Part 40 (1/2)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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