ELOHIST 



2876 



ELSIE VENNER 



the voice. Authorities agree that 

 the intercostal diaphragmatic me- 

 thod of breathing, i.e. the free ex- 

 pansion laterally of the lungs at 

 their base with the descent of the 

 diaphragm in inspiration and the 

 reverse action with an even abdo- 

 minal pressure in expiration in- 

 haling quickly and silently and 

 exhaling slowly and evenly gives 

 a maximum of breath with a mini- 

 mum of exertion. There should 

 always be a supply of breath in the 

 lungs, and inspiration should be 

 renewed well before expiration is 

 accomplished. A speaker's words 

 should be poised on the breath, for 

 any escape through or between the 

 words will cause loss of tone and 

 power, and, under continuous 

 strain of public work, may lead to 

 permanent injury of the voice. An 

 open throat, a mobile jaw, muscu- 

 lar control of the tongue and soft 

 palate, together with right control 

 of the breath, are the keynotes 

 of correct voice production. 



A knowledge of present-day 

 accepted pronunciation is essential; 

 provincialisms must be overcome. 

 A sense of rhythm and beauty of 

 diction, with a distinctive delivery, 

 is as essential in the speaking of 

 modern, as in that of classical, 

 selections. Enunciation is the 

 medium for expressive pronuncia- 

 tion, clearness of articulation being 

 of the greatest importance. The 

 tongue, hard and soft palate, gums, 

 teeth, and lips all constitute part 

 of the articulating organs, and by 

 their partial or complete contact 

 the consonants are formed. Vowels, 

 being purely vocal, are produced 

 by the changing shape of the 

 mouth cavity and varying positions 

 of the tongue. Pace must be varied 

 according to the different emotions 

 expressed. Emphasis is used prin- 

 cipally to mark the salient word or 

 words of a sentence, so as clearly 

 to define the meaning. Its too 

 frequent use negatives its own 

 value, and over-emphasis is an 

 offence to the intelligence. Pauses 

 facilitate proper phrasing, and at 

 the same time permit the reciter 

 to take breath ; the rhetorical 

 pause, in which the breath is sus- 

 pended, is used to emphasise 

 some special effect. Tone should 

 illumine and colour the words so 

 that the full beauty of the theme 

 is appreciated by the hearers. 

 Lack of variety in tone renders 

 many a speaker dull and spiritless. 



Gesture should directly help 

 the meaning of a passage. It 

 should never be redundant, and, 

 when used, should be spontaneous 

 and easy, the arms moving from 

 the shoulders, not from the elbow, 

 the hands conveying the expres- 

 sion and completing the signific- 



ance of the gesture. The body 

 should be well poised and the 

 position firm, the weight being 

 shifted easily from one foot to the 

 other so that there is a free and 

 full command of all movements. 

 Facial expression, the complement 

 of voice and gesture, indicates the 

 changing thoughts or feelings as 

 they pass through the speaker's 

 mind, the eyes visualising the in- 

 tensity of the emotion and marking 

 more than all else the personality 

 of the speaker. 



The prevalent method of speak-' 

 ing is careless and slovenly. This 

 inefficiency is due largely to the 

 indifference with which this im- 

 portant subject is treated in our 

 present educational scheme. Elo- 

 cution should be compulsory in all 

 schools, and it should apply to all 

 classes alike. It should be taught 

 from childhood, when the imita- 

 tive faculty is more active. 



Acton Bond 



Bibliography. A Grammar of Elo- 

 cution, J. Millard, 2nd ed. 1882 ; 

 The Art of Speaking, Ernest Pert- 

 wee, 3rd ed. 1904 ; Voice Produc- 

 tion in Singing and Speaking, Wes- 

 ley Mills, 5th ed. 1920. 



Elohist. Term used in Biblical 

 Criticism to denote the writer of 

 one of the documents used in the 

 compilation of the Pentateuch, or 

 rather the Hexateuch. This is 

 called the Elohistic document be- 

 cause the writer uses consistently 

 the name Elohim for the God of the 

 Hebrews, whereas the writer of 

 another document (the Jehovistic) 

 employs with equal consistency the 

 divine name Jehovah. See Criticism ; 

 Hexateuch. 



