upper, with Germans it is +with the lower lip. Owing to the centripetal action with Germans, these +movements are less pronounced than they are with English-speaking +people. + +The act of smiling being produced in the same order as that of +speaking, the same conditions prevail in relation to the same. + +In speaking English you can "feel" that the upper lip is the main +vehicle; _it has all the life in it_. In speaking German you can "feel" +it is the lower, which for that language possesses the life. If you +make the former rigid you cannot speak English; if you make the latter +rigid you cannot speak German. + +In connection with the movements of the lips it will be noticed that +while the upper jaw and the roof of the mouth are dominated by the +trachea and the thorax, and the lower jaw and the bottom of the mouth +by the œsophagus and the abdomen, the upper lip is dominated by the +sounds of the œsophagus, and the lower by those of the trachea. This, +however, is owing to mechanical reasons only, as explained, and not to +vital causes. + +The foreigner who learns to speak the English language ever so well, +though he may reside here almost a lifetime, if he does not learn +to speak it _idiomatically_ correct, will not be influenced by it to +any great extent in any of the various manners of which I have made +mention, either as regards his features, character, habits, motions, +thoughts, etc.; but, in spite of his "English," he will still be a +foreigner. This foreigner's children, however, provided he does not +influence them to the contrary through pride of his native tongue, and +if reared under native influences, will become thorough Americans. + +There need be no fear, therefore, that immigration might bring to +this country a permanent foreign element. Such elements, when they do +come, are of a passing nature. Their offspring, in passing the crucial +test of the English tongue, sink the foreigner into the all-absorbing +element of the English idiom; and in so doing are merged into and +become an integral part of the people of this country. They may come +of whatever nation, from whatever land; no matter how they may appear, +act, or speak, the English idiom will continue to make them Americans, +in their children at least, in the future as it has in the past. +There is thus in the centrifugal force which dominates the speech of +Anglo-Saxons that which is a safeguard to the homogeneity as well as +the institutions of this nation. + +An Anglo-Saxon cannot be a bondsman; his language forbids it. The +centrifugal force which prevails with him does not permit fetters. The +children of all foreigners born here and speaking the English language +come under its spell. If language did not have this supreme influence, +there is no other influence that would have prevented this country long +ago from having become inhabited in special districts with permanent +groups of people foreign to its aims and institutions, and alien to its +genius, its character, and its customs. In districts where German is +spoken as the principal language, as in some parts of Pennsylvania and +Wisconsin, it is not, with the native-born at least, the pure German +language, but its idiomatic expression is that of the English tongue. + +People say, "It is the climate." We have every climate under the sun; +yet in all that is essential the man from Maine is as thoroughly +American as the one from Texas; the gold-digger in the frozen regions +of the Yukon as the man of the orange-groves of Florida or California; +the American fisherman on the Banks of Newfoundland as those on the +Gulf of Mexico; the man who battles on the plains against the Indians +as he who serves under the banner of the Republic and upholds its glory +in foreign lands and seas. You can tell an American the moment you look +at him. Yet if you ask some of them where their parents were born, you +will hear strange tales of lands and peoples across the sea and far +away. + +Language does not work _every_ wonder, of course. The influence of +heredity perpetuates that of language; but the latter is the primary +influence. Nor can it be denied that _every_ foreigner living here +for some time, whether he has learned to speak English or not, will, +to some extent at least, be influenced by the habits, customs, +institutions, climate, and language of this country. This does not +detract, however, from the force of my argument regarding language +and its influence as the most vital force in shaping a people's +characteristic traits, physically as well as spiritually. + +There has been of late a great deal of talk and enthusiasm even +regarding the desirability of a closer alliance between the two great +English-speaking nations; their natural affinity and kinship. This +affinity, this belonging together, this being of one family and one +stock, is commonly expressed by this term, "English-speaking peoples." +That which I have endeavored to explain at length is thus tacitly +acknowledged to be correct through the use of this term, which implies +that it is _the English tongue_ which makes these peoples one in +sentiment, in feeling, in their aims and purposes, as it makes them +one in their physical appearance, their motions, the exercise of their +faculties and functions, etc. + +[Illustration] + + + + +NATIONALITY AND RACE DISTINCTIONS + + +While the English language makes Americans of all foreigners, it does +not, of course, obliterate race distinctions as long as races continue +to exist as such. Persons of alien races, nevertheless, when born in +this country and reared under native influences, will become "American" +in a truer sense than foreigners belonging to the Caucasian race coming +here at maturity. I dare say Frederick Douglass was truly more of an +American, in all this word implies, than any foreigner who ever came to +live here; and so are all the better classes of native-born negroes, +in a certain sense, more truly American, this indescribable something +which constitutes a nation, than any aliens whosoever. + +A gentleman once told me that, travelling on a steamboat on one of +the New England rivers, he had been inadvertently listening to a +conversation carried on behind him, between what seemed to be two New +England farmers. On rising from his seat, he saw that one of the men +was a Chinaman, dressed like the other and conversing precisely as he +did. + +Seeing an acquaintance, he pointed out the Chinaman and asked if he +knew who he was. + +"That's Jimmy O'Connor; he's from So-and-so." + +"I mean the Chinaman." + +"Yes, the Chinaman; that's him. You know he was picked up at sea, +when still a baby, by a New Bedford whaler, and was brought up in the +captain's family, who adopted him. He's as good a farmer and as true an +American as you can find anywhere." + +These studies are meant to be purely objective, and have no concern +with politics or policies, regarding undesirable immigration, +or issues of a similar nature. But language is nationality, and +nationality language, always, in the first instance; and the purer +a language is spoken, the truer, purer, and better such nationality +will be expressed and represented by those who thus speak it. What an +incentive to aim at the purest and best expression of language, for +any people! But it will be said that language is subject to change. +If it is, so will the people who speak it to some extent change with +it. Such change, however, is in its dress, in words mainly; rarely +and at long intervals, and under very peculiar circumstances only, in +its expression. As a matter of fact, I doubt whether a change of the +_idiomatic expression ever_ takes place. + +The difference existing between the English spoken in the United States +and the mother country might be cited as an example. The idiomatic +expression is precisely the same. But the necessary self-reliance of +the first settlers, the privation, the barter and exchange, the vast +extent of the territory of this country, the greater independence +enjoyed by its people, etc., might be named as reasons for the greater +dash and freedom, together with a possible want of culture, as compared +with the language spoken by educated Englishmen, prevailing in its +utterance. + +The same influences prevail regarding the general appearance, motions, +and characteristic traits of these respective nations. Though closely +allied and connected in a specific, and very nearly allied to each +other in a general sense, there is that which distinguishes the English +of the old world from those of the new, and which can be easily +recognized. + +Being centrifugal, the English idiom, octopus-like, embraces anything +and everything that comes within the radius of its omnivorous capacity, +without, however, losing its original character. It is like a fisherman +who has hung out his net in the ocean, taking in all that comes along; +or like the sea itself, greedy without end. It has no scruples about +roots and construction, but construes everything according to its wants +and adapts it to its uses as it comes along from any quarter. + +These adopted children, these waifs, however, it must not be lost +sight of, before they become integral parts of English speech must +submit to a change of their original idiomatic expression. No matter +who came--Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, or French--the people of the +British Islands, while adopting their _terms_ of expression, remained +true to their original _idiomatic_ expression. As this country absorbs +people from the whole world and makes one homogeneous American nation +of them, so has the English language absorbed, and is still absorbing, +words from every other people's language, and has transformed them into +one homogeneous language of its own. + +Comparative philology, if it wants to accomplish that which would be +most worthy of its efforts, will have to come down to these strong and +basic roots of language. + +The German language, whose idiomatic expression is centripetal, on the +other hand, does not possess the same capacity for adopting foreign +words and adapting them to its idiom. When it does adopt them, as, +for instance, those of French origin, they are pronounced, not in the +German, but, as far as the German people are capable of so doing, in +the French manner. They could not, in fact, be pronounced in the German +manner, the German language being a close corporation, so to say, which +does not admit of any foreign shareholders; while the English language +is a company open to all comers. While it is the endeavor of Germans +to _purify_ their language by expelling as far as possible any foreign +word and element therefrom, Anglo-Saxons are constantly adopting +new words from foreign languages. It would be equal to the labor of +Sisyphus for Anglo-Saxons to endeavor to purify their language from +foreign words, in the same sense that Germans are attempting to purify +theirs. + +It appears to me that the capacity of England for successful +colonization is largely due to the centrifugal force inherent in its +language, while the want of success of Germany for the same purpose is +due to the absence of this force. Anglo-Saxon government tends toward +decentralization, German toward centralization. I say this in spite of +the fact that Germany is still divided into many principalities; the +fact of its adherence to this undesirable condition being a proof of +the correctness of this assertion rather than otherwise--Germans not +being able to readily get out of that in which they are once rooted. In +regard to governing peoples in distant territories or colonies, this +tendency is of importance. English government, being undemonstrative, +is more effective than German, which is demonstrative, meddlesome, +and therefore offensive; the former being material and practical, the +latter immaterial and inclined to be visionary. + +In a word, where are we to find explanations regarding national traits +of character except through inner motive powers, productive of results +individual as well as national? There is no factor which exercises an +influence upon a nation as a unit so wide in extent and of so powerful +a nature as that of language. It is the _only_ motive power, in fact, +which every member of a nation shares with every other member thereof, +but not with any member of any foreign nation. + + +IDIOMATIC EXPRESSION + +Although it is a well known fact that every language has an idiomatic +expression, an intonation of its own, I am not aware of any attempt +ever having been made at definitely stating what such expression, +or intonation, really consists in; and in what respect it differs, +as between one language and another. Yet this fact should be the +most important of all in connection with ethnological studies. It is +necessary to know what a people's idiomatic expression is before we can +begin to make a study of its language, in comparison with that of any +other people, by which we may expect to arrive at conclusions of any +real value in an ethnological sense. + +In comparison with idiomatic expression, the study of the roots of +words and their derivation, it appears to me, is of but secondary +importance; idiomatic expression being the _kernel_ in which the tree +of national expression had its incipiency, its origin. It is the +life which pulsates through its veins, in which it has its stay and +maintenance; the nerves which tingle with its intelligence, its genius, +its soul. Take away this soul, and it ceases to exist. For every +language there must have been a strong impulse making an impression +before there could have been any expression at all. This impulse must +have been of so powerful and continuous a nature as to have left its +impression upon the minds of a sufficiently large number of people to +form the nucleus for the expression of a specific language, and, in so +doing, constituting such people a nation. + +I have already stated that it is _motion_ in the first instance which +superinduces a specific mode of breathing and consequent expression. It +is to motion, then, that we must ascribe the first impulse. Such motion +may have been active as to defense against enemies, wild beasts, or +the elements; or it may have been passive, consisting of the continuous +noise produced by the motion of the sea, tempests, or thunder-storms, +making a great and lasting impression. Then, again, the influence may +have been of a peaceful, balmy, beneficial nature, as with people +living in security, in a mild climate and on fertile lands. The +stronger the expression of these movements, the stronger the impression +they made and the more powerful the expression of the language; the +softer and more harmonious their expression, the softer and the more +rhythmical the expression of the language. These influences made their +first impression by superinducing a mode of breathing in conformity +therewith. + +Thus sounds giving expression to pain, perhaps, in the first instance, +or to sorrow, joy, surprise, etc., were made in conformity with +this, their specific mode of breathing. These outcries, consisting +of syllables, grew into words and sentences, which, being uttered in +conformity and sympathy with their special mode of breathing, created +a specific idiomatic expression. The same process, from its first +inauguration, and with but slight alterations, has been practised and +persisted in by the same people from the beginning to the present +time. With the English people, as already mentioned, no migration, no +invasion, no conqueror, no matter how powerful, has been able to swerve +it from its path. The _most_ these invaders could do was to graft +some of the expressions in which _their_ ideas were clad, some words, +on to this aboriginal stem. This stem was so strong in its primeval +conception that it could bear all these exotic graftings without losing +its character, absorbing all, welcoming all beneath the widespread +roof and homestead of its branches. It proved its superiority over the +idiomatic expression of these foreign tongues by its survival, as the +fittest. + +[Before proceeding further, I want to remark: these studies having been +made from an Anglo-Saxon point of view, it is just possible that a +preponderance of observations may have been made on that side; while, +if they had been made from a German standpoint, the preponderance most +likely would be on that side. This, no doubt, will be the case should I +at any future period be able to write all this, as I intend to, in the +German language.] + +What is this original sap in the English, and what is it in the German +language? + +The aborigines of the British Isles, living apart from their +continental brethren, became possessed of an idiom different and +apart from any other. It was the idiom of the _sea_, by which they +were surrounded; the motion and commotion of the waves, the surf, the +incoming and outgoing tides, their undertow and overflow; the waves +advancing toward the shore, their breaking against it, and their final +retreat from the same. + +The English language is a raft living upon the ocean. You can _hear_ +the waters rushing through it and on to the shore and back again. You +can feel the waves rising up to gigantic heights, and then falling +to and below the level of the sea. You can feel the undertow in its +reserve force, quiet and subdued like the lull before the storm, yet +capable of almost any demonstration. You can feel all this in the +strength and vigor of its diction as expressed in its prose and poetry. +This is not a mere poetical conception, but a truth capable of actual, +practical demonstration. + +While reading poetry or prose, or while singing, fancy seeing in your +mind's eye the ocean with its waters in commotion, either the open sea +or the surf near the shore, and you will _feel every word you utter +mingle with its waves. These pictures will never disturb your fancy, +but will associate with it in perfect harmony._ Now substitute for the +picture of the ocean and its tumult some rural picture, as of a field +of grain or the branches of trees tossed by the wind, or the flow of a +river, or even that of the sea itself when perfectly calm. Keep such +picture before you exactly as you did that of the sea in commotion. +While reading, speaking, or singing English you will not be able to +_hold_ such picture; _it will soon disturb you, and to such an extent +that you must cease thinking of it, or be obliged to stop your reading, +singing, etc._ + +The impression made by the ocean, in fact, is so great that it +dominates the _thought_ and the entire being of English-speaking +people. This is the case to such an extent that if you continue to +persistently _think_ of any other image than the ocean, even without +uttering any sound whatever, it will so greatly perturb you that you +will be unable to continue thinking at all. You may, on the other hand, +continue to think for an indefinite period of the image of the ocean +without experiencing any disturbance whatever. + +While the basic element of the English language is closely affiliated +with the ocean, that of the _German language_ is affiliated with the +_woods, and the blowing of the winds_. In their habitation in the +forest, the wind made so deep an impression on the primeval inhabitants +of Germany that you can feel its _soughing pervade all German diction_. + +If you are a German keep the picture of the woods before you and the +soughing of the wind through the tree-tops, and it will harmonize with +German thought and diction. Substitute a picture of the ocean for it, +or almost any other picture, and you will not be able to vocally utter +German thought, nor will you be able to continue thinking in the German +language at all. + +In place of conjuring up these pictures in your mind's eye you can +substitute _real_ pictures representing these scenes, and while +contemplating them the effect will be the same. + +After pursuing the picture of the ocean for a while, say: "English;" +after pursuing that of the woods, say: "Deutsch;" either will come +quite naturally, but you cannot reverse them. If you attempt it, these +words will not be forthcoming. + +While with English diction there is _a pause and then an emphasis_ as +of the waves coming on and then breaking against the shore, so, with +German diction, there is an _emphasis and then a pause_, as of the +blowing of the wind succeeded by a calm. These, in a word, are the +characteristic elements in the idiomatic expressions of these peoples; +English idiomatic expression being _low succeeded by loud_; German, +_loud succeeded by low_. + +The influence of the ocean with its continuous uproar formulated the +speech and character of the English nation into one of strength and +reality, with its centre of gravity in the abdomen. The peaceful +influence of their habitation in the woods, together with the +impression made by the wind, the singing of birds, etc., formulated the +speech and character of the German nation into one more of ideality, +with its centre of gravity in the thorax. + +The fondness of the English for the sea, their supremacy thereon, etc., +need not be amplified upon: + + "Wherever billows foam + The Briton fights at home, + His hearth is built of water." + +The fondness of the Germans for the woods is equally noted: Der +"dunkle," "zauberische," "geheimnissvolle," "heilige"--Wald (The +"darkly deep," "magical," "mysterious," and "sacred" woods) are but +common expressions. + +There is not a word in the English language of the same significance +as that of "Der Wald." It embraces many ideas, of which the words +"the woods" and "the forest" are not expressive. These, in a literal +translation, find expression in the words "Das Gehoelz" and "Der +Forst," which are of a more realistic nature. + +The English language, on the other hand, is full of expressions +applying to nautical matters and to the sea, for which there are no +adequate expressions in the German language. + +The fondness of the present Emperor of Germany for the sea must be +attributed to the English blood flowing in his veins. While it is his +desire to create a powerful navy, the people of Germany are indifferent +to, and obstruct rather than assist, the accomplishment of this desire. + +Idiomatic expression, the soul of language, has its incipiency in the +_soul_ of a people, and may pervade it for centuries before the _body_ +of the language, the _words_ in which its thoughts are clad, makes its +appearance. It must have taken many centuries more before these words +grouped themselves into sentences and assumed the shape of speech. The +words may change, but the idiomatic expression will always remain the +same. + +So, also, must the soul of man have had existence for an indefinite +period of time before a body was formulated to clothe it in. The +spiritual cell, if I may be permitted to use such an expression, must +have existed before the material; or, in other words, the spiritual +cell must have made its appearance long before the material cell +_commenced_ to make its appearance. + + +RELATIONSHIP SUPPOSED TO EXIST AS BETWEEN THE GERMAN AND ENGLISH NATIONS + +It is a common saying that there is a close relationship existing +between the German and English nations. There is no greater fallacy +than this. I contend that this relationship is of a very distant +order, consisting, as it does, merely in words, or, as I have said, +garments loosely flung around the sturdy, strong, and unalterable stem +of English idiomatic expression. In every other respect there is a +great dissimilarity and antagonism even, existing between these two +peoples. If there is any analogy existing between them at all, it is +one of opposition; one that is based on the idea that extremes meet +(_les extrêmes se touchent_), their poles being diametrically opposed +to each other. + +There is no more relationship existing between (Anglo-Saxon) German and +English than there is between (Norman) French and English; the German, +French, and English languages each possessing their own especial and +unalterable idiomatic expressions. Whatever foreign words either of +them adopt must be subjected to their idiom, or keep floating along as +best they may in their original character. + +The entire aspect of these three nations, the French, English, and +German, points to the fact that there must be a radical difference +in their vital mode of existence. Just what this vital mode consists +in, in respect to the two latter nations, I expect to still further +establish in a future publication. Both languages traverse nearly the +entire range of the vital organs in opposite directions. Hence the +strength and also the weaknesses of these languages, as compared with +other languages which, extending from side to side, have a smaller +compass but a comparatively purer range of sounds. Regarding other +nations and their languages, I trust others, thoroughly familiar with +the same, by applying to their investigations similar principles, will +establish similar facts. + +Owing to its centrifugal tendency, it is necessary for English vocal +utterance to open the mouth much wider than it is for German. Let a +German open his mouth no farther for the enunciation of English than he +is in the habit of opening it while speaking his own language, and he +will not be able to utter a single sound. The same result will obtain +when an Anglo-Saxon attempts to speak German on the same basis that he +is in the habit of speaking his own language. Owing to the centripetal +tendency of the German language, the mouth in speaking German is but +slightly extended. That this respective widening and narrowing of, +not only the mouth but of every other channel employed in bringing +about vocal utterance, must tend to exercise a marked influence on +Anglo-Saxon and German features will be obvious. The consequence is +that the mouth of English-speaking persons in thus being extended has +a broad yet narrow appearance, with rather thin and compressed lips, +while the mouth of Germans in thus being contracted is comparatively +smaller, with full and ripe lips. This feature is in conformity with +all other features which, with Anglo-Saxons, are elongated, with +Germans contracted. + +Experiments regarding centrifugal and centripetal action can be made +to good advantage by resting your head sideways on a pillow. In this +position during vocal utterance you can _feel_ these actions, and, +feeling them, "_measure_" them. This mode of proceeding can be +successfully adopted in many other experiments connected with these +studies. I must warn the reader, however, again and again, that all +this has reference only to languages spoken idiomatically correct. It +has no reference whatever to foreign languages spoken in the usual +mechanical manner. + + +LANGUAGE AND MOTION + +I will now show that motion is the first impulse and primary condition +of speech. I will give but a few examples at present, but expect +to prove most exhaustively later on that motion _must_ precede, or +_apparently at least_, accompany vocal sounds _always_. + +While standing up, straight, throw out your arms horizontally, then +speak English. You will have no difficulty, but you will not be able +to speak German so easily. Next, stand as before, and again throw out +your arms horizontally, then drop them, letting them hang down close +to your body. After doing so you will have no difficulty in speaking +German, but you will not be able to speak English so readily. In +throwing out your arms in the first instance, your mouth will open, +and you will _close_ it in speaking English. In letting them drop, in +the second instance, your mouth will close, and you will _open_ it in +speaking German. Now, stand on the tips of your toes, and you will have +no difficulty in speaking English, but you will not be able to speak +German with ease. Then rest the weight of your body on your heels, +and you will have no trouble in speaking German, but you cannot speak +English with ease. In standing on the toes the body is extended by +centrifugal, in standing on the heels it is contracted by centripetal +action. Next, extend your neck, and you will have less trouble in +speaking English than in speaking German; then lower your neck, and +you will find no trouble in speaking German, but you will in speaking +English. These experiments might be amplified manifold, but these must +suffice for the present. + +The same features of the opening and closing of the mouth in conformity +with the position you assume, will obtain in all these instances +the same as at first mentioned. It will scarcely be necessary for +me to repeat that all this shows that the motion for English speech +is centrifugal, for German centripetal. Nor will it be necessary to +call attention to the fact that all this tends towards giving Germans +a condensed and broad, Anglo-Saxons a lengthy and narrow bodily +appearance. + +It is, however, a noteworthy fact that with Germans the nearer you +approach the sea, the more centrifugal becomes their action and +personal appearance. The people of Northern Germany, therefore, though +radically differing from them in most other respects, partake more of +the general bodily features of Anglo-Saxon nations than those of the +South of Germany, who are positively opposed to them. + +Upon having ascertained the correctness of these statements by actual +experiment, I want to ask the reader how he expects to reconcile these +facts with the universally adopted theory that the larynx is the +sole instrument productive of vocal utterance. An Anglo-Saxon, when +stretching out his arms horizontally, can readily speak English, while +a German in the same position cannot utter a sound of _his_ language +without difficulty. If the larynx in the case of an Anglo-Saxon, under +these circumstances, produces vocal utterance, why is it not so easy +with a German? + +My explanation is this: + +By extending your limbs, in stretching out your arms, or standing +on your toes, the centrifugal action is instrumental in parting the +jaws and giving the tongue an upward tendency. In so doing, the +œsophagus and replica obtain ascendancy over the trachea and the +larynx. The abdomen (the seat of gravitation for English speech) +and its tributaries thus obtain the mastery over the thorax and its +tributaries. The former being the main vehicle for English speech, +such speech can be produced without molestation. These facts, while +favorable to the production of English vocal utterance, obstruct and +hinder German vocal utterance. + +In lowering the arms or standing on one's heels, thus substituting +centripetal for centrifugal action, the jaws close, the tongue assumes +a downward tendency. The trachea and the larynx, as well as the +thorax (the seat of gravitation for German vocal utterance), obtain +the preponderance, and German may be freely spoken, while English is +obstructed. + +In _raising_ the tongue, a free passage to the œsophagus is obtained, +while that to the trachea is obstructed. In _lowering_ the tongue, a +free passage to the trachea is obtained, while that to the œsophagus +becomes obstructed. It is necessary, however, to understand that, +while English speech is centrifugal and German centripetal, these are +_tendencies_ only and not permanent _conditions_; centrifugal and +centripetal action constantly interchanging and modifying one another. +An uninterrupted tendency in one and the same direction, either +centripetally or centrifugally, would soon come to an end and produce +stagnation, inertia, death. There is no action without a counteraction. +Hence, ingoing vocal sounds are counterbalanced by outgoing; the +same as ingoing thoughts or thoughts produced by external vision are +counterbalanced by outgoing, or thoughts produced by internal vision, +etc. + +In addition to the parts mentioned, there are many other parts of +the body which, subjected to centrifugal or centripetal action, will +produce results of the same order as those already mentioned. In +stretching out your legs (while in a sitting position), you will find +speaking German to be difficult; upon drawing them up, you will have +trouble with English. The same results may be obtained, in connection +with the toes and fingers, in a number of different ways. From all +this, it will be readily seen that all parts of the body are closely +related to each other, the tendency of the muscles in one prominent +part producing the same tendency in all the rest. + +There is one thing which must be mentioned, however. To obtain +centrifugal action, it is necessary to _stretch_ the part under +consideration; the mere extension of a part, without stretching it, +will be fruitless of results in either one direction or another; +so will the mere contraction of any part be fruitless of results, +unless such contraction is complete. You can let your arms hang down +alongside of your body and yet speak English easily; and you can hold +them out horizontally, and yet speak German easily. In either case the +contraction and expansion must be _thorough_ to produce results either +centripetally or centrifugally. + +_All_ persons make similar motions to those mentioned with every sound +they utter, though these motions do not appear on the surface; in fact, +they could not speak if they did not make them. + +I have already mentioned, but want to repeat, that centrifugal action +is the cause of the elongated faces, and especially of the elongation +of the lower jaw of English-speaking persons. It is also the cause of +their semi-parted lips while in repose, showing their teeth, and a +full exhibition thereof while speaking; a fact which has caused much +merriment to continental nations, and has given rise to an endless +number of caricatures of "milord" and "milady" on their travels, etc. +It is also the cause of the perfection of dentistry in this country +and in England, where the teeth are always more or less on exhibition. +In other countries, where they are hidden behind the curtains of the +lips, which are usually closed, except while speaking or laughing, this +necessity does not arise to nearly the same extent. To the centrifugal +force there is also due much of the innate charm and beauty of +English-speaking women. + +From all this one great lesson may be learned: no matter by what +divergent means nature may work its ends, similar results are +obtained, though often arrived at by opposite means and from opposite +directions. Thus life ever presents to us new forms and features, and +ever infuses new interest into what otherwise might become unbearable +in its monotony. A better insight into these facts ought to make +us feel more lenient towards what appear to us as other people's +"idiosyncrasies." It should also have a tendency to prevent us from +attempting to enforce to their full extent laws made in conformity with +our own desires and inclinations but in direct opposition to those of +others (foreigners living among us), whose character and disposition +lead them in diametrically opposite directions. + +Unless otherwise mentioned, I wish the reader to remember that I am +always speaking not only from the standpoint of an American, but _as_ +an American. The fact of my long residence in this country, where I +have spent the best part of my life, in itself would not entitle me to +do this, having shown, as I have endeavored to do, that this is not +sufficient to change a person from one nationality into another. During +my earnest endeavor at fathoming these differences, however, I have +been led into assuming the forms which distinguish the Anglo-Saxon from +the German. Unless I am with Germans and speak the German language, in +my thoughts and otherwise I lead the life of an American. + +That my English speech, however (though my friends in their indulgence +would lead me to believe otherwise), is not as perfect as it might be, +is largely due to the fact of my constantly having recourse to the +German language, and that I am thus as constantly led back into these +other forms of existence which cannot be indulged in without some +detriment and abstraction from either the one or the other. There was +a time, in fact, when the transformation I have spoken of was taking +place (the disturbance being so great) that I could not speak well +either the one language or the other. + +I am well convinced, on the other hand, that through perseverance +_perfection_ in the utterance of both of these languages, for speech +as well as for song, and possibly of some other languages besides, may +be attained in the course of time; nature being so pliable that, when +the required actions are once _fully_ understood and complied with, a +perfect change may be made instantly in passing from one language on +to another. Such changes, in fact, are naturally made by persons who, +in their infancy, have been educated in and taught to speak several +languages at one and the same time; the material during infancy +being so pliable that it can be readily formed into any shape and +transformed into any other. All of the preceding also shows that, for +every separate idiom, the _entire_ instrument must be "tuned" for its +production in a given order, and that only when so tuned can such idiom +be produced in its entire purity. It also shows that, unless so tuned, +the vocal cords of the larynx and replica cease to be instrumental in +the production of sound. + +An instrument tuned for the production of the English language, +consequently, cannot produce German sounds, nor can it produce Romanic, +Slavonic, or the sounds of any other language. Sounds, _apparently_ +the same, of either the singing or speaking voice of various languages +are, therefore, _not_ the same and are certainly not produced in the +same manner. For a German, consequently, or an Italian to attempt to +teach an English-speaking person the art of singing is an anomaly. A +foreigner might, with the same show of reason, attempt to teach persons +of another nationality the correct pronunciation of their own language. +It would be equally false, of course, for an English-speaking person to +attempt to teach a German, Italian, etc., the art of singing, unless he +had first mastered his pupil's idiomatic expression, or the pupil had +mastered that of his teacher. + +Many persons are under the erroneous impression that song and speech +are performances separate and apart from each other, while they are in +reality of precisely the same, though inverse, order. They are of the +same order, for instance, as the back and palm of the hand: the former +representing speech, the latter song; the external and the internal, or +the anterior and the posterior. As the back of the hand, such must and +will be its palm; or, as its palm, such must and will be its back. + +Conversing with a teacher some time since, she scorned such +propositions, saying a person's language had nothing to do with his or +her song; the mode of production of the latter being the _same_ with +ALL nationalities; besides, she had studied the larynx, and knew all +about it. This, of course, settled it, and I had not anything further +to say. + + +DIFFERENCE IN THEIR MODE OF BREATHING AS BETWEEN ANGLO-SAXONS AND +GERMANS + +Anglo-Saxons inspire first into the thorax and then into the abdomen. +Germans inspire first into the abdomen and then into the thorax. The +former expire first from the abdomen and then from the thorax; the +latter expire first from the abdomen and then from the thorax. This, +however, gives but a partial account of the process of breathing, and I +must postpone a more explicit one to a later period. + +To prove the correctness of the above assertion, press your hand +against the left side of your thorax anteriorly, and you will find +it difficult to inhale. If you press your hand against the right +side of your thorax, on the other hand, you will have no difficulty +in inhaling. Next, press your hand against the right side of your +abdomen, and you will not be able to exhale; but if you press your hand +against its left side, you will experience no trouble in exhaling. In +pressing your hands one against the left side of the breast and the +other against the right side of the abdomen, you will have trouble in +breathing. + +Pressures produced in the precisely _opposite_ manner in every respect, +on the part of a German-speaking person, will produce effects of +precisely the _same_ nature. A German, in pressing the right side of +his abdomen, will not be able to inspire freely, but pressing its left +side will not hinder him from doing so. Pressing the left side of his +thorax will impede his expiration, while the pressing of its right +side will not prevent him from doing so. These results will become +more obvious when these pressures are continued for some time. All +the pressures mentioned are to be applied _anteriorly_. Pressures of +the same nature applied _posteriorly_ produce opposite results with +Anglo-Saxons as well as Germans. + +Similar results may be obtained by producing pressures on the median +line of either thorax or abdomen, front as well as back. Such will also +be the case when pressures are produced on either side from the armpits +downward or from the hips upward. More satisfactory results, however, +than those obtained through mechanical pressure can be obtained by +making the respective parts rigid. It will scarcely be necessary for me +to mention all these various causes and consequent results in detail, +as any one interested in these matters can work them out for himself +from that which I have said. + + +RISE AND FALL, OR RHYTHM + +The thorax is productive of the falling, the abdomen of the rising +voice, the former being the representative of the _impression_ for +sounds, the latter of their expression. + +_An Anglo-Saxon's voice, inspiring, as he does, into the thorax, and +expiring from the abdomen, will first fall and then rise. A German's +voice, on the contrary, inspiring, as he does, into the abdomen, and +expiring from the thorax, will first rise and then fall._ + +This is the fundamental cause of the difference between the idiomatic +expression of these two peoples, and primarily also of the difference +existing between their national traits physically as well as mentally. + +Every original word in either of these languages will illustrate these +facts: + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Vater, Mutter, Bruder, Schwester. + +Take the same words in English, and the accent will be reversed: + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + Father, Mother, Brother, Sister + +When these and similar words were adopted into the English language, +it was done at the expense of their original idiomatic expression. +I am speaking of the music, the rise and fall, the rhythm pervading +a language, not of time or measure, nor of the intonation, nor of +emphasis. + +I make four distinctions, and expect to prove that they are the basis +of every artistic expression of either speech or song. First, measure +or time. Second, the rise and fall of the voice, equal to its rhythm. +Third, intonation, which pertains to words in accordance with their +meaning. Fourth, emphasis, which has reference to the feelings. + +That the human voice is capable of at one and the same time expressing +four moods so different from each other, shows that there are +various factors (all of a different nature) simultaneously at work +producing these different results. To correctly indicate these four +characteristics, it would be necessary to mark each syllable in a +fourfold manner. I shall confine myself to the rhythm and the metre, +and shall mark the former above the line by using the signs for accent +(´`), and the latter below the line by using those for metre (¯˘). + +Right here is the main stumbling-block with persons of either +nationality in speaking the language of the other. They will in +so doing invariably retain the idiomatic expression of their own +vernacular. + +The _proper_ way to illustrate the rhythm would be as follows: + + ´`´` ´` ´` ´` + Vater, Mutter, gut. + + `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ + Father, Mother, good. + +There is always a rise of the voice before its fall in German, and a +fall before its rise in English _for each and every syllable_. When +a language is well spoken, this complete intonation is always heard. +If this needs illustration, which it should not, being so obvious, +the poetry of both peoples offers proofs in great abundance. It is a +notable fact that, with German verse, the voice for the end syllable +always sinks, with English it rises; the former is generally short, +the latter long; but even where the word ends with a long syllable in +German the voice falls at the end, and where one ends with a short +syllable in English the voice rises at the end. + +To anxiously count every syllable in poetry is contrary to the spirit +of a language. There are slight touches here and there which simply +serve as connecting links, and which, in marking the rhythmic flow of +sounds, should not be included as belonging to the metre. Most of these +are prefixes or affixes, pauses for repose or relaxation, consisting +in scarcely noticeable inspirations or expirations, which are necessary +to strengthen the voice for the actual metre. The various intonations +are generally expressed by the use of the signs for long and short +only. As the latter, properly speaking, only represent time or measure, +the voice is left to express as best it may and without any guidance +whatsoever every other factor composing a language. All I want to do +now is to show by the signs for the accent the difference between the +English and German rhythmic movement: + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Auf der duftverlornen Grenze + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Jener Berge tanzen hold + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Abendwolken ihre Taenze + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Leicht geschuerzt im Strahlengold. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + LENAU. + + ´ ` ´` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Auf ihrem Grab da steht eine Linde + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` + Drin pfeifen die Voegel im Abendwinde; + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´` ´ ` ´` ´ ` + Die Winde die wehen so lind und so schaurig, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` + Die Voegel die singen so suess und so traurig. + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + HEINE. + +The beginning of every line in this verse might remain unmarked as not +belonging to the rhythmic expression proper, and being expressive +mainly of an inspiration preceding the expiration which it foreshadows. +The beauty of Heine's verse is largely due to the fact that he does +not anxiously count time, but lets his voice rise and fall where it is +most effective. It will be noticed that there is a greater movement, as +expressed by the signs of the rhythm, in Heine's verse than there is in +Lenau's, hence the inexpressible charm of his diction. Here is another +great poet, or poetess rather, the greatest Germany has produced, also +fearless of prescribed forms, but full of charm and power: + + ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´` ´` ´` + O schaurig ists uebers Moor zu gehn, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` + Wenn es wimmelt vom Haiderauche, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´` ´` ´` ´` ´ ` ´ ` + Sich wie Phantome die Duenste drehn + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` + Und die Ranke haekelt am Strauche. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + DROSTE-HUELSHOFF. + +In these last two citations, the dactylus (¯ ˘ ˘) is the prevailing +measure, which but strengthens my assertion that in German diction +there is a fall after a rise; the former being here more distinctly +expressed than in the simple trochaic measure. The fall, the +relaxation, being greater, the rise, the vigor in the expression, +thereby gains additional strength. What is the consequence of this +falling off or gliding down in German diction so well expressed in +Lenau's + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + "Auf der duftverlornen Grenze"? + +It is not a positive line of demarcation, but one which is lost, as it +were, "in the soft ether of the evening sky." + +Hence the high tide succeeded by the low, the aspiration followed by +resignation, the night after the day, death after life, repose after +the strife--all this expresses the genius of the German language; and +is also expressive of German life and character--its dreaminess, its +longing, its desire for the ideal, never to be attained; the abstract, +the abstruse; its yearning, its altruism, its transcendentalism, its +_Weltschmerz_ (the sadness pervading all nature). It is also expressive +of its _Begeisterung_ (an enthusiasm which upon the slightest +provocation takes a man almost off his feet). All these are traits of +the German national character. + +There is no spiritual bond among all these millions that could possibly +produce such sentiments and feelings as its result, differing, as they +do, from the feelings of any other nation or people, but that of a +language common to all. + +To prove that the trochaic measure is the one ordained by nature for +German expression, it is but necessary to glance at the characteristic +words of the preceding verses: + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Wimmelt, Haide, gehen, wehen, drehen, Ranke, haekelt, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + Grenze, jener, Berge, Abend, Wolken, Taenze, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + strahlen, ihren, eine, Linde, pfeifen, Voegel, Winde, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` + schaurig, singen, traurig. + +The same rhythm, though not so obviously expressed, obtains with the +words of one syllable: + + ´` ´` ´` ´` ´ ` ´` ´` + Auf, der, Duft, hold, leicht, im, Gold, + + ´` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´` + Grab, steht, lind, suess, ueber's, Moor. + +Now compare with this the strength and vigor of English diction, which +runs in the precisely opposite direction: + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + The stag at eve had drunk his fill, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + Where danced the moon on Monan's rill; + ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ `´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + And deep his midnight lair had made, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + In lone Glenartney's hazel shade. + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + SCOTT. + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ `´ `´ + The day is done, and the darkness + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + `´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ + Falls from the wings of night, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + As a feather is wafted downward + ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + `´ ` `´ ` ´ ` ´ + From an eagle in his flight. + ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ + + LONGFELLOW. + + ` ` ´ ` `´ `´ `´ ` `´ + Oh east is east, and west is west, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + And never the two shall meet, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + Till earth and sky stand presently, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` `´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + At God's great judgment seat. + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + ` ´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + But there is neither east nor west, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + Border, nor breed, nor birth, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ `´ `´ ` ´ ` ´ + When two strong men stand face to face, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ + Though they come from the ends of the earth. + ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ + + KIPLING. + +It is either the iambic (˘¯) or the anapest (˘˘¯). Of course, these +vary to some extent in conformity with the reader's intonation, but the +spirit of the language is always from weakness to strength, in place of +from strength to weakness, as with the German. It is always the waves +approaching the shore and then _breaking_ against it, as against the +wind _coming up suddenly_ and then dying away. This is the reason why +a serenade or lullaby in English can never be rendered with the same +effect as in German, the English voice rising at the end instead of +falling. + +Wherever a verse commences with a stress, it must be considered that +a fall of the voice or an inspiration has preceded it; this, though +unaccompanied by sound, being really the case. I have thus marked the +beginning of Longfellow's beautiful lines: + + ` ´ `´ ` ´ + Falls----as----from. + +Mr. Lunn, in his _Philosophy of Voice_, has the following: + +"How many Englishmen _dare_ utter loudly a word beginning with a +vowel? If attempted, either it would not be done, or, in spite of the +speaker, owing to the weakness of the muscles which draw the cords +together [_sic_], an aspirate would precede the vowel." + +This is right, as far as his observation is concerned, but he does +not seem to know that this very weakness he complains of is really +the strength of the English language, the lull before the storm, the +concentration before the explosion; and that "thus the idiosyncrasy +of our people's speech" is _not_ "deadness, weakness, and general +feebleness," but, on the contrary, a strength and a virility not +surpassed by any other tongue. This finds illustration in Kipling's + + `´ `´ `´ `´ + Oh east is east, etc. + +It is but necessary to comprehend the laws which underlie this apparent +weakness to turn it to its best account, and to obtain from it the +highest results, both for speech and song. As for the "weakness of the +muscles which draw the cords together," it will scarcely be necessary +for me to make a specific refutation; the premises upon which such +assumption is founded being quite untenable, there being quite as much +vigor in the _muscles_ and _cords_ of an Anglo-Saxon as in those of any +other nation. Nor, I suppose, will it be necessary to strengthen my +assertions by once more quoting the separate words and thus pointing +out the iambic, the rise after the fall (˘¯), or the anapest (˘˘¯), the +twofold repose and gathering of strength for the final emphasis. + +The English language in its Saxon words mainly consists of +monosyllables. These, however, as stated, must be looked upon as words +of two syllables, a suppressed intonation always preceding their vowel +sounds. The majority of such words, as a matter of fact, originally +consisted of two syllables, of which the last was dropped when they +were adopted by the English. This last syllable, representing the fall +of the voice thus disappearing, left the first, which represented +its rise, standing unsupported by itself. As the rise of the voice, +however, cannot be expressed without the accompaniment of its fall, the +latter always _tacitly_ accompanies the same, and is expressed in an +undertone, _preceding_ the rise. + +Almost every verb of this class will give evidence of this fact: + + ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ + Gehen--go, sehen--see, hoeren--hear, + + ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ + sprechen--speak, kochen--cook, tanzen--dance, + + ´ ` ´ + fallen--fall, etc. + +Hence, in conformity with the above, these words in the English +language should be properly marked thus: + + `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ + Go, see, hear, speak, cook, dance, etc. + +which gives the real intonation thereof. + +This applies to all words commencing with a vowel, and explains what +Mr. Lunn has designated as a "weakness of the English language": + + `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ + Art, arm, or, all, eagle, each, old, etc. + +Without this half-suppressed fall of the voice, there would be no +beauty, no charm, no soul in the English language; in fact, it could +not exist. Words of two syllables, however, always have the fall of the +voice on the first, its rise on the second, syllable, even where the +preponderance of _time_ belongs to the first syllable, as in the words + + ` ´ ` ´ + Danced, hazel, etc. