By the time this book will appear, nearly six years will have elapsed since I discovered the voice of the oesophagus, and almost five since I published a preliminary account of this discovery in a book entitled The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance.[1] This discovery, though the most comprehensive and far-reaching of any that has ever been made, not only in regard to the voice, but in regard to the better comprehension of our nature and our entire human existence, has remained as unknown to the world as if it had never been made. Yet some day, when its importance is recognized, it will take rank in the annals of the history of the human race as second to no other discovery that has influenced and shaped human thought in the proper recognition of the origin and the nature of man, spiritual as well as physical, his abilities and his limits, and his relative position, influence, and destiny in the economy of the universe.

I have spent so many years of arduous labor on these investigations, and have become so thoroughly convinced of their truth, that I have ventured to make these assertions without the slightest compunction, or fear of final contradiction. Although the facts involved in these matters entitle me to these declarations, I would not have overstepped the bounds of modesty in so far as to make them had not my first experience forced upon me the conviction that the path of modesty in matters of this kind is not the one to success. I was so impressed with the exalted position of science, and so apprehensive of my own powers, that in my former publication I as much as apologized for my temerity in telling the scientific world things of which it did not have any previous knowledge. These last four years, however, have so enlarged my views and given me such a firm grasp and insight, that I no longer fear any man's judgment. I would, on the contrary, heartily welcome honest and competent criticism, being convinced that the same would not and could not but strengthen my position.

As a matter of personal gratification, I am indifferent to success; but I think the time has come when these matters should not continue to remain with me alone, but should become the property of all, not for my sake, nor simply for that of science, but for the sake of truth, and the benefit of mankind. Had my previous statements been given the consideration they deserved, other persons, in all probability, would have made some of the many discoveries, at least, that it has now been my privilege to make single-handed. Still, the field is inexhaustible; that which I have discovered being but an index hand to that which is still to be discovered. Having no reason to doubt but that I am a properly organized member of the human family, I consider myself entitled to speak of my personal experience as in like manner applicable to every other member of that family.

Having found it expedient to frequently address the reader in a "direct" manner, using the personal pronoun "you" in so doing, I must ask his pardon for this liberty. In thus addressing him, I trust we shall be in better rapport; all I shall have to say thus becoming, in a manner, a confession as from author to reader. While I confide in him and make him participate in these vital discoveries, I want him to confide in me, in so far as to take it for granted that all I shall say is truthfully meant, and that it has been arrived at, not superficially, but only after the most searching and long-continued investigations. We will thus become partners in a research as great as any that has ever agitated man's mind, or filled his soul with things of great moment. Having penetrated into matters which have heretofore been considered as occult, or inaccessible to man, my mode of proceeding will be found interesting as a guide to others wanting to pursue similar investigations.

In the beginning, it was all brought about by my simple desire, being a German, to speak the English language in the precise manner in which native-born persons speak it. For this purpose, I unwittingly pursued the same course which has been pursued by many others under similar circumstances; namely, that of introspection. Having been indefatigable in this course (which others must not have been), after pursuing the same for some time I was startled by unforeseen discoveries. They were phenomenal, and far beyond any previous design, hope, or expectation. After this, my original endeavor to speak the English language idiomatically correct became a matter of secondary importance. My eyes once opened, I continued to persevere in this course, and thus succeeded in penetrating deeper and deeper into matters heretofore deemed inaccessible to man.

Having pursued investigations by means of introspection now for a number of years, it has become an easy habit with me, and I can recognize and pursue processes by which results are obtained through inner motive powers, almost as plainly as such by which results are obtained through visible and tangible means. The facts thus observed and recognized as truths have become so numerous as to be almost overwhelming, in number no less than in importance; so much so, that I scarcely know where to turn or where to commence, to be able to communicate them all to others in due form and sequence. These facts are not temporary, but are constant; in so far as they can be conjured up at any time and under any circumstances, and are always of the same nature. They are of an entirely reasonable, practical, and, for the most part, mechanical nature; and are explanatory of the exercise of our faculties and functions, spiritually as well as materially. That these observations mirror actual proceedings going on within us for the production of vocal utterance, of breathing, motion, and locomotion, and the exercise of various other faculties and functions, it will be my endeavor, by actual demonstration, to prove through this and future publications.

For the purpose of enabling others to pursue a similar course of studies, I shall take especial pains to point out my course of proceeding as plainly as I can—such course with me having been entirely rational, positive, and direct, and without in any sense disturbing my ordinary mode of existence. The course pursued in physiologico-psychological studies, in fact, does not differ greatly from that pursued in the study of purely psychological subjects, which is also carried on by means of introspection, though it is of a more positive nature.

When the following was first written (it is nearly two years ago now), I intended, at an early date, to publish a short treatise on the subject of the voice only. Since then, however, the same has assumed greater and greater proportions, embracing many other subjects. Still I have deemed it best not to change this introduction in consequence thereof.

Though not quite ready for another publication (the subject is so great and my knowledge so inadequate), I do not know that I should have ever been quite ready, but for several incidents, all happening about the same time, which have induced me to break the silence I have observed since the publication of my book, The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance. These incidents, though in themselves apparently insignificant, have impressed me with the belief that I owe it to the public and myself to say something in explanation of what I have already said, and to add thereto (partly, at least) what has since been ascertained.

