A Treatise on Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene Part 40

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 108. The proper position for reading, speaking, and singing.]

604. If an individual or cla.s.s read or sing when sitting, let the position represented by fig. 109 be adopted, and not the one represented by fig. 110; for the erect position in sitting conduces to the free and effective action of the respiratory and vocal organs, and is as important as the erect att.i.tude in standing.

604. What position should be adopted when a person reads or sings when sitting? Why?

605. _The muscles of the neck should not be compressed._ If the muscles of the neck and larynx are compressed by a high cravat, or other close dressing, not only will the free and energetic movements of these parts be impeded, but the tones will be feeble and ineffective. Therefore the dress of the neck, particularly of public speakers and singers, should be loose and thin. For a warm dress upon the neck, when the vocal organs are in action, will induce too great a flow of blood to these parts, which will be attended by subsequent debility.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 109.]

_Observations._ 1st. The loss of voice, (_lar-yn-gitis_,) which is prevalent among public speakers, may be ascribed in part to the injudicious dressing of the neck, and improper position in standing.

605. How should public speakers dress their necks? Why? What is a common cause of the loss of voice?

2d. When individuals have been addressing an audience in a warm room, or engaged in singing, they should avoid all impressions of a cold atmosphere, unless adequately protected by an extra garment.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 110.]

606. _The condition of the air modifies speaking and singing._ As pure air is more elastic and resonant than impure, and as easy, melodious speaking or singing requires atmospheric elasticity, so school-rooms and singing-halls should be well ventilated, if we would be entertained with soft intonations in reading, or sonorous singing.

_Observation._ The imperfect ventilation of churches and vestries is another cause of laryngitis among clergymen. This affection is almost unknown among those who speak in very open rooms, where stoves are not used.

Give 2d. observation. 606. Why does easy and melodious speaking require pure air? What is another cause laryngitis among clergymen?

607. _The condition of the nasal pa.s.sages and throat modifies the voice._ The enunciation of words is rendered more or less distinct, in proportion as the jaws are separated in speaking, and the fauces and nasal pa.s.sages are free from obstruction. For these reasons, the scholar should be taught to open the mouth adequately when reading, speaking, or singing, that the sounds formed in the larynx and modified in the fauces may have an un.o.bstructed egress.

_Observations._ 1st. If the fauces are obstructed by enlarged tonsils, (a condition by no means uncommon in children,) they should be removed by a surgical operation, which is not only effective, but safe, and attended with little suffering. The tonsils are situated on each side of the base of the tongue, and, when enlarged, they obstruct the pa.s.sage through which the air pa.s.ses to and from the lungs, and the respiration is not only laborious, but distressing.

2d. When the nasal pa.s.sages are obstructed, there is a peculiar sound of the voice, which is called "talking through the nose." This phenomenon arises, not from the expired air pa.s.sing through the nose, but from its not being able to pa.s.s through the nasal pa.s.sages.

608. _The state of the mind and health exerts an influence upon the vocal organs._ "The organs of the voice, in common with all other parts of the bodily frame, require the vigor and pliancy of muscle, and the elasticity and animation of mind, which result from good health, in order to perform their appropriate functions with energy and effect. But these indispensable conditions to the exercise of vocal organs, are, in the case of most learners, very imperfectly supplied."

607. Does the condition of the throat and nasal pa.s.sages modify the voice? Name the influences that produce clear enunciation of words.

What is the effect when the nasal pa.s.sages are obstructed? 608. How are the vocal organs influenced? What do they require?

609. "A sedentary mode of life, the want of invigorating exercise, close and long-continued application of mind, and, perhaps, an impaired state of health, or a feeble const.i.tution, prevent, in many instances, the free and forcible use of those muscles on which voice is dependent. Hence arises the necessity of students of elocution practising physical exercises adapted to promote general muscular vigor, as a means of attaining energy in speaking; the power of any cla.s.s of muscles being dependent on the vigor of the whole system."