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + +The reader will find these statements sustained by almost every word he +may examine into, which will show that the characteristic expression +of English diction is that of the iambic measure, which passes from +weakness to strength; while that of German diction, as already stated, +is that of the trochaic measure, which passes from strength to weakness. + +Having shown that German _sentiment_ is in accord with the idiomatic +expression of the German language, I will now show that _English_ +sentiment also conforms to _its_ idiomatic expression. I must beg +the reader, however, not to be over-critical. I am not attempting to +furnish comparative sketches of the national character of these peoples +in a literary sense, but am entering into these matters for the sole +purpose of sustaining the results of my physiological investigations. +Nor should these attempts be applied to individual cases, there being +exceptions to all rules, but to the national character _in general_. +If a person in making investigations of this kind had to constantly +fear that he might be treading on some one's sensitive toes, he could +never make any headway at all. I am, in fact, perfectly willing to +apologize beforehand for any such mishap possibly taking place, as I +wish to be perfectly impartial and without bias. I have said this much +partly for the reason also that in consequence of some remark, on one +occasion, made in my former publication in favor of the English _vs._ +the Germans, one critic honored me with the epithet "renegade." + +The rising voice succeeding the falling is not a soft and gradual +receding, but, on the contrary, it is more like an explosion, a +trumpet-blast; the inspiration which had been "stored" being suddenly +released. There is no such "storing" in connection with German +diction; inspiration and expiration succeeding each other on the +spot. With English diction this change may be compared to the break +of day after the night; the fray after the repose; resurrection after +death; a conflagration and a rebuilding at once on the spot, not +only individually, but by an entire community (Boston and Chicago); +an outburst after due deliberation; no sentimentality, but a firm +resolve for the right; patient submission to a point, then a strike +for liberty; the slow accumulation of a fortune and the spontaneous +spending thereof; a hot political campaign and a victory or defeat; +in either case acquiescence; no vain mourning after the fact; a +butterfly of wealth, idleness, and fashion, then perhaps ruin; yet not +despair, but a brave conformity to altered circumstances; an energy in +the pursuit of business or of war which does not flag until utterly +exhausted or success is achieved and a victory is won. All this is due +to the reserve force in the character of English-speaking people, +which comes to their rescue when circumstances demand it. A world +positive and direct, full of energy, restlessness, and activity. A +world of, and for, _this_ world; whose world to come, even, must have a +positive and well-defined character and surroundings: + + "Where the walls are made of jasper and the streets are paved + with gold." + +To what is all this due but to this _bond of language_ uniting these +millions, and embracing every foreign element, in its children at +least? The theme is inexhaustible, but I am limited as to time; yet +additional remarks on the same subject will be forthcoming during the +further pursuance of these studies. + +For song, it appears to me, the words, besides being marked by notes, +should also be marked as to rhythm, as this would assist singers in +giving them the proper intonation; notes indicating metre, but not +rhythm. + +Metre and rhythm are produced by two distinctly different processes; +metre, or time, being the outcome of a mode of breathing subject to the +will, while rhythm is the outcome of an involuntary mode of breathing +for a characteristic quality inherent in a nation's language as its +idiomatic expression. + +Ordinarily, both metre and rhythm are expressed by the same signs (˘¯); +this is very misleading. + +To express time, or metre, I use the signs for short and long (˘¯). To +express rhythm, or the fall and rise of the voice, I use the signs for +what is usually called the accent (´`). If we were to _meas__ure_ the +exact time, however, consumed in the utterance of syllables, we would +find that the falling voice, which is the product of inspiration and +belongs to the thorax, requires more time than the rising voice, which +is the product of expiration and belongs to the abdomen. + +In marking verse, however, the sign for long (¯) generally accompanies +the short syllable of the rising, and the sign for short (˘) the, as a +matter of fact, long syllable of the falling voice. It takes longer to +fill a bottle than to pour out its contents; to prepare a dish than to +eat it; to walk upstairs than to jump from a window. It takes longer to +_prepare_ for an utterance than to utter it. It takes longer to inspire +than to expire. + +In view of the vast foreign element constituting a part of this nation, +it would be a matter of interest to know at what period the foreigner +ceases to exist as such and the "American" begins; or, in other words, +to understand when the evolution takes place which transforms the +foreigner into the American. From my point of view it is, above all, +a question of language. The political aspect of the case is scarcely +to be considered. An unnaturalized Englishman, consequently, after +thoroughly "Americanizing" his language, becomes more of an American +(no matter whether he himself thinks so or not) than an Irishman who, +though naturalized, never ceases to use his native brogue. + +These questions, of course, are many-sided. When I speak of +nationality, however, I have the _best_ specimens of a nation as +representatives thereof in view always. A man with a foreign accent +does not have the same standing or influence in municipal, state, and +national councils as one who speaks a pure English; there is always a +_feeling_ against him, no matter how able or patriotic he may be, of +some foreign influence as a substratum in his composition. + + +STRESS + +I have already stated that the thorax is the seat of the falling, +the abdomen that of the rising, voice. This can be tested by a +simple experiment, the result of which will be as startling as it is +phenomenal. _By simply pressing the stomach, or making the same rigid, +you will find that the fact of your doing so will prevent you from +uttering any sound belonging to the rising voice, or the stress laid +upon a word._ + +Take, for instance, the following: + + "Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light," + +and you will find that, upon pressing the stomach, or making the same +rigid, you will not be able to utter the words "say," "see," "dawn's," +and "light." This will become more obvious in uttering these words +slowly than in doing so rapidly. You will have no difficulty, on the +other hand, in uttering the rest of the words, viz.: "Oh," "can you," +"by the," "early." + +Upon releasing the stomach and bringing a pressure to bear upon the +chest, on the other hand, you will have no difficulty in uttering the +first words mentioned, those of the rising, while you will be unable +to utter the last, those of the falling voice. This rule holds good for +all peoples and all languages. + +There is this difference, however, as between English and German +speech, that, for the former, the falling voice (identical with that of +the thorax) _precedes_ the rising (identical with that of the abdomen); +while for the latter the reverse is the case;--Anglo-Saxons inspiring +into the chest and then into the stomach; Germans into the stomach and +then into the chest. Germans will have greater difficulty in making +this experiment than Anglo-Saxons, as words of the falling voice, as +a rule and in all languages, precede those of the rising. Germans, +consequently, must _think_ of the word of the rising voice, which, as +a matter of fact, succeeds the words of the falling, before they can +utter the latter. This difficulty is enhanced by the fact that while +the rising voice is generally confined to a single word, the falling +voice generally embraces several. + +Hence the frequency of the use of the anapest (˘˘¯) and the dactylus +(¯˘˘), and the relative rarity of the use of the bacchius (˘¯¯) and +the antibacchius (¯¯˘); short always representing the falling voice, +which embraces more than one word, while long represents the rising +voice, which usually embraces but one single word; the definition +requiring more words than the thing to be defined. Hence, _for German +diction, the "thought" of the word of the rising voice must precede the +"utterance" of the words of the falling; while for English diction, +the "thoughts" of the words of the falling voice must precede the +"utterance" of the word of the rising._ + +A German may try and say the following: + + "In einem _Thal_ bei armen _Hirten_, + Erschien mit jedem jungen _Jahr_," + +in such a manner as _not to think_ of the words which are italicized +before uttering those which immediately precede them, and he will find +that he will be unable to pronounce the latter. + +An Anglo-Saxon may try and say the following: + + "And the star-spangled banner in triumph _doth wave_ + O'er the land of the free and the home _of the brave_," + +and he will find that in saying "in triumph doth wave," he must think +of the words "doth wave" before he will be able to utter the word +"triumph." Again, in saying "the home of the brave" he must think of +the words "of the brave" before he will be able to utter the word +"home." + +A German, consequently, must _think_ of the principal word before he +can utter those which qualify it; an Anglo-Saxon must think of the +latter before he can utter the former. + +In place of using mechanical pressure, the same results can be obtained +by making the respective parts rigid. Regarding this matter of _making +parts rigid_, I want to make the following explanation, illustrating +the physiological process going on in so doing. + +While a part is rendered inactive, placed _hors de combat_, so to say, +by the application of mechanical pressure, the same result can also +be obtained by making such part rigid. To accomplish this, it is but +necessary to positively _think_ of such part, to associate your mind +with it, which is equal to an act of expiration when it relates to the +abdomen, and inspiration when it relates to the thorax. By positively +_thinking_ of the abdomen, which is equal to an expiration therefrom, +you will be unable to utter the stress or _rise_ of the voice, which is +the product of an expiration from the stomach; by positively thinking +of the thorax, which is equal to an inspiration into the same, you will +be unable to utter the _fall_ of the voice, which is the product of an +inspiration into the chest. The reason is obvious: _We cannot utter +sound in the same direction in which we breathe; sound and respiration +always following opposite directions._ + +For the purpose of making satisfactory experiments in this respect, +as, in fact, in every other respect in connection with these +investigations, it is necessary that inspiration or expiration, as the +case may be, should be _continuous_, that is, that either the one or +the other should be persisted in until a result is obtained; namely, +until an apparent increase or decrease in the size of the part of the +body under consideration, or an inflation or depletion of the same, +will be perceptible. Though it may be difficult at first, a person will +soon learn to distinguish between an increase or a swelling of a part, +which means inspiration into the same, and a decrease or a shrinking or +diminution thereof, which means expiration from the same. + +[Illustration] + + + + +PHYSIOLOGY OF THE VOICE IN RELATION TO WORDS + + +In the further pursuance of the questions heretofore under +consideration, I shall now enter upon a theme of a still more subtle +nature. The question of metre, rhythm, accent, etc., is one which is +involved in much mystery; nor can I find that many persons entertain +precisely the same ideas as being expressed by these terms. + +_Accepting as a fundamental principle the fact that our various +spiritual conditions are based upon our ability to extract the +necessary inspiration therefor from the air, which bears the same +relation to our spiritual existence that the earth does to that of +our body (in furnishing it with such elements as it requires for its +maintenance), I contend that we breathe for speech in as many different +modes as there are parts or elements in its composition._ This +proposition does not necessarily conflict with the fact that we also +draw elements from the air, as analytical chemistry has proven, which +serve for the construction of matter; such elements, however, instead +of being strictly material, as they have every appearance of being, +are, in reality, the spiritual complements of the matter they help to +form; matter and spirit going hand in hand in our entire composition. + +In reading poetry, or giving expression to the same in song (I repeat), +we do so in a fourfold manner: + +First: as to metre or time (the "measure" of time). + +Second: as to the rhythm or the music pervading the voice, produced by +its rise and fall, also called cadence, or the idiomatic expression of +a language. + +Third: as to accent. + +Fourth: as to emphasis. + +The _metre_ is produced by an artistic mode of breathing (in addition +to our ordinary and permanent mode), marked by regular repetitions of +a given order of inspirations and expirations which can be "measured" +as to the time consumed in their enunciation, and are therefore, not +incorrectly, called "feet." + +The metre is a product or outcome of the _will_, a force which presides +over material-spiritual issues. It changes with our inclinations +and moods, and is expressive thereof. We can pass from one metre to +another at will, as the occasion may require. It is the _material_ +part of speech, as we can measure it and account for it as to time +in space, supposing time to be incorporated. The metre expressive of +joy, for instance, being quick, that of sorrow slow; the former, if +incorporated, would take up less space than the latter, in the same +proportion as it consumes less time in being uttered. + +The _rhythm_ is that characteristic quality which distinguishes one +language from another, the basis upon which it is built and around +which all its elementary words cluster; its fundamental principle, +its idiomatic expression, the music pervading its every syllable; the +inflection, the rise and fall, the cadence of the voice; the spirit of +a language, which is permanent and unchangeable. + +The rhythm is an outcome of the _mind_; an influence which presides +over _spiritual-material_ issues. As _harmony is the first law of +nature_, so is that harmony which pervades our native tongue the law +upon which our individual and national characteristic expressions and +actions are based. We exercise it intuitively. It is innate in, and +unalterably connected with, our native tongue. It cannot be eliminated +therefrom, or put into it by a foreigner, except when acquired in +childhood, or by the study of such principles as I have attempted to +lay down in this book. It is inborn in every language as its spirit, +and is as enduring as that language itself. It is not subject to change +by the dictates of the will. + +The _accent_ represents that element which distinguishes between the +character and meaning of words, and has no reference to parts thereof +or their relation to other words; the same word being pronounced in as +many different ways and with as many different _accents_ as it denotes +different senses or meanings; while _different words, embodying the +same idea, are uttered with precisely the same accent_. + +The accent or intonation is an outcome of the _soul_; an influence +which dominates over our spiritual nature and over _spiritual issues_. +"The rose by any other name would smell as sweet." It is equally true +that any other name given to the rose would be pronounced by the same +indefinable intonation as its present name, with that same embodiment +of the mystery of the soul signifying the flower called "a rose." +The _word_ "rose," which is the same, or nearly the same, in so many +different languages, though possessing the same _spiritual_ elements in +them all, varies as to measure and rhythm in every one of them. + +If the influence of the soul, embodying an idea in a word, through the +intonation we give it, were not the same for _all_ languages, it would +not be possible to translate poetry, and retain, to some extent at +least, that which is commonly called "the rhythm" of the original; nor +would it be possible to sing a song in another language, and retain, +even approximately, the spiritual elements of the original. We would +not be impressed with it, would not be _thrilled_ by it. + +_The intonation of a word, expressive of the soul in the embodiment +of an idea, is a bond which unites all humanity_; not alone the human +souls of any special day and generation, but of all days and all +generations. But for the fact that the Greek soul is in us to-day, +that the native intonation of _their_ words is native with us and with +_all_ mankind, their _dead_ tongue would be _absolutely_ dead for us. +We could find no meaning in it, no beauty, no spirit, no soul. Think +of the melody pervading the soul of Homer and emanating from _his_ +lyre still living and finding an echo in _our_ souls! Think of the +harmony pervading the soul of Schiller or Tennyson continuing to live, +and pervading the souls of the latest generations! Nor could Luther's +famous translation of the Bible or its beautiful English version ever +have been produced, and after production have made the same impression +on the mind, or been read with the same expression of the voice, as the +words of this same Bible made upon the minds, and were expressed by the +voice, of its original composers, but for the fact _that words of the +same meaning_, _in every language_ (aside from metre and rhythm), _are +pronounced precisely the same_. It is this universal comprehension of +their beauty which gives immortality to the strains of great singers, +whether they appear in their original form or are translated (that is, +if well translated) into foreign languages, or are set to music and +sung either in the one or the other. + +If the performances of creating original compositions and their +translations were of a mere mechanical order, or were explainable from +a mechanical standpoint, no such soul effects could ever be produced. +The word, as such, is a _mechanical_ contrivance; but its intonation +is of the soul, being an emanation of the idea it represents. If our +ears were so schooled that by _their "intonation" we could comprehend +the meaning of words_, we could understand every language upon simply +hearing it spoken. + +The people of all nations, through their eyesight, form the same +conception of an object; the same being impressed upon all minds in the +same manner. When a picture thus impressed upon the mind (brain) is +reproduced by, or is translated into, vocal utterance, it continues +to remain the same with all people. This does not refer to impressions +made by material objects alone, but extends to immaterial subjects as +well. Hence, knowing the meaning of a word in one language, we can at +once conjure up the idea it represents in all languages. + +The sight, however, not only impresses our minds through the eye with +a given picture, but, as there is a correlation existing between all +our faculties, it also impresses the voice with a given inflection, +expressive of such impression upon the mind, and of no other +impression; any given sight or mental conception of any kind always +producing an inflection of the voice corresponding therewith. The vocal +expression of an idea might thus be called an _audible_ "photographic" +reproduction of the impression made by the original object upon the +eyesight, and, respectively, upon the brain, or it might be called a +phonographic reproduction thereof, supposing that the picture of an +object could be impressed upon the wax and could thus become audible. +How such a reproduction may be made from an _immaterial_ subject +would be more difficult to comprehend. Of the fact, however, that +an impression from abstract subjects _is_ made, and that an audible +expression of such impression is produced through the voice, and that +this is the case with all people alike, I expect to furnish positive +proof in a future publication. The fact of our not being accustomed +to distinguish in this manner between various expressions through +inflections of the voice is no proof that they do not exist. + +The soul impresses every word with a seal of its own, characteristic +of the idea it embodies, there being as many accents or inflections of +the voice as there are _separate ideas_, or, rather, _groups of ideas_. +I beg leave to copy the following from the _Saturday Evening Post_ of +April 8, 1899: + + "Mr. Kipling recently told an interviewer: 'We write, it + is true, in letters of the alphabet; but, psychologically + regarded, every printed page is a picture book; every word, + concrete or abstract, is a picture. The picture itself may + never come to the reader's consciousness, but deep down below, + in the unconscious realms, the picture works and influences + us.'" + +The accent is not subject to the will any more than the rhythm. The +will can do _this_, however: it can give greater weight, force, and +expression, and a wider scope, to the correlated forces of metre, +rhythm, and accent, through the + +_Emphasis_ which it infuses into them. Through the emphasis, inlet +upon inlet is opened, an additional stream of fresh air is infused +into them, flooding the spiritual system. Valve upon valve is then +opened to let it out. Hence, emphasis is not an "element" of speech +proper, but an amplification, an addition to existing elements, rather, +impregnating them with the life of the heart, the feelings, the +emotions. + +In distinguishing in this manner, as I have in the above, between +the will, the mind, and the soul, I consider them parts of a great +spiritual system intimately connected with corresponding parts of our +physical system, but lay no claim as to the correctness of the _terms_ +I have used. On the contrary, I feel that they are inadequate, and, at +most, a makeshift for more fitting expressions. There is a dearth of +expressional terms, and I am doing the best I can with such as are at +my disposal. + +In the same sense, also, I distinguish between material-spiritual, +spiritual-material, and spiritual issues; and consider them the +outcome, respectively, of the will, the mind, and the soul. + +I wish it were in my power to at once fully explain, as far as I am +able to offer any explanation at all, how it is _mechanically_ possible +to express these four elements of metre, rhythm, accent, and emphasis +(so widely differing from each other) at one and the same time, by four +different modes of breathing, carried on simultaneously, in addition +to our regular mode of breathing. The _perfection_ of elocution and of +singing is to carry on all these various processes simultaneously in as +perfect a manner as the subject and the occasion may demand. + +I can explain the preceding, in part at least, as follows: + +Verse is generally marked by the signs of long and short. While they +denote time or metre in the first instance, they are also used to mark +what is called "rhythm." Yet, while metre and rhythm are _apparently_ +of the same order, they are, as a matter of fact, invariably of an +inverse order. + +We cannot produce two distinctly different expressions while breathing +in one and the same direction. While we breathe for metre in one +direction, we breathe for rhythm in the opposite direction. + +Regarding that mode of breathing expressive of the soul, and pertaining +to words in conformity with their _meaning_, and which, in the absence +of any more significant word, I have called the "accent," it is of an +altogether different order and does not conflict with these other modes +of breathing. + +Having stated that rhythm and accent are involuntary productions, and +that metre alone is subject to the will, we must look to the metre, +measure, or time for our guide in our artistic vocal performances. To +this, emphasis must be added, as being likewise subject to the will. + +As every language has its own time, or tempo, and cannot be properly +produced except in conformity therewith, it appears to me that it +should be the first aim of vocal science _to ascertain the exact nature +of such tempo_ for every separate language. _When the correct time is +kept, all other component parts of speech fall into line correctly +and involuntarily._ Just what the proportionate tempo is for English +as against German vocal utterance, I am unable to say, but it is much +quicker for the latter than it is for the former. + +There is a duality existing between metre and rhythm: the former is +voluntary, the latter involuntary. Thus, also, is there a duality +between emphasis and accent, of which the former is voluntary, +the latter involuntary. Every voluntary factor, not only in vocal +utterance, but every voluntary factor in any artistic performance of +whatsoever nature, being sustained by an involuntary counter-factor; +the same as voluntary and involuntary muscles complement and sustain +each other. + +Not only every artistic performance, but I dare say _every_ act or +action of any kind, is of a dual nature. Every separate duality, again, +being sustained by a counter-duality, every performance is sustained by +four different factors. + +When an act is of a material nature and belongs to the hemisphere of +the abdomen, it is sustained by four counter-factors belonging to +the thorax. When it is of an immaterial nature and belongs to the +hemisphere of the thorax, it is sustained by four counter-factors +having their seat in the abdomen. Thus every act or action consists of +eight movements, or an _octave_ of movements. + + +SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WORD "SCHOOL" IN CONNECTION WITH THE ART OF SINGING + +Having established the fact that the rhythmic movements for English +and German vocal expression are directly opposed to each other, +the one being represented by the iambic, the other by the trochaic +measure, there is still a wide field open for investigation as to +the idiomatic expression of other languages. This it should not be +difficult to determine; personally, I cannot devote the necessary time +to this subject even as far as I might be able to do so in connection +with other languages of which I have some knowledge. The differences +in other tongues, of course, must be embodied in either of the two +measures named, as these embrace all others. Whatever may constitute +a nation's idiomatic expression must spring from a variation of either +of these. While the precedence is given to the abdomen in some and to +the thorax in others, the point of gravitation, which according to its +location calls for the special manner in which we inspire into and +expire from either the one or the other, establishes such variation in +the idiomatic expression of _all_ tongues. + +All that is said about an Italian, a German, or any other "school" +(with the exception, perhaps, of what may constitute the difference +between what is called "the _old_ and the _new_ Italian school," and +which covers issues of a nature foreign to these investigations) has +its proper significance right here: There is no "school" in the sense +in which this word is ordinarily used. There are nations and there are +languages belonging to such nations. Each nation's language is that +nation's "school," and no one nation can go to school with any other +nation. + +Peasants and the mass of the people generally in Italy, France, +Germany, etc., do not visit academies to study vocal art, yet their +mode of expression is precisely the same as that of the best vocal +artists of these respective countries. I do not mean to say, of course, +that the raw material their voices is made up of is as rarefied and +artistically trained, but that the composition, the fundamental element +thereof, is of precisely the same order as that of their most finished +artists. This raw material, on the other hand, in every instance, +varies from that of people belonging to every other nation. + +The best thing, therefore, to be done, to bring such vocal material as +nature has endowed one with up to its greatest perfection, is to have +it "schooled" by artists belonging to one's own nation. There may be a +time coming, and the same may not be far distant, when methods may be +taught by which one may become acquainted with the spirit, and learn +the exact mode of the technical expression, of other nations besides +one's own. It will then become possible to comprehend these foreign +methods and to profit by comprehending them. As long as the principles +upon which they are based, however, are not understood, any attempt at +singing according to the same will be futile as an accomplishment or an +art, and _hurtful_ to the voice of the person making the attempt. + +_Such person will only injure his or her own natural mode of +expression, without acquiring the foreign mode_. + +The idea of learning a certain mode of expression, the Italian, for +instance, for singing, and applying it to _all_ tongues, is futile and +contrary to all reason. We might, with as much show of reason, say that +by learning to pronounce one foreign tongue we may apply that knowledge +to the pronunciation of every other foreign tongue. + +The true state of affairs, and the only one to follow, is, and always +will be, this: First, and above all, learn to use your own tongue +thoroughly, for _all_ purposes of vocal expression. Then learn the use +of other tongues for vocal expression in those other tongues only. You +cannot apply the technical mode of Italian expression to English vocal +utterance any more than you can apply the technical mode of English +expression to Italian vocal utterance. An attempt at so doing is quite +as preposterous in the one case as it is in the other. + +Besides, for the purpose of singing in his own tongue, an Anglo-Saxon +does not and should not want to acquire any other mode, as he is by +nature in possession of one of the _best_ modes of expression. There +is none intrinsically purer, none possessed of more vigor or power of +expression. There are those with greater softness combined with purity, +but lacking strength, as the Italian; and those with more soulfulness +combined with strength, but lacking purity, as the German. This +native element of purity allied to strength in the Anglo-Saxon, more +especially in the English-American, mode of expression is primarily +the cause of the high position in the artistic world of the American +singer. I ascribe the superiority of the "American" mode of expression +over the "English," when untrammelled as in song, in part to the +greater personal liberty, the greater want of conventionality, the vast +extent of our territory, and our almost constantly clear and unclouded +sky; all these being conditions that assist the free exercise of one's +natural endowments. To reach the best results in the art of singing, +the body as well as the soul must be, as far as possible, untrammelled +in any direction. While the idiomatic expression of the English +language here and abroad is the same, the social restraint and the +conservatism of the English as a nation act against the best outcome +of their gift of song, which demands for its best expression freedom +from conventionality or any other constraint. + +Each nation is at its best in its own tongue. Our orators are equal to +any there are in the world. They do not speak according to the Italian, +the German, or any other school. If they did, they would utterly fail +and make themselves ridiculous. Why do people, then, want to "speak" +in this more expansive and soulful manner, called "singing," in these +foreign modes? I know the answer will be that singing and speaking are +things quite apart, having no affinity in their mode of production. I +shall show, as I have already partly shown, that they are of precisely +the _same order_, though different phases of that order; that they +cannot be separated; in so far as the elements which belong to speech +also belong to song, and those which belong to song also belong to +speech; but that they are used in an inverse order in the former as +well as in the latter. + +Listen to a person breathing just before falling asleep, in a slow, +rhythmical order; material objects retire into the background and +assume a semi-spiritual shape. This is a similar condition to the +one we are in and in which we breathe during the production of song. +[By the by, sleep can be induced by thinking of a song, that is, by +mentally singing it]. No two nations, however, breathe just alike in +that condition, any more than they do during their waking moments; +the mode of breathing during sleep being a reversion always of the +one which obtains during our waking moments. Our mode of breathing, +however, _always_ determines our mode of vocal utterance. We can +reverse our voice, as we do in whispering, but it is always the same +voice, as a garment is the same when we turn it inside out. + +Do you know, by the way, that the English whispering voice is the +German speaking, and the German whispering the English speaking voice? +Try it, and you will find it so. Go on whispering; that is, continue +to use your voice in the _same_ mechanical manner, but instead of for +whispering, use it for speaking aloud, and you will have the exact mode +of the other tongue. An Anglo-Saxon, in so doing, will be able to speak +German aloud, but not English; a German will be able to speak English, +but not German. + +Thinking and speaking are of one and the same order. Thought makes the +impression of which speech is the expression. If this were not the +case, it would not be possible to pass from thinking to speaking or +from speaking to thinking at once, and without an effort. To produce +English speech, we must think English in a material way, that is, +anteriorly, and in so doing produce an instrument from which English +material or speech sounds emanate. To produce English song, we must +think English in a spiritual way, that is, posteriorly, and in so +doing produce an instrument from which English spiritual or song +sounds emanate. We cannot think English in either of these two ways +and produce German or Italian sounds for speech or song; nor can we +produce the latter sounds in any other manner than by _thinking_, +either materially or spiritually, in these languages, and in the proper +idiomatic manner inherent therein. + +How can an English-speaking person, physically and spiritually formed +for English expression, and for no other expression, produce proper +Italian sounds? She will think Italian in an English way; and, while +singing Italian words, produce them with an English expression. That is +not singing Italian, however, but English. Is it likely that she will +succeed in acquiring the Italian mode of expression while her teacher +himself is ignorant of just what that mode consists in, and in what +it differs from the native mode of vocal expression of his scholar? +You might as well attempt to produce on a violin the sounds of a +violoncello or some other instrument. + +To illustrate the power of the natural voice, it will but be necessary +to call attention to what occurs in almost any concert wherein one of +America's own daughters, now "_prima donna assoluta_," is the main +performer. She sings a grand aria, the work of an Italian master, +highly artistically and perfectly rendered. Musicians are delighted; +the public applauds. She reënters, and now the _donna_, changed to a +simple American, sings one of England's or America's own songs. The +audience, which before had been languidly listening, at the first +notes of this song is stirred, electrified, and now listens intently. +When she ceases to sing, there is a storm of applause, as to almost +shake the house. Where the artistic sense alone had been engaged +before, the hearts and the souls of her hearers have now been touched. +Yet I have seen the eccentric Von Buelow deliberately take out his +handkerchief after such a demonstration and wipe the "desecration" of +the "ditty" from the keys of the piano which had accompanied the song, +before he deigned to dignify it with one of his "classic" renderings. +No doubt he had much contempt for it all: the song, the singer, and +the public. The treasures of that "ditty," however, were of an order +similar to those hidden within the breast of every one composing that +audience. The pearls, floating through the room from the lips of one +of its own daughters, had, with a sympathetic touch, stirred it to +its very depths, while the foreign "aria" had left it comparatively +cold. Supposing an _Italian_ singer were to sing an English "aria" in +the English language to an Italian audience, and, after that, were +to produce one of her own simple Italian songs, would not the effect +be the same? Would Italians, in fact, care to listen to her English +interpretation, no matter how artistically rendered? + +It is an entirely different thing, however, for German or Italian +singers to come here and sing their own songs in their own native +tongue. Though foreign, the production is genuine. They sing what +belongs to them, that in which they live, breathe; they sing their own +soul. Such a performance we can comprehend and appreciate, even as we +view a foreigner with interest, and honor him for that which is great +and good in him, and for which he is distinguished. We can soon _feel_ +what is genuine and also that which is not; the former being nature's +own production, the latter imitated, forced--unnatural. Italians do not +sing English or German songs; why should Germans and English-speaking +people sing Italian and French songs, to the exclusion, very often, of +their own? + +It was but recently that I heard a German choral society sing German +songs to a delighted American audience. Then came something weird, +strange; it was German, yet the words were not German. Looking at the +programme, it turned out to be the famous plantation song, "'Way down +upon the Suwannee River." The audience looked bewildered; there was +no applause, though, judging by the attitude of the singers, they had +expected to make this the grand hit of the evening. + +The last performance of the great festival of the United German singers +in Philadelphia, in 1897, was the production of the "Star-Spangled +Banner." Everything in the appearance of the singers showed that this +finale was to be the crowning act of the entire festival. All the +singers, male and female, participated, and "Old Glory" was waved in +the air during the performance. But, as I had feared, it was a complete +failure. Instead of the vast audience spontaneously rising to its feet +and being carried away by enthusiasm, it remained cold and indifferent, +and there was no applause commensurate with what it would have been had +the performers sung the words with the true ring in them and the true +English accent. The same thing would happen if the "Marseillaise" were +sung in France, or the "Wacht am Rhein" in Germany, by foreign singing +societies, no matter how excellently schooled, and how artistically +rendered. + +A similar experience was had by Madame Brinkerhoff, who relates the +same in _The Vocalist_ of December, 1896, as follows: + + "To show how language is imbedded in the _timbre_ of the voice, + I will relate an incident of last season. On the first night + of the representation of the 'Scarlet Letter,' by Damrosch, + sung by German singers, I was not surprised or in the least + displeased at hearing this beautiful opera sung with the German + _timbre_ of voice; but after listening to a whole act, I heard + no German words; I listened in vain for the shaping of their + consonants and vowels, although I heard the German sounds or + _timbres_. So I asked the lady seated next to me what language + the people on the stage were singing. 'German,' she replied. I + said: 'But I hear no German words. Will you kindly listen and + tell me when you hear German words?' She listened and replied, + 'No, I do not hear German words, but I thought before it was + German.' She asked me if it was English. We could not decide it + until the lights were turned on, and looked at the programme, + which read, 'sung in English.' + + "This summer I asked a distinguished singer and teacher of + Philadelphia in what language the 'Scarlet Letter' was sung in + that city. She replied, 'Oh, German, of course.' 'Did you hear + it?' I asked. 'Yes, and I enjoyed it very much, and it was sung + in German,' she replied. 'It said in English on the programme,' + I said. 'Well, if I was fooled, a great many more were + fooled--beside myself, all our party thought so too. What are + you going to do about it?' Gounod says: 'I did not like Italian + singing; their tones were attacked so differently from the + French method of singing that it was unpleasant at first, but I + went again and again, for I could not stay away. I enjoyed it + so much.'" + +This is what Frau Johanna Gadski had to say in an interview printed in +_Werner's Magazine_: + + "I have never had any lessons in acting. The director of the + Choral Opera told me at the outset that it was better to act + by feeling when singing than by instruction. If one studies + only acting and singing, one is not always natural. That is the + reason why one who does not speak German does not understand + the German people and their spirit, is not a German, and + cannot sing the Wagner rôles. One must have the German spirit. + Sometimes you write here in your papers that German singers + cannot sing. I think they sing German rôles very well. One must + sing, act, and, above everything, feel at the same time, and + then one can speak to the heart of the listener." + +Singing in a foreign tongue is, and must be, and always will be (until +these things are more thoroughly understood), to a large extent, simply +mechanical. Until then, the soul-stirring depth (_der Zauber_) of the +native composition will always be wanting. The Anglo-Saxon race has +been altogether too dependent upon European continental nations for +its examples, its support, and its development in _all_ branches of +art. This has been more particularly the case in regard to music and +song. Though German music, for obvious reasons, which give Germans +the preponderance on this field of art, ranks first among nations, +still there should be among English-speaking nations a greater native +development thereof in harmony with the national expression. + +_Song_, above all, must be national; it must be in harmony with the +_genius_ of a nation to attain its highest development. It is too +closely allied to a nation's speech to be separated therefrom without +doing violence to both its music and its meaning. The music and the +words _must go together_; their union is as indispensable as it is +indissoluble. While we have excellent vocal material in this country, +it lacks the proper food for its nourishment. There is no want of +poetic compositions. No nation has their superior, or has them in +greater abundance. We have the words and the singers; but there is a +woful lack of a higher class of compositions for singing. The latter +are not at all commensurate with the abundance and the superiority of +the talent that is awaiting their appearance. + +With compositions on a par with its vocal talent, this nation might +rank first among nations in the art of singing. It must stand on its +own footing. It must sing its own songs and must be taught by its +own teachers. This dictum may provoke indignation in "foreign" vocal +teachers. Though I regret the possible consequences to them, this +cannot be helped. Science is synonymous with knowledge, and knowledge +with truth, and "the truth must be told if the heavens should fall." + + +BREATHING + +All of the preceding, in a manner, may be said to be a preliminary +argument for the great truth I claim to have discovered, namely, that +_in the sphere of the trunk of our body the material part of our nature +is represented by the hemisphere of the abdomen, its immaterial part by +that of the thorax; that in the sphere of the head a similar division +obtains, in conformity with which it is also divided into hemispheres +representing material and immaterial issues; and that every faculty, +and the exercise thereof, have their being in a dual action, in close +succession, emanating from these hemispheres._ + +The first proposition to be proven was that we breathe through the +œsophagus, conjointly with the trachea. If all I have said in the +preceding has not already convinced the reader of the truth of this +statement, I trust the following experiments will thoroughly convince +him thereof. These experiments will also furnish additional proof of +the fact that English and German modes of respiration are of an inverse +order. + +Not the slightest fear need be entertained as to the result of these +experiments. I have made the same, and others of a similar nature, over +and over again, without being in the least discomfited thereby; and I +may add that to the fact of having been entirely divested of fear, I +largely owe my success in all these undertakings. + +If you are an Anglo-Saxon, and make the muscles of your throat rigid, +thereby stopping inspiration through the trachea into the thorax, you +will soon experience a decided movement of the abdomen, in conformity +with which it will first expand anteriorly, then posteriorly, and again +anteriorly. There will now be a pause, after which the abdomen will +be first expanded posteriorly, then anteriorly, and again posteriorly. +This is as far as you can go; you will be compelled to release your +hold on your throat after these six movements; the thorax meanwhile +remaining passive. + +Upon next making the muscles of the back of your neck rigid, equal to +those of the œsophagus, the latter being thereby closed to respiration, +you will soon experience a decided movement of the thorax, by which +it will be first expanded posteriorly, then anteriorly, and again +posteriorly. There will now be a pause, after which the thorax will be +first expanded anteriorly, then posteriorly, and again anteriorly. + +These twelve movements constitute one act of respiration during which +inspiration and expiration for thorax and abdomen equalize each other. +The first three movements of the abdomen, consisting of an inspiration, +an expiration, and an inspiration, constitute what is commonly called +an inspiration; the second three movements of the abdomen, consisting +of an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, constitute what +is commonly called an expiration. Of the six movements of the thorax +succeeding these, the first three, consisting of an inspiration, an +expiration, and an inspiration, are equal to an inspiration; the last +three, consisting of an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, +are equal to an expiration. We thus have four complete respirations, +two of which, equal to an inspiration and an expiration, belong to the +abdomen; and two, likewise equal to an inspiration and an expiration, +belong to the thorax. + +Inasmuch as each of these four respirations is composed of three +separate movements, one complete respiration consists of twelve +separate movements of the respiratory organs. This relates to our +ordinary mode of breathing. For vocal utterance, more especially the +utterance of a vocal sound, these four respirations are first made +for the impression, and are then, in an inverse order, repeated for +the expression. This gives us eight movements, or an _octave_ of +movements, for each vocal sound; these eight movements, as a matter of +fact, consisting of twenty-four separate movements of the respiratory +organs. These movements, which in our experiment were of relatively +long duration, during our ordinary mode of breathing follow upon one +another very rapidly; thorax and abdomen, which during our experiment +were restrained, ordinarily and when unrestrained, acting and reacting +upon one another in quick succession. + +The preceding experiment gives us the following result: + + ABDOMEN + + Movement 1. Anterior, inspiration.} + " 2. Posterior, expiration.} _Inspiration._ + " 3. Anterior, inspiration.} + " 4. Posterior, expiration.} + " 5. Anterior, inspiration.} _Expiration._ + " 6. Posterior, expiration.} + + THORAX + + Movement 1. Posterior, inspiration.} + " 2. Anterior, expiration. } _Inspiration._ + " 3. Posterior, inspiration.} + " 4. Anterior, expiration. } + " 5. Posterior, inspiration.} _Expiration._ + " 6. Anterior, expiration. } + +All of the preceding has reference to the Anglo-Saxon mode of breathing. + +Germans, under the same circumstances, will make movements of an +inverse order. + +The first movement of the abdomen will be posterior, the next +anterior, the third posterior, which will be succeeded by anterior, +posterior, and anterior ones; while the movements of the thorax +will be anterior, posterior, and anterior, succeeded by posterior, +anterior, and posterior ones. This shows that _with Germans, expiration +antecedes inspiration_, while _with Anglo-Saxons, inspiration antecedes +expiration_. + +In our experiment, with Anglo-Saxons, _inspiration_ took place in +the abdomen by two movements anteriorly to one posteriorly, and in +the thorax by two movements posteriorly to one anteriorly; while +_expiration_ took place by two movements of the abdomen posteriorly to +one anteriorly, and in the thorax by two movements anteriorly to one +posteriorly, as per this schedule: + + ANGLO-SAXON Abdomen + 1. Inspiration, Ant., post., ant. + 2. Expiration, Post., ant., post. + + ANGLO-SAXON Thorax + 3. Inspiration, Post., ant., post. + 4. Expiration, Ant., post., ant. + +In the case of a German, it would have been more proper, for our +experiment, to have _first_ closed the muscles to the œsophagus, and +then those to the trachea, as Germans first breathe into the œsophagus +and then into the thorax. Had this been done, the result would have +been inverse to that of our experiment, as follows: The first movement +of the thorax would have been one of inspiration, the same as the first +movement of the abdomen; and the second movement of the thorax would +have been one of expiration, the same as the second movement of the +abdomen, thus: + + GERMAN Thorax + 1. Inspiration, Ant., post., ant. + 2. Expiration, Post., ant., post. + + Abdomen + 3. Inspiration, Post., ant., post. + 4. Expiration, Ant., post., ant. + +_This shows that the movements of the abdomen are the reverse of those +of the thorax_: + +With _Anglo-Saxons_, in such a manner that, while for the abdomen +_inspiration_ takes place anteriorly, it takes place for the thorax +posteriorly; and that, while for the abdomen _expiration_ takes place +posteriorly, it takes place for the thorax anteriorly; + +With _Germans_, in such a manner that, while for the thorax +_inspiration_ takes place anteriorly, it takes place for the abdomen +posteriorly; and that, while for the thorax _expiration_ takes place +posteriorly, it takes place for the abdomen anteriorly. + +These various modes of breathing find an illustration in the following: + +Anglo-Saxons, while carrying a burden (for which purpose it is +necessary to hold the breath or to economize the same as much +as possible), inspire into the abdomen anteriorly and the chest +posteriorly, and in so doing expand the same accordingly; while +Germans, under the same circumstances, breathe into and expand the +abdomen posteriorly and the chest anteriorly. The action of the former +tending away from the diaphragm, that of the latter tending towards it, +exercise an influence on the spinal column which causes Anglo-Saxons +while carrying a burden to assume an erect, Germans a stooping +position. This has already been illustrated by calling attention to the +difference between the position of the Greek and Gothic caryatides, +the former representing the Anglo-Saxon, the latter the German mode of +breathing. The order for German soldiers, "Brust heraus, Bauch herein"! +("Breast out, belly in"), for Anglo-Saxons should be, "Breast in, belly +out"! The former gives German soldiers that stiff appearance, tending +towards the diaphragm, of which Heine has said: + + "Als haetten sie verschluckt den Stock, + Womit man sie einst gepruegelt." + + ("As if the stick they'd swallowed + With which they once were walloped.") + +The fact that inspiration always consists in an inspiration, an +expiration, and an inspiration, while expiration consists in an +expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, is one of the most +interesting observations I have made in connection with these studies. + +These facts may be generalized in saying: There is no action connected +with life which consists of a single movement in any one single +direction; every action, of whatsoever nature, if it is outgoing, +consisting of an outgoing, ingoing, and outgoing movement; if it is +ingoing, of an ingoing, outgoing, and ingoing movement; every superior +movement consisting of a superior, an inferior, and a superior; every +inferior, of an inferior, a superior, and an inferior one; every left +movement, of one to the left, to the right, and to the left; every +right movement, of one to the right, to the left, and to the right; the +last movement _only_ being visible and accompanying action. + +While our experiment is representative of the general principles +underlying our mode of breathing, the act of breathing, proper, is +subject to many variations. During their waking moments, or for +conversation, with Anglo-Saxons respiration takes place by thorax and +abdomen changing off, alternately, while with Germans they succeed one +another in the same manner as they did in our experiment, commencing, +however, with the thorax instead of with the abdomen, and with +expiration instead of with inspiration, as follows: + + ANGLO-SAXON + 1. Insp. Thorax--post., ant., post. + 2. " Abd.--ant., post., ant. + 3. Exp. Abd.--post., ant., post. + 4. " Thorax--ant., post., ant. + + GERMAN. + 1. Exp. Thorax--post., ant., post. + 2. Insp. " --ant., post., ant. + 3. Exp. Abd.--ant., post., ant. + 4. Insp. " --post., ant., post. + +This shows an indirect movement for Anglo-Saxon, a direct movement for +German respiration. Hence, English enunciation is necessarily slow, +German relatively quick. It also shows that the reserve force with +Anglo-Saxons is held before it is expended; with Germans it is expended +almost as fast as it is engendered. + +As there is an apparent discrepancy between the last schedule and the +previous one showing Anglo-Saxon mode of inspiration, I want to remind +the reader that our "experiment" was made mainly to set forth the +fact that we breathe through the œsophagus conjointly with breathing +through the trachea; but it was not intended to show our regular mode +of breathing. + +Though Germans and Anglo-Saxons breathe in opposite directions, still +there is an affinity between them in so far as they breathe _along the +same plane_. Peoples who speak any of the Latin tongues, on the other +hand, breathe along a different plane, and so do Slavonic, Mongolian, +and other races. Anglo-Saxons and Germans, therefore, though opposed +to one another in one sense, are affiliated in another; and both may +be, therefore, as they often are, said to belong to the Teutonic +race, together with other peoples along the borders of the North and +Baltic Seas. In a similar manner, no doubt, other races possess their +similitudes and dissimilarities. + +It should scarcely require any further proof on my part after this +and all I have previously said to show that, if any of the peoples +now speaking Latin tongues were in place thereof to speak English or +German, they would, in the course of time, cease to be Frenchmen, +Spaniards, or Italians, as the case might be, and would become +Anglo-Saxons or Germans; or that, if any of the Slavonic races or +peoples would do the same, the same result would eventually ensue; and +also that, if Anglo-Saxon or German peoples were to speak Latin or +Slavonic tongues in place of their own, they would eventually cease to +be Anglo-Saxons or Germans, and would become the people whose tongue +they were speaking; always provided, of course, that such tongues were +to be spoken _idiomatically_ correctly. Should any one still doubt +that language is the mainspring formulating peoples and nations in all +that essentially belongs to them and distinguishes them as such, I +confidently believe that that which I shall still further have to say +on this subject will eventually convince even the most obdurate of the +correctness of these assertions. + +The preceding schedules both for English-and German-speaking peoples +show their mode of breathing during their waking moments and for +the purpose of conversation. During sleep and for the demands of +the singing voice, however, thorax and abdomen interchange with +one another in so harmonious a manner that their inspirations and +expirations appear as one respective inspiration and expiration. + +The following schedules will show the relation of metre and rhythm to +breathing. + +Inspiration being of longer duration than expiration, I have in the +following signified the former by the sign for long (¯), the latter +by that for short (˘); while for the rise of the voice I have used +the sign for acute (´), and for its fall that for grave (`); for +comparison, see schedule on page 202. + + ANGLO-SAXON Abdomen Thorax + 1. Inspiration, `´` 3. Inspiration, `´` + ¯˘¯ ¯˘¯ + 2. Expiration, ´`´ 4. Expiration, ´`´ + ˘¯˘ ˘¯˘ + +An experiment may be made by an Anglo-Saxon adopting the German mode of +breathing and then attempting to speak English, or by a German adopting +the Anglo-Saxon mode of breathing and then attempting to speak German, +which neither will succeed in doing. + +In making the experiments just now under consideration, it will _not_ +be necessary, after closing the muscles of the trachea or the œsophagus +for the first six movements, to continue doing so, as the next six +movements will ensue involuntarily. There may be several repetitions of +these twelve movements involuntarily or automatically following after +that; any special mode of breathing once assumed being apt to continue +indefinitely until another mode is inaugurated. + +The same experiments may also be made by making _abdomen and thorax_ +alternately _rigid_, or producing a state of rigidity through +mechanical pressure, in place of producing it with the muscles of +the œsophagus and the trachea. As this may appear simpler and "less +dangerous," there should be nothing to hinder any one from making these +experiments. The movements will not be as _pronounced_, however, in +the latter instance as they are in producing a _direct_ closure of the +trachea and the œsophagus. + +There is a fourth mode of producing the same results, namely, through +the simple act of _continuously_ "thinking" of any particular part. +We may thus bring about a closure of the muscles of the trachea or +œsophagus, of thorax or abdomen, etc.; thought, which _precedes_ motion +for vocal utterance, _always_, as cause to effect, being the final +arbiter in all matters of respiration, unless the latter is of an +involuntary and simply functional character. While the act of breathing +for life pursues its even tenor, breathing for vocal utterance, though +of the same _order_, is subject to innumerable changes in conformity +with the sound, syllable, or word intended to be produced. + +I am aware that there may be _apparent_ incongruities in some of the +preceding, and I presume there always will be. We can see things +only from our limited standpoint. I have undertaken to solve matters +supposed to be superhuman, or "of God," and hence _perfect_ in their +way, in a human, and therefore imperfect, manner. Our limitations +naturally extending to our power of observation, the duality of +our nature in matters of this kind does not permit us--I might say, +forbids us--arriving at _final_ conclusions. We can go as far as our +understanding permits us to go--beyond that, we may at most indulge in +speculation. I have limited myself to my limits, to what I could prove, +and have but rarely indulged in what I could not--in speculation. + + NOTE.--Since the above was written Dr. G. E. Brewer, who in + conjunction with Dr. F. C. Ard, last month (March, 1899), + in New York, successfully performed the very rare operation + of laryngectomy, has told me that his patient had already + (after a month) commenced to speak again, though as yet only + in a monotonous whispering voice. She is doing so in spite of + the fact that every vestige of her larynx, which had been in + a diseased state, and which the doctor showed me, had been + removed. When I told the doctor this mysterious "new" voice + was that of the œsophagus and had always existed with his + patient, as it exists with every one else, and had always been + heard in conjunction with that of the trachea, he was greatly + astonished, though naturally incredulous, but said he would + investigate. + + +SONG, SINGERS, AND PHYSIOLOGY + +We are incomprehensible and mysterious beings. We do not know whence we +come nor whither we go; we do not know what agencies guide and sustain +us--our end is a tragic one. While the soles of our feet closely +adhere to the ground, our heads are in touch with the most distant +stars. We exercise faculties to perfection whose origin and mode of +operation are unalterably hidden from our knowledge. We possess gifts +and talents which raise us above the plane of our ordinary existence +and inspire us with the belief that we are related to the divinity, are +part of the divinity. It has ever been man's aim to penetrate this +darkness, to learn to comprehend _himself_. The vocation of the singer +is one to which this knowledge is indispensable. In the fulness of his +organization endowed by nature with a divine gift, the singer's aim and +desire is to retain and perfect this gift. + +The birds sing their same individual song throughout their career. Man, +however, sings the song of his soul; a song as endless and as varied as +his thoughts. Song with him is not a gift alone, but its exercise is a +study, an art. He must sing _knowingly_; he must ascertain the source +of his song and the reason why certain causes produce certain results. +Hence the necessity for a science of the voice. + +The knowledge of the exercise of our faculties is dependent on the +knowledge of life and on that of the spirit, without whose aid no +transaction of life of any kind ever takes place. Despairing of his +ability to penetrate into the realms of the spirit, aspiring man has +ever resorted to that which was next at his command--matter. Hence +the effort throughout all of man's history to reach the soul by way +of the body. But body and mind, in alliance, have ever succeeded in +frustrating these efforts; in keeping the secret of their duality and +mutuality intact from the gaze of man. Yet singers are determined to +find out _something_ in relation to the _voice_ at least. Finding that +we cannot penetrate into the relation existing between mind and matter, +the effort is renewed in the most persistent manner to explain the life +and the spirit, whose essence and outcome is the voice, by examining +into the relation of matter to matter. + +Our professor, having discarded the assistance of life and the spirit, +dabbles in matter pure and undefiled. This process our young students +are invited to attend. They carry their youth and their talent, their +high hopes and aspirations, into the dissecting-room, where the +spirit of the voice is supposed to reveal itself among the ghastliest +spectacles. If a person of ordinary good sense, but not acquainted +with these subjects, were to attend a lecture on the physiology of the +voice and then attend a singing-lesson based upon the knowledge thus +attained, he would be apt to remark: "Can this performance possibly +be meant to be in good faith? Is not this man taking advantage of the +credulity of this woman, who is giving him her hard-earned money, but +to find before long that she has been beggared, not only in purse, but +in voice and spirit as well; that she has not been benefited in any +sense, but sadly robbed and betrayed?" + +The persistency with which the modern scientist attempts to hammer a +voice out of the larynx and surrounding material tissues and other +physical agencies is a cardinal sin against the holy "spirit." When he +uses this supposed knowledge for coining it into money at the expense +of trusting and aspiring singers, he commits a malpractice, for which +some day he will have to go to the penitentiary of his own conscience; +that is, if he is in possession of any. "Vocal bands, mucous membranes, +tissues, ligaments, muscles, hollow spaces, air-pressure,"--these are +the factors productive of the voice divine; matter, nought but matter; +not a spark of the divine afflatus, not a spark even of life. + +Journals devoted to the voice are full of these things. I will quote +but a single instance. At the Music Teachers' National Convention, held +in New York, in June, 1898, a sensation was created by Dr. Frank E. +Miller (see _Werner's Magazine_ for August, 1898, page 490) saying: + + "In other words, I wish to say that the action of the cavities + or hollow spaces is anterior and prior to the action of the + vocal bands in production of tone and tone-quality in our + organs of speech. _With this novel fact I announce an original + discovery._" + +It is such _stuff_ as this that these people feed upon and believe +in as revelations of great moment. Yet Dr. Miller and his coadjutors +might sit before these cavities or hollow spaces till the end of time, +looking, observing, probing, measuring, weighing, and determining their +relation to the vocal bands and vice versa, and not a vestige of the +spirit of the voice would ever make its appearance. The last conundrum +of this kind, and it has special reference to my discoveries, is as +follows: "May not the disturbance of speech known as stammering or +stuttering be mainly a condition caused by the putting out of gear of +one air-chamber in its relationship to other air-chambers, whereby +the air-pressures during the speech-act are at war with one another, +resulting in the well-known manifestations?" (_Werner's Magazine_ for +September, 1898, page 59). Air-chambers and air-pressures again. I +protest against being made _particeps criminis_ in any such proceeding. + +When we go back to the earliest recorded times and find traces of an +attempt at expression by means of crude signs or figures impressed +upon the clay, we can see more of the potentiality of a science (or +a civilization) arising therefrom than we can from the teachings of +the laryngoscopists, who claim that the voice can be evolved from the +relations of various forms of matter to one another, without even a +trace of the spirit accompanying them. + +Not many years since audiences of intelligent persons were invited to +watch a dark tent in which two men were so closely tied together (as it +was supposed) that they could not possibly move a limb. From this tent +noises would arise as of the dragging of chains along the floor, bells +ringing, etc., interposed now and then by a chair being flung through +the air. All this was done by the "spirits." This was a proceeding not +unlike the one now going on in the materialistic school in connection +with the spirit of the voice. There is no more likelihood of the latter +arising from the dark tent of the matter they are investigating than of +a real spirit appearing in that other tent. The performance, besides, +is not as amusing, no chairs being flung, etc. The audience is looking +on gravely expectant, but all remains forever monotonously, solemnly, +ominously, and cadaverously silent and resultless. + +The _living_ grain of corn a blind hen after much scratching succeeds +in digging out from beneath a barn-yard floor bears a closer +resemblance to life, and hence to the voice, than the relations a +professor of physiology scratches together out of the various parts +which he supposes make up the instrument of the voice. These attempts +are so contrary to reason and common sense that in any other science +their originators would be laughed to scorn for their pains. + +The other great issue with physiologists in connection with the +voice is that of breathing. Clavicular breathing, costal breathing, +diaphragmatic breathing, etc.