Chapter L: L. Lungs. H. Heart

W. WINDPIPE (TRACHEA). ]

The Lungs are enclosed in the chest, which they fit exactly, and of which they occupy by far the largest portion, leaving but a small space for the heart. They consist of two halves (pl. II, R, L), each roughly resembling the upper part of a sugar-loaf somewhat flattened and hollowed out at the bottom. The left shows two and the right three distinct flaps or lobes. They are only connected by means of the windpipe (pl. II, W) and its branches.

=The Chest= (pl. III) is an air-tight chamber, which is narrower above than below. It is formed by the spine at the back, twelve ribs (pl. III, 1 to 11, the twelfth not visible on the drawing), with their inner and outer muscles on either side, the breast-bone (pl. III, B B) in front, the root of the neck at the top, and the midriff or diaphragm (pl. I, M) at the bottom.

=The Midriff= (pl. III, M) is a muscular and movable partition by which the lungs are separated from the abdomen. It is arched upwards like an inverted basin, but when its muscular fibres contract it flattens and descends, thus increasing the capacity of the chest at the expense of that of the abdomen.

=The Function of the Lungs= is, as everybody knows, respiration, which may be considered from a mechanical or a chemical point of view. In this little work we are only concerned with the mechanical part of the subject. If we examine the lungs of a calf, which are very similar to those of a human being, we find that they are soft and elastic to the touch, giving out when pressed a peculiar whizzing sound. We may increase their volume by blowing into them through the windpipe, so as to make them double their original size, and then tie up the windpipe. On re-opening the windpipe the air escapes, and the lungs are gradually reduced to their former bulk. Now, by drawing a deep breath we produce the same result in ourselves as by blowing into the lungs of the calf; by holding the breath we produce the same result as by tying up the windpipe--that is to say, we keep the lungs in a state of expansion; and by releasing the breath we are, as it were, untying the windpipe, leaving the lungs to dwindle down gradually to their former size.

There is one very material point, however, in which the analogy ceases. It is this: we keep the air in the inflated calf's lungs by tying up the windpipe, and the corresponding act in ourselves would be to hold our breath by muscular contraction of the outlet in the throat. This is precisely what we do in straining, and in lifting heavy weights, &c.; but it should _never_ be done in breathing for vocal purposes. Here it must, on the contrary, be our endeavour to train, to the highest possible degree, the powerful muscles of the chest and of the abdomen, instead of throwing the labour intended for them upon the comparatively weak and delicate muscles governing the outlet of the windpipe.

To make the way in which respiration is carried on clearer still, I quote the following interesting and lucid account from Huxley's "Elementary Physiology," fourth edition, p. 104. He compares the breathing apparatus to "a sort of bellows without a valve," in which the chest and the lungs represent the body of the bellows, while the windpipe is the pipe; "and the effect of the respiratory movement is just the same as that of the approximation and separation of the handles of the bellows, which drive out and draw in the air through the pipe. There is, however, one difference between the bellows and the respiratory apparatus, of great importance in the theory of respiration, though frequently overlooked, and that is, that the sides of the bellows can be brought close together so as to force out all, or nearly all, the air which they contain, while the walls of the chest, when approximated as much as possible, still enclose a very considerable cavity; so that even after the most violent expiratory effort, a very large quantity of air is left in the lungs."

=Respiration=, consequently, consists of two acts--namely, inspiration and expiration. Inspiration may be produced in three different ways--(1) By pushing the chest forward and flattening the midriff, so as to compel the lungs to _descend_ and to increase in volume in order to fill the empty space created by this movement; (2) by extending the ribs _sideways_; and (3) by _drawing up_ the upper parts of the chest--namely, the collar bones (pl. III, C C) and the shoulder blades. In scientific works the first is called diaphragmatic or abdominal,[B] the second lateral or costal, and the third clavicular or scapular breathing. As, however, these terms convey no meaning to the general reader, I prefer to speak of--(1) Midriff Breathing; (2) Rib Breathing; (3) Collar-bone Breathing. In taking a full, deep inspiration, midriff breathing and rib breathing take place almost together and assist each other--that is to say, the midriff contracts and flattens, and immediately afterwards the ribs extend sideways; with this difference, however, that in men the action of the midriff takes a larger share in the work than the ribs, while in woman, on the contrary, the movement of the ribs is greater than that of the midriff.

