162 ANSWERS TO PRACTICAL QUESTIONS 



8. Wliat habits impair the power of the lungs? 



Above all others, those of a leaning posture, tight-lacing, 

 and ill-ventilation. 



9. For fall 9 easy breathing in singing, should ive use 

 the diaphragm and lower ribs or the upper ribs alone ? 



Nearly all the inspirations are effected by the movements 

 of the diaphragm and the inferior ribs only. From time to 

 time a deeper and more complete inspiration causes the thorax 

 to rise, not simultaneously, but successively at the base, then 

 at the apex. In the first case the respiration is diaphragmatic; 

 when the lower and middle ribs are raised, it is termed lateral; 

 and, lastly, when the first rib and clavicle take part in the 

 movement, it is costo-superior or clavicular. In diaphragmatic 

 respiration, as M. Mandl has observed, the larynx is immov- 

 able, the inspiration is easy, without effort, and permits exer- 

 tion in singing or in gymnastics for a long time and without 

 fatigue. On the contrary, persons who respire principally by 

 the upper ribs are easily fatigued, and very soon out of breath. 

 This is seen in women when the corset compresses the base of 

 the chest, and in singers who adopt, on erroneous principles, 

 the bad habit of clavicular respiration. In this last method of 

 inspiration the larynx is drawn down by the contraction of the 

 external muscles, and its action becomes painful. The effort of 

 the inspiratory muscles rapidly induces fatigue, and the inspi- 

 ration, always incomplete, becomes also more frequent. Dia- 

 phragmatic respiration is practiced by mountaineers, gymnasts, 

 and skillful singers a habit induced either by instinct, or a 

 well-directed education. Wonders of the Human Body. 



10. Why is it better to breathe through the nose than 

 the mouth ? 



The air passing through the nostrils becomes filtered of its 

 coarse impurities, and the chill is taken off before it strikes 

 against the tender, mucous surfaces of the larynx. 



11. Why should not a speaker talk while returning 

 home on a cold night after a lecture ? 



The cold air will strike against the vocal apparatus when 

 inflamed and peculiarly sensitive. 