--these are some of the terms in common +use, and the "modes" of breathing commonly practised. Each of these +modes is supposed to be practised separately and at the will of the +performer. They are praised and recommended or condemned according +to the special view of the practitioner. Systems are based on these +special modes and schools arise therefrom. What one "school" practises +is condemned by another. And how could it be otherwise, _all_ being +wrong? + +Being homogeneous entities, whose wholesome existence is based upon a +harmonious coöperation of all parts, we cannot practise breathing from +a special part without every other part more or less participating. +The act of breathing being our most vital performance, every other +part would suffer if it were confined to any special part. Our entire +system, therefore, must participate therein; the hemisphere of the +abdomen no less than that of the thorax; both hemispheres coöperating +with each other and with other streams introduced into our system +through the pores and every other opening in the body. For a moment, +and for an especial expression, one part may prevail over another; but +the true artist will always breathe in such a manner that after such an +effort all parts will again harmonize and balance one another. He will +have such control over his breathing powers that he can at any time +throw the balance of power into one direction; but he will never let +any one direction _continue_ to prevail over any other. + +Every theory heretofore advanced in respect to our mode of breathing, +being based upon false premises, is wrong in the abstract, and +impossible of practical execution. + +If I have expressed myself strongly, it is because I feel strongly +the injury which has been wrought by this so-called "science" of the +laryngoscopists. It has in thousands of instances hindered the natural +development of the voice, and has in many other directions done +incalculable harm; while it has in _no_ direction ever done any good. +It has oppressed the intellect, depressed the spirit, and suppressed +the soul of singers. Let me add but this: What would be the use of the +most scientifically constructed stove, filled with the most appropriate +fuel, if the flame were wanting to set fire to this fuel? Supposing the +laryngoscopists to comprehend the intricate construction of the stove +(the body), the highly sensitive and complicated apparatus of the fuel +(the instrument of the voice)--both of which, however, they are greatly +in the dark about--the flame would still be wanting to set fire to this +fuel and fill the stove with the holy glow of song. This flame (the +life, the spirit) they do not even pretend to be able to furnish. They +only give us the stove and the fuel, which remain forever dark, cold, +lifeless, inert. + +To set myself up in judgment regarding these important issues, or to +place my judgment over that of so many eminent persons in the past +as well as the present, may appear to be a presumptuous, rash, bold, +and almost unwarranted undertaking. It is not my fault, however, that +there should be such utter confusion existing in these matters; that +no one should have ever succeeded in reducing this chaos to any kind +of order; that I am the heir, so to say, to this condition of affairs; +the trustee to this inheritance, who is to make use of it to the best +advantage of all that are interested. + +Nor is it my fault that, not by dint of superior endowments, or any +other qualities of a superior order, but simply through the discovery +of the dual nature of the voice, I should have obtained an insight +into, a mastery over, these matters never before enjoyed by any man. +Yet there seems to be a disposition on the part of some persons to +throw blame on me for these facts; in place of furthering, to suppress, +this knowledge; in place of probing and investigating, to assume that +it is simply the outcome of a somewhat more than lively imagination. +It appears to me that this is partly done in the interest of the vast +literature on these subjects now in existence, which will become +obsolete and valueless as soon as the _truth_ in matters of the voice +has been established. + +I dare say this simple fact, "We breathe and speak through the +œsophagus in conjunction with breathing and speaking through the +trachea," for _real_ knowledge, is worth all of the entire literature +on the voice, as a science, now in existence. + +The science of the voice, as I understand and am trying to explain and +establish it, is one not so much of mechanical issues, though they +have their share in it, as one in which the spirit, this heretofore +unapproachable issue, performs the greatest and most vital part. It is +a question of life, and every issue and every agency governing life are +involved in it. How vast a science this science of the voice therefore +is, can be better imagined than at once fully comprehended. I am far +from being able to present it in all its aspects, but shall endeavor, +as I have already partly done, to continue to give a general outline of +it. + +It will take time and patience for any one to acquire this knowledge, +but the reward will be more than commensurate. To superficially obtain +it from others is not sufficient; one must learn to know it of one's +own knowledge. It is an academic study, embracing many sciences. A +person must enter into it with his whole being if he wants to get hold +of the spirit thereof and be truly benefited thereby. He must identify +himself with this knowledge, must become part and parcel thereof, or it +must become part and parcel of him. When this is done, true teachers +of the voice will arise, for here is a chance for greatness to assert +itself. It will be death to all hackneyed knowledge and charlatanism. + +When the true knowledge of the production of speech and song for +_every_ language has been established, when we have a real science +of the voice, the teacher comprehending these issues in their entire +latitude will be able to teach how to interpret Mozart, Schubert, and +Wagner, Rossini and Verdi, Gounod, and every other master in the tongue +and the spirit in which he has produced his works. + +The genius for execution in the art of singing is with the Anglo-Saxon +race, but not for composition, for original conception. It may come, +but it is not with it now. + +The desire of the singer naturally is to embrace the highest in her +or his repertoire. At present it is Wagner. But how can Wagner be +rendered without a comprehension of his genius as expressed through +his language? The genius of the master and the genius of the language +he wrote and composed in cannot be separated. They are soul and body +of one and the same entity. Without the comprehension of the genius of +the German language, of its idiomatic expression, it is not possible +to reproduce what Wagner meant to express by his work. To sing German +with an English tongue is an anomaly; it is still English in the real +sense of the word, and not German. It is an unnatural proceeding, and +therefore injurious to the vocal organs of the singer. + +No one would expect a foreigner, for the delectation of a native-born +audience, to recite before it poetry in the latter's language, or a +native-born person to recite before it in a foreign tongue. In either +case such a person would fail. Why, then, song, this sister art and +accomplishment? + +All these are questions which, though ever so reluctantly, artists +will have to face. It complicates their art, but it will also, when +understood, make it comparatively easy. Americans will then sing the +works of foreign masters with the same perfect ease that they do +those of their native composers, and so will persons of every other +nationality. + +Who will be able to teach a foreign language so well as the natives +of each respective country? provided such persons have learned to +comprehend the difference between the mode of production of their +speech and that of their scholars. In that case only will a German +be able to teach an Anglo-Saxon his (the German) language for either +speech or song. It will be the same with every other nationality. + +The teachers, as a class, are with me. They feel that the efforts +of the physiologists to aid them in their vocation are wrong and +misleading. They have no faith in the revelation of matter. They know +matter is inert, powerless for any purpose without the indwelling +of the spirit; that the spirit reigns over and controls _every_ +manifestation of life; and that the voice in singing is one of the +highest manifestations thereof. They know that song comes from the +heart and the soul, while it uses the body for its instrument. + +I have been told I must build up before tearing down; before destroying +the old I must put something better in its place. I think it a +praiseworthy undertaking, in itself, to destroy the false and the +harmful. Besides, we cannot erect a new building before the old one has +been removed. + +As for this _new_ science, I am doing what I can to put it into +shape, to give a visible and tangible form to it as it has developed +in my mind. The world has been able to do without it so long, those +interested in these matters must have a little patience. + +I specially appeal to the _young_ to devote themselves to these studies +and to thus become the precursors in the application of principles +which are destined to revolutionize the vocal science of the world; the +old being often too old to get out of lifelong practices, no matter how +erroneous. I appeal in like manner to the students of medicine, and to +those of every other branch of science, whose aim is the knowledge of +man in any of, and all, his relations. + +[Illustration] + + + + +INDEX + + + Abdomen, 174, 198, 208 + + Abstract thought, 72 + + Accent, 178, 180 + + Æther, 91 + + Anapest, 167, 175 + + Anglo-Saxon race, 136 + + Animal magnetism, 14 + + Anode, 106 + + Antibacchius, 175 + + Atlas, 127 + + Autology, 56 + + + Bacchius, 175 + + _Basic Law of Vocal Utterance_, 1, 6, 7 + + Bladder, 46 + + Blood, 65 + + Brain, 46 + + Breathing, 8, 93, 95, 159, 198, 214 + + Brinkerhoff, Mme. Clara, 6, 195 + + Bronchi, 8 + + + Caryatides, 104 + + Cathode, 106 + + Centrifugal, 124, 130, 152 + + Centripetal, 124, 130, 152 + + Charlatanism, 12 + + Circulation of sound, 109 + + Climate, 135 + + Clothing, 78 + + Colonization, 140 + + Congenital deaf, 84 + + Consonants, 89 + + + Dactylus, 164, 175 + + Dentistry, 132 + + Diaphragm, 80, 102, 203 + + Dissecting room, 211 + + Douglass, Frederick, 137 + + Drumhead, 74 + + Duality, 18 + + + Emphasis, 161, 179 + + English-speaking peoples, 136 + + Evolution, 18 + + Expansion, 90 + + Expiration, 80, 200 + + Extirpation, 59 + + + Foreigners, 134, 173, 194 + + Frænum linguæ, 42 + + + Gadski, Johanna, 196 + + Generation, 107 + + German writers, 65 + + Gounod, 195 + + Gravitation, 107 + + + Heidenhain, Mr., 14 + + Heine, 164, 204 + + Hemispheres, 88 + + Holmes, Dr. O. W., 12, 123 + + Huxley, 21 + + Hypnotism, 52 + + + Iambic measure, 167 + + Idiomatic expression, 110, 113, 123, 143, 148 + + Idiom of the sea, 144; + of the forest, 146 + + Immigration, 134 + + Inspiration, 177, 200 + + Intonation, 161 + + Introspection, 4, 56, 68 + + + Kidneys, 46 + + + Laryngoscope, 50 + + Laryngoscopists, 215 + + Larynx, 9 + + Lungs, 46 + + Lunn, Mr., 167 + + + Matter, 211, 218 + + Medicine, 220 + + Metre, 161, 172, 178 + + Miller, Dr., 212 + + Mind, 184 + + Motion, 89, 142, 151 + + Müller, Prof. Max, 99 + + + Octave, 93 + + Œsophagus, 198, 208 + + + Palimpsest, 96 + + Phonograph, 71, 88, 90 + + Point of gravitation, 101 + + Posterior surfaces, 68 + + + "R" sound, 104 + + Race distinctions, 137 + + Reinforcement, 47 + + Religion, 17 + + Replica, 19, 42, 129 + + Rhythm, 68, 93, 160, 172, 178 + + Rigidity, 57, 59, 176, 208 + + Roentgen, Professor, 105 + + Rush, Dr., 48 + + + Saxon words, 168 + + School of singing, 187 + + Science of the voice, 210 + + Sight, 183 + + Simple sounds, 66, 68, 88, 106 + + Singers, 210 + + Singing, 57, 158 + + Soft palate, 129 + + Soul, 184 + + Speech and song, 158 + + Spirit, 54, 211, 220 + + Spirits, 44 + + Spiritual cell, 148 + + Stammering, 97 + + Stuttering, 97 + + Surd, 89 + + + Teachers, 13, 218, 219 + + Teeth, 132 + + Teutonic race, 206 + + Thorax, 174, 198, 208 + + Thought, 192 + + Timbre, 195 + + Tongue, 61, 101 + + Trachea, 198, 208 + + Trochaic measure, 165 + + Tuning, 157 + + + Ureters, 47 + + + Ventriloquism, 73 + + Virchow, Professor, 21 + + Viscera, 46 + + Vivisection, 51 + + Vocal science, 220 + + Vocal sounds, 67, 89 + + Voice of the œsophagus, 1; + falling, 175; + rising, 175; + whispering, 191 + + Von Buelow, 193 + + + _Werner's Magazine_, 6, 7, 196, 212, 213 + + Will, 179, 184 + + + + + + Transcriber's Notes: + + + Simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were + silently corrected. + + Anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed. + + Italics markup is enclosed in _underscores_. + + Bold and underlined markup is enclosed in =equals=. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Duality of Voice, by Emil Sutro + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DUALITY OF VOICE *** + +***** This file should be named 48486-0.txt or 48486-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/8/4/8/48486/ + +Produced by Richard Tonsing, Bill Tozier, Barbara Tozier +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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} +} + +div.tnotes {background-color: #eeeeee; border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;} +.covernote {visibility: hidden; display: none;} +@media handheld { + .covernote {visibility: visible; display: block;} +} + + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: 0.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i10 {display: block; margin-left: 5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i3 {display: block; margin-left: 1.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i5 {display: block; margin-left: 2.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i6 {display: block; margin-left: 3em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i7 {display: block; margin-left: 3.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i9 {display: block; margin-left: 4.5em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Duality of Voice, by Emil Sutro + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most +other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have +to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. + +Title: Duality of Voice + +Author: Emil Sutro + +Release Date: March 13, 2015 [EBook #48486] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DUALITY OF VOICE *** + + + + +Produced by Richard Tonsing, Bill Tozier, Barbara Tozier +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="tnotes covernote"> + <p>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p> +</div> + +<p class="xxlarge u">Duality of Man's Nature</p> + +<p class="ph2">I.—DUALITY OF VOICE</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_i" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</a></span></p> +<div class="titlepage bbox"> +<div class="bbox"> + + + + +<h1>DUALITY OF +VOICE<br /> + +<span class="xlarge">AN OUTLINE OF ORIGINAL +RESEARCH</span></h1> + + +<p>BY</p> + +<p class="xlarge">EMIL SUTRO</p> + +<p class="small">AUTHOR OF "THE BASIC LAW OF VOCAL +UTTERANCE."</p> +</div> +<div class="bbox"> +<span class="large">G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS<br /></span> +NEW YORK AND LONDON<br /> +The Knickerbocker Press<br /> +1899 +</div></div> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_ii" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</a></span></p> +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Copyright</span>, 1899 +BY +EMIL SUTRO</p> + +<p class="center">Entered at Stationers' Hall, London.</p> + +<p class="center">The Knickerbocker Press, New York +</p> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"There is nothing in our composition either purely +material or purely spiritual."—<span class="smcap">Montaigne.</span></p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a><br /><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/deco_pv.jpg" width="700" height="164" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="CONTENTS"> + <tr> + <th class="tdl">CHAPTER</th> + <th>PAGE</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>I.—INTRODUCTION</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Comments of a Distant Reviewer</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_15">15</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Fragments</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_22">22</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Basic Law of Vocal Utterance</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_37">37</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">The Voice of the Œsophagus and its Vocal Cords</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>II.—THE HUMAN VOICE</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Introspection</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_50">50</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Making Parts Rigid</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Extirpation</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_59">59</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Movements of the Tongue</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Simple Sounds</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_66">66</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Posterior Surfaces</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Inspiration—Expiration</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_77">77</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Diaphragms</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>III.—IMPRESSION—EXPRESSION</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_83">83</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">The Phonograph</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Stuttering—Stammering</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_92">92</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Cathode of a Vocal Sound</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_103">103</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>IV.—OUR MOTHER TONGUE</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_110">110</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">National Traits of Character</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">The American Nation</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_120">120</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Centripetal and Centrifugal</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Rotation of Centripetal and Centrifugal Action </td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_130">130</a> <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>V.—NATIONALITY AND RACE DISTINCTIONS</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Idiomatic Expression</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp6">Origin of Anglo-Saxon Race and Idiom.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp6">Origin of German Race and Idiom.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Relationship Supposed to Exist as between the German and English Nations</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_148">148</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Language and Motion</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_151">151</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Difference in their Mode of Breathing as between Anglo-Saxons and Germans</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_159">159</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Rise and Fall, or Rhythm</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_160">160</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Stress</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_174">174</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>VI.—PHYSIOLOGY OF VOICE IN RELATION TO WORDS</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Significance of the Term "School" of Singing</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Breathing</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_198">198</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdp4">Song, Singers, and Physiology</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_210">210</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>INDEX</td> + <td class="tdn"><a href="#Page_223">223</a></td> + </tr> +</table> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/deco_pvi.jpg" width="700" height="348" alt="" /> +</div> + +<div class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></div> + +<p class="ph1">DUALITY OF VOICE +</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_viii" id="Page_viii">[Pg viii]</a><br /><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig011-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="174" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p class="ph1">DUALITY OF VOICE</p> + +<p class="ph2">AN OUTLINE OF ORIGINAL RESEARCH +</p> +<div class="chapter"></div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + + +<h2>INTRODUCTION</h2> + + +<p>By the time this book will appear, nearly six +years will have elapsed since I discovered the +voice of the œsophagus, and almost five since I +published a preliminary account of this discovery +in a book entitled <cite>The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance</cite>.<a name="FNanchor_1" id="FNanchor_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> +This discovery, though the most comprehensive +and far-reaching of any that has ever been +made, not only in regard to the voice, but in regard +to the better comprehension of our nature and our +entire human existence, has remained as unknown +to the world as if it had never been made. Yet +some day, when its importance is recognized, it +will take rank in the annals of the history of the +human race as second to no other discovery that has +influenced and shaped human thought in the proper +recognition of the origin and the nature of man, +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span>spiritual as well as physical, his abilities and his +limits, and his relative position, influence, and +destiny in the economy of the universe.</p> + +<div class="footnote"> + +<p><a name="Footnote_1" id="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Edgar S. Werner. New York, 1894.</p></div> + +<p>I have spent so many years of arduous labor on +these investigations, and have become so thoroughly +convinced of their truth, that I have ventured +to make these assertions without the slightest +compunction, or fear of final contradiction. Although +the facts involved in these matters entitle +me to these declarations, I would not have overstepped +the bounds of modesty in so far as to make +them had not my first experience forced upon me +the conviction that the path of modesty in matters +of this kind is not the one to success. I was so impressed +with the exalted position of science, and so +apprehensive of my own powers, that in my former +publication I as much as apologized for my temerity +in telling the scientific world things of which it did +not have any previous knowledge. These last four +years, however, have so enlarged my views and +given me such a firm grasp and insight, that I no +longer fear any man's judgment. I would, on the +contrary, heartily welcome honest and competent +criticism, being convinced that the same would not +and could not but strengthen my position.</p> + +<p>As a matter of personal gratification, I am indifferent +to success; but I think the time has come +when these matters should not continue to remain +with me alone, but should become the property of +all, not for my sake, nor simply for that of science, +but for the sake of truth, and the benefit of mankind. +Had my previous statements been given the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> +consideration they deserved, other persons, in all +probability, would have made <em>some</em> of the many discoveries, +at least, that it has now been my privilege +to make single-handed. Still, the field is inexhaustible; +that which I have discovered being but +an index hand to that which is still to be discovered. +Having no reason to doubt but that I am a properly +organized member of the human family, I consider +myself entitled to speak of my personal experience +as in like manner applicable to every other member +of that family.</p> + +<p>Having found it expedient to frequently address +the reader in a "direct" manner, using the personal +pronoun "you" in so doing, I must ask his pardon +for this liberty. In thus addressing him, I trust we +shall be in better rapport; all I shall have to say +thus becoming, in a manner, a confession as from +author to reader. While I confide in him and +make him participate in these vital discoveries, I +want him to confide in me, in so far as to take it +for granted that all I shall say is truthfully meant, +and that it has been arrived at, not superficially, +but only after the most searching and long-continued +investigations. We will thus become partners +in a research as great as any that has ever +agitated man's mind, or filled his soul with things +of great moment. Having penetrated into matters +which have heretofore been considered as occult, or +inaccessible to man, my mode of proceeding will +be found interesting as a guide to others wanting +to pursue similar investigations.</p> + +<p>In the beginning, it was all brought about by my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> +simple desire, being a German, to speak the English +language in the precise manner in which native-born +persons speak it. For this purpose, I unwittingly +pursued the same course which has been pursued +by many others under similar circumstances; namely, +that of introspection. Having been indefatigable in +this course (which others must not have been), after +pursuing the same for some time I was startled +by unforeseen discoveries. They were phenomenal, +and far beyond any previous design, hope, or expectation. +After this, my original endeavor to +speak the English language idiomatically correct +became a matter of secondary importance. My +eyes once opened, I <em>continued</em> to persevere in this +course, and thus succeeded in penetrating deeper +and deeper into matters heretofore deemed inaccessible +to man.</p> + +<p>Having pursued investigations by means of introspection +now for a number of years, it has become +an easy habit with me, and I can recognize and +pursue processes by which results are obtained +through <em>inner</em> motive powers, almost as plainly as +such by which results are obtained through visible +and tangible means. The facts thus observed and +recognized as truths have become so numerous as to +be almost overwhelming, in number no less than in +importance; so much so, that I scarcely know where +to turn or where to commence, to be able to communicate +them all to others in due form and sequence. +These facts are not temporary, but are +constant; in so far as they can be conjured up at +any time and under any circumstances, and are<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> +always of the <em>same</em> nature. They are of an entirely +reasonable, practical, and, for the most part, mechanical +nature; and are explanatory of the exercise +of our faculties and functions, spiritually as well as +materially. That these observations mirror actual +proceedings going on within us for the production +of vocal utterance, of breathing, motion, and locomotion, +and the exercise of various other faculties and +functions, it will be my endeavor, by actual demonstration, +to prove through this and future publications.</p> + +<p>For the purpose of enabling others to pursue a +similar course of studies, I shall take especial pains +to point out my course of proceeding as plainly as I +can—such course with me having been entirely rational, +positive, and direct, and without in any sense +disturbing my ordinary mode of existence. The +course pursued in physiologico-psychological studies, +in fact, does not differ greatly from that pursued +in the study of purely psychological subjects, which +is also carried on by means of introspection, though +it is of a more positive nature.</p> + +<p>When the following was first written (it is nearly +two years ago now), I intended, at an early date, to +publish a short treatise on the subject of the voice +only. Since then, however, the same has assumed +greater and greater proportions, embracing many +other subjects. Still I have deemed it best not to +change this introduction in consequence thereof.</p> + +<p>Though not quite ready for another publication +(the subject is so great and my knowledge so inadequate), +I do not know that I should have <em>ever</em> been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> +<em>quite</em> ready, but for several incidents, all happening +about the same time, which have induced me to +break the silence I have observed since the publication +of my book, <cite>The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance</cite>. +These incidents, though in themselves apparently +insignificant, have impressed me with the belief that +I owe it to the public and myself to say something +in explanation of what I have already said, and to +add thereto (partly, at least) what has since been +ascertained.</p> + +<p>In the November, 1896, number of <cite>Werner's +Magazine</cite>, I noticed the following:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"A good example of the inadequacy of expressional +terms in discussing vocal topics is shown by Mme. Clara +Brinkerhoff and Mr. Emil Sutro. Mme. Brinkerhoff has +been a contributor to this magazine, and has addressed +musical bodies, for many years. Mr. Sutro is author of +the book, <cite>The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance</cite>. Both of +them maintain that the voice is something more or other +than an expiratory current of air set into vibration by +purely physical agencies. Mme. Brinkerhoff thinks that +the voice is the utterance of the soul, and that the soul +has its seat in the solar plexus. Mr. Sutro scoffs at the +theory that the voice is only out-coming air vibrated at +or by the cords situated in the larynx. He thinks that +the ligaments under the tongue also serve as vocal cords, +and that speech is the product of vibrating ingoing air +as well as vibrating out-coming air. Just what they +think the voice is neither of these persons makes clear to +others. Their failure to express their thoughts, however, +should not be taken as proof that they have not caught +glimpses of truths of the greatest importance. Still, our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +impression is that their concepts are too vague to be put +into intelligible language even if the expressional terms +at hand were adequate. But, all things considered, the +fact still remains that discussion will continue to be +largely useless so long as one person does not know what +the other person is talking about."</p></div> + +<p>In addition to all this, the proceedings of various +societies in New York alone, judging by their reports +also contained in the November, 1896, number +of <cite>Werner's Magazine</cite>, which is of unusual +interest throughout, show how great is the interest +which, at the present time, centres around this matter +of the voice. In place of saying the "truth" in +matters of the voice, as contained in my book, it +would, perhaps, be more correct to have said, "the +first ray of light that has ever penetrated the gloom +and the mystery surrounding the nature of the +voice." In <cite>Werner's Magazine</cite> it is stated:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"If Mr. Emil Sutro's book, <cite>The Basic Law of Vocal +Utterance</cite>, be right, then other writers on vocal science +are wrong. His statements are startling and revolutionary. +He claims to have discovered a new vocal cord +and to be able to prove that speech sounds are the product +of inspiration as well as expiration. The significance +of this is apparent when it is realized that all vocal +authorities, heretofore, have taught that voice is vocalized +expiration, and that speech is this vocalized expiration +articulated into words.</p> + +<p>"The author draws a sharp distinction between the air +taken for life-purposes and the air taken for speech-purposes. +He says that vital breathing can and should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> +go on independent of artistic breathing, and that the two +processes need not and should not disturb nor conflict +with one another. He combats the theory that the lungs +are a reservoir of air, which in the vocal act is pressed +against the vocal cords of the larynx, thereby producing +tone, which is resonated and modified by the parts above +the glottis. He maintains that it is a physical impossibility +to give sufficient force and rapidity to the lung air +to put muscular and cartilaginous tissue into tonal +vibration,—that this force and this rapidity can come +only from the internal atmospheric pressure, and that, +therefore, preparatory lung inhalation for voice-purposes +obstructs rather than aids the vocal act. He gives a new +explanation of the formation of speech sounds, and offers +various novel theories.</p> + +<p>"Many readers will hesitate to accept his views, yet as +long as vocal science is still in a formative condition and +involved in so much chaos and uncertainty, any attempt +at a solution should receive careful consideration."</p></div> + +<p>I have cited this able review in full, written by +one whose life has been one act of devotion to the +solution of these questions, as it will at once introduce +the reader into the drift of my investigations +as far as they had advanced up to that time.</p> + +<p>I have continued to steadily devote myself to the +further prosecution of my investigations, never publishing +anything, scarcely ever speaking on this subject +to any one. The subject appeared to me so great +and so far above my ability to master it that I, at +first, looked around for assistance among those I +deemed most likely to be able to render it. But no +one had any assistance to offer, no one scarcely seemed<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> +even to comprehend what I was after. Thus, at last, +almost in despair, I made up my mind that I must +undertake this task single-handed; and I have been +at it, scarcely without interruption, ever since.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, the play of "Much Ado about Nothing," +or "The Farce about the Larynx," continued +to go on bravely all over the world. I have +watched it with a sense of pity, rather than amusement. +It appeared to me, more than anything else, +like a game of blind man's buff, in which <em>all</em> the +participants were blindfolded; my own horizon, +meanwhile, being illumined by roseate tints representing +continuous new discoveries, like a May +morn before the rising of the sun.</p> + +<p>The voice has been treated as a separate mechanical +issue, while it is the outcome of a series of both +physical and spiritual issues. While the old school +is reproducing, in its minutest details, the <em>dead</em> +branch of a tree, I am portraying, in its majestic +proportions, the broad expanse of a <em>living</em> oak.</p> + +<p>These anatomical details may interest scientists; +they are valueless to the singer, as he has no control +over the movements of the larynx. He need but +"attack" his note in the right way, and all these +muscles, sinews, cartilaginous tissues, etc., will fall +into line, involuntarily and unsolicited.</p> + +<p>Now that I am offering innumerable <em>proofs</em> in corroboration +of my assertions, I want scientists to +take these matters <em>seriously</em>, and not to look upon +this book, also, as some may possibly have felt inclined +to do in regard to my previous publication, +as a "scientific curiosity" merely. There are no<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> +greater problems before the world to-day than are +treated here.</p> + +<p>During all these years of unrequited labor, which +extend far beyond the day on which I made my +memorable discovery, my personal affairs meanwhile +constantly suffering, with but one notable exception +<em>no</em> hand was held out to me in succor. In view of +this fact (and it is the experience of many who, in +the privacy of their souls, are struggling after the +light), I want to ask this question: With all the +noble institutions for <em>learning</em>, why are there none +to assist those who are attempting to solve questions +<em>to be taught</em> for the benefit and advancement +of mankind? True, there are scholarships and fellowships +for students, but they are not available to +persons advanced in years who have duties to perform +and families to support. When successful in +the end, their reward—if there is any—often comes +too late to be of any practical value.</p> + +<p>Such would be the case with me should any material +acknowledgment come to me now, having of +late attained to the leisure I had so much longed for, +thanks to my previous labor and a brave son's devotion +and valued aid and assistance. No man, +however, will ever know how long I have been kept +under the ban of purely materialistic endeavors, +while these higher things were occupying my mind +and clamoring for recognition. A sum equal to +that representing a single day's expenditure for +<em>falsely</em> teaching matters connected with the voice, +alone, the world over, not to speak of other matters +of still greater importance, would have sufficed for a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> +number of years, if not for a lifetime, to place me in +a position to devote myself exclusively to the exposition +of the correct principles underlying these +important subjects. As it has been with me, no +doubt it is and always has been with many others +in different fields of research.</p> + +<p>Since the publication of my previous book, I +have had four years of continuous experience, during +which the statements therein made have been +strengthened and enlarged, so that I am now ready +to support them with an endless array of proof. +That book, however, was the beginning of what +some day will be regarded as a greater movement in +the right direction than any previous one, for attaining +an insight into nature's occult work in creating, +developing, and sustaining the living organism, and +the exercise of its faculties and functions, more +especially <em>man's</em> faculties and functions. The subject, +however, is of so subtle a nature that it cannot +be treated like a mathematical problem or a chemical +analysis; still, I shall do the best I can with such +means as are at my command.</p> + +<p>Recently an acquaintance who is interested in +vocal culture asked me how I was getting along, and +I answered, telling him something like what I have +said in the preceding. He replied:</p> + +<p>"That is the trouble with you Germans. This is +a live world, a practical world; we want facts, results—something +we can turn to account and make use +of."</p> + +<p>This impatience (and who can blame those who are +suffering, or those who, being young and talented,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> +want to be led into the right path) throws the +door wide open to all kinds of charlatanism—charlatanism +which is honest and charlatanism which is +dishonest, the former, being more readily trusted, +often working the greater harm. The best teaching +for the present, in default of a science, is that +which is based simply on experience; the pseudo-science +now being taught being worse than no science +at all.</p> + +<p>While the exercise of speech is next to universal +with all men, no one has any idea of <em>how</em> it is exercised; +the wisest being as much in the dark as the +least informed.</p> + +<p>This is what so eminent a man as Oliver Wendell +Holmes had to say on the subject in one of his lectures, +delivered not many years before his death:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"Talking has been clearly explained and successfully +imitated by artificial contrivances. We know that the +moist membranous edges of a narrow crevice (the +glottis) vibrate as the reed of a clarionet vibrates, and +thus produce the human <em>bleat</em>. We narrow or widen, or +check or stop the flow of this sound by the lips, the +tongue, the teeth, and thus <em>articulate</em>, or break into joints, +the even current of sound. The sound varies with the +degree and kind of interruption, as the 'babble' of the +brook with the shape and size of its impediments—pebbles, +or rocks, or dams. To whisper, is to articulate +without <em>bleating</em>, or vocalizing; to <em>coo</em>, as babies do, is to +<em>bleat</em>, or vocalize, without articulating. Machines are +easily made that bleat not unlike human beings. A bit +of India-rubber tube tied around a piece of glass tube, is +one of the simplest voice-uttering contrivances. To<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> +make a machine that articulates, is not so easy." [The +Italics are Dr. Holmes's.]</p></div> + +<p>It is not the <em>humorist</em> Holmes, however, who has +said this, as one would suppose that it was, but it +is the writer, scientist, and thinker, who was in dead +earnest when he gave unto the world this "definition +of the gift of speech."</p> + +<p>Any comment on my part would but weaken the +sense of the ludicrous this "explanation" of so +great a subject, even from a mere mechanical standpoint, +must arouse in the reader. Yet Dr. Holmes's +"explanation" is not any more preposterous than +that of many other scientists of the present day.</p> + +<p>Teachers have said that, not being a teacher, I +could not know anything about the voice. As if +<em>they</em> had the sole patent right to the voice, and +others held their voices but from them, in fee! I, +however, took the liberty of looking into my own +voice and trying to find out whence it came and +what it was made of. It is not much of a voice, to +be sure; yet it has the common attributes of all +voices. Besides, I should like to know who, in +truth, <em>is</em> a teacher. He who over a narrow path +follows the footsteps of others, or he who strikes +out boldly for the root and the truth of a matter, +and, disregarding precedents, goes down to the very +bowels of the earth, if need be, to bring it to the +surface?</p> + +<p>The knowledge of even the best of us is not much +more than some froth on the surface of the well of +truth. Yet that froth is all these timid souls have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +dared to examine. They have not had the courage +to dive down deep into its fathomless flood. Many +a truth has been taught by those who had been considered +innocent of any knowledge thereof. I am +one of these "innocents," and, on the whole, am +not sorry for not having been imbued more with the +knowledge, or supposed knowledge, of the present +day.</p> + +<p>We are so much the slaves of habit that we become +reconciled to any condition, almost, no matter +how undesirable or absurd it may be. Thus biological +science has been going along in a rut for +centuries, but little having been ascertained of vital +importance; nor could this have been otherwise, +considering the modes of investigation. I was not +surrounded by so many trees that I could not see +the woods. My perspective was as clear as a bird's, +that soars above and beyond the smoke of the city +and the dust in the eyes of the heirs of generation +upon generation of anatomical and physiological +research, burying beneath its lumber the clear insight +of the soul. Thus, ignorance with me may +indeed have been bliss. Yet I do not want to +place myself in a position as deprecating science, +having the highest appreciation for all its endeavors. +I deprecate science only in so far as, dealing with +matter, it attempts to draw inspiration therefrom +as to spiritual issues; and the voice certainly is a +spiritual issue.</p> + +<p>The following appears in the <cite>Encyclopædia Britannica</cite>, +under the heading of "Animal Magnetism":</p> + +<p>"Mr. Heidenhain, after stating that in conformity<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +with the manner in which one muscle is affected, +others become similarly affected, proceeds to say: +'Probably the reflex excitement would extend still +farther, but I naturally consider it out of the question +to try whether the muscles of respiration would +become affected. It is easily understood that such +experiments require the greatest caution and may +be very seldom carried out.'"</p> + +<p>Valiant Mr. Heidenhain, brave explorer on a new +and "dangerous" field of research. This is the +<em>Ultima Thule</em> which any of these bold adventurers +have endeavored to reach. <em>My work began where +theirs came to an end.</em> Though I have not reached +the "North Pole," I have gone far beyond anyone +else.</p> + + +<h3>COMMENTS OF A DISTANT REVIEWER</h3> + +<p>This entire subject is of so subtle a nature that I +must warn the reader to be patient in its study and +careful of his judgment. Should the present work, +however, also fail to elicit the attention of my fellowmen, +some thinker, perhaps, of a future generation, +upon discovering a copy of this book on the dusty +shelves of an antiquarian, while looking over its +time-stained leaves and after struggling with its vernacular, +may be struck with some remark coinciding +with ideas arrived at by himself and other scientists +of that day, and while commenting upon his "find," +may possibly deliver himself thus:</p> + +<p>"As the nineteenth century of the Christian era +was drawing to a close, a citizen of the (then) youthful +country of the United States of North America<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +published a book which contained disclosures far +in advance of his time and generation—truths, in +fact, concerning life and the exercise of our faculties +and functions, which, if properly understood, might +have eventually led to even the solution of the very +mystery of the soul. Though science at that remote +period had made marvellous strides forward, its endeavors +were mostly of a utilitarian character, or +consisted of efforts to explain phenomena from a +strictly materialistic standpoint. The author of this +book, however, by dint of a combination of extraordinary +circumstances, which induced him to search +for causes of phenomena within, in place of outside +of himself, had succeeded in breaking through the +barriers which had, theretofore, separated phenomena +which were called 'natural' from those which, +by the majority of mankind, were still supposed to +be 'supernatural,' or, at least, unexplainable, unknowable, +beyond the ken of man.</p> + +<p>"He was thus enabled to penetrate more deeply +than any one ever had before into the knowledge of +the mysterious forces which engender and sustain +organic life. Had he been properly understood, the +compass of human knowledge would have been +greatly enhanced, and the race itself liberated from +the narrow limits to which it had been confined by +the scientists almost as much as by the theologians +(by the doctors of the body almost as much as by +those of the soul) of his day. Some writers of that +period delighted in depicting a state of affairs several +centuries ahead of their time. The changes which +were supposed to have taken place, however, had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +reference to material developments only, and did +not contemplate any advancement of a purely spiritual +nature.</p> + +<p>"Though the founder of the Christian religion, +and other men of a high order of intellectual and +moral insight, had laid down rules for 'deportment' +which to a great extent still govern the world; in +regard to a spiritual insight, the dearth, the waste, +the discord, the distraction, the unrest, the 'Weltschmerz' +(as the Germans called it), the despair of +science, which knew but and dealt but with the +baser part of our existence, unable to penetrate into +the higher, was then at its height. The 'miracle' +had ceased to exercise its influence over the intellectual +classes, and knowledge had not taken its place.</p> + +<p>"This writer, however, through his discoveries, +had opened up the way—made a beginning—to a +penetration of science into the realms of the spirit; +and a substitution of faith based on <em>facts</em> for one +based on tradition and fancy only. Religion and +science, having been factors of a different, almost +antagonistic, order, thus at that early period already +might have become reconciled and united through +<em>knowledge</em>; as to some extent, though by different +means, they have become since.</p> + +<p>"In thus gaining more knowledge, more light regarding +the motive powers which govern our existence, +the shackles which had overwhelmed the soul +would have long since fallen to the ground, and a +<em>truly</em> brotherly spirit would have prevailed among +all classes and peoples in place of much of the prejudice, +the insincerity, the overbearance, the ani<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span>mosity, +the cruelty, and the insanity even of the +believers in (or inheritors of) one spiritual theory +(often misnamed religion) as against those of another.</p> + +<p>"The world's thought, just previous to that time, +had made great strides forward through the recognition +of the laws of <em>evolution</em>, which culminated in +one master mind, through great elaboration and by +citing numerous examples, assigning cogent and +necessary reasons therefor. The world should have +been ripe, therefore, for this <em>greater movement</em> which +it was now called upon to face; a movement which +went beyond the mere recognition of phenomena +and penetrated into <em>a priori</em> causes. Strange to say, +it either could not or would not understand; being +still bound by fetters which held it in a vise-like +embrace of previously conceived ideas as to the impossibility +of penetrating into matters of this nature, +and which prevented it from even <em>testing</em> the numerous +proofs offered by this writer as to the correctness +of his assertions. His investigations, if properly +understood, would have brought spirituality <em>home</em> to +us; they would have made it accessible to us. It +would have ceased to be a phantom, and would have +become a reality, a friend on whom we could count, +in place of a mysterious and incomprehensible +stranger.</p> + +<p>"Beginning with discovering the dual nature of +the voice, the writer of this book opened up the way +to the comprehension of the mystery of man's dual +nature in <em>all</em> its relations. He made the discovery +that the œsophagus is of equal importance with the +trachea in carrying on the process of respiration and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> +in exercising the faculty of vocal expression; that +for these purposes œsophagus and trachea are to an +equal degree directly amenable to the influence of +the atmospheric air; that the dual nature of organic +beings in general, and of man in particular, is represented +by the hemispheres of the thorax and the +abdomen; that the former in its entirety represents +spiritual and the latter in its entirety material issues; +that the trachea and its branches on the one hand, +and the alimentary canal on the other, respectively +represent these issues more directly; that the fusing +and blending of these issues has for its result the +phenomenon called life; that the severance of these +issues has for its result the phenomenon called death; +that there are thus positive limits, place, and surroundings +assigned to material and immaterial issues +within the sphere of our bodily existence, and that +combined they pervade our entire system; that all +phenomena of life, especially all phenomena of a +spiritual nature, and among these more ostensibly +those of vocal utterance, owe their origin to these +issues momentarily joining hands; that in so doing +there is a transitory fusion, which for an endless +number of purposes is brought about in an endless +number of ways.</p> + +<p>"He discovered further that the larynx, previously +supposed to be the <em>only</em> instrument for the production +of sounds, has its counterpart in the +'replica' (the 'larynx' of the œsophagus), located +beneath the tongue and represented by the frænum +linguæ and surrounding cartilaginous tissues; that +no vocal sound can be produced except by the <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>coöperation +of the larynx with the replica. He discovered +the circulation of, and the origin of vocal +sounds, and many other important issues.</p> + +<p>"Through his discoveries, if properly recognized, +<em>all</em> the sciences dealing with life would have been +placed upon a new and far more reasonable and +comprehensible basis than they had rested upon +before.</p> + +<p>"These discoveries would have tended to undermine +the basis of every materialistic school of philosophy, +and to place those with spiritual and ideal +propensities upon higher and firmer ground. Had +they been properly appreciated and further expanded +by others it would have eventually become +possible to develop <em>all</em> our faculties to the +full extent of their ability, and to correct faults, +errors, and defects caused by wrong education or +heredity, through the application of laws at the +very root of our existence; laws which were then, +and in fact to a great extent are to this day unknown.</p> + +<p>"It may, in fact, be said without exaggeration +that his discoveries, which were all made within a +period not exceeding five years, outweighed in importance +all other discoveries combined relating to +physiologico-psychical issues made previous to his +time."</p> + +<p>I can see many a reader smile after perusing the +foregoing, and perhaps saying:</p> + +<p>"Here is a Jules Verne of a new type come +to deal with a novel subject."</p> + +<p>Yet the time will come when the reader will cease +to smile, and look upon these matters <em>seriously</em>. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> +do not mean, however, to throw down a gauntlet to +science on these momentous questions in <em>a vaunting +and reckless spirit</em>; but come as a petitioner rather, +asking it to investigate.</p> + +<p>My time and generation are but like a flash from +the orb of eternity, but the laws I have discovered +are as eternal as that orb itself. With all the scientific +investigations now going on, there has not even +an approach been made which might have led up to +them; nay, not a hint or a hypothesis, even, leading +toward the same. Science, in fact, had nothing to +do with them; the first man might have made them +almost as well as the latest. They are all grappling +with matter, while I have grasped the spirit that is +in, yet above, all living matter.</p> + +<p>In making these discoveries I have bent a sail +upon the crafts of physiology and psychology, which +have been aimlessly, almost hopelessly, drifting on +the shallow waters of the examination of isolated +material phenomena. This sail will enable them to +reach the broad expanse of the ocean, where they +will be able to make soundings in its deepest waters.</p> + +<p>Professor Huxley declared that during his fifty +years of experience as a student and teacher not one +thing really <em>new</em> had ever come under his observation. +Had he lived to become acquainted with these +facts I feel confident he would have declared them +to be new.</p> + +<p>The venerable Professor Virchow, the other day, +in an address before the International Congress of +Physicians at Moscow, made use, in substance, of +these words: "The cell is immortal—there must<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +have been a previous cell for its generation. On +this fact as a basis (ascertained by the aid of the +microscope) the science of the coming century may +securely rest."</p> + +<p>And he set this down as the greatest achievement +of science in respect to the recognition of the phenomena +of life. Yet there is nothing more fallible +than the microscope in ascertaining facts regarding +the knowledge of life. It may to some extent reveal +the essence of <em>matter</em>, but it is not given to it +to assist in recognizing the principles which govern +life and the <em>spirit</em> of life.</p> + + +<h3>FRAGMENTS</h3> + +<p>This book, in a sense, is a personal narrative, and +necessarily must be so, giving an account, as it +does, of observations in experiments upon myself. +In making these experiments I have endeavored to +treat myself impersonally, as a subject, so to say, +placed at my disposal for experimental purposes; +my ego having been the object as well as the subject +of my investigations. In occasionally speaking of +the results thus obtained in a eulogistic manner, this +should not be looked upon as self-praise, therefore, +but rather as an impersonal mode of describing what +has come under some one's observation—this "some +one" being myself. I want to place the matters I +have observed before the reader in the right light, +and do not hesitate to say or fear to say just what I +think to be the truth. If I were to wait for others +to say these things the reader who does not comprehend +their latitude as I do might have to wait a long<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +time before he could grasp the subject in its entire +importance. I want to say this much as an apology +and a vindication for frequent indulgences in apparent +self-eulogism.</p> + +<p>I have another motive for making such remarks; +viz., the desire of rousing the scientific world from +its apathy regarding these matters. These laudatory +remarks may wound its pride, and possibly arouse +its ire,—more especially in view of their coming from +a layman,—and thus induce it to study these matters, +if but for the purpose and with the view of +controverting them. I would hail such an endeavor +with pleasure, not having the slightest fear of its +ability to successfully controvert any of the vital +facts I have ascertained, and whose correctness I expect +to prove by a great array of facts with accompanying +proofs.</p> + +<p>When I first began to make these studies, I made +numerous notes as new features happened to present +themselves to my mind. I have encountered no inconsiderable +difficulty in sifting this material so as +to present my experiences in as connected and consecutive +a manner as possible. In this, however, I +have only partially succeeded; nor have I been able +to altogether avoid repetitions. For these shortcomings +I must plead a want of time. For some +time past, however, my experiences have accumulated +so rapidly that I have ceased to take any notes +whatever, trusting to my memory that these mental +notes may be recalled at the proper time. No doubt +some things, even of importance, have thus been +lost sight of. Still, while pursuing similar studies,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +they may in the course of time turn up in some one +else's mind.</p> + +<p>In looking over some of my notes I have found +things which I have deemed worthy of preservation. +I let some of these follow in a promiscuous manner. +This, it must be admitted, is not in accordance with +scientific usage. But I am not a scientist, simply +an amateur; and take advantage of the privileges +this fact gives me. If I were to conform to strict +scientific rules and "etiquette," years might elapse +before I could get these matters into proper shape. +It will always remain a mystery to me, however, +why these things should have come to me at all—so +unworthy, so unadapted to their proper exposition. +In order to do them justice, they should have come +to one complete master of his time, young, strong, +possessed of a wide range of knowledge and a deep +insight.</p> + +<p>I will now let follow some of the matters I have +spoken of:</p> + +<p>My personality and my work must go together, +until others relieve me of the latter by making it +<em>their</em> work to the same extent that I have made it +mine. You cannot separate the fiddle from the +fiddler, neither having any significance apart from +each other, except by the fiddler perpetuating that +which the fiddle produces—the composition,—by +writing it down, thus transmitting it to others. +This I am trying to do by this book.</p> + +<p>No doubt some of the things which have come +under my observation in some form or other are +already known to science, and are, therefore, a cor<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span>roboration, +or an explanation, only, of things already +known. With me, nevertheless, <em>all</em> is original; and +I may therefore justly claim that if any of these +matters have been discovered before, I, at least, have +<em>re-discovered</em> them.</p> + +<p>If I were an institution possessing a guaranty of +continued existence I might value the present lightly, +knowing a future would come when these matters will +be fully understood. Being a creature of the present, +however, which may be turned into the past—especially +at my time of life—at almost any moment, +these matters should become known at the earliest +opportunity; some of them being of so subtle a +nature that they may require personal explanation +and illustration. They have been hidden from us in +the past; should they fail to be made known now, +<em>the same opportunity may not arise again for centuries</em>.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>I do not claim any special sagacity over others for +having made these discoveries, and disbelieve altogether +in miraculous interposition. Yet I do not +want to be prejudiced in any direction.</p> + +<p>We are surrounded by the mysterious and the +miraculous; and that which is called "natural" as +a rule is far more mysterious than that which is +called "miraculous."</p> + +<p>"Truth is stranger than fiction"; which is undoubtedly +true. We can imagine that only of which +we have at least <em>some</em> knowledge, but there are realms +of truth beyond us of which we have <em>no</em> knowledge. +Besides, these revelations are of so extraordinary a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +nature that I cannot altogether close my eyes to the +fact that I <em>may have been led on to them</em> by agencies +beyond my personal power of volition. I will cite +but one reason why such an idea might be justly +entertained by me.</p> + +<p>That which originally led me on to these investigations, +as already mentioned, was the simple desire +to speak the English language just as native-born +persons speak it. Although I eventually became +aware of the fact that this was next to impossible, +yet I persisted in this endeavor to such an extent +that I spent far more time on it than it would have +deserved had I been <em>convinced</em> that I would be finally +successful. Again and again I said to myself, "This +is a foolish, absurd, unworthy undertaking for a +person of intelligence"; the next minute I was at +it again, trying to utter this sound or pronounce +that word in the "correct English fashion."</p> + +<p>I want to ask, What was it that impelled me to +thus persist, almost against my wish, will, and better +insight? When, after many years of this almost +wanton endeavor, I discovered the dual nature of +the voice, I could not help but think that an influence +beyond myself had been exercised to impel me +to persist in these efforts, which were then crowned +with a success of a different order, and far beyond +any previous expectation. <em>I then found what I had +been after unknown to myself.</em> To simply say I was +"infatuated" would not explain this strange adherence +to what for a long while looked like a vain +and hopeless undertaking.</p> + +<p>I am aware that for me to say, as I have just now<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +said, "I cannot altogether close my eyes to the fact +that I may have been led on by agencies beyond my +personal power of volition," may expose me to ridicule +in the eyes of some persons; besides being a +contradiction to my other convictions. Yet I say so +deliberately and am quite willing to abide by the +consequences. It is a case of the duality of our +nature, which impels me to take a naturalistic or +biogenetic view of things in one direction, yet forces +me to take a spiritualistic or abiogenetic view of +them in another direction. I do not comprehend +those who under <em>all circumstances</em> are capable of +pursuing either the one direction or the other.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>I might say I have been on a prospecting tour to a +<em>new</em> country, where I found the outcroppings of +numerous veins of precious ore. These veins are +<em>true fissure veins</em>, penetrating, as they do, into the +very bowels of the earth; and it will take centuries +to exhaust them in all their <em>dips, spurs, and angles</em>.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>It will be a matter of surprise that a layman, one +not of the tribe which make science the pursuit of +their lives, should have penetrated into these mysteries. +It must not be lost sight of, however, that +science, as a rule, deals with things visible and +tangible, while the voice is a sensation which, regarding +its origin in the ego, cannot be observed +outside of the ego. One may by close observation +trace the origin of one's voice to its innermost channels, +and thus learn much about the subtlest characteristics +of its nature, a proceeding to which it would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +not be possible to subject any one else's voice. +The same conditions prevail in regard to other sensations +which have also come under my, at least, +partial observation.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Science, as a rule, has been satisfied with the observation +of results, of phenomena, without attempting +to penetrate into causes, which seemed to be +unalterably hidden from its gaze. Special features, +however, of the voice have been ably and successfully +observed and described by many eminent persons. +To these I have not given any attention, +partly because they were beyond my sphere, and +partly (not being a musician) because they were beyond +my power of observation.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>In looking for the voice, anatomy in its minute +examinations of the larynx has but opened up a +grave for us to gaze into. And what have we beheld? +A skeleton of the voice's body—of its soul +not a trace. This skeleton, to boot, is but a <em>portion</em> +of the mechanism of the voice; of its other parts, +equally important, science has not even known that +they were in existence. Like a palæontologist or +an archæologist, I have dug up these other parts or +fragments from all around; some were found close +at hand, others quite a distance off. I have skilfully +put them together, and have thus constructed a +fairly <em>complete</em> torso, or framework of the voice. I +say "torso," though I may justly claim more than +that, having again infused the soul into it which had +fled from it; and, see, it has become a <em>living thing</em>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<p>That the wonderful apparatus contained in the +throat is for a purpose there cannot, of course, be +any doubt. It is but partly for the purpose attributed +to it, however, and, until we better comprehend +this part-purpose, especially in view of the fact +<em>that we have no control over its mechanism</em>, it will be +best, as far as singers and elocutionists are concerned, +to surrender it to and leave it with the anatomists.</p> + +<p>To the ultimate aim of science—the knowledge of +life—I have contributed matters of a nature deemed +beyond the province of the knowledge of man. +Was it ever intended that they should be known? +On more than one occasion I have been puzzled to +know whether to go on with these investigations; +whether I had a <em>right</em> to go on with them. Still, I +was sustained by the fact that I had been <em>led on to +them</em>. For what other purpose could this have been +done but for that of making the results thereof +known? They could serve no good purpose in +remaining locked up <em>within myself</em>.</p> + +<p>It is my belief that the ordinary course of events +is never interfered with; but that <em>great</em> events may +be inaugurated by unseen agencies and guided by +unseen hands. The responsibility which has devolved +upon me, incompetent and unprepared as I +am, is almost too great; still, I must try to discharge +it to the best of my ability.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>I have no personal motive of either fame or fortune. +At one time I would have been pleased with +such results; now it is too late. If not in my day, +some day, I trust, some one will read and compre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span>hend; +some one will not mind the trouble of investigation. +It is not likely that I shall <em>forever</em> remain +the only "seeing one."</p> + +<p>It would have been better if I had not published +a line for at least ten years. It would have taken +that long to say what I want to say, <em>properly</em>. My +time is too uncertain, however, to run such a risk. +My friends are falling to the right and left by the +roadside. I must be up and doing; must make a +beginning at least.</p> + +<p>We must be satisfied with reaching matters approximately, +and argue by analogy to some extent; +and also hope that others will take them up and +push them along a little farther than we have been +able to do. Perhaps in the course of time a perfect +insight may be arrived at.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The community of man is a necessity; a separate +existence, an anomaly. We are dependent and interdependent +upon one another. Man cannot escape +his fellow-man. In the remotest desert his +spirit is still in communication with him. If it were +not so, who would not at times want to flee all, +escape from all?</p> + +<p>I have but one fear—inability, for some reason or +other, to finish my work. I feel like the heroine of +a celebrated German novelist, travelling about with +a trunk filled with gold, which she distributed among +the <em>deserving poor</em> as fast as she came across them. +Meanwhile she was in constant fear lest her life +should ebb out before all was distributed, and its +precious contents <em>lost</em> to those for whom they were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +intended. If there were any way of imparting this +knowledge other than by writing it down, I would +gladly resort to it. But how can I reach the few +who are capable of and willing to take up these +questions, except by communicating them to the +many? These "few" will be found in all parts of +the world, for these truths apply to <em>all</em> men, independent +of sex, race, or country.