By way of illustrating this curious difference of breathing in men
and women, the following anecdote, which has the recommendation of
being strictly true, may perhaps amuse the reader. Some time ago a
troupe of "Female Minstrels," calling themselves, I believe, "The
American Amazons," made a tour through this country. Their faces
were blackened in the orthodox fashion, and they were in male
attire, wearing tight-fitting garments of a peculiar kind. Two
friends, both medical men, went to hear them (or perhaps to see
them, I am not sure which), when Mr. A remarked that two of the
performers were men. Mr. B did not see it, even when the
individuals were pointed out to him, and asked his friend for the
reasons for his opinion. "Why," said Mr. A, "I see it by their
abdominal breathing!" And sure enough Mr. B now saw it too, and
there was no mistake about it; for in the two suspected
individuals the abdomen was evidently moving in respiration, while
in all the others no movement was perceptible excepting that of
their chests.

DIAGRAMS ILLUSTRATING THE VARYING CAPACITY OF THE CHEST, ACCORDING TO THE METHOD IN WHICH THE LUNG IS INFLATED.

From Mr. Lennox Browne's "Medical Hints on the Production and Management of the Singing Voice," by permission of Messrs Chappell and Co.

The front outline A of the shaded figure represents the chest after full expiration; the black continuous line A gives the increase in size of the chest, and the descent of the diaphragm, indicated by the curved transverse lines, in full abdominal respiration. The dotted line C shows the retraction of the diaphragm and of the abdominal muscles in forced clavicular inspiration. The varying thickness of the line B indicates the fact of healthy breathing in a man being more abdominal than in woman. The outlines of forced inspiration in both sexes are remarkably similar. ]

The combined forms of midriff and rib breathing are the right method of inspiration, while collar-bone breathing is absolutely wrong, and should never be made use of. The reasons of this are not far to seek. The lower part of each lung is large and broad, while the upper part is cone-shaped, and very much smaller. It is self-evident, therefore, that by downward and sideways expansion (enlarging the _lower_ part of the lungs) you will inhale a much greater quantity of air than by drawing up the collar-bones. This consideration alone should suffice to prove the utter falseness of collar-bone breathing. Collar-bone breathing has also the additional disadvantage of causing much fatigue, because all the parts surrounding the upper region of the lungs are hard and unyielding, so that a great amount of resistance has to be overcome (the "_lutte vocale_" of French authors), while the very opposite is the case with the lower part of the lungs.

Mr. Lennox Browne, who was, I believe, the first to direct the attention of English readers to this matter, says,[C] "Clavicular [collar-bone] breathing is a method of respiration totally vicious, and to be avoided. By it the whole lower part of the chest is flattened and drawn in, instead of being distended; consequently the lower or larger part of the lungs is not inflated. It is a method never exercised by nature in a state of health, but only when, from disease, either the abdominal or chest muscles cannot act; and it is the method least efficacious in filling, as it is the one calculated to most fatigue the chest; for it compresses the vessels and nerves of the throat, and this leads to engorgement and spasmodic action of the muscles."

We may well pause here and give another moment to the consideration of this most important subject. The lungs, as we have seen, are the bellows of our vocal organ; they supply the air which is the motive power on which the voice depends. Without air no tone can be produced. Nay, more, life itself must cease without it. Breathing goes on regularly while the voice is silent; but in speaking and singing both inspiration and expiration have to be regulated according to the nature of the phrases to be spoken or sung. If the speaker does not know how to take breath and how to control the expiration, his delivery will of necessity be jerky and uncertain. But in the singer it is even more important that he should be able to fill his lungs well, and, having done this, to have absolute command over his expiration; because while the speaker can arrange his sentences, his speed, and his breathing-places very much at his own pleasure, the singer is bound by the music before him. It must, therefore, be his aim to cultivate a proper method of breathing with the object of first getting, with the least possible fatigue, the largest possible amount of air in the most scrupulously careful manner, so as to prevent even the smallest fraction of it from being wasted. Yet how seldom is breathing systematically practised as an indispensable preliminary to the production of tone! I have no hesitation in saying that the subject is, in many instances, dismissed with a few general observations. Pupils, of course, take breath somehow, and teachers are glad to leave this uninteresting part of the business, and to proceed to the cultivation of the voice.

It may be as well to add that what has been said so far about right and wrong methods of breathing is not by any means mere theory, but that any one can convince himself of the truth of the rules laid down by making a few experiments with the spirometer, an instrument for measuring the breathing power of the chest by indicating on a dial the exact number of cubic inches of air expelled from the lungs. This breathing power will be found to vary according to the way in which the inspiration has been accomplished. In my own case, for instance, the spirometer should register, according to the table of comparative height and breathing power compiled by John Hutchinson, 230 cubic inches. Having suffered from severe attacks of bleeding from the lungs, my maximum with midriff and rib breathing is only 220, but with collar-bone breathing I barely reach 180!

