The question is often asked, “Should one breathe through the nose or
through the mouth?” Nature has so constructed the organs of respiration
and determined their action that a person in health breathes through the
nose, while a person in ill health often breathes through the mouth. By
“breathing through the nose,” of course, is meant reposeful breathing.
In extraordinary breathing some persons are obliged to breathe through
the mouth, but this is always an indication of exhaustion or weakness.
Every person should, if possible, maintain the habit of breathing
through the nose.
[Illustration: Median Section of _Mouth_, _Nose_, _Pharynx_, and
_Larynx_:—_a_, septum of nose; below it, section of hard palate; _b_,
tongue; _c_, section of velum pendulum palati; _d_, _d_, lips; _u_,
uvula; _r_, anterior arch or pillar of fauces; _i_, posterior arch; _t_,
tonsil; _p_, pharynx; _h_, hyoid bone; _k_, thyroid cartilage; _n_,
crycoid cartilage; _s_, epiglottis; _v_, glottis; 1, posterior opening
of nares; 3, isthmus faucium; 4, superior opening of larynx; 5, passage
into œsophagus; 6, mouth of right Eustachian tube.]
_ORGANS WHICH REINFORCE VOICE._