In the November, 1896, number of Werner's Magazine, I noticed the following:

In addition to all this, the proceedings of various societies in New York alone, judging by their reports also contained in the November, 1896, number of Werner's Magazine, which is of unusual interest throughout, show how great is the interest which, at the present time, centres around this matter of the voice. In place of saying the "truth" in matters of the voice, as contained in my book, it would, perhaps, be more correct to have said, "the first ray of light that has ever penetrated the gloom and the mystery surrounding the nature of the voice." In Werner's Magazine it is stated:

I have cited this able review in full, written by one whose life has been one act of devotion to the solution of these questions, as it will at once introduce the reader into the drift of my investigations as far as they had advanced up to that time.

I have continued to steadily devote myself to the further prosecution of my investigations, never publishing anything, scarcely ever speaking on this subject to any one. The subject appeared to me so great and so far above my ability to master it that I, at first, looked around for assistance among those I deemed most likely to be able to render it. But no one had any assistance to offer, no one scarcely seemed even to comprehend what I was after. Thus, at last, almost in despair, I made up my mind that I must undertake this task single-handed; and I have been at it, scarcely without interruption, ever since.

Meanwhile, the play of "Much Ado about Nothing," or "The Farce about the Larynx," continued to go on bravely all over the world. I have watched it with a sense of pity, rather than amusement. It appeared to me, more than anything else, like a game of blind man's buff, in which all the participants were blindfolded; my own horizon, meanwhile, being illumined by roseate tints representing continuous new discoveries, like a May morn before the rising of the sun.

The voice has been treated as a separate mechanical issue, while it is the outcome of a series of both physical and spiritual issues. While the old school is reproducing, in its minutest details, the dead branch of a tree, I am portraying, in its majestic proportions, the broad expanse of a living oak.

These anatomical details may interest scientists; they are valueless to the singer, as he has no control over the movements of the larynx. He need but "attack" his note in the right way, and all these muscles, sinews, cartilaginous tissues, etc., will fall into line, involuntarily and unsolicited.

Now that I am offering innumerable proofs in corroboration of my assertions, I want scientists to take these matters seriously, and not to look upon this book, also, as some may possibly have felt inclined to do in regard to my previous publication, as a "scientific curiosity" merely. There are no greater problems before the world to-day than are treated here.

During all these years of unrequited labor, which extend far beyond the day on which I made my memorable discovery, my personal affairs meanwhile constantly suffering, with but one notable exception no hand was held out to me in succor. In view of this fact (and it is the experience of many who, in the privacy of their souls, are struggling after the light), I want to ask this question: With all the noble institutions for learning, why are there none to assist those who are attempting to solve questions to be taught for the benefit and advancement of mankind? True, there are scholarships and fellowships for students, but they are not available to persons advanced in years who have duties to perform and families to support. When successful in the end, their reward—if there is any—often comes too late to be of any practical value.

Such would be the case with me should any material acknowledgment come to me now, having of late attained to the leisure I had so much longed for, thanks to my previous labor and a brave son's devotion and valued aid and assistance. No man, however, will ever know how long I have been kept under the ban of purely materialistic endeavors, while these higher things were occupying my mind and clamoring for recognition. A sum equal to that representing a single day's expenditure for falsely teaching matters connected with the voice, alone, the world over, not to speak of other matters of still greater importance, would have sufficed for a number of years, if not for a lifetime, to place me in a position to devote myself exclusively to the exposition of the correct principles underlying these important subjects. As it has been with me, no doubt it is and always has been with many others in different fields of research.

Since the publication of my previous book, I have had four years of continuous experience, during which the statements therein made have been strengthened and enlarged, so that I am now ready to support them with an endless array of proof. That book, however, was the beginning of what some day will be regarded as a greater movement in the right direction than any previous one, for attaining an insight into nature's occult work in creating, developing, and sustaining the living organism, and the exercise of its faculties and functions, more especially man's faculties and functions. The subject, however, is of so subtle a nature that it cannot be treated like a mathematical problem or a chemical analysis; still, I shall do the best I can with such means as are at my command.

Recently an acquaintance who is interested in vocal culture asked me how I was getting along, and I answered, telling him something like what I have said in the preceding. He replied:

"That is the trouble with you Germans. This is a live world, a practical world; we want facts, results—something we can turn to account and make use of."

This impatience (and who can blame those who are suffering, or those who, being young and talented, want to be led into the right path) throws the door wide open to all kinds of charlatanism—charlatanism which is honest and charlatanism which is dishonest, the former, being more readily trusted, often working the greater harm. The best teaching for the present, in default of a science, is that which is based simply on experience; the pseudo-science now being taught being worse than no science at all.

While the exercise of speech is next to universal with all men, no one has any idea of how it is exercised; the wisest being as much in the dark as the least informed.

This is what so eminent a man as Oliver Wendell Holmes had to say on the subject in one of his lectures, delivered not many years before his death:

It is not the humorist Holmes, however, who has said this, as one would suppose that it was, but it is the writer, scientist, and thinker, who was in dead earnest when he gave unto the world this "definition of the gift of speech."

Any comment on my part would but weaken the sense of the ludicrous this "explanation" of so great a subject, even from a mere mechanical standpoint, must arouse in the reader. Yet Dr. Holmes's "explanation" is not any more preposterous than that of many other scientists of the present day.

Teachers have said that, not being a teacher, I could not know anything about the voice. As if they had the sole patent right to the voice, and others held their voices but from them, in fee! I, however, took the liberty of looking into my own voice and trying to find out whence it came and what it was made of. It is not much of a voice, to be sure; yet it has the common attributes of all voices. Besides, I should like to know who, in truth, is a teacher. He who over a narrow path follows the footsteps of others, or he who strikes out boldly for the root and the truth of a matter, and, disregarding precedents, goes down to the very bowels of the earth, if need be, to bring it to the surface?