During the Summer Session of the Tonic Sol-fa College I carefully tested the breathing capacity of ten students, and found that there was an average excess of midriff and rib breathing over collar-bone breathing to the extent of 25 cubic inches: the least amount of their increased power was 12 cubic inches, and the greatest was 45! I imagine that these figures are more eloquent than any words, and I think it superfluous to make any further comment on them.

I am strongly of opinion that breathing exercises, especially in the case of intending public singers, should always be carried on with a spirometer,[D] because that instrument enables us with the greatest accuracy to check results which otherwise can only be guessed at.

If this suggestion were acted upon we should certainly no longer be distressed by that intolerable and never-ceasing tremolo which now so frequently mars many, in other respects, fine voices. It is a curious, and at first sight unaccountable, circumstance that this great fault is specially noticeable amongst French singers. But at the Conservatoire de Musique in Paris students are deliberately taught the wrong method of inspiration; for, as we gather from the "Methode de Chant du Conservatoire de Musique," they are told to "flatten [or draw in] the abdomen" and to "bulge out the chest." Thus the mystery is at once cleared up, because the tremolo arises almost invariably from a weakness of the muscles of the midriff or diaphragm, to which attention has already been called in these pages. Owing to the abdomen being drawn in, the midriff never properly contracts; the muscles are not sufficiently exercised, and consequently have not power enough to resist the pressure that is brought to bear upon them in singing. They tremble, and this trembling being communicated to the lungs, which are resting upon them, the stream of air they give forth, loses its evenness and continuity, with the result I have just stated. It will be seen from the above explanation that this tremolo, one of the greatest vices besetting modern singing, and which has hitherto been held by many to be incurable, may be got rid of completely, though perhaps not very quickly, by the simple remedy of lung gymnastics on the right principle. The tremolo may certainly also arise from weakness of some muscles in the voicebox or larynx, by which the tension of the vocal ligaments is diminished and increased in rapid alternation. But this is a case for a medical man, which does not fall within my province to discuss, though I am justified in saying, on the authority of Mr. Lennox Browne,[E] that even in many of these cases the effect is clearly attributable to faulty breathing, since there is seldom any local disease of the larynx; while exercise on a right method of breathing will cure the spasmodic action of the laryngeal muscles with but little or no medical treatment.

* * * * *

I need scarcely add that there is yet another kind of tremolo, which, being absolutely under the control of the performer, is one of the chief ornaments of song, and to which the observations just made in no way apply.

* * * * *

In addition to the involuntary tremolo there are a number of other afflictions, "Clergymen's sore throat" amongst them, which are admitted by eminent medical authorities to be due to collar-bone breathing, and which may be entirely cured by proper lung gymnastics, or, in other words, by breathing exercises on the right principle; that is to say, by calling into play the muscles of the abdomen and of the lower part of the chest. This is a subject which is little understood by singers and public speakers, many of whom would be amazed at the sometimes most wonderful results produced by such simple means. I will therefore quote a case in point which came under my notice quite recently, and which will give the reader an idea of the importance of proper breathing:

Mr. X, a tall thin young man, engaged in evangelistic work, suffered from a "weakness of voice," which he found a great hindrance to his success. He therefore consulted Mr. Lennox Browne, who at once told him that he had no disease of any kind, and sent him to me for a course of breathing exercises. I found that Mr. X chiefly spoke in a child's voice, over which, moreover, he had very little control; and when I requested him to take a deep inspiration, he drew in his abdomen, bulged out his chest, and raised his collar-bones. The spirometer only registered 200 cubic inches instead of 260, which, according to Hutchinson's table, was his mean.

My course was, therefore, plain. I made him stand in an easy natural position, neither allowing him to bulge out his chest, nor to draw in the abdomen, and then instructed him how to acquire some control over his midriff and the lower muscles of the chest. It may be observed here, in passing, that we can, in a state of health, contract and relax these muscles at will, just as easily as we can bend a finger, and that this power, when lost through disuse, can be regained with little difficulty. In Mr. X's case this process was particularly speedy, with the result of increasing his breathing power in two lessons by 60 cubic inches. In one additional week I could dismiss him with a full sonorous man's voice, in place of the uncertain child's squeak with which he came to me. It is no exaggeration to say that this young man left me with a _new_ voice, and if people had heard him when he first came to me, behind a screen, and again after the last lesson, they would certainly not have believed that they were listening to the same person. What Mr. X and his friends think of his case may be seen from the following letter which he wrote me on July 6th, 1880:--"Now that a week has passed since the last lesson I had from you, I write to bear testimony to the wonderful benefit to my voice obtained through the very short course I took. My friends are quite astonished at the marked difference, and I beg you will accept my most sincere thanks," &c.

