I70 



NA TURE 



[June 20, 1907 



TllK VOICK. 

 La Xoix, sa Culture physiologique : Theoric nciiivclle 

 dc ta Phonation. Conferences faites an Conser- 

 vatoire lie Miisique de Paris en ic)o6. By Pierre 

 Bonnier. Pp. 299. (Paris: Felix .Mean, 1907.) 

 Price 3.50 francs. 

 ' I 'HIS is an e.xcellent work on the physiology ot 

 ^ the voice. Nowhere have we met with a clearer 

 exposition of the anatomical structure of the laryn.x, 

 the mode of voice production, and the mechanism of 

 breathing-. The diagrammatic figures showing the 

 action of the muscles are specially to be commended. 

 The author rightly discredits the old-fashioned view- 

 that a vocal tone is produced by the vibrations of the 

 margins of the true vocal cord>. In a sense this is 

 true, but it is an incomplete statement of the truth, 

 and M. Bonnier lays stress on the variations of pres- 

 sure that occur in the laryngeal cavity. The vocal 

 cords are brought close together, and then, by an 

 expiratory effort, the pressure below the cords be- 

 comes much greater than in the ventricles of Mor- 

 gagni above the cords and in the upoer part of the 

 larynx. This increased pressure opens the chink of 

 the glottis, and the cords are slightly stretched up- 

 wards. The air escapes, the cords again approximate, 

 and there is a fall of pressure below the cords whilst 

 the pressure rises in the ventricles and in the upper 

 part of the larynx. There is thus a puff of air. This 

 is repeated again and again according to the period 

 of the vocal tone produced. 



M. Bonnier associates the old view with the name 

 of Helmholtz, and he so far claims the newer view- 

 as his own. This is scarcely correct. Undoubtedly 

 Helmholtz expounded the mechanism of tone produc- 

 tion on the "puff" theory, and he likened the 

 acoustic action of the larynx to that of a syren. The 

 view so ably dealt with by M. Bonnier is now almost 

 universally taught. M. Bonnier gives an admirable 

 account of the action of the resonating cavities in 

 modifying quality of tone. He illustrates this by an 

 analysis of the bass, tenor, alto, and soprano voice, 

 and he indicates the physiological n-iechanism which 

 brings out the best quality in each of these voices, a 

 mechanism -which can be trained under a competent 

 teacher. He shows that there is a ccfistant inter- 

 play between the muscular mechanisms and the air 

 pressures in the laryn.x, so that under favourable con- 

 ditions the best qualities of the voice mav be pro- 

 duced. .Accent in singing, as the effort of the singer 

 to give emotional expression, is brought about by the 

 .action of the nervous arrangements on the muscular 

 mechanism. 



There are many excellent remarks on articulation, 

 on the trill, on the means for, as it were, " flinging 

 out " the voice so as to make it effective, and on the 

 vocal registers. There is a brief account of some of 

 the mistakes by which the voice may be injured, and 

 the voluiiic closes with a description of the results 

 obtained by a clinical examination (by laryngoscope 

 and otherwise) of forty-four voices of persons who 

 desired to become professional singers. Of the fort\- 

 four, eight were chosen, and thirty-six were rejected 

 as having such qualities that no amount of training 

 NO. 1954, VOL. 76] 



could efficii-ntly fit them for following a carriert 

 lyrique. This book places voice production on 3 

 scientific basis. Many teachers have taught ei-npiric- 

 ally, and with remarkable success, but they may have 

 made mistakes. .M. Bonnier conveys the scientific 

 knowledge that is always the surest guide. 



J. G. M. 



THREE BOOKS ON EI.EMEMARY 

 CHEMISTRY. 



A Method of Teaching Chemistry in Schools. By 

 A. M. Hughes and R. Stern. Pp. xii+120. (Cam- 

 bridge : University Press, 1906.) Price ji. net. 



Elementary Science of Common Life (Chemistry). 

 By W. T. Boone. Pp. .252. (London: W. B. 

 Clive, I'niversity Tutorial Press, Ltd., 1906.) 

 Price 2i. 



.In Elementary Study of Chemistry. By Dr. \V. 

 McPherson and Dr. W. E. Henderson. Revised 

 edition. Pp. viii + 434. (Boston and London: Ginn 

 and Co., n.d.) Price 6s. 



THK authors of the " Method of Teaching Chem- 

 istry in .Schools " claim to have discovered a 

 new rnethod of teaching clementarv chernistrv, based 

 on the principle of working from the known to the 

 unknown. Although one niay be inclined to question 

 the novelty of the discovery, there is no doubt of the 

 efficacy of the principle. The book is written in the 

 form of suggestions to the teacher. The directions 

 are clear and concise, the illustrations are excellent, 

 and the book is embellished by photographs of the 

 pioneers of chen-iistry. But it is not the method of 

 treatment, which is scarcely new, or the arrange- 

 inent of the subject, which might conceivably be 

 irnproved, which commends the book. What 

 ii-npresses one favourably is its manner rather than 

 its matter. It is written by thoughtful teachers, who 

 have striven in an attractive way to get as much 

 out of each simple problem as it can be made to 

 yield. For the beginner in science, the imparting of 

 many facts or the elucidation of general theories is 

 not wanted ; what is required is the cultivation of 

 intelligent observation and of comnion-sensc explan- 

 ations of phenomena, and if this is the aim of the 

 little book, as we take it to be, it undoubtedly fulfils 

 its purpose. 



The modest volimic on " Elementary Science of 

 Comrnon Life," by Mr. Boone, is one of the 

 " Organised .Science Series," and is well up to the 

 standard of the companion volumes. There is really 

 ver\- little that dei-nands anything but favourable 

 criticism. The subject is handled in a simple fashion, 

 the examples are well chosen, and there is wealth 

 of verbal and graphic illustration drawn froi-n 

 "common life." One is inclined to ask oneself in 

 reading a book of this type whether anything is 

 gained by formal definitions of well-known pheno- 

 mena such as heat and light. Heat and light are 

 first realised as sensations. Later, they are recog- 

 nised by certain objective effects, such as expansioi-i 

 in one case and chemical change in the other, and 

 this is, of course, pointed out. But does the definition 



