What is the voice—a spirit, or "an expiratory current of air set into vibration by purely physical agencies"? It does not seem to me to be either, but something which is of the nature of both: our dual nature, embodied in the sounds of speech; our body and soul joining hands to produce the miracle of the voice. Regarding the materialistic view quoted above, which is held by most of the investigators, who make the larynx their point d'appui, I think that if there is anything in our composition or emanating therefrom that is not produced by "purely physical agencies," it is the voice.

In my opinion there is nothing purer, more "spiritual," in the world than a beautiful voice. Did you ever see a spirit? Perhaps not. But you have often heard one. You hear them daily, hourly, constantly; other spirits as well as your own—the spirits represented by the voice; the soul incorporated in the sounds of speech. When you converse, it is soul to soul; when you hear an anthem sung, it is the soul of the singer to the soul of the universe. The soul reveals itself most prominently through the voice when there is anguish in it, or joy; tears or laughter; love or hate.

An attempt to get at the truth in matters of the voice is an attempt at getting at the truth in matters of life. If you will tell me all that a vocal sound is, I will tell you what your soul is.

To examine into the anatomical construction of the larynx, to watch it physiologically and learn to understand the motions of the vocal cords in their relation to vocal sounds, is not much more than looking at the dial of a clock (a simile already used, but worth repeating). The movements of the hands will give you no cue to the construction of the intricate works hidden behind the face of the clock. Nor will the careful examination and observation of the "dials" which serve the voice of the oesophagus in the same manner as those of the larynx serve the voice of the trachea, measurably increase the knowledge of vocal phenomena. I do believe, however, that, inasmuch as the movements of the replica, the frÆnum, and the vocal lip fit into and complement those of the larynx and its vocal cords, and vice versa, lessons of great benefit to the knowledge and the improvement of vocal utterance may be learned, after we have once begun to understand what these movements imply.

That we cannot now derive any benefit from the observation of these motions is due to the fact that they are reflex, involuntary, uncontrolled and uncontrollable by the will. Or, as Mme. D'Arona expresses it:

"They are not the cause of the perfect tone, but are simply acted upon by the cause."

After having become acquainted with the cause of these motions, and having learned to control it in the interest of pure and perfect tone, the movements of the larynx and the replica will become of value to us as "indicators" of the correct or incorrect exercise of the cause which they reflect. In "recording" the original movements they will show us what is right or wrong in the latter, and will thus offer us an opportunity for correcting them. Up to the present they have been simply barometers, which, no matter how closely we may observe them, offer us no opportunity for changing "the state of the weather" which they indicate. After thoroughly comprehending the causes, however, which move them, we may shape the course of the latter in conformity with our will. Or, vice versa, we may shape our will, which, after all, is the first cause, so as to correct that which they indicate to be wrong in our tone production.

Now, what is that which the will acts upon, and thus becomes the original source, the first cause, so to say, of tone production? My answer will be a surprise, for, as far as I know, no one has ever as much as thought, even, of looking in this direction for the seat of the voice.

The original source of tone production has its location in various vessels of the viscera: in the lungs, the kidneys, and the bladder, for the most part, though many other vessels, if not all, participate, and are more or less involved in its production. Besides these vessels, the heart and the solar plexus, as central organs of the vascular and nervous systems, together with the brain as the central seat of thought and the will, perform parts of the highest importance in tone production and vocal utterance. In the lungs, the bladder, and the kidneys, together with their coadjutors, the bronchi and ureters, the tone originates. Here we can control, and unconsciously do control, it.

I shall adduce indubitable proof as to the correctness of these assertions. More than that, I shall locate sounds in these various vessels. As a tone proceeds from a given string located in a given part of a musical instrument, and cannot proceed from or be produced on any other string, a given tone of the human voice proceeds from a given vessel, and cannot proceed from or be produced in any other vessel.

I shall furthermore show that the various shades of a tone proceed from various parts of such vessel. Yet, while tones are produced in special parts, the instrument of the voice being of a sympathetic nature, all parts of the viscera participate therein, by, in a manner, leaning towards a vessel in which a tone is produced, thus assisting in giving it utterance. If a sound is produced in one of the vessels of the abdomen, those of the thorax, though not directly participating therein, give it aid and comfort by their passivity, thus throwing the entire strength of the voice-producing forces into this one spot. If a sound is produced in the thorax, the vessels of the abdomen aid it in a similar manner. This is more particularly the case when a sound of a superior order is to be produced, which is thus reinforced by this aid.

