Part 14

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.