The knowledge of even the best of us is not much more than some froth on the surface of the well of truth. Yet that froth is all these timid souls have dared to examine. They have not had the courage to dive down deep into its fathomless flood. Many a truth has been taught by those who had been considered innocent of any knowledge thereof. I am one of these "innocents," and, on the whole, am not sorry for not having been imbued more with the knowledge, or supposed knowledge, of the present day.

We are so much the slaves of habit that we become reconciled to any condition, almost, no matter how undesirable or absurd it may be. Thus biological science has been going along in a rut for centuries, but little having been ascertained of vital importance; nor could this have been otherwise, considering the modes of investigation. I was not surrounded by so many trees that I could not see the woods. My perspective was as clear as a bird's, that soars above and beyond the smoke of the city and the dust in the eyes of the heirs of generation upon generation of anatomical and physiological research, burying beneath its lumber the clear insight of the soul. Thus, ignorance with me may indeed have been bliss. Yet I do not want to place myself in a position as deprecating science, having the highest appreciation for all its endeavors. I deprecate science only in so far as, dealing with matter, it attempts to draw inspiration therefrom as to spiritual issues; and the voice certainly is a spiritual issue.

The following appears in the EncyclopÆdia Britannica, under the heading of "Animal Magnetism":

"Mr. Heidenhain, after stating that in conformity with the manner in which one muscle is affected, others become similarly affected, proceeds to say: 'Probably the reflex excitement would extend still farther, but I naturally consider it out of the question to try whether the muscles of respiration would become affected. It is easily understood that such experiments require the greatest caution and may be very seldom carried out.'"

Valiant Mr. Heidenhain, brave explorer on a new and "dangerous" field of research. This is the Ultima Thule which any of these bold adventurers have endeavored to reach. My work began where theirs came to an end. Though I have not reached the "North Pole," I have gone far beyond anyone else.

COMMENTS OF A DISTANT REVIEWER

This entire subject is of so subtle a nature that I must warn the reader to be patient in its study and careful of his judgment. Should the present work, however, also fail to elicit the attention of my fellowmen, some thinker, perhaps, of a future generation, upon discovering a copy of this book on the dusty shelves of an antiquarian, while looking over its time-stained leaves and after struggling with its vernacular, may be struck with some remark coinciding with ideas arrived at by himself and other scientists of that day, and while commenting upon his "find," may possibly deliver himself thus:

"As the nineteenth century of the Christian era was drawing to a close, a citizen of the (then) youthful country of the United States of North America published a book which contained disclosures far in advance of his time and generation—truths, in fact, concerning life and the exercise of our faculties and functions, which, if properly understood, might have eventually led to even the solution of the very mystery of the soul. Though science at that remote period had made marvellous strides forward, its endeavors were mostly of a utilitarian character, or consisted of efforts to explain phenomena from a strictly materialistic standpoint. The author of this book, however, by dint of a combination of extraordinary circumstances, which induced him to search for causes of phenomena within, in place of outside of himself, had succeeded in breaking through the barriers which had, theretofore, separated phenomena which were called 'natural' from those which, by the majority of mankind, were still supposed to be 'supernatural,' or, at least, unexplainable, unknowable, beyond the ken of man.

"He was thus enabled to penetrate more deeply than any one ever had before into the knowledge of the mysterious forces which engender and sustain organic life. Had he been properly understood, the compass of human knowledge would have been greatly enhanced, and the race itself liberated from the narrow limits to which it had been confined by the scientists almost as much as by the theologians (by the doctors of the body almost as much as by those of the soul) of his day. Some writers of that period delighted in depicting a state of affairs several centuries ahead of their time. The changes which were supposed to have taken place, however, had reference to material developments only, and did not contemplate any advancement of a purely spiritual nature.

"Though the founder of the Christian religion, and other men of a high order of intellectual and moral insight, had laid down rules for 'deportment' which to a great extent still govern the world; in regard to a spiritual insight, the dearth, the waste, the discord, the distraction, the unrest, the 'Weltschmerz' (as the Germans called it), the despair of science, which knew but and dealt but with the baser part of our existence, unable to penetrate into the higher, was then at its height. The 'miracle' had ceased to exercise its influence over the intellectual classes, and knowledge had not taken its place.

"This writer, however, through his discoveries, had opened up the way—made a beginning—to a penetration of science into the realms of the spirit; and a substitution of faith based on facts for one based on tradition and fancy only. Religion and science, having been factors of a different, almost antagonistic, order, thus at that early period already might have become reconciled and united through knowledge; as to some extent, though by different means, they have become since.

"In thus gaining more knowledge, more light regarding the motive powers which govern our existence, the shackles which had overwhelmed the soul would have long since fallen to the ground, and a truly brotherly spirit would have prevailed among all classes and peoples in place of much of the prejudice, the insincerity, the overbearance, the animosity, the cruelty, and the insanity even of the believers in (or inheritors of) one spiritual theory (often misnamed religion) as against those of another.

"The world's thought, just previous to that time, had made great strides forward through the recognition of the laws of evolution, which culminated in one master mind, through great elaboration and by citing numerous examples, assigning cogent and necessary reasons therefor. The world should have been ripe, therefore, for this greater movement which it was now called upon to face; a movement which went beyond the mere recognition of phenomena and penetrated into a priori causes. Strange to say, it either could not or would not understand; being still bound by fetters which held it in a vise-like embrace of previously conceived ideas as to the impossibility of penetrating into matters of this nature, and which prevented it from even testing the numerous proofs offered by this writer as to the correctness of his assertions. His investigations, if properly understood, would have brought spirituality home to us; they would have made it accessible to us. It would have ceased to be a phantom, and would have become a reality, a friend on whom we could count, in place of a mysterious and incomprehensible stranger.