In matters of the voice, as in many others, truth is stranger than fiction.

Dr. Rush has said:

"Some day, when the real instrument of the voice will be discovered, it will be found to be of an order far different in its nature and construction from that which it has ever been supposed to be."

The greatest mechanical wonder, however, is that the voice, and that which is apparently one and the same sound, should under different circumstances emanate from sources so entirely different in their construction as the vocal cords to the trachea and those to the oesophagus, the viscera of the kidneys, the bladder and the lungs, etc. This fact also accounts for the mystery which, like an impenetrable veil, has hung over the features of the voice. Who has ever thought of looking for the spirit of the voice to reveal itself from beneath the tongue? Who has ever thought that the oesophagus was a breathing-tube of a similar functional order as the trachea? Who has thought that the viscera of the abdomen were playing as important a part in breathing as the lungs? Who has thought that the hemisphere of the abdomen was as directly amenable to the influence of the air as that of the thorax? Who has, in fine, thought that the viscera of the abdomen together with those of the thorax were primarily instrumental in producing the voice and vocal utterance?

It may not be pleasant to know, and it may not quite conform with our Æsthetic taste, that the "voice divine" should have its origin in such vessels as the kidneys and the bladder; but I have no quarrel with the Creator, and can but wonder, as I have never ceased to wonder from step to step in all these investigations, at the marvellous resources of nature. There is one great lesson conveyed through this, namely,—- that the body is divine in its every aspect; parts which have been supposed to serve ends only of a comparatively low order participating in the highest spiritual functions.

This knowledge is the sanctification of the "flesh," so constantly and unjustifiably rejected and reviled as against that of the spirit. I am not dealing with theories, but am stating facts which will be as positively proven as any other scientific facts ever have been proven. These proofs will not be all forthcoming in this book, however, there being other subjects of equal, if not greater, importance that I have to deal with before I can reach them; these subjects being of such a nature that they must be explained before those immediately connected with voice production can be properly dealt with.

I have been reproached with attempting too much; with dealing with too many subjects at one and the same time; that I ought to complete one theme and then take hold of another. Just so; but this cannot be done. I must first deal with general principles. Our entire system being of a homogeneous nature, I cannot deal with separate issues until these principles have been dealt with and understood in their entirety. Besides, I cannot hope to ever complete any one thing. I shall be well satisfied if I shall be able to simply touch upon every subject that has come under my observation, lightly, suggesting things, and leaving it to others to enter more thoroughly into the same.

INTROSPECTION

With our mortal eyes turned outwardly we cannot see spiritual things, nor the motive power of life, nor the material form the spirit assumes in moving the mechanism of the body. For there is a material way in which it is thus moved, as there necessarily must be, and I have obtained glimpses thereat by turning my eyes inwardly—by looking into myself with the inner surface of my eyes.

Yet through all these centuries people have been using that portion of their eyes which is intended for external vision only, in a vain endeavor to arrive at spiritual-material facts. Thus the larynx, as the supposed seat of the voice, has been subjected to scrutiny based upon laws derived from phenomena which owe their origin to physical causes only. During this vain endeavor the larynx has been subjected to torture and maltreatment worse than that inflicted upon a mediÆval witch.

But its tormentors have derived no solace from this treatment, not even that of a confession of imaginary sins. Why not? Simply because it had not anything to confess, being a reflex, an indirect, and not a free and original agent. Through torture (by means of the laryngoscope), the destroyer of harmony, we cannot arrive at laws based upon harmony.

Is not all physiological research more or less of this order? The "higher law" of science may demand its victims, even as did the "higher law" of the church. I do not wish to say, however, that the sacrifice of animals on the altar of science is as useless as that of human beings used to be on that of religion. Vivisection, however, while it may, and no doubt sometimes does, help to recognize the physical cause of disorder, will never be of any value in arriving at spiritual causes and the recognition of the inner motive power of life, nor to any great extent at that of the exercise of our faculties and functions. For this knowledge we require a different mode of proceeding. To penetrate into the realm of the spiritual-material world (and all phenomena of life are of that nature) we must not look externally but internally, not into other beings but into ourselves. That is the only place where we can hope to find it in action and arrive at the causes of such action.

