compass of the voice, but, on the contrary, endeavors from the start, without any previous exercise of the tones that can be readily produced, to forcibly increase the compass in its upward range, then the ruin of the voice is certain. No forcing is permissible in the exercises; and it is an error to suppose that anything can be gained by hurrying on the instruction. The vocal organs can only by slow degrees be brought to produce the desired results.

If the voice has been thoroughly trained within its natural compass, the pupil wil perceive with surprise and delight that its compass has actually been increased, without anything special having been done toward this object, and that the acquired tones, few though they be, can be produced just as easily as the old ones.

The tones thus freshly won should be incorporated in the regular exercises, special care being taken in exercising them, and they should be made uniform with the rest.

SECTION 18.

INSPIRATION TO BE PERFORMED COMPLETELY AND AT THE RIGHT TIME.

It is possible to expel all the air from bellows, but the lungs, which we can compare to bellows in regard to inspiration and expiration, differ from these in so far that no full expiration can ever take place, The

art of singing and even speaking requires that much less air be drawn from the lungs than they can give.

In an organ or other similar instrument the stock of air must never be entirely exhausted in playing; in like manner during continued activity of our vocal organs, we must retain a certain amount of air, so that we may at any time produce any required degree of respiratory pressure. Toward the extreme end of an expiration the strength of the air-current diminishes considerably; by waiting until this occurs, the lack of breath requires an inspiration, which, being longer than the desired duration, produces perhaps, an inappropriate pause in singing or speaking.

As we do not, like the organ instruments, possess several bellows for filling our lungs of which one maintains the air-current during the inactivity of the others, it is necessary to refill the lungs with air at every favorable moment of rest, before they have been completely emptied.

The want of several bellows is supplied in the human vocal organs by their ability (unlike every artificial instrument) to produce great effects with the smallest quantity of air.

Many believe that perfection in rhetoric consists in speaking as long as possible, without renewing the

air in the lungs, or, as it is generally called, speaking with one breath. This remark applies also to singing. They, therefore, take great pride in overlooking all commas, or, frequently, also other marks of punctuation, and in speaking two or three lines of the most diverse thoughts, or singing several different passages, without inspiring once, as they boastingly say.

This is entirely false. Long breath is undoubtedly of great importance, but only in passages in which inspiration cannot take place without interrupting the thought; in calm speech, which requires little consumption of air, it is also permitted to inspire less; that means less frequently. In all impassioned or emphatic speech and song, however, it is the first rule to inspire as often as the thought permits. This is an absolute necessity, for violent speech requires much more air than calm speech.

But apart from this, it is necessary for the simple reason that with constantly renewed breath the thought becomes more clearly defined, for expression depends not only upon the words, but also upon the coloring of the tone, and the singer or speaker would never succeed in making very perceptible distinctions with one inspiration. By repeated inspiration, the lungs being always, even after the

slightest thought, put into the "state of readiness," the sound will be powerful, clear and metallic; whereas the strongest man, with fully developed lungs, by speaking much with one inspiration, will express only the first part of the sentence clearly and purely, while the latter part will be lacking in metal, purity and strength.

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If, for instance, we express the following thoughts: Oh, this woman! What did I say? Have you seen her?"-and we speak this, as is frequently done, with one inspiration, we shall clearly perceive that the beginning of the last thought, "Have you, etc.," is less clear and pure, and the end considerably weaker and less metallic than the commencement, "Oh, this woman!"

If, however, we say, "Oh, this woman!" (short inspiration) "What did I say?" (short inspiration, so that the lungs always return to the "state of readiness") and then, "Have you seen her?" the last sentence will have the same coloring, the same power, the same metal, as the first.

It will be readily understood, from what we have said, that these inspirations must be neither audible. nor visible.

We must also remember that it is not only necessary to inspire frequently, but to inhale sufficient air

with each inspiration. This is of great importance. If, by one inspiration, we do not bring sufficient air into the lungs, we shall have less in the next, still less in the following, etc.; and, in consequence, we shall be compelled to take a long, rapid inspiration (requiring much more time than the thought permits, sometimes even in the midst of a sentence) and make our breathing audible and unpleasant.

To prevent this, every inspiration, the shortest as well as the longest, must supply the lungs with as much air as the speaker has consumed in the preceding sentence; or, as this would be difficult to determine, to speak more plainly: the lungs, after every sentence, even if this consists of but two words, must be brought to the "state of readiness," as has been said in Section 3.

Particular attention should be paid to the strict observance of this last rule, for the non-observance or superficial application of the same is the cause of so many imperfections in rhetoric and in song, in regard to breathing.

The singer or speaker should, immediately after finishing a phrase, be it long or short (slowly in a long pause, rapidly in a short one), inaudibly bring the lungs to the "state of readiness;" and, if utterance is resumed after a few seconds, he should retain