"Beginning with discovering the dual nature of the voice, the writer of this book opened up the way to the comprehension of the mystery of man's dual nature in all its relations. He made the discovery that the oesophagus is of equal importance with the trachea in carrying on the process of respiration and in exercising the faculty of vocal expression; that for these purposes oesophagus and trachea are to an equal degree directly amenable to the influence of the atmospheric air; that the dual nature of organic beings in general, and of man in particular, is represented by the hemispheres of the thorax and the abdomen; that the former in its entirety represents spiritual and the latter in its entirety material issues; that the trachea and its branches on the one hand, and the alimentary canal on the other, respectively represent these issues more directly; that the fusing and blending of these issues has for its result the phenomenon called life; that the severance of these issues has for its result the phenomenon called death; that there are thus positive limits, place, and surroundings assigned to material and immaterial issues within the sphere of our bodily existence, and that combined they pervade our entire system; that all phenomena of life, especially all phenomena of a spiritual nature, and among these more ostensibly those of vocal utterance, owe their origin to these issues momentarily joining hands; that in so doing there is a transitory fusion, which for an endless number of purposes is brought about in an endless number of ways.

"He discovered further that the larynx, previously supposed to be the only instrument for the production of sounds, has its counterpart in the 'replica' (the 'larynx' of the oesophagus), located beneath the tongue and represented by the frÆnum linguÆ and surrounding cartilaginous tissues; that no vocal sound can be produced except by the coÖperation of the larynx with the replica. He discovered the circulation of, and the origin of vocal sounds, and many other important issues.

"Through his discoveries, if properly recognized, all the sciences dealing with life would have been placed upon a new and far more reasonable and comprehensible basis than they had rested upon before.

"These discoveries would have tended to undermine the basis of every materialistic school of philosophy, and to place those with spiritual and ideal propensities upon higher and firmer ground. Had they been properly appreciated and further expanded by others it would have eventually become possible to develop all our faculties to the full extent of their ability, and to correct faults, errors, and defects caused by wrong education or heredity, through the application of laws at the very root of our existence; laws which were then, and in fact to a great extent are to this day unknown.

"It may, in fact, be said without exaggeration that his discoveries, which were all made within a period not exceeding five years, outweighed in importance all other discoveries combined relating to physiologico-psychical issues made previous to his time."

I can see many a reader smile after perusing the foregoing, and perhaps saying:

"Here is a Jules Verne of a new type come to deal with a novel subject."

Yet the time will come when the reader will cease to smile, and look upon these matters seriously. I do not mean, however, to throw down a gauntlet to science on these momentous questions in a vaunting and reckless spirit; but come as a petitioner rather, asking it to investigate.

My time and generation are but like a flash from the orb of eternity, but the laws I have discovered are as eternal as that orb itself. With all the scientific investigations now going on, there has not even an approach been made which might have led up to them; nay, not a hint or a hypothesis, even, leading toward the same. Science, in fact, had nothing to do with them; the first man might have made them almost as well as the latest. They are all grappling with matter, while I have grasped the spirit that is in, yet above, all living matter.

In making these discoveries I have bent a sail upon the crafts of physiology and psychology, which have been aimlessly, almost hopelessly, drifting on the shallow waters of the examination of isolated material phenomena. This sail will enable them to reach the broad expanse of the ocean, where they will be able to make soundings in its deepest waters.

Professor Huxley declared that during his fifty years of experience as a student and teacher not one thing really new had ever come under his observation. Had he lived to become acquainted with these facts I feel confident he would have declared them to be new.

The venerable Professor Virchow, the other day, in an address before the International Congress of Physicians at Moscow, made use, in substance, of these words: "The cell is immortal—there must have been a previous cell for its generation. On this fact as a basis (ascertained by the aid of the microscope) the science of the coming century may securely rest."

And he set this down as the greatest achievement of science in respect to the recognition of the phenomena of life. Yet there is nothing more fallible than the microscope in ascertaining facts regarding the knowledge of life. It may to some extent reveal the essence of matter, but it is not given to it to assist in recognizing the principles which govern life and the spirit of life.

FRAGMENTS

This book, in a sense, is a personal narrative, and necessarily must be so, giving an account, as it does, of observations in experiments upon myself. In making these experiments I have endeavored to treat myself impersonally, as a subject, so to say, placed at my disposal for experimental purposes; my ego having been the object as well as the subject of my investigations. In occasionally speaking of the results thus obtained in a eulogistic manner, this should not be looked upon as self-praise, therefore, but rather as an impersonal mode of describing what has come under some one's observation—this "some one" being myself. I want to place the matters I have observed before the reader in the right light, and do not hesitate to say or fear to say just what I think to be the truth. If I were to wait for others to say these things the reader who does not comprehend their latitude as I do might have to wait a long time before he could grasp the subject in its entire importance. I want to say this much as an apology and a vindication for frequent indulgences in apparent self-eulogism.

I have another motive for making such remarks; viz., the desire of rousing the scientific world from its apathy regarding these matters. These laudatory remarks may wound its pride, and possibly arouse its ire,—more especially in view of their coming from a layman,—and thus induce it to study these matters, if but for the purpose and with the view of controverting them. I would hail such an endeavor with pleasure, not having the slightest fear of its ability to successfully controvert any of the vital facts I have ascertained, and whose correctness I expect to prove by a great array of facts with accompanying proofs.