As our being cannot enter into the inner life of another being and identify itself with the same or become a part thereof, or remain apart and become a spectator of the same or substitute therefor (not even for that of the simplest and lowest living vegetable or animal organism), we would have to despair of our ability of ever being able to arrive at the laws governing life, if we were not able to look into our own lives by substituting for our observations our inner for our outer consciousness.

The word "Introspection" has heretofore meant reflection upon purely spiritual phenomena only; I have proven by my personal example that we can observe physiologico-psychological phenomena with considerable accuracy—very little of this kind of work, as far as I can learn, ever having been done before. The nearest approach at amalgamation, probably, is that which is brought about by means of hypnotism. In this instance the two factors, the positive and the negative, the operator and the person operated upon, do not fuse, however, and become one, but remain entities, each in his own right. Or, to speak still more to the point, while the positive, that is the spiritual, factor of the operator may, and no doubt does, join hands with the negative, that is the material, of his subject, by which the operator becomes one with the latter, there is still but an influence, and not an insight. Besides, this condition is as yet too obscurely known to be made use of as a practical means of observation.

After all this, the question will still be asked, "What must we do to look into ourselves?"

I will admit that I have not stated what others should do, but in explaining what I have done I mean to explain what general course others will have to pursue. By taking into consideration what I have said, and adding thereto what I shall still have to say, a general idea may be formed of what the reader must do to place himself in a position to make original observations by means of introspection. No two cases being just alike, from the fact that heredity, the mental capacity, physical condition, education, temperament, nationality, etc., with no two persons are just alike, it is not well possible to point out a course quite suitable to all. I might as well attempt to arrive at a law by the observance of which all persons would be enabled to write poetry.

Still, needing assistance in this vast undertaking, I am particularly anxious to make this matter clear, as the results of these observations are of vital interest to all, and I am but one weak, ignorant mortal creature, with but a small fraction of a life left to me in which to state that which it would at least take a full lifetime to properly and fully explain. I am overburdened with an insight which is being increased daily, even against my will, and which I shall never be able to fully communicate to others. Let the flood-gates of truth once be opened and come in upon you as they have upon me, and you will be overwhelmed by the mass of their detail no less than by the vigor of their mass. My great want, therefore, for the purpose of more fully arriving at these facts and obtaining ever higher results is assistance and coÖperation. I wish it to be distinctly understood, however, that I do not mean this in a personal sense—far from it; but in the interest and the promotion of science, as everybody wanting to make original observations must pursue these studies for himself and by himself.

Why such a course has not been heretofore pursued by others I am at a loss to understand, except from the fact that it takes an unusual amount of perseverance to reach the first results. Though all persons may not be able to personally obtain satisfactory results, all may be benefited by the results obtained by those qualified to successfully carry on a course of observations by means of introspection. The world at large will always have to be satisfied with being simply the beneficiary of scientific research; more especially of research in matters spiritual or psychical. From facts thus obtained rules may be deduced, which, translated into "physical forms," may become the property of all. In this manner numerous observations I have made have already assumed a practical shape; but I have not as yet been able to devote the necessary time to them to produce a system which may be used for general instruction.

Meanwhile I do sincerely hope that others will take hold of these matters in all seriousness, and assist me in arriving at these practical physical forms, which I trust, in fact know beyond the shadow of a doubt, will be fruitful of the most beneficent results in the teaching of the deaf, of singing and elocution, of pure vocal utterance in speaking; in curing stammering and other chronic faulty or deficient utterance; besides numerous other matters of equal importance not in immediate connection with vocal utterance.

That these matters must be and are of the greatest importance to the medical student goes without saying. It is to be hoped that they may lead to a more rational treatment of our frail and often ailing bodies. I say "bodies" because this is the common phrase. Yet how false this is, every true physician is but too conscious of. Our ailments cannot be successfully treated from a mere physical standpoint. The question of life is not a mechanical one; it is spiritual beyond anything else, the spirit being the motive power giving life to the otherwise inert physical body. Yet the only endeavor of the physician has always been to cure the "machine," to set its mechanism right again when it is out of order, simply because he has not been able to get at the spiritual motive power which propels it.