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>My cry is not for recognition. My personality +might be blotted out, like that of millions of others, +without its being noticed, yet, by virtue of this trust +which has been reposed in me, what a loss it would +be! My cry is for investigation and the coöperation +of others, so that this work may be carried on independent +of myself. Meantime, I cannot transfer +this task to others. I must first explain all that it +is in my power to explain. I can then shift it from +my shoulders onto theirs. They must be educated +up to it before they can take hold of it as I have +taken hold of it.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>When I first announced my discoveries, I gave all +I possessed, supposing others would see as I saw +and comprehend as I did; having no doubt but that +the world would at once acknowledge their truths and +accept their precepts. I have since found that the +world can get along very comfortably with a vast +amount of want of knowledge. I therefore made +up my mind not to be quite so rash again in making +it my beneficiary, not till I was better prepared for +the purpose; this other book of mine having been<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> +finished rather hastily in the erroneous belief that +this knowledge was at once and imperatively needed.</p> + +<p>Since publishing this previous book I have also +found, which I did not know at that time, that my +very mode of investigation (by means of introspection) +was new; that no one had ever looked into +matters of this kind in the manner I had; besides, +it seems strange that in this age of keen investigation +of the most trivial matters, no one should +have deemed it worth his while to look into these +more important subjects.</p> + +<p>Regarding the anatomical investigations of the +larynx, and anatomical, coupled with physiological, +investigations generally, let me ask a question: Supposing +a palace with a million apartments, each one +in succession more luxuriously furnished than its +predecessor, would they avail anything to its <em>sole</em> +inhabitant, if that inhabitant were blind?</p> + +<p>We have obtained a fair conception of the wonderful +palace, the human body, its numberless apartments +and their luxurious furnishings, but do not +comprehend their meaning, except in a remote and +unsatisfactory mechanical sense. <em>We</em> are the blind +that inhabit it. Most of these apartments will remain +meaningless to our understanding until we +ascertain what use the sovereign, the soul, which +reigns therein, is making of them, not only mechanically, +but <em>spiritually</em> as well. For the soul lives in +them all, though it is supposed that it lives only +in its throne-room of the brain and that it never +descends from the throne set up in the same.</p> + +<p>Just here biologists have blundered, trying to get<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +hold of <em>psyche</em> by pursuing matter bereft of life; or +investigating life in other beings instead of that +inherent in themselves. The vivisection of all the +frogs in the world will not give us the first knowledge +of the frog's soul; certainly not of <em>our</em> soul. +The knowledge of the anatomical construction of +the larynx has brought us no nearer the knowledge +of the mystery of the voice than that of the brain +has brought us to that of the soul. We must understand +the process by which the mechanism of the +brain is set in <em>motion</em> before we can begin to understand +our mode of thinking. We must comprehend +the manner in which a musical instrument is to be +used before we can begin to draw music from the +same. And so must we understand the spirit which +moves the mechanism of the voice (of which so far +we have known but a single factor), if we want to +understand our mode of using it.</p> + +<p>Does any one seriously think that by photographing +vocal sounds, or passing a mirror down his throat +and watching the movements of the vocal cords, +he will observe anything that will lead him to an intimate +knowledge of nature's subtle process by which +vocal sounds are produced? As well look at the +face of a clock and see its hands move, and then say +you have arrived at a knowledge of the hidden intricate +mechanism of the works of the clock. The +mechanism of the instrument of the voice is a thousand +times more intricate than that of a clock. It +lives, it breathes, it moves, it expands and contracts, +it rises and falls, it gathers, it gives—now here, now +there.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>Starting from the supposition that life is too subtle, +too intangible a thing to have its innermost operations +disclosed by the clumsy work of our hands or +the dull vision of our eyes, though increased in +power a thousandfold, I matched the subtle work +of my voice with the subtler of my brain, and thus, +undisturbed by any extraneous agency whatever, +watched the process by which, first, simple mechanical, +then articulated sounds, and finally sounds +linked together into speech, are produced. In so +doing I traced sounds through the labyrinth of +numerous avenues to their original sources—<em>the +organism of all our faculties, instead of being confined +to their end organs, being widespread over our entire +system</em>.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Physiologists as a rule are satisfied with the +<em>observation and exposition</em> of phenomena. I have +endeavored to <em>explain</em> phenomena. I have gone +"behind the returns," as politicians say. I have +lifted the mysterious veil, and have obtained glimpses +at the process of life. In this manner the voice of +the œsophagus was first discovered, which, in logical +sequence, has carried me from one discovery to +another. Once in the confidence of nature, it freely +opened up to me its heart. Comprehending one +thing led me on to the comprehension of others.</p> + +<p>There is no study which is as fascinating as that +pursued by introspection. It is self-compensating +in the highest degree; all facts thereby evolved being +the logical sequence of others previously ascertained. +Or, if not always in sequence, they all fit into the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +same system; everything that has been ascertained +being a stone which was waiting to be placed in a +certain niche to fulfil a certain purpose in the construction +of a harmonious edifice. There was no +waste, no material entirely lost; nor will there be at +any future time. If similar studies will be pursued +by those specially fitted for the purpose, the time +may not be far distant when there will not be an +atom of our material existence whose meaning and +purpose will not be understood. The laws which I +claim to have discovered will assist in this accomplishment, +as they are of so broad a nature that +they may be said to form the substructure to forces +and conditions which are at the very root of our +existence. I do not pretend to say that in this +little book they have been properly treated, nor +that I possess the ability, under the best of circumstances, +to thus treat them. I have but stated what +has come under my observation, and have stated it +in as simple and direct a manner as my instinct and +my ability have taught me to state it.</p> + +<p>I have been up on Mount Washington to see the +sun rise. It was a beautiful picture; still, there +were clouds in the way which here and there obscured +my vision, as was to be expected from the +unwonted height to which I had risen, and the distant +horizon.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>I am not writing for a class, but for the multitude +to which I belong, and of which, in its aspirations, +its hopes, its sincerity, and its ignorance regarding +<em>specific</em> knowledge, I form a part. Hence my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +thoughts are its thoughts and my language its +language. There will be no difficulty, therefore, +for <em>all</em> to understand me and to profit by my +experience.</p> + +<p>My observations result in the triumph of the sensation, +the feeling (common to all), over the exact +sciences (known to but few). Science, for the most +part, is satisfied with dissecting or analyzing. My +endeavor has been to construct; to form the whole +out of parts instead of reducing the whole into parts. +My guide has been instinct coupled with common-sense,—that +rarest of all the senses in spite of its +name. How far it has guided me aright, it will be +the province of science to judge.</p> + +<p>I may be asked why, in treating upon so "simple" +a subject as the human voice (my only endeavor in +the beginning), I want to move heaven and earth, +and press them into my service. My answer is, +Wherever I touched the subject of the voice, I +found it to be in correlation with all other subjects.</p> + +<p>My great desire now is, that I may be granted the +time and retain the ability to write out all I have +ascertained; while my greatest wonder is, that these +things should have waited for me at all to be made +known; why they should not have been discovered +centuries ago. My eyes once opened, I found them +lying about within the easy reach of my arm and the +mere assistance of my pick and shovel, like precious +ore in a newly discovered mining country. I had +but to open the lid of the mysterious casket which +had been intrusted to me, and all these great +truths escaped from the same; not to disappear,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +however, as they did in the fable, but to remain +with me and to be made known through me to the +world.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>The best part of my life has been spent in this, +my adopted country. Though I experience no +difficulty in expressing myself in the English language, +still it is not my native tongue, and I sometimes +feel as if I might have said some things better +if I had said them in German.</p> + +<hr class="tb" /> + +<p>Looking at the many volumes written on the subject +of the larynx alone, and considering that during +all this time its associate, the replica, without whose +assistance <em>not one</em> vocal sound can ever be uttered, +has remained unknown, though in plain sight and +"in everybody's mouth," one cannot help but think +of Goethe's lines:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Ein Kerl der speculirt<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Ist wie ein Thier, auf duerrer Haide<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Von einem boesen Geist im Kreis herum gefuehrt,<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Und ringsumher liegt schoene gruene Waide."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">("A theorist is like unto a beast<br /></span> +<span class="i2">On barren soil by evil sprite led round and round<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Within a narrow circle, though beyond there is a feast<br /></span> +<span class="i2">Of pasture green on fertile ground.")<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<h3>"THE BASIC LAW OF VOCAL UTTERANCE"</h3> + +<p>My earlier work, entitled as above, was written +under peculiar circumstances. After discovering +the fact that sounds proceed from beneath as well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +as from above the tongue, light streamed in upon +me on so many subjects I had previously attempted +to solve that I was almost dazed thereby. I +thought it my duty to make these matters known, +and attempted to describe them as they appeared to +me. They were all perfectly clear to me, and even +to-day there is scarcely a thing I then said that +does not wholly stand its ground. Still, to-day, +viewing things from an advanced point of view, +much of that which was then expressed pragmatically, +almost in a single sentence, and which then +appeared to be sufficient, I am convinced requires +considerable elaboration and elucidation.</p> + +<p>Take, for instance, this dictum: "The manner in +which we breathe for speech is by raising and lowering +the tongue," etc. This is perfectly correct, and +positive proof will be advanced hereafter as to its +being so.</p> + +<p>I thought these matters would be readily understood, +not knowing at that time that between the +manner in which I had reached conclusions and the +one in which conclusions had been reached by others +who had also made a study of these matters, there +was a vast difference. Unknown to myself I had +lived a life of my own. I had given myself up to +these matters in a manner no one ever had before; +having been everlastingly at it, holding on with a +tenacity that knew no restraint. In this manner I +wrung facts from nature that may have never been +intended to be revealed.</p> + +<p>There was something Faust-like in it all, and I +sometimes shudder at my own temerity. Still,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +I had no such thought when I so persistently continued +trying to fathom the mystery of vocal sounds. +Viewing it in its proper light it was a narrow and +every-day undertaking. I was fairly staggered, therefore, +when I reached such unlooked-for results.</p> + +<p>The reader, however, may ask, and I feel it incumbent +upon me, as well, to tell him, What was the +nature of these results? Wherein consisted these +discoveries? They covered a large field and whole +range of knowledge. They had reference more particularly +to vocal sounds. These, in fact, had almost +exclusively occupied my mind for many years. These +apparently simple factors, vocal sounds, I have since +ascertained are the outcome of laws, forces, and +agencies, and combinations of all these, which largely +make up the sum and substance of our spiritual existence. +The direct nature of vocal sounds, therefore, +cannot be well treated upon till some understanding +has been arrived at of the nature of the elements out +of which they are composed. I was rash enough to +attempt to explain them, especially the consonant +sounds, in this little book of mine, from a standpoint +I had then arrived at. Others have tried to explain +them from a much narrower standpoint still. From +that standpoint I offered explanations as to our mode +of speaking, breathing, as to defective speech, etc. +Although this was an advanced standpoint, and +well worthy the consideration of scientists, it was a +standpoint far beneath the one I have arrived at +since.</p> + +<p>In attempting to scale a mountain I had reached +a point from which I could overlook the valley im<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span>mediately +beneath my feet. I have since gone up +much higher. Yet there are towering heights still +above me which I shall never be able to reach. +From this it will be seen how difficult it would be +for me to state in a few paragraphs what I had actually +ascertained. That book, however, will increase +in value in the course of time, not only for the +knowledge it contains, but historically, so to say, as +the beginning of an evolution which, it seems to me, +will eventually embrace all sciences in regard to +man; when treated, as they will be, from a standpoint +of inner as against one of outer consciousness, +from the standpoint of the soul and the heart, +as in the inadequacy of our expressions I have to +call them, as against that of the head and the +senses.</p> + +<p>I have since arrived at a plan according to which +these matters will be treated in a more systematic +manner. In <em>this</em> volume, besides many novel subjects, +I have been enlarging upon and elucidating +many superficially mentioned in my book, <cite>The Basic +Law of Vocal Utterance</cite>. Still, the matters treated +upon even in <em>this</em> book cover so much ground, and +had to be condensed to such an extent, that many of +these also will require further enlargement and elucidation. +This will be attempted to be done in future +publications. Meantime I trust these matters will +be taken in hand by others, who by their writings +will relieve me of some of this additional labor. +Take it all in all, there is so much of this work that +I feel as if I had swallowed the ocean and was now +called upon to give an account of its contents.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>THE VOICE OF THE ŒSOPHAGUS AND ITS VOCAL +CORDS</h3> + +<p>Among the discoveries mentioned in my former +publication one stands out most prominent, and it +is the basis of all my other discoveries; namely, +"that the voice is of a dual nature." I had ascertained +that sounds circulate around the radix of the +tongue; that they, or rather the air wave which +carries them, enters either at the upper surface of +the tip of the tongue and recedes back, to come out +again from beneath its lower surface, or vice versa. +I had also ascertained that the former process is the +English, the latter the German, for breathing and +vocal expression.</p> + +<p>I was convinced that this signified a circulation of +vocal sounds; and though I had finally also reached +this conclusion and intimated it, namely, "that we +breathe and speak through the œsophagus," I did +not express it in so many words, as I meant to leave +this expression for a future publication. I was at +first under the impression that both waves belonged +to the trachea, the one that was ingoing as well as +the one which was outgoing.</p> + +<p>Meantime I had discovered the "larynx or voice-box +to the œsophagus," but considered this at first +also as belonging to the trachea. I thought inspiration +and ingoing sounds belonged to the vocal cords +of the trachea, expiration and outgoing sounds to +this "new" vocal cord located beneath the tongue. +To study these first attempts, by which I was trying +to find my way, and which culminated in these wonderful +discoveries, I presume would be of interest to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +the student. I can here mention only the main +points.</p> + +<p>I have found beyond a doubt, and my future +statements will more fully establish this fact, that +the frænum linguæ and the parts of the mucous +membrane surrounding the same are relatively of +the same nature in regard to the voice of the œsophagus +that the vocal cords and other parts of the +larynx are in relation to that of the trachea.</p> + +<p>In contradistinction to the larynx, I named these +entire surroundings the "replica," as, in conjunction +with the tip of the tongue resting upon the +same, they conform to the shape of the oral cavity, +of which in their general appearance they are almost +a counterpart. In a similar manner I named the +special part thereof, which "regulates" the intonation, +the "vocal lip," in contradistinction to the +vocal cords of the larynx, which perform the same +service for the voice of the trachea.</p> + +<p>After making such positive assertions regarding +the replica as I did in my previous publication—now +more than four years ago—I was more than surprised +that no one should have deemed it worth his while +to look into the value of these assertions. If any +one had, he could not have helped but acknowledge +their correctness. It is but necessary to utter any +vocal sound whatsoever, either vowel or consonant, +and while doing so watch the vocal lip and the frænum, +to become at once convinced that their motions +are of precisely the same order as those of the larynx +and the vocal cords.</p> + +<p>So many have spent year after year upon the diffi<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span>cult +and "fruitless" endeavor to study the motions +of the larynx; while here is an opportunity plainly +before every one's eyes to study, without effort, the +most interesting phenomena in voice production. +We must be obliged to seek for a thing high and low +before we deem it worthy of our attention.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 686px;"> +<img src="images/fig053-300dpi.jpg" width="686" height="386" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig054-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="168" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>THE HUMAN VOICE</h2> + + +<p>What is the voice—a spirit, or "an expiratory +current of air set into vibration by purely +physical agencies"? It does not seem to me to be +either, but something which is of the nature of both: +our dual nature, embodied in the sounds of speech; +our body and soul joining hands to produce the miracle +of the voice. Regarding the materialistic view +quoted above, which is held by most of the investigators, +who make the larynx their <em>point d'appui</em>, I +think that if there is anything in our composition +or emanating therefrom that is <em>not</em> produced by +"<em>purely</em> physical agencies," it is the voice.</p> + +<p>In my opinion there is nothing purer, more +"spiritual," in the world than a beautiful voice. +Did you ever <em>see</em> a spirit? Perhaps not. But you +have often <em>heard</em> one. You hear them daily, +hourly, constantly; other spirits as well as your +own—the spirits represented by the voice; the +soul incorporated in the sounds of speech. When +you converse, it is soul to soul; when you hear an +anthem sung, it is the soul of the singer to the soul +of the universe. The soul reveals itself most prominently +through the voice when there is anguish in +it, or joy; tears or laughter; love or hate.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<p>An attempt to get at the truth in matters of the +voice is an attempt at getting at the truth in matters +of life. If you will tell me <em>all</em> that a vocal sound +is, I will tell you what your soul is.</p> + +<p>To examine into the anatomical construction of +the larynx, to watch it physiologically and learn to +understand the motions of the vocal cords in their +relation to vocal sounds, is not much more than looking +at the dial of a clock (a simile already used, but +worth repeating). The movements of the hands will +give you <em>no</em> cue to the construction of the intricate +works hidden behind the face of the clock. Nor +will the careful examination and observation of the +"dials" which serve the voice of the œsophagus in +the same manner as those of the larynx serve the +voice of the trachea, measurably increase the knowledge +of vocal phenomena. I do believe, however, +that, inasmuch as the movements of the replica, the +frænum, and the vocal lip fit into and complement +those of the larynx and its vocal cords, and vice +versa, lessons of great benefit to the knowledge and +the improvement of vocal utterance may be learned, +<em>after</em> we have once begun to understand what these +movements imply.</p> + +<p>That we cannot now derive any benefit from the +observation of these motions is due to the fact that +they are <em>reflex</em>, <em>involuntary</em>, <em>uncontrolled</em> and <em>uncontrollable</em> +by the will. Or, as Mme. D'Arona +expresses it:</p> + +<p>"They are not the <em>cause</em> of the perfect tone, but +are simply acted upon by the cause."</p> + +<p>After having become acquainted with the cause of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +these motions, and having learned to control it in +the interest of pure and perfect tone, the movements +of the larynx and the replica will become of value +to us as "indicators" of the correct or incorrect +exercise of the cause which they reflect. In "recording" +the original movements they will show us +what is right or wrong in the latter, and will thus +offer us an opportunity for correcting them. Up to +the present they have been simply barometers, +which, no matter how closely we may observe them, +offer us no opportunity for changing "the state of +the weather" which they indicate. After thoroughly +comprehending the <em>causes</em>, however, which +move them, we may shape the course of the latter +in conformity with our will. Or, vice versa, we +may shape our will, which, after all, is the <em>first +cause</em>, so as to correct that which they indicate to +be wrong in our tone production.</p> + +<p>Now, what is that which the will acts upon, and +thus becomes the original source, the first cause, so +to say, of tone production? My answer will be a +surprise, for, as far as I know, no one has ever as +much as thought, even, of looking in this direction +for the seat of the voice.</p> + +<p>The original source of tone production has its +location in <em>various vessels of the viscera</em>: in the +lungs, the kidneys, and the bladder, for the most +part, though many other vessels, if not all, participate, +and are more or less involved in its production. +Besides these vessels, the heart and the +solar plexus, as central organs of the vascular and +nervous systems, together with the brain as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +central seat of thought and the will, perform parts +of the highest importance in tone production and +vocal utterance. In the lungs, the bladder, and the +kidneys, together with their coadjutors, the bronchi +and ureters, <em>the tone originates</em>. Here we can control, +and unconsciously do control, it.</p> + +<p>I shall adduce indubitable proof as to the correctness +of these assertions. More than that, I shall <em>locate</em> +sounds in these various vessels. As a tone proceeds +from a given string located in a given part of a +musical instrument, and cannot proceed from or be +produced on any other string, a given tone of the +human voice proceeds from a given vessel, and +cannot proceed from or be produced in any other +vessel.</p> + +<p>I shall furthermore show that the various shades +of a tone proceed from various parts of such vessel. +Yet, while tones are produced in special parts, the +instrument of the voice being of a sympathetic +nature, <em>all</em> parts of the <em>viscera</em> participate therein, +by, in a manner, <em>leaning</em> towards a vessel in which +a tone is produced, thus assisting in giving it utterance. +If a sound is produced in one of the vessels +of the abdomen, those of the thorax, though not +directly participating therein, give it aid and comfort +by their passivity, thus throwing the entire +strength of the voice-producing forces into this one +spot. If a sound is produced in the thorax, the +vessels of the abdomen aid it in a similar manner. +This is more particularly the case when a sound of +a superior order is to be produced, which is thus +<em>reinforced</em> by this aid.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> + +<p>In matters of the voice, as in many others, truth +is stranger than fiction.</p> + +<p>Dr. Rush has said:</p> + +<p>"Some day, when the real instrument of the +voice will be discovered, it will be found to be of an +order far different in its nature and construction from +that which it has ever been supposed to be."</p> + +<p>The greatest mechanical wonder, however, is that +the voice, and that which is apparently one and the +same sound, should under different circumstances +emanate from sources so entirely different in their +construction as the vocal cords to the trachea and +those to the œsophagus, the viscera of the kidneys, +the bladder and the lungs, etc. This fact +also accounts for the mystery which, like an impenetrable +veil, has hung over the features of the +voice. Who has ever thought of looking for the +spirit of the voice to reveal itself from <em>beneath</em> the +tongue? Who has ever thought that the œsophagus +was a breathing-tube of a similar functional order as +the trachea? Who has thought that the viscera of +the abdomen were playing as important a part in +breathing as the lungs? Who has thought that the +hemisphere of the abdomen was as directly amenable +to the influence of the air as that of the thorax? +Who has, in fine, thought that the viscera of the +abdomen together with those of the thorax were +primarily instrumental in producing the voice and +vocal utterance?</p> + +<p>It may not be pleasant to know, and it may not +quite conform with our æsthetic taste, that the "voice +divine" should have its origin in such vessels as the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> +kidneys and the bladder; but I have no quarrel with +the Creator, and can but wonder, as I have never +ceased to wonder from step to step in all these investigations, +at the marvellous resources of nature. +There is one great lesson conveyed through this, +namely,—- that the body is <em>divine</em> in its <em>every aspect</em>; +parts which have been supposed to serve ends only +of a comparatively low order participating in the +highest spiritual functions.</p> + +<p>This knowledge is the sanctification of the "flesh," +so constantly and unjustifiably rejected and reviled +as against that of the spirit. I am not dealing with +theories, but am stating facts which will be as positively +proven as any other scientific facts ever have +been proven. These proofs will not be all forthcoming +in this book, however, there being other +subjects of equal, if not greater, importance that I +have to deal with before I can reach them; these +subjects being of such a nature that they must be +explained before those immediately connected with +voice production can be properly dealt with.</p> + +<p>I have been reproached with attempting too much; +with dealing with too many subjects at one and the +same time; that I ought to complete one theme and +then take hold of another. Just so; but this cannot +be done. I must first deal with general principles. +Our entire system being of a homogeneous nature, +I cannot deal with separate issues until these principles +have been dealt with and understood in their +entirety. Besides, I cannot hope to ever <em>complete</em> +any one thing. I shall be well satisfied if I shall be +able to simply touch upon every subject that has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +come under my observation, lightly, suggesting +things, and leaving it to others to enter more thoroughly +into the same.</p> + + +<h3>INTROSPECTION</h3> + +<p>With our mortal eyes turned outwardly we cannot +see spiritual things, nor the motive power of life, +nor the material form the spirit assumes in moving +the mechanism of the body. For there <em>is</em> a +material way in which it is thus moved, as there +necessarily must be, and I have obtained glimpses +thereat by turning my eyes inwardly—by looking +into myself with the <em>inner</em> surface of my eyes.</p> + +<p>Yet through all these centuries people have been +using that portion of their eyes which is intended +for external vision only, in a vain endeavor to arrive +at spiritual-material facts. Thus the larynx, as the +supposed seat of the voice, has been subjected to +scrutiny based upon laws derived from phenomena +which owe their origin to physical causes only. +During this vain endeavor the larynx has been subjected +to torture and maltreatment worse than that +inflicted upon a mediæval witch.</p> + +<p>But its tormentors have derived no solace from +this treatment, not even that of a confession of imaginary +sins. Why not? Simply because it had +not anything to confess, being a reflex, an indirect, +and not a free and original agent. Through torture +(by means of the laryngoscope), the destroyer +of harmony, we cannot arrive at laws based upon +harmony.</p> + +<p>Is not all physiological research more or less of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +this order? The "higher law" of science may demand +its victims, even as did the "higher law" of +the church. I do not wish to say, however, that the +sacrifice of animals on the altar of science is as useless +as that of human beings used to be on that of +religion. Vivisection, however, while it may, and +no doubt sometimes does, help to recognize the +physical cause of disorder, will never be of any value +in arriving at spiritual causes and the recognition of +the inner motive power of life, nor to any great extent +at that of the exercise of our faculties and functions. +For this knowledge we require a different +mode of proceeding. To penetrate into the realm +of the spiritual-material world (and all phenomena of +life are of that nature) we must not look externally +but internally, not into other beings but into ourselves. +That is the only place where we can hope +to find it in action and arrive at the causes of such +action.</p> + +<p>As our being cannot enter into the inner life of +another being and identify itself with the same or +become a part thereof, or remain apart and become a +spectator of the same or substitute therefor (not even +for that of the simplest and lowest living vegetable +or animal organism), we would have to despair of +our ability of ever being able to arrive at the laws +governing life, if we were not able to look into our +own lives by substituting for our observations our +inner for our outer consciousness.</p> + +<p>The word "Introspection" has heretofore meant +reflection upon purely spiritual phenomena only; I +have proven by my personal example that we can<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> +observe physiologico-psychological phenomena with +considerable accuracy—very little of this kind of +work, as far as I can learn, ever having been done +before. The nearest approach at amalgamation, +probably, is that which is brought about by means +of hypnotism. In this instance the two factors, the +positive and the negative, the operator and the person +operated upon, do not fuse, however, and become +one, but remain entities, each in his own right. Or, +to speak still more to the point, while the positive, +that is the spiritual, factor of the operator may, and +no doubt does, join hands with the negative, that is +the material, of his subject, by which the operator +becomes one with the latter, there is still but an +<em>influence</em>, and not an insight. Besides, this condition +is as yet too obscurely known to be made use of as a +practical means of observation.</p> + +<p>After all this, the question will still be asked, +"What must we <em>do</em> to look into ourselves?"</p> + +<p>I will admit that I have not stated what others +should do, but in explaining what I have done I +mean to explain what general course others will +have to pursue. By taking into consideration what +I have said, and adding thereto what I shall still +have to say, a general idea may be formed of what +the reader must do to place himself in a position to +make original observations by means of introspection. +No two cases being just alike, from the fact +that heredity, the mental capacity, physical condition, +education, temperament, nationality, etc., with +no two persons are just alike, it is not well possible +to point out a course quite suitable to all. I might as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +well attempt to arrive at a law by the observance of +which <em>all</em> persons would be enabled to write poetry.</p> + +<p>Still, needing assistance in this vast undertaking, +I am particularly anxious to make this matter clear, +as the results of these observations are of vital interest +to all, and I am but one weak, ignorant mortal +creature, with but a small fraction of a life +left to me in which to state that which it would +at least take a full lifetime to properly and fully explain. +I am overburdened with an insight which is +being increased daily, even against my will, and +which I shall never be able to fully communicate to +others. Let the flood-gates of truth once be opened +and come in upon you as they have upon me, and +you will be overwhelmed by the mass of their detail +no less than by the vigor of their mass. My great +want, therefore, for the purpose of more fully arriving +at these facts and obtaining ever higher results +is assistance and coöperation. I wish it to be distinctly +understood, however, that I do not mean this +in a personal sense—far from it; but in the interest +and the promotion of science, as everybody wanting +to make original observations must pursue these +studies for himself and by himself.</p> + +<p>Why such a course has not been heretofore pursued +by others I am at a loss to understand, except +from the fact that it takes an unusual amount of +perseverance to reach the first results. Though <em>all</em> +persons may not be able to personally obtain satisfactory +results, <em>all</em> may be <em>benefited</em> by the results +obtained by those qualified to successfully carry on +a course of observations by means of introspection.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> +The world at large will always have to be satisfied +with being simply the beneficiary of scientific research; +more especially of research in matters spiritual +or psychical. From facts thus obtained rules +may be deduced, which, translated into "physical +forms," may become the property of all. In this +manner numerous observations I have made have +already assumed a practical shape; but I have not +as yet been able to devote the necessary time to +them to produce a system which may be used for +general instruction.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile I do sincerely hope that others will take +hold of these matters in all seriousness, and assist +me in arriving at these practical physical forms, which +I trust, in fact <em>know</em> beyond the shadow of a doubt, +will be fruitful of the most beneficent results in the +teaching of the deaf, of singing and elocution, of pure +vocal utterance in speaking; in curing stammering +and other chronic faulty or deficient utterance; besides +numerous other matters of equal importance +not in immediate connection with vocal utterance.</p> + +<p>That these matters must be and are of the greatest +importance to the medical student goes without +saying. It is to be hoped that they may lead to +a more rational treatment of our frail and often +ailing bodies. I say "bodies" because this is the +common phrase. Yet how false this is, every true +physician is but too conscious of. Our ailments +cannot be successfully treated from a mere physical +standpoint. The question of life is not a mechanical +one; it is spiritual beyond anything else, the +spirit being the motive power giving life to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +otherwise inert physical body. Yet the only endeavor +of the physician has always been to cure +the "machine," to set its mechanism right again +when it is out of order, simply because he has not +been able to get at the spiritual motive power which +propels it.</p> + +<p>I have been trying to get at this motive power, +and to some extent have been successful in so doing. +Besides, the <em>body</em> never suffers. Its ailments make +the soul suffer; while the ailments of the soul have +a comparatively less injurious effect upon the body. +The body is the habitation of the soul. The soul +dwells in its <em>every</em> part. As long as this habitation +is habitable the soul continues to dwell therein. +When it becomes uninhabitable the soul departs, +never to return. Hence a body, never so frail and +ailing, will continue to live as long as a vital part is +not affected, that is, a part the soul <em>requires</em> for its +habitation and cannot do without. Close such part +to the indwelling of the soul, prevent material and +spiritual factors from joining hands therein, and the +spirit departs. Once departed it can never be made +to return. Hence a body in the full vigor of health, +after having been immersed in water sufficiently +long to have any one vital avenue positively closed +against the indwelling of the soul, cannot be resuscitated. +As long as the soul clings to it, however, +with never so feeble a grasp, it may come to life +again, in the same manner that a flame nearly extinguished +may be fanned to life again.</p> + +<p>For me to <em>fully</em> describe my mode of proceeding +in arriving at these matters would be equal to an<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +attempt at crowding into a few paragraphs <em>all</em> I +have gone through within something like forty +years, more or less, of observation.</p> + + +<h3>MAKING PARTS RIGID</h3> + +<p>I have already stated that I was originally led into +making these investigations through my simple desire +of getting rid of my <em>German</em> mode of expression +in speaking the English language. Being determined +to find out where the trouble was which prevented +me from producing pure English sounds +while I experienced no difficulty in producing pure +German sounds, I pursued vocal sounds, through +numerous phases, to their original sources. The +endeavor to arrive at the true nature of vocal sounds +through autology and by means of "introspection" +has, no doubt, been made by thousands before me. +The reason they were not more successful must be +attributed to the simple fact that such persons have +been lacking in perseverance. It is one of the most +misleading endeavors one can pursue.</p> + +<p>In the beginning I came to what I considered a +<em>positive</em> result perhaps for the hundredth time, but +to think I was on the wrong track the one hundred +and first time. I would then, perhaps, finally determine +that the first result arrived at, after all, was the +correct one. In this manner I have in the course +of time arrived at positive conclusions, which have +been the basis of all my investigations, and are undoubtedly +correct, as they have yielded up one result +after another and have never proven false. For this, +relatively speaking, "perfect insight" I have waited,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +before saying anything more at all, since my previous +(preliminary) publication. To these conclusions I +owe my present trust and confidence, and the "boldness +and temerity," as some may say, in making such +"startling declarations" in the face of the accumulated +wisdom of the science of this and of past ages. +Yet I am tired unto death of prevarication and of +time-serving, and will say what I consider to be the +truth, no matter what may be the consequence.</p> + +<p>Any one singing a false note or mispronouncing +a foreign word or sound, yet knowing what the +right note, word, or sound is and should be, can do +the same thing, and by perseverance finally find +what he has been looking for and pronounce such +note, word, or sound in its entire purity. This will +put him on the track to the production of <em>all</em> pure +notes or sounds. To accomplish this, he must +persistently watch one result after another.</p> + +<p>My mode of proceeding has been largely in making +parts <em>rigid</em>, and then observing the consequences. +In pursuing this course for some time, you will finally +attain such a mastery therein that you will be able +to make almost any vessel, muscle, sinew, membrane, +tissue, etc., or any <em>part</em> thereof, rigid. This +is done for the purpose of neutralizing parts which +partake in the production of sounds, and will enable +you to closely watch cause and effect in your natural, +as well as artistic, course of breathing and sound +production. <em>Having two languages at my command, +I was startled to find that cause and effect in both were +totally different from each other.</em> This gave me the +original cue to all my observations.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span></p> + +<p>In place of sounds, others may pursue odor, taste, +feeling, motion, hearing, etc., to their original +sources, and make similar observations. In so +doing they will find that <em>all phenomena, the products +of our faculties, abilities, or gifts, originally proceed +from the same or similar sources; that there is a +homogeneity of proceeding, mainly consisting in various +modes of breathing, in the production of them all; the +end organs of our senses or gifts finally determining +definite special results</em>.</p> + +<p>For vocal utterance, we draw our inspiration for +various results to be attained, from the air, and +breathe in a different mode for every special performance. +These modes of breathing, though the +same for all persons in a general sense and leading +through the same channels, in a more restricted +sense are different for every nationality.</p> + +<p>There is no "danger" connected with these pursuits, +in spite of Mr. Heidenhain's fears; which fact is +due to the duality of the nature of each and all our +various faculties, there being a safety-valve always at +the other end in the shape of the negative factor. +The only danger I have discovered was in connection +with the "streams of life," which do not permit +tampering with without penalty. As these +exist independent of our ordinary mode of breathing, +they are not apt to be interfered with by any +neophyte in the pursuits now under consideration. +Of these powerful streams, of which no notice has +ever been taken by any one, though ceaselessly +streaming into and out of our system while life +lasts, I shall take occasion to speak later on.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>EXTIRPATION</h3> + +<p>To make a part "rigid" is equal to the "extirpation" +of such part. While it is in a state of rigidity, +it ceases to take part in any action whatsoever; +it is inert and the same as if it had ceased to exist. +What advantage, then, let me ask, is there in extirpating +parts in animals, when we can, by making +parts rigid, directly extirpate such parts in ourselves? +We can in this manner suppress the action of any +muscle, or the participation of any vessel, or part of +such vessel, in any act, by the simple exercise of our +volition. I find no difficulty in thus "extirpating" +any such part from myself for the time being, and +then observing the consequences. I can take hold +of the innermost part of myself, so to say, and take +it <em>out of myself</em>. In regard to vocal utterance, these +consequences are positive and direct. That these +operations must be very <em>carefully</em> conducted in connection +with <em>vital</em> parts goes without saying. The +action of muscles participating in the production of +vocal utterance, however, or in the act of breathing, +except the muscles of the heart, can be suppressed +without danger. I am thus in a position to modify +extirpation of parts to any extent, almost, I desire. +I can add to and detract therefrom at will, and can +shift the act of extirpation from the anterior part of +a vessel to its posterior, or from its superior to its +inferior, or vice versa, now making one side rigid, +then the other, now one end, and then the other; or +take hold of its centre and leave the other parts free, +or suppress its circumference and leave the centre<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +free. There is scarcely a limit to the action of my +will in handling my subject. All this while, my +feelings, my intelligence, my mind, take in every +phase of these proceedings, and enable me to give +a correct account of the results I have been observing.</p> + +<p>This discovery—for a discovery it must be, as I +can find no account of any similar proceeding ever +having been carried on—should, and I hope will, +put an end to vivisection, when it is resorted to for +the purpose of learning anything whatever in respect +to the action and the process of life. By this proceeding +I have more or less successfully observed +the acts of breathing, of vocal utterance, motion +and locomotion, hearing, seeing, and thinking.</p> + +<p>I beg leave to here insert without comment the +following clipping from the press:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>The following extracts are from a lecture on "Vivisection +in Relation to Medical Science," delivered by +Edward Berdoe, M. R. C. S., etc., at Cambridge. Lovers +of animals may be glad to know how the medical fraternity +amuse themselves:</p> + +<p>"You may open the abdomens of living cats, guinea-pigs, +and rabbits, and apply irritating chemicals to their +exposed intestines, causing what you are pleased to term +'peculiar rhythmic movements' and 'circus movements,' +but what the unlearned would call violent spasms and +convulsions, as was done by Dr. Batten and Mr. Bokenham, +at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, last year. You may +dissect out the kidneys of living dogs and cats which +you have first paralyzed by curare—the 'hellish oorali' +of Lord Tennyson's poem, so called because the animal's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +sufferings are intensified by its use, and it is unable to +move a limb, or to bite, scratch, howl, or otherwise interfere +with the operator's comfort. You may do this, as +was done by Dr. John Rose Bradford, at University College, +London. You may infect ninety cats with cholera +poison, and bake numbers of them alive, as did Dr. +Lander Brunton. You may inoculate the eyes of rabbits +and guinea-pigs with the material of tubercle, fix glass +balls filled with croton oil—a horribly irritating drug—and +stitch them into the muscles of the backs of rabbits, +then crush them amongst their tissues, as did Dr. Watson +Cheyne, at King's College, London. You may slice, +plough, burn, and pick away the brains of monkeys and +dogs, as did Dr. Ferrier. You may slowly starve to death +animals whose vagi nerves have been cut and stimulated +by electricity, as was done by Dr. Gaskell, of this University, +in 1878. You may cut out the spleens and livers +from living rabbits, pigeons, and ducks, as was done by +Dr. William Hunter, of St. John's College, Cambridge, +in 1888, or do a thousand other acts which in a coster-monger +or a farm laborer would be termed and dealt +with as acts of atrocious cruelty, punishable by imprisonment. +But you have not learned the cure for a single +malady which afflicts the human body."</p></div> + + +<h3>THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TONGUE</h3> + +<p>There is another mode of proceeding by which +satisfactory results can be obtained, and which was +the only one I resorted to in the beginning and for +many years afterwards; namely, the watching of the +movements of the tongue.</p> + +<p>The muscle of the tongue, for vocal utterance, is +the most important in our organization. It appears<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> +to me, in fact, as if in its tip there were a concentration +of all the threads which control our existence; and +that it is, therefore, representative of an epitome of +our entire being. As all sciences, in a general, though +in some instances perhaps somewhat remote, sense, +centre in the science of life, so do the controlling +elements in our composition centre in the tip of the +tongue. If it were possible to analyze it spiritually +as well as physically, we would obtain a compendium +of knowledge far in advance of any there is in existence +in the world at the present time. Still, it must +be admitted that this would, to some extent, depend +upon <em>whose</em> tongue's tip was submitted to such +analyzation. The fact of the tip of the tongue +being removed by surgical operation without serious +effect upon the mental condition of the individual +does not greatly affect my assertion. In that case +the concentration must have taken place at the +tongue's new tip or end.</p> + +<p>The tongue's tip, with as infallible correctness as +the magnetic needle points towards the north pole, +indicates the exact spot whence sounds come, or +should come, to appear on the surface in a clear and +undefiled manner. The tongue's tip, for English +vowel sounds, does not touch any part of the oral +cavity. It is constantly changing its position, however, +and for every vowel sound, or shade of a vowel +sound, points in the direction of or <em>approaches</em> the spot +whence a sound comes, or should come. To ascertain +such spot with exactitude, it is but necessary to +<em>extend</em> the tongue's tip until it reaches the wall of +the oral cavity during or, still better, immediately<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +after the utterance of a vocal sound. Upon reaching +that spot the tongue may continue in the same +position of contact and the sound can still be uttered +with entire purity. Change this point of contact, +however, but in the least, and such sound will at +once cease to come to the surface. Yet, while <em>apparently</em> +a sound comes from the direction in which +the tip of the tongue points, this is not really the +case. In pointing in a given direction, the tongue +opens up the channels of the œsophagus and the +trachea in a special manner for the proper emission of +a given sound, beneath as well as above, and to the +left as well as to the right of its radix. In changing +the tongue's position but in the least, these channels +will open in a different direction, which may then +be the proper medium for the emission of another +sound, but not for the one under consideration.</p> + +<p>The general mode in which the radix of the tongue +turns upon its axis is the direct and fundamental +cause productive of the various languages of the +world; such general mode necessitating special movements +of the tongue for the production of the sounds +of any special language. Regarding the proper emission +of consonant sounds every one knows that the +same depends upon the particular spot of contact of +the tongue's tip with parts of the oral cavity. As +a matter of fact, such point of contact also opens, +the same as with vowel sounds, the tubes of the +trachea and œsophagus at the tongue's radix in the +proper manner for the emission of a given stream of +air for the production of such consonant sounds.</p> + +<p>Every imaginable opprobrious epithet has been by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +singers bestowed upon the tongue. "This obstreperous +muscle which is always in the way," says one. +"This troublesome member will persist in going up +when you want it to remain down"; "intractable," +"contrary," "obstinate," "wilful," "ungovernable," +"stubborn." All these expressions have +been used by writers on the voice in connection with +the tongue, simply because it would not yield to +unreasonable and unnatural demands made upon it; +the tongue, being a free agent, persisting in its +natural rights—as much so as any independent democratic +citizen persists in his.</p> + +<p>My observations having been made in connection +with a foreign language, I had a better opportunity +for watching my tongue's movements than I would +have had had I attempted to watch them in connection +with my native tongue; the movements of the +tongue in connection with the latter being so rapid +and involuntary that it becomes exceedingly difficult +to make any observations at all. It was like having +this foreign (English) tongue exist independently +alongside of my own, my intelligence watching it, +and guiding it, now here, now there, until it would +touch the right spot for the right English sound. +Knowing what the right sound was and should be, +I never stopped until the same came to the surface.</p> + +<p>In trying to find my way in this foreign (English) +territory of the oral cavity, I might compare my +English tongue to the stick in the hands of a blind +man, who uses it in place of his eyes to ascertain his +whereabouts, so as to enable him to proceed on his +way in the right direction. With my "stick" I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +felt in every direction, till I found I could steer clear +of obstacles straight into the channel of the sound I +had been seeking. From my German post of observation +I was thus enabled to watch the movements +of my English tongue in its efforts to find +itself "at home" in this foreign territory, while I +was at the same time guiding it from one point +therein to another.</p> + +<p>I want to call especial attention to and reiterate +the fact that the exact point whence a sound proceeds, +or seems to proceed, can, by extending the +tongue's tip, be quite as well (if not better) ascertained, +<em>after</em> the utterance of a sound, as <em>during</em> +such utterance; that is <em>immediately</em> after the tongue +has ceased to vibrate for such sound.</p> + +<p>The difference in the movements of the tongue +for various languages is one of the most interesting +observations to be made in connection with these +studies. The German language being the exact +opposite, the antipode, to the English, after comprehending +the movements of the tongue for the +latter, its own movements, that is, the movements +of the tongue for German sounds, were not difficult +for me to ascertain.</p> + +<p>It is an anomaly to apply the works of German +writers on the voice to the study of the English language, +or to that of any other than the German +language; or to apply books written from an English +standpoint to the study of any language except the +English—the movements of the tongue, and, in sympathy +therewith, of countless other muscles, being +different for every language.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p> + +<p>Whatever the movements of the tongue are for +the <em>spoken</em> language, they are of an inverse order for +<em>song</em>. I anticipate in making the following statement, +namely, that while speech is of an order which +is rapid, direct, anterior, exterior, spontaneous, impulsive, +and material, song is of an order which is +slow, indirect, posterior, interior, premeditated, contemplative, +and spiritual. I will also add this: that, +<em>while speech is of the oral cavity, song is of the +pharynx</em>. In making these remarks and others <em>in +anticipation</em>, I do so intentionally and for a purpose; +not so much in expectation that they will be at +once and fully understood, as with a view of setting +others thinking on these subjects until I can reach +them in due course of time; or, if I should <em>never</em> +be able to reach them, that the principle, at least, +underlying the same, which if the opportunity had +been granted me would have been fully sustained, +shall not be lost. The reader will notice that I am +hurrying over the ground as rapidly as I consistently +can, even from my—under the best of circumstances—superficial +standpoint, leaving wide gaps to be +filled in by others in the course of time.</p> + + +<h3>SIMPLE SOUNDS</h3> + +<p>Speaking of sounds in making experiments in +connection with the movements of the tongue, it is +of the first importance that these sounds should be +<em>simple</em> and not <em>vocal</em> or compound. They must be +sounds of the same order as we utter in whispering, +or such sounds as we are apt to use when learning to +speak a foreign tongue. They are the inharmonious<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> +sounds of the deaf, and those which distinguish the +speech of a foreigner from that of the native-born.</p> + +<p>The recognition of these sounds as the <em>negative +parts of speech</em> has been one of my main accomplishments, +and has been of the greatest assistance to me +in my investigations.</p> + +<p>Things <em>complete</em> tell no tales. We must decompose +them, reduce them to their elements, if we want +to arrive at the truth in matters of science. I have +succeeded in doing with things spiritual—vocal +sounds—what the chemist is doing with things material. +In things complete, as they are shaped by +the hand of nature, the elements of which they are +composed are mingled in such a dexterous manner, +are so happily blended, that they adjust, counterpoise, +and complement one another, and thus live +with and in one another.</p> + +<p>These new forms have been created by the elements +of which they are composed, abandoning their +separate original forms and now appearing in a new +form, as integral parts of an <em>harmonious</em> entity. +These elements have not only abandoned their form, +however, but in most instances have also changed +their character; which in their original composition +may have been of a <em>discordant</em>, violent, and even dangerous +nature. Take but the atmospheric air and +its elements for an example.</p> + +<p>A similar state of affairs exists in connection with +the phenomena of the material-spiritual world. +While vocal sounds, when properly produced, stand +for all that is harmonious and pleasing, their component +parts, their positive and negative elements,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +by themselves, offer features of a contrary nature. +They also offer us, the same as elements do to the +chemist while making experiments, the opportunity +for making an endless number of combinations. +Unless you know what <em>simple</em> sounds—<em>i. e.</em>, negative +parts of vocal sounds—are, and know how to +produce them, you will scarcely be able to make +one class of experiments which I shall offer in great +abundance to sustain my arguments.</p> + +<p>When I shall reach the subject of vocal sounds +proper, I shall more fully explain their exact nature. +I will simply say this at present: A simple sound +is the product of that hemisphere only to which it +properly belongs. A vocal sound is aided and +assisted by a complementary sound from the other +hemisphere. The more perfect such aid, the more +perfect will be its tone. Simple vowel sounds are +short, abrupt, the same as consonant sounds when +produced all by themselves and without the aid of a +vowel sound uttered in conjunction with them.</p> + + +<h3>POSTERIOR SURFACES</h3> + +<p>In saying, as I have, that introspection is carried +on by looking into ourselves with the <em>inner surface +of our eyes</em>, I meant to say, in the first instance, that +we must exclude all exterior vision, and then attempt +to locate and follow up the course of events +going on within us. While in this state we are +strictly reduced to our personal and individual +existence. In thus "watching," the function of +our eyes, instead of being used for external material<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +observation, is reversed; their function now being to +observe internally and spiritually.</p> + +<p>In connection with sounds, you will not only "in +your mind's eye" <em>see</em> the places where they originate, +and <em>feel</em> the course they are taking, but you +will actually, functionally (in the mode of spiritually +seeing and feeling), "see" and "feel" them. This +vision and this feeling is far from being perfect, +however,—not being accustomed to thus seeing and +feeling,—but it may, when continuously exercised, +become so in the course of time. While in this +state, besides seeing the places interiorly, you may +also see them exteriorly, by reflection as it were, +and in a reverse order, "as in a looking-glass," in +which case it is still an interior vision reflected +exteriorly. As a matter of fact, I not only believe, +but positively <em>know</em>, that <em>every exterior functional +surface has a corresponding posterior one</em>.</p> + +<p>Whenever a thing is brought <em>home</em> to us, either +through our organs of seeing, hearing, feeling, +smelling, or tasting, the outer surface of such respective +organ constitutes the positive factor for +such action, while its inner surface constitutes the +negative factor thereof. Whenever the outer world +is excluded, however, as during thought, introspection, +and in our sleep, the inner surface of any of +these organs becomes the positive, and the outer +surface the negative, factor. In thus saying, "I see +with the inner surface of my eyes," I do not mean +this figuratively only, but literally, functionally, as +well; as I could not see these places and locate them +internally nor could I see any subject or object with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +"my mind's eye," if the faculty of seeing were not +actually given to the posterior surface of the eye.</p> + +<p>This will become clear when you consider that +you will altogether fail to see internally when you +attempt to use the <em>anterior</em> surface of your eye for +the purpose of <em>internal</em> vision. Thus, the phenomena +of vision which accompany thought or dreams, +during sleep as well as in our waking moments, are +not merely spiritual, but, in the sense of internal +functional vision, are also material, so to say. +<em>All</em> thought, in fact, is more or less of this same +nature. We use the posterior surfaces of our organs +of sense more frequently, in consequence, than we +do their corresponding anterior surfaces. Physiologists +will say there is no such a thing as an inner +surface of the eye capable of seeing. This does not +alter the fact that I actually, functionally, see with +the posterior surface of my eyes, and that everybody +else does the same thing.