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."
In this instance, I presume, the person's ear was tuned to listen
interiorly, and the effect of the explosion, which, in relation to him,
was of a negative nature, took effect on the positive, the posterior,
side of his ear. This person was not in expectancy of the explosion,
but it came on unawares, of a sudden, while he was in a state of
contemplation.
In connection with the eye, our inner consciousness acts as a "rein"
upon the outer, drawing back in case of danger, checking our progress
when suddenly coming upon a precipice, and _regulating our steps_ to
circumvent it, but without coming to a stop, when seeing an obstacle
in our way from a distance. The "rein" in such an instance reverses
the poles of the eyes--the positive becomes negative and the negative
positive; that is to say, in our usual mode of seeing, while walking,
the exterior surface of the eye is positive, the interior negative;
but when there is danger ahead and we are warned to be cautious, the
exterior becomes negative and the interior positive; the activity now
being exercised by the latter, the passivity by the former. The action
of the "rein," however, is not direct, but crosswise; that is to say,
the posterior surface of the left eye is in correspondence with the
anterior of the right, and vice versa, in conformity with the "impulse"
emanating from either the one or the other, while the anterior surface
of the left eye is in correspondence with the posterior of the right,
and vice versa.
The knowledge of the reversion of the functional exercise of our
organs of sense is of signal importance in connection with motion and
vocal utterance, which always go hand in hand; every utterance being
accompanied by a motion, though not always visible to the eye. In truly
artistic delivery these motions are brought to the highest perfection;
and visibly, though often in great moderation, accompany _every_
inflection of the voice.
To be able to see a thing at all, we must be in a relatively proper
position with the object to be seen; we must be on the same plane with
it. We must also have light, not only for the latter, but by reflection
therefrom also for ourselves. In addition we must have the inner light
enabling us to comprehend what we have seen. I contend that for the
study of spiritual-material as well as material-spiritual phenomena,
such light has always been wanting for the thing to be seen, as well as
for the orb to see and consequently for the spirit to comprehend. In
attempting to comprehend, and to explain appearances, physiologically,
we have been looking in our exterior world, where we cannot, in place
of our interior world, where we might be able to see and to observe. We
have been using the outer surface of our eye instead of the inner, with
which to see spiritual things. The thing to be seen and the orb with
which to see were not on the same "plane." It was impossible to perform
the act of _spiritually_ seeing. The proper light once obtained, it
has not only illumined for me the things to be seen, but also my
capacity for seeing and comprehending them. Roentgen has taught us the
method of seeing material things through opaque bodies. I have learned
to recognize spiritual phenomena in opaque bodies, created, as they
are, by a combination of spiritual and material factors. While I have
made use of this gift for a special study--that of vocal utterance--I
incline to think that it may be made use of for the study of not only
all the various material-spiritual phenomena to be observed in the
nature of organic bodies in general and man's in particular, but also
of our relations with the unseen and unknown world and its forces,
in which our essence has its being, whence it comes, and to which it
returns. In minutely explaining my mode of proceeding, it is also my
special desire to rob it of any appearance of "supernaturalness" some
persons might be inclined to invest it with. Though I cannot explain
many things connected with the voice from an entirely naturalistic
standpoint, I think they are all explainable if the proper amount of
study and observation be given to them. This, as a matter of course,
does not, however, include the operations of the mind proper, which are
governed by laws beyond any human understanding.
INSPIRATION--EXPIRATION
The entire mechanism of our being, more especially that of our
faculties and functions, is primarily excited through openings into
which air is inspired, from which air is expired. These openings are
connected with channels and vessels which are passive or negative
during inspiration; active or positive during expiration. Thus the
multiform streams of air introduced into our system communicate with
parts thereof, which, by their construction and intercommunication with
others, are specially adapted for the exercise of any special faculty
or function. Our will directs these streams of air to flow into their
proper channels (and they automatically obey) for the guidance of our
steps in a certain direction, for the production of a given sound,
the recognition of a given sight, the sensation of a peculiar odor,
taste, or feeling, or the excitation of a passion, a compassion, or
any other sensation, feeling, or thought whatsoever. These streams of
air, therefore, are of an order as multiform as the complex web of our
material and spiritual existence, and are introduced through thousands
of different channels and in thousands of different ways.
To confine our mode of physical and spiritual existence to a single
stream of air introduced into the oral cavity, or the nostrils, and
thence into the lungs, appears to me to be as primitive a proceeding
and as narrow a view as can possibly be taken of one of the greatest
subjects our understanding is called upon to deal with. In place of
that, I have positive proof that the streams of air which flow into
these openings are of the most multiform nature; every sight, odor,
taste, touch, and every sound, and fraction of a sound even, calling
for a special stream of air which no other stream can furnish or
supply. Besides the oral cavity and the nostrils, the eyes, ears,
and every additional opening, down to an almost invisible pore or
capillary vessel, are recipients of special streams intended for
special purposes. _We breathe through the soles of our feet and the
palms of our hands, as well as through the skull of our heads. The
closer we guard our body against the influence of the air, by means of
unnaturally close-woven and air-tight clothing, the less capable we
become of exercising our natural faculties and functions._
To this subject I shall devote time and attention at some future
period, more especially in connection with vocal utterance, as it has
everything to do with the production of sounds, which proceed in part
from within, outwardly, and in part from without, inwardly. In so
doing, positive becomes negative and negative positive; inspiration and
expiration equalize each other, and thus a continuous flow of speech
becomes possible, while if the flow were continuously in one and the
same direction it would soon come to an absolute stop.