I have been trying to get at this motive power, and to some extent have been successful in so doing. Besides, the body never suffers. Its ailments make the soul suffer; while the ailments of the soul have a comparatively less injurious effect upon the body. The body is the habitation of the soul. The soul dwells in its every part. As long as this habitation is habitable the soul continues to dwell therein. When it becomes uninhabitable the soul departs, never to return. Hence a body, never so frail and ailing, will continue to live as long as a vital part is not affected, that is, a part the soul requires for its habitation and cannot do without. Close such part to the indwelling of the soul, prevent material and spiritual factors from joining hands therein, and the spirit departs. Once departed it can never be made to return. Hence a body in the full vigor of health, after having been immersed in water sufficiently long to have any one vital avenue positively closed against the indwelling of the soul, cannot be resuscitated. As long as the soul clings to it, however, with never so feeble a grasp, it may come to life again, in the same manner that a flame nearly extinguished may be fanned to life again.

For me to fully describe my mode of proceeding in arriving at these matters would be equal to an attempt at crowding into a few paragraphs all I have gone through within something like forty years, more or less, of observation.

MAKING PARTS RIGID

I have already stated that I was originally led into making these investigations through my simple desire of getting rid of my German mode of expression in speaking the English language. Being determined to find out where the trouble was which prevented me from producing pure English sounds while I experienced no difficulty in producing pure German sounds, I pursued vocal sounds, through numerous phases, to their original sources. The endeavor to arrive at the true nature of vocal sounds through autology and by means of "introspection" has, no doubt, been made by thousands before me. The reason they were not more successful must be attributed to the simple fact that such persons have been lacking in perseverance. It is one of the most misleading endeavors one can pursue.

In the beginning I came to what I considered a positive result perhaps for the hundredth time, but to think I was on the wrong track the one hundred and first time. I would then, perhaps, finally determine that the first result arrived at, after all, was the correct one. In this manner I have in the course of time arrived at positive conclusions, which have been the basis of all my investigations, and are undoubtedly correct, as they have yielded up one result after another and have never proven false. For this, relatively speaking, "perfect insight" I have waited, before saying anything more at all, since my previous (preliminary) publication. To these conclusions I owe my present trust and confidence, and the "boldness and temerity," as some may say, in making such "startling declarations" in the face of the accumulated wisdom of the science of this and of past ages. Yet I am tired unto death of prevarication and of time-serving, and will say what I consider to be the truth, no matter what may be the consequence.

Any one singing a false note or mispronouncing a foreign word or sound, yet knowing what the right note, word, or sound is and should be, can do the same thing, and by perseverance finally find what he has been looking for and pronounce such note, word, or sound in its entire purity. This will put him on the track to the production of all pure notes or sounds. To accomplish this, he must persistently watch one result after another.

My mode of proceeding has been largely in making parts rigid, and then observing the consequences. In pursuing this course for some time, you will finally attain such a mastery therein that you will be able to make almost any vessel, muscle, sinew, membrane, tissue, etc., or any part thereof, rigid. This is done for the purpose of neutralizing parts which partake in the production of sounds, and will enable you to closely watch cause and effect in your natural, as well as artistic, course of breathing and sound production. Having two languages at my command, I was startled to find that cause and effect in both were totally different from each other. This gave me the original cue to all my observations.

In place of sounds, others may pursue odor, taste, feeling, motion, hearing, etc., to their original sources, and make similar observations. In so doing they will find that all phenomena, the products of our faculties, abilities, or gifts, originally proceed from the same or similar sources; that there is a homogeneity of proceeding, mainly consisting in various modes of breathing, in the production of them all; the end organs of our senses or gifts finally determining definite special results.

For vocal utterance, we draw our inspiration for various results to be attained, from the air, and breathe in a different mode for every special performance. These modes of breathing, though the same for all persons in a general sense and leading through the same channels, in a more restricted sense are different for every nationality.

There is no "danger" connected with these pursuits, in spite of Mr. Heidenhain's fears; which fact is due to the duality of the nature of each and all our various faculties, there being a safety-valve always at the other end in the shape of the negative factor. The only danger I have discovered was in connection with the "streams of life," which do not permit tampering with without penalty. As these exist independent of our ordinary mode of breathing, they are not apt to be interfered with by any neophyte in the pursuits now under consideration. Of these powerful streams, of which no notice has ever been taken by any one, though ceaselessly streaming into and out of our system while life lasts, I shall take occasion to speak later on.