When I first began to make these studies, I made numerous notes as new features happened to present themselves to my mind. I have encountered no inconsiderable difficulty in sifting this material so as to present my experiences in as connected and consecutive a manner as possible. In this, however, I have only partially succeeded; nor have I been able to altogether avoid repetitions. For these shortcomings I must plead a want of time. For some time past, however, my experiences have accumulated so rapidly that I have ceased to take any notes whatever, trusting to my memory that these mental notes may be recalled at the proper time. No doubt some things, even of importance, have thus been lost sight of. Still, while pursuing similar studies, they may in the course of time turn up in some one else's mind.

In looking over some of my notes I have found things which I have deemed worthy of preservation. I let some of these follow in a promiscuous manner. This, it must be admitted, is not in accordance with scientific usage. But I am not a scientist, simply an amateur; and take advantage of the privileges this fact gives me. If I were to conform to strict scientific rules and "etiquette," years might elapse before I could get these matters into proper shape. It will always remain a mystery to me, however, why these things should have come to me at all—so unworthy, so unadapted to their proper exposition. In order to do them justice, they should have come to one complete master of his time, young, strong, possessed of a wide range of knowledge and a deep insight.

I will now let follow some of the matters I have spoken of:

My personality and my work must go together, until others relieve me of the latter by making it their work to the same extent that I have made it mine. You cannot separate the fiddle from the fiddler, neither having any significance apart from each other, except by the fiddler perpetuating that which the fiddle produces—the composition,—by writing it down, thus transmitting it to others. This I am trying to do by this book.

No doubt some of the things which have come under my observation in some form or other are already known to science, and are, therefore, a corroboration, or an explanation, only, of things already known. With me, nevertheless, all is original; and I may therefore justly claim that if any of these matters have been discovered before, I, at least, have re-discovered them.

If I were an institution possessing a guaranty of continued existence I might value the present lightly, knowing a future would come when these matters will be fully understood. Being a creature of the present, however, which may be turned into the past—especially at my time of life—at almost any moment, these matters should become known at the earliest opportunity; some of them being of so subtle a nature that they may require personal explanation and illustration. They have been hidden from us in the past; should they fail to be made known now, the same opportunity may not arise again for centuries.

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I do not claim any special sagacity over others for having made these discoveries, and disbelieve altogether in miraculous interposition. Yet I do not want to be prejudiced in any direction.

We are surrounded by the mysterious and the miraculous; and that which is called "natural" as a rule is far more mysterious than that which is called "miraculous."

"Truth is stranger than fiction"; which is undoubtedly true. We can imagine that only of which we have at least some knowledge, but there are realms of truth beyond us of which we have no knowledge. Besides, these revelations are of so extraordinary a nature that I cannot altogether close my eyes to the fact that I may have been led on to them by agencies beyond my personal power of volition. I will cite but one reason why such an idea might be justly entertained by me.

That which originally led me on to these investigations, as already mentioned, was the simple desire to speak the English language just as native-born persons speak it. Although I eventually became aware of the fact that this was next to impossible, yet I persisted in this endeavor to such an extent that I spent far more time on it than it would have deserved had I been convinced that I would be finally successful. Again and again I said to myself, "This is a foolish, absurd, unworthy undertaking for a person of intelligence"; the next minute I was at it again, trying to utter this sound or pronounce that word in the "correct English fashion."

I want to ask, What was it that impelled me to thus persist, almost against my wish, will, and better insight? When, after many years of this almost wanton endeavor, I discovered the dual nature of the voice, I could not help but think that an influence beyond myself had been exercised to impel me to persist in these efforts, which were then crowned with a success of a different order, and far beyond any previous expectation. I then found what I had been after unknown to myself. To simply say I was "infatuated" would not explain this strange adherence to what for a long while looked like a vain and hopeless undertaking.

I am aware that for me to say, as I have just now said, "I cannot altogether close my eyes to the fact that I may have been led on by agencies beyond my personal power of volition," may expose me to ridicule in the eyes of some persons; besides being a contradiction to my other convictions. Yet I say so deliberately and am quite willing to abide by the consequences. It is a case of the duality of our nature, which impels me to take a naturalistic or biogenetic view of things in one direction, yet forces me to take a spiritualistic or abiogenetic view of them in another direction. I do not comprehend those who under all circumstances are capable of pursuing either the one direction or the other.

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I might say I have been on a prospecting tour to a new country, where I found the outcroppings of numerous veins of precious ore. These veins are true fissure veins, penetrating, as they do, into the very bowels of the earth; and it will take centuries to exhaust them in all their dips, spurs, and angles.

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It will be a matter of surprise that a layman, one not of the tribe which make science the pursuit of their lives, should have penetrated into these mysteries. It must not be lost sight of, however, that science, as a rule, deals with things visible and tangible, while the voice is a sensation which, regarding its origin in the ego, cannot be observed outside of the ego. One may by close observation trace the origin of one's voice to its innermost channels, and thus learn much about the subtlest characteristics of its nature, a proceeding to which it would not be possible to subject any one else's voice. The same conditions prevail in regard to other sensations which have also come under my, at least, partial observation.

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Science, as a rule, has been satisfied with the observation of results, of phenomena, without attempting to penetrate into causes, which seemed to be unalterably hidden from its gaze. Special features, however, of the voice have been ably and successfully observed and described by many eminent persons. To these I have not given any attention, partly because they were beyond my sphere, and partly (not being a musician) because they were beyond my power of observation.