Many similar cases might be mentioned, but the one just quoted is sufficient, and I will sum the matter up with a few remarks which Mr. Lennox Browne made as chairman at my lecture at the Aldersgate Street Literary Institution, on October 9th, 1880. He then said that, in his medical experience, he found that persons who suffered from their voices generally owed their ailments to bad habits of using the voice, and not to any defect in the larynx or resonance chamber. In several cases lately he had sent such patients to Herr Behnke, who had given them lessons in correct breathing, and who had thereby, and without any medicine, galvanism, or other aid, restored their voices in a remarkably short time.

From what has been said above about midriff and rib breathing _versus_ collar-bone breathing, the folly of tight-lacing, or, indeed, of in any way interfering with the freedom of the waist, will be at once apparent. We pride ourselves upon our civilization; we make a boast of living in the age of science; physiology is now taught, or at least talked of, in almost every school; the laws of health are proclaimed in lectures and lessons innumerable all over the country, and we laugh at barbarous customs of other nations, such, for instance, as that of Chinese women preventing the growth of their feet by forcing them into boots of only half their proper size. And yet our ladies wear instruments of torture called corsets, altering the shape of their bodies, and positively driving the lower ribs _into the lungs_! Now which folly is the greater--that of doubling up the toes, or of crippling the body in its most vital parts? Let ladies answer the question, and let them further most solemnly consider that the girls of to-day are the mothers of to-morrow, and that upon the measure of their own health and strength depends the well-being of coming generations.

It is only fair to add, that if the practice of interfering with the freedom of the waist is reprehensible in the case of ladies, it is, in one sense, still more so in the case of the male sex, because, as has been shown before, men depend more for their breathing upon the action of the abdominal muscle than women. They should, therefore, neither wear tight-fitting vests, nor suspend their pantaloons by means of waistbands, belts, or buckles. Loose garments and braces are the proper thing, though the latter are commonly, but erroneously, considered to be injurious. _Abdominal_ belts may be worn with advantage by persons of either sex requiring their support; but these are very different from stays or waist-bands. I find that an enterprising firm is advertising corsets for gentlemen (!), and a woodcut may be seen in some papers representing a young Adonis laced up in regular ladies' fashion, so that, if it were not for his luxurious moustache, one would certainly take the drawing to be meant for a woman. It is almost impossible to imagine that a man could ever make such a fool of himself; on the other hand, it is clear that these advertisements would not continue to appear if they did not bring customers. But these poor creatures do not deserve to be called men, and I am sincerely sorry for them.

With regard to the question whether inspiration should take place through the mouth or through the nostrils, I must enter my most decided protest against making it a practice to inhale through the mouth. There are, of course, occasions when this is unavoidable, as, for instance, where the singer has rapidly to take what is called a "half breath." But complete inflation, or, "full breath," is not the work of a moment; it takes time, and must be done gradually, steadily, and without the slightest interruption. This should _always_ be done through the nostrils. The mouth was never intended for breathing, while the nose is specially and admirably adapted for this purpose. Not only can the lungs be well and quickly filled through this channel, but it is so cunningly devised that it acts at the same time as a "respirator," both purifying and warming the air before it touches the more delicate parts of the vocal organ. On the other hand, when inhaled through the mouth, the air carries with it, sometimes right into the voicebox, dust and other impurities, and its temperature is not materially altered. The consequence is that the throat and voicebox, when heated by singing or talking, or by hot rooms, are often exposed to cold, raw, and foggy winter air, and serious derangements of the respiratory organs are the natural consequence. If, moreover, this pernicious habit of breathing be once contracted, we shall soon also sleep with open mouths, thus parching our throats, and sowing the seeds of many a serious disorder.

On this point I quote a few lines from Dr. Louis Elsberg,[F] professor of laryngology in the University of New York: "The natural mode of quiet breathing is through the nose; mouth-breathing is an acquirement. A new-born infant would choke to death if you closed its nose; it does not immediately know how to get air into the lungs through the mouth until after, by depressing the tongue, you have once made a passage for it."

George Catlin, the celebrated traveller among American Indians, became so thoroughly convinced that the difference between the healthy condition and physical perfection of these people in their primitive state, especially their sound teeth and good lungs, and the deplorable mortality, the numerous diseases and deformities in _civilized_ communities, is mainly due to the habit, common among the latter, of breathing through the mouth, especially during sleep, that he wrote a book entitled "Malrespiration and its Effects upon the Enjoyment and Life of Man." In this book he says, "If I were to endeavour to bequeath to posterity the most important motto which human language can convey, it should be in three words, 'Shut your mouth.' In the social transactions of life this might have its beneficial results as the most friendly cautionary advice, or be received as the grossest of insults; but where I would print and engrave it, in every nursery and on every bedpost in the universe, its meaning could not be mistaken, and obeyed, its importance would soon be realized."