EXTIRPATION

To make a part "rigid" is equal to the "extirpation" of such part. While it is in a state of rigidity, it ceases to take part in any action whatsoever; it is inert and the same as if it had ceased to exist. What advantage, then, let me ask, is there in extirpating parts in animals, when we can, by making parts rigid, directly extirpate such parts in ourselves? We can in this manner suppress the action of any muscle, or the participation of any vessel, or part of such vessel, in any act, by the simple exercise of our volition. I find no difficulty in thus "extirpating" any such part from myself for the time being, and then observing the consequences. I can take hold of the innermost part of myself, so to say, and take it out of myself. In regard to vocal utterance, these consequences are positive and direct. That these operations must be very carefully conducted in connection with vital parts goes without saying. The action of muscles participating in the production of vocal utterance, however, or in the act of breathing, except the muscles of the heart, can be suppressed without danger. I am thus in a position to modify extirpation of parts to any extent, almost, I desire. I can add to and detract therefrom at will, and can shift the act of extirpation from the anterior part of a vessel to its posterior, or from its superior to its inferior, or vice versa, now making one side rigid, then the other, now one end, and then the other; or take hold of its centre and leave the other parts free, or suppress its circumference and leave the centre free. There is scarcely a limit to the action of my will in handling my subject. All this while, my feelings, my intelligence, my mind, take in every phase of these proceedings, and enable me to give a correct account of the results I have been observing.

This discovery—for a discovery it must be, as I can find no account of any similar proceeding ever having been carried on—should, and I hope will, put an end to vivisection, when it is resorted to for the purpose of learning anything whatever in respect to the action and the process of life. By this proceeding I have more or less successfully observed the acts of breathing, of vocal utterance, motion and locomotion, hearing, seeing, and thinking.

I beg leave to here insert without comment the following clipping from the press:

THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TONGUE

There is another mode of proceeding by which satisfactory results can be obtained, and which was the only one I resorted to in the beginning and for many years afterwards; namely, the watching of the movements of the tongue.

The muscle of the tongue, for vocal utterance, is the most important in our organization. It appears to me, in fact, as if in its tip there were a concentration of all the threads which control our existence; and that it is, therefore, representative of an epitome of our entire being. As all sciences, in a general, though in some instances perhaps somewhat remote, sense, centre in the science of life, so do the controlling elements in our composition centre in the tip of the tongue. If it were possible to analyze it spiritually as well as physically, we would obtain a compendium of knowledge far in advance of any there is in existence in the world at the present time. Still, it must be admitted that this would, to some extent, depend upon whose tongue's tip was submitted to such analyzation. The fact of the tip of the tongue being removed by surgical operation without serious effect upon the mental condition of the individual does not greatly affect my assertion. In that case the concentration must have taken place at the tongue's new tip or end.

The tongue's tip, with as infallible correctness as the magnetic needle points towards the north pole, indicates the exact spot whence sounds come, or should come, to appear on the surface in a clear and undefiled manner. The tongue's tip, for English vowel sounds, does not touch any part of the oral cavity. It is constantly changing its position, however, and for every vowel sound, or shade of a vowel sound, points in the direction of or approaches the spot whence a sound comes, or should come. To ascertain such spot with exactitude, it is but necessary to extend the tongue's tip until it reaches the wall of the oral cavity during or, still better, immediately after the utterance of a vocal sound. Upon reaching that spot the tongue may continue in the same position of contact and the sound can still be uttered with entire purity. Change this point of contact, however, but in the least, and such sound will at once cease to come to the surface. Yet, while apparently a sound comes from the direction in which the tip of the tongue points, this is not really the case. In pointing in a given direction, the tongue opens up the channels of the oesophagus and the trachea in a special manner for the proper emission of a given sound, beneath as well as above, and to the left as well as to the right of its radix. In changing the tongue's position but in the least, these channels will open in a different direction, which may then be the proper medium for the emission of another sound, but not for the one under consideration.

