252 



KNOWLEDGE 



[NovEMiif.R 2, 1896. 



We lay down and watched it with our field glasses. It 

 seemed i|uite at home, and behaved perfectly naturally. 

 It strutted about with a stately gait somewhat like a 

 peacock, and pecked at the ground here and there in an 

 almost disdainful way. Then it began to dust itself, 

 drawing in its head and rullliug its feathers, and spreading 

 wings and tail. We watched it closely for (juite ten 

 minutes, and were fascinated by its interesting ways, 

 probably never observed in I'higland by ornithologists 

 before, for this grand bird was a Macqueen's bustard, and 

 only the third example which has visited our shores. 



Meanwhile two men had come on the scene with guns, 

 and after a little mauanwring George Edwin Chubbley 

 shot the bird as his brother Craggs Chubbley put it over 

 to him. Whilst being followed it never seemed flurried. 



When flying, the wings of the bird were a striking black 

 and white. The long black tufts on the sides of the 

 neck appeared as black streaks at a distance, and were 

 very conspicuous as the bird stood in the field. 



Macqueen's bustard is a desert-loving species inhabiting 

 the steppes of Asia, and why it visits us at all is merely a 

 matter of conjecture, but probably certain young birds 

 wander far from their course and thus manage to reach 

 our coasts. 



When the feathers of the bird were turned up we found 

 them to be of a delicate blush pink at the base, contrasting 

 beautifully with the speckled sandy colour of the bird's 

 back. The beak is brownish black, the legs and feet 

 light straw colour, and the eyes very pale straw and very 

 bright. 



The length from beak to tail is twenty-eight and a half 

 inches, the tarsus four and a half inches, and the flexure 

 sixteen inches. 



The bird was a young male, and its stomach contained 

 vegetable matter and three beetles. 



Mr. .J. Cordeaux and Mr. H. Bendelack Hewetson, 

 M.R.C.S., arrived on the scene a few minutes after the bird 

 was shot. Harry F. Witheeby. 



NotCces of iSoofts. 



Voxometric Berelation : thf Discovery of the Human Voice. 

 By Alfred Augustus North (Examiner in Music to the New 

 Zealand Government for thirteen years). Published by 

 the Authors' and Printers' -Joint Publishing Co. Pp. 20G. 

 Price 10s. (Jd. (Jf all the problems that vex the soul of the 

 practical musician those connected with voice production 

 and development are the most perplexing. The act of 

 singing is a supremely difficult one to investigate. It is 

 an unknown combination of physical, physiological, and 

 psychical phenomena. It is not hard to get at some of 

 the truth, especially on the physical and physiological 

 side ; but beyond this there is, it appears, unlimited scope 

 for speculation and dogmatism. The latest exponent of 

 an absolutely complete and " scientific " explanation of the 

 whole art of singing is Mr. A. Augustus North. If we may 

 believe the author there is really nothing now left for 

 posterity to discover. The hitherto hidden processes of 

 nature are revealed for the benefit of the whole race of 

 mankind. Singing (which must mean fine singing, to be 

 worth mention) is declared to be a spontaneous and 

 natural act " incident to all humanity," and not merely 

 the special gift of the few. " Those who will rightly use 

 their voices " (/.c, of course, on the voxometric method) 

 " and follow out faithfully the general conditions in doing 

 so, hold within themselves the power of commanding 

 health, strength, happiness, and longevity, and will 

 assuredly be laying the foundation of a stronger, a finer. 



and a more magnificent empire than the world has ener 

 seen! ' (p. 178). 



The " revelation " seems to involve the acceptance of 

 Dr. A. Wilford Hall's theory that sound is not the result 

 of vibration, but is an emanation. Mr. North says : 

 " The human voice, as also every other form of mani- 

 festation of a cause which we have hitherto been taught to 

 consider a phenomewin merely, is not produced in any way 

 according to the general hypotheses on the subject. And 

 vibration is not the cause of sound, but only an elTect when 

 sound is made appreciable to mortal conceptions. Sound 

 is, unquestionably, a living, immaterial, substantial force 

 in nature" (p. 05). The italics are the author's. 



The features of the " revelation," as regards the theory 

 of voice production, may be summarized as follows : — 



1. There is only one register in the whole voice from top 

 to bottom. The laryngoscopists, with their head, throat, 

 chest, upper thin, thick, and lower thick registers, each 

 the product of special behaviour of the vocal cords, are 

 entirely and wofully wrong. 



2. Full, pure, round tone results from the reciprocal 

 action of the resonating cavities, not only above the larynx, 

 but indispensably below the larynx, where the compressed 

 air echoes and reinforces the tone rebounding from the 

 hard palate. The pupil is besought continually to " think 

 of the sternum bone as the sound-reflecting element.' 



3. The larynx must always be kept as low in the throat 

 as possible. It »(/(.s< never he alloired to rise. 



4. The speaking voice of civilized people is declared to 

 be false and unnatural. Voice trainers have erroneously 

 based their singing training upon this false voice. 



5. The vowel " e " (ee) is asserted to be the all-im- 

 portant voice- training vowel. The vowel "ah," which is 

 so generally used by trainers, is " a perfect fiend incarnate." 



6. It is asserted that a very large majority of the whole 

 of the civilized race, and especially the inhabitants of the 

 towns and cities all over the world, are not breathing 

 naturally. 



In some of Mr. North's teaching we find ourselves 

 in agreement, especially in his pertinacious insistence 

 that resonance should be the chief study of the singer. 

 Whether his theories as to how resonance is caused be 

 right or wrong, there is no question that some of his 

 practice at least would be beneficial. But we are very 

 far from recommending the whole "revelation" as a 

 practicable scheme of voice cultivation. The author, 

 and those who are assisting him to promote the method, 

 show great lack of judgment in their plan of campaign. 

 Thoughtful and earnest enquirers after scientific truth are 

 repelled by prospectuses that might serve for pills or soap, 

 lu a matter pre-eminently practical the public cannot be 

 convinced by a mere book, but by the voice trainer who 

 presents to us accomplished results. Until this happens 

 we are compelled to feel, in this, as in many other mundane 

 affairs, that " man never is but always to be blessed." 



Ei'sults of the Stdiiyhurst Meteoroloiiical ami Mat/netical 

 OhservatioHs for 1895. By Rev. W. Sidgreaves, S.J., 

 F.R.A.S. Statements of the instruments used and the 

 observations made during the year 1895 have come from 

 several observatories, both British and foreign. This year, 

 it will be remembered, was noted for its low winter tempera- 

 ture, and accordingly the Stonyhurst observations show 

 that on two occasions the year gave a minimum thermometer 

 reading when compared with the corresponding months of 

 the previous forty-eight years. One of these occurred on 

 February 18th, when the thermometer registered 80°, and 

 the other on October 28th, when the reading was 178^. 

 An appendix is contributed by Father Dobson on the results 

 of meteorological observations taken at St. Ignatius College, 