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In looking for the voice, anatomy in its minute examinations of the larynx has but opened up a grave for us to gaze into. And what have we beheld? A skeleton of the voice's body—of its soul not a trace. This skeleton, to boot, is but a portion of the mechanism of the voice; of its other parts, equally important, science has not even known that they were in existence. Like a palÆontologist or an archÆologist, I have dug up these other parts or fragments from all around; some were found close at hand, others quite a distance off. I have skilfully put them together, and have thus constructed a fairly complete torso, or framework of the voice. I say "torso," though I may justly claim more than that, having again infused the soul into it which had fled from it; and, see, it has become a living thing.

That the wonderful apparatus contained in the throat is for a purpose there cannot, of course, be any doubt. It is but partly for the purpose attributed to it, however, and, until we better comprehend this part-purpose, especially in view of the fact that we have no control over its mechanism, it will be best, as far as singers and elocutionists are concerned, to surrender it to and leave it with the anatomists.

To the ultimate aim of science—the knowledge of life—I have contributed matters of a nature deemed beyond the province of the knowledge of man. Was it ever intended that they should be known? On more than one occasion I have been puzzled to know whether to go on with these investigations; whether I had a right to go on with them. Still, I was sustained by the fact that I had been led on to them. For what other purpose could this have been done but for that of making the results thereof known? They could serve no good purpose in remaining locked up within myself.

It is my belief that the ordinary course of events is never interfered with; but that great events may be inaugurated by unseen agencies and guided by unseen hands. The responsibility which has devolved upon me, incompetent and unprepared as I am, is almost too great; still, I must try to discharge it to the best of my ability.

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I have no personal motive of either fame or fortune. At one time I would have been pleased with such results; now it is too late. If not in my day, some day, I trust, some one will read and comprehend; some one will not mind the trouble of investigation. It is not likely that I shall forever remain the only "seeing one."

It would have been better if I had not published a line for at least ten years. It would have taken that long to say what I want to say, properly. My time is too uncertain, however, to run such a risk. My friends are falling to the right and left by the roadside. I must be up and doing; must make a beginning at least.

We must be satisfied with reaching matters approximately, and argue by analogy to some extent; and also hope that others will take them up and push them along a little farther than we have been able to do. Perhaps in the course of time a perfect insight may be arrived at.

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The community of man is a necessity; a separate existence, an anomaly. We are dependent and interdependent upon one another. Man cannot escape his fellow-man. In the remotest desert his spirit is still in communication with him. If it were not so, who would not at times want to flee all, escape from all?

I have but one fear—inability, for some reason or other, to finish my work. I feel like the heroine of a celebrated German novelist, travelling about with a trunk filled with gold, which she distributed among the deserving poor as fast as she came across them. Meanwhile she was in constant fear lest her life should ebb out before all was distributed, and its precious contents lost to those for whom they were intended. If there were any way of imparting this knowledge other than by writing it down, I would gladly resort to it. But how can I reach the few who are capable of and willing to take up these questions, except by communicating them to the many? These "few" will be found in all parts of the world, for these truths apply to all men, independent of sex, race, or country.

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My cry is not for recognition. My personality might be blotted out, like that of millions of others, without its being noticed, yet, by virtue of this trust which has been reposed in me, what a loss it would be! My cry is for investigation and the coÖperation of others, so that this work may be carried on independent of myself. Meantime, I cannot transfer this task to others. I must first explain all that it is in my power to explain. I can then shift it from my shoulders onto theirs. They must be educated up to it before they can take hold of it as I have taken hold of it.

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When I first announced my discoveries, I gave all I possessed, supposing others would see as I saw and comprehend as I did; having no doubt but that the world would at once acknowledge their truths and accept their precepts. I have since found that the world can get along very comfortably with a vast amount of want of knowledge. I therefore made up my mind not to be quite so rash again in making it my beneficiary, not till I was better prepared for the purpose; this other book of mine having been finished rather hastily in the erroneous belief that this knowledge was at once and imperatively needed.

Since publishing this previous book I have also found, which I did not know at that time, that my very mode of investigation (by means of introspection) was new; that no one had ever looked into matters of this kind in the manner I had; besides, it seems strange that in this age of keen investigation of the most trivial matters, no one should have deemed it worth his while to look into these more important subjects.

Regarding the anatomical investigations of the larynx, and anatomical, coupled with physiological, investigations generally, let me ask a question: Supposing a palace with a million apartments, each one in succession more luxuriously furnished than its predecessor, would they avail anything to its sole inhabitant, if that inhabitant were blind?

We have obtained a fair conception of the wonderful palace, the human body, its numberless apartments and their luxurious furnishings, but do not comprehend their meaning, except in a remote and unsatisfactory mechanical sense. We are the blind that inhabit it. Most of these apartments will remain meaningless to our understanding until we ascertain what use the sovereign, the soul, which reigns therein, is making of them, not only mechanically, but spiritually as well. For the soul lives in them all, though it is supposed that it lives only in its throne-room of the brain and that it never descends from the throne set up in the same.

Just here biologists have blundered, trying to get hold of psyche by pursuing matter bereft of life; or investigating life in other beings instead of that inherent in themselves. The vivisection of all the frogs in the world will not give us the first knowledge of the frog's soul; certainly not of our soul. The knowledge of the anatomical construction of the larynx has brought us no nearer the knowledge of the mystery of the voice than that of the brain has brought us to that of the soul. We must understand the process by which the mechanism of the brain is set in motion before we can begin to understand our mode of thinking. We must comprehend the manner in which a musical instrument is to be used before we can begin to draw music from the same. And so must we understand the spirit which moves the mechanism of the voice (of which so far we have known but a single factor), if we want to understand our mode of using it.