The general mode in which the radix of the tongue turns upon its axis is the direct and fundamental cause productive of the various languages of the world; such general mode necessitating special movements of the tongue for the production of the sounds of any special language. Regarding the proper emission of consonant sounds every one knows that the same depends upon the particular spot of contact of the tongue's tip with parts of the oral cavity. As a matter of fact, such point of contact also opens, the same as with vowel sounds, the tubes of the trachea and oesophagus at the tongue's radix in the proper manner for the emission of a given stream of air for the production of such consonant sounds.

Every imaginable opprobrious epithet has been by singers bestowed upon the tongue. "This obstreperous muscle which is always in the way," says one. "This troublesome member will persist in going up when you want it to remain down"; "intractable," "contrary," "obstinate," "wilful," "ungovernable," "stubborn." All these expressions have been used by writers on the voice in connection with the tongue, simply because it would not yield to unreasonable and unnatural demands made upon it; the tongue, being a free agent, persisting in its natural rights—as much so as any independent democratic citizen persists in his.

My observations having been made in connection with a foreign language, I had a better opportunity for watching my tongue's movements than I would have had had I attempted to watch them in connection with my native tongue; the movements of the tongue in connection with the latter being so rapid and involuntary that it becomes exceedingly difficult to make any observations at all. It was like having this foreign (English) tongue exist independently alongside of my own, my intelligence watching it, and guiding it, now here, now there, until it would touch the right spot for the right English sound. Knowing what the right sound was and should be, I never stopped until the same came to the surface.

In trying to find my way in this foreign (English) territory of the oral cavity, I might compare my English tongue to the stick in the hands of a blind man, who uses it in place of his eyes to ascertain his whereabouts, so as to enable him to proceed on his way in the right direction. With my "stick" I felt in every direction, till I found I could steer clear of obstacles straight into the channel of the sound I had been seeking. From my German post of observation I was thus enabled to watch the movements of my English tongue in its efforts to find itself "at home" in this foreign territory, while I was at the same time guiding it from one point therein to another.

I want to call especial attention to and reiterate the fact that the exact point whence a sound proceeds, or seems to proceed, can, by extending the tongue's tip, be quite as well (if not better) ascertained, after the utterance of a sound, as during such utterance; that is immediately after the tongue has ceased to vibrate for such sound.

The difference in the movements of the tongue for various languages is one of the most interesting observations to be made in connection with these studies. The German language being the exact opposite, the antipode, to the English, after comprehending the movements of the tongue for the latter, its own movements, that is, the movements of the tongue for German sounds, were not difficult for me to ascertain.

It is an anomaly to apply the works of German writers on the voice to the study of the English language, or to that of any other than the German language; or to apply books written from an English standpoint to the study of any language except the English—the movements of the tongue, and, in sympathy therewith, of countless other muscles, being different for every language.

Whatever the movements of the tongue are for the spoken language, they are of an inverse order for song. I anticipate in making the following statement, namely, that while speech is of an order which is rapid, direct, anterior, exterior, spontaneous, impulsive, and material, song is of an order which is slow, indirect, posterior, interior, premeditated, contemplative, and spiritual. I will also add this: that, while speech is of the oral cavity, song is of the pharynx. In making these remarks and others in anticipation, I do so intentionally and for a purpose; not so much in expectation that they will be at once and fully understood, as with a view of setting others thinking on these subjects until I can reach them in due course of time; or, if I should never be able to reach them, that the principle, at least, underlying the same, which if the opportunity had been granted me would have been fully sustained, shall not be lost. The reader will notice that I am hurrying over the ground as rapidly as I consistently can, even from my—under the best of circumstances—superficial standpoint, leaving wide gaps to be filled in by others in the course of time.

SIMPLE SOUNDS

Speaking of sounds in making experiments in connection with the movements of the tongue, it is of the first importance that these sounds should be simple and not vocal or compound. They must be sounds of the same order as we utter in whispering, or such sounds as we are apt to use when learning to speak a foreign tongue. They are the inharmonious sounds of the deaf, and those which distinguish the speech of a foreigner from that of the native-born.

The recognition of these sounds as the negative parts of speech has been one of my main accomplishments, and has been of the greatest assistance to me in my investigations.

