Chapter I: Part 1

=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.

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

DUALITY OF VOICE

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.