554 



VOICE AND SPEECH. 



inspiration, due to the action of the crico-arytenoid muscles, can be observed without 

 difficulty. This action is effected by a separation of the posterior points of attachment 

 of the vocal chords to the arytenoid cartilages. During ordinary expiration, none of the 

 intrinsic muscles seem to act, and the larynx is entirely passive, while the air is gently 

 forced out by the elasticity of the lungs and of the thoracic walls. But, as soon as an 

 effort is made to produce a vocal sound, the appearance of the glottis undergoes a re- 

 markable change, and it becomes modified in the most varied and interesting manner with 

 the different changes in pitch and intensity that the voice can be made to assume. Al- 

 though it is sufficiently evident that a sound may be produced, and even that words may 

 be articulated, with the act of inspiration, true and normal phonation is effected during 

 expiration only. It is evident, also, that the inferior vocal chords alone are concerned 

 in this act. The changes in the position and tension of the chords we shall study, first 

 with reference to the general act of phonation, and afterward, as the chords act in the 

 varied modifications of the voice as regards intensity, pitch, and quality. 



Movements of the Glottis during Phonation. It is somewhat difficult to observe with 

 the laryngoscope all of the vocal phenomena, on account of the epiglottis, which hides a 

 considerable portion of the vocal chords anteriorly, especially during the production of 

 certain tones; but the patience and skill of Garcia enabled him to overcome most of 

 these difficulties, and to settle, by autolaryngoscopy, the most important questions with 

 regard to the movements of the larynx in singing. It is fortunate that these observa- 

 tions, which are models of scientific accuracy and the result of most persevering study, 

 were made by one profoundly versed, theoretically and practically, in the knowledge of 

 music, and possessed of great control over the vocal organs. 1 



Garcia, after having observed the respiratory movements of the larynx, as we have 

 briefly described them, noted that, as soon as any vocal effort was made, the arytenoid 

 cartilages were approximated, so that the glottis appeared as a narrow slit formed by 

 two chords of equal length, firmly attached posteriorly as well as anteriorly. The glottis 

 thus undergoes a marked change. A nearly passive organ, opening widely for the pas- 

 sage of air into the lungs (because the inspiratory act has a tendency to draw its edges 

 ^ ^ together) and entirely passive in expiration, has now be- 



come a sort of musical instrument, presenting a slit with 

 borders capable of accurate vibration. 



The approximation of the posterior extremities of the 

 vocal chords and their tension by the action of certain of 

 the intrinsic muscles are accomplished just before the vocal 

 effort is actually made. The glottis being thus prepared 

 for the emission of a particular sound, the expiratory mus- 

 cles force air through the larynx with the required power. 

 It seems wonderful how a carefully-trained voice can be 

 modulated and varied in all its qualities, including the in- 

 ryngoscope during the emission tensity of vibration, which is so completely under control ; 



tSSKS^tSSSS^ but ' when we consider the changes hl its quality ' we must 



5. 6, pharynx; 7, arytenoid car- remember, in explanation, the varying conditions of ten- 



tilages; 8, opening between the . , . ,. 1 . ,, ' , , ,, ,.,3, . ,, 



true vocal chords; fl, aryteno-epi- sion and length of the vocal chords, the differences in the 

 8ize of the la 'Tnx, trachea, and vocal passages generally, 



FIG. VIZ. Glottis seen with the la- 



12, superior vocal chords; 13, in- and the different relations that the accessory vocal organs 



ferior vocal chords. 



can be made to assume. The power of the voice is simply 

 due to the force of the expiratory act, which is regulated chiefly by the antagonistic rela- 



1 Manuel Garcia, the author of these observations, Is the son of Garcia, the great composer and singer, and the 

 brother of Mme. Malibran. He now enjoys a great reputation in London, as a singing-master; and his experiments 

 were made with a view, if possible, of reducing the art of singing, which had always been taught according to purely 

 empirical methods, to scientific accuracy. It is evident that this could be accomplished only through an exact 

 knowledge of the mechanism of the production of vocal sounds. 



