42 PHYSIOLOGY 



no power of initiation whatever. In order to improve 

 the mechanism of inspiration all that is necessary is to 

 strengthen the muscles which control the enlargement of 

 the chest cavity. If at the same time the throat and jaw 

 are relaxed the air will pass in and out easily and the 

 voice will improve in quality. Few people use the voice 

 as it should be used. Either they breathe improperly 

 or they contract the muscles of the throat, tongue and 

 jaw; or perhaps both. For purely aesthetic reasons it 

 is worth while to cultivate a good speaking voice, for 

 hygienic reasons it is even more important. A large 

 amount of the wear and tear of our modern life comes 

 from the unpleasant noises to which we are subjected. 

 An unpleasant voice which must be heard from morning 

 till night will rasp the nerves of the strongest person. 

 Even though he may be unconscious of it, it will 

 also react on the nerves of its possessor, for a rasping 

 voice usually means a rasped throat and an undue call 

 upon nervous energy. The beautiful voice of Sara 

 Bernhardt, which even in a whisper reaches without 

 effort the utmost limit of the largest theatres, is due 

 not so much to a natural gift as to her patient cultivation 

 of a wonderful diaphragm and of the power of relaxa- 

 tion. For the sake of improving the voice, of avoiding 

 disease and of strengthening the whole body, it is worth 

 while to cultivate the muscles which control inspiration 

 and provide the preliminary condition for effective respi- 

 ration. 



Summary. — When an animal breathes, oxygen passes 

 into its body and carbon dioxide passes out. All living 

 animals have the whole or a part of the body covered 



