It is highly expedient that singers themselves, and intending students of the art, should make some acquaintance with the physiological surroundings which are brought into play in the process of voice production. A knowledge of the technical terms for the various organs directly involved is very essential, and the intelligent student will see the necessity not only for distinguishing such names as "larynx" and "diaphragm," but also of possessing some idea of their whereabouts in the human frame. No better course could be adopted for the acquirement of such a knowledge than attendance at the classes and lectures at the musical colleges and other institutions, which, from time to time, secure the assistance of qualified specialists to speak upon this very important branch of the singing art. No other mode of teaching is so well calculated to enlighten the uninitiated in the wondrous mechanism of the human voice, and to inspire him or her with an adequate sense of the watchful care and delicate treatment which a voice worthy of systematic training demands, as well as deserves, at the hands of students of both sexes. As a preliminary to a fuller inquiry into the subject, the following few notes may be fixed upon the mind:—

The Larynx (??????) constitutes the upper part of the wind-pipe. It is the seat of the voice, and essential parts of it are the "vocal cords" (chordÆ vocales), two membranes in a horizontal position across the larynx. It is popularly called "Adam's apple" (pomum Adami), the protuberance so often recognizable in the throats of bass singers, but a more correct use of "pomum Adami" is when it is applied to a projection in the thyroid cartilage—a part of the laryngeal structure.

The Thyroid (from T??e??) is a shield-shaped cartilage, and that part of the larynx which, in the case of both sexes, develops suddenly at the period when they pass from youth to mature age. Other important cartilages are the cricoid (from ??????), a ring-shaped membrane; the arytenoids (from ???ta??a a pitcher); the epiglottis (?p?-???tta), situated at the back of the mouth; and the cartilages of Santorini, or cornicula laryngis.

The trachea, or wind-pipe, is capable of rising or falling, and thus is produced the perceptible movement of the larynx in the throat when speaking or singing. It is by lowering the larynx, and so commanding an expansion of the throat that the best tone is possible in the voice, and it is this open throat production which some teachers are aiming at when they charge their pupils to "sing from the chest." A more sensible request would be to "lower the larynx," since such a lowering of this organ places the throat in the most favourable position for emitting sound; as well as for enabling the lungs, or wind-chests, to act most advantageously upon the true vocal cords. Moreover, this lowered larynx production leads to the best results from the vocal cords themselves. The natural tendency is to sing as we talk, a process which involves a demand upon the upper fringes of the vocal ligaments only, but no long-sustained singing could be maintained by this means, nor does it requisition any art-knowledge or principle. Directly, however, we begin to utilize the lower edge of the vocal cords, we are verging upon the art of producing the voice; i.e., creating a something which will not manifest itself without the first application of some art principles. Here lies the whole secret of singing, viz., the utilization of the lower portions of the membranous folds popularly called the "vocal cords," instead of working merely their topmost fringes, as do the innumerable tenors who sing "throaty," and as we all do up to a certain point, in the ordinary process of speaking. The singing voice and the speaking voice are two totally different productions, the former never to be acquired except at the hands of a capable master, who, himself, has been properly taught the principles of voice production.

The lungs, or bellows, or air-chambers lie, as is well known, on each side of the chest, resting upon the diaphragm, and performing a very important function in singing. They supply the air which acts upon the vocal cords, and in true singing are the first organs for consideration by a vocalist, since so much depends upon the way the wind, or breath, is brought to bear upon the vocal cords. For this reason the abdominal method of breathing—the filling of the lungs from their bases—becomes the best method for inspiring the breath in singing. Doubtless, in breathing, the lungs are replenished from above downwards, but it requires something of the sensation of these air-supplying substances being filled from their bases in order to requisition the full help of the diaphragm, a great muscle which separates the lungs from the abdomen, and which may be called the fundamental basis on which all voice production rests.

The Pharynx (f?????) is situated behind the mouth, between the tongue and the arch forming the circumference of the palate. Its province is to reflect the voice on its issue from the glottis. It is an elastic aperture, and may be well styled the reflecting organ of singing. It can take various forms, and bears a great part in giving character to the sounds originated in the larynx.