Does any one seriously think that by photographing vocal sounds, or passing a mirror down his throat and watching the movements of the vocal cords, he will observe anything that will lead him to an intimate knowledge of nature's subtle process by which vocal sounds are produced? As well look at the face of a clock and see its hands move, and then say you have arrived at a knowledge of the hidden intricate mechanism of the works of the clock. The mechanism of the instrument of the voice is a thousand times more intricate than that of a clock. It lives, it breathes, it moves, it expands and contracts, it rises and falls, it gathers, it gives—now here, now there.

Starting from the supposition that life is too subtle, too intangible a thing to have its innermost operations disclosed by the clumsy work of our hands or the dull vision of our eyes, though increased in power a thousandfold, I matched the subtle work of my voice with the subtler of my brain, and thus, undisturbed by any extraneous agency whatever, watched the process by which, first, simple mechanical, then articulated sounds, and finally sounds linked together into speech, are produced. In so doing I traced sounds through the labyrinth of numerous avenues to their original sources—the organism of all our faculties, instead of being confined to their end organs, being widespread over our entire system.

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Physiologists as a rule are satisfied with the observation and exposition of phenomena. I have endeavored to explain phenomena. I have gone "behind the returns," as politicians say. I have lifted the mysterious veil, and have obtained glimpses at the process of life. In this manner the voice of the oesophagus was first discovered, which, in logical sequence, has carried me from one discovery to another. Once in the confidence of nature, it freely opened up to me its heart. Comprehending one thing led me on to the comprehension of others.

There is no study which is as fascinating as that pursued by introspection. It is self-compensating in the highest degree; all facts thereby evolved being the logical sequence of others previously ascertained. Or, if not always in sequence, they all fit into the same system; everything that has been ascertained being a stone which was waiting to be placed in a certain niche to fulfil a certain purpose in the construction of a harmonious edifice. There was no waste, no material entirely lost; nor will there be at any future time. If similar studies will be pursued by those specially fitted for the purpose, the time may not be far distant when there will not be an atom of our material existence whose meaning and purpose will not be understood. The laws which I claim to have discovered will assist in this accomplishment, as they are of so broad a nature that they may be said to form the substructure to forces and conditions which are at the very root of our existence. I do not pretend to say that in this little book they have been properly treated, nor that I possess the ability, under the best of circumstances, to thus treat them. I have but stated what has come under my observation, and have stated it in as simple and direct a manner as my instinct and my ability have taught me to state it.

I have been up on Mount Washington to see the sun rise. It was a beautiful picture; still, there were clouds in the way which here and there obscured my vision, as was to be expected from the unwonted height to which I had risen, and the distant horizon.

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I am not writing for a class, but for the multitude to which I belong, and of which, in its aspirations, its hopes, its sincerity, and its ignorance regarding specific knowledge, I form a part. Hence my thoughts are its thoughts and my language its language. There will be no difficulty, therefore, for all to understand me and to profit by my experience.

My observations result in the triumph of the sensation, the feeling (common to all), over the exact sciences (known to but few). Science, for the most part, is satisfied with dissecting or analyzing. My endeavor has been to construct; to form the whole out of parts instead of reducing the whole into parts. My guide has been instinct coupled with common-sense,—that rarest of all the senses in spite of its name. How far it has guided me aright, it will be the province of science to judge.

I may be asked why, in treating upon so "simple" a subject as the human voice (my only endeavor in the beginning), I want to move heaven and earth, and press them into my service. My answer is, Wherever I touched the subject of the voice, I found it to be in correlation with all other subjects.

My great desire now is, that I may be granted the time and retain the ability to write out all I have ascertained; while my greatest wonder is, that these things should have waited for me at all to be made known; why they should not have been discovered centuries ago. My eyes once opened, I found them lying about within the easy reach of my arm and the mere assistance of my pick and shovel, like precious ore in a newly discovered mining country. I had but to open the lid of the mysterious casket which had been intrusted to me, and all these great truths escaped from the same; not to disappear, however, as they did in the fable, but to remain with me and to be made known through me to the world.

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The best part of my life has been spent in this, my adopted country. Though I experience no difficulty in expressing myself in the English language, still it is not my native tongue, and I sometimes feel as if I might have said some things better if I had said them in German.

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Looking at the many volumes written on the subject of the larynx alone, and considering that during all this time its associate, the replica, without whose assistance not one vocal sound can ever be uttered, has remained unknown, though in plain sight and "in everybody's mouth," one cannot help but think of Goethe's lines:

My earlier work, entitled as above, was written under peculiar circumstances. After discovering the fact that sounds proceed from beneath as well as from above the tongue, light streamed in upon me on so many subjects I had previously attempted to solve that I was almost dazed thereby. I thought it my duty to make these matters known, and attempted to describe them as they appeared to me. They were all perfectly clear to me, and even to-day there is scarcely a thing I then said that does not wholly stand its ground. Still, to-day, viewing things from an advanced point of view, much of that which was then expressed pragmatically, almost in a single sentence, and which then appeared to be sufficient, I am convinced requires considerable elaboration and elucidation.

Take, for instance, this dictum: "The manner in which we breathe for speech is by raising and lowering the tongue," etc. This is perfectly correct, and positive proof will be advanced hereafter as to its being so.