Things complete tell no tales. We must decompose them, reduce them to their elements, if we want to arrive at the truth in matters of science. I have succeeded in doing with things spiritual—vocal sounds—what the chemist is doing with things material. In things complete, as they are shaped by the hand of nature, the elements of which they are composed are mingled in such a dexterous manner, are so happily blended, that they adjust, counterpoise, and complement one another, and thus live with and in one another.

These new forms have been created by the elements of which they are composed, abandoning their separate original forms and now appearing in a new form, as integral parts of an harmonious entity. These elements have not only abandoned their form, however, but in most instances have also changed their character; which in their original composition may have been of a discordant, violent, and even dangerous nature. Take but the atmospheric air and its elements for an example.

A similar state of affairs exists in connection with the phenomena of the material-spiritual world. While vocal sounds, when properly produced, stand for all that is harmonious and pleasing, their component parts, their positive and negative elements, by themselves, offer features of a contrary nature. They also offer us, the same as elements do to the chemist while making experiments, the opportunity for making an endless number of combinations. Unless you know what simple sounds—i. e., negative parts of vocal sounds—are, and know how to produce them, you will scarcely be able to make one class of experiments which I shall offer in great abundance to sustain my arguments.

When I shall reach the subject of vocal sounds proper, I shall more fully explain their exact nature. I will simply say this at present: A simple sound is the product of that hemisphere only to which it properly belongs. A vocal sound is aided and assisted by a complementary sound from the other hemisphere. The more perfect such aid, the more perfect will be its tone. Simple vowel sounds are short, abrupt, the same as consonant sounds when produced all by themselves and without the aid of a vowel sound uttered in conjunction with them.

POSTERIOR SURFACES

In saying, as I have, that introspection is carried on by looking into ourselves with the inner surface of our eyes, I meant to say, in the first instance, that we must exclude all exterior vision, and then attempt to locate and follow up the course of events going on within us. While in this state we are strictly reduced to our personal and individual existence. In thus "watching," the function of our eyes, instead of being used for external material observation, is reversed; their function now being to observe internally and spiritually.

In connection with sounds, you will not only "in your mind's eye" see the places where they originate, and feel the course they are taking, but you will actually, functionally (in the mode of spiritually seeing and feeling), "see" and "feel" them. This vision and this feeling is far from being perfect, however,—not being accustomed to thus seeing and feeling,—but it may, when continuously exercised, become so in the course of time. While in this state, besides seeing the places interiorly, you may also see them exteriorly, by reflection as it were, and in a reverse order, "as in a looking-glass," in which case it is still an interior vision reflected exteriorly. As a matter of fact, I not only believe, but positively know, that every exterior functional surface has a corresponding posterior one.

Whenever a thing is brought home to us, either through our organs of seeing, hearing, feeling, smelling, or tasting, the outer surface of such respective organ constitutes the positive factor for such action, while its inner surface constitutes the negative factor thereof. Whenever the outer world is excluded, however, as during thought, introspection, and in our sleep, the inner surface of any of these organs becomes the positive, and the outer surface the negative, factor. In thus saying, "I see with the inner surface of my eyes," I do not mean this figuratively only, but literally, functionally, as well; as I could not see these places and locate them internally nor could I see any subject or object with "my mind's eye," if the faculty of seeing were not actually given to the posterior surface of the eye.

This will become clear when you consider that you will altogether fail to see internally when you attempt to use the anterior surface of your eye for the purpose of internal vision. Thus, the phenomena of vision which accompany thought or dreams, during sleep as well as in our waking moments, are not merely spiritual, but, in the sense of internal functional vision, are also material, so to say. All thought, in fact, is more or less of this same nature. We use the posterior surfaces of our organs of sense more frequently, in consequence, than we do their corresponding anterior surfaces. Physiologists will say there is no such a thing as an inner surface of the eye capable of seeing. This does not alter the fact that I actually, functionally, see with the posterior surface of my eyes, and that everybody else does the same thing.