Elopement. Name given to the 

 secret flight of a pair of lovers, 

 generally with the object of mar- 

 riage. Unless abduction can be 

 proved it is not an offence against 

 the law. See Abduction. 



El Paso. City of Texas, U.S.A., 

 the county seat of El Paso co. A 

 favourite health resort and a port 

 of entry, it stands 3,760 ft. above 

 sea level on the Rio Grande, which 

 separates the state from Mexico. 

 Situated opposite Ciudad Juarez, 

 it is the terminus of the National 

 of Mexico and several other rlys. 

 Among its buildings are the 

 federal building, the city hall, a 

 Carnegie library, and a sanatorium. 

 It contains also military and civil 

 educational institutions and a 

 large number of parks. It trades 

 largely in lead, copper, and silver, 

 and has foundries, rly. repair shops, 

 flour mills, and cigar and wood box 

 factories. El Paso received its 

 city charter in 1873. Pop. 69,150. 



Elphinstone, MOUNTSTUART 

 (1779-1859). British administra- 

 tor. Born Oct. 6, 1779, the fourth 



son of the llth Baron Elphinstone, 

 he entered the Bengal civil service 

 in 1796. Appointed resident at Nag- 



P ur in 1804, 

 he was sent 

 as envoy to 

 Kabul in 1808, 

 and was resi- 

 dent at Poona 

 from 1811-17, 

 j : and commis- 

 ^f\k s i o n e r after 

 ^- its annexation. 

 Mounstuart Elphin- From 1819-27 



S ' ad^oi,F,a r t'oV Sh hewasgover- 



Front a portrait in the UOT Of Bom- 

 British Museum ' my JJ e re _ 



turned to England in 1829 and 

 lived in retirement, twice refusing 

 the governor-generalship of India. 

 He compiled the famous legal code 

 known by his name, and virtually 

 founded the system of state edu- 

 cation in India. Elphinstone 

 College, in Bombay City, was en- 

 dowed by the natives as a memorial 

 of his administration. He wrote a 

 valuable Account of the Kingdom 

 of Cabul and its Dependencies, 

 1815; and a History of India 

 (Hindu and Mahomedan periods), 

 1841. He died Nov. 20, 1859. See 

 Life, J. S. Cotton, 1892. 



Elphinstone, WILLIAM (1431- 

 1514). Scottish prelate, founder of 

 Aberdeen University. He was edu- 

 cated at Glasgow University, of 

 which he became rector in 1474, 

 was made bishop of Ross in 1481, 

 and nominated to the see of Aber- 

 deen in 1483. In 1488 he was ap- 

 pointed lord chancellor, and lord 

 privy seal in 1492. In 1494 he estab- 

 lished King's College, the original 

 foundation of Aberdeen University, 

 appointing Boece (q.v.) its first 

 rector, and securing grants from 

 James IV for its maintenance. He 

 introduced the printing press into 

 Scotland, 1507. He died at Edin- 

 burgh, Oct. 25, 1514, it is said 

 through grief at the battle of 

 Flodden. See illus. p. 17. 



Elsass-Lothringen. German 

 name for the district better known 

 as Alsace-Lorraine (q.v.). 



Elsie Venner. Novel by Oliver 

 Wendell Holmes. After serial ap- 

 pearance in The Atlantic Monthly 

 under the title of The Professor's 

 Story, the novel was published in 

 volume form in 1861 as Elsie Ven- 

 ner : a Romance of Destiny. Its 

 theme is the possible effect of ante- 

 natal influence upon individual 

 conduct. In this case a mother is 

 bitten by a rattlesnake shortly 

 before giving birth to her child. 

 The romance shows Elsie Venner' s 

 whole life and character affected by 

 that pre-natal poisoning, since her 

 nature turns out to be half that of 

 a snake. 