I thought these matters would be readily understood, not knowing at that time that between the manner in which I had reached conclusions and the one in which conclusions had been reached by others who had also made a study of these matters, there was a vast difference. Unknown to myself I had lived a life of my own. I had given myself up to these matters in a manner no one ever had before; having been everlastingly at it, holding on with a tenacity that knew no restraint. In this manner I wrung facts from nature that may have never been intended to be revealed.

There was something Faust-like in it all, and I sometimes shudder at my own temerity. Still, I had no such thought when I so persistently continued trying to fathom the mystery of vocal sounds. Viewing it in its proper light it was a narrow and every-day undertaking. I was fairly staggered, therefore, when I reached such unlooked-for results.

The reader, however, may ask, and I feel it incumbent upon me, as well, to tell him, What was the nature of these results? Wherein consisted these discoveries? They covered a large field and whole range of knowledge. They had reference more particularly to vocal sounds. These, in fact, had almost exclusively occupied my mind for many years. These apparently simple factors, vocal sounds, I have since ascertained are the outcome of laws, forces, and agencies, and combinations of all these, which largely make up the sum and substance of our spiritual existence. The direct nature of vocal sounds, therefore, cannot be well treated upon till some understanding has been arrived at of the nature of the elements out of which they are composed. I was rash enough to attempt to explain them, especially the consonant sounds, in this little book of mine, from a standpoint I had then arrived at. Others have tried to explain them from a much narrower standpoint still. From that standpoint I offered explanations as to our mode of speaking, breathing, as to defective speech, etc. Although this was an advanced standpoint, and well worthy the consideration of scientists, it was a standpoint far beneath the one I have arrived at since.

In attempting to scale a mountain I had reached a point from which I could overlook the valley immediately beneath my feet. I have since gone up much higher. Yet there are towering heights still above me which I shall never be able to reach. From this it will be seen how difficult it would be for me to state in a few paragraphs what I had actually ascertained. That book, however, will increase in value in the course of time, not only for the knowledge it contains, but historically, so to say, as the beginning of an evolution which, it seems to me, will eventually embrace all sciences in regard to man; when treated, as they will be, from a standpoint of inner as against one of outer consciousness, from the standpoint of the soul and the heart, as in the inadequacy of our expressions I have to call them, as against that of the head and the senses.

I have since arrived at a plan according to which these matters will be treated in a more systematic manner. In this volume, besides many novel subjects, I have been enlarging upon and elucidating many superficially mentioned in my book, The Basic Law of Vocal Utterance. Still, the matters treated upon even in this book cover so much ground, and had to be condensed to such an extent, that many of these also will require further enlargement and elucidation. This will be attempted to be done in future publications. Meantime I trust these matters will be taken in hand by others, who by their writings will relieve me of some of this additional labor. Take it all in all, there is so much of this work that I feel as if I had swallowed the ocean and was now called upon to give an account of its contents.

THE VOICE OF THE ŒSOPHAGUS AND ITS VOCAL CORDS

Among the discoveries mentioned in my former publication one stands out most prominent, and it is the basis of all my other discoveries; namely, "that the voice is of a dual nature." I had ascertained that sounds circulate around the radix of the tongue; that they, or rather the air wave which carries them, enters either at the upper surface of the tip of the tongue and recedes back, to come out again from beneath its lower surface, or vice versa. I had also ascertained that the former process is the English, the latter the German, for breathing and vocal expression.

I was convinced that this signified a circulation of vocal sounds; and though I had finally also reached this conclusion and intimated it, namely, "that we breathe and speak through the oesophagus," I did not express it in so many words, as I meant to leave this expression for a future publication. I was at first under the impression that both waves belonged to the trachea, the one that was ingoing as well as the one which was outgoing.

Meantime I had discovered the "larynx or voice-box to the oesophagus," but considered this at first also as belonging to the trachea. I thought inspiration and ingoing sounds belonged to the vocal cords of the trachea, expiration and outgoing sounds to this "new" vocal cord located beneath the tongue. To study these first attempts, by which I was trying to find my way, and which culminated in these wonderful discoveries, I presume would be of interest to the student. I can here mention only the main points.

I have found beyond a doubt, and my future statements will more fully establish this fact, that the frÆnum linguÆ and the parts of the mucous membrane surrounding the same are relatively of the same nature in regard to the voice of the oesophagus that the vocal cords and other parts of the larynx are in relation to that of the trachea.

In contradistinction to the larynx, I named these entire surroundings the "replica," as, in conjunction with the tip of the tongue resting upon the same, they conform to the shape of the oral cavity, of which in their general appearance they are almost a counterpart. In a similar manner I named the special part thereof, which "regulates" the intonation, the "vocal lip," in contradistinction to the vocal cords of the larynx, which perform the same service for the voice of the trachea.

After making such positive assertions regarding the replica as I did in my previous publication—now more than four years ago—I was more than surprised that no one should have deemed it worth his while to look into the value of these assertions. If any one had, he could not have helped but acknowledge their correctness. It is but necessary to utter any vocal sound whatsoever, either vowel or consonant, and while doing so watch the vocal lip and the frÆnum, to become at once convinced that their motions are of precisely the same order as those of the larynx and the vocal cords.

So many have spent year after year upon the difficult and "fruitless" endeavor to study the motions of the larynx; while here is an opportunity plainly before every one's eyes to study, without effort, the most interesting phenomena in voice production. We must be obliged to seek for a thing high and low before we deem it worthy of our attention.