</p> + +<p>I shall, in connection with vocal utterance, have +occasion to call attention to numerous divisions of as +positive a character as a wall of living tissue, of which +there is not a trace to be seen by external vision; these +divisions being channels, constantly used in one and +the same direction, some for ingoing, others for outgoing +streams of air and sounds. Of these channels, +also, being invisible to the outer surface of the eye, +science has never taken any notice. These invisible +agencies are connecting links, mediating between +cause and result, in connection with material-spiritual +or spiritual-material phenomena of whatsoever +nature brought to our consciousness. Hence the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +inability of science, in its ignorance of these agencies, +to reconcile the one with the other by the aid +of such material only as has been heretofore at its +disposal. We may <em>see</em> proceedings going on which +are mediating between cause and effect, by the assistance +of the inner surface of our eyes. They disappear +altogether, as well as any other "vision," upon an attempt +being made at seeing them with the external +surface of our eyes. Yet we may see inwardly with +our eyes open, as we do when absent-minded, etc.</p> + +<p>If we could invent a microscope by the aid of +which we could look into ourselves in a <em>spiritual</em> +sense, that is, through posterior surfaces, <em>all</em> the +secret springs of our nature might be revealed to +us. This ability to become cognizant of physiologico-psychological +processes by the aid of the inner +surfaces of our organs of sense, reveals a peculiar +functional exercise of their faculties. In matters of +memory they are not intended to aid in conveying +to our consciousness impressions made at the <em>present</em>, +but those made at a previous time. These impressions +having been made on the soft tablets of our +brain, either during our individual existence or that +of our progenitors, and transmitted to us by dint of +heredity, are brought to our consciousness by the +aid of these inner surfaces, <em>phonographically</em>. They +are awakened by association; and that organ of sense +by the aid of whose anterior surface they were first +received and <em>recorded</em>, now reawakens them by the aid +of its posterior surface. Visions, consequently, are +reflections made on the inner surface of the eyes, +from impressions previously made upon the brain, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +a similar manner to that by which sounds come forth +from a phonograph. They could not assume shape +if they were not thus reflected. It is owing to the +nature of these reflections that they are more fleeting +and evanescent than those made by the objects +themselves upon the external surface of the eyes.</p> + +<p>The anterior and posterior surfaces of all organs, +by whose aid we exercise our faculties, which surfaces +represent their poles and dual factors, the +positive and the negative, the material and the +spiritual, change places in conformity with whether +an object is impressed upon them exteriorly or +interiorly, in the present or the past, directly or +indirectly, physically or spiritually. Things which +are brought to our consciousness from the exterior +world and in a direct manner—through our +senses—may be said to be of a <em>material</em> nature; +while those which come to us indirectly—through +our inner consciousness—may be said to be of <em>spiritual</em> +origin. The clearness of our visions naturally +depends upon the clearness of the impression still +remaining upon the tablets of the brain. The +more stirring the event in the first instance, the +deeper and more lasting, of course, the impression. +All this, however, does not throw any light upon +the process of abstract thought; nor am I in a position +to aid in so doing. Yet it appears to me to be +a sister proceeding; and that a nearer approach to +an explanation of those more material phenomena +may finally assist in arriving at an explanation of +the causes of these more recondite and apparently +purely spiritual phenomena.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<p>The correctness of the preceding remarks will become +more apparent when we substitute for the +faculty of seeing, that of hearing. We hear the +voice of another person through the <em>anterior</em> part of +our ear, <em>entering</em>, as it does, from <em>without</em>. We hear +our own voice through the <em>posterior</em> part of our ear, +<em>going out</em>, as it does, from <em>within</em>. No matter how +low we may speak, we can always hear our own +voice, though inaudible to others; and we can still +distinctly hear it at such time, even when we fail to +hear a low, though in fact relatively much louder, +tone proceeding from the voice of another person. +A ventriloquist, on the other hand, with whom +these relations are reversed, hears his own voice reflected +from without, inwardly, while, if he continues +in the same condition while listening to +another person's voice, he will hear the latter from +within, outwardly.</p> + +<p>For the purpose of testing the correctness of +these observations, please pay attention to the +following: In listening to the sounds of another +person's speech, you will have no difficulty in noticing +that they stream into your ear from without, +inwardly. Now, substitute for this other person's +voice the sounds of your own voice, <em>and continue to +listen to the same in precisely the same manner in +which you did to those of this other person</em>; that is, +let them flow into your ear from without, inwardly. +The result will be <em>that you will not only not hear the +sounds of your own voice, but that these sounds themselves +will become paralyzed, that you will not be able +to produce any sound whatever</em>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<p>The cause is obvious. You attempt to listen to +negative sounds with the side of your ear still tuned +negatively; while, ordinarily, when we cease to +listen and commence to speak, <em>all</em> poles are reversed. +Spoken sounds are positive in relation to the speaker, +but negative in relation to the person listening to the +same. In consequence, the producer hears them +with the negative (inner) part of his ear, the receiver, +or listener, hears them with the positive +(exterior) part of his ear.</p> + +<p>I copy the following from an article in the <cite>Philadelphia +Sunday Press</cite>:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"A curious fact in regard to the effect of explosions +upon the drumhead, is that this tissue, though generally +blown in, is sometimes blown out. Just what causes the +latter result has not yet been fully explained."</p></div> + +<p>In this instance, I presume, the person's ear was +tuned to listen interiorly, and the effect of the explosion, +which, in relation to him, was of a negative +nature, took effect on the positive, the posterior, +side of his ear. This person was not in expectancy +of the explosion, but it came on unawares, of a sudden, +while he was in a state of contemplation.</p> + +<p>In connection with the eye, our inner consciousness +acts as a "rein" upon the outer, drawing back +in case of danger, checking our progress when suddenly +coming upon a precipice, and <em>regulating our +steps</em> to circumvent it, but without coming to a stop, +when seeing an obstacle in our way from a distance. +The "rein" in such an instance reverses the poles +of the eyes—the positive becomes negative and the +negative positive; that is to say, in our usual mode<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> +of seeing, while walking, the exterior surface of the +eye is positive, the interior negative; but when there +is danger ahead and we are warned to be cautious, +the exterior becomes negative and the interior positive; +the activity now being exercised by the latter, +the passivity by the former. The action of the +"rein," however, is not direct, but crosswise; that +is to say, the posterior surface of the left eye is in +correspondence with the anterior of the right, and +vice versa, in conformity with the "impulse" +emanating from either the one or the other, while +the anterior surface of the left eye is in correspondence +with the posterior of the right, and vice versa.</p> + +<p>The knowledge of the reversion of the functional +exercise of our organs of sense is of signal importance +in connection with motion and vocal utterance, +which always go hand in hand; every utterance being +accompanied by a motion, though not always +visible to the eye. In truly artistic delivery these +motions are brought to the highest perfection; and +visibly, though often in great moderation, accompany +<em>every</em> inflection of the voice.</p> + +<p>To be able to see a thing at all, we must be +in a relatively proper position with the object to be +seen; we must be on the same plane with it. We +must also have light, not only for the latter, but by +reflection therefrom also for ourselves. In addition +we must have the inner light enabling us to comprehend +what we have seen. I contend that for +the study of spiritual-material as well as material-spiritual +phenomena, such light has always been +wanting for the thing to be seen, as well as for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +the orb to see and consequently for the spirit to +comprehend. In attempting to comprehend, and +to explain appearances, physiologically, we have +been looking in our exterior world, where we +cannot, in place of our interior world, where we +might be able to see and to observe. We have +been using the outer surface of our eye instead of +the inner, with which to see spiritual things. The +thing to be seen and the orb with which to see +were not on the same "plane." It was impossible +to perform the act of <em>spiritually</em> seeing. +The proper light once obtained, it has not only +illumined for me the things to be seen, but also +my capacity for seeing and comprehending them. +Roentgen has taught us the method of seeing +material things through opaque bodies. I have +learned to recognize spiritual phenomena in opaque +bodies, created, as they are, by a combination of +spiritual and material factors. While I have made +use of this gift for a special study—that of vocal +utterance—I incline to think that it may be made +use of for the study of not only all the various +material-spiritual phenomena to be observed in the +nature of organic bodies in general and man's in +particular, but also of our relations with the unseen +and unknown world and its forces, in which our +essence has its being, whence it comes, and to which +it returns. In minutely explaining my mode of +proceeding, it is also my special desire to rob it of +any appearance of "supernaturalness" some persons +might be inclined to invest it with. Though +I cannot explain many things connected with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +voice from an entirely naturalistic standpoint, I +think they are all explainable if the proper amount +of study and observation be given to them. This, +as a matter of course, does not, however, include +the operations of the mind proper, which are governed +by laws beyond any human understanding.</p> + + +<h3>INSPIRATION—EXPIRATION</h3> + +<p>The entire mechanism of our being, more especially +that of our faculties and functions, is primarily +excited through openings into which air is inspired, +from which air is expired. These openings are connected +with channels and vessels which are passive +or negative during inspiration; active or positive +during expiration. Thus the multiform streams of +air introduced into our system communicate with +parts thereof, which, by their construction and intercommunication +with others, are specially adapted +for the exercise of any special faculty or function. +Our will directs these streams of air to flow into +their proper channels (and they automatically obey) +for the guidance of our steps in a certain direction, +for the production of a given sound, the recognition +of a given sight, the sensation of a peculiar odor, +taste, or feeling, or the excitation of a passion, +a compassion, or any other sensation, feeling, or +thought whatsoever. These streams of air, therefore, +are of an order as multiform as the complex +web of our material and spiritual existence, and are +introduced through thousands of different channels +and in thousands of different ways.</p> + +<p>To confine our mode of physical and spiritual<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +existence to a single stream of air introduced into +the oral cavity, or the nostrils, and thence into the +lungs, appears to me to be as primitive a proceeding +and as narrow a view as can possibly be taken of one +of the greatest subjects our understanding is called +upon to deal with. In place of that, I have positive +proof that the streams of air which flow into these +openings are of the most multiform nature; every +sight, odor, taste, touch, and every sound, and fraction +of a sound even, calling for a special stream of +air which no other stream can furnish or supply. +Besides the oral cavity and the nostrils, the eyes, +ears, and every additional opening, down to an +almost invisible pore or capillary vessel, are recipients +of special streams intended for special purposes. <em>We +breathe through the soles of our feet and the palms +of our hands, as well as through the skull of our heads. +The closer we guard our body against the influence +of the air, by means of unnaturally close-woven and +air-tight clothing, the less capable we become of exercising +our natural faculties and functions.</em></p> + +<p>To this subject I shall devote time and attention +at some future period, more especially in connection +with vocal utterance, as it has everything to +do with the production of sounds, which proceed in +part from within, outwardly, and in part from without, +inwardly. In so doing, positive becomes negative +and negative positive; inspiration and expiration +equalize each other, and thus a continuous flow of +speech becomes possible, while if the flow were +continuously in one and the same direction it would +soon come to an absolute stop.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is this that science has done for us: It has +clogged up all these natural avenues to our existence +by teaching that we breathe through the trachea +alone, in consequence of the muscle of the diaphragm +forming an air-tight partition between the +upper and lower compartments of our bodies; being +ignorant of the fact of that other great tube of the +œsophagus, also opening into the oral cavity, performing +the same functions for the abdomen which +the trachea does for the thorax. In place of all +these millions of openings through which we inspire +and expire, science teaches that we breathe through +a single tube, into and out of an <em>air-tight sack</em>,—a +mechanically impossible proceeding. By some ill-defined +process, air is supposed to find its way into +the thorax and out again after depositing its oxygen +in the blood-vessels. Meanwhile, the balance of our +body is left to shift for itself, not the slightest particle +of fresh food ever finding its way into any portion +thereof, except indirectly through the blood-vessels. +To my simple and untaught understanding it appears +that if such a state of affairs really existed—no matter +how rapid the circulation of the blood—the +entire hemisphere of the abdomen would be given +over to putrefaction in an exceedingly short space +of time.</p> + +<p>Breathing, however, as we do, through the œsophagus, +in like measure with the trachea, and through +every other opening in our epidermis in addition, +our body is constantly, uninterruptedly, permeated +with fresh air in its every avenue, vessel, capillary +tube, cell, etc., which sustains us by its life-giving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> +qualities, and takes away with it the constantly accumulating +refuse.</p> + +<p>The muscle of the diaphragm has been the air-tight +door to the cell of the condemned, whose +portal has been guarded by ignorance and every +oppression, suppression, fear, superstition, anxiety, +bigotry, narrowness, prejudice, etc., that the human +mind is capable of. It has given us over to self-accusation +as a natural and vital element. It has +shut us up into the narrowest limits, and kept us +from communing with the universe and the spirit of +the universe. It has excluded from us the grace, +the beauty, the light, the liberty, the eternity of the +<em>spirit</em>, and prevented us from recognizing ourselves +as integral parts of the universe and of the causes +which sustain it and sustain us. It has prevented +us from communing with them as free agents <em>in our +own name and by our own right</em>, without interference +or the intercession of any person or agency whatsoever, +in the past or the present.</p> + +<p>Have I placed too great a value on the discovery +of the "voice of the œsophagus"?</p> + +<p>I feel convinced that the further exposition of my +observations will justify me in all I have said.</p> + + +<h3>DIAPHRAGMS</h3> + +<p>As the trunk has its diaphragm, dividing thorax +and abdomen, so do all dual hemispheres representing +a faculty or function have their diaphragms, +performing duties of an analogous nature. <em>Every</em> +opening, in fact, has its diaphragm. Where there +is none visible, it is formed by contraction, when<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span>ever +needed, and but for the time being. All these +various diaphragms, more particularly the one specially +bearing that name, are of the greatest importance +in connection with vocal utterance,—the sounds +of the vessels of the abdomen being produced by an +expansion of the thorax and consequent contraction +of the abdomen, those of the vessels of the thorax +by an expansion of the abdomen and a consequent +contraction of the thorax.</p> + +<p>For the purposes of vocal utterance, inspiration +into the thorax produces an expiration from the +abdomen by way of the œsophagus, accompanied +by vocal sound, while an inspiration into the abdomen +produces an expiration from the thorax by way +of the trachea, accompanied by vocal sound; the +special <em>mode</em> of inspiration regulating the special +sound to be produced.</p> + +<p>This proceeding has reference to outgoing sounds +only. For ingoing sounds the opposite proceeding +takes place; an expiration from the thorax producing +an inspiration into the abdomen, and an expiration +from the abdomen an inspiration into the +thorax, both accompanied by sound. Every original +inspiration into thorax or abdomen, of course, +must have been preceded by an expiration from +these parts, while every original expiration must +have been preceded by an inspiration into the same. +The utterance of every sound, therefore, requires at +least three movements on the part of the respiratory +organs. But for the action of the diaphragm, such +sounds could not be produced.</p> + +<p>All these various diaphragms fall or recede for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> +inspiration, rise or advance for expiration; the +function of a diaphragm being exercised in conformity +with the manner in which it is approached. +This may be done by way of the œsophagus or the +trachea, <em>i. e.</em>, from the side of the hemisphere of +the abdomen, or from that of the thorax. The +outward movement of the abdomen during respiration, +therefore, is not caused by a pressure +brought to bear on its contents by the diaphragm, +but it advances and recedes in conformity with a +direct process of inspiration and expiration by way +of the œsophagus and the trachea; the œsophagus +and trachea sustaining each other and acting reciprocally +and in conjunction. This presumed pressing +forward and subsequent receding of the entrails, in +consequence of the descent and ascent of the diaphragm, +presents a spectacle as repugnant as it +is impossible of execution; the extension of the +abdomen, more particularly in connection with +special sounds, being so great that no pressure +whatever brought to bear upon the entrails could +possibly produce it.</p> + +<p>In place of this theory, now so generally entertained, +the simple fact obtains that the diaphragm +descends in consequence of an influx of air into and +subsequent expansion of the thorax, causing a contraction +of the abdomen and an efflux of air from +the same; that it ascends in consequence of an +influx of air into and expansion of the abdomen, +causing a contraction of the thorax and an efflux of +air from the same.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig093-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="166" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>IMPRESSION AND EXPRESSION</h2> + + +<p>All vocal expression is but an echo, the echo of +a thought. Thought <em>must</em> precede vocal expression. +It is not possible to produce a vocal +sound, not the simplest, without thought. There +is no such thing as a voice <em>ipso facto</em>, no more than +there is music in a musical instrument unless it is +called forth by the hand of the player. Try it. +Come upon a sound suddenly, around the corner, +as it were, and then express it. Do not give it a +moment's time for its development; that is, do not +give thought time to mould a form for it, but try +to utter it in embryo, so to say, the very moment +you think of it, and you will not be able to do it. +You will not produce any sound whatever.</p> + +<p>It is as necessary to form a mould for a sound as +it is for any shaped and moulded material article. +Out of this mould it comes forth in conformity +with the form we have given it: harsh, abrupt, +discordant—rhythmical, beautiful, soulful. Such as +the thought is, so will be the expression. In ordinary +conversation this proceeding is automatic and +mechanical, in elocution or song more or less volitional +and artistic. That is to say, for ordinary<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> +speech it acts automatically, for artistic utterance +it acts designedly. Materially, the mould is convex, +shut, for ingoing; concave, open, for outgoing +sounds. It expands for the former, it contracts for +the latter. Vocal sounds are a product of matter as +well as mind; the act itself which produces them +being a connecting link between matter and mind. +The soul calls on the body to aid it in giving form to +its desires and intentions; the body instantly obeys +and assumes the form from which the expected sound +or action is to arise.</p> + +<p>No matter how great a soul may be, unless it can +give form and consequent utterance to its greatness, +it will be helpless, far more so than the simplest soul +capable of giving expression to its simplicity. Confined +to our own limits, like the congenital deaf, our +faculties become dwarfed and useless. We do not +know ourselves, do not know our own souls. We +must expand, go out into the world and take it in, +if we want to grow and give our faculties a chance +to develop.</p> + +<p>The greater our horizon, the more we can take in, +the more we can give out. Our soul is scarcely ours +when enchained; the greater its liberty, the more it +belongs to us. Hence our just pity for the congenital +deaf, and our desire to assist them in their efforts +at expression. Those among them who are being, +or have been, tutored, receive their impressions +through their eyes in the form assumed by the +speaker's mouth; the eye assuming the function of +the ear. The form assumed by their teacher's mouth, +however, not being perfect, a perfect impression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> +cannot be made. Hence the expression of the deaf +is in conformity with the impression they have obtained: +mechanical, material, soulless. The exterior +lines of the mouth of the teacher, or any other +speaker's from which the deaf draw their inspiration, +are those of the material side of the medal. Failing +to see the reverse side thereof, namely, the interior +of the mouth, which is its spiritual side, the lines of +the latter make no impression upon them. These +fine lines on the interior side of the speaker's mouth, +representing the rhythm, the soul of the voice, not +being seen, fail to make that impression from which +alone a soulful expression could arise.</p> + +<p>That an <em>impression</em> may be made through the eye +will scarcely require a defense, in view of the fact +that in reading aloud or in singing from notes the +<em>entire</em> impression is made through the eye. The +reader or singer, knowing the <em>value</em> of every sound, +is impressed by the sight of a letter or a note as he +would be by the sound itself. Not so with the congenital +deaf, who, being ignorant of such value, cannot +reproduce it. Nor will it be contended, I suppose, +that the deaf knowingly, designedly, or volitionally +attempt to imitate the forms assumed by the teacher's +mouth, but it will be admitted that this is done +spontaneously, and that vocal sounds with them +arise from this imperfect mechanism, thus involuntarily +reproduced.</p> + +<p>With the congenital deaf, with persons attempting +to speak a foreign language, etc., the material +form, as well as the spiritual impetus, being imperfect, +the expression will be in conformity therewith.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +In how far and in what manner these investigations +may become helpful to the deaf will be a matter for +the not distant future to develop. That they will +eventually become of the greatest aid to them I have +every reason to believe. Those who have made a +study of matters of this kind understand the difficulties +surrounding the same. These difficulties are +increased manifold where the ear of the scholar absolutely +refuses to come to his own and his teacher's +aid.</p> + +<p>There are forms in which vocal sounds move, +well defined and capable of material representation, +which are not fully expressed by the shape of the +teacher's mouth, nor are they thus expressed by +impressions taken by the aid of the camera. Regarding +the latter, it is necessary to note that photographic +representations of vocal sounds are the result +of the combined action of the voice of the œsophagus +and of that of the trachea, of material and immaterial +factors. Just in how far the latter are capable +of being thus represented must, as yet, remain a +matter of conjecture.</p> + +<p>An attempt at reconciling photographic representations +of vocal sounds with the oscillations of the +vocal cords is, at most, a one-sided proceeding. To +arrive at any correct conclusion at all, it would be +necessary to take the vibrations of the "vocal lip" +and the frænum into equal consideration.</p> + +<p>Regarding our capacity for improving the natural +physical and psychical capabilities of the musical +instrument of the voice, that depends upon the +manner in which we play upon it. As it yields to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +the slightest pressure of the air, either for good or +for evil, we must, above all things, learn how to +guide the tip of our tongue in touching its aërial +strings or keys, which are far more sensitive than +those of any instrument ever produced by the hand +of man. It takes years to attain a mastery over the +simplest musical instrument; yet it is often expected +that the instrument of the voice should yield to the +most careless efforts made in the most wilful and +indiscriminate manner.</p> + +<p>The <em>thought</em> of a sound, after <em>producing</em> an impression, +<em>guides</em> the tongue in <em>releasing</em> such impression. +Unless the tongue touches or moves towards the +exact spot which will effect such release, the expression +or the sound will not be forthcoming. That the +impression, as well as its release, should be properly +made, it is necessary to <em>think</em> of the sound which +is to be produced, in the most precise and correct +manner. I cannot sufficiently impress upon the +reader's mind the importance this simple lesson +conveys. If he will shape his manner of vocal utterance, +especially his mode of singing, in conformity +therewith, he will be able to improve his voice to a +far greater extent than he would by following any +or all of the realistic methods now in vogue. This +<em>thinking</em> of the correct sound must be carried on for +the <em>next</em> syllable during the <em>production</em> of the previous +one; and care must be taken not to think of +more than one syllable at one and the same time. +Unless this is done, no pure sound will ever be +produced, the impression made by thinking of a +second or third syllable overlapping that for the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +next following; thus producing a muddle and a +discord. Rhythm being the basis for all perfect +vocal utterance, a rhythmic impression must be +made in order to obtain a rhythmic expression. +This cannot be done when the former is not preserved +in its entire purity until it is released.</p> + +<p>All of us, either during our ordinary speech or +during our efforts at artistic expression, are guided +by the process just described; unknowingly, unwittingly, +properly or improperly, for good or for +evil, pursuing this same course. I cannot enter +upon these matters to any greater extent at this +time, as it will be necessary to first treat of other +matters with which they are intimately connected.</p> + + +<h3>THE PHONOGRAPH</h3> + +<p>In trying the experiment of coming upon a sound +unawares, simply endeavor to divest yourself of all +thought, and then suddenly, without any preparation +whatever, say "a," or "b," or "it," or any word +you wish, and you will not be able to produce such +sound or sounds—or, in fact, any sound whatsoever. +Or, you may get some one to, of a sudden, produce +sounds embodied in letters before your eyes; and +you will find you will be unable to utter them instantly. +While you cannot thus produce a vocal +sound, or vocal sounds embodied in words, you can +produce <em>simple</em> sounds without preparation. As +they belong to but one hemisphere, and are consequently +not the product of a compound impression, +they may be uttered the very moment we think of +them. While they are being uttered, our organs<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +of speech are "shut," far more so than they are for +<em>vocal</em> sounds.</p> + +<p>Consonant sounds cannot be uttered "vocally" +without a vowel sound. When they appear in a +syllable their <em>accompanying</em> vowel sound carries them +and permeates them. When they appear singly we +add a vowel sound to them. We say: "ar," "be," +"en," "ka," etc.; unless we do so we cannot pronounce +them. Without such accompanying vowel +sound they would be inert.</p> + +<p>"Simple" <em>consonant</em> sounds are unaccompanied, +not "leavened," by a vowel sound. "Simple" <em>vowel</em> +sounds, on the other hand, are unaccompanied by +the element which constitutes consonant sounds; +while "vocal" <em>vowel</em> sounds <em>are</em> accompanied +thereby.</p> + +<p>The word "surd," used in connection with non-vocal +sounds, does not express the meaning of what +I call "simple" sounds, as all sounds may be either +"vocal" or "simple," while "surd" applies only +to special sounds.</p> + +<p>The necessity of making an impression for vocal +utterance also prevails in connection with motion. +You cannot lift your right foot or your left arm, or +make any given motion whatever, the very moment +you think of making it. It requires some preparation; +though you may lift <em>part</em> of a limb without +preparation. A part of a limb in this sense may be +compared to a <em>simple</em>, the entire limb to a <em>vocal</em>, +sound. The thought must make an impression by expansion +or contraction, which, when released, will +express the desired motion; no matter whether such<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +motion is made unconsciously or deliberately. It is +more difficult to watch this proceeding in connection +with sight; the operations of light being so rapid +that the expression seems to be simultaneous with +the impression.</p> + +<p>Contraction and expansion for motion are of the +same order as they are for vocal utterance. In +fact, both are so closely connected that we cannot +utter a sound unless it is accompanied by a motion. +In stopping the motion accompanying a sound, we +stop our ability of uttering such sound. I shall +have occasion to call attention to numerous conditions +under which it will be impossible to utter +sounds, either separate or connected, by stopping +the motion necessary to produce such sounds. It +is all due to the fact that we are homogeneous +beings, <em>whose powers are interdependent upon one +another</em>.</p> + +<p>The effect of the teacher's <em>voice</em> upon his or her +scholar's organization is of a <em>similar</em> order to that +made by <em>thought</em> upon the teacher's own organization. +That it is not of the <em>same</em> order is due to the +fact that the organization upon which it is made is +but rarely constituted the same, is not as highly +organized and developed or "schooled," as the one +from which the voice emanated. The impression +made by the singing-teacher's <em>voice</em> is of the same +order as that made upon the deaf by the <em>features</em> of +their instructor which are representative of his voice. +We are living, breathing <em>phonographs</em>. Every impression +we receive through any of our senses must +be made in a material manner before it can have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> +its immaterial expression. We engrave upon living +tissue, instead of on rubber or wax.</p> + +<p>I repeat that, to obtain a pure sound, the <em>thought</em> +underlying such sound or sounds must be <em>purely, +clearly defined</em>. We cannot obtain a clear impression +from a seal whose engraving is blurred, or when the +sealing-wax is not in a proper condition of softness, +or when the hand is not steady which makes the +impression. The same conditions prevail with vocal +utterance. Thought makes the impression; the +æther, passing through its narrowed passages at a +rate as swift as thought, creates the sound. The +impression is made as <em>thought</em> progresses, the expression +as <em>sound</em> progresses. While the <em>impression +is thoughtful, the expression is thoughtless</em>. While +we think for a sound during the impression, we do +not think for it during its expression; <em>but we think, +during the latter, for the next sound</em>. If this were +not the case, consecutive speech would be a matter +of impossibility. The artist's thought is embodied +in the creation of the model for his statue from +which a mould is made. The casting of the statue, +equal to its expression, is mechanical, thoughtless.</p> + +<p>In this connection the brain is of the same order +as the tablets of the phonograph. For ordinary use, +however, the lines engraved upon it are evanescent; +they disappear again with the sound or thought +which releases them. Impressions, however, of a +deeper nature remain—some forever. The thought +or sounds they represent, the same as the lines on the +tablets of the phonograph, are released but for the +time being and while such thought and sounds<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +(through association) are recalled to memory. The +thought and sounds are evanescent, but the lines +which represent them remain for further use, the +same as the lines on the tablets of the phonograph +and the strings of a musical instrument. If we +could read aright the lines which the voice makes +on the tablets of the phonograph or on the negative +plates of the photographer, we would obtain a correct +insight into their character. These studies, +when fully developed, may lead to a comprehension +of these hieroglyphics, the same as the Greek translation +on the Rosetta stone furnished the cue to the +comprehension of the hieroglyphics of the Egyptian +monuments.</p> + + +<h3>STUTTERING, STAMMERING</h3> + +<p>What is all this I am writing?</p> + +<p>It is an endeavor at giving expression to an impression +obtained of a great subject imperfectly +understood. The general ideas underlying it all are +on the lines of truth, but the contours are evanescent, +the lines representing special features ill-defined, +while the finer shadings are almost entirely +wanting. It is a stuttering, a stammering, in matters +my mind is too narrow to grasp, incapable of comprehending +in all their bearings, impotent to take in +in their ultimate relations. Still, I am doing what I +can with such material as nature has placed at my disposal. +Thought failing to make a clear impression, +my pen, I fear, cannot give a clear expression to it all.</p> + +<p>Regarding the subject of stuttering proper, I must +still preface it with some remarks of a general nature.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +The influx and efflux of streams of air into and out +of our system, called breathing, is of a very complicated +nature. While we designate the same by +the general terms of inspiration and expiration, these +streams are of as multiform a nature as the ethereal +fabrics they are intended to weave, whose weft they +form, and whose warp is of a more material nature. +Call these fabrics what you please—actions, speech, +feelings, passions, fancies, sensations, etc. While +these streams form innumerable separate systems, +they are all subject to one and the same law—rhythm. +The more perfect the rhythm the higher the development +and consequent performance.</p> + +<p>While we always breathe, or should breathe, in +the same rhythmic order (the octave) for the sustenance +of life in general, we unconsciously breathe +in various other measures for an endless number of +other purposes. Our dual nature, and the duality of +the manner in which we breathe, as a rule enable +us to go through these various performances without +a disturbance as to the harmonious character of +our existence. It is a great orchestral performance +by instruments of various kinds and orders, each +performer playing his own notes, specially adapted +to his particular part and instrument; yet all coming +together in one harmonious <em>ensemble</em>. This fact +finds expression, clearly defined, in the various +measures in which metre and rhythm are clad for +poetry and song. The introduction into our system +of a rhythmic flow of streams of air for the various +purposes of vocal utterance is conditioned upon a +rhythmic flow of thought.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span></p> + +<p>To perfectly render a poetical conception by words +either spoken or sung, the performer's <em>mind</em> must be +in accord with the rhythm underlying such conception. +In that case only will he breathe and, consequently, +speak or sing in the requisite manner for +such production. I should have prefaced all this by +saying that, in the same manner as inspiration and +expiration succeed each other in regular rotation, so +do the ordinary measures of long and short (¯˘), +or short and long (˘¯), in simple forms of poetry, +succeed each other in regular rotation; long (¯), +or stress, always standing for expiration, short (˘), +or repose, for inspiration. <em>As a matter of fact, +however, inspiration is of longer duration than expiration.</em></p> + +<p>All other forms are artistic, and are produced by +a mode of thinking, and consequent breathing, as +variable as the subject may suggest or demand. +For ordinary speech, while the rhythm is not of the +same order as that for poetry, a rhythmic order of +some kind must be, and always is, observed. That +the rhythm is not noticeable is due to the fact that, +while inspiration and expiration in prose writing +and ordinary conversation follow each other in +regular rotation, they are not always accompanied +by sound. Hence the rhythmic irregularities +of speech exist only in appearance and in the inartistic +manner in which speech is generally, and +prose writing often, produced. A person who +speaks and writes his language <em>well</em>, speaks and +writes it rhythmically, always. Good style is +synonymous with correct rhythmical expression,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> +superinduced by correct breathing; rhythmic expression +depending entirely upon rhythmic impression, +and the latter upon rhythmic thought, +accompanied by rhythmic breathing.</p> + +<p>To write well (that is, a good style), to speak well +(as an orator, actor, or elocutionist), to sing well, it +is, above all things, necessary that the performer's +mind should be in a state of conformity with the +situation which is to be described. His flow of +thought, and consequent breathing and mode of +expression, will then correspond with the scope, +drift, and circumstance underlying his performance. +Unless this is the case, the latter will be unsatisfactory, +unimpressive, unsympathetic. To prove that +for a satisfactory performance this <em>must</em> be the case, +it will but be necessary to call attention to the fact +that under various emotions our mode of breathing +undergoes great changes—as under fear, hate, +jealousy, indignation, excitement, love, enthusiasm, +benevolence, languor, apathy, etc. Our breathing +under these different circumstances will, the +same as the manner of our expression, undergo +various stages of change as to time and measure, as +well as to rhythm, emphasis and intonation.</p> + +<p>The character and rapidity of the flow of our +blood is of the same order as our manner of breathing. +It is, in fact, as I expect to prove later on, +not only of the same order, but of the same origin +and regulated by the same causes. The flow of the +blood is not merely of a material order, but of a +spiritual one as well. While it is acted upon by the +mind it reacts upon the mind.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<p>The thought must be measured and restricted as +to time, so as to enable it to make the proper impression +and produce a corresponding expression +<em>before</em> another thought comes along crowding in +upon the preceding one and in so doing <em>blurring</em> +the impression made by the latter before it had +been given the time to be expressed. If the necessary +time is not granted for an impression to be +made and for the expression thereof to obliterate +the same, the premature flow of another thought, +coming on top of the first, will make a new impression +over the previous one, causing confusion and +making a clear expression a matter of impossibility. +Unless our professor, while standing in front of his +blackboard demonstrating before his class, has a +sponge in his hand, and before again writing in the +same place wipes out that which he had written +before, the new writing will not be of such a nature +that it can be understood. The slate endures; but +the thought and the writing are always new. Yet, +when such writing is of an <em>impressive</em> nature, it is like +that of a palimpsest; though apparently obliterated, +its lines remain, and their meaning can be recalled +to memory as often as the occasion may demand it.</p> + +<p>The "muddle" of which I have spoken is oftentimes +so great that no sound of any kind can ensue, +the rhythmic flow of sound-producing streams having +been disturbed and prevented from assuming +the necessary shape for their formation into proper +sound-waves by this hasty mode of thinking. The +consequence is a hiatus in the natural flow of speech, +which prevents the thought from materializing in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +the shape of the word intended to be spoken. This +hiatus the victim of such precipitate mode of thinking +generally attempts to bridge over by spasmodic +efforts, which but serve to aggravate the situation, +increasing, as they do, the disorder in the sound-producing +lines.</p> + +<p>Stuttering being caused by a disorder in these +lines, the remedy is to again restore them to order. +The disorder having been caused by a too hasty +mode of thinking, superinduced, as a rule, by a desire +<em>not</em> to stutter, or a <em>fear</em> of stuttering, the remedy +lies in allaying this fear. The fear of stuttering, or +the anxiety not to stutter, which obtains while the +speaker is producing thought, <em>itself being thought</em>, +and coming on top of the thought intended to be +uttered, brings about, or at least aggravates, the +very difficulty he was trying to overcome. Mere +thought may wander off and again return to its +theme, unrestrained, and without causing disturbance; +but thought which is to be <em>vocally</em> uttered +must strictly adhere to its subject. There is no impression +to be made by the former which must +remain until it is released by vocal sound; impression +and expression being almost simultaneous. In +place of making a spasmodic effort, therefore, the +stutterer should endeavor to be calm, and to then +calmly <em>think</em> the word or sentence over again which +has become a stumbling-block in his way. After +doing so, he will have no trouble uttering it.</p> + +<p>The fact that stutterers experience no difficulty in +singing is a proof of the correctness of these assertions. +While singing, the performer's streams of life<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +and organs of speech are all <em>tuned</em> to one harmonious +measure. His frame of mind being securely in accord +with his theme, his thought, devoid of fear, +flows evenly along with his song. There is no occasion +for haste or trepidation in this instance,—there +cannot be, haste being the opposite to and the +enemy of harmony, the latter meaning a continuous +return of the same measure and the same mode of +breathing, the former irregularity and disorder in +the mode of breathing.</p> + +<p>Besides, song, belonging to the pharynx, is spiritual; +it is of our inner nature, and therefore restful +and continuous. While speech, which belongs to the +oral cavity, is material; it is of our outer nature, +and therefore subject to every impression, influence, +and consequent change. Elocution, declamation, +or recitation, on the other hand, partake of both +our inner and our outer nature. They belong in +part to the pharynx and in part to the oral cavity.</p> + +<p>Experiments may be made by means of making +these respective parts rigid which will establish the +correctness of these assertions.</p> + +<p>These experiments can also be made by the application +of mechanical pressure. When pressing +your hand or fingers against your throat you will be +unable to speak, though it will not prevent you +from singing. By pressing them against the back +of your neck you will be unable to sing, though +you may speak. By pressing them against either +side of your neck you will be unable to recite, +though you may both speak and sing. The slightest +pressure, even, will produce these results. Let<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +me remark, however, that unless the <em>thought</em> of the +performance accompanies it, a mere mechanical pressure +will not suffice.</p> + +<p>That <em>thought</em>, improperly exercised, is the cause of +stuttering or stammering, obtains from the fact, +that the utterance of the singer, elocutionist or +actor, being a matter of memory, and not of original +thought, is <em>not</em> subject to these troubles; though +the utterance of the same persons while speaking, +and in so doing, <em>thinking</em>, may be subject thereto.</p> + +<p>Not appreciating its significance, I used to laugh +with everybody else at the anecdote of a stuttering +boy in an apothecary shop, who had been sent down +after some article in the cellar. Returning, pale, +trembling, and <em>stammering</em>, his master cried out, +"Sing, sing!" whereupon he delivered himself +thus:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Der spiritus im keller brennt,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Und alles steht in flammen."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">("The spirits, master, are aflame,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And all things are a-burning.")<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>In a recent number of <cite>Cosmopolis</cite>, Prof. Max +Müller said:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"Charles Kingsley was a great martyr to stammering, +and it was torture to him to keep conversation waiting +until he could put his thoughts into words. Singularly +enough, at church, Kingsley did not stammer at all in +reading or speaking; but on his way home from church +he would say to one with whom he was walking: 'Oh, +let me stammer now; you won't mind it!'"</p></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p>While his thoughts were concentrated on his subject, +which had probably been elaborated beforehand +and was expressed in rhythmic language, +besides being obliged to speak slowly and deliberately +so as to be heard and understood, he experienced +no difficulty. Still, he was under a restraint. +As soon as he was by himself again, he commenced +to think impulsively, as probably was his habit, and +gave vent to a torrent of thoughts, which overleaped +each other like waters rushing through a broken +dam.</p> + +<p>There are two main forms in which this trouble +manifests itself. The one is a surfeit, a crowding +together of sounds, all of which want to come to +the surface at one and the same time, like a crowd +of people during a panic trying to rush out through +the same door, thus causing a jam. This form, +creating a hiatus in vocal utterance, is generally +designated by the term "stammering." That +which is called "stuttering," on the other hand, +consisting, as it does, in a repetition of the same +sound, is due to the opposite cause. While the +former is due to too great an effort, this is due to a +paucity of effort. The sound-furnishing element is +not under control; it leaks out against the will, it +runs away with you. Hence a repetition of the +form once assumed, in consequence of a lack of +nerve force, of a rein to keep it in check, of a brake +preventing it from rushing down-hill with you; in +contradistinction to the act of stammering, in which +the brake had been too forcibly applied, the watch +wound up too firmly and beyond its requirements.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>In the case of stammering the impression has +been too quick in shaping itself into words; in the +other it has been too slow in so doing. In the +former case too many moulds have been formed for +proper impression; while in the latter the sound is +spoken before the mould has been properly and <em>completely</em> +formed; that part only which had been formed +being uttered and repeated. In the case of stammering +there is a surfeit of impression but a want of +sound; in that of stuttering there is a want of impression +but a surfeit of sound. A stammerer is +one who takes in too much, a stutterer one who +takes in too little, air for his hasty way of thinking.</p> + +<p>When this trouble happens with one and the +same person—as it sometimes does—it first assumes +one shape and then the other; it turns a complete +somersault in so doing. The balance, the equilibrium, +the point of gravitation, previously overleaped +on one side, is again overleaped, and the +person lands on its extreme other side. While a +stammerer he had too much ballast on board, now +he has too little.</p> + +<p>A stammerer can return to the point of gravitation +by throwing some of his surplus ballast overboard. +<em>His tongue being tied to his lower jaw, in which +position he is constantly taking in more air than he +needs, he must raise it in order to let the surplus out +from beneath the same.</em></p> + +<p>A stutterer, whose tongue is running away with +him, owing to an insufficiency of ballast, must take +in enough (inspire sufficiently) to bring him back to +his point of gravitation. <em>His tongue is in a loose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> +state of elevation, in which position the air is constantly +streaming out (expiring) from beneath the +same.</em> He must <em>lower</em> it to have <em>his</em> balance restored, +as in so doing the air will stream in over +and above the tongue until the equilibrium has been +restored. In other words, the person who is thus +agitated must calm himself, he must relax from an +overstrain in either one direction or the other. The +diaphragm, holding the balance of power, will be +found to be in as uncontrollable a condition as the +tongue, <em>with which it always acts in unison</em>. In restoring +the tongue to a normal condition we restore +the diaphragm to a normal condition.</p> + +<p>The institutions for the cure of stuttering, stammering, +and intermediate stages of the same trouble, +attempt to bring about a state of restoration of the +disturbed balance by means arrived at through +experience. The real cause being unknown, the +remedies must necessarily be restricted. If persons +thus afflicted will take their own cases in hand and +treat them in conformity with the precepts here laid +down, the chances are in favor of their being cured +where no other remedy had been of any avail.</p> + +<p>As the preceding remarks have been made from +the point of view of an English-speaking person, the +standpoint of a German being diametrically opposite, +the same must all be reversed to fit the case of +a German, in so far as locality is concerned. <em>For +stammering, the tongue of a German is closely wedged +in, in the direction of the roof of the mouth; for stuttering, +it is loosely pointing downward.</em> This is owing +to the fact that a German inspires from under and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +beneath, and expires from over and above, his +tongue; just the reverse of the manner in which +this is done by an English-speaking person.</p> + +<p>In order to efficiently cure the trouble of stuttering, +it is necessary that the act of breathing and +sound-production should be closely studied with +every separate nationality, as these processes differ +with all nationalities; this difference being very pronounced +as between Germans and Anglo-Saxons. +For an American to go to Germany, therefore, to +be cured of this trouble, is as false a step as for a +German to go to the United States or England for +this purpose.</p> + +<p>While I have in the preceding endeavored to give +an account of the general causes which result in +stuttering, I have not touched upon such special +causes as are directly connected with the character +and origin of vocal sounds; the explanation of +which must be postponed to a future period.</p> + + +<h3>THE CATHODE OF A VOCAL SOUND</h3> + +<p>By an accident, in some respects not unlike the +one which drew Roentgen's attention to the light +by whose aid we have learned to look into and +through opaque bodies, I (myself an accident, an +appearance on and soon to be a disappearance from +the illuminated surface of the earth) have discovered +eternal laws, by whose aid we shall be able to comprehend +much of what has heretofore been as a +closed book to us, regarding our physical and psychical +nature and the exercise of our faculties and +functions.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p>During my endeavors to overcome the difficulties +which my German tongue offered to the perfect +pronunciation of the English "r" sound, and during +an almost frantic effort on one occasion at so doing, +I was amazed by the fact that while one "r" came +to the surface from over and above the tongue, +another made its appearance from under and beneath +the same. The latter was the "r" of the +voice of the œsophagus. Of all this, however, I +have spoken at length in my previous publication.</p> + +<p>Though it occurred to me at once like a flash that +this was a revelation of the greatest importance, its +real significance was only made clear to me in the +course of time. No matter how I view it, as time +progresses it assumes greater and greater proportions. +There is no event in the history of man +which appears to me to be of greater significance. +Through this "accident" I was induced to look +closer and closer into my inner nature, where, to +my amazement, I found that a world, apparently +silent and mysterious, and supposed to be unapproachable, +was the abode of numberless physical +and psychical phenomena, clearly defined and +definable.</p> + +<p>The "r" which came to the surface from beneath +my tongue by way of the œsophagus was the cathode, +the negative end of this sound. The <em>product</em> +of its combination with the <em>simple</em> "r" (which came +to the surface from over and above the tongue by +way of the trachea) I had hitherto produced when +attempting to speak English, was the <em>vocal</em> "r" +sound of the English language; the "r" I had<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +hitherto produced having been the anode—the positive +and first part of this sound only. As Roentgen's +cathodic light has illuminated the physical +body, so have cathodic sounds illumined for me +the spiritual body of my mundane existence. I am +endeavoring to show my fellowmen this "new light," +whose lustre, also invisible on ordinary occasions, +when once seen is so great that it will never again +fade from the memory of the beholder. As time +progresses, it will continue to penetrate ever more +deeply into regions hitherto considered to be impervious +to any kind of light; regions whose phenomena +have been called supernatural, or, at least, +beyond the sphere of the knowledge of man. All +other anodes or cathodes of which we have obtained +any knowledge belong to physical phenomena only. +The cathode I have discovered belongs to our +spiritual life, being a part of a living vocal sound.</p> + +<p>Think of it! To be able to divide the essence of +life and to obtain two <em>living</em> parts, each endowed +with a life of its own! This is a nearer approach to +the knowledge of life than any ever attained before. +A <em>vocal</em> sound is an entity. From entities we cannot +learn anything. They are phenomena complete +in themselves. Regarding their innermost nature, +they have always been to us as a closed book. They +offer us no vantage-ground; no opening, no breach, +through which we can enter into the mysterious +process of their existence. No matter whether such +life or existence be that of the minutest parasite of +a minute vegetable growth, that growth itself, or +the giant of the forest; whether it be that of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +microbe or the microbe of a microbe; whether it be +the essence of a thought, a sigh, a tear, a look, a +vocal sound, or of a human being—their innermost +natures are all alike mysterious to us. I have +succeeded in analyzing a vocal sound, and this apparently +simple proceeding has opened up to me +endless vistas in endless directions. I have reduced +this entity into its natural elements, and have again +put these together. After resolving it into two lives +I have again formed it into one. I can bring about +this analysis as well as this synthesis at will at any +time.</p> + +<p>All know what is meant by vocal sounds, yet few, +I repeat, know what are simple sounds, though constantly +used by everybody while whispering or uttering +exclamations, while surprised, alarmed, frightened, +etc. My accomplishment, therefore, is but +the <em>recognition</em> of the nature of a thing constantly +before us and brought to our consciousness through +our ear.</p> + +<p>Simple sounds are the anodes, the beginnings of +sounds. There is no life in them, no rhythm, no +melody, no light, no grace, no beauty. These are +imparted to them by the fusion of the cathode element +of vocal sounds with this, the anode; the +spiritual with the material. The anode is formed +first. It is the passive element, the female, the +patient, the waiting, which must have been before +the male, the impatient, the aggressive. The thing +to be fructified must have been before that which +fructifies.</p> + +<p>The anode is quiescent until the cathode comes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +along, joins it, and infuses life into it. The creation +of a vocal sound is an act of generation. The +cathode, after overwhelming the anode, penetrates +it and diffuses itself throughout it, and thus forms +a union whose result is the production of a vocal +sound. Similar unions between anodes and cathodes +are formed a myriad-fold every moment during +time's progress, and result in the creation of an +electric spark, or a succession of sparks, called an +electric light, or any other light or fire, or of a +thought, or of the embryo to a new life of any and +every description, etc.; while a discord, a stutter, +a <em>smouldering</em> fire, the sight of a thing too dimly +seen to be recognized, a cut or broken limb, a +suspense, a disappointment, a <em>suppressed</em> action or +passion, etc., are anodes not joined by their cathodes. +By the juncture of a cathode with an anode +we exercise our faculties, we become conscious of a +sight, a sound, an odor, a taste, etc.; the anode +being vested in the thing to be seen, heard, smelled, +or tasted,—the cathode in ourselves.</p> + +<p><em>While the anode of a vocal sound may be uttered +audibly, the cathode, by itself, cannot be uttered—the +spiritual cannot be materialized except in conjunction +with the material.</em> The anode, the physical, is inert +until the cathode, the spiritual, has formed a juncture +with it, has been alloyed with it. Every phenomenon +of which we become conscious is the result +of a process of this nature. The more perfect the +union, the more perfect the outcome or result, the +phenomenon.</p> + +<p>In our ordinary speech this alloy, this union, is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> +of a mutable and evanescent, in oratory and song +it is of a more continuous and lasting, nature. +With persons speaking a foreign tongue, and with +the deaf, it is superficial, imperfect; in many cases, +in fact, we hear only anodes, no union having been +effected. The amalgamation, the alloy of the finer +with the coarser, the higher with the lower, the +spiritual with the material, is not at all or but imperfectly +performed; the coarser element prevails +and makes its presence felt in every utterance. The +more perfect the union between anodes and cathodes +in vocal utterance, the higher will be the performance, +the more perfect the speech, the more beautiful +the song, the more stirring, the more soulful; the +nearer they come to our hearts.</p> + +<p>How do I know all this? I will tell you: By +watching the <em>beginning</em> of a vocal sound; the performance +actually going on within us, while such sound +is first being created. This performance is of an inverse +order as between German and English, in so +far as the anode for German vocal sounds is located +to the right, the cathode to the left. The cathode +approaches the anode from left to right; while in +the creation of an English vocal sound the anode is +to the left, the cathode to the right, and the latter +approaches the former from right to left. The location +where the union <em>appears</em> to take place is in the +chest, near the heart; for German sounds, to the +right thereof, for English to the left. As a matter +of fact, however, it is in the heart itself.</p> + +<p>What does the motion in which anode and cathode +approach each other—which is not direct as it at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +first appears to the observer, but vastly circuitous—signify?</p> + +<p>The circulation through the vascular system of the +elements (of the æther) creating vocal sounds, or the +<em>circulation of vocal sounds</em>. The proofs that this important +fact actually obtains will be furnished very +positively and very circumstantially at a later date +in connection with that part of these expositions +which treats on vocal sounds.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 457px;"> +<img src="images/fig119-300dpi.jpg" width="457" height="220" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig120-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="167" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>OUR MOTHER TONGUE</h2> + + +<p>Nature will have its right always. What is +this right in regard to vocal utterance? It is +the manner in which we breathe. When we violate +nature's right in our mode of breathing for vocal +expression, our penalty is that such expression will +not be what it is intended to be, what it should be; +the idiomatic expression of every language being the +outcome of a special mode of breathing for the same.</p> + +<p><em>All</em> my observations in the first instance owe their +origin to the fact that I was breathing in a manner +directly opposite to the one in which it was necessary +for me to breathe to correctly produce the idiomatic +expression of the English language. It was not until +after this fact had become clear to my mind that I +began to extract from my organs of speech those +sounds which appear so abnormally different and +"strange" to the ear of the bewildered foreigner, +who finds himself completely at a loss how to produce +them. The better he becomes acquainted with +the language, the more thoroughly he becomes convinced +of the fact that his mode of speaking English +is different from that of the native-born. Nor will +a German <em>ever</em> succeed in speaking English as it<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> +should be spoken until he succeeds in <em>reversing</em> his +mode of breathing. He must go straight to the +antipodes in sound production; he must stand on +his head, so to say, instead of on his feet. I shall +fully explain what this means later on.