610. "Gymnastic and calisthenic exercises are invaluable aids to the culture and development of the voice, and should be sedulously practised when opportunity renders them accessible. But even a slight degree of physical exercise, in any form adapted to the expansion of the chest and to the freedom and force of the circulation, will serve to impart energy and glow to the muscular apparatus of voice, and clearness to its sound."

611. "There is, therefore, a great advantage in always practising some preliminary muscular actions, as an immediate preparation for vocal exercises. The art of cultivating the voice, however, has, in addition to the various forms of corporeal exercise, practised for the general purpose of promoting health, its own specific prescription for securing the vigor of the vocal organs, and modes of exercise adapted to the training of each cla.s.s of organs separately."

612. The results of such practice are of indefinite extent. They are limited only by the energy and perseverance of the student, excepting perhaps in some instances of imperfect organization. A few weeks of diligent cultivation are usually sufficient to produce such an effect on the vocal organs, that persons who commence practice with a feeble and ineffective utterance, attain, in that short period, the full command of clear, forcible, and varied tone.

609. Why are students of elocution in general necessitated to practise physical exercise? 610. What are invaluable aids in the culture of the voice? 611. What is said of the art of cultivating the voice? 612. Are the results of such practices limited? What exception?

613. _Repet.i.tion is essential to distinct articulation of words._ In teaching a child to articulate a letter or word, in the first instance, make an effort to induce a proper state of the vocal organs by which the particular sound is produced. Repeat the letter or word again and again, until all the parts of the vocal apparatus harmonize in their movements to produce the given sound. This repet.i.tion is as necessary in learning to read as in singing.

_Observations._ 1st. There is nothing gained by trying to teach a child to p.r.o.nounce the letters of the alphabet, before the vocal organs are so developed that distinct utterance can be given to the proper sounds.

2d. The drawling method of talking to young children, as well as using words that are not found in any written language, (called child's talk,) is decidedly wrong. A child will p.r.o.nounce and understand the application of a correct word as quickly as an incorrect one.

614. _No part of the vocal organs is wanting, with those individuals that stammer, or who have an impediment in their speech._ Some parts may be more developed than others, but they generally are but imperfectly under the control of the will, and a.s.sume an irregular and rapid movement, while other parts, the motions of which are essential, remain comparatively inactive. This can be seen by comparing the movements of the lips, tongue, and larynx, while attempting to speak, in a person who stammers, with the movements of the corresponding parts, while speaking, in an individual who has no such impediment.

613. Is repet.i.tion essential to distinct articulation? What method is suggested in teaching a child to articulate letters or words? Give observation 1st. Observation 2d. 614. Are the vocal organs wanting in stammerers? Why the defect in their articulation of words?

615. Surgical operations and medical treatment are not highly advantageous in a majority of these cases. In the young and middle aged, this defect can be remedied by _patient_ and judicious training.

At first, only those letters and words should be spoken that can be articulated with distinctness. Let there be repet.i.tion, until the words can be spoken at any time with readiness. Then take for a lesson other words, more difficult to articulate; and pursue a similar process of training and repet.i.tion, until every part of the vocal organs can be called into a ready and harmonious action in giving utterance to any word in common use.

616. _The method of removing foreign bodies from the throat._ It is not necessary to ascertain which pa.s.sage the foreign body is in, for the immediate treatment ought in either case to be the same. Some person should place one hand on the front of the chest of the sufferer, and, with the other, give two or three smart blows upon the back, allowing a few seconds to intervene between them. This treatment will generally be successful, and cause the substance to be violently thrown from the throat.

_Observation._ If the foreign body pa.s.ses into the larynx violent spasmodic coughing immediately succeeds, which continues until it is removed or life is extinct. Such cases demand the prompt opening of the trachea below the larynx by a skilful surgeon.

615. How can stammering be remedied? 616. What is the method of removing foreign bodies from the throat?

CHAPTER x.x.xI.

THE SKIN.