He also says, "It is one of the misfortunes of civilization that it has too many amusing and exciting things for the mouth to say, and too many delicious things for it to taste, to allow of its being closed during the day. The mouth therefore has too little reserve for the protection of its natural purity of expression, and too much exposure for the protection of its garniture; but, _do keep your mouth shut_ when you _read_, when you _write_, when you _listen_, when you _are in pain_, when you are _walking_, when you are _running_, when you are _riding_, and _by all means when you are angry_! There is _no person_ but who will find and acknowledge _improvement_ in _health_ and _enjoyment_ from even a temporary attention to this advice."

Again he says, "There is a proverb, as old and unchangeable as their hills, amongst North American Indians, 'My son, if thou wouldst be wise, open first thy eyes; thy ears next, and last of all thy mouth, that thy words may be words of wisdom, and give no advantage to thine adversary.' This might be adopted with good effect in _civilized_ life; he who would _strictly adhere_ to it would be sure to reap its benefits in his _waking_ hours, and would _soon find_ the habit running into his hours of _rest_, into which he would _calmly_ enter; dismissing the nervous anxieties of the day, as he firmly closed his teeth and his lips, only to be opened _after_ his eyes and his ears in the morning, the rest of _such_ sleep would bear him daily and hourly proof of its value."

Catlin regards the habit of sleeping with the mouth open the most pernicious of _all bad habits_. The horrors of nightmare and snoring are, according to him, but the _least_ of its evil effects. He thinks "for the greater portion of the thousands and tens of thousands of persons suffering with weakness of lungs, with bronchitis, asthma, indigestion, and other affections of the digestive and respiratory organs," the correction of this habit is a _panacea_ for their ills!

He insists that "_mothers_ should be looked to as the first and principal _correctors_ of this most destructive of human habits; ... and the united and simultaneous efforts of the civilized world should be exerted in the overthrow of a monster so destructive to the good looks and life of man. Every physician should advise his patients, and every boarding-school in existence and every hospital should have its surgeon or matron, and every regiment its officer, to make their nightly and hourly 'rounds,' to force a _stop_ to so unnatural, disgusting, and dangerous a habit! Under the working of such a system, mothers guarding and helping the helpless, schoolmasters their scholars, hospital surgeons their patients, generals their soldiers, and the rest of the world protecting themselves, a few years would show the glorious results in the bills of mortality, and the next generation would be a _regeneration_ of the human race."

=The Windpipe= (pl. I, W).--Having examined the bellows of our vocal organ, we next notice the windpipe, by means of which the air is carried into and out of the lungs. It is an elastic tube kept open by 18 or 20 rings which do not quite meet at the back. It enters the lungs by means of two smaller tubes, which in their turn branch out very much like the roots of a tree, until their ramifications end in the microscopic cells of the lungs. The windpipe is capable of being slightly elongated or shortened, and narrowed or widened, and its interior is covered with a mucous membrane, which, as its name implies, is continually kept in a moist state.

=The Voicebox, or Larynx= (pl. V) may be described as resembling a funnel, the upper part of which has been bent into a triangular shape. Its front corner (pl. V, 1) may be both seen and felt in the throat, and the general position of the voicebox is thereby at once indicated. The framework of the voicebox consists of five parts. 1st. The Ring cartilage (pl. V, 2) is so named on account of its general resemblance to a signet ring. It is narrow in front, and has the part corresponding to the seal behind; the upper border (pl. V, 8, 4) rises very considerably towards the back, where it is about an inch high. 2nd. Riding upon this, as it were, with its hollow part towards the back, is the Shield cartilage (pl. V, 5), which consists of two plates united in front at an angle which forms the prominence referred to just now as that corner of the triangular funnel (pl. V, 1) which may be both seen and felt in the throat, and which is commonly called the Adam's Apple. It protects the interior and more delicate parts of the voice apparatus, from which circumstance it derives its name of shield cartilage. The plates of the shield have each at the back two horns, the upper and the lower. With the upper horns (pl. VI, 1, 2) the shield cartilage is attached by means of bands (pl. VI, 6, 7) to the corresponding projections (pl. VI, 4, 5) of the tongue-bone (pl. VI, 3), which has the shape of a horseshoe. With the lower horns (pl. V, 8), of which on our diagram we can only see one, it moves upon the ring cartilage as upon a hinge (pl. V, 9).

SIDE VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX.

1. FRONT CORNER OF THE VOICEBOX (LARYNX).

2. RING (CRICOID) CARTILAGE.

3, 4. UPPER BORDER OF THE RING.

5. SHIELD (THYROID) CARTILAGE.

6, 7. UPPER HORNS OF THE SHIELD.