</p> + +<p>I venture to make the assertion that no other +person besides myself has ever learned to pronounce +a foreign language <em>idiomatically correct</em>, as I have, +by means of applying to his mode of speaking rules +based on actual knowledge or scientific principles. +In this manner I have succeeded in learning to speak +English with less of the tinge of a foreign accent +adhering to my speech than usually is the case +with foreigners who have commenced to speak it +as late in life as I did. I do not say this vauntingly, +for I do not consider this accomplishment in itself +as of a very high order; but I say it to vindicate my +claim that I have discovered the principles on which +the production of language is based, and offer my +personal pronunciation of the English language to +which these principles have been applied as a proof +that I have done so. I am still learning, however, +for it takes time and practice and a great deal of +patience to dislodge the old habit from its wonted +haunts and to assign its quarters to a foreign guest. +My old familiar dwelling has thus become a lodging +for the English language, though I can return to it +at will with my old and dearly beloved mother +tongue and be comfortable therein.</p> + +<p>The foreign guest, however, who came to dwell +therein, does not use my native home, in his mode +of entering it or going forth from it, in the old<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +familiar way, nor does he use the same apartments +for the same purposes. He enters at the back gate +while I used to enter at the front; he leaves it at +the front gate while I left at the back. He opens +his shutters to the east, while I used to look out +from the west, etc. Such differences as these in +our mode of breathing exist throughout the entire +length and breadth of both languages. The sounds +we have imbibed in our early youth, however, will +always be more familiar and nearer to us and dearer +than those of any other language, no matter how +closely the latter may enter into our lives and our +being at a later period.</p> + + +<h3>NATIONAL TRAITS OF CHARACTER</h3> + +<p>What constitutes a given number of people a +nation, besides their history, their political organization, +and the geographical position of their territory? +What makes every member belonging to a nation, +whether he lives within its territory or has emigrated +therefrom, a different being from every member of +any other nation? What makes each member of a +nation resemble every other member thereof, not +only in regard to vocal expression but also in regard +to general cast of features, build of body, movements, +gesticulations, etc., and in what may be +summed up as national traits of character?</p> + +<p>No one will deny the fact that such differences +exist, as between Germans, Frenchmen, and Englishmen, +for instance. This difference is not racial, +as they all belong to the Caucasian race. It can +scarcely be climatic with nations whose territory is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +adjacent to each other; nor is it likely to be religious, +historical, or political. There is nothing +very decidedly different in the situation and composition +of these various nations and the individuals +of which they are composed, except their <em>language</em>.</p> + +<p>I maintain that language is not only the main +point of difference, but that it is the cause and +origin of all other main points of difference. As +language is the main gift which distinguishes men +from animals, so it is also the principal distinguishing +mark as between one nation and another. I +maintain, and expect to prove, that the language—that +is, any specific language—acquired in childhood +becomes an integral part of a person's organization, +as positively so as any of his other natural faculties; +and that he cannot change it, that is, <em>in an idiomatically +correct manner</em>, without changing, to some +extent, the drift of his entire organism. As soon +as I began to succeed in speaking the English +language as it is spoken in this country, idiomatically +correct, I changed my nature, to some extent, +from that of a German to that of an American; nor +is it possible to learn to speak any language idiomatically +correct without undergoing a similar +change. Not alone my mode of vocal expression, +but my motions, my habits, nay, my very <em>features</em>, +yes, even my way of <em>thinking</em>, in some respects, have +been subjected to such a change; modified, of course, +by heredity, previous habits, and the constant reversion +of all this by the frequent recurrence to my +native tongue. In using the term "idiomatically +correct" I mean of course that mode of expression<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> +which is peculiar to a language, its general cast, and +which is representative of its genius and spirit.</p> + +<p>To what do I attribute so powerful an influence?</p> + +<p>It is not easy to say this comprehensively in a +few words. I will say this much, however: That, +language being the outcome of streams of the vital +fluid passing into and out of our composition in a +systematic manner, each system varying with every +other system, our vital organs are differently affected, +in conformity with the manner and the rotation in +which these streams reach these different organs; +in other words, in conformity with the manner in +which we breathe for our language. This influence +is not confined to the vocal expression of a <em>nation</em>. It +is influential with and extends to the special mode +of vocal expression in separate districts, provinces, +localities, and cities; nay, it extends to families and +single members belonging to such families, each +separate member's expression being the product of +his special mode of breathing, and differing in some +respects from that of every other member of the +same family; <em>such difference in the mode of breathing +being the reflection of every individual soul</em>.</p> + +<p>The bent of the soul in <em>individual</em> cases determines +the flow of these streams, the same as the +bent of the <em>national</em> soul determines the same for +the entire nation. Or, which perhaps would be +more correct, the flow of these streams determines +the bent of the individual as well as national soul. +The influence being reciprocal, it would be difficult +to state, as it is with all matters of this kind, <em>which</em> +preponderates, <em>which</em> gives the first impulse. It is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +of the same order as the old question (never to +be solved) aptly expressed in the homely query, +"Which was created first, the hen or the egg?"</p> + +<p>It is interesting to note the manner in which the +vital streams affecting the character of the two peoples +in regard to whom I have had the opportunity +for many years of making my observations, the +Anglo-Saxon and the German, take their course. +With the former the point of gravitation is located +in the abdomen; with the latter in the thorax.</p> + +<p>This gives the Anglo-Saxon a circuitous route for +his expression in coming to the surface; his mode +of respiration being the following:</p> + +<p>He inspires into the thorax posteriorly, next into +the abdomen anteriorly. He then expires from the +abdomen posteriorly, and from the thorax anteriorly; +vocal expression accompanying the last movement.</p> + +<p>A German's mode of respiration is as follows: He +inspires into the abdomen posteriorly, expiring from +the abdomen anteriorly; he then inspires into the +thorax anteriorly and expires from the same posteriorly, +the latter movement only being accompanied +by sound. You will notice that in the +former case the breath to be expired and to be accompanied +by sound has been held in the thorax +until the abdomen has gone through an inspiration +and an expiration; while with Germans, inspiration +into the abdomen as well as into the thorax are succeeded +by expiration from the same, a direct proceeding +as against the indirect of the Anglo-Saxon. +Thus the former secures a force reserved and held<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +and to be drawn upon as it is needed, while the +latter pours forth his vital force in a continuous +stream as soon as it is engendered.</p> + +<p>The point of gravitation determines the mode of +breathing and the production of vocal utterance. +With Anglo-Saxons, the point of gravitation being +located in the abdomen, their speech tends from +below, upward; with Germans, the point of gravitation +being located in the thorax, their speech tends +from above, downward. The direction of Anglo-Saxon +expression is from the abdomen, where it has +its root, to the thorax; that of the German is from +the thorax, where it has its root, to the abdomen. +It will scarcely be necessary for me to say to the +reader, over and over again, "Try this," "Try +that"; I wish it to be understood, once for all, +that this recommendation is to be tacitly implied as +accompanying every statement, every proposition, +every assertion I make. Personally I can go through +any one and all of the performances at any time and +at a moment's notice. In making these experiments, +speak or sing <em>after</em> breathing in the prescribed manner. +The prescribed manner being the one in which +the <em>impression</em> is made and from which the <em>expression</em> +is produced as a matter of course and of necessity. +An Anglo-Saxon will not be able to utter a +word spoken or sung in <em>his</em> language after breathing +in the <em>German</em> fashion, nor will a German be able to +do so in <em>his</em> language after breathing in the <em>Anglo-Saxon</em> +manner. Change either manner of breathing +but in the least, and you will not be able to express +yourself in either German or English; but you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> +may thus be able to express yourself in some other +language. It is, of course, understood that we +breathe into the abdomen through the œsophagus, +into the thorax through the trachea.</p> + +<p>In trying propositions like the one now under +consideration, it may not be easy for persons who +have not previously given any thought to matters +of this kind to successfully try them. You +must give yourself up to these things, must be <em>at +home</em> for them only, for a period at least, until you +have become thoroughly engrossed with them. It +is not a study to be superficially attained. You +must enter into it with your whole soul, your entire +being. If you do, you will eventually become as +familiar with the principles underlying these matters +as you are with the letters of the alphabet, or the +figures representing the numerals, and be able to +apply the same in as easy a manner and for as +various purposes as you do these.</p> + +<p>Their <em>indirect</em> mode of breathing of Anglo-Saxons +produces a deliberate mode of speech; while +German breathing, being <em>direct</em>, produces a speech +as rapid in its formation as in its utterance. <em>Action +being the counterpoise of speech, is of the inverse order +of the latter. English speech being slow and deliberate, +English action is rapid and direct; German speech being +rapid and direct, German action is slow and deliberate.</em> +English character, the same as English speech, +is distinguished by patience and forbearance; these, +when finally exhausted, are succeeded by sudden +and violent outbreaks. German character, the same +as German speech, is alternately exuberant and de<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span>pressed; +contented, but also of a disposition to find +fault whenever the occasion may arise.</p> + +<p>Anglo-Saxons, in consequence of their <em>indirect</em> +mode of expression, are in possession of a reserve +force always at their command, but only called upon +on special occasions; hence long-continued forbearance, +and then—a blow for liberty. With Germans, +in consequence of their <em>direct</em> mode of expression, +their vital force is continuously being engendered, +and as continuously being exhausted. Hence, they +are in the habit of constantly protesting, and as +constantly submitting to the <em>status quo</em>.</p> + +<p>The character of Anglo-Saxons, in viewing things +from a practical standpoint, is as far removed from +the ideal as it is from the pessimistic. It is neither +exuberant, overstrained, exalted, nor despondent; +but cool, well balanced, and matter-of-fact. It is +not like the German:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Himmelhoch jauchzen, zu Tode betruebt."<br /></span> +<span class="i0">("Raised to the sky with delight;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Depressed to the ground with despair.")<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>A German is influenced according to whether he can +or cannot, while losing sight of the real, satisfy his +craving for the ideal, for which, in his direct and impulsive +nature, he is constantly yearning; which the +Anglo-Saxon, seeing it is beyond his reach, abandons +as impracticable.</p> + +<p>To comprehend the ideal of whatsoever nature, +the German, with endless patience, tries to solve the +most complicated problems; after solving them he +is often satisfied with the result in the abstract; while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> +the practical Anglo-Saxon uses this result for his +utilitarian purposes. The philosophical German +patiently unravels a Gordian knot; the practical +Anglo-Saxon, "Alexander-like, cuts it in two with +his sword" ("Wie Alexander haut ihn auseinander"). +Germans love education for its own sake; +it makes of them superior beings, giving them treasures +more highly prized than any others, and far +more lasting. Anglo-Saxons, on the other hand, +get their education for a purpose, and with a view +to their worldly advancement. While with Germans +education is "Selbstzweck" (its reward consisting +in its possession), with Anglo-Saxons its +reward consists in its application. The question so +often agitated in this country, whether a university +education may or may not be of benefit (that is, in +furthering his worldly advancement) to any one not +intending to embrace one of the learned professions, +would never arise in Germany; practical value and +education being things apart, the latter taking first +rank always and never being subordinated to the +former.</p> + +<p>Schiller says:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"[Der Edle] <em>legt</em> das Hohe in das Leben,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Doch er sucht es nicht darin."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">("[Our aim should be] the noble to inculcate into life,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">And not to search for it therein.")<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>I am inclined to think that the opposite of this is +the usual tendency with Anglo-Saxons.</p> + +<p>Many other causes might be cited, many other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> +results. These, however, must answer the present +purpose, which is, to show that the course taken by +the vital streams in breathing, besides affecting their +speech, affects the <em>character</em> of nations.</p> + +<p>All this might be summed up in saying: The +point of gravitation with Anglo-Saxons being located +in the abdomen, which represents the material side +of life, their being is primarily rooted in the material, +and reaches the ideal by way of the material. The +German, on the other hand, having his point of +gravitation in the thorax, which represents the +spiritual part of our existence, reaches the material +by way of the ideal, in which <em>his</em> being is primarily +rooted.</p> + +<p>I owe the reader an apology for anticipating in +using the terms "streams of life" and "the point of +gravitation." These are not words without a definite +meaning, however; on the contrary, they are of the +greatest significance and of a very definite meaning. +Still, I must tax his patience for a proper explanation +thereof till I shall be able to reach them in due +course of time. We cannot approach the steep crest +of a hill by a straight line of ascent, but must patiently +wind around and around its circumference to +be able to finally reach its summit.</p> + + +<h3>THE AMERICAN NATION</h3> + +<p>It will require but a single example, familiar to +all, to still more forcibly show that it is <em>language</em> +through whose agency national traits of character +and physical development are produced. How do +you suppose that the wonder has been wrought, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +is still daily being worked, of the great mass of +humanity reaching these shores from foreign lands +being merged into one homogeneous nation? The +remark is often made that "it is the climate." If +it were the climate, or other conditions specifically +belonging to this country, how is it that foreigners +coming here at maturity always remain foreigners, +while their offspring born and bred here become +Americans? Even children born elsewhere, but +coming here at an early age, soon become "Americanized," +while their parents remain foreigners +always. These children must have taken a potent +draught, not partaken of by their parents, to not +only change their mode of vocal but also of physical +expression; nay, the vital expression of their +entire being. That draught is the English language. +Most foreigners respectively married to an +American wife or husband, and rearing a family of +American children, remain foreigners to the end of +their lives.</p> + +<p>It often happens that parents of foreign birth +cannot comprehend the character and actions of +their own children, who are <em>so</em> different, being superficial +and frivolous, where they are deep and sound; +cool and calculating where they are fire and flame. +Yet these children possess sterling qualities of +another kind which their parents do not possess.</p> + +<p>I call to mind two brothers, sons of German +parents, born in this country. With the eldest-born +the German influence was potent. He was +made to speak German at home and at school, and +is to-day, though married to an American, more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +German in his manner and appearance than American, +while his mode of speaking the English language +also has something "German" in it. His +brother, on the other hand, more particularly reared +under native influences, is a thorough American. +There was nothing in this case but the influence of +language which could have caused this difference. +Similar examples might be cited endlessly.</p> + +<p>If language is capable of exercising so powerful an +influence it must be more than a superficial acquirement. +It must be woven into and interwoven with +our innermost nature. What is there in the English +language to make a German's broad and massive +forehead, high cheek-bones, full lips, short chin, and +round face, in his offspring sink into narrow forms +and long, oval lines? What makes the lower jaw, +which in him was short and round, in these children +sink down and extend outward, while the upper jaw +recedes back? What is it that makes the jovial and +happy expression of the German in his children +change into features of an impassive nature, from +which they are only roused when in action?—features +of which it has been said that it is sometimes difficult +to know whether they, sphinx-like, cover a happy +or unhappy disposition; a disposition sometimes so +self-possessed and reserved that its owner might +almost reply as Alva did, when asked why he never +smiled: "I would not so demean myself before myself +as to smile." Yet when such a face (especially +when it is a girl's) <em>does</em> smile, its passive features +are lighted up in a manner so enchanting that its +beauty amply compensates for its previous apathy.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<p>I do not wish to say, however, that Anglo-Saxons +do not <em>feel</em> either joy or sorrow as keenly as Germans +do (though I have my doubts even on this +score); but they do not carry their feelings with +them on the surface. They sink them into that +reserve, at once proud and self-possessed, which does +not wish others to take cognizance of their private +affairs. The nature of the Anglo-Saxon is one +of <em>reserve</em>, that of the German one of <em>abandon</em> and +<em>laisser-aller</em>. This is not due to heredity in the first +instance, but to the influence of language, by which +character and habits are formed.</p> + +<p>Dr. Holmes relates that, after a protracted search +for his son, who had been wounded in the battle of +Gettysburg, when at last finding the "Captain" +in a transport train, he went up to him, simply saying, +"How are you, Bob?" and he replying, "How +are you, Dad?"—stating at the same time, "Such +is the force of our national habit that, especially +in the presence of strangers, we suppress the impulse +of our most ardent feelings," or words to that +effect. A similar proceeding under such circumstances +would be considered "unnatural" among +Germans.</p> + +<p>Regarding the change of features, as between +foreign-born (German) parents and their English-speaking +offspring, by which the latter's assume a +shape which makes the œsophagus predominate +over the trachea, it will be as impossible for these +children to speak <em>idiomatically correct</em> German as it +is for their parents, with whom the trachea predominates +over the œsophagus, to speak idiomatically<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +correct English. When my features assume the +proper shape for English speech, I cannot produce +a single correct German sound, and when they assume +the proper shape for German speech, it is as impossible +for me to produce a correct English sound.</p> + +<p>I expect that this statement will be hotly disputed. +The measure of our ordinary mode of listening, +however, must not be applied to these +matters. In some rare instances the difference is +so slight that it takes a very acute ear to notice it.</p> + + +<h3>CENTRIPETAL AND CENTRIFUGAL</h3> + +<p>While speaking our native tongue our muscles +move, our sinews tend, our vessels lean, <em>our</em> blood +throbs, and our nerves tingle with the essence of our +language in <em>its</em> direction, and not in the direction +of any other language. We not only speak and +sing our language, but we gesticulate it, we walk it, +dance it, write it, think it, smile it, and sorrow in +it. Everything we do is done differently from the +same thing done by a person speaking another language. +The movements of the muscles of a German +are centripetal, while those of an Anglo-Saxon are +centrifugal. With a German they close in around +the mouth; with an Anglo-Saxon they depart from +the mouth upward and downward. Hence the +broad features of the German <em>versus</em> the elongated +ones of the Anglo-Saxon. Look at the old people. +The centrifugal action with an Anglo-Saxon even in +old age still leaves his form erect, his face serene, +scarcely showing a wrinkle, either on his forehead, +his cheeks, or around the eyes and mouth. Apart<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> +from his bleached hair, he frequently retains a quite +youthful appearance. The centripetal action with +a German in old age, on the other hand, has a tendency +to bend his form and draw it together, and to +shrivel up his skin into innumerable wrinkles, so that +his mouth often resembles the mouth of a purse +drawn close together. This youthful appearance +with aged English-speaking people reflects on their +customs and their costume, which latter retains +much of the tidiness of their younger days. Germans, +on the other hand, age soon. This fact is so +apparent that they conform their habits and general +appearance to their age. They feel old, and unhesitatingly +submit to their aged condition. They +often appear old when still comparatively young. +English-speaking old people, on the other hand, are +never too old not to wish to appear young. For +the terms "Greis" and "Greisin," which imply a +weakened and somewhat helpless condition, there is +no corresponding expression in the English language.</p> + +<p>Observe a gang of laborers carrying a heavy log. +If there are Germans among them, their heads and +shoulders will be bent, as well as their knees, resembling +caryatides in Gothic churches. <em>They carry +from below, upward.</em> Those who speak English, on +the other hand, will walk with heads erect, straight +shoulders, and stiff knees, resembling the caryatides +of the Greek temples. <em>They carry from above, +downward.</em></p> + +<p>The German mode of expression is produced by +contraction, expansion, contraction; the English<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +by expansion, contraction, expansion. For the +former, contraction takes place <em>towards</em> the diaphragm, +first upward and then downward; that is, +from the feet upward, and then from the head +downward. For the latter, expansion takes place +<em>from</em> the diaphragm, first upward and then downward; +that is, from the diaphragm towards the head, +and then from the diaphragm towards the feet.</p> + +<p>Artists must study these things if they want to +get a proper insight into life, and the action of +life, characteristic of different nations. The simple +study of anatomy gives them no clue to these +matters. Everything we do is done differently +from the same thing being done by a person speaking +another language. The books on physiology +do not make mention of these matters. They +treat all nations alike. They tell an Englishman +that in closing his mouth the muscles of the upper +lip by a direct action are first raised and then +lowered, while those of the lower are first lowered +and then raised. As a matter of fact, the natural +tendency with English-speaking people is towards +having their mouths open. In closing the same the +lower lip is first raised, then lowered, the upper is +first lowered, then raised, and again lowered; whereupon +the lower lip is raised. This gives three +movements to each lip. The natural tendency with +Germans is towards keeping their mouths closed. +To <em>firmly</em> close the same they must raise the upper +lip, lower the lower, lower the upper, and then raise +the lower. This gives two movements to each lip. +These motions are <em>indirect</em> with Anglo-Saxons, with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +Germans they are <em>direct</em>. With Anglo-Saxons the +lower jaw is the main instrument; with Germans it +is the upper. With Anglo-Saxons the lower moves +up to the upper; while with Germans the upper +closes down on the lower. That Anglo-Saxons +move their lower jaw up to the upper, to them will +appear as a matter of course; yet Germans do not do +this; with them the lower jaw is first raised to be in +position to be met by the upper, the latter being +lowered from the atlas by motions made by the entire +upper part of the head.</p> + +<p>During speech the head of an Anglo-Saxon remains +impassive; there is no perceptible movement +except in connection with his lower jaw. Hence +his stolid immovability in contradistinction with the +mobility and vivacity of a German, whose entire +head, often accompanied by his entire body, appears +to take part in his speech. These motions, +though fundamental with these peoples, vary with +locality, individual character, temperament, etc. A +German if he keeps his cranium entirely still will +be unable to produce a sound; while an Anglo-Saxon +will be unable to produce a sound if he should +move it as Germans do. A German's power of +vocal utterance lies in the flexibility of his cranium; +an Anglo-Saxon's in that of his lower jaw.</p> + +<p>An Anglo-Saxon grinds the teeth of his lower +jaw, in anger or in passion, or while masticating +food, or under any other circumstances, against those +of his upper; a German grinds those of his upper +jaw against those of the lower.</p> + +<p>All motions in connection with vocal utterance on<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> +the part of an Anglo-Saxon are of a decidedly larger +compass than those of a German; the latter being +confined to the slight motions he is able to make +with his head, while the former frequently draws +down his lower jaw to a very great extent, far more +so than a German would be able to draw down his.</p> + +<p>The "life" with the German is in the upper, with +Anglo-Saxons it is in the lower jaw; the former +representing the thorax, the latter the abdomen. +While the thorax, as already mentioned, with Germans +is the predominating vehicle for every performance +of life, with Anglo-Saxons it is the abdomen.</p> + +<p>With Germans the lower jaw is the anvil, the +upper the hammer; with Anglo-Saxons the upper is +the anvil, the lower the hammer; the action, the +life, always being with the hammer.</p> + +<p>If you watch an American girl chewing taffy you +will find her lower jaw going way down, then out, +and up again. This is characteristic of the manner +in which Anglo-Saxons breathe and speak. The +chewing process, owing to the adhesion of the taffy +to the teeth, together with the greater flexibility of +a girl's jaws, brings out these features more strikingly +than under ordinary circumstances. In chewing +taffy the lower jaw (the hammer) meets with +some difficulty in making its movements; it is +therefore lowered as much as possible, so as to be +able to more effectually close in with the upper (the +anvil). A German girl's movements under similar +conditions are restricted, being largely confined to +the upper jaw, which cannot be raised to any great +extent.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>An Anglo-Saxon speaker or singer makes movements +similar to such a chewer of taffy. He draws +his lower jaw down and out to make room in the +lower cavity of his mouth for the expression of his +main sounds. These are the product of the abdominal +cavity and find their way out through the +œsophagus from <em>beneath</em> the lower surface of the +tongue. Here they pass the replica and the frænum, +which impart to them their rhythmical expression. +Any one doubting the correctness of these +statements, by making the replica and the frænum, +or either of them, rigid, will not, if he is an Anglo-Saxon, +be able to produce a single sound; if he is a +German, he will still be able to utter his main sounds +coming to the surface through the trachea, over and +above his tongue. An Anglo-Saxon, on the other +hand, may still speak when he makes the vocal cords +of the larynx rigid; while a German in that case +will be unable to produce any sound whatsoever. +To these matters I have already called attention in +a previous publication, in connection with the man +who was deprived of his larynx by a surgical operation, +but not of his power of speech.</p> + +<p>A similar experiment may be made in regard to +breathing. By making the soft palate, representing +the thorax, rigid, you will not be able to inspire, +though you may expire. By making the bottom +of the mouth close to your teeth (<em>the soft palate of +the lower jaw</em>), representing the abdomen, rigid, you +will not be able to expire, though you may inspire. +With a German the precisely opposite facts prevail. +By making the soft palate rigid, he will stop expira<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span>tion; +by making the bottom of the mouth close to +the teeth rigid, he will stop inspiration.</p> + +<p>During vocal utterance, with Germans every superior +muscle first moves downward, every inferior +upward; while with Anglo-Saxons every superior +muscle first moves upward, every inferior downward. +This is preparatory and previous to action. <em>During</em> +action the German opens his mouth, the Anglo-Saxon +closes his. Hence the Anglo-Saxon's half-open +mouth while in repose, and his almost stern +expression while in action, pleasurable action even, +which has provoked the witty saying that "Englishmen +take to their pleasures sadly."</p> + +<p>The abdomen being the centre of gravity for English +speech, and the lower jaw being in direct communication +with the same by way of the œsophagus, +by making the lower jaw rigid you stop the flow of +English sounds. The thorax, on the other hand, +being the centre of gravity for German speech, and +the upper jaw being in direct communication with +the same by way of the trachea, in making this jaw +rigid you stop the flow of German sounds.</p> + + +<h3>ROTATION OF CENTRIPETAL AND CENTRIFUGAL +ACTION</h3> + +<p>Speaking of centripetal and centrifugal motion as +separate actions, there must, of course, be a <em>rotation</em> +of these actions to produce a <em>complete</em> action of any +kind. We, however, speak of the one which <em>prevails</em> +over the other, as <em>the</em> action under consideration. +Thus when I say a German's mode of eating +is centripetal, I say so because the action of his jaws<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +being direct, it is first centrifugal, then centripetal, +then centrifugal, then again centripetal. When I +say an Anglo-Saxon's mode is centrifugal, I say so +because the action of his jaws being indirect, it is +first centripetal, then centrifugal, then centripetal, +then again centrifugal, and finally once more centripetal. +This, with a German, of course, means: +Open, close, open, close. With an Anglo-Saxon it +means: Close, open, close, open, close. This, however, +only gives the main features of an act of eating, +etc., as well as uttering sounds; any of these acts, +in reality, requiring <em>eight</em> movements to carry on +one <em>complete</em> act. When centrifugal prevails centripetal +follows, and when centripetal prevails centrifugal +follows. It stands to reason that an action +which is composed of open, close, open, close, or +close, open, close, open, close, cannot continue in +the same rotation indefinitely, but must be complemented +by a motion of the opposite nature; such +complementary action, however, always being executed +inwardly and not outwardly. While the +action of the jaws just now described precedes +mastication, the inner action complementary thereof +is accompanied by the act of swallowing.</p> + +<p>Thus with a German there are four movements +preceding mastication and four for swallowing; with +an Anglo-Saxon there are five movements for the +former and three for the latter; while the act of +mastication proper with both nations consists of +eight movements which are repeated as often as is +necessary for the act of swallowing.</p> + +<p>The respective manner in which knives and forks<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +are handled in eating by Germans and Anglo-Saxons, +as well as the different manner in which they dance, +and the characters they use in writing, might be +cited as results of the different modes in which centripetal +and centrifugal actions prevail with them. +The characters Germans use in writing being centrifugal +in their nature and those Anglo-Saxons use +centripetal, this can only be accounted for by assuming +that the muscular action preparatory to the act +of writing in both instances is of the opposite nature.</p> + +<p>In consequence of the centrifugal movements of +their jaws and lips, the teeth, with English-speaking +persons, are always on exhibition; while the centripetal +movement prevailing with Germans conceals +them. The consequence is that English-speaking +people pay the utmost attention to the care and +perfection of their teeth, while Germans, in the +highest ranks even, frequently neglect them to an +almost shameful degree. The direct outcome of +this state of affairs is the great advancement which +the practice of dentistry has made in this country +and in England, while it is one to which, on the continent +of Europe, but comparatively little attention +is being paid.</p> + +<p>With English-speaking people, especially the +women, whose lips are more flexible than men's, +the teeth of the upper jaw are more frequently exposed +than those of the lower, for this reason: The +œsophagus being the main instrument for English +speech, its sounds, in coming to the surface from +beneath the tongue, require the latter to remain in +a semi-raised position most of the time; the upper<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +lip, being in the way of these sounds coming to the +surface, must be raised for the same reason; in so +doing it exposes the upper row of teeth. The lower +lip is lowered for the sounds of the trachea for the +same reason that the upper is raised for those of the +œsophagus. Whenever the upper lip is raised +the lower must be immediately lowered, and vice +versa. With Anglo-Saxons the main movement is +with the upper, with Germans it is with the lower +lip. Owing to the centripetal action with Germans, +these movements are less pronounced than they are +with English-speaking people.</p> + +<p>The act of smiling being produced in the same +order as that of speaking, the same conditions prevail +in relation to the same.</p> + +<p>In speaking English you can "feel" that the +upper lip is the main vehicle; <em>it has all the life in it</em>. +In speaking German you can "feel" it is the lower, +which for that language possesses the life. If you +make the former rigid you cannot speak English; if +you make the latter rigid you cannot speak German.</p> + +<p>In connection with the movements of the lips it +will be noticed that while the upper jaw and the roof +of the mouth are dominated by the trachea and +the thorax, and the lower jaw and the bottom of the +mouth by the œsophagus and the abdomen, the +upper lip is dominated by the sounds of the œsophagus, +and the lower by those of the trachea. +This, however, is owing to mechanical reasons only, +as explained, and not to vital causes.</p> + +<p>The foreigner who learns to speak the English +language ever so well, though he may reside here<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +almost a lifetime, if he does not learn to speak it +<em>idiomatically</em> correct, will not be influenced by it to +any great extent in any of the various manners of +which I have made mention, either as regards his +features, character, habits, motions, thoughts, etc.; +but, in spite of his "English," he will still be a +foreigner. This foreigner's children, however, provided +he does not influence them to the contrary +through pride of his native tongue, and if reared +under native influences, will become thorough +Americans.</p> + +<p>There need be no fear, therefore, that immigration +might bring to this country a permanent foreign +element. Such elements, when they do come, +are of a passing nature. Their offspring, in passing +the crucial test of the English tongue, sink the foreigner +into the all-absorbing element of the English +idiom; and in so doing are merged into and become +an integral part of the people of this country. They +may come of whatever nation, from whatever land; +no matter how they may appear, act, or speak, the +English idiom will continue to make them Americans, +in their children at least, in the future as it +has in the past. There is thus in the centrifugal +force which dominates the speech of Anglo-Saxons +that which is a safeguard to the homogeneity as well +as the institutions of this nation.</p> + +<p>An Anglo-Saxon cannot be a bondsman; his language +forbids it. The centrifugal force which prevails +with him does not permit fetters. The children +of all foreigners born here and speaking the English +language come under its spell. If language did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +have this supreme influence, there is no other influence +that would have prevented this country long +ago from having become inhabited in special districts +with permanent groups of people foreign to its aims +and institutions, and alien to its genius, its character, +and its customs. In districts where German is +spoken as the principal language, as in some parts +of Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, it is not, with the +native-born at least, the pure German language, but +its idiomatic expression is that of the English tongue.</p> + +<p>People say, "It is the climate." We have every +climate under the sun; yet in all that is essential +the man from Maine is as thoroughly American as +the one from Texas; the gold-digger in the frozen +regions of the Yukon as the man of the orange-groves +of Florida or California; the American fisherman +on the Banks of Newfoundland as those on the +Gulf of Mexico; the man who battles on the plains +against the Indians as he who serves under the banner +of the Republic and upholds its glory in foreign +lands and seas. You can tell an American the moment +you look at him. Yet if you ask some of them +where their parents were born, you will hear strange +tales of lands and peoples across the sea and far +away.</p> + +<p>Language does not work <em>every</em> wonder, of course. +The influence of heredity perpetuates that of language; +but the latter is the primary influence. Nor +can it be denied that <em>every</em> foreigner living here for +some time, whether he has learned to speak English +or not, will, to some extent at least, be influenced +by the habits, customs, institutions, climate, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> +language of this country. This does not detract, +however, from the force of my argument regarding +language and its influence as the most vital force in +shaping a people's characteristic traits, physically as +well as spiritually.</p> + +<p>There has been of late a great deal of talk and enthusiasm +even regarding the desirability of a closer +alliance between the two great English-speaking nations; +their natural affinity and kinship. This affinity, +this belonging together, this being of one family +and one stock, is commonly expressed by this term, +"English-speaking peoples." That which I have +endeavored to explain at length is thus tacitly acknowledged +to be correct through the use of this +term, which implies that it is <em>the English tongue</em> +which makes these peoples one in sentiment, in feeling, +in their aims and purposes, as it makes them +one in their physical appearance, their motions, the +exercise of their faculties and functions, etc.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 599px;"> +<img src="images/fig146-300dpi.jpg" width="599" height="283" alt="" /> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig147-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="164" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>NATIONALITY AND RACE DISTINCTIONS</h2> + + +<p>While the English language makes Americans +of all foreigners, it does not, of course, obliterate +race distinctions as long as races continue to +exist as such. Persons of alien races, nevertheless, +when born in this country and reared under native +influences, will become "American" in a truer sense +than foreigners belonging to the Caucasian race coming +here at maturity. I dare say Frederick Douglass +was truly more of an American, in all this word implies, +than any foreigner who ever came to live here; +and so are all the better classes of native-born negroes, +in a certain sense, more truly American, this indescribable +something which constitutes a nation, than +any aliens whosoever.</p> + +<p>A gentleman once told me that, travelling on a +steamboat on one of the New England rivers, he had +been inadvertently listening to a conversation carried +on behind him, between what seemed to be +two New England farmers. On rising from his +seat, he saw that one of the men was a Chinaman, +dressed like the other and conversing precisely as +he did.</p> + +<p>Seeing an acquaintance, he pointed out the Chinaman +and asked if he knew who he was.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That's Jimmy O'Connor; he's from So-and-so."</p> + +<p>"I mean the Chinaman."</p> + +<p>"Yes, the Chinaman; that's him. You know +he was picked up at sea, when still a baby, by a +New Bedford whaler, and was brought up in the +captain's family, who adopted him. He's as good +a farmer and as true an American as you can find +anywhere."</p> + +<p>These studies are meant to be purely objective, +and have no concern with politics or policies, regarding +undesirable immigration, or issues of a similar +nature. But language is nationality, and nationality +language, always, in the first instance; and the purer +a language is spoken, the truer, purer, and better +such nationality will be expressed and represented +by those who thus speak it. What an incentive to +aim at the purest and best expression of language, +for any people! But it will be said that language +is subject to change. If it is, so will the people who +speak it to some extent change with it. Such change, +however, is in its dress, in words mainly; rarely and +at long intervals, and under very peculiar circumstances +only, in its expression. As a matter of fact, +I doubt whether a change of the <em>idiomatic expression +ever</em> takes place.</p> + +<p>The difference existing between the English +spoken in the United States and the mother country +might be cited as an example. The idiomatic expression +is precisely the same. But the necessary +self-reliance of the first settlers, the privation, the +barter and exchange, the vast extent of the territory<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +of this country, the greater independence enjoyed +by its people, etc., might be named as reasons for +the greater dash and freedom, together with a possible +want of culture, as compared with the language +spoken by educated Englishmen, prevailing in its +utterance.</p> + +<p>The same influences prevail regarding the general +appearance, motions, and characteristic traits of +these respective nations. Though closely allied and +connected in a specific, and very nearly allied to +each other in a general sense, there is that which +distinguishes the English of the old world from +those of the new, and which can be easily recognized.</p> + +<p>Being centrifugal, the English idiom, octopus-like, +embraces anything and everything that comes +within the radius of its omnivorous capacity, without, +however, losing its original character. It is +like a fisherman who has hung out his net in the +ocean, taking in all that comes along; or like the +sea itself, greedy without end. It has no scruples +about roots and construction, but construes everything +according to its wants and adapts it to its uses +as it comes along from any quarter.</p> + +<p>These adopted children, these waifs, however, it +must not be lost sight of, before they become integral +parts of English speech must submit to a +change of their original idiomatic expression. No +matter who came—Celts, Romans, Angles, Saxons, +or French—the people of the British Islands, while +adopting their <em>terms</em> of expression, remained true to +their original <em>idiomatic</em> expression. As this country<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +absorbs people from the whole world and makes one +homogeneous American nation of them, so has the +English language absorbed, and is still absorbing, +words from every other people's language, and has +transformed them into one homogeneous language +of its own.</p> + +<p>Comparative philology, if it wants to accomplish +that which would be most worthy of its efforts, will +have to come down to these strong and basic roots +of language.</p> + +<p>The German language, whose idiomatic expression +is centripetal, on the other hand, does not possess +the same capacity for adopting foreign words and +adapting them to its idiom. When it does adopt +them, as, for instance, those of French origin, they +are pronounced, not in the German, but, as far as +the German people are capable of so doing, in the +French manner. They could not, in fact, be pronounced +in the German manner, the German language +being a close corporation, so to say, which does +not admit of any foreign shareholders; while the +English language is a company open to all comers. +While it is the endeavor of Germans to <em>purify</em> their +language by expelling as far as possible any foreign +word and element therefrom, Anglo-Saxons are constantly +adopting new words from foreign languages. +It would be equal to the labor of Sisyphus for Anglo-Saxons +to endeavor to purify their language from +foreign words, in the same sense that Germans are +attempting to purify theirs.</p> + +<p>It appears to me that the capacity of England for +successful colonization is largely due to the centrif<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span>ugal +force inherent in its language, while the want +of success of Germany for the same purpose is due +to the absence of this force. Anglo-Saxon government +tends toward decentralization, German toward +centralization. I say this in spite of the fact that +Germany is still divided into many principalities; +the fact of its adherence to this undesirable condition +being a proof of the correctness of this assertion +rather than otherwise—Germans not being able to +readily get out of that in which they are once rooted. +In regard to governing peoples in distant territories +or colonies, this tendency is of importance. English +government, being undemonstrative, is more +effective than German, which is demonstrative, +meddlesome, and therefore offensive; the former +being material and practical, the latter immaterial +and inclined to be visionary.</p> + +<p>In a word, where are we to find explanations regarding +national traits of character except through +inner motive powers, productive of results individual +as well as national? There is no factor which +exercises an influence upon a nation as a unit so +wide in extent and of so powerful a nature as that +of language. It is the <em>only</em> motive power, in fact, +which every member of a nation shares with every +other member thereof, but not with any member of +any foreign nation.</p> + + +<h3>IDIOMATIC EXPRESSION</h3> + +<p>Although it is a well known fact that every language +has an idiomatic expression, an intonation of +its own, I am not aware of any attempt ever having<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> +been made at definitely stating what such expression, +or intonation, really consists in; and in what +respect it differs, as between one language and another. +Yet this fact should be the most important +of all in connection with ethnological studies. It +is necessary to know what a people's idiomatic expression +is before we can begin to make a study of +its language, in comparison with that of any other +people, by which we may expect to arrive at conclusions +of any real value in an ethnological sense.</p> + +<p>In comparison with idiomatic expression, the +study of the roots of words and their derivation, it +appears to me, is of but secondary importance; +idiomatic expression being the <em>kernel</em> in which the +tree of national expression had its incipiency, its +origin. It is the life which pulsates through its +veins, in which it has its stay and maintenance; the +nerves which tingle with its intelligence, its genius, +its soul. Take away this soul, and it ceases to exist. +For every language there must have been a strong +impulse making an impression before there could +have been any expression at all. This impulse must +have been of so powerful and continuous a nature +as to have left its impression upon the minds of a +sufficiently large number of people to form the nucleus +for the expression of a specific language, and, +in so doing, constituting such people a nation.</p> + +<p>I have already stated that it is <em>motion</em> in the first +instance which superinduces a specific mode of +breathing and consequent expression. It is to +motion, then, that we must ascribe the first impulse. +Such motion may have been active as to defense<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +against enemies, wild beasts, or the elements; or it +may have been passive, consisting of the continuous +noise produced by the motion of the sea, tempests, +or thunder-storms, making a great and lasting +impression. Then, again, the influence may have +been of a peaceful, balmy, beneficial nature, as with +people living in security, in a mild climate and on +fertile lands. The stronger the expression of these +movements, the stronger the impression they made +and the more powerful the expression of the language; +the softer and more harmonious their expression, +the softer and the more rhythmical the +expression of the language. These influences made +their first impression by superinducing a mode of +breathing in conformity therewith.</p> + +<p>Thus sounds giving expression to pain, perhaps, +in the first instance, or to sorrow, joy, surprise, +etc., were made in conformity with this, their specific +mode of breathing. These outcries, consisting of +syllables, grew into words and sentences, which, +being uttered in conformity and sympathy with their +special mode of breathing, created a specific idiomatic +expression. The same process, from its first +inauguration, and with but slight alterations, has +been practised and persisted in by the same people +from the beginning to the present time. With the +English people, as already mentioned, no migration, +no invasion, no conqueror, no matter how powerful, +has been able to swerve it from its path. The <em>most</em> +these invaders could do was to graft some of the expressions +in which <em>their</em> ideas were clad, some words, +on to this aboriginal stem. This stem was so strong<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> +in its primeval conception that it could bear all these +exotic graftings without losing its character, absorbing +all, welcoming all beneath the widespread roof +and homestead of its branches. It proved its +superiority over the idiomatic expression of these +foreign tongues by its survival, as the fittest.</p> + +<p>[Before proceeding further, I want to remark: +these studies having been made from an Anglo-Saxon +point of view, it is just possible that a preponderance +of observations may have been made on +that side; while, if they had been made from a German +standpoint, the preponderance most likely +would be on that side. This, no doubt, will be the +case should I at any future period be able to write +all this, as I intend to, in the German language.]</p> + +<p>What is this original sap in the English, and +what is it in the German language?</p> + +<p>The aborigines of the British Isles, living apart +from their continental brethren, became possessed of +an idiom different and apart from any other. It was +the idiom of the <em>sea</em>, by which they were surrounded; +the motion and commotion of the waves, the surf, +the incoming and outgoing tides, their undertow +and overflow; the waves advancing toward the +shore, their breaking against it, and their final retreat +from the same.</p> + +<p>The English language is a raft living upon the +ocean. You can <em>hear</em> the waters rushing through it +and on to the shore and back again. You can feel +the waves rising up to gigantic heights, and then +falling to and below the level of the sea. You can +feel the undertow in its reserve force, quiet and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +subdued like the lull before the storm, yet capable +of almost any demonstration. You can feel all this +in the strength and vigor of its diction as expressed +in its prose and poetry. This is not a mere poetical +conception, but a truth capable of actual, practical +demonstration.</p> + +<p>While reading poetry or prose, or while singing, +fancy seeing in your mind's eye the ocean with its +waters in commotion, either the open sea or the surf +near the shore, and you will <em>feel every word you +utter mingle with its waves. These pictures will +never disturb your fancy, but will associate with it +in perfect harmony.</em> Now substitute for the picture +of the ocean and its tumult some rural picture, as +of a field of grain or the branches of trees tossed by +the wind, or the flow of a river, or even that of the +sea itself when perfectly calm. Keep such picture +before you exactly as you did that of the sea in +commotion. While reading, speaking, or singing +English you will not be able to <em>hold</em> such picture; +<em>it will soon disturb you, and to such an extent that +you must cease thinking of it, or be obliged to stop your +reading, singing, etc.</em></p> + +<p>The impression made by the ocean, in fact, is so +great that it dominates the <em>thought</em> and the entire +being of English-speaking people. This is the case +to such an extent that if you continue to persistently +<em>think</em> of any other image than the ocean, even without +uttering any sound whatever, it will so greatly +perturb you that you will be unable to continue +thinking at all. You may, on the other hand, continue +to think for an indefinite period of the image<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +of the ocean without experiencing any disturbance +whatever.</p> + +<p>While the basic element of the English language +is closely affiliated with the ocean, that of the <em>German +language</em> is affiliated with the <em>woods, and the +blowing of the winds</em>. In their habitation in the +forest, the wind made so deep an impression on the +primeval inhabitants of Germany that you can feel +its <em>soughing pervade all German diction</em>.</p> + +<p>If you are a German keep the picture of the +woods before you and the soughing of the wind +through the tree-tops, and it will harmonize with +German thought and diction. Substitute a picture +of the ocean for it, or almost any other picture, and +you will not be able to vocally utter German thought, +nor will you be able to continue thinking in the +German language at all.</p> + +<p>In place of conjuring up these pictures in your +mind's eye you can substitute <em>real</em> pictures representing +these scenes, and while contemplating them +the effect will be the same.</p> + +<p>After pursuing the picture of the ocean for a +while, say: "English;" after pursuing that of the +woods, say: "Deutsch;" either will come quite +naturally, but you cannot reverse them. If you +attempt it, these words will not be forthcoming.</p> + +<p>While with English diction there is <em>a pause and +then an emphasis</em> as of the waves coming on and then +breaking against the shore, so, with German diction, +there is an <em>emphasis and then a pause</em>, as of the blowing +of the wind succeeded by a calm. These, in a +word, are the characteristic elements in the idiomatic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +expressions of these peoples; English idiomatic expression +being <em>low succeeded by loud</em>; German, <em>loud +succeeded by low</em>.</p> + +<p>The influence of the ocean with its continuous +uproar formulated the speech and character of the +English nation into one of strength and reality, with +its centre of gravity in the abdomen. The peaceful +influence of their habitation in the woods, together +with the impression made by the wind, the singing +of birds, etc., formulated the speech and character +of the German nation into one more of ideality, with +its centre of gravity in the thorax.</p> + +<p>The fondness of the English for the sea, their supremacy +thereon, etc., need not be amplified upon:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Wherever billows foam<br /></span> +<span class="i0">The Briton fights at home,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">His hearth is built of water."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The fondness of the Germans for the woods is +equally noted: Der "dunkle," "zauberische," "geheimnissvolle," +"heilige"—Wald (The "darkly +deep," "magical," "mysterious," and "sacred" +woods) are but common expressions.</p> + +<p>There is not a word in the English language of the +same significance as that of "Der Wald." It embraces +many ideas, of which the words "the woods" +and "the forest" are not expressive. These, in a +literal translation, find expression in the words +"Das Gehoelz" and "Der Forst," which are of a +more realistic nature.</p> + +<p>The English language, on the other hand, is full<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +of expressions applying to nautical matters and to +the sea, for which there are no adequate expressions +in the German language.</p> + +<p>The fondness of the present Emperor of Germany +for the sea must be attributed to the English blood +flowing in his veins. While it is his desire to create +a powerful navy, the people of Germany are indifferent +to, and obstruct rather than assist, the accomplishment +of this desire.</p> + +<p>Idiomatic expression, the soul of language, has its +incipiency in the <em>soul</em> of a people, and may pervade +it for centuries before the <em>body</em> of the language, the +<em>words</em> in which its thoughts are clad, makes its +appearance. It must have taken many centuries +more before these words grouped themselves into +sentences and assumed the shape of speech. The +words may change, but the idiomatic expression +will always remain the same.</p> + +<p>So, also, must the soul of man have had existence +for an indefinite period of time before a body was +formulated to clothe it in. The spiritual cell, if I +may be permitted to use such an expression, must +have existed before the material; or, in other words, +the spiritual cell must have made its appearance +long before the material cell <em>commenced</em> to make its +appearance.</p> + + +<h3>RELATIONSHIP SUPPOSED TO EXIST AS BETWEEN +THE GERMAN AND ENGLISH NATIONS</h3> + +<p>It is a common saying that there is a close relationship +existing between the German and English +nations. There is no greater fallacy than this. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +contend that this relationship is of a very distant +order, consisting, as it does, merely in words, or, as +I have said, garments loosely flung around the +sturdy, strong, and unalterable stem of English +idiomatic expression. In every other respect there +is a great dissimilarity and antagonism even, existing +between these two peoples. If there is any +analogy existing between them at all, it is one of +opposition; one that is based on the idea that extremes +meet (<em>les extrêmes se touchent</em>), their poles +being diametrically opposed to each other.</p> + +<p>There is no more relationship existing between +(Anglo-Saxon) German and English than there is +between (Norman) French and English; the German, +French, and English languages each possessing +their own especial and unalterable idiomatic +expressions. Whatever foreign words either of +them adopt must be subjected to their idiom, or +keep floating along as best they may in their original +character.</p> + +<p>The entire aspect of these three nations, the +French, English, and German, points to the fact that +there must be a radical difference in their vital mode +of existence. Just what this vital mode consists +in, in respect to the two latter nations, I expect to +still further establish in a future publication. Both +languages traverse nearly the entire range of the +vital organs in opposite directions. Hence the +strength and also the weaknesses of these languages, +as compared with other languages which, extending +from side to side, have a smaller compass but a comparatively +purer range of sounds. Regarding other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> +nations and their languages, I trust others, thoroughly +familiar with the same, by applying to their investigations +similar principles, will establish similar facts.</p> + +<p>Owing to its centrifugal tendency, it is necessary +for English vocal utterance to open the mouth much +wider than it is for German. Let a German open +his mouth no farther for the enunciation of English +than he is in the habit of opening it while speaking +his own language, and he will not be able to utter a +single sound. The same result will obtain when an +Anglo-Saxon attempts to speak German on the same +basis that he is in the habit of speaking his own +language. Owing to the centripetal tendency of +the German language, the mouth in speaking German +is but slightly extended. That this respective +widening and narrowing of, not only the mouth but +of every other channel employed in bringing about +vocal utterance, must tend to exercise a marked influence +on Anglo-Saxon and German features will +be obvious. The consequence is that the mouth of +English-speaking persons in thus being extended has +a broad yet narrow appearance, with rather thin and +compressed lips, while the mouth of Germans in +thus being contracted is comparatively smaller, with +full and ripe lips. This feature is in conformity +with all other features which, with Anglo-Saxons, +are elongated, with Germans contracted.</p> + +<p>Experiments regarding centrifugal and centripetal +action can be made to good advantage by resting +your head sideways on a pillow. In this position +during vocal utterance you can <em>feel</em> these actions, +and, feeling them, "<em>measure</em>" them. This mode of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> +proceeding can be successfully adopted in many +other experiments connected with these studies. I +must warn the reader, however, again and again, +that all this has reference only to languages spoken +idiomatically correct. It has no reference whatever +to foreign languages spoken in the usual mechanical +manner.