The Voice—a Wind, Reed, or String Instrument? Much discussion has spent itself in settling the question of "family" to which the vocal instrument properly belongs. The vocal chords are known to be composed of a yellow elastic fibrous tissue in their anterior parts, the posterior portions consisting of a tougher muscle or cartilage. Many maintain them to belong to the "string" family, since the sounds generated are produced as on a violin—the higher notes by increased tension, the lower tones by a reduction of the strain. In this process, the muscle, popularly known as the epiglottis-cushion—a fat mucous membrane—presses on to the vocal cords, modifying their vibrating length. Thus, in an extreme high note, the cushion presses intensely upon the cords, considerably shortening their one inch length. In reverting to a low note, this tension becomes withdrawn, and the whole length of cord is at play to produce its lowest tones. An unfortunate objection to this theory—that the vocal cords can be styled a stringed instrument, is the fact that no string of the small extent of the vocal cords could be capable of sounding either so many, or such low notes; moreover, the mathematical treatment of their vibrations, as governed by the tension, is not correct, as they are in the case of a violin. It is a useful theory, and method of reasoning, however, for those teachers of singing who maintain that to get high notes, a light and thin style of singing, and the use of the upper fringe of the vocal cords (the production point), is preferable, in contradistinction to those who declare that no really good chest note with any telling power worth considering is possible, unless the vocalist sings deep in his chest and gains the idea, as he goes for his note, of requisitioning with all effort the lowest depth in the cord. Surely this point presents the greatest difficulty for singers with whom compass, especially at the top of the voice, is an imperative necessity, albeit that people go on talking to the contrary; and it is a matter which needs settling among voice specialists and singing masters. We are told, and it is generally known, that the tension of the epiglottis-cushion produces a higher note just as the shifting of the finger on the violin string affects its tone—a process which may produce falsetto sounds, but which surely is not the basis upon which great Italian singers of the Mongini and Tamberlik type secured the great chest Cs, which, with their resonance and brilliancy, were wont to make our opera houses ring again. Is it not a fact that in voices of this calibre, as well as in those trained on what is known as the broad lines of the true Italian production, the whole surfaces of the vocal cords become more or less requisitioned, and that they vibrate the whole of their length and breadth, not merely the sides, rather than that any upper portion is mainly utilized while the lower parts are resting? The answer to this question would seem to indicate that the human voice is of the nature of a reed instrument. These membraneous organs, which we term vocal cords, are such that their whole surfaces must vibrate when brought into contact with a current of air from the lungs. The voice reed, in fact, vibrates freely backwards and forwards, and so corresponds with what are known as "free," not "beating" reeds—such as are found in concertinas, and the like.

That the voice is something of an organ pipe (a flue pipe) is an illusion only indulged in by writers and teachers prone to descriptive language, which they do not stay to inquire into, either for their own edification or for the enlightenment of other people. There is absolutely nothing to maintain such an idea.

It is important that the nature of the matÉriel of the vocal cords should become widely known, since such a knowledge, elementary as it might be, would, at the outset, enable students to get at once upon the right road to singing. To grasp the idea that the initial sound-producing means are these bits of semi-lunar membranes, acted upon by the breath from the lungs, and that they vibrate violently or orderly in proportion to the care with which the breath is brought to bear upon them, is to master the first great difficulty in singing. This once grasped, it is not hard to realize that the sound emitted is moulded and shaped, modified and beautified by other organs of the laryngeal machine and its surroundings, as well as by such variable conditions as the state of the human frame generally, and the particular condition of those organs of the body most directly concerned in supporting the work of the larynx may happen to be in. It will save the student much time if, before he (or she) begins to study singing, some first acquaintance be formed with the physiological surroundings of the human voice, and it is worse than useless to go to a master who teaches singing in blind ignorance of, and doubtless contempt for, these physiological principles. The student who has familiarized himself with the structure of the vocal organs will have made a much more intelligent progress in his art than the one who has not, and will be competent none the less readily to understand the instruction of a qualified master than to detect the shameful pretence and humbug of the quack.

Board Teachers' Laryngitis—Clergyman's Sore Throat—Throat Exhaustion, etc.—Among the greatest evils of this competitive teaching age is the mischief arising from the constant and at the same time injurious use of the voice. All who use the voice constantly must learn how to breathe, and produce the voice. Failing that, serious mischief, which even the specialist of throat hospitals cannot cope with, must inevitably follow. The only advice that can be given here is, immediately that voice exhaustion sets in, to consult not a doctor, but a throat or voice specialist. The best institution in the world for throat troubles is the Throat Hospital, Golden Square, London, W.