8. RIGHT LOWER HORN OF THE SHIELD.

9. POINT WHERE THE SHIELD MOVES UPON THE RING.

10. RING-SHIELD (CRICO-THYROID) APERTURE COVERED BY MEMBRANE.

11. LID (EPIGLOTTIS).

12. WINDPIPE (TRACHEA).

]

FRONT VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX.

1, 2. UPPER HORNS OF THE SHIELD.

3. TONGUE (HYOID) BONE.

4, 5. HORNS OF THE TONGUE-BONE.

6, 7. BANDS UNITING THE SHIELD WITH THE TONGUE-BONE.

8, 9. LID.

10, 11. PLATES OF THE SHIELD.

12. RING.

13. ELASTIC BAND UNITING THE SHIELD WITH THE RING.

14. WINDPIPE.

]

This is a very particular point, and I beg the reader particularly to notice that if the shield cartilage (pl. V, 5) were gradually drawn downwards and forwards, the space which we now see between the shield and the ring (pl. V, 10) would get smaller and smaller, until at last it quite disappeared; and the distance between the front of the shield (pl. V, 1) and the highest part of the back of the ring (pl. V, 4) would be increased.

I may observe here that authorities differ as to whether the shield
moves upon the ring, or the ring upon the shield, and that some
maintain the one is drawn down while the other is tipped upward. It
is sufficient for our purpose, however, that a movement as upon a
hinge takes place, whereby, as explained just now, the distance
between the front of the shield and the highest part of the back of
the ring is increased.

3rd. =The Lid= (pl. V, 11) is an elastic cartilage which serves to close the voicebox in the act of swallowing, in order to protect it against any intruding foreign substances. The food we take has to pass over it, and it sometimes happens, when the lid has not been pulled down tight enough, that a particle of food enters the voicebox, in which case we say it has "gone the wrong way," and there is then no peace until the intruder has been got rid of, generally by a violent fit of coughing.

The lid, it is true, is not the only means of protection which the
voicebox possesses. Professor C. J. Eberth, for instance, mentions
(Archiv fuer pathol: Anatomie, vol. lxiii., p. 135, Berlin, 1868)
the case of a woman who, upon dissection, was found to be entirely
without the free upper part of the lid, which could alone cover the
voicebox. She had never experienced any difficulty in swallowing,
and it is therefore clear that with her the closing of some of the
parts immediately below was sufficient to prevent the food from
getting into the voicebox. But "the exception proves the rule," and
in spite of this and other similar cases, the fact remains that the
lid is obviously the first and most natural protector of the
voicebox.

4th and 5th. We have thus far become acquainted with three cartilages out of the five. Let us now remove one plate of the shield, as though cutting it off with a knife (pl. VII, 1 and 2), in order that we may look inside and see the remaining two cartilages which have hitherto been hidden by it. These are--

=The Pyramids= (pl. VII, 1 and 2), so called because of their shape. Their bases are triangular and hollowed out; their sides taper upwards and terminate in points which are bent slightly backwards, and they have each two projections, one pointing forwards (pl. VII, 3) and the other outwards and backwards (pl. VII, 4). It will be convenient to have a special name for the projections pointing outwards and backwards, which we will therefore call the Levers.

The Pyramids are attached with their hollow bases to the borders of the ring (pl. VII, 5), and they are capable of executing rotary movements with surprising freedom and rapidity. Their inner sides may be made to run parallel or to diverge. In addition to this they can be drawn towards each other, or away from each other, so that their summits may either be widely separated or brought close together.

=The Vocal Ligaments= are two ledges of elastic tissue covered with a very delicate membrane. Each one of them is connected along its whole length, on one side, with the shield cartilage. The vocal ligaments are attached by their hinder ends to those little projections of the pyramids which point forwards (pl. VII, 3, 3), and by their front ends to the centre of the shield (pl. VII, 6), where the two plates meet under a more or less acute angle.

SIDE VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX, SHOWING THE INTERIOR OF IT, THE RIGHT PLATE BEING REMOVED.

1, 2. PYRAMIDS (ARYTENOID CARTILAGES).

3, 3. FRONT PROJECTIONS OF THE PYRAMIDS.

4. LEVER OF THE RIGHT PYRAMID.

5. UPPER BORDER OF THE RING.

6, 3, 3. VOCAL LIGAMENTS.