</p> + + +<h3>LANGUAGE AND MOTION</h3> + +<p>I will now show that motion is the first impulse +and primary condition of speech. I will give but a +few examples at present, but expect to prove most +exhaustively later on that motion <em>must</em> precede, or +<em>apparently at least</em>, accompany vocal sounds <em>always</em>.</p> + +<p>While standing up, straight, throw out your arms +horizontally, then speak English. You will have +no difficulty, but you will not be able to speak German +so easily. Next, stand as before, and again +throw out your arms horizontally, then drop them, +letting them hang down close to your body. After +doing so you will have no difficulty in speaking +German, but you will not be able to speak English +so readily. In throwing out your arms in the first +instance, your mouth will open, and you will <em>close</em> it +in speaking English. In letting them drop, in the +second instance, your mouth will close, and you +will <em>open</em> it in speaking German. Now, stand on +the tips of your toes, and you will have no difficulty +in speaking English, but you will not be able to speak +German with ease. Then rest the weight of your +body on your heels, and you will have no trouble +in speaking German, but you cannot speak English +with ease. In standing on the toes the body is ex<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span>tended +by centrifugal, in standing on the heels it is +contracted by centripetal action. Next, extend +your neck, and you will have less trouble in speaking +English than in speaking German; then lower +your neck, and you will find no trouble in speaking +German, but you will in speaking English. These +experiments might be amplified manifold, but these +must suffice for the present.</p> + +<p>The same features of the opening and closing of +the mouth in conformity with the position you assume, +will obtain in all these instances the same +as at first mentioned. It will scarcely be necessary +for me to repeat that all this shows that the motion +for English speech is centrifugal, for German centripetal. +Nor will it be necessary to call attention to +the fact that all this tends towards giving Germans +a condensed and broad, Anglo-Saxons a lengthy +and narrow bodily appearance.</p> + +<p>It is, however, a noteworthy fact that with Germans +the nearer you approach the sea, the more +centrifugal becomes their action and personal appearance. +The people of Northern Germany, therefore, +though radically differing from them in most +other respects, partake more of the general bodily features +of Anglo-Saxon nations than those of the South +of Germany, who are positively opposed to them.</p> + +<p>Upon having ascertained the correctness of these +statements by actual experiment, I want to ask the +reader how he expects to reconcile these facts with +the universally adopted theory that the larynx is the +sole instrument productive of vocal utterance. An +Anglo-Saxon, when stretching out his arms horizon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span>tally, +can readily speak English, while a German in +the same position cannot utter a sound of <em>his</em> language +without difficulty. If the larynx in the case +of an Anglo-Saxon, under these circumstances, +produces vocal utterance, why is it not so easy with +a German?</p> + +<p>My explanation is this:</p> + +<p>By extending your limbs, in stretching out your +arms, or standing on your toes, the centrifugal action +is instrumental in parting the jaws and giving +the tongue an upward tendency. In so doing, +the œsophagus and replica obtain ascendancy over +the trachea and the larynx. The abdomen (the seat +of gravitation for English speech) and its tributaries +thus obtain the mastery over the thorax and its +tributaries. The former being the main vehicle for +English speech, such speech can be produced without +molestation. These facts, while favorable to +the production of English vocal utterance, obstruct +and hinder German vocal utterance.</p> + +<p>In lowering the arms or standing on one's heels, +thus substituting centripetal for centrifugal action, +the jaws close, the tongue assumes a downward +tendency. The trachea and the larynx, as well as +the thorax (the seat of gravitation for German vocal +utterance), obtain the preponderance, and German +may be freely spoken, while English is obstructed.</p> + +<p>In <em>raising</em> the tongue, a free passage to the œsophagus +is obtained, while that to the trachea is obstructed. +In <em>lowering</em> the tongue, a free passage to +the trachea is obtained, while that to the œsophagus +becomes obstructed. It is necessary, however, to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +understand that, while English speech is centrifugal +and German centripetal, these are <em>tendencies</em> only and +not permanent <em>conditions</em>; centrifugal and centripetal +action constantly interchanging and modifying one +another. An uninterrupted tendency in one and the +same direction, either centripetally or centrifugally, +would soon come to an end and produce stagnation, +inertia, death. There is no action without a counteraction. +Hence, ingoing vocal sounds are counterbalanced +by outgoing; the same as ingoing thoughts +or thoughts produced by external vision are counterbalanced +by outgoing, or thoughts produced by +internal vision, etc.</p> + +<p>In addition to the parts mentioned, there are +many other parts of the body which, subjected to +centrifugal or centripetal action, will produce results +of the same order as those already mentioned. In +stretching out your legs (while in a sitting position), +you will find speaking German to be difficult; upon +drawing them up, you will have trouble with English. +The same results may be obtained, in connection +with the toes and fingers, in a number of +different ways. From all this, it will be readily seen +that all parts of the body are closely related to each +other, the tendency of the muscles in one prominent +part producing the same tendency in all the rest.</p> + +<p>There is one thing which must be mentioned, +however. To obtain centrifugal action, it is necessary +to <em>stretch</em> the part under consideration; the +mere extension of a part, without stretching it, will +be fruitless of results in either one direction or +another; so will the mere contraction of any part be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +fruitless of results, unless such contraction is complete. +You can let your arms hang down alongside +of your body and yet speak English easily; and +you can hold them out horizontally, and yet speak +German easily. In either case the contraction and +expansion must be <em>thorough</em> to produce results either +centripetally or centrifugally.</p> + +<p><em>All</em> persons make similar motions to those mentioned +with every sound they utter, though these +motions do not appear on the surface; in fact, they +could not speak if they did not make them.</p> + +<p>I have already mentioned, but want to repeat, +that centrifugal action is the cause of the elongated +faces, and especially of the elongation of the lower +jaw of English-speaking persons. It is also the +cause of their semi-parted lips while in repose, showing +their teeth, and a full exhibition thereof while +speaking; a fact which has caused much merriment +to continental nations, and has given rise to an +endless number of caricatures of "milord" and +"milady" on their travels, etc. It is also the +cause of the perfection of dentistry in this country +and in England, where the teeth are always more or +less on exhibition. In other countries, where they +are hidden behind the curtains of the lips, which are +usually closed, except while speaking or laughing, +this necessity does not arise to nearly the same +extent. To the centrifugal force there is also due +much of the innate charm and beauty of English-speaking +women.</p> + +<p>From all this one great lesson may be learned: +no matter by what divergent means nature may<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> +work its ends, similar results are obtained, though +often arrived at by opposite means and from opposite +directions. Thus life ever presents to us +new forms and features, and ever infuses new interest +into what otherwise might become unbearable +in its monotony. A better insight into these facts +ought to make us feel more lenient towards what +appear to us as other people's "idiosyncrasies." +It should also have a tendency to prevent us from +attempting to enforce to their full extent laws made +in conformity with our own desires and inclinations +but in direct opposition to those of others (foreigners +living among us), whose character and disposition +lead them in diametrically opposite directions.</p> + +<p>Unless otherwise mentioned, I wish the reader to +remember that I am always speaking not only from +the standpoint of an American, but <em>as</em> an American. +The fact of my long residence in this country, where +I have spent the best part of my life, in itself would +not entitle me to do this, having shown, as I have +endeavored to do, that this is not sufficient to change +a person from one nationality into another. During +my earnest endeavor at fathoming these differences, +however, I have been led into assuming the forms +which distinguish the Anglo-Saxon from the German. +Unless I am with Germans and speak the +German language, in my thoughts and otherwise I +lead the life of an American.</p> + +<p>That my English speech, however (though my +friends in their indulgence would lead me to believe +otherwise), is not as perfect as it might be, is largely +due to the fact of my constantly having recourse to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +the German language, and that I am thus as constantly +led back into these other forms of existence +which cannot be indulged in without some detriment +and abstraction from either the one or the other. +There was a time, in fact, when the transformation +I have spoken of was taking place (the disturbance +being so great) that I could not speak well either +the one language or the other.</p> + +<p>I am well convinced, on the other hand, that +through perseverance <em>perfection</em> in the utterance of +both of these languages, for speech as well as for +song, and possibly of some other languages besides, +may be attained in the course of time; nature being +so pliable that, when the required actions are once +<em>fully</em> understood and complied with, a perfect change +may be made instantly in passing from one language +on to another. Such changes, in fact, are naturally +made by persons who, in their infancy, have been +educated in and taught to speak several languages +at one and the same time; the material during infancy +being so pliable that it can be readily formed +into any shape and transformed into any other. All +of the preceding also shows that, for every separate +idiom, the <em>entire</em> instrument must be "tuned" for +its production in a given order, and that only when +so tuned can such idiom be produced in its entire +purity. It also shows that, unless so tuned, the +vocal cords of the larynx and replica cease to be +instrumental in the production of sound.</p> + +<p>An instrument tuned for the production of the +English language, consequently, cannot produce +German sounds, nor can it produce Romanic, Slav<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span>onic, +or the sounds of any other language. Sounds, +<em>apparently</em> the same, of either the singing or speaking +voice of various languages are, therefore, <em>not</em> the +same and are certainly not produced in the same +manner. For a German, consequently, or an Italian +to attempt to teach an English-speaking person the +art of singing is an anomaly. A foreigner might, +with the same show of reason, attempt to teach persons +of another nationality the correct pronunciation +of their own language. It would be equally false, +of course, for an English-speaking person to attempt +to teach a German, Italian, etc., the art of singing, +unless he had first mastered his pupil's idiomatic +expression, or the pupil had mastered that of his +teacher.</p> + +<p>Many persons are under the erroneous impression +that song and speech are performances separate and +apart from each other, while they are in reality of +precisely the same, though inverse, order. They +are of the same order, for instance, as the back and +palm of the hand: the former representing speech, +the latter song; the external and the internal, or the +anterior and the posterior. As the back of the +hand, such must and will be its palm; or, as its +palm, such must and will be its back.</p> + +<p>Conversing with a teacher some time since, she +scorned such propositions, saying a person's language +had nothing to do with his or her song; the +mode of production of the latter being the <em>same</em> +with <span class="smcap">ALL</span> nationalities; besides, she had studied the +larynx, and knew all about it. This, of course, +settled it, and I had not anything further to say.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + + +<h3>DIFFERENCE IN THEIR MODE OF BREATHING AS +BETWEEN ANGLO-SAXONS AND GERMANS</h3> + +<p>Anglo-Saxons inspire first into the thorax and +then into the abdomen. Germans inspire first into +the abdomen and then into the thorax. The former +expire first from the abdomen and then from +the thorax; the latter expire first from the abdomen +and then from the thorax. This, however, gives +but a partial account of the process of breathing, +and I must postpone a more explicit one to a later +period.</p> + +<p>To prove the correctness of the above assertion, +press your hand against the left side of your thorax +anteriorly, and you will find it difficult to inhale. +If you press your hand against the right side of +your thorax, on the other hand, you will have no +difficulty in inhaling. Next, press your hand +against the right side of your abdomen, and you +will not be able to exhale; but if you press your +hand against its left side, you will experience no +trouble in exhaling. In pressing your hands one +against the left side of the breast and the other +against the right side of the abdomen, you will have +trouble in breathing.</p> + +<p>Pressures produced in the precisely <em>opposite</em> manner +in every respect, on the part of a German-speaking +person, will produce effects of precisely the <em>same</em> +nature. A German, in pressing the right side of +his abdomen, will not be able to inspire freely, but +pressing its left side will not hinder him from doing +so. Pressing the left side of his thorax will impede +his expiration, while the pressing of its right side<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +will not prevent him from doing so. These results +will become more obvious when these pressures are +continued for some time. All the pressures mentioned +are to be applied <em>anteriorly</em>. Pressures of +the same nature applied <em>posteriorly</em> produce opposite +results with Anglo-Saxons as well as Germans.</p> + +<p>Similar results may be obtained by producing +pressures on the median line of either thorax or +abdomen, front as well as back. Such will also be +the case when pressures are produced on either side +from the armpits downward or from the hips upward. +More satisfactory results, however, than +those obtained through mechanical pressure can be +obtained by making the respective parts rigid. It +will scarcely be necessary for me to mention all +these various causes and consequent results in detail, +as any one interested in these matters can work +them out for himself from that which I have said.</p> + + +<h3>RISE AND FALL, OR RHYTHM</h3> + +<p>The thorax is productive of the falling, the abdomen +of the rising voice, the former being the representative +of the <em>impression</em> for sounds, the latter of +their expression.</p> + +<p><em>An Anglo-Saxon's voice, inspiring, as he does, into +the thorax, and expiring from the abdomen, will first +fall and then rise. A German's voice, on the contrary, +inspiring, as he does, into the abdomen, and +expiring from the thorax, will first rise and then fall.</em></p> + +<p>This is the fundamental cause of the difference +between the idiomatic expression of these two +peoples, and primarily also of the difference existing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +between their national traits physically as well as +mentally.</p> + +<p>Every original word in either of these languages +will illustrate these facts:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Vater, Mutter, Bruder, Schwester. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>Take the same words in English, and the accent +will be reversed:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ +Father, Mother, Brother, Sister +</pre> +</div> +<p>When these and similar words were adopted into +the English language, it was done at the expense of +their original idiomatic expression. I am speaking +of the music, the rise and fall, the rhythm pervading +a language, not of time or measure, nor of the +intonation, nor of emphasis.</p> + +<p>I make four distinctions, and expect to prove that +they are the basis of every artistic expression of +either speech or song. First, measure or time. +Second, the rise and fall of the voice, equal to its +rhythm. Third, intonation, which pertains to +words in accordance with their meaning. Fourth, +emphasis, which has reference to the feelings.</p> + +<p>That the human voice is capable of at one and the +same time expressing four moods so different from +each other, shows that there are various factors +(all of a different nature) simultaneously at work +producing these different results. To correctly indicate +these four characteristics, it would be necessary +to mark each syllable in a fourfold manner. I +shall confine myself to the rhythm and the metre,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +and shall mark the former above the line by using +the signs for accent (´`), and the latter below the +line by using those for metre (¯˘).</p> + +<p>Right here is the main stumbling-block with persons +of either nationality in speaking the language +of the other. They will in so doing invariably retain +the idiomatic expression of their own vernacular.</p> + +<p>The <em>proper</em> way to illustrate the rhythm would be +as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´`´` ´` ´` ´` +Vater, Mutter, gut. + + `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ +Father, Mother, good. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>There is always a rise of the voice before its fall +in German, and a fall before its rise in English <em>for +each and every syllable</em>. When a language is well +spoken, this complete intonation is always heard. +If this needs illustration, which it should not, being +so obvious, the poetry of both peoples offers proofs +in great abundance. It is a notable fact that, with +German verse, the voice for the end syllable always +sinks, with English it rises; the former is generally +short, the latter long; but even where the word +ends with a long syllable in German the voice falls +at the end, and where one ends with a short syllable +in English the voice rises at the end.</p> + +<p>To anxiously count every syllable in poetry is +contrary to the spirit of a language. There are +slight touches here and there which simply serve as +connecting links, and which, in marking the rhythmic +flow of sounds, should not be included as belonging +to the metre. Most of these are prefixes or<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +affixes, pauses for repose or relaxation, consisting +in scarcely noticeable inspirations or expirations, +which are necessary to strengthen the voice for the +actual metre. The various intonations are generally +expressed by the use of the signs for long and short +only. As the latter, properly speaking, only represent +time or measure, the voice is left to express as +best it may and without any guidance whatsoever +every other factor composing a language. All I +want to do now is to show by the signs for the accent +the difference between the English and German +rhythmic movement:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Auf der duftverlornen Grenze + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Jener Berge tanzen hold + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Abendwolken ihre Taenze + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Leicht geschuerzt im Strahlengold. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Lenau.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Auf ihrem Grab da steht eine Linde + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` +Drin pfeifen die Voegel im Abendwinde; + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´` ´ ` ´` ´ ` +Die Winde die wehen so lind und so schaurig, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` +Die Voegel die singen so suess und so traurig. + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Heine.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>The beginning of every line in this verse might +remain unmarked as not belonging to the rhythmic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> +expression proper, and being expressive mainly of +an inspiration preceding the expiration which it +foreshadows. The beauty of Heine's verse is largely +due to the fact that he does not anxiously count +time, but lets his voice rise and fall where it is most +effective. It will be noticed that there is a greater +movement, as expressed by the signs of the rhythm, +in Heine's verse than there is in Lenau's, hence the +inexpressible charm of his diction. Here is another +great poet, or poetess rather, the greatest Germany +has produced, also fearless of prescribed forms, but +full of charm and power:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´` ´` ´` +O schaurig ists uebers Moor zu gehn, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` +Wenn es wimmelt vom Haiderauche, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + ´` ´` ´` ´` ´ ` ´ ` +Sich wie Phantome die Duenste drehn + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ´ ` ´ ` ´` ´ ` +Und die Ranke haekelt am Strauche. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Droste-Huelshoff.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>In these last two citations, the dactylus (¯ ˘ ˘) is +the prevailing measure, which but strengthens my +assertion that in German diction there is a fall after +a rise; the former being here more distinctly expressed +than in the simple trochaic measure. The +fall, the relaxation, being greater, the rise, the vigor +in the expression, thereby gains additional strength. +What is the consequence of this falling off or gliding +down in German diction so well expressed in Lenau's</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +"Auf der duftverlornen Grenze"? +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span></pre> +</div> + +<p>It is not a positive line of demarcation, but one +which is lost, as it were, "in the soft ether of the +evening sky."</p> + +<p>Hence the high tide succeeded by the low, the +aspiration followed by resignation, the night after +the day, death after life, repose after the strife—all +this expresses the genius of the German language; +and is also expressive of German life and character—its +dreaminess, its longing, its desire for the ideal, +never to be attained; the abstract, the abstruse; its +yearning, its altruism, its transcendentalism, its +<em>Weltschmerz</em> (the sadness pervading all nature). It +is also expressive of its <em>Begeisterung</em> (an enthusiasm +which upon the slightest provocation takes a man +almost off his feet). All these are traits of the +German national character.</p> + +<p>There is no spiritual bond among all these millions +that could possibly produce such sentiments +and feelings as its result, differing, as they do, from +the feelings of any other nation or people, but that +of a language common to all.</p> + +<p>To prove that the trochaic measure is the one +ordained by nature for German expression, it is but +necessary to glance at the characteristic words of +the preceding verses:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Wimmelt, Haide, gehen, wehen, drehen, Ranke, haekelt, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +Grenze, jener, Berge, Abend, Wolken, Taenze, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +strahlen, ihren, eine, Linde, pfeifen, Voegel, Winde, + + ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` +schaurig, singen, traurig. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></pre> +</div> + +<p>The same rhythm, though not so obviously expressed, +obtains with the words of one syllable:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> +´` ´` ´` ´` ´ ` ´` ´` +Auf, der, Duft, hold, leicht, im, Gold, + + ´` ´ ` ´` ´ ` ´ ` ´` +Grab, steht, lind, suess, ueber's, Moor. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>Now compare with this the strength and vigor of +English diction, which runs in the precisely opposite +direction:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ +The stag at eve had drunk his fill, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ +Where danced the moon on Monan's rill; + ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ `´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ +And deep his midnight lair had made, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ +In lone Glenartney's hazel shade. +˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Scott.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ `´ `´ +The day is done, and the darkness + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + `´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ + Falls from the wings of night, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + +`´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ +As a feather is wafted downward +˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ + + `´ ` `´ ` ´ ` ´ + From an eagle in his flight. + ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Longfellow.</span><br /> +</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +<pre> +` ` ´ ` `´ `´ `´ ` `´ +Oh east is east, and west is west, +˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + And never the two shall meet, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ +Till earth and sky stand presently, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ ` ´ ` ´ ` ´ + At God's great judgment seat. + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ´ +But there is neither east nor west, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + `´ ` ` ´ ` ´ + Border, nor breed, nor birth, + ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ´ `´ `´ ` ´ ` ´ +When two strong men stand face to face, + ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ ¯ + + ` ` ´ ` ` ´ ` ` ´ + Though they come from the ends of the earth. + ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ ˘ ˘ ¯ +</pre> +</div> + +<p class="right"> +<span class="smcap">Kipling.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p>It is either the iambic (˘¯) or the anapest (˘˘¯). +Of course, these vary to some extent in conformity +with the reader's intonation, but the spirit +of the language is always from weakness to strength, +in place of from strength to weakness, as with the +German. It is always the waves approaching the +shore and then <em>breaking</em> against it, as against the wind +<em>coming up suddenly</em> and then dying away. This is +the reason why a serenade or lullaby in English can +never be rendered with the same effect as in German, +the English voice rising at the end instead of falling.</p> + +<p>Wherever a verse commences with a stress, it +must be considered that a fall of the voice or an inspiration +has preceded it; this, though unaccompanied +by sound, being really the case. I have thus +marked the beginning of Longfellow's beautiful +lines:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ` ´ `´ ` ´ +Falls----as----from. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Lunn, in his <cite>Philosophy of Voice</cite>, has the +following:</p> + +<p>"How many Englishmen <em>dare</em> utter loudly a +word beginning with a vowel? If attempted, either +it would not be done, or, in spite of the speaker,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +owing to the weakness of the muscles which draw +the cords together [<em>sic</em>], an aspirate would precede +the vowel."</p> + +<p>This is right, as far as his observation is concerned, +but he does not seem to know that this very +weakness he complains of is really the strength of +the English language, the lull before the storm, the +concentration before the explosion; and that "thus +the idiosyncrasy of our people's speech" is <em>not</em> +"deadness, weakness, and general feebleness," but, +on the contrary, a strength and a virility not surpassed +by any other tongue. This finds illustration +in Kipling's</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> +`´ `´ `´ `´ +Oh east is east, etc. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>It is but necessary to comprehend the laws which +underlie this apparent weakness to turn it to its best +account, and to obtain from it the highest results, +both for speech and song. As for the "weakness +of the muscles which draw the cords together," it +will scarcely be necessary for me to make a specific +refutation; the premises upon which such assumption +is founded being quite untenable, there being +quite as much vigor in the <em>muscles</em> and <em>cords</em> of an +Anglo-Saxon as in those of any other nation. Nor, +I suppose, will it be necessary to strengthen my +assertions by once more quoting the separate words +and thus pointing out the iambic, the rise after the +fall (˘¯), or the anapest (˘˘¯), the twofold repose +and gathering of strength for the final emphasis.</p> + +<p>The English language in its Saxon words mainly +consists of monosyllables. These, however, as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +stated, must be looked upon as words of two syllables, +a suppressed intonation always preceding +their vowel sounds. The majority of such words, +as a matter of fact, originally consisted of two +syllables, of which the last was dropped when they +were adopted by the English. This last syllable, +representing the fall of the voice thus disappearing, +left the first, which represented its rise, standing +unsupported by itself. As the rise of the voice, +however, cannot be expressed without the accompaniment +of its fall, the latter always <em>tacitly</em> accompanies +the same, and is expressed in an undertone, +<em>preceding</em> the rise.</p> + +<p>Almost every verb of this class will give evidence +of this fact:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ +Gehen--go, sehen--see, hoeren--hear, + + ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ ´ ` ´ +sprechen--speak, kochen--cook, tanzen--dance, + + ´ ` ´ +fallen--fall, etc. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>Hence, in conformity with the above, these words +in the English language should be properly marked +thus:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> +`´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ +Go, see, hear, speak, cook, dance, etc. +</pre> +</div> + +<p>which gives the real intonation thereof.</p> + +<p>This applies to all words commencing with a +vowel, and explains what Mr. Lunn has designated +as a "weakness of the English language":</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ `´ +Art, arm, or, all, eagle, each, old, etc. +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></pre> +</div> + +<p>Without this half-suppressed fall of the voice, +there would be no beauty, no charm, no soul in the +English language; in fact, it could not exist. +Words of two syllables, however, always have the +fall of the voice on the first, its rise on the second, +syllable, even where the preponderance of <em>time</em> belongs +to the first syllable, as in the words</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<pre> + ` ´ ` ´ +Danced, hazel, etc. + ¯ ˘ ¯ ˘ +</pre> +</div> + +<p>The reader will find these statements sustained by +almost every word he may examine into, which will +show that the characteristic expression of English +diction is that of the iambic measure, which passes +from weakness to strength; while that of German +diction, as already stated, is that of the trochaic +measure, which passes from strength to weakness.</p> + +<p>Having shown that German <em>sentiment</em> is in accord +with the idiomatic expression of the German language, +I will now show that <em>English</em> sentiment also +conforms to <em>its</em> idiomatic expression. I must beg +the reader, however, not to be over-critical. I am +not attempting to furnish comparative sketches of +the national character of these peoples in a literary +sense, but am entering into these matters for the +sole purpose of sustaining the results of my physiological +investigations. Nor should these attempts +be applied to individual cases, there being exceptions +to all rules, but to the national character <em>in +general</em>. If a person in making investigations of +this kind had to constantly fear that he might be +treading on some one's sensitive toes, he could never +make any headway at all. I am, in fact, perfectly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +willing to apologize beforehand for any such mishap +possibly taking place, as I wish to be perfectly impartial +and without bias. I have said this much +partly for the reason also that in consequence of +some remark, on one occasion, made in my former +publication in favor of the English <em>vs.</em> the Germans, +one critic honored me with the epithet "renegade."</p> + +<p>The rising voice succeeding the falling is not a +soft and gradual receding, but, on the contrary, it is +more like an explosion, a trumpet-blast; the inspiration +which had been "stored" being suddenly released. +There is no such "storing" in connection +with German diction; inspiration and expiration +succeeding each other on the spot. With English +diction this change may be compared to the break of +day after the night; the fray after the repose; resurrection +after death; a conflagration and a rebuilding +at once on the spot, not only individually, but +by an entire community (Boston and Chicago); an +outburst after due deliberation; no sentimentality, +but a firm resolve for the right; patient submission +to a point, then a strike for liberty; the slow accumulation +of a fortune and the spontaneous spending +thereof; a hot political campaign and a victory +or defeat; in either case acquiescence; no vain +mourning after the fact; a butterfly of wealth, +idleness, and fashion, then perhaps ruin; yet not +despair, but a brave conformity to altered circumstances; +an energy in the pursuit of business or of +war which does not flag until utterly exhausted or +success is achieved and a victory is won. All this is +due to the reserve force in the character of English<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span>-speaking +people, which comes to their rescue when +circumstances demand it. A world positive and +direct, full of energy, restlessness, and activity. A +world of, and for, <em>this</em> world; whose world to come, +even, must have a positive and well-defined character +and surroundings:</p> + +<div class="hangindent"> + +<p>"Where the walls are made of jasper and the streets are +paved with gold."</p></div> + +<p>To what is all this due but to this <em>bond of language</em> +uniting these millions, and embracing every foreign +element, in its children at least? The theme is +inexhaustible, but I am limited as to time; yet +additional remarks on the same subject will be forthcoming +during the further pursuance of these studies.</p> + +<p>For song, it appears to me, the words, besides +being marked by notes, should also be marked as to +rhythm, as this would assist singers in giving them +the proper intonation; notes indicating metre, but +not rhythm.</p> + +<p>Metre and rhythm are produced by two distinctly +different processes; metre, or time, being the outcome +of a mode of breathing subject to the will, +while rhythm is the outcome of an involuntary mode +of breathing for a characteristic quality inherent in +a nation's language as its idiomatic expression.</p> + +<p>Ordinarily, both metre and rhythm are expressed +by the same signs (˘¯); this is very misleading.</p> + +<p>To express time, or metre, I use the signs for +short and long (˘¯). To express rhythm, or the +fall and rise of the voice, I use the signs for what is +usually called the accent (´`). If we were to <em>meas</em><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span><em>ure</em> +the exact time, however, consumed in the utterance +of syllables, we would find that the falling voice, +which is the product of inspiration and belongs to +the thorax, requires more time than the rising voice, +which is the product of expiration and belongs to +the abdomen.</p> + +<p>In marking verse, however, the sign for long (¯) +generally accompanies the short syllable of the rising, +and the sign for short (˘) the, as a matter of fact, +long syllable of the falling voice. It takes longer to +fill a bottle than to pour out its contents; to prepare +a dish than to eat it; to walk upstairs than to jump +from a window. It takes longer to <em>prepare</em> for an +utterance than to utter it. It takes longer to inspire +than to expire.</p> + +<p>In view of the vast foreign element constituting a +part of this nation, it would be a matter of interest +to know at what period the foreigner ceases to exist +as such and the "American" begins; or, in other +words, to understand when the evolution takes place +which transforms the foreigner into the American. +From my point of view it is, above all, a question of +language. The political aspect of the case is scarcely +to be considered. An unnaturalized Englishman, +consequently, after thoroughly "Americanizing" his +language, becomes more of an American (no matter +whether he himself thinks so or not) than an Irishman +who, though naturalized, never ceases to use +his native brogue.</p> + +<p>These questions, of course, are many-sided. When +I speak of nationality, however, I have the <em>best</em> specimens +of a nation as representatives thereof in view<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +always. A man with a foreign accent does not have +the same standing or influence in municipal, state, +and national councils as one who speaks a pure English; +there is always a <em>feeling</em> against him, no matter +how able or patriotic he may be, of some foreign +influence as a substratum in his composition.</p> + + +<h3>STRESS</h3> + +<p>I have already stated that the thorax is the seat +of the falling, the abdomen that of the rising, voice. +This can be tested by a simple experiment, the result +of which will be as startling as it is phenomenal. +<em>By simply pressing the stomach, or making the same +rigid, you will find that the fact of your doing so will +prevent you from uttering any sound belonging to the +rising voice, or the stress laid upon a word.</em></p> + +<p>Take, for instance, the following:</p> + +<p class="center">"Oh, say, can you see by the dawn's early light," +</p> + +<p>and you will find that, upon pressing the stomach, +or making the same rigid, you will not be able to +utter the words "say," "see," "dawn's," and +"light." This will become more obvious in uttering +these words slowly than in doing so rapidly. +You will have no difficulty, on the other hand, in +uttering the rest of the words, viz.: "Oh," "can +you," "by the," "early."</p> + +<p>Upon releasing the stomach and bringing a pressure +to bear upon the chest, on the other hand, you +will have no difficulty in uttering the first words +mentioned, those of the rising, while you will be<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +unable to utter the last, those of the falling voice. +This rule holds good for all peoples and all languages.</p> + +<p>There is this difference, however, as between +English and German speech, that, for the former, +the falling voice (identical with that of the thorax) +<em>precedes</em> the rising (identical with that of the abdomen); +while for the latter the reverse is the case;—Anglo-Saxons +inspiring into the chest and then +into the stomach; Germans into the stomach and +then into the chest. Germans will have greater +difficulty in making this experiment than Anglo-Saxons, +as words of the falling voice, as a rule and +in all languages, precede those of the rising. Germans, +consequently, must <em>think</em> of the word of +the rising voice, which, as a matter of fact, succeeds +the words of the falling, before they can utter +the latter. This difficulty is enhanced by the fact +that while the rising voice is generally confined to a +single word, the falling voice generally embraces +several.</p> + +<p>Hence the frequency of the use of the anapest +(˘˘¯) and the dactylus (¯˘˘), and the relative +rarity of the use of the bacchius (˘¯¯) and the antibacchius +(¯¯˘); short always representing the falling +voice, which embraces more than one word, while +long represents the rising voice, which usually embraces +but one single word; the definition requiring +more words than the thing to be defined. Hence, +<em>for German diction, the "thought" of the word of +the rising voice must precede the "utterance" of the +words of the falling; while for English diction, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +"thoughts" of the words of the falling voice must +precede the "utterance" of the word of the rising.</em></p> + +<p>A German may try and say the following:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"In einem <em>Thal</em> bei armen <em>Hirten</em>,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Erschien mit jedem jungen <em>Jahr</em>,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>in such a manner as <em>not to think</em> of the words which +are italicized before uttering those which immediately +precede them, and he will find that he will be +unable to pronounce the latter.</p> + +<p>An Anglo-Saxon may try and say the following:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"And the star-spangled banner in triumph <em>doth wave</em><br /></span> +<span class="i0">O'er the land of the free and the home <em>of the brave</em>,"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>and he will find that in saying "in triumph doth +wave," he must think of the words "doth wave" +before he will be able to utter the word "triumph." +Again, in saying "the home of the +brave" he must think of the words "of the brave" +before he will be able to utter the word "home."</p> + +<p>A German, consequently, must <em>think</em> of the principal +word before he can utter those which qualify +it; an Anglo-Saxon must think of the latter before +he can utter the former.</p> + +<p>In place of using mechanical pressure, the same +results can be obtained by making the respective +parts rigid. Regarding this matter of <em>making parts +rigid</em>, I want to make the following explanation, +illustrating the physiological process going on in so +doing.</p> + +<p>While a part is rendered inactive, placed <em>hors de +combat</em>, so to say, by the application of mechanical<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +pressure, the same result can also be obtained by +making such part rigid. To accomplish this, it is +but necessary to positively <em>think</em> of such part, to +associate your mind with it, which is equal to an +act of expiration when it relates to the abdomen, +and inspiration when it relates to the thorax. By +positively <em>thinking</em> of the abdomen, which is equal +to an expiration therefrom, you will be unable to +utter the stress or <em>rise</em> of the voice, which is the +product of an expiration from the stomach; by positively +thinking of the thorax, which is equal to an +inspiration into the same, you will be unable to utter +the <em>fall</em> of the voice, which is the product of an inspiration +into the chest. The reason is obvious: +<em>We cannot utter sound in the same direction in which +we breathe; sound and respiration always following +opposite directions.</em></p> + +<p>For the purpose of making satisfactory experiments +in this respect, as, in fact, in every other respect +in connection with these investigations, it is +necessary that inspiration or expiration, as the case +may be, should be <em>continuous</em>, that is, that either the +one or the other should be persisted in until a result +is obtained; namely, until an apparent increase or +decrease in the size of the part of the body under +consideration, or an inflation or depletion of the +same, will be perceptible. Though it may be difficult +at first, a person will soon learn to distinguish between +an increase or a swelling of a part, which +means inspiration into the same, and a decrease or +a shrinking or diminution thereof, which means +expiration from the same.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig188-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="168" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2><a name="PHYSIOLOGY_OF_THE_VOICE_IN_RELATION" id="PHYSIOLOGY_OF_THE_VOICE_IN_RELATION">PHYSIOLOGY OF THE VOICE IN RELATION +TO WORDS</a></h2> + + +<p>In the further pursuance of the questions heretofore +under consideration, I shall now enter upon +a theme of a still more subtle nature. The question +of metre, rhythm, accent, etc., is one which is +involved in much mystery; nor can I find that many +persons entertain precisely the same ideas as being +expressed by these terms.</p> + +<p><em>Accepting as a fundamental principle the fact that +our various spiritual conditions are based upon our +ability to extract the necessary inspiration therefor +from the air, which bears the same relation to our +spiritual existence that the earth does to that of our +body (in furnishing it with such elements as it requires +for its maintenance), I contend that we breathe for +speech in as many different modes as there are parts +or elements in its composition.</em> This proposition does +not necessarily conflict with the fact that we also +draw elements from the air, as analytical chemistry +has proven, which serve for the construction of +matter; such elements, however, instead of being +strictly material, as they have every appearance of +being, are, in reality, the spiritual complements of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +the matter they help to form; matter and spirit +going hand in hand in our entire composition.</p> + +<p>In reading poetry, or giving expression to the +same in song (I repeat), we do so in a fourfold +manner:</p> + +<p>First: as to metre or time (the "measure" of +time).</p> + +<p>Second: as to the rhythm or the music pervading +the voice, produced by its rise and fall, also called +cadence, or the idiomatic expression of a language.</p> + +<p>Third: as to accent.</p> + +<p>Fourth: as to emphasis.</p> + +<p>The <em>metre</em> is produced by an artistic mode of +breathing (in addition to our ordinary and permanent +mode), marked by regular repetitions of a given +order of inspirations and expirations which can be +"measured" as to the time consumed in their +enunciation, and are therefore, not incorrectly, called +"feet."</p> + +<p>The metre is a product or outcome of the <em>will</em>, a +force which presides over material-spiritual issues. +It changes with our inclinations and moods, and is +expressive thereof. We can pass from one metre +to another at will, as the occasion may require. It +is the <em>material</em> part of speech, as we can measure it +and account for it as to time in space, supposing +time to be incorporated. The metre expressive of +joy, for instance, being quick, that of sorrow slow; +the former, if incorporated, would take up less space +than the latter, in the same proportion as it consumes +less time in being uttered.</p> + +<p>The <em>rhythm</em> is that characteristic quality which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +distinguishes one language from another, the basis +upon which it is built and around which all its elementary +words cluster; its fundamental principle, its +idiomatic expression, the music pervading its every +syllable; the inflection, the rise and fall, the cadence +of the voice; the spirit of a language, which is permanent +and unchangeable.</p> + +<p>The rhythm is an outcome of the <em>mind</em>; an influence +which presides over <em>spiritual-material</em> issues. +As <em>harmony is the first law of nature</em>, so is that harmony +which pervades our native tongue the law +upon which our individual and national characteristic +expressions and actions are based. We exercise +it intuitively. It is innate in, and unalterably connected +with, our native tongue. It cannot be eliminated +therefrom, or put into it by a foreigner, except +when acquired in childhood, or by the study of such +principles as I have attempted to lay down in this +book. It is inborn in every language as its spirit, +and is as enduring as that language itself. It is not +subject to change by the dictates of the will.</p> + +<p>The <em>accent</em> represents that element which distinguishes +between the character and meaning of words, +and has no reference to parts thereof or their relation +to other words; the same word being pronounced in +as many different ways and with as many different +<em>accents</em> as it denotes different senses or meanings; +while <em>different words, embodying the same idea, are +uttered with precisely the same accent</em>.</p> + +<p>The accent or intonation is an outcome of the +<em>soul</em>; an influence which dominates over our spiritual +nature and over <em>spiritual issues</em>. "The rose<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +by any other name would smell as sweet." It is +equally true that any other name given to the rose +would be pronounced by the same indefinable intonation +as its present name, with that same embodiment +of the mystery of the soul signifying the +flower called "a rose." The <em>word</em> "rose," which +is the same, or nearly the same, in so many different +languages, though possessing the same <em>spiritual</em> elements +in them all, varies as to measure and rhythm +in every one of them.</p> + +<p>If the influence of the soul, embodying an idea in +a word, through the intonation we give it, were not +the same for <em>all</em> languages, it would not be possible +to translate poetry, and retain, to some extent at +least, that which is commonly called "the rhythm" +of the original; nor would it be possible to sing a +song in another language, and retain, even approximately, +the spiritual elements of the original. We +would not be impressed with it, would not be +<em>thrilled</em> by it.</p> + +<p><em>The intonation of a word, expressive of the soul in +the embodiment of an idea, is a bond which unites +all humanity</em>; not alone the human souls of any +special day and generation, but of all days and all +generations. But for the fact that the Greek soul +is in us to-day, that the native intonation of <em>their</em> +words is native with us and with <em>all</em> mankind, their +<em>dead</em> tongue would be <em>absolutely</em> dead for us. We +could find no meaning in it, no beauty, no spirit, no +soul. Think of the melody pervading the soul of +Homer and emanating from <em>his</em> lyre still living and +finding an echo in <em>our</em> souls! Think of the harmony<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +pervading the soul of Schiller or Tennyson continuing +to live, and pervading the souls of the latest +generations! Nor could Luther's famous translation +of the Bible or its beautiful English version +ever have been produced, and after production have +made the same impression on the mind, or been read +with the same expression of the voice, as the words +of this same Bible made upon the minds, and were +expressed by the voice, of its original composers, +but for the fact <em>that words of the same meaning</em>, <em>in +every language</em> (aside from metre and rhythm), <em>are +pronounced precisely the same</em>. It is this universal +comprehension of their beauty which gives immortality +to the strains of great singers, whether they +appear in their original form or are translated (that +is, if well translated) into foreign languages, or are +set to music and sung either in the one or the other.</p> + +<p>If the performances of creating original compositions +and their translations were of a mere mechanical +order, or were explainable from a mechanical +standpoint, no such soul effects could ever be produced. +The word, as such, is a <em>mechanical</em> contrivance; +but its intonation is of the soul, being an +emanation of the idea it represents. If our ears were +so schooled that by <em>their "intonation" we could comprehend +the meaning of words</em>, we could understand +every language upon simply hearing it spoken.</p> + +<p>The people of all nations, through their eyesight, +form the same conception of an object; the same +being impressed upon all minds in the same manner. +When a picture thus impressed upon the mind (brain) +is reproduced by, or is translated into, vocal utter<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span>ance, +it continues to remain the same with all people. +This does not refer to impressions made by material +objects alone, but extends to immaterial subjects as +well. Hence, knowing the meaning of a word in +one language, we can at once conjure up the idea it +represents in all languages.</p> + +<p>The sight, however, not only impresses our minds +through the eye with a given picture, but, as there +is a correlation existing between all our faculties, it +also impresses the voice with a given inflection, expressive +of such impression upon the mind, and of +no other impression; any given sight or mental conception +of any kind always producing an inflection of +the voice corresponding therewith. The vocal expression +of an idea might thus be called an <em>audible</em> +"photographic" reproduction of the impression +made by the original object upon the eyesight, and, +respectively, upon the brain, or it might be called a +phonographic reproduction thereof, supposing that +the picture of an object could be impressed upon +the wax and could thus become audible. How +such a reproduction may be made from an <em>immaterial</em> +subject would be more difficult to comprehend. +Of the fact, however, that an impression from abstract +subjects <em>is</em> made, and that an audible expression +of such impression is produced through the +voice, and that this is the case with all people alike, +I expect to furnish positive proof in a future publication. +The fact of our not being accustomed to +distinguish in this manner between various expressions +through inflections of the voice is no proof +that they do not exist.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span></p> + +<p>The soul impresses every word with a seal of its +own, characteristic of the idea it embodies, there +being as many accents or inflections of the voice as +there are <em>separate ideas</em>, or, rather, <em>groups of ideas</em>. +I beg leave to copy the following from the <cite>Saturday +Evening Post</cite> of April 8, 1899:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"Mr. Kipling recently told an interviewer: 'We write, +it is true, in letters of the alphabet; but, psychologically +regarded, every printed page is a picture book; every +word, concrete or abstract, is a picture. The picture +itself may never come to the reader's consciousness, but +deep down below, in the unconscious realms, the picture +works and influences us.'"</p></div> + +<p>The accent is not subject to the will any more +than the rhythm. The will can do <em>this</em>, however: +it can give greater weight, force, and expression, +and a wider scope, to the correlated forces of +metre, rhythm, and accent, through the</p> + +<p><em>Emphasis</em> which it infuses into them. Through +the emphasis, inlet upon inlet is opened, an additional +stream of fresh air is infused into them, flooding +the spiritual system. Valve upon valve is then +opened to let it out. Hence, emphasis is not an +"element" of speech proper, but an amplification, +an addition to existing elements, rather, impregnating +them with the life of the heart, the feelings, +the emotions.</p> + +<p>In distinguishing in this manner, as I have in the +above, between the will, the mind, and the soul, I +consider them parts of a great spiritual system intimately +connected with corresponding parts of our<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> +physical system, but lay no claim as to the correctness +of the <em>terms</em> I have used. On the contrary, I +feel that they are inadequate, and, at most, a makeshift +for more fitting expressions. There is a dearth +of expressional terms, and I am doing the best I can +with such as are at my disposal.</p> + +<p>In the same sense, also, I distinguish between +material-spiritual, spiritual-material, and spiritual +issues; and consider them the outcome, respectively, +of the will, the mind, and the soul.</p> + +<p>I wish it were in my power to at once fully explain, +as far as I am able to offer any explanation +at all, how it is <em>mechanically</em> possible to express these +four elements of metre, rhythm, accent, and emphasis +(so widely differing from each other) at one and +the same time, by four different modes of breathing, +carried on simultaneously, in addition to our +regular mode of breathing. The <em>perfection</em> of +elocution and of singing is to carry on all these +various processes simultaneously in as perfect +a manner as the subject and the occasion may +demand.</p> + +<p>I can explain the preceding, in part at least, as +follows:</p> + +<p>Verse is generally marked by the signs of long +and short. While they denote time or metre in the +first instance, they are also used to mark what is +called "rhythm." Yet, while metre and rhythm +are <em>apparently</em> of the same order, they are, as a +matter of fact, invariably of an inverse order.</p> + +<p>We cannot produce two distinctly different expressions +while breathing in one and the same direction.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +While we breathe for metre in one direction, we +breathe for rhythm in the opposite direction.</p> + +<p>Regarding that mode of breathing expressive of +the soul, and pertaining to words in conformity with +their <em>meaning</em>, and which, in the absence of any +more significant word, I have called the "accent," +it is of an altogether different order and does not conflict +with these other modes of breathing.</p> + +<p>Having stated that rhythm and accent are involuntary +productions, and that metre alone is subject +to the will, we must look to the metre, measure, or +time for our guide in our artistic vocal performances. +To this, emphasis must be added, as being +likewise subject to the will.</p> + +<p>As every language has its own time, or tempo, +and cannot be properly produced except in conformity +therewith, it appears to me that it should be +the first aim of vocal science <em>to ascertain the exact +nature of such tempo</em> for every separate language. +<em>When the correct time is kept, all other component +parts of speech fall into line correctly and involuntarily.</em> +Just what the proportionate tempo is for +English as against German vocal utterance, I am +unable to say, but it is much quicker for the latter +than it is for the former.</p> + +<p>There is a duality existing between metre and +rhythm: the former is voluntary, the latter involuntary. +Thus, also, is there a duality between emphasis +and accent, of which the former is voluntary, +the latter involuntary. Every voluntary factor, not +only in vocal utterance, but every voluntary factor +in any artistic performance of whatsoever nature,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> +being sustained by an involuntary counter-factor; +the same as voluntary and involuntary muscles complement +and sustain each other.</p> + +<p>Not only every artistic performance, but I dare +say <em>every</em> act or action of any kind, is of a dual nature. +Every separate duality, again, being sustained +by a counter-duality, every performance is sustained +by four different factors.</p> + +<p>When an act is of a material nature and belongs +to the hemisphere of the abdomen, it is sustained +by four counter-factors belonging to the thorax. +When it is of an immaterial nature and belongs to +the hemisphere of the thorax, it is sustained by four +counter-factors having their seat in the abdomen. +Thus every act or action consists of eight movements, +or an <em>octave</em> of movements.</p> + + +<h3>SIGNIFICANCE OF THE WORD "SCHOOL" IN CONNECTION +WITH THE ART OF SINGING</h3> + +<p>Having established the fact that the rhythmic +movements for English and German vocal expression +are directly opposed to each other, the one being +represented by the iambic, the other by the trochaic +measure, there is still a wide field open for investigation +as to the idiomatic expression of other +languages. This it should not be difficult to determine; +personally, I cannot devote the necessary +time to this subject even as far as I might be able to +do so in connection with other languages of which I +have some knowledge. The differences in other +tongues, of course, must be embodied in either of the +two measures named, as these embrace all others.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +Whatever may constitute a nation's idiomatic expression +must spring from a variation of either of +these. While the precedence is given to the abdomen +in some and to the thorax in others, the point +of gravitation, which according to its location calls +for the special manner in which we inspire into and +expire from either the one or the other, establishes +such variation in the idiomatic expression of <em>all</em> +tongues.</p> + +<p>All that is said about an Italian, a German, or +any other "school" (with the exception, perhaps, +of what may constitute the difference between what +is called "the <em>old</em> and the <em>new</em> Italian school," and +which covers issues of a nature foreign to these investigations) +has its proper significance right here: +There is no "school" in the sense in which this word +is ordinarily used. There are nations and there are +languages belonging to such nations. Each nation's +language is that nation's "school," and no one +nation can go to school with any other nation.</p> + +<p>Peasants and the mass of the people generally in +Italy, France, Germany, etc., do not visit academies +to study vocal art, yet their mode of expression is +precisely the same as that of the best vocal artists of +these respective countries. I do not mean to say, +of course, that the raw material their voices is made +up of is as rarefied and artistically trained, but that +the composition, the fundamental element thereof, +is of precisely the same order as that of their most +finished artists. This raw material, on the other +hand, in every instance, varies from that of people +belonging to every other nation.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span></p> + +<p>The best thing, therefore, to be done, to bring +such vocal material as nature has endowed one with +up to its greatest perfection, is to have it "schooled" +by artists belonging to one's own nation. There may +be a time coming, and the same may not be far distant, +when methods may be taught by which one +may become acquainted with the spirit, and learn +the exact mode of the technical expression, of other +nations besides one's own. It will then become +possible to comprehend these foreign methods and +to profit by comprehending them. As long as the +principles upon which they are based, however, are +not understood, any attempt at singing according to +the same will be futile as an accomplishment or an +art, and <em>hurtful</em> to the voice of the person making +the attempt.</p> + +<p><em>Such person will only injure his or her own natural +mode of expression, without acquiring the foreign +mode</em>.</p> + +<p>The idea of learning a certain mode of expression, +the Italian, for instance, for singing, and applying +it to <em>all</em> tongues, is futile and contrary to all reason. +We might, with as much show of reason, say that +by learning to pronounce one foreign tongue we +may apply that knowledge to the pronunciation of +every other foreign tongue.</p> + +<p>The true state of affairs, and the only one to +follow, is, and always will be, this: First, and above +all, learn to use your own tongue thoroughly, for +<em>all</em> purposes of vocal expression. Then learn the +use of other tongues for vocal expression in those +other tongues only. You cannot apply the techni<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span>cal +mode of Italian expression to English vocal utterance +any more than you can apply the technical +mode of English expression to Italian vocal utterance. +An attempt at so doing is quite as preposterous +in the one case as it is in the other.</p> + +<p>Besides, for the purpose of singing in his own +tongue, an Anglo-Saxon does not and should not +want to acquire any other mode, as he is by nature +in possession of one of the <em>best</em> modes of expression. +There is none intrinsically purer, none possessed of +more vigor or power of expression. There are +those with greater softness combined with purity, +but lacking strength, as the Italian; and those with +more soulfulness combined with strength, but lacking +purity, as the German. This native element +of purity allied to strength in the Anglo-Saxon, +more especially in the English-American, mode of +expression is primarily the cause of the high position +in the artistic world of the American singer. I +ascribe the superiority of the "American" mode of +expression over the "English," when untrammelled +as in song, in part to the greater personal liberty, +the greater want of conventionality, the vast extent +of our territory, and our almost constantly clear and +unclouded sky; all these being conditions that assist +the free exercise of one's natural endowments. +To reach the best results in the art of singing, the +body as well as the soul must be, as far as possible, +untrammelled in any direction. While the idiomatic +expression of the English language here and +abroad is the same, the social restraint and the conservatism +of the English as a nation act against the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +best outcome of their gift of song, which demands +for its best expression freedom from conventionality +or any other constraint.</p> + +<p>Each nation is at its best in its own tongue. +Our orators are equal to any there are in the +world. They do not speak according to the Italian, +the German, or any other school. If they did, they +would utterly fail and make themselves ridiculous. +Why do people, then, want to "speak" in this +more expansive and soulful manner, called "singing," +in these foreign modes? I know the answer +will be that singing and speaking are things quite +apart, having no affinity in their mode of production. +I shall show, as I have already partly shown, +that they are of precisely the <em>same order</em>, though +different phases of that order; that they cannot be +separated; in so far as the elements which belong to +speech also belong to song, and those which belong +to song also belong to speech; but that they are +used in an inverse order in the former as well as in +the latter.</p> + +<p>Listen to a person breathing just before falling +asleep, in a slow, rhythmical order; material objects +retire into the background and assume a semi-spiritual +shape. This is a similar condition to the +one we are in and in which we breathe during the +production of song. [By the by, sleep can be induced +by thinking of a song, that is, by mentally singing +it]. No two nations, however, breathe just alike +in that condition, any more than they do during +their waking moments; the mode of breathing during +sleep being a reversion always of the one which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> +obtains during our waking moments. Our mode of +breathing, however, <em>always</em> determines our mode of +vocal utterance. We can reverse our voice, as we +do in whispering, but it is always the same voice, +as a garment is the same when we turn it inside out.</p> + +<p>Do you know, by the way, that the English whispering +voice is the German speaking, and the German +whispering the English speaking voice? Try +it, and you will find it so. Go on whispering; that +is, continue to use your voice in the <em>same</em> mechanical +manner, but instead of for whispering, use it for +speaking aloud, and you will have the exact mode +of the other tongue. An Anglo-Saxon, in so doing, +will be able to speak German aloud, but not English; +a German will be able to speak English, but +not German.</p> + +<p>Thinking and speaking are of one and the same +order. Thought makes the impression of which +speech is the expression. If this were not the case, +it would not be possible to pass from thinking to +speaking or from speaking to thinking at once, and +without an effort. To produce English speech, we +must think English in a material way, that is, anteriorly, +and in so doing produce an instrument +from which English material or speech sounds emanate. +To produce English song, we must think +English in a spiritual way, that is, posteriorly, and +in so doing produce an instrument from which English +spiritual or song sounds emanate. We cannot +think English in either of these two ways and produce +German or Italian sounds for speech or song; +nor can we produce the latter sounds in any other<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +manner than by <em>thinking</em>, either materially or spiritually, +in these languages, and in the proper idiomatic +manner inherent therein.</p> + +<p>How can an English-speaking person, physically +and spiritually formed for English expression, and for +no other expression, produce proper Italian sounds? +She will think Italian in an English way; and, while +singing Italian words, produce them with an English +expression. That is not singing Italian, however, +but English. Is it likely that she will succeed in +acquiring the Italian mode of expression while her +teacher himself is ignorant of just what that mode +consists in, and in what it differs from the native +mode of vocal expression of his scholar? You might +as well attempt to produce on a violin the sounds of +a violoncello or some other instrument.</p> + +<p>To illustrate the power of the natural voice, it will +but be necessary to call attention to what occurs in +almost any concert wherein one of America's own +daughters, now "<em>prima donna assoluta</em>," is the main +performer. She sings a grand aria, the work of an +Italian master, highly artistically and perfectly rendered. +Musicians are delighted; the public applauds. +She reënters, and now the <em>donna</em>, changed +to a simple American, sings one of England's or +America's own songs. The audience, which before +had been languidly listening, at the first notes of this +song is stirred, electrified, and now listens intently. +When she ceases to sing, there is a storm of applause, +as to almost shake the house. Where the artistic +sense alone had been engaged before, the hearts and +the souls of her hearers have now been touched.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +Yet I have seen the eccentric Von Buelow deliberately +take out his handkerchief after such a +demonstration and wipe the "desecration" of the +"ditty" from the keys of the piano which had +accompanied the song, before he deigned to dignify +it with one of his "classic" renderings. No doubt +he had much contempt for it all: the song, the +singer, and the public. The treasures of that +"ditty," however, were of an order similar to those +hidden within the breast of every one composing +that audience. The pearls, floating through the +room from the lips of one of its own daughters, +had, with a sympathetic touch, stirred it to its very +depths, while the foreign "aria" had left it comparatively +cold. Supposing an <em>Italian</em> singer were +to sing an English "aria" in the English language +to an Italian audience, and, after that, were to produce +one of her own simple Italian songs, would not +the effect be the same? Would Italians, in fact, +care to listen to her English interpretation, no matter +how artistically rendered?</p> + +<p>It is an entirely different thing, however, for German +or Italian singers to come here and sing their +own songs in their own native tongue. Though +foreign, the production is genuine. They sing what +belongs to them, that in which they live, breathe; +they sing their own soul. Such a performance we +can comprehend and appreciate, even as we view a +foreigner with interest, and honor him for that +which is great and good in him, and for which he is +distinguished. We can soon <em>feel</em> what is genuine +and also that which is not; the former being nature's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span> +own production, the latter imitated, forced—unnatural. +Italians do not sing English or German +songs; why should Germans and English-speaking +people sing Italian and French songs, to the exclusion, +very often, of their own?</p> + +<p>It was but recently that I heard a German choral +society sing German songs to a delighted American +audience. Then came something weird, strange; it +was German, yet the words were not German. +Looking at the programme, it turned out to be the +famous plantation song, "'Way down upon the +Suwannee River." The audience looked bewildered; +there was no applause, though, judging by the attitude +of the singers, they had expected to make this +the grand hit of the evening.</p> + +<p>The last performance of the great festival of the +United German singers in Philadelphia, in 1897, was +the production of the "Star-Spangled Banner." +Everything in the appearance of the singers showed +that this finale was to be the crowning act of the +entire festival. All the singers, male and female, +participated, and "Old Glory" was waved in the +air during the performance. But, as I had feared, +it was a complete failure. Instead of the vast audience +spontaneously rising to its feet and being +carried away by enthusiasm, it remained cold and +indifferent, and there was no applause commensurate +with what it would have been had the performers +sung the words with the true ring in them and the +true English accent. The same thing would happen +if the "Marseillaise" were sung in France, or +the "Wacht am Rhein" in Germany, by foreign<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> +singing societies, no matter how excellently schooled, +and how artistically rendered.</p> + +<p>A similar experience was had by Madame Brinkerhoff, +who relates the same in <cite>The Vocalist</cite> of December, +1896, as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"To show how language is imbedded in the <em>timbre</em> of +the voice, I will relate an incident of last season. On +the first night of the representation of the 'Scarlet Letter,' +by Damrosch, sung by German singers, I was not +surprised or in the least displeased at hearing this beautiful +opera sung with the German <em>timbre</em> of voice; but +after listening to a whole act, I heard no German words; +I listened in vain for the shaping of their consonants and +vowels, although I heard the German sounds or <em>timbres</em>. +So I asked the lady seated next to me what language the +people on the stage were singing. 'German,' she replied. +I said: 'But I hear no German words. Will you kindly +listen and tell me when you hear German words?' She +listened and replied, 'No, I do not hear German words, +but I thought before it was German.' She asked me if +it was English. We could not decide it until the lights +were turned on, and looked at the programme, which +read, 'sung in English.'</p> + +<p>"This summer I asked a distinguished singer and +teacher of Philadelphia in what language the 'Scarlet +Letter' was sung in that city. She replied, 'Oh, German, +of course.' 'Did you hear it?' I asked. 'Yes, +and I enjoyed it very much, and it was sung in German,' +she replied. 'It said in English on the programme,' I +said. 'Well, if I was fooled, a great many more were +fooled—beside myself, all our party thought so too. +What are you going to do about it?' Gounod says: 'I +did not like Italian singing; their tones were attacked so<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +differently from the French method of singing that it was +unpleasant at first, but I went again and again, for I could +not stay away. I enjoyed it so much.'"</p></div> + +<p>This is what Frau Johanna Gadski had to say in +an interview printed in <cite>Werner's Magazine</cite>:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"I have never had any lessons in acting. The director +of the Choral Opera told me at the outset that it was better +to act by feeling when singing than by instruction. +If one studies only acting and singing, one is not always +natural. That is the reason why one who does not speak +German does not understand the German people and +their spirit, is not a German, and cannot sing the Wagner +rôles. One must have the German spirit. Sometimes +you write here in your papers that German singers +cannot sing. I think they sing German rôles very well. +One must sing, act, and, above everything, feel at the +same time, and then one can speak to the heart of the +listener."</p></div> + +<p>Singing in a foreign tongue is, and must be, and +always will be (until these things are more thoroughly +understood), to a large extent, simply mechanical. +Until then, the soul-stirring depth (<em>der Zauber</em>) of +the native composition will always be wanting. +The Anglo-Saxon race has been altogether too dependent +upon European continental nations for its +examples, its support, and its development in <em>all</em> +branches of art. This has been more particularly +the case in regard to music and song. Though German +music, for obvious reasons, which give Germans +the preponderance on this field of art, ranks first +among nations, still there should be among Eng<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span>lish-speaking +nations a greater native development +thereof in harmony with the national expression.</p> + +<p><em>Song</em>, above all, must be national; it must be in +harmony with the <em>genius</em> of a nation to attain its +highest development. It is too closely allied to a +nation's speech to be separated therefrom without +doing violence to both its music and its meaning. +The music and the words <em>must go together</em>; their +union is as indispensable as it is indissoluble. While +we have excellent vocal material in this country, it +lacks the proper food for its nourishment. There +is no want of poetic compositions. No nation has +their superior, or has them in greater abundance. +We have the words and the singers; but there is a +woful lack of a higher class of compositions for +singing. The latter are not at all commensurate +with the abundance and the superiority of the talent +that is awaiting their appearance.</p> + +<p>With compositions on a par with its vocal talent, +this nation might rank first among nations in the +art of singing. It must stand on its own footing. It +must sing its own songs and must be taught by its +own teachers. This dictum may provoke indignation +in "foreign" vocal teachers. Though I +regret the possible consequences to them, this cannot +be helped. Science is synonymous with knowledge, +and knowledge with truth, and "the truth +must be told if the heavens should fall."</p> + + +<h3>BREATHING</h3> + +<p>All of the preceding, in a manner, may be said to +be a preliminary argument for the great truth I claim<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> +to have discovered, namely, that <em>in the sphere of +the trunk of our body the material part of our nature +is represented by the hemisphere of the abdomen, its +immaterial part by that of the thorax; that in the +sphere of the head a similar division obtains, in conformity +with which it is also divided into hemispheres +representing material and immaterial issues; and that +every faculty, and the exercise thereof, have their being +in a dual action, in close succession, emanating +from these hemispheres.</em></p> + +<p>The first proposition to be proven was that we +breathe through the œsophagus, conjointly with +the trachea. If all I have said in the preceding has +not already convinced the reader of the truth of this +statement, I trust the following experiments will +thoroughly convince him thereof. These experiments +will also furnish additional proof of the fact +that English and German modes of respiration are +of an inverse order.</p> + +<p>Not the slightest fear need be entertained as to +the result of these experiments. I have made the +same, and others of a similar nature, over and over +again, without being in the least discomfited thereby; +and I may add that to the fact of having been +entirely divested of fear, I largely owe my success +in all these undertakings.</p> + +<p>If you are an Anglo-Saxon, and make the muscles +of your throat rigid, thereby stopping inspiration +through the trachea into the thorax, you will soon +experience a decided movement of the abdomen, in +conformity with which it will first expand anteriorly, +then posteriorly, and again anteriorly. There will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +now be a pause, after which the abdomen will be +first expanded posteriorly, then anteriorly, and +again posteriorly. This is as far as you can go; you +will be compelled to release your hold on your throat +after these six movements; the thorax meanwhile +remaining passive.</p> + +<p>Upon next making the muscles of the back of +your neck rigid, equal to those of the œsophagus, +the latter being thereby closed to respiration, you +will soon experience a decided movement of the +thorax, by which it will be first expanded posteriorly, +then anteriorly, and again posteriorly. +There will now be a pause, after which the thorax +will be first expanded anteriorly, then posteriorly, +and again anteriorly.</p> + +<p>These twelve movements constitute one act of +respiration during which inspiration and expiration +for thorax and abdomen equalize each other. The +first three movements of the abdomen, consisting of +an inspiration, an expiration, and an inspiration, +constitute what is commonly called an inspiration; +the second three movements of the abdomen, consisting +of an expiration, an inspiration, and an +expiration, constitute what is commonly called an +expiration. Of the six movements of the thorax +succeeding these, the first three, consisting of an +inspiration, an expiration, and an inspiration, are +equal to an inspiration; the last three, consisting of +an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, are +equal to an expiration. We thus have four complete +respirations, two of which, equal to an inspiration +and an expiration, belong to the abdomen; and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> +two, likewise equal to an inspiration and an expiration, +belong to the thorax.</p> + +<p>Inasmuch as each of these four respirations is +composed of three separate movements, one complete +respiration consists of twelve separate movements +of the respiratory organs. This relates to our +ordinary mode of breathing. For vocal utterance, +more especially the utterance of a vocal sound, these +four respirations are first made for the impression, +and are then, in an inverse order, repeated for the +expression. This gives us eight movements, or an +<em>octave</em> of movements, for each vocal sound; these +eight movements, as a matter of fact, consisting of +twenty-four separate movements of the respiratory +organs. These movements, which in our experiment +were of relatively long duration, during our +ordinary mode of breathing follow upon one another +very rapidly; thorax and abdomen, which during +our experiment were restrained, ordinarily and when +unrestrained, acting and reacting upon one another +in quick succession.</p> + +<p>The preceding experiment gives us the following +result:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="experiment"> + <tr> + <th colspan="0">ABDOMEN</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Movement</td> + <td>1.</td> + <td>Anterior, inspiration.</td> + <td rowspan="3" class="bl bt bb"><em>Inspiration.</em></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>2.</td> + <td>Posterior, expiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>3.</td> + <td>Anterior, inspiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>4.</td> + <td>Posterior, expiration.</td> + <td rowspan="3" class="bl bb"><em>Expiration.</em></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>5.</td> + <td>Anterior, inspiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>6.</td> + <td>Posterior, expiration. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <th colspan="0">THORAX</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>Movement</td> + <td>1.</td> + <td>Posterior, inspiration.</td> + <td rowspan="3" class="bl bt bb"><em>Inspiration.</em></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>2.</td> + <td>Anterior, expiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>3.</td> + <td>Posterior, inspiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>4.</td> + <td>Anterior, expiration.</td> + <td rowspan="3" class="bl bb"><em>Expiration.</em></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>5.</td> + <td>Posterior, inspiration.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>6.</td> + <td>Anterior, expiration.</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>All of the preceding has reference to the Anglo-Saxon +mode of breathing.</p> + +<p>Germans, under the same circumstances, will make +movements of an inverse order.</p> + +<p>The first movement of the abdomen will be posterior, +the next anterior, the third posterior, which +will be succeeded by anterior, posterior, and anterior +ones; while the movements of the thorax will be +anterior, posterior, and anterior, succeeded by posterior, +anterior, and posterior ones. This shows +that <em>with Germans, expiration antecedes inspiration</em>, +while <em>with Anglo-Saxons, inspiration antecedes +expiration</em>.</p> + +<p>In our experiment, with Anglo-Saxons, <em>inspiration</em> +took place in the abdomen by two movements +anteriorly to one posteriorly, and in the thorax by +two movements posteriorly to one anteriorly; while +<em>expiration</em> took place by two movements of the +abdomen posteriorly to one anteriorly, and in the +thorax by two movements anteriorly to one posteriorly, +as per this schedule:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="schedule"> + <tr> + <th><span class="smcap">Anglo-Saxon</span></th> + <th>Abdomen</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1. Inspiration,</td> + <td>Ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>2. Expiration,</td> + <td>Post., ant., post. + <span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <th></th> + <th>Thorax</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>3. Inspiration,</td> + <td>Post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>4. Expiration,</td> + <td>Ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>In the case of a German, it would have been more +proper, for our experiment, to have <em>first</em> closed the +muscles to the œsophagus, and then those to the +trachea, as Germans first breathe into the œsophagus +and then into the thorax. Had this been done, the +result would have been inverse to that of our experiment, +as follows: The first movement of the thorax +would have been one of inspiration, the same as the +first movement of the abdomen; and the second +movement of the thorax would have been one of +expiration, the same as the second movement of the +abdomen, thus:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="movement"> + <tr> + <th><span class="smcap">German</span></th> + <th>Thorax</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1. Inspiration,</td> + <td>Ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>2. Expiration,</td> + <td>Post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <th>Abdomen</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>3. Inspiration,</td> + <td>Post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>4. Expiration,</td> + <td>Ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p><em>This shows that the movements of the abdomen are +the reverse of those of the thorax</em>:</p> + +<p>With <em>Anglo-Saxons</em>, in such a manner that, while +for the abdomen <em>inspiration</em> takes place anteriorly, +it takes place for the thorax posteriorly; and that, +while for the abdomen <em>expiration</em> takes place posteriorly, +it takes place for the thorax anteriorly;</p> + +<p>With <em>Germans</em>, in such a manner that, while for +the thorax <em>inspiration</em> takes place anteriorly, it takes +place for the abdomen posteriorly; and that, while<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +for the thorax <em>expiration</em> takes place posteriorly, it +takes place for the abdomen anteriorly.</p> + +<p>These various modes of breathing find an illustration +in the following:</p> + +<p>Anglo-Saxons, while carrying a burden (for which +purpose it is necessary to hold the breath or to +economize the same as much as possible), inspire into +the abdomen anteriorly and the chest posteriorly, +and in so doing expand the same accordingly; while +Germans, under the same circumstances, breathe into +and expand the abdomen posteriorly and the chest +anteriorly. The action of the former tending away +from the diaphragm, that of the latter tending +towards it, exercise an influence on the spinal column +which causes Anglo-Saxons while carrying a +burden to assume an erect, Germans a stooping +position. This has already been illustrated by calling +attention to the difference between the position +of the Greek and Gothic caryatides, the former representing +the Anglo-Saxon, the latter the German +mode of breathing. The order for German soldiers, +"Brust heraus, Bauch herein"! ("Breast out, belly +in"), for Anglo-Saxons should be, "Breast in, belly +out"! The former gives German soldiers that stiff +appearance, tending towards the diaphragm, of +which Heine has said:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Als haetten sie verschluckt den Stock,<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Womit man sie einst gepruegelt."<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">("As if the stick they'd swallowed<br /></span> +<span class="i0">With which they once were walloped.")<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>The fact that inspiration always consists in an in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span>spiration, +an expiration, and an inspiration, while expiration +consists in an expiration, an inspiration, and +an expiration, is one of the most interesting observations +I have made in connection with these studies.</p> + +<p>These facts may be generalized in saying: There +is no action connected with life which consists of +a single movement in any one single direction; +every action, of whatsoever nature, if it is outgoing, +consisting of an outgoing, ingoing, and outgoing +movement; if it is ingoing, of an ingoing, outgoing, +and ingoing movement; every superior movement +consisting of a superior, an inferior, and a superior; +every inferior, of an inferior, a superior, and an inferior +one; every left movement, of one to the left, +to the right, and to the left; every right movement, +of one to the right, to the left, and to the right; the +last movement <em>only</em> being visible and accompanying +action.</p> + +<p>While our experiment is representative of the +general principles underlying our mode of breathing, +the act of breathing, proper, is subject to many +variations. During their waking moments, or for +conversation, with Anglo-Saxons respiration takes +place by thorax and abdomen changing off, alternately, +while with Germans they succeed one +another in the same manner as they did in our +experiment, commencing, however, with the thorax +instead of with the abdomen, and with expiration +instead of with inspiration, as follows:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="breathing"> + <tr> + <td></td> + <th colspan="0"><span class="smcap">Anglo-Saxon</span></th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1.</td> + <td>Insp.</td> + <td>Thorax—post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>2.</td> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>Abd.—ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span>3.</td> + <td>Exp.</td> + <td>Abd.—post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>4.</td> + <td class="tdc">"</td> + <td>Thorax—ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td></td> + <th colspan="0"><span class="smcap">German</span>.</th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>1.</td> + <td>Exp.</td> + <td>Thorax—post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>2.</td> + <td>Insp.</td> + <td class="tdp2">" —ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>3.</td> + <td>Exp.</td> + <td>Abd.—ant., post., ant.</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td>4.</td> + <td>Insp.</td> + <td class="tdp1">" —post., ant., post.</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>This shows an indirect movement for Anglo-Saxon, +a direct movement for German respiration. Hence, +English enunciation is necessarily slow, German +relatively quick. It also shows that the reserve +force with Anglo-Saxons is held before it is expended; +with Germans it is expended almost as fast +as it is engendered.</p> + +<p>As there is an apparent discrepancy between the +last schedule and the previous one showing Anglo-Saxon +mode of inspiration, I want to remind the +reader that our "experiment" was made mainly to +set forth the fact that we breathe through the œsophagus +conjointly with breathing through the +trachea; but it was not intended to show our regular +mode of breathing.</p> + +<p>Though Germans and Anglo-Saxons breathe in +opposite directions, still there is an affinity between +them in so far as they breathe <em>along the same plane</em>. +Peoples who speak any of the Latin tongues, on the +other hand, breathe along a different plane, and so +do Slavonic, Mongolian, and other races. Anglo-Saxons +and Germans, therefore, though opposed to +one another in one sense, are affiliated in another; +and both may be, therefore, as they often are, said<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +to belong to the Teutonic race, together with other +peoples along the borders of the North and Baltic +Seas. In a similar manner, no doubt, other races +possess their similitudes and dissimilarities.</p> + +<p>It should scarcely require any further proof on +my part after this and all I have previously said to +show that, if any of the peoples now speaking Latin +tongues were in place thereof to speak English or +German, they would, in the course of time, cease +to be Frenchmen, Spaniards, or Italians, as the case +might be, and would become Anglo-Saxons or Germans; +or that, if any of the Slavonic races or peoples +would do the same, the same result would eventually +ensue; and also that, if Anglo-Saxon or German +peoples were to speak Latin or Slavonic tongues in +place of their own, they would eventually cease to +be Anglo-Saxons or Germans, and would become +the people whose tongue they were speaking; always +provided, of course, that such tongues were to be +spoken <em>idiomatically</em> correctly. Should any one still +doubt that language is the mainspring formulating +peoples and nations in all that essentially belongs +to them and distinguishes them as such, I confidently +believe that that which I shall still further +have to say on this subject will eventually convince +even the most obdurate of the correctness of these +assertions.</p> + +<p>The preceding schedules both for English-and +German-speaking peoples show their mode of +breathing during their waking moments and for the +purpose of conversation. During sleep and for the +demands of the singing voice, however, thorax and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> +abdomen interchange with one another in so harmonious +a manner that their inspirations and expirations +appear as one respective inspiration and +expiration.</p> + +<p>The following schedules will show the relation of +metre and rhythm to breathing.</p> + +<p>Inspiration being of longer duration than expiration, +I have in the following signified the former by +the sign for long (¯), the latter by that for short (˘); +while for the rise of the voice I have used the sign +for acute (´), and for its fall that for grave (`); for +comparison, see schedule on page <a href="#Page_202">202</a>.</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="schedule"> + <tr> + <th colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Anglo-Saxon</span> Abdomen</th> + <th colspan="2">Thorax<br /></th> + </tr> + <tr> + <td rowspan="2">1. Inspiration,</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">`´`</td> + <td rowspan="2">3. Inspiration,</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">`´`</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="monospace tdp1">¯˘¯</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">¯˘¯</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td rowspan="2">2. Expiration,</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">´`´</td> + <td rowspan="2">4. Expiration,</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">´`´</td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="monospace tdp1">˘¯˘</td> + <td class="monospace tdp1">˘¯˘</td> + </tr> +</table> + +<p>An experiment may be made by an Anglo-Saxon +adopting the German mode of breathing and then +attempting to speak English, or by a German adopting +the Anglo-Saxon mode of breathing and then +attempting to speak German, which neither will +succeed in doing.</p> + +<p>In making the experiments just now under consideration, +it will <em>not</em> be necessary, after closing the +muscles of the trachea or the œsophagus for the first +six movements, to continue doing so, as the next +six movements will ensue involuntarily. There may +be several repetitions of these twelve movements +involuntarily or automatically following after that; +any special mode of breathing once assumed being +apt to continue indefinitely until another mode is +inaugurated.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<p>The same experiments may also be made by making +<em>abdomen and thorax</em> alternately <em>rigid</em>, or producing +a state of rigidity through mechanical pressure, +in place of producing it with the muscles of the +œsophagus and the trachea. As this may appear +simpler and "less dangerous," there should be +nothing to hinder any one from making these experiments. +The movements will not be as <em>pronounced</em>, +however, in the latter instance as they are +in producing a <em>direct</em> closure of the trachea and the +œsophagus.</p> + +<p>There is a fourth mode of producing the same +results, namely, through the simple act of <em>continuously</em> +"thinking" of any particular part. We may +thus bring about a closure of the muscles of the +trachea or œsophagus, of thorax or abdomen, etc.; +thought, which <em>precedes</em> motion for vocal utterance, +<em>always</em>, as cause to effect, being the final arbiter in +all matters of respiration, unless the latter is of an +involuntary and simply functional character. While +the act of breathing for life pursues its even tenor, +breathing for vocal utterance, though of the same +<em>order</em>, is subject to innumerable changes in conformity +with the sound, syllable, or word intended +to be produced.</p> + +<p>I am aware that there may be <em>apparent</em> incongruities +in some of the preceding, and I presume there +always will be. We can see things only from our +limited standpoint. I have undertaken to solve +matters supposed to be superhuman, or "of God," +and hence <em>perfect</em> in their way, in a human, and +therefore imperfect, manner. Our limitations natu<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span>rally +extending to our power of observation, the +duality of our nature in matters of this kind does +not permit us—I might say, forbids us—arriving at +<em>final</em> conclusions. We can go as far as our understanding +permits us to go—beyond that, we may at +most indulge in speculation. I have limited myself +to my limits, to what I could prove, and have but +rarely indulged in what I could not—in speculation.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Since the above was written Dr. G. E. Brewer, who in +conjunction with Dr. F. C. Ard, last month (March, 1899), in New +York, successfully performed the very rare operation of laryngectomy, +has told me that his patient had already (after a month) commenced +to speak again, though as yet only in a monotonous whispering voice. +She is doing so in spite of the fact that every vestige of her larynx, +which had been in a diseased state, and which the doctor showed me, +had been removed. When I told the doctor this mysterious "new" +voice was that of the œsophagus and had always existed with his +patient, as it exists with every one else, and had always been heard +in conjunction with that of the trachea, he was greatly astonished, +though naturally incredulous, but said he would investigate.</p></div> + + +<h3>SONG, SINGERS, AND PHYSIOLOGY</h3> + +<p>We are incomprehensible and mysterious beings. +We do not know whence we come nor whither we go; +we do not know what agencies guide and sustain us—our +end is a tragic one. While the soles of our feet +closely adhere to the ground, our heads are in touch +with the most distant stars. We exercise faculties +to perfection whose origin and mode of operation are +unalterably hidden from our knowledge. We possess +gifts and talents which raise us above the plane +of our ordinary existence and inspire us with the +belief that we are related to the divinity, are part of +the divinity. It has ever been man's aim to pene<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span>trate +this darkness, to learn to comprehend <em>himself</em>. +The vocation of the singer is one to which this knowledge +is indispensable. In the fulness of his organization +endowed by nature with a divine gift, the +singer's aim and desire is to retain and perfect this +gift.</p> + +<p>The birds sing their same individual song throughout +their career. Man, however, sings the song of +his soul; a song as endless and as varied as his +thoughts. Song with him is not a gift alone, but +its exercise is a study, an art. He must sing <em>knowingly</em>; +he must ascertain the source of his song and +the reason why certain causes produce certain results. +Hence the necessity for a science of the +voice.</p> + +<p>The knowledge of the exercise of our faculties is +dependent on the knowledge of life and on that of the +spirit, without whose aid no transaction of life of any +kind ever takes place. Despairing of his ability to +penetrate into the realms of the spirit, aspiring man +has ever resorted to that which was next at his command—matter. +Hence the effort throughout all of +man's history to reach the soul by way of the body. +But body and mind, in alliance, have ever succeeded +in frustrating these efforts; in keeping the secret of +their duality and mutuality intact from the gaze of +man. Yet singers are determined to find out <em>something</em> +in relation to the <em>voice</em> at least. Finding +that we cannot penetrate into the relation existing +between mind and matter, the effort is renewed +in the most persistent manner to explain the life +and the spirit, whose essence and outcome is the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> +voice, by examining into the relation of matter to +matter.</p> + +<p>Our professor, having discarded the assistance of +life and the spirit, dabbles in matter pure and undefiled. +This process our young students are invited +to attend. They carry their youth and their talent, +their high hopes and aspirations, into the dissecting-room, +where the spirit of the voice is supposed to +reveal itself among the ghastliest spectacles. If a +person of ordinary good sense, but not acquainted +with these subjects, were to attend a lecture on the +physiology of the voice and then attend a singing-lesson +based upon the knowledge thus attained, he +would be apt to remark: "Can this performance +possibly be meant to be in good faith? Is not +this man taking advantage of the credulity of this +woman, who is giving him her hard-earned money, +but to find before long that she has been beggared, +not only in purse, but in voice and spirit as well; +that she has not been benefited in any sense, but +sadly robbed and betrayed?"</p> + +<p>The persistency with which the modern scientist +attempts to hammer a voice out of the larynx and +surrounding material tissues and other physical +agencies is a cardinal sin against the holy "spirit." +When he uses this supposed knowledge for coining +it into money at the expense of trusting and aspiring +singers, he commits a malpractice, for which +some day he will have to go to the penitentiary of +his own conscience; that is, if he is in possession of +any. "Vocal bands, mucous membranes, tissues, +ligaments, muscles, hollow spaces, air-pressure,"—<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span>these +are the factors productive of the voice divine; +matter, nought but matter; not a spark of the divine +afflatus, not a spark even of life.</p> + +<p>Journals devoted to the voice are full of these +things. I will quote but a single instance. At the +Music Teachers' National Convention, held in New +York, in June, 1898, a sensation was created by Dr. +Frank E. Miller (see <cite>Werner's Magazine</cite> for August, +1898, page 490) saying:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> + +<p>"In other words, I wish to say that the action of the +cavities or hollow spaces is anterior and prior to the +action of the vocal bands in production of tone and +tone-quality in our organs of speech. <em>With this novel +fact I announce an original discovery.</em>"</p></div> + +<p>It is such <em>stuff</em> as this that these people feed upon +and believe in as revelations of great moment. +Yet Dr. Miller and his coadjutors might sit before +these cavities or hollow spaces till the end of +time, looking, observing, probing, measuring, weighing, +and determining their relation to the vocal bands +and vice versa, and not a vestige of the spirit of the +voice would ever make its appearance. The last +conundrum of this kind, and it has special reference +to my discoveries, is as follows: "May not the disturbance +of speech known as stammering or stuttering +be mainly a condition caused by the putting +out of gear of one air-chamber in its relationship to +other air-chambers, whereby the air-pressures during +the speech-act are at war with one another, resulting +in the well-known manifestations?" (<cite>Werner's Magazine</cite> +for September, 1898, page 59). Air-chambers<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> +and air-pressures again. I protest against being +made <em>particeps criminis</em> in any such proceeding.</p> + +<p>When we go back to the earliest recorded times +and find traces of an attempt at expression by means +of crude signs or figures impressed upon the clay, +we can see more of the potentiality of a science (or +a civilization) arising therefrom than we can from +the teachings of the laryngoscopists, who claim that +the voice can be evolved from the relations of various +forms of matter to one another, without even a +trace of the spirit accompanying them.</p> + +<p>Not many years since audiences of intelligent persons +were invited to watch a dark tent in which two +men were so closely tied together (as it was supposed) +that they could not possibly move a limb. +From this tent noises would arise as of the dragging +of chains along the floor, bells ringing, etc., interposed +now and then by a chair being flung through +the air. All this was done by the "spirits." This +was a proceeding not unlike the one now going on +in the materialistic school in connection with the +spirit of the voice. There is no more likelihood of +the latter arising from the dark tent of the matter +they are investigating than of a real spirit appearing +in that other tent. The performance, besides, is +not as amusing, no chairs being flung, etc. The +audience is looking on gravely expectant, but all +remains forever monotonously, solemnly, ominously, +and cadaverously silent and resultless.</p> + +<p>The <em>living</em> grain of corn a blind hen after much +scratching succeeds in digging out from beneath a +barn-yard floor bears a closer resemblance to life, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +hence to the voice, than the relations a professor of +physiology scratches together out of the various +parts which he supposes make up the instrument of +the voice. These attempts are so contrary to reason +and common sense that in any other science their +originators would be laughed to scorn for their +pains.</p> + +<p>The other great issue with physiologists in connection +with the voice is that of breathing. Clavicular +breathing, costal breathing, diaphragmatic +breathing, etc.—these are some of the terms in +common use, and the "modes" of breathing commonly +practised. Each of these modes is supposed +to be practised separately and at the will of the +performer. They are praised and recommended or +condemned according to the special view of the +practitioner. Systems are based on these special +modes and schools arise therefrom. What one +"school" practises is condemned by another. And +how could it be otherwise, <em>all</em> being wrong?</p> + +<p>Being homogeneous entities, whose wholesome +existence is based upon a harmonious coöperation of +all parts, we cannot practise breathing from a special +part without every other part more or less participating. +The act of breathing being our most vital performance, +every other part would suffer if it were +confined to any special part. Our entire system, +therefore, must participate therein; the hemisphere +of the abdomen no less than that of the thorax; both +hemispheres coöperating with each other and with +other streams introduced into our system through +the pores and every other opening in the body. For<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +a moment, and for an especial expression, one part +may prevail over another; but the true artist will +always breathe in such a manner that after such an +effort all parts will again harmonize and balance one +another. He will have such control over his breathing +powers that he can at any time throw the balance +of power into one direction; but he will never let +any one direction <em>continue</em> to prevail over any other.</p> + +<p>Every theory heretofore advanced in respect to +our mode of breathing, being based upon false premises, +is wrong in the abstract, and impossible of +practical execution.</p> + +<p>If I have expressed myself strongly, it is because +I feel strongly the injury which has been wrought +by this so-called "science" of the laryngoscopists. +It has in thousands of instances hindered the natural +development of the voice, and has in many other +directions done incalculable harm; while it has in +<em>no</em> direction ever done any good. It has oppressed +the intellect, depressed the spirit, and suppressed the +soul of singers. Let me add but this: What would +be the use of the most scientifically constructed +stove, filled with the most appropriate fuel, if the +flame were wanting to set fire to this fuel? Supposing +the laryngoscopists to comprehend the intricate +construction of the stove (the body), the +highly sensitive and complicated apparatus of the +fuel (the instrument of the voice)—both of which, +however, they are greatly in the dark about—the +flame would still be wanting to set fire to this fuel +and fill the stove with the holy glow of song. This +flame (the life, the spirit) they do not even pretend<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +to be able to furnish. They only give us the stove +and the fuel, which remain forever dark, cold, lifeless, +inert.</p> + +<p>To set myself up in judgment regarding these +important issues, or to place my judgment over +that of so many eminent persons in the past as well +as the present, may appear to be a presumptuous, +rash, bold, and almost unwarranted undertaking. +It is not my fault, however, that there should be +such utter confusion existing in these matters; that +no one should have ever succeeded in reducing this +chaos to any kind of order; that I am the heir, so +to say, to this condition of affairs; the trustee to +this inheritance, who is to make use of it to the best +advantage of all that are interested.</p> + +<p>Nor is it my fault that, not by dint of superior endowments, +or any other qualities of a superior order, +but simply through the discovery of the dual nature +of the voice, I should have obtained an insight +into, a mastery over, these matters never before enjoyed +by any man. Yet there seems to be a disposition +on the part of some persons to throw blame +on me for these facts; in place of furthering, to +suppress, this knowledge; in place of probing and +investigating, to assume that it is simply the outcome +of a somewhat more than lively imagination. +It appears to me that this is partly done in the interest +of the vast literature on these subjects now in +existence, which will become obsolete and valueless +as soon as the <em>truth</em> in matters of the voice has been +established.</p> + +<p>I dare say this simple fact, "We breathe and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +speak through the œsophagus in conjunction with +breathing and speaking through the trachea," for +<em>real</em> knowledge, is worth all of the entire literature +on the voice, as a science, now in existence.</p> + +<p>The science of the voice, as I understand and am +trying to explain and establish it, is one not so +much of mechanical issues, though they have their +share in it, as one in which the spirit, this heretofore +unapproachable issue, performs the greatest and +most vital part. It is a question of life, and every +issue and every agency governing life are involved +in it. How vast a science this science of the voice +therefore is, can be better imagined than at once +fully comprehended. I am far from being able to +present it in all its aspects, but shall endeavor, as I +have already partly done, to continue to give a +general outline of it.</p> + +<p>It will take time and patience for any one to acquire +this knowledge, but the reward will be more than +commensurate. To superficially obtain it from others +is not sufficient; one must learn to know it of one's +own knowledge. It is an academic study, embracing +many sciences. A person must enter into it with +his whole being if he wants to get hold of the spirit +thereof and be truly benefited thereby. He must +identify himself with this knowledge, must become +part and parcel thereof, or it must become part and +parcel of him. When this is done, true teachers of +the voice will arise, for here is a chance for greatness +to assert itself. It will be death to all hackneyed +knowledge and charlatanism.</p> + +<p>When the true knowledge of the production of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> +speech and song for <em>every</em> language has been established, +when we have a real science of the voice, the +teacher comprehending these issues in their entire +latitude will be able to teach how to interpret +Mozart, Schubert, and Wagner, Rossini and Verdi, +Gounod, and every other master in the tongue and +the spirit in which he has produced his works.</p> + +<p>The genius for execution in the art of singing is +with the Anglo-Saxon race, but not for composition, +for original conception. It may come, but it is not +with it now.</p> + +<p>The desire of the singer naturally is to embrace +the highest in her or his repertoire. At present it is +Wagner. But how can Wagner be rendered without +a comprehension of his genius as expressed through +his language? The genius of the master and the +genius of the language he wrote and composed in +cannot be separated. They are soul and body of +one and the same entity. Without the comprehension +of the genius of the German language, of its +idiomatic expression, it is not possible to reproduce +what Wagner meant to express by his work. To +sing German with an English tongue is an anomaly; +it is still English in the real sense of the word, and +not German. It is an unnatural proceeding, and +therefore injurious to the vocal organs of the singer.</p> + +<p>No one would expect a foreigner, for the delectation +of a native-born audience, to recite before it +poetry in the latter's language, or a native-born +person to recite before it in a foreign tongue. In +either case such a person would fail. Why, then, +song, this sister art and accomplishment?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span></p> + +<p>All these are questions which, though ever so +reluctantly, artists will have to face. It complicates +their art, but it will also, when understood, make it +comparatively easy. Americans will then sing the +works of foreign masters with the same perfect ease +that they do those of their native composers, and so +will persons of every other nationality.</p> + +<p>Who will be able to teach a foreign language so +well as the natives of each respective country? provided +such persons have learned to comprehend the +difference between the mode of production of their +speech and that of their scholars. In that case only +will a German be able to teach an Anglo-Saxon his +(the German) language for either speech or song. +It will be the same with every other nationality.</p> + +<p>The teachers, as a class, are with me. They feel +that the efforts of the physiologists to aid them in +their vocation are wrong and misleading. They +have no faith in the revelation of matter. They +know matter is inert, powerless for any purpose +without the indwelling of the spirit; that the spirit +reigns over and controls <em>every</em> manifestation of life; +and that the voice in singing is one of the highest +manifestations thereof. They know that song comes +from the heart and the soul, while it uses the body +for its instrument.</p> + +<p>I have been told I must build up before tearing +down; before destroying the old I must put something +better in its place. I think it a praiseworthy +undertaking, in itself, to destroy the false and the +harmful. Besides, we cannot erect a new building +before the old one has been removed.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span></p> + +<p>As for this <em>new</em> science, I am doing what I can to +put it into shape, to give a visible and tangible form +to it as it has developed in my mind. The world +has been able to do without it so long, those interested +in these matters must have a little patience.</p> + +<p>I specially appeal to the <em>young</em> to devote themselves +to these studies and to thus become the precursors +in the application of principles which are +destined to revolutionize the vocal science of the +world; the old being often too old to get out of +lifelong practices, no matter how erroneous. I appeal +in like manner to the students of medicine, and +to those of every other branch of science, whose aim +is the knowledge of man in any of, and all, his +relations.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a><br /><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> +<img src="images/fig233-300dpi.jpg" width="700" height="167" alt="" /> +</div> +<div class="chapter"></div> + + + + +<h2>INDEX</h2> + + +<p> +Abdomen, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +Abstract thought, <a href="#Page_72">72</a><br /> +<br /> +Accent, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a><br /> +<br /> +Æther, <a href="#Page_91">91</a><br /> +<br /> +Anapest, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> +<br /> +Anglo-Saxon race, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> +<br /> +Animal magnetism, <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br /> +<br /> +Anode, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +<br /> +Antibacchius, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> +<br /> +Atlas, <a href="#Page_127">127</a><br /> +<br /> +Autology, <a href="#Page_56">56</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Bacchius, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> +<br /> +<cite>Basic Law of Vocal Utterance</cite>, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a><br /> +<br /> +Bladder, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +Blood, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br /> +<br /> +Brain, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +Breathing, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214</a><br /> +<br /> +Brinkerhoff, Mme. Clara, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br /> +<br /> +Bronchi, <a href="#Page_8">8</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Caryatides, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br /> +<br /> +Cathode, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +<br /> +Centrifugal, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> +<br /> +Centripetal, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a><br /> +<br /> +Charlatanism, <a href="#Page_12">12</a><br /> +<br /> +Circulation of sound, <a href="#Page_109">109</a><br /> +<br /> +Climate, <a href="#Page_135">135</a><br /> +<br /> +Clothing, <a href="#Page_78">78</a><br /> +<br /> +Colonization, <a href="#Page_140">140</a><br /> +<br /> +Congenital deaf, <a href="#Page_84">84</a><br /> +<br /> +Consonants, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Dactylus, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a><br /> +<br /> +Dentistry, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> +<br /> +Diaphragm, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a><br /> +<br /> +Dissecting room, <a href="#Page_211">211</a><br /> +<br /> +Douglass, Frederick, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Drumhead, <a href="#Page_74">74</a><br /> +<br /> +Duality, <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Emphasis, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a><br /> +<br /> +English-speaking peoples, <a href="#Page_136">136</a><br /> +<br /> +Evolution, <a href="#Page_18">18</a><br /> +<br /> +Expansion, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +<br /> +Expiration, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br /> +<br /> +Extirpation, <a href="#Page_59">59</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Foreigners, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194</a><br /> +<br /> +Frænum linguæ, <a href="#Page_42">42</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Gadski, Johanna, <a href="#Page_196">196</a><br /> +<br /> +Generation, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br /> +<br /> +German writers, <a href="#Page_65">65</a><br /> +<br /> +Gounod, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br /> +<br /> +Gravitation, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Heidenhain, Mr., <a href="#Page_14">14</a><br /> +<br /> +Heine, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a><br /> +<br /> +Hemispheres, <a href="#Page_88">88</a><br /> +<br /> +Holmes, Dr. O. W., <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a><br /> +<br /> +Huxley, <a href="#Page_21">21</a><br /> +<br /> +Hypnotism, <a href="#Page_52">52</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Iambic measure, <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> +<br /> +Idiomatic expression, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> +<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span><br /> +Idiom of the sea, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of the forest, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Immigration, <a href="#Page_134">134</a><br /> +<br /> +Inspiration, <a href="#Page_177">177</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a><br /> +<br /> +Intonation, <a href="#Page_161">161</a><br /> +<br /> +Introspection, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Kidneys, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Laryngoscope, <a href="#Page_50">50</a><br /> +<br /> +Laryngoscopists, <a href="#Page_215">215</a><br /> +<br /> +Larynx, <a href="#Page_9">9</a><br /> +<br /> +Lungs, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +Lunn, Mr., <a href="#Page_167">167</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Matter, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a><br /> +<br /> +Medicine, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br /> +<br /> +Metre, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> +<br /> +Miller, Dr., <a href="#Page_212">212</a><br /> +<br /> +Mind, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +<br /> +Motion, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_151">151</a><br /> +<br /> +Müller, Prof. Max, <a href="#Page_99">99</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Octave, <a href="#Page_93">93</a><br /> +<br /> +Œsophagus, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Palimpsest, <a href="#Page_96">96</a><br /> +<br /> +Phonograph, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a><br /> +<br /> +Point of gravitation, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br /> +<br /> +Posterior surfaces, <a href="#Page_68">68</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +"R" sound, <a href="#Page_104">104</a><br /> +<br /> +Race distinctions, <a href="#Page_137">137</a><br /> +<br /> +Reinforcement, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> +<br /> +Religion, <a href="#Page_17">17</a><br /> +<br /> +Replica, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br /> +<br /> +Rhythm, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_178">178</a><br /> +<br /> +Rigidity, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +Roentgen, Professor, <a href="#Page_105">105</a><br /> +<br /> +Rush, Dr., <a href="#Page_48">48</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Saxon words, <a href="#Page_168">168</a><br /> +<br /> +School of singing, <a href="#Page_187">187</a><br /> +<br /> +Science of the voice, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /> +<br /> +Sight, <a href="#Page_183">183</a><br /> +<br /> +Simple sounds, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a><br /> +<br /> +Singers, <a href="#Page_210">210</a><br /> +<br /> +Singing, <a href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br /> +<br /> +Soft palate, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><br /> +<br /> +Soul, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +<br /> +Speech and song, <a href="#Page_158">158</a><br /> +<br /> +Spirit, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br /> +<br /> +Spirits, <a href="#Page_44">44</a><br /> +<br /> +Spiritual cell, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><br /> +<br /> +Stammering, <a href="#Page_97">97</a><br /> +<br /> +Stuttering, <a href="#Page_97">97</a><br /> +<br /> +Surd, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Teachers, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a><br /> +<br /> +Teeth, <a href="#Page_132">132</a><br /> +<br /> +Teutonic race, <a href="#Page_206">206</a><br /> +<br /> +Thorax, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +Thought, <a href="#Page_192">192</a><br /> +<br /> +Timbre, <a href="#Page_195">195</a><br /> +<br /> +Tongue, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a><br /> +<br /> +Trachea, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a><br /> +<br /> +Trochaic measure, <a href="#Page_165">165</a><br /> +<br /> +Tuning, <a href="#Page_157">157</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Ureters, <a href="#Page_47">47</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +Ventriloquism, <a href="#Page_73">73</a><br /> +<br /> +Virchow, Professor, <a href="#Page_21">21</a><br /> +<br /> +Viscera, <a href="#Page_46">46</a><br /> +<br /> +Vivisection, <a href="#Page_51">51</a><br /> +<br /> +Vocal science, <a href="#Page_220">220</a><br /> +<br /> +Vocal sounds, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a><br /> +<br /> +Voice of the œsophagus, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>;<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">falling, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">rising, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">whispering, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></span><br /> +<br /> +Von Buelow, <a href="#Page_193">193</a><br /> +<br /> +<br /> +<cite>Werner's Magazine</cite>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a><br /> +<br /> +Will, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a><br /> +</p> + +<div class="transnote"> +<div class="chapter"></div> +<hr class="chap" /> + + + + +<h2>Transcriber's Notes:</h2> + + +<p>Simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were silently corrected.</p> + +<p>Anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed.</p> + +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Duality of Voice, by Emil Sutro + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DUALITY OF VOICE *** + +***** This file should be named 48486-h.htm or 48486-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/4/8/4/8/48486/ + +Produced by Richard Tonsing, Bill Tozier, Barbara Tozier +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United +States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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