I shall, in connection with vocal utterance, have occasion to call attention to numerous divisions of as positive a character as a wall of living tissue, of which there is not a trace to be seen by external vision; these divisions being channels, constantly used in one and the same direction, some for ingoing, others for outgoing streams of air and sounds. Of these channels, also, being invisible to the outer surface of the eye, science has never taken any notice. These invisible agencies are connecting links, mediating between cause and result, in connection with material-spiritual or spiritual-material phenomena of whatsoever nature brought to our consciousness. Hence the inability of science, in its ignorance of these agencies, to reconcile the one with the other by the aid of such material only as has been heretofore at its disposal. We may see proceedings going on which are mediating between cause and effect, by the assistance of the inner surface of our eyes. They disappear altogether, as well as any other "vision," upon an attempt being made at seeing them with the external surface of our eyes. Yet we may see inwardly with our eyes open, as we do when absent-minded, etc.

If we could invent a microscope by the aid of which we could look into ourselves in a spiritual sense, that is, through posterior surfaces, all the secret springs of our nature might be revealed to us. This ability to become cognizant of physiologico-psychological processes by the aid of the inner surfaces of our organs of sense, reveals a peculiar functional exercise of their faculties. In matters of memory they are not intended to aid in conveying to our consciousness impressions made at the present, but those made at a previous time. These impressions having been made on the soft tablets of our brain, either during our individual existence or that of our progenitors, and transmitted to us by dint of heredity, are brought to our consciousness by the aid of these inner surfaces, phonographically. They are awakened by association; and that organ of sense by the aid of whose anterior surface they were first received and recorded, now reawakens them by the aid of its posterior surface. Visions, consequently, are reflections made on the inner surface of the eyes, from impressions previously made upon the brain, in a similar manner to that by which sounds come forth from a phonograph. They could not assume shape if they were not thus reflected. It is owing to the nature of these reflections that they are more fleeting and evanescent than those made by the objects themselves upon the external surface of the eyes.

The anterior and posterior surfaces of all organs, by whose aid we exercise our faculties, which surfaces represent their poles and dual factors, the positive and the negative, the material and the spiritual, change places in conformity with whether an object is impressed upon them exteriorly or interiorly, in the present or the past, directly or indirectly, physically or spiritually. Things which are brought to our consciousness from the exterior world and in a direct manner—through our senses—may be said to be of a material nature; while those which come to us indirectly—through our inner consciousness—may be said to be of spiritual origin. The clearness of our visions naturally depends upon the clearness of the impression still remaining upon the tablets of the brain. The more stirring the event in the first instance, the deeper and more lasting, of course, the impression. All this, however, does not throw any light upon the process of abstract thought; nor am I in a position to aid in so doing. Yet it appears to me to be a sister proceeding; and that a nearer approach to an explanation of those more material phenomena may finally assist in arriving at an explanation of the causes of these more recondite and apparently purely spiritual phenomena.

The correctness of the preceding remarks will become more apparent when we substitute for the faculty of seeing, that of hearing. We hear the voice of another person through the anterior part of our ear, entering, as it does, from without. We hear our own voice through the posterior part of our ear, going out, as it does, from within. No matter how low we may speak, we can always hear our own voice, though inaudible to others; and we can still distinctly hear it at such time, even when we fail to hear a low, though in fact relatively much louder, tone proceeding from the voice of another person. A ventriloquist, on the other hand, with whom these relations are reversed, hears his own voice reflected from without, inwardly, while, if he continues in the same condition while listening to another person's voice, he will hear the latter from within, outwardly.

For the purpose of testing the correctness of these observations, please pay attention to the following: In listening to the sounds of another person's speech, you will have no difficulty in noticing that they stream into your ear from without, inwardly. Now, substitute for this other person's voice the sounds of your own voice, and continue to listen to the same in precisely the same manner in which you did to those of this other person; that is, let them flow into your ear from without, inwardly. The result will be that you will not only not hear the sounds of your own voice, but that these sounds themselves will become paralyzed, that you will not be able to produce any sound whatever.

The cause is obvious. You attempt to listen to negative sounds with the side of your ear still tuned negatively; while, ordinarily, when we cease to listen and commence to speak, all poles are reversed. Spoken sounds are positive in relation to the speaker, but negative in relation to the person listening to the same. In consequence, the producer hears them with the negative (inner) part of his ear, the receiver, or listener, hears them with the positive (exterior) part of his ear.

I copy the following from an article in the Philadelphia Sunday Press:

"A curious fact in regard to the effect of explosions upon the drumhead, is that this tissue, though generally blown in, is sometimes blown out. Just what causes the latter result has not yet been fully explained."