7. LID.

8. SHIELD.

9. LEFT UPPER HORN OF THE SHIELD.

10. RING.

11. WINDPIPE. ]

These vocal ligaments are generally called the vocal cords, but
this term is misleading, as it implies strings like those, for
instance, of the violin, which are attached only at either end and
are free at every other point. This, however, as we have just seen,
is not the case, the "Cords" being free only along their inner
edges. The name "Vocal Bands," which German physiologists have
substituted for "Vocal Cords," does not mend the matter, as it is
open to exactly the same objections. The term "Vocal Lips," also
used by some writers, is, in my judgment, the most unfortunate of
all, because it conveys a totally wrong idea of these parts, as
will be seen from a description in another chapter of their
movements in the act of singing. I have, therefore, sought for a
word which, as a proper description of the thing it is to
designate, shall always call a correct image to the reader's mind,
and as I cannot find a better one than "Ligament," I have adopted
it. I shall consequently in these pages always speak of the
tone-producing element as the "Vocal Ligaments."

The vocal ligaments, having met, are struck by the air blown against them from below, and being elastic they yield, allowing themselves to be forced upwards. A little air is thereby set free, and the pressure from below diminished, in consequence of which the vocal ligaments resume their former position, and even move a little more downwards. The renewed pressure of the air once more overcomes the resistance of the vocal ligaments, which again recede as soon as another escape of air has taken place, and this process is repeated in rapid and regular succession. In this manner, and in this manner alone, is vocal tone produced, whether it be called chest, falsetto, head, or by any other name.

There are still some writers who teach a different doctrine. For
instance, Miss Sabilla Novello, in her "Voice and Vocal Art,"
embodied in the "Collegiate Vocal Tutor," published by Novello,
Ewer, and Co., says on p. 9, that "The head voice results from the
upper [_i.e._, the false] vocal cords" (these we shall see
presently), and on page 13, that the falsetto tones "are created
principally by the action of the trachea [windpipe] and not by that
of the vocal ligaments." Another writer, Mr. Rumney Illingworth, in
a paper "On the Larynx and its Physiology," read before the Royal
Medical Society of Edinburgh, on March 3rd, 1879, and communicated
to "The Students' Journal and Hospital Gazette" (Vol. IV., No. 91,
p. 151), says that "The falsetto voice is produced by the laryngeal
sacculi [the pockets of the voicebox, which will be described
further on] acting in the same way as a hazel-nut can be made to
act as a whistle, when the kernel has been extracted through a
small hole in the shell; or as part of the cavity of the mouth acts
in whistling." I shall refer to these theories again as the
opportunity for their proper discussion arises; for the present I
will quote a few authorities on the subject.

Dr. CARPENTER, in his "Human Physiology," eighth edition, page 914,
says, "The true theory of the voice may now be considered as well
established in regard to this essential particular that the sound
is the result of the vibrations of the vocal cords," &c.

Professor MARSHALL, in his "Outlines of Physiology," page 255,
says: "Experiments on living animals show that the vocal cords are
alone the essential organs for the production of voice, for so long
as these remain untouched, although all the other parts in the
interior of the larynx be destroyed, the animal is able to emit
vocal sounds.... The existence of an opening in the larynx of a
living animal, or of man, _above_ the glottis [glottis means the
vibrating element of the voicebox] in no way prevents the formation
of vocal sound; such an opening if situated in the trachea
[windpipe] causes total loss of voice, but by simply closing it,
vocal sounds can again be produced. Such openings, in man, are met
with, either as the results of accidents, of suicidal attempts, or
of operations performed on the larynx or trachea for the relief of
disease."

Dr. TOBOLD, Professor in the University of Berlin, in his
"Laryngoscopie and Kehlkopf Krankheiten" (Laryngoscopy and Diseases
of the Larynx), p. 131, says, "Soft palate, lid, pockets, and
pocket-bands are not directly active in the production of either
chest or falsetto tones; they only modify the tone produced in the
glottis."

Dr. LUSCHKA, Professor in the University of Tubingen, in his great
work "Der Kehlkopf des Menschen" (The Human Larynx), says in the
introduction: "Only the vocal cords, with the slit they form, have
specifically functional signification, in a narrower sense, of a
voice apparatus, as the parts of the larynx which lie under and
over them have no material and deciding influence on the production
of sound."

I will bring my quotations to a close with the following, which
seeks to prove the contrary. Dr. C. B. GARRETT ("The Human Voice,"
J. and J. Churchill, London, 1875, p. 17) says, "It is recorded
that the larynx of a blackbird was removed by severing the windpipe
just below it; that the poor 'thing continued to _sing_, though in
a feebler tone.' This proves that notes can be formed _behind the
instrument_ and before the air reaches it." This argument, however,
is of no value, because it so happens that birds have two larynges,
one at the bottom and the other at the top of the windpipe. Dr.
Garrett seems not to have been aware of this fact.

