Part 25

With compositions on a par with its vocal talent, this nation might rank first among nations in the art of singing. It must stand on its own footing. It must sing its own songs and must be taught by its own teachers. This dictum may provoke indignation in "foreign" vocal teachers. Though I regret the possible consequences to them, this cannot be helped. Science is synonymous with knowledge, and knowledge with truth, and "the truth must be told if the heavens should fall."

BREATHING

All of the preceding, in a manner, may be said to be a preliminary argument for the great truth I claim to have discovered, namely, that in the sphere of the trunk of our body the material part of our nature is represented by the hemisphere of the abdomen, its immaterial part by that of the thorax; that in the sphere of the head a similar division obtains, in conformity with which it is also divided into hemispheres representing material and immaterial issues; and that every faculty, and the exercise thereof, have their being in a dual action, in close succession, emanating from these hemispheres.

The first proposition to be proven was that we breathe through the œsophagus, conjointly with the trachea. If all I have said in the preceding has not already convinced the reader of the truth of this statement, I trust the following experiments will thoroughly convince him thereof. These experiments will also furnish additional proof of the fact that English and German modes of respiration are of an inverse order.

Not the slightest fear need be entertained as to the result of these experiments. I have made the same, and others of a similar nature, over and over again, without being in the least discomfited thereby; and I may add that to the fact of having been entirely divested of fear, I largely owe my success in all these undertakings.

If you are an Anglo-Saxon, and make the muscles of your throat rigid, thereby stopping inspiration through the trachea into the thorax, you will soon experience a decided movement of the abdomen, in conformity with which it will first expand anteriorly, then posteriorly, and again anteriorly. There will now be a pause, after which the abdomen will be first expanded posteriorly, then anteriorly, and again posteriorly. This is as far as you can go; you will be compelled to release your hold on your throat after these six movements; the thorax meanwhile remaining passive.

Upon next making the muscles of the back of your neck rigid, equal to those of the œsophagus, the latter being thereby closed to respiration, you will soon experience a decided movement of the thorax, by which it will be first expanded posteriorly, then anteriorly, and again posteriorly. There will now be a pause, after which the thorax will be first expanded anteriorly, then posteriorly, and again anteriorly.

These twelve movements constitute one act of respiration during which inspiration and expiration for thorax and abdomen equalize each other. The first three movements of the abdomen, consisting of an inspiration, an expiration, and an inspiration, constitute what is commonly called an inspiration; the second three movements of the abdomen, consisting of an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, constitute what is commonly called an expiration. Of the six movements of the thorax succeeding these, the first three, consisting of an inspiration, an expiration, and an inspiration, are equal to an inspiration; the last three, consisting of an expiration, an inspiration, and an expiration, are equal to an expiration. We thus have four complete respirations, two of which, equal to an inspiration and an expiration, belong to the abdomen; and two, likewise equal to an inspiration and an expiration, belong to the thorax.

Inasmuch as each of these four respirations is composed of three separate movements, one complete respiration consists of twelve separate movements of the respiratory organs. This relates to our ordinary mode of breathing. For vocal utterance, more especially the utterance of a vocal sound, these four respirations are first made for the impression, and are then, in an inverse order, repeated for the expression. This gives us eight movements, or an octave of movements, for each vocal sound; these eight movements, as a matter of fact, consisting of twenty-four separate movements of the respiratory organs. These movements, which in our experiment were of relatively long duration, during our ordinary mode of breathing follow upon one another very rapidly; thorax and abdomen, which during our experiment were restrained, ordinarily and when unrestrained, acting and reacting upon one another in quick succession.

The preceding experiment gives us the following result:

ABDOMEN

Movement 1. Anterior, inspiration.} " 2. Posterior, expiration.} Inspiration. " 3. Anterior, inspiration.} " 4. Posterior, expiration.} " 5. Anterior, inspiration.} Expiration. " 6. Posterior, expiration.}

THORAX

Movement 1. Posterior, inspiration.} " 2. Anterior, expiration. } Inspiration. " 3. Posterior, inspiration.} " 4. Anterior, expiration. } " 5. Posterior, inspiration.} Expiration. " 6. Anterior, expiration. }

All of the preceding has reference to the Anglo-Saxon mode of breathing.

Germans, under the same circumstances, will make movements of an inverse order.

The first movement of the abdomen will be posterior, the next anterior, the third posterior, which will be succeeded by anterior, posterior, and anterior ones; while the movements of the thorax will be anterior, posterior, and anterior, succeeded by posterior, anterior, and posterior ones. This shows that with Germans, expiration antecedes inspiration, while with Anglo-Saxons, inspiration antecedes expiration.

In our experiment, with Anglo-Saxons, inspiration took place in the abdomen by two movements anteriorly to one posteriorly, and in the thorax by two movements posteriorly to one anteriorly; while expiration took place by two movements of the abdomen posteriorly to one anteriorly, and in the thorax by two movements anteriorly to one posteriorly, as per this schedule:

ANGLO-SAXON Abdomen 1. Inspiration, Ant., post., ant. 2. Expiration, Post., ant., post.

ANGLO-SAXON Thorax 3. Inspiration, Post., ant., post. 4. Expiration, Ant., post., ant.

In the case of a German, it would have been more proper, for our experiment, to have first closed the muscles to the œsophagus, and then those to the trachea, as Germans first breathe into the œsophagus and then into the thorax. Had this been done, the result would have been inverse to that of our experiment, as follows: The first movement of the thorax would have been one of inspiration, the same as the first movement of the abdomen; and the second movement of the thorax would have been one of expiration, the same as the second movement of the abdomen, thus:

GERMAN Thorax 1. Inspiration, Ant., post., ant. 2. Expiration, Post., ant., post.

Abdomen 3. Inspiration, Post., ant., post. 4. Expiration, Ant., post., ant.

This shows that the movements of the abdomen are the reverse of those of the thorax:

With Anglo-Saxons, in such a manner that, while for the abdomen inspiration takes place anteriorly, it takes place for the thorax posteriorly; and that, while for the abdomen expiration takes place posteriorly, it takes place for the thorax anteriorly;

With Germans, in such a manner that, while for the thorax inspiration takes place anteriorly, it takes place for the abdomen posteriorly; and that, while for the thorax expiration takes place posteriorly, it takes place for the abdomen anteriorly.

These various modes of breathing find an illustration in the following:

Anglo-Saxons, while carrying a burden (for which purpose it is necessary to hold the breath or to economize the same as much as possible), inspire into the abdomen anteriorly and the chest posteriorly, and in so doing expand the same accordingly; while Germans, under the same circumstances, breathe into and expand the abdomen posteriorly and the chest anteriorly. The action of the former tending away from the diaphragm, that of the latter tending towards it, exercise an influence on the spinal column which causes Anglo-Saxons while carrying a burden to assume an erect, Germans a stooping position. This has already been illustrated by calling attention to the difference between the position of the Greek and Gothic caryatides, the former representing the Anglo-Saxon, the latter the German mode of breathing. The order for German soldiers, "Brust heraus, Bauch herein"! ("Breast out, belly in"), for Anglo-Saxons should be, "Breast in, belly out"! The former gives German soldiers that stiff appearance, tending towards the diaphragm, of which Heine has said: