ELOCUTIONARY DRILL. 185 



human voice. We shall see, I hope, that we not only have them but 

 that they dominate our speech. It may be, as some philologers say, 

 they are universal. 



But how do you produce these vowels 1 He that is whole needs 

 not a physician. He that has a model and can imitate it correctly, is 

 well off already. Others may find the following practice of service. 

 Take fork A, vibrate and apply it to the aperture of the i*esonator till 

 you perceive the sound distinctly. Then bring the fork vibrating to 

 your mouth. If you obtain there a resonation as full, clear and 

 sti'ong, as that which comes from the resonance chamber, your mouth 

 is in the proper position for sounding vowel A ; if not, not. Practice 

 will bring A and the other vowels. 



I am indebted to Professor Loudon, of Toronto University, for the 

 opportunity of practicing upon a very fine set of the Koenig forks 

 with resonators. The vowel which I could most quickly produce was 

 A, next, 0, E, U, I, as they stand. After considerable practice I 

 drew the diagrams which are set opposite the vowels in the chart. 

 They are made for the lower register and may be serviceable by way 

 of hint. I also had the aperture of the mouth, front view, for each 

 vowel photographed, but as the cost of transferring them to paper is 

 considerable, I must ask the members of the Institute to be content 

 with the following measurements in inches. I need not say that I 

 would scarcely have subjected my own mouth to this ordeal, had I 

 another on which to experiment. 



For A, the lips covering the teeth exti'eme height 1, width 1 j% ; 

 n << '« « i£ 1 u 3 . 



'-^' 2' ¥ ' 



Uii a (( ci _3 '< 3. . 



) rff) 8 ' 



E, " " " " I, " 1 t'^; 



I, " " " " I " 1 j%. 



Practice upon the forks brings into clear relief the function which 

 the mouth plays in singing and speaking. It is a resonant chamber 

 for the vocal cords. 



The strings of a piano from which you have removed the dampers, 

 may take the place of the forks. Sound any vowel to any note 

 directing the voice upon the strings. If and when you form the 

 vowel pure, you will receive a full, loud and distinct resonation. 

 Again, take a metal tube one end of which tapers wedge-wise to a 

 narrow slit by way of mouth-jnece, insert the other end into a flexible 