The vocal ligaments in the adult male are, in a state of rest, about three-quarters of an inch long, and in the female about half an inch. I pointed out before that the vocal ligaments are attached in front to the shield (pl. VII, 6) and behind to the pyramids (pl. VII, 3, 3). Let it now be borne in mind--1st, That the pyramids, in their turn, are fastened to the upper border of the ring cartilage; and 2nd, That by drawing the shield downwards and forwards upon the ring, the distance between the upper border of the ring (pl. VII, 5) and the front of the shield (pl. VII, 6) is increased, and it will be easily seen that this movement must of necessity have the effect of stretching the vocal ligaments.

This drawing of the shield downwards and forwards upon the ring is brought about by a pair of muscles ascending on either side, in the shape of a fan, from the ring to the shield cartilage (pl. VIII, 1, 2). These muscles we name the "Ring-Shield Muscles." In opposition to them there is another pair inside the shield, running parallel with the vocal ligaments (pl. IX, 1, 2, 3). They are attached (like the vocal ligaments) in front to the shield cartilage and behind to the pyramids. These muscles we will call the "Shield-Pyramid Muscles." They counteract the ring-shield muscles, and having overcome their resistance, pull the shield cartilage up again, thereby, of course, relaxing the vocal ligaments. The ring-shield muscles, therefore, _stretch_ the vocal ligaments and the shield-pyramid muscles _relax_ them. The shield-pyramid muscles have an additional function--that of pressing together the vocal ligaments, under certain circumstances, thereby narrowing the opening between them. They have therefore been, in these later days, called the Sphincter[G] muscle of the glottis. They have also been called the Vocal Muscles, since they play so important a part in the formation of all vocal tone that a paralysis of them causes total loss of voice.

SIDE VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX.

1, 2. RING-SHIELD MUSCLE (CRICO-THYROIDEUS).

3. LID.

4. SHIELD.

5, 6. UPPER HORNS OF THE SHIELD.

7. RING.

8. WINDPIPE. ]

SIDE VIEW OF THE VOICEBOX, OR LARYNX, SHOWING THE INTERIOR OF THE LEFT HALF.

1, 2, 3. SHIELD-PYRAMID MUSCLE (THYRO-ARYTENOIDEUS).

4, 5. RING-PYRAMID MUSCLE (CRICO-ARYTENOIDEUS).

6. SHIELD.

7. LEFT UPPER HORN.

8. PYRAMID.

9. RING.

10. WINDPIPE. ]

It may be observed here that it is impossible to imitate, in the
dead subject, the contraction of the vocal muscles. All
conclusions, therefore, drawn from experiments upon exsected
larynges, with regard to tone-production in living man are
necessarily quite untrustworthy, and cannot for one moment be
admitted as evidence against observations made upon singers with
the laryngoscope.

These two pairs of muscles, then, namely the ring-shield muscles (pl. VIII, 1, 2) and the shield-pyramid muscles (pl. IX, 1, 2, 3) by stretching, slackening, and compressing the vocal ligaments, mainly govern the pitch of the tones produced by their vibrations. The ring-shield muscles receive some assistance in stretching the vocal ligaments from another quarter, of which we shall speak later on.

We have now had a look at the vocal ligaments, and we have seen by what means they are put on the stretch. As, however, in a state of repose these ligaments diverge behind, they must be brought parallel to each other before they are ready for the production of sound. Let us, therefore, in order to explain how this is done, imagine that we have cut off that part of the pyramids which is standing out above the vocal ligaments (pl. VII), and let us now have a look at these parts from above. You see the ligaments (pl. XA, 1, 2), a section of the pyramids (pl. XA, 3, 4), and uniting these an elastic band (pl. XA, 5). The space between these parts is commonly called the Glottis, but as this appellation belongs more properly to the vocal ligaments, it is manifestly wrong to give the same name to the _space_ which they inclose. This space should be distinguished as the "_Chink_ of the Glottis" or the "Vocal Chink."

I have been blamed for making this distinction in the face of
almost universal usage. But I can point to the great anatomist
Professor Luschka as having set the example, and while it is true
that in most physiological works "Glottis" is used for the _slit_
between the vocal ligaments, yet the appellations "Rima glottidis"
and "Aperture of the glottis" are also employed for the same thing.
Medical men, moreover, speak of "Spasm of the glottis," and singing
masters of the "Shock of the glottis," which terms are clearly
quite meaningless when applied to a space.

Dr. Garrett says, on page 12 of the book quoted before, that "The upper portion of the larynx above the false vocal cords is termed the glottis." He might as well say, "The upper portion of the face above the nose is termed the mouth." I really should not notice so astounding a statement were it not made by one signing himself an M.D., and published by so eminent a firm of Medical publishers as Messrs. J. and A. Churchill.

A. GLOTTIS IN REPOSE.

B. GLOTTIS IN RESPIRATION.